Final thoughts on 2010...

As we sit here on December 31 and look back at the year we have just had, it is hard to think that we will ever have another opportunity for a year like this one.  We travelled in Europe for two months, got back to Calgary, accepted jobs in Australia, packed up all of our belongings, slapped a "For Sale" sign on the house and moved to the other side of the world to start jobs in a city where Jim had been in the late 1990s and Joanne had never set foot in! 

It is hard to pick out the absolute highlights of the year.  The biggest impact is the move to Australia and all of the changes that go with it: meeting new people, starting new jobs, living in a new city...everything that we do here is an adventure!  This has really opened our eyes to what it must have been like for our ancestors who immigrated to Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  We speak the language, had our housing and jobs arranged before we got here and have a huge safety net and any help that we need through Santos.  We can't imagine what it would have been like to take a 6 week trip across the ocean in a cargo hold, then take a train for 10 days to get to a place in the middle of nowhere that we had never even heard of before, and getting there without being able to speak the language!

The best part of the year was the trip to Europe.  There are so many different aspects of the trip that are highlights, we could probably name something from everyday and still have things left over for the list.  However, since there is no point in talking about the highlights without naming one, the best part of the trip was the week that we spent on the small cruise ship touring the Greek islands.  We had no concerns about transportation or taking care of our luggage, we weren't yet thinking that we would be getting job offers from Santos, so we weren't distracted by thoughts of all the work we had ahead of us to get to Australia, we had all kinds of fantastic meals and we spent everyday on a different island.  It is the one part of our trip that we think we could recommend to anyone, regardless of how a person likes to travel. 

Here's to a great 2011, we're excited to see what the new year will bring!