life's little necessities

october 1/09

yet again another hostel - ive found that its getting easier to get into the swing of things. new place, new bed, new sheets. its taken me a bit of time to master the skill of making my bed when on the top bunk, but i think i have done it. all my sheets tucked in i again reflect on how odd it is to spend the night with 5 other strangers - sometimes female, sometimes male. i have been fortunate enough to catch my zzz's with women rather than men but im sure that experience will come soon enough. even so, there is an oddity in having one of the most intimate parts of a persons day (or rather night) openly viewed upon by other people who may or may not even know each others names. sometimes i dont even meet the people i sleep with at all - they are but a lumpy shape under a thin sheet that came late in the night. there was one time i woke up in the morning and had to ask my roommate if she had heard anyone come in during the night. we both were not sure.

anyway - with all the people i have met so far in australia, i find that a majority of the people seem to be from germany, canada or new zealand. i found that interesting and surprising that so many from germany have travelled down under. learn something new everyday i suppose.

from what i hear, tomorrow, saturday and sunday are supposed to rain. it will be interesting to see if the rain is as cold as it is when in calgary because i can tell you that the ocean water sure is! it completely surprised me in how cold the ocean was today - brought back flashback memories of attempting to "shower" in the glacier rivers of the rocky mountains only a couple months back. not exactly what id expect of australia - though i suppose it IS only spring here.

needless to say, tomorrow will be a big day of job hunting. im crossing my fingers ill make more progress than the last day - that and that maybe my foot will be all better. im itching to run and its killed me that i didnt the past few days.

back to bondi - its kind of like the banff of the beach world as i see it. instead of towering mountains, there is a vaste ocean. instead of walking in the snow and hearing it crunch under your feet - you can feel the sand between your toes. you get raccoon eyes from sunglasses = not ski goggles. tourist shops sell flip flops - not toques. people walk around looking like the poster person for a beach resort where as in banff everyone looks made to hike. both so much the same, both so different - none are better.


october 2/09

another day in bondi. another day of job hunting. draining. tiring. completely and utterly frustrating. and just when i thought id run out of options - i met one of my roommates from the hostel. turns out krista, from california, works down at bronte beach which is about a 20 min walk from bondi beach. she told me to check it out because not only is nico's looking for people now but krista is planning to leave in a month so her hours would be up for grabs. so i went there and gave them my resume (or a CV as it is referred to here) - along with all the other coffee bars along that stretch.

2 hours later all the calls of the world came in. i got a "trial run" at a coffee place in bronte, one at nico's and an interview at fitness first to be a sales consultant. i also got a call to be a live-in nanny for a family of 4 boys. well - not so much a "nanny" as a second set of hands for the mom who stays home as well. ill meet her tomorrow - everything else has been crammed in for tuesday. its funny how things work. now im stuck with the issue of having to juggle all these job possibilities in order to hopefully get the best pick in the end of all this.

****

jobs, jobs, jobs. its so much wierder i find to be working while travelling. my reasoning behind why im taking the job has changed from wanting to make the "responsible" choice to wanting the "fun" job. i dont want to worry about stress while travelling, i just want something to keep me travelling. so, yes, maybe working with the family would be good in that i get free room and food, but then im isolated from those my age which makes the whole "fun" aspect of my travel adventures limited to the probability of only being myself .... not QUITE what i wanted. then theres doing sales at the fitness centre. yes, theres a high chance of making good money and id get a free membership, but who wants the money when its high pressure commission sales? and whats a gym membership when i get to run on the beach? so that brings me back to the coffee shops. aim high. haha.

i did my first run on the beach today and it was absolutely perfect. i have never had the opportunity to do that before (or never the energy) and have only ever dreamed of doing such a thing. by 7:30 am i took my flip-flop clad feet down to the shoreline. flip-flops off and i was ready to go. i joined the handful of other people running on the wet sand as the waters licked our feet. most were running in their swimmers (aka: swim suits) - all in bare feet. as i sweated to britney spears (dont knock it untill you try it), i could hear the waves crashing along side of me. i ran the long stretch of white sand back and forth, back and forth, passing those practicing their morning yoga routines on the sand. i went untill i couldnt breathe any longer and then i went some more. i was hooked. sometimes the waves washed over my feet, splashing up my legs, numbing the skin and sometimes my feet pounded the distance, creating a whole new style for "footprints in the sand." when i was done i joined the handful of others who were sitting in the sand meditating. i closed my eyes and did the same, feeling completely at peace and calm in mind, body and spirit.

the fresh air.

the waves.

the seagulls.

the sun.

the breeze.

i took it all in. felt it. breathed it. i was it. for that moment in time everything felt completely natural. real. organic. i loved it.

for that, i cant wait for tomorrow morning. i feel like a child on christmas eve. it is only shortly passed 7pm and i am already wanting to go to bed just so the morning will come quicker. i dont care that 3 of my hostel roomies are going out on the town partyintg. i dont care that its friday night - the night to do something. ANYTHING. i have found something greater that none of these girls here i room with could understand. and thats okay. so tonight, instead, i merely wait anxiously for my roommates to hurry up and beautify themselves so they can disappear to the world of drunks and i can sleep.


october 3/09

turns out it decided to rain today. cloudy, windy and cold, the ocean waves are twice as large today. i skipped the run and decided to take a rest day. not like i was too happy with that decision. now im restless and probably will be for the remainder of the day. it may be a good day to hang out at the mall. i have to get a few things for my potential jobs anyway. fun, fun, fun.

i checked out of my hostel today and walked on over to my next one. i am hoping the next place i stay after this hostel will be more permanent. i am getting slightly tired of living completely out of my bag when i know i will be sticking around for a while. i would like to have a bit of my own space to settle in for a few months. plus, it is not as though i am entirely thrilled with being surrounded by a bunch of drunk travellers all the time (gotta love hostels). i mean, really - what is the point?

that is one of the few things in life i have never been able to understand. what is the point of going out to drink, get hammered, trashed, plastered - or however else you want to call it? its not like any word used to mask the reality of the situation can make the process of getting drunk any more fun or cool. really, think about it. alcohol tastes bad (dont tell me otherwise - it doesnt compare in the least to a bowl of ice cream). its expensive. theres all this pressure to binge drink (come on - REALLY?) in which the result usually consists of someone holding another persons hair back as they puke it out in the toilet. and all for what? make a few friends? have fun? take the edge off? is this the BEST idea people have come up with? REALLY?! i mean - granted, i have had my handful of times where i have gotten drunk, but thats it. no joke. i can count on one hand the number of times. i honestly find the whole activity slightly boring and annoying. i dont have much sympathy for those who are hungover and complaining of the noise level at 10 in the morning. *sigh*

i find it hard not to judge those who drop hundreds of dollars every weekend for a good time. what happened to board games, extreme sports, and watching movies? what happened to just going out to DANCE? whats happened to people that alcohol is "needed" in order to have a good time? i just dont get it.

****

the day of rain is almost over (the day, not the rain - that still continues) and i am beat. i went to an interview to work with the family of 4 boys - walked there in the pouring rain and ended up looking like a very drowned rat.

i then went to the mall to try and figure out if i could find some cheap buys to help me sell myself in my interviews to come. that simply resulted in me wandering aimlessly untill i found the doughnut shop. YUM! i then made my way to the internet cafe to do some more job hunting and house hunting. and by "house hunting" i really mean looking for a cheap mattress to rent in which there will most like be 5-6 people (on average) already living in the one flat - not necessarily in 5-6 separate rooms.

i opened up my email and found myself staring at 2 new job posibilities - both happening to be in the modelling industry. one for a private photographer looking to expand their skills and the other an agency that provides models to be used for sales, marketing and promotions. i found them both intriguing as i always have a blast playing around with my own camera - modeling is something ive always been intrigued to try. so we will see what happens with that.

as it stands, my brain is in a fog. there has been so much going on in the past few days, it is hard to even keep up. im excited but also nervous to see what the next week brings as there will be some major decisions to be made. even tomorrow - the possibility of finding a place to rent looms ahead as i will spend the day checking out properties in and around the bondi area.

as for now - i try to dry off and warm up in my hostel. my 3 other roommates (all from france) are busy doing the same. the rain has chilled us. even with that common ground, its still wierd to be in a room full of women speaking and not being able to understand a word theyre saying. fortunately they will occassionally switch to english which can be a refreshing surprise.


october 6/09

3 interviews done. 1 to go. i got a bit of time to kill before my last one for fitness first and im debating if i even feel like going at all. the first place i went to this morning, nico's said they could pretty much garantee me fulltime hours if i went to do the barista course offered in sydney. sweetness. that was all i needed to hear. the second coffee place i skipped as they were right beside nicos and seemed a little more uptight in their buisness proceedings (the manager had hesitated giving me a chance because i had on my resume that the last time i worked in the restaurant industry was 4 years ago. right - its not like its that hard to pick up again). i then went to what i thought was my "modelling" interview. turns out it was for a position to sell automotive packages from midas to people. eww. so - im just waiting for my 4 interview. i already have doubts about wanting to take it. theres something about being able to work in a fun juice/coffe bar off the beach that just sounds plain appealling to me. but hey - gotta keep my options open.

same goes for the house hunting. i really havent found anything i love. turns out that most people who rent from house shares commonly share the bedrooms as well. this means its a house set up more like a hostel with 2-3 people per room... every place i went to so far is a complete pigsty - dirty dishes, dirty floor, things tossed everywhere. gross. id rather pay to stay in a hostel if thats a case. so the hunt for a room continues. i am determined. i know i will find one...

... now if only my bank account would work. they have officially frozen my account which means all i have access to is my credit cards and the minor $25 cash i have in my wallet. not exactly the best situation when i am looking at dropping a couple hundred in order to secure a room that i hopefully can find to stay in for the next few months. geez, louise. so now i need to call the bank... THAT should go over well....