Hey, Universe, It's Me, Zachary

Here's Brucie!

As you can see from the pictures I went to the Melbourne Aquarium on Monday. It was very cool and I took some nice pictures. No platypuses, plushy or real though.

After the Aquarium I headed across the river to check out if "Rare Exports" was playing there. No such luck, but using google I was able to find a theater on Lygon Street with a showing in an hour. The theater was a 51 minute walk away.

On my way I got a call from Boaz. He asked me if I'd want to go to the movies with him to see "Due Date". I thought it was a good idea, but I didn't want to go back to Lilydale before doing something else in Melbourne. I went shopping but as I was standing in line at JB Hi-Fi I realized I didn't have enough cash. As I walked out I saw I'd gotten an SMS from Boaz who wanted to reschedule. I looked at the time and realized that I could make the showing of "Rare Exports" if I'd take a tram.

I didn't look at my map and went a block in the wrong direction before realizing I was going away from the tram route. Pissed off and hungry I almost ran in the heat with time running out. Without a second to spare I arrived at the theater. Fortunately there were enough previews so I was able to relax before the movie started.

I thought there might be other Finnish people in the theater bit I ended being the only person to laugh at someone saying "paska". The movie was good, it looked very good and it was very funny. It was weird seeing a Finnish language movie in Australia though. The local audience was pretty smart and surprisingly "old". But they liked it and some people kept chuckling well into the credits. 

After the movie I took the tram back to Central Station where I arrived just minutes after a possible train to Lilydale. The next one would leave an hour later but fortunately I could use another line into Ringwood every fifteen minutes.

Before I did though, I grabbed some cash, bought a footlong sub, visited a still open Borders for something to read on the train -- I got "Non-Fiction" by Chuck Palahniuk -- and headed for the platform. I decided to use my tram ticket to get on the train even though it was only a zone 1 ticket. I'd never seen a ticket inspector on the train and I thought that I could get away without paying a penalty fee anyway.

Wouldn't you know it, just as we went from zone 1 to zone 2, three ticket inspectors entered the train. I showed my zone 1 ticket and the gentleman asked for my other ticket. I told him I only have this one. He took a look at me and realized I wasn't a local. He asked me how long had I been here. I told him it was only a couple of weeks. Then he asked me to get up and showed me the map and the zones 1 + 2. I looked at the map and then I looked at the legend like I'd never seen it before and let out a good old Finnish "a-haa". He told me to buy the right ticket next time or I'd probably get a big fine.

When I sat back down, the guy behind me asked where I was from and told me I was very lucky that the inspector had been such a nice fellow. I'm just glad I looked touristy enough not to get a fine. I decided I would buy the proper tickets from now on because I felt a little guilty.

Tuesday was a lazy day at home. I did my laundry as soon as I woke up. I watched Coraline on Blu-Ray and then I played Super Mario Galaxy for a while since it was a possible I wouldn't be able to do that later. Sascha called Alex and told him that I would be switching apartments with Eva. Sascha told about Eva's attack and that she didn't feel safe.

I was home alone when it started to rain and I had to rush to get my clothes, which were getting dry outside, back in. The rain let down a little so I headed to McDonald's for lunch.

Without a warning the rain started pouring and once I got to McDonald's I was soaked. I ate my food and decided I was so wet that I could walk back without getting any wetter.

I was folding my laundry when Sascha and Eva came and Sascha told me they were going to go pick up Ana from the station and after that he would take me to Alex's. I hadn't even started packing. I felt pretty sad that I had to leave but it had to be done. As I got my stuff together I felt a little better about moving on.

We drove to Alex's and Eva packed up her stuff while I, Sascha and Ana waited outside. Alex and Eva were away working. When they left I knew I wouldn't want to stay in the house all alone so I called Boaz and we went to the movies to see Due Date. I got back "home" and went to sleep almost right away.

I felt pretty good about going to work today. Right away Helmut told me that I would be helping John pack and mail the wine for the three days this week. It sounded good. I never got that far though. First John wanted me to take down the big Blondie sign next to Maroondah highway and to move around a couple of the other ones before it started to rain. It took me ages and did rain before I was finished. For the rest of the day I pretty much moved wine boxes from one place to another and again and again. I did do a little forklift driving too...

I felt pretty tired and there were only restaurant people around at around four p.m. so I decided to ask Gwen about my staff wines. She recommended I take it right away. So I got seven wines for my mother. As I was carrying the wines to the Ute I ran into Helmut. Just the person I wanted to talk to.

"Maybe the Universe can give me a signal...?"

He asked about my mom and I explained the current situation as well as I could. Then he asked me about my plans for Christmas and New Years. I said I'd thought about working until January. Then he told me that, well, I didn't need to work that long. I could work one more week. He explained to me that he really had no work left for me. The vineyards only need spraying by the regular workers and he got a new kitchen hand and a new person for Cellar Door too.

So, The Universe, disguised as Helmut, showed me a building-sized neon sign with the letters Q - U - I - T blinking like crazy. My last day at Rochford Wines is actually this Sunday. It is kind of ironic that only two days after I had considered quitting and one day after looking for jobs I was let go and in need of a new job. Had this come up before I and Eva changed apartments I would've been closer to the train station when I leave. Plus Eva could've moved in anyway, just a week later. Well, I'm pretty sure Sascha can give me a lift next Monday or Tuesday.

I plan to enjoy some of my wages doing touristy stuff in Melbourne before I find a new job. I will go see some wild penguins, I will see Melbourne from a river cruise ship, I will go back up to Eureka SkyDeck at sunset and I will check out the famous buildings and parks. For my next job I'd love to go to Tasmania. Melbourne, Sydney or even Adelaide are other possible destinations. But if I found a job in Tasmania I could explore it well before moving on to Sydney. If I have enough money and my mom's arrival gets postponed I'd love to take a trip to Singapore where my friend Wall-Terr-E will be an exchange student for the first four months of 2011.

Whatever the future brings I know one thing for sure. I will not buy anyone any Christmas gifts. Where I will be spending Christmas, or New Years, is a lot more uncertain. But I do remember dreaming about Christmas in Tasmania and New Years in Sydney way back in Finland before I had even bought my plain tickets. So I hope Tasmania it is.

Now I have four more working days and a company Christmas party tomorrow evening before I pack up and move on to bigger and better things. In a way it's pretty cool and I should be able to better get jobs from three, or four states now that I was in Queensland back in September.

Now all I have to do is just go and do it.

Till infinity and beyond!

Family Ties

So, where do I begin?

After all the excitement on Sunday night I couldn't fall asleep. I kept thinking about all the things me and my mom talked about and all the other people that interconnect with our lives in Finland. It took me until 2 am to fall asleep, 4 hours left before wake up.

We had some breakfast and after that we were whisked off on our tour. Our driver and guide was a very funny bearded, tall man called Tom. The bus we rode with was pretty similar to the ones we used for commute in Proserpine.

Before the actual Great Ocean Road we drove through a couple places of interest. The first place was Geelong, Victoria's second largest city with a population of 130,000. It used to be an important gateway during the goldrush in the 1850's. The ships grew too big for Geelong's sandbars and as they moved to Melbourne, so did a lot of the people.

The next place was Torquay, Australia's surfing capital. After the second world war, local surfers invented the wetsuit and started their own company Rip Curl. One of the guys wanted to start his own company, Quicksilver. Right after Torquay we stopped at Bell's Beach (portrayed in Point Break by an Irish beach) and took some pictures.



The Great Ocean Road's divided into tree parts, Surf Coast, Green Coast and Shipwreck Coast. Like Australian names, there's no need for explanation. After the beaches and a teabreak, we arrived at the official entrance to the GOC. After that we saw a lot of green and made out next stop at Koala cove. We saw some colorful birds and a couple of sleepy and hungry koalas.





We followed the green coastline until Apollo Bay where we had lunch. Fish and chips, plus a coke. Then we headed inlands and went for a hike in the rainforest, where Tom told us some facts and some half-made up jokes in his usual sarcastic way. We still needed to drive for one more hour in the beautiful green before arriving at the Twelve Apostles.





There was a lot of people there and an option to see the apostles from a helicopter too. We took a walk and wound up at the shore right next to the biggest one. It doesn't translate very well into my pictures, but they looked freakin' amazing. I took a LOT of pictures and even posed in some of them myself.





After the apostles we checked out Shipwreck Gorge where a sailor named Tom survived a shipwreck and saved the only other person, a woman, to survive. They never got married. After that we saw London Bridge which had actually fallen down a couple years earlier just before some school kids were about to go down there. Two people were stranded on the other side though, a fact that Tom elaborated on with another one of his funny stories.

Then we had three hours left to get back to the city. We stopped for dinner at a little town and we -- mom and me -- chose Subway. We were tired but we chatted most of the drive back and I couldn't stay awake for long at the hotel.

I slept well and after breakfast we packed our stuff, took it to the car and checked out of the hotel. We started our day by going to the Eureka tower, the southern hemisphere's highest viewing platform. My mom had never been there before, but I had, coming home from New Zealand in March. The views were good and made more sense this time, because I knew so many more places this time around.



Then we went shopping. Or I went and mom ended up shouting -- Australian for paying -- for me. Besides some DVDs and some clothes from JayJay's the main thing was my new backpack/suitcase, which was twice the size of my former backpack. I won't have the chance to use it in three months, but I did get to haul it around the city for the whole day after my mom left for the airport.

First I headed towards the aquarium but I had to get some food and visit the bookstore, preferably a Borders. So I walked to the borders in South Wharf mall, bought Superfreakonomics and had Subway for lunch. I was on my way back to the aquarium when I stopped at the Village Cinemas in the Crown Casino complex to see what was playing. It was 10 minutes before a showing of Machete so I bought a $11 ticket, some soda and went in.



The movie was fun and afterwards walking to the train station, rolling my suitcase behind me, I must've looked really out of place, like a serial killer or something. But I felt like I'd just come back from a vacation, a new beginning of sorts. I hadn't felt this good after or during my off-days before and during the downtime I'd realized that I should have spent more time in the city. After my trip to Sydney, I will. I took the train home and sent some pictures to the blog on my way. I also stopped at Coles and McDonald's before finally getting home. I unpacked my new stuff and fell asleep after twenty minutes of The Wire.



Yesterday was back to work. Work felt very good, I enjoyed working outside again and the weather was nice -- sunny and 23 degrees. In the evening I tried to stay up and watch some NBA but I retreated to bed at halftime.

Today was more of the same at Helmut's farm, but the weather wasn't very nice. It started raining after lunch and even though it wasn't pouring almost at all, it was very wet. My socks were soaked, my sleeves and pants got wet as well as my gloves, which are going to get thrown out after tomorrow. Ending the day felt awesome and getting home to put on some dry warm clothes felt even better. We have house guests, Axel and Maria, but them being German and all, there's no point listening them to talk and laugh. I'm heading to KFC for dinner and the I'll do some stretching so I can work outside without feeling it on my hamstrings as badly.

So, I saw my mom -- the first familiar face since Baabäk in Hong Kong -- for the first time in three months. Our time was together wasn't very long, but she'll still be in Sydney when I get there next week. I actually do feel like I just had a vacation and in just four days I'll start a real vacation with Brotherman in Sydney. It'll be great to get back there after two years and I'm really fortunate to have this opportunity to see my family here. If I'm unlucky, it'll be another six months before that happens again.

Well, I hope everyone, myself included, has a great weekend. My nephew -- Call me Don Sakari -- turns one this weekend. Congratulations! Don't party too hard.

Kept it koel!

Photo Essay: Eureka, Melbourne!

Photo Essay: Oceans Twelve. Or Seven

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?

There has been fun and there's been some heartache. Monday and Tuesday were a little boring and I felt bad mentally and physically and I'm not sure which one caused the other. Going to work at 7 am on Wednesday I felt worse than I had felt in a long time. But once the day got going I realized that working outside is a million times more enjoyable than working at the bar. Thanks to a badly slept night I was a little tired at the end of today's work but I felt better once I got off work.

Highlights: I got to drive the ute to Lilydale on Wednesday morning. Later John taught me to drive and use the forklift. AWESOME! Today, Sascha asked me to do inventory on his locked storage room. I liked that because I got to actually use my brain to organize something and to do it properly. Tuesday night I watched some television. Going head-to-head were the Miami Heat vs. Utah Jazz overtime game and the premiere of Conan, Conan O'Brien's new late night show. I saw the best parts of both ie. Utah's comeback with a flurry of threes and the opening monologue of Conan. Today's lunch was awesome too.. It was a Parma, which in my estimation is a chicken schnitzel type of thing but with extra tomato under the crust on the file. Yum-may! Rounding out things the funniest thing in a long time was that picture of a license plate I took (it's okay if you don't get the joke).

Okay stuff: Richard came over yesterday and we sat outside talking. Had he not come I might have gone to the cinema with Boaz to see Paranormal Activity 2. On Monday I watched Insomnia. I'd totally forgot about the movie. I was most pleasantly surprised by Robin Williams performance and the simple but unorthodox plot. Oh, and Chris Nolan interviewing Al Pacino was a great extra. On Monday k finished The Wire's fourth season. I still think season two's the best so far. Also, I saw the biggest ants I've ever seen today.

Lowlights: I hate Sascha. He just annoys the hell out of me. In comparison, I actually like talking to Ana now.
1. He thinks that he knows me and makes snap judgments about my working style.
2. He thinks he's funny, but mostly it's the bad kind of unintentional, pathetic funny, if that. Or it's just plain annoying.
3. He speaks really shitty English, with sentences formed like the German language. He almost ruined Richard's visit by talking too much.
4. It might be because of his shitty English, but he uses a lot of superlatives -- "Australia is the worstest blah, blah" SHUT UP!!! -- and makes a lot of end-of-the-discussion statements. He must have said "that's the problem with Rochford" on at least three different subjects. He should learn to use phrases like "In my opinion", "One of the..." and "It might be that" and so on and so on. But now, he's just an asshole nobody disagrees with because he's the boss.

Or nobody disagrees with him because his opinion doesn't matter and he's a foreigner with horrible English. In my opinion, one of the reasons might be just his holier than thou Republicanlike worldview that makes him talk like that. But what do I know? BTW, he's also rubbed Boaz the wrong way lately. Not that I need support for my opinions but it's nice to know that someone else has noticed the mistreating ways of an asshole.

Oh, and I still have to live with him...

His weekend assessment of me did lead to him giving me an enjoyable assignment today, so it's not all bad and I'm sure my annoyance with him will dissipate in time.

In other news it's three more days and my mom will come to Rochford, from where she'll take me to a hotel in St. Kilda for a couple of days and we're also going on a Great Ocean Road tour on Monday.

I can't wait!

Everlong [Acoustic]

(I don't think a blogpost can be acoustic. An unplugged blogpost is a handwritten letter to every reader. An acoustic blogpost is a podcast?)

I really don't update my blog when I should. Like last Wednesday. That's when I went shopping and spent more than $300 of my hard earned cash on plane tickets to Sydney and back, Freakonomics, a couple of DVDs, a couple of t-shirts etc. Five days -- or an everlong -- later all that doesn't feel too important. I went to the Eastland mall, shopped and saw The Social Network in the cinema. The movie made me feel a little sick about Facebook kind of like Super Size Me did to McDonald's -- even though it always makes me go Gorsky for Big Macs.

On Thursday I stayed home, watched Gladiator and wrestling on DVD among other things, got my hair cut and, stayed lazy.

Friday I worked by myself in the vineyard trying to get some color on my pale torso (didn't happen) and finished early. I ate pizza for dinner and spent $45 more on DVDs even though I should be saving.

Yesterday was a not-so-busy day in the restaurant but it still was busy in the bar, as it always is. I felt tired all day but I took really good care of the bar before going home so that today would be easier.

It wasn't. It was a shitty day and Sascha really got on my nerves. The crux of the problem is that we don't have enough staff so us full-timers have to work twice as hard and also keep the others busy. Well, I'm full-time two days a week and I've got less than ten days experience working in a bar in my whole life while the others have been doing their jobs for a year or a lot more. So I suck at my job, I know. But that's a big problem for Sascha too.

But I'm not going to care too much. I'll try to survive the next two weekends before my vacation to Sydney and if he keeps treating me like shit in December I'll gladly change scenery and get a job somewhere else. It's not my preference but being called a slow girl is not something I want from my roommate either.

After a walk to "Maccas" and a Mega Mac meal later I don't feel like crying my frustration away. Numb, maybe?

Now I have two days off and I plan to use my hard earned $$$ for food only. Maybe, just maybe, I'll go to the movies, but I'd rather stay home, chill out, sit outside reading and watch DVDs on the couch. On Tuesday I might get to watch some NBA too. The next days off I'm spending with my mother and after that I'm in Sydney so the next time I can just relax in or around Lilydale will be after the Blondie concert in December.

Seven more days of Everlong and I meet the person in whom I spent almost as much time growing as I will have spent abroad on this trip. I doubt I'll gain 3,960 kgs during these months though.

Stay fat friends,
Sakari out

PS. One day, don't remember which, I was reading a bunch of stuff I've written on the Internet during the years. The best stuff was amusing and I don't feel like I have written anything funny in ages. This blog seems more like a dull diary than an entertaining read. I don't know if it's the language, the subject matter or what, but that's what I feel. I'll try to liven up my writing in future posts. I'm aiming for more clever and funny stuff. I should only write after doing or something funny...

Heartbreak Kid

Yesterday me and Boaz drove down the something something peninsula to a beach in Frankston. He picked me up after eleven and we got there around one PM. It wasn't very warm so we ate at Subway, drove up to Portsea and returned to the beach. It was empty. Windy and deserted. The views were nice -- You could actually see the silhouette of the city on the opposite shore. An hour later we decided to go back home.

Now, what follows may shock some readers but the shock will pass before my arse is back in Finland so I don't care. I've been honest so far and there's no reason to stop now.

On our way home, Louise called me from Rochford and asked me what I was doing. My alarms didn't go off immediately since I was surprised to be getting a call from someone not named Sascha, Ana or Helmut (or Boaz). Then she asked me if we could hang out later and I said "sure, I'll call you back". The truth was I'd rather do something fun with Boaz or nothing at all. But we decided that some dinner and a movie at Boaz' house would be good. So we headed there and texted Lou to come there too.

I was exhausted when we got to Boaz' place at around 4:30. When Lou came she practically sat on me to get close to me. I was starting to get scared. Then we watched the movie (National Treasure 2!) and that's when things started to get ugly. She kept playfully poking me and if my hand was anywhere near hers she tried to grab it. I had to place my left hand in places she couldn't reach not to be annoyed by her advances.

If it was me I'd try to find out if the other person is attracted to me before making a physical move like that. I dunno if she's madly in love with me or just really, really bad at reading other people's emotions, probably the latter and I felt harassed by her.

After the movie I had to get a lift home from her. When we arrived at Summit Road she told me that she liked me and I... said nothing. I didn't want to say "I like you too, but"... The fact that I goof around at work and she laughs at my jokes doesn't make her attractive. Nice and likable maybe. But throwing herself at me without any interest in my intentions? Desperate and pathetic.

I got out of the car and went inside feeling tired and, honestly, angry. I felt I had one friend less while I had done nothing wrong. Is it a surprise that I'm not attracted to her? The only mistake I did was say yes when she asked if we'd like to hang out later. But I didn't realize how she felt until after the phone call. And it was too late after that.

I have to add that Ana told me a rumor about Louise and her past as a man-eater, but I don't think it really factored here. I don't believe she likes me "that way" and I actually hope that she doesn't because that would mean I didn't break her heart. Although I would be offended that she thought I'd be that easy. The other option -- that she really likes me -- is just filled with awkwardness, but she might not be working at Rochford that much anyway.

Today at work was nothing spectacular. The whole ordeal had actually made me feel a little homesick overnight and I thought about a lot of people and days back home while doing the wires on Helmut's rows of vines. It was a sunny day and I turned my thoughts from home to planning/daydreaming about my future travels in Australis. Once I got home from work I took my daydreaming to the computer to calculate gas expenses and check rental car, flight and hotel expenses. Here are some of my plans:

1. My mom might come for a one night visit to Melbourne the third weekend from now.

2. This morning (last night for him) my brotherman let me know that he'd made hotel reservations for us in Sydney. I'll be down there from the 22nd until the 30th of November.

3. I'll stay at Rochford through the concert season and might be leaving a week after the the last one (INXS on Feb 6th) on the 15th of February. The rest of February and March would be spent in Tasmania and Sydney. I'd like to go to TAS by sea, drive around and fly to SYD from Hobart. I might work in a bar in Sydney to inflate my budget and maybe even stay with my mom if she comes to work there. *fingers crossed* Plus, I'd have to see Canberra too.

4. April (maybe late March too) would be dedicated to road tripping, Into The Wild style. I'm thinking of getting a Jucy campervan and driving it around the continent to Adelaide, Perth, Broome, possibly Uluru, Darwin and eventually Cairns.

5. In New Zealand I'd rent another Jucy (it's even cheaper there) and drive around the north island. Tonga and Samoa are yet to be planned, but if I run out of Australian money, I'll gladly get by with my Finnish Visa if it comes to that.



...Now, I just have to take it day by day. Tomorrow I work outside. Saturday will be a function. Next Tuesday is Melbourne Cup day -- Melbourne Cup is some kind of horserace -- so I don't know which days I will have off. I have to secure plain tickets for my trip to Sydney and be patient about that. Meanwhile I'll keep on working, watching DVDs, reading and making new friends.

Now go listen to Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker or "George Steinbrenner's" version from the last seasons of Seinfeld.

Hahn Solo

Blog news:

My very important poll for the blogs new language got an incredible 10 votes in three weeks (one was mine). I thought about going into Finnish, but I want to practice my English a little bit more. On the other hand whenever I write in Finnish it's starting to feel like I can't do it anymore. I might do a 180 when I'm halfway through this trip around New Years. Back to the blog...

A weekend at work turned into three days at work quicker than you can say "Haha, very funny Sascha." I wanted to update the blog on Sunday to attract the most readers possible, but it was not to be.

Saturday was pretty awesome. I had a lot of fun working in the bar with Louise again. It did get very busy at one time, but John Farnham fans behaved better than Simply Red fans so the customers were quite nice and almost no one ordered anything special. Something about Lou's joyfulness brought out the crazy in me and I started talking to her in a Russian accent and calling myself Boris (I don't think Australians remember or have seen Borat). "I go make toilet, now" and "I will crush you" were my favorite phrases. We did get a great flood at the bar, but we also got time off during Farnham's set and free pizza to munch on during it. All the waitresses were nice and in a good mood too (except for Ana) and we all had a good time. Although nobody ordered a "Hahn Solo" it felt really good.

Sunday was supposed to be more of the same, but a shorter day. We started by restocking the bar and by taking all the enticingly available wine bottles next to the kitchen to the back. All of a sudden Helmut comes in and tells me to go outside (Yes, I just switched to present tense). I really don't want to go outside, I have my new good looking trousers on and I'm starting to get good at this job plus I really want to work with these people as much as I can. Helmut talks to Sascha and sends me outside.

I was furious. And lost. I went outside and tried to find something to do. But I didn't know, what I was supposed to be doing. Graham didn't know what I was supposed to do. I went back in and came back out. Finally I heard that I was outside, because we didn't have enough people over 18 to sell alcohol at the marquees outside. After a little juggling I got to sell some booze to people, some of whom were pretty intoxicated to begin with.

After my break they closed a couple of stations and I never got back to selling. Instead I had to restock the iceboxes behind the salesmen and collect trash from the numerous port-a-potties. I felt out of place with my black trousers and rubber gloves.

The rest of Sunday was pretty stupid, but time went pretty quickly and I got to work with Tim and Darcy, who are just about the most lovable, smart and funny boys/guys I know. I worked very hard and got a huge splash of water thrown on my pants to show for it. Afterwards I still had to wait for Sascha, so I could go home. Eva, a new German waitress, waited with me too because Sascha had invited her to our place for dinner.

On our way home Sascha told me that I'd have to go back to work on Monday. I thought this was just his stupid jokes, that he could see it from my face that that would be the last thing I'd want to hear. I didn't even acknowledge his comment and just watched out the window. But I had to ask him if he was being serious. Boaz had asked him (hours earlier) if he could get some help for Monday.

Eva stayed for dinner and I had to keep the conversation going in English so that the others wouldn't talk German all the time. She was a very nice, warm person and very German looking. Her English was a lot better than Sascha's or Ana's and I learned that she's from Aachen near Cologne (Koln).

Monday morning I woke early to Boaz's text message but he didn't come pick me up. Instead, over two hours later Sascha took me to work. Boaz gave me a Red Bull and an assignment outside. I set up the whole cafe (Boaz did help me a lot) before going on a break. After the break I helped David, Meg and Boaz inside. Before long though, Helmut called me and told me to go work outside with Richard.

When I found Richard he had enough help so I dragged a couple of empty recycling and trash bins back to the winery and went back inside for a while. One of the three wine tour busses had cancelled though and it was quiet. Richard came in and gave me something to do. So I spent the rest of the day working with Rami's Indian friends who weren't as lazy as Friday's bunch. We changed the concert signs from the past weekend with INXS and a new Blondie/Pretenders sign, we drove all the random pellets lying around an either took them back to the winery or threw them in a pile to burn and we drove around the vineyard looking for and ripping out all the red and white plastic tape we could find. And that was the day.

Boaz gave me a lift home and asked me if I wanted to hang out with him the next day. I agreed and he told me he'd pick me up after work. Right away I headed to Coles to buy some food and on the way I took a detour to VideoEzy where I bought 48 Hrs. on DVD. I also ate some McDonald's because I was hungry and tired. I fell asleep in my room before Sascha and Ana even started to eat dinner.

Yesterday was one of the best days in Australia so far. Sascha slept all morning and I ate some breakfast, read my book outside, washed my linen and black trousers and wathced DVDs in my room. I went to McDonald's again for lunch. Sascha went to pick up Ana and while he was gone, Boaz gave to pick me up. He dropped Rami off at Coles and we went inside to buy some dinner ingredients. Then we drove to Boaz's place.

Once there, I met Boaz's roommate/landlord Made from Indonesia or Bali to be more exact. He was customizing one of his four motorcycles at the moment and he worked as a chef in a restaurant nearby. Inside Boaz gave me the tour and I could sense the comforting feng shui of the apartment. Right next to the front door they had a Dojo where Made meditated and where they both did some martial arts. I don't remember which one... They also had a very nice terrace outside, with lots of room.

We sat down in the living room with Boaz and he asked me about my life in Finland. We talked about basketball (he's a big fan and half-jokingly called footie a "gay sport"), Rochford and the people there. Boaz told me that I'm a humble person and used quite a nice analogy; People are like cans of soda. Some make a lot of noise because they are not full, aka. they don't know stuff but they have to talk to hide the fact. Others are like myself, we don't make a lot of noise, cause we are full; We know what's going on but we don't have to talk shit. We talked about the importance of speaking English as understandably as possible and Boaz told me that my English was exceptional for a foreigner not from an English speaking country. It's safe to say that I like him a lot. He even wants to go play basketball with me.

Then we watched The National Treasure, which was surprisingly good, especially since the premise was a little stupid and ate some dinner with Made. He was a very interesting person and we talked about poverty in South East Asia compared to the Socialist Democratic system in Finland. He was glad that him and Boaz had gotten out of the nothingness of their home countries to a place where they could get paid real money for the same jobs. The conversation also turned to alphabets. He told us that the Bali alphabet actually has a meaning when you put it in order and form words with letters next to each other. It forms a sentence which roughly translates into "There are two warriors. They are both strong and they fight each other. But no one ever wins." Sounds a lot better than "A, B, C..." to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. He also told me that the Bali New Years Day is actually a day of silence. No working, no traveling, no fucking, no loud talking, no eating, no drinking. All they do for one day is read, meditate and think. I want a day like that sometime next summer. No TV, no music, no computers, only sitting and being. I have to practice my meditating skills first :)

We started to watch Gridiron Gang starring The Rock, but were a little too tired so Boaz gave me a lift home. Sascha and Ana were already in their bedroom, but in our living room I found a new resident. A 32 inch TV and a Blu-Ray player.

Today me and Boaz are going to the beach somewhere a 50 minute drive away from here. He's going to pick me up in a couple of minutes and then we're off.

Red Right Hand

It's been over a week since my last update and the time has passed pretty quickly. I'll do a short recap.

On Friday at work me ad Richard painted all the outside tables under the marquee in the rain. It was cold. Boas gave me a ride home and said we should hang out sometime. I have him my number.

On Saturday and Sunday I worked the bar with David, who told me I did a good job. I can't wait to work in the concert on this Saturday. After work on Sunday me and Sascha went to Helmut's house.

On Monday morning I took a shower. I was drying my hair after the shower when my neck stung like a mf'er and I could barely move my head. I stayed home in bed all day.

On Tuesday my neck was a little better and Sascha gave me a lift to the Eastland mall in Ringwood where I spent a lot of hours and some money too. I went to the movies there.

At work on Wednesday me and Richard worked on Helmut's vines all day. The sun was out, I didn't have sunscreen and now I am a Rock Lobster. We had drinks at Helmut's later and he gave a cupboard for me to take back to our place.

Yesterday was more of the same at work, but I had my tomato picking clothes on and didn't get burned anymore. After work we went to Eastland again. Sascha and Ana wanted to buy a TV and I bought the cheapest portable DVD player. 2 DVDs and a sweatshirt.

Some details. Working with Richard has been a lot of fun. He's a fun, interesting guy and he tells some dirty jokes. It's awesome whether it's raining or the sun is burning hot.

After work on Sunday I was very tired thanks to not sleeping well all week and didn't feel like going to Helmut's. If Sascha bad asked me how I was one more time I would've screamed. But when I saw the hospitable host who offered me a wink and a coke I felt so much better.

We sat outside and took in the incredible views (and our drinks) of Yarra Valley before Helmut's wife, Nicky, and youngest child five month old Isabella aka Littlefoot arrived. We moved inside and continued talking. We talked about the restaurant, Sascha told about his past in the restaurant business and then they grilled me on the subject of Australian women trying to find me one. Honestly, I'd love to find some good friends but I an not looking for anything more in Australian relationship.

Monday was one of the worst days of 2010. I haven't been in that pain since dislocating my collarbone when falling of a skateboard in 2002. I could barely turn my head and couldn't bend it backwards at all. I mostly just laid there either watching DVDs on my side or sleeping on my back. Usually I don't sleep on my back because... Well, have YOU ever woken up to the sound of your own snoring? So, the DVDs aside, Monday was a crappy day.

I felt better on Tuesday. At the mall I bought straight black pants to wear behind the bar as well as some socks, S4 of How I Met Your Mother (which didn't work in Sascha's European DVD player) and food. I took the train back and Sascha was already at the Lillydale station waiting for Ana.

Wendesday was back to work. We worked on Helmut's vines all-day long and I didn't have any sunscreen because I was stupid. It was nice to get the cupboard and after a trip to Coles with Sascha I arranged most of my stuff into it. My room looked good.

After Thursday's shopping it looked even better and now I should be properly entertained on rainy off-days and evenings after work. I've also decided not to get a laptop, because I don't need one here. I'll get a proper one with ä, ö, å, < and > when I get back to Finland. That $600 dollars now goes to traveling expenses and shopping at the end of my trip.

Today we set up the fences for the concert tomorrow. It was another warm day and we have to wear these bloody glow-in-the-dark vests so it's really warm. It's going to be a loong summer I reckon.

See yous guys later. Bye!

9 To 5

How are you going?

I'm going pretty good. On Tuesday, our second day off, me and Sascha finally got our asses out of the apartment on time and went shopping in the city. We parked underneath the exhibition center and walked from there. It was a lot warmer than two weeks ago.

We didn't have a map and I was surprised when we arrives at the big JB Hifi from the opposite direction and sooner than I had anticipated. I bought seasons 3 and 4 of The Wire, while Sascha looked for a boom box with an iPod dock. Unfortunately the only box with enough boom bass cost $500.

Then we headed for lunch. There are a lot of small alleys near Flinders St. Station and there are a lot of nice restaurants on those alleys. The atmosphere was New Yorkian and we settled on a Italianish place. I had a pizza with chorizzo and Sascha ate a Turkey risotto, which he praised.

Before going to pick up Ana I also bought a couple of magazines in case I have to kill more time at work waiting for Sascha. Lastly we stopped by a JayJay's where I bought my first two t-shirts of the trip and some Sesame Street underwear as well.

We had a goo time with Sascha, I got almost everything I wanted -- I still need some jeans but $80 nor skin tight are not the way to go -- and that, my friends, was Tuesday. A pizza (Dr. Oetker!) and an episode of episode of The Wire later I was in bed.

I woke up the next night at 4 AM for seemingly no reason and couldn't sleep for two hours. I was pretty tired when I got to work but it was okay after I got going. We were going to lay a new slab of concrete with Richard but it started raining before we even finished the frame so it was off to other stuff. I got to re-paint several used blackboards, which kept me busy for most of the day, and I also got to use a pressure washer -- I think Richard called it a gurney or something. Then I waited for Sascha reading one of my magazines before heading home.

At dinner we got to talking and we had a good time even though the guys tried to get me to drink some Fortified Cabernet. A 20% red wine? No way can I drink that! Instead I chugged down some newly bought lemon and lime Solo which actually tastes almost exactly like the green lime Jaffa in Finland.

I woke again in the middle of the night but I wasn't awake for too long. Today we finally got the concrete done. Richard had finished the frame and while he called the concrete people I topped of the frame by laying some discarded wire fence to keep the fortified concrete together.

When the stuff arrived we used shovels, pieces of timber and flat surfaced tools to level the stuff into the frame. Richard finished the edges with a special tool. At lunch he asked me if I'd ever done that before and he said that I'd done it very well. It was my first time and it was actually a lot of fun. It felt rewarding and it'll feel better tomorrow when it's actually hard.

After lunch we put up a sign for the INXS concert on the side of the Maroondah Highway. I also got to drive for the first time -- it was a pick-up or a "yute"? with manual transmission but changing gears with the left hand isn't that difficult. Then I helped John rearrange the drink stocks to get the new shipment in the back and the old stuff to the front and our last order of business was poisoning some snails on the wines. Sascha had to work a function which ends at nine so Richard gave me a lift. I stopped by at McDonald's for my dinner and watched one more episode of The Wire before updating my blog.

Then I pressed send.

Simply (just) Red - My First 'Day on The Green'

With a concert looming, a lot of people were working very hard, myself included. On Friday Ana joined me and Sascha and came to work at Rochford after working four days at her own job. I didn't get to see either very much that day as I was busy working with Richard and a couple of others, putting up fences on the green in front of the stage and all around the winery as well as other manly stuff. It wasn't a long day but I continued working outside on Saturday morning so the days are a little muddled in my head.

I got off work at around 5:30 PM, but ended up waiting for Sascha to do some paperwork until at least sundown (somewhere closer to 8 o'clock). We had McDonald's for our late dinner.

On Saturday the three of us were on the move very early and I was feeling very tired, mostly because of the physical nature of the work I had been doing. We set up some takeaway food and wine marquees (large tents) before getting to eat a staff breakfast. Even though it was a concert day with the gates opening at around 2 PM there were a lot of wine tour customers around noon which employed the wine tasting people as well as the waiters, the chefs and the bartenders.

After tying some bricks to protect the marquees from flying away and putting up some signs I was able to escape the outside work and get behind the bar. I was working with Louise and we were in charge of the bar. The bar fridges had been emptied of our normal stock and re-filled with our concert stock. I ended up pouring soft drinks, cold beers, many, many glasses of wine and to mix some drinks. We started around 1:30 and almost just like that the sun had gone down and Simply Red was on stage. We closed the alcohol service and I moved to my speciality, polishing glasses.

Serving drinks was a lot of fun and we worked really well together with Lou. I did most of the walking stuff while she had to do all of the coffees and handle the money orders (ie. the spirits since all wines, beers and soft drinks were included in the ticket prices). Sometimes I was alone at the bar and did quite well even getting a $20 tip from a very nice young lawyer. There were, of course, some mistakes but things were so well prepared and the selection of drinks was so narrow that I was able to handle most of it. I had fun.

The night lasted until midnight before we got to leave, which everybody was actually surprised by. I talked to Helmut as we were fetching all the rubbish bins and he seemed satisfied with how things had gone and how hard people had worked. He also said that me, Sascha and Ana were invited to his house after work next Sunday.

Sunday morning I got to sleep a little later and even had time to take a shower. Again I was working at the bar, this time with Bree or Brianna. Before the tour busses arrived we were doing really well, but then we started running out of clean glasses and getting buried in coffee orders. I handled most of the alcohol and soft drink orders (I'm glad that I got that RSA) but the extended selection had me searching for wines at times when I could've been washing the glasses and helping Bree out. In the end we survived but the last hour and more was a joint effort of polishing glasses. While polishing, I talked to couple of the waitresses, Sasha and Taylor, and both were really nice and asked a lot of questions, a deed I still need to learn to return. But the conversations were still nice and went into surprising directions as good conversations always do.

When we finally got rid of the last group after five and after Tim, Taylor and I cleaned the bar I still had to wait for Sascha. I surfed the Internet until my battery died, made some coffees and just sat there. I couldn't wait to get home for my days off and to finish watching the second season of The Wire that I had been watching an episode a day on average. We stopped by the store and ate delicious pasta bolognese at around midnight. Sascha is a great cook and we also arrived on a solution on how to spit the food expenses. I finished the magnificent DVD set and got some valuable shut eye.

Today I have washed my linen, read some of my Hitchiker's book and just sat in the 21 degree afternoon sun. I burned my arms a little but I applied Aloe Vera while watching Ridley Scott's Robin Hood on Sascha's portable DVD player. In between I also had a really good chat with Sascha with him doing most of the talking about my life. A very nice day. Tomorrow we're going to the city and I want to buy some new magazines (in case my battery fails me at work again), season three of The Wire, new pants and maybe some shirts and socks so I don't have to do laundry too often.

After tomorrow it's back to work on the vineyard and I can't wait till the next 'Days on The Green' two weeks from now. John Farnham even has a very good song on my iPhone (You're The Voice, check it out) so the music can't be too bad.

Until next time, no worries.

Episode IV: A New Home

So...

I have to admit that I have had some emotional issues regarding home-sickness, my latest relationship and money. I can't promise that it's all behind me. There will be some shitty days. But I have no reason to complain and nothing to regret. Why? Well follow me and I'll recapture how I've settled into a new life and home on my two days off from work.

Yesterday morning I woke up at Alex's very tired. I took a shower, ate some breakfast, got my bags ready and went outside to play with the dogs. Sascha, my new German roommate, was coming to pick me up after eleven. So I waited. I must have thrown the drool covered ball more than a hundred times before I got bored of watching Hazel jumping for it. So I waited. And I waited. It was already over 1 PM so I decided to exploit one of the rules of the universe. You know if you are waiting something to happen, it rarely does. And when you least expect it, the universe gives you what you wanted. So I watched an episode of The Wire (I bought Season 2 on DVD from Melbourne, a gamble that paid off, twice). With less than 10 minutes left, Sascha came. He did have some business to attend to at the company but after that we took one of Alex's extra beds -- Sascha called it a "prison bed" -- and a mattress and loaded them into Sascha Pajero with my backpacks. Then we drove to Lillydale and left the stuff there, in my home to be. Right away we took off, cause we had to get Ana from the train station and head to IKEA to get some new furniture. Going to IKEA was not only for my sake even though my room was empty if not for the bed parts and the mattress. No, Ana and Sascha also needed furniture caused they moved in only 10 days before I came. So they fought over which couch they should buy for a long time as marveled at the weird sense that IKEA is really close to home. I have a lot of the same stuff in storage that they sold here. Globalization...

I wasn't part of the selection process but Sascha and Ana got themselves a new couch and some little stuff and I got new dark blue linen for my bed, a pillow and a cover. Very nice. We filled the car up and got the stuff home.

After loading up the car and setting up the bed I started settling in. Then I was welcomed into their lives with a glass of white wine -- Shiraz, I think. We ate some dinner and I retreated to my room where I got more payoff for my DVD gamble with my hosts portable DVD player. Now I don't have to buy a laptop or a portable DVD player until I leave here.

For our second day off we went to a shopping mall in the city. It was the South Bank shopping mall in a new unreasonably expensive part of the city. In the end I just followed Sasha around as he bought some nice new clothes that I'd never dream of buying. It was a higher end shopping mall, but there were the exact shops I like -- JayJay's and JB HIFI -- so I will be going back there when I get money. After that we picked up Ana from her job -- she's a dental hygienist, besides sometimes waiting tables at Rochford -- where she's been having a moral dilemma because her co-workers have been lazy and not doing their job properly. But she might be getting another job closer to home. A long drive later we got back home.

How good do I have it? I get payed every fortnight (that's two weeks) and my rent and expenses will be deducted on pay day so I don't have to worry about money. I will have three paydays before my brother comes to Sydney and I have to actually spend some money. Sascha and I go to and back from work together. The only minus might be that he has longer days so I might have to hang out in the staff room after work.

But who are these people, my new family? I got to talk a lot to Sascha these two days and I learned that he used to be a chef and then he moved into the hotel business. He did apprenticeships all around Asia -- Bangkok, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur. Then he traveled around the world on a boat enjoying it. Back in Hamburg he was in charge of one of the best hotel restaurants in the world. Then he started his own business, a restaurant consulting company. He still has it but he came to Australia on a working holiday with Ana. Rochford Wines came along and they stayed. But they're not staying here forever. Ana is getting work experience while Sascha is the restaurant manager to keep himself busy. He has his company to go back to when they leave.

I don't know that much about Ana. She's born in Poland but her family moved to Germany, where he and Sascha met. But I can say that they've welcomed me to their life. They are very, very nice people and they've given me valuable advice on backpacking in Australia. I'm very fortunate and even though I feel a little guilty of how good I have it compared to someone in, say, Proserpine, I am going to take advantage of the situation.

So, 2010 will be a nice year and I'm going to make some money this month with 4 special weekend events starting with a Simply Red concert this Saturday. I'm going to save money for 3 - 4 months and then do some traveling without too much hassles looking for jobs. But nothing's set in stone. All I know is now I'm here and in no hurry to go anywhere. Summer's coming. I'm happy.

High note.