Life Down Under Questo non ha assolutamente l’intenzione di essere una guida turistica, ce ne sono talmente tante in giro e sono molto piu’ accurate ed attendibili di quanto potrei mai essere io, anche se mi sento in obbligo di puntualizzare che Melbourne non e’ affatto, cosi’ come preannunciataci dalla nostra preziosissima guida Mondadori, tutta piatta, anzi, tutt’altro, e’ tutta, o quasi, una salita ed una discesa. Percio’ se programmate di girare la citta’ in bicicletta vi consiglio vivamente di allenarvi debitamente prima della partenza. Diciamo che sara’ un resoconto della nostra avventura Australian and hopefully not too boring.
First things first. Meanwhile two of us, Lenora and Fabrizio, but what we do in Australia, I mean they are on vacation? We are exiles in Italy? We moved here temporarily? Permanently transferred? No, we're on vacation, we moved here permanently! Well, let's say for the moment and for the next year we hope to make this land our home. Then anything can 'happen. 'Cause we moved here? Probably because 'Fabrizio still can not keep those hands from chemicals and who knows' how, but one day, hanging out on the Internet, and' stumbled upon the site of the Australian government to advertise the "recruitment drive" of inviting foreign scientists to apply for a visa to leave the country in the Southern Hemisphere. So 'what he did: fill in the application, send all the paperwork, the exam of English, we undergo periodic medical examinations, certificates richieddemmo criminal prosecution and the end of history after nearly two years, one day in July of 2010 we arrival 'the good news that after careful consideration, after reading the papers, assessed the qualifications, we were "pardoned" a visa that allowed him to reside permanently in Australia, provided that cross the boundaries within and 15 October 2010. This' il sito che potete consultare, se siete interessati, e se avete meno di 30 anni ricordatevi che potete venire qui per un anno senza dover fare troppi documenti.
Avete presente cosa significhi scoprire a luglio che entro 4 mesi devi aver smantellato una vita in Italia ed essere pronto a trasferirla in Australia? La mia reazione fu: ridere, e raramente rido; quella di Fabrizio...devo essere sincera ancora non la so. Non eravamo insieme quando lui apprese la notizia.
A quel punto ci siamo detti: siamo ancora relativamente giovani, I am 38 years old (made in Australia) he 37, we do not have children, I am currently unemployed, Fabrizio had the job, but we say that the resignation did not cry, our families are still young and healthy ... so let us try, let's start, which goes badly you always have time to go back.
Step notify families. From my playing because my parents met and married in Australia, have lived here for a couple of years, then my mother was the evil of Italy, and then turned back. Us with my parents after dinner one night without warning, my mother was expecting, or rather hoped, another kind of news, like candy pink or blue ma devo dire che fu emblematica, non verso’ neanche una lacrima, “E’ giusto che andiate, siete giovani, e’ vero che e’ tanto lontano, ma vi verremo a trovare, certo non posso dire di essere contenta perche’ vai via, ma sono felice per voi, perche’ so che e’ quello che volete”. Meravigliosa vero? Aspettate. Il giorno dopo mi presento da sola a casa dei miei all’ora di pranzo. Mia madre sul divano scoppia a piangere, dopo avermi confessto di non aver dormito tutta la notte, di essere disperata e conclude dicendo “Ecco moriro’ senza neanche rivederti piu’”. Meravigliosa vero? Devo dire che adesso le cose vanno meglio, ma non vi raccontero’ della telefonata Christmas. Abandoned the argument, citing the letter of Christmas my 9 year old grandson Marco "Dear uncles are glad that you are in Australia, you do not know what the grandmother is sad ...".
From Fabrizio played the part of the fact that when I talk 'the news to her, they were on vacation, things are sometimes over the phone a lot more' easy to say, but then 'also true that no member his family and 'passionate as he is' my mother.
Moral of the story 10/10/2010, date not on purpose, I can swear, but due to completely random, like "when we leave? ... Oh, well, we could starting last Sunday before the October 15 "and when I went to the travel agency to book a flight I discovered the date, and after 26 hours of flight arrives in Melbourne on 10/12/2010. In October, as the seasons are reversed because 'we are in the southern hemisphere, it was expected at least spring temperatures ... No, we land at eight in the morning and the Flood with temperatures around 10 degrees welcome us. Welcome to Australia! Taxi and after about half an hour we arrived.
Now you need to know that we arrived in Australia without knowing anyone, without a job and the life savings of two years. So, not knowing how long we needed to find lavoroe home we said, "Let's go to the hostel, so 'we save, we stop them' for the first 4 weeks, and meanwhile we work and home." So get off the taxi with our bags of 30 kg, 2 hand luggage of 10 kg each, handbags and purses we present ourselves to the reception of the hostel which we deliver, as required by reservation made in advance, keys a private room on the fourth floor without elevator. What? I read in the perplexities' or perhaps view the amount of baggage that accompanied us, have pity and we have moved to the second floor. When you reach the floor, we stuck the key in the lock chamber, we entered the room, I quickly looked around, and there I 'took a second to capture the whole view of the rooms, they were so "great", I sat on the bed and fell the most' big tears that I believe my husband has ever seen. I do not know if it was fatigue or discomfort to have had the better of me. Just to make this idea and 'scenario that statement' my eyes on that fateful second, tufts of hair and rappuciti appicicosi that lurked in the corners of the room, a finger of dust blissfully rested on plastic window blinds ; metal cabinet, like the gyms locker room, from which came a smell of socks wet and dried several times, like mangy dog \u200b\u200bin the rain, flowers cover the mattress, which you could not identify the type of flower had a lot of brownish-yellowish spots present to cover it, pillows, once pure white to yellow straw, even here, the above-mentioned spots. While, for you to understand my reaction, I must tell you that I'm one of those who, under the kitchen sink and bath, has 2000 products for cleaning, one for each type of soil and / or surface. I'm one of those "forced" her husband to pee 'sitting like women, at least at our house, we mean,' cause horrified at the possibility 'of having the dirty bathroom to sketch (and only a woman can 'understand my thing). I stayed for 4 weeks in overalls and wearing socks, a pillow, as well as two pillowcases, and 'was covered with a towel, my property', pinched at the corners. Some will say "What did you expect from a hostel?" Sara 'real well, but so' Zozzo not really. And I'm not one to be 5-star hotel, I made many camping holidays with curtain, also true that I always had my mattress with my sheets and my sleeping bag ...
However, after 4 weeks in which Fabrizio has risked running out for my sake, we moved into a furnished apartment that we have split with a 19 year old Swiss boy, who obviously worked at Lindt here in Melbourne (not 'a joke), so cute and nice, but with a much more Scazzi on' Italian than Swiss, with a habit of bringing home anyone. Type one evening at midnight, and Fabrizio 'in the bathroom, Fabio, this is its name, is part of the house with a girl, more' or less his age ', all dressed in pink that you are peacefully sitting on my bed and begins to chat, I swear I have no 'idea what I was saying and gave his breath even think she knew. Fabrizio sees her leave the bathroom, laying eyes on him who says "I do not know who he is, I found below that turned drunk, then I said that I would get her home, her home and broke it without really sordid implications. And here is this' Fabio. After a few days into the house with another girl and the first thing he tells us, and '"This I know, and' my girl."
So after the hostel experience and Fabio, we finally managed to take away from the city ', now we have a small house in Chelsea, near where Fabrizio found a job, and things go much better.
Anyways', but the city 'as is'? Direte voi. E gli australiani? E l’Australia? E l’estate australiana? Che dire la citta’ e’ bella, tranne per il fatto che non e’ piatta. E’ come una qualsiasi altra metropoli non europea con circa 200 anni di storia che potete trovare un po’ ovunque. Sicuramente sono stati molto bravi a mantenere viva la parte vecchia della citta’ affincandola ad edifici ipermoderni in vetro ed acciaio dai colori primari. E’ senza dubbio a misura d’uomo, nonostante i suoi 5 milioni di abitanti, ma qui e’ talmente tutto dilatato che non sanno neanche cosa significhi traffico o ingorgo, nonostante continuino a lamentarsi per entrambi. Il traffico per entrare in Alesandria alle 7 e 30 del mattino da Spinetta and 'much worse than the traffic that you could find here in any rush hour. Public transport, both of which they complain, they work really well, 24 hours on 24 and put in connection unimaginable for an urban extension. So much so that if you had time could easily do without a car to get around. Tap water and 'good, does not have that unmistakable taste of chlorine in nearly all the waters of Italy or the United States. The food and 'a variety of' cultural boundless pity that the restaurants are expensive, more 'than we expected. The streets are spotlessly clean and many, but very many have the dog. Public toilets anywhere and enjoy, in the sense that there ' sempre la carta igienicca e nessuna sgradevole sorpresa. La carne e’ tenerissima, saporita e molto, molto meno cara rispetto all’Italia. In generale il prezzo di tutto quello che potrebbe fare male alla salute, tipo: bevande alcoliche, sigarette, bibite gassate, patatine fritte in sacchetto, barrette di cioccolata, insomma tutte le “schifezze” costano un occhio della testa. Verdure, frutta, pesce,carne, pasta, riso costano il giusto. C’e’ in Melbourne un meraviglioso mercato coperto il Queen Victoria market, dove vendono veramente qulsiasi cosa letteralmente dall’ago al missile, dal frutto della passione, agli stivali di pelo di pecora, alla bistecca di canguro passando per i saponi. E’ veramente a melting pot of peoples, cultures, colors, smells, sounds, languages, and that no resident is exempt from visiting tourists. Parks everywhere with the typical and classic lawn, and parks are for the consumption of people, you will never see signs like "Do not step on the beds," SO 'everyone, from mothers with children, young people, employees in suits the business center, pour in the meadows to play in the sun or to eat lunch. The English sometimes and 'absolutely incomprehensible, speaking at the speed' of light, eat a good 25% of the vowels, a nightmare! The Italian, we often hear about, not only by tourists or immigrants new generation like us, by my parents' generation of immigrants and their children. So be careful if you come here and speak Italian confident of not being understood, 'cause often you understand, you will avoid embarrassing figures. And then they drink, seems to be their favorite pastime, drinking in the pub, bar and fortunately can not drink on the streets or in open places. And I'm the filthy, not in that sense, at least, not that I know of, but in the sense that if they go to fast food leave the tray with the remains on the table. Then and 'full of night clubs, and the boys take us girls, their girls, maybe hoping to learn something, I do not know, I have not yet investigated.
Sara ' why 'and' a nation that is still welcoming people from abroad and sometimes requires, but seems to be more 'open to "different", all kinds of diversity'. They are friendly, at least for what we've got to know directly by employees of public and private, clerks, to people you meet at the market.
We are slowly making his hand to his right-hand drive. And proprosito machine, because 'we need one, we took a Matiz used, especially for the beginning and' better to minimize the ingobro in the street, small targets are more 'hard-hit or more' easy to avoid. The guide to the right and 'proved less disastrous than expected, but maybe' too early to say, also because 'a real trip in the car with only the driver still has not' been done in practice to be able to go or not or ditch across the road we still need the pilot and co-pilot. In the car feels just say: 'more ..' to the right, you are more 'right here, so' is not so good ... 'and' too, right, a little 'less ....". If we consider that Fabrizio at the wheel, and by resting and gentleman ', is transformed into his alter ego stevedore and that says a string of curses accompanied by an endless string of rude gesture, you can imagine how relaxing journey with him.
The Australia outside the metropolitan area of \u200b\u200bMelbourne and we have not yet had the pleasure to meet you. We were too busy with other things in them and the first four months, but we hope to turn things very quickly. Top destinations will be Phillip Island, where there are penguins, and the Great Ocean Road, where there is' a lot of ocean to see. But then we'll tell you.
Section fauna of the area or wildlife. Australia and 'known to all as a land populated by animals more' dangerous and deadly of the planet. Suffice it to say that 8 of the 10 most snakes' poisonous in the world live here, but then you do not macare are spiders, sharks, jellyfish, sea shells, crocodiles, in fact have it all. Pero 'also kangaroos, which are not so' harmless and peaceful as they seem and koalas, as well as animals from the absolutely unpronounceable name, but very carini.Questa our experience with the local wildlife. The first two meetings with the local wildlife were: after a few days we moved into our new cottage complete with garden, at 3 am we are awakened by a noise as if someone tried to knock them down 'the fence and we 'literally took a shot! we wake up, turn on the light, we look and the question that nobody wanted to do was "And now those who go to see?" e si sa, il matrimonio mette in comune gioie e dolori, quindi siamo andati insieme. Luci tutte spente, prendiamo una torcia (in realta' poco piu' di un lumino da cimitero) e lo puntiamo fuori nel buio. Dopo poco localizziamo un "coso" accovacciato sulla staccionata, tipo un grosso gatto di 15/20 chili, che, poiche' intercettato, si gira lentissimamente (tipo moviola del novantesimo minuto) verso di noi, ci guarda come per dire" voi non mi avete visto perche' sono invisibile all'occhio umano", e poi si arrampica con l'agilita' di un gatto sull'albero. Morale della favola era un brushtail possum, che si e' dimostrato essere del tutto inoffensivo ed erbivoro. Secondo incontro: sera verso le 10, al tavolo da pranzo a fare il nostro passatempo favorite (that and 'playing cards, and not' a metaphor) when the arm Fabrizio falls from a ceiling all black spider the size of an almond, we help eachother readily insecticide and my hero after fainting with the spray, splashed with the cibatta. After careful analysis of the remains of the unfortunate and internet research we found that probably it was a black house spider, it seems harmless, but could also be a funnel-web spider, which is not 'so' harmless, so we like to think was the first. Bottom line 2: kill without mercy 'all that walking with more 'than 4 legs, seems to be an excellent way of life in these parts. But do not worry, it is still a nice place to visit. Meeting No. 3, evening, Fabrizio piano I to the computer, to my right is' a window, I turn and see a dude with a diameter of about 8 cm by 8 feet, hair everywhere, on the other side of the glass, no dangerous (they say) it was just a huntsman spider, and also enter the house 'sti unpunished. Ah yes', it remains a nice place to visit.