The Others

It turns out that we are not the only Americans living in Melbourne – shocker, I know – shortly before arriving here I joined a social group for American expats in order to provide a slice of home away from home as well as to meet some fun folks to spend time with out here.

The group organizes several informal events per month ranging from happy hours, dinners and potlucks to all out parties (like the upcoming July 4^th on the 3^rd Party). Our first meetup happened last week at the Melbourne Central Lion Hotel right around the corner of our little apartment. This little place is a English style pub (not a hotel, false advertisement anyone?) serving up all kinds of ales and bar food with a great “faux outdoor” area – great for the kind of weather we’ve had recently.

We met all sorts of people – those who have been living in Melbourne for years, thus earning the title “Expat” and those who were only living here for a few weeks to months and are enjoying the perks of calling oneself an expat. It was surprising how large this meetup was and, although we probably knew this intuitively, had us realizing for the first time that we are not alone!

Giddy as a schoolgirl with a box of kittens I gathered up phone numbers for future coffee, lunch and dinner dates. It was definitely fun the first two weeks here, but I can tell having The Others to grab some socializing time with will make the stay much more interesting!