I know that in being on a different continent there are so many things to appreciate that are new and different, but today, I am very appreciative to have a washer and dryer right here in my little 'flat'. It is SO nice to be able to do my laundry at my leisure without quarters and without getting a workout from going up and down the stairs. I even left some whites in the dryer after they were done because I was in no hurry to take them out. :) Seems that most every flat here has a washer and dryer usually supplied but sometimes you must purchase your own. So, even if you have a washer and dryer in any unfurnished flat you will not have a refrigerator. And so we join the ranks of movers buying and selling refrigerators and other large appliances all over the internet. Some ads even said..."Free Fridge...If you can lift it into your car you can have it." Currently we have a fridge, which is good, since we are in a temporary serviced hotel apartment. All utilities and even daily housekeeping included and very common around here as temporary business relocations are frequent. It is a little crazy but very nice to come home to a clean place and made bed! I will miss it, but looking forward to getting settled in our new apartment come the 4th of September. My fridge shopping begins!
Apartment hunting was nuts here as we quickly learned. There are now more people here than apartments and so it gets pretty competitive. You cannot make an appointment with a realtor, rather you research pages and pages of listings and attend an inspection at the designated time of the apartment you are interested in. The most people at an inspection we attended was probably over 30! You can only apply for an apt if you attended the inspection and then you must be quick to get your application in and approved! We saw a few good places and alot of rough ones and I even went to an agency to try to figure out how to get an advantage. Jaime really liked the area we are in now and casually mentioned that he would like to live in the apartment building across the way. We waited for inspection and got our application in that night. So after a week and a half of inspections we got our place!
Australians are generally extremely nice and so incredibly helpful! This has made the transition so much easier. The thing is, in this english speaking place, often I have no idea what people are saying! There are so many times I ask Jaime "What did he say?" and sometimes Jaime doesn't even know but he sure does a good job pretending! As I talk to people and ask questions that clearly show I have no idea what I am doing they ask me where I am from and on more than one occasion, Jaime and I both have been told "Oh yes, America, I could tell by the accent."???
I wonder what Aussies sound like when they try to imitate an American accent, they must just put the emphasis on every form of "r" like "yeaRRRR" instead of "yeah"(r omitted). They say things like 'alroyght' (alright), 'nah-o' or 'naho-r' (no), and 'yaw-grat' (which is actually yogurt and not some really cool dessert I didn't know about). But Jaime said that the accuracy of my interpretation is in question because I learned these words from a 7 year old.
In any case the accent often sounds nice and the lingo is actually a whole language in itself...once I get the hang of it...
"I reckon I'll be gold, Mate."
Shepherd's pie for dinner tonight...yum!
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