Playing catch-up (oops)

To be honest, last Monday feels like it was a decade away. I’m assuming it feels that way because a lot has happened in the past week, not because I’m getting older. Normally it seems that as you get older time goes by very quickly, and it feels “like just yesterday” that you were in college, or high school for that matter. I don’t think that being forgetfully has anything to do with my age either, I think that has to do with my obsession with T.V. when I was younger. It turned my memory to mush I think. (When was the last time I wrote a blog entry? … Last week sometime??... Moving on…)

This past week anyhow, I’ve moved into my apartment, met with several friends and made new friends, acquired a lot of furniture, dishes, silverware, and even helped my friend Robby construct my bed frame. Where to even start, when I can’t remember the sequence of events? Instead I’ll just give you the highlights… it’ll be a shorter entry that way anyhow. Technically I could probably write a good 3 or 4 pages on this week alone, but I’ll save you from suffering TOO much

Monday I was checking my bank account as often as possible to see if I had received money from the U.S. I am very thankful that Carl is such a wonderful and patient man to make sure all of the paper work to get an international wire was organized, however I should have asked for it earlier. The weekend really put a crimp in the works, and as some of you may know I’m an A+ worrier. I needed the money to pay the deposit plus 2 weeks rent for the new unit. I didn’t want the realtors to give away the apartment I had my heart set on! By the afternoon that day I realized that as anxious as I might be I needed to move on with my day, besides the wire wasn’t going to happen until the banks here opened on Tuesday morning. I knew that. My afternoon was spent in the Queensland Museum.  I was scoping it out for when the museum asked for an interview. I found the museum to be highly fascinating. I was very impressed that they already had an exhibit for the Brisbane Floods 2011, and the Torry Straights Islander and Aboriginal exhibit really made me want to learn more about their cultures. I had a few suggestions for the suggestion box, but that’s how I am. I like coming up with ideas. I felt that they could use more interactive exhibits for adults (because they like to play too), and more talks (even if they’re just given by the museum staff). I’ll be keeping those thoughts to myself during the interview however. I don’t want to come off pushy, or full of myself, or whatever giving suggestions like that might sound like during an interview.

Tuesday I received the international money transfer from my U.S. account and straight away paid my deposit. Later that day I received my keys and went to the apartment to fill out a Condition Report. When I returned the Condition Report later that day, the realtor’s office was quite impressed. Most tenants take a few days to fill it out. I told them that I wanted to be on top of it, and I had taken pictures to boot. I want to make sure I’m not going to get blamed for anything that wasn’t my fault. Not that I think I have to worry though. The house that the unit is in is an old house with plenty wrong with it. My room looks as if it was used as a child’s play room, with kid height doodles on the walls. It’s not the most “perfect” place, but it’s my place. It’s close to transportation, the library, and a few quaint little cafes.

Wednesday my superb friend Deanne picked me up from my friends’ place, and we were off to find a bed, a fridge, a fan, and a few other things I would need at my place. The fan was a must, and I didn’t let Deanne forget it. It was only dropping down to the mid-80s at night (it seemed), was super humid, and Wednesday was to be my first night in the new place without a/c. We found a double mattress for a bargain and I decided to buy a fridge since it was going to be about $100 more in the long run to rent one. Both of those items were to be delivered on Thursday, and jumping ahead a bit chronologically, they were delivered on time! The rest of Wednesday evening, after I put my new fan together (very important), I spent putting together a clothing rack and a set of drawers. I had spaghetti for dinner with my new neighbor, David. He’s an interesting fellow in maybe his late 60’s who’s a bit protective, but I suppose that’s a good thing in the end.

Thursday I got groceries to put in my fridge! Just a few things… cheese, tomatoes, pita bread, and 2 pears. What can I say? I’m simple… plus I didn’t have anything to cook with at that point. I had no pots or pans donated yet. Those were to come on Saturday. I met up with my friends Mike and Marilyn, had a good chat with them, and got to take home some of their extra kitchen stuff! All very exciting! That night I met with another friend, had dinner, chatted, and was offered to do some contracted work on a webpage. I don’t really have a clue about those at all, but I told my friend that I would do some research and see what I could do. It’s a good thing that my neighbor David builds computers, and my other neighbor, Ben works IT. Between the two of them I’m sure I have plenty tech support. After such an adventurous day I was glad to fall asleep on the temporary cot I was calling a bed.

Friday, still no internet or word from the museum, and my neighbor, who has moved from the house next door has mentioned that the people from next door want to physically hurt him and that I should call the police if they come over. I think I may invest in a pad lock… There are a few things that worry me about this place and feeling completely safe is one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I feel safe… I just want to do everything I can to continue to feel that way, or better. I can’t wait for Brad to get here! During the day Friday I spent my day spending money once again. I’m getting quite good at it… I can’t wait to make money again though. Per usual I made a few friends as well; a librarian at the local library and a foreign linguistics student from Libya. John is super fascinating even though he sometimes struggles with the English language, but then again who doesn’t? His plan is to stay in Australia as long as there’s blood being shed in his country. He is quite worried about his family and friends, but says that he’s better off staying here and studying than being in Libya. Scary.

Friday night, after eating fish and chips and being semi-lectured about staying out too late by David, I headed out to a birthday party for a few of my friends. I got back at about 2am (I took a taxi all the way to the front door), and who was waiting at the gate? You guessed it, David. I found out later that he has a daughter about my age, and had a son about my age that was killed in Iraq… by an American soldier. Apparently it was a case of mistaken identity, but it doesn’t make it right. It’s very sad.

Saturday was the day we were promised internet and a washing machine. At least the washing machine came... on Sunday. Turns out there are a few things wrong with getting the internet, according to Ben and David; no phone line for each unit, no one had called to have the internet installed (*shrug*), and the company is one that overcharges for slow internet. That day I went to both the city and state libraries to find internet. I had no luck at either one. I spent most of the day reading and relaxing. There wasn’t much else to do. That evening I received my pots and pans! I can officially start cookin’!

Sunday... the day of rest, at least for people that didn't have bed frames to make. I helped Robby make my awesome bed frame on Sunday and received a small tv and xbox from him as well! A repair man (which I believe was also the landlord, but didn't get the chance to ask) came by the apartment as well that day and "fixed" a few windows. At least the windows are closed now, even if I can't open them. Oh well. I'm still pretty happy in the little apartment.It gets great light!

And that my friends was my week.

Enjoy some photo of and around Brisbane.

 

Can you find the 2 birds?

Queen Street Mall

Brisbane Library Court Yard

The Casino (it's not like Vegas, that's for sure)

Down the Brisbane river ... gotta love the city CAT ferry!

Brisbane!

More than hour away

Living more than and hour away from the Brisbane CBD by bus can be quite challenging, but I'm happy to be taken in by friends!

As some of you may remember, I had a lead on a job last time I wrote. On Saturday I met up with Sean (the guy with the lead) and a few of his friends. We had dinner at the very nice (and expensive) restaurant on South Bank; Obsession. The meal was beautiful Chinese food, and the company was nice. I would have liked Sean and his male friend to take a deep, long breath in order for the girls to be heard, but that's a different matter. I finally got around to asking Sean in passes about the job that he was going to hook me up with. Turned out that his friend thought it was a great idea... I would be counting bugs on windshields for a company that deals with fixing broken windshields. I thought this was an odd response, but I just let it go because it was supposed to be a "celebration" as Sean kept saying. A celebration of what he never said. I didn't continue the night with the group because I didn't feel completely confident they wouldn't leave me behind somewhere.

On the way back to my friends' place I passed another friend's place. He happened to be hosting a party and I thought I might make an appearance. Had I realize that I was going to have to walk about 10 minutes down a dark street by myself I wouldn't have got off the bus. I walked about 6 minutes before I got sick and couldn't walk anymore on the dark street. After my mugging, I feel that I'm too easy of a target when it's dark. I was happy to get back on the bus and back to my friends on Saturday night.

However I digress from the most interesting stories of the week. Although, I don't wish to go into the job situation, I can tell you that I left the opportunity to work with an IT company for and opportunity to work for the Queensland Museum! It's very exciting!

The other interesting thing in my life is my new apartment that I'll move into this week. It's a one bedroom flat really close to transportation and the city, and gets heaps of light. The adventure to find this place was one that I've been putting on my blog in pieces. The last piece has been the most exciting.

On Tuesday I went to see a place in Woollongabba. The landlord was very friendly and the property was in fairly close proximity to transportation, but the apartment was very dark and in an area surrounded by auto shops. If I moved there would want my "happy light" sent to me and Brad with me every second. Needlessly to say I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the property so I continued to look. That day I called about a place to see when they were going to have a showing. At first they told me that they were going to only have a showing on Saturday, however only a few minutes later they changed their mind and asked if I could make it to the property in an hour. My response, "Sure! I'll see you there!" Upon arrive I met the realator and he walked me through an apartment I just loved... there was so much sunlight and the room was huge. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a stove and they were just going to give me a hot plate, however the realtor a day or two later convinced the landlord to install the stove. Rent was going to go up, but only by $20 a week. I applied and the landlord accepted my application! I move in this coming week to a place that is close to the city, SUPER close to buses, 10 minutes from the train station, and has heaps of light and now a stove. It's very exciting!

Tomorrow I'm headed to the QLD Museum to wander around.

I also need to buy an umbrella... and now all sorts of things for my apartment! I hope I can find some awesome and cool deals!

A weekend on vacation

I'd like to say I have some fascinating stories, but I don't. This weekend was mostly about relaxation... and just a little tiny bit about looking at a place to live and getting a new cell phone.

Here are some pictures of the vacation I made my friends take in Brisbane (they said it felt like vacation because they did a whole lot of relaxing and eating out while I was around). They live in Brisbane by the way. :)

Awesome West End Cafe!

Clinton laughing so hard I thought he was going to cry!

Avita and yummy sausages and mash!!

Funny funny dog cakes in Sunnybank. I'm not sure I could eat one, but they do look yummy! :)

Lost in BrisVegas

I have to say there are a few good things about getting lost on public transportation in the city. One of them is that you you get to see something new and another might be that you get to find out how to get to destinations you previously might have not known how it get to. When you end up, on no effort of your own, in the same place that you were last lost however you are neither seeing something new nor are you figuring out how to get to that location.


Recently I've been pre-occupied with finding a job and a place to live. Both tasks are challenging in their own way. One up side to all of this search, is that I'm not bored. I may feel like I'm spending a lot of time and money on transportation, but I'm definitely not bored.

I have been spending a lot of time on the internet at a friends place applying to jobs, however about every other day I go out to see apartments, and look at store shop windows for hiring ads. Wednesday was one of those days.

I started out at the state library to apply for some jobs before my apartment viewing at 3pm. From there I also called the agent to ask if the apartment had a stove and over, because recently I had looked at a few that did not. The woman who answered the phone assumed that there was such facilities in the apartment, and from that answer I decided to not cancel my viewing. I also decided that since I already knew how to get to the location by ferry, I would try to get there by bus this time. After researching on www.translink.com.au which way to go I felt pretty confident, but wanted to make sure I got there ahead of time so I left an hour early. Approximately 30 minutes later I realized that I had hopped on the wrong bus and had ended up at the Norman Park ferry terminal. According to my calculations it would take an hour and about $4.00 to find my way to the apartment showing. I made it an hour late to only find out that the place had no oven or stove. It was quite disappointing.

From there I made another decision to take the bus. This time I called Translink to ask what I should do to get back to the city... and still got lost somehow, in Norman Park once more no less. Maybe it's a sign that I should be looking at places there. Who knows.

That night I had a wonderful dinner with a friend. It was good to catch-up and tell him my stories of getting lost on public transportation. You just have to laugh about these things.. they make for interesting stories. I love my getting lost stories.

Thursday was spend mostly packing and applying to jobs. I moved Thursday night into another friend's place in Acacia Ridge. This time even further away from the city... about an hour by bus. I also can seem to get reception on my phone under their metal roof. They really are lovely people and I'm very thankful they are letting me stay, but the location makes it very difficult to look for a place and job closer to the city and major public transport lines. I'll more than likely be looking to move closer to the city very soon.

Friday, my good friend Di came up with some ideas for where to find a job. I spent part of the day talking to a gentleman, Sean, that is very connected. He seemed to think he might know someone that would be willing to hire me for 6 months or less (since my visa requires that I only work for each individual employer for 6 months or less). I'm hopeful. Following my conversation with him, I proceeded to take a 45 minute train ride into the city to hang out at the library once more and apply for jobs.

Last night (Friday night) was spent catching up with more of my friends at their place. It's so great that I've had a chance to see a lot of my good friends already.. but I have plenty more to see! Can't wait!

Crossing my fingers for a job and a place!

Take a stroll...

With gray clouds looming on the horizon and wind blowing from the east, Thursday night brought in a hefty thunderstorm. Poring rain accompanied by lighting and thunder created quite the tropical atmosphere.

On Friday I spent the day inside, working on my general cover letter and researching jobs and temp agencies. It was raining and with a 700 mete walk to the train station, I wasn't mentally prepared to be soaked and sitting on the train. It takes approximately 45 minutes to ride the train from Ferny Grove into the city. I wasn't prepared to sit drenched on the train that whole way.

Luckily Friday night I found out where my friends keep my umbrellas. I thought it might me a good thought to take one on Saturday while I was wondering around the city. Turns out that on Saturday it was such a nice day, that I didn't need to take an umbrella at all.

The goal Saturday was to look at the exteriors of places I may want to live; places I had found on the www.realestate.com.au website. These included one a one bedroom flat near the city that appeared to be in a very friendly area. It was one unit of 12 units, and looked alright. I would imagine that it wouldn't get much light though; there were quite a few trees that blocked windows. The second property was no good at all. The price was okay at $250 a week, but the location was on a very busy street with an ambulances entrance to a hospital just across the way. That property was crossed off my list pretty quickly. The third place I looked at was in a high-rise apartment building. It's entrance was sheltered from the main road, there was a bus stop and a ferry terminal within about 100m of the building, and the pool and garden area was quite nice. Other than it being $280/week or $285/week depending on which of the two fully furnished apartments I would want, I thought it looked perfect! I'll be seeing the interior of the $285/ week on Wednesday. I've also called about the $280/week one and the first apartment I mention, but I suspect the realtor won't get back to me until Monday.

I think in total I walked almost 4 km (3 miles). My feet were quite sore. It was a wonderful day to be walking however, not too hot and also not raining. That evening was spent watching The Wedding Crashers and Shallow Hal with my good friends Dani and Matt.

Sunday morning I slept in a bit. It wasn't long after I woke-up though, that I went to the Sunday markets in the Ferny Grove train station's parking lot. The market was full of nik-naks and things people had just pulled out of their garage to sell. I imagined my grandfather probably did about the same with the stuff he has way back when. He has sooo much "stuff". There was also a wide range of fruits, vegetables, breads, and plants for sale was well at the markets. I ended up buying 4 lemons and 4 avocados for $3 Australia. I felt like I had made out like a bandit!

The rest of the day has been spent watching T.V. and talking with Brad on Skype... enjoying the blue sky and sweet wind. It's been a beautiful day. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

First Day Back in Brisbane; in 10 easy steps

I like step blog entries, because they're easy and fun! So here goes;

Step 1: Wake-up and not want to leave the room where the fan is blowing.

Step 2: Do laundry, but remember to turn on the switch at the outlet... otherwise there's no power to the washing machine.

Step 3: Walk to, and find, the Foodworks shop for shopping for dinner type foods.

Step 4: Feel like like sweat is coming out of every pore of your body and the tops of you feet are on fire because they're getting a sunburn all while out on a walk.

Step 5: Look for jobs and housing on the internet back at the house.

Step 6: Laugh with you mom about one of your best Australian mates taking am American Accent class, and possibly becoming a "show-n'-tell" item because you're American.

Step 7: Get the laundry off the line before the thunderstorm comes.

Step 8: Have a bottle of wine and great conversation with a friend.

Step 9: Run out of steps.

Step 10: Go to bed. :)

The lucky travel charm and kittens!

My travel charm makes me happy. It's a beautiful gold chain with a gold charm of the saint of travel on it. My friend Deanne gave it to me years ago when I left Australia after my masters degree. It's been working wonders ever since. I think partly because I feel calm, relaxed, and happy when I have it, but I do believe that it also brings me a bit of luck. Take for example the events that have happened in the last few days.

I had accidentally left my necklace at my aunt and uncle's home and on that day, as nice as it was during most parts of the day and as lucky as I was that night, I was still mugged. And as you know, that was traumatic! The following day when I filed my police report, a statement that was suppose to take 20 minutes, took an hour and 20 minutes. I just happened to get a field officer that could barely find the "g" for "google" on the keyboard. The guy was nice enough, but I almost asked if he wanted me to type up the statement. (I could rant on for pages about that, but I'll save you from suffering.) After a wonderful evening with Lucy and her housemates.

I was feeling a bit better. The next day however the zipper on the front of my purse broke after having a nice day in Melbourne's shopping area looking at really pricey cameras!

Later that day, thanks to my wonderful Aunt Martha, I received my necklace! After that, I have a very wonderful dinner with Lucy and my new made friends. We laughed so much! We ate at some restaurant my friends call "the green restaurant" because of it's green walls. Then most of the day today was spend playing with uber-cute kittens! I also did a little purse shopping at the local second-hand store right around the corner from Lucy's place and found a good going out purse for $5 Aussie.

Tonight the trip to the airport went extremely smooth. The bus driver even said I have a very happy and positive aura around me. No problem with check in, even though I was a few kilo over. Then the flight was nearly empty; I had two empty seats beside me and three behind me, and the flight attendants were super nice!

Needless to say I'm glad that the flight went well, and happy to have my Saint to watch over me. :)

I'm also happy to be in Brisbane and to see my friends Dani and Matt. Today the search starts for a job and a place to live. Don't be to concerned if the number of journal posts starts to diminish for a little while. That's just me being busy.