I am HD

It is a usual joke between my peers that new adults stop looking forward to their birthdays after 25. Personally, I think it's because life starts to speed up when we are busy taking care of it. Compared to a graph, the scale of an adult life gets bigger as the years add up. Nothing special happens on a day-to-day basis. The best day is always the payday which sadly comes fortnightly and yet the bills are eternal. Waiting for a potential job interview takes months. Planning for a wedding takes a year. Daily gratifications are getting harder to achieve and so we are often told that patience is key. We wait patiently for the next best thing and the next day we open our eyes, we are a year older again! 

I am turning 28 in a few days. I won't pretend that I like adding a year to my age as quickly as it happens these days. Unlike men, our age tells a lot about us - our ability to conceive a child, should we want one, slows down with age, hence the unconscious rush to marry for fear of losing in the dating pool. Even single, career-oriented women who choose to fight against the social expectations around marriage are not given fair promotions at work simply because their superiors assume that they will quit the workforce after getting married and/or bearing a child. Humans designed a world that revolves around men and the women are supporting characters. Of course, my peers and all the progressive women in the 21st century will not be having any of these gender bias anymore. Although admittedly, no matter how much I condition my brain, my age really has a lot to do with the rest of my future, unless my nagging father financially supports the preservation of my precious young egg cells and pay the annual storage fees until I choose to use them. /end of rant.

Eight years later, my dream house is what I have right now: a two-bedroom humble rental in Australia where my husband and I lives. As empty as a box when we first moved in three years ago, the progress of this apartment symbolized our growth as couples and as new adults. I was a hopeful 25-year-old moving in with my then-boyfriend, both with temporary visas and unsure futures. I hardly had any idea on how to furnish a house. We started by filling it up with usual necessities and for almost a year, our place was still stripped from any décor or colour. Gladly as time went by, we found our feet in Australia, in our new apartment, and in our relationship. We got engaged. Tied the knot. We replaced the second-hand couch, bought new curtains, ditched the IKEA mattress and changed the decorations as our budget permitted. We have only one television in the living room so that we will be forced to watch and relax together in the same space. Dinner is only served once so that both of us will have to eat together. Simple things for some people but incredibly important to me who lived in a 5-bedroom house, each with our own telly, with family members who dined separately whenever we pleased. The housing market in Australia is astronomical akin to any first world country but I have faith that life will lead us to our future home. After all, I never dreamed of a luxurious life – I just want a comfortable life that can afford annual vacations, health insurance, mortgage, and a portion for savings and retirement.