Dear Readers,
Today I moved house. The whole ordeal took under an hour, partly because I claim few possessions, and mostly because I have a kind friend with a car. Thank you, kind friend.
Moving, January 2016, Perth
Concluding two adventurous, tedious, enjoyable and sleep depriving years in university campus housing, I have embraced my inner hermit and hunkered down with three friends.
But we must look back. For to truly appreciate the present, we must acknowledge the journey through the past… or something cliché like that.
So as summer break broke, I bid adieu to my eight dorm-mates (though this being Australia it was more cries of “seeya layder!”). They are pals for life, and being dubbed what was ‘the international flat’, we now know familiar faces in eight different countries.
I returned to New Zealand, one of many places the O’Loughlin’s herald from, and shared Christmas with my brother and his wife and her family. Family. It is a culture in itself, as is the Christmas season. Ours was full of merriment and gloss. The brother and I hid in a corner untangling lights, and were heckled by youngsters in waggly hats who teased that our hearts were two sizes too small. This is the last summer from which I return to study.
If you want to visit down-under, here is a noteworthy fact. The Australian sun is perfectly capable of sucker punching you the minute those airport doors open. But you will survive.
I am here. Myself, a rucksack of washing, a guitar I can’t play, hand-luggage containing textbooks, and the nameless motorcycle have just plonked ourselves down, panting outside the new flat. I have just emptied contents into drawers and washing machines and made my bed. Home sweat home. Reminder to self: buy new fan. All in all, a good day’s work.
Our flat is in that part of town. We all know that part of town. The universal suburb of street fights, muggings, and break-ins. Culture, right? Fear not! For we are university students, we are carefree and careless. We need a shower and a nutritionally balanced diet, but we want for very little. We, like everyone on this planet, have our own culture. Welcome, readers, to my Australian introduction and my final year of University in Perth.
*
