The latest on the move

*Thanks to gail for reminding me to post about this!

The latest on the move to Australia isn't much at all. After the mad scramble and stress of being shown the door in January, we are still here in limbo six months later. HR took seven weeks to get a contract sent to Markus, and they have yet to get our visas going. We're doing our part for the required medical exams. This week, we went to Bronovo and had blood tests and chest x-rays (Kelcey, it was so much less scary here than in Dohot!) to check for HIV and TB. Since a few people have already asked, I'll tell you I'm just not sure what happens if they find evidence of either. I don't know if they would deny entry or not (in Dohot, they would). Thankfully, we aren't concerned that could apply to us; it was just routine. On this coming Tuesday, we will go to the only "approved" doctor in The Hague for visa entry check-ups. I don't know what makes this particular doctor "approved" and our regular huisarts not, but who am I to question? Once we complete the medical exams, we will have done all we can do for the visas. We are told the average wait after the medical is 4-8 weeks, so we could be in limbo for several more weeks...or not. Who knows? Since we are in no hurry to move, we don't really mind all these delays; however, I'd love to be out of the limbo! I wish they could have said in January "you have to move in August." Fine. But no. Alas.

On the upside, Ellie will finish her school year with her friends and teachers. We are happy about that, because she really loves that part of her routine. We were concerned ending that for the move would be very hard for her, but ending school because everyone is going away on summer holiday seems much more normal.
The extra time is also proving to be good because we are having trouble selling our car. In the US, our car would go in a minute. It is relatively new with low mileage, no accidents, dealer maintenance, yadda yadda yadda. But it's an SUV, and filling the tank here costs over 100 Euro. People who go for this type of car here want all the bells and whistles (fully loaded, navigation systems, super duper stereo, DVDs in seats, etc.) and our car is a base model (we went for safety and visibility in Dohot, with rare backseat A/C vents). We are just in the wrong market, and we are a bit stuck. Hopefully, a resolution will present itself. At least the sale doesn't have an urgency yet. Actually, given the limbo, it's probably good we don't have a buyer. They would want the car soon, and we have no idea how much longer we'll be here and needing it ourselves.

And now you know what we know.
Tah-dah!