Boston Update .1 - The Journey & Early Life Current mood: contemplative
Thursday, February 15, 2007Boston Update .1 - The Journey & Early Life Current mood: contemplative
The Boston Report
Well I thought I would give everyone a global update to my first 2 weeks in Boston and also probably the leadup since it was really so sudden!
The Idea
As many of you would know (except for the random browsers who decide for whatever reason to read this...if this is you well enjoy and hope you follow everything!) I have been wanting to move to the US and more particularly for a while. In fact I came to that decision initially in January 2005 while in Adelaide visiting Ari, who at the time was working there. Of course I had a couple of minor issues to deal with; -firstly whether I was read to move half way around the world&-secondly that I was still in business at the time in CTS with Adam....then later I would find getting to the US as a non-tourist is not as simple as I imagined!So there I was in 2005 with an idea, a semblance of a plan but that was pretty much it. 2005 turned out to be a great year for so many reasons but the cold hard facts were that on the New Years Eve at the end of that year I was still in Melbourne....and my heart seemed to be drifting elsewhere.
The Journey
Where was it drifting? Well during the last few months of 2005, I was spending a lot of time in Sydney and was having so much fun. The sale of CTS went through successfully and I was now free to move around a little more...and had a little money to play with as well. I made the difficult decision in early 2006 to move to Sydney. I knew Sydney would be great, but I was leaving my close family and friends. I was leaving my dancing which I loved. I also was for the first time living out of home which was a big change to do in another city, without a job safety net and living on my own. Well among many great things I realised I loved being on my own. I loved being in a foreign environment (well as foreign as Sydney is from Melbourne). I became more productive than I ever have before. And I was having heaps of fun meeting new people and making new contacts.
It was this point I probably sub-consciously realised that I definitely could and more importantly should live abroad if ever wanted to achieve what I wanted. And while there were other desstinations on my radar to live in like China, Japan and Europe&UK...it was the US that held the greatest attraction for me. Why? Well whether people like it or not, it is the centre of the world. It is where business and trends begin, it is where ideas are born and it has a scent of danger and excitement with life that I find irresistable. Plus I knew if I could make it in the US, I could make it anywhere.2007Well Jan 1 ticked over of 2007 and I was back in Melbourne with no set plans for the upcoming year. It was time to take the greatest year of my life to date, 2006 and take everything I learned in Sydney & China, and from all the great teachers/seminars/books/dvds/mentors and most importantly from the family & friends I count for everything from business to fashion to fun to ....life and make the idea of 2005 reality in 2007. On Jan 3 I found a class of Visa I had never heard of before, which was weird because I spend a lot of time in 2005 and 2006 researching US visas...I mean even paid lawyers to do this for me. Well life obviously wasn't meant to show me this back then and knew I was ready for it now and this visa allowed to me to be sponsored to the US in a cultural/exchange manner and not the work visa which was seeming my only option. Why was this important? Well as most of you know a full time job...or really a job full stop is not on my agenda :) I am the unemployed family member or friend you all love !! So this organisation would bring me over more in a training/education capacity and pay me for doing this if I helped them out. As this would cover my living costs and most importantly for US, my insurance (especially Health!!) meaning I would be in a great position to pursue all my business and personal interests (Did I hear someone say Lisa!! ).
Well while I had an opportunity with a company in New York, it was the Boston offer that was the more attractive. With the NYC offer being a future possibility for later in 2007 or 2008 but who really knows what the future brings. And New York is less than an hour south by plane or only 3 hours by bus. Canada is not far away as well, a couple of hours north, this is the most exciting part of the US in my opinion.Well given I left on Feb 4 and all my documentation came through on Feb 1 with the confirmation that I got this sponsorship in mid Jan...it all went really fast. Thus my farewell was really rushed and I am sorry I didn't get to see all of you. I am not a fan of farewell parties so that is why that never happened. I like being the centre of attention most of the time as a lot of you know but not with these events as I am in danger of getting emotional ....so tried to only do mini byes with people who were free and the people I needed to see. The Karaoke & Sarands Farewell with The Cuzs & Abbi, The Isthmus Farewell with My Posse, The Family Dinner @ Donavans and all the lunches, dinners and drinks with you were great. So my last bit in Melbourne was spent saying bye and it was hard...really hard actually...and I think to my credit the only time I probably lost it was after I went through customs at the airport after saying bye to Mum, Dad, Ben, Irene & Rinka who came to see me off. And the only people who would have seen that were Melbourne Airport Staff and Patrons on Sunday February 4 but a nameless person may have heard me...and we will just leave it at that....
Boston
People may think it is funny that I am only now getting to Boston but I think for a lot of you the leadup may help you understand how I got here. Anyway if you don't care you could have skipped all the above sections and just come to Boston (and if you are only just realising that...I am sorry that I bored you!...but hey if I bored you then you don't know true entertainment when you read and see it !!) Well one thing I neglected to mention about my visa experience in January was the Interview at the US consulate in Melbourne. If you ever want a fun morning waiting around for long periods of time, going through the most exhaustive security checks and being interrogated about every person you associate with regularly, your entire employment history (or in my case lack thereof ), every country you have visited for the last 10 years..and every charity you have donated to, then head on down and schedule an interview at the US consulate. Oh and I was told there was a minor mistake in my passport, that while they were going to give me a visa, there was a chance that when I entered the US I would be told to get back on the plane and go home! (A certain pal of mine with the initials Simon Storey never stopped reminding me of this possibility and seemed to take a morbid delight that my journey could end before it started!)...Well as a lot of you know that Simon and I are competitive over everything..especially the stupid things!....and my friend it is I that beat you out of the country and am on the other side of the world!! I think you should send me an email and just remind me again which city you are in because I keep forgetting :)
Enough of that...I am still not at Boston yet am I.....well the 14 hours to LA went so fast on Qantas, I couldn't believe it. I will spare you the emotional rollercoaster of excitement and sadness on the plane but it was a good thing I had sunglasses to hide firstly the heavy teary eyes, then the excited and laughter tears (I watched Borat finally) and finally the saggy jet lag eyes. Apart from the long line at LA customs, the checks couldn't have gone smoother. It always arriving somewhere 5 hours before you theoretically left...sort of like you get to relive a day all over again. It was a 5 hour wait at the airport which was tough...which was supposed to be helped out by guest passes courtesy of my parents to the Qantas lounge but because I was immediately shunted to the domestic terminal that was not an option. Well I had plenty of US currency and got to experience US Mexican food again and get to introduced again the US need to supersize their servings of anything and also the tax not included in prices and the need to tip at every opportunity! The American Airlines flight was better than I expected to Boston and while I knew in advance I was heading to sub 0 degree weather I guess nothing prepares you for the reality of it. So I arrived in Boston at about 10pm on Sunday night (although my body clock thought it was about 2pm the next Monday afternoon) and the weather was a warm -8 (too cold for snow).
Well a Haitian taxi driver took me to my temporary place..sort of like a mini apartment and I found the place locked when I got there...which was exciting being out in the cold with all these bags on a Sunday night in a foreign city. Then I noticed a phone with a number....So I called and was told my key was under the mat....wow! Well what an intro to Boston. However given how cheap this place was, I was stunned at how big and nice it was. Well I made the quick calls (or should I say informed the family that they could call me for cost of local call) and said hi to Dad, Rinka, Irene & Simon....and it was sort of like I hadn't even left. ....Incidentally should any of you ever want to call me the best way is to ring this number (03)..if you are not in Melbourne or just 9016 3989...to you it is just a regular local call. I will answer if I hear it but if not just leave a message.
Well I was due in at 9am Monday morning at my sponsor organisation and my body clock being so far out of wack ensured I was wide awake at this time on Monday. This place was only a 5 minute walk from my place which was great but also lucky because if I spent any more time than that outside I think I would have died. I am not a Winter person at the best of times, but without gloves and a proper Winter jacket this may have well of been the top of Everest.
Now funnily enough at this point I hadn't had much contact with Americans, very little on the planes and I thought finally I was going to meet Americans!.....Boy was I mistaken....The first 8 or 9 people I met were South Americans and I was to later realise, the office was almost half foreign and the Americans in there were some of the most traveled, worldy and intelligent people you would ever see. I mean one of my two trainers new about obscure Aussie movies from the 80s and the Amercian guy next to me every day says the temperature in celsius and not farrenheit! This office is heavenly to me and something could not possibly exist in the US....and like I said South Americans...Brazilians, Argenteneans and Peruvians mainly but wow not what I was expecting....but so what I wanted !Apart from adjusting to the 2 important variables of time and weather (the latter of which 2 weeks in I have still not adjusted too and probably never will), I had to find a place to will. Now I had begun this search online before I had left for the US but needed to confirm. Well the Monday night I met my fist option and loved the ease of travel. A 1 minute walk from the T (subway) station and the office is also a 1 minute walk from a T station. The office location would be the equivalent of Docklands in style and proximity to the city if you know Melbourne or similairly Pyrmont/Darling Harbor (see no u in harbor - I am American!) if you are in Sydney. It is about 5 stations but I can get up at 8:30 and still be at the office by 9 so it is great. Now this place is inhabited by 3 girls; 29, 30 & 31 - all American and the 30 year old is only here part time...Julie, Carol and Jane. My room is downstairs and as such I have a bathroom to myself and the girls who are all upstairs share a bathroom. It is a big place with the typical American cable options of hundreds of channels...but like at home nothing is really on.
So in my short time here apart from finding a place to live, I have done the Friday drinks, been to a standard house party (more like one you have when you are 18), did salsa dancing..(and then the teacher gave me her card and asked me to call her if we wanted to go out...intersting I think she was just being nice), hopefully will start Spanish lessons this weekend, shopped at the American gigantic outlet mall and enjoyed all the standard delicasies of American culture. My roomates seem active with dinners, trivia, dating and heading out so is already a lot of fun here. I will start getting into the whole American dating scene which I am looking forward too...it is a very diverse mix of people here and a large latin population particularly Brazilians.Well I will leave it at that for the moment because I know you should all have better things to do than read about my life and thoughts but I hope I have at least answered a few questions some of you have had about what I am up to and the motives behind it. I will try and update this blog regularly as well as keep in touch with people individually. It has just snowed here for the first time this Winter this week which is fun in a way but also a good sign because to snow it has to get warmer and we even popped above 0 a couple of times or around 40 degrees farrenheit.
Finally just a few thank yous for my first entry......in no particular order just as I think of you:
Sim (that day in early Jan we spent at Jew Park & Hampton Beach while not the original source of all this is the kind of the beginning. Thank you so so much...all the best for Sunday which I am so disappointed I will miss but.....I think you know .....)
Rob/Ben/Noma/B/Deb...and Andy - I can't believe at times how well we get along and how much fun we have together..I mean you only have to look at the photos. Christmas, Ocean Grove, Bowling, Karaoke, Pictionary....these times will only get better I know it and we will still be singing A Whole New World when we are all 50!!
Rinka - I haven't been in love for a few years now but with you it is like I haven't missed out anything all.
Irene - With you around I have my own guardian angel...I so admire the fact you can be so pure and that faithful Australia Day at the Botanic Gardens 2005 confirmed my initial US idea in Adelaide and I was so proud of your year long odyssey in China from that day too.
I hope you all have a great weekend. It is a long weekend for us with Presidents Day on Monday (so for all you traders that means markets are closed) and I can't wait to hear all your amazing stories as well.
CJ reporting from Boston, MA
My Space - CJ
