Catching up

Whew.  Is it really June already?  Looks like I have a couple of months of explaining to do.

That apartment in another dimension?  If you didn't seeing it coming before, I had to get out of there.  Not only was it weird, loud, and overcrowded, it was also illegal and poorly designed.   So not only did I have to deal with my roommates switching to jobs where they needed to have the lights on and do stuff when I needed to sleep, but there were also unannounced flatmates moving in or out and a visit from the "owner" which required moving everyone and everything around and/or out of the apartment so that it would appear that there were only 3 people living there when there were in fact 9.

So.

At the end of April I found a room to rent in Lindfield, which is just a couple of train stops north of my job in North Sydney.

My own room.  A nice bed.  Ahhhh.

But I basically spent the first two weeks and weekends just working and sleeping.  Sometimes like 12-13 hours of sleep a night on the weekend.  The room is usually cold because of the old, "double brick" style of the house, but the bed is really comfortable and has an "electric blanket." (Which in Australia actually refers to a body-length heating pad used under the mattress sheet.  They do have actual blankets or "doonas"which are electrically heated that you can buy, they're just much more uncommon.)

So my first month in this job I spent sort of "getting by" and then the second I spent recovering.  Then last weekend I had an extra day off on Monday (since on night shift we cover concerns from the US and the UK and both were off for Memorial day), so I spent a couple of days and nights in the Blue Mountains.

More photos on FaceBook if you're interested

I'm not sure you ever fully "recover" from working night shift until you just stop working it altogether.  I feel alright, I haven't gotten sick or anything, but my thoughts go hazy a lot and I'm tired a lot more than I normally would be.  This in combination with my new room being located about a 25 minute walk from the train, which I have to take to get to any grocery stores, it's a little discouraging in terms of getting out and finding new and interesting things.  I managed to make it to the aquarium the other weekend, but it was absurdly exhausting for what it was.

Although, really, it's been 4 months and I'm ready to head out of Sydney.  I've pretty much seen and done everything I wanted to here.  My manager has told me that they are expecting they'll only need me through the end of June.  So I figure that's one month to plan things out, try to get healthy (one tends to eat a lot of junk food/caffeine on night shift) and do whatever little things are left on my to-do list.

But really, I'm looking forward to sleeping at night.

Oops, My New Apartment is in Another Dimension

Sorry if anyone missed me updating my blog for the last few weeks, it's been hectic.  See my previous post for details.

However, after recovering from moving and getting a new job, it turns out I have moved into a really, really weird place.  Maybe there are weirder in the world - a lot of why I think this place is weird has to do with an almost-inexplicable feel to things.  And I have found a little of the "Sordid History of Chippendale."  But there are some weird things I've been able to document more directly.  Such as:

(note: skip to the bottom for my regular "Australian culture" section)

The crazy building with the floating platform at the...30th floor?

Not to mention it's crazy neighbor...

I had a look in UTS and you can see what it's supposed to look like after completion, which is still weird if you ask me:

(the one with the crazy ledge in the middle)

This building is also nearly next to the crazy looking bus station/train terminal entrance:

And the weird old hotel which has trance/electronica on Sunday nights with pulsing purple light coming out of its windows:

And is across the street from internationaly renown weirdos:

As well as UTS (University of Technology Sydney) which had its own share of weird inside:

Just down the block from here I had a freakish experience when I went to look at an apartment which was advertised as "wanting to start an artists collective."  I didn't have my camera when I was there, so no pictures from the inside, but I went back to take photos of the obvious signs of crazy outside.

The ally-way that led to the apartment:

sign reads, "Evacuation Route"

The side of the apartment which I passed on the way there, not knowing it was the apartment:

And the apartment itself:

If it looks crazy outside, you should see the inside. Lots of random plywood piecing together the ceiling, floors, walls, painted with acrylics (not wall house paint) in black, dark brown and dark purple on the walls and floor.  Random pieces of old dirty carpet nailed here or there, pieces of wood haphazardly nailed around, a crumbling hole of a shower which may or may not work and drain, seems like there's no heating, the furniture is amazingly old and torn up, and the place is almost maze-like in its rooms that go on forever and contain the most random crap.  There are few windows, almost no light inside, and it has the musty smell of a garage.

The guy showing this to me is little and weird, and "can't figure out why no one wants to help him fix the place up."

And then there are all the Alice in Wonderland cues:

These are the two doors that lead to bedrooms in my apartment.

Passed this on my way to the freaky house.

Another photo at UTS entitled...

..."Drink Me."

Yeah.  Anyway, onto...

The Good Stuff

More fun with Australian Culture

Lots of good info from my new work colleagues :)

1.) Australians, unlike virtually any other English speakers, make a distinction between "enquiry"  and "inquiry".  And "enquiry" is a question, an "inquiry" is an investigation.

2.) I'm told that many, perhaps even most, Australians don't like the "salty and sweet" combination.  It's weird, they say.  I was putting nutella on some crackers at work and both my coworkers just looked at me like I was sitting over there dipping cookies in horseradish sauce or something (and of course, over here a "cookie" is a "bikie", but you know what I mean).

3.) The letter "Z" is pronounced "Zed" - as in Canada.  However, just as in Britain (as I've discovered), the letter "H" is pronounced "Hey."  I work for "Heytch Ah" services.  :)

4.) The word "ghetto" isn't really used here.  In Sydney, if you look down on anyone, it's most likely the "Westies," or people who live in the suburbs far to the west of Sydney.  If they live just slightly to the west, they will be quick to correct you - "It's not IN the west.  Not, THE WEST."

"Westies" are, from what I can gather, people from the most crime ridden, low-income, high immigrant areas, far out from the city where real estate prices are more realistic.  There are biker ("bikie") gangs out there who will occasionally cause trouble with one another, but as far as I can tell, it ain't South Central.  No bloods or crips here - at least not yet.



Vocab

"It's done and dusted"  I think you get the idea.  Fun phrase.

"Blokey bloke" = Manly man.  Beer, football, ooga.



Videos

The Best:     "When a Wog gets an Aussie girl" by SuperWog and Mychonny.

Dirty but hilarious.  A "Wog," so I'm told, comes from "Worker of Government," referring to the original waves of immigrants in the 70's and 80's who usually came to take the lower level government jobs.  I'm also told that this is sometimes used as derogatory, though these days "FOB" (Fresh off the Boat) is usually considered more offensive.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA-soxP4l9k

The Worst:  "The Last Templar "

2 part TV series which you can watch on SMH (Sydney Morning Herald) TV.  Right from the very start, lines so horrible you'll want to shoot yourself in the face.  And it gets worse from there.

 http://www.smh.com.au/tv/Mini-Series/show/The-Last-Templar/The-Last-Templar--Part-1-4340504.html

A Job! An Apartment!

Summer has officially ended in Sydney.  It's a little cooler, it rains more regularly, and more importantly, I was finally able to find a job.  Previously having jumped through the hoops to get listed with 3 different temp agencies, it was the second agency who had never previously found me work that  saved the day.  After the first day of work (had to make sure it was a job I could keep) I jumped on the first cheap "flatshare" listing that seemed reasonable and moved in the following weekend.

I now work fielding e-mails and phone calls from 10:30pm to 6:30am in the top-floor office of a large, international company that handles large building construction, real estate investment and development. They're very environmentally focused, and have free snacks and a slew of beverages.  I work with two other cool women, and although it can be a little tough to focus after about 4am, the work isn't too stressful.  I share a room with two very young (18 and 21) Asian-Canadian sisters, and an apartment with 6 other people on top of that.

Another way of looking at this: I'm currently working for $32/hr to field phone calls from the US and UK and I live in a place called "Chippendale" (for $135/week, if you were interested - nearly as cheap you can get in the city).  I'm sure someone sees the irony of me moving over seas to answer calls from the US for probably twice as much as I would be paid there (and an apartment of the same or cheaper price per the living situation).

Fun.  The only concern is that the apartment has 9 people, right?  Well, right.  There are people living in the living room (linguistically appropriate, but ghetto).  I work all night, sleep all day, so most of the time I don't have to deal with the people living here very much.  But as a friend pointed out: it's a recipe for disaster.  And the psychic connection is strong with her - last night fellow flatmates were talking about how they couldn't get one guy residing in the living room to leave.  Evidently he threatened to kill the small, somewhat meek Thai woman in charge of renters.  In short, sounds like a number of people may leave, or the apartment might get cleared out all together.

I'm keeping my eye out for other places.

Although I have to give some credit - if there weren't 9 people living here, it would actually be a pretty nice little apartment (though the "modern" design of the sinks and the bathtubs leaves water all over the floor...).

 Bathroom above:

     No shower door here!

     No sir, this is futuristic.

    And everyone knows there's water allover the floor in the future.

And just incase you wanted to see what a literal "living room" looks like:

Week 4: Life with the Goonies - Thinking About Moving On

The famous Bondi Beach

This was the post I was going to make 2 weeks ago:

I like Sydney, I really do.  But after another week with 5 days straight of rain and wind, an increasingly strained job search that's still lacking major leads, and life with the Goonies, I'm thinking about moving on to the next location.

To clarify, here in Australia there is a very cheap wine that runs about $10 a box.  Supposedly it gets you drunker faster, is a "different type of drunk"- and a different, worse kind of hangover.  It's so gross, it's known only as "goon."  Naturally, my hostel mates get drunk on it nearly every night.  If by chance I managed to sleep through them stumbling back into the room at night, I know they were drinking the next day when they're laying on any available surface looking like they died with their eyes open.

I didn't get to post it because I was called for a week's worth of temp work at the last minute on Sunday night.  So to update:

Last week I got to fill in for a receptionist/secretary for a retail/commercial management office (in the top of a small shopping center) in the "inner west".  The train ride out was about 20 minutes from the city center, and a marked difference in culture.  Though some housing prices in the area were kind of amazingly high (the local news publication was listing very ordinary, relatively small older houses at over a million dollars), the area around the train and the mall was almost overwhelmingly immigrant.  Colorful signs were everywhere in Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese.  Likewise, the few people who worked in my office were more middle class - more approachable, less...erm, stiff, I guess you could say.  So along with a nice pay check ( $624 after taxes - not too shabby ;), I got some really nice insight into the city area that I may not have gotten otherwise.

But this week I'm hanging out to dry again.

After a suggestion from another traveler I applied to a third office temp agency and got a called back on the same day.  A good sign, I thought, they seem eager for workers.

On Tuesday I showed up to an interview, and they were a little different from the other two I interviewed with (although they all seem to vary pretty widely in terms of how they do business) and a little more open about how business has been lately.  Surprisingly slow, I was told.  Finally I had confirmation about it.  Some businesses had unexpectedly cut staff or job openings - despite positive economic and jobs reports in the newspapers.  But, said this particular consultant, temp work is also the first to be affected - and the amount of work available tends to be unpredictable but cyclical.  Her experience was that the lull started in February.  When it will pick up again, nobody knows.

After hearing this, I returned to my hostel a little deflated, only to get a call from another temp agency saying they had a client who was looking for immediately available full-time workers to hire for 6 months.  Again, quickly and with no forewarning, my major problem could be solved!  But no, after no word for 2 days, I called in only to find out that they had cut the number of workers that they wanted.

So I spent the rest of the day on the "Hop on, Hop off" bus eating chocolate and listening to a pre-recorded guide ramble in an Aussie accent about the finer details of Sydney's features and history.

Today I have applied for Starbucks.  Tomorrow I'm going to take the train over and apply at FedEx.  And maybe Target.  Probably Target.


: /

The entrance to Luna Park - Sydney's former answer to Coney Island, 
just across the Harbour Bridge from the CBD (downtown)

Aussie Slang for the Week:

gronk:  a total loser, moron, idiot.

houso: A person who lives on the poverty line, and goes about life only knowing how to scam, might do drugs, hates the law, likes beating people up.

busker: A street entertainer who performs in hopes of collecting money.

Fun Fact:

Australia's first currency was rum.  People were actually paid with it by the barrel in certain instances.

Technically not related: alcoholism and drinking problems are well recognized here to this day.

Recent Events:  "Mardi Gras"

 Here in Sydney it is specifically for the "LGBTQI" (make that acronym much longer, guys, and even the most ardent gay activists won't be able to remember it).  It runs down Oxford street, the heart of the gay district which, even without a special event, flaunts itself with gay bookstores, sex shops, and bluntly gay men's clothing stores like "Daly Male" whose window display mannequins are all wearing some very interesting male underwear.

People have hyped it to me as being one of the most renown Mardi Gras parades in the world, and I can understand that it would be for the LGBT community, because I certainly haven't heard of any that are primarily a gay pride parade.

But I gotta say, I stopped by for a little bit, and it definitely fell short of the rumors.  What's fun about it is that a lot of the crowd has dressed up and is ready to party.  But the parade itself almost entirely just consisted of supporters of the LGBT community walking past - the police, the firefighters, family support groups, etc.  No crazy costumes for them, and very few floats.  Loads of color, and it's free, but... I don't know.  Not quite up to the hype.






I'm going back to the beach.

WEEK 3:  Really, three weeks already?

Summary:

Things finally started getting off the ground a little more this week, with personal interviews for 2 temp agencies, jumping through their loops (paperwork, testing, etc), and 3 hours of office work on Friday at my first, albeit very short, temp gig.  Here's for hoping there's more where that came from.

But you wanted to know more, didn't you?

Sunday afternoon I had my ipod stolen (pickpocketed).  Sunday night I caught part of the huge "Tropfest" event, which is a small films competition shown, for free, in a park, to over 10,000 mostly young people.

Monday I had my first interview with a temp agency, up in an impressively modern office in a highrise downtown.  It went pretty well.

Tuesday I caught a cold, but still managed to get another interview with a different agency.

Wednesday I focused on trying to get over being sick.  And I got a call to work on Friday for 3 hours.  Woohoo!

Thursday I had another interview in an even more impressive, even-higher highrise.   It went pretty well. 

Friday afternoon I worked for 3 hours as a receptionist for an international management consulting firm.  I wore my nicest outfit.  Everyone was out of the office for some off-site event, so I spent 2.5 hours (after a 1/2 hour training) enjoying a polished-marble high-rise view of the Sydney Opera House and the occasional sail boat.  Not to mention free coffee, soda, juice, and even gluten-free snakcs - and, of course, the internet.  For this effort, I will be compensated $23/hr plus super annuation (read: Australian 401k).

At night I did my laundry and couldn't sleep for a while when all my roommates came home from a night out kinda smashed.

Saturday it's raining in sheets.  My glasses lost a screw and are now broken.  The young German couple who used to be in my room are going to talk to me later about possibly going out to the Blue Mountains tomorrow.


Technically it's not wonderland.  Annoying stuff happens.  There are bugs, it's dirty in the hostel.  I have to live with a whole bunch of somewhat alcohol obsessed college types (read: teenagers in adult bodies).  Things can be expensive.  It's $3.60 each way to take the bus to the beach.  Work didn't come instantly.  I'm estimating I probably spend $70/week on food, at least.  And I got sick.

But somehow things are kind of perfect.  Sydney is a peaceful, clean, beautiful city environmentally and socially.   The Royal Botanical Gardens, close to where I'm staying, are kind of magical - filled with different, fascinating plants and birds, with almost dreamlike views of the Sydney Opera house and the bay.  When you can't stand sitting around in the kinda dirty, smelly, crowded hostel any more, it's the perfect cure.  And despite the drinking, everyone in the hostel in nice, and pretty interesting.  Not mention be able to stay nearly center city in a world class city for an affordable rate.

Technically, there's no guarantee that the temp agencies I've been accepted into will be able to find me enough work.  And I've got some expenses coming my way, at some point.  But... I'm not worried.  Every once in a while, mostly when I'm in the Royal botanical gardens or at the beach,  I wonder how I got this lucky.

Pronounced, "Ozzie"

Added Bonus:

Since I didn't really get out to do very much new stuff this week, I'm going to post some fun Ozzie stuff.

Sunday night I caught part of Tropfest, Australia's short film awards.  They play every thing on gigantic screens outside in a park, so it's free and easy to get in on.  My favorite:

Check out "Better than Sinatra":
http://www.smh.com.au/tv/movies/show/tropfest/better-than-sinatra-4321615.html

Also, I never liked "Call Me Maybe" (pop song),  but this Ozzie man-version parody is funny :P

http://www.novafm.com.au/video/fitzy-and-wippa-call-me-maybe-parody-blokes-version

Other than this, I've been told adapting my language a little bit might not be a bad idea. So, gonna try to exchange:

"See ya" for "Cheers"

"Guy" for "Bloke"

"That's great" for "Fanstastic"

"Ripping on" someone for "Taking a piss"

Anything ending in "er" with "ie", such as "Bikie" instead of Biker, and "Surfie" instead of "Surfer".

And just generally not expressing any disdain for or boredom with cricket, even though it is, infact, very boring.  Like golf, only more complicated, and thereby even harder to figure out what the point is.

Week 2: Hostel Life

Lots of rain this week, but it helped me focus on the job hunt.   Along those lines, I'll summarize: it's not easy, and by my count I've applied to some 44 jobs and 9 different temp agencies.  But I have an interview with a temp agency tomorrow so for now, at least, I'm still feeling optimistic.

The downside of things was that I came here during the summer, when, I guess, there isn't generally a lot of office work.  Or something.

The upside is that things should be picking up, and I've managed to catch the end of summer - nice temperatures for the beach, and outdoor events nearly every evening, if you can figure out what and where they are.

So to summarize my week:  lots of time indoors, on the internet during the day, spending "quality time" in the hostel.

Hit the beach on Valentine's Day and Sunday, walked across the Harbor Bridge to Luna Park (pics on FB soon) on Saturday, and caught a couple of "free" outdoor movies on various nights.  Sunday night I was able to catch the end of "Tropfest," Australia's international (though mostly Australian) short film festival.

Aaand, gonna end this post with a picture of my favorite bird.

The Newest of the New World: 

Beginning of (hopefully) a year in Australia

Today marks my sixth day in Sydney, Australia.  Tues-Fri I was setting up shop- setting up a bank account, phone, food, etc. and applying for jobs and temp agencies.  Friday I got lucky with a connection through family in LA and got to go sailing on the harbour, Saturday I teamed up with a few people at my hostel and did a walk from Bondi beach (the most famous beach in Australia) down the coast past several beaches on to Coogee Beach and Maroubra beach and watched the surfers for a while.

The weather's been great, the hostel is a little dirty, but comfortable enough (it's a hostel, after all), and the only thing that bothers me is wondering how long it will take me to find work.  So far, everyone has reassured me that it should be pretty easy to come by.  So.  "No worries." :)

Random Notes from the week:

1.) If I don't mention where I'm from, people assume I'm Canadian.  Hmm.

2.) Tops are optional on most beaches, but don't go naked in the streets, evidently it's a $200 ticket.  And our hostel has great surveillance cameras, so everyone can watch the video the next day of your naked ass running out and back in when you got busted by the police and laugh at you, little Irish guy.

3.) There are an almost absurd number of very fit people here.  Oddly, a large number of smokers, too. (compared to the US, anyway)

4.) Was it a clothing store in the US?  Then it's a food store here. (Coles, Woolworth)

5.) A high number of "gingers" seemed to think it was a good idea to move to one of the most intensely sunny places on the planet.  I'm not quite sure how they survive.  

6.) Add together #3 and #5 and, evidently, you get a very high cancer rate.  Guess that makes sense.