Moving to a new home in a new country is very tiring. It takes a lot of effort and energy to settle-in. Things like shopping to furnish your new home, learning where “best” to shop (for both price and suitability of products) and arranging for utilities and life “essentials” to be installed and connected can exhaust you. I’ve been doing exactly that all week, plus enrolling myself into the university, familiarising myself with parts (and only just a small part) of the apparently 145 hectare-wide ANU campus, and learning how the university “system” works.

It’s Friday evening as I’m writing this and I am, frankly, exhausted! My brain is suffering from information overload and my body is physically worn-out from all the walking and carrying that I’ve done all week. But at least, I now have a place to call “home”. After 6-months of turbulence in my personal life, this is the real bonus of this last week.

I’m living in a studio flat (or apartment as they call it here) - bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom in one sufficiently spacious unit. It’s in a brand new building, so new that my flat has never been occupied - I am the first tenant. The flat is wonderfully furnished and fitted. Not only is the kitchen almost fully equipped (with crockery, cutlery, cooking-pots, microwave, toaster, kettle, gas stove and rice cooker!) but there’s even a dual-function air-conditioner in the unit. The latter functions as both a cooler and heater and is centrally set to 22C all year long. The other luxury in the unit is the TV set atop the work desk on a swivel platform - perfect for viewing from both the kitchen counter and the bed! It receives five free-to-air terrestrial channels.

The work desk is functional but it’s the added touch of a gas-lever work-chair that I really appreciate. The bathroom is in a small-box of its own but the lay-out is fine though I can’t imagine a big-size white man in there (but if I’m lucky, I might find out soon enough!). There’s a shower (no bathtub) with good strong hot water. The wardrobe is sufficiently spacious for one person’s use and well-placed electrical points are located throughout the unit. The windows of the flat look out to the West so for the past few days I’ve been sitting by the kitchen counter, drinking a hot cup of tea while watching the sun set over Black Mountain that borders one side of the ANU campus.

I cooked my first meal tonight - a stir-fry of potatoes, fresh mushrooms, zucchini, onions, and egg - and the kitchen was very comfortable to work in. I only wished it had an oven (which I personally find more useful than a microwave). I watched telly while eating and then made myself a cup of coffee after. As I watched the sun set over Black Mountain again while listening to sound-bites of classical music, I knew this can really become home, especially once the internet is connected.

Posted on February 19th, 2005 by jl
Filed under: blah blah