I was making breakfast this morning and realized I haven't updated this thing in forever! I've survived exactly four weeks of my new job as of Friday and it's been good. The stuff I'm learning is finally starting to stick, I have started with client work and I've even made some work friends. Not bad!
At the end of my second week, they had a morning tea for me and gifted me an entire bag of Australian goodies I've never heard of or tried, which was super nice! All the candy is great (minus the Cherry Ripes, I don't like coconut flakes!) and the existence of Tim Tams is going to basically going to completely destroy my diet. Haha. Also, I'm terrified of Vegemite. No one I've asked can definitively tell me what it is, so it's a NOPE for me.
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| TIM TAMS. <3 |
We haven't been up to much outside of work and getting back on a schedule that doesn't involve drinking beers and going to the beach every day (sounds terrible, right?). We went to the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, which was pretty awesome and WE FOUND OUR OWN PLACE FINALLY!
It's the perfect distance between the beach and the city, and has a huge balcony. It'll be a nice change from our condo in Charlotte; it's on the second floor vs. the 30th, and there's a pool on the roof of the building! Check out the views!
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| Motivation for Visitors? |
I'm honestly thrilled we found somewhere - the apartment/real estate process here is completely different than what we are used to, and to be blunt, is a total pain in the ass. It's insanely competitive and there are tons of weird rules:
- You have to go through a specific website to look for apartment availability
- Once you find places you're interested in, you have to book an 'inspection'. The inspections are at set, often very inconvenient times (think weekday mornings or afternoons when normal people work) and they're only 10-15 minutes long. If you show up late because the public transport is never on time, you're out of luck
- The market is so competitive, you can't request your own time to show up. Sometimes 10 people can show up at a single inspection, so if you want the place, you have to put in an application ASAP
- You put in an application; your application has to contain basically everything about yourself and like five references
- A normal sized apartment anywhere around the city is 2,000 - 3,000 a month, and the rent is quoted as weekly vs. monthly - you also have to pay two months of rent to secure the apartment if you want it. I am SO glad we saved up a lot of money before we moved!
- If someone else offers to pay more (it actually happens a lot), you're out of luck and have to start the process over
Sounds super fun, right? Unless we end up hating the place, I'm not trying to move any time soon!
We have started to get some real fall weather, which is kind of refreshing and also gave me a good reason to go shopping - both of us pretty much only brought summer stuff with us since we could only check a couple of bags each. Compared to Charlotte, the shopping and fashion here is AMAZING. There are tons of shops everywhere, and they actually cater to people with different styles. Charlotte had zero retail in the city and if you don't like dainty, florally crap in easter colors, then you have to do all of your shopping online. I got some really cute, locally-designed stuff that I love and I'm so happy I can go back to wearing 90% black clothing!
I really love living in a bigger city - it's really cool being able to experience different foods and cultures. People here really embrace diversity. I'm sure there are still racist redneck-type people (unfortunately they're everywhere), but from my experience thus far, people are much more laid back about the blend of cultures. Graffiti is also legal in certain places in the city, making for really neat pictures. There are tons of little hidden places in the laneways, some of the coolest bars we have been to in them are basically impossible to find without Google!
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| Hosier Lane Street Art |
This weekend, we didn't do anything too crazy - we saw the Lego Batman movie and tried a new restaurant. Today, we're going to Hofbrauhaus in the city because Regis is fiending for a pretzel and a giant beer. April should be a good month, since Easter is a 4 day weekend. We don't really celebrate religious holidays, but hardly anyone in Australia seems like they do, so we're going to a wine festival with some friends. Also, Regis' birthday is coming up! Someone, help me with some ideas?
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| Yarra Valley Wine Region |
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| Last Beach Day of the Season |
Until next time.
-L
