No more throwing wobblies
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Almost a month in Hamilton and I realize with some surprise that I’m still far from “settled,” more like “muddled.” But, with new internet access via a tangle of cables and boxes, I finally have the chance to meekly admit my muddle and share some giggles and eye-rolls at the moving pains.
I signed my first apartment lease that specifies “no wearing stilettos inside,” an easy requirement for a comfy-shoe clad girl like me. I shop like the Kiwis via online bidding but realize that actually I’m terrible at digital discrimination. A fridge/freezer that only freezes, a washer that peed on my floor, a coffee table that’s a miniature model of its zoomed in online photo—I learn that I’m a sucker for phrases like “good working condition” and “tidy.” Luckily, I’m quite fond of my funky watermelon-striped couches and don’t mind my $10 “poetry” painted table as long as “kill the bastards” faces the wall. Even though it’s admittedly eclectically colorful, I do love this $270/week “flat” that’s walking-close to all the best of Hamilton—the lake, the river, downtown, and cheap groceries. I also thoroughly enjoy my daily walk to work with city and lake views, even on the rainy days that require a “brelly.” No car, no bus ticket—bipedal transport insists that you relax and look around.
I’m trying my best to adopt that as a work attitude as well, as the pace of my job is so far also a slow saunter. Beginning my fourth week, I’m trusted tomorrow to see only my second Kiwi-kiddie. As a person who loves being thrown in, busy, independent, I’m doing my best to nurse my thousand cups of tea and coffee and be patient—observing, reading, meeting. Overall, I’m still confident that it will be a great work experience. My new jobsite seems perfectly ideal in the world of pediatrics: one building, one department, that houses the entire team for each child. A group of pediatricians, psychologists, speech/physio/occupational therapists, social worker, and the support staff all sip their tea and work on equal and easy terms. I love it.
So, basically, here’s where I think it begins: the end of shopping and unpacking and organizing and ordering. The beginning of training my ear to new jargon and my internal pace to a new metronome.
bimpy_ak