My First Days In Dunedin

Yesterday was one of those days that are just so bad, that it becomes funny pretty much right away. I arrived in Dunedin on Sunday, after a 6 hour bus ride from Christchurch, where my legs didn't fit between the seats (and I'm only 5'8''!), but I had some good sudoku and my iPod, so it was fine. Once I got to Dunedin, I was greeted by rain and cold...a drastic change from warm and draught plagued Brisbane! One of my new flatmates offered to pick me up, but before we went back to the flat, we stopped by her office, where I met two former Olympians that she works with, which I thought was pretty cool! We got to the flat, where I discovered they still do not have heat. (The landlord had told them he would be installing a heat pump for this winter, but nothing has come of it, but there's nothing I can do since I'm not actually renting it). We ate dinner together, and watched TV for the night. Thankfully, Liz's bed (the girl who I'm subletting from) has an electric blanket, so I slept very well.

Yesterday morning, the rain still had not subsided, and actually with the wind, it got worse. I stayed in bed for as long as possible. After forcing myself out, I got ready to head into town, wearing my hiking boats, pants and winter rain jacket. I could not find the extra umbrella they had, so I ventured out without one. I ended up not being able to find the bus stop for about a half hour. And in that half hour, I managed to work up quite a sweat walking briskly up and down large hills trying to find it! Which actually worked out for the better, b/c once I got there and had to wait in the cold, it wasn't so bad since I was hot at that point. Once I got into town, I managed to lose my gloves in the matter of 10 min between the bank and another store. (At this point I could only really laugh at the situation). I managed to find a well priced internet cafe off the main street of town, which although not really warm, helped me to dry off a little bit.

I wrote a cover letter to a place that I found advertised in the help wanted section of this weekend's paper, and worked on my resume before sending it off to that one place. I decided to wait to print out my resumes to take door to door, since it was still pouring rain, and I looked less than presentable. As I was browsing in the bookstore, my mobile rang, and it was the woman from the gourmet food store and cafe that I had just emailed. She asked me to come in for an interview the following day. Needless to say, I was very, very excited. I just had the interview this morning, and it went well. They asked me to come in tomorrow to begin training to see if I like it, and if they like me. I was nervous about my lack of cafe experience, which they said in the ad was necessary, but that actually wasn't a problem. The new problem, and more major, I think, is that they are under the impression I'm able to work through the holiday season. So, tomorrow I have to go in and let them know that after looking at my flight plans, I realized I cannot be there up til Christmas Eve. Hopefully this won't be a problem, but I can see how they wouldn't want to train me if they're gonna lose me before their busiest time.

If that doesnt work out, I may have to take my skills to a temp agency, b/c I realized that is probably the only employment I will get if I am honest and let employers know I will not be here after Decemeber 18th. Hopefully I'll have a positive update tomorrow afternoon! Until then, I am going to be walking around town, to avoid going back to my freezing flat, and take advantage of the sunny day today! Riding the bus into town today was a much different experience, and I had a lot more appreciation for Dunedin, and I'm looking forward to getting more settled and getting to know this place better.