welcome: from earlier wilcuma (n.) "welcome guest," lit. "one whose coming is in accord with another's will"

our arrival at our new apartment was, at first, a bit jarring. jarring not only in the sense that we had only seen the apartment once before--for 5 minutes at most--and it was not exactly the way we remembered it, but also because it was over so quickly. it took only about an hour to load up and to get everything into our new home. and now.....it's over.

we've waited for 3 months to get to this point. and now it's over.

we're home.

how did we get here? how did a young, "theatre" couple find a home in the "young, quiet, female renter"'s market?

well, i'm sure looking at over a dozen places helped and being willing to get out and do the searching was necessary, but i don't think we stumbled upon our fully-furnished, all utilities included, newly renovated place by our own hands. first of all, let me just explain what the renting market is like here in vancouver. out of a random 20 ads for rental places, about 8-10 will say that they're looking for a quiet, female renter. an additional 4-5 will state that couples need not inquire. the rest you will undoubtedly check out in person because anything you can possibly get, you will want to try to get. and out of those, maybe two will actually be worth applying for (although, maybe you'll apply for the others in the hopes that you'll just get something offered to you). however, you won't be the only ones applying. approximately 5-8 other parties will not just be viewing the place at the same time as you, but also applying for it. the chances that a couple, who are both employed (and i use that term loosely, perhaps work would be a better description) at a theatre are, to put it simply, not good.

so, really, how did we find a place where the landlord didn't do a background check or give us a contract to sign, but rather sat with us in her kitchen asking about what brought us to vancouver and requesting that we consider staying for around six months?

it sounds too good to be true.

now, don't get me wrong, this place has its issues...like i said, it was jarring to realize that we would be living in a place that's this small, and to come to terms with the fact that it's not exactly how we had remembered it. but, it's a home.

that may not seem like a very great welcome into a new home.

and our first few months here may not seem like a great welcome into a new city: 3 months of sleeping (and in some cases, i use that term loosely) in different beds, on different floors, of relying on a few (well, two, really) people for companionship outside of just the two of us, of feeling inconsistently but persistently homeless, alone, overwhelmed, and, ultimately, out of control.

but going through all of that to know that your presence in a place, just your coming, is in accordance with the will of The Creator of Everything is more than enough of a welcome for me and more than explains our good fortune.


Posted by Jacqui 9/29/05