Not really looking like Christmas...

So I guess I should start out by saying I'm sorry. I'm sorry because I'm going to talk about something that most of you will shake your head at or roll your eyes to. I know this because I have the weather page for Minneapolis up on my iGoogle page and I know how cold it is. But seriously, it does not feel like Christmas right now. Does the image on the right yell Christmas to you? Santa does not belong resting on a beach! I'm not sure how long I'm staying in Australia for but I do know that each holiday season just will not be the same. The banners that line the city streets picture a cockatoo. When I think Christmas I do not imagine tropical birds singing at my window (OK - there really aren't any tropical birds waking me up.. that's more a Queensland thing). The other day I was walking through this plaza in the city called Martin Place. In the centre there's a large Christmas tree and I seriously thought to myself, "Well, that's a strange thing to have up at this time of year." Then of course I remembered why the city had erected a giant Christmas tree. It happened to be raining at that moment which helped create a somewhat chilly atmosphere. I stopped and squinted my eyes a bit in a feeble attempt to make the raindrops look like snowflakes. All I got was strange looks from people walking by. When I watch TV and advertisements of families gathering on the beach for their Christmas feast I just can't help but think, "That's not Christmas. Christmas is shoveling a car out from under the snow. Christmas is wearing 15 layers of clothing as if to replicate the Michelin man."So, having said all of that, I can still appreciate that it is indeed Christmas no matter the weather. This is also my long of way saying that I am thinking of all of you, my family and friends. I wish you and your families a very happy and healthy holiday season and the very best in the new year.

Dylan Moran the Postman

I went to the post office today and I can't believe I haven't noticed this until now. I think the guy that works there is Dylan Moran (seen on left). If you don't know this guy you should check out his stand up. He also had a show called "Black Books." Really funny show. It's about a guy with an alcohol problem and runs a second hand book shop. Mixture of cynicism and alcohol = hilarious situations. Ok, maybe it doesn't sound that funny but it is. Anyway, just one of those observations from my day. I mean the title of my blog is "Another day, another story" and that is my story for today.

Mi Casa

This is our "rumpus" room. Right now it's a bit empty but it's a good studio space to do yoga and do some paintings. Eventually we're getting our other TV fixed and it'll be a second entertainment room for video games and movies. Also acts as another bedroom. The day bed came with the place and it's really comfy!

Spider central. I once went out to the very back to look at the types of plants back there and instead discovered that it was a small spider metropolis. Haven't went beyond those steps there ever since. I only go back there to hang laundry now. Probably will spend more time out there when we get a small BBQ. Also, nice water feature in the back eh? Ha ha! Came with the house naturally.

Kind of self-explanatory. This is where we eat. Off to the left is our laundry and another toilet.

Entry into the house leads to the living room.

It has taken me awhile but I finally got these pics of my house we moved into just before I came across to the States. I love this place! Great location - just mere minutes from lots of cafes, restaurants and sweet shopping. I would describe the area we live in as a hybrid of the Seward and Uptown neighbourhoods of Minneapolis. My bus to work only takes about 25 minutes so the commute is reasonable as well. Can't beat it!

Back in Oz

Returned to Sydney yesterday morning - solid day of traveling takes it out of me but I seem to be dealing with the jet lag alright. As much as I wanted to go to sleep at 4 in the afternoon I persevered and stayed up until my usual bedtime and went to sleep. That's the trick I guess to beating jet lag. Finally have figured it out after a few times.

My trip back to the US was absolutely wonderful and it went all too fast, as any good holiday seems to do. It would be much to long of a post if I listed everything I did and people I saw but I would like to give one giant mega THANK YOU to anybody who is reading my blog and made time to catch up with me while I was in the states. It meant so much to me to see everybody. I miss everyone and hope I see some faces here in Australia someday!

Just in time to watch the leaves change colour

I keep pinching myself. Only three days and I'll be back in Minnesota! It does sadden me a bit that it will be such a short trip. But I will make the absolute best of it! My mom told me today that I will be just in time to watch the leaves change colour. When I read that I had a warm feeling wash over me - the feeling of seeing something familiar and something that I consider to be one of my favourite sights in the whole world. Didn't realise how much I miss these things. Sometimes you don't know what you have until it isn't right under your nose everyday. So it's going to be a short but action packed trip. I have my parent's anniversary party, my friend Tracy's wedding, a "surprise" party planned by Jesse plus just meeting up with all of my friends! Going to be such a wonderful time. Next time you hear from me it'll be in person! Cheers!

Where did August go?

It has been awhile since my last update so I figured it's about time to write about a few things happening here. First, I cannot believe that it is mid-August already! That means the summer is winding down for all my family and friends in the U.S. And that means that summer is just around the corner here in Sydney! Can't wait. Not that the winter is all that bad here but it is sickening to get out of work at 5:30 and it is pitch dark out. Although the past week I have gotten out of work there was still a dash of light that remains in the sky which indicates to me that Spring is almost here.

In order to fight the winter blues I enrolled in a creative writing class through a community college. It's really laid back and everybody in the class is more than supportive of one another. There is a range of levels in the class starting from a stay-at-home mother who wants to explore writing as a creative outlet to a guy that is writing a fictional Sydney crime novel (He's only taking the class as a motivator to finish the novel). Quite interesting so far and I hope that it will encourage me to keep on writing even after the 8 week course finishes. My goal of the course is to develop my poetic voice and style. I enjoy writing in other forms as well but I find that I best express myself in poetry. Maybe once I have some of my poems a bit more polished I will post them here.

My other bit of news relates to work. I'm sure that anybody who reads my blog already knows about my news. My directors approached me about a month ago and told me that they were absolutely "chuffed" with what I was doing. They offered me sponsorship, meaning a temporary work visa that is good for up to four years. I was and still am absolutely flattered. After much deliberation I decided to accept their offer because it is a great career step in human resources, which as I figure is a field that will always need people. Plus the role will involve developing the company newsletter, which at least gives me a chance to write as well. It is a huge decision. In the end I think it will greatly benefit me in the future. I will be back in the Midwest from October 1st - 12th to see everybody and pack up some of my things. I really hope to see everyone! It's not a lot of time and I have a feeling that I will be drinking lots of coffee and Red Bull in order to stay awake and manage to do everything that needs to be done!

Greece photos!

Photobucket Album

Cyprus photos!

Photobucket Album

Papho concludes and Athens begins

Just got back from Greece yesterday morning. And I am definitely feeling the effects of jet lag. I woke up this morning at about 4.30 am and then decided to go back to sleep for a few hours at around 7.oo am. That few hours turned out to be a full night of sleep when I woke up at 3.30 in the afternoon. We'll see how I go tonight I guess!

I believe I left off with my blog on the wedding day. Matt and Lee's wedding was really lovely. They had it right at their resort and then the pool area got closed off for for their private dinner. They should have closed the pool area for the wedding itself. Just when Lee started to walk down the carpet down to the alter, a man in his blue Speedos felt that would be an opportune time to step out right where Lee was walking. Other than that, the ceremony was great. Really short and sweet. After the ceremony we had champagne, the guys gave speeches and then we left the newlyweds alone for their private dinner. That evening, we all went out to a bar in Paphos called "Felix's." Like Felix the Cat. This is one of the many cartoon/fantasy themed bars in Paphos. Woody the Woodpecker Music Bar, the Robin Hood, The Flinstone Bar... Anyway, Felix was fun. We just requested songs all night, had some drinks, had some dances and quite a few laughs. Although we had a great time in Cyprus, it was time to move on. Paphos was nice but a bit too much of a resort/tourist town. (British invasion in fact - Lots of Brits take holidays there evidently. Heard more English accents than Greek while in Paphos). Larnaca was a bit more authentic so I'm happy we also stayed there for a few days for a Cypriot experience.

Fast forward to Athens. It was quite the adventure just getting to Athens. We flew out of Larnaca on a flight at around Noon. The whole flight it supposed to take about 1 1/2 hours. About a half hour into our flight the captain announces that there are some "minor technicalty difficulties" and that we need to turn around and land back in Larnaca. So we got to fly into Larnaca again. And sat in that airport for about 4-5 hours. They gave us food vouchers. Because free Hungry Jacks or Sbarros will magically make everything better. The second flight went smoothly and we made it to our hotel in Athens by around 8 or 9.00 pm. I was a little apprehensive about where we were staying. I had read that our area, Omonia Square, was a tad "seedy" so when we emerged from the subway and I looked around at the neighbourhood, I was a wee bit antsy and thinking to myself "Oh man.. is this what all of Athens looks like?" It doesn't seem dangerous. But it is pretty dirty. I was relieved that our hotel was nicer looking than the surrounding businesses. After a long, night's rest we got up the next day to venture up to the Acropolis and see what else Athens had to offer. The Acropolis is an exhausting walk when it is about 42 degrees Celsius (Roughly 108 degrees F). We laughed at the people who dressed in jeans, heels and other inappropriate articles of clothing for walking up a hill to a dusty ancient site in boiling temperatures. Other than the site being obviously very touristy, it is really neat. When we finished walking around the site and me playing photographer, we had lunch had a restaurant chosen purely on the fact that they had fans that sprayed a cool mist out. I didn't care what they served. I just wanted the cool mist hitting me in the face while I drank a bucket of water to replenish about 1/16th of what I lost in the 2 hours we spent walking. That day we also explored the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Being in the presence of such incredible structures is very powerful. I just stood there for awhile staring at the glorious monument and in the distance the Acropolis, rising above the city of Athens. Something funny about Athens we noticed walking out of the Temple of Zeus.... packs of stray dogs. In Cyprus, there are stray cats everywhere. Athens... it is dogs. There were about 9 dogs just laying in the shade when we walked out. We contemplated if they belonged to people inside the attraction. But concluded that they were stray because all looked unkempt and there were only 4 people looking at the temple when we were there. The stray dogs theory was cemented when we saw about 10 more in the time we were in Athens.

Athens is a strange city. As I mentioned before our area was seedy and dirty. But if you walk about 5 minutes, you'll find yourself in Syntagma Square which is exponentially nicer and there are many more flourishing businesses. We found this one night when looking for a place to eat. We were walking down what I considered to be some dodgy side streets and then we turned a corner and we were suddenly surrounded by nice little cafes, tavernas and restaurants. Athens is worth a visit but only need a couple days to see what you want to see. Matt and I wish we would have stayed overnight at one of the closer islands but it's in the past now. On our last full day, we did take a one day cruise to three islands: Poros, Hydra and Aegina. Completely different world to Athens! Hydra was probably my favourite island. Each of the islands we went to were beautiful though. The houses are built up on the hills and everybody seems so laid back. Definitely could live that lifestyle for a while! Hydra is interesting in that no cars are actually allowed on the island. Donkeys are the main mode of transportation. When we stopped at each island, we just took a stroll down the streets, looked at some shops, enjoyed cold beer (if we were lucky) at a cafe and snapped some pictures. I think I took too many but I kept saying telling myself, "Well, I can always delete them." But I probably won't.

Overall, a splendid holiday. And I can't wait for my next trip already. I don't know where I'm going but that is probably the best thing about travel - the possibilities.

Cyprus continued

The last couple of days have been full of activity! The other day we all went out and hung at our friend's resort pool. After we each lost about 2 gallons of sweat it was then decided that we needed to partake in a water activity. We opted for the inflatable disc that can fit three people and then you get pulled behind a motor boat at top speed as the driver tries to throw you off the disc. It was a pretty wild ride! The worst fall I had was, funny enough, when the guy killed the engine on the boat so Lee (the bride getting married) and I slipped right off the front of the disc face first into the water. Super salty water! But it was all good fun. The three guys we're with played a bit rougher on this thing - like wrestling on disc and trying to throw each other off into the water. Us girls were a bit nicer to each other and figured we would have a hard enough time staying on the tube without adding fighting. After the disc we tried the "banana ride" which is same principle really. The banana is an inflatable tube that looks like, well, a banana. It can fit up to about six people. I think this one was a bit more challenging. The first time everybody got thrown off somebody's knee met my rib. Kind of winded me and I decided that was it for the ol' banana ride for me. Not a fan.
Yesterday we had another day full of activity. Started the day off with taking a dip down at the
birthplace of Aphrodite (Goddess of Love). After having this refreshing dip in the salty sea, we headed off to Aphrodite's Waterpark (no mythology related to this establishment). Pretty average waterpark, honestly. I think Wisconsin Dells water parks have more to offer actually. After the park, we went to a go kart track. Not the classiest of operations but the guy was nice enough. He probably doesn't get very much business we figured and he seemed real happy to see us. We all thought it was funny that any other go kart place you'd go to there would a half hour safety orientation, no open toed shoes etc etc. The safety orientation here pretty much was "Friends. Please drive careful." Oh yeah and we were all wearing flip flops. Perfect footwear for go karting.
So that in a nutshell has been the last few days here in Paphos. Well, in addition to eating, drinking and lying outside. Today is the big wedding that we came here for. So I best be off to prepare for that.

Cyprus

Greetings from Pafos, Cyprus! The weather here is very hot and very nice. We arrived in Cyprus a few days ago. After a 16 hour flight to Dubai, UAE and a 2 hour layover there and another four hours to Larnaka, Cyprus, we finally made it. Piece of cake. We spent four days in Larnaka. Our days have basically consisted of eating, drinking and lying on the beach. And shopping for me. I came to Cyprus with no expectations, as in unsure of what the beaches would look like. The sand is actually quite compact and more resembles dirt. It's nice though because you don't end up getting bits of sand all over the place! The water is amazing! It's like stepping into a bath. In the mornings it was a bit chilly but the brilliant sun warms it up quite quickly because the sea is quite shallow. Another thing I love about the water is how clean and pristine it is. Can see straight to the bottom. The other morning I went out for a swim and enjoyed watching the little fish scatter away from me and looking at the perfect ridges in the sand below the water. Away the beach Larnaka had some cool shops, perfect for browsing. The open times are weird though. A lot of shops would close for a few hours in the middle of the day for lunch. Plus banks are open 9am to 1pm. And that's it. I guess they are open a bit longer on Mondays. Interesting though, how different cultures deal with their businesses. Some a bit more laid back it seems. Although Larnaka isn't a bit place, it still seemed easy to get lost. The streets are short and winding. If you wanted to go back to a shop that you had seen a day previously, then you best leave a trail of popcorn or something but it is nearly impossible to find that spot again! I'm sure if you spend a bit more time there though you would become a bit more familiar with the streets. I guess my other problem is that I can't read Greek. Ha! After Larnaka we rented a car to drive over the other side of the Cyprus to Pafos, where some friends are getting married. Pafos is on the west coast of Cyprus so we had to drive from one side of the island to another. At first you would think that would take awhile but it only took about 1 1/2 hours to drive from the east coast to the west coast. Not a big place at all. Cyprus is a very arid place that hardly gets any rain. We're still not entirely sure what the big industries are here, other than tourism of course. There are a few breweries and wineries as well, so obviously there are some sort of agricultural operations. So I'm enjoying this holiday and seeing Europe for the first time. It's been very relaxing so far. In the next few days we're going to check out some of the historical sites around Pafos because there are quite a few around these parts. Also, on Thursday is the wedding on the beach which will be nice to watch as well. Will try to update more later when I come across the Internet again.

Run Katie Run

On Sunday Matt and I ran in the Mother's Day Classic, which is an 8K run raising money for breast cancer support and research. It was a really lovely day for a run too! Sky looked a bit threatening straight away in the morning but cleared by the time the run started. The view wasn't too shabby either - looped around Macquarie's Point, which has a lovely view of the Opera House and bridge. Of course, by the second lap through I didn't really care about the picturesque views... I wanted to see the finish line! Other than my ankle giving me a bit of trouble around about the 6K mark, I actually felt alright! Now I definately was not breaking any records but I did finish in about 48 minutes. Much better than my original goal which was to finish before they started closing down the entire event (I know - I have some high standards).

Matt's coworker has told us about another charity 8K run. This one is raising money for MS support and research. According to the website, "It is a challenging route through picturesque harbourside streets..." Well, doesn't that sound quaint? All except the challenging part. We're told that there are lots of hills but it feels awesome at the finish. So I think that run is the next one of the plate. 1 June is the day. Wish me luck!

Kind of related to charity/fundraising etc, my work has decided to participate in another event in support of the Cancer Council NSW. Not quite as vigorous though. This one is called "Australia's Biggest Morning Tea." Basically, places of business, community or school can host a morning tea and brekkie and raise money through donations of people who participate. Our boss argued "I don't get it. So we sit around, drink tea and eat biscuits? How is that supposed to help anybody?" Well, after convincing him that if we each pitched in some money that it would be help to the cause (and that taking a mid-morning hour break is a great, productive idea), we registered our tea party. Here's our own personal page. It's neat! Ha ha! :
http://nsw.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=32722

Let you know how I go on the second run.... and the tea party!

New Job!

I am pretty excited because I just got a new job that actually holds some level of responsibility beyond entering newspaper subscriptions all day long. On Wednesday I start at a recruitment agency called InFront Staffing. This agency specializes in labour recruitment. My position is the company resourcer. It will be my job to make sure the list of workers is up to date and can rely on it to send out people when a client calls and needs X amount of people. Should be interesting; I'll get to interview and register candidates, respond to advertisements and implement marketing strategies. It's a rather new company so there is still room to expand and brainstorm new marketing. The whole marketing thing isn't really part of the job description but the owners told me that if I have any ideas that they are most certainly welcome. It's a small company - 5 people in total. So, that's my employment news! Crossing my fingers it goes well - I'm excited to try something new and take on this challenge.

My mass e-mail to you(s)

G'day friends and family,

I think I am just going to be adding my new posts under this one from now on. So in the future, please check in with "Another day, another story." Unless something exciting and spectacular happens, I will do as normal bloggers do and just post stories/thoughts/musings under the one umbrella.

Thought it was time to check in with my sweets again since I haven't done an update since Easter. Since then my gig with News Advantage came to a screeching halt when news from "upstairs" that it was time to go. Honestly, I was sad to leave behind the endless subscription forms, 8 1/2 hour days of entering data, speaking with short-tempered news agencies.... Oh, wait - by sad I actually mean relieved! In all seriousness though, it was really refreshing to work with such a close-knit group of individuals. I had worked with wonderful people in previous jobs but I had never seen a group of people that close! Especially with working in a call centre. However, this might be why they all got along so well. Each individual had to leave a bit of sanity behind when they entered the world of Subscriptions!

That was less than a week ago. Since then I have been busy visiting every recruitment agency in town. Obviously that's an exaggeration but interviewing at three in one day isn't too bad. I'm really becoming quite familiar with the lingo and ways of temp agencies. In fact, I'm starting to wonder how I would do at being a recruitment consultant. I've been told by a few people that I would probably do well in a role like that. Certainly a busy field!

As a result of visiting these agencies, I have been a roller coaster ride but not in a fun way. More like I-should-have-said-no-to-those-cheese-curds-before-the-roller-coaster sort of way. One agency really built up my hopes and said I was practically a shoe-in to work administration in the Logistics department at Apple Computers! Sounded perfect - right in the city business district, casual clothes, fun and young group. My hopes were crushed shortly thereafter. Probably would have worked out but mine and Matt's holiday to Cyprus and Greece falls at the same time some of the employees there are going away... thus why they needed a temp.

Never fear my good people, I was awaken this morning by the soothing, high-pitched sound of my mobile phone. A job awaited me in North Sydney... a receptionist job. Horrible memories of my first few weeks here flooded my mind (Please refer to my early blogs if you need a refresher). I thought to say no for a moment. Then the sensible part of my brain told me that at the end of the day, it would be responsible to go out, make money rather than sit at home and catch re-reruns of the Drew Carey Show and Simpsons (Seriously, do you know how often they play that here?!) In my most cheerful voice (as cheerful as you can get after being jolted awake from a deep slumber), I said "Yes, I would love to get ready right now and rush all the way across to North Sydney." OK, I exaggerate. I did say "Yeeah... I guess I can do that."

So here I am. Another receptionist role which was supposed to run for 3-4 weeks. But as I wrote this I actually got a phone call from the agency that placed me in this role and basically told me that this client is not acting appropriate etc etc that they are pulling me from this role. Well, alrighty then. How about that for live and on-the-spot coverage? Ha ha! I find that funny actually. Well... interesting to see what happens tomorrow. And who says that being a temp isn't exciting? Never know what's gonna happen next!

On a completely different topic, I'm not sure how many people know or I told this next bit to. I am very excited because in June, Matt and I are going on holidays to Cyprus and Greece. Most of our trip will be spent in Paphos, Cyprus where his best friend is getting married. Since we're in that part of the world, we thought we'd hop over to Athens for a few days and see what all the hub-bub is about. It'll be great. The tenative plan for now is to spend a day (possibly two) checking out Athens and then taking a ferry out to one of the islands. I've seen pictures and have always ached to go there!

So I think that is sufficient for now. I'd love to hear from you guys. Let me know what's up in your life! kohlbeckk@gmail.com

Cheers,

Katie Mae