326 Days

There are 326 days left until my citizenship requirements are met. Today I have looked at the citizenship web site and calculated my requirements date. It appears that on March 12, 2010, I will have the two years of residence, actually two years of physical presence on the Australian soil, which will make me eligible for Australian citizenship. The only other requirement I need to do before then is to apply for the citizenship test. It is free to apply and I reckon I should do this a couple of months before the date is due, just to leave enough room for eventual processing or whatever may appear.

These circumstances made me think of how time flies. It has now been more than a year since my arrival to the new land, new country and lifestyle. Well, it appears to have coincided with the start of the Great Recession so the experiences could have been better. The situation in the IT, and elsewhere, is not that great at the moment and makes me wonder about different things and priorities in life. It certainly is better than back in Bosnia, and probably Europe, but that's not all. A few days ago I have passed my goal mark - the numbers assumed to represent financial independence. Of course, the numbers are way off as the economic landscape has changed significantly but it is still a mark. Only a year ago those numbers and goals were completely different. Just for illustration, the Australian Dollar collapsed about 30% off its peaks in 2007 when I was transferring some savings to Australia. Now it is recovering slowly but is still way off those heights. That simple fact means I am progressing towards my goal way slower than I originally anticipated. On the other hand, maybe things here move more quickly than back home and so any change makes more difference. Whichever is the case, I feel a bit without direction at the moment. I simply can not visualize the next 18 months or set any further goals or plans. Not to mention longer time frames. I can not see that I see myself in any country or continent, any position or any company anywhere in the world.

Lately I started thinking about going solo. Something like consultancy or being a contractor. The negative side is that there is no reliable income stream and this kind of activity is not very common in the Balkans. Plus the recession has already brought the decrease in economic activity and reduction in employment so I am not sure on how that is going to work out with contractual work. Simply too many questions. I guess I should simply enjoy the day and go out. Right now. :)