San Francisco- The manifestation of the Dream

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Herve has had a dream of working in one of the High-tech companies in Silicon Valley. We both loved San Francisco when we travelled there in 2015 with the girls. The journey to get here has been a long and challenging one in many ways. The interview process took long time to master and there were many skills that needed to be learned and sharpened. The house also required a lot of attention: we needed to leave it in good condition for the girls and I wanted to get rid of all my stuff so they could feel it was their home for the few years we were gone. This took months! tossing, scrubbing, painting, repair work, gardening (Lisa and Greg did most of this) and lots and lost of sorting.

Herve went through many initial interview screenings and as time went on, he got better at the process, not just what to say better but he also got clearer about what he wanted too. It seemed that the bigger tech companies had a better work-life balance, attracted a higher calibre of people and generally had more perks. First strong lead was Google down in Mountain View. we both flew over for that one (Herve's trip and hotel paid for by Google). We were pretty sure Herve got the job and actually started celebrating but things move incredibly slowly with Google and US companies in general. The whole process dragged on as they tried to team him up with a particular Google team. This was where things slowed down and it seemed every month there was a new Google team interview to find the right skill/objectives match. Then out of nowhere came Twitter. They flew Herve over to San Francisco for the interview (after the initial Skype screening and online testing) and that was that. He got offered a role as Senior Data Scientist and was given a very hefty relocation package that included assistance finding our new home, pet relocation, flights and short term accomodation and money for buying things to set us up. Herve let Google know and they tried their best to set him up with one or two more team interviews but nothing came of it as Twitter had given Herve just a week to sign (as they know people do this bargaining thing) and Google is far too slow and clumpy to act fast.

So Twitter it is.

Then there were many delays with visas. Mostly, that was very fortunate as suddenly we had a whole more lot of work to do...the girls told us they weren't that happy to stay in the big house at the same time Herve discovered it would be better tax-wise to sell. So we talked and talked and finally made the decision that we would give the girls the Marrickville unit (where they were born). Now we needed to clear EVERYTHING from the house as the girls were moving in to a small 2 bedroom unit with no garage and little storage. There was even more intense tossing until eventually Herve and I had 5 suitcases between us of all our earthly possessions. We did all the legal work for transferring the property to the girls and organised the sale of the house. Herve organised to sell off other properties as well. The girls joined in the Big Clean and as a family we threw, gave away or sold most of our stuff.

Very liberating.

We fly December 11th

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