First of all, I'm really sorry to all the people who I sent text messages to last night. Darren got me back a good one by pranking my phone at 2am (my time). My hat goes off to you, sir.
I went to the Woolshed Bar (Baa?) around 1pm and already it was quite full. They were up to about number 70 on the Hottest 100 so I got a Coopers (didn't taste as good as I remembered? Too warm, I think) and hung around. And hung around. Got up to almost the 50s and there was another guy standing around like a nigel so I said to him 'Did you vote this year?' (indicating the countdown) and we just started talking. Which was good because then we both weren't nigels anymore and he had just spent 3 months working in the French Riviera so had lots of cool stories.
There were Aussies galore and I'm glad I talked to some because up until then it was the worst feeling-being surrounded by Aussies but still feeling so alone!
There was another guy, CJ and another guy...can't remember his name...but they were with a group and we talked with all them too. CJ has been working in Belfast for 12 months as a town planner!
Anyway, we hear 2 songs that had already been on (number 100 and 99 I think!) and it sounds like they are doing a recap before getting to the Top 10. But they never played it! Some pubrock band came on and we never heard the Top 10! Felt so ripped off. It was really really packed by now and I had a few beers under my belt and an Australian flag as a cape by this stage...so I decided to head off. It was about 6pm by this stage. They might have played the last little bit later in the night but I wasn't up for staying around for it. I had some fun and spent Aus Day with some Aussies and drank Coopers (and Fosters-sorry! But it really is a different formula here I swear!) so I was happy.
Staggered back to the hostel via Aldi, which was a very surreal experience in my state...and then deciding it was too complicated to make any 'real' food just put together a toasted ham and cheese and it was the best thing I've tasted in a long time. MmmMMmmMm
I tried to upload photos from my camera but the stupid computer won't recognise it. Seriously I am getting jack of this camera and wish I had traded it in for a different one in NYC. Little Pentax you have done me well in the past but now you are just being an obnoxious temperamental brat!!! Most times when I go to turn it on, the memory card does something the camera doesn't like and the whole thing freezes. Not happy!!! So I don't know how I will get my photos uploaded. What a bugger. I miss my lappy so much, especially here :'(
Ok I best be checking the last of my emails and heading off. Make some proper food in the kitchen before it gets busy. The kitchen is big but far out it's crap. Most of the hotplates/grills don't work and it's really cramped in there with all this not working stuff in the way, and they only have like, 1 frypan and it's always in use. Like, 10 pots but only 1 pan? I have a feeling they don't have proper cereal bowls either. What a crock.
Might head to the museum of natural history later today too. Nice.
Alrighty I'm off!
xxx lisha
Saturday, 26 January 2008
I look a pillock...
And yes i did buy those peas. At least i hope they are peas. World peas for all! Awesome. It's 7pm...what a craic...
A personal favourite of Michelle Leslie, I've heard...
All I want is tea bags!!! Omg happy australia day i'm inebriated the pub i was in stopped the triple j hottest 100 before the top 10 greatest tragedy ever. I'm in aldi looking for tea bags...
Friday, 25 January 2008
Australians all let us rejoice!
Guess what arrived in the post for me today?!?!
That's right...an Australian flag! I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. Maybe I'll hang it somewhere.
And I love Australia but I think this idea is dumb (and misguided...doesn't he know the black on the Aboriginal flag represents the people so by excluding it he is 'excluding' acknowledging the Aboriginal people?):
http://www.sunburntflag.com.au/
I also saw this article on the Herald website and thought it was so appropriate! Had to stop myself from laughing out loud here in the internet cafe. Although most of the people here are playing CounterStrike or WoW with headphones on so it's not like they could hear me.
oh noes!!! The Bumblebeez 'Dr Love' (one of my favourite songs of the year even though most people around me probably hated hearing it) came in at #93 on the Hottest 100! Ripped off!!!
That's right...an Australian flag! I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. Maybe I'll hang it somewhere.
And I love Australia but I think this idea is dumb (and misguided...doesn't he know the black on the Aboriginal flag represents the people so by excluding it he is 'excluding' acknowledging the Aboriginal people?):
http://www.sunburntflag.com.au/
I also saw this article on the Herald website and thought it was so appropriate! Had to stop myself from laughing out loud here in the internet cafe. Although most of the people here are playing CounterStrike or WoW with headphones on so it's not like they could hear me.
How do you tell if you are a true Aussie?
You know you're Australian if …
1. You know the meaning of the word "girt".
2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.
4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.
5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden. (We keep out hose locked in the garage for a reason-pesky kids!!!)
6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school. (Americans you made need this explained to you)
7. When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom.
8. You understand that the phrase "a group of women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.
9. You pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".
10. You pronounce Penrith as "Pen-riff". (TOTALLY!!!!)
11. You believe the "l" in the word "Australia" is optional.
12. You can translate: "Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas." (and on the way they chucked a spaz cos Daz spilled VB on his daks)
13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
14. You call your best friend "a total bastard" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of a bastard". (arsehole is another good one)
15. You think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife. (and how!)
17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.
18. You understand that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".
19. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread. (beer dregs, thank you very much)
20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis. (ahem....Russell Crowe...)
21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.
22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.
23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year. (YES! It's a bloody outrage! When I was a kid they used to be the size of a dinner plate now they are only just larger than our 50c coin-which if you know about our money isn't really that much smaller than a plate)
24. You still don't get why the "Labor" in "Australian Labor Party" is not spelt with a "u".
25. You wear ugh boots outside the house. (no way-only the americans do that)
26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.
27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them. (case in point. Elisha->Lisha->Lish you see?)
28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.
29. You understand that "excuse me" can sound rude, while "scuse me" is always polite.
30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
31. You understand that "you" has a plural and that it's "youse". (OH HAY YOUSE GUISE)
32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.
33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.
34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call "Anzac cookies".
35. You still think of Kylie as "that girl off Neighbours".
36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit. (totally!)
37. You believe the phrase "smart casual" refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.
38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.
39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.
40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second. (Beneath our radiant southern cross....)
41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants. (...we'll toil with hearts and hands...to make this commonwealth of ours, reknowned among the lands. for those who've come across the sea, we've boundless plains to share. in courage let us all combine to Advance Australia Fair. See-I know it!)
42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says "cobber". (or struth...or crikey...)
43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.
Happy Australia Day!!!oh noes!!! The Bumblebeez 'Dr Love' (one of my favourite songs of the year even though most people around me probably hated hearing it) came in at #93 on the Hottest 100! Ripped off!!!
Dublination
You want to know how expensive Dublin is?
Ok...
takeaway coffee from cafe (small size): €1.95 to €2.80 (A$3.20 to $4.60)
tall (small) flavoured espresso drink from Starbucks (think caramel latte): ~€4 (A$6.60)
half dozen eggs from the butcher: €1.50 (A$2.50)
one bunch of fresh broccoli from market: €1 (A$1.60)
daily newspaper: €0.70 to €0.90 (A$1.15 to $1.50)
pair of ninewest boots on sale (braveone style): €108 (A$180- same boots in ninewest NYC are US$80)
loaf of white bread from Tesco: ~€1.75 (A$2.90)
1 litre of fresh milk: ~€1.20 (A$2)
irish/guinness stew from pub or cafe: (starting at) €11 (A$18.30)
pint of guinness at the Celt: €4.70 (A$7.80)
bottle of VB at an off-licence (liquor store): €2.50 (A$4.15) I can't imagine paying $4.15 for a stubbie of VB!!!
average burger price at maccas: starting around €3.80 (A$6.30)
hair colour at a salon: ~€75 (A$125)
Any other items you want me to price so you can be glad you are in Australia/America where prices are a bit more reasonable? If there were a petrol station around I'd get the petrol price. I did go past a used car lot on the way in and saw that second hand cars (just little runabouts) start at like, €6000 (almost A$10,000)
BUT not everything is expensive here! You just have to be sensible and look around for the best prices. You can get a bag of pasta for like 79c and a bottle of pasta sauce for 89c and there you go-cheap meal! Chicken is relatively cheap here, too...(although due to increase in feed costs etc it is said it will increase soon) I got like 400g of chicken for the equivalent of A$6 here. Similar to what I'd be paying back home I think. Yoghurts too, the ones I like back home are A$1.20 (mmmm Dairy Farmers) and the yohurts I've been buying here (mmmm Channel cream...) are the same price. Also if you look in the different places you can see big differences in prices. One cafe I went to had coffee+a danish for €2.50 which is a sweet deal considering most places don't even have coffee by itself for under €2.50! And one takeaway I saw had chip buttys for €4 and another had them for €2.70! It's about looking around and NOT buying Starbucks or the first thing you see. If you think it's too expensive then it IS, go somewhere else to get it!
I've got some good news, too. The Visa office people told me that I don't have to go to London to lodge my application, they can send it from there (since all applications go to Canberra anyway). So hurrah I don't have to worry about flights to London and juggling my time around as much. The share apartment fell through too which is probably a good thing. Looking for new places to stay now.
Can't wait to get this all sorted. Then I will have to get a GNIB/Garda card which is like a green card registering you to stay for more than 90 days (€100) and a PPS number then a bank account. Should all come together within 3 weeks if I'm lucky but I don't want to jinx it.
I haven't met any Aussies yet which is strange because I thought Dublin would be crawling with them. It's funny, when I joke about Aussies being everywhere I say (and probably shouldn't) "we're like a cancer" as in we spread out all over the world. Anna, the Italian girl who I was looking at flats with yesterday, says Italians are all over the place but says (much more kindly) that they are "like mushrooms". I like that turn of phrase much better!
Australia Day is tomorrow and there is a thing at the Woolshed Bar (the big Aussie pub here) which I'll probably swing by to. They're playing the Hottest 100 countdown-yessssssss! Don't think I'll partake of any $4 VBs though but if they have Coopers then mmmmmm.
The weather has been crazy windy lately. It's good when it's behind me (what does that mean, anyway-keep the wind to your back?) but walking into it is an ordeal. It's not raining today and yesterday there was even a bright blue sky and the sun was out! I've never thought about it before but I got told to remember that 'when the sun is out then it will be cold' which is not the case in Australia but it is here. When there is cloud cover it is quite humid and warm, actually. I'd rather the weather be dry and windy rather than warm and humid!!! The hostel keeps their rooms overheated too which is a bit annoying. It means I can (actually I have to) sleep without socks on I suppose...the hostel is also situated under the DART train line. Which is fun if you want to sleep in. Not. Maybe that's why I've been getting up so early-not due to jetlag but to being woken up by the trains. It's nice to be up at 6am though and get the paper and a cup of tea and have the common room all to myself. There must be like school groups or something staying here because there are stacks of young people (eg young teenagers and kids) here which is annoying. Not least because it seems like NOBODY in the hostel speaks english! Makes me feel really alienated when I think I can't even talk to anybody.
Anyway.
My watch broke back in New York so I have been watchless for the last week and a half. I really liked my watch so it's unfortunate! Really should have bought a new one in Chinatown with all the fakes they had there for cheap...but I was with Mateo the Argentinean and he would go up to the shopkeeper and go 'jhow abowt faaave dollars?' (trying to type out his accent) and the shopkeeper would be like 'no you look around' (as in get lost) or one guy who we got from $10 down to $7 said 'no you go away and when you come back it will be 10 again not 7'. LOL it was pretty funny! Apparently the shopkeepers have walkie talkies and communicate with each other and it's possible to be black flagged from Chinatown!
But yes...I need a new watch and should have gotten one then because as if I will pay Dublin prices for a new watch! I don't need anything fancy...just something I can tell the time by basically. Actually a calculator watch would be sweet as. I'm checking eBay as I type. I like the look of this one, actually:
here
This Fossil one is nice, too...US$103
or this one for US$84
Okily dokily I best be off. Man I talk alot of crap on here!
Hello to everybody reading this-I hope you're doing something suitably Australian for Australia Day! Have a snag and a lamington, drink a VB or Tooheys in your stubbies and thongs and celebrate an awesome country!!
xxx lish
Ok...
takeaway coffee from cafe (small size): €1.95 to €2.80 (A$3.20 to $4.60)
tall (small) flavoured espresso drink from Starbucks (think caramel latte): ~€4 (A$6.60)
half dozen eggs from the butcher: €1.50 (A$2.50)
one bunch of fresh broccoli from market: €1 (A$1.60)
daily newspaper: €0.70 to €0.90 (A$1.15 to $1.50)
pair of ninewest boots on sale (braveone style): €108 (A$180- same boots in ninewest NYC are US$80)
loaf of white bread from Tesco: ~€1.75 (A$2.90)
1 litre of fresh milk: ~€1.20 (A$2)
irish/guinness stew from pub or cafe: (starting at) €11 (A$18.30)
pint of guinness at the Celt: €4.70 (A$7.80)
bottle of VB at an off-licence (liquor store): €2.50 (A$4.15) I can't imagine paying $4.15 for a stubbie of VB!!!
average burger price at maccas: starting around €3.80 (A$6.30)
hair colour at a salon: ~€75 (A$125)
Any other items you want me to price so you can be glad you are in Australia/America where prices are a bit more reasonable? If there were a petrol station around I'd get the petrol price. I did go past a used car lot on the way in and saw that second hand cars (just little runabouts) start at like, €6000 (almost A$10,000)
BUT not everything is expensive here! You just have to be sensible and look around for the best prices. You can get a bag of pasta for like 79c and a bottle of pasta sauce for 89c and there you go-cheap meal! Chicken is relatively cheap here, too...(although due to increase in feed costs etc it is said it will increase soon) I got like 400g of chicken for the equivalent of A$6 here. Similar to what I'd be paying back home I think. Yoghurts too, the ones I like back home are A$1.20 (mmmm Dairy Farmers) and the yohurts I've been buying here (mmmm Channel cream...) are the same price. Also if you look in the different places you can see big differences in prices. One cafe I went to had coffee+a danish for €2.50 which is a sweet deal considering most places don't even have coffee by itself for under €2.50! And one takeaway I saw had chip buttys for €4 and another had them for €2.70! It's about looking around and NOT buying Starbucks or the first thing you see. If you think it's too expensive then it IS, go somewhere else to get it!
I've got some good news, too. The Visa office people told me that I don't have to go to London to lodge my application, they can send it from there (since all applications go to Canberra anyway). So hurrah I don't have to worry about flights to London and juggling my time around as much. The share apartment fell through too which is probably a good thing. Looking for new places to stay now.
Can't wait to get this all sorted. Then I will have to get a GNIB/Garda card which is like a green card registering you to stay for more than 90 days (€100) and a PPS number then a bank account. Should all come together within 3 weeks if I'm lucky but I don't want to jinx it.
I haven't met any Aussies yet which is strange because I thought Dublin would be crawling with them. It's funny, when I joke about Aussies being everywhere I say (and probably shouldn't) "we're like a cancer" as in we spread out all over the world. Anna, the Italian girl who I was looking at flats with yesterday, says Italians are all over the place but says (much more kindly) that they are "like mushrooms". I like that turn of phrase much better!
Australia Day is tomorrow and there is a thing at the Woolshed Bar (the big Aussie pub here) which I'll probably swing by to. They're playing the Hottest 100 countdown-yessssssss! Don't think I'll partake of any $4 VBs though but if they have Coopers then mmmmmm.
The weather has been crazy windy lately. It's good when it's behind me (what does that mean, anyway-keep the wind to your back?) but walking into it is an ordeal. It's not raining today and yesterday there was even a bright blue sky and the sun was out! I've never thought about it before but I got told to remember that 'when the sun is out then it will be cold' which is not the case in Australia but it is here. When there is cloud cover it is quite humid and warm, actually. I'd rather the weather be dry and windy rather than warm and humid!!! The hostel keeps their rooms overheated too which is a bit annoying. It means I can (actually I have to) sleep without socks on I suppose...the hostel is also situated under the DART train line. Which is fun if you want to sleep in. Not. Maybe that's why I've been getting up so early-not due to jetlag but to being woken up by the trains. It's nice to be up at 6am though and get the paper and a cup of tea and have the common room all to myself. There must be like school groups or something staying here because there are stacks of young people (eg young teenagers and kids) here which is annoying. Not least because it seems like NOBODY in the hostel speaks english! Makes me feel really alienated when I think I can't even talk to anybody.
Anyway.
My watch broke back in New York so I have been watchless for the last week and a half. I really liked my watch so it's unfortunate! Really should have bought a new one in Chinatown with all the fakes they had there for cheap...but I was with Mateo the Argentinean and he would go up to the shopkeeper and go 'jhow abowt faaave dollars?' (trying to type out his accent) and the shopkeeper would be like 'no you look around' (as in get lost) or one guy who we got from $10 down to $7 said 'no you go away and when you come back it will be 10 again not 7'. LOL it was pretty funny! Apparently the shopkeepers have walkie talkies and communicate with each other and it's possible to be black flagged from Chinatown!
But yes...I need a new watch and should have gotten one then because as if I will pay Dublin prices for a new watch! I don't need anything fancy...just something I can tell the time by basically. Actually a calculator watch would be sweet as. I'm checking eBay as I type. I like the look of this one, actually:
here
This Fossil one is nice, too...US$103
or this one for US$84
Okily dokily I best be off. Man I talk alot of crap on here!
Hello to everybody reading this-I hope you're doing something suitably Australian for Australia Day! Have a snag and a lamington, drink a VB or Tooheys in your stubbies and thongs and celebrate an awesome country!!
xxx lish
Thursday, 24 January 2008
Update!
In case anybody is wondering what I have been getting up to here in Dublin, here is a quick rundown of what's been happening.
I am lazy so it's a copy+paste of an email I sent home just now, and it's probably quite boring for most of you because it doesn't describe the city very much at all...but anyway here goes.
"There is no way around (the) guarantor (-to sign the photos for my passport application. I'm applying for a new passport because to get a working holiday visa my passport needs to have 13 months at least left on it...as mine is an emergency passport it only has 6 months on it) unless I lie and get some random person to sign it and say they have known me for more than 12 months. It wouldn't matter having a spare set of signed photos because the guarantor also has to sign the application form. The fastest I can get it sent back home is by next thursday (26 euro!) so I would need to change my appointment from thursday 31st to the week after!!! Argh there is so much I have to think about it's so hard to keep track of.
Next thing is that I need to present a hard copy of my birth certificate, but if I can't then you do this thing called a 'notarial' service. I'm sure you have told me about it before even! It's where somebody in sydney (like at the PO) signs a stat dec (statutory declaration. I think that's the right document?) saying they have witnessed my birth certificate in hard copy since it can't be with me in person. That is the other important part.
Next, the turnaround time is 10 working days from dublin. For ~A$75 extra I can get a 2 day turnaround from London if it is lodged through there. So I'm thinking to go there, get the passport in 2 or 3 days then as soon as I get it, going to the visa office and applying for the visa because by then I will have all the necessary parts. (Risky move-won't do unless I really need to!)
Also my visa waiver for ireland ends on the 4th of feb so I need to extend that. Shouldn't be a problem to go to the immigration office and tell them I'm having to wait for my passport so I need some extra time here. If not, then I just go back to NYC and drop everything, no biggie.
You might not be happy about this part but just listen...
Met some other travellers who are trying to get work here (from Italy) because one of the girls was staying in my hostel room and she's very knowledgable about all the visa procedures etc so we went to look at a room in a share apartment and if the 3 of us go there then it's 35 euro a week. Much more affordable than the hostel and it's in a good location and if I have to be here for a while then it's better to spend as little as possible.
To get a bank account here you need a PPS number (like a tax file number) and the only way to get one is to get a referral either from your landlord, hostel, or work. The hostel said I had to stay there for 2 weeks before they write a referral, but the landlord will write one straight away for you. Once I get a PPS number (10 days, like everything else here) I can then open a bank account and when I try to get a job it will look less dodgy (even though extremely dodgy while I still don't have proper visa).
I handed my CV into a pharmacy today that had a sign in the window looking for fulltime/part time sales assistants and 5 min later I get a call from the manager to ask if I wanted to come in for an interview next wednesday because he was interested in my CV. (props to Shane for padding it out for me)
SO as you can see there is a lot going on and it's all kind of swirling about and I'm trying to do things in such an order that they will all come together...
Ok so let me know what you think-my priority at the moment is getting this passport ASAP but as always something comes along and delays it. I don't want to go to London until I *know* I have everything I need because seriously I don't have the money or the time to waste on chasing loose ends. It's at a stage now where things could come together or they could all go wrong but at least I have return tickets in case things don't work out. Return ticket is for the 1st of Feb though which is unfortunate because that is before I could even get my photos back for the passport application. I have to pay if I want to change the flight but I don't know what happens if I just don't take it, if I could call up and say 'I missed my flight I need to get the next available one' and they'll do that or if they'll say tough luck. To change the flight is $200 but a new one-way flight is much more than that...At any rate I have a confirmed flight from NYC home on the 8th of Feb but China Air goes from Heathrow too so I might call them and see if I can do that instead-it's only like an hour away instead of almost 7 hours to NYC."
That's about all the important stuff I had to say.
As you can see-there is alot going on for me at the moment. I'd honestly appreciate any advice or comments people would like to leave for me. I'm really on a knife edge choosing whether to risk it all and stay on here or just going home. I mean come on, it is turning out to be ALOT of effort!
Anyway, I really have to go now...
Keep Classy (as always)
xxx lisha
oh-p.s.! I got told I should change my name while I'm here to 'Ailish' because it is an Irish name and on top of sounding pretty (and similar to the pronounciation of my name) it would be easier for the Dubs to remember/say/spell/etc. LOL! What's *your* Irish name?
I am lazy so it's a copy+paste of an email I sent home just now, and it's probably quite boring for most of you because it doesn't describe the city very much at all...but anyway here goes.
"There is no way around (the) guarantor (-to sign the photos for my passport application. I'm applying for a new passport because to get a working holiday visa my passport needs to have 13 months at least left on it...as mine is an emergency passport it only has 6 months on it) unless I lie and get some random person to sign it and say they have known me for more than 12 months. It wouldn't matter having a spare set of signed photos because the guarantor also has to sign the application form. The fastest I can get it sent back home is by next thursday (26 euro!) so I would need to change my appointment from thursday 31st to the week after!!! Argh there is so much I have to think about it's so hard to keep track of.
Next thing is that I need to present a hard copy of my birth certificate, but if I can't then you do this thing called a 'notarial' service. I'm sure you have told me about it before even! It's where somebody in sydney (like at the PO) signs a stat dec (statutory declaration. I think that's the right document?) saying they have witnessed my birth certificate in hard copy since it can't be with me in person. That is the other important part.
Next, the turnaround time is 10 working days from dublin. For ~A$75 extra I can get a 2 day turnaround from London if it is lodged through there. So I'm thinking to go there, get the passport in 2 or 3 days then as soon as I get it, going to the visa office and applying for the visa because by then I will have all the necessary parts. (Risky move-won't do unless I really need to!)
Also my visa waiver for ireland ends on the 4th of feb so I need to extend that. Shouldn't be a problem to go to the immigration office and tell them I'm having to wait for my passport so I need some extra time here. If not, then I just go back to NYC and drop everything, no biggie.
You might not be happy about this part but just listen...
Met some other travellers who are trying to get work here (from Italy) because one of the girls was staying in my hostel room and she's very knowledgable about all the visa procedures etc so we went to look at a room in a share apartment and if the 3 of us go there then it's 35 euro a week. Much more affordable than the hostel and it's in a good location and if I have to be here for a while then it's better to spend as little as possible.
To get a bank account here you need a PPS number (like a tax file number) and the only way to get one is to get a referral either from your landlord, hostel, or work. The hostel said I had to stay there for 2 weeks before they write a referral, but the landlord will write one straight away for you. Once I get a PPS number (10 days, like everything else here) I can then open a bank account and when I try to get a job it will look less dodgy (even though extremely dodgy while I still don't have proper visa).
I handed my CV into a pharmacy today that had a sign in the window looking for fulltime/part time sales assistants and 5 min later I get a call from the manager to ask if I wanted to come in for an interview next wednesday because he was interested in my CV. (props to Shane for padding it out for me)
SO as you can see there is a lot going on and it's all kind of swirling about and I'm trying to do things in such an order that they will all come together...
Ok so let me know what you think-my priority at the moment is getting this passport ASAP but as always something comes along and delays it. I don't want to go to London until I *know* I have everything I need because seriously I don't have the money or the time to waste on chasing loose ends. It's at a stage now where things could come together or they could all go wrong but at least I have return tickets in case things don't work out. Return ticket is for the 1st of Feb though which is unfortunate because that is before I could even get my photos back for the passport application. I have to pay if I want to change the flight but I don't know what happens if I just don't take it, if I could call up and say 'I missed my flight I need to get the next available one' and they'll do that or if they'll say tough luck. To change the flight is $200 but a new one-way flight is much more than that...At any rate I have a confirmed flight from NYC home on the 8th of Feb but China Air goes from Heathrow too so I might call them and see if I can do that instead-it's only like an hour away instead of almost 7 hours to NYC."
That's about all the important stuff I had to say.
As you can see-there is alot going on for me at the moment. I'd honestly appreciate any advice or comments people would like to leave for me. I'm really on a knife edge choosing whether to risk it all and stay on here or just going home. I mean come on, it is turning out to be ALOT of effort!
Anyway, I really have to go now...
Keep Classy (as always)
xxx lisha
oh-p.s.! I got told I should change my name while I'm here to 'Ailish' because it is an Irish name and on top of sounding pretty (and similar to the pronounciation of my name) it would be easier for the Dubs to remember/say/spell/etc. LOL! What's *your* Irish name?
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
...
This is what my first breakfast in Dublin looks like. Unidentifiable brown toast that smells faintly of mushroom, granny smith apple, irish breakfast tea (appropriate!), and horrible news that Aussie actor Heath Ledger is dead. Horrible...I still can't believe it even though it's over all the papers and they even have a picture of his corpse being wheeled out to the ambulance...At least let him have some dignity in death and don't make it a big media show!!
Monday, 21 January 2008
I can has Van Gogh?
I never thought I would be so moved but I tell you what, walking into a room full of Van Goghs and Monets and the like-it was amazing! These are works I had studied when I was younger and to see the real thing up close in person...wow! The Metropolitan Museum of Art was a real highlight of this leg of my New York stay-even moreso because I didn't expect it to be! This time tomorrow I will be in Dublin. I'm quite scared, to be honest...also I've met some really cool people here that I will miss. Hopefully I will meet some cool people in Dublin too...right now it's 3 aussies, an argentinian (the second, one left yesterday), a french clown, a guy from the netherlands and a mix of people from other european countries. The argentinian guys are an absolute hoot! One left the same time as the other arrived...but I have a newfound respect and adoration (if you can call it that?) for argentinian people :). I've been socialising with the other travellers here much more than at the last place I stayed at in the city. I was worried this place would be cold and alienating like the last one but it's anything but! I'm so glad! Today a few of us went to chinatown, which was an experience! I'm blogging from my phone so I can't go into much detail but let me say it was an experience! It was so cold, too...-4`C (roughly 22`F) and windy. I know I've been in much colder temperatures but for some reason this was really biting me. The play offs were tonight and the poor bastards were playing in -2`F temps (like -15`C, roughly) but the New York Giants won so now they are off to the Superbowl! Yesterday I ran some errands and went for a long walk down Central Park. Also went to the Magnolia Bakery in the early evening-there was a massive line outside waiting to go in! But oh man I'm glad I waited...the cupcakes are so delicious! So, so, delicious...the frosting is so yummy I want to know how they make it! The day before yesterday I went to the New York Aquarium and Coney Island in Brooklyn. The aquarium was quite good-they had a nice cnidarian exhibit and seahorses and a sweet walrus...poor guy was swimming the same lap of the tank over and over again. The underwater equivalent of stereotypical pacing. Argh the heaters in this hostel are crazy-so noisy! Plus the room is boiling hot...at least it's not freezing like the other night. The good desk guy is on tonight, not the usual grumpy bums they have here. Anyway...I think I have already said how Paul the aussie and Pablo the argentinian and I went ice-skating in Central Park the other night...and we saw a racoon! So I had best leave it there for now. I wonder how much it costs me to update this from my phone...most probably still less than paying to use the internet here! Mucho dinero... Ok have fun in Australia and eat a sausage roll for me...I'll eat a slice of greasy NY pizza for you! xxx leash
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