Maisie Moo

Here's Maisie helping me with my cross stitching. She's slowly growing up before my eyes but i think she will stay as a wee thing for a while yet. She wont be a big cat.

Maisie enjoying Monzie's surprise gift. So stoked to get my Milo and notebook in the post. :)



Another cat featured in my Chateau - Dizzy!

Postman Pat & His Black 'n' White Cat

So in a moment of utter boredom i made myself some cupcakes with a Postman Pat theme. Note for future baking: Get measuring cups so you know how much water goes in the icing so as to not make it so runny. Doh.

Stitchin'

So i haven't had a lot of time to stitch in the past few months. Working two jobs takes up a lot of time. I've been working on the same cross stitch since October when i started at Tesco Bank and i hope to have it finished by the new year. It's quite a massive cross stitch which is why it's taking so long. I will post a pic when it is done! In my unemployment stage i did get quite a few cross stitch kits done that i brought over here with me. Pics of these are below.

Country Companions cross stitch.



Forever Friends Xmas cross stitch



This one reminds me of Tiggy!

So this is Christmas

A few pics from my work xmas party. Hands down best xmas party i have been too in my life. It was at Dynamic Earth which is a nature museum down near Holyrood Palace. Beautiful venue and about 400 people attended. It was a great opportunity to get to know my colleagues. I think i rambled on at one stage (after one too many!) on the tastiness of Vegemite as a Vegemite fairy left me a jar of Vegemite on my desk at work the following Monday.

Highlight of the night for me was probably being out at an event that was full of men in kilts. Real men wear kilts, haha!

With the kilted Personnel Team

More Personnel Folk

My xmas party outfit, courtesy of Monsoon & Next Clothing.

September 11

I watched this documentary on September 11 on Monday night. I knew i shouldn't watch it as it would be really depressing but i wanted to watch it because i thought it would be interesting too. Arrgh so stupid. It was called 102 Minutes That Changed America and it was footage in real time of the events unfolding. The footage was mainly from citizens and what they were seeing. Some of it was actually filmed in one of the towers before it collapsed. I'm only mentioning it because as i watched it i still, even after all these years, am amazed that it happened. I know how ridiculous this sounds. I think i feel that way even more since i went there last year and saw where the towers were and now have a sense of the city and how uminaginable those events must have been for the people there. To see all the crowds in Times Square stop to watch the news reports on the big screens. Just so horrific. They showed footage of people plunging to their deaths from the floors that were hit by the planes and it must have been so awful to witness that. The explosion and the amount of smoke and how much it spread was just insane. Seeing how people fled uptown and to other burroughs. It also makes you realise how brave the FDNY were, charging into those buildings, it must have been so scary. Anyway, i just felt like mentioning that as it approaches September 11th...

Crazy Maisie

I had thought about getting a kitten for a while, i guess mainly to keep me company and having had cats for 17 years of my life, i do miss not having one floating around the place. After some more thinking, and getting some thoughts from the parentals i decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea if i got one. Although that doesn't mean my flat mate couldn't :) Totty was always under the assumption that it was a 'no pets' flat and i thought it would probably be that way too until i asked my landlord the other week. He was surprisingly OK with it and even suggested places we could go to get a kitten, shelters that is. So i told Totty and she loved the idea of getting a cat as she'd always wanted one and is happy with having it as hers. I agreed that i would help out with the cat to make sure she gets the best care and plenty of company and would occasionally chip in with buying food and de-fleaing stuff. I really don't want fleas in the flat and Frontline here cost like £5, very different to the costs in Australia.

So on Saturday we headed to the Edinburgh Cat & Dog Home to go and see the kittens. They only had 3 kittens there which suprrised me as in Australia you go to the shelter and they seem to have like dozens. Plus, it is breeding season here in Edinburgh i'm told. The three kittens they had were tri colour 9-10 week olds that were abandoned and found in a barn so they were quite shy. Totty fell in love with one straight away so i figured we wouldn't be looking else where and walking out with her on the spot. So Totty handed over her £35 and we took her home. We are going to get her neutered when she is 6 months old and microchipped at the same time. Again, this seems to be quite cheap here, neutering cost £25. I remember it cost our cats heaps..although that was aaages ago. We went to Asda on the way home and bought supplies, you cant delay the purchase of kitty litter! We locked her in the kitchen as directed and hung out with her and let her freak out until she settled. I had mentioned the cat name Maisie to Totty (my Dad's suggestion) and she loved it, so Maisie it is. She freaked out a bit and hid under the stove and climbed her way into this covered shelf, so we had to break off the cover of the shelf to get her out. We will have to fix it before the landlord visits!

Maisie is settling in quite well though, and has her 'maddies' at night time where she runs around and chases her own tail. She's great entertainment. I just wish she stayed small forever. Luckily I'm only working two hours a day this week so I'm home basically all the time to look after her and help her settle before Totty and i are both out during the day for work. We are going to buy her a scratching post and some more toys and a tunnel for her to try and keep her entertained. Plus, she'll get plenty of love at nights, so hopefully that's enough.

Asleep next to my leg...

What's Up?

So the big news of the past week was probably the fact that i finally landed a job. I know my small group of loyal blog followers (i.e those bored at work) will already know this but i thought i should write this down in my blog. It took me 8 weeks and 60 odd job applications to finally land a Resourcing Assistant position at Tesco Personal Finance. It is a big step back in my career and not to mention my pay, but it's a great company and one with lots of opportunity. Plus, my decision to move here and work was more about finding a job that would earn me enough to live off, not necessarily a job that built on my existing experience. It should be quite a cruisy job in a way too, as i know the work inside out. It'll have it's frustrations (which i know my ex colleagues will be familar with!), because i DO know the work inside out but i guess i am so thankful for a job i dont care as much. I just hope i meet some interesting people once i start work. They said at the interview that it is likely to go longer than 3 months which is what the inital contract is, so fingers crossed it does. I will be assisting with the placement of 800 new jobs into Glasgow over the following months, and i dont think that'll happen in 3 months, no matter how good the company is at recruiting. The offices are based next to Haymarket train station so they should be only an hour door to door on a bus max to get there. The traffic is what will make it the hour. During the day it would probably take about 20 minutes. With the new tram system going in Leith Walk and London Rd get pretty congested and i need to take those roads to get from my flat to work.

It's not all that surprising that i ended up getting a job with the only agency that actually called me after i sent out an email to agemcy prior to leaving Australia. I sent out about 6 emails to agencies and Michael Page was the only agency that replied and actually called me at home to arrange an interview for when i got to Edinburgh. So i knew i would be on to a good thing with them. So if you ever come over here go for them as a start. DONT go for Office Angels, they are total liars. I will be sending them a rather rude email when i leave for home.

I've come here looking for work at a really bad time (which i knew!) but by the looks of what's being written up in the paper, it will only get worse for immigrants, so i am happy i'm settled into something before it does. I read this week that the Immigration Advisory Board is going to make British companies advertise roles for 4 months before considering people from O.S. I'm sure this is for more hard to fill jobs, but that wouldn't have been great for me if that was introduced prior to me coming here. It's nice to see on the news also that Australia's job market is slowly on the rise and that job ads were up last month. I hope that by the time i came home next year (perhaps?) i wont have the difficulty i have had here getting work.

PS - THANK YOU Dom & Monzie for being my referees :)

My New Favourite Things

There are many stores that i miss since coming here. You get used to knowing exactly where to go to get things. I head to Big W when i want a book for cheap or Borders (with a voucher!), i head to Myer for cosmetics and lingerie...and lastly i go to Cue for work wear. But what's a lass to do when i can get any of this O.S? I hit the pavement and try and find new alternatives, that's what! So far it looks like Next clothing might be the shop of choice for work wear, and Clarks actually have their own stores where i could get work shoes. Tesco's online does very cheap DVD's, CD's and books if i ever want to buy a book but i am yet to see what can replace good ol Bonds undies.

For everything i miss there are a few stores i have discovered and LOVE. One in particular is Cath Kidston. She does great gifts and homewares with a country garden type look. But funkier than Laura Ashely. These are a few of my favourite things....

Sarah Kay Cross Stitch again

My last Sarah Kay cross stitch kit that i brought with me to do. I'm happy with the outcome and managed to whip through it pretty quickly over this last week! If only i could sell them...

A Friendly Visit

On Wednesday i saw on Facebook that one of my mates back home, Fi, was going to be in town. So i contacted her and arranged to meet up with her. I love having visitors particularly whilst i am new to the place. But i have been here long enough to be a bit of a tourist guide and give advice on what to see and what not. I'd arranged to meet up with Fi on Thursday for dinner and drinks. On Thursday i worked at the garage in the afternoon, another fun filled shift, and then went to meet Fi on the Royal Mile where her hostel is. I was a bit early and also very hungry so i walked down the Royal Mile to Jim Garrahy's Fudge Kitchen. I'm a massive fudge lover and i'd been to this shop a few times prior and snaked some free samples so i thought i'd actually go and buy some fudge. Hands down, their Toffee favoured fudge is the best i've ever eaten. You can only have a bit at a time as it's mega rich. I did learn from the fudge maker that you shouldn't refrigerate fudge as it dries it out. Good to know as i'd always done that!

I went to meet up with Fi and i worked out what we'd do for the night. It was great seeing Fi and i think she was happy to see a familar face too after travelling alone prior. I thought we'd try the Grassmarket for food and that way Fi could see Greyfriar's Bobby on the way. Unfortunately it had been raining non stop, not a great welcome to Scotland. Although, a typical one. We got to the Grassmarket where Fi was surprised there was no grass in sight! We opted for an Italian restaurant. I always love pizza and had eaten there before so i knew it was good. We had heaps to catch up on and once we got through dinner we went to find a pub. I mentioned that the Fringe festival was on and that we could probably score some tickets at a box office to see a show that night. Fi was keen so we headed to Udderbelly, a huge Fringe venue, to see what stand up comedy was showing that night. We didn't know any of the comedians so after some review reading we went with Terry Alterton, a UK comedian. Before the show started we headed to the Library Bar for some drinks. It was a pretty cool bar that's basically been built in an old library with shelves of books around the walls. We had a drink then went to line up for the show. Terry would have to have been one of the weirdest comedians i have ever seen. I think most of his routine is enitrely improv and overall i found him quite funny. Not sure i'd bother to see him again but fun none the less. After the show we walked to the Royal Mile and had another drink at one of the pubs. We also organised to do something tomorrow as i was free in the afternoon.

Drinks with Fi



The Gilded Balloon @ Udderbelly - the venue for stand up comedy

On Friday i had a job interview with Tesco Personal Finance (TPF). It is a temporary role for 3 months but could likely be exteded if i did well. The position is as a Resourcing Assistant, so i basically do the administration for the recruitment process. TPF is expanding a lot over the UK, especially in Scotland and bought out half of RBS's customers. They are basically taking advantage of the current bad state the local banks are in. They are adding 800 new jobs in Glasgow which is great news and what i will be helping organise. So i headed to the job interview and was AMAZED i got there. The taxi driver was like 100 yrs old and could not understand anything i was saying. He was getting shitty at me for not understanding my accent and as if it's that hard! He was just old. It was not the best time to have a stressful taxi ride. So i did get there and had thei nterview which lasted for over an hour. I'd hoped that was a good thing. I think it would be a great place to work.

After the interview i met Fi at Scottish Parliament. I thought that Fi might enjoy the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is opposite Parliament and we thought about climbing Arthur's Seat. I had a free pass to the Palace from the last time i went so we opted to go check that out before the climb. It was a good tour. I had only done it 6 weeks earlier but i still enjoyed it the second time around. I think Fi thought it was quite good also. I also rang the recruitment agent about the job interview and i'm told i'm the preferred candidate and i've basically got it! They just need to square it off so i'll know 100% on Tuesday (Bank holiday on Monday). So fingers crossed!

The Palace of Holyroodhouse

We then walked over to Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is basically a huge volcanic rock that people climb. It is the highest point in Edinburgh and is meant to have excellent views. It was quite a windy day so i imagined it to be very windy 250 metres above the ground. I am also so unfit i wasn't sure about how i'd go, especially with someone fitter than me! We started the trek and it was very windy but a nice walk. I did puff a bit as i really am unfit. But at least this might burn off the scone with jam and cream i'd had at the Palace before hand. :) As you start to climb the view is already fabulous as Edinburgh is quite flat apart from Arthur's Seat and the castle. After about an hour of climbing we got to the top. It was SOO windy. I actually felt i needed to hold on the the rocks around me to stop myself falling off! I am very glad i did it though. The view across Edinburgh is spectacular. It was great seeing the Royal Mile from above and seeing how long it actually is. Also, it's great seeing Edinburgh Castle from a distance, it really is an awesome castle. As i sat on the top of the rocks and looked down i had my first moment of 'wow, this is my new home'. After being told i probably got the job and that i'd be here at least until Christmas, it's a weird feeling, and one i hadn't had before now.

The view from Arthur's Seat

We made the stroll down the hill which was nicer than the journey up. We talked about dinner and Fi was craving a healthy meal so i invited her back to my flat and i'd cook up a stir fry. We went to the supermarket on the way back to the flat and got some supplies and headed back to the flat. We also talked about seeing another show so i got on the internet and did some searching. We decided on heading to George Street at the Assembly to see Des Bishop. An Irish comedian who from his You Tube videos looked quite funny. After dinner we got onto the bus and headed to the theatre. We had time for a drink before hand and then headed into the show. As we waited to get into the show at 8.30pm i did get my first taste of the cold that Scotland is. We had to line up outside ad it was quite freezing. I was craving for a hat and scarf! The comedian was very funny and i'd recommend him. He is quite famous in Ireland so when i eventually get to Ireland i might see if he's got a show on at the same time. He was good looking too which isn't what you expect from a comedian!

I bid farewell to Fi as she headed off the next day for a Haggis tour then eventually back to OZ. I then headed home and looked forward to a quiet (and cheap!) weekend in...

Marching On

Tuesday was a pretty big day. I usually say that when i have a job interview to go to. I bummed around at home in the morning. Did some chores...it's amazing how often i need to wash! Then i caught the bus and made my way to John Lewis for my job interview. John Lewis is a department store in the UK, i very much liken it to Myer in Australia. I thought that given my 6 odd years of retail experience, including 3 years at Myer that i should try here for a job if i cant get one in HR. They are hiring for Xmas staff so that means they are hiring a lot of people which gives me a better chance of getting hired. If i were to get another job, at the least I'd like to do it as a second job for a while to get some extra travel $$$.

The interview went on for TWO hours. Not what i expected for the type of job. It was a group assessment of 16 people and you went through the usual group assessment stuff. In the group you say who you are and what you do, you do a game that looks at how you interact with people, and then you discuss the Desert Island scenario that some might be familiar with. There were all sorts there and of all ages. Some were there as they had been made redundant by their work places. I was one of two Aussies in the group. I felt confident during the assessment as i have totally done the job before but we will see. I was impressed with how they treat the staff, especially when i can compare it to Myer. I checked out their staff room which is basically like a cafeteria where you can buy subsidized food. There was a pool table, two computers for internet access, reading materials, and there's a bar where they have Friday night drinks every two weeks! Very impressive for a department store. I'm to be told how i went next Tuesday and then it would mean an individual interview. It's quite a screening process!

After the interview i headed to Maccas for dinner. I didn't really have time to go back home and eat then go back to the Royal Mile for the Military Tattoo so i stayed in town. When i first got to Edinburgh i quickly booked a seat for the Military Tattoo. I wasn't MEGA keen to see it but thought it's one of those things you should do if you are in Edinburgh, especially during the festival. It started at 9pm so i made my way a bit earlier to find my seat. As i was quite late in buying my ticket i ended up getting a seat on the back row. Not fantastic but still a decent view, expecially now that i iwear glasses! It was definently a cosy seat as i sat next to someone who i can only assume was wearing Gortex and looked like a human puffball. It was quite cold up there too. The show got underway on time and it was great. I really enjoyed it but i wouldn't rush back to see it again. Purely because marching bands dont excite me much. I think what really made it was the castle as the back drop, that was amazing. They had almost like a light show on the castle walls and the bands marched out of the castle to start playing. They also shoot fireworks off the castle at the end. The highlight was actually Switzerland's marching bands. They had one called Top Secret which were a drumming band and they are fantastic. Very talented and all so in lien with each other. I did spot a few people wearing the Australian Federal Police logo on their uniform as they had come over to perform. All in all, not a bad showing.

I ended up taxi-ing it home as it was so cold and was midnight by the time i got through all the crowds streaming out of the castle down the Royal Mile.

Swimming

On Monday i decided to finally go to the local swimming pool and go for a swim. I walked to the Leith Victorian Swimming Pool. I'm told it's from the Victorian times which is why it's 25 yards long...or 23 metres in length. Dammit! You know you are in Scotland when this is what you get for pools. As i walked in i was bowled over by the humid heat of the air. It was full on and heated way too hot for my liking. I guess they pump up the heat when you swim in Scotland! The pool is only 5 lanes wide and has changing rooms all around the outside of it. Very old school. But i gotta work with what i got. There were a few white bodied people swimming but it wasn't too busy. I was really curious to see how unfit i am. Well it turns out, after a couple of laps, i am vey unfit! No real surprises there. I remember when i had two months in the USA last year and got back into waterpolo i played so shockingly. So it was a bit discouraging realising how unfit i was but probably a good wake up call to get my back into shape. I dont know how i'll go swimming in the depths of winter, even if it is indoors! All in all, it really was the Scottish experience of a swimming pool that i expected. Although looking at my skin now, i'm pretty pale myself!

Dolly Girl

A simple cross stitch done. Kind of boring to complete but the kit cost $4 so i can hardly complain!

Fringe Weekend Part Deux

Another slow wake up. If my mind serves me correctly, about 12pm! I had my first hot breakfast of bacon ready to start the next day. We had booked in a tour the day before called Mary King's Close. It is a tour of an old close that is underground as over time it has been built upon. The Old Town (Royal Mile) was gradually built up and this is one of very few old Closes you can access that is underground. A Close is basically an alleyway down two buildings that had houses you can enter off it. Not just houses, but pubs, shops etc. I was keen to munch down some Maccas before we had the tour as it started at 3pm so we went and got some junk food and ate it in about 10 minutes. Really quite disgusting but awfully satisfying at the same time.

We got to the Royal Mile on time for the tour which i was quite excited about. It's called Mary King's because she was a girl that lived there. The tour was run by a women who acted and dressed as a person from the 1500's. It was actually pretty cool. We headed downstairs and it was such a strange sight to see this Close now covered over, almost eery. The tour guide took us through houses there and also a pub and a place where they housed cows. They are all just shells now with some replica props...i mean it was hundreds of years ago! People lived in such terrible conditions it really is unimaginable. She explained to us that people pooped in a bucket over the course of the day and then at night time people just chucked the poo bucket down the sloping Close. So feral. It then ran down into a lake that used to be where Princes Street gardens are now and just stunk to high heaven. When women committed a crime they are drowned in that river. Imagine all the shit you'd ingest. Truly disgusting. She then tells us that Dr's didn't live a long life. It might have been due to the fact that when people gave Dr's urine samples because they thought they were sick they tested them by drinking the urine. Yes you read right, DRINKING it. The stories continued along this vein to the point that i have never been more relieved for the invention of the sewerage system. It was really cool to hear stories going back that far though as that's as far as i have ever gone in my travels. Any history I've learnt in my travels so far has been more recent. After the tour, which i highly recommend, we walked around for a bit.

We checked out some bars hoping to catch some free Fringe. Unfortunately there wasn't much going on at that time. We also checked out the Pink Bus art installation by accident. Interesting yet some what creepy. After this we headed back to the flat for dinner and to chillax before the next show. We ordered some Chinese food, delivered by a guy who stands at your door and doesn't knock. I think you are just supposed to 'sense' hes coming. The Chinese was really adding to my full fat diet weekend. Giving me even more reason to check out the local swimming pool soon. We then guzzied up and got ready for the Stephen K Amos show. I was quite excited about this as he is a headline act here for the festival and I've seen him on Australian TV and he's quite funny. It was held in the Edinburgh University gymnasium. Can i just say, FUNNY. One of the best shows I've seen recently He had me at the beginning when he had two girls come on stage and do the Single Ladies dance, to which he then joined them. If you have the opportunity to see him, do it. His show was called the Feel Good Factor as he just wanted you to leave feeling good, and i think we did. After the show we headed back to the flat and some zzz's.

Fringe Weekend

With Tim coming to visit it was planned to have a Fringe weekend, aka see some shows and drink some beers. Tim got in in the afternoon and i met him at Waverly station. It had been raining all day and continued to rain so it was a typical welcome to Scotland. We went back to the flat and got onto the computer and also read the festival guides to pick out what we were going to do. After much deliberation, we booked a couple of shows. It is surprisingly hard what to pick given the huge amount of stuff on and also because you can really just go on what the reviews and ads say as most of the comedians and artists i had never heard of. The ones i had heard of i had mainly seen and it's not fun seeing the same comedian more than once.

After a disco nap we headed out for food and some drinks before our first show. It was still raining which made getting through the crowds of umbrellas on the Royal Mile a painful experience. I was glad i wasn't seeing the Tattoo that night. We ended up going to Bobby's Bar in front of Greyfrier's Church. I had seen the menu before and i thought it looked good. We got a drink and was then told serving dinner was now over. Granted it was about 9pm. So given the Grassmarket is so near by we headed down there as there are plenty of places to eat there. We stumbled on a Italian restaurant. Shock horror, i ate the pizza. It was OK actually, first alight pizza i had since arriving (except for the Marks and Spencer pizza which is surprisingly good). After some serious food stuffing i had developed a food baby.
We then headed to George Street where the show was. We had got tickets to Best of the Fest 09. Basically each night of the festival a selection of comedians (3 and one MC) would do the show. I guess it's a taster for their shows. We went to Wetherspoons before and had a pint then it was on to the midnight show. The show was HILARIOUS. We saw Fred MacAuley, Wil Anderson (again), Matt Kirshen, and Greg Behrendt. Fred was a surprisingly funny Scott. I liked Greg the most. I was curious to see him as he was one of the writers on Sex and the City and he wrote He's Just Not That Into You...and we all know that book! I love seeing good comedy shows, really lifts your spirits. After the show we headed back to the flat ready for the next day.

After a sizable sleep in we headed over to Udderbelly (third time for me) to see Pythonesque. This was theatre and meant to be some what of a tribute to Monty Python. They basically went through the story of the Pythons through sketches that had a Python flavour. It was quite funny but i must confess, i did keep wanting them to do Python's famous speeches. I yearned for a Parrot Sketch, or a Cheese Shop sketch....or even the Argument Clinic. Ah well, funny none the less. By the end of this i was pretty starving so we headed onto the Royal Mile to hunt for some food. We ended up going to Wannaburger. My choice really. We managed to get a seat outside where you can people watch in the thousands. And the burger...v. good.

After lunch we headed to Tim's mates place. Tim knows a few fellas who now live in Edinburgh. They were heading out that night and we planned on joining them. From their place (well i did go home and change, i don't go out in a tee and jeans!) we went to the bar. I cant remember what it was called, Smith something, not that it matters. Some drinks later and some hippy music playing due to the Woodstock anniversary celebrations going on in the pub, we called it a night.

A good day was had.

Royal Mile street theater



Royal Mile street theater



with Tim

Working Girl...sort of

This week was a slightly more happening week on the job front. I met with an agency in George Street who had contacted me regarding an application i put in for a HR Administrator role. I met with her and she told me my resume was excellent and that she'll put me forward. So we'll see how that goes. I do tke this all with a grain of salt 7 weeks later. Whilst there she mentioned that she had another job i might like to do for some extra cash. This was then followed by a giggle so i had no idea what to expect. Apparently she needed to find someone who could work at a Kwik Fit garage. Basically, a mechanics, calling customers and letting them know that there MOT is due. A MOT is basically the UK equivalent of your car registration. Kwik Fit is a chain of garages across the UK. I told her i'm not really into cold calling and couldn't do it but she explained that they are existing customers so it wouldn't be too bad. Kind of like a reminder call if you will. Well this didn't interest or excite me but i need money. It pays 8 pound an hour which isn't too bad. Luckily also, it is only for 3 hours per day. I think that's all i could take! So i signed up to do that on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from 3pm.

Other than that i continue to apply for jobs. Probably only about one a day. It's slightly disheartening to hear from the recruiters that the jobs i apply for get around 150-200 applicants at the moment. Awesome.

So i headed to the garage on Wednesday and Thursday. I did my shifts and did some serious clock watching whilst doing them. On a plus side, the manager is very friendly and it is a nice place to work. On the double plus side, i also got let off early on both nights. He said he'd pay me the full 3 hours but i really only did about 2.5 hours each day as he wanted to leave. The customers on the phone were pretty nice and only got one hang up so i cant complain too much. By theend of the week the manager complimented me and told me i was great and hoped to see me come back next week. I can smell a referee, which could be handy! Not much else to report. I did FINALLY get my Bank of Scotland card in the mail, so i now have a UK bank account. Only took about 5 weeks. Now all i need is some money to put in it. ;)

My other flat mate also moved out during the week. The one i never met till she came to move her stuff out. So she was gone by Monday. Dam left quite a bit here that i'll chuck out shortly if she doesn't show up. The land lord has also been in (didn't knock, jst waltzed in!) to clean up then room ready to advertise. It wil be interesting to see who ends up being my new flat mate. I'm so used to having just Totty and myself it'll be different with 3. I'm told the land lord prefers girls, shcok horror, so i wont be expecting a bloke.

My mate Tim from high school also contacted me during the weke about visiting. Perfect timing giving there is currently a spare room in the flat! So i'm looking forward to that and will start planning what to do ver the weekend. With the festival there is just too much choice which can make it just as hard!

Over and out.

Sarah Kay Cross Stitch

My first Sarah Kay cross stitch. Sarah Kay is an Australian artist who was really popular in the 70's and 80's. I think Mum and Dad actually got a congratulations card on the arrival of me with a Sarah Kay picture on the card. They recently converted her pictures to cross stitch and this is one i did from a kit i brought before i left home. Quite happy with the outcome. The first one I've done on a finer fabric too.

I Heart Wil Anderson

The last day of the working week and not too many plans. This, i am OK with. So i had arranged with the parentals the day before to Skype them as my grandma and uncle would be over for dinner so i could amaze a little old lady with today's technology. It was really good to hear from everyone back home and video Skyping does feel like you are just in the room with them. I chatted for about an hour and then bid farewell. I spent the day doing odd jobs and cleaning the flat. I do most the cleaning, mainly because i like it clean to my standards. I might start to get annoyed by this once i start working but right now it keeps me busy and i dont mind.

I hung around the flat for the rest of the day. I was fearing that i might get called up to work at the souvenir shop as i hadn't yet decided what i am going to do about it. I was also awaiting the outcome of the temp role i interviewed for at the airport. Once i start to get into cross stitching, the time does go quickly. It had got to mid afternoon and after some streaming of Merrick and Rosso i checked my email. Ahh awesome, another rejection email. I love getting these, it makes me just so happy. So i didn't get the job as another candidate had more hospitality experience. I guess i really cant argue with that. She asked if she could keep my details on file for the future, i said yes, but i dont expect to hear back. I kinda thought i didn't get it but it is still disappointing. I just remind myself there could be a lot more worse things to deal with than looking for a job. At least i have my health, ha! Speaking of health, i do seem to have lost 2-3kg's so i guess that is something. I'm calling it the Unemployed Diet.

I had a ticket to see Wil Anderson tonight which i was excited about. I was always a bit curious what he would be like live doing stand up and not just on one of his shows. A bargain at 7 pounds. It was at Udderbelly again and luckily it was a great night. I got myself dolled up and headed over there. As i waiting for his show with a beer in hand Wil walked past me in the bar. He's such a spunk. I also got to talking to a girl who was there my herself. She is an Aussie who is here to perform at the tattoo for the Aussies but injured herself. We hung out and just talked about all things travel, which you do when you live O.S and then we went in the watched Wil.

Wil was really funny. It was great to listen to some Aussie humour. You can tell he's quite smart and up with current affairs. My favourite bit was when he talked about the differences between Wife Swap USA and Wife Swap UK. He's right in saying that the UK version is way more mellow. He said it's like swapping a middle class family with a upper middle class family, and the USA one is like swapping a black family with a KKK family. I guess you had to be there, but he was very funny. After the show i walked to the Royal Mile with Jenny, the girl i met earlier and we watched the tattoo's performers walk down from the castle back to their housing. Apparantly it's the thing to do as there was about 150 people waiting there. After that i called it a night. A good night too.

On Saturday i really did not do much. The third flat mate finally turned up to the flat. She hadn't been home since i moved in. She seems nice and i'm told she's moving out so i wont bother getting to know here. I just watched a lot of TV till i was sick of it. They play a lot of re runs of Friends so thats cool. Could be worse. It could be like Taggart or frickin' New Tricks or whatever it is... Speaking of TV i'm slowly coming around to the BBC. I watched a great show on Lord Byron, one crazy dude, and another on Penicillon, and they were both great. Yeah, nerd alert.

The Elusive Job Quest

So another few days down and still in the unemployment line. If only i could access benefits! I had my first of two interviews this week at Edinburgh Airport. It was a temp Recruitment Officer role for Delaware North Companies. They are a catering business and are opening a new restaurant at the airport. I had to meet the recruiter at a cafe there...this is something i hate as you don't know who to look for. I got there after a bus ride that took ONE HOUR. It obviously pays to take the airport express bus rather than the regular bus that takes you around the world before it gets to the airport. This interview was another example of why i hate the 'meet you for coffee' interviews because it got to 20 minutes later and she hadn't shown up. Well at least i thought. We had both been waiting to meet each other! Well finally we did and the interview went well. I was told I'd be informed on Friday how i went. So we'll wait and see. Apart from interviews i haven't really been doing much. I guess mainly to save the pennies. Also, interviews take it out of me so i was happy to lay low whilst i had them on.

On Wednesday i had the big interview with Work Directions as an Adviser. This was the toughest interview i have ever experience. I knew it was going to be trouble when the HR Director herself was interviewing. I could have got the guy interviewing next door, but no i had to have the director. They were interviewing stacks when i was there. There were at least 5 people waiting for their interview. The first part of the interview was to watch a DVD of a typical girl who would come into Work Directions. You then had to type up a CV for her and do a job search based on what you thought she'd suit work wise. This worries me slightly as i am finding there are differences in the type of CV in the UK to Australia. But i did it and it would then be assessed by my interviewer. After the assessment she grilled me with questions, like 'if your client didn't show up for her meeting what would you do?'. Tough call when i don't know how far i can push it. A small part of me did feel that this might not be the job for me during the interview as i don't have a lot of patience for 'dole bludgers'. I understand some people have genuine reasons that hold them back from getting any work but for most they don't try. Kinda like how i felt with whinging worker's compensation employees at work. So the interview continued and after 2.5 hours i was out of there and ready for a nap. I was told i might not know till the end of August if i got the job. I felt confident but not overly!

I then went over to the Royal Mile as i got a call in the morning from a lady who manages a souvenir shop and she had asked me in for an interview. IT was the only shop i put my resume in a few days earlier as a 'last case scenario'. So i rocked up, she asked me when i was available and for how long and voila, i landed a job. I have to admit, my gut instinct wasn't joy, but rather should i even take it? It was minimum wage (5 pound an hour) and such a shitty job. Would i rather fly home than be miserable over here? Yes.

I spoke to mum on Skype the next day to get her thoughts and i decided that i would rock up to the shop to start work at 1pm just to see how it goes. I had nothing to lose. I had tickets to see Rhys Darby do stand up at 10pm that night so i knew i couldn't stay till midnight like they may potentially ask. I got to the shop and was dumped with two girls who barely knew English and told to ask what to do. I am to basically 'look busy' and as soon as something sells, go and get stock to replace it. So don't do the logical thing and replenish stock at a quieter time in the day, but do it ALL DAY long. Yeeah. There were a few Aussies working there and I'd chat to them while looking busy. I'm told i wouldn't be able to use the register. I'd have to work my way up to that and it's likely to be months. WTF. Everyone said the bosses were pretty awful and you should avoid them. Plus, if i ask to leave early to go see the show i booked, i might get told not to come back. So i started to clock watch after 45 minutes and then after 1.5 hours the manager told me that was it for me today and i filled out some employment forms. The manager tells me on my way out that i didn't seem into it and wasn't just doing stuff. Um hello, i except the first part, but it's hard to know what to do exactly when you just got there. There's only so much folding scarves. I'm starting to understand why they have had a vacancy sign on their window for 6 weeks (at least) in these hard times.

I was relieved to get off early and 50/50 on whether or not I'd bother going back. I am told that they will call when they know what hours i can work. It often isn't till the night before. Awesome.

So i went home and checked my email. Well an email came through from Work Directions. Emails after interviews are never a good sign. Turns out it wasn't. I got the obligatory 'after careful consideration' email. Yeah real careful, it took you less than 24 hours. I didn't get the job. In a way i guess it's a credit they didn't hire me as i probably wasn't right for the job. I wanted it because it was permanent and paid well, not because of the job itself. This was getting to be a really shit day. Actually, suffice to day my worst since I've been here.

Well i dragged myself in the shower and got ready for my night out to see Rhys Darby. I thought comedy might be the order of the day! It was actually a really nice night and i didn't have to wear a jacket. Crazy man. I got to Udderbelly where he was to be performing. It has a massive beer garden outside the giant inflatable cow that you go in to see the shows. It had a great atmosphere and i now know where all the hot men have been hiding. One guy who was out of control hot tapped me on the shoulder and said 'nice dress'. I was gob smacked by this and meekly replied, 'um, thanks'. Good work Rebecca, a real witty reply. Idiot.

Well i watched Rhys do his thing and i was not disappointed. Just what the doctor ordered. He was soo funny. I'd recommend him. If only he did his Murray character from Flight of the Concords. He talked about his experiences of making it in the U.S which are aways funny. After the show i decided to walk home. Being such a nice night and heaps of people out because of the festival.

I have a feeling I'm going to love the festival!

Fringe on the Royal Mile



Rhys Darby



The Beer Garden at Udderbelly



The cow i went inside to see Rhys.

Aussie Aussie Aussie

So I'm not feeling home sick yet but i am missing my Milo. Since discovering a UK website that sells Aussie/Kiwi/South African food to the UK i thought i'd treat myself to a little shipment. So here it is. It was 16 pounds all up so a bit of a rip off but it'll keep a smile on my dial for a while. Well at least until Mum & Dad's Milo shipment arrives and Sacha brings some with her next June. :)

Another Cross Stitch Down

Well i am glad i brought all my kits over here as i am powering through them. I will have to post back home the finished products soon. This one is a little too cutesy for my liking but I'm happy with the outcome.

By the Sea Side

I had a good weekend here in Scot Town. I had thought for a while about going to Portobello to check it out. Someone at the local pub had mentioned it and said that it was Scotland's answer to the beach and that it is quite close to where i am. I was rather interested to see what the beach here would look like. I didn't expect to be able to go in the water but just to have a look. It had been a pretty miserable week in terms of the weather so i had given up on the idea of waiting till it was a sunny day before i went. I hadn't planned on going on Friday but thats the joy of not working. You dont need to necessarily have a plan for the day and can just change your mind. I saw a bus that said Potobello on it so i jumped on. It was about 20 minutes away from where i was so not far. Unofrtunately grey clouds loomed, so i had prayed they would hold off until i was at home!
Portobello wasn't such a bad place. It was like the sea side town that tried to be a sea side town. The fact you are i Scotland is where that falls short. I headed away from the town square and on to the beach. It's a huge stretch of sand and naturally there are no waves. There were a few people around, mainly parents with their kids building sand castles. No one was in the water. I looks to be the kind of place that had it's hey day many years ago and now needs a bit of a face lift. From what i understand it was a very popular vacation spot in the summer and was full of amusement arcades etc. Given how easy it is to now just fly to somewhere in Europe for the holidays i guess people dont take this option anymore. The sand wasn't too bad actually. Pretty much the same as DY Beach. So it was sandy with bits of rock n stuff in it. Along the walkway there were a cople of cafes and two arcades. It was getting to lunch time so i had a lunch in one of the cafes that overlooked the beach. It would be a nice place to go on a good day. Although i'm not sure how i'd go not being able to go in the water.
After lunch and with not much else to look at i got back on to the bus and headed to Ocean Terminal. I had decided that i was fed up with using the WiFi at Maccas and making the trek everyday to do that so i decided on biting the bullet and buying from mobile broadbrand from Carphone Warehouse. It turned out i could get it from 3 for 35 pounds so it wasn't too ridiculous. Now i just need to monitor the use and see if i bought enough GB's. Skype may use quite a bit and i like to stream Merrick and Rosso and listen to it at dinner.
Saturday i just hung around, did some house work and chilled out. I went to Totties bar early Saturday night for a few pints. People are very friendly and buy ou drinks so i drunk too much and felt pretyt worse for wear. I ended up going home about two hours later and just crashing. Having drunk too much the nght before i spent Sunday doing plenty of sleeping and enjoying a fatty lunch of KFC whilst reading Scotland on Sunday. All in all, not bad!
I have two job interviews lined up this week which keeps me on the edge, gotta love that. So i let Monday be a day of doing some research for the interviews and just keeping a low profile as the days that follow will be a bit nerve racking.

On a final note, this weekend definetly saw the start of the festival season which i am quite excited about! I walked over to the Grassmarket and saw that they were planning the day's Mardi Gras celebrations and then over at the Royal Mile they had a samba group playing complete with dances. All the signs are starting to go up and the crowds are definently pouring in. Cant wait!

Portobello



Amusement arcade along the beach



The Grassmarket gearing up for the festival



Samba!

R.I.P Milo

My Liberty of London collection. LOVE it.

Well tragedy has struck the small town of Edinburgh today. I am out of Milo. :( I was treating myself to a Milo once or twice a week from my wee trusty tin Mum supplied me with before i headed over and now it's over. For anyone that knows me well knows i have been having Milo for my breakfast for only the last 17 years of my life. Oh well.. There is a website in the UK that sells Aussie food. It has Milo, not to mention Twisties, Allen's lollies, BBQ Shapes. So if i feel like spending way too much on for Milo than what i should i might do that. No doubt with drawls will start soon. Here come the Milo sweats.

Not much else to report really. The weather has been the usual cloudy with spots of sunlight. It hasn't rained too much but I'm told by BBC weather (personally, sure) that this weekend will likely be a wet one. Not too bothered on that front as i lie low until the job situation improves. Plenty of cross stitch and window shopping to be had. On the job front, i have made it to the second stage of an interview process for a job at Work Directions. I had a telephone interview and now i will have a 2 hour interview next Wednesday. Pretty full on. It's going to be a computer test of some sort and then a panel interview. My last two jobs were panel interviews so i think i know what to expect (no doubt you do to Sacha!). Other than that not much to report. I probably apply for about 3 jobs a week. But this week things did seem to pick up. As it nears the end of the holidays the job boards get busier apparently. Next week I'll get kept busy by festival season. I think it officially starts on 7th August, so there will be heaps going on in the streets to check out, plus i have ticket to see Rhys Darby and Wil Anderson stand up next week. Excited about that!

Yesterday i shouted myself to one of my favourite days. Seeing a movie and then doing a bit of shopping. I headed to Ocean Terminal, a big shopping centre on the shore of Leith (by big, i mean like Scottish big, so half the size of Warringah Mall!) and went and saw The Taking of Pelham 123. It was a good film, Denzel Washington never disappoints. Plus, John Travolta played quite a good bad guy. I didn't think he had it in him. Although he was quite good in Pulp Fiction. So yeah, see it if you can. After the movie and a big dose of popcorn i went to Mandors Fabrics. It's one of only like two fabric stores in Edinburgh and when i went there a couple of weeks ago i saw they had a sale on Liberty of London fabric for the month of July. I absolutely love this fabric and as it costs abut $50 a metre in Australia i thought i might get some during the sale to take home. I bought some beautiful prints and i cant wait to make them into something! Mum and Dad can take them home with them when they visit. ;)

Ummm what else....

Gee i think i spoke to soon on the whole weather thing, as i look out the window of this Internet cafe i cant help but notice that it is bucketing down with rain. I need to get myself a hard core umbrella as they £2 job Dad got me doesn't cut it in this weather. Sorry Dad, i know you did good. Plus, i might even purchase some wellies down the track, how cool are they and clearly just not justified in Australia. I also might even get a raincoat for the first time in like 20 years. I'm bringing the rain coat back.

So what will i be doing over the next few days?

I thought i might head to the seaside of Portobello. I'm told it's Scotland's answer to the beach, so that'll be interesting! I'll have to wait for a better day and make sure i bring a hate as apparently it's like always windy there. I might even go to Aberdeen but i gotta find out more about the place to see if it's worth it. I think i will also succumb to purchasing a mobile broadband dongle and i am getting a bit sick of my trek to Maccas to use WiFi and the distraction and noise that comes with sitting in the middle of Maccas trying to apply for a job.

Well that's it's from me for now, till next time.

Cross Stitch Number 2

Well another cross stitch down. This was a simpler cross stitch in terms of size but a bad design in terms of the amount of fractional stitches. Not very well designed. Still, overall I'm happy with the outcome...

The Day I Almost Ran Into Prince Charles

Well before i start i must say i am getting mighty sick of using my laptop at McDonald's sitting next to loud foreign speaking kids. It's driving me mental.

Yesterday i had a pretty action packed day at The Gathering 2009. The Gathering is part of Homecoming 2009, Scotland's big festival this year. It is a gathering of clans as well as some International Highland Games mixed in. Plus music, dancing and the like. I headed out early and was stoked to wake up to clear skies. I knew a day in Holyrood Park in the wet would have sucked. My flatmate Totty came along too, so it was good to have the company. She loves the opportunity to watch highland games whilst drinking beer. Wonder if she's Scottish?! The queue for pre-purchased tickets was oddly much longer than tickets purchased on the day and being the organised person that i am i had pre-purchased so i had to wait half an hour to get in. The poor guy keeping the line straight copped so much crap for it. We finally got in and headed to the highland games arena as games were already off to a start. I can't help but laugh to see events happening for things like how far you can throw a rock, or lift a rock, or fling a rock. There more more competitors from the US than there was from Scotland, but there was one lone Aussie from Melbourne competing and Hans from the Netherlands. After some games action we spotted some uniformed men so we followed them into the tent they were heading in to.

We had entered the military tent and just cruised around looking at memorabilia with beer in hand. After checking it out we went to get out from where we got in and it was closed, so i thought, 'OK, we'll just go out this exit'. Whilst making our way out i couldn't help but notice how professional the military men were all standing in line, straight faces, no talking. It wasn't till i nearly bowled Prince Charles over heading out the exit that i found out why they were all so serious. I kid you not. I had to start walking backwards as Charles and the leader of the Scottish Parliament (i found that out later from Totty) walked inside. I was so shocked but managed to start snapping away. I knew i wouldn't be able to walk up to him with my camera and say, 'I'm a hugh fan, think i could get a picture?' By this time Totty and i had practically wet our pants from laughing at the shock of the scene. Hands down made the day.

After that bit of excitement we headed to the official merchandise tent as we both decided we'd need to buy something to remember the day by! Another long queue but i got my t-shirt and then it was time to find some food and drink. The line for haggis was too long to wait (yeah, cause that's why i didn't line up) so we had the choice of Venison burger or steak. Given Venison is basically Bambi, i opted for the steak. It was then back to the games arena for some tossing and caber throwing. I tell ya, that caber doesn't go real far, which aint surprising. We also saw some tug o war action too. Then it was on to the Acoustic tent for some music and the arts and craft fair...of course! I felt slightly left out whilst there given i had opted not to wear tartan. I'm told by some Scots that the more tartan someone wears the more English they are. The English are clearly just jealous of the get up. I should have at least worn a Jimmy hat. I was keen to try some whiskey and they had a whiskey tasting tent so we bought our whiskey tasting glass and 3 tokens and headed in. I was a bit nervous drinking whiskey as i've never been a big fan and i'd already had several beers. They were only serving half nips so it wasn't much. I tried a Taliskers, Salisberg, and an Oban. I think i like the Oban best but dont think i'll be a big whiskey drinker any time soon.

We then made sure we got to the Music stage in time to see the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Dad had mentioned them so i thought I'd check it out. They basically do covers and make bagpipes cool. After their first song, 'Smoke on the Water' they did Coldplay's 'Clocks' and it was awesome! They are a real crowd drawer and it was packed around the stage. It was by this point that the day was slowly drawing to a close. I checked out some of the Clan Tents then we headed back home. Unfortunately i couldn't find the Wilson clan tent. I loved the fact that i could walk to the event. It's all nice and close.

I had planned to head to the Walkabout restaurant/bar to see the Wallabies play the All Blacks but the excitement of the day, namely seeing the Prince, had taken it out of me so i called it a night. An early one too!

Prince Charles



In his kilt get up



A piper band



Having my first wee dram



My flat mate Totty with her new hat

Scottish roots

I'm writing from my little spot in Maccas using their free WiFi and watching the passing parade on Princes Street. I cant believe another week is almost over. On Monday i headed over to Glasgow to meet my grandmother and uncle and spend the day with them. I didn't really know what was planned but i was just happy to tag along. I took the 'much cheaper than a train' opotion of catching a coach (as in bus, not horse and carriage) to Glasgow. It only took one hour, 10 minutes to get there and it was practically empty. I had a bit of trouble finding the St Andrews Square bus station in Edinburgh as it was tucked behind Harvey Nichols. So i only just made it before the bus left. When i arrived in Glasgow i thought i'd heard someone call out Rebecca. Given i was in a foreign place i didn't think for a million years it was directed at me. But it was and it was my uncle. I thought it might be strange to see family overseas but it really wasn't. We walked down to their apartment and i got to see some more of Glasgow city centre. It's a nice city but not as picturesque as Edinburgh. It kind of reminded me actually of Sydney, around Martin Place with it's mix of old and new buildings. I got to their apartment had a bit of a chat and then we were on the road. I was enjoying the luxury of them having a rented car. No buses for a while then; yes!
Our first stop was my great great grandmothers house. This is pretty cool to see. It's heritage listed to it hasn't really changed at all. Pretty crazy to be in the same place my great great grandmother was. It was my first link to Scotland i experienced which was nice also. It was pouring rain on and off during the day so the stop at the house was kept short .We then headed to the nearby church to see the grave of my relatives, the Barrie's. I only hope i am related to J.M Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. After checking out the grave (jealous Dad?) we headed into the Trussocks. The Trussocks is kind of like the highlands. It's all about the scenery.
We stopped off at Muddock at a garden centre that also had a restaurant. My grandmother and uncle have made this trek so many times it's practically their 'local'. They kindly shouted me to lunch and we had a great lunch for a couple of hours. As i was limited in how much time i had, as my bus would be heading out at 6pm we ony made one other stop. I cant remember now where it was but we stopped at a Wool Mill that sold all things Scottish and a lot of cashmere/wool stuffs. I didn't buy anything but had a good look around. It was then back into the car for the head back to the city. I had a non-flexible ticket so i really wanted to make sure i got the bus. I hung out in their apartment when we got back for about an hour then i headed back to the bus and back to Edinburgh. I had a great day and was glad i caught up with them whilst they were here.

On Tuesday the only big thing i had on was a telephone interview. The job is with Work Directions, who are actually in Australia too and it's for an Advisor position. I think they have like 20 roles going as they are opening up massively in East Scotland. Advisors help people get jobs. Ironic much? The telephone interview was like a pre screening to the more in depth in person interview. I felt it went OK but we'll just see how i go. At the very least, the job interview experience is good. After that, i just chilled out. I get a bit worked up about interviews so i tend to veg once they are over!

Wednesday was much the same in the bludging department. I went to my flatmate Totty's pub at night. She offered to shout me a beer if i wanted to come up for a couple. I love that i can walk to this pub and be there in about 4 minutes! It truely is my new local. I hung out there for a while and Totty kindly introduced me to everyone in the bar and she knows all the locals. It's like stepping onto the srt of East Enders! I spoke with one old guy for ages who talked to me about his experiences of working O.S. He bought my beer as he knew how it felt to be broke. He was a lovely man. At one stage some of the guys were talking across the bar to each other and i swear this is all i heard, 'dheutuie utrhjiatiu eht het ie thha'. It made no sense! This whole drinking and being Scottish thing is going to need my full attention as once Scots start to drink i seriously struggle with what they are saying. After a couple of pints of Tennants i heading back home...well the pub did close so i didn't have much choice.

On a final note, go on You Tube and check out Frankie Boyle. I've been watching a fair bit of this guy on tele and he's frickin' hiliarous. Not as funny as Danny Boyle, but he's close. He always takes the piss out of Glasgow.
Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTPSYbeNaa8&feature=related
It's from my favourite show on tele, Mock The Week.

My great great grandmother's house



Barrie grave