City love (Part 1)

"I think we should break up, Kelvin. I am seeing Albert in the city."

 

7.7.07 was a fairly memorable day of the year, simply because of the numeric coincidence. All across the world, the Live Earth concert was commencing. Back in the town I grew up in, someone whom I have not spoken to for a long time turned 22. And she was loved. Everyone was trying to make the best of the day by doing something to commemorate this "special" day. I chose this day to make a move out of my old house in Australia.

It was a picturesque day that day. The sun was strong and the cloudless sky was ridiculously blue. Before I left for a holiday a few weeks back, the wind was unkind and there was an endless shower for days and nights. I came home and the sunshine state was at its renowned condition. Sunny and still. It was barely winter.

It did not take me long to pack myself up for the move. Merely a little over a day, working simultaneously with making endless phone calls to cancel utility services and redirect mails.And what you see in the pictures above were my belongings in my room. Boxes load of stuff and two luggages of clothes. (Mind you, I had not the patience then to pack my clothes properly; I just dumped everything in). For a student studying in Australia for two years, that is quite a lot of things. It is at times like these I regret bringing too many things over. Too many clothes. Too many redundant spares. It did not really cross my mind that I would be doing some shopping while I am here. My mom helped me get prepared for the first move to Australia a year back as if Australia was literally an outback. But it was for the good, or else I would have been spending even more than I already have buying the things I could have bought back home.

I moved with two more friends of mine, my housemates. And there was a holdup with the ute we rented for the day and we could only use it at 6PM. Which was fairly alright with me as it gave me more than enough of time to slowly - very, very, very, slowly - pack up the kitchen and the bathroom. Granted I was only back from my holiday for a couple of days, it was only natural to procrastinate on packing up the rest of the house, especially the parts of the house that is less personal to you. What to take along. What to leave behind. Oh. But. I managed to finally pack them all up before nightfall. And night fell pretty early in Australia during winter.

After that. It was the long boring wait. According to one of my housemates, Therese, there seemed to be quite a few rounds back and forth at her place. It took them close to five hours before coming over to my place. Whilst waiting, I managed to fuck up my Internet connection again while hoping to make the most of the final fully-charged quota by downloading missed episodes of One Tree Hill before it is disconnected on the third day of the fresh round. I even occupied myself watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets airing on TV.

It was a little over midnight before they arrived with an empty ute truck led by Victor's white Honda Civic. And just like that, the guys charged in and aimed for anything and everything that they saw fit to take along. They were quick. In a matter of minutes, everything was cleared up and loaded unto the ute. And just like that, the only round, the final round, I was swept off my feet planted in Kelvin Grove and was driven into the heart of the city for a change.

After getting everything up into the new place, it took a few more hours to assemble the furniture, especially the beds for the night's sleep. By the time everything was done, it was already 4AM. We huddled in the living room slurping down bowls of instant noodles - the only edible and accessible food in the house.

I had a good thought if I would miss the place in Kelvin Grove. So much hours spent in my room staring at my computer screen because there is nothing better to do at night. So much dreams forgotten in the cosy embrace of the queen-sized comforter and mattress. So many tears stained into the pillow cases. So much simple food cooked on the electric stove. How easy it was to walk to class every day, and come home whenever I felt a break between classes too long, or whenever the heart was not there to go to one. How easy it was to get into the city - a 10 minutes bus ride from the bus stop just at the doorstep. How much easier it got when an IGA outlet opened a couple of blocks away. But yet. So out of place I felt on darkened days. And oh how the days got even darker these days. So. Not right.

Kelvin Grove. I am leaving in search of hope and a place to belong. Goodbye.

PS: Of course I will still be back frequently for my classes. It is not forever.