Surprise Trip!

"Surprise!" I shouted as I greeted my best friend and my parents at their doorsteps. Yes, you guessed it. I have been back on home soil!

Greg landed a work contract in North Sydney, Australia, this year. With two more weeks of freedom before my job started, I decided to jump on board for his first work trip. It was only a very short trip, a few days in length. The best part about it - my family and friends didn't know! I could hardly contain my excitement on the flight over.

When we flew into Sydney, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and boats were lounging on the peaceful waters of Sydney Harbour. We checked in early to our hotel to freshen up after the long flight. Showering after flying long distance is one of the best feelings in the world. It makes you feel human again. Similar to the feeling of showering after a long, hot day in the shearing shed (that's the farm girl side of me talking)!

The first thing on my to-do list was to surprise my best friend, Rach, who had recently moved to Sydney. To ensure she would be home, I called her on Facetime to 'catch up' and find out her schedule for the day. Greg had the brilliant idea of shutting the curtains and switching the bed lamp on in our hotel room to create the illusion that we were in Florida, where it was night-time. I had asked Rach for her address a week in advance, stating that I had a parcel to send her. Little did she know that the parcel was me... :)

I found Rach's apartment, rang the buzzer and said "Ma'am, I have a parcel for you to sign off on". "Okay, I'll be up in a minute", she responded. Her series of reactions were priceless. She froze, gasped, swore, attacked me with a huge hug, and trembled for the following 10 minutes in complete shock. It's all captured on video, too. I wish I could post the video here, however I don't think Rach would be happy with me if I showed the rest of the world what she looks like in her pyjamas. ;)

Blackwattle Bay and Sydney CBD. Photo credit to Will Jury.

Stand up paddle (SUP) boarding in Mosman.

The next thing on my to-do list was to surprise my parents. I was warned that I should ensure Mum was not standing on a hard surface when I surprised her, because, well, you know what mothers are like.

It was not quite the 'wow factor' I was going for, as Mum was not going to be home the night I had planned to come home. Thus, I called my parents just before my flight, telling them that there would be a very important package waiting for them at Parkes airport that afternoon. Of course, neither of them 'clicked' that it would be me, so I bluntly told them outright what the 'important package' was. My brother also made it home for the weekend. Needless to say, Mum and Dad said it was the best surprise that they could ever ask for. Daughter points right there! ;)

After a joyous weekend, I flew back to Sydney and caught up with a couple more of my besties. Since leaving the country and talking with foreigners, I have found a new appreciation for Sydney. It really is a unique city. I would recommend taking a ferry ride across the Harbour - superb views of the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Ferry ride across the Harbour.

Outside Luna Park. Happy faces!

I also went out to dinner with Greg and his two work mates from New Zealand. I had spent time with these Kiwi's in England and Germany a year ago (on another one of their work trips). They are some of the most intelligent guys I know, with a wicked sense of humour. I haven't heard from them since they lost the Cricket World Cup to Australia this weekend... Go figure. ;)

If you're ever on the north side of Sydney Harbour, I recommend dining at a little Indian Restaurant called Harbourside Indian Restaurant. The service is exceptional, price is reasonable, and the views - SPECTACULAR. You can see for yourself here.

Although a very short trip, it was perhaps one of the best I've ever taken. I find that when I am strapped for time, I don't take it for granted. I make the most of each and every moment.

Who else has visited Australia? What were your experiences?


Have an awesome week,

Maree

Reaching Out on Social Media

Hello, world!

My train of thought today veers from the heavy topics to a more light-hearted one. 

I thought I would share my favorite social media platforms for reaching out to others who have moved/worked abroad or those who are thinking of doing so, primarily in the field of Speech Language Pathology (SLP). I will continue to add to this list as I discover more resources.

Facebook Groups:

• SLPs Going Abroad - a special shout out to this group, administered by an SLP who moved abroad. I have been fortunate to connect with some really awesome SLP's who are 'in the same boat as me' (i.e. have/are experiencing the trials and tribulations of transferring their degrees internationally). 
• Speech Pathologists at Large
• Travel Therapists

Twitter Hashtags:

• #MoveSLP - this hashtag was created by @WeSpeechies administrators.
• #WeSpeechies - this hashtag was created by Australian SLP's. The weekly chats have enabled me to connect with an informative group of SLP's from all over the world.
• #SLPeeps - this hashtag enabled me to link up with a supportive bunch of American SLP's, who I had the honor of meeting face-to-face during the 2014 ASHA Convention in Orlando, Florida. 

#SLPeeps at #ASHA14.   Photo credit to LessonPix.

Blogs:

I have stumbled across a few blogs about traveling SLP's within the United States (nationally):

• Keeping up with the Joneses
• The Ramblings of a Traveling Speech Therapist
• Talk it Out - Traveling Speech Therapist
• Wandering Ways with Travel Speech Therapy

I have not come across any blogs about SLP's traveling/working abroad (internationally). As I blindly navigated my way through this process, I thought this area needed some attention. That is why I started this blog.

An array of blogs and websites appear when you Google search ' working abroad'. I would love to hear from anyone in any line of work who has traveled and worked abroad. It is always inspirational to hear other people's stories.

What have you used to get in touch with people around the world?

Have a great day, 

Maree

What Visa Do I Need?

Hello, folks!

Today we're going to talk about Visa's. Boring, I know. Nonetheless, it's very important for international travel of any kind.

The U.S. offers a range of non-immigrant visa's for temporary stay for tourism, business, visiting, studying and exchange purposes (find out about each of them here). However, applicants who hold these visa's are restricted from employment outside of their visa's conditions. Basically there are two pathways to obtaining the right to work in the U.S.:

1. Temporary, non-immigrant employment visa based on the planned employment purposes. The caveat is that the candidate must be sponsored by a company. The paperwork required to file for sponsorship can be time-consuming. Unfortunately, more highly-skilled, foreign candidates can be declined employment in place of a lesser-skilled, citizen (my husband experienced this difficulty trying to find work in Australia a few years ago). Even when sponsorship is successful, this temporary visa lacks stability because the company can forfeit sponsorship at any time, and there are lots of requirements to satisfy in order to maintain or extend it. You can find more info about non-immigrant employment visa's here.
2. Immigrant visa for permanent residence. This includes family immigration, inter-country adoption and fiance (marriage) visa's. The advantage of this route is that once a permanent immigrant visa is obtained, you have a permanent "right to work" that is not tied to any specific company. The downside is that the route to obtaining said visa can be long and relatively expensive, as outlined here. 

America prides itself on its independence, and so it should. However, the consequence of it not being a part of the Commonwealth made it difficult for me to obtain the right to work here. Classed as a visitor, I was denied employment, health care and indefinite stays in the U.S. I felt like I'd been stripped of my identity. Consequently, my husband and I chose to go down the immigration path for permanent residence in our respective countries. Perhaps the most interesting experience of the process was the medical examination. These were my lasting thoughts:

...prepare to walk in single file from room to room for a two hour period, naked under a thin hospital gown, being poked and prodded in all places imaginable. In other words, say good-bye to your dignity! 

So, was the year-long, grueling process for permanent residency worth it? In my opinion, yes. Arriving into the U.S. on a permanent residency visa for the first time, I actually felt like this country wanted me. I am now entitled to health care, employment, and that pesky social security number which is required for sooooo many things. 

Here's a shout out to anyone else out there who has gone/is going through visa processes to work in another countries. No matter where you are in the world, I would love to hear your stories!

Have a great week,

Maree

Culture Shock!

Travelling to a new place is exciting. Moving to a new place is a whole different ball game.

During the long-distance portion of our relationship, Greg and I would save up enough money to visit one another every 6 months. He worked the red-eye shift at Walmart (difficult for a person who prefers a ‘normal’ sleep schedule), and I worked in a coffee shop (difficult for someone who hates coffee).  We knew we would only have a couple of weeks together, so we would make an effort to visit different attractions and see and do as much as possible within that time period. I think you generally see what you want to see when travelling. You don’t really experience the differences between two countries until you are living somewhere else, both good and bad.

I try to embrace my uniqueness, and it does come in handy for those times when you want to be noticed e.g. interviewing for a job or making friends at the local tennis club. The other day, three employees in Publix (the local supermarket) asked me where my accent was from and struck up conversation, interested to hear all about my life. American’s think Australia is some kind of exotic oasis where everything is trying to kill us. They love icons like Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee, to the point where I’ve been asked if I know them – “Oh yeah, he’s my Uncle” I once replied. Basically, it’s ‘cool’ to be an Aussie in the States.

Getting back to my point – when you live somewhere new, you need to work to earn money and do all those tasks that ‘normal’ people do. You do things 10x slower than everyone else because you’re learning a new way of doing things. You constantly experience the feeling of moving one step forward and two steps back. No matter how hard you try to ‘fit in’, there’s always someone there to let you know that you don’t. There’s two words for this:

Culture Shock! 

No one can ever prepare you enough for it. But you do grow because of it.

I thought I would share a few of America’s idiosyncrasies:

• Everything is about convenience – drive through banking; drive-through pharmacy; drive-through Krispy Kreme Doughnuts; electric garage door openers; the mailman not only delivering mail to your mailbox but also picking up any mail you need to send. (I must say I have grown to enjoy the latter two conveniences)!
• FOOD. EVERYWHERE. There are billboard advertisements for fast-food restaurants every few hundred meters along the freeway. There are so many chain restaurants that I am constantly hearing about new ones. In Australia, you can almost count them on one hand.
• Cheap beer prices. (I also appreciate this one)!
• The health care system is complicated (let’s no even go there, or this blog post will never end)!
• I am constantly learning new lingo. Here’s a few of my favourites:

1. It’s “How are you doing?” in America, not “How are you going?” like in Australia. American’s will reply to the latter with “Going? I’m going nowhere. But I’m doing well, thanks”.
2. ‘shopping cart’ for ‘shopping trolley’
3. ‘gas’ for ‘petrol’. People will ask "Have you got gas?" – makes me laugh every time.
4. ‘Quick Lube’ / ‘Jiffy Lube’ is the name of some mechanic stores. 
5. ...and last but not least, you say ‘I’ve lost my flip flop” when at the beach, not “I’ve lost my thong”. (From personal experience, you only make that mistake once)! 

On that note, have a great week! 

Maree