Living, Driving, and Jobs

LIVING

I said to Josh the other day, “I feel like we are moving backwards in our living situation.” We have shifted from living in our own little apartment as a newly married couple to now back living with a bunch of college students. Oh well. It is saving us money.

We are currently living with six other girls: a Canadian, an American, a Chilean and three Aussies. People say, “Six girls, huh?” I always respond, “Ya, well, it’s better than six college boys!” These girls are pretty settled, all 21+, and “sparkling” clean.  They all are great. Let’s just say, there is never a dirty dish left in the sink. That should say it all.

We live in a rather large room off the kitchen with sliding doors to the back patio. Furniture was included. The only things we ended up having to purchase were sheets, pillows and a comforter. We share a bathroom with Stephie, the Chilean girl. It ends up being a pretty great setup.

The house is pretty huge… definitely enough room to fit all eight of us; we are hardly ever all here though. This works out for us pretty well for now.

DRIVING

Driving has been a bit of an adjustment. They drive on the other side of the road so for the first day I was gasping at every turn as I was thinking we were turning on the wrong side. Sitting in the front seat was so weird; I kept trying to slam on the breaks and grip the steering wheel. Our Aussie friend, Dylan, had a bit of a chuckle at me.

Australia also has a thing for roundabouts; they use them instead of traffic lights as keeps the flow of traffic continuous. If you have hard time with car sickness, this is not the country for you… the roundabouts are around every corner! I am still having a hard time deciphering which way to look for oncoming traffic in those things.

Mal, our Canadian roommate, let me drive the other day. I didn’t ask, mind you… she offered! I cheerfully and nervously accepted. Josh was not keen on it. Her car is a little Holden Barina… it’s comparable to an old four-door Ford Festiva. It is a standard so that made for some extra fun. The stick is in your left hand verses your right. So, not only was I learning to drive on the other side of the road, but also had to figure out how to do stick on the opposite side. The blinkers are also on the opposite side too so every time I indicated to turn, I was turning on the windshield wipers. Ha. I did ok with the roundabouts (as there is about five of them in the half mile we took to the store) but as far as how I did, let’s just say… we made it to the grocery store and Josh has determined that I need way more practice.

JOBS

Job hunting has been a bit stressful. I need to keep in mind that it has only been a week that we have been here. As I mentioned before, we have had some issues with my visa so we are waiting on an approval from the government for me to work. Because we have no car, we are trying to keep within walking distance. I have applied to a few cafes around the area, the preschool at Hillsong Church, and a couple of other childcare places online. The most success I have had was from an ice skating rink down the road that needs someone to do birthday parties. At this point, I’ll take what I can get.

Josh has applied at a few places in the area as well. I think he is waiting until he starts classes this week to figure out what would be the best for him.

Keep us in your prayers. We have had some setbacks and we are trying to stay positive. God is still in control.