NEEDS UPDATING!! A BESOIN D'UN UPDATE!!!!

Oui oui oui je sais que je dois écrire un peu plus en français, pour ne pas perdre ma langue, et pour que quelques-un entre vous pour me lire plus facilement ;)

Cet semain fait un mois que je suis içi à Melbourne, et ça commence à bien aller! Pour le dernier mois les temperatures n’était pas ce que j’ai prévu avant partir, et à cause de ça j’ai amené plutôt des vêtements d’été avec moi, car à ne pas amener trop de stock. Pour la dernière semaine j’ai bien aimé avoir ces vêtements, parce qu’il faisait du beau soleil et des températures de 25 à 33 degrées :)

Ok sorry I have to update you all on the week that has just passed and it’s easier for me to do it in English :/

My temp job at the Alfred Hospital got extended for another week, which meant that I had a job until I started my vodka promo contract at the airport. They really seemed to like me in the Executive Offices (where I was handling the huge ‘Quality of Care’ report mailout) and the CEO’s PA said she’d love to keep me on. I told her I had a contract til the 18th of December, but if she needed vacation coverage she should give me a call. Soooo there’s that ;)

The house I live in was perfect for me when I was desperate for a place to live, but now second-thoughts are starting to come up, so I have given my notice. My friend Tony, who I met when we were both living in Dublin 7 years ago, owns a gorgeous condo downtown, and he is gone for three weeks at the end of November, so I will be staying there, saving me money, commute, and hassle. There are five other people living in this house, and while that doesn’t bother me as I am rarely home, finding an opportune time to shower or do laundry without anyone else using the water is getting very difficult. As is the internet situation, which is EXTRMELEY touch-and-go when everyone is online downloading, etc etc (these guys are doctors, nurses, grad students at uni….basically on their computers day and night) Plus, there are too many damn moths and flies IN the house. I get if I’m outside it’s something to expect, but IN MY BEDROOM!??! Noooooooooo thank you. There are other reasons of course, but I’m too classy a dame to mention them online.

Melbourne Cup Day is November 1st. It's a bank holiday here because the whole country (or Victoria, at least) shuts down to watch the Melbourne Cup race at 3pm. I had the day off, so I figured why not go to my first live horserace? I went with Tony and two of his Irish mates that live in Sydney. I'm not a gambler, but I tried to follow tony's leads (he usually wins) and spent $20 on races during the course of the day. He and I did not win anything!!!!!! He kept going for the trifecta (pick three horses and if they place (first three past the finish line) in any order you win big) but missing the second horse! (he would get the first and third place, but the second was always a 'wild card') and talk about a wild card!!! The horse that won the Cup was French and no-one saw it coming!!!!!
At the races, everyone dresses up. Men in suits and ties, ladies in dresses and hats or fascinators (things like hate worn on head). The dresses, however, are quite short. Like, too short! And most of them are low-cut. Apparently you go to the races to 'pick up', since there are a LOT of men in suits there. men in suits = instantly better good looking! :/
Oh and the HEELS these women wear!!! Do they really expect to wear the all day while drinking and be able to walk out with them? The best are the 'before' and 'after' shots: seeing them board the train in the morning and then stumble off the train in the evening, shoes in hand, walking barefoot, bra straps showing, makeup smeared and hair unruly ;)
Ladies drink champers (nickname for champagne) but nothing is cheap at the races! Glass of champers? $8.50. Bottle? $35. The cheapest drink is Boag's (beer from Tazmania) at $6.50, and they sell Jack (Daniels) and Cola or Jack and Dry (ginger ale) for $8- premixed in a can.
On Saturday we went to the raves again, but this time with Tony's two mates from London, who live in Perth. It was sunny (not a cloud in the sky!) and 33, and one of the guys in ginger-y so we sat in the shade in the stands for the majority of the day. We had prime seats in front of the finish line :)
There's this horse called Black Caviar, and she has won all of her past fifteen races, and I was there IN PERSON to watch her in her 16th in a row :) What a gorgeous horse. She won without even trying!! The horse that placed second in that race, well his jockey was furiously whipping him even though there was no way he was going to win. That's the thing I don't like about horseracing: it's a cruel and unusual sport and I'd rather watch rugby ;)
I put $10 on a horse to win Saturday, and I would have won $85 had he won, but he lost BY A NOSE!!!!!! The worst was Tony and Kevin would have won $1400 (because they had bet on Black Caviar to win as well, which was not paying much because duh its a sure thing!) on a combined ticket. They put $170 down, I think. Soooo I got quite enthused during that race, but my horse (King's Rose) lost by a nose (it was a DAMN CLOSE FINISH!!!!) to Albert The Fat :(
On Sunday I got to explore a bit of Melbourne with one of the lads, and I'm starting to love this city! Lots to spend money on, though, so you've gotta be careful when you're on a budget like me :P
The good news is that I officially started my new job today: a 6-week contract at the Melbourne Airport promoting Absolut vodka (ie giving samples). I had my orientation and hot damn there are a lot of regulations working at the airport!! I knew there would be, but trying to remember how much duty-free goods people are allowed to bring with them depending on where they're going and how many stops they have? Thank goodness I have a cheat sheet!! Plus, the blue dress that I have to wear as a uniform actually looks good on me ;)
So tomorrow is my first *real* shift, working 7am til 5pm, which means I have to be on the skybus (only way to and from the airport, and work is paying for my discounted staff pass!) at 6:20am, which means I have to leave my house at 5:45am to make sure I get there in time. I was very, very rushed today because traffic was a huge pain since it was raining, and I took me an hour to get into the city :(
Fingers crossed things continue to go well for me.

Je vais écrire plus tard dans la semaine. J'ai 40 minutes de bus chaque jour, donc je vais avoir un peu de temps :P

AUJOURD'HUI, mecredi le 9 novembre 2011:
Ma première journée à l'aéroport c'est très bien allée! J'ai vendu une couple de bouteilles, mais il y avait pas gros trafic. Apparemment les mercredis sont les jours les plus tranquilles. Mes pieds me font un peu mal, donc je vais voir si des autres souliers vont aller mieux. J'ai FAIM!!!! Bah :( en plus, j'ai nul parts pour garder mon stock quand je travail, donc j'ai demandé au gérant du duty-free avant customs pour que je laisse ma robe et souliers là chaque soir, et mon dîner dans le frigo chaque jour. Il est très gentil et à dit oui, mais pas à mon sac: ça c'a doit aller avec les autres sacs dans un cabinet dans un bureau qui est toujours ouvert :/ je vais amener un padlock just in case. ok so i went on there for a while! (sorry andrea, but you'll just have to google translate it :P)

i'm exhausted, it's 8pm and therefore one hour away from my bedtime. oh yah! did i mention that i work from 7am til 5pm at the airport? which means i have to get up at 5am, leave the house at 545am to catch the tram to head into the city centre to catch the 620am skybus that takes 20 minutes to get to the airport? and then i have to change and meet my escort (since i'm not permanent i have to be escorted to and from my workplace and need an escort when i need to potty) at 6:50am.

JE LE FAIS POUR L'ARGENT!!!!!!

love you all. g'nite. i shall post more tomorrow, no doubt (I MEAN, HOPEFULLY!!)