Ladies and gentlemen, since my last post the game has changed!
I now:
1) Work in a hotel as a valet/porter
2) Have a nice apartment in a beautiful part of the city
Thats it. Not a long list, but anyone who has washed dishes during lunchtime at a restaraunt or lived in hostels for longer than a week will be able to appreciate how much better my life is because of these two simple changes.
Not to say that hostels don't have their value, or that dishwashing isn't...actually dishwashing is simply the worst and I cannot validate it at all. But hostel life was fun. I met tons of people, drank enough goon (remember: boxed wine) to justify starting my own vineyard and had "the backpacker experience". And of course, once I start to travel starting around March, back to the hostels it will be. However, for the time being I am happy to sleep in the privacy of my own 1/2 of a room, lounge in the comfort of reasonably plush couches and cook with the utility of my own kitchen. Rent is cheap, there is a swimming pool, hot tub, gym and bbq all within the complex. We can all overlook the fact that sometimes I have to jump the back fence and pick the back lock to get in because we don't have keys for all of us (five guys) because technically there are only supposed to be 3 of us. Minor details.
Eloir is Brazilian and delivers cafe food from 1am to 9 am so he's kind of a mystical figure in our apartment. He also brings home what doesn't get delivered. Life is good. Dougie is Scottish and just bought the shortest surfboard any of use have ever seen. He himself is fairly tall and makes "toasties" for anyone who enters the apartment. Chris is English, enjoys all things "sport" and laughs alot. Vince found consistent work with a company that sets up conventions. We all work very strange schedules and it is rare that we are all in the apartment at the same time.
I am quite content as a valet/porter for now. The hotel is called Amora and its in downtown. Five star, part of a hotel group spanning Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. Most hotels like that have separate positions for porters, doorman and valets: I think they're skimping at Amora so they lumped all those positions into one: mine. I spend my days parking and retrieving cars, running envelopes, bags, gifts, cards and newspapers up to and down from rooms. I tag, store, lift, pull, lose, find, damage and cart more luggage than I care to think about. When not doing any of these things, I open the front doors for guests and say one of the following phrases to the them:
1) Welcome
2) Welcome to Amora
3) Good Morning (Usually shortened to "Morning")
4) Good Afternoon (" " " "Afternoon")
5) Good Night (" " " "Night")
6) G'day
7) Welcome back
8) How was your day?
9) Hello
10) Take care
Sometimes I throw curveballs. You'll have to imagine the contexts:
1) Too much skipping eh?
2) How did the child abuse lecture go?
3) Don't worry, this is what I get paid for
4) I need to learn how to do a real porter whistle.
5) Humiganishsmhhhh
# 5 is when I stutter like I occasionally do and whatever comes out isn't really English. I'm also thinking about adding "Cheers" to my repertoire. I courteously nod my head every 7.8 seconds.
In short, as I have hoped to convey humourously, the job is simple yet expansive and active. These two things combine for low stress and quick, lively days. I talk to people alot. I've driven some awesome cars. Tally up the tips and decent wage and toss in a gorgeous 20 minute walking commute each way and you can see how I am a happy camper. If I save at the rate I have been I'll have enough money for amazing adventures in my last few months here. Below is a pic I took from a bridge over Darling Harbour, which is my route to work.
The Amora Hotel:
The Uniform:
The Apartment:
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