Nai-publish: 15.12.2019
On September 6th, we start working in the greenhouse. First, we will receive training on picking (just like with strawberries, plump and red is the preferred appearance ^^), then we will be sent to the packaging area. There, we will work at 3 stations: 1) tipping tomatoes onto the conveyor belt and sorting, 2) correcting the weight of too light/heavy plastic baskets, 3) packing 16 baskets into crates and ensuring a constant supply. Initially, Matze will be placed in the sorting position, and I will correct basket weight. To familiarize ourselves with the work and be tested for speed and concentration, we will stay at these stations the whole day. Staring at the electronic display of the scale tires my eyes, but I am really happy about the new job and also about the many colleagues, who rotate approximately every 20 minutes, so I get to know everyone. There are 3 older ladies, supervisor Georgia (younger than Matze and me, friendly but very focused), her right-hand woman Amandine, and 2 girls of my age, whom I immediately get along with. Additionally, there are 1-2 people operating the machine. Matze is currently the center of attention and he is clearly enjoying it. After this first day, we go to visit a sharehouse. It's the first one we applied for, only 15 minutes drive from work in Cooroy. The landlord is from New Zealand and very sympathetic. The room is not very big and has no curtains, but the rest of the house is awesome: there is a front terrace, a large kitchen-living room with an oven and a sofa corner, a table tennis room, and a garden at the back with a barbecue, pool, and pool table. We are invited for lunch on Sunday to get to know the other residents. We spend the night at a campground on the outskirts of Cooroy. The next day at work goes well. Since it's Saturday and weekend work is an exception, we finish early in the afternoon. We spend the rest of the day in Noosa, enjoying the wonderful bathing weather. The barbecue lunch in Cooroy goes great, the residents are a colorful mix, we quickly get along with each other. On the same day, while we are at a music open-air event with Bianca, I receive confirmation that we can move into the house. We are truly overwhelmed by this unexpected wave of success. Monday is when the real challenge begins, Matze has to go to the greenhouse for picking (which he is absolutely not enthusiastic about, he had already prepared himself to be on the assembly line), and I join the rotation like everyone else. We do our best, we want the job and everything from the work atmosphere to the payment and break times is so much fairer and more pleasant than in the strawberry field. After work, we drive to our new home. We settle in, put a few things in the garage (e.g. the bulky roof box), enjoy the luxury of a warm shower and space to spread out.