Double the Passports, Double the Fun

I am now officially a dual citizen since I received my Australian passport yesterday.  Did you know that you are not allowed to smile in Aussie passport photos?  No one can really explain to me why this is the case.  Having my new passport means that I can finally leave the country again.  I won't be needing it tomorrow though because I am only traveling up to Sydney.  It should be nice to have a weekend excursion and visit my friend Mel.  I will also escape another weekend of thunderstorms in Melbourne and the inevitable flooding of my street that will follow.

Nicole Turns Aussie

Tonight I completed the final step to becoming an Australian citizen- the citizenship ceremony.  I arrived early at Coburg Town Hall to register and was then shown to my seat, which was in the front row.  They had some musicians playing beforehand and then got everyone to be seated in order to start.  The Mayor of Moreland City Council, Cr Stella Kariofyllidis presided over the ceremony.  We had a keynote speech by Melanie Raymond, the Chair of the Board of Youth Projects, and also remarks from the Federal Member for Wills, Kelvin Thompson MP.  I'm not sure if doing a political speech about sustainability and population control at a citizenship ceremony was the best move on his part.

After the speeches it was time to stand and recite the pledge:

From this time forward,
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,
whose democratic beliefs I share,
whose rights and liberties I respect, and
whose laws I will uphold and obey.

Then the Mayor presented each candidate with their certificate and an Australian native plant.  My crew of friends (Ruth, Danny, Michelle, Tash, Mary and Elvira) gave a big cheer when my name was called, which made the Mayor comment that I must have a fan club.  After everyone had received their certificates we sang the national anthem and then the ceremony was finished.  Danny grabbed my camera and started taking photos of everyone.  I was very appreciative of people coming to watch, especially Michelle and Tash who drove down from Ballarat in the rain.  We said goodbye to Elvira and then headed out to dinner at Baba on Lygon Street to celebrate.  It doesn't yet feel like I'm an Australian citizen, but I'm sure it will sink in over the next few days.

Five Year Anniversary

Today is the five year anniversary of my arrival in Australia. It certainly doesn't seem like it's been that long since I first moved here. I feel very settled in Melbourne, and in ten days I will officially become an Australian as my citizenship ceremony is on October 12th. It will be great to have an Aussie passport and be able to leave the country again.

A Week Of Win

This has been a very good week for me personally as I have made progress on two big goals for the year. The first is that I finally have permanent employment as a Senior Research and Policy Officer in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. I thought this day would never come as I have been applying for ongoing jobs for quite a while and just missing out. It has been a frustrating and stressful time as my latest fixed term contract was due to finish in September. Thankfully I no longer have to worry and can relax. I will be working in the same research and policy area I have been in for the last two years doing work focused on school workforce reform, pre-service teacher education, and open learning spaces in schools.

The other thing I have had to deal with is applying for Australian citizenship. My permanent residency visa needed to been renewed this year if I ever wanted to leave and get back into the country. Since I was going to have to pay the government either way, I decided it was time to finally put in my application for citizenship. My citizenship appointment was originally scheduled for early August, but in a strangely proactive move for a bureaucracy, I got a call last week asking if I would like to move up my appointment. "Yes please" I said, so today was the new day. I had spent this week getting certified copies of documents done and studying for the citizenship test by reading Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond. The whole appointment took about 20 minutes from start to finish. First they went through my application and checked all my original documents to verify my identity. Next I was brought into the testing room to take the test, which I passed with a 100% score! I now need to wait 4-6 weeks for a decision, and then anywhere from 3-6 months to attend a citizenship ceremony, which is the final stage of the process. I am hoping it won't take too long because I would really like to be able to vote in the upcoming state and federal elections. It will be fun to have dual citizenship.