Expo: Australia

Last weekend, le copain was back in London. It was lovely to see him back in the city where we met, there is something very romantic and nostalgic about it all. But the trip wasn't entirely for pleasure, with 'operation Australia' weighing heavily on Cyril's mind, we forked out £30 for two entry tickets to a 'Work in Australia' expo, located in the Novotel, Hammersmith, W6.

Ultimately, the experience was good. Cyril is a chemical engineer and most of the stalls were civil engineering or health/nursing or hospitality related, but by luck there was one Environmental company there. We struck up conversation, they were lovely, enthusiastic, and asked for his CV, which is always a good sign. As we walked away I turned back to watch them scribbling excitedly all over his CV. Cross your fingers for us!

One of the less rewarding moments was lining up for 45 minutes to chat to the 'Visas & Immigration' stall. We had two things to talk about 1) being that Cyril doesn't have an IELTS qualification, would a TOEIC (1) count? 2) Cyril studied for 1 year at a recognised institution (2) but the rest wasn't - would there still be any chance of him getting a Recognised Graduate - (subclass 476) visa?

The answer from the woman? (and I quote)

I don't know.

Thanks, honey.

She then proceeded to say that she would answer these sorts of questions if we paid £95 for a consultation. But then she gave up the game, Cyril mentioned he was a graduating chemical engineer and was met with replies of 'wow! fantastic!' and so we left feeling fairly confident that a £95 consultation is pretty useless when we know we're eligible for more than one visa, and an official is calling our case 'fantastic'.

Ultimately, the day was entirely worth the £30. Cyril warmed up to the idea of alternative visas and grew more confident in the fact that he would find something (which in itself is priceless). We also got to hear fabulous (cringeworthy) Australian accents and (however selfish this is) feel somewhat superior to the people who had no idea of their way in to the sunburnt land.

The rest of the weekend went by in a blur, I had made infinite promises to bring Cyril out with my friends and in the end we watched a film (Lars and the real girl - super cute!) and slept in. I can't complain, sometimes it's nice to relax and forget the world a bit. Only 10 sleeps until he comes back, it's painful already!

Before I leave, can I just say, I really do not see the draw of Hammersmith, Cyril and I wandered around looking for something to catch our fancy and just could not do it. Am I missing something? Has my passion for the East End clouded my vision of the West? What on Earth are my fellow antipodeans thinking? (If you'd like to contest this, please do, I'm curious to know what I'm missing out on!)


(1) - TOEIC: A French test on the particpants' English language skill. Seemingly only any use in France.
(2) - A list of the institutions that Australia idolises and which are therefore an easy step into the country. The list can be found here.