My First Ever Conference!

Darling Harbour- view from Exhibition Centre


Lunch/Exhibitions: quite the spread!

Yesterday I attended my first conference: the 2010 AHRI HR Technology Conference. It was a wonderful day of listening, learning, networking, listening, learning and more networking. And eating...and drinking, of course!

Hosted at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre (Australia's largest and most premier conference venue), it was the best possible first conference experience I could have asked for. I mean, seriously. Check out those views! Not that I had much time to enjoy them. It kicked off at 9 am, with a keynote speaker who ranted about innovation for an hour. It was actually very engaging, and I must admit that "INNOVATION!" was in my head all day long. Given by Jonar Nader, it was a really great start to a technology conference and I felt that most of the audience was engaged. Everyone received a free copy of his book, Lose Friends & Infuriate Lovers, but I still have no idea how it relates to human resources or recruitment. Oh, well. If you get a copy of that book from me for Christmas, I must not like you very much or think that you need some serious relationship advice!

Morning tea followed, with coffee, muffins, etc. Delicious. I was quite impressed with the food and bev arrangements for the entire day; we were constantly fed and caffeinated thoughout the day. The food and bevs were dispersed in the exhibition room, where there were booths from various companies, mostly offering HR and recruitment software.

Networking is fun! And easy. Conversation starters weren't difficult, as everyone there had something to do with HR, recruitment or HR and recruitment technologies. Unfortunately, I didn't have a business card (I was only on day 8 of being employed at JXT!) but I had some of my manager's cards with my name, email and mobile written in. Sorta ghetto, but nobody minded. Actually, it was a great way to get to know who's who and what's what in the industry, and as soon as I said, "I'm brand new to the industry," I had business cards thrown my way with explanations of why their product or service is the BEST in the industry. Silly salespeople. I may be young, but I'm not not dumb!

Anyway, the day was filled with lectures (wait...I thought I was DONE with uni..sigh) on topics such as social collaboration tools (wikis), e-recruitment, HR Technology for mobiles and the best talk of the day (OK, so maybe I'm a LITTLE biased...): "Using social media to drive employee engagement." It was given by Michael Specht, who leads a HR technology consulting business and is extremely social media-savvy. I had the pleasure of talking with him before his presentation, and was able to secure myself a spot at his upcoming social recruitment seminar in December. I'm very exctied!

Another amazing person that I had the honour of meeting was Brad Howarth, a Sydney journalist and writer (see his most recent article on social media here). I was able to pick his brain for quite a bit on both social media and journalism, and he gave me some great pointers for developing my writing and for getting published. Great guy, and fantastic writer. He's done a lot of stuff for the Sydney Morning Herald (and Rolling Stone; how cool is that?!) and has a book coming out soon, as well (A Faster Future, on the National Broadband Network). Did I mention he was the MC for the entire conference?

As you can see, my first conference was a huge success. I spent the entire day listening and learning in lectures or walking around the exhibitions, wide-eyed and fresh, meeting as many people as I could and absorbing as much of the industry as possible.

I have to admit, though, that by 5 pm I was completely exhausted. As if wearing heels isn't enough (hey, I'm new to this whole corporate thing; gone are the days of rocking up to class in thongs and a t-shirt, and my feet aren't too happy about that), I sort of talked, smiled and introduced myself to death. Alas, the end of the conference brought cold beers and warm snacks, and everyone was grateful to relax with a bevvy and enjoy the view pictured above until 6 pm.

At the end of it all, I did manage to escape with a pile of business cards, a brain-full of information on HR, recruitment, technology and business and and a new goal. By Septemer 2011, I want to be the one at the front of the room, with my powerpoint slides and lazer beam, enlightening a room-ful of professionals on the ways in which social media can help their businesses. I know that I'm not there yet, and I know that I have a long way to go. But I'm confident that I can do it, and I've already got the support of the JXT team to help me achieve it.

All in all, my first conference was a great success!

Sydney in Spring

Check out those waves! Intensity at Coogee Beach


The Sydney Bridge


The infamous Opera House! (soon to be Oprah House...)

Ah, spring is upon us in Sydney, Australia. Last week was the first time that I could truly smell spring in the air. And spring smells sweet, indeed! I spent the morning on the beach, reading and writing. Winds were high, and the waves were incredible. Then I traversed to the city to have lunch with Cara at Wagamama, and it was fantastic. Great catch up, and then she went back to work while I...hmm..what did I do? With my new job starting on 5 October, I had the luxury of doing pretty much nothing! I took a stroll around Circular Quay, down to wharf. I admired the bridge for a while, then made my way to the Opera House. I still feel like a tourist in this country, because seeing these views is still breathtaking every time. It was a beautiful afternoon, however, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My touristy ways were reaffirmed when I was unable to resist the photo-opportunity temptations (see above). I love Australia!

The 5 Steps to Musical Corruption in 3-5 Year Olds

Grandparents, parents, children and babies all discovering the joys of music together. Sniff...sniff. So beautiful!!


Kids of all ages exploring the sounds of the keyboard! (The girl on the left can now play "The Frog Song" perfectly. So proud!)


Oh, look! She's found the treble clef! Nope, no clue what's on her head.


These girls were working with their parents at the Aussie Farmers' Direct booth next to me, and dying to get away from those free bread samples and get into learning how to play "Hot Cross Buns" with an older but not too old to be cool Miss Mariah. And they made those Yamaha signs on their own, I swear!!


The kids' station. Nope, not ashamed of bribing future students with colouring and lollies. Not. At. All.


My beautiful Yamaha booth!! See close up of display board here.

This weekend was extremely Yamaha-intensive (surprised much?). On Saturday I ran my first Yamaha promotion, which was incredibly successful! It was at the Engadine Church Primary School, about twenty minutes from the Yamaha School in Jannali. It ran from 9-2, and I have to admit, it was completely exhausting! There were dozens upon dozens upon DOZENS of little kids running around, from toddlers to ten-year-olds. As it was a church function, many of the parents let their kids...shall we say...wander freely...throughout the day. Suffice to say, I had a few clingers! I loved it, though. I most certainly converted a few "interested in what happens when I press these keys" into "I WANT TO TAKE MUSIC LESSONS WITH MISS MARIAH!! NOW!!" Mission Musical Corruption: Accomplished :)

I had plenty of informational literature for the parents, including my Benefits of Music Education sheet as well as term dates, choosing the right instrument (a Yamaha instrument, of course), examples of workbooks/music books and Yamaha methodologies. There was also the Yamaha DVD playing in the background (a supplementary DVD that comes with each child's music books, in addition to the CD) and it most certainly attracted a demographic of I've-been-jumping-on-blow-up-trampolines-and-running-around-with-my-face-painted-eating-hot-dogs-and-infusing-sugary-candy-into-me-for-four-hours-and-I-need-a-break sort of kids.

Step 1: Grab a kids' chair and plop them on down in front of the TV for a minute or two. Watch with them.
Step 2: Wow! Is that an ELEPHANT showing you where DO is on the keyboard!?
Step 3: Do you want me to show you where DO is on THIS keyboard?!
Step 4: Yes, you can bang on these keys to make cool sounds (enter sound effects: trumpet, violin, maybe some thunder and lightning for the tough crowd) AND you know where all the DOs are on the keyboard! Aren't you clever!? Don't you want to learn more?
Step 5: Where's your mum? Oh hi, Jake's Mum! Jake and I have been having SUCH a great time on the keyboard..he's at the PERFECT age for our Junior Music Class! Did you know that music lessons will encourage Jake to express himself creatively, and will also improve his verbal skills and enhance his memory? Our classes run every Saturday morning....


And that, my dear readers, are the 5 Steps to Musical Corruption in 3-5 year olds.

Addicted to Yamaha

Today I traversed down south to Jannali to work on my bee-you-ti-ful display board (see above). This weekend I'll be setting up a booth at the Engadine Church Primary School, about twenty minutes from our Yamaha Music School in Jannali. They're having a spring festival from 9-2 (my classes are moved to Sunday this week) and my fabulous display board will be....well, on display, along with informational packets, flyers, candy, stickers and balloons for the kids, a keyboard for mini-lessons, a CD player jammin' all of Yamaha's finest tunes, a muted DVD showing last year's Sydney concert and an informational sheet authored by yours truly on just a few of the Benefits of Music Education.

As much as I love, love, love, LOVE teaching music to little kids, I have to admit that I'm a wee bit nervous for next school term. My course load for teaching has been tripled, and I'll also be teaching in Chatswood. 9 classes total, with 5 in Jannali on Saturdays and 4 in Chatswood on Sundays--both starting at 9 am. That means I'll be working 7 days a week. Eek. There are school holidays, so I'll have 2 week reliefs (i.e. major sleep days) every 10 weeks, but still. I'll be teaching a new course (Young Musician's Course for 6-8 year olds) and my Junior Music Book 2ers will be moving on to books 3 and 4. This means new material, new songs to learn, new repertoire to teach and more practice and preparation time during the week. Then again, I'm looking to become regional coordinator by this time next year, so I know that it's worth the extra hours. Talk about a busy little bee!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm EMPLOYED!!

Well, it's finally happened. After dozens of phone chats, interviews, internet research, pro and con charts, negotiations and deep, deep contemplation, I have finally made a career move, and a major one, at that. I am officially and happily employed with JXT Consulting in North Sydney, as Social Media and Communications Specialist! Ya-HOO! (er, sorry, Yahoo! 7, I decided not to go with you, despite the beautiful views and fantastic harbour location).

I am so, SO excited to get on board! My new job doesn't start until 5 October, so I have some time to prepare. And prepare I most certainly will. I'm spending heaps of time online these days, just listening to conversations on twitter, reading articles on social media platforms, social media marketing, SEO, FBML, etc. My job will be essentially to sell social media to recruitment companies. How perfect is that!? I've just spent the past 4 months as a recruiter dying to get into the social media space, and along comes an opportunity for me to just that, allowing me to utilise my recruitment experience, to boot!

Let me back up for a minute. I had initially signed a contract with Ability People in Sydney CBD, where I was to be trained and mentored into a recruiter, eventually opening up my own division in the social media/digital media arena. In addition, I would act as Communications/Marketing Manager across all of their locations, including their UK sites. Very cool! I'd set them up on facebook, twitter, etc and implement a social recruiting strategy for the company itself, as well. In my work at Sherborne, I had become increasingly interested in the ways in which social media could be used by recruiters to find talent; after all, candidates these days are more likely than not to turn to facebook first when looking for a job.

Anyway, so I was fully on board with Ability People, anxious to start and ready to go, when I received a phone call from JXT. They had found my resume on linkme.com.au (the SECOND time now that I have successfully landed a full time job via this website, without having to apply or even express interest--incredible!) and they wanted me to come in and have a chat. At first I was hesitant, as I was already settled into the idea of working for Ability People, but when he said the words "social media," my ears really perked up. I heard him out, and agreed to go in and chat. To be honest, I was astounded that were jobs out there in social media (which I love) for someone as junior as myself. I knew that there were social media specialists (in fact, I single handedly placed one at BUPA healthcare while I was at Sherborne; you're welcome, Cara!!), but I had never considered myself social-media-savvy enough to actually do it myself. I subscribe to all the social media RSS feeds, read blogs and tweet about social media, but I haven't actually implemented a real SM campaign before, aside from Sherborne's lame facebook and twitter pages, which I never had time to monitor/build upon during my time there.

So I went to North Sydney on a Monday afternoon, had a chat with the Sales Manager and the BDM, met the developers and even the CEO. It's a small office, with a small team, but everyone was fantastically friendly. JXT provides technology solutions for recruiters, implementing SEO and SMO strategies for recruitment companies. SMO--social media optimisation--is where I come in. I'll be "selling" the social media side of things to clients, both new and old, implementing SM strategies (facebook, twitter, blogs, etc), monitoring their online presence for a few months, then educating them on how to best maintain and build upon that online community. I also get to do a fair bit of copywriting, so the $20G I spent on my masters degree (Journo & Comm) isn't completely gone to waste! I also get to do a fair bit of traveling around Sydney, and thus will be given a company car. Hasta la vista, public transportation! And hello, Sydney roads. LEFT is RIGHT...LEFT is RIGHT...LEFT is RIGHT....

So I interviewed Monday arvo, was offered the job Tuesday morning, took Wednesday to think about it, and sent through the signed contract on Thursday. Oh, and they're sponsoring me! Australians are stuck with me for at LEAST another four years :)

All in all, I'm a very happy little vegemite :) I cannot WAIT to get on board with JXT, and really show them what I'm made of. I've said it before, and I'll say it again....

World, watch out!!

Reading this? You're Not Alone

Followers around the world...13 countries!


Followers in the US...heaps!

Hey. You. Yeah, you. You're reading this. I don't care how, or I don't care why, but the point is, you're here. THANK YOU!

Social Media Breakfast

On Thursday morning, I attended a social media seminar at the MLC Centre in Sydney, level 47. See views above--not too shabby! The seminar itself, however, was less than impressive. The speaker was Aaron Goonrey, a lawyer that specialises in Workplace Relations & Safety. That, I'm afraid was the problem. I'm confident that I could have given a better presentation on social media with my eyes closed! First of all, his statisitcs were outdated. 40 million users on facebook? Really? Try 50 million. He talked for a while about Second Life, which I find to be totally irrelevant in the social media landscape, and didn't once mention 4square, which while only boasting half a million users worldwide, I think is growing into something huge. It must be, in fact, with facebook's recent launch of facebook places. Funnily, the logo for facebook places is literally a four inside of a square.

Anyway, the seminar was pretty boring. I didn't hear much that I didn't already know. The whole thing had a negative connotation to it (go figure; it was presented by a lawyer) and the 50 or so of us present were warned about the various ways in which social media can be damaging to a business, not the ways in which it could help. Don't worry; I was sure to leave some verbose feedback on the response forms :)

More Interviews, More Job Offers

On Wednesday, I had an interview with Ability People in Sydney CBD. Suffice to say, it went very, very well. So well, in fact, that they sent an offer through to me the next morning! And this, my dear readers, is the offer that I have accepted :) I will be starting out as a social media/marketing consultant, developnig their brand/website as well as getting my hands dirty in the recruitment process. They have some really exciting roles on in digital as well as print media, and hopefully I can take them on solo within a few short months! The social media bit excites me the most. GOAL: become a social media EXPERT. Follow all the right blogs, feeds, twitter accounts, facebook groups, newsletters etc. Create an amazing document with blow-you-away statistics on the impact that social media can have on a company. Present this to CEOs all across Australia, convince them that their company NEEDS to have a social media expert, find them one, and boom. I've started my own division. Bring it!

Meanwhile, ICUR and xpand are keen to move forward, as well. I need to make a decision, and by the time this entry is posted, I will have signed a contract somewhere, hopefully at Ability People. Still waiting for a few things to pan out....

NOW I'm a journo..a real, live journo!

OK, so maybe I thought that I was a journo before. But NOW I'm a real journalist, because my name is in print!

Same article, IN print. If you missed the online version, find it here. But this is WAY better, because I can touch it! OK, so it's no Sydney Morning Herald. Actually, it only comes out once a month. Still...if it's rugby league..it's in the Rugby League Review!

How cool is that!?

ANOTHER interview!

The fabulous view from the yahoo! 7 offices. Oh hey, Sydney Bridge. My future employer? Perhaps!

So yesterday my colleague and awesome account manager at Sherborne, Jason, recommended that I connect with someone on LinkedIn. So I did, and now I have another job offer on my hands! I connected with one of the managers of a recruitment agency called xpand and expressed my interest in moving into the digital sphere. Justin rang me an hour later, and an hour after that I had an interview. Luckily, their offices are just down the road from Sherborne, so I was able to be there and back within the hour. The interview went fantastically, and Justin wanted to set me up as a recruiter with their biggest client--yahoo!7. Jess, who is the internal recrutier through xpand over there, has over 20 roles on at the moment and is in desperate need of help. Therefore, my timing was actually impeccable (they had just talked about the need for more staff at a meeting last Friday).

Justin set up a 2nd interview between Jess and I for that very arvo. We ended up rescheduling for the next day (Friday) but had a great meeting. As you can see, the views from the yahoo!7 offices are fantastic! It's located at Walsh Bay and overlooks the Sydney Bridge. You can actually see the tiny little climbers as they make the ascent! The yahoo!7 offices were awesome. The oldest person working there is 45; everyone is young and pretty hip loooking..company culture=check. Jess says there are sweet social events, conferences and staff happenings all the time. As it was Friday, everyone was dressed casually (and from what I gathered at the interview, casual Friday is every day). Nobody looked stressed, though I know it's a very high-pressure environment. Plus, I get to hang out with people like the Creative Director of yahoo! Australia and ring up dudes like the editor of Rolling Stone Australia for reference checks. Uh.....badass! Jess and I had a really good chat, and we both agreed that I'd be a good fit there. She's going to have a follow up with Justin, but prettttty much I can start whenever I want. Awe-some.

However, I'm going to see through the rest of my interviews next week (Lavolta and ICUR) and hopefully make a decision by Friday. Fingers crossed that I have an awesome new job in one week's time!

Cheeky Sunday Session + JOBS JOBS JOBS!!

Cam and myself--Sunday Sess @ the Coogee Bay!

Well, it certainly has been a while since I've written anything. My most sincere apologies! Life has been crazy, as usual. In fact, I'm in the middle of a major career transformation! OK, so maybe not major. But a transformation, nonetheless. From IT recruitment to marketing/digital media/creative recruitment. I applied for 4 jobs on seek.com.au exactly two weeks ago, and the next day I received THREE phone calls before 12 noon! It felt awesome to know that I'm that..well...awesome. They were all recruiters (rec-to-recs: recruiters recruiting recruiters) and they all wanted me to come in for interviews. Then I went on a little adventure, which went something like this:

Monday night:
- applied online for jobs

Tuesday:
- received phone calls from 3 recruiters, 2 of which insisted on seeing me that day!
- Interview w/ Ashworth Recruitment (lunch meeting, just down the road from Sherborne)
- Interview w/ Fox Recruitment, 5:30 pm (North Sydney, right across the bridge)

Wednesday:
- CLIENT INTERVIEW w/ S2M Recruitment Agency (in the heart of Sydney CBD on Hunter Street)

Thursday:
- 2nd interview w/ S2M
- CLIENT INTERVIEW w/ Lavolta (in Rozelle-bit of a trek from Coogee and about ten minutes from CBD)

Friday:
- Interview w/ Hays Recruitment (Sydney CBD--too corporate, too big, not for me)
- Lunch w/ former colleagues at Melon Media--resume distributed but no role for me at the moment

Monday:
- S2M MADE ME AN OFFER! .....which....I..........(drum roll)..........turned down.

Basically, I'm still wanting to get out there and interview some more before I make a decision. S2M put a lot of pressure on me to take on the role straight away (they gave me one day to decide), and while the offer was quite financially generous and they are, in fact, the leading digital media recruitment agency in Sydney, I decided that I wanted to really explore all of my options before making a decision. After all, this is my career we're talking about, and I want to make sure that I know exactly what's available in the job buffet before I start filling up my plate with the first thing that looks yummy. And S2M looked really, really delicious, I have to admit.

They're a small company, with no more than 20 on staff. They've grown to become an international success in just a few years, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. During my second interview, I was able to meet with almost everyone on the team, and I know that I would have fit in really well there. Most of the staff are under 30, really passionate about digital media, extremely friendly and hard working. I could absolutely see myself going for after-work drinks with almost everyone I met. (Not that that's a major factor in my decision-making-process, but it sure didn't hurt that I'd be working with young, fun people every day.) Also, the managing director assured me that I'd have all of the support I'd need, with on the job training and plenty of people to turn to (literally: the office is small and the lay out is basically one long table with the computers lined up in a row) if I needed help with anything. Alas, I just couldn't do it. I wasn't 110% positive, and my gut told me to wait it out and that there'd be plenty of other offers to come. I had a 2nd interview with Lavolta (the direct competitor of S2M) set up for the following week, and S2M wasn't willing to wait.

Exactly one week later, I still feel very confident in my decision to turn down the offer from S2M. I had yet ANOTHER interview with a different company last Wednesday, a company called ICUR in Surry Hills (creative/digital agency). It went really well, and I have a second interview with them this Wednesday. I'm keen to meet some more members of the team. So far, they sound awesome. And Surry Hills is a FANTASTIC location! It's on the outer edge of the city (closest to me in Coogee), a block away from Central Station and the area has great little pubs and restaurants. Great social scene, close to transport and close to me.

But Lavolta seems fantastic, as well. They've been described to me as the "google of recruitment" and indeed, the office environment was very chill when I went for my first interview. There's even a little office dog--Hollywood--that runs around! Adorable. I met with Steve from Lavolta, but his business partner is in the UK at the moment. As he's unable to make any business decisions (i.e. hiring someone) without her, I'll go back for my second interview when she's back in the country (today!!). Oddly, the same situation had happened at ICUR: the director was on holidays until today. Fingers crossed that both companies make me an offer and I can choose from a plethora of five-star meals, with lovely sides that might include superannuation, bonuses and wonderful commission structures :)

In other news, it's bloody freezing in Sydney. OK, so there's no snow on the ground. OK, so some people are wearing shorts and t-shirts. OK, so it's 60 degrees and sunny. But it's COOOLD in the morning and at night, and I miss my beach weather! I miss my bikini, I miss the hanging out with the sun at 6 pm (it ditches me before 5 pm these days) and I really, really, REALLY miss my tan!

Still...the Coogee Bay somehow manages to remain in business. Wednesday is my favourite night, as my boy Bruce is the muso on. They Call Me Bruce is the name of the gig, and he's fantastic! I actually e-mailed him to say how much I enjoy his shows, and we're kinda mates now :) He dedicated a song to Mary and I ("the Americans") on her first night in Oz.

So hopefully the interview with ICUR goes well on Wednesday and Steve from Lavolta will arrange for me to come in and meet his business partner sometime this week.

I should also mention that me making a career move at this point in time is fairly risky and dangerous, as I still don't have a proper visa. Sherborne actually offered to sponsor me by providing me with a working visa, whereby I can live and work (for Sherborne) in Australia for 4 years (and they call that "short term"!). Me leaving Sherborne would mean me not having a visa. Mind you, I'm still on a student visa, which expires on 30 September. It's coming up! So, here are my thuoghts:

If I'm not 100% passionate about what I'm doing, there's no point in wasting anyone's time-especially mine. As I'm just starting out in my career, I'm keen to do those 12 hour days, extra work on the weekends and maintain that bust-my-ass sort of mindset for a while. I'm ready to take on any challenge that comes my way and drive myself to be the most successful person I can be. However, if I don't enjoy my work, that passion and drive is going to dwindle and I'm going to end up miserable. So I decided that I might as well sort this out now, rather than later, and make my move. I'll find a job that better fulfills my creative needs (i.e. digital media and marketing). Come the end of September, I'll take a short trip to....New Zealand! That's right, New Zealand. While I'm there, I'll apply for a work-holiday visa, which you can only apply for if you're NOT in Australia. With this visa, I'm entitled to work for the same company for no more than six months. SO, I'll just bust my butt at whatever new job I take on, show my employer how totally awesome I am and after a few short months hope that they, too, will be willing to sponsor me for long-term employment. I'm not worried. It only took Sherborne a little over one month to offer me sponsorship, so I'm sure that I can convince whatever new company I join that I'm worth keeping around. Welp, here I go, jumping from a cliff in a huge leap of faith--in myself.

So that's that. And in case there's any doubt left in your mind, I'm never, EVER going back to the states again! This American is in Oz to stay.

The Future of Writing

(written while interning for Melon Media circa 26 October 2009)

Attention uni students: facebooking and twittering just may score you HDs.

In the September issue of Wired, Clive Thompson makes an interesting point about the future of the writer: “It’s not that today’s students can’t write,” he says, “it’s that they’re doing it in different places and in different ways.”

This new generation of writers produces more text than they might realise—what Andrea Lunsford, professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University, calls “life writing.” She found that 38% of student writing takes place outside the classroom, but I’d venture to say that this number is even higher.

Consider the numerous platforms in which students form words: twitter, facebook status updates, facebook chats, facebook wall posts, myspace, AOL instant messenger, e-mailing, blogging, SMSing…the list goes on. In a few years, it seems, almost every graduate will also have a degree in communications.

Thompson argues that purpose and audience are the most important aspects of writing, and that today’s young people have mastered the questions of why and for whom. But how else will wordplay on the web improve academic prose, creating a society of better, more efficient writers?

As Lunsford notes, considering audience is one of the most important aspects of good writing. And audience is perhaps the first consideration that young writers have today when it comes to status updates and blogging. When students have a purpose and an audience that cares (because yes, your friends do want to know what you thought of Inglorious Basterds, because why would they waste ten bucks on a movie that wasn’t any good?) writing isn’t so much of a task but more of a means of being social.

In fact, if people want to stay connected with their friends and family, if they want to be “in” with what’s going on in the worlds of the people they care about, they have to write—or at least read what others are writing. So straight away, there is always a reason to write—everyone has a purpose, and that purpose can be to inform, to comment, or simply to ramble. In the world of social networking, your audience is your friends, and they usually care. So writing about how hungover you are, or how much reading you have to do, is always acceptable.

On facebook and twitter, character limits pose restrictions as to how many words you can use to say what you’re doing, where you’re going, what you think about something, or how you feel. This forces students to get their arguments across as concisely as possible, making for better and more efficient writing. Likewise, writing a thesis for an undergraduate essay requires a succinct statement, and a good one will take a position that others might challenge or oppose. With students updating their statuses anywhere from every few days to every few hours, their thesis writing skills are practiced almost daily.

In social networks, users compete with each other for time and space—if your status update, blog post or twitter feed is provoking enough, people will take time to not only read it, but to comment on what you’ve written. And isn’t that the goal of writing—to provoke, to inspire, to get people interested? Not only do you have to be more interesting than the all the other tweeters and facebookers out there, but you have to be timely. Posting a comment on a news story from two days ago won’t generate responses, because people have already moved on.

Not only that, but for every comment you receive on a post (on facebook), your post will keep re-appearing in people’s newsfeeds. The most feedback you generate, the more your writing gets published. “Three of your friends commented on Mike’s status,” the feed might read. Aren’t you now a little more inclined to read his status?

The World Wide Web is an incessantly up-to-date medium. If something major happens, you can rest assured that it will be posted online within minutes—even seconds. News travels fast, and opinions are developed quickly; if you want your voice to be heard in the cyber world, you have to generate your opinion, structure them into words and post them online as quickly as possible. What better way to train students for deadlines and due dates?

Nowadays, most students “write” from their computers. Gone are the days of papers and pencils; in fact, many students can type faster than they can write. Professors in lecture halls now look out to a sea of laptops and faces, not a swarm of moving pencils and bent heads. They hear the clicking of keys and the occasional cell phone, not rustling papers and erasers frantically rubbing.

When composing essays, today’s students have immediate access to every tool imaginable: dictionaries and thesauruses enhance vocabularies, encyclopaedias and online books provide sources and spell checking and online grammar manuals allow for on-the-spot editing. These tools are making for smarter students, better writers, and a much more efficient and timesaving writing process.

Consequently, an entire essay can be restructured in seconds. Students don’t see eraser marks, crossed out words, arrows and brackets moving sentences around, carrots with inserted phrases and circled spelling mistakes. Instead, second and third drafts are merged into one, as entire paragraphs are copied and pasted, sentences are cut with one click and spelling errors on Word are fixed instantaneously without the student even realising it.

All in all, the increase in writing and the way in which students are doing it is fantastic news. Not only will we get stronger writers, but the potential for stronger public speakers is also great. Status updates are announcements, declaring facts, stories and opinions to the cyber world. Comments on controversial posts are often in the form of short speeches. Young people are increasingly using social networks to discuss politics, current affairs, music, movies and philosophy; as such, they have no choice but to express themselves in words.

So uni students—keep it up. While your professor may not care how many VBs you drank last night, or why you think Hilltop Hoods are no good, somebody out there probably does. And if you can convince your friends that Hilltop is overrated, who’s to say you can’t convince your professor that a Wordsworth poem communicates the power of nature to mitigate solitude?

I'M ON TOP OF THE WORRRRRLD!

My first footy game in Australia!! GOOOO Roosters!!


View of Sydney Harbour at sunset from my office. Crappy photo, I know, but what can you expect from a disposable!? Digital camera coming soon...

I've finished uni. That's it--no more! A few weeks ago, I completed my final assessment--a take home exam amounting to 2,000 words on contemporary media forms (yes, writing about it is just about as boring as reading about it). It's a funny thing; upon clicking the "submit" button for the very last time, on the Blackboard site where my fellow masters students and I have been dutifully turning in all of our assignments , I felt something unexpected. Of course, the sheer joy of having completed my masters degree was imminent, and I sat there, alone on the eighth floor of a giant office building in Sydney CBD circa 8:30 pm, grinning like an idiot.

For the first time in over a decade, I had no future papers to write, nor readings to complete, nor projects to carry out. This wasn't just a long weekend, spring break or summer vacation. There was no next month, next term or next yaer. This was it.

But then, instead of feeling the cliche "weight off my shoulders" feeling that I had expected to feel--light, airy and free to wake up, go to work, go home and go to sleep without another care in the world, I felt something else. There was a weight, alright, but it wasn't going anywhere. Instead, it shifted from my shoulders down to my back, and it began to push.

It pushed, and it pushed, and it hasn't stopped pushing for weeks. In fact, I'm fairly certain that this weight is hundreds upon hundreds of kilos, and that it's not going anywhere for a long while. Funnily, it doesn't hurt at all. In fact, it feels fantastic!

There are sooo many things that I have been wanting to do, and now is my big chance. It's my chance to do it all, and I'm going to. I'm going to do everything that I always wanted, and I'm going to do it all well.

I'm GOING to kick ass at my new job. I'm GOING to get sponsored. I'm GOING to be a regional coordinator for Yamaha, and one day I'm GOING to be a head teacher. I'm GOING to run a marathon in December. I'm GOING to write a book. I'm GOING to get back into playing (Brahms, Schubert and Mozart, to be exact) and I'm GOING to sing more often. I'm GOING to do all of these things, because I can!

The weight is strong, but steady. Since the moment I clicked that submit button, my motivation level has been non-stop 160%. I've been at the office at 7 am, leaving at 7 pm. Up at 5 on Saturdays, in the classroom by 7 to prepare for my first lesson at 9. Running. Working. Learning. Teaching. Smiling.

Also, my sports professor advised that after a few additions to my feature (more interviews and a couple of small changes) he is confident that I can sell it and is happy to help me pitch it. Sydney Morning Herald, watch out!

Also, pending a few grades, I will most likely be graduating with a high distinction average.

Also, I don't think I've ever been happier in my entire life!

World, watch out...

I'm a Journo...a real, live journo!!

Hey everyone, come see how cool I am!!!

http://rleague.com/

Hopefully as you read this, you will see the article on the left hand side (titled "Injuries in the NRL") written by yours truly :)

If, by the time you are reading this, some other, less awesome article is on the left hand side, you can find it here.

OK, so it's quite possible that I'm all giddy and excited over nothing. After all, literally anyone with access to the internet can be a "journalist" these days, so who I am really kidding? Yet here I am, feeling pretttttty damn good about myself! I also submitted it to the Rugby League Review, annnnd I've been told that it's going to appear in the July issue. Score!!! (no pun intended)

Tully, Queensland..."A Pretty Wet Place!"

Main Street in Tully, Queensland, home of the Tully Times...my future employer? Only time will tell.


Yes, this is real. The Tully "Golden Gumboot" (A town famous for its rainfall and UFOs...see below) They recently celebrated the town's...er...wetness..at the annual Tully Golden Gumboot Festival


So the job offers just keep rolling in! This morning I had an interview with the editor of the Tully Times, a very, very, VERY small newspaper in an adorable little small town called Tully in northern Queensland. We had a bit of a chat, and at the end he told me that he wants me to fly up in July to start full-time work as a journalist.

I literally haven't even applied for any jobs yet, but they somehow keep managing to find me. Must be infuriating for someone who is desperately seeking employment and finding nothing..sorry! (Especially for those hailing from my home state of Michigan, where unemployment has fallen to 14%...get OUT of there already!)

Last year, I uploaded my resume onto a site called The Brolga Project, which strives to place university students in work-experience opportunities in rural Australia. But the project was just getting going at the time, and few placements were made. Almost a year later, after the program had gotten a bit of a kick-start, companies finally got on board and began actively seeking students and recent grads to work for them. The editor must have found my resume (this is twice in one month; note to job-seekers: the power of a well-formatted, well-worded CV is unlimited, especially when circulated on the world wide web!) because I soon received a call from the managing director of the Brolga Project, who wanted to set up a teleconference with John, the editor.

That was yesterday. This morning was the interview, and at the end of the phone call I was offered the job. Again..these things are all happening so quickly! (A few short weeks ago, as you recall, I was emailed on Tuesday-->"found your resume on linkme.com.au, am keen to have a chat," interviewed on Wednesday, was offered the job on Thursday...started the following Monday.)

THE JOB:
- Journo
- Small newspaper (go ahead--google it--not online yet!)
- Involvement in every aspect of newspaper production, from finding the stories to writing, editing, formatting, advertising, photography, publishing, distribution..!
- (Can you imagine how much experience I would gain from above?)
- I asked about implementing an online version of the paper; he seemed keen for me to "give it a go." How cool of a "side project" would that be?

Tully, Queensland
- ...has a population of less than 3,000. And I thought Trenton, MI was small...
- Interestingly, the town is known as the site of numerous UFO sightings...talk about an unlimited supply of news!
- Not-so-fun fact: the town actually strives to be the wettest in Australia, citing 4,458 mm of rainfall in 2009. Babinda, Australia, proved wetter (but not better) with 4,831 mm. There goes my sunny summer days at the beach..

So now the question remains as to whether or not I'm going to take the job. One and one thing only prevents me from snatching this fantastic opportunity, and my loyal readers should already know, without question, what that one thing is..

YAMAHA. I can't leave my kids! Teaching on Saturday mornings is the highlight of my week; I still get a buzz when a bunch of 4 year olds look up at me with those adorable little eyes and belt out "DO, RE, MI!!" or when they very seriously study their keyboards for about five seconds before confidently and carefully play "fa" on my cue. I'm not ready to give up the look on my 3-year-olds' faces when I sing to them about white fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky, or the wonderment in their eyes when they look up at the ceiling to watch the fairies float above as the music "tings" along..not to mention the sheer joy they get from pounding on drums to the rhythm of marching millipedes or the proud parents that watch their kids absorb Camille Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, listening intently to the double bass belt out the sounds of an elephant.

I can't have any of that in Tully. What I can have, however, is the opportunity of a lifetime to gain all the experience I could dream of having as a journalist. I could take this job essentially any direction I wanted, whether it be in the writing, editing, production or online side of things. The potential to help develop technology in a town that apparently lacks it is quite exciting for me, in particular. Plus, it's a new town: new faces, new places, new beaches, new things to explore, new things to do, new things to see and new adventures to be had. Change is good, right?

Then again, my teaching career isn't too shabby, either. Not only are my two current classes for next term filled up already (everyone re-enrolled) but I have two NEW classes that are filled to capacity as well! (One more Junior Music and one more Music Wonderland.) Whether it be word-of-mouth from the parents or clever online marketing on behalf of Yamha corporate--one thing is clear: more teaching would bring more happiness to Miss Mariah, to be sure.

Then again, I DID just spend $20G (ok, so I owe $20G in student loans) on a masters in Journo and Communications at a top-notch uni in Australia. If I turn down this opportunity on behalf of my music--a skill I've had since the age of 5--would that be a waste of money, a waste of time, and a waste of the past year of my life?

I think not. I know not, in fact. Because if I hadn't stayed in Australia to pursue my masters, I never would have applied for the Yamaha Job. Who knows if there were such jobs available in the states? I'm a firm believer that I am where I am today because the places I've been, the people I've met, and the decisions (good AND bad) that I've made. And if it's taken me thousands of dollars, a lot of confusion, 3 home addresses in 4 months and relocation to a country half way around the world from where I was born and raised..so be it. So what if I've taken huge leaps, giant falls and somehow managed to circle my way around right back to where I started (music)? Life's about the journey, anyway. Right?

When I started writing this entry, I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do. Now, however, I'm pretty certain that my mind is made up.

"Tiny ants are marching, 1, 2, 3..."

Rainy Day in Sydney

[insert picture of rainy CBD, colourful umbrellas dotting dreary Martin Place as I trekk to work in the middle of yet another downpour]

[the above picture will be uploaded as soon as I find exactly 22 good reasons to capture the moment, and develop said pictures. That's right, folks, the digital camera is...confused ("lens error") and the DISPOSABLE camera is back in style. I was shocked that they made them still, but low and behold, 2 for $20! The lady at the Chemist (=pharmacy) informed me that they would be not be restocked, so "grab them while you can!" Wow-I feel old. Remember in 7th grade, when disposable cameras were the ONLY cameras appropriate for a class trip to Cedar Point? Even the summer before my freshman year of college, I must have gone through 6 disposables in 5 weeks while camping in Wyoming. They must fall in the same camp as CDs these days...old, outdated and soooo last week. Ah, technology.]




Today was a miserable (weather) day in Sydney. It chuckered down rain for the majority of the day, including but not limited to the forty or so minutes I spent walking from my house to the bus, the bus to work, work to the bus, the bus to uni, and the walk from uni to home. Literally every minute I spent outside was spent battling precipitation from above.

Work was great, however. I'm starting to take on more projects and getting more involved in the recruitment process, and I even get to use my writing heaps more than I expected. I'm a happy chappy :)

This week is a long one. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I have a media release due. Thursday an academic essay on sports and the media. Next week=NO PAPERS DUE!!! The following week, another media release due, and the week after that one exam and one large feature article must be submitted. So close, yet so far! 8 June, where are you?!

20 days away, that's where.

Livin the Dream, baby, Livin the Dream

Arvo bevvies at the Cloey Hotel



A Saturday night at the Gaff


Sooo apparently I'm not too great at this whole blogging thing :( Who has the time!? Life has been moving so fast lately; it's insane.

Generally, my life is as follows:
Work 8-5
Uni 6-8
Study, Sleep, Repeat
Saturday mornings: teach!!


Within the past week, however, things have changed drastically.

TUESDAY I received an email from the Managing Director of Sherborne Consulting. He had found my resume on a career website (who knew that uploading resumes would actually pay off?!) and wanted to have a chat. But he was looking for someone to start immediately, full time, and I still have work restrictions on my visa until 8 June. I emailed him back saying so, and he told me that he would keep me in mind for future openings. That didn't sound promising...at all. So upon the recommendation of a friend, I emailed him back telling him that I was available part time until uni was over, on the chance that he might want to bring me in for a few hours a week. Low and behold, he was keen on the idea, and asked me to go in for an interview.

WEDNESDAY I headed into the city for my interview, and I ended up chatting with the manager for an hour and a half! I knew straight away it was a good sign. The company is called Sherborne Consulting, and is located on Clarence Street in Sydney CBD. From the office (on the 8th floor) the view of the Harbour is FANTASTIC! One of the women I work with told me that she arrived early to work one morning to look out the window and spot a school of dolphins down below! Incredible. The position in question, advertised as a marketing role, is yet to be developed. The manager (John) was hoping to cater the role to whomever fills it, and so isn't quite sure exactly what it will entail.

THURSDAY morning at 9:30 am I received a phone call from John, with an offer for the job! That was fast. He even said that I could come in part time until uni starts, which is brilliant. It's a full time temporary role--3 month contract--and in a few months we'll evaluate and assess my place in the company (coughsponsorshipcoughcough) and see what happens from there. Woo hoo!

Meanwhile, I have been showing my room in Randwick to numerous people, in hopes to move to Coogee. I'm not really sure where or when this came about, but a combination of the incredibly small size, the dodginess of my landlord (don't get my started) and the disastrous state of the residence most of the time (Australians never understand when I refer to it as a "frat house," but that's often how I felt) led me to look around Coogee for rooms to rent. I have to say, everything in this regard has worked out absolutely beautifully. I found myself looking at rooms before my room was even leased out, and at some point I put up an ad on gumtree for my room (the equivalent of craigslist in Australia) and somehow, at some point, I managed to not only find a PERFECT room in Coogee but found a replacement to live in my room in Randwick. It all just, sort of...worked out.

So in a nutshell, I showed my room to a Swedish bloke (Ricardo) on MONDAY; he seemed keen enough. I went to look at two rooms in Coogee on TUESDAY, one of which I really liked (where I now live). (Then I unexpectedly had a great night out at The Gaff with some English and Welsh people I'd met a few weeks earlier...random.) TUESDAY was also the day I got an e-mail from John expressing interest in my resume. WEDNESDAY I went in for an interview. WEDNESDAY NIGHT I went to the palace for $5 steaks, and Ricardo rang to let me know that he definitely wanted to take my room and would be putting down a deposit on Saturday. THURSDAY morning I received a call from John with a job offer, which I graciously accepted.

FRIDAY I worked all day--my last day at Schenker Logistics. Lots of hugs, lots of congratulations, and lots of "call me if you need a recommendation!"s. Friday night I lesson planned as per usual, and SATURDAY morning I had two FANTASTIC lessons with Yamaha. My kids can play Hot Cross Buns!! Every week just keeps getting better and better and better and better and better. I love my kids!! (Side story: last week after my JMC lesson, I was quite violently attacked by one of my favourites, Maya, with a hug. About five seconds later, the rest of the class decided that they needed a hug, too. GROUP HUG FOR MISS MARIAH!! It....was...AWESOME!!!)

Anyway, SATURDAY ARVO did some uni work, SATURDAY NIGHT went to Coogee Beach for the last glimpse of warmish weather (dark by 6 pm, quite sad) and ended up first in the Palace, then at the Bay (big surprise, hey?)

SUNDAY morning I received a phone call from my landlord stating that Ricardo had, in fact, put down a deposit, and that he was moving in on TUESDAY. Ah! So I quickly got a hold of Troy, who had been holding a room for me in Coogee, and he was still holding it :)

Now comes the fun part. All of Sunday was spent cleaning, packing, cleaning and packing. I ended up cleaning the entire flat, because I wanted to be sure that I got all of my security deposit back. By Sunday night I had most of my closet (room) consolidated into bags and suitcases, and a mate helped me haul it down the road to Coogee in his ute (=truck). I was back in Randwick Sunday night, however, to work on a 3,000 word case study due the following day. That was a fun Sunday/first half of Monday. MONDAY I had class all day and more moving/cleaning; turned in the case study at midnight and finished up the colour news story which was due Tuesday. A few short hours later, my alarm reminded me that Tuesday morning was also the first day of my new job at Sherborne Consulting. It was a long but good first day. Not exactly what I expected...but more on that later :)

For now, let me introduce you to my new AWESOME room in Coogee. The location is AMAZING...about a block away from Woolys (grocery store), about two blocks from the Coogee Bay Hotel (this is clearly just as important as the grocery store) and hence about two blocks from Coogee Beach and the Palace. In addition, a bus stop with all major buses to the city is about 3 minutes up the road. Uni is about 20 minutes away, but with three weeks of classes left, it doesn't really matter how far away it is. My room..is..brilliant. And huge, and fully equipped with everything I could possibly need. And $30 cheaper! Woo!!!!

So I suppose I should shut up for now. Ya know, if I was a GOOD blogger, all of that ^^ could have been spread out evenly. But to honest, most of it happened within the past week!

SO happy in Australia right now. United States, it was great knowing you!

Alas, one can't have it all. It's getting COLD in Sydney. And by cold, I mean 70 degrees and sunny. Hey, that's not beach weather! And rain. And wind. And the necessity for a JACKET at night....what!? Crazy, I know. Now comes the long wait for September, when summer will be upon us once again!


As for tonight (Saturday night), I'm off to the city for dinner and drinks with mates. Living the dream, baby, living the dream!

St Patrick's Day and Beyond

Sporting the green sparkly hat at Schenker Logistics--there's my desk!! Yay!!


Silver sparkly hat gone GREEN!!


One of my English roommates, Matt, and I at the Coogee Bay!!


Me with the boys!! Matt and Dan (English housemates) and Mikey (from LA-my American partner in crime) and Gus (Aussie bloke)!!


I cannot believe that the week is almost over. Time flies when you're having fun--and when you're so busy that you barely have time to breathe!

Monday I was up at 6 am and at uni by 7. I read, studied, took notes and did research until about 2 pm, when my brain began to feel a bit fried. I walked home to get some lunch, had a shower, and went back to uni, where I got a haircut. Aussie heat has done wonders to my hair, and by wonders I mean I had the worst split ends in the world. It felt great to chop them all off--finally. Class was from 6-8, and not too bad. As I sit here writing this on Thursday night, Monday seems like such a long time ago! After class I went home to do Tuesday's reading, which I had almost already finished that morning. I was exhausted (from the weekend and the long day of studying), and passed out by midnight.

Tuesday I was up early again to squeeze in some studying before work, and Schenker Logistics consumed my life from 8-5. Actually, I finished my work a bit early that day, and so was able to squeeze in some St Patrick's day shopping before uni. I had passed by the shops on Saturday on my way to the beach and saw this amazing sparkly green hat. I NEEDED that hat for St Patrick's Day, and it was only $2!! But I had no cash on me at the time (no cards were accepted), and so I resolved to come back later and get it. Of course, by the time I finished at the beach it was closed, and Sunday I was too busy doing productive things to remember to go. I even had ALL DAY Monday to go grab it, and I was RIGHT THERE at uni, as well--but I simply forgot. So come Tuesday, I thought, perfect! I'll grab it now before uni! It was only 4 and so I had 2 hours before uni was to begin. At the shop, however, I was DEVASTATED to discover that they were all out. Of COURSE they were, though, it was the day before St Patrick's Day! I have no idea what I was thinking. I tried a shop across the road, but they were all out, as well. It pretty much ruined my day, not having that hat, and I didn't know what to do. I set out down Coogee Bay Road, DETERMINED to have an obnoxious accessory to go with my awesome new green dress. (I'm so American, I even gross myself out sometimes.) For the next 45 minutes I walked up and down CBR, peeking into shops and browsing through party sections of stores in a quest for a sparkly green hat or the equivalent. Nothing. It was soon 5:15, and I knew that the original shop closed at 5:30. I dashed back up the hill (CBR-grim) with a solution in mind, and huffed my way into the store juuust before they were pulling the gates down. Two minutes later, I walked out of the store with a SILVER sparkly hat and a can of green spray paint. Total cost: $5. Score!!! Uni was better this week than last (Writing for Media) and we even got out a bit early. Once home, I undertook Project GREEN HAT and to my delight, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! See pictures above. I then finished all of my reading for Wednesday (A+ for responsibility) and went to sleep shortly after midnight.

Wednesday--HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!! I wore a green shirt to work, WITH my sparkly green hat :) See picture above. I did get lots of strange looks, as apparently not everyone remembered that it was the day of Saint Patrick?! Weird! Lots of compliments, though, as well. Oh, AND my workmate Matthew brought me in a bottle of his HOMEMADE BREWED BEER!!! I had some of it later and it is absolutely DELICIOUS. I want him to open up his own brewery and let me be his marketing manager :) After work, I had class from 6-8. Brilliant! I love public relations, and public relations loves me! Class kind of dragged on, as I was pretty keen to get my night going, but it was still great. We broke into small groups and conducted a mini-campaign..I rocked it, naturally. Group spokeswoman and everything. HDs here I come!

I was home around 8 on the dot, and to my dismay found an empty house waiting for me. Soon my housemates trickled in, however, with Matt finally arriving home from the library around 10 pm. By then I'd been enjoying some wine with Dan and was just about ready to go out, but we waited for him and took off shortly after that. To the Coogee Bay Hotel, and BEYOND!! OK, so maybe it is a little lame. I had every intention of going to the city and doing something cool, buttttt I figured all of the Irish pubs would be crowded (this country IS 10% Irish-Australians; did you know that?), plus the Coogee Bay is close to home. No bus, no cab, no getting lost. A straight shot down Coogee Bay Road, and I'm home! All in all, the CBH is always a great idea :) My hat was a HUGE hit at the pub. Dan, Matt and I were the only ones of the house to go (PS: new roommate! Australian 19 year old female-more on this later) but as soon as we got there I found some friends I hadn't been expecting to see. Mikey and Gus!! I also caught up with my mate Juan, who works at Coogee Ink up the road. It turned out that everyone already knew each other, so the night only got better. I learned later that my mate Cameron was there as well, the whole entire time, but we never ran into other. See what I mean!? The Coogee Bay is always a good time! (Just like Good Time Charleys...sniff..sniff. Miss it!) We all had a great catch up, beers, Jack and cokes...and eventually tequila shots toward the end of the evening. All of this on a Wednesday! It was a fantastic night though, with lots of green and good times all around. Happy St Patrick's Day from Australia!!

Excellent General High

My adorable little phone. Also, whenever I get a sms (text) or voicemail or missed call, it reads, "You have a new message!!" as if it's super excited on my behalf that someone is communicating with me. Awesome.

The infamous. The one. The only. The Coogee Bay Hotel.


…reads my phone, and it couldn’t be more correct. I’ve had the most busy but brilliant week!! I got a new phone last week, and it’s adorable. It slides up and is baby blue, just like my Verizon chocolate back home. At all times, it lists the status of the signal, the mode (general or vibrate) and battery power. Thus, most of the day it reads “Excellent General High,” which describes exactly how I’ve been feeling lately!

Sunday morning Mary left around 7 am. I cried a bit, got a few hours of sleep in (we had a big night out on Saturday), and went to the Palace to use internet, as we still didn’t have it at the new place yet. I was online for quite a long time, but hunger eventually overtook me and I got a kebab from the best kebab place in Australia (Coogee Yeeros). Then I headed straight to the beach, where I relaxed for about an hour with one of my roommates, Matt. We both had the same errands to run, so together we traversed around taking care of this and that. We went to uni to get books (though the book store was closed) and to do some things at the library. Then we went grocery shopping and headed back home. By then it was about 8 pm, and I was exhausted. We watched a bit of the Wire with Dan (other English housemate) and I was ready to pass out by 10 pm. I had some trouble sleeping, however, and didn’t drift off until after 2 am.

Monday morning I was up at 6, out the door by 7, and at uni in the library by 7:15. I tried to find some books I needed for class, but couldn’t check any of them out because there was a problem with my uni card--it wasn't scanning properly. Then my laptop decided to NOT connect to the wireless system (UNSW implemented an entirely new wireless service this semester, so my old connection wasn’t working properly) and despite efforts to make it work on my own, I couldn’t connect. So I had to go to the IT department and wait in line for about a half an hour. (It's Week 1, so everyone was out and about doing errands.) Finally, I got online. Another half hour wait stood before me, literally, at the FM Assist on campus, where I had my uni card fixed (It hadn't been activated properly.) Then I trekked to the opposite end of campus to the bookstore, where again I waited for half an hour in lines. And this was barely after 9 am! Damn those other responsible uni students! Of course, the bookstore had just ONE of the books that I needed for my courses, and every single course pack except for one was out of print—including the pack for the class I had later that night. How I would complete the readings, I didn’t yet know. Frustrated, I bought the one book that I needed that was in stock, and almost cried when it rang up costing $70. Not cool. I still had four course packs and one other textbook to go. I traversed back up the hill to the library, and camped out until 5 pm. Luckily, my professor had been informed about the course pack being out of print, and uploaded the readings online. I read and took notes, took notes and read all day, organising my uni things and setting up my timetable, highlighting important dates and colour coding my folders/notebooks etc along the way. Class was from 6-8 (Understanding Contemporary Media) and all of my reading and note-taking paid off. I shined like a superstar! Or like an overachieving suck-up who does all the readings, takes meticulous notes and even creates silly little charts contrasting methodologies of media understandings…it’s all how you look at it, I suppose. Regardless, I rocked it. Back to the library I went after class (no internet at home) where I closed the place down at 10 pm. Then I went home, where I did my readings for the next day’s class until 1 am. Long day, but they only got longer as the week progressed.

Tuesday I was up at 5:45, out the door by 6:45, at the library by 7 (where I emailed myself the notes I’d taken the night before) and on the bus to work by 7:30. Luckily, my bus to work stops almost right outside the library—perfect! Work was work, from 8 am until 5 pm. Then back to uni I went, where I was able to purchase some more course packs (costing about $40 each; not bad). Then I had class from 6-8 pm: Writing for Media. I found it to be boring and easy, as most of the things we talked about we had discussed in detail last semester. (I started my masters course in the middle of the year, beginning with term 2. In some ways, it’s better as the advanced classes are out of the way. Now, however, it’s a bit boring and arguably a waste of money to have to hear it all again. I.e. in term 2, I took advanced media writing, where we each submitted a feature for real publication. In term 1 we’re taking Writing for Media, where we each submit a hard news story of about 300 words. Not exactly challenging after I’ve written a feature!) The professor is really cool though, so that helps. Tuesday night I went back to the library to start/finish Wednesday’s readings, but was mostly unsuccessful in this. My two English roommates were at the unibar on campus, texting me to come and hang out. The real problem, however, was in facebook. Mary had just uploaded all of the pictures from her trip, and I was on facebook for a good hour going through them, commenting, etc (Remember, no internet at home yet.) Ahh the temptations and distractions of the world of facebook! It can be the devil sometimes. I ended up going to unibar to hang out with Dan and Matt, but didn’t drink. Instead, I went home around 10 and THEN tackled Wednesday’s readings. Of course, by then I was exhausted and only made it until 1 am before literally falling asleep on my books. Ay!

Wednesday morning I was up at not 7, not 6, but 5:00 AM. I nearly finished my readings for that night’s class and was at the library by 7, on the bus by 7:30, and at work by 8 am. I finished up my readings/notes during my lunch break, and when work ended at 5 pm went to uni. Before class at 6 pm, however, I found myself sitting on a bench in the hallway outside the room, nearly asleep. I was beat and honestly didn’t know how I would make it through two hours of class!! But Wednesdays I have my favourite professor, Emily Booker, and I really wanted to impress her and do well in her class. Not only is she the nicest woman in the world, a bloody brilliant and fantastic lecturer and teacher, but she gave me a recommendation to work for the ABC in Australia—awesome! It never ended up happening, however, for insurance purposes. Long story, but they wanted to take me on and legally weren’t able to. It’s ok—I honestly don’t think I’d be able to handle it right now with my schedule anyway! However, Wednesday’s class went fantastically! All my reading and note taking paid off again, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself as well. The class—public relations. My thoughts—what a great career path for me! And with Emily as a role model/inspiration, I have faith that I can make this happen. Wednesday night I was buggered again, of course, but ended up having a few glasses of wine with my roommates and heading to the Coogee Bay, after all. I can’t help myself—I love being social! It was a great night with the roomies, ending with a kebab to boot. Somehow I was out until 3 am…?

Thursday morning I was up at 6:30 and out the door by 7:30 to work. With my 20 hour work restriction on my visa, I could only work a half day. This was perfectly fine with me! I left around 12, got home around 12:30, and was immediately productive somehow (aka I didn’t pass out in my bed as I thought I would). I did some laundry, ate some lunch, cleaned my room, and did all of my readings for that night’s class. Sports, Media and Culture has fantastic readings (“The Globalization of Michael Jordan,” etc) but the lecture was rather dry and disappointing. Hopefully these improve, as the class really took me off guard when I found myself enjoying the readings more than any other reading I’d done all week. After class I raced home and got changed, and met up with a friend in Surry Hills for dinner and drinks. It was an absolutely wonderful evening—great Italian food, delicious wine, refreshing beers after that, and a beautiful night outside to soak it all up in. Great success!

Friday I got to sleep in a little bit! Just a little, however, as I had much to do. Instead of using the entire day to do all of the millions of things I needed to do, I ended up doing something I never for a second planned on doing: Getting Internet!!! I’d been going a bit crazy without it, and I hated lugging my laptop around with me everywhere to get access. It’s not that I need facebook (cough) or anything, but I just want to be able to check my email periodically. I lived my entire study abroad life for four months without internet, and it was actually just fine, if not refreshing. (It forced me to do more reading and writing.) But now there's so much going on my life, with uni and teaching and working etc, that I feel that I need to be more connected with the outside world than a drunk study abroad chick taking a few music classes needed to be. So I went down to the 3 store (right on my street, of course) and after waiting for half an hour to talk to someone, then running home to get my passport, proof of residence and uni card, running back to the store only to wait in line again, then about twenty minutes for the activation process (background check plus coverage check plus set up)…I had the internet!! It wasn’t cheap; however, if I divide the TOTAL cost over six months, it only adds about $8 a week to my rent. Not bad! I only have 1 GB per month, but I’m only planning on using it for basic stuff and will have it off when I’m not using it, of course. Yay for internet!!! Friday night I worked on my lesson plans for Yamaha and watched a movie—Surrogates. It was pretty grim (like that? I’ve been picking up on English slang from my roommates—wicked!).

Saturday morning I was up at 5 am. I had to finalize my lesson plans, which I wasn’t happy with when I went to bed on Friday, and practiced a bit more. When it comes to Yamaha, I don’t mess around! I was out the door by 6:40, on the bus by 6:45, on the train by 7:15, and at the Yamaha Music School by 8:10 am. It’s quite the commute, but again—anything for Yamaha!!

Then….AMAZINGNESS ensued. My lessons were observed that day by my regional coordinator (as a new teacher, we are periodically observed), and IT. WAS. PERFECT!! It was easily the best (both classes) lessons I’ve had all year. All of the kids were responsive. Laughing. Enthusiastic. Singing. Waving hands. Clapping. Smiling. The older ones had been PRACTICING! And they knew their stuff, and knew it well. They laughed. They played the right notes. They responded to me. They used their imaginations. They listened. They made mistakes, and they fixed them. It was all so awesome, and I was being watched the whole time, and they were learning, and I was learning with them, and we were all singing and playing, and having fun, and and and and..!!! Come 11 am, I was EXACTLY as my phone stated: “EXCELLENT GENERAL HIGH.”

There was a little girl crying at the end, because the attendance sticker I told them they could have wasn’t the one she wanted, and I somehow I managed to make everything better (and giggly!) within a few minutes. I love kids!! There’s this little girl named Eden (adorable) whose mum had to talk to my regional coordinator after class. She and I were having a little one-on-one time while this was happening, and we taught her cat (stuffed animal that she takes everywhere with her…Moosey) how to play do, re and mi on the keyboard. Of course, Eden was the one that was putting Moosey’s paw on the keys, so little did she know that she got extra lesson time as I asked “Moosey” to play re for me, or to sing mi, or place her paw on do. Score!! Then, together, Eden and I helped Mya (the crying girl) feel better by helping her find the sticker she wanted and putting it in her book. Now I had two happy and excited kids leaving my classroom—double score!!

I was beaming on the way home. I worked on my lesson plans for next week on the train ride, and felt EXTRA accomplished; it wasn't yet 12 pm and I'd accomplished so much! Then I did some shopping at Bondi Junction (where the train is near my house) for a green dress. St. Patrick’s Day is approaching! I had no luck, however, and admiring the sun in the sky was Making me anxious to hit that sand. I arrived home before 2 and was at the beach by 2:30 (it’s about a half hour walk). When I initially left my house, however, I looked up at the sky in devastation—nothing but clouds, and grey ones at that. Not a single patch of sky was visible, so I walked pretty slowly, contemplating going back home. But I really wanted to be outside after being at work/uni/library/teaching inside all week, so I kept on trekking along slowly. I passed a clothing store or two on my way down, and ALAS! I found the most ADORABLE green dress for St. Patricks’ Day!! SCORE!! (added bonus: it was $15. This “score” is valuable beyond belief.) Then I kept walking toward the beach, determined to stay outside. I stopped by Melonhead, where my housemate Dan works, and was told that he was on break at the beach. Perfect! I found him eating a sandwich, and just as we sat down for a chat, a miracle occurred. The sun came out! Fully out! The clouds began running away as if the sun were shoving them aside, a path of mighty destruction in the brilliantly baby blue sky, and they stayed away for quite some time. I couldn’t believe my luck. I spread my towel down and exhausted, plopped down on the Australian sand grains of Coogee Beach. It was money to lay down and just…relax after the day/week I’d had. Fantastic! Around 4 pm, the clouds came back, and this time the sun couldn’t stop them. I was perfectly happy, however, as I’d gotten a solid hour and then some under the Aussie sun. I packed up my things and headed up the hill of Coogee Bay Road toward my house, when out of nowhere, it seems, it began to downpour. I mean it was CHUCKING down rain, and I had no brolly or raincoat. I really didn’t feel like getting soaked, and since I had quite a long walk ahead of me, I decided I might wait it out. Often times in Australia, it will chuck down rain for twenty minutes, and then just…stop. I was hoping this was one such occasion, and so stood around under cover waiting for it to pass. Meanwhile, I made friends with a tattoo artist named Juan, outside Coogee Ink. When I finally made it home, I surprised myself by being yet again extremely productive. I emailed all of the parents this week’s homework for Junior Music, in addition to setting up a time for a make up lesson over the holidays AND constructing a chart with parent contact details. I ALSO worked some more on next week’s lesson plans, and caught up on emails. By then it was 6 pm, and I was ready for Saturday night to begin. I showered, got ready, enjoyed some wine with my housemates (along with a few card games, perhaps) and off to the pub we went. It wasn’t the best night out I’ve had, but by the time 3:30 am rolled around….all I wanted out of life was sleep. And I got it. This morning, Sunday, I woke up at 8 am, only to have the most AMAZING feeling of being able to go back to sleep again! I laid around until about 11 am, then grabbed some food and hit the books. Here I am now, writing to you, and feeling heaps better for having caught up with myself and this week. I need to finish all of my uni work for the week today and tomorrow, Monday, so that I’m not up until 1 am every night. Plus, with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on Wednesday, I want to have everything done ahead of time so I can go out and have fun without worries. I hope I can do it!!