I’ll never forget my skype interview with Claire. The video wasn’t working on my laptop and we could only hear her voice. I say we because my dad and brother were in the kitchen while I was on the call. Cooking silently and just listening. I threatened them that if they messed this up for me I would be living with them, bossing them around for the next year, so needless to say, you could hear a pin drop. Lol. I wasn’t used to hearing the Australian accent and neither were they. I think for the first time it felt real to us all that I was actually doing this. I remember my brother telling me it was really cool after. I could tell by the look on his face that he was being genuine. At the time he was 20 and sooooo much cooler than me (or so he thought). So I thought it was cool that he thought it was cool. I was a little more proud of myself with every step I took closer to the big leap.
The weeks after that flew by. So. Damn. Fast..
I had an interview with a couple from Sydney (Sarah and Damian if you’re reading this I love you guys so much!!) I was nervous. Practicing interview questions, asking my coworkers what to wear.. you would have thought I was preparing for an Oval Office visit. That night I raced home from CrossFit, showered and changed, and read over the sample contract they sent me for an hour leading up. When I finally got their call I answered it and immediately knew that this was a good thing. I don’t know about you but I’m the type of person that can talk to someone for a minute or two and I know from there whether we’re going to click or not. We clicked. I may not have answered all of their questions perfectly. But we clicked. I think that’s what matters most in these types of situations. You’re merging families, cultures, living space. When you feel it in your gut that it’s a good thing, on both ends, then it’s easy from there.
My host family and I had some more emails, Skype dates and FaceTime appointments in the weeks to follow. The time difference made it a little tricky but modern day technology is amazing and we were able to communicate really well considering. I didn’t hear from Sarah for a little while and I kept working, the weeks kept passing, and I was okay with it. I was comfortable. Until one morning I woke up with a new email from Sarah. Attached was a final contract and a message from her stating how they would like me to read over the document, sign it, and return it if I would like to move in with them and start working in the fall.
I was ELATED FAM. I did it. I had so much more to do but I did IT. I got a job overseas. Remember when I said the weeks flew by? Well they started flying even faster. It was July. I was getting ready to leave to go to Europe with another family I babysat for. (That’s another blog for another day) I was working my booty off because we were in mid-summer season. I had so much to do and they wanted me to start in September. You know when you’re in high school and you’re getting ready to graduate and you’re so excited because after 12 years you’re about to be free but then all of a sudden the college you’re planning on attending in the fall wants all this bullshit from you like immunization records, orientation fees, dorm deposits, transcripts etc?! Like damn life can you just let a girl enjoy her accomplishment for a minute before you throw some crippling anxiety at her again? I felt very similar to a recent high school graduate. Worried that I wasn’t going to get everything submitted on time, or at all. Because unlike college, these waters were a little more uncharted. I didn’t have a guidance counselor to walk me through the steps. But I had the next best thing. Shoutout Katie Fry!! My BFF of 25 years now. The one that was planning to move to Spain to teach history. She was my only hope to getting all of my ducks in a row. The closest thing to my guidance counselor. We sat down and made a list of what I needed to do.
- Find an overseas healthcare plan
- Get my immunizations and medical records scanned
- Call Verizon and get my phone unlocked so I could put an Australian SIM card in once I arrived.
- Register my passport and visa on my vevo. (An app on your phone that registers your passport and visa information. Necessary when traveling to and from Australia.
- Get my medical records sent to the Australian government along with my visa application.
- Book a flight
At one point I remember it all seemed impossible. It all seemed crazy. It would be so easy to spend my days off on the boat, on the beach, anywhere but inside on a sunny day chipping away at a to-do list that seemed never ending. But thank God I had grown so uncomfortable with being comfortable. And one visa application, several Verizon phone calls, two health clinic trips and a few anxiety attacks later, I had one more thing to cross off my list.
6. Book a flight.
Sammy Vonn 