life's a beach

Sorry for my lapse in posting, but I have not had Internet for several days now. However, that does not mean I have a lack of happenings down here. Since I last wrote, I have secured a job! Yes, the circus certainly paid off and as of October 1st, 2011 I will have an eight day stint with the Perth Royal Show (http://www.perthroyalshow.com.au/) which is only a short 8-minute train ride from my flat! Now, as for specifics: I will not know what I am actually doing until tomorrow when I have my first orientation. I could be scooping elephant poop, handing out cotton candy or (my dream!) be dressed as a giant marsupial and roaming the grounds with an arrangement of balloons. Yes, this will certainly have a lot of stories associated with it, so prepare yourselves for some fun to come. Also, I am getting paid $17.50 an hour and no taxes are being taken out. I really hit the jackpot with this one. The grounds are already taking shape too, with big tents, rides, tractors and prizes all being shipped in. It is really quite large, I had no idea. However, once again I felt like an illegal immigrant because when Susanne (the woman who coordinated all this for me, I got her name from two Welsh people I met earlier last week and they found the ad in a hostel) signed me up, she asked for my home country. Naturally I said U.S.A. but above me were scribbled othernames and beside them foreign countries (such as England, Ireland, Italy, etc.) I got the feeling this will be a circus with a lot of different passports working in it!

So, this circus business should last one week and then after that Susanne said I have the potential (if I am good) to work at smaller country shows following this bigger one....we shall see! Now this is all well and good, but I certainly need a more permanent job during my stay in Perth. That's why I have been handing out resumes every single day for a week. Yes, I have been hitting the pavement, working the land and whatever other corny metaphor you think of to entail job searching. It is really tiring. But I have worked my butt off networking with everyone, which is how I met Christine.

Christine and her hub

by own a really swanky men's boutique in the Colemont area (very rich) called "Father." I applied, but she said they had no job openings. After chatting for 20 minutes, she must have decided she

really liked me (I charmed the pants off her let me tell you and no not literally!) because she said head down one block to the restaurant she also owns (Madrid) and tell the manager she sent me. So, I did. One hour and a free coffee later, I had an interview for a position as a waiter! Steph, the manager, absolutely loved me and said she wanted people like me on her team, especially with me being from America. So, I am meeting wit

h her on Tuesday of this week to discuss the position more and hopefully, I will secure something after that time. The pay is a staggering (get ready for it!) $20.75 an hour! I could not even dream of that amount....get ready bananas, here I come!

Ok, so enough exclamation points for now. I must head into the city for this cool vintage market that is taking place, with lots of handicrafts and fashion shows. Should be fun? I will take lots of pictures and post them tomorrow or Tuesday for you all to see.

Oh, and of course I am including some more beach pictures in this post, because the weather was very cooperative on Friday and everything is better bathed in sunlight...also, I have posted a picture of Chris and Alana (my friends I am living with here) and, yes, a photo of their car that has a steering wheel on the opposite side, I still look both ways (twice!) when I cross the street here.

Love you all! More to come soon...