New Aunt Again!!

So the babies decided they'd had enough and wanted to come out!! So I have now doubled my aunt quotient and now have 3 nieces and 1 nephew. Lila Grace and Mary Elizabeth were born at 1:58 and 1:59 PM on 9/25 and weighed in at 5 lb 1 oz and 4 lb 14 oz. Now I'm on a hunt for some cool Aussie toys/stuffed animals to bring back for Christmas.

Will post pictures when they are available. :)

Roller Coaster Week

This week has been pretty insane... with interviewing for both part-time and future full-time jobs, catching up on loads of reading for school, coming to crunch time on a major project, then today going from severe home sickness to a literally bright outlook. While the majority of these are pretty self explanatory I will highlight the last couple.

I have been working with a team of people from my school and the overarching business school to put on a program to help other masters students who do not have business experience learn some of the basic skills and start networking. Now everything has been going great, but our assistant dropped off the face of the earth for two days and things didn't get done. We are now in crunch mode and having to do things very last minute - which is never any good. The good news is that it's almost over!! After next weekend I will be done with this project and be able to focus on more pressing things.

In the mean time, I was watching the Rock n Roll Fashion show today and was hit with a massive wave of home sickness when Lynard Skynard played Sweet Home Alabama. There is something about those good old songs that make me miss home. However I just checked the weather and am feeling better... below is the forecast for Sydney, Phoenix, and Seattle. For all you American's you'll need to do a bit of converting if you don't want to simply use the pictures. :)

Bruises, sprains and one huge Victory!!

Our weekend in Melbourne was a huge success. It started off well for use sporties w/ a couple (6) pitchers of Guinnes in the pub prior to the debate - so an obvious good start to the weekend. Then was followed quickly by a massive victory over the other school's debate team, which failed to do the basic thing of debate - provide proof that they are correct! This victory was obviously followed by more drinking when we went to one of the attic bars Melbourne is known for. Basically there are all these alleys with restaurants and bars in the most random spaces. These are funky little places with really awesome atmosphere, so a good place to be to celebrate. Given I was going to be doing a heavy amount of sports the next day I was pretty tame with my drinking.

In the pub before the debate

Saturday morning before we went of to play I checked out the outdoor market with some friends - definitely a cool place to be able to go shop. They had everything from food to underwear to kitchen appliances all in an open air market. Then came the sports.... To provide the short story - we swept them in volleyball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee. With the closest sport being ultimate which was decided by a sudden death 'next point wins.' Oh the taste of victory was sweet.

As part of the tradition the hosting school had organised a big night out on the town. So we headed to the tallest building in Australia and the highest observation deck in the souther hemisphere for a night out. Considering it was 3 hours of all you can eat and drink this was a good (granted early - 6PM) start to the night.

The Eureka Tower - where the fun began

Sunday was the perfect hangover day - in that we went back to the markets to have a nice unhealthy breakfast and then spent the day sleeping at the beach. The weather was fantastic and we managed to find an area with live music in St. Kilda and literally slept in the sun. It was fantastic.

Sleeping on the boardwalk

I dont' feel that I was there long enough to guage whether I like it better than Sydney. While it does have the cultural aspects which Sydney lacks it has a much smaller city feel. Now I'm not sure if this is because of where we were and the fact that it was the weekend - but it did not have the big city feel that I love oh so much.

Off to Melbourne!

This weekend 25 of my classmates and I are heading to Melbourne for the annual AGSM vs. MBS competition. MBS is the equivalent to my school in Melbourne and every year the two schools get together for some good old competition. Tonight will be a debate - because a business school competition isn't complete without a debate. Then tomorrow we have a day of sports.

I've brushed up my soccer skills a bit and will be playing soccer and ultimate frisbee. They've managed to schedule volleyball at the same time as both soccer and ultimate so I'm going to bow out of that one and go where my skills might be better used. Sunday we have a day to wander around the city and check a few places out and I am looking forward to that.

Will update more when I get back!

Too Damn Employable... or Not?

Given the financial situation in the US which seems to be getting worse and worse by the day... I have been frantically trying to find a part time job to help me literally survive. The trouble is that I'm too employable. Employers either see my resume and only look at the professional experience - disregarding the 6 months of retail and 6 months at the bagel shop - or they see that I'm graduating and not going to be April and therefore won't be able to help fill their 'pipeline.' I cannot tell you how frustrating and stressful this is.

I've calculated it out and currently - if I don't find a job I will literally run out of money by the end of the year. Now I do have my old 401K which I can and will dip into, but I am trying a couple last ditch points for private loans in the US before I go there. Even that doesn't have a cheery outlook as it is currently sitting with Merrill Lynch, which is now Bank of America.

Luckily we have started to apply and take interviews for actual jobs - after we graduate. So hopefully I will be able to secure something for as soon as I'm done to start trying to make some money.

Hopefully in addition to a real job I'll find someone who actaully looks at my resume as a good thing in that they can pay me minimal money to get someone who is overqualified for the position... keep your fingers crossed!!

A Perfect Day for a Walk.... err Hike

I have been itching to take advantage of the fantastic weather we've had here while spring is coming into it's own. Today it was sunny, 17 degrees C or 62 F, with a light breeze and only a few clouds. So far I have done most of the walks on the 'South head' - which for all those not familiar with Sydney means on the south side of the harbour - and one of the main trails on the North Head. (Note: I pointed out the irony in these being called heads as this is the term for bathroom on boats... but my friend didn't find it as funny.)

At 9AM my friend Alex and I set off on the bus to Manly where we would start our trek. We caught the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly and began what ended up being a 2.5-3 hour walk. Here is an aerial view of Manly beach to give you an idea of the beaches we saw.

The walk proved to be a bit more interesting as there wasn't a set path. So we ended up winding our way through various residential areas from beach to beach and finally found our way to Dee Why Beach. Having just walked for a significant period of time we were drawn to the promise of a cold beer and some food.

While the walk was enjoyable I don't know that it is one I would recommend. I would however recommend any of the various beaches we saw. They have less people, not just tourists but less people, are cleaner, and for anyone wanting to surf they had some pretty intense waves. In addition to this they all had a bit of the natural reserve area behind the beach areas - somewhat like you find in Florida.

Kirsten - on my next walk I will try to take some pictures for you so you can have something to look at. :) In the mean time I will look forward to the 23rd of October!!

Irony in the strikes...

It amazes me at how under appreciated teachers are... The reason I say this is that I know of two people in my lives who are teachers and are currently on strike. Kirsten, my sister-in-law is currently striking in Washington for much needed improvements in not only wages, but curriculum and health benefits. Then one of my flatmates is currently striking here in Australia for some of the very same reasons.

These are the people who are charged with shaping the minds and lives of our children and our future... why is it so much to ask for paying them enough to live comfortably? Corporations and individuals are willing to spend hundreds of dollars an hour for various consulting and professional services, but not willing to spend the extra money in taxes to support our teachers. (Yes I see the irony in me being one of these consultants... but you get my point)

Anyways, I just had this thought today while I was sitting in the McKinsey information session thinking how much I DON'T want to work for a company like theirs and thought I'd share it with you. :)