Hugs and awkward moments

Australians are a friendly bunch! They all seem to want to hug each other on meeting and on departing and my instinctive Scottish manliness makes me want to jump back and shake hands which has led to a few awkward moments.

I am now nearly relaxed enough to hug anyone that I have met on more than one occasion. I think that is a good rule to go with. (Oh I am talking male or female but seem to be meeting more males than females mmm I wonder why that is...?)

That rule was working really well until I met Brad's ex this week. I had met Mike before in the UK and he was now across visiting family in Sydney. Brad and I went out for dinner with Mike and a few other friends the other night. It was quite social (and Mike is quite a nice guy) however at the end of it all, when we were saying our good bye's, Mike came to give me a hug and I promptly pushed my hand in his hand, gave him a firm Scottish handshake and wished him well. he he that was him put in his place I think... Anyway Brad found this hilarious.

Another "friend" of Brad's tried to kiss me on our first meet. I turned away that quickly that he very nearly had to kiss my ear! That was quite disgusting however this man was quite a sleaze and thought it would be appropriate to grope me under the table when we were having drinks. He was letting me know how he "appreciated" me however I also let him know that if he ever tried that again I would rip his arms out of their sockets. A bit forward for me but sometimes that is how it has to be. Anyway he also grabbed Brad's arse on the way out of the pub and after I enlightened Brad on my "experience", the friendship has now ended. (Oh his name is Malcolm and he really is a dirty old man... - apparently he was not this bad before Brad came to the UK)

So at the end of this ramble I think I am starting to fit in quite well. Happy to hug and even more happy to tell people to back off when required....

& the other news it that I have been back at the gym for 2 weeks now and can feel my man boobs disappearing already....

oh and we are having our first visitor this week. A mate of mine from Edinburgh had holidays to take and decided 2 weeks ago to come to Sydney. He arrived on Saturday so I have 2 weeks of sight seeing to look forward to....

Immigration

We have had out interview with the scariest women ever at the Department of Immigration. Looking back at it, she is actually very good at her job but at the time she had us both in a fluster trying to find the evidence that we had gathered.

Everything was in a lever arch file, indexed and each document was in a plastic sleeve so it was easy to find. We turned up at the office on time for our interview and we were seen straight away (I was glad as there were hundreds of people milling around waiting in queues etc). Then the interview began.....

After taking our passports, and other official documents and setting up a file on her PC, she proceeded to look at Brad and ask what he had done 2 days ago. I clicked straight away that she was referring to my Birthday so told him that was what she meant. I was shot down and told that if she looked at me she was asking me a question, and if she looked at Brad, she was asking him a question and not to speak unless spoken too. So on it went - question after question, checking how much we knew about each other along with different questions about our time in the UK and travelling. Oh she did keep referring to the UK as England which annoyed me (I kept trying to correct her in the nicest possible way though!) She kept asking for different bits of evidence and at one point we had paper everywhere. So much for the filing system. Brad was in a fluster trying to sort everything out and I gave up and just kept talking too her! It would have been funny to watch had it been recorded. (Oh and my credit card was declined when I went to pay the fee..... he he. UK banks keep blocking my cards at the most inappropriate times so that was more stress as we got the block removed!)

So at the end of an hour and a half, I was given a bridging visa which allows me to stay in the country beyond when my tourist visa expires (5th May) and I have to produce a couple more documents from the UK within 28 days. It was quite promising though and she seemed to indicate that the visa would be granted. That being the case I can start applying for jobs on the 6th May.... (Just in time for winter!)

More photo's

There are some more photo's up loaded to the Sydney Album. Go take a look...

Sydney Pictures

The new flat

At last we have moved in, the boxes are (almost) unpacked and we are just about settled.

I have had a chance to explore the neighbourhood and even made friends with the coffee shop owner (she makes great coffee) and with the owner of a household / hardware shop that I have been in every day!

Surry Hills is a really nice area. Not far from the city centre but we are just a minutes walk from Moore Park (just a big park!), we are close to Fox Studios which has an entertainment quarter (cinemas, bars, restaurants etc) and there are plenty of Supermarkets etc around the area as well.

All in all I quite like the area (& the flat is growing on me even if it is just a bit on the small side.....)

Willy Willy

I have been in my first "willy-willy" - no it's not rude!

We were visiting Brad's family in Gloucester last weekend. We were sitting outside and the wind suddenly picked up and then without any other warning, everything took off, including some important papers. We had to grab the table and cups etc and hold on until it passed. We then spent the next half an hour trying to find everything.

So a willy willy is a mini tornado..... (quite exciting!)