This morning I had the privilege of an outdoor workout in torrential rain and hail!  We were meant to go for a run, but instead we stayed under an overhang and did boxing.  Winter is the one thing I don't like about Adelaide.  Oh, and the horrible 'safety' traffic cameras.  And also the fact that my good friends live elsewhere.  That sounds very negative, but everyone knows that I mostly love it here!

I started a new job this week.  I will continue working with Grace but for the next three months I'll also be doing two full days a week at a public hospital.  My team is called the 'RITH' (Rehab in the Home) team and basically it's exactly what it sounds like.  People admitted to an in-patient rehabilitation unit can have early discharge and be supported at their homes by speech path, OT, physio, social work, nurses and doctors.  This means I will be very busy!  It's particularly good, since it won't be long until Jeremy is off to Port Lincoln for three months.  I might as well keep myself occupied and make some money while I'm at it.

I'm excited to visit Port Lincoln.  Everyone seems to think it's a beautiful place, and there are some intriguing things to do out there - for example, cage diving with great white sharks.  I can't say this is something that I ever thought I would do, but I've been thinking about it and come to the conclusion that there's no reason not to.  We'll see if I can drag a few people along...

This image shows where Port Lincoln is in relation to Adelaide.  According to Google maps, it is approximately a 648 km drive, or 7.5 hours.  It's also possible to take a two hour ferry ride from Wallaroo to Lucky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula, which takes just over 6 hours total but driving time is decreased by two hours since you're on the boat! 

Eek!  I looked up shark diving on Google images and it is pretty scary.  We'll see what happens when the time comes! 

Some more fascinating Port Lincoln facts, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Port Lincoln is a city on the lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located approximately 280 km (straight line – 646 km by road) from the State's capital city of Adelaide. The city is reputed to have the most millionaires per capita in Australia.^[2] The town claims to be the 'Seafood Capital of Australia'.<sup>[3]

This evening, I'm off to Angaston (in the Barossa Valley) for a girl's night with MJ.  She is currently doing a GP rotation out there, and claims that the restaurants are fabulous...not hard to believe, being in the Barossa!  Since I'm sure a drop of wine or two will be consumed, I will be lodging with her in the PGPPP house for the night.  Jeremy is working all weekend, but will be off all next week including the weekend.  This has us wondering if we might fit a camping trip in...the only trouble is the 7 degree weather and rain!</sup>

CHANGE

"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of."

Jim Rohn 

To continue on from the February blog challenge, we have had monthly prompts (instead of daily!) which theoretically should be easier to respond to - but I guess in February I got into a routine.  Now, there is no routine...but I'm going to respond to the June prompt! (Better late than never)

Our task for this month is to talk about how we have changed since becoming an expat.

This requires much reflection.  Of course I have changed, but I have also aged 5.5 years, continued my schooling, embarked on my dream career path...etc.  

I think one of the main changes has been increased independence.  When you live in one place your whole life and have your family and friends you've known since you were a kid/teenager, you get pretty comfy.  When we moved to Brisbane, I was obsessed with finding friends and having a social life.  I was 25 and had just made this big move, Jeremy was busy with med school, and I didn't have a lot going on.  I found amazing friends in Brisbane and I really really really wanted that.  When we moved to Adelaide (particularly after I found a job after my couple of months of unemployment woes) I was more content to just take it easy.  We haven't actually gone out to a club since we've been here.  I feel so old admitting that!  But that is a change...it's just not my scene anymore.  I *really* like sitting in my backyard reading, going out for dinner, and having friends come over.  Life has slowed down.  I'm really happy to spend time with Jeremy and don't feel the need to always have something planned or someone else around.  In my recent social pursuits, I've done things like join a book club (which I had always wanted to do) and play hockey (not so much this year, I've been lagging).  More sedate activities than med kegs and weekends at Zaphod's.  

When I visited Canada recently, there were people that I hadn't seen for almost three years.  The greatest thing is when you get together with these people and even though you've all changed in various ways, there is something fundamental about your relationship that can weather these changes.  There's this familiarity about your friends 'back home' that is different from the relationships that you build as an expat.  It's something that I cherish more with each visit, when I expect that maybe that special thing might be a bit different - but it's not.  I think that a lot of time, change means growth - but it's nice to know that your 'people' will always be there :) 

 

And in an instant, we're back in Australia.

We had a wonderful trip to Canada, and as usual the only complaint was that it didn't last long enough!  It was much more fun to have a travel companion rather than going solo, although it did make the logistics for where to stay/with who/when a little more difficult but I think we managed pretty well.

The weather was beautiful, particularly on the most important day - D'Arcy and Birte's wedding day!  I don't think they could have asked for a more perfect day.  It was great to be back at the farm for another wedding - and this time not have to deal with any of the stresses of it being my own!  I don't remember being that stressed, actually, but at your own wedding you feel obligated to do the rounds and make sure you're not neglecting anyone whereas at this one I could dance the night away :)

It was also fantastic to spend some time at Hartley and Peggy's cottage, which is one of my favourite places.  Jeremy and I spent the night after the wedding there, reading and relaxing which was the ideal thing to do after all the excitement.  We had a soundtrack of Ontario wildlife in the background, including the loon.  My parents drove up with their seadoo and met us at Charleston Lake after our night at the cottage and saw the cottage for the first time.  We spent quite a bit of time swimming in the lake, which is almost unheard of at the beginning of June, but that is just how gorgeous it was.

I finally got to meet my nephew and niece, Caleb and Aliana.  I think it went pretty well.  I can still hear choruses of "Aunt Leaaaaaaaaaaaana" and "Feliz Doobidoo".  We named some cows, played in leaf piles, talked nonsense and did all sorts of other fun things that a 4 year old and a 2 year old would enjoy.  I'm looking forward to our next encounter!

I also got to re-explore my favourite Canadian city, Montreal.  I hadn't been in almost ten years and during my weekend there I remembered why it had been my favourite city.  It's so vibrant, alive, happening...we were there for Ronan and Adam's bachelor party and there was no end to the festivities.  Over the weekend, we had dinner in the dark, rented a private karaoke room, went to a poutine restaurant, walked around the city, had a swim in the hotel pool, had dinner in the gay village, danced the night away at a club in the gay village.  I think Ro and Adam really enjoyed themselves, which is obviously the most important part!

That's probably enough of an update for now although I haven't even touched on half of our trip.  I always find the jet lag coming back to be much worse and this time was no exception.  In fact, this time was the very worst!  I think we're almost back to normal now, but yuck...no fun!