Oz First Anniversary Special
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
56
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Friday, October 7, 2005
Ah so you thought you'd gotten rid of me completely....well not quite. Welcome to the first in what may end up being a series of specials...this one being my First Anniversary in Oz!!!
Yes strictly speaking by now I should have left the country as my 1 year Working Holiday Visa ended on October 3rd, but instead I am holed up in a secret location trying to avoid detection by the immigration agency, while awaiting confirmation of my plastic surgery appointment and a complete change of identity...
Well that's not strictly true. Since returning to Sydney in early August I've got myself a 3 month contract at Ernst & Young doing IT Helpdesk stuff which is boring as...but however it is paying actual money which is kinda nice to have. The contract runs until Nov 8 and as part of that I'm being sponsored from Oct 4th through the agency to complete the contract, that then enables me to get other jobs through the agency. Well now it's October 7th and I have no idea how the agency are progressing with the app so I could well be here illegally...but I don't know so it's not my fault!
Of course I'm also looking for permanent work. Had an interview with PricewaterhouseCoopers a couple of weeks ago, they loved me but decided they were looking for someone a little more junior - not in age but skills! Clearly I knew too much. Last week I went for an interview with Klikon who are a small IT consultancy in Petersham which is an Inner West suburb in Sydney - despite asking for more money and telling them that I need sponsorship they still wanted to see me. However Petersham is about 4-5 stops out on the train, so the commute each way will be 45-60 mins which I'm not particularly excited about, to make life easier I'd probably have to get a car pretty quickly, which is an expense I haven't really budgeted for. They want to see me again on Monday so I may ask for more money and/or a home working arrangement a couple of days a week - I think I'm in a pretty good bargaining position coz they've been advertising the job for ages and haven't found anyone, plus the agency says they like me....so we'll see what occurs.
Settling into the flat nicely, been there just over a month I think and loving the location and the place. The flatmate however is a complete dullard, I think he's just chalked up a fortnight without going out in the evening at all. All he does is work, come home, watch TV or sit in his room on the PC. We don't have much in common and as he does bugger all there's not much to talk about. It's a pity coz I was really hoping to find a flatmate that I got on really well with, could go out for a drink with, who wasn't in all the time...you know, but guess you can't have everything. Plus I was a bit pissed off with him coz he advertised himself as non-smoking on the ad for the flat and turns out he smokes out of his bedroom window - which for some reason makes him a non smoker in his eyes!! Caught him smoking out of the lounge window and it was blowing into my room - we had to have words! And the lease on the tenancy stipulates no smoking in the building....so if he pisses me off big time then may have to have a word with the agency, I'll go all Single White (Fe)male on him.
Bought myself a super shiny bargain laptop so I don't have to use net cafes anymore, you'd think that I'd have got pics of the flat and stuff online by now wouldn't you - yes well they'll appear soon I'm sure, probably in a Hello spread so keep an eye out at your newsagent....."Paul lounges on his large bed listening to tunes on his Megapod, Paul is wearing a t-shirt from Abercrombie & Finch and jeans from Diesel and is looking and feeling fabulous after a recent move to Sydney".... Also got superfast ADSL wireless at home so I can surf while on the toilet but that pic won't be in Hello - go on, you know you want that image to come into your head! Also started a photography course at the Australian Centre for Photography, it's more a creative thing than a 'how-to' thing so it's giving me some creative inspiration and challenging what I do - goes all arty, grows a goatee and muses over the impact of reportage in the modern age... - either way I'm enjoying it loads and hoping that I'll meet some new friends from it. Only the 2nd week last night but most of them seem pretty cool in varying degrees.
My first afternoon back at the beach occurred last Sunday as the weather starts warming up. It would appear that with the warm weather a plague of moths also enters the city. The area I work in is called World Square, it's an office/apartment/shopping type complex and has lots of lights. Monday night I was out taking pics around World Square and it was like a scene from some 'Attack of the Killer Moths' style movie. There were literally millions all over the building, walls and floors. I had to walk through these bloody things and they'd start flapping around me - I resisted the temptation to flap my arms around and scream like a girl, maintaining manly composure at all times. Well that was until a wind suddenly appeared from nowhere whipping the moths into a frenzy of flapping and going crazy, had to leave coz they kept flying into me, landing on me....eurgh it was hideous! Apparently it happens every year as they migrate south and they'll soon have buggered off...thank god.
Travelling for a few months took it's toll on me adding a few kilos on, so I'm now going through my 'healthy during the week' phase, no crap, chocolate, biscuits, cake, bad things during the week....and no I don't pig out a the weekend, just allow myself a couple of little treats. It's working so far having lost about 3Kgs (6-7lbs) since starting with a plan to lose 10Kg (22lbs or over a stone-and-a-half) by the end of the year, which will take me to my lowest weight in the history of me ever....well probably since I was about 8 or something. I'll just be melting away...of course some of the impetus is the fact that summer is round the corner and the sleeveless tops and beach days will be coming out so you know you gotta look good for all that ain't ya!
Went to the doctor's a few weeks ago too coz I'd had neckache, headaches and swollen glands, also mentioned that I'd had a cough since I'd been in Brisbane which was a good couple of months. So he tested me for all and sundry - turns out I'd had Whooping Cough so got some drugs for that and the cough disappeared. Thought I'd been inoculated for that but after a conversation with mother it was discovered that I never was....bloody marvellous! Also had some other viral thing which thank god has now disappeared...though as I sit here a cough seems to have returned which is marvellous. It's working that's what it is....it's very very bad for the health.
Right...special over! I'm trying to get round to emailing people but be good to hear from you first too so gimme a shout if you haven't sent anything for a while ey!
*This offer is only available if you get your arse over to Sydney. And if you don't know what Club Peppermint Cream is it's a block of dark chocolate with peppermint cream in it....mmmmmm....chocolate....
