Movin' on up!

Brisbane, Australia (Aug 2007)- Just a quick update of the ongoings in the past few weeks. Andreas and I have been desperately trying to sell the majority of our larger household items so we don't have to worry about them in the last few weeks. We have also been frantically packing our 4-year's worth of belongings into 8 relatively large (but not large enough!) suitcases. We've decided that paying excess baggage on the plane will be the cheapest and easiest solution to our moving woes. Taking photos, cards and postcards off the walls has been by far the most traumatic experience for me though. We simply can't believe it's all coming to such a quick end; the four years just flew by. I know we'll be back though, probably sooner than we think, especially for Andreas who will have to defend his PhD in November.

In between these traumatic events we've been enjoying our last months here. We've been going out to nice breakfasts during the week (that's a big deal for us!), meeting up a few times with some friends visiting from the Netherlands- Kelly, Douwe and their gorgeous 5 month old son, Kaemon, meeting up with other friends who have just had babies (man-- EVERYONE and their mom is pregnant or has a newborn!), spending quality time with each other etc. I've just sent Andreas on his way to the US for the first time this month (he'll be going twice) with a few of our well packed suitcases. He is attending an accounting conference in Chicago for 10 days where he is scheduled for no less than 7 tenure-track job interviews. He's SO the man!

All in all, and despite our feelings of apprehension, we are very much looking forward to starting anew and being closer to family. And who knows... I might just be back in Oz next year to do some fieldwork for my PhD!!! Thank goodness for tropical fish!

Sydney: The Sequel

Sydney, Australia (June 2007)- This trip was all work and no play. We had only one mission: to get Andreas' US permanent residency visa, otherwise known as: THE GREEN CARD! They shouldn't even call it a green card anymore though, because HELLO, it's not even green! Anyway, I'll cut to the chase, then give details. As you can see from Andreas' happy face in the photo, our mission was successful. Although, it wasn't an easy process. Loads of forms, many hours of filling out the forms and getting supporting documents, years of my life in stress, and lots of dollar-y-doos later, to be exact. Then, there was... THE INTERVIEW! We flew down to Sydney the day before our interview, the 12th of June at 8am. We spent an hour going through security at the US Consulate and then sat for 3 hours while the couples who cut in front of us on the queue (you queue cutters) got all of their paperwork sorted. When we got up, all of our documents were in order and we were sent to window 7 for our interview. We were asked a few questions and BAM, green card city. California here we come baby!

Diesmal war Sydney mehr Geschäftsreise als Erholungsurlaub, mit dem einzigen Ziel Andreas legalen Aufenthalt in den USA zu ermöglichen. Kurz und knapp: Andreas ist jetzt offiziel 'permanent resident', oder zu Neudeutsch - ständige Aufenthaltsgenehmigung. Pack die Badehose ein, nimm dit kleene Rachelein und nix wie ab nach Kalifornien!

Port Douglas

Port Douglas, Australia (June 2007)- We love Port Douglas. Despite the fact that it mostly storms every time we go up there, it remains our favorite spot. This time, we lucked out with the weather. We had planned a two day liveaboard diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef, but Andreas is getting over pneumonia, so we canceled and went straight up to PD. The first two days were especially beautiful- 29 degrees C and sunny. We decided to treat ourselves this time around and so we stayed at the five-star Sheraton Mirage Hotel. The resort had a fantastic layout (similar to Hayman, but it didn't have a Hayman feel), there were lagoons and palm trees everywhere. We had our own little sand beaches, but the hotel is also right on the real beach, 4-Mile Beach that is. So after rolling out of bed and going to our gratis buffet breakfast every morning (YUMMY!), we walked along the beach (and exercised). It was brilliant. We also swam in the lagoons, laid out on the sun benches, got full body wraps and massages from the Spa, had romantic dinners in town and did Sudoku puzzles by the pool! What more could you ask for?! We love you Oz.

Byron Bay Triathlon

Byron Bay, Australia (May 2007)- On Saturday, May 12th 2007, we courageous athletes competed in the Byron Bay Triathlon as a team. Nick (a friend doing a study abroad from UMich) did the 1.5km swim in the cold, surging Pacific Ocean, Andreas did the 40km undulating and windy bike ride, and Rach did the excruitiating 10km run with a cramp the intensity of a large California earthquake. It was great fun. We had the pleasure of being lapped multiple times by the elite triathletes, eating both their dust and their sweat. But, more importantly, we made a few upsets in the Team category. Nick coming in 1 second after Andreas' PhD advisor, Pete Clarkson (Pete: "You're not supposed to be here yet"), Andreas showing Pete the back lights on his bike (Pete: "When did you get in"; A:"3 minutes ago"- laying on the grass stretching; Pete: "Bullshit!!!"); and Rach with enough time to shake hands with the crowd (the little boys loved me!), enjoy a few drinks of water at a walking pace, and still going under one hour. We kicked some major butt. I (Rach) especially enjoyed watching people's bums bounce up and down on the run (sarcasm)! And to all of you older men out there who think you can still (or ever!) pull off wearing budgie smugglers (banana hammocks, sluggos, dick togs, lollybags, or the more common- speedos)... please don't do it while competing in a triathlon, or any other sport for that matter!!! YUCK! This is something I believe I could have lived without seeing. It's just all the bouncing... Ach.

Blues and Roots Festival

Byron Bay, Australia (Apr 2007)- We jammin', jammin' at the Blues and Roots Festival in Byron Bay. This is Australia's answer to Woodstock, a 5-day celebration of 'rooting' the Blues. Rachel and I went down to New South Wales for a day to soak up the vibe and boost our resume of things accomplished in life- 'yesterday's flower children are today's business leaders'. You say, but a festival needs rain and mud- I say, it never rains on Australia's East Coast, but it sure bucketed down when we were there. Although we did not get a chance to take our clothes off and go mud sliding, we certainly felt the '69 vibe. You say, a festival needs a great line-up of artists- I say, John Butler Trio, John Mayer, Joss Stone, Bonnie Raitt, Fat Freddy's Drop, The Roots, Wolfmother, Ben Harper, Fishbone, etc.- beat that. You say, drugs and alcohol- I say, I haven't heard of any study showing a correlation between second-hand cannabis smoke and getting high, but the shit was everywhere man! You say, what about free love- I say, well let's put it in the words of Jimi Hendrix "You know you are a cute little heartbreaker - Foxy (Rachel) lady".

USA

California and Michigan, USA (Feb 2007) - Ah, the good ole' US of A. It's always so refreshing when we go back to the US, especially California! Seeing family and friends is the most rewarding part of our trips, although shopping comes in at a close second! I did nothing special this trip except hang out with the fam (here we are at Carvel!), however Andreas was awarded a University of Queensland Travel Grant to do some of his PhD work at the University of Michigan. Lovely Ann Arbor, Michigan was, for the most part, -29 degrees Fahrenheit and snowing. That's quite a steep jump considering when we left Brisbane in late January, it was 100 degrees!!! Well, I'm glad I wasn't there to freeze my butt off with him! Now we are back in snuggly warm Brissy. Back to life, back to reality. Peace out.

Sydney mate!

Sydney, Australia (Jan 2007)- Ah refreshing Sydney. Sometimes it's nice to get away from small town Brisbanites and hang out with the big league Sydneysiders. The culture, fast pace, good restaurants, but people are just a little less friendly... except if they are trying to get your husband to work for their university!!! I was actually treated like a queen! Free flights, free five star hotel, free breakfasts and lunches, free museum passes, free internet-- it was a grand experience. On Andreas's day off, we went to Manly Beach (finally!). It was absolutely beautiful and had great ice cream and great shopping.

Other notable activities were: watching Andreas's financial accounting presentation at UTS (he kicked some academic ass!)-- he took the spot of the Wharton School of Business academic that was refused from Australia because he didn't get a visa (that's a bloody nightmare), reading at many a cafe, walking around Darling Harbour and Circular Quay, and trying to apply for Andreas's US permanent residency visa and after 30 minutes of trying to get through tight-assed security, getting told that the US changed their policy last week-- they are no longer accepting applications in Australia (BUGGER).

After that debacle, I can't remember what else we did! But we come to Sydney often, so it's all starting to blur anyway! All in all, it was another successful and entertaining trip. But if we do end up moving there... it will definitely be North Sydney... no way I could live in the city!