Thursday 26 February 2009

Recession Shmecession

So it's officially happened.
I am no longer waiting for replies from companies with regards to my job applications.
I have been rejected from everything/ or have been put down as an applicant for 2010... or whenever the graduate programme starts up again.
Bloody, bloody recession.

It's kind of refreshing actually, because that means that Australia is now a definate... and there is no longer the "what-if-I-get-an-amazing-job-offer-in-the-UK" possibility to contend with.
So thankyou, Recession, for confirming at least something in my future. If it is the certainty of 'nothing' in the UK.
At least for now.

So, Recession. This one's for you.

Angry Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake thing) says "Stick it".

In other news. Driving.
What. Is. Up. With. The. UK. System?!
- Applying for a provisional license at the Post Office - 2 weeks later call my new friend James at the Birmingham Driving School to start classes with a semi intensive course - apply for theory and practical tests which take 2 weeks and 6 weeks respective waiting time before being accepted for even taking the tests...
- Which means that we're looking at having completed the whole... caffufle... in 12-14 weeks.
Easy, right?

As for flights... for the moment I've set my mind on the 20th July.
I'll graduate between the 10-17th July... so it makes sense really...

So that's all the official news on Plan-Australia out of the way.... Next stop, why I'm right and you're wrong.

Wednesday 18 February 2009

The One with Lists

  1. Cholet, France. The one permanent place in my life, Memie's house
  2. Bribee Island, Australia. Which I don't remember at all.
  3. Boston, USA. House 1. AKA the 'lollipop house' because we lived next to a roundabout. We had a basketball court on our property where the infamous 'dead mouse' incident occured. Turtles that came up from the creek at the back of the garden and made nests in the flower beds - we rescued them in massive plastic tubs and left them further up river.
  4. Boston, USA. House 2. (or was it House 1?) The house with the daffodils around it...
  5. Bourne End, UK. House 1. Where I was petrified of the ghosts in my bed room and had to sleep in the exact middle of the bed otherwise 'they' would get me. Next to the park where I nearly ran over a grass snake with my bicycle and thought I was ever so brave.
  6. Bourne End, UK. House 2. As most of you know, this is the 'Fawlty Towers' house; the property was built on the site where Fawlty Towers was filmed (and later burned down by an arson attack) (Fawlty Towers site, that is). I loved this house. The ping-pong table in the garage, my study, the living room and the place where I used to sit to practice my drum routines on plastic basins.
  7. Bangkok, Thailand. House 1. Middle of nowhere, right next to the Japanese school. A house I'm glad to have little/ no memories of.
  8. Bangkok, Thailand. House 2. 8 years. The first time I was shown my bedroom I measured its size by how many cartwheels I could do in a row in it (I used to be fit) - 3. I opened the curtains in my room about 3 times during all that time... something to do with how messy it was.
  9. Tennis Courts, Birmingham University. Welcome to your independence, Isa. The wall where I put up pictures and memories of everything, watching people playing footie on the grass outside, dreading the walk to Shackleton for dinner. Best. Year. Ever.
  10. Selly Oak, Birmingham. House 1. Room on the 3rd floor. 5 other flatmates. The really comfy couches, not having a clock in my room and telling time by looking at Old Joe from my bedroom window.
  11. Plume IS, Tokyo. THE LOUNGE. Never using the tiny kitchen area in my room. The bathroom being so small I couldn't shower fully standing up for a year. Some of the best conversations of my life happened in Plume. Webcaming with Ellen.
  12. Mishima, Shizuoka. Only 2 months, but definately the place where I grew up the most. Full independence - work, private life, life. Mum coming to visit and her being on holiday while I went to work. Seeing Mnt Fuji from the office on a clear day.
  13. Selly Oak, Birmingham. House 2. Where I'm writing this. Smallest bedroom of the house but it's mine. CD covers on the wall, 10 library books on my left. Shoes. This is not the place for productivity.
Which is why 14 is set to be Manly, Sydney, Australia.
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The next 4 weeks and a half.
  1. 4 Essays - Dissertation, Group Business to Business Marketing Essay, Group Strategic Management Report, Human Resource Management Essay.
  2. 3 Presentations - Strategic Management report on Ryanair - which we will salvage through the use of controversial YouTube videos and free chocolate, 2 Japanese presentations. 20 mins each. On anything. Ouch.
  3. 1 exam. Japanese writing exam. In 10 days. 8 articles' worth of Kanji and vocabulary to learn by then.
All to be closer to a Bachelor degree. Not to mention the 5 exams I'll have after Easter.
:D
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3. People I know whose birthday is on the same day as mine. Strangely, I'm the only one who knows this. Come on Facebook, get your act together.

7943. Times I check Facebook a day.

2. Graduate programes I applied to but are now cancelled because of the recession.

475. Facebook friends.

10. Facebook friends I'm frequently in touch with and really 'know'.

14. Hours of music I listen to a day.

500. Free minutes on my phone contract a month.

13. Minutes I actually spent on my phone last month.

11. Number of flights I went on during 3 month summer break in 2006.

7. Hours of class I have a week.

5. Months since I last saw Maman.

5. Months until I next see Maman. (Tu. Me. Manques.)

78. Minutes it took me to write this blog.

7.30. Alarm for tomorrow morning.

X

Thursday 12 February 2009

The One with The Introduction












And so we meet again!

Let me give you the lowdown.
As you may be aware, the economy isn't good right now. Actually, it's pretty damn dire.
Which (sarcasm alert), is great if you're graduating, like me, in the summer of '09.

I, like the rest of the UK student population, did the whole 'lookingforajob' thing, with as much gusto as I could.
Lie. I was enveloped by 'The Fear' that I wouldn't get a job by the time I graduated, so sent only about 15 measly applications. I got straight out rejected from 3, reached the 2nd stage of the application process for 4 of them (which I later got rejected from (moral of the story - know some basic financial maths)) and didn't hear back from the rest of them.

When I got back from Japan in October 2008, I had sworn to myself that that was the last time I was moving anywhere. Full. Stop.
The plan was to get a job. Whatever it was. So I could be a fake Brit in Britland for longer than 1 year, and to do the unthinkable...
stay. in. one. place.

As it turns out, I'm doing anything but.

Last summer, Maman moved from Singapore... to Sydney. Manly Beach, at that.

So I had a choice to make.
Be jobless in the UK for at least a year... or move to Sydney to take Grad courses/ get a part-time job/ have a pet kangaroo... (Because all people in Australia have a pet kangaroo. Word.)

Sorry guys, England lost. Big time.

SO I'M MOVING TO SYDNEY!

Mid/late July.

Things to do before then:
  • Learn to drive
  • GRADUATE
  • Get onto a grad course - Project Management/ Logistics?... Sheep shearing?
  • Sort out Visa situation... Student? Tourist? Work and Study?
So with all this going on, naturally I need everyone to know/ care about it.
Henceth the creationeth of this blogeth.

Watch this space!
xxx