Marcus and I started the apartment search a few weeks ago and we've gone to see a number of places. There are some good options out there and we're lucky enough to be able to take our time to find the place that feels right for us, rather than scrambling to find a place because a lease has just ended. I'm fairly certain that our lease ran out a few weeks (or months) ago so we get to meander through apartment listings to see what strikes our fancy. There are a few key items we're taking into consideration:
- Must have an oven. This may sound strange, but I've come across a few places without ovens! I must be able to bake. An apartment without an oven could never be my home.
- I must feel safe walking home at night. Our current neighborhood isn't that bad, but there's a block of low-income housing on the way to the train station that makes me jumpy. Plus the fact that the house was broken into before I moved here and that a friend got mugged and a broken jaw walking home one night doesn't exactly make me feel safe.
- Must be close to public transportation, preferably a train station. I love the novelty of the trains, it pretty much never gets old. Plus, train traffic will delay you by maybe one or two minutes as opposed to bus traffic, which you just don't know about.
- Must have a balcony. This is a Marcus item, and I can't complain. He feels trapped indoors and needs to have a refuge in the great outdoors. Even if that does just consist of a little balcony jutting out from a brick building that looks like a "prison".
Talking about apartment hunting makes me feel like I'm one of those boring adults that talks about boring adult things. As one of the younger kids (and a listener to boot), I spent egads of time listening to parents and older brothers and sisters talk about the boring adult things. I've been emailing with one of my nieces and when I write to her I try to make sure that I keep things away from the boring adult subjects. When I was her age, my oldest sister would always ask me if I had a boyfriend yet and I always thought it was the greatest (even though she knew I wasn't old enough to date!).
Aaaaaand tangent. Here's another one. I drove for the second time in Australia last night. The first time doesn't really count since it was on a dirt road in the Northern Territory and I passed all of one car. But this was full-on, left-side-of-the-road driving in Marcus's little car that is--a manual. I was a bit frightened to drive, but tried not to think about it much since hovering around the idea would only make me more anxious. I fiddled with the blinkers first to make sure I knew where they were (they traded places with the windshield wipers), found the headlights, and then I bit the bullet and took off. I was all by myself, driving into another suburb to meet Marcus for dinner. Driving alone was a little nerve wracking, but I did alright. The shifting was actually easier than I thought it would be, though I never quite got a hang of the blinker. I also need to work on driving further to the right side of my lane, apparently I almost clipped a car last night. (I made Marcus jump.) With a little more practice I'll be a pro, but I'm pretty satisfied with my first spin. Yay! Ooh, and thanks to Laura for sending my drivers license so I can actually drive. :) (It got stolen in Alice Springs.)
Anyhew, things are looking up. I'll update more later when I'm a bit more interesting. :)
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