We moved to Australia

The last few weeks have been the most hectic of my life. I’ve finished up my teaching practice and then I had to pack for our big move, and now we’re finally in Australia. It feels so surreal. I can’t believe we really did it. We moved to Australia from South Africa.

It happened sooner than I expected

My husband and I have been talking about immigrating for about two years, but it was just talk because at that stage we weren’t married yet.

Then at the end of last year, my now brother-in-law applied for a job in Australia and got it. He’s a programmer.

This year in January, my husband (then still just my boyfriend) applied for the same job and got it.

I thought it would take at least until the end of the year to get all the documentation finalised and to get travel exemption (because of COVID-19). However, everything went a lot quicker than I had anticipated and it scared the hell out of me.

My now-husband and I got engaged at the end of February and married in May.

A lot of firsts

Before moving to Australia, I had never moved before. The closest I’d come to it was moving in with my husband’s family. It didn’t make financial sense to get our own place and furnish it if we won’t be staying for that long, anyway.

However, that move didn’t feel like a move because I’d been there so much. It felt more like an extended sleepover.

Also, had never been on an aeroplane before, and I’m scared of heights. So, flying for the first time was hella scary for me. I started crying when the first aeroplane took off. My poor husband had to hold my hand whenever we took off, landed, or had turbulence.

We’re here now

I must say, the Australian government was very nice to all of us who arrived at the Brisbane airport. It was a bit scary to go through customs and when they asked me if I had anything to declare; I rambled off almost everything in my suitcases because I didn’t want to break the law unknowingly.

They put us on a bus and drove us to a hotel for the mandatory 14-day quarantine. This is part of the government’s efforts to lessen the chances that COVID-19 will be brought in from other countries.

The hotel is nice. We’re not allowed to leave our rooms and our food is brought to us. Actually, anything we need is brought to us. Even if we just collect something outside our door, we have to wear masks. But I understand why it’s mandatory.

It’s day 3 of our quarantine, and I’m still jetlagged. I’m not bored—I have assignments to write and tests to study for, but do you think I’m doing that? No, I’m procrastinating like a pro.

Lastly

What’s been the biggest change in your life recently? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Meh.

Michelle

P.S. If you’d like to contact me, feel free to comment below, send an email to thatmichelleperson@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @M_ClutterBox.