The Land of Oy! - Employment Abroad!

Today is my first day as a bonafide blogger so forgive me if this post is a little bit rusty... or rusted right through for that matter. I should have started this blog from the day I landed in the not so red center of Australia at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport. I have traveled over 6000 undocumented miles along the eastern coast of Australia, by car, ferry, plane and train (sometimes all in the same day - ok, maybe that was just ONE day, but still - very impressive!) and it's high time I started sharing my experiences with someone other then the drunk pensioner at the pub down the road. I suppose the best place for me to start with is life in Brisbane. The present. After many days of job hunting, soul searching, weeping in a ball on the floor, I found not one, but TWO new jobs. The first being a bartending/event coordinator job at STRIKE! bowling alley. At least that's how it will read on my resume! I work mainly Thursday and Friday nights, bartending and running the lanes, and most Saturday mornings, running childrens birthday packages. Last week I ran two parties. The first was 12 out of control 6 year old boys (picture Lord of the Flies) who, lacking spears and a hog to chase, took turns tormenting me and the birthday boys mother simultaneously. Fortunately for me, the party died down significantly when a fat little asian boy who refused to stop dancing with his bowling ball over his head let slip the weighty sphere onto the head of the boy behind him. Gummy worm privileges were immediately revoked and the boys sent to seperate corners to stew. ha! The second party rolled in 15 minutes after the first departed, and I welcomed them with a gruff hello and a sour smile. They were a group of 25 ten year olds spread out over 4 lanes. I battened down the hatches and prepared for the worst but, much to my surprise and subsequent delight, they ended up being quite lovely. Imagine caring for 25 turtles after being mauled by 12 over excited puppies. Bliss! My second, and far less awesome job, is in telesales/customer liaison. Ahem. AKA telemarketer extraordinaire. I hate the job with every fibre of my being. I will introduce you to my coworkers, as they will no doubt appear further along in my posts. Directly in front of me sits the petulent JD - or Jeedong - as he likes to call himself... I prefer Le Dong. He is obnoxiously arrogant and would run screaming from anyone brandishing a pin, for fear his giant inflated head might be popped, forcing him to come back down to earth. Across from him sits Kathy, the mad hatter, a large, red faced lady with witchy hair and a tendency to mutter ¨fucking, fucking, fucking¨ under her breath for no good reason. Behind her the lovely Dani, an English bird who rolls her eyes almost as much as I do (we've become fast friends as a result) and to her side our dysfunctional team leader, Narelle. Pinch your noise and say ¨oooooo lovely¨ really loudly and you will understand what I have to sit next to all day. Now that I have you up to speed, somewhat, on my current employment situation, I will bid you adieu!! I work all day (from 8 am to 2 am) tomorrow so no posts until maybe Saturday or Sunday. Hopefully you can last until then! But for now, since my eyelids have given up on life, I will bid you adieu!