This is our first attempt at blogging, so it might be pretty basic, but at least we are now able to put stuff up there in cyberspace for family and friends to see.
Viv and I have been in Moldova now for almost a week, having spent almost a week in London getting our visas and taking in the sights of London for the rest of the time. We flew out of sunny England early in the morning, spent an hour in transit in Vienna, and arrived at 4-30 pm in the dark, to a beautiful, snow covered landscape in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova.
To say things are different from Australia would be one of the biggest understatements we have made, but things are good. There are many challenges that face us. We find ourselves in a totally different culture, with a new language, new customs, new food, new jobs, new home, new people... the list goes on.
Having said that, the people here have given us a very warm welcome, and have gone out of their way to help us in these early days.
Much of this first week has been spent settling in to our office, meeting the staff, getting appropriate footwear so we can stay upright on snow covered footpaths, and getting used to our surroundings. Several times during the week, something has happened that has seemed a bit strange, or an event has not gone according to plan, and the response has been 'Aahh .. this is Moldova!'
We live in a three bedroom apartment on the first floor of a 9 storey block of flats. It is fairly basic, but quite comfortable. A special feature is the that every room has a different style of floor covering and wallpaper - busy to say the least. 'Very European' has been one description. It's necessary for us to boil and filter water before drinking. Even though it has gone down to -4c at night, we sleep with a sheet on because the heating is VERY effective - almost too hot at times. We have no control over the thermostat. Nevertheless is is starting to feel like home and a good place to return to at the end of the day. The arrival of our belongings from Australia (hopefully next week?) will help this even further.
Communication should be fairly efficient. We have a fibre cable internet connectrion, which in theory should be very fast - time will tell. We also have 66 TV stations!!! What a bonus - if you are fluent in either Russian or Moldovan - or both. We have to settle for BBC World (OK for the first half an hour), a station that plays CSI style shows all the time, a music station that is OK at times, and a few sports stations where we can watch soccer whilst trying to ignore the foreign language commentary. We have taken to listening to ABC radio on line which keeps us in touch with Aussie news.
That's about it for now. We just decided to do this tonight, so we will hopefully get better at it as time goes on. A few photos follow to help fill you in a little more about life thus far in our new country.
'Til next time..... Ian and Viv
Viv and I have been in Moldova now for almost a week, having spent almost a week in London getting our visas and taking in the sights of London for the rest of the time. We flew out of sunny England early in the morning, spent an hour in transit in Vienna, and arrived at 4-30 pm in the dark, to a beautiful, snow covered landscape in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova.
To say things are different from Australia would be one of the biggest understatements we have made, but things are good. There are many challenges that face us. We find ourselves in a totally different culture, with a new language, new customs, new food, new jobs, new home, new people... the list goes on.
Having said that, the people here have given us a very warm welcome, and have gone out of their way to help us in these early days.
Much of this first week has been spent settling in to our office, meeting the staff, getting appropriate footwear so we can stay upright on snow covered footpaths, and getting used to our surroundings. Several times during the week, something has happened that has seemed a bit strange, or an event has not gone according to plan, and the response has been 'Aahh .. this is Moldova!'
We live in a three bedroom apartment on the first floor of a 9 storey block of flats. It is fairly basic, but quite comfortable. A special feature is the that every room has a different style of floor covering and wallpaper - busy to say the least. 'Very European' has been one description. It's necessary for us to boil and filter water before drinking. Even though it has gone down to -4c at night, we sleep with a sheet on because the heating is VERY effective - almost too hot at times. We have no control over the thermostat. Nevertheless is is starting to feel like home and a good place to return to at the end of the day. The arrival of our belongings from Australia (hopefully next week?) will help this even further.
Communication should be fairly efficient. We have a fibre cable internet connectrion, which in theory should be very fast - time will tell. We also have 66 TV stations!!! What a bonus - if you are fluent in either Russian or Moldovan - or both. We have to settle for BBC World (OK for the first half an hour), a station that plays CSI style shows all the time, a music station that is OK at times, and a few sports stations where we can watch soccer whilst trying to ignore the foreign language commentary. We have taken to listening to ABC radio on line which keeps us in touch with Aussie news.
That's about it for now. We just decided to do this tonight, so we will hopefully get better at it as time goes on. A few photos follow to help fill you in a little more about life thus far in our new country.
Landing in Chisinau
First morning: View from our bedroom window
Viv at DHQ - Day one
Our apartment block - first floor.
Kitchen is pink rendered, lounge is to the right (behind tree)
and second br is next right (again pink)
Elena - one of our security guards at DHQ, ensuring all is well!!
'Til next time..... Ian and Viv
2 comments:
So glad you have a blog up and running. Look forward to catching up with news and photos here. Love you guys lots
Hi.
Glad to see you are enjoying your time in Moldova and that you are both safe and well.
Joel and Sadie - soooooooooo cute.!
Have had a week's holiday with C at Ocean Grove and am planning some more holidays in Aug/Sep (planned around footy fixture!)
Went to Perth for a week by myself and stayed with Tracey English and Emma McIntyre in May.
Work is ok.Finally got a permanent receptionist. She is very nice. well mannered and willing to work.
Craig is watching footy with his sister Donna (c'wood vs swans). Mood ok seeing as C'wood are 41 up!
Might go over to Moldova for LSL. (yeah and monkeys might fly ..... :)
Love Lethal aka Louise
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