Our plan was to always get a place for just the two of us. Though it was great fun living with my two Kiwi flatmates since mid-October, I was very much looking forward to finally having a place of my own with Brandon. We searched every so often here and there since mid-January, once the thrill of Brandon's arrival had settled, and the typical unlikeable places of Wellington popped up. A cramped apartment in Mt. Victoria, a damp flat smelling of mold in Thorndon, or a really nice place with a weird layout for too much money in Kelburn. It turned out too, that the lease for my current apartment with the Kiwis was up in mid-March, which took off some pressure for Brandon and I to find a place. But sharing a room with him with two others in the house, though we got along fine, was encouragement enough to find the perfect place soon.
Then we found it, as if it had been saved for just the right time and just for us. An apartment to let was put up on TradeMe on a Sunday evening in early February, and the description was promising. It was located in Mt. Cook, a moderately flat walk to and from town, was perched up on the third level above ground, had a covered carpark place, extra storage unit, two bedrooms, modern fixtures, built in 2008, a corner unit and at a moderate per week price--within but at the top of our budget anyway. We immediately emailed the owner, who was also currently living in the unit, and he was back to us by the morning; we were at the unit touring flat by later that evening. With the midsummer sun shining in through the terrace and the wide glass windows, the TradeMe description matched exactly everything in person. The flat is compact, but spacious with carpeting and paint of neutral tones that are pleasing to the lighting of the space. The kitchen is open and simple, the bathroom roomy with all the right fixings. It's everything that we were looking for.
We warmed to the owner and he to us. We were exactly the kind of people he was looking to let his apartment: young, professional, mature, and easy-going. And he appeared to be a good kind of landlord: young, professional, mature, and easy-going. It only took us an hour after the first meeting to confirm that we would take it, and we had a signed lease by the end of that week!
It was not until early March that we finally had a chance to move in. We immediately made ourselves comfortable, and it wasn't long before we had friends over to celebrate our first place together. I had been waiting to comfortably host friends at a place that I could call my own, and sure enough, I was eagerly inviting our few close friends for long, wine-filled dinners. Additionally, having my own place has also given me the chance to explore my cooking skills, a chance that for whatever reason, I never quite felt opened to when I was living with strangers or even friends.
And having Brandon as my sole roommate has also been a real delight. To not have to say goodbye after breakfast or to not have to decide when or where we might meet for the weekend puts me more at ease. And to have him there when I come home, is really comforting. Although this place is certainly temporary, we've made it our home in this faraway country. It's a place that we can watch movies and shows on lazy winter weekends, a place where we can host our friends for long dinners and potlucks, or simply sit quietly in the summer sunshine on the terrace with a books each of our own. There are days that I look forward to snuggling up on our comfy couch--in between all the exploring adventures, of course.
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