--> as per request

Mum demands: 1) updates, 2) photos, 3) no fluff.

Here it is.

1) Updates:
Got accommodation on campus in a 5-bedroom share apartment, for $195/week. Room comes with bed, desk & chair, above-desk shelf, and wardrobe. Apartment contains a two bathrooms; a lounge room with two lounges and a tv; a kitchen/dining room with stove, fridge, sink and a table to seat five. Free on-street parking, and bike racks.

Planning to hoist some free internet at the McDonald's 600m down the road - they run a free internet hotspot thing now, only 50MB download/upload per session, but should be enough for starters. Might not be enough for research projects and such, but the library's 200m down the road and they should have internet, so should be covered there. Also, not having internet in my room (campus internet's hideously expensive, it seems) might help me focus on studying (instead of stuffing around-likeididformyhscandhalfmyschoollife...)) :^)

First semester should cost around $2600, or only $2080 if I pay up-front and get the 20% discount. Will ask Dad if I can get a loan through him and do that, then. Also, must remember to look for second-hand text books.

Lodging a claim with Centrelink - should be eligible for Youth Allowance, Rent Assistance, Fare Allowance and a Health Care Card. All this should add up to $240/week (max) and a couple of free trips back and forth and a few discounts. My estimated expenses with be $310/week (rent, food, phone, transport, laundry, etc) at a minimum, so while it won't cover it all, it'll make a dent and Dad will help cover the rest. No money for savings though, and there's still other things to pay for...

Newton needs re-registering mid Feb, which involves CTP injury cover ($506/year), CTP damage cover ($358/year), inspection ($30), and finally the rego itself ($245/year). All up, it comes to $1139. "Ouch!", said the wallet. Going to leave Newt at home till I can go for my green P's in mid March, then I get to take him with me. Looking forward to that. He's almost all fixed up now - just got to pump up his tyres, get the back windscreen wiper working, and decide if he's still smelling of two-stroke (he may have had a relapse...). We'll have fun exploring our new home together between bouts of study.

Looking at the elective units for my course (since it's an Arts degree) - don't get to do them till Semester Two, but a few are looking especially good: Chinese Beginners, Creative Writing, Graphic Design Technology, Japanese Continuers/Advanced, Landscape Design, Media Arts, Script Writing, Spanish Beginners. Fun fun fun!

Need to go op shopping and get: plates and cutlery, cooking gear, more long pants, some sheets, and I can't remember what else. Starting to pack now:
- my INSIDEOUT home magazines and a few design books;
- Japanese<->English dictionary & Handbook of Grammar, and several Naruto comics;
- Pride and Prejudice, and a few other spare-time books;
- my 'Paper Hoard' and 'Extended Paper Hoard';
- my 'Media Hoard' of pencils, pens and paints;
- blue bike (must get him fixed up...) and lock;
- green vine blankie, and blue stripe blankie;
- pillow, pillowcases, sheets;
- chopping boards, tea towels, coat hangers, aprons;
- favourite mugs;
- containers for leftovers for lunches;
- and Eggbert the night-light.

Went through my clothes & shoes and picked out what I'm taking, and am going to sew some more before I go. Lots of long things, since it's so cold down there AND THERE'S NO BEACH. 8^( Going to miss living on the coast (she says, after passing up a chance to go to the beach this morning...). Hope it rains a lot down there - probably not, considering it's inland a bit.

Did pizza with part of the gang last night - nice and relaxed occasion, involving 'whack-it-together-with-magic-&-rainbows' homemade pizzas, Mythbusters exploding things, Jedi dueling, and a roll around on the grass in the dark. The hope is that this'll become a regular thing - that every Saturday, we'll get together for pizza and a lazy night. It seems to be a progression of our original 'Friday Night Dinners' idea we proposed during Year 12, and I'd love to see it continue in the future - we're all such good friends, it would be a shame to fall out of contact, though no doubt we'll all have trouble fitting it in with uni and commuting - some more so than others.

The plan is to come home once or so every month - it's a 6hr train trip home ($45 adult one way), and about a four hour drive. So I'll be able to make at least one Saturday/Friday Night Dinner a month, which'll be nice, and I'll be able to keep up with my family (and be bullied into going to the beach - though by that stage of my sea-side deprivation, they mightn't have to do much persuading...).

Looking forward to it all, as much as one moving out and into debt can. Only hope my room-mates are nice and don't eat all my food. :^)


Oh, also - we have an oven.