As "M Week" (as D labeled it in his calendar) comes to a close, I wanted to catch up on what I've been up to and how it's gone so far.
In general, my jet lag has been minor. Strangely, I'm ready to fall asleep early in the evening, by 8pm or so, and then wake up around dawn (though that may also have something to do with our east-facing bedroom window). I've learned most of the workings of the house (every. single. faucet. drips.), and done plenty of nice domestic chores that help me feel more at home. D and I are settling into this fun adventure of living together nicely. We've started watching
Avatar: The Last Airbender together at night just before bed with a little bit of sake and back rubs.
In a funny series of coincidences, this was our show-going week, with two plays, two stand-up comedies, and a film.
Last Saturday, after purposefully staying in bed all day because I was so sleepy, we went out to see
Lawrence Leung, Australia's adorable nerd comic. I quite like Lawrence Leung and the dorky 5-year-old-with-a-beard caricature of himself that he plays (and also all the fandom references he slips in).
Sunday we took the train to Northbridge to see the German film
Doll, The Fatso, and Me (which was wonderful) and met up with one of D's Frisbee German friends. After the film, we had a few beers and discussed making a science fiction film out in the bush, throwing around plot ideas for hours.
Monday was finally Get Shit Done day while D went to uni. I got my banking sorted, bought a simcard for my phone, and visited my favorite $2 store (yay super warm sleep pants for $10! Also a box with cupcakes on it!). I got home just in time for a nice chat with my roommate Y, a big hilarious Chinese guy, who was cooking up pork stomach (delicious) and garlic bok choy (new favorite thing in the world).
Tuesday was another adventure day. I figured out how to get to the nearest grocery store several blocks away (D eats salads with raw garlic for lunch.... in the face of that, I was suddenly craving some nice American peanut butter and also those delicious tiny cans of chicken salad). Then I had a date with my awesome Canadian girl friend J at uni. Which should've been easy, except the bus routes have changed since 2011 and between a few poor decisions on my part and the slow bus schedule, it took me an extra hour to sort it out. I eventually made it to uni though for a wonderful chat, where we caught up on all the dramatic goings-ons, and even managed to help one another with our biggest problems. I gave her the lowdown on the Work and Holiday visa, which might be just what she needs to finish up research here in Perth. She answered a phone call from her boss (who used to be my boss) and handed the phone over to me, whereupon said boss told me to email my resume and she'd put me on the schedule for next month. Success!Also wonderful was the fact that I said hello to Nancy, my almost-Master's-supervisor (and J's supervisor), who said we should meet next week; since I didn't get the scholarships to study with her, I'm hopeful there might be an internship or a job that lets me work on a project in the field anyway. In addition, another student invited me to a party this weekend! As D said, "Oh wait, I have to go to things with your friends now?" Yup, I've already got a few of my own friends in Perth, and it's such a magnificent contrast to last time.
Wednesday after D left for uni I fell asleep for another 2.5 solid hours. Jet lag is weird. I managed to drag myself out of bed long enough to start cooking up a yummy bean chili, which I had been craving. I was trying to finish it all before D got home, as we were going out to our
second comedy "Who, Me", a show about Doctor Who. I didn't quite manage to finish cooking on time, but that worked out just fine because he surprised me and brought home
FISH STICKS AND CUSTARD. I love this boy. Interestingly, he was practically sick to his stomach at the concoction, but I thought it was delicious and ate it all. We agreed it must be my American taste for lots of salt and sugar. The show was funny, if a bit less cohesive than Lawrence Leung.
Thursday was another relatively slow day, though I walked down the street to the op shop in search of another sweater. It's getting on towards winter here, and the relatively damp air and overcast days leave our poorly-insulated house quite chilly. I found an adorable grey sweater and two neat books for $10 total, so I felt accomplished. In the evening, I dressed up and took the train to Northbridge and met D and his friend Wallaby Jack in China Town for dinner before our first play of the week. I like proper Chinese restaurants in Perth, as it takes a careful eye to sort through the 100+ different meals to find something that I think I know what it is (and to avoid all the Century Egg and Abalone and Shark Fin and suspicious adjectives). D got us tickets for this production of
Death of a Salesman, and then we discovered that Wallaby Jack was going as well. I read the script in high school, so I was able to explain some things to D and Wallaby Jack that were hard to catch in the rapid New-York-as-done-by-Australians-accent. It was
so weird for the first 5 minutes of the play; the actor playing Willy had a remarkably good accent, but his wife's was just slightly off somehow, and it made me itch until I got used to it. The set and stage directions for this play was most excellent. It was so nicely done, they managed to make me burst into a smile at the power of it right in the middle of the depressing ending.
And now today. Tonight I'll head out to Northbridge (again, yeesh) for our second play "Robots Vs. Art." I don't know anything about it, other than that I need to wear one of my famous robot tshirts, and that I'll get to meet a bunch more of D's Frisbee German friends.
In review, it's been a most excellent wonderful magnificent week. I'm happy living in Perth, and I'm happy living with D, and I'm excited about all our plans for life this year. <3
