The Exciting Life of Kerri....

I must apologise for the lack of posts lately. I have no excuse. I haven't been working, haven't had much going on. However there seriously hasn't been anything to write about. My day usually consists of me waking up around 9, doing a quick job search, applying for anything that looks up my ally, lounging around and watching the few cooking shows, then doing it all again the next day. The exciting days are usually when I have basketball (which would be Wednesday and Sunday) - and both teams are winning - and when I attempt to cook a new dish.

Hopefully things will be more exciting soon - I have a couple job prospects which are looking very good so hopefully there will be exciting news soon. Stay tuned!

In More Important News...

After having a fairly ok night at work in which the bumbling idiot of a boss I have first tried to lecture me on customer service then let one of the waitresses leave before we had a massive rush of people... my boss made the ingenious observation that I don't want to be a waitress. Needless to say I kind of smiled and said I completely agree with him... this of course wasn't the answer he was looking for as he is looking for professional waitresses who are jumping at the chance to work for hime.... Aside from his moodiness, inability to successfully manage people, and the fact that the other waitresses come to me when they have questions - not him - I pretty much took this as my que to exit stage left and quit. I'm not paid enough for what I do in that restaurant, he's a shitty person to work for and doesn't even realise it and so this show is over.

Things are looking more positive on the proper job front but if need be I'll start finding another part time gig just to pay rent this next week, but hopefully it won't come to that.

Will keep everyone posted, but as for now I'm really excited to have my Friday and Saturday nights back and to not have to put up with his shit anymore. There have been sooo many nights over the last few months were I've come close to quitting, this one was just the last bit which I could stand.

Pictures from Auckland

So I will forewarn everyone that there aren't any pictures of me in here... with the humidity my hair wasn't exactly looking good and I didn't feel the need for the stretched arm self portrait. But I did promise some pictures of Auckland and so will deliver. :)

All in all it was a good trip and it served it's purpose. :) Someday I'll go back and be able to do more than just roam around Auckland and see more of what NZ really is all about.

A maori carving - this is like the tatoos they would have had back then

View from the Auckland Museum

University of Auckland's business school building - which puts the Australian School of Business to shame (UNSW's overall business school)

Clock which looks like it'd be a church but is the U of Auckland student building

The water front

A Good Day in Auckland

After going to be at an elderly time of 9PM (aka 7PM Sydney time) and sleeping till 8AM I was up and running after a tea and breakfast at the local coffee stand (which also happens to have free wifi). My plan of attack was to make my way to the Auckland Museum. Once I was off and walking I quickly realised one thing... Auckland has A LOT of hills. This obviously made my trek much more arduous. Slowly but surely I got there and was actually pretty impressed. Not only is the building pretty spectacular but the content was good as well!

View of the main entrance

The newer area of the museum

I found it interesting to see the similarity between the Native American artifacts and those found here. It's something which I'm surprised is never taught in American schools or even noted here. The majority of their artifacts are much like what you would find in an American museum with the main difference being in the use of leather versus natural fibers and other things which are inherent with the difference between island life and land life.

Additionally interesting was their use of non-traditional means to support their displays. They used live showcases for some of the animals and plants which were on display, and also used smell and sound in very interesting ways. As part of their orchid show they had a couple different stands where you pressed a button and it released a smell which you were then asked a question about.

After a good couple hours at the museum it was time to head off. I wandered through a trendy little area of town and wound my way back to the city center. Last night I'd scoped out a place which has proper taco salads and so was able to take advantage of that for dinner. After having talked for about 5 hours I felt I had earned a pedicure so treated myself to one.

While traveling by yourself can be okay it does suck during the evenings (especially when you are on a tight budget like I am) so I took advantage of "Tight Ass Tuesday" and saw The Proposal. After the movie I went back to try to get some sleep... unfortunately it must have been social night at the hotel and there was a group of drunks outside making quite a bit of noise. If I'd been a bit more awake or at least a bit drunk I would have joined... but playing catch up is never fun when you feel like the walking dead.

I left my camera cord in Sydney so will post pictures when I get back. The best news is my visa was approved and so today I have a day of relaxed shopping and other random bits aroudn the city.... I might catch another movie to burn time in the evening but we'll see.

Talk about Weird Accents...

So I've arrived safe and sound in Auckland. This is after getting 2.5 hours of sleep (probably less with the tossing and turning), getting to the airport at 5 only to find out the flight is delayed by 1.5 hours to let the crew sleep longer (am still jealous!), more delays enroute, and a quick cat nap on the bus into the city. The hotel I'm in is more of an upscale hostel, which suits my purpose. I have my own room with a stunning view of the construction site next door, small fridge and bathroom which I don't have to share with strangers.

My new visa for Australia is now lodged, so now I just have to sit pretty here and wait to hear back. Luckily it's all online so it should be pretty easy to facilitate. It's almost 5 here, so now the big question is how long I can stay vertical without starting to bump into walls. I might try to take a gander down the main strip and take a couple pictures for my next post. So far my first impression is that (like I've been told) there isn't much here but what they do have is actually alright. The only strange bit so far has been trying to figure out what the locals are saying - they have the weirdest accent - and having a girl give me a survey at the airport all about nuclear power and genetically modified foods - the underlying premise was would I still visit a country which use those things, considering I'm from one that does what do I care?

Anywhoo, will post more tomorrow as I actually have some fun things to update about now. :)

Auckland Here I Come!!

So a while back I identified another 12 month visa which I qualify which will allow me to do contract work... with my student visa running short I need to now switch to that visa. To do this I unfortunately have to apply for and be approved for the visa outside of Australia. So... Auckland here I come!! Not unfortunately this isn't the vacation or holiday which I would hope. Auckland was simply the cheapest flight outside of Australia. The weather won't be great - it's actually supposed to be pretty shitty weather - and there isn't much to do there. But this would put me in the position to start contract work and actually be able to starting having a justifiable income.

I will keep everyone updated as there won't be much going on so I'll update things as they go. Immigrations says the visa can take 2 hours, 2 days or longer to be activated for the visa.

Good Start to the New Year

The new financial year that is... Recent days, weeks, and months have been pretty quite in terms of the job front. This has been very frustrating as I'm qualified even without the MBA, but with it I'm surely qualified. However with the start of the new financial year things are looking a bit brighter. I had one interview yesterday and three today. These are in addition to the one position I'm already being considered for - where they are simply waiting for the contract to be finalised.

So now I just need to get all my visa stuff in order and make a quick jog over to New Zealand to switch to a longer visa. This visa will allow me to work for the next 12 months, hopefully with a sponsored position coming through in the next month or so which would allow me to stay for much longer. While the visa things are pretty important, I think the thing I'm looking most forward to is the prospect of having a real income again. Poco's cantina pays the rent but that's about it... Will keep everyone up to date but please keep your fingers, toes (and anything else you can) crossed that something comes through soon!