Little things and light switches
Door: Carine
30 Mei 2008 | Australië, Adelaide
What makes somewhere home? I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately, and I think I’ve come up with an answer. There’s two answers, really. One is that it is knowing that when you leave that place, you’ll miss the little things you never thought you’d miss. So it’s not about missing friends and fam… wherever I am there’s always people to miss, even though I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but where I am right now. What I personally always seem to miss the most is silences in conversations, because it means you’re having an actual face-to-face conversation with someone where it’s alright to be silent for a while. Where sometimes so much more is said in those silences than in all of the words that envelope those silences. There’s no room for silence in phone conversations or even e-mails. Another one of those things I always seem to miss is seeing people smile outside of the photographs I stick on my wall, or to hear them laugh and hear their voices. Really, it’s just having those people you love within reach and being able to see them whenever you want to. But like I said, it’s more than just people. It’s the colour and size of the sky. It’s the smells and sounds of everything around you. It’s waking up to magpies in front of your window or hearing your upstairs neighbour singing out of tune at least once a week and laugh about it with your housemates. It’s the food… oh, food is always a big one. I wonder what all the little things will be when I leave Adelaide in little over a month…
The second answer probably seems very trivial and mundane, but it’s one of those things that simply seem to be true. I remember on probably my first day with the Corbetts, now almost 4 years ago, that I was shown where everything was in the house, and Phoebe saying to me that I’d know I was at home when I was able to turn off all the lights in the house without having to think about where all the different light switches were. Just think about this for a second: no matter how many times you’ve been to a friend’s house, you probably still couldn’t find all the light switches in their house without having to think about where they are. Turning lights on or off is simply not something you do often when you’re not at your own place. It’s only when you actually live somewhere for a longer period of time that you frequently use the light switches and that finding their locations comes natural to you. Over here in the village, every unit has one panel with 5 switches for all the lights in the common areas. When I first moved in, I was struggling to remember which switch was for which light and kept turning lights on when I wanted them off or off when I wanted them to stay on. But the other day I all of a sudden realised I didn’t have to think about it anymore. I just turned off the lights without first turning on the ones which were already off. I guess I have made myself another place to call home, and that feels good :)
Anyway, that’s my ramble of the month :) I promise that next blog will be about what I’ve actually been up to again, but so many things seem to be happening lately that I still need to get my head around it myself before I can write a proper blog about it. Once I do though and I have time, I will tell you all about what I’ve been doing over the past month or so. Anyway, I hope everyone’s enjoying themselves and happy with what they’re doing, where they are and who they are with… Take care!!
Love Carine
xx
The second answer probably seems very trivial and mundane, but it’s one of those things that simply seem to be true. I remember on probably my first day with the Corbetts, now almost 4 years ago, that I was shown where everything was in the house, and Phoebe saying to me that I’d know I was at home when I was able to turn off all the lights in the house without having to think about where all the different light switches were. Just think about this for a second: no matter how many times you’ve been to a friend’s house, you probably still couldn’t find all the light switches in their house without having to think about where they are. Turning lights on or off is simply not something you do often when you’re not at your own place. It’s only when you actually live somewhere for a longer period of time that you frequently use the light switches and that finding their locations comes natural to you. Over here in the village, every unit has one panel with 5 switches for all the lights in the common areas. When I first moved in, I was struggling to remember which switch was for which light and kept turning lights on when I wanted them off or off when I wanted them to stay on. But the other day I all of a sudden realised I didn’t have to think about it anymore. I just turned off the lights without first turning on the ones which were already off. I guess I have made myself another place to call home, and that feels good :)
Anyway, that’s my ramble of the month :) I promise that next blog will be about what I’ve actually been up to again, but so many things seem to be happening lately that I still need to get my head around it myself before I can write a proper blog about it. Once I do though and I have time, I will tell you all about what I’ve been doing over the past month or so. Anyway, I hope everyone’s enjoying themselves and happy with what they’re doing, where they are and who they are with… Take care!!
Love Carine
xx
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30 Mei 2008 - 14:30
Froukje:
Zo herkenbaar allemaal! Een foto, e-mail of telefoongesprek kunnen idd niet tippen aan een conversatie in RL. Enneh, ik hoef niet meer na te denken over de sleutels, telt dat ook in het kader van het lichtknopjes verhaal? Anyways, ik, voel me hier ook thuis:). Keep in touch! xx -
30 Mei 2008 - 17:27
Lydia:
Klinkt goed Carine! Jammer dat je dan zo weer weg moet.. :( Maar geniet er nog eventjes van! Want voor je het weet lig je weer te luisteren naar de zangkunsten van de bovenburen ;) -
31 Mei 2008 - 02:29
Mum:
We will not change the light switches. -
31 Mei 2008 - 07:40
Kyle:
great blog, love those ones. Was just talking about you and your great and funny character today. My folks say hi and send their love. As do i
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