Last night, Owen told me that Robert, the boss at the Internet place I'm
going to work at, thought I was too passive and quiet. That probably
doesn't come as much of a surprise to a lot of you who have spent a lot of
time with me and told me to my face that I am too passive and quiet, but I
wasn't expecting that from Robert. I thought that he was looking for
someone who was good with the Internet and a good troubleshooter with
computers (I should have a degree for what my iBook has put me through), but
I was wrong. Apparently he's looking for someone who's loud and flamboyant,
and God knows I'm not like that. I should have known that the job wasn't
for me when Owen told me that the "loser" I was replacing brought "lots of
U2 crap" to play while he was working. While I haven't been formally fired,
I have a feeling it's not gonna work out. I train again with Robert
tonight, so it should be interesting to see what happens. I'm supposed to
open the place myself tomorrow morning.

Today, I went with Felicia to Fox Studios Australia, about a 30-minute walk
from here. Everyone told us it wasn't worth the money, and boy were they
right. There just wasn't really anything to see or do. I thought I would
see lots of Star Wars stuff (the most recent one was shot here), but the
only Star Wars I experienced was the "Imperial March" over the speakers with
my cafe latte and blueberry muffin. The "Simpsons Down Under" skit, which
we waited 20 minutes for, was idiotic. Some guy dressed as Homer Simpson
came out and did a stupid dance, then they raised a big screen TV and showed
a Simpsons episode, and that was it. The "Titanic Experience" tour, which
we waited 40 minutes for, was just as bad. They crammed us all in a room,
bolted the doors, sprayed us with water, and started screaming that the ship
was sinking. Then the Titanic theme played, the lights went one, the doors
opened, and they thanked us for coming. The "Hall of Cool Stuff", which was
supposed to have props and sets used in Fox movies, was just filled with
replicas and models. I know for a fact that the cigarette box spy camera
from True Lies was fake because I saw the real prop at Universal Studios in
Hollywood not too long ago. The highlight of the afternoon was probably
petting the goats, lambs, and pigs just outside the set of Babe. The place
is definitely geared for kids, almost like Disneyland without the rides.

On the way home, I stopped at Cafe 191 on very gay Oxford Street, and had a
yummy chicken sandwich. Then bought some toilet paper and returned to my
fly-infested shithole apartment. I just finished doing laundry for the
first time since my arrival. There's no dryer and no clothespins for the
clothes lines up on the roof, so I have my wet underwear hanging all over
the apartment. Felicia and Janet have gone to work at their respective
restaurants.

Now I'm sitting on the roof of the apartment building, looking at the gray
skyline of Sydney, drinking the apple-blackcurrant juice that I got from the
mini-mart, wondering what to do next.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have spent more time worrying about myself
than I have enjoying myself, wondering where I would sleep or where I could
get a job. I've been running around the city, taking buses and trains to
addresses I can't find, making phone calls that can't be returned since I
have no phone. I have little to show for all my efforts, and my funds are
slowly depleting.

At the same time, the clock is ticking. I am scheduled to return home on
March 1. Sure, I could extend my trip to settle and find real work in
Sydney, but I don't want to get too comfortable here. I want to see what's
outside of Sydney. Perhaps I would be better off leaving immediately to
travel up and down the coast, seeing Tasmania, Melbourne, Cairns, and who
knows what else. Maybe even New Zealand. Leaving immediately would be more
expensive, but it would allow me to see and experience what I came for much
more quickly. Felicia has already offered to hold onto some of my stuff if
I decide to leave for a few weeks. Feedback would be appreciated on this
(nyveen@bigfoot.com).

Until next time,

Jeff