Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Soooo I have a lot of changes!

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.

1 comment:

  1. WOW Tory!!! That is awesome, sometimes just taking that leap of faith turns out better than you imagined. So glad you are loving it and have found your place for now. Enjoy the ride and slide girl!!!

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