Aussie life, 1.
By: Marjo Kaszonyi
Tags: Parenthood, Finnish, Australia, Sydney, Diary

It’s been nearly three months since we relocated to our new home, Sydney, Australia.

Four suitcases of clothes and shoes, plus one bag stuffed to its last stitch with toys and LEGO — we packed quite light and started from scratch, our third country in five years.

It’s been a trip. I do think I’m a bit mad for doing this sorta thing — but I’ve been told I’m actually being brave so, I’ll go with that.

I thought I’d share a few nuggets from this journey so far.

I tried to write a short list but ended up with this one instead.

The air smells amazing.

It’s not exactly clean or clear, but it does smell exotic — though I wonder if I’m already getting desensitized to it. Anyway, now and then I just sort of stop and take a long good sniff and smile. We’re somewhere very far away.

When we first got here it was so bloody cold that we slept under the same covers for weeks. I actually avoided taking showers purely for the fear of having to step out and get dressed, shivering. Insulation of windows is not a thing here.

And now it’s back to being hot again. Lucas was explaining to me yesterday how there’s a hole in the rooftop of the sky, and when it’s bad it’s a 9. And that we cannot be under the sun unless it’s a 6 or less. It is scary, and I should be more careful. It’s actually quite hard to abandon the idea that a tan is/looks ‘healthy’.

Work’s been good — it’s been busy and I’ve gotten to work with the best two weirdos in my project. We laugh so loud that my mascara runs, every day. I’ve actually just ordered a new Lancome waterproof mascara for this reason alone. I wonder if I could charge that to business…

On that note, nothing prepares you for how expensive everything is here.

I’m keeping myself in a state of denial about money and letting a lot of stuff slide for now. We’re here, we’re happy, and I’ll work my way out of debt one day. Counting the days till pre-school ends and school-school begins.

Pre-school ends in a month and a half.

There will be a graduation ceremony with gowns and performances. You’ll find me weeping in the back.

Lucas has grown out of most of the shirts we came here with, and we now have talks like we’ve never had before. He’s mixing Finnish and English and seems to worry less whether he’s getting all the words right, as long as he’s getting his point across. It’s a new side to him, and it’s such a joy to watch. The new words he’s learning all come with a twang — you should hear him say “Beautiful!”, fanning out an Aussie accent like a card trick.

Then, it’s also been testing, being a full-time single parent.

When we’re both upset, neither one of us gets to go to another person, to take a break or to just feel all the feels. We’re doing okay though, mainly because kids are just the best people and they like us adults even when we’re a bit shit.

Hmmmm what else. Oh yes, camping! We now have a new, small blue tent, sleeping bags (mine a double, Lucas’s a shark suit) and big plans to go around the state and sleep under the sky. I’ve lobbied some friends to do this with and can’t wait to start seeing the wild nature at sunset and rise. And yes the tent is spider proof, I asked.

Lastly, I’ve gotten to realise (again) that I have friends who are basically made of gold — both here and back home.

It really is the hardest thing about traveling, you’re always missing someone wherever you end up in. But after these few months, I’ve just counted my blessings and they are weird and they are many.

Here are a few photos — I post on insta quite a bit (if you haven’t noticed 🤓) so here’s just a few of my favourites.