Karama - Part 4

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Hi, it’s Hillary! That’s right, I’m doing a blog entry! I thought I’d write a short entry on my work experiences here in Darwin. As Kevin mentioned in an earlier entry, I ultimately had no problem finding employment. Initially, after arriving in Darwin, my plan was to find a job outside of health care. You know, for a change of scenery. I quickly learned, however, that employers in the hospitality field will only hire people (especially travelers looking for short-term employment) with hospitality experience. Well, that counted me out! And so, with my only experience being health care, I quickly found a job at ITEC Health, an agency, as a Personal Care Assistant. I couldn’t work as an RN here in Australia because I do not have an Aussie nursing licence, but I thought working for an agency might be interesting. There are, of course, many benefits to working in health care, especially working for an agency. The pay is good, I have experience doing this type of work from my schooling and the summers I worked at the nursing home and hospital, the hours are flexible and the variety is excellent. I have also had experiences working with disabled (both physically and mentally) children and adults, something I previously had no experience with.

With ITEC, I work with a girl in her mid-twenties who has autism two to three times per week. I am also on-call 24/7 for the agency. I get sent to various nursing homes in the Darwin area and sometimes do home care with people with physical and mental handicaps. I really love the variety. I am never stuck doing the same type of work two days in a row! The only downside is the unpredictability of hours. Some weeks I get a lot of work, some weeks I don’t. And I hardly ever know shifts in advance, I usually get called early in the morning and am always running to catch the bus!

Sunday, June 21st: Father’s Day, of course! Now, Kevin and I were determined to send our fathers lovely cards, because we love them! (Awww) So I went store to store looking for the perfect card. And store after store didn’t have any Father’s Day cards!! I was getting confused… Don’t Aussies love their fathers too? Weird. Well, I finally asked someone. Turns out, Father’s Day in Oz is in SEPTEMBER!! HAHA So, we ended up buying non-Father’s Day card, beautiful ones though, and sending them instead. Hehe

Hillary

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Photos

Me zonked out after a long day at work.
This is the only picture I could find of me in my work outfit! lol

Comments

[Kevin L]

Pic
I just love this pic. lol