Found an apartment!

Happy news! My apartment hunting is over. We have rented a 'house of character' against the advice of pretty much everyone....my boss thinks I'm nuts, for one, and since the contract is in the company's name they have to be involved. However, I'm happy with it, it's in a great location, and since we're not buying yet who cares if it's not a sensible investment. Besides, I couldn't manage another day commuting from Birzebbuga to Mosta. It was ridiculous.

Conveniently, the apartment is right next to:

- the bus to work

- the bus to St. Julian's (resort, club, and expat area)

- the rugby pitch

Yes, that's right, I've launched the instant social networking tool that is rugby, and I took my boots down to the pitch on Thursday night, at which point I was invited out for a social drink on Thursday night, sports watching on Friday night, rugby playing on Saturday, a ridiculous party on Saturday night (which I wussed out on because I had a giant headache, probably from too much sun!), sports watching on Sunday afternoon..... ahhh, insta friends. Just add rugby.

Still no internet at the apartment, so I occasionally stand outside McDonalds like I'm waiting for someone and use their connection on my phone ;-)

Arrived in Malta!

Well, I (Kes) have left Norway! I feel like it happened so fast. We had a great weekend with our friend in Switzerland (we touristed, ate, drank, skied, carnivaled) and now here I am in Malta.

I arrived Wednesday evening, ski bag in tow. This resulted in some strange looks at the airport to say the least, and my taxi driver asking me if I golfed. When I explained they were snow skis, he looked at me very seriously and informed me Malta has no snow. I then had the closest moment in my life to being James Bond. The driver handed me a package containing a cell phone, keys, and an address.

The apartment looks less-than-loved from the outside. I’m starting to realize that
a) There is a lot of dust here, so things look old somewhat instantly. My once-spiffy rental car is looking a little unloved after 3 days without a wash.
b) I don’t think people place as much emphasis in this culture on outward appearances (of buildings), and outward appearance does not necessarily reflect quality. Ashley said he had the same experience in China. The apartment is perfectly functional (although lacking in internet, which is frustrating).

‘Pretty Bay’, where the apartment is located, is an ode to the industrial success of Malta as there is a giant cargo ship loading place that dominated the landscape. At night it’s like a Christmas tree. I quite enjoy it, but people down here largely think it unsightly.

Off to work early on Thursday (I became paranoid I’d mis-set my clock and thus went for a run at 5, not 6 am) Somewhere nearby there is definitely a rooster, which goes off around 5:30. Church bells begin ringing merrily at 05:45, which I think is awfully optimistic of them, although traffic starts to pick up around 6:15 so maybe not.

Apartment hunting in Malta

The job is great, so my main roadblock right now is finding a place to live. I contacted some ‘estate agents’ (which makes me think someone has died) before I arrived and set up some appointments. I saw 2 apartments on Friday night, and 14 apartments on Saturday, with 4 different agents. It’s a little bit strange for me, since real estate in Canada is generally an exclusive relationship, but I’m trying to be open to this non-monogamous system. I see it a little bit like dating – I’ve gone on a first date now with these agents, and some of them I won’t be answering their request for a second date. For example, the one that keeps saying ‘but all the foreigners want to live in xyz so you’ll want to live there’ despite my protestations that I want somewhere convenient for my work and lifestyle. Her answer was ‘but of course you’ll drive’.

This leads me to another topic. I’ve realized I’m a public transit activist. I feel strongly that public transit should be a reliable option, and in order for that to happen, more people need to take the bus! Also, EVERYONE complains about the traffic here. I have a simple answer. TAKE THE BUS. I’ll stop ranting about public transit now, and get back to apartment hunting.

My deadline to find an apartment by March 5th, when Riker (the cat) will arrive with Ashley. (By the way, turns out Riker’s ticket is costing about the same as Ashley’s, despite his much smaller size, lack of on-board service (there are no pretzels in the cargo hold), and the one-way nature of it). However, I would really, really like to move this weekend if I can find something suitable so I have a chance to start settling in a bit.

I saw many lovely apartments, but the old adage ‘location location location’ is becoming my mantra. I’m soon going to refuse to get out of the car if I don’t like the area. I don’t have the time or the energy. I did see one that could work in terms of location and it was a lovely apartment, but I want to see a few more before I commit.

He also doesn’t yet know about Riker….

Planning for a move that is both too fast and too slow...

So... as Kes said in her last post, we've started pulling our things together for the move.

As with every move by everyone in every era of history, we have more to move than we thought. Having lived for the last two years (well, almost - 22 months) in a furnished apartment, we don't really have that much to move, but of course, we certainly have more than the four suitcases we moved here with.

In addition, we have decided to "play permanent" in the next place. This doesn't mean that we would take any money from anyone for a bet regarding where we will be living in 5 years - we don't really have a clue. It only means that we're tired of the "camping" lifestyle, and we will move all or most of the stuff we've got in storage in Rothesay, NB across the Atlantic to join us in Malta. (Kes's parents, needless to say, are thrilled that we might vacate the 40% of their attic we are currently occupying!)

Actually, that last thought (playing permanent instead of camping) is definitely something we've learned out of our time here in Ulsteinvik. We made the (seemingly logical) call that, because Kes didn't have a job yet, and we had a "good enough" place to live in at the moment, we would wait before finding a "long-term" place here in this area. For example, we reasoned, if Kes found a position in Ålesund (north of here), it would be dumb to have a place south of Ulsteinvik, from where we would both be commuting some distance, rather than just one of us. The way the geography works here , there are three directions (north - Ålesund, south - Fosnavåg & Runde, east - Ørsta & Volda) that all held some potential for employment. Therefore, we stayed in our one-bedroom apartment with none of our own furniture.

How wrong we were, but I don't think we could have known without the experience. We now believe that it is far better to jump in, find a place, make it our own, and stop thinking "conditionally" (if she finds work here, then... - if the shipyard has more work in a different area, then...). That way, we can settle in, stretch out, and feel at home, even if we later decide to move because of new conditions. I now believe that I would rather have moved twice or three times while we were here, if we were at least trying to make a home in each place, than do as we did, where we only ever had one foot fully on the ground in this apartment.

Anyway - I'm sure we'll learn whether the "jump in with both feet, no matter what" attitude works this time!

So - regarding packing - Kes is tremdously organized, and we now have suitcases all over the apartment, with dates on them (marked with duct tape and marker). The dates indicate which trip I'm supposed to bring that specific suitcase down with me, as I've got several trips planned during this interim period while I'm still here in Norway, but Kes is already in Malta.

I'll sign off, but you might be interested in a bit of a schedule going forward...

12-17 February - we both fly to Zurich, Switzerland for a long-planned trip to Lucerne to visit an old friend and experience Fasnacht. From Zurich, I fly home to Norway, while Kes flies on to Malta. She starts work the next day!

5-7 March - I visit Malta and bring Riker the cat down.

19-21 March - I travel to Belgium to referee a top-level domestic rugby match and receive coaching from a senior referee.

26 March - 5 April - I visit Malta because of the Norwegian Easter vacation - Norwegians get Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday as actual statutory holidays meaning that, with the use of only 3 vacation days, I can get 10 days off. So many people do this that it is simply assumed at our shipyard - those who work on crews or in shift work in fact MUST take those days off, because you really can't do much as, say, a crane operator if there's no one else at work.

30 April - 2 May - Kes and I meet in Sweden. I will be refereeing Sweden vs. Croatia in Enköping, which is about an hour west of Stockholm, on 1 May. This will be by far my most important game to date, and I'm really excited about it.

12-17 May - I will be travelling to Malta again - this time using a combination of "Kristihimmelfartsdag" ("Christ's heaven-going day" or Ascension Day, which is also a statutory holiday here) and the 17th of May, the Norwegian national day, thus using a single vacation day to secure five days away.

17 July - The one way ticket to Malta for me!

In reality, we will likely find some way to slip in a trip somewhere in early/mid-June, but that will be tough, because there aren't any convenient Norwegian holidays, and the boat will be very near delivery - we intend to deliver on 30 June.

Regardless, the next five months will be eventful!

Cheers,

Ashley

Alphonse has his packing suit on.....

Packing is solidly underway at the Morton household, as you can see by the bubble wrap on Alphonse, as well as the general disarray in the house. I heard from the company that my ticket is now booked for Feb 17th (Zurich to Malta- We'll be visiting with a friend in Lucerne Feb 12th-17th).

Alphonse (perhaps Grandma Morgan can suggest a more accurate spelling) is a china bull near and dear to my heart. As a child, I always wanted to play with Alphonse at Grandma's house, but as he was china, this was a no-go. So, when Grandma moved last, she asked what had sentimental value for me, and I replied 'Alphonse'. Turns out Grandma was unaware of my sentimental attachment to this china bull, and in fact had been secretly hoping for an accident to befall dear Alphonse to remove his presence from her house... So Ashley and I became the proud new owners, and moving to Norway we took one piece of thoroughly pointless sentimental art with us - he took a lovely carving, I took Alphonse. Sadly Alphonse suffered a broken leg on the journey, but through tender loving care and some ceramic glue, he's good as new and ready for his trip to Malta. Better packing this time, and if he's really good, he may get to be carry on.

Otherwise, we are using the Tara Connelly packing method of 'need', 'want' and 'don't want' to sort ourselves into three categories. Need will come in the first trips, followed by whatever of the want makes the cut. 'Need' of course in my life is not really 'need', since it includes things like textbooks, mascara, and new shoes (thanks mom!). Really I don't 'need' these things, more like 'really really want' or 'don't want to have to replace'.

In packing solidarity, my parents have just decided to sell their home to boot, so all storage options there are now over. Looks like the 6 cubic metres of stuff from Canada may be increasing....unless anyone want a dressage saddle?