Past midnight

It's late. I should be asleep. I had a long day -- drove through mega traffic on I-275 at 10:30am to downtown Tampa, met with the Chief Librarian to talk about fieldwork in the spring, shelved books for 2-1/2 hours at my local library branch, cleaned up pee in my little villa in three different spots because my poor medicated dog couldn't hold it until I got home, washed curtains and a small rug he also peed on, left a message with the pet surgeon, wrote and posted an assignment for my Digital Libraries class, cleaned litter boxes, watched a made-for-TV movie, napped while watching the movie, fed the zoo, tried to come up with some sort of dinner for myself, watched TV while my female cat slept on my chest, finished completing the fieldwork form and emailed it to the Chief Librarian and my school advisor, checked emails on three email addresses, posted on Facebook, and now here I am, writing in my blog.

I like to watch House Hunters International. People move to the wildest places. They just pick up and leave their friends, families and homes, and off they go to towns in Central and South America that I've never heard of, to various countries in Europe, to Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and places like that. I wonder if I could do something like move to a faraway place by myself. Could I be that adventurous, be that brave? Almost everyone presented in the show is a lot younger than me. But I don't know if I could have done what these people are doing now when I was young. There are places where it is normal to have a shower head with no shower enclosure or bathtub; when you take a shower, the water goes all over the floor. Strange. There are places where the rooms in apartments are so small you can barely move around in them. In some cities, apartments have no closets at all. Many rental places come with no appliances; you either have to buy your refrigerator and stove or negotiate with the landlord to include them in the rent (which might go higher). There was one city in which kitchens did not come with the apartment or house; people actually took their entire kitchens (including cabinets and sinks) with them when they moved. In one Asian city, a foreigner wanting to rent an apartment must pay one year's rent in entirety before the landlord hands over the key. In some South American countries, foreigners cannot buy property at all. In others, foreigners can buy property if they have cash; no mortgages allowed.

It's kinda nice to go wandering around the world with these adventurous people, but I believe I'm going to stay right here in the U.S., although I do have to say that every show I've seen where the people choose France as their new home, I really like it. Hmmm . . . parlez-vous francais?

Anthony Atkielski 2002