From Romania to Australia

End of the fairytale

2011-12-04T14:14:00.001+02:00

Well now, every good thing comes to an end. It's been more than a year since I've exercised my English on this blog.

Long story short, when the time came (according to the rules of the DIAC I had 1 year of work expeience) I started reading about how to prepare my visa application. So, I ended up on the site of the entity that was going to assess my technical skills. In my case this was ACS (Australian Computer Society). And I started reading their terms.

That was the moment that I became depressed :) . In order to evaluate me positively I needed 2 years of work experience and my major or 4 years of work and my minor in the field that I chose. So suddenly Australia was 3 years away from me (I only have a minor in programming).

Lesson learned: always read all the conditions from whatever application you're making (maybe you could work at fixing more than one at the same time).

Off topic, I've searched for a migration agent and I found the fees to be incredibly steep (something around 3000 euros just for the consulting part). So, best thing would be to read all the documents carefully, search the forums, maybe contact the people from DIAC; basically try to do things by yourself, that way you'll have a general idea about how things work and it will build your confidence. And if you think about it rationally, you could get a one week leave from work to do this research and you'd be getting away a lot cheaper.

In the meanwhile I've taken the TOEFL exam with flying colors so if you need any advice for it write a comment.

I've met quite a few Australians and kiwis since I last wrote this post and I warmly recommend couchsurfing.org as a site that will allow you to do this also (it will also help with your English). I've also met a couple of Romanians that went there and it seems like a nice place, but I'm not sure anymore that it's the country I've been fantasizing in the previous posts. A question comes to mind: is it really worth it? I mean... is it worth it to start over from 0 there?

My near future plans sound like this: in September 2012 I'm going to the Netherlands to start studying for a master's degree. After I finish that I'm planning to move in a warmer country (maybe Spain, Portugal or who knows), but I'll have to see what life has in store for me.

That's it! I'm not going to write anything else here, but if you need any advice write a comment and I'll gladly share my thoughts on the matter.

Cheers mates!

I've got the power!

2010-10-04T18:24:00.002+03:00

or not? If you're coming from a country that uses anything but the "I" type of plug it's lights out for you.

I'm planning to take a couple of electrical appliances with me to Oz. The trick is they use a different voltage (240 Volts) and a different power plug (type I) than in Romania (230 Volts, type C and F plug). A worldwide electric guide list can shed some light in this aspect.

To close allow me to quote my friend that shared all this valuable info "So you would need a converter, which you can find in most airports or electrical stores."

Cheers!

Later edit: The comment from below is worth reading.
Much later edit: This information just came in from a trustworthy source. It turns out that the only difference between the power system here in Romania and the one in Australia is the type of plug.

Deadly creatures? Oh come on...

2010-09-12T14:36:00.000+03:00

I often hear that in Australia is home of many very poisonous species of animals. Like spiders and snakes. Just check out these babies. Or these uglies. Or these beauties

Anyway, I'm sure you can find a lot of these if you take a good look on the internet. My advice: DON'T. It's a terrible wasted of time and it will freak you out for nothing.

Let me explain: There's a bigger change to be involved in a car accident than to meet any of Australia's deadliest animals. The snakes appear seldom and antivenoms are widely spread. Sharks attack rarely in shallow waters.

FACTS:

Bottom line is that this is one of the worst excuses one can make to avoid Australia.

Just getting very well informed and being prepared should be enough to keep you safe. But I think that applies to just about any aspect of life.

Laters,

treaz

James Cook

2010-09-08T18:00:00.000+03:00

until now it completely eluded me the this guy, James Cook, that I've been reading now and then in the book about Australia that I have was a really cool dude.

So he named a couple of cities and places along the Australian coast: Botany Bay, Cape York Peninsula, Endeavour River to name just a few.

But he also kind of discovered Hawaiian Islands.

And he was the first to go around New Zealand.

Oh, did I mention he discovered Kiritimati? Maybe that doesn't sound familiar... the actual name is Christmas Island.

So, great respect for this guy... interesting life he must have had. I guess he was a great explorer.

In the end I'd like to take a different point of view: he was the right man in the right place, at the right time. That's why he discovered all that stuff. If he would of been born 3 years later, I'd be talking about some else right now.

And even though the age of new lands has ended, times have changed and we now have the opportunity to discover and explore our current world.

So, opportunity comes once, don't miss it. But don't worry too much if you do (just learn from the mistake), many others will soon come and you'll know what to do to catch them.

Till later,
treaz

Sunny days will come again

2010-08-31T15:22:00.000+03:00

The summer is ending here in Romania... the sunny days will soon be gone. Outdoor activity opportunities will start to decrease and the overall fun of life will go down just a little.

The weather has a big impact on a person's activities... no matter what anyone says it's a lot easier to go out on a summer evening (no matter how hot it is) than on a windy winter day (and snow generally makes the balance even worse).

Jeez, these line seem so down compared to the following few. I've been reading a book from National Geographic about Australia.

Check this: Brisbane (QLD) has 245 sunny days each year. That's 2 out of every 3 days. Apparently the cost of living is quite low and this is the kind of city one would choose to "lay back". Sound like my kind of city... check out this temperature chart. This looks too good to be true :)

Unfortunately I couldn't find a world ranking for sunniest cities in the world, but apparently Yuma from US is also close to this number (242 to be more precise), so I'm cool with 245 sunny days :)

Cheers mates!

Sofia in Australia

2010-06-04T16:33:00.000+03:00

I kept on reading other blogs about Australia and this one deserved it's own post.

Sofia's experience in Australia is so awesome. The pics taken in her adventures on beaches, in Sydney and around Australia are just too good to describe. The surfing part of her life just adds more value to all that. At some point it becomes obvious that she's living a dream. Chilling, surfing, exploring, enjoying, living like there's no tomorrow... she and Paul understand it and not only that, they just do it. It's the way life should be :)

I'll definetly want to meet them when I get there.

Supercoolhappylove,
treaz

Just another exchange

2010-06-01T00:20:00.000+03:00

I was in the cafeteria today, bored up to a point, but aware of my surroundings... then I heard New Zeeland, Japan, Australia... wtf? One of my colleagues was just saying that they're close. Ok. I know how Australia landed in the context, I can also understand that he likes Japan, so that was obvious too... but, but, but... New Zeeland? What's up with that?

It turns up that there's this guy at work that is planing to go there. I was astonished and suddenly really interested in his story. You see, I can't forget that NZ is a more user-friendly country (as in no real threats to human existence). I felt the urge of talking to him, maybe just for a few minutes.

I was once again amazed by his simple plan: use the AIESEC exchange program. Cogs started moving and my first question popped up: Are you a student? NO. He subscribed last fall in order to have a chance to apply for this opportunity. BAM! I was struck by confusion (why was I so stupid???). This sounds like a great idea, but it never occurred to me (what on earth have I been thinking about all this time?).

I will try to get him to talk more about his future plans. (so... I will enjoy writing another post on this subject).

Cheers,
Horia

P.S.: I have friend that told m that talking about my master plan was a bad idea (because people might perceive me as unwilling, because it won't matter anyway, since I'm leaving, to get emotionally attached;). Telling them I'm planning to leave would lower the expectations... yada yada yada... come to think of it, I truly believed it. But it turns out it doesn't work that way... just spread the word and let the people decide for themselves if they enjoy your presence and get the free gift of find connections and getting valuable feedback.
So, case closed, I won't brag about my plans to go in the land of Oz, but I won't hide them either.

Walkabouts

2010-05-30T23:49:00.001+03:00

In becomes more and more obvious to me that going to Australia and not having a reliable mean of transportation is close to the biggest mistake one can make.

My recent trip to Greece made me realize that public transport has the major drawback of the unpredictable arrival times. Being limited by the first/last bus/subway is frustrating and waiting an night in remote bus stations could get you into trouble (so I've heard).

It's generally accepted that Logistics are really important, no matter what you do.

So, maybe a car will be too expensive to buy/rent once I get to Oz?
A bicycle is way up on my things-to-buy-there list. (as it's slower than a car and it would give me a chance to see the views, get properly aquintanted with the neighborhood)
Yeah, and I'd buy a GPS before the car (maybe use it on the bike a little)

As a general conclusion, owning a vehicle (car, bicycle, moped, bike, horse, whatever you like and can afford) that would make getting from point A to point B hassle-free is a must for anyone that wants to have an easy life getting around.

Edit: Under the new light shed by Rod on this matter I'll just buy a cheap bicycle and will probably already have a phone with incorporated GPS. This is the best cheap alternative and will probably keep me satisfied after my arrival.

Cheers,
treaz

Reading blogs

2010-05-12T09:44:00.004+03:00

as one might expect there is abundant information about the process of moving to Oz. It will take someone a lot of time to sort it through, this is my attempt.

I just finished reading the blog of A venezuelan couple living their Australian dreams and all in all it contains good information. Has very few off topic posts and I liked it. I recommend.
As this is the first blog I read, I'm sorry, but I didn't mark the very important posts.

Reading this blog took me a day (but it's 40 posts at most). It's about a family of 5 that immigrated to Sydney and their 8 month of living there. It's a good read and I found these posts most interesting:
1) How to ease your integration in the social life
2) Spider in a newspaper
3) Getting ready to move to OZ
4) Property buying tutorial

A really small blog was Swivel's Blog. It's in Spanish and English and contains little useful info (but then again... it takes 2 hours max to read it). I found a couple of interesting things on it though:
1) A big list of useful links
2) Some shorts about OZ
3) A site on which you can search a migration agent by location

A blog with only 4 entries that's full of useful job finding advice is http://firstjobaustralia.blogspot.com/ This guy really tells it how it is and gives some practical specific tips that would help anyone new to OZ.

Another blog about life of a British in Australia is One Whinging Pom. I found myself amused reading quite a few of the posts there. So it's all worth reading, but the practical advise is in these posts:

Soon to come...

The city of Melbourne

2010-05-10T16:07:00.002+03:00

so, I'm terribly enthusiastic that I found this site:
The City of Melbourne

Cheers

Linking up - Conneting - Surfing

2010-04-11T12:35:00.002+03:00

It turns out that starting this blog was more than a really good idea. Besides allowing to organize ideas it helps connecting with likely minded people. Recently I've had some comments that were really valuable and have shed some light on visa obtaining process.

And a new idea came to me: connect to all the blogs that are related (it seems I'm not special, others have though of this WAY before me).

This took me 2 steps:

following everyone that had a relevant blog on blogspot and looking at what they followed (and followed relevant blogs they followed) and so on.
using a google search. Yeah, nothing miraculous here. The special thing was including a google search keyword: site:blogspot.com. This means that google will search only the site blogspot.com. And the result? All the blogs hosted on blogspot that contain references to Australia+moving+Melbourne+whatnot. Of course you could search any blog hosting platform. :)

So, for the moment I have so much information that it scares me. Check them out in Different Perspectives section.

Cheers

30 mins seminar 'bout Skilled Migration

2010-04-04T15:22:00.000+03:00

Just found a 3 part presentation about the process of obtaining the visa and I wanted to share it with you.

Without further ado:
Part1, Part2 and Part3.

In case you're wondering: There are 606 days until Thursday, 1 December 2011.

Time is ticking away

2010-03-14T13:06:00.000+02:00

This is such a great and simple idea that it deserves it's own entry.

From now on, I'm going to count the days that are left until my departure (1 December 2011).
It'll make the concept of leaving easier to grasp.

There are 627 days until Thursday, 1 December 2011.

Letting them know

2010-03-14T13:00:00.000+02:00

It just struck me... the easiest way to tell the close ones about leaving is... (I'm gonna leave you some seconds to thing about it)... Yeah, you probably guessed it if yo already read this post.

Using baby steps is the way to do it... if you'll just wait until the final moment to bring it up, you could end up giving you old folks a heart attack. I didn't think about this at the beginning but as time passed it became more and more obvious. In fact the earlier your bring it up the better it is (you could even get their support).

So, it's quite simple, randomly start talking about Oz, about what you think it's cool about it. And keep on doing it until you encounter resistance, then just drop it. After some time start talking about it again. When you do this try to gradually get closer to the idea of moving there.

And people will eventually get accustomed to the idea that you're talking serious business.

And this behavior can be used almost everywhere and anywhere (as long as time permits it).

The only drawback that this particular situation has is that if you'll start talking to new people about this from the start some of them will be really careful about committing when it comes to you. Don't worry about it, it's only a few that react in this particular way.

Hooroo!

Metaphorically Surviving the Outback

2010-02-23T14:12:00.000+02:00

Part of making such a big move is being truly able to survive all by yourself. Like no friends, no relatives, no acquaintances, if fact when you get there there's a big chance no one will give a rat's ass about you. And you must be prepared for that or else you'll crack.

And this is a big one: it's not only being able to find a place to live, and finding a job. These are trivial. It's important to be able to cope with the sudden change (and this is a very big lifestyle change).

So the main idea is to have as many things settled down before you leave (and I mean learn all the things that can be learned) so you can use most of the energy you have to adapt. That should make sense, it's only a reminder.

Here's a list (not comprehensive whatsoever) of things that i expect to change (to be extended):

the climate
using english on a day to day basis
having no one to talk to
different culture/lifestyle

So I'll have to start adapting right now:

The first thing I totally suck at is cooking my own food. I was spared until now, but my time has come. And I started doing this one month ago. What I found out is that I hate cooking. The simple fact that I have to pay attention to such a casual task is driving me nuts. The solution to save me came from here: Minimalist Eating. 3 ingredient recipes sound so cool I will try them as soon as I get more time to search for good quality ingredients.
Washing clothes. I wonder how many perfectly good clothes I will ruin in this process. :)
Getting more familiar with aussie slang. I've went on imdb and checked out the top 100 pure Australian films. I got to see some cool stuff and some crap, all in all that didn't serve my purpose entirely. So the next step is getting my hands on documentaries about Australia and probably getting some literature.
Getting more familiar with English. Today I decided that after I finish reading all my books in Romanian I'll switch to English (exclusively... probably buy some cool books from amazon). Remember? This is the same reason I'm writing this blog in English (only for this post I've looked 4 words in the dictionary)

No OZ embassy/consulate in Romania?

2010-02-23T09:58:00.001+02:00

The answer is yes. Australia has no official representatives in Romania. The embassy that handles us is in Serbia.
And the consulate was closed at the end of 2009. That's a shame...

The silver lining is that I've procrastinating calling them for one month and a half and it turned out it wouldn't have mattered if I took the decision to call them then.

But Australia is so far away...

2009-10-28T14:02:00.000+02:00

Almost every time I mention Australia to someone, his/her reaction is: So far way? My parents have mentioned that I should try to go somewhere closer (Europe preferably). I didn't argue with them, but I didn't agree. I told them that many things can change in 1 year and a half (that's when I plan to leave) and that we'll see.

I realise this is a big change for all my family. And I'm willing to let them get used to the idea first and then tell them that I did my best to make the idea to become real. No reason to upset them if I don't have anything settled.

But I digress... The answer to the above question is that I feel that I would be happy there. And I believe that happiness is a very important aspect of life.

Why would I be happy? This is such a more interesting question and I'll answer it in a future post.

Solving point 2 on the TODO list

2009-10-28T14:00:00.001+02:00

With the current economical situation (this so called crisis) it got really hard a find a cool job (meaning a job that would bring material and profesional satisfaction; meaning a job that would make you happy).

The important this is (and I'm going to write it uppercase): DO NOT GIVE UP!
Yeah, I know it sounds silly and all that. But it sounds silly because everyone says it, but few do it effectively.
It's so much easier to let go.

I can't even begin to think how many people told me that there aren't any cool jobs available and that I should stay put yada...yada...yada... It was easy not to listen to them, I had viable sources that stated otherwise. And I was so confident about my competence and experience that I couldn't give up.

So, after some time, 3 months to be more specific, I landed in a small company, as an application developer (occupation present on the MODL list), with a hefty increase in salary and in a cool team by my side.

I guess the next period will be a little bit harder for me, but I'll handle it.

TO DO LIST

2009-10-01T17:41:00.000+03:00

There are a couple of things that must be done before emigrating to Oz.
This is going to be a checklist that will help me keep track of my objectives (not necessarily in order).

1) Obtain a passport.
2) Make 1 year of experience in a MODL (Migration Occupations in Demand List) occupation.
I've chosen Computing Professional [specialising in Java]. CRITICAL
3) Take the General IELTS Exam. CRITICAL
4) Save 2050 euros for covering 2 months expenses once I get there.
5) Find out the best price for a one way airplane ticket. CRITICAL
6) Decide in what city I'll start my Australian adventure.

to be continued...

Cost of living in Australia

2009-10-01T17:27:00.000+03:00

How much money would one need to get settled in Australia and not worry about anything for 2 months?

Friends in Australia would be a great thing to have, but at the time I wrote this article I wasn't that well connected so I just googled variations of the following words: australia/melbourne/sydney living costs/cost of living. And I'm resume what I found to be relevant.

According to Taylor's College (last updated in Nov 2006) the Total monthly rounded costs are:
Melbourne: 1700 AUD; Sydney: 2000 AUD

According to Australian Catholic University (last updated in May 2009) the Total monthly rounded costs are:
Melbourne: 1300 AUD; Sydney: 1400 AUD

I will consider the money objective accomplished when I have 1700*2 = 3400 AUD spare money. That's around 2050 euros.

These would add to the other costs (plane ticket, visa costs, exams that I'll have to take etc.)

Money, get away (Pink Floyd)

2009-09-30T12:33:00.000+03:00

I'm the kind of guy that is into the idea of having a safety net in case I fall. I agree that the most beautiful things in life are free, but it's different when someone else provides you the the means to get through every day life.

So, I won't emigrate to Australia (all by myself) without enough money that would allow me to buy accommodation/food for up to 2 months (nothing fancy, just everyday needs).

At this moment I think this is an important aspect to take into account if you emigrate to another country. And that period of time should be enough to allow me to find a job and adapt to the new living conditions/culture/people.

Next stop: the calculus for this sum of money and the way I plan to raise it.

Australia VS New Zeeland

2009-09-24T17:12:00.001+03:00

I originally wanted to go to New Zeeland.

I have an image of New Zeeland as being one of the purest (virgin woods, low pollution etc) countries on Earth while being technologically advanced and having a strong economy. I will not go into the reasons I originally wanted to go there.

New Zeeland has a rather strict work visa selection process.
If you want to make sure you get a Skilled Migrant visa you need to obtain 140 points in the Points Indicator. That proved to be impossible for me (as I'm quite young and I don't have all the required skills).

Australia is encouraging immigration
For the same type of Australian visa (General Skilled Migration Program) I scored well over 120 on the Points Test that I took for free on Synch1.

That made me think for a little (seriously, just a little) about my options. This was doable in a medium length of time. Wow! I can do this. Australia, the country-continent, kangaroos, koalas, deadliest species of animals, The Great Barrier Reef, The Great Sandy Desert, The Daintree Rainforest, Uluru and so many more I haven't heard of yet.

This is the best moment to leave, I'll do it!

Making some financial decisions

2009-09-18T14:12:00.002+03:00

I'm happy to be able this post from my phone, on my trip back to Bucharest from home. Sorry for the missing formatting :)

I'd like to talk about an important decision I made in order to rise the money I'll need for my departure.

A little background first: this year I've finished my undergrad courses. For the last 4 years I've lived in a student dorm in a room with other 2 students.

Starting this fall I will loose my right to stay in the dorm. So, I'm faced with 2 choices:
1) I'll move to a 2/3 rooms apartment and find apartment mates.
2) I'll buy a place in the student dorm (illegal, but overall cheaper).

Both choices have advantages and disadvantages. Main advantages: no 1 offers a lot more comfort; no 2 is really money efficient.

My decision is made: I will sacrifice my personal comfort.

Later Edit: My initial to buy my place in a student dorm successfully failed. The price was too big for the living conditions that it offered. So I went with moving to an apartment.
Now I have my own room (that I'll make as welcoming as possible), no one disturbs me and in a very short while I'll adapt to the new neighborhood.
I estimate this move will cost me at most 700 ron per month, so I'll have to be careful with the ways I'll be spending money if I want to save money.

Are you ready?

2009-09-14T19:11:00.001+03:00

The best way to tell if you are ready to leave for Australia is to do this:

Close your eyes and imagine that in 10 minutes someone will knock on your door and tell you that everything is ready for your departure (for the sake of the exercise, don't imagine that he's lying): starting from plane tickets, to the visa, to the job you're been wishing for, to the apartment, even a AWD car...

Try to imagine every little detail you can think of has a convenient and reasonable solution.

But this man tells you this wonderful spell will wear off if you don't start heading towards th airport in 2 hours (that's plenty of time to say goodbye to your relatives and pack a little bag with personals).

Now open your eyes... are you ready?

If you're not ready try to think about what's holding you back. Write them down on a piece of paper. Really. Write them down; that way you'll be able to explore them and find more than one solution. I know it sound silly, but why not try it?

P.S.: What I like about this execise is that it can be applied in many circumstances.

The why's

2009-09-12T13:20:00.001+03:00

Because it helps me is the best answer (the simplest) I can offer to anyone who is curious why I've decided to put some effort into this blog.

It helps me track progress.
It helps me see the steps clearly.
It helps me get used to thinking in english.
It helps me to be motivated in the search for information about this subject.
It helps me to learn the tech behind blogging.
And last but not least, it could ease the decision/process of those who wish to be more than tourists in Australia.

Getting from point RO to point AU

2009-09-11T22:10:00.000+03:00

Do you remember all those math problems in school that started something like:

A plane takes off from point A and travels with a speed of 800 kmph towards point B. What is the distance between the two points if the plane arrives at point B after 19 hours?

Let's substitute point A with any airport in Romania and point B with Canberra (the capital of Australia) International Airport (and let's disconsider that this airport is used only for internal air traffic).

I'd like to say that getting to Australia is as simple as the above question, but this is not the case.

Truth is, with all the other details of the trip solved you have to make at least one stop on the way. As you can see, getting to point B gets complicated fast.

The best way to achieve the dream of immigrating to Australia is breaking the whole process in manageable chunks and making baby steps towards the destination.