I'd forgotten how hard it is to shift countries. This is my 5th continental shift in my adult life and I'd expunged the memory of not knowing how to do things in a foreign country, even one you've visited a lot and where you share a common language. Someone gifted me three months of amazon prime before I left and thank god i don't have to work out where to buy a decent hairdryer, a vacuum cleaner and cat litter. I do have to navigate how much to tip (I suspect I wildly over tip, in order not to be the rude foreigner), how to describe things (car rental not hire) and to speak slowly.
We've been holed up in the hotel for a few days since there is no furniture in the apartment as yet but we've bought a bed and a sofa and ingratiated ourselves with the doorman and walked and walked.
I still have to brave the social security office to get a number, which I am assuming will be as pleasant as Centrelink, and work out the cross city bus. The dog and cat arrive Thursday and the good thing is there are tons of dogs in the building so he will not be an oddity. The dog walking service he's been going to once a week and who have been boarding him prior to his flight posted a sweet album of photos on Facebook so he's been getting prepared for his new life.
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