13.02.2023 - G'Day from Down Under

So now Australia, the destination I was most excited about and where I'll probably spend the majority of my trip. Can you be any further away from home? Hardly possible. As if Southeast Asia wasn't far enough already, the flight to Melbourne took another ten whole hours. I arrived at 3 pm Australian time somewhere between excitement, anticipation, and a whole lot of tiredness. The first steps in Australia were one thing above all: cold! After four months of temperatures above 25 degrees and very high humidity, 19 degrees felt like winter in Germany. I apologize to all those sitting in Germany who are probably dreaming of these temperatures. Well, spring is coming soon, hang in there!

After arriving, I took the bus and train to the Europa Hostel. The name is program here, Europeans wherever you look and listen. And at the forefront, the Germans. I haven't met so many Germans in any other hostel so far. On the one hand, it's quite pleasant because communication is very easy. But did I really fly around the globe just to speak German all day?

The next morning, it was time to sleep in, although it didn't work out that well. Although the time difference between Thailand and Melbourne is only four hours, the first few nights were very restless. Still feeling a bit under the weather, I started the day with the hostel breakfast. Besides white toast, they actually served cereal here, I could hardly believe my luck. Refreshed, I was ready for my organizational marathon. Because I also want to work in Australia, there were a few organizational tasks to be done. The first stop was a branch of Westpac Bank. I opened a bank account there very easily within half an hour. This is necessary so that potential future employers can transfer money without transaction fees. Without my own Australian account, I have no chance of getting a job here. A short anecdote about the opening: at the beginning of the conversation with the advisor, I didn't understand a single word, so I asked her to repeat what she said. She did, but with little success because I still didn't understand anything. Apparently, she could see the puzzled look on my face and then asked me in English if I was French. Two years of French in school and I don't even recognize the language. I would say that time was well spent back then. By the way, we continued our conversation in English and there were no further problems.

After opening the account, it was off to the telephone provider to buy a SIM card for the coming months. This also went smoothly. Then I went to Woolworth, the Australian version of Real, to stock up on Tupperware. After eating out exclusively for four months, I have to start cooking for myself again in Australia. And to have something in the cooking pot, I ended my first stroll through the city center of Melbourne at Aldi. I haven't felt so German in a long time. In fact, Aldi is one of the most popular supermarkets, along with a few other brands. After returning to the hostel, I applied for my Australian tax number and was able to check off the last item on my to-do list.

After the work was done, it was time for some fun in the afternoon. After the very gloomy and cold arrival, the sun appeared as if on cue and the temperatures had now risen to a relaxed 23 degrees, perfect weather for a walk along the Yarra River, a large river that flows through Melbourne. And here it became clear why Melbourne has been voted the most livable city in the world in recent years. Smiling people everywhere - and on a Monday - clean, relaxed, modern, diverse. I could probably come up with many more adjectives to describe the city. And at this point, I had only seen a fraction of the city, but I immediately felt very comfortable. In the following days, I gradually explored the city. The famous Brighton Beach with its beach huts, the historic tram line 35, the hippie district Fitzroy, the Royal Botanical Garden (my favorite place), the Queen Victoria Market (Melbourne's largest and oldest market), the street art - all this and much more can be seen in Melbourne. Since I would like to spend the next three months in Melbourne, I will certainly go into more detail about the individual sights, but right now it would exceed the (blog) framework.

In addition to exploring the city, there was another big topic on my agenda in the first week: job search. And this turned out to be more difficult than originally assumed. Although there is demand for workers in many places, from farm jobs to waiters, the competition is also very high. There are now many backpackers in the country again, competing for jobs. So I had no choice but to send out one application after another. Most of the time, I dedicated half of the days to the job search. Although I received two job offers on farms in a very short time, it failed in each case because I don't (yet) have my own car. Due to the long distances here, farms cannot be reached without a car as a rule. So, the search had to continue. On Thursday, there was a ray of hope, I was invited for an interview by the manager of a bistro. When I arrived there, the manager was waiting for me with an apron in hand because the interview turned out to be a trial work. Not even half an hour later, I found myself at the cash register, taking orders from the customers. Let me summarize: I had been in Australia for four days, had no experience in gastronomy, am not a native speaker, and can't even understand the Australian accent. So I wasn't thrown into the deep end, but into the frozen one. Nevertheless, I think I didn't do too badly. After two hours, it was over and the manager assured me that he would contact me by Friday afternoon at the latest. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything since then, so the search will have to continue. However, I have two more job interviews scheduled for the coming week, maybe it will work out then. I'll keep you updated. Until then, you can enjoy the pictures of beautiful Melbourne. See you soon :)