perhaps that means this is where you're meant to be right now." This from a 20-year old australian girl named Natasha, as she spirited me along to the immigration center in her friend's scooter. It has been a truly auspicious landing - "seemless" as I described it to my parents and very lucky I must remind myself.
With everything falling into place so effortlessly, I've gathered the confidence to peak out from the safe haven of the apartment complex and venture through the surrounding streets by bike and by foot. The warmth of this country allows for everything to occur in the open air - cooking, bathing, worship, etc. My gripe with being a cook was that you had to be inside all day and you never had any commerce with your customers, but here the cooks are really living the dream - open air kitchens right in the front of the restaurant, curbside, receptive to the chatter of pedestrians and the squawking of pidgeons.
The pictures are from the top of my apartment complex and also of a map that my landlord gave me. They are fairly indicative of my experience - this constant casting about for a point of reference, fighting the sensory overload for some semblance of order and balance.
til' next time,
Yeah, I am the first to comment. Awesome first effort. Thanks for starting it, Will. It will bring you closer to us at home.
ReplyDeleteLove the first impressions of your new home - keep them coming, it's so nice to hear of a new place through your eyes. Jan just suggested you might want to record some of these thoughts in your *fancy new leatherbound journal* - just a thought...
ReplyDeletethanks Jackie. I've been using my journal like crazy and have gotten lots of "hen piaoliang!" which is, very pretty. Also, happy belated birthday Jan!
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