The Apartment

We make it to my new apartment, later then planned, but I have been awake for so long at this point that the extra hours up don't seem to be making a difference. I am handed the "keys" to my apartment and shown inside. I put quotations around keys because what I am given is a see-through blank white card and a small oblong metal trinket on a key ring. The card is used to open the building's main door and the metal oblong trinket is actually a magnet that attaches to the lock on my door inside the building and opens my apartment. My door also greets me whenever I open it and as soon as the door closes, it locks itself and then tells me that it has done so. It is a great door. It talks to me. As soon as we are through the doors and have drug my suitcases up the one flight of stairs (thank god) to my new home, I am given the tour of the place. Once I have taken off my shoes and put on the house slippers provided for me, I walk into the one room that is my house. On one wall: my bed. On the opposite side of the room: a stove, washing machine, sink, drawers and cabinets. In between the two is a table pushed up against the wall under the one large window with a flat screen television on it.  In the remaining spaces is an armoire and a chest of drawers. Oh, and a bed side table. And I have a bathroom with a shower. It is tiny. However, as I am learning, it is all I need, and surprisingly, have not felt the need for any more space. I am just one person and I have everything I need right here, right at my fingertips. Literally. Except that living in a place so small means that everything you do leaves a mess. If everything isn't in its perfect space maximizing place, then you have clutter. It's frustrating because it means I have to be cleaning all the time. Not a chore I enjoy.
After taking the several steps it take to cover the entirety of my house, the director gives me a cell phone that has been set up for me, tries to set up my internet, checks to see if my television is working, tries to show me how to use the button to let someone into the building, and a few more things. During this time the alarm I had set to wake me up in the morning the day before, goes off, letting me know that I have now been up 24 hours. I am half listening to what they are telling me, just waiting for them to leave so that I can go to sleep. As the director leaves, she asks me if I can be at work at 10:00 am the following morning.  "Yes, I will be there tomorrow morning at ten. See you tomorrow!" And then I finally, finally get to sleep.

hiking trail behind my apartment

pagoda along the hiking trail