Celebrating my birthday overseas
Picture the scene, it was my birthday weekend. I love birthdays, getting older is one of the only things that we can be sure of in life. So i would rather celebrate them than commiserate them. I love to go overboard usually and spend the whole month going for lunch, dinner and drinks with various people to celebrate. In 2o15 i was 6 months into living in a new city, I had a wonderful meal with my Melbourne friends and family on the Saturday. An argument with the guy that i was seeing followed directly after dinner, so i took myself out for a birthday treat on Sunday to distract myself. This is where serendipity stepped in.
I took myself on a birthday adventure to Queen Vic Market, to enjoy some scrumptious raclette from the super friendly guys at Frencheese. Is there better food on earth than Charcuterie?! So simple and yet so good. I treated myself to a birthday present, despite making a pledge that i won’t be buying any more books in Oz i happened upon the shop Books for Cooks… Wow! It’s stacked floor to ceiling with second hand books related to food from all over the world. I was in heaven. After meandering around for a good hour i settled on a book about sacred food, with recipes and stories behind the special foods that people revere all over the world for special occasions.
I listened to my instinct
I felt like hibernating, as it was a grey and cold Melbourne winter day. But for some reason I was compelled to go to the cinema. There were a few things on that i wanted to watch at the moment. It was a toss up between Amy, the film about the life of Amy Winehouse and Woman in Gold about Maria Altman’s quest to retrieve artwork that was stolen from her family by the Nazis in the second world war. I felt like i needed to be grounded and was in a reflective mood so Woman in Gold won, i bought my ticket and an “epic” glass of red wine and waited for the showing to commence.
Then serendipity kicked in…
Before the trailers had started rolling a gentleman made his way along the row and with a swoop of a hand had knocked almost all of the wine all over me. I was drenched, those glasses are exactly as they are described, EPIC! He was most apologetic as i rushed out to dry myself off. He very kindly bought me a new one just in time for the start of the film. We started chatting, he was most curious as to why i would want to watch the film being a young’un and all. And bothered with the fact that i was there alone.
I think it’s important to learn about and remember that period in our recent history. People were persecuted just for being themselves, they were forced to give up everything and disappear overnight knowing that they are likely to never see their families again. It makes me very grateful to live the life that i do with freedom to express my religion, travel and feel safe. I have a deep respect for those that picked up and left in flight of their lives, not just surviving but thriving away from everything they knew and loved many miles from home often not knowing if their families were alive or dead. I’m in awe of their strength when i sometimes can’t find the will to just pick up my iPhone and FaceTime people at home because it’s too hard. He chose the film because he’s a Polish Jew, who escaped Europe for a life in Australia and it was a story that has personal relevance to him. It made me reflect on the things that i call a struggle and the unnecessary stresses that i put on myself on a daily basis.
Be kind
When the film was over we did a little debrief and he was so delighted that i took the time to chat to him that he asked if i wanted to go for coffee. We ended up going for dinner, he was over the moon. His wife died last year so he gets lonely sometimes, he was fascinated by my story about coming to Melbourne as i was about his and his upcoming book about his life and travels as a refugee. We had a high energy conversation and compared notes about traveling alone for business and pleasure over the years.
An instinctive decision, an accident and a dinner date with a very inspiring 92 year old man. Happy Birthday Me! Authentic decisions about what felt right for me that day led me to the most fascinating conversation and a random new friend in Melbourne.
Baci a tutti, i need to pack as I am moving house this week. I will let you when i know where to!
x x x x
