Day 22

So I have been in Australia for 22 days now. So crazy how time flies!
This past week was very eventful. The highlights:

• Learning the non-side-effects of goon (for me)
• Dancing at a bar called Cushion
• Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with lots of Irish
• Hitting the beach in St. Kilda (where we live) for 3 days straight. Picture below is a random that I took while laying out. Taken with my i-Phone.

• Eating in Richmond with fellow American, Jenny (we met her through her little brother, John Martin)
• Starting another temp job as a receptionist at a commercial real estate agency
• Going to the Australian soccer final! See picture below...this is the stadium located in Docklands...they play aussie rules football, soccer, etc. at this stadium. Taken with my iphone...I am still trying to figure out what to do with my pictures from my camera considering I do not have a computer....suggestions would be appreciated.

The game was Melbourne vs Sydney. It ended with a shoot- out and Sydney ended up winning. They are bitter rivalries, competing to be Australia's best city. I haven't been to Sydney yet, so I cannot judge yet, but Melbourne has been amazing so far! One of my favorite things is how diverse the culture is here. You can get Thai, japanese, coffee, hamburgers, and anything else you would want all on the same block in the city as well as in most every suburb. Everywhere in Melbourne are bars you would never know about because they are down dark alleys and behind random doors. (sounds so safe right ha). Below is a visual of the alley we strolled through.

Go down this alley, turn left...

Go to the end, turn right...

Then, walk all the way to the very end of the long alley...

Past the art work...

And when you cannot go any further...You are there...Walk in through the door on the left

But another cool thing about the night life here is how they go all out to decorate their bar/club. We went to 29th Apartment (a bar) and it indeed was filled with apartment decorations. We sat down on kitchen stools and drank around a wooden shaped ironing board. The dj booth was a bath tub, and the dance floor was equipped with a bed, very nicely made. Another cool themed bar was fully decorated to look like an Insane Asylum/Hospital...it was called the Croft Institute (see pictures above to see the path to the Croft Institute). There was a creepy operating table/bed in the bathroom. Another bar, called House, I think, looked literally like we crashed a house party with couches and paintings and a dining room table.

Needless to say, Australia hasn't been all fun and games (haha). Like I said I have been temping at a real estate company and have to wake up early, take the tram to the city and do the whole 9-5 thing. Working there has really helped me learn even more about the city and all the different areas you can live. There is so much more to Melbourne than I even realized and I am excited to explore more!

Did I spell things wrong? Did something not make sense? I am too lazy to proof read.