You Haven't Done Nothin'

Well, hello there!

The year is almost over but for me it doesn't matter if it's 2010 or 2011. The next night (or some time today for you) is actually the halfway point of my stay in Australia. So it's not an end or a beginning, it's a middle.

It's only been four days but the days have already gotten a little muddy in my memories. The weather has been pretty warm during the day time. But during the night it's at least ten degrees colder. The city is actually more a collection of smaller cities rather than a city that's comparable to Turku or Tampere.

I don't have a job, yet. I've done a lot of budgeting in my mind though. I've already paid for my first two weeks of accommodation as well as my plane ticket. Without a job I can afford accommodation for three weeks and food for the duration of my 30 day stay in Tasmania AND have around $5-600 for going around. I'm planning on doing a road trip around the island in 3-5 days during my last two weeks here depending on how much money I have at that point... I should be able to get by with $100 for gas, around the normal amount for food and $2-300 for car rental. I will also need a National Parks Pass and a sleeping bag or something similar on the trip.

On the job front I've taken it slow. On Sunday I asked about my first job opportunity at a souvenir store. On Monday I wrote my application for the job. On Tuesday I visited an Internet café and printed my application and on Wednesday I dropped it off at the store. I don't really believe I will get that job, but I had to start from somewhere.

Later yesterday I stopped feeling sorry for myself and grabbed the bull by the horns and went through google search results for "Hospitality jobs Hobart", "Casual jobs Hobart" and "Backpacker jobs Hobart". I ended up sending only one application though, because there didn't seem to be a lot of open jobs like that.

Later yesterday I was looking at a travel magazine and I found an ad for a casino close by in Sandy Bay. I went to their website and today I left an Internet application for a casual bar job and a message on a "recruiter's" voicemail.

I'm repeating myself when I say the following buy it's my mantra. I don't have to get a job, but if I don't get a job, I will become bored more easily. And I don't want to spend too much money to fight the boredom, because I want to have as much of it as I can for my road trip. I'm still going to be checking the casual hospitality job market for short jobs around the city.

But that's enough about jobs.

I actually haven't been bored too much or feeling too bad. To pass the time I've walked to the botanic gardens, to Sandy Bay and other places. I also read one book, "Whiter Shades of Pale" and one comic book (Donald Duck pocketbook 369, Tripla) which I'd gotten from my grandma. While reading I've been hanging out in the kitchen and the living room areas of the hostel every night and there's always a conversation to join. I've talked to several Australians and people from Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy and Israel. A couple of days ago I met a girl from Sweden, let's call her Ms. S.

She's also on a working holiday and she's looking for farm work to get a second year visa. Yesterday, after my daily walks around town, I saw her in the dining area and I sat down to talk with her. It was around four o'clock. She had been on a winery tour earlier and we started talking. Among other things we talked about our attempts to find jobs and I actually started to really look for jobs sitting at that table with her. I also had my dinner and we sat there for quite a while. 

Later we went to Coles in Sandy Bay and on the way we kept on talking about home-sickness (or her lack off), Australia and our pasts. That's when she said that she was glad to come to Australia because she had broken up with her girlfriend. For a moment I thought she had said girlfriend by accident, but when she continued using words "she" and "her" I realized that she had meant what she said. I felt safer right away as it made it easier to just be friends with her.

We basically hung out the whole evening together and talked to many other people in the hostel. Today she let me borrow her computer for my casino job application and afterwards we went looking for camping gear. The backpacks seemed a bit expensive and big but I will need one on the mainland as well if I'm going to drive around the continent in a camper van. I will have to think about that, but later.

Anyway, meeting people and getting new friends has helped to pass the time. But there's still a lot of time and every person you meet in a hostel will someday be gone. Usually the best ones disappear in one day. I probably shouldn't get as attached to people by if I was afraid of that, I might not talk to anyone and that would be a lot worse.

Tomorrow I will try to find a New Years party and next week I will visit the museums and all the free sights I can find. I might do a hike up to Mt. Wellington but I have to find an affordable way to get a little closer. I might also buy a couple of DVDs tomorrow while they are still on sale. I know it might sound stupid but if I really stick to my guns on eating cheaply I will still afford to rent a car even without the job. I'm not discounting the possibility but I'm prepared for the worst. I'll just have to get a great job once I get to Sydney or change my plans drastically... I already made one purchase to feel more at home. I had found on Sydney but hadn't dared buy it but now I found another one in a Australian Geographic store. What is it? It's a 62 cm, larger than (real) life Platypus that I can now sleep next to every night for the next five months before I reunite with all my animal friends back home. Halfway through my trip I just had to admit to myself that I'm a person who needs something (or someone) to sleep next to. $25 wouldn't buy a girlfriend so a plushy platypus it is.

Well, my next post will hopefully be a bit more exiting. But now I do want to look back on the year. I have been thinking about making a list or top ten of the most memorable days of the year. It's really hard to come up with that many specific days. But I'll just go through some of the most memorable stuff.

There was my trip to New Zealand in March and my mom's 60th birthday while we were there. I got my bachelor's degree and actually accomplished and put effort into something on the university level in April/May. We watched the most exiting NBA Finals in years with my friends in mid June. 

Osterman Weekend is always special and this year's offering in January was possibly the best. More guests, more movies, more laughs, a big Subway sandwich and very good beverages that led to good conversations. Probably my second favorite event of the year. Talvipäivät in Jyväskylä was a great weekend and the lavatanssit on my birthday was possibly the best birthday I've spent in years. Well I christened it my birthweek and had basically three parties in eight days so it was great fun. In May I helped my friend Llanos move from Rovamiemi to Helsinki so I drove up, spent some time with him and his friends and drove back down in three days. A week earlier I moved all my stuff in to a storage room in Turku with my cousin 'Tu 'omo and my friend Walter. I have a couple of good videos from that day... Tour de L was also better than before and I hope the tradition continues next June.

Summer and watching the World Cup at our summer house was a great time but none of the days stand out. The more visitors we had, the better. Also the day Suvi came there with me was fun. I also enjoyed working in Högsand and at Kiljava.

Every time I was in Wanha-Kettu was fun. I should've held my going-away-party there, but the one we had in Kannas with Dr. Ah-Kee was pretty memorable. My last days in Finland spent with Suvi were some of the best times we had together, especially our 1st anniversary celebration (I've only started to read the book she gave me...). 

From my trip I will never forget Hong Kong and in retrospect it will feel better and better thinking back even though it was pretty rough at the time. The Great Ocean with my mom, Blue Mountains with Brotherman and the Phillip Island tour stand out from my Australian days.

But my favorite day of the whole year was many things at once. It was a party, it was spent with my cousins and it was during the summer. It was the night of my cousin Jucy's beach party in Lauttasaari. There I talked with friends and acquaintances and got to spend time with Brotherman, Jucy and Anouk, 'Tu 'Omo and Eyerees and The Liero. I swam in the ocean and enjoyed a great sauna as well as a nice hot tub. From Lauttasaari we went to Kaivohuone for an eventful party and great conversations. The night continued with a car ride with five passengers to Rock n' Roll McDonald's and concluded at Jucy's with Big Mac's and quality time with him and El Liéro. I'm sure that most participants would agree that it was an unforgettable night for all involved.

So, I hope 2011 is filled with more unforgettable moments and nights of debauchery for myself and everyone who wants to enjoy them with or apart from me.

Have a great New Years!

Ps.
One more blog note. Writing in English has been good practice but I believe that Finnish writing would be just as, if not more, beneficial. So at around the halfway of my nine month trip, in mid-January I'm looking forward to writing at least some, if not all, of the posts in Finnish.

Now, my readers, this might be an easily breakable New Years resolution but if you disagree mightily and definitely want me to keep writing in English drop a comment or an e-mail with your wishes to keep this place international. But if I don't change to Finnish soon, I'll forget how to use the damn language. That's all.