I've got to meet loads of people from different places with different stories. I mostly meet people from Europe doing the same thing that I'm doing. This guy Vincent here is from France and I recommended him for the night supervisor job but part time on the weekends. He got it and now him and I hang out a lot and are pretty cool. There are other characters here that are pretty cool too. Francoise has been here for almost 2 years. That's rare because they want to get people out of here every 2 weeks which creates all sorts of drama. But he's got a pass from the owner. Part of it too is because he did the night supervisor job for 10 months previously. He'll help out sometimes too but he's just a cool cat from France. He the manager at a nice restaurant here in town. There's loads of Irish people here too. A lot of them are alright but honestly I'm starting to get a not so nice opinion about Irish people generally. In some of the talks I've had with them it's amazing how narrow there view point is on certain life topics. The drinking as well. I mean these guys (and girls) drink constantly and get real fucked up too. And they just make a racket. Whenever I see some drunk Irish out in public they're just a nuisance. This is of course generally though. I've met some spectacular Irish people out here. Honestly though, if I wasn't a big guy with a beard and commanding presence I think they would challenge me a lot more. Another interesting group of people I met are these folks from Iran mostly. The Red Cross has booked rooms here for refugees from detention camps in the middle east. Man some stories I heard from them were fucked up. Say what you want about the US going into countries in the middle east but it definitely makes the lives of people in these countries better. The horrible things I heard them say their government did to them and their families were pretty shocking. One guy was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He would help all the other guys out because his English was better. He would always offer me things because I would clean up and help him out and he wanted to contribute something back. But one time he was telling me a particularly bad story and he had to stop because he started having a flashback and showing minor convulsions. He had to start chain smoking instantly and rock back and forth for 20 minutes just to bring himself to be able to speak again but he was still very shaken. There's also loads of Asians from all over. This guy has started hiring Asian people with degrees to come down and work at the mines and give them sponsorship. He's been using this hostel as their jump off point.
My supervisor is a pretty cool guy too. He's from England but lived some of his childhood in South Africa as well. He's a (former) stoner that plays computer games but he's cool. We joke around a lot and he's super easy going. He just wants someone that can handle the evenings so that he can go home and not worry about shit. There's also another daytime person named Anthea. She's Greek and she's cool but she's been so sheltered (self admittedly) that she can be naive and ask a lot of personal questions just out of a curiosity about new things. I'm cool with it but it rubs other people the wrong way sometimes.
So basically I've been meeting all sorts of people left and right while working and saving some money. Secretly though I've been planning my escape. I've gotten to the point where I feel like I'm ready to leave Perth. I need to keep saving up money but it's coming up on 3 months since I've been here and it's all pretty much been in Perth. I didn't come out here just to be in Perth or to get set up in Perth, I want to get set up back on the West Coast of the States. So I've been looking into possible travel plans coming up. First I need to extend my flight to around the beginning of July but I'm thinking I could get two solid months to travel back to Sydney before heading back to the States for my friend Bailey's wedding. I've thought about road tripping up the west coast with some people but I doubt that will work. First we will need to buy a car and that's a hassle that I'd rather avoid at this point. Plus I need to find people. the only people that I've found so far are these German people that I don't really think i want to road trip with. A lot of Germans that I have met are big planners to the point where it's just too much and that's how these people are. And with one of them when I hang out with him just him and me I get incredibly annoyed at some things he does. So going on a road trip with him for a month is probably not a good idea. I have some ideas for what I can do but I don't want to say anything until I finalize it.
There is one thing that could possibly hold me back. The owner of the hostel has mentioned that he would like to meet with me to talk about possibly giving me more responsibilities and moving up within his chain of businesses, starting with a more prominent role at one of his hostels perhaps. Now I don't know. If it's an insanely good offer I may just have to take it. Depending on money and what exactly he would be interested in having me take on. But chances are I'm going to say no for all the reasons I already listed. But I'm going to keep my ears open. But man if I wanted to stay out here with a little bit of research and time I could make loads of money real fast. A lot of my friends here are doing that.
Mostly during the days I'll get fantastic sleep or get good sleep and explore neighborhoods, or do productive things. I stopped yoga because I didn't want to pony up the money for a month. That trial period was cool and I definitely want to pursue it some when I get back to the States. Since then I started running a little. Mostly along the river that leads to the ocean and up to Kings Park. Kings Park is bigger than central park and is all bushland in the city. It's also one of the best viewpoints of the skyline here. There's a spot I'll jog to that is called Jacob's Ladder. It has 242 steps. I'll run those twice after jogging and then continue on if I feel like I can. Although sometimes I am just exhausted after that. But I've taken my days to explore neighborhoods more too. So far I've gone to some pretty cool neighborhoods in Perth called Leederville, Mt. Lawley, Subiaco (where I met a cool person named Amy from Lake Tahoe where we had the instant Cali connection), Fremantle twice East Perth and West Perth. Each one is cool in it's own way with plenty of places to explore. I've also explored some parks like Kings Park and Lake Monger and I'll see Lake Herdsman as well. I've been to a couple of beaches here (Scarbourough mainly) but I still need to go to Cottlesloe beach. There's a lot of coll places I've found in Perth. I've made sure to get away from the main downtown and Northbridge (the backpacker party neighborhood) of Perth and I've really enjoyed that. I've been able to meet more locals that way and get a better picture of what life in Perth is really like. And let me tell you...it's relaxed. I know more about Perth and even WA than some people that have been here way longer than me now.
I've also been looking for other work as well just to make more money so I'll be worries a bit less when I quit and start traveling. I looked into that cheese factory job and I even had my friend recommend me for it but they just haven't called back yet at all. I also called a part-time labour place to just pick up a few shifts. I got a call back and I'll call them back tomorrow but I don't know where that could lead. Either way though I'm feeling pretty optimistic. I didn't get as much money as I hoped I would from the hostel but I stopped and realized something. I decided to think about the positive things I have going on in my life rather than thinking about what I don't have. I realized that I'm fortunate for my situation. I have an easy job that pretty chill. I get to sleep in everyday that I want. During the day I get to explore the nooks and crannies of Perth and in general I'm just living a pretty low stress lifestyle right now. I never had that in Chicago with my jobs there. But that's exactly what I needed here and what i was looking for. And let me tell you I feel the difference. I'm even starting to feel possibly ready to get back to that kind of work for the first time in a long time. I figure after another 3 or 4 months away from it this feeling will multiply.
I feel like I've been getting what I wanted out of this experience plus some. So I wanted to get to know this city and this region of the world that's unique. I would say I've done that pretty well. I wanted to meet and get to know some other travelers but in a more personal way than just 3-6 days of hanging out but over more time. I have definitely done that with many people. I also wanted to get away and refresh myself. I got away and I'm already feeling more refreshed than before. After more time we'll see. I wanted to travel and see a lot of stuff. Again I've done that some but with more time it will be even better. Just in general I wanted to take some chances and do some different things. I've already done that for sure and I know I'm going to continue doing that.
I was talking with my brother and without thinking about it I was telling him how I wasn't sure what the near future held but that I was embracing the Australian lifestyle and just going with the flow...no worries. He studied abroad in Australia and knew exactly what I was talking about. He gave me a compliment for going with the culture of Australia and when I got off the phone with him I realized that I had learned and partaken already in a different cultures way of life. I didn't fully realize it perhaps because of time or because it's a western society but I've definitely learned a lot about a different culture from a personal perspective. And I've taken lessons from it as well. I'm fucking excited, happy, shocked and many other positive emotions about that. I didn't feel this when I bounced around in Europe. I had a great time but it wasn't as much of a cultural experience. Growing, learning, adventurous, debaucherous but not extremely cultural. And I still haven't seen a whole lot of the country. I also don't want to sound arrogant but again there's a sense of pride like when I first arrived in Perth. I've made it work. So far I've set out to do what I wanted to do. It wasn't exactly as planned and will continue to not be but generally it's working. It also gives me more excitement for the future and some of the other things I am in the process of planning. As time passes I am continuing to learn more about myself as well. This whole trip, not yet, I think will lead to another big weight being off my shoulder as far as figuring out what I want (or don't want). It's given me a lot of time to reflect. As I have more adventurous experiences I tend to narrow my scope a little bit more and I definitely feel like that is happening now. But alas, I think in a couple more weeks when some more details are worked out I will be able to write somewhat more accurately about this. In reality I probably won't understand the effects of an experience like this until months and most likely years later. But of course I'll make an educated guess.
Until then I'm going to get to bed. I've got an awesome day planned for tomorrow. I'll get up a bit early and go for a run to King's Park. Then I'll head over to The Witch's Hat to see some friends before work. I haven't seen some of the guys over there for almost 2 weeks now because of some different schedule stuff. Then I'll work but it should be a nice shift. It'll be last of the week and Vincent and I have some plans. We're going to make a French roast with some of our friends here at The Emperors Crown and drink wine. Yes, I can totally do that during work. I'm doing some extra work tonight so that I don't have to do as much tomorrow night. Then I'll be up late cause I have to but I'll talk with people. And then I'll get great sleep all day Saturday. Those are the kind of days I have out here.
Until next time I love everybody. Even if I haven't talked to you much just know everyone is always on my mind. Everyday.
