January in Melbourne

Time for a monthly update. We started the year 2019 very differently. Mathias was at work with champagne and a mega view of the fireworks, and Lea was in bed because she had her first day of work on January 1st.

Since then, one month of our time in Melbourne has passed. We have hot summer weather, which is mostly pleasant but sometimes can reach up to 44 degrees, which is really hot. Fortunately, these days are the exception and usually it cools down well at night.

Mathias continues to work at the fancy Vue de monde, but he is trying to find something else for the coming months, in order to work a little longer and also to gain insight into a different kitchen. He took advantage of the advantage of his current position in January and attended a free full-day barista course to learn the art of making coffee. One of his cappuccinos was even shown to the group as a showcase drink. ;) He also enjoys the great coffee culture in Melbourne and sometimes spends 5 Euros on a specialty coffee.

Since January 1st, Lea has been working as a support for people with disabilities, although she currently only has one client and usually works only 11 hours a week. But this is already a big improvement compared to doing nothing, and she also earns quite well. Nevertheless, she is still looking for more hours and a little more challenge. Now that the intense crocheting phase is over, she has started doing puzzles, which keep her busy at the moment. She continues to try to find the best veggie dumplings in town - there are already favorites, but also disappointments.

In early February, Chinese New Year will be celebrated to mark the beginning of the Year of the Pig. In Melbourne, there are many different Asian communities that have already started celebrating this in mid-January. Mathias did not miss the opportunity to visit one of the street festivals and enjoy some delicious pig dishes on skewers.

On January 26th, there was also the so-called 'Australia Day', the day when the first British arrived in Australia in 1788. Many Australians recognize Australia as stolen land that was taken from the Aboriginal people, so not only is celebrating this day boycotted and referred to as 'Invasion Day', but at the same time, there are large demonstrations calling for its abolition and the recognition of Aboriginal rights. On our way to the demonstration, in which 8000 people participated in Melbourne, we walked past the official Australia Day Parade, a military parade in the city center, and we were very surprised and pleased to see how few people there were - according to a newspaper article, there were only about 1000 people. Even though we missed the fundamental criticism of nation-states at the demonstration, and we were puzzled at how obvious fascists could simply be undisturbed as an audience to express their opinions, it was cool to see how many people can be mobilized and how little interest there is in the official celebrations. By the way, most people spend the day at the beach and/or get drunk somewhere - not bad either ;)

By the way, since this holiday fell on a Saturday, the official holiday was simply moved to Monday to ensure that most people have a day off. We're happy... Lea earns more than twice as much per hour and Mathias will eventually get a day off to make up for it.

Other than that, we're doing great, always finding a culinary highlight. We explore the city on foot and keep intending to indulge in more culture, but it seems to happen less often.

If nothing too exciting happens, you will hear from us again in a month with an update. By the way, we will be staying in Melbourne until almost mid-July, in case anyone decides for a spontaneous vacation - we can highly recommend the city to everyone. After almost three months of settling down, we're already looking forward to traveling again, but we'll stay here for a while longer to replenish our travel budget.