Adaptation
I've been in Milwaukee for two weeks now with this being the first full week I've spent here since the move. I'm still adapting to my new surroundings. It is certainly different than my previous experiences. The only city I've lived in that even comes close was Hirakata-shi, though that was more or less a suburb of Osaka. But that was just a different experience being in Japan and all. This is totally different, and though there are things I don't like about living here, I'm slowly beginning to find stuff that I enjoy about living in a large city. For starters, I'm learning the subtleties of my new apartment.
Recently, I've been having trouble getting to sleep. Once I fall asleep, I will generally sleep well for eight to ten hours. The problem is that I just don't fall asleep when I go to bed. To be fair though, I might have this problem even if I still lived in Eau Claire or Platteville. See, I think the problem is that I'm just not doing anything during the day, so I don't get tired. And I've always kind of had a problem waking up in the morning, especially when I don't have anything going on. Still one day I made it a point to get only a little sleep the previous night, and then I purposefully took a long bike ride to tire myself, and even then I had a hard time going to sleep, so I don't know what my problem is. It might just be my bedroom layout. I took a really long bike ride today, and I do feel tired out from that, so I'll give it a try tonight, and if I still have problems, I'm going to rearrange my room. Part of the problem is that my bedroom is right next to the staircase and elevator. Right now, I don't hear people going up and down, but that's probably because I made a point of it to put my bed against the opposite wall. But maybe I'll try it the other way. I can always move it back if that turns out to be problematic.
I'm also starting to grow rather fond of my new apartment. It's a lot older than my old one, and that was kind of a big shock when I first saw it. But I've lived in older homes before, so I'm getting used to it. In fact, the house I grew up in (and my parents still live in) is at least 60 years old, and it might even be over a hundred, though it has been remodeled a few times. It does have a few problems with it though. For one thing the lights above my sink are practically rusted in. I was trying to change one out, and the bulb broke off from the steam, which is now stuck in there. This place is also supposed to have central air, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't work so well in my apartment. This might have something to do with being on the third floor. All I know is that it doesn't cool my place at all. Fortunately, my apartment only really gets hot and sticky is during the evening when the sun is setting. I have a western exposure, and the sun shines right into my windows. I should probably ask someone about it when I call to get my lights fixed. The floor also creeks sometimes when I'm moving around. This really isn't a problem for me, but I don't know if the people under me can hear it, so I assume they can and I feel bad for them. Though that IS one of the reasons I wanted an apartment on the top.
Though I've just bitched about my apartment in the last paragraph, I assure you that there are things I do LIKE about my apartment. The living room is more squarish than my old place, which was really long. So I'm able to get a better layout. I also got a cheap ass coffee table, so I finally have one of those now. And the kitchen has more counter space than my old place. Also, all of the burners actually work here. The fridge is a little smaller, but it's still bigger than the one I had when I was living with a roommate about a year ago. That fridge was unacceptable for two people. Anywhere the fridge here's size is perfect for just me. It doesn't look too full or too empty. Speaking of things that were too big at my old place, I used to HUGE bathroom. It was half the size of my bedroom. And yet, it seemed just too big. This place's bathroom is about a 1/10th of the size, and I kind of like it better that way. It doesn't feel like all of this space is being wasted. My neighbors are fairly quite most of the time, so that's nice. The storage units are on a first come, first served basis, but I was able to secure a mostly decent one. They're in the basement though, and so I'm fully expecting anything I store down there to get water damaged. Right now, I just have a bunch of boxes down there. I'm only holding on to them for when I move out, so if they get water damaged, then I'll just throw them out.
As always, I've started to run long again, so this seems like a good as place as any to wrap things up. There were other things I wanted to mention, like how I'm getting to know the area better, but I think I'll save that for next week. This next week should be depressing, as I'm going to start my search for a new job. I've been finding excuses here and there to not look for one, but I really should be employed doing something. Plus, it will just give me something to do before graduate school starts, and I won't feel like I'm so poor.
Recently, I've been having trouble getting to sleep. Once I fall asleep, I will generally sleep well for eight to ten hours. The problem is that I just don't fall asleep when I go to bed. To be fair though, I might have this problem even if I still lived in Eau Claire or Platteville. See, I think the problem is that I'm just not doing anything during the day, so I don't get tired. And I've always kind of had a problem waking up in the morning, especially when I don't have anything going on. Still one day I made it a point to get only a little sleep the previous night, and then I purposefully took a long bike ride to tire myself, and even then I had a hard time going to sleep, so I don't know what my problem is. It might just be my bedroom layout. I took a really long bike ride today, and I do feel tired out from that, so I'll give it a try tonight, and if I still have problems, I'm going to rearrange my room. Part of the problem is that my bedroom is right next to the staircase and elevator. Right now, I don't hear people going up and down, but that's probably because I made a point of it to put my bed against the opposite wall. But maybe I'll try it the other way. I can always move it back if that turns out to be problematic.
I'm also starting to grow rather fond of my new apartment. It's a lot older than my old one, and that was kind of a big shock when I first saw it. But I've lived in older homes before, so I'm getting used to it. In fact, the house I grew up in (and my parents still live in) is at least 60 years old, and it might even be over a hundred, though it has been remodeled a few times. It does have a few problems with it though. For one thing the lights above my sink are practically rusted in. I was trying to change one out, and the bulb broke off from the steam, which is now stuck in there. This place is also supposed to have central air, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't work so well in my apartment. This might have something to do with being on the third floor. All I know is that it doesn't cool my place at all. Fortunately, my apartment only really gets hot and sticky is during the evening when the sun is setting. I have a western exposure, and the sun shines right into my windows. I should probably ask someone about it when I call to get my lights fixed. The floor also creeks sometimes when I'm moving around. This really isn't a problem for me, but I don't know if the people under me can hear it, so I assume they can and I feel bad for them. Though that IS one of the reasons I wanted an apartment on the top.
Though I've just bitched about my apartment in the last paragraph, I assure you that there are things I do LIKE about my apartment. The living room is more squarish than my old place, which was really long. So I'm able to get a better layout. I also got a cheap ass coffee table, so I finally have one of those now. And the kitchen has more counter space than my old place. Also, all of the burners actually work here. The fridge is a little smaller, but it's still bigger than the one I had when I was living with a roommate about a year ago. That fridge was unacceptable for two people. Anywhere the fridge here's size is perfect for just me. It doesn't look too full or too empty. Speaking of things that were too big at my old place, I used to HUGE bathroom. It was half the size of my bedroom. And yet, it seemed just too big. This place's bathroom is about a 1/10th of the size, and I kind of like it better that way. It doesn't feel like all of this space is being wasted. My neighbors are fairly quite most of the time, so that's nice. The storage units are on a first come, first served basis, but I was able to secure a mostly decent one. They're in the basement though, and so I'm fully expecting anything I store down there to get water damaged. Right now, I just have a bunch of boxes down there. I'm only holding on to them for when I move out, so if they get water damaged, then I'll just throw them out.
As always, I've started to run long again, so this seems like a good as place as any to wrap things up. There were other things I wanted to mention, like how I'm getting to know the area better, but I think I'll save that for next week. This next week should be depressing, as I'm going to start my search for a new job. I've been finding excuses here and there to not look for one, but I really should be employed doing something. Plus, it will just give me something to do before graduate school starts, and I won't feel like I'm so poor.