Melissa and Klas's Journey: April 2008

We spent a little more than 2 weeks in Sydney relaxing, hanging out with family and catching up with some friends. It was great to stay at the same place (my Mum's place) for more than a few nights. We were even able to hang all our clothes in a closet which was pretty exciting for us after living out of our bags for a year. We will live at my Mum's when we return to Australia until we find jobs (yuck) and our own place.

Even though we were in Sydney for a short time, we got a taste for what life will be like when we finally settle down there. It felt like we had made the right decision to move. However, we'll definitely have to learn how things are done in Australia. I (Melissa) had to go to the doctor and fill a prescription but didn't know the process to follow since I've lived all of my adult years in the U.S. Klas's sister, Karin, said that it took her about a year to feel comfortable when she moved back to Sweden after living abroad. She wasn't familiar with all of the things that were part of living in the country, such as which stores carry particular items or who some well-known Swedes were when their names came up in conversations at parties...now I can understand what she meant.

Since our camera broke in New Zealand, we don't have pictures to share with you from our time in Australia. The good news is that we got our camera fixed when we arrived in America a couple of weeks ago. We enjoyed our stay with my Dad and Marie, and their cute little dogs, in sunny Southern California. We drove to the Grand Canyon where we hiked and took a helicopter ride. The helicopter ride was pretty cool once I got over my nerves. You can check out the photos and video below.

We arrived in Houston yesterday where we will spend the next few weeks with Kylie and Jon :).

Hoover Dam on the Border of Nevada and Arizona