Bikes, boats, bartending and BYRON BAY!

BIKES:
I got a call from my friend Tom:

"Hey Miranda, would you like a bike?" He asked.

"Hmmmm, I don't know, I'm rather broke. How much you selling it for?"

"I'm not selling it, I am giving it to you. I don't have room for it anymore!" Tom said.


So... I gots a bike!


My new bike!


Can't say it's much of a 6 speed racing bike, but it is amazing: rusty, vintage and was surely loved in its prime. I love it now... I get to go on all sorts of outdoor adventures around the city. ALSO, the SUN is starting to shine and the weather is shaping up! Perfect time of year for a bike ride to the beach.



Here's Tom on his bike in the park.

As for BOATS:
I went on a cruise of the Yarra River! It was a MUSEX (Melbourne Uni Student EXchange) function. All of the exchange students were invited to participate in this "Booze Cruise" as they called it.



The theme: Dreams and Nightmares. Was having a bit of trouble with that one... Until my friend Damo informed me that he was being a rockstar. He then suggested that Camille and I be his groupies... How that relates to a dream or a nightmare, I'm not sure... I guess its like this: Groupies are a rockstar's NIGHTMARE and it's the groupies' DREAM to meet the band. So, it worked out.




The cruise was great fun. We slowly glided down the Yarra River, the city lights reflecting, vibrant and lively, on the black water. Of course, nobody was paying attention to the beautiful vistas and cityscapes. Everybody was too busy swarming the open bar and grooving on the D-floor!



BARTENDING:
Lets just say my current restaurant job is, hmmm, not the best. The pay is mediocre and the boss is a bit of a, for lack of a better word, jerk face. The other night, I buttered bread for THREE HOURS. Can you imagine doing that?

It went like this:

Grab bread from pile, smear butter, put bread in the box, bread, smear butter, in box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box, bread, butter, box...

Slave labor.

I was in the backroom with a girl from Iran, Mika, and a girl from Columbia, Sandra, for hours. As I snatched bread from the pile, Sandra continued to cut bread. I kept grabbing and grabbing, but the pile never dwindled. We were like a human machine: a procession or progression line or whatever it's called.

During the manual labor, I bonded with the foreign girls. We talked about cultural differences, the war, marriage and its ups and downs, life etc... We also bonded over the bread torture. Sandra told me that one girl got stuck on SOLO bread duty for SIX HOURS. Mika told me that she once did it for the entire day. Once 1:30 AM rolled around, and there was STILL bread to butter, it hit me...

I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! I can't butter bread all day... I can't. There has to be another job out there. That's when the new search began...

BARTENDING:
It happened quick. Quicker than expected... It was like a sign from god (if there is a god?). I was walking home from work at 2:00 AM with a pizza box under my arm, when I saw her. Kelsey, a wonderful British blondie who just radiates; I get good vibes from her every time she is around. She was crossing the ROD (round about of death).

SIDENOTE: The ROD is a scary roundabout that I have to cross every day: there is no structure to the ROD, no crosswalks (Australian's call crosswalks ZEBRA crossing he he) no organization. It's a free-for-all. You have to cross at the EXACT right time to avoid being hit by oncoming cars and trams. You don't just cross one road either... You have to cross THREE to get past the ROD. It's like that video game, Frogger... I don't know if anyone has ever heard of it, but it's where you are a tiny frog trying to cross a busy highway without getting hit by a car, except for this is real life and I am the frog... Sorry for that rant. Anyway, back to business......

So, I saw Kelsey. I asked her what she was up to. She told me that she had just gotten of work. I asked her where she was working and she said Turf.

"Are you hiring????" I asked eagerly.

"Actually, YES, we need a new bartender!"

And it was like 1, 2, 3 after that! I turned in my resume the next day and I spoke with the manager and he told me I could start Monday, which is today! So, yes, bartending. As of tonight, I will officially be a bartender.

It's extremely convenient because the Turf Club Hotel is literally directly next to where I live. I'm so excited to start! Here is the link to the website if you would like to check it out:

http://www.turfclub.net.au/


Lastly, BYRON BAY:

I leave for Byron Bay on WEDNESDAY! I absolutely cannot wait. Ready for sun, surf and the beach...

That's all for today!!

Lots of love,
Mir

The Dream

No, for all you adolescents out there, I am not talking about the pop (or rap or hip-hop or R n B) sensation...

I'm talking about this crazy dream that I had the other night. I'm going to tell you about it, but for the sake of, well, a lot of things, I am going to keep the people in it anonymous as well as leave out a few parts... hehe

SO basically you are getting the edited version.

The dream:

I came home to Santa Cruz for one week, but once that week was up, I would return to Australia. I was lying in bed with a boy. We stayed in bed all day just talking and laughing and enjoying each others' company.

I teleported (you know how dreams work, you can't really explain how you got there, but you just did) to an indoor arena in which a woman in a pants suit was giving the exchange students a lecture about life and how we should all be living it. I began to feel very stressed out and pressured.

The same boy came and picked me up in his arms. I told him that he looked strong and he jokingly told me to shut up. He carried me far far away from that stressful situation to a beautiful amber-colored field. The whole way he carried me, I cried because I knew that I would have to leave soon. As we sat in the field, I told him how upset I was that I was leaving. He told me to live for the moment, appreciating each one for what it is.



Then I woke up...

That's the end. Not sure exactly what it indicates, but I know I can take a lot of meaning from it. It was a powerful one.

The low down

First and foremost:
HI GRANNY AND GRANDPA! Hello to the rest of the family too: Jules, Adie, Ricky, Louisa, Papa! So nice to have skype dinner session with you guys... Love you all.

I'll start with the topic of the day: Procrastination. Story of my life these days...

Concentration (on school) is hopeless when you have so many other “important” tasks to conquer: swimming, cooking, skyping, gazing blankly into space… You know how it goes. Last night, I was determined to finish my paper. I even left movie night early! I was sitting in front of the computer starting perplexedly at the screen full of tiny words that I had already plonked into the Microsoft Word template… body paragraph… conclusion… site…your…sources…

AH! Need distraction! At that exact moment, my roommate, Bianca (who will now be referred to as Roomie, because that is how she is known to me) entered the room. Another young man trailed her. What impeccable timing… saving me from being fully engulfed by my tedious, mind-numbing, monotonous, and unexciting work.

I quickly learned that Damien (nickname: Sewelly (you should understand by now that everyone in Australia has a nick name…along with every location, noun, verb, etc…)) was an Australian boy from Brisbane, who Roomie had met travelling around Ecuador last year. He was down in Melbourne for some work and was staying in a very posh hotel just down the road from here called “The Raddison”.

Post tea, cookies, chocolate and chats, I decided it was time for me to get back to my essay (I know, family, you are proud of me for my studious ways...). So I closed the wall (we have a retracting wall in our room; it is divided into two sides and if you want privacy, you can close your wall) and began to look at the screen once again...

"Roomie, you want to come to the Radisson and get room service and take a spa with us?" Roomie said to me... (We call each other roomie)

She then informed me that we could put the room service on Sewelly's company card. Sewelly said we could spend the night because he had a HUGE bed and he would drive us back in the morning. Now, tell me... What do you think I did? What would YOU have done?

We arrived at the Raddison around 12:30 AM. The concierge looked a little puzzled at our unbalanced ratio: Two girls and one guy.

"Is the spa open?" Sewelly asked the man at the front desk who then proceeded to shoot a dirty look at Roomie and I, then back to Sewelly.

"It closes at 11," He stated, glanced back at us, "my apologies."

So hysterical!

We headed up to the room feeling like rebellious royalty. We opened the door to find, yes, a massive bed about three times the size of the ones that we were used to sleeping in at RMIT village. Roomie and I jumped onto the bed and sprawled out, fully appreciating its dimensions. After pillow fights, tea and more chatting, it was time for room service.


Here's Roomie and Sewelly deciding between the Filet Mignon and the Escargot.


No, I'm just kidding! But we did get a bottle of 30 dollar champagne and a plate of dips with pita bread... mmm, LUXURY! haha

Here's Roomie and I with the goods:






We popped the cork (CELEBRATION!) and started our feast. We compared travel stories, our dream lives, and ideal partners. Good, sophisticated fun. Once two o'clock rolled around, we all decided it was time to go to bed.







"SHOTGUN MIDDLE!" Sneaky Sewelly... haha, probably the best call though. The middle would have been the ideal spot for any guy, I'm sure. We all piled into the bed: Myself on the left, Sewelly in the middle and Roomie on the right. For three in a bed, it was ridiculously comfortable.


That's the end... Oh, and by the way, I got up earlyish this morning to study, so don't you worry, family, I will finish my essay. Now, I should really be getting back to it... This blog writing has really proved to support my procrastination. Back to the drawing board!

X's and O's
-Mir