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17 February, 2011

Impending Luminosity

Flights booked, accommodation sorted, passport (almost) on its way.

I'm right in the middle of a push to make overseas happen and I'm winning. I don't want to jinx what's going down but it's immensely satisfying getting through the rigamarole that unfurls when one decides to relocate.

I've got that same, nervous but assured sense of discontent in my belly that is ridiculously comforting. Comforting insomuch as I feel like I'm making the most of an opportunity presented to me and seizing it with two hands. This is happening. Happening it is. I can't believe after sub-conscious and conscious procrastinating I'm actually going abroad.

And I've been touched by the overwhelming positive feedback I've been getting.

"I'm so proud of you," friends have said.
"I'm so freaking jealous," others say.
And my favourite after getting told I'll be travelling to Thailand in my second week of work:
"Have you slept with a leprechaun or something?"

Maybe I have. Maybe I have.

I'm finishing up at my work desk this evening as I have Playground Weekender tomorrow - a multi-day festival that will be a great way to finish off my penultimate weekend in Australia. The majority of my crew will be up for it and it will be filled with quality time, good conversation and what a few of us like to dub: the Nectar of the Gods.

Word on the street is it's going to rain but there's no way it will dampen our sense of fun.

I come back from that on Sunday night, ready to hit overdrive with getting rid of things, a health check, and many an individual farewell. Then next Sunday, oh Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, next Sunday I hit the skies.

And I've got a feeling this is going to be even better than I'm expecting.


09 February, 2011

Destination Known

I've been working in media three years now, and despite this length of time, it never ceases to surprise, impress, or even startle me.

The past few weeks are my case in point.

My last update consisted of me rambling about where I'm going and where, and stated it was my last year in Sydney. I said this knowing it would be. What I didn't know, was that it would also be close to my last month.

Events transpired rather quickly.

On Australia Day I got royally hammered in the sun, there was a new cider going around called Brothers and it went down pretty well. I got to dance with some of my best friends and generally engage in tomfoolery. On the way to another party, I drunkenly checked my work email on my phone for reasons unfathomable to sober me. There was an email that piqued my interest immediately from the Singapore office:

"I’m reaching out with a pretty awesome opportunity for one of you to live and work in Singapore for a few months as a Digital Media Planner. We just had a position open up and would love to seize the opportunity to bring in a talented individual from one of our other UM offices to learn an exciting new market.
In this role, you would be responsible for all things digital; from pre-campaign strategy to post-campaign reporting and all points in between..."

I was all over it like a fallen sack of potatoes. I called up my mother, babbled drunkenly, then debriefed with friends. As soon as I got into the office on Thursday I'd emailed Singapore. This was for me. I can do this. I will own this.

While this was going on however, the team I was within were waiting to hear the news I've been hinting at, whether or not we'd maintained the client. The news was broken last Friday on the Internet, before any of us had found out. The team was a mess, but at the back of my mind I was wondering what would come of the Singapore opportunity.

I didn't have to wait long. After a meeting with the CEO, MD and my director it was game on. A couple of phone calls later and the offer has been made. Move to Singapore, at the end of the month, with a relocation package.

Boom.

I cried tears of happiness as soon as I got off the phone, the dream is continuing but on a scale that I've never considered before. It's going to be a challenge but one that I've clearly been gearing up for.

Overseas here we come.