January 28

**Here's my house and part of my street! It's the blue/white one. It doesn't look too bad from the outside, does it!**
On Wednesday night, I went up to New Castle for Monique's birthday. It was a great night with Debbie, Laura, Mark & Monique, catching up and talking until about 10pm. We didn't get back to Mt Kuring-Gai until about 11:30, so I stayed the night at Debbie's because I didn't want to ride the train so late at night. I just got up extra early to catch the train to work.
The sample sale was so fun to work at! There were SO many people everywhere trying to get deals on all of the clothing.. trying it all on in the hallways and stuff, hilarious. My boss gave me a very cute vest just because I said I liked it, but I forgot it there, so sad. It was my last day of working at Longbeach on Friday, so I won't be able to get it back.
I went out last night with some people from my house to a place in Kings Cross called World Bar. That's where Matt works!! He was working behind the bar and ended up giving me free drinks all night! What a great night it was! This weekend is Australia day, so there are all kinds of things going on in the city. There's a free concert in Hyde Park that I went to on Saturday afternoon. I spent the day wandering around the city, looking at all the street performers they had going on for the occasion. The weather has been perfect lately! So nice and sunny and warm.

January 23

I'm at work right now (hehe, don't tell anyone)
I'm working at 'Longbeach Australia'. It's a clothing company. I sit at reception and answer phones, receive & send packages and do odd jobs while everyone else does fashion related stuff in the background. It's great! There is going to be a 'sample sale' of new fashions on Thursday, VIP for staff only.. it's just like in the movies! While I work, there are clothes everywhere & if I was a fashion designer instead of a graphic designer, it would be absolutely perfect! I really enjoy the job, but it's not enough hours for me (I get off at 3 every day). I'm going to be working this week until Friday and then the placement agency is going to find me something new. This whole temp agency thing is pretty great for me right now, actually. I can't work anywhere for too long because I'm a traveller, but I get the opportunity to see a lot of different parts of Sydney and meet lots of Australian people. I'm still hoping that the father of a firend-of-a-friend is going to call me with a graphic design job, but it's been a few days since I talked to him and I haven't had any luck yet. There's still lots of time though, so I'm not too worried.
The house that I live in has been working out great. I went out on Monday night with everyone for a girl's birthday party. Almost everyone in the house is a traveller, so there are people there from all over the world.
Last night I went up to Mt Kuring-Gai to see Debbie and Laura because I thought we were going to go to New Castle for Monique's birthday. As it turns out, the day was switched to TONIGHT, so us ladies just went to see a movie instead. I'm headed back there tonight to go & see Monique for her birthday.
It was raining for about 4 days straight once I moved into the city, so I wasn't having much luck with getting around. Everything was really dreary, but the last couple of days have been great weather & I'm in High spirits again! Loving the city life in Sydney!!

January 17

**Here's one end of my room. The other side is just the end of the bed and wall. It's tiny, I know.**
I'm all moved into my new place!
Deb gave me a ride to the train station so that I didn't have to walk all of the hills with my luggage. I have an extra bag now because Monique lent me heaps of nice work clothes plus I have some residual Lindsay stuff.. so it was a little more difficult to get around with my life's belongings. When I got to the station (getting on and getting off) I had to take 2 flights of stairs. I cannot believe how fantastic Australians are! Both stairs I had some fantastic stranger helping me with my bags. How nice!
So, I got here and put my stuff down and spent the afternoon looking around at the surroundings as well as buying odds and ends. I needed all the bed stuff, so my room looks fantastic now!
I had my favourite cheap thai food for dinner and sat in the common room and met some of the people living in the house. They're all really nice.. I'm really forcing myself a bit here. Part of me really wants to be comfortable with friends that I know.. but I suppose the point here is to put myself out on a limb, so here goes!! ay ay ay
I'm waiting to see how comfortable my bed is going to be. It's SO little. Can't wait for tomorrow to hang out with Matt!

January 15

I've been busy working the last couple of weeks. It's a terribly boring job.. so I quit. HA. I asked the placement agency to find me something better (since they're making heaps of cash from ME working) and tomorrow's my last day at General Electric. I'm so excited not to have to go back there anymore to type!
On the weekend, I went downtown & out again with Matt. We had a blast as usual. On Saturday I spent the day wandering the shops and reading in the park. It was a gorgeous day. I finally had sushi!! I absolutely loved it & don't know why I didn't let Lindsay force me into it earlier. The Sushi train is so fun.
I finally got my own place. It's right downtown, in the middle of everything. It's on a cute street and has a cute outside bit. On the inside it's a little like a dorm... a huge house converted into 20 bedrooms with a big kitchen, 4 bathrooms and a big common area. It was the absolute cheapest thing I could find (actually, my room is the size of a closet. It probably was a closet that they turned into a room. ha, the door can't open all the way because it hits the single bed. Good thing I don't have anything but me to put in there!) I'm going to move in on Thursday. Debbie has wonderfully offered to drive me down to the city with my luggage, but I might end up doing it on my own. I'm pretty embarrassed about how small my room is & I don't want her to worry!! I will make sure to post a picture of my place & street (but probably not room) on here as soon as I get there & settled in.
I'm planning on going to the beach with Matt on Friday before we go out for a night on the town again. OH what a life!!! Not a care in the world.. almost

January 5

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


**Here I am at the concert with my friend George.. Lindsay & I met him back in Byron Bay!!**
I went into Sydney 2 days before NYE to hang out with Matt again. We had a great time going out downtown & It was great to see him again!
I had my interview on Monday morning. It went very well, I was called about an hour later with a job offer. I'm working at GE Australia.. it was supposed to be a reception position, but so far it's only been data entry. I don't like it at all, so I'm looking for something else while I work there to make a bit of money.
New Years was a blast!!! I went to a party at Bondi Beach first & met SO many Australians. We made our way to the concert (it took FOREVER to get in because of the line-up) and saw the concert. Sneaky Sound System was GREAT!!! Download a couple of their songs.. 'pictures' and 'ufo' they're so good. I don't entirely remember some of the night, but for the count-down I was right up by the stage, it was fantastic! We were at the concert until about 3am and then off to a house party. I was really surprised when the sun came up, hahaha, didn't get to sleep until about 6 or 7am.
New years day was good. I made it back to Debbie's place in the evening. Just enough time to get to sleep for work the next morning. At my job, no one talks to anyone. & when they do I don't understand them because of their thick Indian or Japanese accents. I'm super bored.. but on Friday I had to go home early because I worked too fast and they didn't have anything else for me to do. I'll remember that.. I'll just work slower so that I can get paid for a full day.
I went into the city on Thursday night to go out with some friends that I made on NYE. It was a great time again & I'm really starting to enjoy the life I've got going on here. They are always making fun of my accent (which I love, obviously) I can't say 'about' without someone repeating 'aboot'
I've been looking for a place to live closer to the city. Debbie contacted one of her friends' sons who who is starting to look for a room-mate. I got into contact with him and he's going to give me a call about seeing the place! How exciting!! it's only $100 per week.
Debbie's daughter, Laura's, boyfriend has a friend who's dad is a graphic designer. (I know, a long string of people) He talked to him about me and after I called on Thursday, I sent him my resume. I'm waiting for a reply, but he told me over the phone that we might be able to set up a time to meet next week! I would be so thrilled to work with him!! Fingers crossed!!
Well.. that brings me to today. It was a quiet one, it rained today for the first time in a while, so I stayed indoors. Laura and Deb are out for the night, so it's just me and the TV. It's been a long time since I had a night all by myself. I'm really going to enjoy it.
I'm not feeling as homesick as I was over Christmas (although, OBVIOUSLY I miss my family, friends & Canada like crazy). But, now that the holidays are over and I'm getting into the swing of life, it's been easier. I just can't wait to find a NEW job and a place in the city. :)