Katrina – 1994ever

Happily, I was successfully accepted for the CELTA course in Chiang Mai, though I need to brush up on my grammar skills considerably! The interviewer made me feel very comfortable despite my lack of knowledge and I actually felt that, yes, I could do this!

Also got word of a position available at the university close to our house (Mae Fah Luang) which I will apply for, though the timing may not be right as applications close at the end of March and I won’t have a certificate (assuming I pass) until the end of May. Will apply anyway, it is Amy’s old University colleague who manages the English department there so that may be a benefit at least. He said if it doesn’t work out he will direct students to me for private tuition in the meantime.

Last night my housemates took me out for a farewell dinner. Bram drove the Volvo and Katrina and I made fun of him because he couldn’t hear his brakes screeching because he has lost hearing in that range. I thought he was just pulling our leg at first but seems he was telling the truth. I hope my hearing holds out a while longer – there’s still too much music in the world to enjoy.

We went to a dinky Chinese diner in Chinatown and ordered a big stack of food, including my favourite fish in boiling chilli oil with Sichuan pepper. Not quite enough chilli and pepper for my taste but still a fantastic eat and half the price of some other places.

I noticed the staff putting flowers in the bags for Uber Eats deliveries so at the end of the meal I asked one of the staff if we could have one and I gave it to Katrina who was suitably embarrassed and happy to receive. Bram laughed too and said I was showing him up. I like this couple and hope they can achieve their dreams for the future.

For Bram that involves a 3-month motorcycle trip through India (and possibly Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore – though it’s looking like he may not be able to afford that now). For Katrina, it means getting her permanent residency in Australia and then saving to build a couple of container style apartments on her grandmother’s land near Shengzhou (with Bram’s help). Apparently famous for it bamboo forests, as seen in popular Chinese dramatic cinema in the west, pictures look especially magical when it snows in winter.

We both invited each other to visit what will be our new homes.

After a few days lull, our house is going gangbusters today with the perimeter fence going in, the electricity being hooked up, ceilings being primed and pond being finished off concreted. Things seem to be coming together very well.

Today, though, I woke up in a slight funk. Possibly from the two beers I had with dinner last night, the first since the end of September last year. Last night’s chilli has also assisted in processing the last few days codeine constipation. Codeine is nice – I can see why it becomes addictive.

After today updates will become a little less often though I’ll still try for daily. I’ve lined up a few entries from 1994 (until the end of March) and want to try and get ahead with those if I can – they are a pain in the ass to re-write and it was a perfect situation to be able to do that at my job.

It’s stinking hot here in Adelaide and super dry today. Tomorrow I fly to Brisbane to meet with my son. His mum has booked us an apartment in Fortitude Valley for the weekend for which we are both very thankful. It’s been about six months since I’ve seen Hayden and probably will be another six before I see him again, assuming he’ll have time to come visit me in Thailand.

I’ll go and finish off that big book that will be too heavy to take with me. Already threw out jeans and dinner jacket and some other stuff I wanted to take. So maybe, just maybe, I can squeeze in a box of Australian wine to bring to Amy.

Last night I moved house. Two suitcases and bedding and I was done. I have to trim that down to one suitcase and a carry on in the next 7 weeks.

It’s actually my housemates who wanted to move, this was after the landlord fixed the dodgy bathroom shelf after one year of being hassled, and then decided to put the rent up an extra 30 dollars a week.

The new place is a nice spacious 2 storey, 3 bedroom house. Much nicer than the old place – more modern and more homely. I did, however, have a weird affection for that old place. For me it’s all about counting down time as cheaply as possible – I would live in a drafty garage and be ok. So this new place is nice but doesn’t really affect me much. I’m still using the same uncomfortable bed and that’s where I spend most of my time when I’m at home anyway.

For my housemates, it’s making a big difference though. It has them energised and should be something they can make into a home. The old place wasn’t conducive to putting much effort into making it nice really.

With fully ducted aircon, ceiling fans, a double garage and two toilets, between the three of us we don’t own enough things to even fill it. It’s not costing me any more in rent but as my housemates know I’m leaving soon they’ll be able to charge a bit more for the next person which covers the ten bucks a week increase from the old place.

The house is situated at the end of a cul-de-sac so it’s pretty quiet but the interesting thing is the house on the corner just up from us.

A bit of a web search reveals this place to be called Barton Vale House. It even has a Facebook page, which seems to indicate it is a private residence, though someone posted the review about the food being amazing. Seems that at one time it was a ‘home for wayward girls’ and of course, once the house fell into disrepair for a while, it became the subject of so-called hauntings. It’s something more interesting than the usual suburban houses pretty much everywhere else on my route to work.

My housemates are an interesting couple. Bram is 60 and his girlfriend, Katrina, is 30. They met when he was travelling around China, ended up travelling together and finally living together in Adelaide. With me working shifts, Katrina working nights and Bram working regular hours it’s not often that we are all at home at the same time.

Bram reminds me of me a little bit, though he is much more of a man’s man than I am, not blokey though. He’s into bikes, cars and fixing things and he looks like an ex-biker. Despite the rough and ready exterior he has a gentle demeanour and is a bit of an old softy really. As his mother passed away recently he is becoming more conscious of his age and often self-debates about his worth in their relationship.

Katrina is, to me, a bit of a stereotypical Chinese woman. I can’t really explain the meaning of those words though. She has struggled to adjust herself to Australian life, particularly as it was not the easy life she had heard about. The house we were living in definitely hasn’t helped as she never felt like investing any time into making it a home. I think the new place will be good for her so long as she can focus on the good things. I know it will be a struggle for them to save money for the futures that they are discussing.

She’s waiting for Bram to propose and she constantly reminds him that his age doesn’t matter to her. She’s not sticking around for his money, that’s for sure. I hope they can both can achieve their dreams. They are nice people.

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Amy was in Bangkok today, paying a quick visit to Fah. Fah has mostly been spending time sick in bed this last week or so but her mother said she has picked up significantly knowing that Amy was coming to visit. She’s in constant pain and had to get around in a wheelchair but wanted to go out and eat just like she used to do all the time. She is staying positive and still doing chemo when she has the strength. I don’t want to think what I would do in her situation – I hope I never have to.

Tag: Katrina

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