After just a few days here it feels as we never left in the first place. And this time, routine becomes an exciting exercise. My jet lag is allowing me to wake up incredibly early without an alarm and I am taking advantage of it. I am not the type of person that would wake up at 06 am just like that. But I suppose that’s the beauty of starting a new life in a different country, you can reinvent yourself in a way and try to achieve those things that otherwise you can not be bothered with. In my case, it involves to sleep in only in exceptional circumstances (after all there is no need to wake up at 12h every day) and to include exercise as part of my daily routine. Which I will start once this place starts getting warmer. I can’t believe I was complaining about how hot it was just a few weeks ago and now I am stuck in 10-20º C all over again.
I can’t wait to get into Summer once again this year and in the meantime I am keeping myself busy with a bucket load of things that I have to do so I can settle in lovely Melbourne, Australia and leave things done back in Europe. My personal homework involves the following:
Evidence that me and my partner have been in a de facto relationship for the last 12 months (including photos, emails, bank statements…)
Certified photocopies of passports + 2 Passport photo size + Translation of all documents in a language other than English
Evidence that your relationship is continue and ongoing (relationship history, future plans…)
Statutory declarations from 2 Australian citizens that support the claim that the relationship is genuine
Complete health and character checks (police clearance from every country we have lived for more than 1 year, which you have to pay for)
Details of all countries that have been visited during the past 10 years (I am going to call this one the never-ending list)
Pay for the visa charges plus all other charges related to the documentation requested
Etc…
Dutch tax returns for 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 (which my lovely Aussie is taking care of, thank God)
So I don’t just have to look up, translate and pay for a bunch of sheets of paper. I also have to bother my close ones in Australia and to describe where, who and how my personal life developed in the last 3 years and a half. So much for invasion of privacy but fair enough. I wish Spain would have an immigration policy as though as Australia does (please note that I do not support the Australia’s rule about asylum seekers in Christmas Island, I will explain more about that some other time).
Once all this bureaucracy nightmare goes away, we need to buy a car and a house. A whole new adventure right there and one I am looking forward to as houses here are just amazing (at least for a city girl like me used to live in a 50 square meter apartment with 4 more people plus the dog). Just look at that and tell me what do you think? If I were overseas, I would be moving here in a heart beat.
For now I am off now to start listing all the bits and bobs that I require in order to stay but I will be back soon with more photos. Have a nice day!
Related articles
- 10 Things I miss from Melbourne, Australia (myfarawayplaces.wordpress.com)
- Silent journeys (theage.com.au)
- Asylum seekers risking all to escape (edition.cnn.com)
- Beating jet lag (booked.net)
