I have some dramatic changes that ya'll may not all know about.
About a month ago...I quit working as au pair... I was apparently a bad fit. SO. What do you do when you are unemployed and on the other side of the world? Call in all your friends and see what happens.
I was luckily on skype with Rachie face (love you) when all this went down. Quickly we called Guy (owe ya big time!) in New Zealand. Turned out I was able to stay with one of hisw friends daughters in Sydney. Nadine and Dan took me in, rearranged there whole house so that I could have the babies room, so wonderful of them. I owe them soooo much.
I stayed with them for about a week, and learned all sorts of things about Aussie sport and food and beer. We also shared some Dr. Pepper (yay!) and other American things, like country music!
Meanwhile, I was searching for a job on the internet. I was offered a number of positions as an au pair in a variety of different places, like Toowoomba, Tasmania, Perth, and who knows where else. I also applied to be a cook on a cattle station, and for some pub jobs.
There was this odd job that kept popping up and appeared to be a great opportunity... but it was in the middle of nowhere. Dampier, Western Australia to be exact. Nadine and I spent many hours on Google Maps walking around the streets of Dampier, and came to the conclusion that the town was pretty much squat. The job was as a barmaid. I have lots of drinking experience and limited barwork, but hey its not rocket science.
Every night I kept tossing around the idea of moving to this town, and finally I just accepted the job. It was for a minimum of 3 months, but the pub paid for my flight there, as well as, room and board and considerably high pay. They also like to higher backpackers, so I expected a hugely international scene.
Two things I was worried about. One. I needed a responsible service of alcohol license. Solved! 6 hours in a classroom and I was set. Two. There was absolutely no legit trace of this place on the internet, the whole thing could have been selling myself into human slavery. I called the US consulate to double check that it was an okay place to work, but really just ended up jumping in with both feet.
I eventually found myself at the airport with considerably less luggage. I was going from the winter of Sydney to a tropical climate (yay!). It was a great day when I arrived in Dampier, a coool 80-85F. Wonderful. The pub is less than 100m from the beach. Which I LOVE. I have so much to report on my new job and my new home.
Basically Google Dampier, its a mining town with all iron ore and salt deposits as export. Imagine west Texas... kind of. The gist is all fly in/fly out workers with some locals peppered in. Its a industrial town, but I like it.
The job. Its tough, but fun. Its a bit more than barwork... I do everything. Housekeep, Bartend, Waitress, Dishwash, Bus the tables. If it needs to be done in a pub/hotel I guarantee you the girls that work here do it.
The people. A good few of us are backpackers, Irish, American, and English are all we have. I am the only Texan! And boy they get a kick out of my accent (it's also great for tips... a smile and a how are ya'll doing? goes along way!) The staff is all girls too... kinda what I expected for a mining town.
That's all for now, It's bedtime ya'll!
I promis I won't be a stranger any longer... but know that I am having an absolute ball.
