It was small surprises like these that we never could have expected when I came to Krasnoyarsk. I never could have known they would come at first. Now I know why my parents went ot this apartment- we lived there when I was a baby about a year old. It happened to be for rent when we went to back to Krasnoyarsk at five years old.

Mum and Dad's old friend Tim picked us up from the airport and we drove through the city. I think I mainly remember this drive because Tim told a joke. I wondered why out bags were in another car or something, and Tim told me that was because they’re' was no room in his car for them. After all, it wasn’t like we could balance them on our head. It’s interesting how common sense changes when you grow. It made sense then to keep our bags with us, and it makes sense now to put them in another car so we have some space.

With my active imagination I saw the suitcases balancing on our heads. No, that wouldn’t do. They're just too heavy.

As we drove through the city, I spotted this majestic building which was purple and a mural made of tiles- a picture of people. As we drove past it, I asked my parents in anticipation: will we live there? But we drove past it, to a place which looked kind of disappointing to me- out new home. The building was much larger, a pale blue and a large courtyard
.
The courtyard is nothing like anything you will find in Australia. They arev so much better- not to brag. It is much bigger, with thick green grass and snow in the winter. We arrived in the summer. There was this giant birch tree I climbed, tiny playgrounds that dotted the place. There was more than enough place to ride a bike. Lots of trees which I used to know off by heart. There are so many things that would be much easier to draw than explain things that were amazing

"Well, this is it"- Tim said.

At first I was disappointed, but it grew to be my home. It was not purple- which is really what upset me. But the playground was so much better. There was a market and ice-skating rink nearby, a supermarket, a bus stop,  and post office and stationary store a little further away. There were tiny cherries ( Вишня - vishnya), and bitter rowan-berries (рябина - ryabina). There were wild raspberries (малина- malina), strawberries ( земляника - zemlynika. Different from клубника - kloobneeka. They are both strawberries in English, but земляника is much smaller and wild and sweeter). There were gooseberries (крыжовник - krizhovnik. I just called them green berries),  and bird-cherry ( черемуха- cheryomookha).

These little things- literally- are something that made a house a home.



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