merry christmas!

jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock...

its christmas eve night here in brisbane, austrlia and a balmy 75 degrees

plans are to spend the night at some friends' house tonight so we can all get up early tomorrow morning to exchange small gifts and cook a biiiiiig breakie! (my contribution is my mom's delish french toast that i love :) later that day, we are going to a christmas dinner at emma's family friend's house - with a great pool to cool off in! hmmm spending christmas in a bathing suit, so funny!

thanks to the christmas cards and gifts i've received here in australia and via my mom at my greensboro address - i appreciate the sending of christmas love and spirit while im so far away from family and friends!

have a very merry christmas

'i'll be home for christmas, if only in my dreams'

christmas spirit

christmas feels very weird here in brisbane. its the day before christmas eve, and there is none of that sense of pandemonium that usually perpetrates around shopping malls, restaurants, and events. its weirdly calm here compared to the USA... the general christmas explosion that usually descends day after thanksgiving is absent here as well. there is a big christmas tree in one of the public squares accompanied by 'santa's mailbox' and a few scatterings of garland and lights around, but the massive window displays and decorated houses and santa with his reindeer are missing along with the crowds. the 90 degree weather doesnt help make it feel more christmas-y either! it just strikes me as very off because the two places that australia is most like (america and britian) are the most over the top about christmas.

i dont mind the down play this year, being away from friends and family make me not want to dwell too much on the holiday. i am working christmas eve and 'boxing day' (the 26th of december) but the Point is closed on christmas so i am going to a holiday bbq with some other travellers i know from work here.



on a very exciting note - CONGRATS to my sister and welcome to the newest addition to the family, Baby Grace. my beautiful niece Grace Rebekah Powell was born on 12/22/2009 at 5:12pm, weighing 7lbs, 5oz. I cant wait to meet her!!!!

brisie update

at the tail end of a couple of days off from work this week - theres nothing like working 40 hours to make you appreciate your free time more! so in my days off i got my library card (yay!), my tax file number, made some new friends, and went lawn bowling. lawn bowling is an australian sport/game/pastime thats sort of played like a combination of horseshoes, croquet, golf, and bowling. its done on these manicured courses that have old retired men sit around all day drinking beer and playing. but the game is becoming more popular with younger people too and when we went it was all 20 somethings. basically the idea of the game is that theres 1 small white ball, and you throw it down to the other end of the course, and then each team has balls that you roll trying to get your balls closest to the small white one. and youre barefoot the whole time (not quite sure why). we went as a girl from work's going-away, she is the girl i am replacing at work (primarily the opener).

tonight is south bank's Christmas Magnifique - the big christmas celebration a week early (again, cant seem to figure out why... maybe just to milk as much money from the holiday as possible?) with fireworks being shot over the lagoon tonight! everyone at work is on shift since so many people will be eating dinner in south bank before the fireworks. upside is that we have a fixed menu and hopefully everyone will be in a 'giving spirit' (aka tips!)
should be a fun atmosphere either way.

next week on my day off im looking to take a day trip to the gold coast!

my new flat

its official - i moved into my new flat yesterday! there was a bit of a snafu with the roommate situation and they have decided not to join me in the apartment, so i am instead renting just the one room and we are finding people to rent the other two rooms in the 2 bedroom unit. i am so excited to get a real nights sleep without 10 other people in the room, and it will be great to be so close to work (5 minute walk). even things like being able to leave my tooth brush in the bathroom and not carry it around every time i need to brush my teeth is a treat! its amazing what you appreciate after almost 3 months in a hostel :) the next order of business is to buy a couple of things for the kitchen so i can actually cook there and apply for my very own library card!
the brisbane city library is my favorite library i have ever been to (no offense to Perkins) - its super pop art-y, with bright colors, retro furnishings, and cool lighting that is crazy enough without being overwhelming. that plus the air-con (not standard everywhere in australia like it is in the states) will make it a staple for hanging out on my days off.

also on the agenda for future days off is a trip to the mountains just outside of Brisbane, moreton island/stradbook island and also trips to the gold coast, surfers paradise, etc for a little beach time (all accessible by the brisbane city train line)

cant wait!

aussie definition of the day
entree - appetizer/starter (not a 'main' like it is in the states - so confusing!)

no news is good news

nothing much new happening here in brisie!

i had my first two shifts at my job today and yesterday, they went really well, im loving it! also looking forward to getting my first paycheck in next week :)

the flat is still 95% definitely a go, scheduled move in is now thursday, just working out a couple of unforeseen glitches!

having absolutely sweltering weather (no complaints here, i'll take the hot summer weather of Oz over the winter of USA!) and enjoying myself on days off hanging out at the lagoon here.

Bris-job

more good news! i got a really great job in brisbane!! i am going to be waitressing at a really great restaurant in South Bank called The Point. really fantastic GM and people, excellent food and atmosphere, good pay and hours, and nearby my new flat! i had a 2 hour trial yesterday and got the job, i start for real tomorrow. im really happy to be getting so many house (30+) from one place, thats pretty rare for here and saves a lot of trouble trying to juggle two jobs with changing schedules!

http://www.thepointrb.com/09/Pages/TPR_TRT09.html

brisbane gets better :)

so the days in brisbane NOT spent in the ER have been lovely! since ive already done the whole sightseeing/falling in love with the city thing, ive been spending my time job and flat (apartment) hunting, which, its happened, has made me discover even more incredibly lovely areas of Brisie. i love this city :)

and GOOD NEWS - i found a flat this evening! its a 3 bedroom for 4 of us (me, a canadian girl and two english guys that ive met on my travels down the east coast) so we're still deciding if we're going to rotate each week who sleeps on the couch or if we'll stagger rent so whoever sleeps on the couch is happy with the low price they get :) ohhhhh backpacking. being one room short is the only downside. the upsides are many and include very cheap rent ($100/week each - trust me, crazy cheap for Brisbane - hostels are almost $200/week each to share a room with 6 strangers), GREAT location in a super fun and safe area called South Bank, where there are tons of great boutiques and restaurants (will start job searching there tomorrow) and also where the big Christmas festival takes place. The big lagoon is there as well and from our place its about a 5-10 min walk to the botanical gardens, a 5-10 min walk to the lagoon, 2 minutes to the train station, and maybe a 20 min walk to city center. its right on the river so we can also use the public transportation ferries (called City Cat) to get around!!!!
i am so excited to be able to UNPACK and have my own room and a nice kitchen and bathroom that i can actually leave my stuff in instead of transporting every time. also one of the guys (matt) who will be living there is a vegetarian also so if we do roomie dinners i wont be the odd man out for once!

on the job front, ive already turned down a couple of work for accommodation jobs (you end up making very little), and a couple of sales/marketing jobs that were commission instead of wage based. im really hoping for another restaurant gig so will be spending tomorrow searching my new neighborhood passing out CVs (resumes)!

heathwise, stomach is still iffy (basically i havent had any appetite for 3 days, not normal or healthy) but hoping that it will all clear up on its own in the next few days! and im not in any pain and seem to be operating incredibly normally for not eatting much of anything so wont worry about it too much for the moment

rough start in brisbane

it was a less than awesome start to my stay here in brisbane this afternoon - on the bus ride here from noosa i got really bad stomach pains and thought it might be appendicitis, so went straight from the bus to a nearby clinic, who also thought it was probably appendicitis so sent me to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment. turns out that it isnt appendicitis (they're 99% sure - they couldnt actually SEE my appendix on the ultrasound machine so options are im either a mutant born without one, it suddenly evaporated out of my system, its not where its supposed to be, or -most likely- it was hiding from the doctors, which apparently happens sometimes). however they couldnt tell what the problem was, only were able to rule out the major issues that would need further hospitalization.
good news is that im now out of the hospital and not in any pain!
bad news is that even though australian medical care isnt nearly as expensive as american ERs, im still going to have to now deal with the bill and trying to get my travel insurance company to reimburse me :(

hoping tomorrow (and 2 interviews i have lined up) will be a better kick off to my brisbane life!

aussie word of the day
ambo: ambulance