I made it through my first week

Hi y'alls (apparently, that's the plural...y'all is singular!). All is well here. I'm starting to settle in. I bought a map of the city but I still have next to no idea of where I am at any point in time. It's like playing those party games as kids where you shut your eyes and get spun around a few times. Stupid circular city with no landmarks. I can't even use the stores as landmarks because they repeat themselves every few blocks.

San Antonio is growing on me, and I still have SO much more of the city to see. It rained soon after I arrived, so everything is looking a bit greener. I'm getting used to the scrubby trees too. There are heaps of birds, including some really big ones! I've even see a few happy looking squirrels outside my office, which made it very hard to go back in and work! I guess I'll get over squirrel watching but not yet! Speaking on animals, I have my eye on a milky grey gerbil at the petshop. He's very cute. I went to visit him again today. Better than the fat hamsters they have because he's awake during the day. We'll see...

As most of you know, I've found an apartment but don't move in till April 14. Bit of a long wait but it gives me time to get together all the things I'll need, since I arrived with almost nothing. I went shopping this weekend for house stuff, lots of fun. For the first time in my life I've written myself a budget AND I'm sticking to it. One of the big department stores here had a sale on Saturday, and most of the house stuff was 50% off, and we also got to redeem $15 off coupons for anything over $75...it was brilliant. I basically ended up saving more than I paid by shopping in $75 lots. I now have all my bedding (duvet, cover, sheets and pillows) as well as some really soft towels and most of my kitchen gear. I've also inherited some other kitchen gear from some of the other postdocs here, so that'll be a big help. I'm also lucky that all my major appliances are included with the apartment. S'all good.

Work is going well. I'm really enjoying it. Still feel like I'm swimming against the current, but it'll take me while to work out which way the current is going! I'm sharing an office with a lovely guy called Vince (He's from Guam and a darling) who has been working there for years. He's been really helpful and doesn't seem to mind that my workspace already smells like gum ;)

Speaking of gum, my favorite at the moment is watermelon flavoured extra, closely followed by green apple extra (which I think will hit oz soon). I've had to restrict my visits to the candy sections of the shops here (every shop has a candy section, even Bed Bath and beyond - perhaps that's the beyond).

More soon. Love you all. All emails welcome :)

Jac