6 Long Days Without Communications.

Ok, i now fully admit it, I'm a complete internet junkie. What's worse was not having a phone either to get in touch with people. Now both of those things have been resolved, all is good. We have a local phone number, full time internet access and a skype account that allows us to call anywhere in North America for free ;)

We've also got a nice apartment here, though it's particularly sparse at the moment. Our total count of furniture is 2 desks, 2 chairs and a mattress. It does for now, though we've been scouring trademe (think local ebay+autotrader+mls) and the second hand stores for couches, bed frames, tables, chairs etc. Not having Ikea makes life a little more difficult.

In fact, when we were preparing for this trip, al the research we'd done pointed towards a distinctly higher cost of living. Definitely, going out to the restaurant or the movies is more expensive, but for household goods we've simply not seen it. We got a fully equipped kitchen (flatware, dinning set for 8, pots, pans, glasses, all the nick nacks you need) for under 700$. In fact, it was even cheaper then buying from the Salvation Army! The trick here really is to do a lot more shopping around. There are rediculous sales at many of the stores here, but you have to be willing to wait. Sales of 60% off or more are quite common here which I don't think I ever say in Ottawa.