I got a phonecall today, telling me that I managed to beat 118 other applicants in getting a job! Hell yes! I'll be working at a place called Harvey Norman, they are this strange franchise business, and I'll be working in the department that sells computers and consoles and accessories and so on. I can't bloody wait, I start on wednesday - I get to wear the new trousers and shirt I bought! That reminds me, I need to polish my shoes...
Anyway, after 4 weeks of applying for jobs near enough every day, I can stop searching and start working! Excellent news - the next thing to look forwards to after this is my first pay cheque, since my bank account recently has only been experiencing money going out, rather than money going in. It means I can start to contribute some rent too which is good, I've been made very welcome here, but I still want to have some sort of contribution outside of doing some washing up and cooking.
Last week was good and bad. I had an interview for the job I now have, and that went really well and I was very excited about the whole prospect of getting a job. I also went out clubbing on friday, and it was great fun even though it took me a few hours to actually get into dancing, but I got there in the end. The next night wasn't so good - I wasn't allowed into a part of a club because some woman thought my shoes were dirty. Bint! I wasn't too pleased about that, thus wasn't in the mood to go dancing, so I thought I'd have a glass of wine, try and chill out. Disgusting wine. Long story short, I went home early. But who cares, I have a job!
I think I'll go for a cycle in a bit and take some more pictures of lovely Perth.
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Update - Some photos of Australia!
So it's coming up to the end of week three and I'm still unemployed. I've been handing out CV's all over the place and applying for jobs online but nothing has come up yet. Oh well, I expect something will come along soon, I hope. So far I have managed to spend a lot of money, although I have got some of the things that I need, or things that will be useful. First off, I've got an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) which allows me to work in a bar or place that sells alcohol. Secondly I have a Blue Card, which allows me to work on a construction site. I completed a first aid course today, so that will add to my repertoire. I boubht a road bike at a police auction recently, which cost me $140, and I had to spend another $350 fixing it up - but it's a far cry from about $1000ish I would have had to spend on a brand new one. So I've got myself some transport and a few licences that increase the availability of jobs to me. I've also bought myself a new badminton racket so I can carry on playing over here, and got membership at the local gym/pool too.
I've taken a few photos since I've been here, so click here to view them. The weather seems to be looking up which is good, there was some crazy rain recently, I had washing out for about three days, just waiting for it to dry. Anyway, I did manage to get this small job, basically going round and putting up posters on walls and in shops etc. (probably illegally), which I managed to complete today. If they are satisfied then they'll give me tickets to see Pharoah Monch, Pendulum, some low-fi festival, and VIP tickets to a festival on new year's eve, which would be cool, oh, and $100. It was hard work though, I had to walk/cycle for bloody miles with a bag full of posters and flyers. It's over now so I can relax.
So everything is going pretty swell, asides from the unemployment thing, but I'm sure that'll be over soon. Can't think of anything else to say right now, so ta-ta!
I've taken a few photos since I've been here, so click here to view them. The weather seems to be looking up which is good, there was some crazy rain recently, I had washing out for about three days, just waiting for it to dry. Anyway, I did manage to get this small job, basically going round and putting up posters on walls and in shops etc. (probably illegally), which I managed to complete today. If they are satisfied then they'll give me tickets to see Pharoah Monch, Pendulum, some low-fi festival, and VIP tickets to a festival on new year's eve, which would be cool, oh, and $100. It was hard work though, I had to walk/cycle for bloody miles with a bag full of posters and flyers. It's over now so I can relax.
So everything is going pretty swell, asides from the unemployment thing, but I'm sure that'll be over soon. Can't think of anything else to say right now, so ta-ta!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
So far, not so good
Mainly because my expectations of myself were much higher than what I can actually achieve. But then again, if I had actually thought about it I wouldn't have expected so much of myself. Firstly, I went swimming today. Merrily walking along to the local leisure centre in the rain (Curse you England!) thinking that I'm a good swimmer, because when I was younger (Circa 9 years ago) I was a relatively good swimmer. Clearly the passage of time would not impact that, because, naturally, I am immune to effects.
When I entered the outdoor pool, my spirits were high and I set off down the pool at a good speed. Stroke, stroke, breathe, stroke, stroke, breathe. Ok so perhaps I'm a little rusty, and my front crawl (?) needs a little touching up, but I'm going alright. I got to about half way and wondered what the burning sensation in my arms was. Oh right, I'm bloody knackered, that's what. So it turned out, much to my dismay, that I actually suck at swimming, and that put a big, watery, swimming pool piss on my firey dreams of learning to surf. Maybe I could invest a little more time in swimming. Then again I could just use the gym there instead. Good thinking batman.
Later that day I had a training course booked, which I needed to arrive at for 3pm. Needless to say I was a little late. I checked out the location on google maps, looked where I was and promptly headed out the door with my course in mind - clearly I have memorised the streets that I saw on google maps. As I approached, what I thought was, my destination, it became apparent that I did not, in fact, have a photographic memory, nor did I have a sense of where I was. I was currently stood on Aberdeen street, and was looking for Newcastle street. Out of some sheer (idiotic) ingenuity, I thought that since Aberdeen and Newcastle are on the same island, following one would, naturally, lead to the other.
Such clever thinking is bound to get one into trouble, and so it did. I did not find Newcastle street, but after a much needed phonecall to HQ to try and get my bearings, I found out I was actually bloody close. Again, good thinking batman! I retraced my steps a little (literally about 8 to the crossroads) and turned in the correct direction. Lo and behold there was a neat yellow sign yelling "Newcastle Street" at me. I followed this street, a little skeptical, since google said NC st. ran east to west, and I was travelling north. Oh well, perhaps in Australia their streets go round corners.
As far as I can tell this was not the case, and the neat little sign I saw was simply teasing me, indicating that I was somewhere in the vicinity of the elusive street.
After about 20 minutes of walking about in all the wrong directions, I decided to phone HQ again, then phoned the place I was meant to be going. They promptly directed me in the correct direction and I found myself wandering along a street I dismissed as the wrong one (it was full of apartments, surely not the location of my destination). Admittedly the guy I was meeting did have to walk outside of the business and wave his arms as if he was stranded, waving at a passing helicoptor, but it did the trick and I followed his S.O.S. finally ending up in the right place. I had left myself 45 minutes to get there - a leisurely pace I was sure - but ended up marching around Perth for a good 50 minutes, ending up just a little late. Not that it mattered anyway, nobody else turned up for the course.
The course was good, it was pretty simple and I honestly have no idea why I needed to pay $99 to read a .pdf on Australian law and common practice (which wasn't sufficient to answer their theory test anyway) and learn how to pour a pint or measure out whiskey. Both of these things could have been accomplished by simply perusing the internet and going to the pub, both of which are hobbies of mine. Oh well, speculate to accumulate as they say.
And I apologise for the lack of pictures, I shall get round to taking some of this 'quaint' (hah!) little city so you can see where you don't live ;)
Tata for now
When I entered the outdoor pool, my spirits were high and I set off down the pool at a good speed. Stroke, stroke, breathe, stroke, stroke, breathe. Ok so perhaps I'm a little rusty, and my front crawl (?) needs a little touching up, but I'm going alright. I got to about half way and wondered what the burning sensation in my arms was. Oh right, I'm bloody knackered, that's what. So it turned out, much to my dismay, that I actually suck at swimming, and that put a big, watery, swimming pool piss on my firey dreams of learning to surf. Maybe I could invest a little more time in swimming. Then again I could just use the gym there instead. Good thinking batman.
Later that day I had a training course booked, which I needed to arrive at for 3pm. Needless to say I was a little late. I checked out the location on google maps, looked where I was and promptly headed out the door with my course in mind - clearly I have memorised the streets that I saw on google maps. As I approached, what I thought was, my destination, it became apparent that I did not, in fact, have a photographic memory, nor did I have a sense of where I was. I was currently stood on Aberdeen street, and was looking for Newcastle street. Out of some sheer (idiotic) ingenuity, I thought that since Aberdeen and Newcastle are on the same island, following one would, naturally, lead to the other.
Such clever thinking is bound to get one into trouble, and so it did. I did not find Newcastle street, but after a much needed phonecall to HQ to try and get my bearings, I found out I was actually bloody close. Again, good thinking batman! I retraced my steps a little (literally about 8 to the crossroads) and turned in the correct direction. Lo and behold there was a neat yellow sign yelling "Newcastle Street" at me. I followed this street, a little skeptical, since google said NC st. ran east to west, and I was travelling north. Oh well, perhaps in Australia their streets go round corners.
As far as I can tell this was not the case, and the neat little sign I saw was simply teasing me, indicating that I was somewhere in the vicinity of the elusive street.
After about 20 minutes of walking about in all the wrong directions, I decided to phone HQ again, then phoned the place I was meant to be going. They promptly directed me in the correct direction and I found myself wandering along a street I dismissed as the wrong one (it was full of apartments, surely not the location of my destination). Admittedly the guy I was meeting did have to walk outside of the business and wave his arms as if he was stranded, waving at a passing helicoptor, but it did the trick and I followed his S.O.S. finally ending up in the right place. I had left myself 45 minutes to get there - a leisurely pace I was sure - but ended up marching around Perth for a good 50 minutes, ending up just a little late. Not that it mattered anyway, nobody else turned up for the course.
The course was good, it was pretty simple and I honestly have no idea why I needed to pay $99 to read a .pdf on Australian law and common practice (which wasn't sufficient to answer their theory test anyway) and learn how to pour a pint or measure out whiskey. Both of these things could have been accomplished by simply perusing the internet and going to the pub, both of which are hobbies of mine. Oh well, speculate to accumulate as they say.
And I apologise for the lack of pictures, I shall get round to taking some of this 'quaint' (hah!) little city so you can see where you don't live ;)
Tata for now
Monday, 9 November 2009
One week in
So it's been one week since I arrived in Australia, and I've managed to get a fair few things done, although other important things have had to wait. So far on my completed list are getting my bank sorted, although I'm still waiting for my PIN, I've booked some courses which will open jobs up to me (Responsible Service of Alcohol, Blue Card, First Aid), I completed my learner's test too so I can start to learn over here. The driving system here is actually a lot easier than in the UK, it just takes a lot longer to become fully qualified. On my pending list is sorting out Medicare and my Tax File Number (so I can get a job), buying a road bike so I can get around Perth easier, and buying a badminton racket and some sportswear, and possibly a car, although I need to get a job before I do this probably.
But yes, for the first week I have been fairly productive. I've been out and experienced a little of the Perth nightlife and it's pretty good, although I did have to queue up to get into this nightclub that wasn't that great. And they do have cider here! Some of it's nae bad either, although drinks are quite expensive ($8-9 seems to be the cheapest). I've developed a taste for white wine too, thanks to Richard.
Richard and Dianne are the people who are housing me at the moment and they have been immensely helpful, helping me get things sorted and showing me around Perth, as well as getting me on the road to learning to drive. I'm trying to get them a present, but I asked in a bookshop and books tend to take 4-6 weeks to arrive (that should make you guys at Waterstone's feel better) and they are bloody expensive too! My big leatherbound conan book costs 20 pounds, whereas working out the exchange rate on the book price here, it costs around 47 pounds! Madness...
More about Perth! It's a beautiful city, as I have discovered from my bike rides with Richard. There are some amazing cycle routes around the river and some of the lakes, as well as some routes that go through King's park and along the beaches too. Once I get hold of a road bike I'll be doing a lot of cycling. It's quite a small city, there are like 2 or 3 skyscrapers (nothing compared to the ones in HK) then a few more medium sized office buildings around the CBD, other than that, there are no tall buildings. The suburbs stretch for a way, but the city, for me, revolves around the CBD/shopping centre which is like 5 streets. Houses here are hella expensive! The average house price for some of the suburbs is around $2mil, with a lot of the other surburbs ranging from $700,000 - $1mil. Maybe I won't be settling in Perth after all!
Anyway, I'm off to do some reading - I was going to go into town but I've got a fat toe after accidentally kicking the floor at badminton last night, and it hurts to walk on. Another day then!
Ciao!
But yes, for the first week I have been fairly productive. I've been out and experienced a little of the Perth nightlife and it's pretty good, although I did have to queue up to get into this nightclub that wasn't that great. And they do have cider here! Some of it's nae bad either, although drinks are quite expensive ($8-9 seems to be the cheapest). I've developed a taste for white wine too, thanks to Richard.
Richard and Dianne are the people who are housing me at the moment and they have been immensely helpful, helping me get things sorted and showing me around Perth, as well as getting me on the road to learning to drive. I'm trying to get them a present, but I asked in a bookshop and books tend to take 4-6 weeks to arrive (that should make you guys at Waterstone's feel better) and they are bloody expensive too! My big leatherbound conan book costs 20 pounds, whereas working out the exchange rate on the book price here, it costs around 47 pounds! Madness...
More about Perth! It's a beautiful city, as I have discovered from my bike rides with Richard. There are some amazing cycle routes around the river and some of the lakes, as well as some routes that go through King's park and along the beaches too. Once I get hold of a road bike I'll be doing a lot of cycling. It's quite a small city, there are like 2 or 3 skyscrapers (nothing compared to the ones in HK) then a few more medium sized office buildings around the CBD, other than that, there are no tall buildings. The suburbs stretch for a way, but the city, for me, revolves around the CBD/shopping centre which is like 5 streets. Houses here are hella expensive! The average house price for some of the suburbs is around $2mil, with a lot of the other surburbs ranging from $700,000 - $1mil. Maybe I won't be settling in Perth after all!
Anyway, I'm off to do some reading - I was going to go into town but I've got a fat toe after accidentally kicking the floor at badminton last night, and it hurts to walk on. Another day then!
Ciao!
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Australia!
So I finally arrived in Australia. I got out of the airport at about 11:15pm, it took a long, long time for me to get my baggage, it seemed to come out last, then I had to go through customs etc. Finally got to use my Australian passport though, which was awesome. Got picked up from the airport by the people I am staying with until I find a job/somewhere to live, which shouldn't be too long hopefully.
Anyway, the next day we went into Perth, and boy do I see what they mean about a small city, it's bloody tiny! Although, being the country bumpkin I am, I was still wowed by the tall buildings. We went about town getting things done, such as saying hi at the bank and applying for an ID that isn't a passport. I walked back into town after we had some lunch, and bloody hell was it hot. Apparently it wasn't that hot (29C???) so the summer will be fun for me. Anyway, I had a wander about looking for things I needed and it was nice just browsing the shops, getting to know the place, and trying out my ozzy salute. I ended up spending about $370 on a new phone, some thongs and sunglasses. The phone is awesome! I'm used to phones that barely do more colours than black and grey, so a phone that has full colour screen, and internet access (facebook, skype, the works!) is like the holy grail of phones to me. Pish to your iPhone malarky.
Hong Kong was pretty good. I spent saturday wandering around kowloon and a litte bit on the island (didn't take the ferry :() and made a visit to the HK science museum too. The shops in kowloon were pretty cool, some things there were pretty cheap, but some of the things (like watches) were bloody expensive. I didn't end up buying anything but food, which is good since I like food. Back to the hotel to sleep from 5pm until 11pm, and waking up starving. Luckily enough there was a 7/eleven open and I got some fudz.
Sunday was a lot more enjoyable - I took the (very, very efficient) rail system to HK island and took the tram up to the peak. The views were pretty awesome, although it was marred by the pollution, there was a thin haze covering everything so you couldn't see as far as I had hoped for. I had a wander round the routes they suggested you take and they were nice, although going up the hill was a struggle in the hot weather. I'm uploading the pictures I took to photobucket, but they're all about 4mb so I guess it'll take a fair few hours to upload. Here's the album if you want to have a look, but give it a few hours from now because they won't have uploaded.
Bye for now!
Anyway, the next day we went into Perth, and boy do I see what they mean about a small city, it's bloody tiny! Although, being the country bumpkin I am, I was still wowed by the tall buildings. We went about town getting things done, such as saying hi at the bank and applying for an ID that isn't a passport. I walked back into town after we had some lunch, and bloody hell was it hot. Apparently it wasn't that hot (29C???) so the summer will be fun for me. Anyway, I had a wander about looking for things I needed and it was nice just browsing the shops, getting to know the place, and trying out my ozzy salute. I ended up spending about $370 on a new phone, some thongs and sunglasses. The phone is awesome! I'm used to phones that barely do more colours than black and grey, so a phone that has full colour screen, and internet access (facebook, skype, the works!) is like the holy grail of phones to me. Pish to your iPhone malarky.
Hong Kong was pretty good. I spent saturday wandering around kowloon and a litte bit on the island (didn't take the ferry :() and made a visit to the HK science museum too. The shops in kowloon were pretty cool, some things there were pretty cheap, but some of the things (like watches) were bloody expensive. I didn't end up buying anything but food, which is good since I like food. Back to the hotel to sleep from 5pm until 11pm, and waking up starving. Luckily enough there was a 7/eleven open and I got some fudz.
Sunday was a lot more enjoyable - I took the (very, very efficient) rail system to HK island and took the tram up to the peak. The views were pretty awesome, although it was marred by the pollution, there was a thin haze covering everything so you couldn't see as far as I had hoped for. I had a wander round the routes they suggested you take and they were nice, although going up the hill was a struggle in the hot weather. I'm uploading the pictures I took to photobucket, but they're all about 4mb so I guess it'll take a fair few hours to upload. Here's the album if you want to have a look, but give it a few hours from now because they won't have uploaded.
Bye for now!
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