Groundhog Day...

Me and Mike's beds in our hostel

I have a new job!! Actually this is my second new job, as I started one yesterday (boring temping) then got a better offer. I’m now working for Bechtel, an engineering company, for the next 2 or 3 weeks, doing…document production!! Yep, I’m doing EXACTLY the same as I was doing at Multiplex…initially I was dreading it, since I didn’t exactly love the job last time, but I think it’s going to be ok: Multiplex was stressful because it was such a steep learning curve, but now that I know how to do this stuff in Word, hopefully this time around it will be inestimably easier. Touch wood.

I am ambivalent about this job, however. For a start, my hours are 7:30am-5pm. Yep that’s right. SEVEN THIRTY!!! WHY?! Australians work really long hours, which seems to conflict with the general perception of Australia as such a laid-back, high-quality-of-life type place. On the other hand, I’d much rather start at 7:30am than finish at 6:30pm. I was also having a minor crisis yesterday over the fact that I’d planned to do something different in Perth: I’ve been applying for things like childcare work – anything to get out of the office!! And what about my career? Yes, you ask, what career: exactly. Out of nowhere, I seem to have become a specialist in producing bid documents for property firms. However, this job pays well and it’s only for a few weeks, so there was no way I could contemplate turning it down.

My first day’s been alright – there’s a really nice HR girl from Ireland who just moved to Australia this year, and she and her boyfriend used to live in south east London!! I had lunch with them and some other people, which makes this job instantly better than Multiplex (I actually got to talk to somebody! I even got invited to a party!!)

In other news, Mike and I are still staying at the Rainbow Hostel (sleeping in a dorm and getting up to work in an office is going to take some getting used to). I really like it there, the people are fantastic…there’s something going on every night, including many trips to Northbridge, the backpacker/nightlife area, and there’s also talk of a paintballing trip soon.

I’m loving Perth – we went for a walk along the Swan River the other day, and despite being right in the city it manages to be really beautiful, with parkland on either side. The city centre is pretty small which makes it manageable – there’s the central business district with the obligatory glass skyscrapers (all non-European cities look the same, I’m finding), a couple of pedestrianised streets of high street shops, and then Northbridge which is full of cafes and restaurants.