Second Job and Onward~

(So this was supposed to be posted on 16 December, but I don't have wifi in my apartment and I was too lazy to use my computer...)

So I decided to get a second job for a time period… Since I was working from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM, I thought maybe I can get another job for the afternoon into the evening. I got an email respond back from Fukuryu Ramen restaurant saying thank you for my interest in working there and they gave me an interview. The interview was pretty good and I guess I don’t have the pressure of NEEDING to get the job, so I was more relaxed for the interview and was not nervous at all~ I first agreed to taking the job. The manager wanted to find someone that can work from 9:30 AM to 9:30 PM, but can work around it for me since I work in the morning. I would have to go in for a trial (which is like a try this job to see if I can actually perform the task) and the manager wanted me in for the whole day unpaid… 10 hours of unpaid work just to see if I can handle working there. At first, I agreed to it without thinking. I told my housemates about it and they were kind of concerned. They said I am already doing labour work at my hostel. It’s going to be hard working all day of labour work. Also, I can speak perfect English, so I shouldn’t settle with kitchen job. They convinced me. =_=; I emailed the manager the night before my trial saying I’ve found an opportunity that better suit my interest and that I won’t be going in for a trial. I guess my housemates are right. They’re just looking out for me and want me to make better decisions for myself. I was just thinking about earning more money to cover my past three month’s expense.

I haven’t thought about getting a second job since. There were a lot of things that I thought about when I agreed to work at the restaurant. I will be working almost 7 days a week. I will work at YHA from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM for 5 days a week. Those days, I will start work at Fukuryu Ramen from 5:00 PM to possibly 11:00 PM. On days that I won’t have to work at my hostel, I would be working from 9:30 AM to possibly 11:00 PM (as the manager wanted me to work full day). That means I have no time to relax or do anything fun for the time that I’m in Melbourne. I kept thinking… I’m in Australia. I shouldn’t be spending all my time working my ass off. I came here to meet new people. I’m here to try new things. Being a cook that’s more of an assembly line than actually cooking isn’t going to make my life here any better or experiencing anything new.

So now, I don’t plan on getting another job. Josh and Nina (housemates) have been going to a bible study care group and I joined them last weekend. The people there were super nice! Especially Kay and her husband Nat. I really wanted to get to know them better. But if I get the ramen job, I wouldn’t have time to hang out with them anymore. The care group meets on Friday night for dinner, bible study, and sing together. On Saturday, they have church as they are a Seventh-Day Adventist Church group. I have no idea what that is and why it’s different, but as long as it’s not Jehovah’s Witness lololol… Aside from that, I’ve been looking into a Toastmasters club to join around here. Even though the people are so good at it, I think it’s still a good environment for me to get better at speaking in public. The more you do, the better you get at it, right? I really think the opportunity in Lenovo really helped me. I also started going to a ukulele/guitar lesson thing with Josh at the University of Melbourne last last Wednesday. Maybe I’ll pick up ukulele! :) I want to make my time here fulfilling and special; not just work my ass off for a couple bucks more. I want to make this journey as memorable as I can and make the most out of it; fill it with wonderful stories and experience.

Yesterday, YHA had a Christmas party at the Crown Casino. I decided to go instead of being a loser like all other company parties that I’ve skipped (Radius, but because we had a snowstorm on the day of the party and it was all the way in Boston). The party was great! I’ve met a lot of employees from Melbourne Central YHA as it was a combined YHA party. I’ve also met a lot of their housekeepers of which one of them was from Taishan named Ann! She was so excited to meet me and know that my mom is from the same city of China. On top of that, I’ve found out working as a housekeeper at Melbourne Central is so much more chilled! They have 4 floors, each floor has male and female bathroom, each bathroom has 2 toilets and 2 showers. They work from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM and usually have around 6 people working. We have 3 floors, each floor has male and female bathroom, each bathroom has 7 toilets and 5 showers. We work from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM and usually have around 3 to 4 people working with a maximum of 6 during busy days. My god. They say Metro is a dirty hostel, but that’s really because we never have enough time or people to actually make sure that everything is clean… I don’t get why we’re so tight on schedule and have so less people working thinking that we can keep this hostel tidy, but for the amount of work we do, it’s hard work compare to Melbourne Central YHA. The other day, I soloed the bathrooms and my god I was so sore the next day. What a bitch hostel to work for. Ann was talking to her manager asking to get me transferred over to Melbourne Central YHA lolol… I don’t think I want to leave though. Even though we have it tough, I have some of the chilliest colleagues.

Aside from work, Nina is leaving. :( She’s going to Tasmania for a potential job offer. I wish her the best of luck! I’m going to miss her because she’s like the most energetic housemate in our apartment. She brings a lot of energy to the place and super friendly. She finally found another housemate to take over her spot; Cindy from Hong Kong. She didn’t seemed too excited when she met us during the tenant transfer, but I hope she’ll turn out to be just as good of a housemate. I’m loving it living in this apartment. It’s small, but it’s warm and cozy. Yes, I don’t meet as many people as I do at hostels, but it’s great to have a place where I can rest and chill away from crowds of people. I get my own bed rather than a bunk bed! Adriana and I are like besties too! Not really, but we can talk into the night as if we’ve known each other for a really long time. That’s when I start getting annoying AF haha… I feel myself annoying her and she tells me that I’m annoying, but she’s really patient and doesn’t really mind it. I should really tone it down… Josh is like my activity buddy haha… We do a lot of things together on our free time; just like how he showed me the guitar/ukulele lesson, the care group, and we’ll be going to the Camberwell flea market this Sunday! I can honestly say I love my housemates. :) I hope all goes well with us! +the new girl.

Time to get some sleep zzz… I haven’t been getting enough sleep because we always talk into the night and I got kind of drunk last night at the Christmas party. I invited Sungwook to our house Christmas party on Christmas Eve/Day, but I don’t know if he’ll make it. He’s a nice guy but a bit shy, so I want to expose him to more things. He said he has been in Melbourne for like 2 years now? Doesn’t really have that many friends and usually just goes back to his apartment after work with his PhD stuff. I hope we can be friends instead of just me being a participant. Welp, good night!