Over a week ago now we put in our applicaton for a studio apartment in Potts Point, just outside the Sydney CBD. Beautifully renovated, and a big room where there’s lots of space to arrange as we like, gas stove, the lot. But the hoops we have to jump through to get it! We put in the application, provided the 6 personal references needed, then we have to meet with the board of directors for the building, which costs $100. $100! Our meeting is for Monday, but the good news is that they rarely reject any applicants that made it this far. So hopefully we can be all moved out by this time next week!

Iku was complaining to me the other day over some drinks about our financial affairs, how she didn’t know I owed so much money on my credit card before we got married. Well, it doesn’t matter any more, since as of a couple of days ago it is now paid off! All done. Finally. From now on we will only spend as much as we can afford to pay off in the same month, and we (hopefully) won’t have to worry about having to pump all our cash into the credit card account to pay it off any more.

So how did I celebrate? By getting another credit card.

(This one is for my freelance business, to separate my business expenses from our personal expenses. But the crazy bastards at the bank gave me a $6000 credit limit — or the equivalent of three month’s pay. Crazy.)

Anyway, we have a bit of cash saved up now, and have started to look for a place to move out to in earnest. We’ve put in an application for a nice little studio apartment in Kings Cross, in a great location very close to the city, and if we manage to get that we will be well on our way to getting our new life all set up again. We’ll hear back on Monday… fingers crossed!

I think there are three ways to plan a wedding. The first way is to count every cent, justify every cost, and keep the budget tighter than the corset the poor bride has to wear on that fateful day. The second way is to throw caution to the wind, and just spend like crazy — after all, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime affair, right?

The third way, is somewhere in between. Where exactly, that’s up to each couple and their families, but there is usually some compromise in budgets verses desires, some debate about what is justifiable and what needs no justification, some amount of digging through couches to find the spare change is done, and things tend to work out fine. But, regardless of where you are on this spectrum, one thing’s for sure — there’s gonna be a whole lot of arguments.

Ok, argue might be a bit of a strong term. But there’s bound to be a whole lot of misunderstandings, words spoken to one person then reported wrongly to another, words thought had been said but hadn’t…

(I was going to put in a joke about playing Chinese whispers (geddit?), but I couldn’t think of a funny one.)

Luckily for us, the hardest part is over; we’ve booked a place for the reception. We’re having it at Zilver, which suits us because it’s in the city, and they do wedding banquets very well; and it suits the family because Mum knows someone who knows someone, and we scored a 10% discount. Win-win doesn’t get much better than that.

Now there’s just the dress, the suits, the venue for the ceremony, the celebrant, the band, the photographer, the flowers, the hair and makeup, the rings, the plane tickets and travel arrangements for families overseas, accommodation arrangements for friends coming from overseas, the choosing of brides-maids and groomsmen, and the limo to go.

Easy.

こんにちわ！コメントありがとう。ちゃんと分かったよ、でも日本語でへんじがかけなくてごめんね。ジャパンによろしく！

It’s been two weeks since Iku arrived in Australia, and we are settling in just fine. It’s a lot easier with her here, and there are still times when I’m kind of amazed that she is here at all — life in Japan seemed so long ago now. I feel like now I can move on, even though sometimes I desperately want to be back in my old life, I really really loved living there.

Iku has started looking for work, complaining that she feels kind of listless without work. I, too, am eager to get back into a steady schedule of work and pay days. I’ve earnt some money since I’ve been back, but while I like the freelancing lifestyle what I need now is steady, reliable income. I can’t get that right now, so honest work it will have to be.

Since she arrived she’s pretty much met all my friends, negating the need for a “welcome” party. But I kind of feel like we should do one… perhaps we can wait until it’s her birthday…

…or we can have one sooner. Who doesn’t like a party anyway…?

…because Iku got her visa! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

\* Happy dancing \*

After all the hassles and the annoyances and the waiting and the worrying, we have finally sent off the application for Iku’s visa! Now there’s more waiting and worrying, as the Immigration people sort through the application, the statements, and the two CDs worth of pictures and videos of us together. But, I think, knock on wood and all that, the hardest part is behind us, and I can now concentrate on getting my two years worth of stuff home…

…but for crying out loud does it have to be this hard?

Well, we certainly started this blog with a b(itch)ang. We’re two weeks into married, and three months into getting all the stuff we need for Iku’s visa, but we’re still $1400au and *up to 4 months* away from finding out if she’ll even get her visa. Four months? What the hell are they doing in that four months? I once knew a girl who joined the RAAF to be a communications officer; she was going to handle some sensitive material and she needed to have a security clearance, and had to do an ASIO background check. That only took a month. Just one. Let’s assume they will do a background check on me too, that’s two months, if done consecutively. So the other two months are for…

…?

Anyway, the timing really puts a dent in our plans, so it looks like I’ll just have to bite the bullet and go home before she gets her visa, and hope for the best. At least when we lodge the application the most stressful parts would have been dispensed with. After that it’s just a matter of waiting, and expensive long distance phone calls to pass the time.

しょうがないよね。。。what else can we do?