Bad news first. I didn’t get the timber floor. Good news; yesterday I got an SMS from Valerie that my application was approved J Originally I was supposed to move in on Saturday July 16th but today got a call that the previous tenant is not able to move out until Monday July 18th. So I get to move in next Tuesday then. I think the bad news is not that bad after all. I was pondering between the two options after filling in the applications and came to the conclusion that maybe the bigger apartment is better. I made a list of pros and cons of both and the one on Manning Street won because it is bigger, much cooler during extremely hot summers, more use for the balcony as it is facing to the inner court, has a pool and barbeque area, it’s on a better neighborhood and a lot safer. For sure the timber floor is a loss, but at the end of the day the points listed above are more important than pretty floor. So I got what I wanted and can’t wait to move in and start settling down. I will be a West End girl (sounds fancy for a Finn) with big balcony and a pool (also sounds fancy for a Finn). Ansku B&B will so rock the world. Start booking your flights ok!
My work week of home hunting was rewarded with the traditional Friday pub at Firefly. This time I was more on time and got to meet new colleagues and the corporate credit cards and their owners. I like the fact that people get together to celebrate the start of the weekend and that you are not expected to work after 6pm on Friday. I am all pro for traditions (and free alcohol) that boost up the community spirit and very happy to see it seems to be strong in our office. So far I haven’t met a single person being originally from Brisbane. Vast majority of the Brisbane office employees are transferred from all over the world which gives quite a unique flavor to all of this. I got back to my hotel at 11pm my head spinning with all the faces, names, Accenture acronyms and clients (expressed in acronyms) and bit of overdose on white wine.
Saturday was agreed to be my laundry day at Kaija’s and for the evening Hannah and Jamie invited me to watch rugby to Pig n Whistle on Eagle Street. Me and rugby? Talking about uncomfort zones. Both Hannah and Jamie are passionate fans and rugby is big here. And everything I know about the game is based on “Red Ross” episode on Friends where Ross goes to play rugby to impress his new girlfriend Emily. Better than nothing, eh? After getting lost for the first time here in Brisbane I finally found my way to Pig n Whistle, a big Irish bar packed with Aussies dressed up in red, drinking beer and shouting towards the big screen. Ooooookay I thought, this is a situation called “Damsel in a distress”. Hannah and Jamie understood quite quickly that I have absolutely no idea what’s going on and gave me my second lesson about rugby (first being Friends). I think I missed more than half of the stuff just because when it comes to sports and rules my attention span is similar to an attention span of a drunken gerbil. It does not exist. I still have problems with ‘paitsio’, at least the football ‘paitsio’. Getting the context in place, the game was the Reds against Crusaders (or the grey team as they had grey t-shirts). This was a season finale and I was supposed to cheer for the Reds as they are the team of Queensland. I have no idea where the Crusaders come from, but I think I want to visit the place as the players where much better looking than the ones in Reds team.
Anyways, after seeing my very first rugby game I can tell you it’s all about men forming human piles. There are approximately 20 guys running after a ball and piling up over it, like when you shout “Kasa!” (guys used to do this a lot during student times). Then the ball somehow finds the way out of the stack, someone grabs it, starts running and all the other guys are attacking him like hell. And this goes on approximately 90% of the time. Grab the ball, run, attack, human pile, grab the ball, run, attack, human pile, etc. It’s very primitive and violent game to me…and not very intelligent really. When the shouting got louder I understood there is a situation going on. At times one guy could run with the ball to the other end of the court and got points. And to celebrate the point the team is piling up again. In addition, after running to the other end of the court they get to kick the ball between two white poles and if it goes through they get more points and pile up again. In my opinion the best player for the Reds was number 10 “Stratco”. Later on I realized they are all named Stratco and that is a sponsor of the Reds. So I still don’t know the name of this guy. Good news is that the Reds won. I was secretly cheering for the grey team as they had more handsome players (you got to pick your side on some criteria and this was mine). But all in all, it was my very first rugby game ever and I am quite happy it was the end of the season and I can digest this for a while.
After the game we headed to a birthday party we got invited on Friday at the Firefly. Party was taking place in a penthouse on Mary Street; quite stunning view to be honest, I am all pro for penthouses too. I had never seen so much booze (or tasted so strong margaritas, killers really) in a home party and after 10 minutes I was told that the “birthday boy” is one of the most senior SE’s at Brisbane office. “A happy and lively bachelor”, as he called himself (go on, be a Tiger). I also met the CEO of the biggest account in Brisbane and another SE who has transferred in almost a year ago. Ooooookay and nice to meet you, I am Ansku and starting in T&OP on Tuesday *smile, jeesuschristmotherofall how did I end up here, smile*. To be honest I think the whole setup was pretty amusing. But I had fun, it was good to meet new people, everyone was super nice again, drinks were good (didn’t drink the margaritas, I thought it’s not career wise to pass out because of tequila in this particular event) and had good conversations about the projects going on and got very excited to start in few days. I also learned that “Mining is so last season, you should come to our projects in Energy, that’s where the action and parties happen” (Piece of very valuable information you will not hear if only sitting at the office and not attending to these “extracurricular” activities…even before your commencement date, haha). According to the party I had just seen, I might well try to push myself to Energy to make sure the balance between work hard and party harder is in place. A joke.
While writing this I am kind of amazed and exhausted for the fact that I have been in Brisbane only 12 days and have sorted out loads of bureaucracy, know my way around the city pretty well, have met quite a lot of people, have had plenty of drinks too and have an apartment to move into in a week. I had basically nothing 12 days ago and now I am in good speed getting my life established here .This could be the most efficient and exciting summer holiday ever and I am still going strong J (big thanks to Kaija and Marijke for their help, advice and support). All this time Kaija has said “Dear Ansku, you can only peel one potato at a time. One by one you get organized and soon you realize your bucket of potatoes has a quarter done already”. She has said this at least 20 times and I have needed each of the 20 times because one of my many faults is to be The Immediately if not Sooner –girl. I suck at the Work In Progress mode, a lot. And she is so right with her potatoes, it really does not help me one bit to freak out about the ones on the bottom of the bucket as I must peel the ones on the surface first. It’s very uncomfortable to be floating with life necessities like having a home, but at least I am working on it. I am doing stuff everyday that helps me get forward and I need the days and the time to get things sorted out. And today was the day I could actually tick the box next to “Find a home” item on my to-do list. I have found a place to stay for the next 12 months and that’s a huge achievement worth being proud of. So from now on whenever I feel I am losing it I think about the potatoes. Bucket of potatoes and me peeling them. Some are eating elephants, I go with potatoes. I have also decided that the moment when I get the first feeling of being established here in Australia I will invite Kaija and her husband for a dinner to my pretty apartment @ West End and build the menu around mashed potatoes J (this would’ve been difficult with 'eating an elephant') Traditional mashed potatoes with lots of butter, cream and carbs for the sake of being finished with the peeling. Nope, there won’t be a situation in life when you feel all ready and done, but I think it’s important to celebrate different life milestones and one milestone here could be realizing that I am happy and established. That’s my goal after all. Tomorrow I have a new potato, my very first day at the Accenture Brisbane office. I have picked and ironed my first day clothes too; favorite (and lucky) violet Tara Jarmon skirt, Ted Baker blouse, blazer and high heels. So all set for more faces, more acronyms and hopefully an idea about the project I will be staffed into.
Night all,
//Ansku
PS: I was hoping this would be my last post published from a hotel but I am afraid it's not. And I know I am slipping from the original target of weekly posts but there is so much happening at the moment and I feel I need to get it captured fresh. Promise to get on track soon J
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