how the west was won

First things first: I already knew that the in-laws were avid readers of dearest Ingrid’s blog, but new news has reached me. It seems that Ingrid’s mum (here on known as ‘Mama M’) prints off each entry and accordingly posts it down the road to Bodø for Ingrid’s grandma (here on known as ‘Granny M’). Granny M then proceeds to read said blog and file it in its own specific binder for future reference. When I heard about this I was amazed! Ingrid then proceeded to tell Mama M about my excitement and she expressed her interest in reading my blog (Hi, Mama M). I guess I’ll have to clean-up my act and make sure all of my ‘i’s are dotted and all of my ‘t’s crossed, if I’m to warrant my very own blog binder on Granny M’s shelf (Hi, Granny M).

Anyways…Monday through Thursday of the previous week were spent working as I continued to grind through my continuous 8 day attendance at work. Most of the days are filled with working either a 10-6, 12-5, 1-6, 1-9 or 4-9 (we’re open for late-night shopping on Friday). I don’t mind though. As I’ve already said: everybody I work with is top and the job is well-paid enough for me to put with arsehole customers day-in, day-out and tune-out their whining, petty ignorance and lack of basic manners to the music I play in my head (Led Zeppelin are among the favourites), which usually leaves people baffled as to why I’m furiously air-guitaring at the changing rooms. The reason why I play music in my head is because the shite usually playing in-store revolves around out-of-date mix-tapes that were never good in the first place, but you only listened to ‘as a laugh’ but as it loops and loops around on the CD player, fastly makes you want to kill yourself and everybody in about a half-mile radius. It’s either this or listen to Kanye West and the Black-Eyed Peas on repeat. The choices remain slim. The only other noteworthy occurrence in this initial days of the week was me being ill, that was followed by a staff-meeting in which we all received a royal-bollocking. But, quite rightly.


Led Zeppelin (Bonham - drums, Plant - vox, Page - guitar, Jones - bass/synth). Thanks for making my day go quicker boys!

With Ingrid working a couple nights in the week I usually take the opportunity to come home, put on a brew, make tea, watch tv with housemates, and then settle down at the desk. This past week I’ve been continuing learning Norwegian. It’s going ok (helps having my own Norwegian tutor for free), but it’s a bit dry at the moment - just constant revising of vocabulary and vowel sounds. It’s a shame, because I learnt all the swear words a looong time ago. If I’m not learning Norwegian I like to keep the history-studying going. At the moment I’m using the City of Melbourne’s library resources to read up on the discovery, mapping and exploration of Australia; and also, some more in-depth accounts of Pacific and Australian exploration - such as Captain Cook, Abel Tasman etc, etc. I realised when I first got here that I don’t actually know much about Australian history (shamefully so for someone with a history degree). But there’s more to it than that - it’s just refreshing to finally be able to read and study what I want with no deadlines or pressure.

Captain James Cook

When Thursday evening rolled around it was definitely time for a break. I had two days off of work in front of me, just warm in the knowledge that I was on my time for the first in over a week. So, what did I do? Well, to quote the words of the girlfriend ‘let’s get druuunk’, (or something close to that) with a fiendish and determined glaze to her eyes. So, that’s what we did. We headed home, freshened up ands went out drinking. Over two nights we were able to consume a decent and respectable amount of beers (for me) and vodka/cokes (for the lady) with some Pernod thrown in there for some reason. We also managed to accumulate a hefty eight stolen toilet rolls (four each) from one of our favourite watering holes. Who are you to judge? Whatever it takes to get by and make ends meet right?

On Friday we both woke up (surprisingly with no hangovers) and I slept in and went to meet Ingrid in town. We both had a stroll down to Chapel Street, in one of Melbourne’s closer suburbs to look at what the high street shops had to offer - now that my Australian bank account has been sorted. I racked up another awesome t-shirt to add to my collection. For those of you wondering what Chapel Street really is…well, it’s nothing much. Just another excuse for people with money to do more shopping and hassle poor retail workers for their measly bucks (no bias there). It means more for me though: it contains an adidas originals store AND an american apparel store! I’m just as bad as everyone else really…


After Chapel Street we headed back into the city where Ingrid had agreed to take me out for a meal. Yes, that’s right: take ME out. We went to a Chinese restaurant in China Town (surprisingly enough) where we tried squid and I had a monster meal of crocodile meat. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was epic. White meat, no fat and tasty, tasty, tasty. One has to try these things when abroad. The beer wasn’t half-bad either! Certainly one to try again; although it’s supposed to be healthy so I’m not sure if I like it anymore.

Croc! Mick Dundee would be proud!

Saturday was spent sleeping in, doing washing and then I met Ingrid in the city after her Model UN day for uni. I was too tired to do anything, got my weekly shopping done and we headed home. Ingrid had agreed to meet her friend - so I was pleased that they finally got to spend some time together without my friendless-arse tagging along. Instead, me and Ken stayed in and watched movies. We watched ‘Munich’ - epic film and one of my favourites (Eric Bana is a don, shame he’s an aussie). That was my choice. Now it was Ken’s and he chose ‘Days of Thunder’. For those who don’t know, it’s an early Tom Cruise film about stock-car racing (Nascar) and equally as epic - just in a verrrrry different way. Check it out! I proceeded to eat stolen sandwiches from her conference, courtesy of Ingrid (notice a theme here).

I sit here on a Monday, having been back in work two days and contented with life. I’m very proud of Ingrid for writing a short story for a young writers’ competition in Melbourne, that she handed in today. I work again tomorrow, but it’s also pay-day. Ingrid is out working tomorrow and Wednesday night so I think I’ll treat the guys to a couple beers.

Hade!

P.S. We can now get English football for free, that comes with our internet connection! YESSSSSSS! Suck on that Australia!

Reading: Sebastian Faulks, ‘Engleby’. (nearly finished though. Top book. Recommend it).
‘Terra Australis to Australia’.
‘Captain James Cook: a biography’.
‘The Cambridge History of Scandinavia: Prehistory to 1520’.

Writing: scattered ideas for a collection of short stories set in various cities I’ve travelled to).

Listening: Led Zeppelin, Ace Enders, Apostle of Hustle (thanks Ken), The Faint.

bursting the bubble

ingrid's chest showing where her loyalties truly lie!

i've always toyed with the idea of starting a blog. back in the day it was a diary. on many occasions i've even gone as far as to start one and record a few entries. they all failed. but recently it occurred to me (with a little push from ingrid) that now would be the perfect time to start writing. instead of feeling self-absorbed by writing about what i think to be a mundane, everyday and somewhat boring existence; i can feel like i now have an international audience! there'll be no promises of updates, it'll get updated when it needs to be (when i can be bothered). so, if you're interested have a browse.

it's been a little over a month now that i've been living in australia and many a thing has happened. one of the main reasons why i've put off writing this initial entry is because there is so much ground to cover; the fear of taking on a mammoth task. there's also the added problem of forgetting or not adequatelydoing justice, and trying to hark back and put myself in my head weeks, days, hours ago. well, if you can be bothered to read on then know this: i didn't die on the plane journey, i like melbourne, i've settled into my accommodation and i've got a job. 'nuff.

i think the initial problem i had with coming to australia wasn't so much australia itself. partly it was because i was scared, and partly it was because i was stressed with uni and needed something to project upon. but i won't lie, the first two weeks here were pretty tough. but did i or anybody else really expect them not to be? it wasn't just moving to australia but it was leaving home, leaving uni, leaving the bubble.

i took the first week off before joining life again, so i could get used to the layout of the city; to try and sort out my head and plan my next move; and just to get a general 'feel' for the place - whatever that means. i also needed to get over the jet-lag (which, to be honest, isn't really that bad). it's hard to remember what happened in the first couple of weeks. most of what i remember was wandering the streets with ingrid, sach (my friend from uni) and his girlfriend kate. they were all a massive help and just having friends here who already know the score was THE most comforting and settling thing that could have happened. i always wish i would've written more at the time, because trying to remember the first and freshest thoughts and perceptions of a new place is like trying to remember what it was like when you were a baby. most of what i remember is worrying too much about finding work, even though i'd promised myself at least a week and didn't expect to find anything straight away. in fact, if anything, i was told that there was NO WAY i'd find anything straight away; or at least, that it was 'highly unlikely'. however, that's one trait i've confirmed about myself - i stress too easily and too much, and like my mother i worry like hell. hello heart attack.
the palace of grimshaw; the pathway to the domain of grimshaw.

i compiled my cv (or 'resumé' as it's called here) in the first week and by tuesday i was armed with a pile of paper to canvas the city with my good name. by the end of the day i had a trial at café notturno about 10-15 minutes outside the city centre. by thursday i had the job. by saturday i'd completed my first shift and by monday (with three shifts under my belt) i'd earned $104.30 in tips and $171 in wages. not bad for my second week in melbourne! but in all truth, i knew i didn't want to stay in that job. don't get me wrong, i enjoyed the new challenge and the people that worked there were fsantastically helpful, welcoming and friendly. the problem was that the pay was minimum wage and the hours were shit (anywhere between 2am and 5am finishes). i really enjoyed serving decent people and it rekindled my faith in humanity (which is always under scrutiny). but with five years retail experience and knowing that it's better paid - how could i not look for something else? so - i went handing out cvs again and - after so many dead-ends - got interest from the manager at 'miss sixty'. she seemed so keen that she called me back a couple hours later and offered me a trial the next day before my first shift at the café. i got the job on monday and started on wednesday. this is just what i had hoped for: the hours are more sociable and the pay is a hell of a lot better ($21 an hour and $33 on sundays!). i'd already had my shifts at the café worked out and i was prepared to work some `16 hour shifts. however, i showed up for my first shift at the café and, explained the situation and they graciously let me go, offering me a job 'whenever i needed it'. fantastic! to sum-up the job situation: i've been in my 'new' job now for a little over 3 weeks and everything is great. i'm fulfilling what's expected of me, getting settled in well and getting along with everyone who works there. i couldn't ask for more. all of my work mates have a fantastic sense of humour and we all help each other out. team players!

miss sixty wooo; some of the miss sixties (sarah, izzy and adeline); more miss sixties (liz de rizz and a-tizz)!

aside from the job situation, a lot of my time in the city has been spent getting to know the bars, shops and street names. sach and kate have left melbourne now and are in queensland living the life they came over here for, and i'm really happy for them. ingrid and i try to spend as much time as possible together, but it's not always so easy. i work pretty much every day, she has uni, and also works a couple nights in the week. but don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining. i've done long-distancre and anything is better than that! we usually go out a couple nights a week to do whatever - whether it's drinks alone, with friends, eating out or going to the movies - and whenever we both have a day-off we try to indulge ourselves and do something worthwhile. otherwise, we usually just hang around the house with the boys (our two kiwi housemates, brothers leon and ken). this may sound like a throwaway comment, but i really can't voice how much of a relief and comfort it is to be able to get along with my housemates and feel at home enough to be able to come back feel like it is 'home'.

me, ken and leon; leon and me; ingers and ken - partying it up!

i'm not going to get into particulars about exactly what has been happening day-to-day; it seems a bit long gone for that. there haven't really been any major mash-ups, just a few drinks here and there. there have, though, been two to mention: me, sach and kate on a random tuesday night a few weeks ago drinking beer, jager-bombs and a shit-load of gin (pictures shortly). the other was at our house, when we threw a surprise late-aussie birthday for ingers (no pictures, sorry).
gin city; day of days - waiting for sach and kate's ride to queensland (you can still see the 'happy birthday' poster written in norwegian from ingrid's party).

i suppose i should talk about my perceptions of australia and what it's like out here. well to be honest, there isn't much of a difference (in the city at least). it's only the little things that are different, that make you laugh, smile, or crumple up your face in a perplexed amazement. these are the things like 'coon' brand cheese. one thing i can't get over is that they charge you to hold a bank account over here; something that really fucks me off. but like home, there are so many similarities. for example: the trains are shit. however, i know full well that i'm not qualified to talk about australia yet, or even melbourne. i haven't been outside the city as of yet and haven't discovered everything it has to offer. i also know that i never fully will. but, just like manchester - it's a hub of multi-cultural activity. it's a conurbation born out of industralisation and modernity. it's full of busy little bees, and not-so busy little bees humming around at all hours. i guess you'll have to read on to see how it changes and develops (through my eyes, at least. or, even better: find out for yourself! i will say one thing though: fucking good sushi and i now know how to use chopsticks!

peace out from a very happy, satisfied and settled AGD.

reading: sebastian faulks, 'engleby'.
listening: ace enders and a million different people.
writing: short stories.


looking at the cbd on a rainy day; inside melbourne central where i work.