ALL MOVED IN :D

I checked out of the airport hotel after two weeks, and wasn't sorry to say goodbye.  I wouldn't miss the eccentricities of the place.  The air control took me shoving a plastic fork into the button every which way to turn it on and off, the toilet only flushed occasionally, and the fact that I could distinguish between a 727 and 747 taking off was not a good thing.

I went to the grocery store on the way to the apartment.  Dunnes is the equivalent of a Super Walmart in the States, and it has the most reasonable prices around.  First, I went to customer service to see if my credit card would work.  They are finicky here, and really only like to take cards with "chips", something my Visa apparently didn't have.  I went up to the woman who appeared to be a store manager, and asked her if the card would work. 
"I don't think we take these", she said looking at it. "We only take chip cards."
I was a bit irritated because everyone gave the same response without even trying.  However, a week previously I had shopped at SuperQuin, one of their competitors, and it had worked there.  So, I said "That's a bummer, it worked at SuperQuinn a few days ago, but I'd much rather shop here because your prices and selection are so much better."
"Oh!" she said rather eagerly, "Well let me try it and see if we can't get it to work".  She suggested I pick out a pack of gum to try it on.  I picked out a candy bar instead.  She swiped the card.  "There!  It's gone through!"  She smiled, very proud to have wrangled a customer away from the competition.  I smirked on the inside, smiled big on the outside, and said "Oh wonderful!  Thank you so much for your trouble."  Off I went to buy supplies.

I loaded up on staples, and everything I needed to cook some decent meals.  Chicken, eggs, milk, all things I had been missing.  I also bought laundry detergent, which was a chore.  They use powders predominantly here, and they all have interesting specs.  I had no idea which one I should get, so I stopped a guy working in the aisle and asked him what the different types meant.  He explained that some were for whites, some were for sensitive skin, and some were normal, but really they all did the same thing.  "Which would you choose?" I asked.
 "None of them, I don't do laundry," was his response.  "I still live at home with my mum."  I did my best to reserve judgement.
"Well which one would she choose?"
"Oh, well, she would choose this one, most people do."
I picked up a value-sized version of the variety he mentioned, and headed towards the liquor isle.  Yeah, i wanted a bottle of wine...big time!

I arrived at the apartment and met the landlord.  He gave me the keys and showed me around.  It was a very nice two bedroom, two bath apartment, fully furnished.  He explained how the heaters worked, showed me how to turn up the water heater to get the hot water going before a shower (mandatory here) and how the washing machine / dryer combo worked.  After his run through, I spent the next 30 minutes bringing luggage and boxes back and forth from the car.  The apartment was on the 4th and top floor, which was very nice, and thankfully there was a "lift" in the building, otherwise I would have been in trouble. 

I was a sweaty mess by the time I loaded the groceries into the fridge, put a bottle of wine in the freezer, and started putting clothes into the closet.  I started my first load of wash/dry laundry, which took a while as I needed to read the instructions to figure out how the damn thing worked.  I thought I had it, but decided to throw my workout clothes in for the first load, just in case I had gotten something wrong.  I then set out to unload the suitcases and put the clothes away.  Once that was sorted, I went to the kitchen in search of a snack, and gathered up a couple piece of turkey, some cheese, and a couple biscuits (cookie crackers).  The wine had been in the freezer for about an hour, so I cracked it open and poured a nice big glass.  I sat down and started with the wine, then turned to the food.  It was quiet in the apartment, and suddenly it felt lonely.  I took my MP3 player over to the stereo and put on my favorite mix (thank you Anurag).  The rooms filled with beats from the states, masterfully mixed into a compilation that cheered me up. 

I had two boxes on the table I had shipped to myself from the States, and I had completely forgotten what was in them.  I took out a knife ad cut the tape off the boxes.  It was kind of like Christmas.  I opened the first one and found all my favorite cooking items and snacks...Pam cooking spray, Maple and Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal, Sweet and Salty Peanut Bars, Cholula, Curry seasonings (thank you Tania), Cajun seasonings, and a jar of Taco Bell mild sauce.  I was ecstatic to see my favorite ingredients from home!  I would cook a chicken and veggie stir fry to die for tonight! 

I polished off the first glass of wine and poured another.  On to the second box.  I removed the tape and bubble wrap to reveal Costco-sized bottles of my shampoo and conditioner, a few scented candles, books from home, and pictures of the family I had wrapped up to put around the apartment.  I lifted up the family picture from our last Disneyland trip and immediately started to cry.  It hit me like a sledgehammer in the stomach...I missed everyone so much, and this place felt so foreign and so lonely.  I probably shouldn't have had that glass of wine.  I tried to brush the tears away in a hurry and focus on finishing the unpacking.  I took out the DVDs I had brought from home.  Disney movies, Psych episodes (thank you Tim), and Quantum Leap (thanks Mom and Dad)... I thought to myself that I'd go down to the nearest market, buy a pint of ice cream, and have a Disney movie marathon in the evening. Nothing better to keep away tears in a new place than by watching The Little Mermaid, followed by Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. 

I'd be ok.  This was the start of a whole new adventure, one I could really sink my teeth into.  it would be good for me to learn how to be alone, to be comfortable in my own space without the droves of amazing family and friends I usually have to keep me company.  Personal growth...take it for what it is, learn from it, and appreciate the bumps for what they teach you.