After a fairly uneventful weekend spent surfing, lounging and watching a few movies, the beginning of this week began with some serious rain. Sunday night the heavens let loose and it poured down all night. Monday morning we awoke to the storm still lingering around, raining heavily for 30-minute periods and slightly drizzling the rest of the time. The weather, combined with being slightly sick, and the fact I had my second interview the next day had me in a pretty antsy (cranky) mood. Not to mention that my beloved lunch place, Fish on Fire, had to raise their price on the chicken burger and chips special. Instead of being $5 the owner had to raise prices to $6 as the price of chicken and the chips had gone up for him this past month. Bummer.
Waking early on Tuesday morning the clouds and rain were still hanging around as I took a bus into North Sydney for my interview. The fact that this interview pretty much represents my only shot at gaining employment here in Sydney had me sweating bullets. Walking to the building in the rain I had to keep repeating in my mind “I am going to get this job”. I felt like Stuart Smalley, the old Saturday Night Live character who is “good enough, smart enough, and dog gone it, people like him.” It’s sad how much of a blow to my confidence not getting any job offers or interviews here in Sydney the last 3 months has been. I feel like my confident persona has now been replaced by an awkward, introverted personality. Not exactly the mindset one wants to go into an interview with. Somehow I pulled it together, the interview went well and I managed to impress the owner with the spreadsheet and powerpoint presentation I had created for him. At the end of the meeting he told me I had a job, but I wouldn’t be starting for a month. This is good news as I now have a job that is going to sponsor me. Veronica is excited as well. I don’t think she liked the idea of me getting to sit at home and go surfing whenever I liked while she worked to pay the bills.
Besides for the interview going well, Tuesday was a stupendous day because the new episode of Heroes came out on iTunes. Yeah, call me pathetic for spending $2 an episode for a free TV show, but Australia is behind by 10 episodes, and Veronica and I are hooked on the show! Watching the new episode on Tuesday night was pure bliss.
Wednesday was Anzac Day, the Australian version of Veterans Day, and the country shuts down for huge drinking festival. Everyone heads to a large hotel pub to drink themselves silly and play 2-Up, a betting game that the Anzacs used to play. The game is simple, a person holds up money, say $20, and says Heads. Another person then goes up to them with a $20 to bet on tails. A coin is then tossed in the air, whatever it lands on, heads or tails is the winner. The Aussies love this game, and it is only on Anzac Day that it is actually legal to play it. Needless to say it was a very interesting, and wet day. We headed to the Harbord Hotel at around noon and didn’t leave until 7. Actually, only Veronica and I left at 7, our friends stayed behind. Veronica and I went back to Manly to go get some pasta at the Bavarian Café at the wharf. A nice dinner and a lot of water had us feeling pretty good today when we woke up to sunny, clear skies.
In other news, my good buddy Mike Schmidtke just scored a job here in Sydney. Come June he will be here in Sydney with his family, living just up the way from us in Freshwater. Good times!
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