End of training and my alcohol tolerance...

So yesterday marked the last day of a grueling 2 week training session. To celebrate we had a sports day in the park and free pizza for lunch. Then a group of us hit the pub. Now the best part is we got paid for a full day of work. So I am officially a professional athlete, pizza eater, and drinker.

We moved to another bar, where I saw a feat of amazingness. A group of girls I work with were sitting there looking at a map of Sydney (for what reason I don't know) and a man approached them. He said what can I help you with? (Now this man was like 50, open shirt, gold necklace, with a 25 year old girl friend. Im talking sugar daddy status.) So my co-workers jokingly say "you can buy us all a drink". With out a hesitation he takes $50 out of his pocket and gives it to them. Now mind you, it is happy hour right now so drinks are only $3.50. Which means after the girls bought themselves all drinks they bought us boys drinks too. So I got my first taste of what's its like to have a sugar daddy. And to all those women who can pull it off, I envy you.

I am really broke. So to save money I decided to buy a bottle of wine from the store and then drink it quickly before meeting in the club. That way I can be drunk and not have to buy drinks. So I do just that. To many this may seem like a bad idea, and a majority of the time it is. But for some reason due to my strong Polish and Russian heritage I have the alcohol tolerance of a T-Rex. I down the entire bottle of wine to my self in 30 min and I wasn't even buzzed. Sad story really. Luckily I won a free drink in the club. There I posted myself up with a good ole fashion Gin and Tonic (my go to drink). After finishing that, guess what? I still wasn't buzzed. With no money left to spend I just danced the night away.

Currently listening to: The Mary Onettes

Work and what else?

Week 1 of training is done. Tomorrow I start week 2. So far so good. This weekend I didn't do much so nothing to report there. I know some of you are waiting to see more pics of Sydney on my facebook. I apologize for the lack of pics, it is just that I don't bring my camera anywhere with me unless it is a special occasion. Im done with all the tourist stuff from when I studied abroad, so I don't bring the camera with me when I go out or go downtown. So pictures will come slowly once special things start happening, i.e. New Years. If your really in need of some Aussie Pics then just go to my facebook and look at my albums from when I studied abroad.

I would like to share good music with you all. So I decided that after each post I would put "what I'm listening to", and list the band name. Many of you probably wont have heard of a majority of the bands I list. So go check them out for yourself. Also if I watch a movie (which is very rare because movie theatre prices are outrageous here), i'll put a little review of it.

Currently listening to: Sea Wolf

Watched last night: The Talented Mr. Ripley. verdict: Good

Mosquitos and the devil's children...whats the difference?

So, I hate mosquitos. For some reason I am the target of mosquito attacks here in Australia. I am like sugar to them. Why? I think they can smell the American on me, and know that I have lived behind screen doors my whole life. So now, here in Australia, where there are no evident screen doors anywhere, they decided to attack.

Another conclusion I have come to is I think I am allergic to bug poison. Let me explain. I already knew I am allergic to bees, not deadly, but I swell up a lot when stung. Now that I am being bitten by mosquitos, I have noticed that I don't get normal little red bumps like most people. I get massive red marks the size of pepperonis. It is like a little bump in the middle and this giant red surface expands. So I am convinced it is because I am allergic to the poison. Either that or the mosquitos are using extra poison on me because of the above reasons.

In other news... It rained today. Bummer. But rain= no mosquitos. So un-bummer. Job is going well, we are training right now so it is like being in a class everyday for 8 hours. Boring as hell, but I get paid so I have no room to complain.

That is all.

The club scene

So last night I went to a club called "The Ivy". Now I had been to The Ivy a couple times before when I studied abroad, but this time was different. I guess my theory stands correct when it comes to nightclubs. Unless you arrive in a big group of friends, it isn't going to be a good night. You can't talk in clubs because it is too loud, so all you can really do is drink, eye fuck, and awkwardly dance. Until you decide you're tired and it is late, and you head home. On your walk home you realize you spent wasted time and money, with absolutely no outcome. Of course there are variations to this, where every once in a while you can have a great night.

Now the Ivy is unique in a way, because they have something I had never noticed before. In the middle of the dance floor is a bid plastic circular overhang with some metal things in it. At first glance you ignore it, then you realize what it really is. It is a shower. That is right everyone. Right in the middle of "tonight's gonna be a good night" the showers come on, and whoever those unlucky, or lucky depending how you want to think about it, people that happen to be dancing under at that time, get soaked. Now, I was not one of those people, but let me tell you, it was a sight to see.

Thanksgiving

I feel lonely on this Thanksgiving day. It is not mentioned by the Aussies and there is no turkey or pumpkin pie for me to eat. So I will celebrate this Thanksgiving in spirit. I will be with all of you at each of your thanksgiving tables. Have a drink for me, maybe four. I am thankful for having all of you in my life. I miss everyone very much and hope you are all doing well. Happy Thanksgiving!

I moved in, I got a job, everything is falling into place...well...kinda

Well, I moved in to my place: 705 South Dowling, Redfern, NSW, Australia, 2016. It is nice and I am generally pleased. I know im gonna have issues with the tiny washing machine and no dryer, but other then that I can't find anything else wrong. I posted some pictures of my room below.

I also got a job. I am working at Brightstars Performing Arts Academy as a Membership Consultant. It was the job I hoped for, but I need money. I will basically be doing membership sales and such. Pay is $20/hr plus commission, which I get if I stay for the full contract period until March 31st. I am guaranteed at least 40 hr/wk. I also get Dec 12-Jan 3rd off. It seems like a nice laid back atmosphere. I'll meet a lot of new co-workers (they are hiring 30 new people). I am still going to look for bar work, that I could possibly do on the weekends, and full time while I am on break in Dec.

P.S. Today I was caring my ridiculous amount of groceries back to my house. I set some things down on a recycling bin on the street so I could re-adjust and the whole bin fell over and my eggs broke :(

Now look at my pics.

Me with my Narnia wardrobe.
Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe status
My bed/ bedside table and personal fireplace and mantle. (The fireplace doesn't actually work, but it looks cool.
My desk, and mess on the floor, and view.
My freshly made bed.

I got a job, then I quit!

The shortest job I ever had.

Here is the quick back story, I went on pub crawl and the company said they needed some people to work for them on a party boat they operate. So I called the manager thinking it would be a part time job working on the party boat. The manager told me to meet him at the office/bar. So I show up and he immediately hands me a company shirt and 50 tickets for the boat. He tells me I get commission on every ticket i sell and I should go to all the different hostels and try to sell them. Now the boat is actually a good deal its not too expensive and you get some free drinks and stuff, but come on! What do you think people are gonna say when a stranger walks up to them trying to sell them something. I went to 4 different hostels and the best answer I got was we'll think about it. I never wanted to work on commission in the first place. So today I quit. I gave him the shirt and all the tickets back. I had that job for 24 hours, with only about 2 hours of working time.

So im still on the job hunt. It is pretty hard and I'm getting worried. I have only been here a week and a half so I know I need to be patient, but im not. I want a job, so everything else will fall in to place.

Other then that. I worked out tonight for the first time, it felt good, but I'm still trying to get used to KG instead of lbs and the different machines. They don't have everything I need but I'll have to adapt. That is all.

P.S. I havent had a Kabab or Gyro yet. Amazing huh?

Got my place

While sitting here in this cafe, I spot a little Asian girl wearing an A's hat. In Sydney, Australia folks, thats right. I snuck a pic, check her out in top left.

I found out last night that I got an apartment. It is a perfect place for me. Close to the city and right next to the park, and you guys know how much I love greenery. I have my own bedroom in a 5 bedroom house with 5 other people. I have my own big bed, not sure if it is a double or a queen, but either way I am happy. There is a desk in the room and a wardrobe. When I say wardrobe I mean a straight up wardrobe like lion the witch and the wardrobe status. A big wooden wardrobe that opens up and there are racks to hang stuff and draws on the bottom. It is like an awesome dresser. The house is nice and clean, and close to many bus lines, or a walk into City Center. I don't move in until the 23rd though, so Im still in hostels for a while. But starting next week I'll start looking for work around the area I'll live in.

A side note: Australia really needs to catch up with their internet connections here. I mean their fastest internet is like the fastest we had 10 years ago. I am at a coffee cafe right now and you would expect their public internet access to be even more speedy then at a residence or hostel, but no, just as slow.

Alright that is all from me right now. Once I settle in to my new place in a couple weeks I'll take pics and post them. Here is a map of where my place is in case anyone is interested: http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=705+S.+Dowling+Redfern&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

Yesterday I went back to good ole Coogee Beach. It was very nostalgic, seeing Coogee Bay Rd and all the shops and restaurants I used to go to. The beach was great. It was almost perfect beach weather, just a little too breezy. I really miss it there. I am keeping it as an option of a place to live, but im not sure if I want to be that far from the city, because I figure once I get a real job it will be in the city. But living by the beach is great, especially in this beautiful summer weather.

I'm back

I'm back for round 2. I arrived in Sydney this morning and it already feels different then when I left it almost exactly 1 year ago. I am staying at a hostel in Redfern for the next 3 days until I find a place to live. I am unfamiliar with this Redfern area, it is a 20 min walk to downtown, and I don't know the bus lines here. I feel kinda off balance. I feel much better now then I did in the airport before I left. Here is a little blurb I wrote while waiting to board:

I’m out of my mind. I sit here in the airport realizing the psychotic decision I have made. Australia? Really? Maybe its nerves or the overwhelming emotion of loneliness. Maybe it’s the aggravation I had to go through tearing apart my luggage because they were overweight. Whatever it may be, it is here, lingering inside me. Now I have to cope. I think that is the hardest part of any emotion, it’s the coping part at the end. Whether it be a good emotion, like happiness, you must cope in the end realizing happiness cannot last forever. Or a bad emotion like anger, where you must cope and deal with whatever’s going on. Cope, what a shitty word.

Now I sit here, “coping” with the fact that I have made a life altering decision to move to the other side of the world. In search of a better life. A life that may or may not present itself. Moving to Australia as a fantasy is amazing, as a reality, well, who knows. I’ll just have to wait and see.

So you see, I'm kinda nervous.

I am going to try to update this blog as much as I can and keep it interesting. Except now I am not a tourist, so there probably won't be pictures of the city because I already have plenty of those from the first time. You can look at all my Australia pics on my facebook. Im sure pics will pop up on this blog every once in a while though. As for now I say G'day Mate.