End of the fairytale

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!

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...

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:

1. Venomous spider bites no longer cause fatalities Australia – the last recorded death was in 1979.
2. Australian snakes behaviour has not evolved to targeting humans

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

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

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

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

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.