I moved!
Earlier this week I left Patrick's apartment in the funky St. Kilda neighborhood for the quieter, more posh surburb of Hawthorn. I'm now living with Sally and Steve Ahern, their 18 year-old student daughter Pheobe, and their adorable (and tiny!) puppy, Archie. I met Sally just a week ago through our American family friend, Diane Arnold, who attended boarding school with Sally right around the corner from here. Fortunately for them -- and for me! -- they stayed in touch after all these years, and Sally was kind enough to invite me into their home.
So, life is fantastic! My adopted family is absolutely wonderful; we eat me-friendly dinner together every night, and Sally has grown rather fond of baking banana bread and apple pie recently, which I have grown rather fond of eating in great quantities. This weekend, we're heading down the Great Ocean Road to Lorne, where they have a shore house, and next weekend we're planning a trip to Sally's parents house in the Victorian Highlands. And last weekend I took a daytrip with three friends to Philip Island (http://www.visitphillipisland.com/... my photos will be on Facebook soon), a sizeable island two hours from the city with great walks -- only one of which we took due to the rainy weather. (But we did visit the Chocolate Factory and did wine tasting at a vineyard!)
Ah, so, but day-to-day I'm living in a beautiful house in a historic neighborhood fifteen minutes from the city and about forty minutes from my former neighborhood.
I usually spend my days wandering around the city, exploring its nooks and crannies, walking around the Melbournian suburbs, doing nothing in particular. Some days I'll have a mission (get hair cut, buy a warm sweater) but often I'll just head out and see where I get to! Next week I'm buying a used bike to expidite and stretch the perimeters of my explorations.
For the first week I felt as though I wasn't making the most of my time, that I was wasting resources by not being productive or accomplishing anything. But the realization came to me: I am having a wonderful time! And when in my life am I ever going to be able to do this again? I am completely content to aimlessly walk around the the beautiful streets of St. Kilda, Prahran, Balaclava... I realized that THIS is life: feeling healthy and strong and independent, noticing the funky architecture, taking free samples from the markets, the feeling of being completely free, hearing sound of crumpling paper across the street, getting ideas from antique stores... it's not what I'm doing or what I'm accomplishing or producing that matters. It's this moment!
(Even so, I am getting my dose of intellectualism. I'm currently reading literature on citywide bike share programs. Can't let the ol' noggin get rusty now, can we??)
So that's what happens when you don't pay rent, don't have a job, and don't know how long you're hanging around a place. Well, that's not totally true. I have a ticket to New Zealand for 23 September, which gives me a lot of time to do... whatever it is I will end up doing!
Also! News! I have a flight back home: 2 May 2009. For two weeks Air New Zealand convinced me that I couldn't get a flight back later than mid-February and I was crushed. But then I sweet-talked an operator and she booked it in May!! Oh it made my week.
More exciting news! Last night, I was given a ticket to Wicked and saw that marvelous show in the Melbourne city. Woohoo!
That's all for now! I'll try to upload photos soon. Much love!
