I don’t feel like writing but I know I should – a cold is knocking at my door so I’ve been feeling a bit lethargic, complete with the stuffed nose and some occasional thunderrous sneezes. Atchoo!
It’s already eighteen minutes past midnight here in Adelaide and I’m getting ready to sleep. Yani is in the living room, connected on the internet and no doubt doing some facebooking or chatting as we speak, waiting for her hair to dry – the peril of having long hair after you wash your hair! 🙂 We are slowly slipping into a domestic life together, being used to each other’s habits and quirks – she is alright with my being quiet in the morning before I have my coffee, without being worried whether I’m in a bad mood or not. As I iron my shirt and trousers, she would be preparing my breakfast and coffee. Then when I take my shower and get ready to go to work, she would return to the bedroom and do her daily devotional. I do it after I get up before I get distracted by the Internet *grin*. We have also come to an agreement that if I cook, then she would do the washing up and vice versa. Not having the luxury of having a domestic helper, we have to be in partnership to do our activities! 🙂
Yesterday was a good day for me (since it’s technically Sunday already!) – I started my day with my first driving lesson with Harry, my driving instructor. He still speaks with some Scottish accent even though he moved from Stirling in Scotland with his family way back in 1970! The information on the website mentions that he used to work in the military so I was a bit apprehensive whether he would be patient enough with a ‘mature-aged’ student like me. Hahaha. We started with a drive from my house over to a nearby spot where he told me the progression of the lessons. Apparently the government have just introduced a new way of driving lessons – rather than the instructor constantly telling the student what do do, the new method is basically allowing the student to chart his/her own path, to make mistakes, and then to learn the mistakes from the instructor. It’s a new method for Harry too so both of us have to adjust together. It was a bit daunting when I sat on the driving seat because Harry wanted to see what kind of mistakes I would made. I had a lot of misconceptions about how the car would operate, about the location of the blind spot and about so many other things that he had to correct. Heck, the driving lessons that I did so many years ago in Bandung were so relaxed and so laissez-faire! Because I’m naturally a risk-averse guy who can be pretty tense, I gripped my steering wheel tightly and started to confuse my left and my right arm as we turn left or right. Hahaha. Compared to the way I was taught when I wanted to turn the car in Indonesia, here in Australia I am advised to do things in a ‘tidier’ way, i.e. no frantic arms crossing each other as I move the steering wheel. They have to work together in one fluid motion when I turn the car. I tended to drive on the slower side as well so he urged me to be faster – however, when we turned the car left or right, I incorrectly pushed the accelerator – which he told me not to do! It was pretty daunting!!! 😮
I’m not going to give up though, for sure! I want to do this until the completion! It’s my Year of Warriorhood, it’s not my year to give up! 🙂 My next lesson will be next week – I hope I won’t be as tense as I was yesterday morning. Dislodging my stone of fear from my heart will take a lot of willpower and determination! It ain’t easy but I’m determined to do it, with God’s help! 🙂
I drove the car home (with assistance) – somehow we managed to be a bit far away from my house so we had to go through Richmond Road, which was again pretty daunting – to drive through a busy road during my first lesson. Afterwards, Yani and I had our brunch together – and whilst she cleaned up the kitchen, I ironed some clothes and did the laundry. Because of my lethargy, I took a nap whilst she sat in front of her computer again after working so hard to get the foodstuff and stains from the stove. Hehe.
Some friends then came over to ask whether we wanted to go to Glenelg to meet some new students, so we thought it was a good idea even though we were feeling rather lazy. 🙂 The afternoon and evening ended up really entertaining – the four of us (Vito, Novi, Yani and myself) met Ryan and the newcomers: Kevin, Agus, Michelle and Effie. We had our dinner at Noodle Box and then we decided to head over to the city to have some coffee and cake at Cocolat in Rundle Street. I didn’t have any cake – I just had a mocha and Yani opted not to have anything. We then met Mary and Caven there as well so we could chat and share about our life in Adelaide. I shared with my new friends that Adelaide was like a favourite nightshirt – it may not have a lot of ornaments and it may not look great, but by golly, it is very comfortable. 🙂 It may not be the prettiest town to see and it may not have a lot of attractions, but it’s a great place to live in!
PS, As usual, we asked the newcomers how old they thought I was. I did tell them about my working experience in Indonesia and Singapore, so they probably had some ideas. Still, the youngest guess was 30 and the closest guess was 35. People used to think that I was 28. How come my three-weeks’ married life has aged me by two years? *laugh*