Mardi Gras and random boat party. Gotta love Sydney 2010 :)

"For what it's worth it was worth all the while."

At McDonald's again stealing WiFi.  I think it's funny that Macca's in Australia offer free WiFi wherever you go.  Not many other places do, but you can always count on them for a heart attack in a box and your daily facebook fix.  Macca's really is a drug.

Anyways, life is falling into place a little bit more each day.  I believe I'm getting a place to live this week with three of my friends.  I also think I'm going to buy a bike and bike to work... transportation AND a workout.  Plus, I've told myself for years I was going to do this, so now is the time to start.  

Since I've now been here 6.5 months, I'm finding myself really Australian (well, a really Australian-American).  At work I say things like "Okay, one biscuit comes to $3.00" or "A lolly bag, lemonade, and a short black for $12.50."  

What I'm really saying is "Okay, one cookie..." or "A bag of gummy candies, a Sprite, and a shot of espresso."  

This reiterates the fact Aussies are lazy... they shorten EVERYTHING!  Americans really do tend to say a lot more when Aussies have figured out how to say it with a lot less.

Like, they say "ta" as an all encompassing "thank you, you're welcome, looks awesome, great service, nice seeing you."  

Perhaps we should adopt this, and with the invention of things like twitter and the usage of the iPad, we can just stop speaking all together.  Sound like a plan?

Also, last night Hilary, Mark, Scott, and I hit the town... went to a random club that kind of made me think of Alice and Wonderland, but a weird dark version (much like the Tim Burton one).  It had a doll house in it... but, it was cool any ways.  That's what I love about Melbourne, because you would never see that in Sydney.

And, being out on the town more and more in Melbourne it makes me miss Sydney and the times I had a little less.   I will never forget those times, since they were some of the best I've ever had, but I'm making new memories now.  There is so much time in life you are allotted to spend living in the past.  I think I've definitely used mine up, so here's to more good memories in Melbourne. :)

I could use a dream or a genie or a wish

To go back to a place much simpler than this

Cause after all the partyin' and smashin' and crashin'

And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion

And all the pandemonium and all the madness

There comes a time where you fade to the blackness

And when you're staring at that phone in your lap

And you hoping but them people never call you back

But that's just how the story unfolds

You get another hand soon after you fold

And when your plans unravel

And they sayin' what would you wish for

If you had one chance

So airplane airplane sorry I'm late

I'm on my way so don't close that gate

If I don't make that then I'll switch my flight

And I'll be right back at it by the end of the night

Love, 

Michaela

Warning... I'm spilling my guts.

I now am officially employed at two places. I work at the Icehouse and at Metrop Cafe. At the Icehouse I spent most of my time taking customers orders/running food/cleaning. At Metrop Cafe I spend my time doing dishes, cleaning, and some more cleaning. However, they have promised me within a month I will be helping wait/serve during lunch rush and learn how to cook! They actually cook more than just burgers there... I'm talking fancy stuff I would learn how to make and make me look awesome on a resume. I'm pretty excited (if it happens...)!

I have, for a good couple of years, had this dream of wanting to own my own little dive of a restaurant. You know the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives? I have an obsession with it and for years I have wanted to be a person who owns a quaint little shop that EVERYONE in town raves about. Not a big chain that "sells out" but a place that truly cares about it's customers. That's what I love about hospitality and one of the reasons I've chosen this life path. I can't sit in front of a computer all day or be on a phone... I want to talk to people and make them happy. I love working in cafe's. So, long story short, maybe I'm on to something and this little venture where I'm learning to cook (and I'm considered the head kitchen manager there...), could lead to something big. But, really, I still have no life plan. So, don't get your hopes up.

Conversation with Arron the other day:

Me: I'd like to think we'll still keep in touch after we leave Australia.
Arron: Yea, I'd be curious to know what you end up doing.
Me: haha yea, me too.

But, seriously, I do think I'm going to spend the next four to five months working, then will move to California with the savings I've accumulated. Maybe not necessarily stay in California long, but I only have a plane booked from Sydney to LA, and I don't plan on changing it. It will be nice to be a stranger... a backpacker... in my own country. Move around a bit and find a few odd jobs until I figure out what I want out of life. Well, that sounds misleading, because right now this is all I want.

***

Last night, Hilary, Scott, Mark and I went out on the town. Like I had mentioned previously, Melbourne likes to hide the best things in creepy alley ways, so I met them at "the alley way with the dumpsters at the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale." There Hilary was standing at a dead end, next to trash cans and probably a rat infestation. We went up some rickety steps to a bar space that fit maybe 50 people. It was filled with hipsters, but we had a great time. My way of blending in with the locals... while hanging out with an American and two Canadians! :P

What's funny, is I have met/hung out with more Canadians in Australia than I ever did back home. I had to go 9,000 miles away from North America just to make Canadian friends. There is something really ironic about that.

***

On a completely unrelated note, my friends back at Drake are graduating in the next week. Weird that it was only a year ago I was in that same position. I wish them all the luck with whatever their future holds. I know even a few of them have jobs/school secured, so congrats! :)

I remember last year that I was so depressed that I couldn't wait to be done with Drake because I thought it would solve all my problems. I thought getting away from the school that I had grown so attached to would cheer me up, but really, moving home killed me even more. I didn't have friends back home and I worked a shit job for shit pay (minimum wage for an Assistant Manager job??). It's hard to be happy when you have a $120,000 degree and you're making less than $500 every two weeks.

I hated myself for letting me be in the situation I was in. I hated Kipp for letting me get away. I hated my parent's for not caring enough. I hated my friends for all their successes. I hated anyone and everyone. I was so depressed and angry, but I never showed it. I kept it in and cried a lot.

One thing I have learned over the last year is you can't hold that anger in. Maybe don't lash out at the first thing you see, but talk it out.

When something pisses me off, I try to calm down and talk it out later. Whether it be just ranting to a friend or writing in a public blog. I let my feelings be known some how, because for so long I wanted everyone to think I was perfect and was more than just getting by. However, I'm now okay to let the world know I've sometimes been scraping at life with my fingernails, desperate to grab onto something... anything.

I'm no longer depressed, but if I was, I'd be more willing to go talk to someone about it now. Or, maybe just run away to another country again. haha

But, all that rambling really just makes me want to say to anyone and everyone graduating University that life sucks a lot sometimes, but keep your head up. Relish in the moments that make you laugh and forget about the people that make you cry. Whether you find your dream job right away or you aren't quite sure where you're going, it doesn't matter... no one life is better than the next. As long as you try towards something, you're doing just fine. And, never, ever choose a life plan to make someone else happy. You only life once, so live it the way YOU want.

*sigh* I ramble a lot.

But, hey... it's my blog, I can. :P

Plus, my life is fairly monotonous at the moment that there isn't a lot to write. Although, it's pretty funny that Commonwealth bank has now lost my card 2 weeks in a row now. TWO! I'm not sure how that's possible.

But, it's probably just because Aussie's are lazy. It's true.

Night!

Michaela

"You can trust me (trust nobody)"

Thank you for everyone who made me feel better about my stupid wallet being stolen.  Things are definitely a lot better now!  I am still incredibly broke, however (due to the Icehouse forgetting to put my paperwork through last week to pay me, and the bank losing my card in the mail... two weeks and I still have no access to any cash!).

I'm in a much better mood than I was last time that I wrote.  Although, this week I have learned that I am a bit brash for my own good, sometimes.  I also tend to break a lot of hearts, which I'm still not how that's possible.  I mean... it's me. How the heck does this happen?  But, here I am doing the same thing I've always done: getting someone close enough and pushing them away at the moment that it counts.  Maybe it's because of my experiences in love (my parents or other couples I've seen as examples throughout my life) that I am a cynic and I tend to push people away before anything could happen.  But, the worst part is I let them believe something could, then crush them at the last second.  I thought I was working on this, but no... I've got a long ways to go.  I'm sorry, if you're reading this.

Looking for something I've never seen

Alone and I'm in between

The place that I'm from and the place that I'm in

A city I never been

I found a friend or should I say a foe

Said there's just a few things you should know

We don't want you to see we come and we go

Here today, gone tomorrow

Okay, okay before I let this turn into another emo blog, let me save it.

Melbourne is cold.  BUT, the last couple of days have been sunny AND warm.  I use the word "warm" relatively, though.  Warm compared to the freezing cold, not warm compared to Magnetic Island.  I walked around with no jacket today.  You hear that?  I had a T-shirt and jeans on and was content.  What a beautiful thing that is.  Tomorrow it will probably be back to coat weather, but it was glorious while it lasted.

Another thing about Melbourne is that it is a very cultural, artsy, and sports oriented city.  Sydney was a city that could've been anywhere in the world.  It never felt particularly "Australian."  But, Melbourne feels like it belongs here.  They have multiple sports arenas (one that seats 100,000 people!) and art galleries and performance centres, theatres, parks, and the craziest architecture you have ever seen.  It becomes unnecessary at times.

Melbourne also likes to hide their best shops, cafes, restaurants and bars in seedy alley ways.  The whole city is in block formation, making perfect squares, but if you sneak onto the smaller lane-ways, in between the large streets, you will find all these little places squished together and PACKED with locals.  Tourists always miss them.  

Melbournites also no not to pay for trams.  Tourists do.  It is stressful, always looking out for the rent-a-cops that patrol the trams to see if you have a ticket, but most people don't pay and dodge the authorities just fine.  I've gotten away twice.  I'm such a rebel... but I like to think of it as me fitting in with the locals.

I have also attempted to ice skate twice here now.  I get to do it for free, since I work in an Icehouse, but I'm still no good.  I haven't fallen yet, though... so I count that as a success.  I'm going to try to take an intro to hockey course once I get a little better at skating... no sense in me trying to be graceful like a figure skater.  I'm like a man any ways, best learn to skate like one! :P

I've been out on the town a few times with some friends, where I got vegetarian pizza at an all veggie (vege as the Aussies say) place in Carlton.  Had $1 tacos last Thursday at a pub, also in Carlton.  I've been a tourist and ridden the tourist bus AND tram, which are free.  I've shopped at the DFOs, which are discount outlet malls.  I bought a pair of $5 dollar shoes for work.  I had a free barbeque tonight at my hostel. 

Oh yea, I'm living the high-life.

But, seriously I've learned I can have a really good time on no money at all.  I have found free entertainment and learned how to grocery shop for real cheap, yet make healthy meals that last for awhile.  I hope that I can keep up these habits once I get paid on Thursday.  It will be helpful to me saving up lots of money to get me back to America. 

I'll try to update sooner next time... possibly with pictures.

Love,

Michaela

"I fought you for so long, I should've let you in..."

A random fact about me:  I tend to not be able to write about what is happening in my life when a lot has happened.  I struggle to find words to describe the amazing/horrible things that happen to me.  When my life is boring, when I actually have time to sit and ponder things and become irresistible witty, then I have things to write.  

But, because so many of you keep hassling me, I'm going to try and put the last two weeks into words (and make it worth reading).

It's cloudy here and so is my head

The hint of these new tears are showing

I try to choke them back

But, it's useless

I'm useless against them

Let me start by saying, I've reached a weird point in my travels.  For the last six months I've been having the time of my life and never regretting my choices.  But, my emotions have caught up with me, and I'm wishing I could be anywhere else but here.  Not that I'm not loving Melbourne and the opportunity of my new job, but I feel a little "empty," so to say.  I think this may be due to some things that have happened back in America that have made me feel so useless because I am so far away.  It also may be due to some things that have happened here that make me want to be so far away.

The best way to do this is count it down.

1. My wallet was stolen.  Somewhere in between going out, going to bed and waking up at 7:20 am on the 27th of April, my wallet was stolen.  I have no idea to this day what happened, I just know I woke up to take me flight to Melbourne from Sydney, and I had no wallet.  No Money. No ID (took my passport).  Luckily, JetStar doesn't require ID for domestic flights (scary, right?), but... one problem... I was scheduled to be on an international flight (Sydney to Melbourne to Bangkok).  This would require my passport, which was conveniently in the hands of some person who really just wanted my credit cards.  

I ran around trying to find my wallet in the hostel, called (and woke up) my friend Ryan to see if it was at his place, asked the hostel, and called and cancelled my two cards that I use for money (one American and one Australian).  I packed quickly and just barely made my airport connection service.  He had asked me if I was Domestic of International, so I said International; however, as I was on the way, I called JetStar to ask if a copy of my ID would suffice and she proceeded to tell me that my flight had been moved to Domestic.  So, I told the driver Domestic.  

I get in and try to check in, and they can't find me.  The lady proceeds to be rude and say "Well, had you read your itinerary you would have saw you were International."  I (very nicely) explain my situation and what the lady said on the phone, and she responds with a simple "you'll be fine, go to International."

Well, what they don't tell you is it costs $5.50 to get to the International terminal from the Domestic.  I had $20 in my purse to last me my entire stay in Melbourne (HA!).  So, I paid it and get over to International.  

The lovely JetStar attendants at the International check in tell me that "No, you have to have your actual passport to fly, due to customs. We will transfer you to a Domestic flight, at no cost."  Well, that's all good and well, but now I have to get back over to Domestic.  I explain that I only have $16 dollars to last me, and the one lady (to her credit) does attempt to get me over for free.  It doesn't work, however.  So, I pay another $5.50 to get back to Domestic.

I now don't have enough money to take the $16 to take the airport transfer from the airport to Melbourne city centre.  So, I call my friend Arron to meet me at the Airport, and I promise to pay him back.

So, I check in to my Domestic flight, arrive in Melbourne, meet Arron, get into the city to check into my hostel that I had booked a few days ago, only to find out that my copy of my ID won't suffice.  I have to have a hard copy.  AND, not only do they turn me away, but there policy requires they take one nights pay from me since it was cancelled less than 24 hours in advance.  

Funny, I don't have enough money for food, let alone a night's accommodation I won't be using.  So, Arron charged his card.  $24 more dollars I owe him (Total: $40 for those of you having trouble keeping up).

Thanks to Arron, again, he gets a friend to house me on his couch for two nights.  Which, I appreciate very much and their very nice guys, but they don't have heat, nor do I have a blanket.  So, I end up wearing almost every article of clothing I own to keep warm for two nights.  

I go on a job interview for the Icehouse (thanks to Arron, again).  

I go to IEP (the program I came through) and meet an American girl from the midwest (who now lives in Tennessee as well!) who lives in a place out of St. Kilda (20 minute tram ride south of Melbourne) that won't require ID and is only $145 a week.  

SOLD!

I move out from the couch and down to St. Kilda.  This is now Thursday (I arrived Tuesday).

I spend two days trying to apply for jobs.  Friday, after printing out more resumes in IEP, I meet up with Arron who tries and gets me to go to a mall with him.  Discouraged, since I have no money, I at first say no, but soon give in.  As we're walking around, he gets a call from his boss at the Icehouse asking for my number (weird, cause it's on my resume).  

A minute later I get a call, informing me I got the job!  I start Saturday, 5pm.

Ecstatic, I buy a pair of shoes.  Naturally.

Work goes well Saturday and Sunday.  I work in the cafe of an ice rink!

Things are starting to look up for me.  Today, I went and used out the privilege of getting to skate for free!  It's been a good while since I have skated, and I have never skated with hockey skates.  So, I had Arron teach me how to skate like a hockey player, and I'm proud to say, that in an hour I could skate (fast!), do right cross overs (kind of), and skate backwards (enough to be impressed with myself).

2.  I find out Nashville is flooding.  Both Taylor Swift and members of Paramore tweet about this.  It makes me want to be home and be caught up in the community spirit that floods bring about.  Even though I deny it  a lot, Nashville is home.

3.  My friends have been having a tough time lately and I want to be there and hug them.  I want to sit and eat ice cream and watch shitting episodes of The Hills.  I want to gossip and go out to bars like old times.  I miss my friends more than I have in a very, very long time.

4.  Boys.  Always confusing and always making me frustrated.  I would elaborate, but really I think I've said enough already.

5.  I think I'm getting tired of the same old in Australia.  I don't want to sit around and drink or go out and party all the time.  No, I don't want to drink your Goon.  I've felt very anti social lately because I can't relate with everyone in the hostels that just want to party all the time.  I had six months of partying... I can't do it anymore.

6.  I miss my friends that have left me in Australia.  Come baaaaaaaaack.

Okay, okay this has turned into a pretty ridiculous rant.  Let me end it...

I am moving into the city centre from St. Kilda tomorrow morning so I won't have an hour commute to and from work all the time!  Plus, I hope to leave this party hostel/atmosphre behind.  

I don't know where this week will lead me, but I do know that I am in Australia for another 5 months.  I am okay with this and am excited, don't get me wrong.  I love what I'm doing and wouldn't change it for the world, as I have learned more about myself than I ever did at home.

But, I am starting to realise (after having a talk with a friend) that the reasons that I came here have resolved themselves.  I am merely staying for enjoyment.  That being said, times will get hard and I will have moments where I want to throw up my hands and get the hell out.  But, life is hard and you have to stick through it.  I came here to find myself and to get away from everything that was killing me inside.  I am staying (I pushed my flight back another five months, from May 1st) in order to make sure what I feel inside is real.  That I am okay.  So, maybe it's just at six months, life wants to throw me a curve ball and say "Are you sure you made the right choice?"

And, even though life is crumbling a bit back home and inside my heart, I look at the city sky line and think "possibly."  I close my eyes, and can't picture anything else but the Melbourne skyline, the Aussie accents, and everything else involved and I think "yes, yes I did."

Love,

Michaela

"...and all I was trying to do was save my own skin, but so were you."

Up the coast we go...

In Brisbane we hung around with some locals:

Met up with God:

Caffeinated ourselves:

Harassed lizards:

And, lived like royalty (ie. this is the view from our hostel):

Then I got to Magnetic Island:

Made out with some birds:

Hunted a wombat:

Cuddled a lizard:

Wrestled a crocodile:

More to come...

Love,

Michaela

Hello, from Sydney (again).

Sydney is the base from where people start. Most people fly directly to Sydney, groggy and light-headed, to start their Australian adventure. All the conversation in Sydney hostels goes something like this:

"Hi, where are you from?"
"I'm from [insert country here], what about you?"
"Sweet! I'm from [insert country here]. Did you just arrive?"
"Yea, yesterday. Have any idea what to do here?"
"Not sure, I arrived this morning. Want to go get drinks at the bar?"
"Yea, sounds good."

And, so they frolick off together to enjoy $3 beers in the hostel's bar. I may have improvised a bit on the conversation, but you catch my drift.

On the complete opposite of this are the people that are going home. Sydney comes full circle in this aspect, because usually from where you fly in, you fly out.

So, being back in a hostel in Sydney (after many, many months of calling this home in my own little comfy apartment), I find I run into people who are just coming or going. Obviously, I fit in neither of these categories, but I am the minority. Sydney is just the stop over for the moment, but soon I will be going home from Sydney and get to fall into the majority. Yay!

Anyways, I arrived in Sydney on Thursday to see Lizzo off back to America. We met up with Arron and his co worker Tobias and had delicious Roti (Malaysian). Then, the next morning we had proper Dim Sum... where I ate some tripe, dumplings, egg tart, and even a green bean for good measure. That night, a bunch of us went out to the Ivy for drinks. The Ivy is an open air club, complete with old men lurking in the corners and young, scantily clad women grinding on each other on the dance floor, drunk off over priced beers and Tequila shots ($8 for one beer. They don't lie when they say Sydney will suck your wallet dry).

There were three older gentlemen (50/60 perhaps) that we walked past and I heard one say "Here's to being too old for this shit," in which he proceeded to lift his full glass of beer, his two friends following in suit, and they all chugged their beers. I wanted to be their friends.

Saturday (ie. Today), I waved good bye to Lizzo. Ryan, Diego and I stood on the corner sending our (very hungover) friend off in a taxi to the airport. We will meet again in America, I am sure, but it's weird to know I have one less friend on this continent with me. First Annie, now Lizzo... oh well, it just gives me more excuses to travel in the future.

"But, Moooommmm, I have to borrow a thousand dollars to go to Ireland to visit my friend. Oh, we might go to Germany and Amsterdam as well. Possibly England. It's, like, required."

I joke... but, seriously. I need a job STAT to start paying for myself again. I'm still living off the CityMove funds, but they're draining quickly. Especially if I stay in Sydney much longer!

But, alas, I am flying to Melbourne on Tuesday to try and find another job. It will be cold and dreary (I imagine it as such, I have no idea if this is true).

I miss Maggie Island and the beach. The sun, the warm, sticky afternoons. I miss the food. I miss the people.

But, it's amazing to be back in Sydney, visiting my old haunts and getting up to no good in a town I once called home. Sometimes, I still do.

Alright, I'm off to catch some fireworks to celebrate Anzac Day, or some other holiday that produces an excuse to shoot fire into the sky and people to get Monday off and spend the day lazily on the beach, getting paid to do absolutely nothing. Wow, it sounds a bit American. :P

Love,

Michaela