Michael Sullivan Online

CANBERRA AUSTRALIA - 15 May 2000 - Mike had another uneventful week at work until Friday, when he found out about the Research School's Happy Hour that this week was cocktails including Black Russians, margarittas and Crocidile cocktails. While there, he got a chance to meet and get to know a number of people that work in the Research School. (As a side, I don't work in the Chemistry department as such. Instead, it is the Research School of Chemistry. You can think of it as a department but I will refer to it as the Research School.)

The next day, Mike decided he had better try to find a place to live. He bought the paper and saw his team play softball (See last week's entry) for a couple innings. After scoping out the flat listings (flat=apartment in Australia), Mike went into work to make a couple phone calls; there were exactly two promising listing. He called one place that looked real good and they said to walk by and see it from the outside. The other place was a garden flat (a flat that is a part of the house or just in the back yard) that would be open from 1-1:30. Just as Mike started walking towards the flats, the rain began to come down pretty hard. He walked by the first flat and was very interested. It was a multi-unit place between the park and a bunch of shops. In addition, it was a 15 minute walk to work.

From here, Mike meandered to the garden flat while it continued to rain off and on. He finally found the place about 1 and a half miles farther and joined the group of people waiting under the eaves. At about 1:15, someone came up and said she had just spoken to the realator. She then told us that the realator wasn't going to show the place after all. This would have been fine if I hadn't had to have walked so far in the rain as it didn't impress me from the outside. After this, Mike headed home through the steady rain and got to see a different part of the city.

On Sunday, Mike promptly left a message about the first flat and sent in his application electronically. On Monday, the realtor called and he saw the inside; it was fully furnished in a 60's or 70's decor including the thick pile carpet and the lime colors. It had two bedrooms, a couch, a love seat and a tiny television. As of this writing, he hasn't heard if he's gotten this flat; he certainly hopes so.

Back to Sunday... After taking care of the flat business, getting the paper, and seeing who was playing softball (he didn't stop as it was lunch time, but "his" team was playing again), he decided to go the the grocery store on his own. On his way there through the occasional drizzle, he stopped by the local record shop to see what was there. He wandered around there, checking out everything from the new Pearl Jam album to all the popular Australian music. While sorting through the Alternative section, a staff member came up to me and said something Mike couldn't understand. He responded that he was just looking, not thinking that he would know anyone. Finally, the staff member identified herself as a member of the softball team that Mike had practiced with last week. After finding out how they did the last couple of days in softball and when they were playing again, Mike went back to his shopping and eventually purchased the new Pearl Jam and picked up the The Ministry of Sound-Summer 2000 Annual. He proceeded to the grocery store and pick up essentials for another week without too much trouble.

Here ends Mike's second week in Australia