Thus ends the travelling aspect of my writing and now I will be focusing more on the trials and tribulations of beginning a new life on the other side of the globe.
I have been living in Adelaide for about 5 weeks now and am slowly becoming accustomed to being here. The thing that has struck me the most about lhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifife in australia is not the differences but the similarities. It almost seems strange how alike people are to their europhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifean counterparts, that's globalisation I guess. Outside the cities I'm sure the australian lifestyle prevails and I look forward to seeing more of it.
For the first month I was lucky enough to be able to stay in a house with a good friend Maurice Horgan and his girlfriend Genevive, both were gracious hosts and I am indebted to them for their hospitality as I found my footing here.
For this past week I have been staying in the Adelaide central YHA hostel in anticipation of tomorrow's meeting at, and viewing of, a possible house to move into.
Once that happens and I transfer the remainder of my funds into my australian bank account I will officially be a fully integrated temporary resident!
As I mentioned earlier a lot has happened in my weeks here so far.
Firstly I have met some great people at La Boheme and have been doing sound for a few cabaret shows here and there, as part of the Cabaret Fringe Festival [Link]
In La Boheme I have also met some very interesting and talented people from all over the globe, and musical spectrum.
I did purchase a bicycle, $60 from Cash Converters, but sadly due to a slight lapse in vigilance outside the local convenience store and I no longer have a bike.. or helmet.
Once I had gained a vague idea of what I am doing here in Australia I began to apply for work, Having just left employment in Ireland and with little to no experience in job hunting I wrote a new CV after 5 years of never updating one. Apparently I did do something right because after emailing every Audio/Visual company operating in the greater Adelaide area, followed by phone calls to every recipient 48 hours later I managed to secure an interview with Central Audio Visual [Link] Seemingly I said the right things because I have been hired on a casual basis for now, basically meaning I am called upon at random with varying frequency. I'm happy with that for now, supplemental income without the dedication to a full time 9-5 position, in time I can gain more hours and work freelance at the same time in venues such as Boheme.
Working with CAV has also been a lesson in how universal certain things are, such as techies sense of humor, the equipment and its applications, the structure of the pecking order throughout the workforce, things that feel exactly as they did in Ireland. The foremost advantage of working with CAV however is the range of expensive toys I will be using, not only making the work more interesting but also providing me with invaluable experience in handling, operating and maintaining certain peices of equipment that will stand to me when asked about my proficency with these things in the future.
So with the major steps of employment, accomodation, finances, and the beginnings of a social circle all underway I am left to take a step back and evaluate things.
I have possibly mentioned before how little planning I did before commencing this journey, and by little I mean None! Basically it seemed like a good idea so I went with it and have been making up the rest on a day to day basis. So far this has worked nicely, hostel life lends itself to living day to day and making your plans with whoever you talk to over breakfast. However now that I am making the transition to semi-permenant accomodation and employment I feel a change in the wind, I will be moving out of the backpacker scene gradually and focusing more on becomihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifng involved with city life. Now Adelaide is not exactly a teeming metropolis yet at the same time it is different from anywhere I have lived before. Quite diverse culturally and artistically it is the heart of the festival state, ideal for a freelance engineer looking to work. As long as I can get my name into the right places I should happily find sufficient work. So from here things should become quite interesting! I dont know what to expect so I will make no guesses, and I promise to update this more frequently with analysis and anecdotes of life as it unfolds!
Following are some photographs, not many yet but I'm getting there. I have also begun to update my Deviantart {Link} page after a long hiatus, so feel free to browse through and share
Talk Cha!
Day 1 working with CAV
Mossy in deep concentration playing pokies
La boheme
Camera Op for Truckers Convention
