My Aussie Adventures: Chapter 5: Sydney Round Two

CHAPTER 5: SYDNEY ROUND TWO

August 9, 2012. When I returned to Sydney, it finally hit me that it was the end of an era. My two best friends I'd made in Sydney were now returning home to England, my other best friend returned to France a few weeks earlier, the Canadian had gone back, two other good friends just started their travels around Australia....basically everyone was gone so it was back to ground zero. I moved back into Jacks Place because it offers the easiest way to meet people, but Jacks just wasn't the same...not without my Jacks family here. I went through a 2-week depression where I just simply didn't have the energy to talk to new people and make new friends. On top of all this, after traveling for the last almost 3 months, my jewelry business's momentum had fallen and I definitely needed to find an additional part-time job!

Luckily, on the friends front, things fell into place pretty quickly. Two really good friends I made while housekeeping in Cairns ended up moving down to Sydney! Also, a friend from my semester abroad 2 years ago had just gotten a working-holiday visa and moved to Sydney as well! And, amidst all the new people in Jack's Place, I quickly became really close to two Dutch girls who were in Sydney studying law for a semester at the University of Sydney. They were both super friendly, genuine, and I clicked with them immediately.

One night (before I had become really good friends with the Dutch girls) I was downstairs in the lounge watching TV and being a loner. One of the Dutch girls came downstairs and saw me and invited me out to a Uni house party she was going to. I was super hesitant (just being lazy mainly) but she gave me her number and really encouraged I came to the party later. It WAS a Friday night and I HADN'T been out in ages since my old Jack's Place friends left. I wouldn't really know ANYONE at the house party and I would have to take TWO BUSES to get there. I weighed the pros and cons and then eventually just decided, why not?! Just go Tasha! I showered, journeyed all the way to the house party by myself, and ended up having an AMAZING time!

Making the decision to go to that party made me realize just how much I had evolved! For the vast majority of my life (up until my semester abroad in Sydney), I was this shy awkward girl with some serious social anxiety. And now, I was a girl showing up to parties alone, where I knew basically no one there, and, by the end of it, I'm exchanging phone numbers and Facebook info with people! This became the first of many Uni house parties I'd crash with my friends, as it was refreshing to finally create a social circle for myself OUTSIDE of Jack's Place. While the culture at Jack's started to become more about partying every weekend at the same ol' clubs and incestual hooking up (the days of family dinners and movie nights were long gone), it was good to have some other friends, just in case, outside of the house.

While my social life was doing great, the job hunt was definitely a struggle! I did a trial at a gelato shop and let me tell you, it was hard work! The gelato was so frickin hard, I had such a struggle simply scooping it into cones. Despite my lack of gelato scooping skills, I thought I really clicked with the manager. He was a filmmaker, I studied film...match made in heaven! We chatted all about our interests and favorite shows and this and that and I thought I had the job in the bag for sure! Yup, that was a no. Never heard back.

Then there was a trial I did at a Mexican restaurant. I proved to chop lettuce like a champ and I was making burritos and chit chatting to customers like I owned the place. Again, the manager and I really clicked. He had just traveled America, I'm American...match made in heaven! Nope, didn't get that job either.

Then finally, I got a job! I went for an interview at a children's clothing store in Bondi Beach, nailed it, and got the job! The job was boring as all hell...STANDING 8 hours/day alone in a DEAD boutique attempting to sell expensive children's clothing to beachside mothers, many of whom were simply window shopping...but it was a relief to finally have a job! Well, naturally that didn't last too long, as after 2 weeks I got a call from the manager saying "Sorry, we no longer have any shifts for you." Huhhhh??????? Within days, I received payment into my account and saw the job paid $25/hour! Welcome to Australia, the home of $15/hour minimum wage. But FML for losing the job! My theory: the store was completely dead and they decided they simply couldn't afford to pay another worker.

So I was back to the job hunt again and within days I luckily landed a new job: part-time receptionist at a massage therapy/hair transplant clinic. Again, the job was easy...answering phones, welcoming guests, doing some busy work. The downside...the owner was a nutcase! Think: a 6'5'', 30 year old, neurotic-Woody Allen type who honestly just made me feel really uncomfortable. Welp, no worries there because I ended up losing that job too! After just one week, I got called in by the boss to tell me they had trialed someone else and were gonna go with them instead. To this day, I'm still confused whether I ever even had the job and got fired or was just on a week-trial...no one ever told me.

So I was unemployed YET again and ready to punch someone. But then God sent me to Burgerlicious! It was a gourmet burger restaurant just 5 minutes walk from my house and located underneath the famous Coca-Cola sign in the heart of Kings Cross. I walked in there one day with my resume, did a trial the next day, and was hired right then and there. And finally I managed to hold onto this job until the very end. Burgerlicious was actually a fun place to work!

My typical day: Arrive at 11am and meet the kitchenhand (amazingly nice guy from Nepal) who'd been there since 10:30 setting up the back. Then I'd bring down all the chairs, wipe down the tables, turn on the TV and radio, restock the sodas, and fill up some containers with ketchup. Then I'd fry up some french fries and sit in the back with the kitchenhand chatting about life (the first customer almost ALWAYS never came until 12pm). At around 11:50am he and I returned to "work" because we knew the head chef would be there any minute. During the lunch hours from about 12-2pm, things would finally get busy. My responsibilities: take people's orders and punch it into the computer, if they dined in I would bring them out their food when it was ready, or if it was takeaway, I'd package up their food and give it to them. If things got really busy on a day where the kitchenhand wasn't there or had to leave early for whatever reason, I had to go in the back and help the chef prep the burgers and juggle customers in the front. Was quite exciting actually! When things would slow down, I'd walk around and wipe down already clean tables just to make it look like I'm doing something.

The biggest PERK of working at Burgerlicious: FREE FOOD! I ate a bowl of fries every morning. And then on my way out, I'd have the chef or kitchenhand fry me up a burger or chicken wrap to go. I also enjoyed the "regulars" I became buddy-buddy with....there was Gio, a black guy from Cali who lived in Sydney 6 months out of the year; he always ordered the Voodoo Veg Wrap. And there was the young couple who came in once a week with Burgerlicious Groupons. After Hurricane Sandy hit NJ, they came in one week expressing genuine concern over my family's well-being and said they had thought about me when they watched it on the news; I thought it was sweet they even remembered where I was from!

The downsides...well there's the infamous crackhead prostitute story. My Facebook status from that memorable day: 

"Tales from Burgerlicious...So a crackhead prostitute (seriously) walks in and orders a burger with "no tomato". I accidentally hit "no lettuce." BIG mistake! 10 minutes later she returns screaming and calls me every dirty name under the sun before demanding a refund. My boss gives her back her measly $7. As she stomps out she snatches the tip jar off the ledge and runs. One month of fake smiles and banter with American tourists and all my tip money is gone in an instant. The other customers watching the drama unfold are left scared and in shock. Meanwhile I am left shaking my head and laughing. Welcome to Kings Cross."

There was also the time I got hit on by a little Italian man. He and his friend came in and ordered and sat down. He kept giving me oogly eyes the whole time, but I tried my best to ignore! Then he came back to the front and asked to borrow a pen. I lent it to him and went back to work. He returned the pen with a little wink; I awkwardly smiled and again went back to work. He kept staring at me the whole time he ate and then as they got up to leave and I went to say bye and clear their table he said: "Check the pen I gave back to you. I left a little something for you." Ummmmmmm....ok. Sure enough I go back and look at the pen and there's a lil bit of paper rolled around it saying: "Hey cutie. My name is Rafael. Call me. [His number]."

So my Sydney: Round Two life was going well. My best friend from home came to visit for two weeks, which was a breath of fresh air. And a friend and I bought tickets to Stereosonic--Australia's largest house/dance music festival--and had the time of our lives. At this time, I also moved into room 3--the tiniest room in Jack's Place. The good thing was my 2 best Dutch girlfriends were in rooms 1 and 2. Before you know it, a friend of mine--German girl who's lease ran out at Jack's Place and we didn't wanna see her move into a hostel--instead moved in with her air mattress onto my floor for 2 whole weeks! The 4 of us became even closer, since we were practically living on top of each other, and we even turned the first floor common room into our own personal living room!

But naturally, just as life starts to get comfortable, it was nearing the end of November and my December 14th flight home was just weeks away. On top of that, my 2 Dutch girlfriends would be leaving Sydney soon to go travel the East Coast. My dreams of traveling Asia had gone out the window when I couldn't find anyone to travel with and I didn't have enough money so I settled on quitting Burgerlicious and booking a flight to Perth for a week.

The four of us girls had our last girls night out...pizza, ice cream, and dancing at Marquee...and then within days I said bye to the Dutch girls and set my sights on a week in Western Australia.