Day 334: what it means to move halfway around the world.

It's been close to ten years since I last moved countries. I remember when I did it then, I was pretty gung ho about it, only realising afterwards what an enormous, life-changing and challenging undertaking it actually is. Even moving from New Zealand to Australia revealed lifestyle differences on just about every level, and this from two seemingly very similar cultures. Everything from the TV shows people watched as kids, to the name for the blanket you sleep under, to making yourself understood over the phone, presented some opportunity for alienness. And now I'm readying myself to go and do it all again, but this time in a place much further away and in a culture much less close to home. There will be shit to pack up, get rid of, maybe even ship. There will be accounts to close and open, rules, regulations and laws to know about and abide by, jobs to get, insurance to acquire. But as daunting as all of this seems, I feel completely ready to take it on, and excited as all hell about it. What's more, I have a good six months to get my head around the general concept, and its finer details. So bring it on baby. Here I frickin come.