Home Sweet Home....again
Home
again. It has been a very interesting two weeks. If I thought Australia
was hard to believe, I've now realized there is nothing more surreal
than being away for a year, then suddenly coming home after only two
weeks notice. It’s been a dream that I'm slowly waking up from. In some
ways it seems like so much has changed, but in other ways it seems like
I never left.
The months leading up to my homecoming were
amazing. I lived in a beautiful neighborhood, had great friends and
worked some very interesting jobs. In my last update I had just
received a position as a foreign currency officer. They were very
upfront about the fact that I would have to lie about certain things
and asked if I was alright with that. It turns out I wasn’t, so I let
the job go and decided from then on I would work in something I
enjoyed, something I was passionate about something like… selling
Accidental Death Insurance…. Okay, so it wasn’t my first choice, but
Westpac bank (the oldest bank in Australia) was starting a campaign to
sell this new insurance and they needed sales reps to do it. For two
months I worked my butt off, doing the hardest job I’ve ever done! Lo
and behold, it paid off. I ended up getting the Agent of the Month
award and I won a trip for two to Queensland! On top of that, I decided
to start a job on weekends and I began working in the "Church and
Wellesley" area of Melbourne at a place called Jackie O’s . Our two
chefs were lesbians and the four other waiters were gay......and then
there was me. The place is owned by two older greek men who have to
tolerate them because it's all their friends who are our major customer
base. Everyday I would hear something like, "Oi, I vil never get used
to a man buying another man flowers!*Huuk Pppt*! Every Sunday I served
a huge table of drag queens. While at first they were quite scary up
close, not to mention very bitchy, I soon got to know them. The head
Queen had had hundreds of thousands of dollars in plastic surgery, but
had the deepest voice a man could have, so she… or he… or it, would
have to speak in falsetto. It was not only disturbing, it was almost
impossible for me to keep a straight face while taking orders. At least
the guys I worked with were a lot of fun. There was Clementine, which
honestly, if you’re going to name your son Clementine, you should
expect he will be gay. Then there was Mark, the head gay. 45 years old,
grumpy, and very lonely, Brad, the bitchy gay and Phil, the baby gay.
None of us had to work there because we all had serious jobs during the
week - Designer, Microbiologist, Insurance, but we all worked there
because we just loved it. It was this weird world we’d all enter into
on weekends. I really miss it.
As all good things must come to
an end, the realization that my visa was running out slowly dawned on
me. I tried to ignore the fact that the time was coming to make a
decision, but without knowing it, plans for my return were already in
the works. A job opportunity at home was brought to my attention by one
of my friends and after a lot of sleepless nights, I decided that even
though it would bring me home two months earlier than I had expected,
it was the right thing to do. My last two weeks there were an emotional
rollercoaster. I had (another) going away party, even better than the
last one, where we had a final big barbeque at our place with all our
friends. Ian and I spent the last couple days on our own, renting a
beautiful little Victorian cottage in wine country. We spent a day wine
and cheese tasting, which I've always wanted to do. The whole
experience was amazing and we will definitely be back.
My flight
home lasted almost 50 hours with a 24 hour stopover in L.A. With
nothing to do and nowhere to go I knew it was going to be a very long
night….. or would it? Well, to make a long story short, I got to
customs, but instead of getting interrogated by the customs officer, he
asked me out. Yup, so I went from being homeless to riding down the
coast in a customs officer’s BMW to a swanky seafood restaurant by the
ocean. Now don’t get the wrong idea, he knew I had a boyfriend. He was
recently knew to L.A. too and knew what it was like to not to know
where to go or what to do. He was a perfect gentleman. He took me out
and spoiled me, then drove me back to the airport and escorted me in
passed all the line-ups of travelers being interrogated at the front
doors. Oh the power you’re granted when walking with a man with a gun.
Yeah, I wasn’t all that cool. As soon as he left me, I ran to the phone
to call Ian to say, “Guess where I just was?...”
Well, I finally
made it. As much as I’m missing Melbourne desperately, it’s been really
good seeing people. I’m trying to soak it in while I can, as I’m only
here for three months. Ian is heading over in December (yay!) and we’re
very excited about that. He can’t wait to meet my friends and family
and the feeling is mutual. After Christmas, we’re heading over to
London and Germany, then to S.E. Asia for another few months before
ending up back in Melbourne. After that, we don’t really have a plan,
although for me to know what I’m doing for the next three months is
pretty remarkable. I thought this year away would be it for me, but
it’s just the beginning! I already cannot wait to see what the year
ahead has in store for me!
