Assimilating is fun!
This week is the first week of the school holidays and really the last two weeks have been BIG around here.
First we got accepted for a new home! That was exciting.
This week we received the permanent visas: that was THRILLING!
English: AFL Match (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mr O Jnr 2 has been out and about during the week visiting friends. Miss O 1 has been out at least twice (I gather she had a GREAT day out today) with her friends. Mr O Jnr 1 is off to a party tonight and Mr O has gone……………… WAIT FOR IT………………. to an Australian Rules Football game! OMG! Will he survive this defection from soccer! 
Temporary I am sure!
So social networks are building. This is great to see. Moving countries is tough. Moving to such a radically different culture is even tougher. It is great to see everyone just simply getting on with life! Assimilating into a new culture is fun, by all accounts from my family!
Miss O 2 is the only one who hasn’t been out and about so far this holidays, but I am sure she will.
Mrs O? Yes, well, I’ve hardly been home at all with end of financial year. Thank goodness for Miss O 1 who did a superb job of feeding the starving monsters during the week!
Spreaking of feeding and the end of financial year, I had a swoop on the end of financial year appliance sales and bought a rice cooker (finally) and a slow cooker! I got $50 off the slow cooker, so I was very impressed. The rice cooker is a dream! So I may be posting some more cooking endeavours soon. Piglet in Portugal posted a recipe I’m seriously considering adapting for the slow cooker!
My only social activity this week has been a trip to the dentist this morning before the pain knocked me out. I don’t usually mind the dentist, but as I type this 12 hours later, I am still in pain from the extensive work.
Tomorrow Mr O and I are going out dancing to celebrate the visa grant. We’d LOVE to have a night away in a hotel, but the budget won’t allow it at the moment. That will have to wait.
Mr O goes back to school later this month, so he will be busier than ever! I will say one thing: since the visa has been granted he has been sleeping much better.
You call going to the dentist a social activity.. are you mad Robyn !!!
Well, it was a moment out of the office that was solely devoted to me!
Damn tooth played up for 36 hours afterwards too. Spent most of Saturday on painkillers!
Oh dear.. I have personally spent a small fortune on trying to keep my teeth and know all about the subsequent suffering!
Congratulations. It’s so good after following your blog for a while to see your determination and drive see you victorious. If I hear on the news about a thunderous crash and earthquake I’ll relax and know it was Goliath hitting the dirt… and your love sent him there!
Thank you Richard – it truly is a very good time in our lives right now. Still not enough money to do what we SHOULD be able to do, but money doesn’t buy happiness!
Good to hear everything went well. Adjusting to a different country, culture and habits can be somewhat confusing sometimes. How do I know? My girlfriend got her temporary ‘permit of stay’ a few weeks ago and yesterday we got her working permit. She has moved from the USA to Holland and so far things were relatively easy… I’m happy about that!
WOW! Congratulations! That is great news! So you have been going through this too! Tough, isn’t it? Or perhaps Holland is a little less so: also your girlfriend is USA, so less resistance, perhaps?
True. And I have to admit that that what I call – positive discrimination – is just plain unfair to anyone…
Happiness all around! I love it!
Thank you Erin! I about to spend 3 hours getting ready to go out – curling these locks takes FOREVER! Dinner has been slow cooking since 10:30am, so dinner I do not have to worry about!
“This week we received the permanent visas: that was THRILLING!”
Hooray! I’s so happy to read that.
Thank you TimeThief. We are heading to the movies and then dancing to celebrate. Doing it on a budget, but that’s life! Mind you, no-one on Twitter was prepared to offer an opinion on Prometheus, so we are going anyway!
What great news on the Visa Robyn. It seems the family is settling in well and becoming true Australians. I just got home from my holidays to the news that due to our visa type and my husband´s age we will have to wait another 3 years before being able to apply!!! And we were so looking forward to being able to apply now in July.(hubby didn´t want to spoil my time away by telling me this when the rules changed). Can´t figure out why Immigration will grant new visas to the newcomers on the same visa as us, but not to the ones already here.
That sounds really strange, Sami. You do have legal advice? If not, it might be worth getting some. I am so sorry you are being put through this! In three years the rules could change again, that is why I suggest legal advice. I swear by our lawyers, but then you are so far away.
I just saw you met Carole!!!! What great news, I’d love to meet both of you! I am SO far behind on all my reading, but managed to catch up a little tonight.
Thanks Robyn. It´s the second time we miss out because of changes, and who knows what will happen in 3 years time? My husband´s company has a dept. that deals with immigration and they are trying to see if we can get an exception (our problem is hubby being over 50). If they don´t find a way, we will try via an immigration lawyer and see if he can find some loophole. Very frustrating and I´m tired of living in a limbo. Yes, I met Carole and it was lovely, so is a very sweet person.
I can’t see that hubby being over 50 is going to improve the situation in another three years. The work department should be on top of it, but they don’t have the same vested interest you do. I’d get a second opinion at least, if it were me.