End of week 2

Am starting now already to lose the will to live with this thing...but as most of you know I can moider till the cows come home about all sorts of inane subjects...so I'll continue to give it a go and you can switch off when it gets boring. I could make stuff up, this week hasn't felt too crazily exciting, so maybe I should..hmm.

Monday...I had the day off and milled around at home, not doing much because the weather was just no fun. When it rains here it's more wettening than it seems in the UK somehow and then because the city is so big, everything seems so very far away if you want to leave the house...so, easier to stay put. I played around with talking to people on Skype and that sort of thing, read books considered booking sky dives for my trip to Auckland in a few weeks...bothered to actually make myself food in the evening, well done me.

On Tuesday was getting itchy to get a haircut (maybe I wish I'd been a bit more patient now...), so after work caught the tram home and had to walk the bike back as I forgot to bring my helmet back from work, annoyingly...it's law to wear cycle helmets here and I'm not risking any run ins with the police or any of the other police-type figures having seen how scary they seem about. Anyway, so wandered the streets a bit late in the end as had to get home and then get tram out again, so window shopping only and no hairdressers open, so called Kate and she drove out to meet me and we went to a cool little cocktail place with velvet chairs and the like, called The Alchemist Bar, 361 Brunswick street, it also did some lovely tapas as well (you will probably find I am somewhat Brunswick street obsessed...for those from Oxford, I like to think of it as a bigger more elaborate and much more fun version of the Cowley road...). After that we also went looking for Churros at some of the Spanish places on Johnson street, but sadly, they were all closed as we were a bit late...but were recommended to go to San Churro, 277b Brunswick street. It's a chaing, but tasty stuff...although I think we got the later end of the batter and it could have been a bit fresher...nevertheless it was gorgeous tasty stuff. That evening I caught the tram home which was fine, it was a bit dark and quiet along my street, but that just seems to be the way it is!

Had a meeting with my boss today about copy editing a book the team are working on, quite excited to be involved in that, should be an interesting way to learn more about the topic area of 'Consumers and Communications' as well! Also persuaded three work colleagues to take up belly dancing at lunchtimes come the end of April! He he! And Pilates and Yoga to start at lunchtimes next week with Di too. Smart! Also going to do Kick Boxing on Monday evenings...this way I will force myself to get fit and do exercise...feeling quite generally Jess-anxious at the moment still...I guess this is a big thing I'm doing, but I'm still telling myself it's not and getting cross with myself for not being more dynamic and less clumsy and ermee and erreee, grrr! Worked quite late this evening and didn't do much in the evening.

On Thursday, actually signed up for the exercise classes, rather than talking about doing so...was worried the classes would get booked up by all the students. Went for lunch with Megan, the person who I'm covering the job of, and Rebecca who works in the office too, we ate at 'Pings' on the La Trobe campus, in the sunshine. The University is soooo packed, it's absolutely buzzing with students, Rebecca assured me that in a few weeks once a few have dropped out and a few have started skipping lectures it will seem a lot more empty! In the evening, Di, from work, dropped her futon round, so I now sleep off the floor, woo hoo! She's been incredibly generous and I gave her some of the amazing wine chocolate I've discovered here as a thank you. After she left I rearranged ALLLL my stuff in my room, which didn't take very long. I received my Tax file reference number in the post today, so that took two weeks to come through, have let People and Culture (aka HR) know so I don't get over taxed - they give you 30 days to get a tax file number and after that start charging you somet like 45% or something tax, so glad to have that sorted...also it seems my bank cards and pin may have been sent to the University but to a very generic address...so the post room won't be able to find me...need to sort that...

On Friday, I was annoyingly clumsy and broke a full glass of water in front of my boss and a person who had come to visit us to talk about our grant application for the next three years. Embarrassing. Then I had to leave the meeting early too, see what I mean about not feeling very dynamic? Went to the hairdressers after work - the 86 tram conveniently goes all the way from La Trobe and turns right on to Gertrude street, right next to the hairdressers, Biba, that I booked. It took 3.5 hours to cut and colour it and I didn't quite get what I wanted, and it cost shed loads...they did offer me wine in the middle of it all, but I was so bemused and uncertain as to whether I would have to pay for it that I said no...quite annoyed with myself for that too. I was a bit frustrated that I was having my hair cut by Brit expats...which I only realised after a while as their accents had altered in the time they were here...is this a form of racism? I don't know, but I wanted to have my hair cut by an Australian...maybe a Korean would have been OK too...but not a bloomin' Brit, I could have got it done at home, and they're similarly annoyingly cut it how they want to cut it clearly, rather than how you want it...and impatient as I list all the ways in which I want it to look (not how you did it by the way young lady!). Humph. So I'm getting used to the hair and it's fine, but it's very old school Jennifer Aniston and pfff. The irony of the Brit in Melbourne being annoyed that there's another Brit there too, doing a job, just as she is...Kate met me and told me to stop scowling and we went to 'Tandoori Times', 199 Gertrude street. The staff were friendly, there was a massive party in there when we arrived, but I wasn't very impressed with the food. The hotness of the curries was slightly painful rather than done well, I don't know. I think Kate was a bigger fan as she was keener to get blasted by hot chillies. But yep, I'm not sure it was good...I do remember hearing someone say it's pretty difficult to get a good curry in Australia...nothing like Qumins on St Clements, Oxford....then we went over to a bar on Smith Street called The Panama dining room, it's a late bar (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/09/18/1158431620358.html) Nice place, there's a venue on the lower floor too, both worth checking out and decorations are really cool.

Saturday, had a good lie in, then got up and ready for Brunswick street shopping, loved it, some of the shops worth checking out are Kinki gerlinki - got my amazing new bag from there, also Mazi Boutique, 148 Bridge Road AND on Brunswick street too - on the receipt it says 'Your gorgeous purchases today are...which is quite cool too...I will be going there again. Also discovered magical ice cream place right next to the tram stop...called Trampoline, flavours that jump in to your mouth...lovely ice creamagery, fab stuff...another one to add to the 'show your visitors'! In the evening I simply brought my stuff home and tried it all on and that was about it...

I'm really not doing much drinking since being here, weird, I'm sure my Mother and Father will be pleased to hear that! Now probably for another week, farewell...next weekened to Auckland for a work conference...with two days added on..got a gross O'clock in the morning flight at like 6am to get there on the Friday - I'll be awake at normal British times!

Jexx