Julian David Hernandez Cortes
Julian David Hernandez Cortes
We couldn’t walk past Julian last Thursday. Something about him drew us in.
“My name is Julian David and I was born in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. I’m 37 years old and my Bondi story started around 2019 when I had a dream of travelling around all Australian beaches (for me was totally impossible). One day in December of that year a photo on Instagram popped up on my screen and I saw a cute little white guy who immediately caught my eye and I felt something very intense in myself that I couldn’t explain.
To celebrate the 2020 New Year I travelled to Rio de Janeiro (I was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina since 2013). On 29th of December I was walking along Ipanema Beach alone, and I ran into that cute little Aussie guy who I had seen on Instagram. Back then I did not speak English, nor he Spanish (to be honest I was frozen, shaking and just wanted to run). We exchanged instagrams profiles and that was it.
I went back to Buenos Aires and we kept talking, Joseph that beautiful boy also was living in Buenos Aires. On 29th of February year 2020 he visited me to meet my two cats “Sol and Luna” and since that day we have been together.
We spent all the pandemic together, and he all the time was showing me Australia, the lifestyle and culture, with the hope of one day living here together. One of the things he showed me was the iconic Bondi Beach and he always said to me, that is your new home, you are going to live there! We are going to live there together! For me was something special but to be honest quite impossible, I didn’t have a visa, my English was very bad, I had no money, there was covid, but I was so happy with him and our special relationship. I started to looking for jobs in my profession, I found a big demand in NSW Health Pathology but all required visa work rights and English language, certifications and more “obstacles” which made me feel all of this is just impossible.
On May 2022 I got granted my student visa to study English for 24 weeks in Brisbane, we arrived in Australia June 2022 and the first thing Joseph showed me was the walk from Coogee to Bondi, and that was my first time in Bondi Beach.
We lived in Brisbane for about a year and a half, but I had a very bad and traumatic experience there so we knew we didn’t belong to that place and anyway life had better plans for us. On 23 of September year 2023 we bought our cozy unit in Roscoe street. On 15th of November we move in and on 17th of November I had an interview with NSW Health Pathology and on 21st of November I got my position as a Medical Scientist at Royal North Shore Hospital (the best job I ever had).
For the last 2 years we have been living our dream life, building our home and relationship, and making the impossible our reality.
My life has drastically changed since I left South America, but mainly since I met Joseph (he is the best man I could ever asked for) last April I brought my mother and my aunt for a two months holiday, I have very good relationship with Joseph’s family and friends.
We have done City2Surf four times, but now we always do our City2Home, and dear Melanie this is my and our Bondi Story.”
We love a covid love story.
