Nursing Registration (non progress)

I really don't have much to report in the way of the progress on my nursing registration. The short story on what has happened so far is that I graduated on March 18th, 2008 with a full head of steam, excited and ready to work as a nurse in Sydney. After passing the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) for RNs and moving to Sydney, I gathered the piles of paperwork together to send to the New South Wales nurses board. I received a letter in the mail the following week, recognizing my application and letting me know that "foreign educated" applicants may have to wait up to 6 months for their registration application to be reviewed. I did not expect the process to be fast nor efficient but I never thought it would take 6 months. There is no guarantee that they will accept my application because the education requirements for U.S. nurses are not the same. If I wait 6 months to get word that my application for registration was denied I will certainly be more than unhappy (depressed?). Needless to say, I've got a lot of decisions to make in the next few months about my "working" future in Sydney. Sell my soul again and go back to software? Get a job in health care doing something? Volunteer a lot until I get word from the nurses board? Learn Spanish? Get my masters in nursing? Make money doing something creative and non-soul-sucking? I've been applying for different jobs in software and health care and have a new appreciation for what it's like to be looking for a job. I would consider myself highly qualified in certain areas and it just isn't as easy as I thought to get a job. Maybe that's part of my problem -- I think I'm qualified but I'm really not?

STUFF!

Our "stuff" finally arrived last Monday, mostly without any damage. Both of us hate how we feel so tied to our "stuff". Why is our happiness so dependent on all of our stuff? I think there are many reasons why we feel so much happier with it. For one, we don't hesitate to admit that we are immensely more happy when we are adventuring with our adrenaline equipment close to nature and away from the crowds-- mountain bikes, windsurf equipment, surfboards, kayaks, etc. Sometimes both of us do wish we could have as much fun with some good hiking shoes but it's not really the same and we can't get to the same places with just hiking shoes.

I am slightly hesitant to admit that I am way more happy with comfy chairs, rugs (to cover the nasty ass [NA] carpet), and nice wall hangings in our apartment. I do believe Scott could care less about these things. Something that brings a lot of happiness to Scott is his musical "gear". For anyone that knows Scott well, you know that he experiences genuine joy from music and from making music or at least from making some noise. His gear includes 7 electric guitars, 2 acoustic guitars, a banjo (six string banjo which I'm told is really just a guitar), a dobro, 2 mandolins, a bass guitar, 3 amplifiers, bongos, a djembe (that's a drum), a drum set, 2 mandolins, and a lap steel. I became quite aware of all this musical "gear" when I had to check off each item while they were delivered -- 40% musical gear, 40% adrenaline gear, and 20% clothes and furniture. Lastly, we are living in such a new and different environment that I think having some of our familiar sights, smells, and sounds is inherently comforting.

Fun Times in the Dorm Room

We are in the midst of a wonderful visit by our two good friends Dan and JV (the Slighterallis) who came 7700 miles around the world to stay in a dorm room. You might be wondering what happened to our penthouse with a spectacular view? It's still here but our "stuff" hasn't arrived so we've been entertaining our guests with lawn furniture and makeshift tables made out of phonebooks and thrown-away items. The Slighterallis have made this past week something to remember. I feel so lucky that they were here yesterday for my birthday too. They've inspired us to see different things and eat lots of great food in our neighborhood and beyond. I love having visitors!

They arrived last Friday evening after a couple of days of travel. Saturday was our biggest day as we walked all over Circular Quay and even went out to Manly Beach via a ferry. I was worried the day might not go so well when, in the morning as we were waiting for the train, Dan noticed he was wearing two very different socks. Despite this, the day was packed with fun and lots of sunshine. We saw huge bats in the Royal Botanical Gardens next to Circular Quay, and as Dan and JV were nearing the end of their jet-lagged day, we saw an elusive (seriously) echidna during a walk near Manly Beach. The echidna is like a cross between a porcupine, an anteater, and a platapus - it was completely oblivious to our presence. Needless to say, we probably should have split our activities up during their first day here, but we all survived and have great pictures to show for it.

Sunday was another day with lots of walking and eating. At a local market, Dan and JV got some Gozleme (a turkish crepe) and Scott and I ordered some Okonomiyaki (japanese pizza, translated literally as "what you like"). It's fun to realize there are so many yummy foods to discover still. We also wandered down to the iconic harbor-side amusement park, Luna Park, were we took silly pictures. We also dragged Dan and JV along with us while we test drove a major hooptie van (that we aren't going to buy). We meandered along the harbor and found a gorgeous park with incredible hidden pathways and luscious plants and vegetation. That was only half the day...