Maju's Weblog Blogging for Australia (from the US)

On S’s visa label (in her passport) it says that she has until April 2016 to settle in Australia, as long as she makes her initial entry by 28th April 2012. We were under the impression that she had five years from the time the temporary part of the visa was granted back in January 2009, so we were thinking that it would be expedient to move to Australia as soon as I finish my current degree next year. However, with two extra years at our disposal, it occurs to us that it would be possible for me to either move on to a PhD or enrol for a second Master’s. I’m regretting how fast the time is passing and I’d love to be able to stay here longer, while S is regretting being forced to resign/retire from a job she mostly loves when she is really not ready to stop working. She plans to try to get work in Australia but there’s no guarantee that she’ll be successful. Therefore it would suit both of us very well if I could stay another two years, but I can’t help thinking it might make the immigration people suspicious and there are no guarantees that I will get accepted into another program, though it’s probably unlikely that I would be rejected. We’ve got five to six months to think about this possible change in plans before I need to start an application to another program. I’m thinking that it would be very interesting to do American Studies or Sociology (still at GWU).

Well, today was surprising. First, I learnt that my daughter (who has been living in London for seven years) is thinking of moving to the San Diego area (possibly on a student visa at first) to be with a man she met in London a few months ago. She’d already spoken to me about this a little while ago, but now it’s getting more serious. She’s planning to apply to do a Masters in nutrition. Second, I learnt that he is almost my age, while she is only half my age. However, from her description, they sound perfect for each other. Third, I learnt that she will be in Chicago for five days next week to attend his daughter’s graduation from law school. Fourth, I booked a ticket to Chicago to spend a couple of days with her and meet him. It’s all a bit much to process, really.

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I’ve finished with studies for the semester so you might see me posting here a bit more often than I have for the past nine months or so.

I am finally in possession of a Maryland driver’s licence, after a 3 month wait for an appointment for the practical test, followed by a very tame and uneventful test on the day. Now I can go wild and drive myself to Safeway if I need to. Oh, the excitement!

On 8th August I wrote about needing to get a Maryland driver’s licence. Four months later, I still have not succeeded in attaining that goal, in spite of three trips to the MVA. I’ve got a letter from the Social Security Dept. saying I’m not eligible for a Social Security number. I’ve got a certificate from a drug and alcohol education place saying I did a 3 hour drug and alcohol awareness program. (That was a rip off – I read through a booklet twice and successfully completed a multiple choice quiz, all of which took a total of about an hour.) I’ve been to the MVA three times; the first two times I was told that I didn’t have the right evidence that I’m a resident here. The third time, today, I successfully proved that I live here, but I’m ashamed to say that, after holding an Australian driver’s licence since 1967, I failed the written test. Two of the questions I got wrong were about hand signals. When was the last time you saw anybody using hand signals? Even though I have never used them, I might have had more chance to get the answers right if I’d mentally visualised using them while sitting on the left hand side of the car rather than on the right. Mental brain freeze took me right back to Australia on that one, I’m afraid. Anyway, I’ve spent all afternoon reading the road rules book and I will be back at the MVA tomorrow to do the test again. Luckily they don’t charge you to do the written test.

I haven’t been around much since I started classes at the beginning of September, but now with only a couple of weeks to go until the end of semester I’m feeling quite relaxed and able to take some time off here and there. Today is the first day since the start of September that I’ve done no work at all though. We are preparing roasted vegetables and apple crisp to take to dinner later this afternoon; dinner will be with a small group of friends who have no “real” family in the area, but we’re each other’s family at times like this.

This is only my second ever Thanksgiving; the first was when I was here in 2005. I am very thankful to be here, to be with my lovely partner and as a bonus, to be able to be a student again, as well as for the fact that we’ve got friends to share today with.

Thanks to Eviltwit I was able to successfully add a “Contact Me” tab at the top of my blog. I do appreciate the people who are taking the time to figure things out here at WordPress for those of us who are too busy to work it out for ourselves.

Now that I’m in my fourth week of classes, I’m finally beginning to enjoy being a student again. When I did my BA (in the 1990s) I absolutely loved being a student and the feeling that my mind was expanding in all directions, so I was looking forward to recreating that experience again. When I started classes and was overwhelmed with reading,  terms that I struggled to understand, and the knowledge that if I fail to maintain a B average, I lose my student visa, I felt completely out of my depth and was sure I would never succeed in this venture of getting a Master’s. Now I’ve got into a routine, have received some feedback (a B and an A for some written work), and am getting to know some of the other students, I feel much more confident. I’m still tired, but not panicking, and I look forward to my classes each week.