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I've been in the USA for a few weeks now, and the end of my trip is approaching quickly. In fact, in about a week, I'm heading back to Australia. While I've been away, a few things have happened:
I've been sick almost the whole time. The pollution levels here are a bit higher than what I'm used to, so that might be the culprit. I also have a knack about visiting my hometown when there's some kind of illness going around. So I caught that and have been semi-miserable with respiratory tract issues.
My mother-in-law passed away. My husband's mother passed away while I've been away so he had to go back to India for a while. I thought about heading back to Australia and possibly to India, but I'm slowly running out of money. I feel bad for not being able to be with my partner right now, but I'm not sure what I can accomplish being in India and with my partner not being out to many people over there. We're scheduled to return to Australia on the same day. He was really close to his mom, so I'm not sure how this is going to go once he sees me.
My mom isn't coming to Australia anymore. This is a two parter. I have mentioned it somewhere else, but there were problems with her getting her passport and the last time I went through everything at the airport, it was absolute chaos and I really wouldn't want my mom to be subjected to that. So, I've decided to just come to the USA more often since my study is almost done.
To make up for that, I have bought my mom a few things. I originally had planned to get her a puppy while I was here, but didn't think I could find her one, so I bought her a watch. Well, one of my friends messaged me with someone who had puppies available and I'm going to go pick one of those up. So instead of paying for one expensive thing, I'm paying for two. Sigh.
I met up with my best friend and we got to hang out and it was really nice. I missed her quite a lot.
I learned Wal-Mart doesn't take Apple Pay (the hard way). I see it as greed, simply. I got up to the self-check out line and had no idea how to use it. I didn't bring any of my cards with me. In so many ways, Australia is now more technologically advanced than the USA. My friend was there to bail me out, thank god.
I got tamales. I'm happy now.
Though I am married to a handsome Indian man, there is a big selection of men that I don't see much in Australia.
I realise how lucky I am to live in Australia rather than the USA. People seem miserable. I'm speaking this from Texas, so that shows it's really bad. The government is failing its people. People are struggling and it's really sad to see. I think that it is only going to get worse over the next few years.
So these are my observations while I've been here. I'm not sure I'll update again, but yeah, so many changes. I'm looking forward to getting back home and back to work. I'll miss my family a lot, of course. My life has been built overseas and it's not something I can abandon.
I hope you are all doing well and I hope you're taking care of yourselves. I'm about to go pick up my mother's new sausage dog (a dachshund of course!). Follow me on Mastodon for the follow-up!
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In case I haven't mentioned it, I am due to fly back to the USA in a few weeks. Thankfully, it's only temporary... and I hate flying. I'm one of those nervous travelers who are so nervous about it, that I am randomly selected for searches pretty often. I think the main problem is that I can't do whatever I want for the duration of the flight. I think of all the things I need to do (or did I do those things?) when I'm in the air. A few days before I fly, I start dreaming of not having the right visa (though I don't need one to go to the USA and then back). I dream that I've left my passports at home and I'm stuck. It's a mess. I usually take antihistamines in order to make myself so drowsy that I can sleep.
Another thing that scares me is the fact that I have a big fear of getting sick while I am in the USA. As I tell my coworkers here, if they go there, make sure they look after themselves while they are there so they won't get sick. I've booked myself a doctor appointment a few days before I go to make sure my medications can get filled before I go. I haven't asked the doctor for medication to calm myself before I fly, but I think I will this time.
I'm also very nervous because I haven't booked a return ticket yet. I am so afraid I will be stuck there. I can't do much about it because, well, I'm short of money at the moment. So that has to wait, and the way the fares are... they'll just go up in the next couple of weeks. I think that it will be okay to spend that money because I do NOT want to stay in the USA. Work is here. Partner is here. House is here. Sausage dog is here. Too many things are here waiting for me. Plus, I love Australia.
Now, I've gotten that off my chest, I feel better. Flying anywhere doesn't make me excited. I have flown so many times and thought the exposure would make it easier. It doesn't. I still hate it. I hate airports. I hate feeling like I will be stranded if I don't hurry.
That's all for now. Take good care of yourselves!
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Hello everybody!
A few times, I start writing something here, but I didn't actually publish it. It's not really a big loss, honestly.
There's not much to say right now except that I've broken a bone in my toe and it's being very stubborn and not healing the way it should. It's not super painful, but it is annoying when I put any amount of weight on my small toe. I don't realise how much I actually USE that toe until I am walking around for over 15 hours a day.
This isn't really going to be all about my feet.
I'm a bit bummed out because getting my mom's passport isn't going as expected as I thought it would go. So she's passportless and I am supposed to leave in 6 weeks. I'm staying for a month, so I am hoping I can get that stuff sorted out soon.
So, yeah, nothing exciting here. No projects I'm working on. I should since I can't use my feet for anything fun--like walking, running, or getting back to the gym. (I swear that was going to happen this week.)
I'll catch you later!
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If you don't want to read something that is not very uplifting, then you probably will want to sit this one out. This is one of those gloomy blog entries that I sometimes do, you know, trying to make sense of things.
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Happy New Year to you, your family, and your friends.
Here's hoping that 2025 doesn't suck for anybody in that list.
It's back to work for me this weekend, so my time off was good enough, I guess. I didn't do anything special on NYE. In fact, I ended up by myself that night because my partner wanted to see fireworks. I generally hate people outside work, so I just let him go. It also sends him away because, this isn't a lie, 90% of our conversations involve complaining, whining, or something like that. It was a nice break, I have to say.
Anyway, I hope it's all going well for you! :) Until next time, folks!