Wow, has it been two weeks already? These days have disappeared into one too many trips to the grocery store, one too many "orientation" walks around the local neighborhoods. It's one of the cooler things about living in a foreign city-- you give yourself more permission to walk the neighborhoods "just because"... just because you may never get to see the place again once you move back home, I guess. I think that we should be okay on household items for a while; as for food, well, we can only buy what we can carry the fifteen minute walk home, so I think smaller, more frequent trips to the grocery store will become a way of life for a while.
We've managed a few important firsts, though-- first successful paying of the rent,1 first doing of the laundry, first phone calls back to the US,2 first research proposals submitted to Australian conferences.3 We also finished most of the rest of our "housekeeping" paperwork, things like filing a residence with the Fulbright Commission and sorting out D's eligibility for socialized healthcare while in Australia. Then, too, we also spent a good deal of time this week planning our trip to Canberra and Melbourne.4 The friendly people in D's department were enthusiastic about telling us what to see and where to go-- so enthusiastic, in fact, that they planned what looks like it will be a six-month trip for us. Hmmm, maybe not so much.
In house news, a few of our housemates approached us5 cautiously and asked if it would be okay if they got a cat. Well, maybe two cats. Clearly, they did not grasp the sheer absurdity of their asking D for permission. (A showing of the Rai & Vina photo album went some way towards rectifying the situation.) So, Saturday afternoon, two kittens moved in, one an energetic six-month old named Barry, the other a tiny, fragile (and currently, very sick) six-week old named Slinky.6 Each cat has a specific "mom" in the house, so D believes that she is not in too much danger of getting overly attached. Feature with photos to come later, maybe when Slinky is feeling better, but if you really need your kitty picture fix right now, might I direct you to a reasonable substitution?
Yesterday was Valentine's day, which, oddly, is a fall holiday around here. Since we're leaving later today for a two-week trip, we didn't feel like having an elaborate V-day celebration, nor did we feel like fighting the holiday crowds. But we did find something special to do: a friend of ours7 gave us for Christmas a gift certificate to take a coffee cruise on Sydney Harbour (also known as Port Jackson, they're the same thing). So, figuring that it was not a traditionally romantic thing to do and so would probably not be booked solid with valentines, we headed off to use our gift certificate while the weather was nice. And a lovely cruise it was, and we took lots of photos which will be in a feature soon. Though the "afternoon tea" was perhaps not up to the standards of the Motherland,8 the sky was clear, the boat steady, and Sydney shiny as usual. Afterwards, we walked to Darling Harbour and had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant called (appropriately) "Chinta Ria: The Temple of Love." They didn't take reservations, so we actually had a shot at getting a table.
All in all, a full and tiring week, though sometimes we look back over it and wonder what we actually did. Looking forward to seeing some new parts of the country over the next two weeks-- we have some exciting activities planned but I'll wait until we return to taunt you with them, it's much more effective that way. Two people so far have risen to the grocery list challenge, with reasonably good results. You still have until the 21st if you want to join in the fun!
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NOTES
3Okay, this last one was just D, really.
7You know who you are. And some other people know who you are, too.
8That would be England, duh. Where "high tea" is a meal unto itself, with special particular things that are only ever found on an English tea table... sigh. The tea and muffins on the boat just weren't quite the same.
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