The Final Countdown

The Homecoming.

And that's it.

That's a wrap.

What was supposed to only ever be 2 years at the absolute maximum (and I was convinced I would never make it that far), has stretched to almost 4, and will be even longer since I left Australian soil by the time I return to it.

What a crazy journey it has been.

So this Saturday, 31 March, Dan and I will be jumping on a plane to Turkey.

Wait, did you just say Turkey?

Yes. Just because I will be leaving Germany doesn't mean I will be heading straight home!

Where will we end up

I always said I wouldn't return to Adelaide. It's too small and there's not enough job opportunities. And all of this remains true, however due to personal and family reasons Dan and I will relocate to Adelaide at the conclusion of our adventure, for a short while. Give him a preview of the Australian sun (and spiders…and snakes…) - if he can survive that, he can survive anything! 

The journey

For those playing at home, I thought I'd make a list of what we're doing and where we are travelling to. I'll probably still compulsively Facebook check-in at every available opportunity, but here's the full list:

• Turkey (Istanbul, Goreme, Pamakkule, Selcuk, Troy, Gallipoli)
• Albania (Tirana)
• Greece (Athens, Olympia, Santorini, Paros, Meteora, Thessaloniki)
• Macedonia (Skopje)
• Serbia (Belgrade)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, Mostar)
• Croatia (Krka National Park)
• Slovenia (Ljubljana, Lake Bled)
• Italy (Venice, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre)
• France (Nice)
• Monaco (Monte Carlo)
• United Kingdom (London, Liverpool, Manchester, Isle of Man, Snowdonia, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Isle of Skye, Southampton)

That's just the beginning!

On 24 June, we are catching the cruise liner Queen Mary 2 from Southampton, UK to New York, USA. 8 days of tuxedos, ball gowns and definitely being the poorest people on board! (We will both be Jack, basically.) 

We will then make our way across America before arriving back in the Southern Hemisphere on 9 August. 




The whole thing will look like this:

During that time, I will attempt to keep up this blog as a diary - it will be poorly written and poorly formatted but I am going to try to get something up every day or two to help me keep a record! Make sure you give me some likes and comments so that I feel encouraged to keep going.

Highlights

As we have over 4 months of upcoming adventures, it's pretty safe to say that there will be some highlights in the future too! However, here are some of my favourite memories from the last few years:

• Falling in love, which was completely and totally unexpected, and has blessed me with the most amazing adventure buddy and partner in [not literal] crime.
• Seeing the Northern Lights, camped out knee high in -22C snow on a frozen lake, watching it dance above.
• Eurovision, because who does that? It was so much fun, as was everything we did in the Ukraine. I can't recommend this country enough.
• All of my employer acceptance letters, from Imperial College London, The Elders, and E.ON in  Germany.
• Tulip season in Amsterdam.
• Basking in the thermal baths in Budapest.
• The friends I've made along the way, there's too many to list, but know you'll always have a place to crash wherever I am in the world.
• Oktoberfest, to the point that we visited three times! So much for not being a beer drinker.
• Dimension Jump x 2 - I can't believe I made it to two DJs, meeting the cast of my favourite TV show and making so many friends for life.

And so so so many more, I can't possibly list them all.

Can you name all the countries?

The tally

The full country tally total to date is 36 new countries visited in the last 4 years (including New Zealand). After our 4 months travelling home, it will be 45 (including the Americas). I'm pretty damn impressed with that effort. That's an average of about 10 different countries a year.

Reminiscing about Germany

Getting set up in Berlin was by far one of the toughest experiences of my life, and I absolutely would not have been able to do it without Dan. If I had known just how hard it was going to be, I might have had second thoughts, but I went in brazenly on the confidence of how easy it was to make a life in the UK.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have been able to live in Germany. There have been many good times, there have also been a fair few pretty damn awful times. I am glad to be leaving - it is time, and I never felt at home in Germany. It has been a tough almost-2 years and I'm looking forward to being in the Southern Hemisphere again.

There are many things I will miss, of course. Making friends in Berlin was incredibly difficult, but I am going to miss the wonderful friends I did make, and my colleagues who welcomed me even though I'm undeniably weird. You will all remain friends for life and never hesitate to contact me if you're heading Downunder!

I'll miss the cheap beer. There, I said it. I have become a beer drinker (and fatter because of it!), and I'm going to be sad to go back to low alcohol percentages and expensive bottles and brews. For that matter, I'm also going to miss the stupidly cheap wine that you can get in Europe - I literally never go above €2 (about AU$3) and that is an excellent drop. You can't get that in Australia, that's for sure. I'll also miss just walking down the street with a weg-bier, or as we would call it, a roadie, because you can happily drink in public basically anywhere. I took advantage of this fact many times.

I'll miss the carefree mentality of Berlin - anything goes here. And that people just seem to enjoy the moment - one of my favourite things to do was find a place to sit and just chill. You would never be alone, many people around you have also found a spot to sit and are just relaxing, watching the world go by. This was especially prevalent when the weather was lovely which encourages almost all of Berlin to leave their apartments and just be.

I'm not going to miss apartment living. Neighbours suck, as does sub-letting, so I'll be thankful to return to living in a little house with a proper real-estate agent, and neighbours much further away than they currently are.

I'm not going to miss the weather, although I do still enjoy watching the snow fall while I'm sitting all cozy inside.

I definitely won't miss German bureaucracy and red tape, but to be honest I think every country has its own foibles in this regard, so it'll be from the pan in to the fire!

I slightly regret never really getting into the party scene here, considering Berlin is renown for its mega clubs. I'm just not that into it anymore, and would prefer a few tasty beers and a good chat instead of listening to electro music, or possibly not even being let in in the first place because the bouncer "doesn't like the look of me".

My biggest regret is not learning the language properly. However, I don't feel so bad after talking to many other expats who have lived in Berlin for 3+ years and are still on their way to learning it. In Berlin, you simply don't need it. While it would be helpful, you can obviously get by just fine without it. The majority of Berliners also speak English, and if not there's usually a way around it (Google translate, for instance). However, I would have liked to learn a little bit more, so I'm taking all my language books home to hopefully continue my education one day.

I also regret never learning more about my family history, but it is such a tangled web of conflicting information, lies, fabrications and just confusion that I really didn't know where to start.

Being considered male due to my name has been a never-ending source of amusement. It's never made me mad, and I only occasionally correct someone, but I will say I will enjoy just being "Sasha" again, and not being "Mr O."

Some of my amazing memories from Berlin and Germany.

Looking to settle

Part of me feels like I can have adventures forever, another part of me feels it is ready to sit down for a while. I have a fair amount of pain when I am travelling, with fairly constant knee, foot/ankle, hip, back and neck pain, as well as a problematic left shoulder - actually the only part of me that doesn't hurt is my right shoulder, and I think that might be on the brink too. I have my bad belly, which inflicts on me crippling pain and embarrassing situations seemingly at will. I need to settle to have my health seen to as I have definitely neglected this over the last few years.

But I am going to miss it all - dreadfully. When I get home, I will try my hardest not to be that friend who constantly refers to that time in Paris or when I did that in Kiev but … I will be. It's been my life for the last four years. While my beautiful friends in Australia became proper adults, I galavanted around hostels and ate tinned soup to save money because I didn't ever want to grow up, and wanted to adventurise forever. It's going to take me some adjustment to not have constantly itchy feet, but I also look forward to exploring Australia and New Zealand now, too.

And so my dear friends, follow along for our journey home, and I will either be seeing you again soon, or will see you one day, when we are older but hopefully not any wiser!

Til next time,

x

A picture for every country I visited.

How to find an english speaking job in Berlin

Because I lived and worked in Germany, many people assume that I must be fluent in that brilliant(ly difficult) language. The sad case of the matter is: I'm not. Even with my German background and having lived in Berlin for almost two years, I remain woefully inept at speaking Deutsch. Except perhaps to order a beer - I became pretty good at that!

Then how, you may ask, did I find an English speaking job in Germany?

Most people will tell you, many of whom are on the internet, that it is impossible to find a job without knowing at least a little bit of German. I am living proof that this is not the case. It took me a solid two months of applying, so here's a few tips and tricks I learnt along the way that may make it easier when it comes your time to join the job merry-go-round.

Job searches and aggregators

1. Google is your friend: Start off by Googling "english speaking jobs Berlin" - a lot of sites come up, many of which I've listed below.
2. Monster: In my experience, Monster.de isn't the greatest search engine for jobs - I've never had a lot of luck with finding good jobs on it. However, it seems many recruiters use it to CV sift, so it's a good idea to put your CV up on it. Can't read German? No worries. Put your CV up on the UK site (monster.co.uk), fill in your details and then when you return to Monster.de, most of it will transfer into German. Another little tip is to re-upload your CV every week, as it seems to put it back to the top of the sifting pile again.
3. Jobs in Berlin: A job aggregator, but it lists a lot of roles where English is required (either natively or not).
4. LinkedIn: Facebook for grownups! I'm pretty sure I ended up finding my job here on LinkedIn in the end, but a lot of large name companies advertise here so don't rule it out.
5. The Local: As it says straight up on the home page, 8,360 English-language jobs in Germany.
6. Indeed: Indeed it is one of the largest growing job aggregators on the web at the moment. They even have a search dedicated to English jobs in Berlin.
7. Berlin Startup Jobs: Berlin having had such a divided past, is not the home to many large name corporations. However, it is an absolutely booming hub for startups, many of which are English speaking. The pay may not be quite as good, but you'll get some warm fuzzies from being part of a breakthrough company's story.
8. Glassdoor: This site is primarily an employer review site, and to be honest it's not that popular in Germany, with preference going to Kununu. However, you can still find a lot of jobs that have been aggregated here as they pull jobs from countless websites every day.

Big English only companies in Berlin

However, here are a couple of companies that I know of that hire a lot of people who speak English.
Note: I will keep updating to this as I find out more companies, and also feel free to let me know if you have some more to add!

1. Zalando: Huge Europe-wide online fashion retailer. They hire an insane amount of people every 2 weeks (not sure if I'm at liberty to say how many exactly!) and at any one time there's about 500 jobs on their website (in Berlin alone) in any area from IT, to sales, to marketing. Also, you get pretty sweet staff benefits (discounts, anyone?)
2. Rocket: You can either work for Rocket or work for companies which Rocket recruit for.
3. Soundcloud: Not many jobs at one time, but their office language is English and Berlin Mitte is their headquarters.
4. Wooga: Pretty cool industry, searching a lot of engineers and designers but other roles in there as well.
5. Amazon: Direct competitors to Zalando, Amazon have a big base here in Berlin and at any one time have a couple of hundred jobs available.

Helpful things to know

1. 3 month notice period
   One thing that would have been nice to know in the beginning was that, in general, Germany has a 3 month notice period when people leave a company. Like wut. In Australia, it's 2-4 weeks and even then sometimes you're shown the door the moment you've put your resignation in. Due to this extended notice period, it can often take companies a very long time to get back to you.
2. Put a photo on your resume (maybe)
   Another big no-no in Australia is putting your photo on your resume. However, here it is not only expected, but you get tax reductions for what you've paid for professional photos to put on your resume. This could be a two edged sword, though. In my case, my resume stood out to my employer because they were specifically looking for someone not from Germany. However I think in many other cases, my resume was overlooked. You decide and perhaps keep two copies of your resume, one with and one without a photo.
3. 1st of the month
   Due to "insurance reasons" (everyone who tells me this just shakes their head), in many instances you can only start working on the 1st of every month (or in Zalando's case, the first and third week of every month). This can be mildly problematic if you get your job offer on the 2nd of the month and then have to wait a full month until you start, but that's German bureaucracy for you! Sit back and enjoy the ride.
4. Not in IT?
   Don't worry - there are jobs out there for you. Berlin is known as a tech hub, specifically for systems engineers who won't have any problems finding a job. The list above is largely for those who are not tech-related, who still want to try to find a role in the field they studied/already work in.

And finally, good luck!

Just remember to hang in there and keep trying. I know it's demoralising, the lack of response, the rejections (although at least you've heard from them, right? Right?) I was reasonably picky about my roles because I wanted to stay in my field (Communications and Social Media) and it paid off in the end. 

You can do it. Stay positive. Get yourself a bier and start sending off those applications. Good luck!

To 2017 and beyond!

I wrote this sitting toasty warm in front of the gas heater in my apartment in Berlin on New Years Eve, having only disembarked from a plane from the Australian summer only a few hours before. I was back in Berlin after a short and whirlwind visit Downunder. It was a good time to reflect on the year that has passed, as I sat weighed down by jet lag but unable to sleep. So here goes. 

As we are all painfully aware, on the world stage, politically and in popular culture, 2016 was a pretty terrible year. Personally, however, it was full of adventures and opportunities to push myself to the limits to continue discovering what I am capable of. This year I haven't faced my challenges alone, however; I've had my partner in crime, Daniel, who I picked up somewhere along the way in 2015.

2016: a recap.

2016 consisted of a lot of moving. I moved out of the home I had been living in since arriving in London in Hammersmith because the lease ended and the place, rightly so, required renovating. From here, I moved in with my boyfriend Daniel in Wimbledon. Then my UK visa ended and we made the crazy decision to move to Germany. Because yolo.

Travelling. The country a month rule still stood, with much more local travel included also:

• Gibraltar
• Spain x 2, including Ibiza for my 30th birthday for the Spanish Dirty 30 Funfest, with Dan, Al and Nat. We then went on to Seville, Madrid and Barcelona.
• Sweden, where I saw the Northern Lights
• Norway, where I caught a ferry cruise through the fjords 
• Belgium, where I attended the Anzac Day ceremony in Passchendaele, the battle for the western front which saw some many Aussies and Kiwis lose their lives in World War One
• Ireland
• Germany - my new home
• Croatia
• Montenegro
• Poland x 2, being so close to Germany, Dan and I literally pop across the border for day trips
• Romania
• Czech Republic
• Australia
• New Zealand

United Kingdom travelling included:

• Northern Ireland
• Wales
• Scotland, for the Fringe festival and Nat's birthday
• York, Scarborough and Whitby
• Cambridge
• Cornwall, including Penzance, St Ives, Lands End and the Eden Project

German travelling included:

• Potsdam
• Munich
• Dresden
• Hamburg
• Berlin, of course

Being a nutcase. With the support of photographer Dan and my awesome team mates Al and Nat, I completed my 2nd Tough Mudder. Naturally, I insisted on going through the electrocution obstacle even though, as a Tough Mudder "Alumni" I didn't have to: I ended up getting shocked in the head.

Turned dirty thirty. With friends, I celebrated my 30th birthday at Pacha in Ibiza, as I wanted to have one last chance to party before I got too old for it. Turns out, there are plenty of old fogies on Ibiza island, and I didn't bring the average age up to 22!

Anniversaries. Dan and I made it to 1 year, and what a truly incredible year it had been! We were, of course, taking a day trip to Montenegro from Croatia on that day, which was a fitting way to spend our anniversary. May there be many more years and even more adventures to follow.

Work. I wound up at The Elders, where I learnt so very much about the state of the world. I became properly interested in world events and as a result can now have proper adult conversations with people. I was sad to leave the Ducklings but we have remained in touch. Arriving in Germany, I searched tirelessly - and demoralisingly - for a job. I eventually found an incredible role doing what I enjoy. It took Dan and I both 2 months to find jobs, and we were at the point of giving up. We later learnt that 6-7 months was the average, and realised how lucky we both had been to get such great jobs in 2 of the biggest English speaking organisations in Berlin.

The difficult times. I wallowed in my own self pity at how poorly (or so I thought) the job hunt was going. I panicked until I broke down about not being able to find somewhere to live, or how to get my bank card, or how to register to live in this strange country. In the end, Dan and I pulled through though and are making the most of the time we have here. 

I have become a beer drinker! After Germany and Belgium visits the year before, I decided the golden beverage was alright. Now living in Germany, we have discovered that beer is literally cheaper than soft drink, so the result is obvious. I've discovered that I enjoy the Erdinger dunkelweiss, amongst others.

I went home home for the first time since June 2014. I visited New Zealand and met Dan's wonderful family and friends for the first time, and they made me feel so very welcome. He showed me his beautiful country and I fell in love with it. We then flew across the pond and I hugged my mum for the first time in over 2 years. I cuddled my best friends' baby girls who I had never met yet. And I gave the biggest hugs to my beautiful nieces who literally pelted down the driveway on Christmas Day and wouldn't let go of Aunty Sasha all day (except when we played Crack the Egg on the trampoline, which could have easily ended in disaster). 

At home, I celebrated a joint milestone year for myself (30 years old), my brother (50) and my mum on her 70th birthday surrounded by friends, family, and ensuring I got myself painfully sunburnt. 

I caught up with countless friends to find out about their lives, loves, losses and laughs of the previous few years. I tried not to say things like "I can't decide if I'll be having my birthday in Paris or Portugal" and failed spectacularly. 

It was more difficult to return to Berlin than when I left in the first place, and the plane journey was an emotional one. I am back now though, and many more adventures await. I feel very fortunate that, with the support of my family and friends, this is the life I have been able to carve out for myself over the last couple of years. Travel has truly become an addiction. 

2017 has so much in store for it already, and it's only just begun.

So let's say Prost! to an amazing year ahead!

Ich bin ein Berliner

I have neglected my blog badly. I know this. I know you know this. You know I know you know this. We all know this. Life has been a hectic, crazy, incredible roller coaster the last 9 months and yes, I have had time to write all about it, but often less energy to be able to.

I haven't told you about the Northern Lights on our Nordic Odyssey, nor Anzac Day in Belgium, guinness in Dublin, drinking 70% beer in York, the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff or exploring Cornwall. I haven't told you about Spain, my birthday extravaganza, Croatia or, most recently Edinburgh.

But most of all, I haven't told you about Germany. 

Today marks exactly 3 months since Daniel and I arrived in Germany. 

3 months since leaving London and preparing to attempt a new adventure in this different part of Europe (well, at the time the UK was still part of Europe…ZING! NB: I know it's still part of the continent Europe, I'm being facetious...)

It's been 3 of the most challenging months to date, far harder than starting anew in London. But if it hadn't have been for London, starting in Germany would have been damn near impossible. Finding housing, jobs, and dealing with things like bank accounts in a non-English speaking country, with no help whatsoever, has been eye-openingly difficult. But we did it. We got there. And it's all been worth it.

PAPERWORK

Oh my, do the Germans love paperwork. There's numbers for this and that. Can you apply online? Highly unlikely. Do you have to battle a 2 hour queue to discover that the computers are down and to come back tomorrow? Yes. The Germans are known worldwide for their efficiency but when it comes to red tape and paperwork, getting ourselves set up has been the most inefficient exercise I have ever encountered. And I say this affectionately (now, that it's all sorted), as I have spoken with locals who have to go through exactly the same process that we do any time they want to move house, and they agree and bemoan the situation too.

There are 3 main bits of paperwork required to be able to get a bank account, and each requires the previous to be gotten first.

1. Anmeldung. I don't think it'll matter how long I live in Germany, I'll never learn to say this word. Basically, this is the registered address form, and the first thing you need to apply for once you have semi-permanent accommodation. This took us 5 attempts to get, 2 computer mishaps, 1 appointment for far too far in the future to be useful until finally, with a lovely lady who didn't speak a word of English, we got the paperwork sorted after lining up since 6.30am. Every single German resident has to do this every time they move house. It is the faffiest faff I've ever had to deal with and I almost cried with relief once we finally got it.
2. Sozialversicherungsausweis. I think this is my new favourite German word (sorry, kartoffelpuffer!) Literally, "Social security card" or number. I braced myself for faffy faffness like the Anmeldung, but it was relatively painless. It still couldn't be done online, but thankfully once it's got, it's got. Dan and I are in the system now!
3. SteuerID. Tax file number. This was meant to be sent to us after we applied for our Anmeldung but we never received it, so I braced myself to go into a Burgeramt (kind of like a town hall office) to deal with more faff. Thankfully again, this was a quick matter, with the lady behind the counter printing out two sheets of paper, and it baffles me that I couldn't do this at home.

However, geared with all 3, last week Dan and I could finally apply for bank accounts! (Which only took an hour and a half and about 300 sheets of paper).

Et voila! Dan and I officially have all the paperwork completed to be German residents.

JOBS

I started applying for jobs while I was still in London. This tactic had served me very well for landing a job in London, where I interviewed for a role the day after I arrived. Not so with Germany. For both of us, the rejections came thick and fast, the number of jobs we could apply for not as great as we had been led to believe, and things were starting to feel a bit dire. 

We had a date to find jobs by: first week in August. We had already booked travel to Edinburgh on the 12th of August, and decided that if nothing had come to fruition by then, then we would make that our exit date. 

We applied for job after job. We spent our days applying for jobs, or searching for English-only speaking jobs, firing off as many applications as possible. They all started to blend with one another (and frankly, I should have kept a spreadsheet). Then one day while we were out: a phone call. Dan had an interview for a short-term role in a school. 

This sealed our fate, as the short-term role gave us an extra couple of months to find full time employment, and in that time, the offers started coming in. I ended up having about 4 phone interviews and 3 in-person interviews all in quick succession. Turns out the job turnaround in Germany can take quite some time (and that jobs remain on job boards long after they have been filled). A couple of the jobs I decided straight away were not for me, and this was empowering to realise - no matter how desperate I am for a job, I simply cannot do something I do not believe in or know I would be bored doing. 

In the end, it came down to two jobs. I had a great interview for a music education startup, even joined the team for breakfast but at the 11th hour, they decided that my visa situation was too difficult for them. They offered me an assistant role until the end of my visa, and I said I would think about it. In the meantime, I had an amazing interview for a company called e.on. Is it weird to say the interview was pleasant? Was kinda fun? I really enjoyed chatting with these people, and it seems they enjoyed chatting with me as less than 24 hours after my interview, I was offered the role.

It's a 2 year contract, however they were upfront with understanding that I may not want to stay in the role for the whole two years. They looked into visa options for me, and it seems that extending is as easy as walking into the tax office with a letter from my work. How about that, London?!

However, more German bureaucracy stood in my way. Even though I could start straight away (this was the beginning of August), due to payroll (and the same thing happened to Dan), I couldn't start until 1 September. This left me with a month to waste (and waste it I did) and dwindling funds. 

But no matter! Tomorrow I start, and I'm looking forward to it. It's been 3 months since I worked and while it's nice having time off, it can get a bit tiresome. I don't make a good housewife.

HOUSING

This is our final hurdle. We stayed in a hostel for the first few weeks either side of our Spain holiday, we stayed a week pet-sitting last minute in Moabit, we were lucky enough to be approached for a 7 week stay in a lovely apartment in Mitte, and currently we're in a 4 week stay near Wedding. However, it is proving very difficult to find (or be responded to about) long term accommodation. We have 2 weeks left in our current place and time is now of the essence to find somewhere - even if only for a few weeks - to move into at the end of this lease. 

We visited a place tonight that would take us to December. Later in the year we should have more luck finding a long term place, but I guess it might be interesting to take these couple of month flats and live all over Berlin - it's been fascinating exploring all the different areas so far! That's me being glass-half-full about the situation. Ultimately, a place we can call home for a year would be perfect, but it isn't likely to happen.

GETTING OUT AND ABOUT

Before our funds dwindled significantly, Dan and I got out and around Berlin as much as possible.

Potsdam

Potsdam has become one of my favourite places (thank you, Nat!). It's a town just outside of Berlin (but still accessible by public transport) that is home to well preserved hundreds of year old castles and their estates. You can wander through the grounds free of charge, and many of them are spectacular. There are 3 main parks and we have explored 2 of them so far. There's interconnecting rivers and lakes, big expanses of wild park, perfect manicured gardens and elaborate castles dotted all over the parks.

Day trip to Poland

Yep, that's right. Just two hours from Berlin is a Polish town named Szczecin (which is virtually unpronounceable, so try Stettin) and we just popped over the border for a day trip. It's a cute little town with a dotted path encircling it so visitors can take themselves on a self-guided tour of the city. Why don't more cities do this? We saw some lovely architecture and ate some incredible food. Cheap food. Painfully cheap beer. 1L for €3? I'll take 2.

Museums

Unlike London, museums and art galleries in Berlin are not free. We have paid to visit a couple, including the DDR Museum which showcases what life was like in East Germany under Communist rule, the Deutsches Technic Museum where we spent a literal full day and still didn't see it all, as well as underground bunkers which German civilians hid in during WWII while Berlin was being razed. 

In addition, we bought tickets for the Lange Nacht der Museen (The Long Night of Museums), which, for the entry cost of 1 museum, gives you access to over 70 museums and art galleries across Berlin, and also includes all public transport costs to get between them. We managed:

• Neues Museum (which houses the bust of Nefertiti, and I myself was busted when my flash went off trying to take a photo of her in the Do Not Take Photo's room!)
• Pergamon Museum
• Berlin Cathedral
• The Wall Museum (Mauer Museen)
• Deutsch Currywurst Museum (yes, that's right, a museum dedicated to that sausagey snack - it was the wurst!) Actually it was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it :)

Lakeside

One thing I never knew about Berlin was how many lakes, rivers and channels divide the city. For the warmer weather, there are many lakes which you can go swimming in, however some enterprising person has added an entrance fee to most of these. We found one that was free called Schlachtensee that turned out to be perfect! It only has a couple of areas on its 7km circumference that has a very small sandy beach, but every few metres there's a small gap in the trees allowing you to set up your towel amid relative privacy and have your own little patch of shore. The water was very clear (the clearest in Berlin, apparently!) and I was doing fine until some little fishies started nibbling at my toes. I never expected to be able to swim in nature so close to the city.

***

There have been other little bits and pieces such as a quick trip to the Botanic Gardens, drinking lots and lots of beer, and exploring all the areas we have been living in (and finding interesting parks and lakes). We have had 3 big international trips; 2 weeks in Spain, 6 days in Croatia and 4 days in Edinburgh. In the near future, we have Oktoberfest in Munich and a trip to Bucharest, Romania on the cards. It's a crazy time!

And so I'll finish this long update here - we've made it. We actually made it. We did it. We're going to succeed. We are registered. We have bank accounts. We have jobs. It's going to be alright. It's going to be amazing, in fact, as we have bought ourselves another year in which to explore the rest of this diverse continent. 

Til next time,

x

The end of an era, the beginning of a new.

3 weeks.

My Tier 5 visa technically ends on 2 June, though I landed in London on 23 June, 2014. That means I miss out on 3 weeks of my visa due to a series of unfortunate events. Right now, I would do anything to get those three weeks back.

2 years.

Still, I have spent the last [almost] 2 years living on the opposite side of the world from my home, away from friends and family in a selfish attempt to find myself, learn, explore, discover. And it worked - a little too well, I'm afraid. I'm not ready to finish having adventures and so the European Extravaganza won't be ending here...

1 year.

The next adventure. I will be saying So long, old chap! to London, and Guten tag! to Berlin, Germany. I won't be making the move alone - somewhere along the way I fell in love, and a gentleman will be joining me for this next challenge. Berlin simply won't know what hit it.

Recapping the past two years

The last two years have been the greatest adventure of my life. There were incredible times, there were the lowest of low times, there were hardships and there were experiences so amazing that I pinch myself to this day. There were the best and the worst of decisions made. Then there were the people I met and the friends I made who will last a lifetime.

I've learnt that ugg boots are an outside shoe. I've repeatedly forgotten the First Rule of London: always carry an umbrella. Imperial pints are the norm (and at first, I couldn't even get through two...). Sunshine is not to be taken for granted and squirrels are brazen little buggers. What they call a "big" spider here...well. I've developed a love-hate relationship with the tube and I always, always minded the gap. Hairdressers are notoriously awful and the water somehow tastes worse than Adelaide water.

But I fell in love with this city. London is everything, all at once. There is a saying, "When you are tired of London, you are tired of life." It is true. While it can't organise itself enough to implement the 24-hour night tube, it is still a city that never sleeps, a city full of every interest you could perceive imaginable. You like food? Food festivals and restaurants galore. You like art? Museums, graffiti, you name it. You like sports? Join a team in Hyde Park or go hiking in Wales. Every taste, every interest is catered for and one can never, will never be bored in London.

I fell in love with this city, and I am going to miss it like crazy.

Travel

I had a rule: visit a country a month. I stayed pretty much true to this goal. If a month loomed without a weekend away, a quick squiz at Skyscanner and an impulsively bought flight would quickly correct that.

In all, here is the total list of countries visited:

• England (of course)
• Scotland (cheating, I know)
• Northern Ireland (also cheating)
• Wales (REALLY cheating now x3)
• Republic of Ireland (x2)
• Norway
• Sweden
• Germany
• Austria (x2)
• Belgium (x3)
• France (x2)
• Spain (x2)
• Luxembourg (also cheating, I only got out of the bus and ate a donut)
• Gibraltar (kind of cheating as it's still technically British)
• Poland
• Czech Republic
• Slovakia
• Latvia
• Iceland
• Hungary (x2)
• Croatia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (I ate an icecream when I got off the bus)
• Montenegro
• Greece
• Italy
• Egypt

There are some noticeable omissions, such as the Netherlands and Portugal, but that is one of the founding basis for continuing the adventure: another year in Europe to finish off those countries I didn't quite make it to.

I also wanted to see as much of the Motherland as I could too:

• Bath
• Salisbury
• Stonehenge
• Oxford
• Cambridge (x2)
• Windsor
• Nottingham
• Birmingham
• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Ascot
• Weston-super-mare (Dismaland)
• Liverpool
• Lake District
• Cornwall (St Ives, Penzance, Lands End, St Austell)
• York and Yorkshire (Whitby, Scarborough)

Theatre

What else is London known for? The West End, of course. I have seen a metric truck-tonne of live performance, and bought the programme for almost all of them (which was extremely weighty and inconvenient to post home, curse my compulsions!):

• Les Miserables
• 10 x shows at the Edinburgh Fringe
• 1984
• Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch
• Miss Saigon
• The Scottsboro Boys
• Kate Miller Heidke
• Rhapsody in Blue by Candlelight
• The Nutcracker (ballet)
• Matilda
• Forbidden Broadway
• Dan Sultan
• The Lion King
• Evita (hilariously awful!)
• Assassins
• Wicked
• Showstoppers!
• Peter Pan Gone Wrong
• Eddie Izzard
• Noel Fielding
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (the Globe)
• The Book of Mormon (x2)
• The Phantom of the Opera
• Tina Arena
• Avenue Q
• Urinetown
• War Horse
• Taming of the Shrew (the Globe)

Conclusion

I am a melting pot of mixed emotions.

Sad that I am leaving London and everything it has to offer. Sad that I don't know when or if I'll see Big Ben again, or walk across that little bridge in St James's Park that overlooks Buckingham Palace.

Excited that I am continuing the adventure with my love, and moving to such a fantastic city as Berlin, where I too can fall in love with its architecture and life.

Scared that it won't work out, scared that I won't find a job or a house.

Content that I filled my time in London to the brim, that I let no opportunity go to waste and experienced as much as I possibly could that was thrown my way.

Happy that I got the opportunity to undertake this adventure at all, and blessed by the people in my life who have been so supportive.

And so, I leave it here. London, til next time.

xox

Part 1: Keeping up with the Sadashain's

There are many things that have happened in the last...ahem...6 months that I haven't written about because, well, I've just been so busy doing said things that I haven't had a chance to write about them!

This is now going to be a brief round up of all the interesting things that have happened in the last 6 months over a couple of blog posts.

Historic adventures

Underground Steam Tube
Before the tube was the tube as you know it, steam trains used to run the length of many of the underground lines (which would have been particularly smokey). They were replaced with the streamlined ones you see today. A few of the old vintage trains are still in working order, so on this day Dion, Dan and I rode on the Metropolitan line in a vintage locomotive and wooden individual carriages.

It was a lovely day out - I didn't understand the terminology flying over my head, although the small boy in our 8 person carriage made me smile with his Sunday Best white shirt and tie, expensive camera, miniature tripod and a head buzzing with questions and acronyms.

Thames Cruise
Before it started to get really cold for winter, Dan and I went on a paddle steamer excursion out to WWII Maunsel Forts. The Tower Bridge had to open to let us under as we were so tall, and we waved at all the people on the top!

Not every one can say that the Tower Bridge had to raise for them. Along the way we saw many different parts of London as we snaked up the Thames out to the open sea, stopping particularly for a look at the Forts. They were used in WWII to help defend the UK and look like strange War Of The World metal creatures in the middle of the water. On the way back, the Greenwich Mean Line laser was shining bright, as we passed back and forth across the time zones!

Bonfire night

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot! 

Guy Fawkes night is a big deal in London, with many parks and counties organising fireworks and a bonfire. Dan and I went to the one at Wimbledon as it was convenient (and I went to the Ally Pally one the previous year). The ground was a complete muddy mess, but the sky was clear.

We watched through the fence the fireworks for the kids show, and then entered for the adults show - so effectively got two shows for the price of one! Once inside the grounds, we discovered that there was no alcohol at the event - and we had been looking forward to something warming us up! We did stumble across one small stall selling mulled wine, and their line was ridiculously long. We grabbed a couple of wines over the evening from there, but it was largely a dry event.

The bonfire was lit and its glow enormous - my face was legitimately burning. Afterwards, the fireworks lit up the sky to current pop music, and so Guy Fawkes was celebrated.

Aldwych Station
A ghost tube station that is no longer in use and, while used up until the 1990's, had been barely modified since it was built in the 1890's. The lifts were still original turn of the 20th century, and we learnt how the station was used in both World Wars as bunkers.

These days it is open occasionally to the public for tours, but mostly used in movies and TV shows when they need to depict the London Underground

Sports

Rugby World Cup
The final two teams in the World Cup were New Zealand and Australia, the children of the Commonwealth. The Brits were pretty unimpressed that all of their various countries had been knocked out, and now it was down to the rowdiest two.

Tickets to the grand final were of course impossible to get. Dan and I and a few friends found someplace that was screening it - for £5 you received entry and two drink tokens, so we figured if the atmosphere was crappy then at least we could take the beers and leave! It ended up being a pretty decent atmosphere, and of course the Kiwi's won, but Australia put up a good fight to make it quite a tense game.

I say all of this like I knew what was going on. Dan spent the game giving me a crash course in what the hell was happening on the big screen. Thank you!

Soccer..I mean..football
One of my London bucket list items was to see a football game. I became increasingly aware that it was difficult to get tickets to games, especially anyone big. I really wanted tickets to Arsenal, naturally, the most difficult of them all.



As fate would have it, Dan's brother Jeremy is quite a fan of Arsenal and has been to almost every game since he's been living in London (in the suburb of Arsenal, of course). He managed to get us tickets and, donning my borrowed Arsenal t-shirt and scarf, we made our way into the stadium with 60k other fans.

It was a sunny day, but freezing cold and we had an excellent view of the field. I thought it was a good game as it was close and edge-of-your seat, but apparently Arsenal were playing pretty poorly. None-the-less, they won! 2-1 (thank god). And there was much rejoicing. Jeremy kept us up to date on which player was who and what they were good at, so I feel I received quite a rounded education.

Returning to the station afterwards was slow progress as 60,000 people piled back onto the streets and onto the tube stations. We weren't in a rush, so we just trundled along with the crowd.

***

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Keeping up with the Sadashian's: Shows, small trips and culture!

xx

Dismaland

On 27 August, I was lucky enough to nab tickets to Dismaland, an exclusively limited Banksy exhibition that would only be running for a number of weeks.

Each week, the tickets would go on sale for the following week and each week, these tickets sold out within 4 hours.

So I was quite surprised and ecstatic when, after pressing refresh furiously, I made it through. I grabbed two tickets for a grand total of £10 for Saturday 5 September and rejoiced.

Saturday 5 September
As I had managed to get through to purchase the tickets, Dan organised our transport there. Dismaland was held on an abandoned block in Weston-super-mare (or Weston-Super-Mario, as it was henceforth named) which is a good two hours out of London. Transport was significantly more expensive than the tickets themselves, which is mildly ironic, but everything about the day was well worth the cost.

There were three ticket times you could choose from, and for each wave the previous group had to leave. 11am, 2pm (closing at 6pm), reopening at 7pm. We chose the 2pm time slot as that afforded us the most time in the park.

After a number of excited hours on the train getting to Weston-Super-Mario, we alighted and paused outside the station. Many of the train passengers began walking in a certain direction and so we decided to follow. Very soon, however, we realised that Banksy was indeed showing us the way.

The pavement was graffitied with signage pointing us in the right direction (making sure to use safe walking crossing and pedestrian lights) for the about 15 minute walk to the fairground. We were running a bit early, so we made our way down to the beach. Yes, beach! At no point did it occur to me that I would be seeing beach, nor sandy beach, and so I had a small homesick moment as I realised I had seen very little (to almost no) sandy beach in over a year. Soon, this gave way to wonder as Dan pointed to the landscape across from us, commenting "That's Wales."

A little bit before 2pm we began wandering towards Dismaland, just in time. The queue formed long behind us and we waiting impatiently for the time to roll around.

Inside Dismaland
I saw people ahead of me being turned away from ticket and ID checking. What's going on? I thought. I finally got to the front and realised our ticket inspector was being a tool and forcing people to join the back of the other queue. I passed over my ticket, not sure what to expect. Bored, he looked at it, scrunched up his face, cocked his head in the direction of the entrance and said, "Piss off."

I did as I was told and entered the first building which was set up like airport security. Except everything was made out of cardboard. I approached the security station.

"Stop smiling." The attendant glared at me. I couldn't wipe the grin from my face.
"Look into that camera there," she said, pointing to a cardboard camera affixed to the wall. I attempted to still my face. "Look into it 5 seconds. We are watching you. Stop smiling."

Finally, I was allowed to enter and, as I waited for Dan's interrogation, two more security personnel surrounded me.
"What have you got in your bag?"
"My coat and tissues, mostly, I'm sick!"
"Urgh! Get out of here with your germs!" and Dan and I burst into the bemusement park.

We didn't quite know where to start. There was a huge line forming on our left and so, true to the human condition, we decided to join it. While in the line, I wandered to the programme stand.
"May I have a programme please?"
"I suppose so," was the bored and uninterested reply. He then asked me if I was Australian. "Bloody long way to come for wind and rain," he said and handed me the programme.

The queue was for a long hall along the left hand side of the bemusement park. Once inside, it was an incredible exhibition of sculpture, paintings and miscellaneous, including a few unassuming Banksy's.

Pretty certain this was art too.

After the hall, I was desperate to go on the Ferris Wheel and after a short line up we clambered aboard. My hands were shaking from my fear of heights, when the ferris wheel suddenly started up backwards and incredibly fast. I found it rather terrifying, but it also afforded an amazing view of the park, across the beach and all the way to Wales. A number of terrifying circulations later and I was back on solid ground, legs shaky.

We were ready for a sit down, and grabbed ourselves a couple of ciders and nestled down at the 'cinema' - a roughly-hour-long loop of short videos on every subject from diving giraffes to the wonders of ageing, to hard hitting international themes.

From here, we had a look in a circus tent which had a real live(dead) unicorn. Next to it was a pond with remote control boats. Cool! I thought, and we put our pound in and started whizzing the boats around. It was then I realised...the boats were filled with people. There was one boat that looked suspiciously liked a police boat. The boats were filled with refugees and there were a handful of dolls lying face down, drowned, in the water. This was only days after the poor small boy was found on the beach and I felt incredibly sad and uncomfortably and ceased to spin my boat around.

Powerful stuff. Thought provoking. To cheer up, we jumped on the carousel - another first for Dan! After the ticket girl begrudgingly gave us our tickets and told us not to fall off, the carousel set off - backwards. After a minute it ground to a half and then started off the right way around. Up and down and up and down - I felt like a kid again!

We also had a look inside the main Cinderella castle, one of the major Banksy works. Once inside, it was pitch black - the illumination coming from strobing flash lights. Cameras. Paparazzi. Cinderella's carriage was upturned, Cinderella hanging out the window. An allusion to Princess Diana, by any chance?

A video posted by flossycomet (@flossycomet) on Sep 25, 2015 at 12:32am PDT

By now, it was almost time for our Dismaland experience to be over and, a quick picture through the Selfie Hole and we shuffled our way out of the door.

***
I feel very lucky to have been able to experience Dismaland and for it to live up to expectations. The staff were perfectly in character, I could imagine them going home each evening, excitedly telling their friends So I was a total arsehole to this family today... The art was beautiful, interesting, thought provoking, hard-hitting and exceptionally well done. And, a little fact - once Dismaland was over, it was dismantled and all the materials used to built shelters for refugees at Calais. Cool, huh?

Dan and I finished the day with fish and chips on the beach (which made me feel strangely homesick!) before settling down for the long train journey home.

xx

Unfuck the system.

The year that flies

Can someone please tell me how it came to be August of the year 2015 already?

No, I mean it. It was Christmas about 15 minutes ago, and I was just coming up to my 6 month anniversary in London. All of a sudden it’s August and we are powering our way to my second Christmas abroad, and I am panicking over where the time is going.

This post is serving as a bit of a catch up of all the little things I either forgot, never finished, or ran out of time to write about going all the way back to the end of March.

Sunday, 27 March: Oxbridge Boat Race
Held between old rivals Oxford and Cambridge, the boat race is a rowing event along more than 4 miles of the Thames, starting in Putney and ending in Mortlake. The race is a big deal around London, and is broadcast live. This year, for the first time, the women’s race was held not only on the same day, but directly before the men’s finals. We’re getting there, ladies.

Many of the pubs along the river hosted an event for spectators, and myself and a group of friends set ourselves up at The Old Ship, perched on the concrete baricade to watch the rowers go by. The weather held up: cold but beautifully clear and the ciders (and sneaky vodka in a water bottle) helped to keep us warm. This year, Oxford won, bringing the total tally to 79 Oxford - 81 Cambridge.

Easter Long weekend, April: Cambridge, dinner parties and Windsor
Cory, Nicole and I had attempted organising a weekend away through the countryside but ended up leaving it too late. Instead, we decided to have make several day trips, which afforded us days out exploring the greater UK with the added bonus of coming home to the the comfort of our own beds.

Saturday: Cambridge. It was quite a grey day, but I was able to debut my new coat and finally put away the marshmallow. On arrival, we joined a free walking tour of the same variety I did in Oxford, which gave us a broad overview of the layout of Cambridge.

It was, dare I say, rather similar to “that other place” Oxford but very beautiful in its own right. We stood for a while atop a bridge watching the punters crash effortlessly into the walls and into each other as they floated down the river. I think I remain Team Oxford, partly because it was bright and sunshiney that day, where as Cambridge was quite a grey, inside-a-cozy-pub kind of day.

Sunday: Easter dinner party at Cory’s. As the adultier adult of the group (despite me being the oldest), Chef Cory cooked us a delicious roast dinner and we felt extremely grown up and sophisticated. It was a lovely evening with friends and a chance to reflect on our time in the UK, how far we’ve come and where we would be going to next. As the red wine started to settle, we played Drunken Future Predictions which we have sealed into a bottle and will open in 10 years time.

Easter Monday: Windsor. We gathered again, this time at a different train station for a day out to Windsor, Queen Lizzie’s other home. I remember vividly that today was 17C, beautiful and sunny, and I was wearing a tshirt.

Message from my mum that day: It’s 17C here in Adelaide! I’m wearing two jumpers and have the heater on! I’m freezing!
My reply: It’s 17C here in Windsor! The sun is shining and I’m wearing a tshirt!

It’s funny how one acclimatises.

We stood in the queue for over an hour (which wasn’t so bad actually because it gave us a chance to soak up some much needed vitamin D). Inside, we marvelled at the gorgeous gardens, took photos in areas we weren’t supposed to, felt poor and made fun of the guards in their funny costumes. Because Windsor is largely a a homage to Lizzie’s wealth which she lets the peasants have a peek at for a few months of the year. Never-the-less, it was very pretty and a glorious day to be outside.

Saturday, 26 April: Anzac Day 
Shamefully, I had never been to an Anzac service before. I never fully understood the significance of the day and was admittedly happier for having a day off than anything else. This year, being away from home and the 100 year centenary of the Anzacs landing at Gallipoli, I was filled with national pride and started digging around my family history.  I learnt many people in my extended family fought or were affected by both the first and second world wars. This put the day far more into context for me and meant that I would be getting up at 2am (yes, getting up) so I could go to the memorial in Hyde Park for the dawn service.

We were told to get there early as the line would become very long, and this proved to be true. Not long after we easily sauntered in and took up position, the line folded back on itself and around the corner and we were thankful for our early morning start.

The service itself was moving (despite the terrible rendition of the New Zealand national anthem) and I was most affected by the 2 minutes silence: how they managed to create two minutes total silence, with a few thousand attendees, in the middle of London (and no traffic noises what-so-ever), was remarkable and a sign of true respect. Not a sneeze, not a shuffle, not a cough, not a mutter.

At the end of the service, my friends and I went to an Aussie bar for breakfast and breakfast drinks. I made it to midday…just. I think. I don't really remember.

Saturday, 21 June: Ascot Races 
I had landed in London just a couple of days after Ascot Races in 2014, and was adamant I was going to attend the British institution this year as it would be my only opportunity. I had spent months looking for a new dress, but ended up settling on something I already owned and the day before purchased the cheapest possible fascinator I could find.

Akin to the Adelaide Cup, the Ascot Races, more than anything else, is an opportunity to get ridiculously inebriated whilst looking as posh as possible and hoping you see a horse at least once during the day. I joined 3 busloads of Britbounders on the day trip up to Ascot and, while the day was pretty dreary and rained considerably, it was still a fantastically fun day.

I don't know how much champagne I imbibed, seeing as my glass was constantly refilled while I wasn't looking, I certainly did not win any money on the bets I placed, and I definitely did see the Queen as she rode past in a horse and carriage at the start of the day, wearing a delicious apricot flavoured outfit.

July update
My home situation has been interesting to say the least - we recently battled bed bugs in two of the three bedrooms. I highly recommend that no one EVER GETS BED BUGS because it is a nightmare to get rid of them. It involves washing absolutely everything you own at over 90C, stripping all of your furniture and bagging it up, fumigating your house and then leaving everything bagged for two weeks while the chemicals kill the little fuckers. Just…try not to get bedbugs. It seems to have worked however, and we are now rid of them. Fingers crossed there's no creepy crawlies in our future!

Apparently, the most common place to pick up the little buggers is the tube. So basically, we're all screwed.

As of the second of July, I started a new job with a not-for-profit called The Elders. I tossed up between this one and one at a finance firm and, while this one pays a bit less, my soul felt happier working for a charity and I had for a while wanted to break into the not-for-profit sector. As of the time of this post, I've been there approximately 6 weeks and while it certainly is challenging, I am largely enjoying myself.


***
So, there you go! My next few months are incredibly crazy, with a number of theatre productions booked in (I haven't seen anything since February and I'm champing at the bit!), and trips to the Edinburgh Fringe and Oktoberfest organised. Stay tuned for more updates!
xx