From the beginning
About 8,5 months ago I arrived to this amazing and lovable country with many names; Down under, Oz, Paradise, Land of opportunities and of course it's real name, Australia.
I was travelling from Sweden via Germany/Dubai/Australia and landed in Sydney 26h later and 8h before Swedish time. Which gave me the worst jetlag of all times. It's like having a really bad hangover without being drunk at first. Some people barely notice it and others (me) come to be very aware of it.
But I don't think it was the whole "travelling across 10 time zones" that hit me. It's all the new impressions, new languages that appears, the fact that you actually sitting on a chair in a whole other country, on the other side of the world. And then of course, the lack of sleep and proper food during those 26h on the plane. (Cause everyone knows how great the food is on the airplanes..!)
Anyway, I finally got off the plane and headed through the passport check and were on my way down to the custom.
-How many of you have not seen the TV program of the customs on the airports(?), especially the ones in Australia?
So I was pretty nervous. Cause I had chocolate(!!) in my bag, what if they were going to tear out everything I had in my bag. No, I was not prepared for that, not after 26h of barely no sleep or food, two transfers and knowing that the evening soon would turn into night. I was beyond tired.
I walked up to a couple of guys who were standing waiting for something to do. I handed over my declaration card. The guy looked at me as he took my form and asked what I had in my bag? I told him nervously that it was just chocolate, but because it contained milk I had to declare it.
He asked me again, but this time where I came from.
I told him that I was/were from Sweden.
He looked at me again and shone up, laughed a bit, gave me a nod and replied
-Oh, so you're from Sweden, well, you can go. Have a nice evening and welcome to Australia!
-Thank you...!
As I took my bag and started walking, a bit confused over what just had happened, (they didn't tear out everything I had in my bag?!) I turned my head to see that I wasn't dreaming. The guy still stood there, looking at me with a smile. I turned my head back again and started giggling for myself. I couldn't believe it. I was officially in Australia. And I sure got my first warm welcome from the custom. Haha.
As I walked through the last couple of doors towards the hall for the arrivals, the air was changing, it got lighter and a bit cooler, it got easier to breath. I saw all the people standing waiting for the arrivals.
Soon, as I stepped out on the ramp to walk down to the big crowd I could se a silhouette of yellow, waving with a balloon saying "Welcome to Australia", almost screaming my name. That's Tanja, a girl that means a lot to me. Beside her was her boyfriend, Kyle, not so much waving but he had a big smile on his face. And man, I was glad to see them.
I made it through the crowed and it almost felt like I fell into Tanja's and Kyle's arms.
I was really here.
I had made it through, all the way.
A journey that had felt so long and almost impossible when it first started, was finally over.
The weirdest thing of all, it felt like I was home.