Sorry that it's been a while since my last update. Cortney has been bragging to me about how many more posts she has....but the thing is, I don't have internet at my house. So every time we want to get online we have to go to a cafe because Australians don't understand what the big deal is about the internet.

We worked our first full 40 hour week and it was actually kind of awesome....that is after we got paid on Friday. Plus, since all 4 of us are now on the same schedule, it's kind of really fun at work. The other upside of our work is the swag we have been getting. Our company does personalized stuff for little kids (like books, toys, towels, labels, pretty much anything you could dream of as a child) and any time things get messed up and the people send it back.....we can take it. So far, Brig has gotten a Searlett (supposed to be Scarlett) towel, I have Laruen and Makaylla, and Kelsey has scored a Pheobe cutlery set and mug.

Yesterday, Brigid and Megan had to work, so me and Kelsey bbq-ed with the other girls and guys. I tried Kangaroo. It was actually not that bad....but it was tough for me to eat because I kept thinking about what I was eating. That's also why I couldn't try whale when I was in Norway. They're just too cute to eat.

Otherwise, I don't have much of an update. Halloween is next weekend, which is making us really miss Boulder because it's not really a holiday here. We will obviously dress up anyway - so any costume ideas would be great. Especially if it would work for 4 people.

A big ol' update

What up? I know it's been a while since my last update - but I had a pretty productive weekend and haven't been on the internet in days. So I have much to share with you all (kind of). Brig & I had a successful week getting up at 6 am every day to go to work....but we actually kind of love our job because we can just listen to our iPods all day and type in info to a computer and get paid pretty well to do so. Megan & Kelsey got hired at the same place too!!! They are doing customer service, so basically just taking people's orders over the phone. I think it's going to be a little overwhelming for everyone else to have all of us working in the same place.....but it's going to be awesome. I'm pretty excited. Plus, now we will never be late for work since there are 4 of us who have to wake up. But, I feel sad and kind of like an underachiever because the other girls all have other jobs.


Thursday night, after work, the girls met us in Sydney to go to a Noodle Festival in Sydney. It was just a huge food fest with a bunch of stands of Asian food, art, booze, and fun. We ate a ton...I have more pics to include of all our different courses, but I figured it would be kind of obnoxious to post them all....so one will have to do.



After the food festival, we went back to the hotel that Erin's dad got for us for the night. It was the Shangri-La which is a big chain throughout this region. When we got there, we went up to the 36th floor bar and got the "money table" which had a perfect view over looking the city and the opera house. When we opened up the menu....we saw something called "Martini on the Rock" which literally cost $10,000. Pretty crazy. Needless to say, we could only afford one drink. Then we went to bed....which was fantastic to be in a clean environment for a change.



Friday night we went out with our friend, Bonnie's, sister and her friend. Above is a pic of us at World Bar in Sydney. There was an indie rock festival happening, which we didn't know about, so the bar was jam packed with a bunch of emo kids. Two of the guys we were with almost didn't get in because they "weren't following dress code". They were told that next time, they need to have on tighter jeans, converse shoes, and a band t-shirt. It was pretty funny.


Saturday, Erin, Taryn, Natayla, Ryan, Tyler (who are here visitng), and I took their awesome rental van to a beach about 45 minutes away. It was huge and really pretty, but it was kind of a cold windy day. Ryan tried to surf, which is funny because he can't swim or surf. I thought the life guards were going to have to save him.


This is the van we took - the back says "Marriage is an attempt to turn a night owl into a homing pigeon". We got some stares while we were driving.


This is Erin and I at the beach.

Today we are going to the biggest IMAX theater in the world to watch a 3D movie entitled Under the Sea. Pretty Excited.

Ok that's all I have for now. Did you guys love how the pics went along with my story line today?

New Job

The call center was a pretty shitty gig...so I've moved on to a new venue called "data entry". Although this transition was not necessarily voluntary (yes, I got fired from the call center for not meeting my targets....sorry $42 a month is a lot to ask of people and everyone said 'no' to me), I am thankful.

I was in the midst of jobhunting yesterday, while Brigid was simultaneously quitting her job at the call center she was working at, when I received a phone call from a woman saying "you start tomorrow at 8:30, bring your friend Brigid with you....we have two positions to fill". That was one of the greatest phone calls I have ever received. It's a pretty stress-free position (which is about as opposite as possible from having to call a bunch of angry Aussies who are sick of you asking for more f-ing money) but it is full time which I'm probably not going to love. But I guess I need to get used to it because apparently that's what I'm going to have to do from here on out.

Cortney Kesselman has officially moved to Chile and began her own blog (cough, cough, copycat, cough, cough) and has taken to her forum to challenge me to a blog-off. So Coney - if you're reading this.....know that it is on. (www.notagringa.blogspot.com)

We are working hard for the internet at our house but our landlord, SP (remember him?) doesn't understand the concept of Wi-Fi so the 8 of us are taking matters into our own hands. However, we had a set back yesterday when the "phone jack" in our apartment turned out to be something that is completely not a phone jack....

Oh - and I'm hearing some nasty rumors that the Hawkeyes are good at football this year? Is this true? What is going on with the Buffs or Cyclones??? Or the Bears??? Update me! I'm not in the loop over here - I have no internet and 5 channels on the TV.

Brig and I
Kelsey and Megan checkin out the view


Me and Emmy!
All of the girls. Back Row: Erin, Emmy, Natalya, Me. Front Row: Belen, Taryn, Megan, Brigid, Kelsey

Kelsey!!
Brigid, Taryn, Erin, Megan and Kels


I keep getting beef from you people via my facebook wall about my lack of blog updates. But we do not have internet at our house and so when I go to internet cafe I only have about 2 hours to do all the things I want to do online (aka - check facebook, my e-mail, perezhilton, and download the new episodes of HIMYM (How I met Your Mother)). So you can see how my scarce internet time does not lend to me updating my blog every day. But I am taking a vow from this moment on to do better and to fill you in on the things I'm doing on a more regular basis.

Megan's birthday was Saturday night so we had an appetizer party with all 9 girls at our apartment. Kelsey and Brigid slaved away in the Kitchen all day, while Erin and I took Megan out shopping to keep her away from the apartment so they could decorate and cook. We had spinach artichoke dip, bacon wrapped dates, bruchetta (or as Ted Mosby would say.....some Bruchett with fresh motzerell). Pretty awesome. We all pitched in to get her an iPod shuffle because she lost her iPod long ago. She was pretty excited about that. After eating A LOT and drinking some chapmagne, we headed into the city. However, due to our advanced age....we only made it out until 12:30. But overall, the night was really fun.

Yesterday was Megan and my first day of work at the call center. It was kind of stressful and I am never going to be mean to a telemarketer again (even though I am a telefundraiser, not a telemarketer). But the day went by pretty quick, plus we get 10 minute breaks every hour. So in a 6 hour shift, we get an hour break. Pretty bomb. Brigid also started work at Sydney Water trying to sell the entire city water conservation products.

We had a fairly productive weekend in Sydney. Since Brig had to bartend on Saturday and Sunday nights, the rest of us went out in the city both nights. Sunday was also the NRL Final (Rugby League...not that it matters, but it was broadcasted live in the US for the first time this year on Spike and most likely at 3 am). It made us nostalgic for CU game days because there was drunk rugby fans getting rowdy at 9 am for a 5 pm game. For those who are curious: Melbourne beat Parramatta.

Erin Healy (Megan's friend from CU) is coming to visit us on Thursday and is staying for 2 weeks. We are pretty stoked to have a visitor! Plus, Megan's 23rd Birthday is on Saturday....so hopefully, with our first paychecks in the bank, we can afford a bitchin night out in Sydney. The other four CU girls who are currently living in Bondi are moving into the apartment across the hall from us tomorrow. This is going to be a big week.

We are already over this whole "working" thing and want to start our travel plans for greater Australia/Southeast Asia. Any suggestions? Please comment! I want this to become a more interactive blog.