That was a long trip! The main thing is that I've made it to Adelaide safely and with all my luggage. :-)
Speaking of luggage, one of the Australian quarantine guys was bugging me about traveling with three full suitcases (little did he know that everything I owned fit in those three suitcases). I usually try to pack light, but when you are taking everything you own it may take more than one suitcase. :-)
I have been taking sleeping pills to make sure I don't wake up at 3 am and it seems that the pills have been working. I am almost used to this time zone, and by 10 pm I can barely keep my eyes open. Last night, I almost fell asleep while brushing my teeth. lol
This morning, I went for a walk along the beach. BEAUTIFUL!!! The sky was blue, the ocean was tranquil and the weather was warm. What else do you need to be happy (well, Carla beside me would have completed the picture, but that will happen too).
As this is my third country that I am living in over the last year I have figured out what is the most confusing experience for a newcomer. No, it is not the laws, or where to buy your groceries. The most confusing thing is figuring out which cell phone plan to get! I don't know if they can make it more confusing than this. First, they charge you a connection charge for most of the calls. Second, they bill you in 30 second increments, so they list the price in 30 second increments. Third, they charge you different rates for calling fixed and mobile phones. Then they have these confusing plans where you pay $49 for a plan but you get $300 worth of money in the account! I know, I know, it all makes sense in the twisted mind of a marketing manager, but when a poor consumer looks at it all it just does not make sense.
I am seriously eyeing the SUPER simple "BeanCounter" rate by Virgin Mobile. They will charge you a 25 cent connection charge and then 10 cents a minute no matter who you call in Australia. Pretty simple! Unlike the other scammers that even charge you to leave a voicemail for someone. Or to call your company's help line!!!
As for a home phone, I am pretty sure I will be going with a VOIP phone. The trick will be to find a good quality provider.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
In Vancouver
I am in Vancouver Airport's Air Canada Lounge, waiting for the flight to Sydney to start boarding. My last flight was 5 hours long, but this flight will be the big one. 15.5 hrs to Sydney! Ouch!
There are supposedly 73 empty seats in the economy class, so I might be able to stretch out over a few seats. That would be nice.
I spent my time at the airport applying for jobs in Australia. Definitely time well spent. On the flight from Ottawa, I used the time on the plane to clean out and organize pictures on my laptop. It is amazing how much pictures you accumulate over the years, especially with the quantity of overseas trips that we've had. :-) I was only able to correct the orientation of the pictures during my time on the airplane. Now comes the hard part of deleting pictures and keeping only the good ones. My picture collection takes up over 20GB, so I would like to reduce that number, as my stay in Australia will only add to this number, not subtract from it.
Well, it's time to prep for the trip (hydrate, refill water, juice up the laptop, etc.) I will update you all once I arrive in Adelaide (in another 24 or so hours). The fun never ends!
There are supposedly 73 empty seats in the economy class, so I might be able to stretch out over a few seats. That would be nice.
I spent my time at the airport applying for jobs in Australia. Definitely time well spent. On the flight from Ottawa, I used the time on the plane to clean out and organize pictures on my laptop. It is amazing how much pictures you accumulate over the years, especially with the quantity of overseas trips that we've had. :-) I was only able to correct the orientation of the pictures during my time on the airplane. Now comes the hard part of deleting pictures and keeping only the good ones. My picture collection takes up over 20GB, so I would like to reduce that number, as my stay in Australia will only add to this number, not subtract from it.
Well, it's time to prep for the trip (hydrate, refill water, juice up the laptop, etc.) I will update you all once I arrive in Adelaide (in another 24 or so hours). The fun never ends!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Blog title
When I was starting this blog in May last year, I was required to pick a name for the blog. I was considering 'Ivan In Croatia' but for some reason I thought that - based on our long term plans - this blog should encompass much more than our stay in Croatia. I chose 'Ivan On The Move' because that is how I saw our near-term future. And how true that title has been!
I have left Croatia, I am currently staying at a friend's place in Orleans for a short period of time, and will be in Australia very soon. My stay in Ottawa was seriously hampered by the OC Transpo (local public transit company) strike. We are not able to go visit our friends because the buses don't run (and have not run for two months now) and it is impossible to rent a car (because everyone else thought of the same idea). No problem, we are making the best use of our time here, to the extent that the circumstances allow us.
As for the trip to Australia, I am actually looking forward to it. Traveling by plane (even over distances like these - the trip will take 30 hours!) is not a problem anymore. I pack plenty of entertainment (laptop, books, music), drink lots of water (dry air in the airplane increases the chances of you picking up a virus on the plane) and eat well. The biggest challenge that I forsee is getting adjusted to a new time zone. The trick for that is to take a sleeping pill for the first and second evening, and then you are on their day/night cycle. You will still be groggy for a while but at least you won't be waking up at 3 am. That is the worst!
Well, I am off to studying for my case interviews (the tests that you are put through when you are interviewing at a management consulting company). It is fun stuff! Well, it is fun for me, but I don't think that many other people would think so too. :-)
I have left Croatia, I am currently staying at a friend's place in Orleans for a short period of time, and will be in Australia very soon. My stay in Ottawa was seriously hampered by the OC Transpo (local public transit company) strike. We are not able to go visit our friends because the buses don't run (and have not run for two months now) and it is impossible to rent a car (because everyone else thought of the same idea). No problem, we are making the best use of our time here, to the extent that the circumstances allow us.
As for the trip to Australia, I am actually looking forward to it. Traveling by plane (even over distances like these - the trip will take 30 hours!) is not a problem anymore. I pack plenty of entertainment (laptop, books, music), drink lots of water (dry air in the airplane increases the chances of you picking up a virus on the plane) and eat well. The biggest challenge that I forsee is getting adjusted to a new time zone. The trick for that is to take a sleeping pill for the first and second evening, and then you are on their day/night cycle. You will still be groggy for a while but at least you won't be waking up at 3 am. That is the worst!
Well, I am off to studying for my case interviews (the tests that you are put through when you are interviewing at a management consulting company). It is fun stuff! Well, it is fun for me, but I don't think that many other people would think so too. :-)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
More snow
It just won't stop snowing here! At least the temperatures are not as low as they were a few days ago. They have improved to -15 C and -10 C. I know, that's an improvement. :-)
The family we are staying with have a Nintendo Wii. YES!!! Well, since the kids in this house are all girls, most of the games for the Wii are girl games. So, I went over to Rogers and rented Call of Duty: World at War. Ahh! Exactly what I needed. A shooting game. Well, it took me a couple of days to finish it, so I am playing it again on hardest setting. It is HARD but a lot of fun. Exactly the release that I need right now.
Just came back from a grocery shopping trip. Food and drinks are much cheaper here than in Croatia. For example, pop is at least 50% cheaper, canned tuna is 50% cheaper. The problem is that here they don't have the good yogurt and bread that they have in Croatia. Oh well, you can't have it all.
The family we are staying with have a Nintendo Wii. YES!!! Well, since the kids in this house are all girls, most of the games for the Wii are girl games. So, I went over to Rogers and rented Call of Duty: World at War. Ahh! Exactly what I needed. A shooting game. Well, it took me a couple of days to finish it, so I am playing it again on hardest setting. It is HARD but a lot of fun. Exactly the release that I need right now.
Just came back from a grocery shopping trip. Food and drinks are much cheaper here than in Croatia. For example, pop is at least 50% cheaper, canned tuna is 50% cheaper. The problem is that here they don't have the good yogurt and bread that they have in Croatia. Oh well, you can't have it all.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Ughh! A snow storm
Well, I knew it would happen. Yesterday, I had to go into town for some meetings, and it just happens that it had snowed the night before and kept snowing throughout the day. The traffic was terrible. It took me two hours to drive downtown, drop off Carla and then drive to the doctor's. Then, on the way back, we spent 3 hours driving back, fighting the blizzard with everyone else during the evening rush hour. I really did not miss this (integral) part of living in Canada. :-(
Another thing that I completely forgot about is shoveling snow. The driveway had 25 cm of snow, so someone had to clear it off. Yup, that someone was me.
I noticed one thing about food here. Apples taste like plastic and tomatoes have no taste. I miss the IDARED type of apple from Croatia. The apple was juicy, flavorful and soft. The chocolate here also leaves a lot to be desired. It tastes too sugary and too processed.
The things that I have missed about Canada are paying for gas at the pump (I don't like going into the little house to pay), big selection of inexpensive goods at grocery stores, FREE CLEAN bathrooms, and free, well-stocked public libraries.
Another life lesson: You can't have it all, decide what you need the most and go where it is. Right now, I need some sun, heat and no snow! :-)
Another thing that I completely forgot about is shoveling snow. The driveway had 25 cm of snow, so someone had to clear it off. Yup, that someone was me.
I noticed one thing about food here. Apples taste like plastic and tomatoes have no taste. I miss the IDARED type of apple from Croatia. The apple was juicy, flavorful and soft. The chocolate here also leaves a lot to be desired. It tastes too sugary and too processed.
The things that I have missed about Canada are paying for gas at the pump (I don't like going into the little house to pay), big selection of inexpensive goods at grocery stores, FREE CLEAN bathrooms, and free, well-stocked public libraries.
Another life lesson: You can't have it all, decide what you need the most and go where it is. Right now, I need some sun, heat and no snow! :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)