Reflecting on a year gone by (Part 1)

Hello. Its the man of the house here. I know you haven't heard much from me lately, this blog mainly being the preserve of the more literate member of the household (hey I'm an engineer - she has a degree in English!) but I thought that with our one year in Oz anniversary rapidly approaching it was time for a bit of reflection on my part. I am anticipating that the more literate one will probably be reflecting on a similar theme, hence the 'Part 1' title.

I feel like I should be saying something really profound about the life changing decision that we made and the impact it has had on me so that people far and wide can learn from the experience but in reality it seems far simpler than that. I think the biggest impact has not been so much that we now live somewhere different or better but that by throwing all the balls up in the air it has prompted me to do a whole load of things that I would not otherwise have done (see below). I am by nature a conservative sort of person (decidedly small 'c' please note) and so tend towards inertia, whereas the other 'alf is only happy when things are changing, a product of our respective up-bringings no doubt. With so much change happening in such a short space of time however I have become rather accustomed to this new way of life. It reminds me of that old cliche about life not being about the number of breaths that you take but the number of times that your breath is taken away. I was once accused of being in danger of "having a life half-lived" which struck a chord, I think I have done enough to refute that one, at least for the time being!

It will be interesting to see how year 2 pans out, now that the novelty of all that Oz life offers has started to wear off. On the whole I am convinced that the lifestyle here makes a big difference, in particular the climate and all that goes with it in terms of outdoor lifestyle. We have been well aware of this despite it having been the wettest and coldest Sydney summer for decades.

So here is my list of 20 things that I have done in the last year that I would not have done had we not come to Australia:

1. Commute to work by ferry.
2. Commute to work by bus.
3. Not have a car.
4. Visit Seoul.
5. Spend an evening at Raffles in Singapore.
6. Watch dolphins playing in the surf.
7. Watch whales breaching in the Pacific.
8. Become a qualified cricket coach.
9. See Sachin Tendulkar score a century at the SCG.
10. Become a rugby league fan (go Manly!)
11. Join a gym and actually go to it regularly.
12. Take up camping.
13. Play tennis in the back garden.
14. Swim in the front garden.
15. Spend boxing day on the beach with my best man and his family.
16. Sign up to play over-35's soccer this season (middle aged limbs permitting).
17. Watch the cup final in the middle of the night.
18. Go to an orchestral concert at Sydney Opera House (and the ballet next week).
19. Catch fish, although not yet one big enough to eat.
20. Start a new job.

So I guess the lesson is that if you are feeling a bit of malaise in your life then the answer doesn't have to be as radical as giving up a perfectly good job, moving 11,000 miles and starting over (although it might be). Perhaps just come up with a list of 20 things you have always wanted to do (or even that you had never thought of doing) and go for it.