The past three weeks has found me living in an apartment the size of a shoebox. I live with 3 other people, a couple from Chile and a guy from Singapore. I share a room with the Singaporean. It is the same price per week that I was paying at the hostel in my last blog post. I thought 2 people in a room was an upgrade from 10. The place is incredibly small as you can see from the photos. I was initially excited to move into a city flat, at least expecting some nice views above street level, but of course I get stuck on the first floor. My view is that of the car parking sign directly to the left of out tiny 2' patio. I am one block from Melbourne's Chinatown, and according to the tourist map, my street is the Greek precinct, but it looks like Chinatown too. There is a nightclub down the block and the lines of revelers waiting to get inside wrap down the sidewalk under our patio on weekend nights. Its not common to hear people yelling and scuffling around 3am. I seldom speak with my flatmates and I recently found out that the couple from Chile are actually brother and sister and I took the place of her husband during the sublease. Oh well, I don't even want to know. The Singaporean is nice but he is a gamer and stays up all night and sleeps all day, forcing me to attempt to be quiet during the daylight hours. I'm leaving this week for a new place in the hipster capital of Fitzroy.
I have never lived in a city this big before. Melbourne has 4 millions residents, and according the The Economist, is the most livable city in the world. I have not seen sustainable livability yet. I pay $165 a WEEK for a shared room, I remember paying $240 a MONTH in Nebraska back in 2009! The construction industry has found me again, and I work on average four days a week and I commute by train usually leaving my place before 6am. When I get off work around 4, the trains are very crowded and people avoid me because I am usually extremely dirty. I go against the flow of foot traffic during my commute. The train depot closest to my place is Parliament station. I usually elbow my way up the steps against the stream of suits taking trains out of the CBD, looking very out of place in my grubby construction garb. I have received a few dirty looks on the train after I get up to exit and clumps of dirt remain on the seat I just vacated.
After I move to my new place I hope to be more settled. I hope my job gives me more hours and I will quite possibly look for a second job after my birthday in two weeks. Its strange to have my second birthday in a row in cold weather. It's nice to have the change of seasons, but I really hate cold!
The past three weeks has found me living in an apartment the size of a shoebox. I live with 3 other people, a couple from Chile and a guy from Singapore. I share a room with the Singaporean. It is the same price per week that I was paying at the hostel in my last blog post. I thought 2 people in a room was an upgrade from 10. The place is incredibly small as you can see from the photos. I was initially excited to move into a city flat, at least expecting some nice views above street level, but of course I get stuck on the first floor. My view is that of the car parking sign directly to the left of out tiny 2' patio. I am one block from Melbourne's Chinatown, and according to the tourist map, my street is the Greek precinct, but it looks like Chinatown too. There is a nightclub down the block and the lines of revelers waiting to get inside wrap down the sidewalk under our patio on weekend nights. Its not common to hear people yelling and scuffling around 3am. I seldom speak with my flatmates and I recently found out that the couple from Chile are actually brother and sister and I took the place of her husband during the sublease. Oh well, I don't even want to know. The Singaporean is nice but he is a gamer and stays up all night and sleeps all day, forcing me to attempt to be quiet during the daylight hours. I'm leaving this week for a new place in the hipster capital of Fitzroy. 
I have never lived in a city this big before. Melbourne has 4 millions residents, and according the The Economist, is the most livable city in the world. I have not seen sustainable livability yet. I pay $165 a WEEK for a shared room, I remember paying $240 a MONTH in Nebraska back in 2009! The construction industry has found me again, and I work on average four days a week and I commute by train usually leaving my place before 6am. When I get off work around 4, the trains are very crowded and people avoid me because I am usually extremely dirty. I go against the flow of foot traffic during my commute. The train depot closest to my place is Parliament station. I usually elbow my way up the steps against the stream of suits taking trains out of the CBD, looking very out of place in my grubby construction garb. I have received a few dirty looks on the train after I get up to exit and clumps of dirt remain on the seat I just vacated.
After I move to my new place I hope to be more settled. I hope my job gives me more hours and I will quite possibly look for a second job after my birthday in two weeks. Its strange to have my second birthday in a row in cold weather. It's nice to have the change of seasons, but I really hate cold!
