Off to Adventure in the Great, Wide, Somewhere....

Okay sorry, that title was an extremely misleading representation of what is actually occurring in my current life situation. I simply intended to show that my time in Oz was coming to an end. I still can't get over it. Have I ACTUALLY bee away from home for a full year? It feels like yesterday that I left. Oh well, nonetheless. Since I haven't written down any of what has happened during my time in melb, other than of course the rather long update on jobs...here's what my life has been like.

1. Moved to Melbs with a good friend. 

2. Found an apartment with some cool people (who made awesome food) in southbank and moved out of the hostel.

 

3. Got a job as a telemarketer. Worst job ever. On the how much was I losing it scale of 1 to Lindsay Lohan, I was like a Britney Spears 2007 mental breakdown phase. I have so much respect for these people. 

4. Visited St. Kilda...finally.

5. Kept sneaking into the hostel I'd left because all my friends still lived there.

6. Switched jobs to be a host at a German restaurant/beer hall/bar. 

7. Went to be in the the live audience of Family Feud with some friends

8. Won $25 worth of drinks in a dance contest I didn't realize was happening. This might be the greatest achievement of my life.

9. Tried out as many random bars in melb as I possibly could

 

10. Have asked multiple British and Australian friends to marry me only to realize green card marriages don't work as well here.

11. Have met and worked with other Americans! Whattttt?! Two of my managers are even american! Crazy!

12. Went to a Les Miserables exhibit and got to see Victor Hugo's original manuscript!!!! As well as of course unabashedly sing to the continuous songs from the musical playing in the exhibit.

 

13. Continued to go to the awesome Hillsong church in melbourne.

14. Made friends with the leader of a German oompah band.

15. Had a ridiculous night at the Crown Casino

But honestly, as with all the places I've lived here, it's not really the big things that I've done in Melb that made me fall in love with the city. It is all the small day to day things. It is having a few favorite bars to go to with friends. It's knowing which trams and trains to take where and being able to tell people where the markets are without glancing at a map. For the past two months Melbourne has been home. I'm used to its rhythms and have a routine. I know my favorite indian place and it's hours. And most  importantly I have made some wonderful friends. That is what I will miss. 

As always, I'm excited for the next adventure to Asia and beyond, but it is definitely going to be harder to leave Melbourne and Australia than I even thought possible. I have seen so much of this country and made so many incredible memories here. It's going to be strange to have to start over on my own again. But, as I've seen time and time again, God knows what he's up to and I'm sure is just as excited for me to see the next step as I am scared to enter it. So off we go! Next up? MALAYSIA!

Endnote: since not everyone knows my game plan from this point...I'm currently flying to Malaysia and will be in Kuala Lumpur for about 4 days. Then I'm off to Singapore for a day or so then northern Thailand to see Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and a few other places! The goal is to go to Loy Krathong...the lantern festival where thousand of lanterns get out up in the air. Bucket list item? Hell yeah.

Check out the link in the upper right corner to see where I've been and where I am now!

Melbourne draws me back.

Ah so I should have done this blog ages ago I feel. But, I'm glad I waited in the end. Because the story is constantly evolving, and oh a story it is. Remember that time when I talked about the touché God theory? How God definitely has a sense of humor and you can see it best when you take a step back? Yeah welcome to the story of my time in melbourne. 

When I got to melbourne in late august, I was desperately searching for jobs (as you do when you arrive in a large city with close to no money to your name). Unfortunately not much was coming up until I stumbled upon an ad for a telemarketing company. Now, let's be fair. I realize that sounds utterly horrific. I would later discover that it , in fact, was. However, at the time the only things I knew about telemarketing was that it was good money and it was easy. So, when I got offered the job almost immediately....I was on it. Now the people were wonderful and fun, and the job was in fact, easy and paid well. But, having not taken into account how ridiculously soul draining selling people electricity via the phone would be, I soon started to seriously doubt my decision. And so began the week of stress.

After having reaffirmed that I am in no way meant for sales (due primarily to it's requirement that you ignore a persons humanity and instead manipulate them to their core) I began to apply to every possible job available on gumtree and praying like my life depended on it. For those of out I who don't know what that looks like it goes something like this:

What is going on God. I am so freaking frustrated with this stupid job. I literally don't know what to do at this point. I thought I had such a good deal with this job since it came up so quickly, but i really can't do this. If this is where you want me then, fine. Be I'm going to need you to help me make some sales or somehow get through these days. Otherwise I need out. I will take anything else. I just need out. I can't handle the stress and how much I hate life when I get home each day. Fix this....please.

----

This went on for about 3 days of torture. Until one night while hanging out with some lovely people I got a call from an unknown number. It was a woman asking me to come in for an interview at  German Brauhaus. Now before I explain what happened next I need you all to know...if you don't already...that I love Germany. I took German for ages, have been a few times and just utterly love all things German. So you'll understand why having forgotten what jobs I had applied for...since there were a gajillion....I immediately thought this was a joke. One of yay friends must be calling knowing I was looking for a job and thinking this was funny. So, while I wasn't rude on the phone...I more likely than not sounded as though I wasn't taking the poor woman seriously until I asked where it was and she gave me a legitimate address. 

Well, surprise surprise, the job was in fact real...and not only I did the interview go well...I got a trial shift which really just ended up being my first shift, which ended up being a double shift. And I loved it. It is stressful at times, to be sure, but it is exciting, fun, constantly keeps you on your toes and forces you to actually think as well as chat and have fun with people! Woooo! And so I began to picture the smile. 

Not my smile, of course. Mine was definitely visible. But God's smile. That little smirk/laugh one that I assume He gets whenever he pulls something like this. That 'hah, you thought I forgot about you didn't you?' Smile. He didn't. He never does. Exodus 14:14 says ' The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.' And fight he did. Because let's compare my original checklist to this current job:

1. Customer service oriented...check.

2. Good hours....check

3. Good pay...check....oh wait BETTER pay than the other job what?!

Bonuses! 

1. Something unlike anything i will ever do again

2. Get to speak German

3. Get to wear (somewhat...okay it's a stretch) traditional Bayerisch outfits

4. Meet people from all over the world

5. Utilizes my customer service and organizational skills

6. Free food

7. Don't have to pay for a tram/train to get to work anymore

8. Amazing coworkers

What's that? Oh yeah. Fine God. Touché. You do in fact know what's best and constantly guide me to exactly where I'm supposed to be. Now on to the next adventure. I'll try and trust ya a bit more readily this time round.

Making it in Melbs

Day 1

Wednesday was a but rough at first, i'll be honest. The trip here wasn't terrible (only 11 hours by bus) BUT we got here around 6 am and I couldn't check into the hostel till noon. So, I just had to chill for a while at Macca's until I could get in. Luckily they have free wifi so I just caught up on stuff and chatted with mi madre for a bit. Muy Bien! Also the guy at the front desk let me throw my bag down a bit early so I at least didn't have ot lug that around. Once I did get in though I IMMEDIATELY showered and slept. Buses unfortuantely are not the best places to catch up on sleep.

When I eventually woke up I wandered out with the intention of getting lunch and afterwards just kept going. I started off with the Melbourne Gaol and learning a bit more about the (in)famous Ned Kelly, passed by the Public Baths, and ended my evening at the Queen Victoria Market! I'll have to head back by there again in the next few days because the amount of food and fun thigns to buy was tooo enormous to take in in one go!

                                                  

                  

Day 2

A bit more refreshed I spent the day wandering to Fed Square, and exploring some of the art museums. And, I was able to get in touch with some friends who gave me tips on places to go and things to do around Melbs which was awesome! So after a day of simply taking in the city, I went to dinner at Shanghai Dumpling which is an amazingly cheap and DELICIOUS place in Chinatown. Definitely a perk of having a hostel right nearby. Also, because it's Chinese New Year, my friend and I were able to run outside and catch a dragon dance going on with a gajillion firecrackers to celebrate! There will be a parade later this week which we're pumped about=] then got to finish the night by grabbing a drink with a roommate at the bar downstairs. Definitely a successful day.

  

  

Day 3

By day three I had officially found my favorite hangout/internet spot: Project 219. It's a SUPER cute cafe nearby my hostel on Russell Street where you can grab a tea or coffee during the day, and then a beer at night. Everyone's super friendly and are amused at how often I come in. Ahh well. So it goes. After my normaal morning internet catch up, I headed over to Fed Square area to finish up some of the art museums. It's funny, I've always liked art, but never been all that into going to art museums on my own. But, after living with the incredible artistry of my girl SL for the past few years, and getting to wander through them with people who really care about it, i've found myself learning to appreciate different styles of art a lot more. I like finding art that moves somethign in me and makes me think about what is being said. The Melbourne Now exhibit at the NGV was an incredible example of modern art and representation of the city.

After checking out the art made from frosting, and the musical exhibit room (super sweet. Had way too much fun), I headed to the Moving Image Museum. OKAY GUYS DO THIS. But really, it goes through the history of the moving image from TV to cinema to internet. It was a really interactive museum where you could make a flipbook of yourself, or do one of those cool shots you see in like the matrix movies and stuff, as well as make a shadow  monster of yourself. yeah. I did all that. NBD. Plus, I love movies, so I was super nerding out. They had the car from Mad Max in there PLUS the replica of the windmill from Moulin Rouge!! And a few interviews with my fave director the wonderful Aussie Baz Luhrman=]

 

Finally, I finished off the day be heading to the Royal Botanical gardens and the Shrine of Rememberance (built to honor those who died in WWI). Day well spent=]

                          

Day 4

This was a glorious day. I started off by wandering around the South Bank chatting with my mum when suddenly I saw a couple people in Doctor Who shirts. I thought, "well that's cool". Then i started to see more and more. And then fezzes on people's heads, and scarves, and bow ties and WHAT?! IS THAT A CYBERMAN?! yeah. Apparently there was a Doctor Who Symphonic Orchestra Special thing going on. And so, my poor mother had to deal with me freaking out as she attempted to have a chat. Eventually I said goodbye and went to take picturew with a Weeping angel and cyberman and just generaally had a great time. Oh also, Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor and David Tennant's father in law) was also there. Yeah it's fine. 

                         

ANYWAYS, after that magic happened, I headed to Brighton Beach for the evening. Brighton is famous for these cute little beach boxes that are super colorful. Plus it has a lovely view of Melbourne's skyline. So a wonderful evening of wandering the peaceful beach. Such a good end to the day.

                                  

Day 5

Went to the Melbourne campus of Hillsong Church this morning. SO good. It was vision Sunday for Hillsong, so the Hills church (the original) streamed live to their campuses worldwide (they have campuses in 16 countries--london, NYC, Moscow, Paris, Copenhagen etc.). The service was aimed at just giving the church members a vision for what we wanted the year to be like. This year the idea was pioneering, and let me tell you it was just one of those services I NEEDED to be at. They sang the song Oceans, which, if you haven't heard it, you need to. For me, at least, it totally speaks to what I have been doing this year and taking chances, stepping forward and learning to trust without bounds.

Then it was Chinese New Year Celebrations where I was staying ---in Chinatown!=]

                                    

                                                      

                                               

Wandered around parks and up to Fitzroy a bit. Really just a chill day.

Day 6--SUPER BOWL

Started the day by heading up to the  NGV art museum. I'll be honest. While it was cool, I was more interested in getting to the football game, so I didn't stay super long. Instead i rushed through it and headed to Fed Square where they were having a GIANT Super Bowl party. Complete with american food trucks, bleachers, touchdown banners and noisemakers. My favorite part however was that if you were simply looking at the area you would think it was less of a Super Bowl and more of a celebrate Murica party. There was a Statue of Liberty, and seriously any american jersey people could scrape up was being worn. I saw Packers, Nats (baseball?), 49ers, Celtics (yup bball too), and many many more. it was hilarious and wonderful. Anyways, I stayed there for the 2nd quarter then headed to a pub to meet an American friend I had met at the hostel. We had a great time watching there with some of the most enthusiastic Seahawk fans ever. haha While I unfortunately was the only one rooting for the Broncos, it was fun to watch them freak out and get excited as they pretty much dominated the game and won their first Super Bowl.=]

                                     

                                     

                                     

After the insanity, I packed up my stuff and headed for the train to go up to the Drennan's place! They are some amazing family friends from church who mmoved out here a few years back and were lovely enough to put e up for a few nights. They pastor a church in their town, and invited me to join in for a night where they serve a free meal to the community. It was really fun to see their church in action and just enjoy fellowship and chatting with those people who came to enjoy the food and company!

Day 7

Wandered around Fitzroy with my friend Southern. We didn't do too much but tried some AMAZING chocolate. a berry covered in white chocolate, along with a basil chocolate piece which was surprisingly refreshing.

Day 8

Great Ocean Road! Spent the day seeing all the sites along one of the world's must drive roads=]

                             

                         

           

                                 

Day 9

This was a lovely day in starting with a sweet skype sesh with my good friend Phillip, getting some work done, having FANTASTIC Vietnamese food with the Drennans and ending the night playing with baby wombats and a wallaby!=]

                                             

                              

Day 10

Was another chill day preparing for my trip to the outback tomorrow!!

Things i've learned:

1. A lot of Aussies don't use their dishwashers

2. Hanging clothes to dry is WAY more comon than actually using a dryer

3. butter on everything

4. ketchup is "sauce"

5. squeeze some lemon oon your pancakes and top with sugar--it's the aussie way

6. chicken potato chips are a thing

7.pavlova is THE BEST.

8. Shapes crackers are super good are in every Aussie's pantry