Two Years in Oz

In a few days we will mark the second anniversary of our move to Sydney.

Almost two years ago we were queuing in Buenos Aires  for that Qantas flight that started our new life here. I still remember that feeling of fear and excitement whilst looking out of the plane window onto the endless alien expanses of Antarctica as we made our journey here.

And so here we are, two years later. Whilst from one side it would be easy to fall onto the usual 'I cannot believe two years have already passed!', from another it feels like a lot of things have happened and evolved over the last 24 months.   Time often seems to have two speeds - the one we recognize, and the massive portion we don't or choose not to notice.So, yes, it does feel like 2 years.

Starting a new life in Sydney has been both a challenge and an opportunity.

The main opportunity was personal growth, which often does require challenge to occur.

In other words, when we are settled in our business as usual our rate of growth more often than not slows down. On the contrary, a move to the other side of the world, where we only knew a handful of people and were not really sure how anything worked proved to be a steep learning curve.

It was not easy to make the jump and turn will into reality - but I have always thought that decision making is a waste of time if there is not a decision at the end of it.

So we did it.

Not all of it was exhilarating: I still remember a very long time spent at a HSBC branch trying to convince a woman who could barely speak English that I was worthy of a bank account. All those manual forms still haunt me in my dreams. Not dissimilar to the same conversation I had with Natwest at the university campus in 1999!

Since then it has been a roller coaster, made of exploring this new city and falling in love with it to the point that it now feels home, missing our good friends back in London, buying our very first flat of dreams down under, starting exploring Australia, New Zealand and Asia, trips back to Europe, having friends over, discovering our healthier selves, making a life long commitment under a setting Greek sun, going from not knowing Singapore at all to going there all the time, working hard and learning how to take 11pm work phone calls with England without falling asleep, getting closer to the family here and little Jack.

All in all it has been amazing. Do I feel different? Yes I do. Calmer I would say, and different in many other ways, but then  again I am not sure whether it is because of Sydney or it would have happened anyway.

I was asking myself how life would be like if we had never made the move. How would it feel like?
The reality is that we are fortunate enough that life would have probably been great anyway.

I imagined that 'other life', those Ratz and Patata - possibly still in London, having bought a flat and getting ready for the big day. Complaining about the weather and the tube no doubt like all other Londoners.

Not knowing how this life would have been like, possibly not doing all the new things that we have done (somehow going to a strawberry farm in Tasmania pops into mind as I write - of all things!).

It was strange to think that this Piero can so easily imagine that Piero - whether or not things would have really turned that way or not- but that Piero could have hardly known or imagined the life this Piero has made on the other side of the world. If the two of us met, what would we tell each other?

The thought made me smile - it's like we have lived two lives at the speed of one.