1st week in Australia: feel very accomplished

Last Saturday we landed in Australia and wow, we accomplished so much in this part week.

First and foremost, we found ourselves a home, signed up for utilities (electricity and gas) and phone/internet service. We even opened a joint bank account.

We also brought a bed and a timber dining set (a table with six chairs), which are going to be the only furniture in our apartment for a while. We both shipped some pieces of furniture in a life van from the USA but they will not arrive for another three months, unfortunately. The "purchased" list also includes an electronic kettle and a blender. For other "white goods" (another term I recently learned, not sure if Australian invented it though) such as fridge, washer, and microwave, we have to wait until moving in next Friday so that we know how much space we will have. We did window shopping and have a good idea of where/what to buy in general.

Our collaborative driving technique (i.e. Yoyo drives while MM is giving her direction) proved to be working in Australian/left-hand driving system as well. Special acknowledgments goes to MM, who turned lemon into lemonade yesterday by showing Yoyo around the Parliament House when she failed to get off a highway as he had instructed. Of course one has to give Yoyo some credits for daring to drive a car onto the highway to start with.

Well, it may not sound like a lot. But don't forget we did all these when adjusting our bodies not only to jet lag and to a much drier and colder environment. In fact we both were sick and are still recovering. There were two nights in a row MM even didn't get much sleep and the next day he still managed to be functional, well, for the most part anyway. So all things considered, we did well and it is time to celebrate!


P.S. The picture taken by Yoyo during their visit to the Floriade.