Three years ago

... on the 27th of February I arrived in Australia. As cliche as it sounds.. wow, I have grown up so much in these last three years and for various reasons:

1. I have never lived away from home before my move to Australia.
2. I have never had a real job until I moved to Australia.
3. V and I started living together 3 years ago and only now do I know how much that has helped our relationship grow.
4. For the first time in my life, I had to worry about responsibilities such as bills, groceries, cooking for myself, cleaning up the house etc.
5. I've met hundreds of new people from different walks of life, different cultures, different backgrounds and meeting these people in itself has been an experience.
6.V & I bought our first car AND had our first serious accident.
7. I have learned that being assertive is not a bad thing and even though it takes me a while to mentally prepare myself.. I am much better than what I used to be.
8. I am no longer afraid to voice my opinion
9. I now drink wine. ;-)
10. I'm 25 now.. that's a hell of a lot older than 22 ;)

There are probably many more reasons but these are the only ones that come to mind. I miss India for the fact that it is home, it's where I grew up... for the familiarity. But I love Australia and I'm so glad we moved here... this is home to me now.

wedding season anyone?

So yesterday I went to my first ever "Hen's Night". Funnily enough, I organised the whole thing even though I've never been to one before! My friend J is getting married on the 6th of March. She moved to Australia to be with her boyfriend (now, almost husband) and so, like me, has no family here. So when she invited me to her wedding, I knew I had to organise a Hen's Night for her. So yes, we did have a very good night.


Anyway, so J's is the first of many weddings that I know is going to happen this year. Thanks to Facebook, in the last few months, I have literally watched my friends go from "in a relationship" to "engaged" and some have already evolved to the "married" status as well. The arranged marriages of course did not even have the "in a relationship" status! Most of these are my friends from school and uni in India, so they are people I have known for many years and most importantly, they are girls my age! No, I am not headed where you think I am! Watching the constant coupling around me is not "inspiring" me into "Settling down". Yes, I get asked "when are you settling down?" to which I now reply, "Why? Am I out of control right now?".

So lots of marriages this year. Lots of weddings I will be missing (that is the part that makes me sad!) but no, I am not getting married. Not yet. I want to get married and we will... V & I have a plan of action and need to work at our plans one step at a time so marriage will happen once the steps before it have been completed. What's funny is, V & I are one of those couples who have been together since school so everyone assumed we would be the first to get married. (I have never quite understood the logic behind that assumption!), but at the rate my friends are going.. it looks like we will be one of the last! ;)

I'm wondering... this sudden urgency to get married.. does it have anything to do with that quarter life crisis I was talking about? Most of these girls are turning 25 this year or did in 2009 so does this milestone suddenly make them believe they should be married? I am not being mean.. I am very happy for all my friends who are getting married. I'm just trying to figure out why, all of a sudden at least 20 of my friends (at the very least and I am NOT exaggerating!) are getting married this year! Weddings are in this year so by the time I actually get married, it will be "so last season" ;) Haha!

I've been away...

... a while for various reasons and while at work today, I realised that to help me get over some of my issues, I need to start blogging again. It has, in the past, been very cathartic so here we go again...

Uni is over. O-V-E-R. I am very well aware of the finality of it but as with all my reactions to change, I don't think it has really hit me yet. It's still February and Semester 1 doesn't usually start until early March so I could very well still be on uni holidays. Yes, I am working full time now but I do that every time i have uni holidays so no real difference...yet.

I did realise though that 2010 will be the first year (since pre school) that I will not be studying. That's a pretty big deal to me. I don't enjoy exams etc but yes I definitely do enjoy studying and learning. Maybe by end 2010 I will have started learning a language so then maybe 2010 will not really end up being a non-studying year. Ha ha! :)

In other news, I turned 25 last week.
TWENTY FIVE.
Wow, when I was 18, 25 seemed so very old. Many of my friends have asked me if I'm having a "quarter life crisis" but I'm actually ok. I've never had any "...by 25" goals so crisis has been averted (I hope!). I do however have "...by 30" goals so if by 30 I haven't achieved the things I set out do and my plan hasn't fallen into place I might have a crisi then. Might.

That apart, it's just been work and not much more. Life is routine but life is good. :)