Huge Spider

Gross---this creature was waiting for me in my apartment today when I got home. Ah, Australia.

I had my Yamaha Music interview (part 3 of 6) this arvo, and it was quite odd. It was a group interview, with about 20 of us there. The director said we were chosen from over 100 candidates, so that was cool. The catch: only 3 of us will get call-backs in the next four days and move onto the next parts of the application (class observation, then interview, then audition).

We were divided into 5 groups of four. The first five minutes were introductory nonsense, then we did a musical exercise similar to what we'd do with a group of 3 1/2-4 1/2 year olds. Then we were each give a piece of paper with a question on it, and had three minutes to complete it. There were only a few questions between the 20 of us, and mine was "If you were stranded on a desert island, what five items would you like to have with you?" Other questions were "If you had seven days to live, what five things would you do?" ...etc, etc. It was a bit ridiculous. I did NOT feel like I was in an interview, and I did not feel that my skills and attributes were being measured accordingly. I suppose Yamaha has their own ways of evaluating their candidates, but I sure wish I knew what those were. I was constantly wondering what exactly they were looking for, and could not for the life of me think of what they wanted me to do/say/act. In the end, I was just honest.

The next activity was even more ridiculous...each group had a "problem" and we had to come up with a "solution" and then act it out. Again, what were they looking for? Creative ways of solving problems? Ability to perform/speak in front of others? Sure. But they way they went about it was just...interesting. Finally there was a closing speech (powerpoint, of course) about the position and the audition and details like that. I was very disappointed in the entire process, and I have absolutely no idea how I did. Only time will tell, and luckily that time will end in four days.

Last Hooray at Melon

Today was my last day at Melon Media. It was kind of sad, but very inspiring. Dain, the digital producer who gave me most of my work, told me (and I quote) "You are the best intern we've ever had." I feel all giddy inside!! They gave me a LOVELY card with the nicest comments EVER on it ("Never lose your passion and energy--hope to offer you a full time job one day. I know you are going to do well." "I know you'll go far in life." "I love your enthusiasm for everything you do." "Been a blast working with you.") not to mention the $120 gift card to David Jones--woo hoo! Someone's going shop-ping, someone's going shop-ping. I feel a new birthday dress coming on...

Weekend

Hilltop Hoods on Friday was good. Mark and Nikki and myself went to Marty's around 7, we headed out around 9, the show was from 10-11ish and we hit up the CBH afterwards. Saturday I did a bit of cleaning and organising, and relaxed with my book. The sun was not keen on showing itself. Saturday night I met some uni friends and a ton of Marty's friends at the Clovelly Hotel for a feed and some drinks; we ended up at the Coog again until about 2, went to see the boss (best kebab in Australia) and called it a night. This morning (Sunday), I was up early to head to Marty's boss' house, where I met his wife and four (adorable) kids--one of whom I gave a piano lesson to--while he and Marty went for a round of golf. As soon as they arrived at the course, however, it started chucking down rain and they decided not to stick it out. I had a great time with the kids, though--the oldest one has talent at the piano and the 3 year old and I had a brilliant time making play-dough pancakes and pizzas. Lots of them. Marty and I met about ten of his friends for lunch in Parrametta at 1:30, where I experienced Yuncha for the first time. It was pretty good; I liked the dumplings and there was a bit of crab. I tried to avoid the prawns (allergic reaction) but something must have snuck its way into my mouth because I had terribly itchy eyes for the rest of the arvo. We had a drink on the balcony, then headed back to the eastern suburbs. It was miserable all day; grey skies and on-and-off rain. The rest of my day was fairly uneventful; I'm tired after a long (but good) weekend. Good night!

Never a Cook...Today a Cook!!!

I know I already posted today, but I can't help myself, really. Tonight I COOKED!! Margie, take note. Your little sister is not so useless in the kitchen, after all. Chicken schnitzel! There was corn, too, I might add. And yes, it was soooo good!! Family fatty was quite please with herself :) Mmmmm.

Once a Reader, Always a Reader

Not much is going on with me right now, but I am reading a really good book. It's a story within a story within a story...Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin. My Tuesday night ended up being absolutely fantastic--Marty came with 3 of his friends, and 5 of my uni friends showed up. The steak was delicious, the beer refreshing and the company just what I needed. I hadn't laughed so hard for a while. Yesterday work at Infinity Property Agents was much better than it had been before (I'm getting sales experience in addition to providing administrative support), though I'm still looking around for other summer opportunities. My Audiovisual Production professor surprised me by offering to send my CV to her friend who works for ABC--I was quite honoured. I had mentioned to her after class one night that I was interested in broadcast journalism, and I've received the highest marks of all my classes in hers--high distinctions! I've also sent some e-mails around to community radio stations regarding summer work, and my second interview with Yamaha Music is next Tuesday! They called this week and invited me to proceed with the application (I had a phone interview a few weeks ago). Group interview next Tuesday; if I pass that, class observation, then private interview, then audition. Quite an extensive application process, but we'll see how it goes. I also applied for a job at the Sydney Opera House as a tour guide--how exciting would that be?!--and a few other positions in communications and marketing. Tomorrow Marty and I and some friends are going to the Hilltop Hoods concert--real Aussie hip hop! Interestingly, they've done work with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and toured the UK with a string quartet from Sydney. Classical traditions don't always have to be realised in an antiquated fashion! What do you think, is there a future for me here as keyboardist?

A Day in the life...at Uni

Bus evacuation

Quad lawn at UNSW

Today was quite a rough day, ending with my bus breaking down and a brief walk home. Luckily, it's a beautiful day in Sydney. Spring is finally here! This arvo I went to uni for a few doctors appointments, but I wasn't at all happy with the service provided by UNSW Health Services. I miss U of M hospitals! Despite the long waits and the crowds of coughing college students, at least the doctors there actually achieved something at the end of a 45-minute appointment. Whether a recommendation, a prescription, some advice or a referral--I always walked out of UMS feeling as if something had been accomplished and my money had been well spent. At UNSW, I walked out of the door in tears, no better than I had been before my appointment (which I made over two weeks ago) and $204 poorer. Grrrr....

Alas, there's hope for me yet. Tonight=steak night at Randwick Rugby Club. Hopefully a good a meal and a few VBs with friends will bring a happy ending to my terrible Tuesday.

A Premature Celebration

This arvo--after a long and fierce battle with file sizes, compression and uploading issues (I won, eventually)--I turned in my Media Production Project. 2 more assessments to go until summer!

Media Production Journal + Essay (30%)= 21 Oct
Feature Article (40%) = 30 Oct

Marty took me out to dinner at a Bondi restaurant called Hurricanes, where we both had awesome ribs. I need to start getting in the obsessive-photo-taking habit; there was most definitely a moment when I had bbq sauce all over my face and fingers and as I was reaching for my wine glass, Marty just looked at me and laughed. Opportune photo op, but to be fair, neither of us were exactly in ideal situations to be handling expensive digital cameras or even phones.

Summer is just around the corner; I can feel it...just get here already!!

WOLVERINE PRIDE!!

So maybe I missed graduation at the Big House. Maybe I missed the speeches, the hat tosses, the graduation gowns, and the last hooray in Ann Arbor. It's true that I never experienced the tears, the fears, the laughs, the cries, the beer pong with parents or the fancy dinner at Chophouse....the final parties, the goodbyes, the good lucks and good days. Maybe I did miss out on the whole "graduation weekend" thing, and I certainly never experienced a moment when all of a sudden, I was pronounced a college graduate by Mary Sue Coleman herself. While my peers were graduating, I was still in class (let's be honest...given the time change, I was probably sleeping or in a pub). While my classmates were tossing their caps in the air, looking up towards the beautiful Ann Arbor sky and wondering what the future would bring, I was laying out on a beach in Australia--without a care in the world.

By the time I finished (and passed) my last class as an undergraduate, it was mid-June. Nobody said, "Congratulations, Mariah. You've busted your ass for four years, and you're now a college graduate. Good work." I never did don a cap and gown, and my parents did not take me out to dinner or give me a grandiose lecture about my future. But one winter day in August (yes, it gets down to 50 degrees in Australia--crazy, I know), my diploma arrived in the mail. It had taken weeks to get here, and it showed: there was a tear in it. At first, I was devastated. I determined that come 1 am, I would call the office of the registrar (it would be late morning in America) and bitterly demand that a new diploma be sent immediately. Of course, 1 am usually found me either sleeping or drinking--not ideal situations to be complaining in--and I kept putting it off and putting it off.

Now my diploma hangs brilliantly on my wall, laminated with pride. The tear is still noticeable, but barely. And it reminds me on a daily basis that while I missed the Big House, the Big Day and the Big Speech, I didn't (and still don't) miss out on tearin' it up down under (yes, I just said that). Who cares, anyway? A silly little rip in a single piece of paper doesn't and will never change the fact that I'm still a graduate of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN...and I'm as proud as ever to be a Wolverine. GO BLUE!!!

From frowns to flowers

Big week for uni work. I'm a little stressed with so many major assessments due, but alas, Marty bought me beautiful tulips!!!

Law essay = check
Blog + essay = nearly done
Media Production Project = ....ehh one step at a time
Feature article = no comment

Cloudy and miserable all day, but no rain.

Cheers!! xx Mariah xx

Whale Watching--almost

This arvo Marty and I went down to Clovelly Beach so that I could attempt to learn to drive a BMW 325I 6 speed manual, key word being manual. Let's just say...massive, massive fail. I stalled out about 3,259 times and made an incredible journey of about 20 m in the parking lot. Woo hoo! Unfortunately for Marty, he's going to have to continue utilizing the Sydney cab service...this silly American canNOT pick his drunk ass up.

Anyway, when we pulled up there were a ton of coppers and people on the rocks watching the water. We walked over to see what it was all about, just as everyone started pointing out in the distance. We soon discovered that there had been whales, and of course missed the whole thing. The whales didn't come back :(

On a happier note, immediately following my driving lesson I went to meet an absolutely LOVELY family that needs a babysitter/PIANO TEACHER (!) in Eastlakes. 2 girls, 4 and 1 years old. Natalie and Bionca, respectively. Piano in the house, Natalie can play Twinkle Twinkle and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Very excited at the prospect of teaching again...I see a little prodigy in the making (aka mini me).

MONDAY: Law essay (40% of final grade) due...check minus citations and printing
TUESDAY: Blog and essay (30%) due....lots of work to be done
WEDNESDAY: Media Production Project (40%) due...interview done, video footage taken

After that...ONE more assessment (feature article)...then....SUMMER!!!!!

Too bad it's been raining nonstop for weeks :(

cheers!! xx Mariah xx

G'Day, Mate! Basic Life Updates

Greetings from Sydney :) Yes, I live here now. I flew over in February 2009, as a study abroad kid in my last semester as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. I accidentally fell in love with this country, however, resolved to make myself a life here, and have never looked back.

Around June 2009, I decided that I didn't want my Australian experience to end; I applied for graduate school. The financial crisis in the states was not improving, and unemployment rates were nearing 10%. My bachelors of arts in music certainly wouldn't be favorable in such a harsh economic climate, so I decided that going back to school was the right thing to do. I've always been an avid writer, and a brand new program at the University of South Wales was taking off. John Hartigan, CEO and Chairman of News Ltd (which until 1988 operated the New York Post and currently runs some of Australia's largest publications such as The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, GQ Australia, Vogue Australia and news.com.au...Rupert Murdoch is behind all this) gave a wonderful speech on the opening of the program, found here.

So I'm working toward a masters in Journalism & Communication at the University of New South Wales. I live in an apartment in the Eastern Suburbs, about 5 minutes from the beach. Life is glorious.

I have an internship at Melon Media in Sydney CBD, where I run the spellr.us corporate blog and also contribute to the main corporate blog.

I recently quit my job at the Coogee Bay Hotel (meaning I can once again be a patron there; bring on the beers) and have begun work at Infinity Property Agents, a property management company in Sydney.

Until school is officially out of session, my visa restricts me to 20 hours a week. With uni four days a week and Melon two days a week (my job at the Coogee Bay used to be Fri, Sat, Sun--meaning no days off, jam packed timetable...what a nightmare) plus a lame excuse for a social life...this restriction has yet to bother me. Come summer, I can work as much as I want, and without uni, I will be embracing the Australian work ethic in full. (Which, contrary to popular belief, does not comprise of 2 hour pub lunches and leaving on Fridays at noon to hit up the beach, as tempting as it may seem. Australians are very hard workers!)

Last week I had a phone interview with Yamaha Music Australia, so hopefully I'll be teaching piano again soon. Private lessons with at least one student are starting within the next few weeks. Hopefully--if things go well with my first student--mums will get to talking, as they usually do. They'll marvel at how much their daughter/son loves music, and how much it enhances their lives and adds to their educational experiences--plus, they have fun! Perhaps they'll be pushing trolleys (grocery carts) at the shops, or chirping away on the phone while changing nappies (diapers); regardless, before I know it I'll have my very own studio of students, full of adorable little Ozzie kids screaming "Mum, mum, look what Ms Mariah taught me to play!"

I digress.

I'm also doing some freelance work (as pianist, not harpist--though I miss that over-sized 88-stringed ebony Lyon & Healy beauty) for Le Montage, a Sydney-based function centre. It's amazing to be playing again. I just ordered my favorite Christmas music books (Jerry Ray) and can't wait to start pounding out those Christmas carols. Yes, I'm aware that it's barely Halloween. Practice makes perfect!

Classes and final assessments will be over and done with by 1 November. My 23rd birthday is 10 November (gross, I'm getting old) and Thanksgiving....er....the end of November (reminder: no such holiday exists down under...someone send me massive amounts of turkey) will bring a very tan and happy Mariah as the official first day of summer is 1 December. Have fun with that snow and ice, Michiganders...

All in all, everything is going beautifully. I love Australia, and though I miss my family and friends dearly, I'm very, very happy here!

If you want to contact me, the best way is email: mariahgillespie@gmail.com

Cheers!! xx Mariah xx