Language Barrier

You would think being in a country that speaks English that their wouldn’t be a language barrier. Well, I work with a lot of people who’s first language is not English. Most of them are from countries in Asia, mostly Thailand, and South Korea, so even when they speak I sometimes can’t understand what they are saying. 

I have been working at this hotel for about a month now and for about the two weeks I have had a WIDE variety of names. 

It’s started with me being introduced as Cassandra (cuh-San-dra). People who know me know that is not how you pronounce my name it’s cuh-sondra and I hate when people pronounce it wrong. I then was called Cassie and Cass, fair enough, most people call me by these names. Along with Cassidy, Casey, but my all time favorite was being called Casson. I laughed and said “their is a “dra” at the end”. So now I have dropped the “andra” part and just leave it as Cass.

It’s easier on both parties. 

Decisions, Decisions

I have decided to cut my time short here in Australia. I honestly thought that I would have had a way different experience then what I am having now. And most of you are probably thinking, “but she’s in one of the coolest places on earth”, although that is a fact, it doesn’t change the fact that I signed up for a completely different experience then what I am getting and getting a job that I dislike very much is not really helping that. I’m not supposed to be stressed over here! 

Now most of you are probably thinking I have decided to come home…

Y’all must be crazy if you’re thinking that because you. Are. WRONG!! 

I have made the decision (thanks to the help of my mom) to leave Australia in 4 weeks to go to New Zealand and spend some time with one of the best and sweetest person I met this summer working on the ranch, my favorite Kiwi Sophie!!! WOOHOO!!! She had the pleasure of enduring me as the greatest roommate on the planet this summer!! 

Just kidding, I have that backwards! Sorry Soph! 😉 

I am obviously planning an excursion or two so she doesn’t have to deal with me the whole two weeks before I meet up with my dad and Brittany in Fiji to start our trip, but I am still wicked excited to see and spend more time with her! As I am sure she feels the same way about me! Haha 

So my last month here will consist of 

1. Working and being excited to quit. I have never quit or been let go from a job before so this will be fun! 

2. Planning my trip to the land under down under and annoying Sophie with questions. (DUH)

3. Last minute sight seeing! 

Looking back now I would have done things a bit different, like not coming by myself. Although this has been a great learning experience and I have had some quality me time, I like being around people. I can’t constantly have conversations with myself. It’s tiring! 

That’s all for meow! 

Thigh Land



I haven’t really done anything adventurous lately. Since I haven’t had a job I have been tight with a buck so I have really only been walking around checking out the area where I live. I haven’t really ever been one for living in a big city, but this is actually nice. I luckily live right by the free tram zone that can take me to certain places for free including my job. Who can beat that?! A free ride to and from work! Plus the walk to and from the tram stop which is only about 5 blocks which is not bad! 

I started my job at a hotel housekeeping yesterday and I got everything down right off the bat except for beds. UGH!! I swear making beds will be the death of me! This is a whole different way of bed making then what I know how to do from my summer working on the ranch and it bugs the crap out of me that I haven’t gotten it perfect yet even on my second day. Oh well. It’s only temporary anyways, and then I’ll go back to doing it the way I know how to do it back on the ranch!! 

I was excited to start working again and to meet new people, because that’s how I am. I walked in all prepared and smiling and talked to people but they either looked at me like I had five heads, or kept to themselves and pretended I wasn’t there. I was kinda taken back by it but when I came back after work I was talking to my roommate and she laughed and said it’s probably because I’m a blonde American and nobody likes me (in a nice way). 

So today I forced people to talk to me, because that’s how you get people to like you right? 

RIGHT! 

I heard one girls say she was from Thailand and I actually had to refrain from being a smart ass and make myself not quote Alan from The Hangover Part III because I really wanted to say “oh I know about thigh land. The population of thigh land is 63 million people. It is twice the size of Wyoming. It’s chief exports are textiles, footwear, and rice.”  

But I didn’t. 

I just said oh wow it’s hotter there then it is here isn’t it? And that just sent her talking a mile a minute and I just kept nodding my head and saying mhm trying to pick up what she said. Hey, at least I made people talk to me! 

That’s the only highlight I have for now. Tomorrow is my day off so I’m probably going to sit on the beach and try and get rid of this cold I have! Nothing like melting it away. 

And yes to all of you back home enduring the wonderful snow storm… I am trying to rub it in that I’m in the sun! 

Suckers!

Nail Biter

This past week has been a little stressful with trying to get a job. I joined a nanny/babysitting website to see if people were looking to hire and got an email from a guy with two kids looking for a live-in nanny and housekeeper for a couple months during his busy time at work. So we set up an interview and on Thursday I told my roommates in the hostel what cafè I was going to have my interview at incase I didn’t come back in an hour. On my way I was mulling over my questions in my head. Normal questions like pay, where exactly do they live and what the hours entail. In the email he said he lived near the city, which was good so I could easily meet up with friends.  

So I get to the cafe thinking I’m looking for a guy with two kids. Nope. 

I got a bad vibe from the moment I sat down. So I asked my questions and he gave me the name of the suburb he lives in. I told him I would think about it and let him know. I looked up the town he gave me right after. It is not near the city. It’s about 40 minutes to the closest train station and then another 40 to get to the city! I ran into my roommates, Jess and Olivia, on my walk back and told them about it. The best way I could describe it was, “I feel like I would never see my family again if I took this job.” We had a laugh and then I walked up and down a street full of shops, cafès and restaurants handing out resumes and hung out with them.

Other then job hunting I have spent a lot of time at the beach! I had to take a couple days off from the sun though because not reapplying sunscreen is not smart. I now have the worst tanlines possible. I’m like four different shades of color. Oh well, I’m in Australia. I’m not aloud to complain!

In the mean time while I’m job hunting, my friends friend, Bec, and her family have been kind enough to let me stay at there house. Bec and I hit it off from the beginning and she also is the youngest of three girls, all about the same ages as me and my sisters! Last night we went out for there cousins birthday and I got to experience the night life in Oz and meet more people! 

Today is Australia Day so I’m excited to experience the celebration!

Crappy Internet

Tags

australia, backpacking, travel

Good day mate!  

 I arrived to my hostel two nights ago and the internet SUCKS!! At my old hostel the internet was free and at least somewhat high-ish speed. At this place you have to pay for it and it is slow as molasses.

But here is a quick recap of yesterday!

I decided to walk around the busy area of St. Kilda and job hunt. I handed out at least ten resumes so hopefully I here back from a place. I may or may not have gotten myself worked up about not finding a job on the first day but I will trek on.

After my venture of trying to find work, I thought it would be smart to get an Australian phone number. So off I headed to the Vodafone store down the street and got a SIM card to put in my phone. This gave me a prepaid plan of 1GB data, 450 minutes call time and infinite texting for 28 days at a time. I am here for a little over two months so this is perfect for me and can Recharge my account for the next month when I need it. I got this all for only 26 American Dollars! 

I highly recommend if you come live in Oz for as short a time as me or even as long as a year, you get an Aussie phone number. Personally my provider at home had a huge fee and I had to have my phone on airplane mode the whole time to avoid roaming charges while here. It is easy to get a SIM card for your current phone or get a cheap throw away phone here. In case of emergency you can call back home with a small fee. Which is what really won me over. 

Now the biggest decision I have today is weather I want to go to the beach, or look for a job and go to the market to get food for the week? 

Ehhh, I’ll just think about that while I’m on the beach. 

Have a lovely day!

Expresso

I normally can’t and won’t drink coffee to stay awake. But it’s time my body has to endure the amazingness of a small cup of iced coffee with a shot of expresso.

This whole time change thing has really been kicking my butt and I have not caved to the fine thing people run on everyday.

Coffee.

I use to drink coffee on the regular, but about 3 years ago I went on a health kick and that was one of the things I kicked from my diet. Now since then, I have gone back to eating fast food, not going to the gym (because really I would rather sit and watch a netflix marathon while eating a bag of chips), but I’m still active. I had an active job running around playing and taking care of dogs and in the summer running around housekeeping. But even then, I couldn’t get myself to drink coffee again. My body didn’t agree with it anymore.

Right now I caved to my weakness of not being able to stay awake. About to hop on another plane to yet another time zone in Melbourne. And I NEED TO STAY AWAKE!!

So I’m sorry people on my flight. I’m sorry if this was a bad mistake on my part of getting coffee right before our flight with no time to go to the bathroom beforehand.

Me Being Me

Tags

travel

Here is a recap of my day.

For starters the person that was suppose to cook us our free breakfast didn’t show up so they gave a voucher to a little cafe around the corner. And let me tell you, it was sooooo yummy! I love being able to sit somewhere and people watching. If you haven’t figured it out yet I really like to people watch but today I’m mostly taking in how different the atmosphere is from being home in the states.

People are so much more friendly here! Coming in asking the workers how they are and telling them goodbye and have a great day. I mean I know they are locals, but at home if I walked into a coffee shop or something along those lines I wouldn’t see that unless someone actually knew them personally. It’s refreshing to see already a difference other then our accents. And that no body is in a hurry. Where I’m from everyone is is rushing to get somewhere. Honking there horns, giving the finger if you’re going the speed limit and they are trying to pass you.

Not here.

People actually seem to leave earlier then they need to; to get to where they need to go.

After my lovely breakfast and three cups of tea later. I thought it was a great idea to go to the Perth Zoo! So, me being me, wearing the wrong shoes, I decide to walk all the way from where I am in upper Northbridge down through Perth CBD and down to the Ferry Terminals instead of taking the free bus and saving my feet from three blisters on the bottom of each foot.

Ouch. I’m smart.

When I got to the zoo I was too excited to worry about my feet. I went there to hold a koala and see the kangaroos. But guess what? Those sanctuaries were freakin closed!!!! CLOSED!! How could they be closed on the day I wanted to go!?! Seriously!!! But good thing there are more zoo’s in Australia!
After the zoo I took the ferry back and caught the free bus back up with a short walk to my hostel.

And yet again. I fell asleep around dinner time. But this time I woke back up at 8 and walked to grab some pizza at a shop a couple blocks down.

On the walk back to my hostel I heard what sounded like fireworks down the street from where I was. (Now before you freak out it actually was fireworks). But I started to freak out because obviously I know what happened in both Sydney and the most recent Paris events. Unfortunately right now I know what this world has become and rightfully so, I picked up my walking pace hobbling as fast as I could getting ready to take my phone off airplane mode, until I actually saw the fireworks in the sky.

Now that I made it safely back I am in the common room watching Pacific Rim with a bunch of people asking questions about this movie because I’m American and apparently know everything about a movie I have never seen. It’s literally like watching a movie with 6 year old. Always asking questions and wanting to kindly tell them to shut up and watch the movie.

Well I’m going to finish this movie! Goodbye for now!

Jetlag

So right now it is 4:30am and I am wide awake. Jet lag has nipped me in the butt. I fell asleep by accident at 6 pm Perth time and woke up at 12 ish. I was able to skype with my mom and Ashley for a little bit to fill them in on the plane and how I’m feeling.
I have been chugging water like it’s going out of style because the airplane and travel has made me slightly dehydrated and my ankles are literally balloons. Literally? No. But they are very swollen. You can’t even really see my ankle bones while looking at them. I guess I should have listened to Brittany about getting those circulation socks they make for older/diabetic people. Next time!

After the skype call i fell back asleep for maybe an hour but now I am just sitting here in the common room in my hostel with my feet elevated listening to Michael Bublé looking up things to do tomorrow. Or should I say later today! But the first thing of the day that I’m looking forward to is the free breakfast they offer with your stay! Woohoo!! I’m all for that being included! I’m a 22 year old cheapo on a budget, what can I say? My mother thought me well!!

Goodbye for now!

Arrived at Destination One

My first flight wasn’t to bad. But I should have known it wouldn’t go perfectly because the flight attendant started my trip off by asking me if I wanted a Warm Moist Towel!!!!! If any of you know me well enough you know the word ‘moist’ gives me the heeby geeby’s. And adding warm to the beginning of that…. Yuck! 

On the other hand we only had minor turbulence, no screaming babies, only two hours of sleep and a rough landing. 

After landing I made it to my connecting flight in Dubai. When we landed I only had ten minutes to get off the plane, go through two more security check points just to get to my gate, which part of my bag broke on the way to security. Ugh! Let’s just say I made the final boarding call and was the third to last person on the plane. I feel bad for the people I am in the middle of. Not really though. 

I can’t tell you the last time I ran. Let alone flat out sprinted through a ginormous international airport where they don’t speak English. (Oh wait the last time was in 2011 when I ran through Copenhagen airport). Good thing I had my running shoes on. Even though they are meant for running, I never actual thought I would put them to use in that way. (Cue the laughs)

 

The flight I’m on now to Perth is great.  The flight attendant asked me if I wanted a warm towel without the “m” word. I’m sitting next to an old lady that I know her name is not Carol but I really want to tell her to get her shit together. (Melissa McCarthy ehh?) she’s spilling her wine and can’t figure out how to turn the tv off. But at least I has salmon for dinner!! Who knew airplane salmon would be good? Clearly I didn’t. So far so good since I got through a security dog check point at customs! Haha

We’ll that’s it for now. Im going to go and enjoy Perth! Catch ya on the flip side! 

See Ya Later America

This past week has been a little stressful and filled with anxiety about leaving with no plan of what I am doing in the land down under. I went from having a job and a place to stay lined up, to having it all fall through with in the last week and a half before I was scheduled to leave. It led me to freaking out about my whole trip. I didn’t end up telling my parents about this mishap until a couple of days ago because I was freaking out so much and wanted to figure this out on my own and I was determined to not let this bump in the road interfere with my dream. (If y’all don’t know what I’m talking about, I am traveling to Australia to backpack and work for three months).

Luckily enough one of my good friends I met this summer got me in contact with one of her friends in Melbourne and has helped me out more then I could ever ask! (THANK YOU KD). This lead me to changing my whole plan from being in Brisbane the whole time to now being in Melbourne until I meet up with my dad and sister in Fiji for our two we adventure together (stay tuned for that!)

So here I am. Sitting, eating for my flight, listening to One Direction, people watching and taking it all in that I am leaving my home country for three months for a foreign country. My nerves have calmed and I have realized that now I am way more excited than anything else!!

My mom keeps telling me I’m not aloud home unless I have a cool Aussie accent. (Mommy I will try my hardest but I’m not promising anything!)

Well that’s all for now. Strap on your traveling pants and enjoy the ride. Sassy Cassie is traveling to the Land Down Under and she’s taking you with her!!