Plane

Friday was fun!! My friends Luke, David and Meg met me at work at the end of my shift. We drove down to Bunbury (country town about 2 hours south of Perth) and David flew us back in a little 4-seater plane! He obviously has his pilots license :)

It was super fun, but super scary. Have you ever been in a 4-seater plane!!?? It's like smaller than my car!!!! And at one point, David shook the plane and I thought we were going to drop out of the sky. Luckily, we didn't. We had a safe and uneventful flight (aside from the shaking). The flight itself was really neat. We left Bunbury right after sunset and flew up the coast. Australia is very different to flying over parts of the US because there aren't many major/big cities that you can see. Instead, it's chock full of really tiny country towns separated by many kilometers. So you see little pods of lights, and lots of blackness. Then, as you approach Perth, you see kilometers upon kilometers of lights. And the centre city. It's soo neat and very pretty from the air! And, of course, you can see the shoreline the entire way!!!

Update

I've been working a TON of hours lately, both in Midland and in Victoria Park. We have just spent 3 days completely setting up the shop in Vic Park...exciting! I can't wait to actually start working there. It's much smaller, but in a decent area so we will get lots of business.

I bought a car! It's a bit old, but it runs pretty nicely. It's also manual, so that's a bit different. Getting used to the gear box and driving on the left side of the road...interesting but not as hard as I though it would be.

I went to my friend Luke's party the other night and saw a bunch of my friends who have been home on winter break the past 4-5 weeks!!! Missed them alot!! Uni started back up this week for them, so they're back in the city for a bit now. Should see them more often, but who knows how much with work and uni etc.

My application to Curtin is complete, so I guess I just have to wait a few more weeks now to hear back from them. Fingers crossed!!!!

The weathers been fantastic lately. 70s and sunny. I might be jinxing it, but it has not rained in a day or so. But it usually just sprinkles when it does rain, and I'm usually already at work by then, so it's not big deal. I am going to attempt to go to the beach tomorrow (have tuesday and wednesday off work)!!! I hope it's nice because I want to read and/or go for a jog...need some exercise since I'm not walking miles each day!!

Anyway, I think that's about it for now!!

Will update again soon

xx

Dome!

So I got the job at Dome! Yay!! Quicky description of what I do: I am a key staff member, which means that I have to train at the Dome "headquarters" which is located in a suburb called Midland. From my house in Cannington, its like a ten minute walk to the train station, and then a 15 minute ride to the transfer station, and then a 20-3o minute ride to Midland (depending on the train...local/express), and finally a ten minute walk to the shop. I have to learn all the position in front of the house (meaning the positions that the customer can see). So, I run the cash register, prepare cakes/cold drinks/hotdrinks to be taken out to customers, wait tables, run dishes, etc. It's busy and fast-paced, but pretty fun. It's similar to Panera...cafe atmosphere, coffee, food. My pay is pretty good for starters, but I get a raise very soon. Raises occur based on how many stations you are proficient in. Since I'm key staff, I need to be proficient in them all. I will eventually be working in the Victoria Park shop, but it's not open yet (brand new!!). I am in the first group of staff to ever work in this shop! Once we are in the shop, it's my job (along with the other 4 key staff members) to train all the part-time and casual employees on their stations. Yes I am full time, and yes out of 150 applicants I was 1 of 5 to be chosen as a key staff member! Our managers LOVE us so far, and praise us all the time. They're not afraid to tell us when we are wrong, but since Midland is where everyone is trained (key staff that is), it's not a problem because everyone is there to help you out. So works going quite well so far!

In other news...my friend David taught me to drive a stick shift care the other day!! I did pretty well...drove for over an hour around my suburb and throughout some other suburbs and into Curtin. I learned to reverse and everything! In all that time, I only stalled once!

I am looking for cars this weekend because I have off of work for the next three days. I am really hoping to find something soon so that I don't have to rely on public transport and walking (although it's really good exercise!!!) to get everywhere I need to go. I'll probably still take train heaps because it's quite easy, and I won't have to worry about parking in the city etc. But it would be nice to have a car to drive myself to and from work, especially if I open or close and it's dark out. I wouldn't want to be walking around Perth at night by myself. Not safe.

Well I think that is about it for now...I'll update about the car situation soon!!!

-Me

Job?!

So I have been searching and searching for jobs...applying for anything any everything. And getting declined. There is nothing like sending out 25 applications in one day and being turned down by them ALL. What is wrong with me and my resume!? Someone please tell me!! I actually am starting to think that it is my working visa...which almost makes no sense. On this visa, I am allowed unlimited amounts of work where I want to work...so take that employers!! You COULD have a hard working employee for as many hours a week as you like, but no! I think that the problem is that I can only work for them for a maximum of 6 months. I've tried explaining to them that I have applied to Curtin University, and am hoping to get on a student visa thus allowing me to continue my term of employment, but I cannot promise that I will be accepted/put on a student visa. Blast.

BUT...I did have an interview today! It was with a company called Dome, which is very similar to a Panera or a Starbucks. They serve coffee and food and have the cafe atmosphere. The woman who interviewed me seemed to enjoy my interview (short as it was), and said that I did a very nice job interviewing and she would be in contact with me early this week. While I'm very hopeful, she did say that they're interviewing 150 people for 40 spots. EEK!! I'm really hoping that my previous 2 years experience in Panera working as a barista/bakery assistant caught her eye!!

Anyway, wish me luck!!!

xoxo

BaLi BaBy

So for the past week, I have been in Bali, Indonesia with a group of friends. I was with Meg, Luke, Phil, Jack, David and Jace. We arrived Monday night. The whole group went out to dinner and ended up at a club called the Bounty. After clubbing, we came back to the boys hotel (The Bounty...not at all confusing) and swam in the pool for a while. Meg and I made it back to our hotel (the Wina) around 330 am.

Tuesday, the entire group walked into Kuta square for some shopping. Fixed prices...expensive! We ended up getting a cab into Denpassar to go to a mall. Meg and I encountered a HUGE problem: the toilet. I can't even describe to you the nastiness of this toilet. First of all, we had to pay 1,000 rupiah to use it. We were given 3 squares of toilet paper...not nearly enough!!...and walked in. I opened the first available stall and stood there staring in shock and disbelief. How the heck do I use this toilet?! After ten or so minutes of deliberation, Meg and I left the bathroom, blatters still full. After shopping, we headed back to the hotel for another swim. Luke was starting to feel really ill at the shopping center, so he took it easy for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, the group (sans Luke) went to a waterpark called Waterbom Park. It was good fun. The first ride was terrifying though. You stood by yourself inside a coffin-like apparatus. They shut the door, count to 3, and drop the floor out from under you and you go shooting straight down and eventually go around a loop (upside-down style!) and come out at the bottom with a big wedgie. Everyone screamed when it was their turn!! The rest of the rides were pretty fun, but I think my favorite was the lazy river. We all had good fun on that!! Afterwards, we all went to dinner (even Luke!) and then went out to the Bounty again. Luke stayed in because he was still sick. I ran into a friend, Chris, at the Bounty. We were going to do karaoke, but unfortunately we never got to our turn. When we got back to the hotel, we discovered that Luke had been taken to the hospital. We later learned that he had appendicitis and would have to have his appendix removed the next morning. That was a big downer, so we just relaxed the rest of the night.

Thursday, Meg and I got up early, ate breakfast, and decided to get ready for the day and go back to bed until the boys came around to meet us. Literally, as soon as we were both back in bed, the boys came knocking. We had to get to the hospital asap because Luke's surgery was at noon and we had to be there to sign release forms for him. We got there (after a nasty cab ride with no airconditioning) and found his room. It was SO small that we literally crowded around the bed and were touching the bed and walls at the same time. Poor Luke. Afterwards, we went back to Kuta and did some shopping and set up quad biking for the following day.

Friday, we woke up early and went quad biking. We were picked up in front of the boys' hotel and were driven 2 hours into the mountains and rice patties. We quad biked for 2 hours and had lunch. It was good fun! It rained a bit, so it was very muddy, which made it even better. There were some really steep parts where you had to keep your brakes on and just slide down. Scary, but awesome! Jace managed to go through 3 bikes: the brakes on bike #1 blew out on the steepest hill causing him to smash into a tree and get a scrape, and the tire on the second bike popped. Bike #3 seemed pretty good. We were all sooo tired and ridiculously muddy afterwards, so it was an early night.

Saturday, the boys rented motor bikes (like mopeds) to drive around town on. We did that for a bit, and then went into Centro, a bit shopping center in Kuta. After wandering around for a while, we went back to the hotel to swim and get ready for dinner. We were going to have a nice dinner out on the beach at a restaurant thats half in the water. On the way, we motor biked over to get our laundry done. Meg was involved in a motor bike accident which resulted in her being taken directly to the hospital to have surgery on her knee. Phil and Jack went along with her while David, Jace and I grabbed a cab to the medical center. We apparently went to the wrong one and called numerous other hospitals in order to find her, but failed. We went back to the boys hotel to wait. We tried to go to Jace and Jack's room, but their room key was signed out. We figured that either Phil or Jack had come back, signed out their room key in order to get my room key, which was in their room, in order to go to our hotel and get Meg's insurance information. Since neither of those keys were available, the three of us hung out in David's room, waiting for the others to return. The next morning, they still were not back.

Sunday, Jace, David and I had a sleep in (by accident) and hung out for a bit and went to pick up the laundry. We ate lunch at the place right next to where Meg had her accident, and the same girl can by to explain what happened since none of us saw it, and gave us her best. She was soo nice! Meg came back with Jack and Phil that afternoon, and we all just took it easy for the rest of the night.

Monday, the group just took it easy. We thought Luke might come back from hospital, but he didn't. We had an interesting ride from the hotel to the airport which included Jace yelling animal noises out the window at passers-by, lots of random singing, and Jack farting on my camara thus prompting the cab driver to start yelling 'more fart more fart!' and fart himself. I almost peed myself laughing. The airport was an adventure due to Meg's injury, but we managed after lots of stress. We are back home and safe now!!!

All moved in!

Well, I made it to Perth on Friday safe and sound! The ride over was less than desirable, though. From delays, to missing flights, to an uncomfortable seat…it was a VERY long day to say the least!

Kellie met me at the airport, and we went straight to her house to pack her things into the car. We then headed off to the realtors office and signed our lease!! Kellie’s parents and boyfriend, Mitch, met us at the house with a truckload of furniture and helped us move in and get settled.

The house is lovely!! It’s a 3-bedroom 2-bath with a large open kitchen/living room and a cozy den area. We also have a large back patio with a rose garden lining it. It’s larger than my apartment in Elon was!!

On Saturday, Kellie, Mitch and I went to the Carousel mall to run a few moving-in errands such as getting a small dresser for me, hangers, etc. I looked into getting internet but I have to have a bank account (Australian) first in order to do that…so Monday! Afterwards, I went to visit Rhys, Calum and Nathan for a few hours. We had a good time…watched the world cup games, ate dinner, watched some movies etc. Rhys then dropped me off at home and I went to bed relatively early (for me). Jet lag man….

Sunday, Mitch and I watched Avatar while Kellie studied for exams and before he went back home (he lives south of Perth along the shore somewhere). After, I watched another movie and relaxed. It was an easy-going day.

Since it’s winter here, I was expecting temperatures in the 40s and 50s with lots of rain. Surprisingly, it has yet to rain (knock on wood) and has been fairly warm out. I would say somewhere between 60 and 70 so far, and very sunny! While it hasn’t been cold, our house is freezing (no central heating), so we have been “rugging up” (bundling up), and turning on the space heater in the den. It doesn’t reach the entire house, so hanging out in the den is preferential! It’s really cold because all of the floors (sans bedroom and den) are tile, which doesn’t absorb heat…good for summer not winter!

Monday I got to hang out with a good friend Steve. We went to the carousel mall and hung out at my house for a bit. Nothing too exciting. Meg…another friend…stopped by for a bit, so we visited as well.

Tuesday was pretty drab : rained allllll day. Jamee came over for a bit. Was nice to catch up!! I also applied for a bunch of jobs around the area! Let’s hope something pulls through! Oh – it’s also Rhys’ 21^st today, but he studied all day for his exam in the morning, so I won’t see him until after that.

Australia...tomorrow!

SOOoooo I leave tomorrow, June 9th, for Australia!! I'm very excited to get back and see everyone again, though I will surely miss friends and family here in the States! My room mate, Kellie, and I have found a house in a suburb called Cannington. It's about a ten minute drive to campus, and it's right down the street from the shopping mall, food stores, and the train/bus station. I think I'll like it! Kellie, who is Australian, says that the house is quite nice!

I'll be looking for jobs once I get moved into my house, and also finishing my application to Curtin University's Master of Physiotherapy program. It will be a busy winter (Aussy winter, that is!)!

I have my new address, so if you're interested in that please let me know!

for now..

Life Update

(Pictures of good times from senior year)

So, as most of you already know, I am about to graduate from college! Wow...what a huge change!! As sad as I am to leave Elon, this place I have called home for the past 4 years of my life, it's time to move on to bigger things. I have had so many wonderful memories here: Derby parties, Halloween parties, girls nights, beach trips, and adventures into the city (just to name a few). I will certainly miss this adventurous and glamorous lifestyle! But alas...
What is the next step? Perth! I have decided to move back to Perth for a minimum of a year to pursue some life goals. My current plan is as follows:
1) Have my wonderful roommate, Kellie, find suitable accommodation in Perth (please hope that we get the house that we want and that it is as fantastic as it seems on paper!)
2) Say farewell to my Elon friends, who I will miss like none other!!
3) Head home for a few weeks to see friends and family/pack/get ready!
4) Get on a plane in mid-June
5) Find a job
6) Apply to graduate school (and hopefully get accepted)
If all goes as planned (I get into Curtin's Physio), I will be there for a minimum of 3 years!! I am really hoping that things go my way. While I have beet out on my own for the past 4 years, I feel like living abroad will really test me and I will know if I really am the person I think I am. We shall see...
I'll update again when I know what my definite plans are!!!