This isn’t as bad as it sounds

Last night I sat outside in the alley next to the hostel, painting my toes and watching the trains rolls past on the tracks across the street. If the image is slum chic then that’s what I am going for but please dispel any actual ghetto visions of me from your mind. Since I am in a semi-permanent state right now and apparently didn’t give enough information about my job etc. I thought I might give a run down of the crazy situation I have found myself in as of late...filled of course with the details you don’t really need or care to here.

Yesterday after hitting the grocery store in what was a seriously satisfying food run I splurged on two things I haven’t had in 5 months. A foot pumice and a whole bottle of laundry detergent. These little luxuries have made my week – don’t be too alarmed my French Connection leggings I bought on sale also contributed – I also decided that I could take over most of the shelf behind my bunk bed, hung some clothes up and booked another week here. Don’t get me wrong I am still wearing my flip flops in the shower but basically I have moved in. Before you think how strange this is please know I am one of many that are staying here long term. You’ve heard about the kitchen, meal sharing and if it wasn’t apparent before I have an assortment of friendly, fun international roommates who I find to be inspiring, and easygoing people. Most haven't hit the quarter life crisis like me but they are mature in the ways of the world. Ok blah blah blah. But the important thing is I have the bottom bunk in the corner. I could have moved into an apartment and if I wanted to I still could short term but I am finding it to be an adventure here. And with it being in a great part of the city I can hardly justify adding to my commute which, at present is a 10 minute walk through Hyde park and the shopping district and in the other direction it’s 10 minutes to Surry Hills!!!

I am working onsite for a company just like BCCI, on a project just like my last one I was on, so other than being the copy rat there isn’t much new there. It is so disturbing when they are talking about something and it sounds like I could be at home talking to my old favorite super Chuck about I don’t know… slab scan and coring. But then again a lot is the same but some of the terminology could be a different language. And there is this… maybe I haven’t mentioned how much it drives me nuts how Australians shorten everything, or have I? Brekky, Brizzy, Mozzie, Prezzy ahhhhhh well they call subcontractors “subbies.” Like doesn’t that just make you want to grab a chubby little cheek and speak in baby talk voice. Well anyway the day I say that will be a cold day in hell but I guess for now I will have to tune it out.

I Had An Idea...Not her - Me... The Brunette I Had an Idea

So it's past my bedtime. Working girl can't sleep during the day anymore so she has to sleep at night these days. But as I was on my first run of the trip (I know I told you I was going to get my ass into gear over a month ago but apparently I lied and ate big macs instead) I had a thought. While feeling both homesick because I miss ya'll but also totally enamored with Sydney, the warm night air, the bats overhead and the general lack of homeless people on the street, I decided that I will, over the next 4 weeks, give you a tour of Sydney through San Francisco eyes. This means I will show you Sydney via the same things I used to do at home with you people that I miss so much. Stay tuned. It will be a challenge but I am excited and up for it and I really do hope you enjoy the tour. But I am selfish and this is for me, you're just along for the ride if you choose. So if you ever feel like it is obnoxious, sentimental or cheesy feel free to change the channel.

My toes are polishless right now which means I have to go paint them. If you think my priorities are out of whack let me just have this one word before you judge. I didn't, against all urges I had as I walked home through the major Sydney shopping district (impossible to avoid without getting on a bus which I tried to do) buy another pair of work shoes. I have to give the blister inducing flats a rest for the day which means I will be wearing shoes suspiciously close to flip flops which really means my toes should be painted. So there it is. In the time I wrote this justification I could have painted them. Peace people. Wish me luck onsite in flip flops tomorrow cause I'm probably going to need it.

*If any blondes were offended in the making of this post then you haven't seen Working Girl and should stop reading this and watch it immediately. It is an obvious blonde empowerment movie and clearly I am endorsing the movie... although not specifically the empowerment of blondes.

Sunrise in Sydney...At least that's what I saw as I hit snooze for the third time this morning at 6am

As I walked to work this morning there was no first day of school bounce in my step, just the dread of returning to something of have long ago forgotten. The real world. That being the one in which we wake up each morning and do something with our lives...other than eat. At the risk of sounding totally negative I will tell you the following BEFORE I go on. First that I am grateful to have a job that fits so perfectly into my schedule for the next two months here. That the people I am working for are nice, friendly and haven't yet asked where I am living - who thinks I can get through 20 days of work without telling them I live in a hostel! - I have already made friends with the security guards in the building and there are oh so many cute guys in suits milling around my building. And I don't even have to wonder if they have an Australian accent cause they all do!

The road to work this morning was paved with blisters and bloodshot eyes. Whoever said flat shoes are better than heals lied. But I will press on. And for all of you who I judged for changing into your work shoes at work, you can be sure that will be me tomorrow albiet it is ridiculous that I would change from flip flops into flats; that should really be reserved for high heals. But they are what I have right now. When I am more comfortable in my workplace - as in two days from now - I will be sneaking into my sandals and jeans. But I am not there yet. My bloodshot eyes are a joint venture between the 4.5 hours of sleep I got last night and the non-stop allergies I have had here. The rash I had, from way back when, has manifested itself into sneezing, rashing and perpetually bloodshot eyes. To be sure the fog that surrounded me cleared this morning when I realized there was a Starbucks on my way to work - I walked through Hyde Park and hung a left when I saw the glorious green that took me home to San Francisco; early morning meetings and 4pm I'm staying late coffee breaks. I rolled into work with a Venti Americano with a straw in it. If that doesn't say "I am American and I don't want to be up at this ungodly hour" I don't know what does.

So I'll end this whining disguised as a post with this. Here is vindication for you all. In my 5 months off of work I have apparently reverted back to my Junior year internship capabilities. As in I am doing closeouts people. Let's just say I'll be spending some time standing in my blister inducing shoes in front of the copy machine. Luckily I am being paid to do this....so those shoes I fell in love with on the way home from work today may be mine oh mine in just one weeks time. They'll certainly warrant the furtive shoe change outside the building but god will they look good in front of that copy machine. Think of me tomorrow I'll be hitting snooze about the time you are getting ready for lunch.

*Remember when Molly Ringwald graced the proverbial pages of this blog almost weekly, well I think Melanie is the next Molly. At least for this week. I love a good blonde blank stare.

Speaking of Big Macs...okay we weren't but I was thinking about them.

I just read an article in the Sydney Herald that McDonalds and Weight Watchers are teaming up. Can you even believe it took them this long. I mean it's so obvious. Get it? Mcdonalds and Weight Watchers. Right... So apparently there are 3 items on the McDonald's menu that weight watchers approves. I don't know what they are but the Big Mac isn't one of them. There are a world of questions I have about this partnership. Also I want to know who goes to McDonalds and orders a side salad with their grilled fish? I want to know who orders grilled fish at McDonalds? But mostly I want to know how much McDonalds paid Weight Watchers. All things I will probably never know. C'est la vie, I won't dwell on these absurdities.

So I felt a little guilty after I posted the shit talking about the backpacker food. Because as I was posting it my Italian friend Gabrielle was whipping up a gourmet dinner in the crappy hostel kitchen to share with his roommates. Prawns in a mint and orange glaze, risotto and sweet potato mash to share. It takes a rare person to commit to cooking such fare using the crowded kitchen with the stove that has a high heat setting and only high heat. And come to think of it there isn't anything larger than a cereal bowl in the place. So yes he deserves a gold star. But then this of all things, he made tiramisu and saved me a piece so when I came down from having a beer on the roof after dinner the above was waiting for me in the fridge. I nearly cried of happiness. Because how lucky am I to have a piece of hostelmade tiramasu saved for me by Gabrielle whose R's roll like music and also I hadn't had something to eat in all of 10 minutes so I was hungry too!!

I will at some point next week cook for these people, who it only took me 4.5 weeks of living with become friends with. I am slower at these things but better late than never and cooking for some is better than one. Chicken, rice, guacamole, burritos? What can I bring them that's homemade, delicious and reflects home for me. Because I would like to share a piece of home with those who are making this hostel my temporary home for now.

Taking suggestions! Off to shop for some work shoes - seriously I only have flip flops so stop judging...

In Which I Get Job Just When I Have Decided I Don't Want One... Also The Weird Shit That Backapackers' Eat

A long time ago when my Mom was telling me stories of the early days when she was modeling in Paris getting free spa treatments and eating pasta with ketchup (due to limited finances) in what must be the biggest lifestyle disparity you can come up with; I formed in my mind an image of glamour associated with this financial necessity. This image can only be conjured up by a young and naive girl who could eat whatever and whenever she wanted. A little like how you secretly prayed for braces in junior high, it's totally irrational but you still wish you needed them. In my months of traveling and living with poor backpackers - to be sure they are rich in life experiences - I have seen some of the most seemingly desperate meals prepared. Hostels usually have a free abandoned food box and this often serves to spice up the typical rice and rice dish. I met a girl living on the coast who had for 14 days straight eaten only instant noodles and rice alternating to keep up the variety. She told me this while sitting across from me eating her white rice out of the pot and asking if I had any butter she could add to it. Wow I tell you wow. Potatoes of course are another favorite but today all of my expectations were eclipsed when two guys sitting across from me pulled out the ketchup from the free food box and put it and it alone on the bread they had stolen from the free hostel breakfast (5 pieces of bread each). I couldn't watch them eat it. But here's the thing because I haven't been eating out very much and I am not broke enough to warrant letting my health suffer to eat cheaply but the thing is these kids, backpackers, vagabonds, travelers will spend what amounts to $4 a day on food and will go out and drink $40 a night every night in alcohol - ok we all did it in college but that was different -. Fucked up priorities but then again I have a nasty shopping habit so maybe I can't talk. All I am saying really is this, if your stealing bread and ketchup from your hostel you might want to rethink your other expenditures.

So in other news, as I may or may not have mentioned I purchased, last week, my ticket to Perth and today - two days before I was to leave - after not a word about a job in 4 weeks from the recruiter who wanted me to dumb down my resume I got a call (I never did dumb it down) The job is 2-4 weeks, pays well and is in Sydney city center. Sooooo fucking typical right. As soon as you convince yourself you don't even want to work and stop looking altogether you get a job without even trying. So now here I am starting work on Monday. That's right I'll be a working girl. I changed my flight date, booked another week at the hostel and now I just have to transform my beachwear into business attire (this means I will be wearing about the same thing to work everyday). Starting Monday I am looking forward to, after 5 months of holiday, less two weeks of banana farming, becoming a functional member of Australian society. For two or maybe four weeks I won't be a backpacker!! I will have an answer when people ask me what I am doing here, I will be earning money, I will have a reason to get up in the morning (before 10am for a reason other than free hostel breakfast), but most importantly I will be thrown into the path of good looking Australian men in suits. Hallelujah. Does this mean I can celebrate with a small shopping spree?.... Just kidding I wouldn't dare sacrifice my healthy well rounded meals for a shirt to wear on my first day of work... would I?

*My Mom hates when I talk about the pasta and ketchup days, I think only because she thinks it wasn't that bad. I wonder if she secretly still eats it when no one is around?