It was bound to happen sooner or later…

I’ve been here in Melbourne nearly 3 months… can you believe that?

Before you read any of the following I’ll state for the record, I love it. The place is relaxed, the natives are friendly, the coffee is off the chain. And it’s all very new and exiting and fun. I mean, they have glow in the dark mini golf… what’s not to love, right? (Seriously, come visit, we’ll get drunk and go play mini golf (it’s the only way to play it, it’s so bad it’s amazing and even more so when you’re p*ssed (not that I’d know, or anything))).

In any case, things have been going well, I’ve got enough work, I’m plenty busy during the day, and all in all I love it here.

But there comes a point in any new situation like this when you really start to hanker for the kind of relationships you left behind, the kind of friends for whom no longer having you in their social circle is as big of a gut wrench as it is for me to no longer be in their social circle. And frankly, you do begin to wonder why on earth you thought it was a good idea to leave them all in the first place.

The reality kicked in, I can’t just call one of them up and say “It’s Friday, which pub are we hitting tonight?”, or “Hey, do you wanna go to a movie? What’s on? Is Tom Cruise in it? (If yes, let’s just cut straight to the Thai for dinner…”). This is about the time when not having someone to companionably spill my guts to starts to feel like about the worst thing in the world. This is about the time when that creeping depression that starts off like a smokey edge around my usually cheerful view rears its ugly head. We’re not close, that feeling and I, but we’ve had our run ins over the years and I wouldn’t have been unhappy if I never again had to roll over in the morning and not want to get out from under the covers.

So, colour me surprised that on the other end of that feeling, a weekend of actually putting myself out there in new situations rather than staying under the covers has left me feeling less plaintive and more positive that it’s only a question of time before there are people here who won’t mind me spilling my guts, or who might just say, “Hey Dee, let’s hit a movie, and no, Tom Cruise isn’t in it, but can we have Thai anyway?”