A Typical Afternoon

Let's hope that I have a better time with the computer today. I was so frustrated with transferring my blog over yesterday, I was about to heave Al's computer off the balcony in a fit of rage. He told me that he will password protect the computer and not let me use it again if I can't control my temper, so I better behave!

Now, onto my post topic. Have any of you been wondering what I do for work? The answer is this: it has absolutely nothing to do with my bachelor's degree in psychology! When I moved to Australia, I was on a "work and holiday visa". This means that I could live and work in Australia for a year, but I could not work at one job for more than six months at a time. Basically, I was not employable! I was all set to volunteer my time away, and then I met another American (dating an Adelaidian, just like me) who introduced me to her temp agency. Since then, I've been doing basic temp work. I started out with day to week long reception/admin jobs, but I've been very lucky over the past year. I've had two long-term jobs: one for five months and another that I'm currently working in. I've been working for Daikin, which is an international air conditioning company. I work with amazing people. Most of the time, they forget that I'm still there on a contract! I'm so comfortable there. When I went home in June, I still had a job there when I came back. The girls in the office also love sushi, so we get it for lunch every Friday. Who can complain about that?

I also have a special visa that allows me to stay and work there since I'm in a serious relationship/living with an Australian citizen. I no longer have that six-month restriction. Applying for the visa was a lot of work, though! Those Aussies are cracking down on their immigration.

Get ready for a lot of pictures! I used the camera on my iPhone to capture my afternoon when I leave work- from the bus stop to the gym! As you will be able to tell, it was very overcast.

Al always drops me off in the morning, since we luckily work very close to each other. In the afternoon, however, I take the bus to go to the gym.

This is my view of the outside of my work when I'm sitting at the bus stop. Please ignore the power lines.

Here is another view from the bus stop. You can see the hills in the background. They don't look like much from here!

My bus ticket! It has ten rides on it. I pay $30 for ten rides, which actually saves me more money than buying each ticket individually. If you look at the bold numbers on the bottom, you see that I have used up three rides so far.

I'm in the city now! This is where my bus drops me off. In the background is brand new apartment building. It towers over everything in the area. Hopefully, some new buildings will join it soon.

A fun arts building

One of the few Mexican restaurants you can find here. It's definitely not open!

Walking up the Morphett Street Bridge. It goes over the railway station and the lovely Torrens River. Isn't it a beautiful day? See the arts building that looks like it's covered in liquid cheese? I am a fan.

Walking over the bridge. CHEESE!

North Terrace is below. It's a very busy street and runs along the whole northern edge of the city. On the right is a bunch of swanky apartments and department stores. The tram line also runs through the middle of the street. See the hills  the background? I really think I was deprived of hills from growing up in Chicago....

The Adelaide Oval is in the background. See the lights? It's currently for cricket right now, although Adelaide's Austrlian Rules Football teams will be playing here in 2014 (they currently play northwest of the city by the beach). It's a HUGE deal, because it will bring more people to the city. The area around the Torrens River will also be fixed up. It will be very good, because many people believe that Adelaide is a little outdated. Adelaide is an amazing city, but these changes will be great for it!

A side view of the Adelaide Convention Centre. It's a very unique looking building.

Adelaide on the river. The large glass building is the Convention Centre. I love this picture! I get some great views during my walk.

Adelaide parklands on the other side of the river. Beyond there are jogging/bike paths, and you can probably see the river beyond there. I'm standing outside my gym!

You can eat or sip a coffee outside when the weather is nice. Obviously, nobody wants to sit outside in this weather.

I made it! I'm so lucky to belong to a gym in the best part of the city. I get great views of the river and city, and I'm right next to one of the most beautiful sporting arenas in Australia. Maybe I'll take more pictures when the sun comes out!

I am also proud to say that I was a very happy blogger while writing this. It looks like Al won't have to password protect his computer.