在澳洲的第一个住所，位于该国的第五大城市阿德莱德的最西侧，一个靠海的叫Fulham的平均收入水平中等的区域。由于临海，每一口呼吸都显得格外清新，虽然我知道自己正身处全世界最适宜人类居住的国家和城市之一，理应如此。阿德莱德的7月，正逢冬季的最低温，每每夜幕降临时，房东老太太都会热心得提醒我打开暖气。至今还怀念她那时候经常会做的姜丝炒牛肉，很香，配一碗米饭，从头到脚感觉都是暖暖的。后来我才知道，跟很多寄宿家庭相比，她算很贴心了。由于澳洲是一个常年紧缺淡水资源的国度，当地居民都会尽可能节约用水，例如，每天洗澡，都会控制在5 - 10分钟，再比如，拖完地的水可以二次利用地浇灌自家的花园和庭院。因为是冬天，老太太希望我能每天临睡前洗个舒服的热水澡，完全不限制我的用水时间：”Please feel free to have a warm shower whenever you want. Your parents must be worried about you if you get cold in Australia.”
一个周末的午后，她端着一杯加了奶的咖啡和几块自己烘烤的曲奇饼干，来到我的房间：”Would you like to try some coffee and cookies? I made the cookies this morning and see if you like them. And I also added some milk to the coffee. ““Oh, thank you so much, Kathy. You have been really kind to me.”
(当时我正在听歌)“No worries. So do you like music? By the way, who is singing? Amazing vocal…”
“He is American Born Chinese, and his name is Leehom Wang. The song’s name is Forever Love.”
“Oh, great to know that you like to listen to music. I could feel the melody of this song, which is peaceful.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice song, isn’t it? Kathy, the cookies taste delicious, and could you please teach me how to make them when you have some time?”
“Of course, you are always more than welcome, you know. What about the coffee?” “Great! Kathy, appreciated for your kindness, really!”
“Don’t be silly, help yourself here, please……”
