in another life

the breakfast that doctor whizzed up for us on sunday.he was home both saturday AND sunday. how weird! but we had a great weekend :)

being an expat especially in certain countries (Turkey, South Korea, thailand...) you often have this exchange when meeting others:

-so what do you do? 

-im an english teacher. but back home i was a XYZ.

so you have 2 professions pretty much, the one in your previous life, and the one in your current country. often the discussion actually starts like:
-so, are you an english teacher?
...

of course a lot of expats come sent by their employers, too. but in turkey the majority is here for "fun". i sometimes realize i dont know what my friends education or profession "really" is. not that the current situation isnt real but most would like to work in their own field if they could pick. i assume. some find a new profession altogether. my expat friends here are largely translators and english teachers here. but their backgrounds are in social sciences and business or arts mostly.


the accommodation search in Melbourne is NOOOT going well. im in like 7-8 FB groups, where ive posted and looked for a flat, but its mostly people looking for flatmates/rooms. maybe a 1 bedroom flat here or there. and in that case a 6-12 month minimum lease. real estate companies (yes, i went that far) said the same, min. 12 months. okay, i still have some hope in the private market, but i think we need to be there in order to secure something, im not fond of wiring deposits abroad...:D and of course there is gumtree and craigslist, full of scams mostly.

so then there are the "holiday home" companies, but the prices, oh lord...  on average we are talking about 4500 eur/month. but sure, its for tourists and business people.
questapartments.com.au
stayz.com.au
shortstay.com.au
wotif.com
rent-holiday-homes.com
...etc

besides Airbnb, ive gone through all of its competitors;
travelmob
HouseTrip
caribound.com
Wimdu.com
Flat-club.com
9Flats.com
Homeaway.com
sleepout.com
Roomorama.com
PandaBed.com
bedycasa.com

with these we are talking "just" 3200 eur/month on average. unless u go to the suburbs, i think the cheapest were 2300 eur/month - but those were pretty shabby. i guess u cant be too picky, buuuut, it would be nice to have a table for instance, since i need to work on my computer...

im not gonna go on about this but i can say im pretty tired and ive had it. i want to just book something for 2 weeks now, and then find something while in the city, will be easier and safer.

doctor and i made some kitty houses (kedi evi) during the weekend. a great project. you need some plastic bowls or boxes and whatever leftover fabric you may have. and glue is useful.

ready for use: kitty houses are best in slightly sheltered places, where no one will directly hassle with them. the 2 boxes left of ours are also kitty houses. there were several in this perfect, gated place under a building.