The Day the Dust Flew In

Last night was the first night I actually stayed at the hostel since I moved back in last Thursday. I have been staying overnight at Jaime and Patrick's because, well, it's just better over there! A German girl moved into our room and she has taken over. Girls apparently need more than one bed for all the crap they bring with them on holiday, so I have had to resort to a top bunk. Not ideal, but it's a free bed, so I can't complain too much.

I woke up this morning and finished my laundry across town at Jaime and Patrick's place. I figured since I was using their facilities, I would be nice and clean their stove top, which was in need a major cleaning. It looked almost brand new by the time I worked my magic on it! I hope they were impressed.

After my laundry was complete, I headed to the city for my second day of training. We started at 3pm today. We reviewed how to use a scanner and a bunch of other brainless skills that I already knew. I am enjoying having some stability now though. I like the idea of having something productive to do every day as opposed to constantly looking for jobs. I will never put myself in a position where I am struggling to find work again! I don't want to even tell you how many grey hairs I am finding on my head. I am going to have to get my dear friend Claire to take care of this when I get home. Going grey before thirty is unacceptable!

We finished up training today around 9:30 and I caught the 10:15 ferry home, which means I will get home around 11:00pm. I am looking forward to a good night's sleep before I get up to make a few phone calls home and to paint in the morning. I plan to take an hour or so around lunch to soak up the sun at the beach if the weather is nice. A break is well deserved!

The next day ...

I didn't get the good night's sleep I was after. Partly because I drank several cups of coffee and tea while at work so I was a little wired. Won't make that mistake today. The main reason was the noise level in the hostel. People were slamming doors all night and there were people yelling and singing and the guys next door had their radio blaring until past 3 am. I am about over hostel living. I am looking into my options for moving out now that I have a paying job.

My Russian roommate woke up me at 6 am telling me I need to come outside and see the sky. I could see from the room window that it was glowing red outside. When we walked outside it was like stepping into a sci-fi movie. The sky was this red-orange haze, kind of like fog, and it smelt of dust. We didn't know what was going on, but later learned that a major dust storm blew in from the west. This is the first time this has happened to Sydney in over 100 years so it is pretty exciting to be living here during such a rarity. Google the news today and you will see tons of photos.




I am on the ferry now and the windows and railings outside are covered in dust. The dust is settling and should be clearing up tomorrow. It isn't red any more but the skies are very hazy and the air is very dry. Not good for us contact wearers!

I am heading for my third day of work. I'm loving this regularity.

First Day on the Job

I began my job today working at the Yellow Pages. I've never worked through a employment agency before so I was kind of confused at first as for whom I am actually working for. Yellow Pages is owned by Sensis, which is part of Telstra, which is like AT&T back home. I am working for Sensis through the temp agency called Julia Ross. So Julia Ross has employed 20 of us on a casual three month contract to add to Sensis's full-time team during their busy time of the year. My paycheck comes from Julia Ross's office, not Sensis. Confusing, I know. I will be making $27.70 per hour, working at least 35 hours per week, Monday through Friday.

We have 4 weeks of training to go through before they put us on the floor. So technically I will be training for 1 out of 3 months of my contract. Today I learned how to open and shut down a computer, how to create a folder, and everything else anybody in the room should already know and not need explaining. We have two girls training a group of about ten of us in the room. We will all be training together for the four weeks, which will be a great way for us all to get to know each other better and to make a few new friends. I am the only American in our group. Our group also consists of some Chinese, Vietnamese, English, New Zealand, and I think, one Australian native.

I can tell the job is going to be very easy for me. It sure beats waiting tables! Our hours have been changed to 3pm-11pm, which is great because that still leaves me with 45 minutes to get to the ferry back to Manly. I had originally planned to move the city closer to work, but after arriving to the hostel where I was going to moving to proved to be the equivalent of living the slums of South Jackson, I hightailed it back to Manly! My commute will be about 50 minutes, but it includes a relaxing 30 minute ferry ride across the harbor where I can do write some journal entries, update my website, read a book, etc. From the ferry, I catch a bus that takes me to my building. Because it was our first day, we got out at 8:15pm.

So far, so good! Loving Sydney, but definitely missing the comforts of home. Perhaps after a month, I may look at a house share in the city. For now though, I am back to painting murals at Manly Backpackers. They were glad to have me back!

Here is a photo of my first mural I did for them. I am continuing this design down the wall a bit and will then plan my next mural.

I moved out of my friend's house in Manly and relocated closer to the beach at one of the backpackers. They have allowed me to move in for free accommodation in exchange for doing some mural painting. My first day moving in, the owner decided to use me for some promotional work instead so I haven't started my painting yet. I have decided what I am going to do, so once he gets me the paints I need, I will get started on that and upload the finished project when it is completed.

I am looking for employment in Sydney. I have a meeting with a company on the Northern Shore next week for a graphic design position, and I am really excited about it. The owners really seem to like me so far. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I really think it might work out. If so, that will be a big load off my back financially! Unemployment runs out of fun when you don't have money to bank your free time! The job will be a three month contract which could be extended up to 6 months on my visa. Could potentially make $20,000 if they kept me for the 6 months. It is located in Mona Vale, which is 30 minutes north of Manly. Should I get the position, I will most likely relocate to that area so I don't have to commute on the bus everyday.

That's all I have to share for now.

Sunrise over Manly

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. Since I was up, I decided to go for a stroll along the beach and wait for the sun to rise. Boy, am I glad I did, because the sunrise was spectacular! I wish I was a morning person so I could witness this every day!

Decided it was time for a move ...

Things weren't working out in Melbourne for me as far as work was concerned and I was beginning to see my savings deplete pretty quickly. I decided it was time to make a move up to Sydney. I figured if I couldn't find a job here, at least I would have spent some time in two big areas of Australia before going bust. Turned out to be a great move!

I arrived in Sydney on Monday night and my friends Jaime and Pat picked me up from the airport. I got to see the Opera House and the harbor on our way to Manly Beach where they live. The next day I set out on my job hunt, dropped off a couple of resumes and within a day or two, I had a call back for a job with a cafe called Cirella's. I went in for a trial run today and it went well. He said I could come back for a full shift on Saturday starting at 10am. If it goes well, he will put me on the schedule and as long as I am performing well, he'll keep me on and give me at least 30 hours a week and up to 40-50 a week. Best part is, they close around 4pm so I won't have to work at night!

But wait! More good news! I did some research online for accommodations and I found a hostel right around the corner from the cafe that was advertising on their website for someone to paint some murals on their walls in exchange for free accommodation. I sent him some art samples of mine and explained my situation. He will be back in town on Tuesday and said I can come by and speak with him about it and that he'd love for me to paint for him!

So a month in Melbourne led to several dead ends and two days in Sydney's beautiful Manly Beach area led to a potential job and free accommodation! I should be able to live conservatively for the next month or two here while I build up my finances. I am looking forward to doing nothing but working, painting, and laying on the beach, which is right across the street from the cafe. The views are spectacular as you can see from the images. Man, I love Manly!

My July in OZ ...

So I am doing a GREAT job of keeping this blog updated, huh?! OK, sarcasm isn't really my forte. If I keep this rate up, I'll have twelve entries for my twelve months away. I'm going to try to be more diligent on keeping this thing updated. I honestly have just spent so much time job hunting that I just haven't found time to do anything super exciting I cared to write about. But I'll try to give a good summary of the last month:

Since my last post, I moved into a flat in Caulfield North, some kilometers outside of the city centre. Don't ask me how many, I don't do "metric." I can tell you that it is a 20 minute tram ride to the beach in St. Kilda, my favorite hot spot. It is also a 35 minute ride to the city centre. I love the tram system. Melbournians will tell you how bad the public transportation is here, but I have to say as a guy coming from a place where there is none, I love it! It gets a bit annoying to miss a tram and have to wait until the next arrival but you get used to it. And besides, without a job at the moment, where am I in such a rush to be anyway?

The house (flat) is a two bedroom, one bath with a nice living area, kitchen and outdoor courtyard. My flatmate, Kristy, is a 35 year old (don't tell her I gave up her age) who is also a graphic designer and works at an architectural firm. We have loads in common and both are very easy going. Some days I almost feel like I live alone since we pretty much both do our own thing. We have one more flatmate - a grumpy old hairball named Fergus. That cat could care less about me, but the other day he didn't run off after I pet him, so I think he's adjusting to the idea of me being around.

Two highlights from the last month:

- My best friend David's sister who has moved to Sydney, came down to Melbourne on work, and we got to spend a couple of days together. We went to the Dali exhibit at the art museum, which was pretty cool. We also visited Cook's cabin which is located in a park just outside the city centre.

- For my birthday, my flatmate and another friend joined me for dinner at a Malaysian restaurant in St. Kilda. I was home and in bed by 11 pm. You know you are getting old when you are home before midnight after your birthday celebration!

Not much else to report. I feel like a door to door salesperson now as I go out delivering CVs (resumes) to places seeking work. I apply to several places online as well, but I know my best bet in finding work is just meeting and greeting at the local cafes and shops and working my southern charm. I guess I better start laying it on a little thicker! I have a feeling something is going to work out this week though, so here's hoping.

I guess that's a good enough update for the moment. I promise to at least have a bi-weekly recap from now on. As far as photos go, uploading on Australian internet speeds is not very practical, so I'll only be able to post a couple of images at a time. I'll do my best to showcase a few here soon.

Your end of the week update...

Friday morning, Dominik dropped me off at the Greenhouse Backpackers hostel downtown on his way to uni. I was told by the front desk that they were completely booked. Luckily a guy that worked there called the Base in St. Kilda, a more artsy community near the beach about a 20 minute tram ride from the city, and they found room for me. The guy also knew another graphic designer looking for a short term roommate. They were supposed to meet up with me that night at the hostel I was staying at so we could be introduced, but never showed. I waited as long as I could but since I was exhausted, I went on to bed around 8 pm. I found a cool coffee shop near my hostel that has free internet, so I had some coffee and caught up on Facebook and emails yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours. I had to buy a SIM card for my new Australian phone number and an adapter for my plug ins and chargers. While I was still in the city that morning I attempted to visit the bank to get my money squared away, but they were extremely busy and I didn't have time to wait. I did manage to set up an appointment for 11 am on Monday, so next week I can stop using the credit card and access my own funds locally.

I woke up this morning around 8 am. I slept pretty good the first night in the hostel except for the loud drunk foreigners shouting in the hallway around 3 am. Upon waking up, I walked down to the coffee shop for breakfast and called my dad using Skype and chatted with mom on Facebook. I know they were happy to finally hear that I am doing well. It has been difficult staying in touch while I have been getting situated. I think once I get in a stable living environment I will be doing better at staying in touch.

I went for a short run on the beach today. The weather is great. Cool but sunny. Perfect running weather! I wore shorts and a sleeveless shirt with a hoodie, which was quickly shed in the sun. I am still so out of shape with my running. I hope to manage to comfortably get back up to 3 miles or so. I barely did one today. My plans are to work my way up to a half marathon somewhere in Australia by next year. I hope to find a job and living arrangement in St. Kilda. It is a great beachfront area and all the artsy trendy people (my sort of crowd) live here.

After a shower, I took the tram back to the city. I spent a few hours just walking around. This city is so amazing. As I walked around, all I could think is, WOW. WOW. WOW.

Last night, we went for dinner and dessert to celebrate Dominik's and university friends grade postings. The food here is amazing. I had fish and chips and then the desserts were fantastic! All homemade chocolates, tarts, etc. I can definitely get used to all the food here.

Woke up this morning and the drunk messy English guys are packed up and moved out. Thank goodness. I have new quieter roommates now. Looking forward to getting out of the hostel, but it hasn't been a bad stay. It's a good location.

Don't have much plans today other than to relax. Tomorrow I open my bank account and prepare my CV (resume) and portfolio in search for work.