Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Countdown is on (english)


Me again ;) Finally I had a bit more time to write and documented the last 4 weeks for you. Have fun getting up to date:

// DAY 491 – 531
// JOB UPDATES... OR HOW YOU JUGGLE YOUR WORKLIFE
 The Café is going good so far. The new coffee machine is great and compared to the old one a “Ferrari” :). The coffee itself is better, too, and we already noticed that as more and more people get their daily caffeine kick from us. I´m slowly getting better at the latte art and attached a few pictures for you ;) The name is now “Cheeky brothers” and if you like you could check us out on facebook:
Last time I´ve told you that I´ll try to get back into tennis a bit more and out of nowhere it just worked out J Adam brought home a Flyer and I just wrote the guy an email, asking him if he needs help with coaching or if he would be up for a hit. I got an answer straight away and I´m now coaching Saturday mornings for about 2 hours children between the age of 4 and 7 in a school´s sports hall :) It´s hard work as they are really tiny, some of them only 3,5, and I haven´t done any coaching for a few years either. Anyway, it´s something different and I see how it goes as “the boss” is a bit unorganised and I´m not sure what I should think about the whole thing yet. Well, it´s a great experience to see how tennis is tought in Australia and to do the lessons in English is quite a challenge for me ;) Here´s the homepage of the “Hot Shots” Programm in case someone wants to know more:
I also applied within a few more fashion companies and replied to some adds. One agency wanted to get in contact with me but due to work we missed each other 2 days in a row and then the job was gone :( Shit happens! After all it´s nice that someone is interested and to get some response.
Not much has happened in Adam´s case. He continues working on his designs and his computer drawing skills are improving heaps (he will be better than me soon!). He had an interview as a teacher to coach students in construction aso. for about 20 hours/week on the weekends. The interview went well and they were quite impressed by him. Now we have to wait if he makes the next round and gets another talk with the boss. He would be really happy with it as it covers the bills and he still would have enough time to work during the week or do other things. Fingers are crossed ;)

//  WINTER IN AUSTRALIA... OR WHAT I WOULD CALL SPRING
The winter here is wonderful! Dandelions are breaking through the grass and the cherry trees blossom like crazy! But the Melbournians describe this still as winter and are going on about how diverse the weather in August could be (from 0 to 30 degrees). Sounds like our April to me ;)
Well, it´s definitely good to deal with and we try to make the most of the probably last few months.

// HOW YOU TRAVEL WITH A RENTED CAR... OR HOW YOU MAKE THE BEST OF THE LAST WEEKENDS WITH A VEHICLE
Mid of July we went on a drive to Dandenong to watch the sunrise over Melbourne. How exciting! We got up at 5am and after one hour drive we were sitting in the woods with the time-lapse camera for 1,5 hours to wait for the sun to come up. But it was worth it! I attached some pics for you and try to upload the video as well ;)
Finally we made it to the “Hot Springs” down at the Mornington Peninsula! What a Spa – the greatest I have ever been to. With 22 natural, hot pools and a 360 degree lookout from the top one the landscape is just beautiful! Everything is integrated into the nature and via wooden stairs and a path you get up the hill to enjoy the great view :) It´s not very expensive, too. We went there with the “Early bird” special for only $15 and could stay as long as we wanted. Here the homepage:
On the way back we had breakfast in Frankston and found out by accident that there is great sand, if the tides are low (which means low tide with low swell as well). Adam was well chuffed and was sure it is the best sand he´s ever worked with! So we finally found a beach :) Unfortunately it´s very difficult with the tides – high tide does only give you about 2 hours time but at least we can watch nature destroying our artworks again.

// HOW YOU STAY POSITIVE... OR HOW NOT TO GO NUTS
We are still working a lot on drawings, prints and I even did some sewing the other day :) I made a long skirt which I still have to optimise… I anyway attached a pic for you.
Adam works hard on a commission he got from Wellington. Mark, a fan, commissioned him already 2 years ago for a sculpture in his garden. The good thing is that Mark only needs the design and he will get it done in New Zealand (it´s about metal figurines). Therefore he works on a few suggestions for Mark to have another “Burstall” in his backyard ;)

// LIFE… AND OTHER ADVENTURES
So far we didn´t get out a lot in Melbourne. First of all because of the money and then as well because of our age ;) (we are just not that interested anymore). Last weekend we finally did it and went to a birthday party at the Cider Bar in Fitzroy. It was funny and it was nice to having a dance and meeting some new people.
Furthermore Bronya and Tim invited us to an African restaurant (Adam´s birthday present) and we all have eaten from 2 big plates with our hands. It reminded me a lot of my childhood ;)
On a Monday we went ten pin bowling and combined the whole thing with a nice bike tour to one of the suburbs we haven´t seen yet.
We also continued playing football in the park once a week and take plastic bottles and a few balls with us now to practise accuracy… amazing how you can get lost in time with that :)
After I managed to destroy my display on my first day at work for the new Café owners – it happened again (after I got it repaired, of course) a week later – wooohooo :) How clumsy! Nicely I got a special price the 2nd time and a better cover, too ;)
In addition we haven´t had water for 3 days as our kitchen tap was broken. After the plumber didn´t show up twice, it finally worked the 3rd time. It reminds you again how good we have it even if the plumber drove me nuts! In Germany the task would have gone to another plumber… partly it´s incredible with what they get away with here… that´s sometimes almost toooo laid back for me ;)

// COMING UP... OR WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO
The next weeks we are looking forward to the MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) which, like last year in New Zealand, shows great movies from all over the world. Beside that we are flying up to Sydney for a long weekend on the 5th of September to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and that Adam finally sees Sydney, too :)
We as well bought some tickets for the New Zealand band “Fat Freddy´s Drop”, beginning of September, and I finally got a spot in one of the “Laneway learning” courses (check it out… it´s an awesome idea and only to recommend!)
We had tickets for the “30 Seconds to Mars” concert in the Rod Laver Arena as well – but unfortunately they postponed their tour to March 2014 on short notice :( That was a bit of a disappointment for me! Thought I make it into the big arena after all… well. Maybe we find another good gig here ;)

That´s it again. I hope the nice summer in Germany continues like the last few weeks (maybe with a bit of rain during the night)!

Stay tuned and see you soon ;)

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