Week One

I'd say I'm starting to settle in, judging by the fact that today for the first time I instinctively looked right before left when crossing the street. I've been surprised at how hard it is to rewire the left-looking instinct and have had some near misses, so this is a welcome advancement (of course I'll always be left-leaning regardless :)). The other major achievement today is that I found a place to live. Last Wednesday I wandered down the street to The Friends of the Earth to glance at the shared housing postings in the window, and it was the first listing I read. A pretty little card with Asian inspired art, a mention of meditation and neat writing, it caught my attention. I knew then that it was the right place, but it took a couple days for her to return my call so in the meantime I called two or three other people, and went to see one other place, not expending much energy, waiting. That's how it happened with my last housemate Samantha too. I knew she'd move in, I just had to wait a few days for her to return my call. Then Saturday, after visiting the other house which just didn't feel right, I wandered around neighborhoods scribbling down numbers from postings on cafe walls, unsure if I'd contact them, then returned home to a message from Naomi.

She's another young woman who seems similar in lifestyle, and whose differences will probably be a good influence on me, and the location of the little terrace house, just north of the city, is perfect. Okay, so there are some dodgy looking houses next to the graffitti covered train station a few blocks away, but the house is also a stone's throw away from a creek, beside which is a popular bike/running trail. If I follow the trail about 3K due west, it leads to the park that's northernly adjacent to campus, and it's a quick tram, train or bus ride to the city as well. The address is right off of High Street and Westgarth in Northcote, a "suburb" (anything outside of the central business district is considered a suburb..it's like calling Queen Anne a suburb of Seattle) that has become the new hip part of town as the suburbs of Fitzroy and Carlton have gentrified, making them too pricey for young artsy folk. The Westgarth shops include some cafes and restaurants, a juice bar, an organic food shop, vintage clothing shops and an old theatre, among other things. Click here for more on the neighborhood and some pics.

While procrastinating on finding a place to live, I kept busy this last week, socializing a great deal as well as exploring, meeting as many people as possible while I still had my tour guide. We went to nice restaurants, trendy pubs, cafes, and coffee shops, a dinner party/barbeque, the bush, the cinema, had brunch in St. Kilda (a suburb by the beach), hosted a picnic in one of Melbourne's gorgeous parks (it's like Olmstead gone crazy here), where I played my first game of cricket! (I would have tried Aussie Rules, but no one brought a football !), and made lots of new friends. Now that that whirlwind is over, I look forward to spending some time familiarizing myself with new parts of the city, walking, reading, meditating, sleeping, finding furniture, a bike, and a Dharma center...and figuring out how to connect my computer to the internet so I can upload photos to share. I also have plans to visit the national gallery, wine country, and a wildlife sanctuary soon.

Perhaps inspired by the plethora of artistic events and opportunities in this town, or the influence of my new artsy friends (oddly almost all of Jason's friends are architects or designers, and my new housemate is a creative art therapist), I've noted down a couple of possible painting classes and drawing groups and can't wait to delve into creative expression. I've also been keeping an eye and ear open for meditation group options since the FPMT center is over an hour away via public transport, so may be more of an irregular refuge. We'll see, there are plenty of groups nearby. I think I found a way to play soccer too. I'd be the only woman, and I'm not sure how that'll go over with the rest of the guys, but some of them invited me out, their wives urging me on with visions of Bend It Like Beckam in their heads. We'll see.

That's about it for now. Will send out my new contact info when I have it.

By the way, I deleted my last post because I realized that not only was I writing from a place of frustration, but it also is unfair to share my dirty laundry when it involves another's as well. My apologies.