The guy I'd be renting it from is a guy named Joe, who's a Chinese immigrant who's now a student at QUT working toward his doctorate. He's quiet, but very nice and easy going and fun to talk to. The other roommate I didn't get to meet, but she's a German girl who goes to UQ. The room is medium sized and cozy, and comes with more drawer/shelf space than I could possibly fill considering that I have to bring everything back home in a suitcase, and a single bed next to a window. It has this huge basement/garage where there's a bunch of other furniture, blankets, electronics, bikes, balls, tennis rackets—all of which I'm free to use whenever I feel like it. I don't even have to buy linens. Just take my pick of what's in the basement, wash it, and settle right in. The internet is wireless with unlimited downloads (because, as I just discovered today, in Australia they limit how many MB you're allowed to download per month, just like minutes in a cell phone plan), so I don't have to worry about overusing it. The living/dining room/kitchen (it's all one big room) is small, but very cozy, and the decorations are simple but colorful, just the way I like it. The bathroom is clean. There's a rudimentary basketball court outside and a washing machine downstairs, as well as a pool table. The spare beds/couches stored down there also mean that I can have people sleep over without worrying about having enough space for them (I'm looking at you, Russell). It's about a 15 minute walk from campus over the “Green Bridge,” which means I'm guaranteed to see the river every day but I won't have to spend a ton of money paying to take the CityCat, and rent is A$140 with everything included.
So I have to go see this other place tomorrow, since I've already arranged it, but I think this is what I'm going to stick with. Right now the previous tennant still has her stuff in the room, but Joe says that he'll make her move it all out before Saturday, when I have to leave the hostel, and he'll even pick me up and drive me over so I don't have to haul my suitcase across Highgate Hill. He even gave me a ride back to my hostel so that I wouldn't have to walk in the dark. How awesome is that?
I'm feeling very optimistic about this, as you can clearly tell. I'm going to sleep on it, because I don't want to jump too quickly, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to sleep much better than I have been. Excellent.
And now, because my last post was so short and I'm bored, a few observations I've made since arriving here:
1. In Australia, they do not believe in roads that make sense. At all. Not only are the roads twisty and strange and going off in directions that no road has any business going, but they are only very rarely labeled, so it's quite easy to wander along the wrong street for a mile before coming across a road sign and discovering that it's not the road you thought it was. This goes doubly for intersections. Rather than simply having a post at each corner clearly labeling the roads, they might, if you're very, very lucky, have a single sign in the middle of one of the roads, strategically placed so that you cannot tell if it's talking about the road it's parallel to or the one it's perpendicular to. Your only option, as far as I can tell, is to be psychic and already know which road it's referring to. Thus, the road sign is rendered effectively useless, serving only as a smug reassurance to those who already know where they're going.
2. In Australia, doctor's offices have to advertise. With billboards. I can't count the number of signs I've seen that say something like, “Sick? Come see Dr. Anderson! He's a trained physician!” Seriously, guys? You're going to base your medical care on advertising? The same goes for dentists and optometrists. Additionally, they don't have pharmacies around here. They have “chemists.” It took me a good four or five days to figure out that's what they are. They're often located right next door to the doctor's or dentist's, usually with the exact same style of sign, as though they went into business together, which they probably did.
3. Finally, in Australia, they don't believe in dryers. Everything is hang dry. Sure, you can find dryers if you go into a laundromat where the tourists wash their clothes, but I've seen a lot of private residences in the last few days and not one of them had a dryer. Instead, they all have these metal contraptions in the back yard that look sort of like a sideways windmill, with the pole in the middle and the arms spinning about a few feet off the ground, and between them are these wires that you hang your clothes on. I find it hard to believe that people don't simply waltz into strangers' back yards and take whatever they think looks good, because it would be incredibly easy to do. I find it a bit distressing that they don't believe in dryers here. It may sound weird, but I can already tell I'm going to miss the warmth & smell of clothes fresh out of the dryer. Plus, if anybody's ever tried wearing jeans that were hung dry, you'll understand my concerns in that department. So not comfortable.
Well, that's all I've got. Hopefully the search for housing is over, and now I can settle in, relax and prepare for the real adventure.
Love,
Morgan
P.S. Now, as I'm posting this, the following day, I would like to report that I decided to get the place. Yay for having somewhere to live!
Those sideways windmill clothes dryers used to be used here too, before we turned into a nation of people using electricity to dry our clothes. I think your great-grandma (Store Nonnie) had one in her back yard, I kind of remember it. Can you believe some people like the smell of sheets dried by the sun and wind???!!! xo AE ps I would not like my jeans dried that way, though!
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