Future Plans and Emma Prusch Park

I've been asked quite a bit recently what our future plans are and whether we intend to move back to Australia or not. I'm sure people ask this out of politeness than genuine interest, but for anyone who may be reading this, the answer is that we're not sure. We're playing everyday by ear at the moment and just seeing where this adventure takes us. Careers aside, I feel like it's been good for us so far; for us as a little family unit and for us individually (despite the fact that Robert works 24/7 and really didn't get a break when he took a week of leave a few weeks ago. But that's a different story.). For me, I really genuinely wanted a new start and to move somewhere we literally didn't know a single soul. And yes, I wanted a bit of an adventure. I'm not an overly adventurous type (I'm definitely not someone who feels like they need to see the whole world before they die), and being quite introverted, I tend to stick to my comfort zones. But I feel like making a new start freed me from some personal and emotional baggage; a new start has felt really good. There were also people that I wasn't sorry to have left behind (don't worry, if you're reading this, chances are none of them were you! LOL). And I'm not going to lie: I kind of enjoy being one of the people who have a foreign accent! Haha! A lot of the time I get asked if I'm British. Australian is usually people's second guess. Anyway, I hope this answers the question of whether we'll move back or not! There are things we like and dislike here, but I think you'd find that anywhere. 

*****

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago(? I'm losing track of time!), we took Mr Toddler to Emma Prusch Farm Park. It was sort of a continuation of checking out these awesome parks in SF and surrounding areas. It was about an hour's drive away from SF, and for anyone who knows Sydney, it was a bit like driving from the CBD to Penrith. The weather difference was similar as well: we left a cool, temperate SF and ended up in a very hot San Jose. Which sucked because I hate hot weather, and we probably would have hung around a bit longer if it hadn't been so hot. But the park itself is pretty cool, and I couldn't think of anything similar in Sydney. Aside from an awesome playground, it's basically a playground crossed with a little farm. I think its intention is to show kids what country life is like a bit. There are multiple picnic areas, an animal area that's home to some goats, chickens etc., a farm house, a barn and some gardens. There are also chickens just wandering around the place of their own freewill (clearly the owners have a lot of trust in people!). 

In his typical fashion, Mr Toddler went straight for some old tractors once he'd had lunch. He wanted to sit up on them and play with the steering wheel, but unfortunately the heat had made the metal too hot, so he couldn't really play on it. But I thought it was good for him to see some animals again and to be in a big, open space. City living definitely has many perks, but the one thing it doesn't have is a lot of green, open space. 

San Jose itself was interesting. And I'm starting to get more accustomed to the Bay Area being home to many small cities, unlike Sydney which is a big city with lots of big suburbs. If I were to liken The Bay Area to Sydney, Sydney CBD would be its own city, Parramatta would be its own city, Penrith would be its own, etc., etc. San Jose was also like walking into Mexico town. Everything was in Mexican(???)... Portuguese(???)... Spanish(???)... (what language do they speak in Mexico? LOL!), and I felt like every business was a taco place. LOL. (I guess we know where to go if we want many, many tacos!) I've found it interesting to see the influence of a country we really don't have a lot of exposure to in Australia. I'm glad we got a car. We didn't have to, but I think it was worth it, if only just because it's given us the chance to explore so much more than we otherwise would have. 

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here are a few pics from the park. If Mr Toddler ever decides that animals are his "thing", it would be a great place to host a birthday party at!

xoxo

ANZAC Day

It is currently ANZAC Day in Australia: one of the most important remembrance days of the year. I don't usually do much on/for ANZAC Day. Guiltily, I've never been to a dawn procession or anything. But I do feel that it's a time for Aussies to reflect on the lucky country they live in, and give thanks to those who fought for the privileges they live with now. It's one day of the year where I don't think we should forget our history. In many cases, I think people should let the past go: I know what it's like to live without doing such, and the past actions of ourselves or others can eat away at us like a physical disease slowly gnawing away at our flesh. It's so much better, I feel, to let it go and get on with life without blaming others and their actions in the past.

But in the case of ANZAC Day, I think the opposite: people gave up their lives for our generations and (hopefully) future generations to live the way we do now. Our generation has never had to experience things that the ANZACs did, and we have them to thank for it.

Australia is a lucky country. Living in the US now is the only time I've lived elsewhere (unless you count the first few months of my life), yet it's been clear to me that my life in Australia was very fortunate, as it is for many others. San Francisco life (I wouldn't know about other areas in the US) is wonderful. If you're rich. Or at least well-off. My little family isn't what I'd consider to be "rich", but we're comfortable. And I'm lucky to be able to say that from a city like this. For the rich, the US indeed seems to be the land of opportunity. If you have means to access that opportunity. If not, you're pretty screwed. And it's scary to see the result of being on the poorer end of society: homelessness is just one major issue for this city, and it's so very visible. It feels like there is more risk to living here as the gap between rich and poor is so much more apparent. This country doesn't have some of the means of support that Australia does, and without getting too deeply political, I'm only thankful for the privileged life I've had. It's scary how easy it would be for any of us to end up on the streets like so many people are here: without support or help. It's too easy here to live in squalor.

Of course Australia isn't perfect; no country is. But there are many things I miss about it, and many things about it that can be seen as being more fortunate than the life I lead here.

As usual, I am pretty tired. I'm also sick again.

But I'm planning to make some ANZAC cookies in the next couple of days. Better late than never, right? I could really use a taste of home. (I haven't baked anything in a long time, though, so who knows how they'll turn out!) I also realised that our toddler has never had ANZAC cookie before! So I thought we should get him started!

Of course, as usual, I could write a lot more; get a lot deeper and more political, but I don't have the brain power for it. I just want to say lest we forget. Thank you for the life I've had in Australia, which has lead to the life I have here and the life I have in the future. Wherever that may be. Life could be a hell of a lot worse for all of us. And it's sad that I have only to look out my window to see that. Thank you to those who came before us.

xoxo

Some Things That I Forgot to Mention Last Time...

Things that are making me homesick:

~ The Wiggles! LOL. Aside from my own voice and my husband's voice, I don't hear the Aussie accent very often anymore. And when I do hear it now, it now sounds very Australian! Skyping my family is also the only other time I hear it. 

~ Sand! Sand here isn't the same. It's coarse and sort of dirty compared to the fine, powdery stuff of Aussie beaches.

~ Teething rusks! I'm having to buy teething rusks off Amazon because they're not sold here! I'm not talking about just biscuits for toddlers; I'm talking about those hard things that help when they're teething. Our toddler loves them, and unfortunately they're not sold here!! WHAT?!

*****

Anyway, we just had our first "taste" of the American school system by going for a tour of a pre-school. It's the general "way of things" that you have a tour of prospective schools for your child, regardless of the system you're choosing. I loved the school we checked out this morning and I'd love for mr toddler to spend his days there. That said, I also don't want to get my hopes up, and it's always recommended that you apply to a few places in case you don't get in. But this one was lovely, and the people seemed nice as well. I can't believe I'm checking out schools! It seems like yesterday that the little guy was born!

I'm still also getting my head around the school year starting in September. I'm not sure why it's like that, but it is. I guess things are based around their Summer holidays which happen in the middle of the year. Personally, I preferred the Australian system. It just seems to make so much more sense for the school year to start at the beginning of the year, regardless of when Summer may be!

In other news, I got excited the other evening when I was chatting to my ballet teacher on FB. (She's amazing. She must teach hundreds of students a week, yet she manages to remember our names and message all of us to give us feedback. She's such an awesome person and her dedication to her job is admirable!) Anywho, I told her that I've always felt bummed about quitting ballet just as I was about to start pointe, so getting on pointe would be a small dream come true at 32! But she said that's fine and she can work with me to achieve that!! She also said she can see I'm already building strength, which is awesome. This has definitely been one of the best things about moving here, for me. :-) (Even though my husband has absolutely no clue as to how I spend those few hours a week! Ha...)

One thing I definitely don't like, however, is that tax isn't included on things you buy here. So every time I buy something, I freak out because everything comes up as being more expensive than what's written on the price tag. It makes no sense to not just write it on the tag. How are you supposed to know how much you're really paying, otherwise?? They must get a lot of freakouts from people like me who are like "???!!!" when they get to the register.

Anyway, I think that's about all that I forgot to mention the other night. I'm consistently tired when I write in this blog, but tired is what I am right now as the toddler didn't sleep much at all last night. Plus, public tantrums and meltdowns tend to wear me out just as much as they do, him! 

Thanks for reading, all!

xoxo

A Month In... And Happy Easter!

Firstly, HAPPY EASTER to anyone who may be reading this! Unfortunately, Easter isn't a huge thing here (like it is in Australia). There aren't even public holidays for it. We've celebrated it, nonetheless, with a visit from the bunny, plenty of chocolate and hot cross buns (which were surprisingly difficult to find).

Well, we have been here for just over a month. And homesickness is beginning to weasel its way in. It started to sink in this week that we're not here for a mere holiday; we're not going back to Australia (at least any time in the near future), and it's taken a month for me to realise that. Haha. It seems like only yesterday that Robert and I were hypothetically talking about it while we were on a walk with the toddler around Greenwich where we'd lived for a good eight years or so. The topic sort of just came up when we were throwing around options for the future, and so I can't believe that now here we sit in the US...! Time is flying and I can't keep up! Our talks started... hmm... last year sometime...? Anyway, I found myself missing a few certain things this week: my family, a few close friends, driving on the left, ABC for Kids, Sydney Harbour, Balmoral Beach, good coffee... I'm grateful for Skype and modern technology in the very least.

Things also went a little pear shaped during the week when I began researching schools for Mr toddler. We'd been advised to start early by a couple of other Aussie families we've met here (their kids are a bit older: one is four, the other is two). So I thought I'd really start looking into things. I'd assumed (stupidly) that the school system/s here were similar to how they are in Sydney: if you're opting for the public system, you go to the school that's in your neighbourhood, and if you opt for private, you apply and pay lots of money. And for pre-schools, you just enrol, right? Not quite... The school system here is similar, but rigorous and even more competitive. Plus, if you want the public system, it's not about where you live: in San Francisco, you put down a list of preferences for schools and you get handed whatever's available, regardless of your place of residence. What's more is that there's huge competition for pre-school here. Pre-schools are expensive. They're also seen as being really important, because the primary (or elementary) school you attend can be determined by what pre-school you attend as certain pre-schools feed into certain primary schools (and then high schools and so on). So people tend to get very anal about applying etc. Back in Sydney, I'd had things pretty well planned out: I knew what school/s I wanted our child to attend and I knew the system really well having attended it my whole childhood, lived in the same area and taught in it for a little while. Now I'm a fish out of water in competitive rapids. We all want the best for our children, and it seems parents are pretty willing to do whatever it takes (and pay whatever price) for their kids to have that here. It's a bit crazy and I almost broke down and cried about it the other evening, particularly when we'll need to pay upfront if I am to finish my own education here. This city is expensive, and for a few moments this week I really wondered whether we'd made the right choice in coming here. Fortunately, I'm married to someone who doesn't stress easily, and he thinks we'll be OK. So with his support and reassurance and some chocolate, I was alright in the end. For now.

Our car that we've only had for a week also got scratched yesterday. Two of the side panels will need replacing. After our car drama in Australia (went for three years!), I thought we'd be spared more car-related dramas. Apparently not. I'm tempted to simply not have a car...

In happier news, we did go to an event yesterday at the Ghirardelli Square yesterday for Easter where they had small things happening for kids. As a big chocolate lover, this place has been one of my favourites since we were here in December! Haha. My child enjoyed meeting the Easter bunny. I enjoyed consuming chocolate.

And as per usual, I know I had a lot of other things to write here, but I've totally forgotten. Think I'll go eat some more chocolate...!

xoxo

One More Sleep in Sydney!

I cannot sleep. This is our last night here; the time has come for us to say goodbye to the city and country that I have called "home" for all of my 32 years! I have never lived anywhere else before, so this change is huge for me! I also don't cope with change very well... whose silly idea was this, anyway?!?! Heh...

Husband handed in the keys to our old place yesterday, and he handed back the car we'd been using for the past few months tonight (we haven't owned a car for years, now, but that's a completely different story). We are virtually homeless. And it's a bit sad seeing some of our old belongings just left out on the street. :-( That being said, I won't be sad to say goodbye to this small hotel room and its uncomfortable bed.

I will miss my family a lot. And it dawned on me yesterday that I may very well be rather lonely over there for a while. My sister took me out for a couple of sisterly outings this week which was awesome. It was great to have sister time, but also great to have some baby-free time: something I won't get much of once we're over there since we don't know anyone/won't have a babysitter! Eek!

Anyway, I suppose I should try to get some sleep as we have a crazy 24 hours ahead of us! (I am NOT looking forward to another 13 hour flight with a toddler.) Farewell to you, Sydney. You have been an awesome home, and I was lucky to grow up in some special areas. I'll miss you a lot, but I definitely think it's time for a new adventure in a new land for me and my little family.

Less than Two Weeks! Anxiety is setting in...

Moving day is getting closer and closer! Less than two weeks now until we leave the country indefinitely! It's sinking in now as anxiety begins to overtake the initial excitement...! I've had to remind myself a few times, now, why we're doing this when I feel homesick (yes, I'm already feeling homesick, even though we're still here!) or when I feel like I can't live without being close to certain family members or friends. I was never good at being far from people I love (heck, I'd cry and get homesick at sleep-overs as a kid!), so this is really going to test me and my scaredy-cat personality. But we only live once, right?! And I do really need an adventure! (Although the idea of my husband going alone when I chicken out at the last minute at the sight of my family in tears at the airport has crossed my mind...!)

We will be living out of three large and two smaller suitcases for the good part of the next month. And next week will be spent in a hotel. Not sure how the 17 month old will take that, but oh well...!

I've been lucky to have been introduced to some friends of a friend (thank YOU, Internet!) who has a toddler, so it's been great to ask a few questions and know that we have ONE contact over there! And if they have kids, that's even better! As an awkwardly shy and anti-social person, myself, I often worry about my own child inheriting some of my more unfortunate traits, and I cringe at the thought of him struggling to socialise the way I did all through my growing up (and even now). Hell, I was the awkward kid in school who'd stick to the teacher because I was so intimidated at the mere idea of associating with my peers. I don't want my own child to be that way; it makes being a child so much more difficult, and I want him to enjoy childhood to the max!

But I digress, I will miss our little house in Sydney. We've lived here for a good eight years, now (where did that time go?!), so it'll be sad and strange to say goodbye. 

We (well, my husband, really) has been dusting off a lot of stuff that we've had packed away for years. Feeling slightly purged knowing that he's filled our bins so quickly and easily with junk that's been accumulated.

Thank you to everyone who's made the effort to see us recently! We'll miss you! 

It's so strange to think that in two weeks' time, we will be residents of the USA! Never say never...

xoxo