Hey guys! Whoa. So much has happened in the last week and a half I am not even sure where to begin!
An unplanned landing in Fiji on my flight into Australia and catching the most beautiful sunrise I have seen yet, getting to Australia - yooah! Patio Salsa dancing in the harbor across from the Opera house, taking the wrong ferry to the zoo and ending up in Lavender Bay only to stumble across one of the most amazing gardens I will ever visit, Bondi Beach and rock art, Seven Mile Beach and kite surfers, Snakebites and crab racing, finding out what the term mixed shared hostel rooms ACTUALLY means, non-stop live music and beer festivals, meeting tons of awesome people, interviewing and job finding an incredibly unbelievable job, and the list goes on and on!
Let me just say that when Cultural Embrace, and any one else who has ever been backpacking in Australia, says it is easy to meet other travelers - this is an understatement. Within the first five hours of landing in Sydney I was having a beer with a group of locals at a popular outdoor cafe right in the heart of Sydney Centre and hooked up with an AWESOME group of girls from the UK whom I have been running around with ever since. A few other wonderful people I have seen quite often are the employees of the company Cultural Embrace sets you up with to receive hostel discounts, an orientation, and job, travel and other support.
The partner company has actually been one of my greatest assets since arriving- I use them way more than I thought I would, and I am so glad Cultural Embrace hooked me up with them. On my second day in Sydney, I attended an orientation with twenty five or so other work travelers, where I had help setting up my bank account, tax file number for paid work, online resume for quick submission when finding jobs on the database, and my phone account. They also walked us through the must sees and dos of OZ, safety precautions for the water and outback and met with us about specific job enquiries and such. Very helpful! And aside from all of the more professional offerings, everyone in the partner company office is incredibly welcoming, and ready to give you tips on fun hot spots around the city, and some are even ready to hit the scene with you! haha.
Speaking of hot spots around the city, Sydney has it all. Beautiful beaches and running routes, phenomenal museums and architecture, live music spots around every corner, awesome sports bars such as Cheers (perfect for a little football Liverpool versus Manchester United. I am still recovering), Scubar for a little crazy backpackers bar fun, Empire in Kings Cross for a bit of a classier evening- it is a great city for all interests.
But honestly one of my favorite things about Sydney so far is that there are a million different suburbs (Bondi, Coogee, Surry Hills, Glebe to name a few) so there is a great mixture of cultures offering something for everyone. Even the locals still appreciate hot tourist spots such as Bondi, Coogee and Manly Beach, and the night scene spots as well.
And although I have had an incredible time running around with my newfound friends from the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Holland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, I have actually had an equally mind-blowing time with the job that I landed six days ago. And actually, I am at work right now! And guess what I am doing? I am lying on the grass, forty yards from the beach, at the camp grounds of Surf Camp Australia, enjoying the sun in between surf lessons, hanging with the surf coaches, crew and twenty plus camp goers. Yep, I am at WORK right now!
Through the connections that Cultural Embrace offered me, I landed one of the most proper wicked jobs in all of Australia. I am a promotions and marketing rep for Surf Camp Australia. My job requires going to surf camps to surf and hang out with the crew and camp goers at least Monday through Wednesday every week in Seven Mile Beach, Byron Bay, Yamba and/or Gold Coast, promote Surf Camp Australia at their events and parties and any surf festival and event around the Sydney area they attend. What is also pretty cool is that Surf Camp Australia is sponsored by Rip Curl, so this coming weekend, November 5- 8 I am attending the Manly Beach Festival of Surfing by day and Surf Expo by night, hanging out with pro Rip Curl surfer Mick Fanning and I am even getting paid enough to live comfortably and potentially even end up with a bit of savings. Pretty awesome huh? I still can not believe this is actually a job pinch me! Thank you Cultural Embrace!!
Life could not be any sweeter. And it is pretty easy to get all of my friends and family on the phone and Skype. So although I miss all of the people that make my life so fantastic back in the States, I am in touch everyday. So I will leave you with this: take the leap and embrace your adventurous side, it will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Traveling to Australia has changed my life forever; it is a feeling I can not describe through words in a blog or in conversation. So give it a go!
Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want some specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia.
Live fully,
Jennifer C Campbell
Thank you for all of your love and support family and friends.
Mom, Dad, Marsha, Dan, John, Katherine, Adam, Claudia
All of my wonderful friends back home
And all you superbly awesome Cultural Embracers: Emlyn, Katy, Miranda, and Julie
You guys rock!
No comments:
Post a Comment