07/11/2012
Today, while having a beer out on the balcony with Ralph, I talked to Manuel again and he told me about his desire to move to France. The problem is that being from Colombia makes it difficult to move anywhere. Manuel's situation reminds me of a guy in Spain visiting his girlfriend. Apparently he got deported just because he was Colombian. Since he didn't want to risk losing his passport he carried a copy around and one day the police asked to see it. They said the copy wasn't good enough so the guy went back to his room and got it but by then the police had already started the deportation process... turning his relationship into a very-long-distance one.
07/12/2012
Today Ralph and I got haircuts and went to Rugby practice then went to join the others at the pub where I met a bloke named Mason. Mason had worked for Simply Energy and just quit today because he couldn't make any sales with the new 29 cent rates. Apparently all of the sales companies are firing people now that the rates have gone up.
07/13/2012
Today I finally replaced the tyre on my bicycle - great timing considering that I'm leaving in 10 days... Later I celebrated a birthday with a few guys from Ralph's work and spoke with a girl from Darwin who told me about Crocs and some odd events with strange fog killing car engines and mysterious campfires that disappear when you get closer.
07/14/2012
Today the English bloke Chris was kicked out of the hostel for yelling at Brian - he had been here for seven years... now he's not allowed back because he didn't want to leave his name with Brian to borrow a DVD. After my security shift Zara offered me a place to stay in Brissy with her Kiwi cousins and later Iano, Zara, Eline and I went out for a bit.
07/20/2012
The last few days I've been preparing for the trip to Brissy. Ben and I have a placed lined up for $125/week and will be meeting the guy on Friday before he leaves for Papua New Ginea.
Today I woke up at 5p and, after brekky, I went for an hour or so bike ride through the Adelaide Parklands.
On the way back I ran into James who was on his way to a social event but forgot to bring his bowtie so I asked the hostel but they didn't have one - worth a shot. After a shower I had a few going-away drinks with Ralph and his coworker Josh. When I told Josh about my job search in Brissy he got on the phone and called up a contact to get me and Ben jobs working the showgrounds there. Later, I met a guy from Austria who cave dives and just camped in the Nullabor for a couple weeks.
07/21/2012
Today I went to meet David, Zsusha and the nephews for brekky at Paparazzi. David gave me my group certificate (Australian version of a W-2) and we talked about current events and plans for Brissy. After brekky we went to the Mitcham Reserve to hang out a bit more then I went back to the hostel and called to confirm the new job in Brissy. Later I did my last shift of security for the bar... during my seven hour shift I threw one guy out twice and had to ask a elementary school teacher to leave because apparently he was getting a bit too intoxicated and bothering people.
07/22/2012
Today I rode to the meeting and afterward we all went to ETC (East Terrace Continental) for lunch where I got a tasty steak burger. Next, I rode to James' to do some weeding and back at the hostel I did some more work then walked into my room, fell down on my bed and passed out.
07/25/2012
The last couple days I finished preparing to leave for Brissy and today I managed to get up in the morning for the first time in a few days. Amit explained some things about taxes - apparently, as a first time filer in Australia, I have to do it on paper. I called the tax office and they gave me a place where I can get free assistance in Brisbane - turns out Australia has one of the most complicated tax systems in the world. I spent the rest of the day looking at apartments because the other guy found some friends to rent to and bailed on me and Ben. I found three places where I confirmed an inspection time for this weekend. Later I went to dinner at the meeting hall and sold my bike to Lam then packed my bags and got ready for bed.
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