Footy, Great Ocean Road, Wine Country

My head grew a little bit after reading comments on my last posting, so keep that in mind when you see the pictures below.

The first person I met last week was my stream leeda, Marcelo Petroni. Knowing that his voice was very Australian, I didn't know what to expect by the Italian name. It turns out that only his name and father's side are Italian; he has the face of an Argentinian and a heart of an Auzzie. My coworkers are of similar authentication. From Latin American to Indian to good-ole-Southern-boy blokes and sheilas, we are a diverse group.

My friend George introduced some of us to footy. In the picture from left to right are George, Elk, Sherina, Fabio, Me, and Tasmin. The footy match for me was such an entertaining time. The stadium seating was so high that I felt it a bit Quidditch-like. Just as the people I have described have such diverse family backgrounds, footy is like a mix of all the sports we know in America. Imagine a football game with 4 goal posts in each end zone instead of 2, where players dribble the football-shaped ball down a 150-m-long-ways-diameter oval field and drop kick it to teammates, who catch the ball and run, dribble, and drop kick more passes. This is a game where tackles can set off hockey-like fighting entertainment. There are 4 quarters and a half time show but, like basketball or soccer, there are no dull time intervals during the game where no action is going on. It's a football game that everyone can enjoy, even girls since the game is always active and the players wear short shorts.

Sadly, the Melbourne Demons lost. To cheer everyone up I told them the Demons had already gone to hell.


Tasmin rented a car for the weekend and had the idea to drive down the Great Ocean Road, which is the windy beach road along the coast southwest of Melbourne. It goes all the way to the southern tip of the island where penguins live, which we didn't get to see, but we did get to see the Twelve Apostles. The crew on this day was me, Tasmin, Sammy, and a girl Tasmin knows named Nataline. Nataline has long auburn hair and a long, pretty face with a deep and Aussie-accented voice. She said she was half Argentinian and half Italian, just like my boss. She looked about 30 but when I asked how old she was (by the way this is not normally a polite thing to do) she cheerfully said "ah, I'm 19 love" and it blew me away. At first she was our chauffeur since she had experience driving, but soon after some fast curves and quick stops I decided to give it a go - I promise, it made everyone relax. I picked it up quickly and drove the rest of the weekend. Total, I estimated that I drove 500 kilometers, give or take a few where others attempted to drive. It's all about putting yourself in the correct fifth of the road and remembering to get in the left lane when you turn.

Our first stop off Great Ocean Road was a pit stop which happened to be next to a little park. We got out to stretch, and after wandering around the empty, beautiful park we realized we were surrounded by eucalyptus. We looked up and saw koalas. There was a family hugging tightly - passed out from their eucalyptus high - in one tree, and there was one koala in another tree reaching around for food. It looked pretty intent on getting those leaves. It's a hard life being high all the time I suppose.

We stopped a few times for pictures and what not, but our final destination came after dark (6:30 pm) which was the Twelve Apostles and dinner at Port Campbell. I am sending everyone postcards of the Twelve Apostles because we couldn't get a good picture ourselves. There are 12 huge rocks that stick out of the water that supposedly used to trap pirate ships when they came to steal from Port Campbell. There was also a famous shipwreck closeby that survived a boy and a girl who had an alleged love story - or at least the Aussies turned it into a love story for ratings. Pictured on the left are me and Sammy in front of the Twelve Apostles sign.

Vineyards, wineries: the best part of the weekend. I must leave this for tomorrow's entry because it is so much to write about...

Melbun

G'day! It is Saturday afternoon in a city down under, and I have a feeling that my carpels will hurt in a couple of hours because I have so much to say.

Let's begin with the 36-hour parentheses in time that was my journey to the other side of the planet. A calm, level-headed boyfriend of mine helped a pair of frantic Clark women complete (or partially complete) my company's medical benefits paperwork with a slow computer and erratic printer at T minus 2 hours to take-off. My mom and I agreed that it was a good thing that he took me to Hartsfield that evening. At the airport he was more travel-savvy and helpful than I have ever been and I am so grateful he was there with me and my luggage.

Unfortunately airlines don't always have the helpful qualities that J.T. possesses. Don't get me wrong; the only thing that wasn't smooth during my flights and transfers was the rough air over the Pacific. I slept well in the air (it was almost 19 hours total air time) and watched 4 on-demand movies, all the while tickled that I would never experience a day called June 12th, 2007 (well put, Billy). It wasn't until the end of the journey, on June 13th, that I found myself running circles around the luggage carousel and feeling just as 'out of place' as my luggage. It was like my belongings had been sucked into the non-existent day of June 12th.

All I'm going to say at this point is Thank Goodness I was in a country where I could ask bag services personnel in plain English where my luggage was. After confirming that my electric blue and overweight red trolley suitcases were on the next flight to Melbourne from L.A., I was given an address where I could claim A$100 as a 24 hour stipend.

If you're wondering, A$100 is about $83.00, and it will typically buy you a shirt if it's on sale. I was lucky to have great sales people at a mall I found 2 blocks away from my place who helped me find a great suit, shirt, and shoes for about A$220. I made friends for life! (Although later I found out the the company will reimburse me for all the clothes I bought while my luggage was missing. Apparently I should have gone hog-wild. Last time someone's luggage was lost, that person spent $3,000.00 in clothes...)

Backing up for a minute, my mood took a 180 when I saw where I would be living. I am staying in a company-sponsored corporate apartment at the Saville on Russell in downtown Melbourne. It has a full kitchen with a stove, oven, dish washer, toaster, microwave, coffee maker, dinnerware, and kitchen utensils. I have my own washer and dryer. There is a kitchen table and chairs, desk, internet connection, phone, living room with couch and coffee table and TV, bedroom with a queen, and a full bathroom. There is also a balcony with doors in my bedroom and the living room. When I arrived there was a cloth bag with complimentary fruit, bread, and jam. Everyday I come home to find my dirty dishes washed and put away; my bed made; the shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, and mini-bar replenished; and the apartment straightened and cleaned. (Yes, I've been bad about the mini-bar... I might get it removed and start buying groceries.) Room Service and movies on-demand are 24-hour luxuries as well. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to be a spoiled brat.

Anyone want to come visit?

Onto work. A few blocks from the Saville is the 50-story Telstra building, where I work on the 50th floor. The stroll to work hasn't yet failed to be splendid; it makes for a brisk and pleasant morning walk with many other suit-and-tie pedestrians. Passing street cafes brimming with people-watchers, morning papers, conversation, and javaroma makes me happy. Javaroma is not a real word, but I think it well-describes the smell of coffee and bustle of people in the morning.

The coffee machine at work is like my new suitcase: gizmic. I couldn't figure the thing out at first... in fact, the only button I have figured out since the first day is the one for latte, so I drink lattes everyday. There is also breakfast food, snacks, and drinks that we expense to Amdocs.

The biggest change in my surroundings at the office, however, is the space around me at my desk. On both flights to L.A. and Australia I had 2 seats to myself. My cab had been an SUV, and my hotel apartment is a place my college friends and I would pack 12 people into. Room 6 of floor 50 is the size of my bedroom and is lined with table desks, outlets, and ethernet jacks. 7 (seven) of us are parked in there with our laptops and rules-of-thumb of looking both ways before you back up.

I won't talk much about work because even I don't understand it yet, but there are 7 of us on a particular stream of the project, and there is a LOT to do. We are working with IBM - and sometimes it seems like we are working FOR IBM - and there are deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. I have learned that things change daily in this business. This job will be challenging and it will allow me to exercise my people skills, technical skills, communication skills, presentation skills, leadership skills, teamwork skills, BS-ing skills...

Nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills...

Anyway! The good news is that the people in Room 6 don't smell bad or make stupid jokes - in fact, they are a lot of fun. They inducted me into the group on Thursday night with dinner, wine, beer, and tequila. (By the way, the food here isn't awesome, but it's not awful. If you find good, specialized, gourmet restaurants, I'm sure it's excellent, but since I'll eat anything, I don't mind settling for OK.) They took me to a bar/restaurant called Transport, but it was too crowded, so we went to the nicer restaurant above it called Taxi. But that was full too, so we went to the lounge on the third level called Transit. What a ride! Anyway, some local friends of my co-workers met us there and taught me how to say things like "Melbun" and "Nahyu". It's amazing how much this group reminds me of friends from home. Brian, there is a guy here who is you to a T. Well he's actually from Kansas, but in general the people born and raised in Melbourne are fantastic too!

Bear with me; I know I can't sign off before describing Melbourne a little bit better. Not counting Singapore, Melbourne is the cleanest, safest city I have ever encountered. My boss described the safety as follows: a girl could walk from one end of the city to the other 20 times in the middle of the night through all the alley-ways and never once run into trouble. Grandmary: not that I would ever do this. Having been here a few days, I haven't seen a single beggar or homeless person. (I'm pretty sure all homeless people get welfare.) The only people I have seen stationed on the streets are musicians and it seems that the only non-well-dressed people are college kids and tourists.

Mom-- beautiful, old churches. Going to one tomorrow but haven't decided which one. The culture... everyone is polite and says their Ps and Qs. The dress... no one's heard of Business Casual or Casual Fridays at work, even at the good ole phone company. (It just cracks me up because the rooms are so cramped and some of the conference rooms are so old - mismatching chairs and everything - and the dress is still suit and tie.)

The weather is a bit nippy at this time of year but nothing a jacket can't handle. I like to describe it as crisp. Other climatic features have proven to be quite interesting, though. Yesterday at 3 pm, we looked out of the office window at a sea of clouds beneath us. We couldn't see the streets or floors 1-35 of any building, but only white cotton candy and the tips of a few surrounding skyscrapers. And the sky of course. Isn't that cool? People were taking pictures because no one had seen anything like it before. I love Australia!

Oye, it's time to bog in and have some tucker. I'm starving.

P.S. Thanks for the comments and e-mails. I miss y'all a ton!

1-Hour Turn-Around

Friday, June 9, 2007:
7 AM: Woke up.
7:45 AM: Left for work (still the first week of orientation) with no traffic on 400.
8:05 AM: Sat in the office parking lot because I was so early. Wondered when we would find out where our first projects would be. 90% sure at this point that I would be staffed at a local project. I had almost ruled out any chances for Australia and had gotten used to this idea.
8:20 AM: Took 5 steps toward the office and realized that I had locked my keys and computer in the car.
8:30 AM: Training class.
9:30 AM: During break I dealt with the locksmith and coughed up money to get my car unlocked.
10:15 AM: Opened computer.
10:20 AM: Checked e-mail. There was a request for a 10:30 conference call with an Amdocs project manager at the Melbourne office to discuss a position he needed to fill!
10:30 AM - 11 AM: Without preparation I participated in the call and accepted the position without hesitation. My role out there as a rung 1 consultant will be a business analyst role of documenting use cases. Basically I will be testing the software products we plan to implement at Telstra and mapping every possible function of the products.
11 AM: Suddenly had to plan a trip!!!! Told some British, 6-month-tenured consultants in my class that I had to skip next week in orientation, and learned that I could have asked for another week, no matter how much the manager seemed to not want to take me on if I could not be there early next week.
2 PM: Booked my flight with the travel department.
5 PM: Left work.
Rest of the day: Called people. Couldn't stop smiling!
Yesterday: Bought a new suit and necessities.
Today: Bought luggage and packed, packed, packed.
Tomorrow: Finish some new hire paperwork and take off at 8:30 PM to arrive in Melbourne at 7:55 AM.

Some details:
- It is winter over there! Low of 40, mostly.
- I get to come home for a whole week every 4 weeks.
- The position is a temporary one for 3-6 months.
- I have a Per Diem rate, a place to stay that is a 3-minute walk from the office, and I get to build up Frequent Flyer Miles
- Sadly, I have to miss the 4th of July and the Fluke-Shaw wedding. =(

I will post pictures and news over the next few months! Can't wait to share and I hope you enjoy this blog.

More coming soon...

Lane