Take the Money and Run

My Australian birthday, my first away from home was great. Despite having to work all day it was a lot more than I expected, and, as it fell on a Friday, it left the whole weekend free to party. I got an array of presents which were fantastic! I never fail to be amazed at how awesome my friends are back home. This time they sent me some great gifts but the fact that so much forethought and effort was put in. Special thanks to Luke and Lauren; Fischer; Mum and Dad; Annie; Josef and Lina, Lisa; Karl; Mama Medby; Papa Medby; Leon and Priya; the rest of the Aussie crew and, of course, Ingrid! Although I didn’t get to see a lot of people it was extra-special because I got to spend it with Ingrid.

On Friday night we went for a few drinks and ended up in a pool hall. We got fairly toasted and ended up spilling kebab all over the back of the taxi, while Brandon bragged (rather loudly) about successfully putting his testicles on the pool table without getting thrown out. Nice!

On Saturday - complete with an immense hangover - Ingrid and I travelled north to Bendigo, which takes a couple of hours on the train. We headed up there for Sach and Kate’s engagement party where we got to meet the family, who, I have to say, are a great laugh! They were all so kind and welcoming, sharing their food and drink, their house and their town with us. They even bought me a cake, complete with mini footballs. Thank you SO MUCH! You can’t comprehend how lovely it was to be so far away and feel right at home with just one gesture. We had a royal piss-up on the Saturday and then got to see the town on Sunday before we headed back. It was extra-special for us because it was a very important event for our friends, but also our first time out of Melbourne. We were definitely ready and barely took our eyes off of the window of the train the entire way there. Good luck to Sach and Kate - hip hip hurrah!

I finished work yesterday. The last couple of weeks have been long and dull. It’s partly been because the end has finally been in sight and it has been quite hard for me to pick-up the pace there. Part of it has been because of how quiet the store is in general. We recently got our new season of stock that is very expensive and very hard to sell when it’s $200 just for a flimsy t-shirt. It’s also a lot tougher to sell anything when there is a lack of sizes. The mood has been fairly down at the moment but hopefully it’ll pick-up in there. In general it’s been a really positive experience. They’re all great people in that place and - whether they realise it or not - they’ve done so much to ease me in to being here. Thanks guys, I’ll miss you but I’ll see you soon enough!

Ingrid’s Pa and his girlfriend, Mona got here last Monday and it’s been really cool to hang out with them and see some friendly faces from the outside. I really enjoy spending time with them as we have great conversations, plenty of booze, and generally, just a really relaxed time and a good laugh. I feel we’ve done our best to show them around Melbourne, and oddly, I’ve surprised myself at how much it has felt like I’ve been advertising my own city. I guess it’s a sure sign that I’ve really settled in here. However, it’s time to leave for a little while now and go on holiday to Queensland. We’re flying out to Brisbane today and after a couple of days we’re thinking of driving up the Sunshine Coast to Fraser Island. We haven’t booked anything past Brisbane yet so we’ll how it goes. We’re going out for 10 days and then Ingrid and I will be back in Melbourne for probably another 10 as well before we go to the west coast for a month or so.

Thinking back over the past few months here has really got me thinking about how much (and how little) has been done. I’ve managed to get and hold a job down, make some great friends and make some money. We’ve seen Ingrid through her first year at uni (all but for one exam - I’m really proud) and I’ve managed to settle in to life across the other side of the world. However, now it’s time to uproot all that and put this time and money into travelling with my girl! It’s true that you have to make the most out of life. It’s also true that in order to get the most out of life you need to (for the best part) try hard and work hard. So my advice is to get off your arse and make sure you’re doing something with it! If you have to sit tight for the moment, then make sure when you get a chance, break free, make a choice, and enjoy it.

Listening: The Dodoz, The Grates, Frou Frou.
Reading: 'A History of Norway'.