We had a great weekend!  The boys’ new swingset was delivered on Thursday and on Saturday, my Dad and brother-in-law came over to help my husband put it together.  They got most of it put together and then hubby and I were able to put the rest of it together Sunday morning while Little C was taking his nap.

Saturday night we had a family BBQ to finish off the day of hard work.  We had burgers, corn and veggies cooked on the grill, pasta salad, and fruit salad (watermelon, strawberries and blueberries).

It was a great BBQ and after we finished the swingset on Sunday, Big D played on it for nearly the rest of the day.  He just loves it and we couldn’t be happier with it.  It’s the perfect size for our yard and not too over the top.  Totally worth the money.  We know that the boys will have loads of fun with it for years.

I didn’t do a lot of posting last week, but I did do some reading.  I’ve been in my head a lot lately, for various reasons that I will try to post about.  But, I’ve also been trying to focus on different things.  Simpler things.  It’s hard for me since I’m a dreamer.  Always have been.

Anyway, here are some of the articles I enjoyed reading last week.

Man vs Debt wrote about “Should Retirement Really Be the End Goal for Gen Y?” over at Virology -  I am hardly Gen Y, but I think this sort of thinking is hitting home with a lot more people these days, including myself.

Free Pursuits did a guest post on Location Independent titled Jump Start Your Life of Location Independence With a Sabbatical – I love this idea.  In fact, I have a great friend, who works on Wall Street as a very highly paid executive recruiter.  I was extremely impressed when a few years ago, she was able to negotiate a 6-month sabbatical to go and teach kids English in Thailand.  I figure if someone on Wall Street can do it, then nearly anyone can.

On a side note, Australians and Kiwis, who work at a company for 10 years, earn what is called Long Service Leave.  This is an extra amount of of PAID sabbatical, usually 2-3 months long.  Unreal.  We are getting so ripped off in this county.   My Mom got a crappy camera after 10 years and something equally laughable after 20.

GuyNamedDave, who is also the creator of the 100 Things Challenge, did a great review of the movie, Up.  We took our son to see it a few weeks ago and just loved it.  Unfortunately, our son got scared at the very end (overstimulated is more like it), so I had to take him out and missed the last 15 minutes or so (hubby filled me in).  But, the the crux of the story definitely hit a chord with me and as a result I’ve been relishing in the more “boring” aspects of life and enjoying the little things.

After all, it’s the little things that often make the biggest difference.

On a lighter note, Making this Home tells us how to make your own marshmallows!  I have never even thought of doing this!  Now I totally want to do it for our next BBQ.   I mean, not super healthy, but at least you know what’s going into it and they are ingredients that can be pronounced, which is a big plus in my book.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend too, also full of little things, making big memories.

I’ve found quite a few expat blogs of Americans living in Australia that I have been checking out lately and there seem to be a lot of homesick Sheilas down under.

I don’t know if it was different for me because I chose to move to Australia and actually had to work quite hard and strategically to get a visa to do it, but I loved pretty much every minute of my time there and didn’t really want to leave.

In fact, I was thinking about it the other day and I think that the reason I often feel I want to move back there is because I wasn’t ready to leave when we did.  I remember being so sad about leaving and it took a really long time for me to stop comparing everything to Australia and thinking that America just does everything ass backwards.

(Note that we left because my husband won the Green Card Lottery, which I will talk about another time).

But, I have learned to appreciate both places for what they are.  I would miss a lot about living here in the US, mostly the community of friends and neighbors that we have where we are.  It’s really a special thing we’ve got going.

I would also really miss my family and how they are with my children.  It’s a lot different when it’s just you, but throw kids in the mix and it’s a whole different ball game.

However, there are many things that I miss about Australia, so I thought I would make a list.  Maybe those homesick ladies who read this will recognize some of these things and learn to appreciate them too.  They actually might miss them too when their time down under is over.

1. Tim Tams – enough said.  I few weeks ago I would also have said “tasty cheese”, but I found some at Trader Joe’s.  Yay!!  I do miss the ice cream there though…it’s SO much better and creamier!
2. Good coffee bars - oh how I miss a good coffee bar that gives you a coffee/cappuccino in a proper cup/saucer with a spoon as opposed to a paper cup with a stir stick, even when you are sitting in the cafe.  WTF?!
3. Beautiful beaches. And, yes, you are right, we have beautiful beaches too.  But, they still have nothing on Australian beaches and the gorgeous clear water where you can look down and see your toes.
4. Clean beaches with no cigarette butts…or smoking for that matter!  Yahoo!  Don’t even get me started on the nastiness that I saw at the last few beaches I’ve been to here with people throwing food and everything else in the sand.  WTF??
5. The fauna – specifically the birds and the bird sounds.  I love the call of the kookaburra.
   
6. The flora – we used to love going to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens ant Mt Coot-tha. Loved looking at all the different plants then getting yummy ice cream at the top of Mt Coot-tha, overlooking the city.
7. Cab queues – you think I could get a cab in my city?  Ha!!  Call one and wait for about 1/2 hour maybe, if you’re lucky.  And I live in a pretty big, popular city!
8. The humor – I love Aussie/Brit humor.  So much wittier than American humor to me.
9. The outdoor culture/weather – with the warmer climate, everything is so much more geared towards the outdoors, which is right up my alley.
10. Markets – there is always an outdoor market to go to on the weekend to get a myriad of cool handmade/artisan stuff.  Great fruit/veg markets too.
11. My friends and family there.
12. Did I mention the beaches? Well, it deserves a second mention at least.
13. I miss outdoor shopping. I miss Queen Street Mall and the Brisbane CBD.
14. I also miss the fact that I lived somewhere on the other side of the world. It made me feel strong and capable that I had accomplished that.  I was amazed everyday at the beauty that surrounded me and I miss that feeling of awe and gratitude too.
15. The accent. I mean, yes, I hear it everyday from my husband, but I don’t really hear it anymore, if you know what I mean.
16. Shopping malls that have Target, a grocery store and a library, in addition to all the regular mall stores. Yes, you read that right.  True one stop shopping folks.  Plus, you can window shop and still not leave empty handed if you hit the library as well.  Awesome!  I LOVE this about Australian malls.  Or is this just in Brisbane?
17. Late night shopping. Though this may seem like an inconvenience to some, I loved it.  It made it like an event!  Every day all the shops close at around 5 or 6pm.  Except on late night shopping night, they stay open until 9pm.  In the suburbs, in Brisbane, this is on Thursday night, then Friday night in the city.  Often on Friday nights, my husband and I would meet in Queen Street Mall after work for a bit of walking around the shops and some dinner and drinks before catching the train home.  It was so fun.  Plus, I like the idea that the retail employees had similar normal work hours like everyone else (most shops open at 9am).  Seems more fair as they have families too.
18. The people. I have to say that I felt (and still feel) that Australians are an extremely polite and kind and generally accepting people.  They like to pull for the underdog and always feel you deserve ‘a fair go’.  I was made to feel at home and part of my husband’s family the moment I arrived (and at that time I was just the American girlfriend).  I never felt like an outsider, even amongst his friends.  At various work places, I was a part of the team and enjoyed nearly every job I held.  And although I have heard some complain about the service in Australia, I never had a bad service experience there.  Quite the opposite.  Everything has always been very good and the people are always lovely.
19. The relaxed attitudes – I feel like both my husband and myself are much more uptight living here.  Americans are an uptight bunch comparatively.   Australians are all “no worries” and “she’ll be right, mate”.  They just don’t sweat the small stuff.  I miss that.  I am currently trying to get that back in our lives right now.
20. The spiders. Are you kidding me?  Did you actually believe that?  I do NOT miss the gigantor spiders and grasshoppers as big as my hand (I kid you  not).  My MIL sprays before we come just for me.   She’s afraid I won’t come otherwise.  And I bring the grandkids.

And, if you are an Aussie expat, or just love something about Australia, feel free to add to my list!

I started writing a couple of weeks ago about the lure of living abroad and this is the continuation of that story.  I know that some of you reading this are expats yourselves or have also traveled.  I don’t think I’m unique in my having done this, however, it is a very large part of who I am, so I thought I would share my experience.

As far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to travel to other countries.  I was always friends with the foreign exchange students, one of which I am friends with still today.

However, study abroad never appealed to me, even at University.  So, when I found the BUNAC, work abroad program, where I could basically  just go, on my own terms (and work, which appealed to me much more than studying and going to class), I knew this was my chance.  So, finally, I went right after I finished my graduate degree, before I had any other commitments to hold me back.

Back in 1998, there were no work abroad programs for Australia or New Zealand.  If there were, my life would more than likely be very different right now.  I had always wanted to go to Australia, so that is probably where I would have gone.

But, since that was not an option, I applied for the Work in Britain program.  Once I received my work visa, I booked my flight to London.

I had all sorts of naive, romantic notions of living somewhere around Surrey in some quaint English village, getting who knows what kind of job, and visiting places like the 100 Acre Wood, where Winnie the Pooh lived.  Yes, it’s true.  I’m still bummed I never went there.  One day though, we will take our boys, which will be even better.

So, back to my story.

I was so niave and hadn’t a clue what I was doing in terms of packing. I packed far too much gear, based on my sister’s (the packrat) advice that “you will want/need this while you are away”.  Since she’d studied abroad in Finland I thought she must know.  Nope.  Packed way too much crap that I did not need or want and thought of ditching it many a time.

The flight was a cinch.  I sat next to a lady who gave me some advice, one being to always look for a McDonald’s if I needed to go to the bathroom while walking around London.  Good advice, actually, since many English places didn’t have bathrooms (or ‘loos’) that you could use unless you were a patron, if at all.

When I arrived in London, I went to my hostel, which was very strange for a hostel.  The shower was literally a stall in the room itself, right next to my bed.  So, there were at least 8 beds to this one shower.  No changing area.  You had to get into the shower, take off your clothes, throw them out the door onto the floor, then shower and manage to get dry and dressed, while all the time not showing all your bits to a bunch of strangers.  This was my first experience at a hostel and even I knew, thankfully, this was not normal.

Anyway, I met a few other Americans who were there through BUNAC at a pub meet-up.  Everybody was planning on staying in England, except one guy.  He was going up to Edinburgh, Scotland.  BUNAC had an office up there too.  Interesting.  I hadn’t considered it before.  Then, after a few more days of just being underwhelmed in London in terms of  making any connections with other people or my surroundings, I booked a night bus up to Edinburgh.

When I arrived, I knew immediately it was the right choice.  Edinburgh is just a special place and you can feel it the minute you are there.  The history and the charm just oozes out of every crevice of the city and I felt lucky every day I was there.  The Scots and the travelers who chose to live there were a much warmer bunch than any I had met in London and I knew right away that it was where I was meant to be.

Okay, so I had a hostel bed booked in Edinburgh for the next week.  I was in a city I was planning on staying in for a while.  Now what?  Time to look for a place to live and to get work that will pay for it.  Easy, right?

I will write later about how I went about all this and the type of work I did while I was there.

I have been reading quite a few blogs lately, either from expats or from families who travel extensively or of people wanting to become expats.

I love this sort of thing. The rush of doing something new and different.  The challenge of pushing yourself and your boundaries.  The excitement of constant new surroundings and of meeting new people and eating new foods and being outside of your comfort zone.

It always makes me want to start packing my own bags! But, since that won’t be happening for a while for this fly away family, I have decided to blog about living/working/travel overseas instead.  I will have several travel posts coming over the next weeks.

So this post is about how I was able to live and work in a country outside of the U.S.  How, after I graduated from graduate school, I was able to move to Edinburgh, Scotland.

It was super easy to do this.  And, if you are American, between the ages of 18 and 30 and have graduated high school (with no dependent children), you can do it too!

You can apply for a working visa through BUNAC (British Universities North American Club).

Through BUNAC, you can work in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Ireland or Canada.  You can also do volunteer work in Cambodia, Peru and South Africa.  Each country has an agreement with the US and a maximum limit on how many months you can work, ranging from 3 months to 12 months.  Also, the age requirements vary as well.  For example, if you are over 30, but not over 35, you can still work in New Zealand!

You pay a fee for BUNCAC to acquire a working visa for you, and for other support resources (for both before and after you arrive where you are going).  Each country’s program has specific savings requirements and other recommendations, so be sure to read about each one to see which might suit you best.

I just read that the Work in Britain program is currently closed.  They are in negotiations to hopefully get another one going sometime this year.  So, if you are interested in Britain, keep checking the BUNAC site for updates.  This is sad to me since that is the program I participated in when I lived in Edinburgh.  I’ve written about that move before and how it was one of the best choices I have ever made to spend my money and time.

I will write soon about what happened after I arrived in London, by myself, in a foreign country for the first time, and how I found work and a place to live.

Would you be interested in living in another country?  Or maybe you have?