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So I realised I haven't written a blog post in over a month now because compared to the last three months my life In Sydney has been pretty boring. When I arrived in Sydney my cousins were all on their Easter holidays which meant they were home for two weeks. My uncle also got back from his work trip to London a few days after I got there so we had a full house which was so nice. I spent that two weeks with my teenage cousins enjoying the luxury of not doing anything so we watched a lot of movies, played on the wii, played cards and went to the park a lot so they could practise their football skills. I did nothing touristy, I hardly even left the house and when we did it wasn't to go far but it was such a fun two weeks because I got to know my cousins even more. With them living on the other side of the world I don't get to see much of them obviously and as they're now 14 a year or two makes a big difference in their personalities so when I do see them so much has
changed. Of course I was also enjoying the luxury of having a comfy bed, a nice bathroom that I didn't have to share with strangers and lots of yummy food.
The not-so-fun part of that two weeks, and the weeks that followed, was the job hunting. I was applying for jobs online most days and I also handed out cvs. I walked down to bondi one day to hand out CVs and me and the girls went to the Westfield near by to ask if places were hiring as well. The first job I heard back from was for a company called Van-eyk Marketing which to be honest I couldn't remember applying for and didn't know much about. They asked me to go for an interview so I did a bit of research into the company but I still wasn't sure what my job role was going to be. They asked me to dress smart so it's a good job I was at my aunties because I could borrow some shoes and a handbag because all I have is trainers/sandals and a rucksack. The office is near central station in the city which seemed like a cool location to work
in. I had about a ten minute interview with the owner and director of the company which I thought went quite well considering how little preparation I'd done. However he did comment on my shyness and told me that the job would be going to people's houses and businesses making sales so it requires confidence and for you to be chatty. He invited me back for a second interview where he wanted me to prove I could be confident basically. I had three hours until the second part so I found a cafe and sat there doing more prep and looking up how to overcome shyness in interviews. I soon realised that even if I can pretend to be confident in the interview that's not me so if the job means having to do that every day I definitely would not enjoy it. I went back anyway because it's good experience but I'd already decided I didn't want the job. The afternoon session wasn't an interview, it turned out to be a three hour lesson all about the company where we had to answer and ask questions and then at the end we had to answer a sheet of questions
about what we'd learnt that afternoon- like a test. I tried to participate as much as I could not because I wanted the job but because I wanted to prove him wrong and show him I can be outspoken when I want to be. I know I'm quite shy but it annoys me when people use that term in an insulting way, it shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing it just means I'm better at other things but I guess in the sales industry they only want people who want to spend all day talking to strangers and enjoying it because they get paid on commission. I also got a response from a Greek restaurant at Bondi so I did a three hour trail for them. In Australia most bars/restaurants get you to do a few hours work for free which they call a trial. I know a lot of people get jobs after that but my auntie was telling me that a lot places just put loads of people on trial and never hire them because then they get free labour so I was a bit sceptical. The restaurant was a small place and it was surprisingly quiet. I
worked from 11-2 which is peak time but I think because it's on the beach front at Bondi it's a very seasonal industry and as it's going into winter it gets a lot quieter. I was waiting on tables and standing at the entrance talking to bypasses to encourage them to come in. It was pretty simple work and it was actually nice to get out of the house and feel like I was doing something productive. Although I didn't get paid I got a free meal which was really nice so it was worth it. The manager told me she'd "be in touch" which I could tell meant she probably wasn't going to call me and I haven't heard anything from her since. After that I haven't had any luck at all. Once my cousins went back to school/uni I decided to really go for it with the jobs because while they were home I probably only put 50% effort into job hunting because I wanted to enjoy their company while I could. Now I was by myself I didn't have anything to do except help clean the house twice a week because they're trying to sell so people
come to look at the house. It's quite a big house so it's takes me a few hours to hoover it all and then I usually clean the kitchen, do the laundry and then any other bits that my auntie wants me to do. It can get pretty boring but I'm glad I can help out doing this because I can't afford to offer my auntie money for my keep so at least I feel like I'm earning mybkeep. If I stayed in a hostel I'd have to clean for my accommodation so I'd much rather clean their house than scrub hostel toilets! The rest of my time is spent applying for jobs online and watching TV. I went into the city to do an RSA course which is all about the responsible service of alcohol and you have to have it to work in any bar or restaurant. I was trying to put that off because it cost $110 and meant sitting in a classroom from 9-4, but I wasn't hearing anything from employers and all hospitality adds said RSA needed in the criteria so I figured my cvs were just being binned when they saw I didn't have
one. I also handed out more cvs in another shopping centre where quite a lot of places said they were actually hiring so I started to feel hopeful. Surely I was going to get a job soon, right? However I haven't had a call from anyone. It's been raining and storms most of the time so I've been stuck in the house all day sat at the computer which is driving me insane. After doing this for a month I started to realise that there is no point me living in Sydney with no money, no friends and no job- I can sit at home and watch TV all day and at least I'll have my friends, family or Rolo to keep me company. Being bored has also made me miss home a lot so after a week or so of consideration I've decided I want to go home. Before I can go home I need to go back to cairns though and do the few things left on my to-do list so I'm going to go to cairns for a week tomorrow (5/5) and then I can go home knowing I've done everything I came to Australia to do-
except get a job but I'm fine with that. Things don't always work out as expected but that's what's travelling is all about- complete freedom to be spontaneous and change your plans as many times as you want to so I'm going to go home happy.
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