Moving on...

Well, here I am nearing the end of my last full day in Melbourne. The movers have come, boxes have been shipped, and I've handed in my apartment keys... I've officially begun the transition from Person-Who-Lives-Somewhere to Nomad...

It's hard to believe I've been here for two years already. As much of a cliche as it is, the time has really flown by. I think a large part of that time-moving-too-fast experience is due to how happy I've been here. This is probably my favorite city that I've ever lived in, and I have to keep reminding myself that (barring catastrophe) Melbourne will still be here whenever I feel like I need to come back and visit... Still, it will never be the same as living here, and I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around the fact that I'm really leaving.

As I head off to the hotel where I'll be spending my last night before a morning flight to Singapore, I feel oddly compelled to make a list of some kind. Below, in no particular order, are some of the things I'll miss most about Melbourne:

• My awesome neighborhood (Brunswick): Because of my ankle issues, I've never in my life lived within walking distance of anything. It's been so cool to live somewhere that allows me to just wander down to the produce store, to the butcher, or to the bakery that sells the world's greatest sandwich. (Also, running 50 feet out your back door to get emergency butter when you're cooking for a dinner party is so much better than having to hop in your car even for a short drive.)

• My awesome friends: As tends to be the case with me, it took a good chunk of time after I got here before I felt comfortable enough around people to actually start making friends. As also tends to be the case with me, I've made some really good friends who I'm going to miss a lot... just in time to move a few thousand miles away from them. Fantastic. Hopefully with help from the interweb we can stay in touch, and my guest room in Boston will be very comfy if they ever find an excuse to make the Uni pay for them to come visit...

• Vic Market: For those who don't know, Victoria Market is pretty much the greatest farmers market in the whole wide world*... Amazing produce, piles and piles of super-fresh meats and seafood, and stall after stall of delicious artisan breads, cheeses, and cured meats. Oh, and did I mention wine tasting? Basically, any meal that starts out by wandering around Vic Market is bound to end up being delicious.

• Cleanskins: Speaking of wine, the availability of moderately to incredibly affordable wines of moderate to pretty-darn-tasty quality definitely helped me get over missing my fabulous winery-worker hook-ups from Santa Barbara. Even if it meant experiencing a few sub-par wines along the way, it was always fun to discover a $3 wine that could hold its own against its more specifically-labeled, more expensive shelf-mates or a downright delicious wine for $8 to $10 - no winery discounts necessary...
  

• The adorable Aussie dialect I was just starting to figure out: It took me a while, but I think I've mostly adapted to the world where "entree" means "appetizer," "grill" means "broiler," and you "hire" something rather than "renting" it... A world where people ask if you'd "Fancy some brekky, love?", where the freeways have "overtaking" lanes, and where they apparently refer to the afternoon as the "arvo" for some arbitrary reason. They sort of speak English like a bunch of weirdos over here, but like a bunch of incredibly charming weirdos with cool accents. ;-)

Now is not the time to get into the things I won't miss (like, say, getting up at 3am on Mondays to stream NFL football, or the many many hills of UniMelb). Right now I'm just feeling a mix of nervous excitement about the adventure I'm about to embark on and a bit of sadness about how awesome the place is that I'm leaving behind...

* Claim based on comparison to the 3 other cities I've previously lived in... which is not technically all of the cities in the whole wide world, I suppose...