Going back to Sydney wasn’t a great idea afterall, but I wouldn’t have guessed if I hadn’t tried.
I thought I would have lots of options in Sydney with finding any sort of office job that just requires customer service or admin duties. But I was really wrong. I spent a lot of time and energy applying for jobs online, I think I must have replied to about 60 online applications. With results: less than 15 rejections and nothing else. I had only a single phone call from a recruitment agency, so not even a direct employer and it fell through with them too an hour after our phone call because they had too many candidates and being French was just my disadvantage as I am restricted to work maximum 6 months with an employer. Most companies assume I am probably not able to speak English that well and even if I do they also assume I must do so with a terrible accent. I obviously tried to hand in my CV too in cafes and hostels but even the last job I could have found in Sydney didn’t work out in the end and that was for a cleaning job at the hostel I stayed at. There are too many people in Sydney with a work holiday visa. It almost feels as if Australia is granting far too many of them, but it doesn’t matter to the country because it is making huge money with this. First of all the visa is not cheap and secondly we are contributing heavily to the economy with spending so much money in hostels, for food, transport within the country…
So as the weeks went by in very expensive Sydney and my money running lower and lower I had to make a decision about the next step. I was lucky enough to meet a couple of French people I connected with very quickly when we shared the same dorm. They had decided to go on to the country side to work farm jobs so after a last unsuccessful week in the big city I decided to join them. First of all I for sure was going to spend a lot less money and it seemed that even though the season is not started yet there were more jobs in Griffith, 600km west of Sydney than in Sydney….At this point I didn’t care much what kind of job I was going to find. I needed the money and most importantly to do something with my days.
During my first hours in Griffith I was offered to work the next day. It was a cleaning job but it was a job and paid cash right away. So my luck turned a bit in my favour that day and since then I have been away for 8 days work in the bush. It was an interesting experience. I was also cleaning, this time a whole farm house that was lost in the desert 400km west of Griffith. With nothing around but desert and a few animals. There was no connection to the world there, not even phone network which was a bit hard to bear during the last days as I was assuming my family might be worried after days with no news at all. It was kind of weird to be stuck in house all day within such a big natural space. But I was with nice people so it felt ok, although during the last two days I wanted to go back to civilisation real bad. So when I got back to the hostel on Friday I truly appreciated being back and whatever life I’m up for within the next following weeks.
It’s now 10 days to Christmas countdown and I have not felt the Christmas spirit very much as it is summer. But yesterday we went ahead and added a few decorations just for the fun of it.
So this is my Australian experience so far. A little slow and rough beginnings but getting around the difficulties at the moment and most of all enjoying my time here whatever happens next.
I’m not sure how often I will be writing the blog now but I will try to carry on anyway. However I think it is the right time to wish you all reading this a very happy and lucky festive season with enjoyable and cheering moments with whomever you are celebrating.
