Lots of news

I'm very pleased to announce that, after one of the most stressful and overly complicated weeks of my life, I am in my own home! Yes, I have a key and everything. It's absolutely huge, but I'm sharing it with a few other girls. They all seem nice enough, but one girl admitted that they don't have a very sociable household so I'm glad I'm making more and more friends these days, I don't want to end up really isolated and lonely.
I now understand why a flat that's so central was dirt cheap - the oven doesn't work, it's freezing cold, the bathroom lock is broken, apparently there's an occasional ant infestation, and the bathroom ceiling was riddled with damp until a couple of weeks ago. I think it could be much worse though. I have the smallest room, but it doesn't matter because I have hardly any stuff. In fact being here has made me realise how little I brought with me. The room is a decent size though, and even with some more stuff in here I'd still have room for visitors from England to sleep. On the subject of stuff, I need a few things, some of which I'd rather not pay money for because I wouldn't be taking it back to England when I leave. There's a charity shop down the street which I know sells decent furniture and kitchen stuff quite cheaply, and I've already had some things donated to me, but if anyone has any of the following that they can give away or sell very cheaply, please let me know.
I need:
Clothes hangers
Coffee machine
Kettle
Oven gloves
General kitchen stuff (I only have a frying pan that I bought when I came here. I don't need anything fancy, just basic stuff like saucepans, knives etc)
Crockery and cutlery
A table/desk
A chair
Bookcase/shelving unit
Lamps
Plug socket extention lead (European sockets only)

If anyone does have these things going spare I'd be really grateful. You can even have it back when I leave if necessary.
I hate that new house feeling where it doesn't feel like it's yours, things aren't exactly how you want them, and you have hardly any entertainment. I'm so glad that today I was able to borrow a laptop and dongle because I was so bored last night! The feelings are even worse when you move somewhere that already has people living there. You feel so intrusive, like you shouldn't be there at all, or you're a guest. It's all so new - on my way home today I actually walked straight past my own front door!
Today I had a really lovely day. I went to meet a new friend, who's been reading this blog, and her children. I was excited that she has met Jasper Pääkkönen. Apparently he's very nice, and on his birthday he bought hot dogs for everyone! She showed me a couple of places where I can get a pretty good selection of English magazines (although none of the trash I usually like), and showed me somewhere to buy art materials. I was really impressed because everything there was Windsor & Newton, all decent stuff, and there was a really good product range. Then, at her house, I got to meet her cat! It's been way too long since I got to cuddle a cat.
This week has been pretty horrific overall but today was the silver lining. It was really nice to be able to do what I want for a change, and not have to panic about what someone else's reaction is going to be. I think that things are starting to fall into place a bit more. I've still got a couple of worries, but hopefully those things will also turn out ok, and I can really get things back on track. I'm optimistic now.