Archive for the Category » Australia «
As many of you know, I’m not originally from Australia. I made the best decision of my life back in 2006 and moved here. I’ve never regretted it for a second. Australia is a beautiful, amazing country filled with fun and wonderful (and some very strange) people. It’s the melting pot that hasn’t melted yet, granting glimpses into nearly every culture you can think of.
And this year, I am going to become one of its citizens.
Technically, I was eligible for citizenship as of July last year, but things kept getting in the way of making it a focus. Now finally I have been able to sit down and look at what’s required to make me a citizen.
I sat down and did most of the paperwork this afternoon. Now I just need a few things like a passport sized current photo and some documents copied and signed by the police department. Then I apply and wait for notification of my citizenship appointment.
In reality, things could take up to five months before I finally get to take that step into officially being a citizen. But it could also happen a lot sooner than that – and should, given that I’m a fairly simple clean slate.
I am so excited at the prospect of becoming a citizen of the country I love so much. Australia immediately felt like home when I first came here, and I always want it to be that way.
Wish me a speedy application process.
Whenever Australians ask me about the American experience, I am always sure to make sure they know my life has just been one experience of many. I grew up in the country, went to school in a small down and spent a lot of my childhood with hand me downs and canned soup for dinner because we did it tough for quite a few years. I am always hesitant to make any generalizations unless I truly believe it applies to most of the US population.
But the one thing I will fight for with all my heart is how bad the medical system is in the US. It’s horrible, disgusting and favoured toward those who can afford to be sick. The documentary ‘Sicko’ made me cry not because I didn’t know but rather because I do know what it’s like. I know what it’s like to be afraid to get sick, to know – as a child – that I was putting financial strain on the family by requesting to go to the doctor. Yes, part of that is my parents, but more if it is the system that causes parents to have to weigh whether they want to take their child to the doctor or put food on the table.
Insurance? Insurance is for the birds. It’s a heaping pile of bull manure that touts itself as the saviour of all the poor unfortunate souls. I wouldn’t let insurance kiss my rear end lest I be corrupted by the contact. “Insurance” let the hospital charge me $25 just to have a nurse insert an IV into my arm (that’s the needle, not the contents of the IV bag. That was, of course, a separate cost my “insurance” didn’t cover.) “Insurance” didn’t cover my prescriptions, my emergency room visits, and decided three months after an emergency room visit had been signed off on, that I wasn’t really covered after all. They posted me a bill for thousands of dollars I couldn’t pay. Why? Well, that’s because nearly all of my pay went to paying for medications that, gasp, insurance didn’t cover.
It is a crap system that needs adjusting, if not a complete overhaul, and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise.
Today something beautiful happened. Something that puts another layer of concreted on the conclusion that socialized health care, while still having its problems, is an amazing and wonderful thing.
Something I don’t share a lot is that I have mental health issues. Most people probably wouldn’t guess because I try very hard not to let my mental health issues get in the way. But they are there and have been there a long time. After having a bad reaction to a medication I should never have been given, I went off all drugs and instead navigated my issues with natural remedies including St. John’s Wort, Valerian Root and a supportive husband who handled things better than I ever could have asked.
But due to recent events, my abilities (and disabilities) have come into light, and I have chosen to cautiously move forward once again into the world of medication (that I have been assured is gentle) and therapy. I am nervous, but the prospect of living a better life has proven to be enough to give me the confidence.
The beautiful thing? Today I went to pick up my meds. I mentioned how nearly all of my pay went towards my meds when I was in the US. That’s because I was paying $300 per prescription. The meds I picked up today? $5.60.
If that’s not enough to show that Australia genuinely helps take care of their people, I was told that, when I’m ready, there is an employment agency that works with people who have problems like I do. I never would have dreamed that something like that existed. Now, I don’t know if something like that exists in the States, but no one ever bothered to tell me about it in years I spent trying to find help.
No person, system or country is perfect, but damn if I don’t feel like I have come to an amazing country when I need help – and get it.
Without throwing me into near poverty.
I’ve been in a bad way recently with my depression and weight issues (the latter being made worse by the former), and I decided that part of what I needed was just to get away from the computer for a while. We can’t afford a holiday or anything like that right now on multiple levels, but it was obvious I needed to take even just a sliver of time away from work to get out in the sunshine, breathe the fresh air and be away from technology!
And so I did. 
Monday was my first ever walkabout, and it was fantastic!
These shoes were made for walking…
Thought it turned out to be not quite the walkabout I had envisioned for myself thanks to a few work things, I did manage to stick to my plan and get out and about on Monday. I walked all afternoon!
While I am all for the walkabout with no particular direction, destination or path, I was very pleased to find out that there is a trail that goes straight through town. This trail is over 17kms long, goes both north and south of where I live and the trail goes right by the house.
I don’t think it gets much better. But then again, it did.
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect autumn day with sunshine, cool breezes and plenty of wonderful autumn colours to see.
Once I’d been on the path for a while, most of the traffic and industrial sounds disappeared. All the pleasant memories of travel around Australia came washing back with the sounds and even smells of bush Australia. Though it wasn’t quite bush, even after a few ks of walking, it was close enough for me. I haven’t felt so good in such a long time.
I meant to stick with the ‘no destination’ attitude, but once I caught sight of ‘botanical gardens’ on a directional sign, I knew exactly where I wanted (maybe even needed) to go. I absolutely adore botanical gardens, and though I was hot, sweaty and tired by the time I’d gotten there, it was so worth it…
It was so beautiful. I could have stayed there all afternoon. As it was, I sat down for a lunch of an apple and carrots with hummus, enjoyed the laughter of the kids playing in the playground at the gardens and wrote for a while. I honestly did debate staying there for the afternoon, but something in me wanted to make it there and back on my own. I knew I’d have wanderings that would just keep going in the future, but my adventure for this day wouldn’t be complete without making it back.
All up, I walked over 7kms (thanks in part to a rest at the lake before meeting up with the Bloke for our usual evening walk with Brin). I know it was about everything but distance, but I still wanted to see. And that’s not too shabby for a woman who is in the worst shape of her life. Not too shabby at all.
