August | 2017 | Fords Gone Walkabout

Now that we’ve had a few weeks to get sorted, here’s an update on how the Fords have been doing since we arrived in Australia.

Jobs

Just now, we have an idea of when we’ll be able to start working. The first week of May, we went to the Clermont County Jail to get fingerprinted, and we applied for FBI background checks for our Victorian teaching licenses. Initially, the website said 8-10 weeks processing time and then it updated to 10-12 weeks processing time. As you can imagine, this has been a challenging, frustrating time of waiting and uncertainty, just hoping and trusting that the documents got to where they needed to go and that they’d be processed. After three weeks in-country and twelve weeks of no news (the WORST), I emailed the Melbourne US Consulate who provided me with a Golden Ticket–an email address that I could check on the status! I emailed and within 48 hours, the FBI confirmed that our background checks were processed and sent on July 31st. Praise. The. Lord. They list the mailing time as three weeks domestic, four weeks international. However, the domestic copy arrived in three days, and Bri put it in the mail with tracking. It should arrive sometime this week, and when it does, we’ll take a trip to VIT to hand it to them personally. It takes the Victorian Institute of Teaching two weeks to process our registration, and about another week to mail it to us. And THEN we can start work the next day. Our hope is to be working before the end of term three, which is the third week of September.

In the meantime, we’ve applied for second jobs at least for the rest of this year so that we have some income during school holidays (two weeks after each term and summer from December through January) and potentially nights and weekends to get us through the end of the year.

From Launa to Veronica

When Steven lived in Australia five years ago, he bought a 1991 Ford Lazer from an old lady named Launa, and therefore, he named her after her previous owner. Our friends, the Smiths, looked after her when Steven returned to the States in 2013, making sure she stayed in shape. Then, when we shared we were returning to Australia, they got a 2003 Ford Falcon from the Slatters (another Boort family who we love) and fixed it up for us for FREE. Her name is Veronica.

We Have a Place!

As I mentioned before, we stayed with Robyn and Bruce Moresi, friends from Boort, for the first three weeks after we arrived. It was from them that we learned how to navigate around the east side of Melbourne, where to get the best meat pies and cheap rugs, and heard fun stories about life in Boort. The Lord has certainly gone before us, not just in the past few months, but since 1984 when Roger and Julie came first to grow into such a wonderful community.

Pizza and Pavlova

Pavlova: Robyn’s Gift to the World

Steven & the grandkids

This weekend, we moved into our unit on Freeman Street in Ringwood East! It’s a two-bedroom unit with a front porch, back courtyard, and one-car garage, and it’s only about an 8-minute walk to the train station. We’ve spent the weekend in a rented ute (truck) picking up furniture from Gumtree users to give us a start. Since our mattress wasn’t delivered, we spent the night on a cot and the couch. But it’ll come today along with two, free memory foam pillows. This is a special and exciting milestone for us as this is our first place that we’re moving into together that we both chose.

First load

Our unit

Steven got the keys!

Everything In Between

And in the time being, we have been to Vicroads twice (a much happier version of the BMV) to get Australian licenses and registration, to countless Salvation Army shops (called Op Shops) to get bargains on dishes and home goods, to the post office to send a letter, and to the police station to see a Justice of the Peace for a notary. We’ve been to three malls (called shopping centers) to get cell phone plans, compatible power cords, and set up banking, and have been to three different churches. We have been to all three grocery store chains (and one market) and have tried different foods, comparing brands to see which we like best. We’ve taken the three-hour train ride to Bendigo twice and rode the Metro all day to only do two inspections. And we have eaten like kings at the Moresis, at their daughter’s family’s house, and at the Smiths, enjoying slice (pastries or baked goods you eat with your cuppa), Lindt chocolates, apple streudel, silverside (corned beef), stir fry, lamb roast, apple crumble, custard FROM A CARTON, Arnott’s biscuits, meat pies, chicken parma, toasties, and dumplings. (Somehow, we’re not large.) And most of all, we’ve realized how incredibly blessed we are over and over again.

Robyn teaching Melways

Our first day in Oz

Meat Pie c/o Chris Haw

At the Smith’s in Boort

Ben in Bendigo

Madeline’s at Jell’s Cafe

Mailing my first letter

Train to Bendigo

Heaven on Earth

Our room at Moresi’s

Staying Connected

We hope that everyone is well at home and that you have enjoyed and made the most of your summer while we’ve been bundled up here. For our teacher friends, especially at Edgewood and Milford, we know you have a great year ahead of you, and we already miss the day-to-day antics and community that we always enjoyed. We have an extra bedroom that will be set up soon, so that you have a place to stay when you come to Australia!

Love, The Fords

Now that we have Veronica, I’m able to explore a bit on my own. I headed to Springvale Market and snuck back into the scores of fresh produce, flowers, and seafood. It’s no Findlay Market, but I see myself coming here for fresh meat and seafood. Now, I just have to get used to the conversion from kilograms to pounds in my head to have any idea of what everything costs, and learn what the Vietnamese and Cambodian foods are. Now, for a price, you can manage anything. But here are the things I noticed.

Barramundi, Asian sea bass, is what I saw most, and while I saw fillets, I mostly saw it sold whole. I’ll have to try that once I get adequate cookware again. Or a grill.
Atlantic salmon looked really sad, but Tasmanian salmon looked amazing. And it was about $21/kg which is $9.50/lb. In the two grocery stores here, it goes for about $27/kg or $12.25/lb.
Prawns are the shrimp of Australia. You can buy them shelled and deveined, but they’re about 1/3 more expensive. I think I just need to come to terms with the fact that I’ll be twisting the heads off.
There aren’t really snow or king crab legs. You just buy whole crabs.
Minced (ground) beef is cheapest along with whole chicken, but lamb and beef are pretty equitable in price. Bring on the lamb roasts.

This article expresses what I saw best, and the pictures of the food are amazing. And I had banh mi, recognizing it from the graduation party of one of my former students whose grandmother is Vietnamese. Let the food experiments begin.