Joel took off 8 hours after me, but landed 4 hours before me, as I took the cheapest flights I could get my hands on. One way tickets from Australia to Europe are quite expensive and even with the assistance of my friend who works for a travel agency, she couldn't get me much of a deal either. My flights were fine, nothing too special. I did however get to fly on Cathay Pacific new A350, a plane that Joel has never flown on. For those who don't know, he loves planes and remembers all of the ones he has flown on, and knows all about the engines, etc. I think if something ever goes astray with Bosch, we have to get him into Aerospace engineering instead. :P
I had long layers on Beijing where I slept on the airport benches, and Zurich. I fly Melbs to Hong Kong, HK Beijing, Beijing to Zurich, and Zurich to Porto. As usual, I watched lots of movies, eat and slept lots on the flights. When I landed I didn't feel too jet lagged and Joel and his parents were there to greet me off my flight. He had landed about 4 hours earlier and they went to Ikea while they waited for me. After that it was off to see the new house we bought without seeing! :O
Joels parents stayed with us that night, and ran some errands for the house paperwork in the morning then headed back to Soito for work in the afternoon and Joel went to Bosch for his first day of work with his new team and his new position, while still transitioning from his previous position for the following month.
The first week Joel and I were trying to get an idea about all the different things that we would eventually like to do to the house, and an idea about which is first priority. In the end we decided that the kitchen is the highest priority. The oven cooks really unevenly and steams no matter the temperature and burns really easily in addition to the cabinents and such are probably the original ones from when they built the house in 1994, half of them are cracked and smell a bit musty inside. There are also plenty of small projects around the house that I have been working on while I don't yet have a work visa or speak Portuguese to start working. So I haven't been bored for a second.
Some projects I have been working on so far, include creating an earring holder out of an old photo frame, painting old wooden frames and putting some of Joel's photos in the new frame, painting an old musty smelling dresser, lots of cleaning and organizing, unpacking, being home for appointments such as a gas inspection, etc. Funny story, seeing as Joel works with water heaters, when we had the first gas inspection, the water heater was installed with a garden hose instead of a gas hose, so the man failed us but didn't cut the gas, and he came back again the following week. We then failed the following inspection because when the exhaust fan from the stove was running at the same time as the water heater, the gas was staying inside of the fan and not going outside. Then Joel was able to get a prototype water heater from Bosch and we passed the inspection. However it meant that we had no hot water for showers, or cooking on the stove for 5 days.. and for those five days, it happened to be not very hot and a little cloudy. Sooo showering outside with a hose didn't make much of a difference either. Well, it's always good to remember how lucky we are to have commodities like gas for hot water, water flowing straight from a tap, and so much more from time to time. Just like in Melbourne when we didn't have electricity for the last day, another good reminder how blessed we are, and how the heck did they do it before all these things?!
I have recently been hired as an online English teacher through VIPKID. If I have any friends interested, please use my referral code to help me out. I have my first two classes scheduled for this week. The interview process was quite lengthy as you can imagine, but I guess it has to be that way since they have no way besides this to know what kind of a teacher you will be. I had to prepare three mini classes and give them to different interviewers. I had great feedback from my interviews and they said I would do great with online teaching. I can choose the hours I work, and some people have a full time schedule and have quit their other jobs and just teach English online. So far I am really impressed with the company, the support, and the resources available. Lucky for me, is the peak hours in Beijing are my normal day time hours, so unlike the teachers in the US missing out on sleep, it is perfect for me. Right now, I only have a tourist visa so I am not eligible to work in Portugal, so this is a perfect solution for the time being. But depending on how it goes, maybe I will continue after I have a visa as well, or might see what other things Portugal has in store for me.
We play Ultimate three times a week or so. Until June 30th, we had two practices on the beach and two on the sand, but now all the practices are on the sand. It is so beautiful to watch the sunset when the clouds don't block the view and get some game time on soft sand. The playing crew is really friendly and generally they speak Portuguese, which is good practice for me, but everyone can speak English as well.
One thing I am already missing is the food in Melbourne. Mostly the great variety. Not hating on Portuguese food, but I miss my the availability of Asian food. Lucky for me, it's inspired me to try some new asian recipes. We tried slow cooker butter chicken last week which turned out really yummy! It is an absolute favorite so far and it will def be made again soon. It has been lots of fun though discovering all the types of Portuguese foods, and I am sure there are many more to come.
Last weekend we hosted our first guests in the house! It was really exciting and fun to have people over and get a feel for people in the house besides us. Joel's friends who now live in Lisbon stayed all weekend. We cooked meals together, enjoyed the city, tried our BBQ, played games, and enjoyed a chilled weekend. The BBQ has some work to be done, because the smoke has no escape, so the walls will get more and more black the more we use it, but it's a project we hope to have ready for next summer. We also enjoyed using our bar. Here are some photos of the weekend.
It was nice to have people and to give our normal weekend routine of
working like crazy around the house a rest and just enjoy. But we have
to admit that, we are enjoying seeing the progress that we make on the
different projects we have been doing around the house. I have planted
some herbs and have been eagerly awaiting for them to be ready to eat. . Hopefully the birds don't eat them all before they are ready in the fall. Won't be much longer now I hope. We also have an olive tree in the backyard with some green olives I have also started doing some
composting.One of the projects we have completed was moving a pile of wood in the back yard, inside to one of our garage rooms (as we have ample space inside) and to break the concrete and put in a little garden along the wall of the house.
I was accepted into a Portuguese Summer School Class offered by the University of Aveiro, which doesn't begin until Aug 28, but I am already looking forward to it. We spend the mornings in the classroom and the afternoon surfing! I am excited to meeting people and just a study resource and direction for my Portuguese. Right now, my self studying is a bit all over the place as I already finished my first book.
We have been doing our best to keep track of the progress of the house, but sometimes forget to take a before picture! We can't wait to show you around in a video, coming soon! :)
Much love from Portugal!
xox
I had long layers on Beijing where I slept on the airport benches, and Zurich. I fly Melbs to Hong Kong, HK Beijing, Beijing to Zurich, and Zurich to Porto. As usual, I watched lots of movies, eat and slept lots on the flights. When I landed I didn't feel too jet lagged and Joel and his parents were there to greet me off my flight. He had landed about 4 hours earlier and they went to Ikea while they waited for me. After that it was off to see the new house we bought without seeing! :O
Joels parents stayed with us that night, and ran some errands for the house paperwork in the morning then headed back to Soito for work in the afternoon and Joel went to Bosch for his first day of work with his new team and his new position, while still transitioning from his previous position for the following month.
The first week Joel and I were trying to get an idea about all the different things that we would eventually like to do to the house, and an idea about which is first priority. In the end we decided that the kitchen is the highest priority. The oven cooks really unevenly and steams no matter the temperature and burns really easily in addition to the cabinents and such are probably the original ones from when they built the house in 1994, half of them are cracked and smell a bit musty inside. There are also plenty of small projects around the house that I have been working on while I don't yet have a work visa or speak Portuguese to start working. So I haven't been bored for a second.
Some projects I have been working on so far, include creating an earring holder out of an old photo frame, painting old wooden frames and putting some of Joel's photos in the new frame, painting an old musty smelling dresser, lots of cleaning and organizing, unpacking, being home for appointments such as a gas inspection, etc. Funny story, seeing as Joel works with water heaters, when we had the first gas inspection, the water heater was installed with a garden hose instead of a gas hose, so the man failed us but didn't cut the gas, and he came back again the following week. We then failed the following inspection because when the exhaust fan from the stove was running at the same time as the water heater, the gas was staying inside of the fan and not going outside. Then Joel was able to get a prototype water heater from Bosch and we passed the inspection. However it meant that we had no hot water for showers, or cooking on the stove for 5 days.. and for those five days, it happened to be not very hot and a little cloudy. Sooo showering outside with a hose didn't make much of a difference either. Well, it's always good to remember how lucky we are to have commodities like gas for hot water, water flowing straight from a tap, and so much more from time to time. Just like in Melbourne when we didn't have electricity for the last day, another good reminder how blessed we are, and how the heck did they do it before all these things?!
I have recently been hired as an online English teacher through VIPKID. If I have any friends interested, please use my referral code to help me out. I have my first two classes scheduled for this week. The interview process was quite lengthy as you can imagine, but I guess it has to be that way since they have no way besides this to know what kind of a teacher you will be. I had to prepare three mini classes and give them to different interviewers. I had great feedback from my interviews and they said I would do great with online teaching. I can choose the hours I work, and some people have a full time schedule and have quit their other jobs and just teach English online. So far I am really impressed with the company, the support, and the resources available. Lucky for me, is the peak hours in Beijing are my normal day time hours, so unlike the teachers in the US missing out on sleep, it is perfect for me. Right now, I only have a tourist visa so I am not eligible to work in Portugal, so this is a perfect solution for the time being. But depending on how it goes, maybe I will continue after I have a visa as well, or might see what other things Portugal has in store for me.
We play Ultimate three times a week or so. Until June 30th, we had two practices on the beach and two on the sand, but now all the practices are on the sand. It is so beautiful to watch the sunset when the clouds don't block the view and get some game time on soft sand. The playing crew is really friendly and generally they speak Portuguese, which is good practice for me, but everyone can speak English as well.
One thing I am already missing is the food in Melbourne. Mostly the great variety. Not hating on Portuguese food, but I miss my the availability of Asian food. Lucky for me, it's inspired me to try some new asian recipes. We tried slow cooker butter chicken last week which turned out really yummy! It is an absolute favorite so far and it will def be made again soon. It has been lots of fun though discovering all the types of Portuguese foods, and I am sure there are many more to come.
Last weekend we hosted our first guests in the house! It was really exciting and fun to have people over and get a feel for people in the house besides us. Joel's friends who now live in Lisbon stayed all weekend. We cooked meals together, enjoyed the city, tried our BBQ, played games, and enjoyed a chilled weekend. The BBQ has some work to be done, because the smoke has no escape, so the walls will get more and more black the more we use it, but it's a project we hope to have ready for next summer. We also enjoyed using our bar. Here are some photos of the weekend.
After our friends left, we decided to check out a festival called AgitAgueda. which is an art festival in the village of Agueda. Agueda is 30 minutes or so from our house. Each summer, every village and city in Portugal has a summer party, and in Agueda one year they decided to spruce theirs up and hang up some umbrellas. Now it has become a huge festival with lots of singers performing, parades, food, artists, etc. There were tons of Samba schools showing their samba themed dance routines, amazing costumes, and bands. I found it really interesting, and the little streets were so cute.
 |
| View of the backyard & garage house from the upstairs bedroom |
I was accepted into a Portuguese Summer School Class offered by the University of Aveiro, which doesn't begin until Aug 28, but I am already looking forward to it. We spend the mornings in the classroom and the afternoon surfing! I am excited to meeting people and just a study resource and direction for my Portuguese. Right now, my self studying is a bit all over the place as I already finished my first book.
We have been doing our best to keep track of the progress of the house, but sometimes forget to take a before picture! We can't wait to show you around in a video, coming soon! :)
Much love from Portugal!
xox
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