Busy assignments and long days of classwork aside, this has been quite a rough week.
I had my first negative experience with an Aussie here. It manifested as a crazy roommate situation where I had to move out right away. Don't worry, I have moved into a new place today that is safe and quiet and not too far from where my last place was. With sane roommates.
The roommate fiasco definitely put a damper on my experience here in Australia for the last week. I really started to question my life decisions and if this was all a good idea or not. I was wondering if I am on the wrong path because some stranger did not like how I cleaned his kitchen. Strangest to me was that not even a week before the same stranger was planning road trips we could share with each other. He even offered me Valium (much to my shock) - I politely declined.
The most aggravating part is that the whole situation blew up on the very day I had a big interview with a higher education institution for a teaching job, and I am almost certain that it made me mess up the interview. I had been crying for a good part of the day during class. Once I had gotten to the interview, I had a puffy face and feeling pretty devastated about life, and I was supposed to put on a good show for an employer. I may have sounded overly interested in the teaching position. Perhaps I didn't express myself very well. In any case, I have not heard back since.
But I also am unsure how comfortable I was with the general layout of the interview. It was an extremely casual interview to me; they did not ask me questions about my qualifications or my best qualities. Instead, it was more about logistics. Having had a bad day and really liking the idea of being stable in at least employment, I of course tried to push the American style of interviewing and explained my awesomeness to the two interviewers excessively....but that might have been what made it not go so well. Now I know.
Despite the traumas, my most pleasant surprise during super-stressful week was the support I found in my classmates. There are 18 of them and are all from different parts of the planet - from Australia to Zambia. But our different backgrounds didn't seem to matter this week. Every single classmate took time to see how I was doing and offered any help they could muster between classes and studying. Some gave me phone numbers of landlords in need of tenants, some searched for rooms for me, and some even offered couches for my temporary placement. Many offered to help me move out of my bad situation and rough up a few idiots should it be needed. It's felt like I've found a great reserve of lifelong friends who have been there for me for ages only this week. I am feeling so glad that I joined this program, even if just for the people.
I ended up taking one of the classmates on her couch offer for a couple days. Kyle and her boyfriend (Chris) helped me move my heavy bags of things out and in apartments (7 minutes each time) and let me crash on their futon while I hunted frantically for a new place. Chris looked around all macho and ready to fight for me, which was both amusing and humbling. I think I owe them my first born. Or at least a lot of meals.
And living with them was actually fun! They are simply two wonderful and humorous people, and I am so glad I got to hang out with them more, even if it was brief.
But now I am really understanding the important of having a home really is. Having moved about four times over the last 2 months has been exhausting, and I am actually starting to consider having a home where my things can stay put forever. Even when I travel. I cannot believe I just said that.
I had my first negative experience with an Aussie here. It manifested as a crazy roommate situation where I had to move out right away. Don't worry, I have moved into a new place today that is safe and quiet and not too far from where my last place was. With sane roommates.
The roommate fiasco definitely put a damper on my experience here in Australia for the last week. I really started to question my life decisions and if this was all a good idea or not. I was wondering if I am on the wrong path because some stranger did not like how I cleaned his kitchen. Strangest to me was that not even a week before the same stranger was planning road trips we could share with each other. He even offered me Valium (much to my shock) - I politely declined.
The most aggravating part is that the whole situation blew up on the very day I had a big interview with a higher education institution for a teaching job, and I am almost certain that it made me mess up the interview. I had been crying for a good part of the day during class. Once I had gotten to the interview, I had a puffy face and feeling pretty devastated about life, and I was supposed to put on a good show for an employer. I may have sounded overly interested in the teaching position. Perhaps I didn't express myself very well. In any case, I have not heard back since.
But I also am unsure how comfortable I was with the general layout of the interview. It was an extremely casual interview to me; they did not ask me questions about my qualifications or my best qualities. Instead, it was more about logistics. Having had a bad day and really liking the idea of being stable in at least employment, I of course tried to push the American style of interviewing and explained my awesomeness to the two interviewers excessively....but that might have been what made it not go so well. Now I know.
Despite the traumas, my most pleasant surprise during super-stressful week was the support I found in my classmates. There are 18 of them and are all from different parts of the planet - from Australia to Zambia. But our different backgrounds didn't seem to matter this week. Every single classmate took time to see how I was doing and offered any help they could muster between classes and studying. Some gave me phone numbers of landlords in need of tenants, some searched for rooms for me, and some even offered couches for my temporary placement. Many offered to help me move out of my bad situation and rough up a few idiots should it be needed. It's felt like I've found a great reserve of lifelong friends who have been there for me for ages only this week. I am feeling so glad that I joined this program, even if just for the people.
I ended up taking one of the classmates on her couch offer for a couple days. Kyle and her boyfriend (Chris) helped me move my heavy bags of things out and in apartments (7 minutes each time) and let me crash on their futon while I hunted frantically for a new place. Chris looked around all macho and ready to fight for me, which was both amusing and humbling. I think I owe them my first born. Or at least a lot of meals.
And living with them was actually fun! They are simply two wonderful and humorous people, and I am so glad I got to hang out with them more, even if it was brief.
But now I am really understanding the important of having a home really is. Having moved about four times over the last 2 months has been exhausting, and I am actually starting to consider having a home where my things can stay put forever. Even when I travel. I cannot believe I just said that.
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