i am inept at only the most vital stuff.

--like figuring out how the heck the heating in my flat works.

Try as I might, I can't figure out how to get the boiler to heat my flat / power the radiator in my room...without making horrible noises. I turned it on yesterday, and it sounded like Dobby the Elf had made his permanent residence in my cupboard under the stairs. And that he'd decided to pursue a career as a blacksmith.

So I've resigned myself to a chilly nose and lots of layers until my flatmate gets back and finishes moving in. Because maybe 2 idiots are better than one? Actually, she's doing a sciencey-degree, so maybe it's just the one idiot.

APART from that, however, MAN, is this flat incredible! I'm in this little postgraduate complex (so it kinda looks like a little courtyard full of condos) tucked away in town. But they're BEAUTIFUL. They're definitely newly furnished, and they look like they're newly built too- Lots of high ceilings and pretty windows. (Fun fact, I can see sort of into what I think might be a pub on an adjacent street. Unless somebody's got beer taps in their home. No judgment.) My room is tiny*, but it's just the right amount of space for little ol' me. I think my favorite room is the kitchen though-- big windows looking out on the common courtyard that gets sun in the afternoon (if there is any ;)) and a precious little table.

Other funny quirks include:
-the living room couch-- the only piece of furniture (or color, for that matter) AND it's comically small. I had my two 6'-something friends sit on it, and it looked a little absurd.
-what my flatmate and I have dubbed the "spare room"-- a room, separate from the living room with no furniture or decoration to speak of. [Currently taking polling my friends on what it should become, but they're mostly guys and keep suggesting a "man-cave"...nixed.]
-my showerless bathroom (there is a bath, thankfully. guess I'll just have to be a bit more leisurely when it comes to hygiene.)
-the downstairs bath that looks, from all outward appearances, like a sliding closet door.

And beyond my really wonderful flat, I've had a great time reconnecting with friends-- from getting picked up from the airport, to having an entourage to escort me/my luggage across town to my flat, to seeing a whole slew of them at a birthday party last night, to church this morning with a dear dear friend...plus a few new ones! :)

All in all, St. Andrews feels much more homey than I ever expected it would feel after being removed from it the last couple years. I am happy beyond my wildest happiness.

*retrospective edit: not tiny at all. it's actually HUGE compared to the closet that other univeristy-housed students get. It's just not huge compared to my flatmate's :)