Aussie Wendell

Yes, the words I've been waiting, oh, about 6 months to hear...You've Been Approved! After a complicated process of non-stop meetings and negotiations with News Corp. for my first few months in Australia, I found my way over to Fairfax in April and, in short, am so glad I did. Yes, more meetings and more negotiating, but well worth it...however it led me to the hardest part....Australian Immigration. Working with my recruiter, an immigration lawyer and taking advice from seemingly everyone, I finally managed to submit all 45 notarized pages of my visa application to Immigration and the waiting game began. Long story short, some $20,000+ later, a few minor breakdowns (OK, one major, but that's another story), I received the notice from the Department of Immigration that I'm finally legal to work in this country...whew. After receiving the notice yesterday, I then went to the Australian Taxation Office to apply for my Tax File Number, then to my recruiter's office to submit the Employment Verification Application and then to the Department of Immigration to get the work visa label in my passport. Complicated enough? If it was only that simple...I won't bore you with the details regarding the 10 documents I had to submit with my application, chest x-ray, and letters stating that I'm a good guy... honest I am...that's what I seemed to be screaming for them to let me stay!
Fun and games aside, I start with an amazing company next week, John Fairfax Holdings . It is the perfect fit for me and truly exciting to start the next chapter of my career working with Fairfax Digital and the integration of some amazing titles such as The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne.



So begins the next chapter in my life and my Aussie Adventure continues; those of you who know me well enough (which is pretty much anyone who knows me at all as I'm an open book, well at least one that's titled "Enigma"), know that where there's Wendell, there will always be some kind of "Wendell Story," drama or otherwise. Hopefully they will be anecdotes filled with laughter (at least for you anyway) and I won't be writing from a hospital bed from falling down, being hit by a car (for looking left instead of right) or drowning in a triathlon.
By the way....HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! It doesn't really mean too much here...enjoy the bbq, fireworks and a beer or two. Today I find myself painfully missing friends and family...COME VISIT!