So, it's been awhile. And it will probably be a while til the next one. It's not that I don't love telling everyone what I'm up to. It's just that well, this seems to be lower on my list of things to do when I have 5 free minutes. Sorry to all you Faithful Blog Readers.
Anyway, the biggest news is that Ryan leaves.... today.... for good. Yeah, she's flying home. It's gonne take her like 5 days cause she booked cheap flights and is laying over in Hawaii for like a day. But yeah, she's peacing out tonight. It's gonna be really weird without her here. Like now I am all alone. But, I also have some friends, and the roommates, and the jobs, and the rowing, and have enough to keep me going. It might just make me all that much more homesick though... On that note: I did get a super cool care package from my parents containing Pop Tarts (mmm, yumm), headphones (they're way expensive, and you guys know how much i like listening to my music) guide books, a cd to help me connect to the Rollins Alumni Association, and a card covered in orange plants and flowers (slightly unconventional, but goes along with my love of all things orange). Anyway, enough about non-Australian things. Lets see, since September 9th (which was my last post, I think) I have, um stroked the 8 (which means I get to sit in front and set the rhythm for all of you non-crewbies) rowed in a quad (which means I had to deal with 2 oars instead of one) gone to see Wall-E and the Mummy 3 (the first was wonderful, the second umm, had it's moments) and well lots of other things.
The other day I also realized the irony of being an American working at an Australian Mexican restuarant owned by a Pakistani and whose kitchen staff are all Indian and Asian... uhhh. Yeah, I thought that was amusing. That job is still going well. People really enjoy talking to me for some reason (well, I think it's the cool American accent- yep they actually like it over here) and some older woman (probably in here sixties) decided to tell me her theory on human nature and how we can discove world peace the other day. I think it was respect, humility, and a lack of greed, or somethink like that.
At the day job I now make the sandwiches that we sell all day. Which is kinda fun I guess. I do like making things...
Umm, what else is new. Last week I went to the Royal Melbourne Show, which is basically a big agricultural show: cows, sheep, horses, dogs, etc. and rides, food, exhibits, that kind of thing. The Australians have some odd obsession with "show bags." They're like big goodie/grab bags filled with candy or toys. And they're cheaper than if you bought all the items individually. There was a whole big building filled with dozens of stalls dedicated to selling show bags. Huh, okay.
One of the highlights was the diving and racing pigs. Yup, diving and racing pigs. They have trained these pigs to run around a little race track wearing numbers and then to jump off of a diving board into a pool. The "race" was so popular that when I tried to see it the first time I couldn't even get close enough to the track to get a glimpse. And even when I arrived 10 minutes early to the second showing I had to sit on the ground in front of the bleachers. It may not have been the most amazing thng ever, but it was quite amusing.
I got a haircut earlier this week, from a very charming and talkative Korean man. He said he would basically give me the same style just shorter, and then when he finished it, he looked at me and said, "Well, that's very different.. But it looks good!"... oh, i thought... well, sure. It is much shorter at the back than it was, and a little different. But not bad. And heck, it's hair, it'll grow back.
I've also recently decided that I am going to go on a mini spring break trip and hang out on a beach somewhere for a week. After working my butt off for like 3 months, I'd say I deserve it. Might take some surfing lessons too. I think I could be good at surfing...
Oh, and this will probably seem totally irrelevant and pointless to any of you who are still reading, but I went to a weights session on monday with the rowing team. And, you know me, I think I'm pretty good at fitness things, and pretty strong, and that kind of thing. Well, this session basically kicked my ass. And I was sore for days... I'm pretty excited about that. Unfortunately the guy who does the sessions is going on vacation for like 2 weeks, so I'm gonna have to wait awhil for another killer session. I did get Shawn, the Rollins Crew coach, to send me some workouts though. So maybe I can kick my own butt for awhile.
The new roommate, who is filling Ryan's vacancy, seems wonderful. And Nicola, one of the old roommates and I have been bonding, so there is some roomie love going on. Although, because of their crazy schedules, and mine, we don't see each other too often. I also have a weekly tradition (well sort of) with some of the girls from the rowing team. We finish training on a thursday evening and head across the river to a pub for a few beer and sausages (well sausages for them, french fries for me...).
I am now watching the final of the Australian Football Leauge. The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) is about 6 or 7 kms from where I live, and it's right in the city. It holds 100,000 people and for the final it's about filled to capacity. The Grand Final (as it's called, nothing cocky like the world series, or anything) is huge here. People have been talking about it for weeks, people have been streaming into the city for days. And today I got of work about 2 hours early because everyone was home watching the game or at a pub or at the stadium. (I still have to go to work tonight, but at least I got a few hours off). Currently, Hawthorne is beating Geelong by about 30 points. I won't explain the scoring and the rules, but lets just say it's fascinating, and Hawthorne were definitely the underdogs. Oh, and both teams are from Victoria, the state I live in. So it makes everyone that much more excited about it here.
Okay, well on a more odd note, Anna Begins by the Counting Crows is my new favorite song (you should listen to it) I'm reading A light in August, by William Faulkner (who's writing is just ridiculously amazing). Next I'm thinking Slaughterhouse 5, because everyone says it's awesome, and i've never read it. So, I should get on that. I'm very excited about October because a) I have the weekend of the 11th and 12th off to go to a regatta/rowing camp b) we have an indoor regatta on the 18th c) Burn After Reading (the next Cohen brothers movie) comes out on the 16th, and well once october is over it will be november and that's when I'm going on vacation. So, what's not to be excited about??
So, happy travels Faithful Blog Readers!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
My brief stint as a posh hotel goer, fashion show watcher, and a general discussion of very non-erica like things
So, for those of you who don't know... (not that anyone still reads this, because you've all gone back to school) but, I won a competition a while back, a raffle prize, if you will. It was to do with the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. As part of said prize, I got tickets to fashion shows and a night in the Westin Melbourne (probably one of the nicest hotels i've ever stayed in, top 3 definitely).
More on the hotel stay later, but first- I went to a fashion show last tuesday. Yes, me... oh and i took ryan with me. I don't think the fashion world is ready for the two of us. Between us we probably have negative fashion sense... But i couldn't let all of the tickets go to waste (and they gave out free goodie bags!). The event was held in the Melbourne Town Hall. And they were serving champagne and giving away free Dove chocolate in the sort of waiting room before the show started. So we filled our pockets with very very yummy chocolate. The show itself was odd. Lots of pale, skinny girls with odd colored lipstick and wearing clothing that no one in their right mind would ever wear out in public. But I guess that's fashion for you.
Afterwards we wandered to a bar called Section 8... it's basically a rented out parking lot. A trailer packed with alcohol serves as a bar, and you sit on old crates surrounded by oil drums and graffitied walls. It's pretty spiffy. And we were enjoying our beers/ciders, when a random afghani male comes over. Yeah, an afghani male. Oh, and did i mention he's drunk? And he decides that we are two lovely young women (well after he asks ryan whether she's a boy or a girl... and then proceeds to call her "brian" for the rest of the night. And then he decides to get far too close to us, and stand in front of me and lean over, pressing his hands against my knees. And then as we run away, trying to put as much distance between ourselves and this odd drunken man, (he asks if he can come home with us) he gives me a hug and asks if he can kiss me.... um, that would be a no... really NO! So i gracefully (or not so gracefully) detanlge myself from him, and we bolt.... AWKWARD!
And then this weekend- well, Friday night, Daniel Zietlow (who was visiting from Sydney where he is studying abroad) and I got to stay in the Westin Melbourne, where people open doors for you, the elevator requires a key to go up to certain levels, there are free apples everywhere, the beds and bathrooms are "heavenly" and um a room usually costs 675 dollars a night... ouch. Oh and the breakfast... wow, practically orgasmic... hehe, but not really. All you can eat- eggs, cereal, fruit (oh fresh fruit for free... wow) bread, jams, pancakes, basically everything- and as much of it as we wanted. We had to stumble back up to the room and sleep it off for like an hour. Haha, needless to say it was quite a great experience.
Spent the rest of the day walking around Melbourne... and working... yay for working.
Sunday i got to sit stroke seat in the 8 at practice. This is very exciting (if you don't know what that means... it's basically sitting in the front of the crew boat and setting the pace for everyone else, so for a control freak like me, it's great).
The week has started well so far. I'm soon going ot be in charge of making the sandwiches at the food court restaurant where i work, which make things more fun and interesting. The coaching continues to be the highlight of my week. I only have one more week at ALbert Park Primary with my soccer boys (who are my favorites) so that's a little sad. But i might be back next term, so finger crossed. And the night job continues to be fun, a tad bit challenging, and a decent money earner (30 bucks in tips for Friday and Saturday).
So yeah, life is good. My bike still gets me to and from work, my legs still have a constant build up of lactic acid, i'm planning excursions in the city for the next few weekends, I'm getting my butt in gear to apply to some grad schools for next year, I'm saving money so maybe one day i'll be able to come home, and well i miss everybody, but am content being here.
But, I must depart and write some letters, and get some sleep. So to all (or any remaining blog readers) good night and good luck.
More on the hotel stay later, but first- I went to a fashion show last tuesday. Yes, me... oh and i took ryan with me. I don't think the fashion world is ready for the two of us. Between us we probably have negative fashion sense... But i couldn't let all of the tickets go to waste (and they gave out free goodie bags!). The event was held in the Melbourne Town Hall. And they were serving champagne and giving away free Dove chocolate in the sort of waiting room before the show started. So we filled our pockets with very very yummy chocolate. The show itself was odd. Lots of pale, skinny girls with odd colored lipstick and wearing clothing that no one in their right mind would ever wear out in public. But I guess that's fashion for you.
Afterwards we wandered to a bar called Section 8... it's basically a rented out parking lot. A trailer packed with alcohol serves as a bar, and you sit on old crates surrounded by oil drums and graffitied walls. It's pretty spiffy. And we were enjoying our beers/ciders, when a random afghani male comes over. Yeah, an afghani male. Oh, and did i mention he's drunk? And he decides that we are two lovely young women (well after he asks ryan whether she's a boy or a girl... and then proceeds to call her "brian" for the rest of the night. And then he decides to get far too close to us, and stand in front of me and lean over, pressing his hands against my knees. And then as we run away, trying to put as much distance between ourselves and this odd drunken man, (he asks if he can come home with us) he gives me a hug and asks if he can kiss me.... um, that would be a no... really NO! So i gracefully (or not so gracefully) detanlge myself from him, and we bolt.... AWKWARD!
And then this weekend- well, Friday night, Daniel Zietlow (who was visiting from Sydney where he is studying abroad) and I got to stay in the Westin Melbourne, where people open doors for you, the elevator requires a key to go up to certain levels, there are free apples everywhere, the beds and bathrooms are "heavenly" and um a room usually costs 675 dollars a night... ouch. Oh and the breakfast... wow, practically orgasmic... hehe, but not really. All you can eat- eggs, cereal, fruit (oh fresh fruit for free... wow) bread, jams, pancakes, basically everything- and as much of it as we wanted. We had to stumble back up to the room and sleep it off for like an hour. Haha, needless to say it was quite a great experience.
Spent the rest of the day walking around Melbourne... and working... yay for working.
Sunday i got to sit stroke seat in the 8 at practice. This is very exciting (if you don't know what that means... it's basically sitting in the front of the crew boat and setting the pace for everyone else, so for a control freak like me, it's great).
The week has started well so far. I'm soon going ot be in charge of making the sandwiches at the food court restaurant where i work, which make things more fun and interesting. The coaching continues to be the highlight of my week. I only have one more week at ALbert Park Primary with my soccer boys (who are my favorites) so that's a little sad. But i might be back next term, so finger crossed. And the night job continues to be fun, a tad bit challenging, and a decent money earner (30 bucks in tips for Friday and Saturday).
So yeah, life is good. My bike still gets me to and from work, my legs still have a constant build up of lactic acid, i'm planning excursions in the city for the next few weekends, I'm getting my butt in gear to apply to some grad schools for next year, I'm saving money so maybe one day i'll be able to come home, and well i miss everybody, but am content being here.
But, I must depart and write some letters, and get some sleep. So to all (or any remaining blog readers) good night and good luck.
Friday, August 29, 2008
week whatever (10 and 11 maybe??) on jewish nazis, my first day off, and how irony defines my life...
Hello though and thank you for attempting to suffer through yet another installment of my blog. Okay so I'll start off with saying I am now the world's slowest long distance biker. I bought that 65 dollar bike from the pawn shop about um 3 weeks ago I guess. And, it goes alright and serves its purpose... but, man!, I feel sooooo slow. When I ride to work in the morning, everyone and their mom passes me. I'm talking people who are 20 years older, overweight, and probably heavy smokers. And they pass me like I'm going backwards. At first I thought this was because I just wasn't used to biking. But, almost 3 weeks in and my biking hasn't improved, and I'm now thinking it's because my bike doesn't have the need for speed (or the ability for speed) that these other bikes do. I mean, 9 of the 10 people who pass me couldn't run 2 miles if their lives depended upon it... it just makes me sad to feel so slows. But I do now have QUADS OF STEEL! and crazy amounts of lactic acid built up in my legs all the time. And well if it weren't for the ticket I got last sunday (yes, I got a ticket on my bike...) this would be a great money saver. However, I did get a ticket for not having my helmet on. Yep, it's a full blown law here. And it didn't matter that I could literally see where I was going from when I got on my bike. I still got "pulled over" and got a traffic ticket. Hmm, wow.
On a different note, and the main reason I wasn't overly concerned about said bike ticket was my new and mostly fantabulous waitressing job. I mentioned it in my last blog, but I am still quit enamored with this job. All my fellow waitresses and one fellow waiter seem wonderful and understanding and efficient (with one or two exceptions) and, I made 18 bucks in tips one night, plus 2 bottles of wine, plus a piece of cake... mm yum. And, every once in awhile (well pretty much every night I work) I get a free margarita. Hurray. So, as far as I can tell, this one is a keeper. Oh, and on Wednesday night, which was a fun, semi busy night at FIESTA, one of my co-workers Jade (who is like second in command I guess, but not really) told another one of my co-workers, Kim (who's very friendly and smiley, but also very good at the whole waitressing thing) to stop being so fidgety and running around so much, and Kim said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I just learned never to stand still at my old job. My boss, well she was like this Jewish Nazi" (she paused here) "Oh wait, that doesn't sound right...But well she was, she was a nazi... and Jewish" Apparently Kim used to work at a beauty therapy place.... hmm yeah, sounds like it caters to a certain income group for sure. And the woman who ran it was not very pleasant.
I let Ryan fill in for me today at the day job, and I am sitting at home on the couch at 1030 (don't think this has ever happened before). I'm going to an AFL game later today and I'm super excited about this. I do have to work tonight, but I look forward to working at FIESTA, so it's no big deal.
Now that I've covered the Jewish Nazi and my day off (hurray day off) I will discuss what I see as Karma's way of showing me I haven't done anything too bad, or what could just be one of the most amusing instances of irony in the history of life. So, the last blog I wrote was written at Mag Nation a magazine store, where i got a large cookie and coffee for 5 dollars. In order to get said coffee and cookie, I had to fill out a raffley ticket type thing. It was totally uninteresting to me, something about Melbourne Fashion Week, blah blah blah. I have very very little fashion sense and even less interest in fashion. So later when I looked at the raffle ticket stub i thought, "Hmm 500 dollars in shopping and 150 dollars to ALDO shoe store, and tickets to a fashion parade... If I won that I wouldn't even know what to do with it, that would be hilarious". Yesterday I was riding the world's slowest bike to my second job of the day (coaching) and i felt my phone vibrate. I thought it might be my coaching boss with information about practice or equipment or something. So I stopped an answered. At first I was sure it was someone either telemarketing or telling me I owed them money (neither one a very exciting prospect). However, it turned out to be someone from the Melbourne fashion department telling me, yes me the switzerland of fashion, that i had won the prize... uhhh. I don't think I gave her the excited response she was looking for. I pondered for a split second (unable to remember where and when I had actually entered into such an absurd raffle) and then figured it out, and in my uncultured American accent said, "Oh sweet, that's awesome, thanks". Yeah, she was probably thinking, "Oh god, who have we just given this prize to???" But anyway I have tickets for about every night this week for some sort of fashion experience, a one night stay in a hotel for next friday (i'm working unfortunately, and 500 dollars worth of vouchers to a ritzy shopping center in Melbourne...
haha, so first of all, if you don't see the irony and hilarity in this situation, you need help. Second of all, I've had some very dicey luck recently (the traffic ticket, losing part of my watch biking home from work, and other miscellany which I won't discuss here) so in a way, I think this is the universe's way of evening things out... i just hope nothing super terrible happens now... cause this is really too much good luck.
But yeah, today is a GOOD!!!! day. I'll relax for a bit longer. Then go to the footie (aussie rules football, the great cultural experience) then hang out in the city briefly perhaps (maybe some shopping ;)) then meet my uncle for our traditional saturday afternoon drinks, then FIESTA! then home late, and bed.
ANd tomorrow i get to go rowing on the Yarra (our first regatta is in 2 weeks!) SO yeah, things are spiffy.
On a totally unrelated note, I finally finished Don Delillo's The Underworld. I started it (with some interuptions) for the second time in June. Now I'm on to William Faulkner's A Light In August. I think Slaughterhouse 5 will be next. If you have any other suggestions for good reading while in Oz land, please let me know. Okay readers... that's all for me. :) be happy, life is good.
On a different note, and the main reason I wasn't overly concerned about said bike ticket was my new and mostly fantabulous waitressing job. I mentioned it in my last blog, but I am still quit enamored with this job. All my fellow waitresses and one fellow waiter seem wonderful and understanding and efficient (with one or two exceptions) and, I made 18 bucks in tips one night, plus 2 bottles of wine, plus a piece of cake... mm yum. And, every once in awhile (well pretty much every night I work) I get a free margarita. Hurray. So, as far as I can tell, this one is a keeper. Oh, and on Wednesday night, which was a fun, semi busy night at FIESTA, one of my co-workers Jade (who is like second in command I guess, but not really) told another one of my co-workers, Kim (who's very friendly and smiley, but also very good at the whole waitressing thing) to stop being so fidgety and running around so much, and Kim said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I just learned never to stand still at my old job. My boss, well she was like this Jewish Nazi" (she paused here) "Oh wait, that doesn't sound right...But well she was, she was a nazi... and Jewish" Apparently Kim used to work at a beauty therapy place.... hmm yeah, sounds like it caters to a certain income group for sure. And the woman who ran it was not very pleasant.
I let Ryan fill in for me today at the day job, and I am sitting at home on the couch at 1030 (don't think this has ever happened before). I'm going to an AFL game later today and I'm super excited about this. I do have to work tonight, but I look forward to working at FIESTA, so it's no big deal.
Now that I've covered the Jewish Nazi and my day off (hurray day off) I will discuss what I see as Karma's way of showing me I haven't done anything too bad, or what could just be one of the most amusing instances of irony in the history of life. So, the last blog I wrote was written at Mag Nation a magazine store, where i got a large cookie and coffee for 5 dollars. In order to get said coffee and cookie, I had to fill out a raffley ticket type thing. It was totally uninteresting to me, something about Melbourne Fashion Week, blah blah blah. I have very very little fashion sense and even less interest in fashion. So later when I looked at the raffle ticket stub i thought, "Hmm 500 dollars in shopping and 150 dollars to ALDO shoe store, and tickets to a fashion parade... If I won that I wouldn't even know what to do with it, that would be hilarious". Yesterday I was riding the world's slowest bike to my second job of the day (coaching) and i felt my phone vibrate. I thought it might be my coaching boss with information about practice or equipment or something. So I stopped an answered. At first I was sure it was someone either telemarketing or telling me I owed them money (neither one a very exciting prospect). However, it turned out to be someone from the Melbourne fashion department telling me, yes me the switzerland of fashion, that i had won the prize... uhhh. I don't think I gave her the excited response she was looking for. I pondered for a split second (unable to remember where and when I had actually entered into such an absurd raffle) and then figured it out, and in my uncultured American accent said, "Oh sweet, that's awesome, thanks". Yeah, she was probably thinking, "Oh god, who have we just given this prize to???" But anyway I have tickets for about every night this week for some sort of fashion experience, a one night stay in a hotel for next friday (i'm working unfortunately, and 500 dollars worth of vouchers to a ritzy shopping center in Melbourne...
haha, so first of all, if you don't see the irony and hilarity in this situation, you need help. Second of all, I've had some very dicey luck recently (the traffic ticket, losing part of my watch biking home from work, and other miscellany which I won't discuss here) so in a way, I think this is the universe's way of evening things out... i just hope nothing super terrible happens now... cause this is really too much good luck.
But yeah, today is a GOOD!!!! day. I'll relax for a bit longer. Then go to the footie (aussie rules football, the great cultural experience) then hang out in the city briefly perhaps (maybe some shopping ;)) then meet my uncle for our traditional saturday afternoon drinks, then FIESTA! then home late, and bed.
ANd tomorrow i get to go rowing on the Yarra (our first regatta is in 2 weeks!) SO yeah, things are spiffy.
On a totally unrelated note, I finally finished Don Delillo's The Underworld. I started it (with some interuptions) for the second time in June. Now I'm on to William Faulkner's A Light In August. I think Slaughterhouse 5 will be next. If you have any other suggestions for good reading while in Oz land, please let me know. Okay readers... that's all for me. :) be happy, life is good.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
i've been here for 2 months! hurray me! :)
Hello there, faithful blog readers (and not so faithful blog readers). It's been a few weeks I think. But I'm back with another addition of the "Exciting Times of Erica Tibbetts" (I didn't come up with that, I stole it from a very clever friend, but I like that it boiled down to the ET of ET, so I couldn't resist). Anyway, I'm sitting in a magazine shop eating a wonderfully sugary cookie and drinking a reasonabley sized coffee (both for the measly sum of 5 dollars) about 2 blocks from the center of Melbourne's downtown. Just got done with rowing practice, and will soon be off home to watch as much of the olympics as I can before I fall asleep.
Life has been, er interesting? for the last few weeks. Namely the last week. But I'll start where I left off like 2 weeks ago.
Since then I have a) bought a bike b) realized that my trip to and from work everyday encapsulates a small microcosm of society that could serve as a basis for defining most of human society c) gotten yet another job d) started to really enjoy coaching the little kiddies every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday e) realized how much I'm gonna miss Rollins f) really felt like I'm settling in here and g) um, lots of other things.
First of all, the days here are fantastic some of the time. Like today! It's cool- I think 10 degrees celsius, which is like 50 degrees F. But it's sunny and clear and there's very little wind and it's like the perfect day. I mean, for those of you who played sports when you were little, it's like those days when you'd wake up so excited to go out and run around and yell and win and run and just be content with the very moment in which you lived and the very act of playing, and there was nothing more to life than that day. I felt like that a lot growing up and playing soccer and just getting lost in single moments and games and days. Today felt like that, and Tuesday was the same. Just perfectly happy days.
But it's also really crappy here sometimes too. I got quite damp yesterday getting home from work at like 1245 am... gross.
Oh and on an entirely different note, I saw the coolest guy ever on the train that perfect tuesday earlier this week. He had an Australian Shepherd type dog (kind of grey and black and mottled and shaggy) and really eccentric clothing- like layers and raggy looking bits- he was unshaven, longish hair, but not too untidy or scary looking. And he had a little baby guitar looking thing that he was playing the whole train ride (only like 8 minutes for me, but still) and he had a skateboard. And I just thought he was the coolest guy ever. Really wanted to take his picture, but didn't have the guts to ask. Oh well.
Coaching has been great. The little devils have learned not to mess with me too much, and I've learned to have fun even when they're not listening or are unable to really grasp what I'm trying to tell them. But this last week has been kinda awesome and I actually look forward to going to practice. And apparently (or so I'm told by the parents) they look forward to coming too. Which is fun.
The day job is the usual- boring, repetitive, and I get barked at every single morning for something i didn't do or that is contradictory to what i was told earlier or something totally pointless. But i've learned to live with that. It's all good. And there are some regulars who know me now and who i have talking to.
I did pick up a night job, which was very exciting because a) i need a little more money and b) i never thought anyone was going to hire me. See, I don't have much experience doing anything except for scooping ice cream, answering phones, and thinking hard. And there's not much market for thinkers in the blue collar industry. And I'm too lazy (or something) to get a real job here. It would just be hard what with me not being here too long and not knowing where to start, and a part of me wants to be a hard working, coaching, starving artist type- at least til i get home in april.
Anyway, the night job. I work at Fiesta, a mexican restaurant right next to a reasonably big train station and sort of on the ritzy end of town (not the dodgy end). Well, I have worked there for two nights, and I expect to be going back either tonight (crossing my fingers that they don't call me... i really don't want to work tonight) or Monday. The other waitress and waiter seem quite reasonable and the boss seems like well a typical slightly obnoxious boss. But I have had no trouble with him thus far, and hopefully if i work my butt off i will remain on his good side and not have to worry. The two nights I have worked, I've been doing mostly drink orders adn running up and down stairs. They have an upstairs "party room" as it were, and it was booked out to large parties. And a lot of the food was on a set menu, so i just had to worry about bringing up copious amounts of beer and margarita. Got home last night exhausted after working friday 11 to 230 at the day job, then 3 to 5 coaching, then 630 to 1130 at Fiesta and then yesterday 11-4 at the day job and 6-1130 at fiesta. So yeah, a couple of long days.
Like I mnetioned, I now have a b-b-bike which makes life a lot easier. No more worrying about missing trains. It's about 6 or 7 miles each way to work. So around 13 or 14 miles roundtrip- which i have done a few times, but which I'd probably prefer not to do everyday. So some days I will train it one way or the other, and some days I'll ride the whole way. The bike is probably the best one I've owned in years (the last couple I had were pretty shoddy). It has decent breaks, good gears, and a seat that i'm steadily getting used to. I had a little bit of a misadventure actually getting this bike. I went into "Cash Converters" a rather legitimate and large pawn shop. ANd they had a huge selection of bicycles. I moseyed around for awhile (this was at about 530- not long before they closed at 6). Eventually picked one out. but it had a flat tire, so i picked another one. The seat was a little high, but I figured they could adjust that or I could take it down to the bike store a block away and have it adjusted. This was like 4 minutes before closing. The guy tried to adjust the seat, but to no avail, so he gave me 30 bucks off and mentioned that I would probably need the breaks tightened too. No worries, I thought, shouldn't be that hard to take care of, and for only 35 dollars it's a deal!. Picked out a helmet and was ready. The guy said noramlly they would let me test drive it, but because they were closing soon I didn't have time. So I just took off. I realized 2 blocks later that the seat not only wouldn't go down further but that it twisted around and was too high for me to sit on and pedal. I got to the bike store where I was told that the seat didn't even belong to the bike and that it was a piece of crap and I should go back and get my money! Unfortunately it was now after 6 and the pawn shop was closed... I was slightly miffed- well quite pissed and disappointed, actually. Still I mananged to get the bike home (despite thoughts of just leaving somewhere for someone else to steal and try to ride) and figured I'd go back the next day to give it back and maybe get a little of my money back. To my surprise they let me exchange it, pay another 30 bucks and get the nice little thing I have now, which is by no means a nice bike, but it's very rideable. It's sort of turquoisey green and called Starwind (or something like that). I'm quite fond of it...Every time I lock it up somewhere I have a sneaking suspicion that when I walk back out it will have been stolen and I will again be at the mercies of public transport. But, so far so good.
Anyway, for those of you still reading, I'm sure I've bored you quite enough by now. I have other things to rant and rave about, but I'll save that for later. For now, wish me luck juggling 3 jobs, rowing, and working out like a maniac (and still sleeping occasionally) oh, and applying to grad school again (so i can go back to being valued just for thinking- i like that).
Later kids.
Life has been, er interesting? for the last few weeks. Namely the last week. But I'll start where I left off like 2 weeks ago.
Since then I have a) bought a bike b) realized that my trip to and from work everyday encapsulates a small microcosm of society that could serve as a basis for defining most of human society c) gotten yet another job d) started to really enjoy coaching the little kiddies every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday e) realized how much I'm gonna miss Rollins f) really felt like I'm settling in here and g) um, lots of other things.
First of all, the days here are fantastic some of the time. Like today! It's cool- I think 10 degrees celsius, which is like 50 degrees F. But it's sunny and clear and there's very little wind and it's like the perfect day. I mean, for those of you who played sports when you were little, it's like those days when you'd wake up so excited to go out and run around and yell and win and run and just be content with the very moment in which you lived and the very act of playing, and there was nothing more to life than that day. I felt like that a lot growing up and playing soccer and just getting lost in single moments and games and days. Today felt like that, and Tuesday was the same. Just perfectly happy days.
But it's also really crappy here sometimes too. I got quite damp yesterday getting home from work at like 1245 am... gross.
Oh and on an entirely different note, I saw the coolest guy ever on the train that perfect tuesday earlier this week. He had an Australian Shepherd type dog (kind of grey and black and mottled and shaggy) and really eccentric clothing- like layers and raggy looking bits- he was unshaven, longish hair, but not too untidy or scary looking. And he had a little baby guitar looking thing that he was playing the whole train ride (only like 8 minutes for me, but still) and he had a skateboard. And I just thought he was the coolest guy ever. Really wanted to take his picture, but didn't have the guts to ask. Oh well.
Coaching has been great. The little devils have learned not to mess with me too much, and I've learned to have fun even when they're not listening or are unable to really grasp what I'm trying to tell them. But this last week has been kinda awesome and I actually look forward to going to practice. And apparently (or so I'm told by the parents) they look forward to coming too. Which is fun.
The day job is the usual- boring, repetitive, and I get barked at every single morning for something i didn't do or that is contradictory to what i was told earlier or something totally pointless. But i've learned to live with that. It's all good. And there are some regulars who know me now and who i have talking to.
I did pick up a night job, which was very exciting because a) i need a little more money and b) i never thought anyone was going to hire me. See, I don't have much experience doing anything except for scooping ice cream, answering phones, and thinking hard. And there's not much market for thinkers in the blue collar industry. And I'm too lazy (or something) to get a real job here. It would just be hard what with me not being here too long and not knowing where to start, and a part of me wants to be a hard working, coaching, starving artist type- at least til i get home in april.
Anyway, the night job. I work at Fiesta, a mexican restaurant right next to a reasonably big train station and sort of on the ritzy end of town (not the dodgy end). Well, I have worked there for two nights, and I expect to be going back either tonight (crossing my fingers that they don't call me... i really don't want to work tonight) or Monday. The other waitress and waiter seem quite reasonable and the boss seems like well a typical slightly obnoxious boss. But I have had no trouble with him thus far, and hopefully if i work my butt off i will remain on his good side and not have to worry. The two nights I have worked, I've been doing mostly drink orders adn running up and down stairs. They have an upstairs "party room" as it were, and it was booked out to large parties. And a lot of the food was on a set menu, so i just had to worry about bringing up copious amounts of beer and margarita. Got home last night exhausted after working friday 11 to 230 at the day job, then 3 to 5 coaching, then 630 to 1130 at Fiesta and then yesterday 11-4 at the day job and 6-1130 at fiesta. So yeah, a couple of long days.
Like I mnetioned, I now have a b-b-bike which makes life a lot easier. No more worrying about missing trains. It's about 6 or 7 miles each way to work. So around 13 or 14 miles roundtrip- which i have done a few times, but which I'd probably prefer not to do everyday. So some days I will train it one way or the other, and some days I'll ride the whole way. The bike is probably the best one I've owned in years (the last couple I had were pretty shoddy). It has decent breaks, good gears, and a seat that i'm steadily getting used to. I had a little bit of a misadventure actually getting this bike. I went into "Cash Converters" a rather legitimate and large pawn shop. ANd they had a huge selection of bicycles. I moseyed around for awhile (this was at about 530- not long before they closed at 6). Eventually picked one out. but it had a flat tire, so i picked another one. The seat was a little high, but I figured they could adjust that or I could take it down to the bike store a block away and have it adjusted. This was like 4 minutes before closing. The guy tried to adjust the seat, but to no avail, so he gave me 30 bucks off and mentioned that I would probably need the breaks tightened too. No worries, I thought, shouldn't be that hard to take care of, and for only 35 dollars it's a deal!. Picked out a helmet and was ready. The guy said noramlly they would let me test drive it, but because they were closing soon I didn't have time. So I just took off. I realized 2 blocks later that the seat not only wouldn't go down further but that it twisted around and was too high for me to sit on and pedal. I got to the bike store where I was told that the seat didn't even belong to the bike and that it was a piece of crap and I should go back and get my money! Unfortunately it was now after 6 and the pawn shop was closed... I was slightly miffed- well quite pissed and disappointed, actually. Still I mananged to get the bike home (despite thoughts of just leaving somewhere for someone else to steal and try to ride) and figured I'd go back the next day to give it back and maybe get a little of my money back. To my surprise they let me exchange it, pay another 30 bucks and get the nice little thing I have now, which is by no means a nice bike, but it's very rideable. It's sort of turquoisey green and called Starwind (or something like that). I'm quite fond of it...Every time I lock it up somewhere I have a sneaking suspicion that when I walk back out it will have been stolen and I will again be at the mercies of public transport. But, so far so good.
Anyway, for those of you still reading, I'm sure I've bored you quite enough by now. I have other things to rant and rave about, but I'll save that for later. For now, wish me luck juggling 3 jobs, rowing, and working out like a maniac (and still sleeping occasionally) oh, and applying to grad school again (so i can go back to being valued just for thinking- i like that).
Later kids.
Friday, August 1, 2008
week 7 i think (on selfish tram riders, baby dragons, and other miscellany)
Hello there faithful blog readers (all three of you). So we've been in aussie land for just over 6 weeks. It's hard to believe. Time has flown in places and stood still in others. And for you lucky rolly colly kids you'll be going back to school soon. Man, I'm actually jealous. I'm not going to miss classes- not just yet anyway- but I already miss the place and the people. And, I realized the other day that when I'm homesick, it's not for a place, it's for a certain feeling. I miss walking into a room, or walking up to someone and seeing them smile. Yep, I miss making people smile just by being me. No one here gets excited for me. And that makes me feel really weird. Yes yes, I realize how self-important and egotistical this all sounds.... but it's the truth. A guy walked up to the food court/cafe thing that I work at the other day and he smiled (and looked excited) when he saw me. And that made me happy. And that was how I realized the whole smiling reaction. Maybe in a few months I'll have found a new niche, but for now, I miss the old one.
Anyway, on to the main part of this blog- Selfish Tram Riders, well train riders too. Anyway, I ride a tram and a train to work every day, and then back again. And I've realized that some people, no matter how busy the tram, will sit on the outside seat, the one on the aisle, and put their bags on the seat next to them. And on the train someone will sit on the outside seat in a row of three. This means that a) people cannot sit even when 1 or 2 seats are open or b) they have to push past knees and bags and other stuff. And, this makes me angry. Why can't you just sit next to the window and let someone sit next to you. Most people on public transport don't bite... (most). Some look like they might. It just erks me, thats all.
Now, on to baby dragons. I had one living in my chest for about 3 days at the beginning of the week. I woke up Sunday morning (my day off) at about 11... yes, i slept in for once. And i had a sor throat. You know one of those that feels like someone has been rubbing sand paper up and down it for an hour. And this was a surprise because I hadn't felt sick the night before. Anyway, I drank lots of water and felt better. I then went running, and was having a very nice run along the nearby river when i realized I had forgotten to wake Ryan up for her job interview (I served as her alarm clock for about 2 weeks) she now has one thanks to bailey who sent her a nice little baby one all the way from Florida (that's love). Anyway I sprinted (well, jogged quickly) the 4 miles home only to find her already gone, to my relief. She was slightly annoyed with me later, but realized that it was not really my job to wake her up, so she couldn't get too mad.
Back to the small dragon. So monday night I didn't sleep very well, coughing, trouble breathing through my nose, even worse sore throat, etc. But I survived. Worked out Monday morning (pulled a 10k on the erg, be jealous Kim D.) And worked my cafe job, and coached soccer to obnoxious little kiddies and did everything i normally do. But then, I woke up tuesday and a little dragon had taken up residence in my chest, and he was compressing my lungs so i couldn't breathe, and he was blowing flames up my throat and out my ears, and he had one claw pinched on my nose and his tail wrapped around my forehead. It was rather a dreadful feeling. I slept in til 8, longer than usual. Didn't work out at all and drank lots of tea before trudging out of the hosue to work. The syrians who i work for were very concerned (the other main girl who works for them was off skiing). They gave me some sort of pain killers and instructions to get lots of rest and drink tea with lemon.
Well, i got off work and felt well enough to go to the movies with Ryan. We saw the new x-files movie. I was an x-files junkie at one point so it was very exciting for me. It wasn't a great movie, but it was entertaining and mulder and scully end up living together which is very cute for any x-files fan... so it was good enough for me.
And then i got lots of sleep and drank tea (no lemon though) and by the next morning my little dragon had said his farewells and moved on to someone elses chest. Hurray!
The rest of the week had been fine. Coached 2 more groups of obnoxious preppy little kids, went to a spinning class this morning, slept some and am going rowing tomorrow with Richmond Rowing Club. If you know me, you will understand how exciting this is... They go to head races til about december and then sprint regattas in the summer and then the season ends around march. WHich is when i will be about ready to return to the US of A. So it sounds pretty darn good to me!!!
Anyway, I'm off to wander the streets of Melbourne. Wish me luck with fending off future dragons and learning how to succesfully entertain and deal with obnoxious little kids.
Anyway, on to the main part of this blog- Selfish Tram Riders, well train riders too. Anyway, I ride a tram and a train to work every day, and then back again. And I've realized that some people, no matter how busy the tram, will sit on the outside seat, the one on the aisle, and put their bags on the seat next to them. And on the train someone will sit on the outside seat in a row of three. This means that a) people cannot sit even when 1 or 2 seats are open or b) they have to push past knees and bags and other stuff. And, this makes me angry. Why can't you just sit next to the window and let someone sit next to you. Most people on public transport don't bite... (most). Some look like they might. It just erks me, thats all.
Now, on to baby dragons. I had one living in my chest for about 3 days at the beginning of the week. I woke up Sunday morning (my day off) at about 11... yes, i slept in for once. And i had a sor throat. You know one of those that feels like someone has been rubbing sand paper up and down it for an hour. And this was a surprise because I hadn't felt sick the night before. Anyway, I drank lots of water and felt better. I then went running, and was having a very nice run along the nearby river when i realized I had forgotten to wake Ryan up for her job interview (I served as her alarm clock for about 2 weeks) she now has one thanks to bailey who sent her a nice little baby one all the way from Florida (that's love). Anyway I sprinted (well, jogged quickly) the 4 miles home only to find her already gone, to my relief. She was slightly annoyed with me later, but realized that it was not really my job to wake her up, so she couldn't get too mad.
Back to the small dragon. So monday night I didn't sleep very well, coughing, trouble breathing through my nose, even worse sore throat, etc. But I survived. Worked out Monday morning (pulled a 10k on the erg, be jealous Kim D.) And worked my cafe job, and coached soccer to obnoxious little kiddies and did everything i normally do. But then, I woke up tuesday and a little dragon had taken up residence in my chest, and he was compressing my lungs so i couldn't breathe, and he was blowing flames up my throat and out my ears, and he had one claw pinched on my nose and his tail wrapped around my forehead. It was rather a dreadful feeling. I slept in til 8, longer than usual. Didn't work out at all and drank lots of tea before trudging out of the hosue to work. The syrians who i work for were very concerned (the other main girl who works for them was off skiing). They gave me some sort of pain killers and instructions to get lots of rest and drink tea with lemon.
Well, i got off work and felt well enough to go to the movies with Ryan. We saw the new x-files movie. I was an x-files junkie at one point so it was very exciting for me. It wasn't a great movie, but it was entertaining and mulder and scully end up living together which is very cute for any x-files fan... so it was good enough for me.
And then i got lots of sleep and drank tea (no lemon though) and by the next morning my little dragon had said his farewells and moved on to someone elses chest. Hurray!
The rest of the week had been fine. Coached 2 more groups of obnoxious preppy little kids, went to a spinning class this morning, slept some and am going rowing tomorrow with Richmond Rowing Club. If you know me, you will understand how exciting this is... They go to head races til about december and then sprint regattas in the summer and then the season ends around march. WHich is when i will be about ready to return to the US of A. So it sounds pretty darn good to me!!!
Anyway, I'm off to wander the streets of Melbourne. Wish me luck with fending off future dragons and learning how to succesfully entertain and deal with obnoxious little kids.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
weeks 4 and 5 (on the lack of dryers and how awesome the sky is here)
So, as promised, I have been lax on my blog for awhile. But, now i'm back! Yay... at present the internet situation is tough. Ryan and I have succesfully found a place to live- with 3 Australian nurses: Nicola, Jess, and Jacqui. They are quite wonderful people. And the house we just moved into is fully furnished, has 5 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and 3 toilets. It's pretty darn amazing. But they don't have wireless internet, just this little external modem thingee that plugs into the USB port of the computer. So we have to share this little USB thingee, and it has a limitied amount of information transfer. Meaning we can't be on it for hours every night and I can't upload any pictures or download music, etc.
I can however spend 15 minutes bloggin right now.
So, the house. We met these girls about 2 weeks ago. Ryan posted an add on gumtree.com (the craigs list of Australia) saying a little about us, with a picture (not sure how we didn't scare them away from the start) and saying we were looking for a place to live for 9 ish months.
These girls emailed her, I called them on my cell phone (yes, i have a phone... I'll give you the number if you ask nicely). We met them for drinks/coffee and then moved in with them at their old house. Yep, we moved in with them last week and stayed in their spare room on their spare mattress (it wasn't overly comfortable, but it worked). Then, we moved into this place 3 days ago. It's part of the athlete's village that was built for the commonwealth games here a few years ago. Very fittng for me, I know.
Speaking of athletics, I am now coaching 3 times a week. And for the most part the kids are little brats. All 3 venues are like preppy private schools (so it's like a mini-rolly colly crowd). And some of the kids are just way too energetic and obnoxious. One of them decided to repeat everything i was saying for about a half hour. Still, the people who I co-coach with are pretty awesome, and i get paid reasonably.
I also think I'm going to start rowing again soon, Richmond Rowing club is located on the Yarra in the middle of Melbourne. It's an awesome location (pictures will be up when I can manage it). I rowed with them once (well rowed/coxed/coached) with the novice/development squad. And I'm going back again next Sunday hopefully to get back out on the water. I'm super excited.
Now, for the dryer situation. The silly study abroad kids should have mentioned that no one here has a dryer... boo. So everything has to be hung on lines outside. And a) it's winter so it's cold and b) it rains a lot and c) I'm hardly ever home. So it basically is quite an ordeal to do laundry.
Next thing. The sky here is better. Almost everytime I walk outside I'm kinda struck by how clear the clouds look, or how much better the colors are, or just how much clearer, crisper, fresher, better the sky looks. I know that sounds weird, but it's like everywhere else there's a film between us and the sky, and here, the film is removed. That could have something to do with the missing ozone layer? (i hear you can get sunburnt here in 15 minutes flat) or maybe there's less pollution? or maybe it's just a bottom of the world type thing. But, the sky here is indeed better...
Anyway, this is the short/annotated version of my life. If you want more details get in touch. If you want to send me some love my address is 91 parkville ave, parkville, Victoria, 3052. I'd love letters or postcards or anything... i miss my peeps. haha, but really.
I'll try to be better about posting (if indeed anyone is actually reading this...) But until then, spare a thought for me in the dryerless land of better skies.
I can however spend 15 minutes bloggin right now.
So, the house. We met these girls about 2 weeks ago. Ryan posted an add on gumtree.com (the craigs list of Australia) saying a little about us, with a picture (not sure how we didn't scare them away from the start) and saying we were looking for a place to live for 9 ish months.
These girls emailed her, I called them on my cell phone (yes, i have a phone... I'll give you the number if you ask nicely). We met them for drinks/coffee and then moved in with them at their old house. Yep, we moved in with them last week and stayed in their spare room on their spare mattress (it wasn't overly comfortable, but it worked). Then, we moved into this place 3 days ago. It's part of the athlete's village that was built for the commonwealth games here a few years ago. Very fittng for me, I know.
Speaking of athletics, I am now coaching 3 times a week. And for the most part the kids are little brats. All 3 venues are like preppy private schools (so it's like a mini-rolly colly crowd). And some of the kids are just way too energetic and obnoxious. One of them decided to repeat everything i was saying for about a half hour. Still, the people who I co-coach with are pretty awesome, and i get paid reasonably.
I also think I'm going to start rowing again soon, Richmond Rowing club is located on the Yarra in the middle of Melbourne. It's an awesome location (pictures will be up when I can manage it). I rowed with them once (well rowed/coxed/coached) with the novice/development squad. And I'm going back again next Sunday hopefully to get back out on the water. I'm super excited.
Now, for the dryer situation. The silly study abroad kids should have mentioned that no one here has a dryer... boo. So everything has to be hung on lines outside. And a) it's winter so it's cold and b) it rains a lot and c) I'm hardly ever home. So it basically is quite an ordeal to do laundry.
Next thing. The sky here is better. Almost everytime I walk outside I'm kinda struck by how clear the clouds look, or how much better the colors are, or just how much clearer, crisper, fresher, better the sky looks. I know that sounds weird, but it's like everywhere else there's a film between us and the sky, and here, the film is removed. That could have something to do with the missing ozone layer? (i hear you can get sunburnt here in 15 minutes flat) or maybe there's less pollution? or maybe it's just a bottom of the world type thing. But, the sky here is indeed better...
Anyway, this is the short/annotated version of my life. If you want more details get in touch. If you want to send me some love my address is 91 parkville ave, parkville, Victoria, 3052. I'd love letters or postcards or anything... i miss my peeps. haha, but really.
I'll try to be better about posting (if indeed anyone is actually reading this...) But until then, spare a thought for me in the dryerless land of better skies.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
um, week 3?
So, I figure it is the fate of most blogs that the first couple of posts are written diligently and in a timely fashion, and then after that the writer forgets to write them, gets to busy, or just figures there is no point. And after the novelty of the first two, most of the readers probably get bored.
Which means that if I happen to stop writing for awhile or disappear entirely, it's to be expected.
Anyway, um life has been interesting. The job is progressing reasonably well- I work between 5 and 6 hours a day and they keep me fed and well caffinated and give me 11 dollars an hour... woo! and it seems they like to keep me around just to talk to me sometimes too.
And, I did get the coaching job I applied for. I will be coaching soccer on Modays, basketball on Wednesdays, and "Olympic Sport" on Fridays. Yeah, olympic sport. No idea what that entails. The other two I feel reasonably confident about, but when it comes to high jump, long jump or any kind of sprinting I'm probably not the right person to ask. Still, I hope they will give me some pointers and I think I will be coaching younger kids who probably won't question what I tell them. Lets hope anyway.
Last weekend my Uncle's house was invaded by yet more boarders... Simon (Mick's partner)'s neice and nephew, Tash and James, came to stay. They are both very smart, very interesting New Zealanders. Tash is a high powered, work all day/night type of lawyer for Microsoft. James is an aspiring law student who will probably be a pretty influential person one day, even if some of his views are a little extreme (like abolishing the jury part of the trial by jury). We has some very interesting and slightly heated discussions, to say the least.
Monday night I had one of the least pleasant experiences of my time here. Ryan and I were talking on Skype to various friends, and it was reasonably late, I suppose. Anyway, my uncle cam in and yelled at us quite severly for keeping him up. The walls are pretty thin, apparently. Although we didn't realize it at the time. Since then we have made up and things are back to normal, but it was a little scary at the time. And I think Ryan and I are about due to find our own place and move out.
Speaking of moving out, we have been apartment searching. Most places we're looking at are one bedroom and reasonably small- but quite livable. I think that if someone actually decides we'd be decent tenants, then we can turn wherever we end up into something nice. The idea is quite appealing actually. Of being able to decorate and buy furniture (even if it is cheap, maybe second hand furniture) and basically do what we want. Sounds really cool actually. NOw, if only someone will pick us. The application process is a little daunting. We're competing against lots of other people and the owner and real estate agents get together and decide which applicant would be the best fit. Doesn't really matter how quickly you get your application in or anything. So I'm kinda worried about who would actually pick us. I mean we're shady 22 year old americans....
Oh well.
In other news, Ryan and I did go out last Friday to a bar called Eurotrash. The expedition was... interesting? It was the fourth of july, and ryan had decided that we would go out to celebrate. It became a comdey of errors when
a) ryan forgot her hat inside, making us a little rushed getting to the train station
b) she couldn't figure out the ticket maching, resulting in us missing the train and waiting 20 minutes
c) when we off the train in the city we realized we hadn't actually figured out where to go from there... (i blame ryan for this one too, but i guess it was equally my fault)
d) we wandered around melbourne for about 20 minutes in the reasonably cold night air
e) eventually we figured out where we were going and ended up waiting in line for about 20 minutes to get in.
f) oh, and cover was 15 bucks.. which apparently isn't unreasonable here in the land of oz
Once we were in though, it wasn't all bad. We each got a free glass of champagne and the place itself was really cool. It was on a bunch of different levels with different types of music and, sort of, "ambiences" as it were. I think if I hadn't already given up on the whole thing due to the missing train, getting lost, cold, expensive elements, I would have had a decent time. We'll have to go back again.
The rest of the weekend I was just tired so we didn't go out anywhere else.
Ryan has actually found a job. She is working nights, from 5 or 6 onwards, at a pizza restaurant around the corner from my uncle's house. Her hours basically make it so we never see each other except when she's not working. I go off to work well before she gets up, and she's out before I get back from work and whatever I do after work. Haha, so I guess this will keep us from getting sick of each other. She does have tomorrow off, so we'll go out somewhere and have a few drinks perhaps.
Anyway that's about all I got.
Which means that if I happen to stop writing for awhile or disappear entirely, it's to be expected.
Anyway, um life has been interesting. The job is progressing reasonably well- I work between 5 and 6 hours a day and they keep me fed and well caffinated and give me 11 dollars an hour... woo! and it seems they like to keep me around just to talk to me sometimes too.
And, I did get the coaching job I applied for. I will be coaching soccer on Modays, basketball on Wednesdays, and "Olympic Sport" on Fridays. Yeah, olympic sport. No idea what that entails. The other two I feel reasonably confident about, but when it comes to high jump, long jump or any kind of sprinting I'm probably not the right person to ask. Still, I hope they will give me some pointers and I think I will be coaching younger kids who probably won't question what I tell them. Lets hope anyway.
Last weekend my Uncle's house was invaded by yet more boarders... Simon (Mick's partner)'s neice and nephew, Tash and James, came to stay. They are both very smart, very interesting New Zealanders. Tash is a high powered, work all day/night type of lawyer for Microsoft. James is an aspiring law student who will probably be a pretty influential person one day, even if some of his views are a little extreme (like abolishing the jury part of the trial by jury). We has some very interesting and slightly heated discussions, to say the least.
Monday night I had one of the least pleasant experiences of my time here. Ryan and I were talking on Skype to various friends, and it was reasonably late, I suppose. Anyway, my uncle cam in and yelled at us quite severly for keeping him up. The walls are pretty thin, apparently. Although we didn't realize it at the time. Since then we have made up and things are back to normal, but it was a little scary at the time. And I think Ryan and I are about due to find our own place and move out.
Speaking of moving out, we have been apartment searching. Most places we're looking at are one bedroom and reasonably small- but quite livable. I think that if someone actually decides we'd be decent tenants, then we can turn wherever we end up into something nice. The idea is quite appealing actually. Of being able to decorate and buy furniture (even if it is cheap, maybe second hand furniture) and basically do what we want. Sounds really cool actually. NOw, if only someone will pick us. The application process is a little daunting. We're competing against lots of other people and the owner and real estate agents get together and decide which applicant would be the best fit. Doesn't really matter how quickly you get your application in or anything. So I'm kinda worried about who would actually pick us. I mean we're shady 22 year old americans....
Oh well.
In other news, Ryan and I did go out last Friday to a bar called Eurotrash. The expedition was... interesting? It was the fourth of july, and ryan had decided that we would go out to celebrate. It became a comdey of errors when
a) ryan forgot her hat inside, making us a little rushed getting to the train station
b) she couldn't figure out the ticket maching, resulting in us missing the train and waiting 20 minutes
c) when we off the train in the city we realized we hadn't actually figured out where to go from there... (i blame ryan for this one too, but i guess it was equally my fault)
d) we wandered around melbourne for about 20 minutes in the reasonably cold night air
e) eventually we figured out where we were going and ended up waiting in line for about 20 minutes to get in.
f) oh, and cover was 15 bucks.. which apparently isn't unreasonable here in the land of oz
Once we were in though, it wasn't all bad. We each got a free glass of champagne and the place itself was really cool. It was on a bunch of different levels with different types of music and, sort of, "ambiences" as it were. I think if I hadn't already given up on the whole thing due to the missing train, getting lost, cold, expensive elements, I would have had a decent time. We'll have to go back again.
The rest of the weekend I was just tired so we didn't go out anywhere else.
Ryan has actually found a job. She is working nights, from 5 or 6 onwards, at a pizza restaurant around the corner from my uncle's house. Her hours basically make it so we never see each other except when she's not working. I go off to work well before she gets up, and she's out before I get back from work and whatever I do after work. Haha, so I guess this will keep us from getting sick of each other. She does have tomorrow off, so we'll go out somewhere and have a few drinks perhaps.
Anyway that's about all I got.
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