I had mixed emotions yesterday when I celebrated my 3rd year anniversary as a migrant here in Australia. On my third year, I'm happy of the big achievements I've made (like bringing the husband here and being able to find our first home) however, it was also this year that a part of me regretted coming here. There were some things that happened this year that made me say "Had I known this would happen, I would've stayed in Manila." And since something like that occured, it also made me think again if I was meant to be here.
It was this year that I applied for my Australian Citizenship...it took awhile for me to lodge my application as I had to think again and again if I'm really going to do it. Sometimes even if I'm a bit undecided, I still do things as they are presented infront of me.
So I took the Australian Citizenship exam. I was pressured to pass (other than the fact that I hate failure because it means time being wasted--that's just me) because I'm surrounded by relatives who work for the government, one of whom even works at the Immigration. Not to mention that I am also a government employee myself. Nakakahiya kung hindi ako makapasa. The funny thing was, when I arrived at the venue for testing, the boyfriend of my cuzin (who works at the Immigration too) was at the reception area welcoming those who were scheduled for oath-taking. Ano ba??? The moment I saw him I said, "So I really have to pass now because you're here!!"
So that was my Australian Citizenship exam story. I really studied, took down notes and remembered all the names, places and dates that needed to be remembered. I passed with a perfect score. The registration took longer than answering the test (it was fairly easy).
I filed my Australian Citizenship application in July. It takes awhile these days to get an answer back as there are many people applying compared to years ago when the Immigration were the ones encouraging people to apply for citizenship. The approval came in last week, in time for my 3rd year mark. It's all good. I guess I'm really doing it now--say "I do" to Australia soon. Now I'm only waiting for another letter saying when my oath-taking will be.
We sort of celebrated yesterday by having dinner at Hyde Park. The Night Noodle Festival started this week so we opted to feed ourselves cheap Asian Cuisine at the park.
Some expensive/exclusive Chinese "resto" at the park. We didn't eat here. We just lined up at one of the stalls and had dinner near the fountain at Hyde Park.
They had dragon dances for entertainment. Very very festive. I almost wanted to shout "Kung Hei Fat Choi!" hehe
Our Yum-Cha dinner: Fried Dim Sum, Pork Buns and Prawn Dumplings.
Very oily Hookien Noodles :)
Me in my "ngarag" look.
Chris
Our friends Louie, Luanne and Teena who brought us so much laughter by asking "jolog" questions.
With all the good and the bad, I'm staying and in general terms, I am happy still. I will admit that I've fallen inlove with this country already, plus the friends that we have here had made it more home. And believe it or not, the husband likes it here more than I do, so wherever he is, that's where I will be. Home is where the heart is...home is where he is.
