#expatriotship

[whatsmelbourne]

#187

I hear Melbourne's spring is being temperamental and has been frustrating people. How unlike Melbourne! Oh, I miss you. In these early but already too much dark and cold days of not even winter but autumn, I torment myself by way of checking insta accounts dedicated to Melbourne. Again, romanticising. I did this for Istanbul for many many years; now I'm only a short fight away from Istanbul, she has become "easy" and therefore not the centre of my attention. Also, my close friendships in Istanbul have been going downhill and many attachments are now broken whereas there're a few people that I miss a lot in Melbourne. I should stop this, right now!

[whatsmelbourne]

#186

Funny. I'm still keeping my membership to Melbourne buy&sell, flatmate etc Facebook groups. I read emails from The Wheeler Centre and The Melbourne Festival to see what's on. I check out Domain website every now then to see if any nice apartments have become vacant in Fitzroy, Collingwood. I often feel like I'll leave home and walk along the Brunswick Street, then I remember I'm actually now living at the other side of the world. And knowing that now it's spring in Melbourne (and colder and darker here everyday) I feel a heartache around my belly button (does that make any sense?). I miss Melbourne. But what I miss is a life I never had in Melbourne as mostly I felt quite lonely there. That's why my memories are mostly about places and activities I did on my own and less so about people.

[whatsmelbourne]

#185

I miss Melbourne, desperately, although this city has treated me very nicely so far, I've lost two out of three reasons for coming here within my first week.

[whatsmelbourne]

#181

It's time. Tomorrow my stuff is going on a cross-ocean journey towards Europe. When I reunite with them, as I unpack, I'm sure I'll say "why on earth I did send this all the way" for at least a quarter of stuff. But majority of them will comfort me, will make me feel I'm home again.

[whatsmelbourne]

#180

Finally Autumn weather is hitting Melbourne. On Friday movers will come and pack my stuff to load on a ship which will take three months to reach its destination. I'll have moved there by then; in search of a new home to set it up with belongings I collected in the antipodes for eleven years and with some new things I'll acquire there. Surreal, when I imagine my future self going through yet another home-setting in the fourth country I'll live, love, work and play. On which street where my new home will be? How will it look, feel, smell? Who will be my new friends? Will I have new friends or will I sink into loneliness in the dark of the cold winter? Will there be someone who'll be brave enough to steal my heart? Will I be brave enough to give my heart away? Will...

[whatsmelbourne]

#177

Some things I'll miss a lot about Melbourne: The Saturday night that I arrived on 10 August 2013 and the rush of excitement that filled me and left me in constant euphoria for an entire month; Melbourne International Art Festival; Melbourne International Jazz Festival; Wednesday nights at The Rooks Return; Diversity and quality of food; The Grub Food Van; Coffee; My home in Fitzroy; My previous home in South Yarra, Ichi Ichi Ku Izakaya; Architectural explorations in streets of Fitzroy; Street art; The Children's Farm Market in summer; Queen Victoria Markets; The Nicholas Building; Gertrude Street Light Festival in winter; Michael; Friends; My balcony; The bats; Tuncay's cooking; Hanging out with Iemke; My female colleagues; Living in walking distance to work; Melbourne Cinematheque; Melbourne International Film Festival; After work drinks at Tsubu with Goknur; Lola; Galata Express; NGV; Capital City Cycle Trail; Monday nights at Cinema Nova; Cinema Nova in general; Brunetti's; The bluestone laneways; Carlton Gardens; DOC Espresso (particularly in summer, after work negronis); The tram route 96; The Dandenongs in autumn; Vodka Borsch and Tears; The summer heat; The lady at Oxfam shop; The very first time meetings with each of my to-be close friends; Summer sunsets in Port Melbourne; ACCA; Babka (particularly the egg loafs); My birthday being in summer; The laughing waters; Peninsula hot springs; The Royal Botanical Gardens; The University of Melbourne campus; The Mediterranean (Italian supermarket); The smell of wood fired pizza on Lygon Street; The reliability and support of Jess; The lunchtime walks in Carlton; The macaroon shop on Chapel Street; The Readings; Black Cat on Sunday afternoons; The Spring Street Grocer (ice cream and cheese cellar); The China Town; Shandong Mama's; Shandong Mama's mini; The sushi shop across the city square; Rosie the hairdresser; The ever confusing city-loop; My long dead paper daisies; Vasette; The fun times at the Golden Plains; That cocktail the guy at The Everleigh made for me in response to my brief "I want something that's going to soothe me at the end of a temperamental spring day".

[whatsmelbourne]

#175

I'm undoing my life in Melbourne; selling / giving away half of my material belongings to be able to fit my inter-hemisphere move into the "moving support" budget I'm given. The hardest to let go are my plants because they have been the proof of my settling here; things that I needed to care for. A sense of freedom and sadness sets in along with excitement for my new life in Helsinki.

[whatsmelbourne]

#171

It's all happening! I came to Melbourne 2.5 years ago following my career vision. I didn't know anyone here or much about the city. She grew on me, turned into a love affair, I discovered her secrets, put up with her whims, smacked and cared for by her. I deeply fell in love with this wonderful city of creativity, intellect, trams, food, coffee, music, art. Now I'm going, in a few months time, to Helsinki, once again pursuing my career vision. I'm sad, excited, anxious, a bit at loss of words, not knowing at all what's waiting for me ahead.