The Wave

Now, I know 20 years old isn't OLD old. But there are some things that have changed in my 20 years, and I've noticed them. Places that I remember being covered in trees or being bit open paddocks with crops or animals on them are now housing estates, for example. It's really creepy that there's been such change in such a (relatively) short time.


Something that I remember happening when I was little was The Wave. In my lifetime, the Wave has nearly disappeared, much like the farmland.


There's a particular road near my house, about 1 and a half cars wide with a deep drainage ditch on one side. In the Hills, people are usually courteous and friendly, they leave gaps to let you in if you're trying to pull out into traffic, and on this particular road, the person driving UP the road (the non-ditch side) would usually pull as far off the road to let the other person past. It was just the done thing. And when I was little, when my Mum or Dad (and later my sisters) were driving along this road, they'd always wave in thanks if someone had pulled over, or wave in a 'you're welcome' way if they pulled over for someone. It was just a little thing that was always done (and not just on this road, it was always done whenever another driver did you a nicety)


However, of late - as in, my 4 years of driving - this common courtesy seems to have fallen to the wayside...something I hoped I'd never see happen in the Hills. Now on this road, other drivers come hooning along and don't even slow down when they see another car, they just expect you to pull over for them...which is really damn hard when you have a big ditch next to you. So you try and pull off as far as you can without having to call your brother-in-law to pull you out with his 4WD.
And when you don't pull over and they have to stop for you, a filthy glare is thrown your way. And when you give The Wave, you should lock the doors first, just in case that tips them over the edge. After all, you've delayed their rude and dangerous driving my a whole 5 seconds. Oo er. 


Case in point: This happened to Dad a few months ago-he had the ditch on his side and the other person pushed through, knocking the wing mirror off Dad's car on his way past, then sped of, not even stopping to exchange details. Tool.


If I pull over for someone and they don't say thank-you, I resist the temptation to follow them down the road wailing "you didn't say thank-youuuuuuuuu!" a la Sharon from Kath & Kim. Instead I content myself with arrogance-wind down the window and give a sarcastic wave they can't miss (the winter tactic) or stick your head out and yell "YEAH THAT'S OK! NO PROBLEM!" sarcastically (the summer tactic as they usually have their window down too). 


The Wave is a protected species. The people who give and return The Wave are few and far between. It should have it's own campaign, like the Orangutans and habitat distruction. 'SAVE THE WAVE!!' could be the campaign slogan.


The other day, I pulled over for someone.They waved thanks. Stunned, I reflexively waved back. 


It made my week.

Welcome to the (newly renamed) Fail Files.

So...it's been a while.
The  original intention of this blog was to keep in touch with my friends and family at home whilst I lived out my dream gap year (nannying in London).
Fail File entry #1: I did my knee for the third (and hopefully final time, touch wood, fingers crossed) to the point where I wasn't sure if I was getting surgery, and had to cancel my trip. Highly annoying, very disappointing-not helped by the fact that I was in a full leg splint for a few more months for the third time in a year.
Hence, I'm still at home. After much changing of plans, many, MANY job applications and a screwed sleep cycle, I've now got my crap together for the 100th time, and carried my plans through this time. Instead of living it up in London, I've committed myself to uni for at least the next 3 years, studying Psychology with the hope of going into Neuroscience. I've also got a new job (having quit Safeway to go overseas) at Curves and work with a gym full of wonderful women.


So my "Gap Year Wanderings of a Fresh Faced Adventurer" are no more-at the rate I'm going, I don't think I'll be doing any wanderings anytime soon-and I've renamed my blog The Fail Files. Hopefully not everything I write about is a fail, but knowing me there'll be some corkers for you to read about.


Thanks to Megan (look for "Writing Loud" to read her work) for reminding me how much fun writing is. 


Write to you soon! xo

Why My Life Rocks.

So, this saga has finally come untangled. After many changes of destinations, and financial status, I got my near-dream offer : a family in Notting Hill, London have offered me a job looking after their young son...and they're paying for my airfare and sponsoring my visa. WIN! I've signed the contract (!!!! yeah, their family lawyer drew up one) and have asked to leave Melbourne in the week of the 13th-19th of June. OH...and apparently I'll be enrolled in a public school to do a course in whatever language I want. Hellooooooo fluency in French :D Since the only thing that could have made this awesome job any better is if the lived in Paris, I'm pretty content with doing a lang course across the Channel...


I'M GOING TO LONDON!!!!!!! WOOOO FREAKING HOOOOOO!

Sucess!!!! Miri Broz in in the houuuuuse...

Well, after a few false starts, I now have a job. Not in the Army, not in a resort in the Whitsundays...in The Cayman Islands. "SAY WHAT!?" I hear you cry (and also possibly: "where the eff is that?". Yes, I shit you not, I'll be spending my gap year (possibly longer, if I can wriggle it) in Tenerife, Puerto de la Cruz, which is one of the top resort islands in The Caymans. And, as well as being and island off the top of Africa, it's also Spanish. So I'll get to learn Spanish and (here's the best bit) pick up cute Spanish boys to be my island guides.

The family I'm staying with is originally from Madrid. I'll be looking after 2 kids-Oldubai, a 7 year old cutie who loves singing, dancing and being a drama queen-she sounds like me when I was little. She attends the British International School (there's a lot of Brits living in Tenerife) so I have to speak English to her. I'll teach her to speak with a REAL accent :) Maceos is 2, and apparently he's a real macho man who loves sports, running around and being tough, but also loves cuddles. I'll be speaking English with the family, but they'll also teach me Spanish and speak to me in Spanish so I get the hang of it :) Laticia & Israel sound fabulous, they're really nice & are encouraging me to study at one of the two universities on the island while I'm there. They're also insisting that I'm one of the family now. Sa-weeeeeeet!I'll be speaking English with the family, but they'll also teach me Spanish and speak to me in Spanish so I get the hang of it-hopefully I'll be pretty close to fluent soon :)

BUT (big but) this wasn't an easy post to get. I signed up for about 4 au pair online sites, had many, many rejections (more than I care to count). I got rather excited a few weeks ago when a lady in Connecticut messaged me saying that they'd be interested in me coming over & looking after their 4 kids. Since CT is nearish to New York (second to Paris on my cities-to-visit list) and i have very dear friends in Minnesota, I was like "Can I get a hellllllllYEAH?!" and asked her for more details of the job...and she never wrote back. Then, almost simultaneously to my Tenerife job being offered to me, a lady in Staten Island, NY, randomly emailed me. I freaked coz I thought she was actually a Nigerian white slave trader hunting me down (eeep!) but she's legit. But given the choice between New York, where I can go anytime, and the Canaries where I'd never even though of but look FABULOUS, imma haveta take Spanish Island paradise.

Seriously, google it. It's amazeballs.

End result:
My gap 'year' will consist of: sun, beach, 2 cutie pie kids, a lovely family, an island home (that isn't Oz), learning another language and what I hope will be a fair few delicious Spanish boyos. Experience of a life time, all mine...AND I CAN"T WAIT!

Trials, tribulations & general inconvenience...

Q:  How hard can it be to get a gap year job as a food  beverage pleb at a resort in the fabulous Whitsundays?

A: Very.

So far I've applied for Heron, Lady Elliot, Hayman, Hamilton, Lindeman, Brampton & Lizard Islands-the last two after spending hours hunting down contact emails to send off my details. As well as applications, I've had one definite rejection from Hayman & one 'we-want-to-know-more-about-you-so-here's-the-form' from Club Med Lindeman.  And have hear nothing from all the rest.

This wasn't my original plan. Last year, when I got home from the MCC Central Australia Trip, I'd fallen in love with the desert. We spent 3 days at the resort overlooking Uluru and it was magical. So Mum came up with the idea that I apply for a job at the resort, and so it all started. Uluru were crap, they totally screwed me around, and I googled Club Med. And my ideas totally changed and l got my heart set on spending my year on the beach. Beach + money (even if i have to work for it) + people = my idea of heaven :)

However, my resort plans got slightly derailed when I applied for defence force gap year-I was to be an Artillery Air Defender, based at the 16th Air Defence Regiment in Woodside, Adelaide. I had a really good chance, I kept getting through all the interviews-in the main interview a big scary navy bloke recommended me. It was awesome. Anyway, my only problem was that a few years ago, my body crapped itself and fell apart slightly, especially my shoulder. (back story: when l was 13, l dislocated my shoulder in a water fight. Since then, it's been fully dislocated 4 times to the point that the joint is so loose that it just slides out and doesn't hurt. When it sits out of the joint it's called 'subluxing', and this happens alot. Anyway, back to my point...) Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) wanted a report from and orthopaedic surgeon to say that l'd be ok carrying weight etc, so off l trotted to my surgeon, who said "sure, l'll write your report" &after l had scans, did just that. However, he neglected to mention that the stupid report would cost me $440. So l ditched that idea. And so started the resort apps...

So it's not the applications l mind doing (l have a secret form-filling-out fetish. It's fuuuuuun!). It's the dumb, stupid freaking questions!!!! I've got my basic details down pat (after 18 & 1/2 years, one tend to learn essentials like name, birthday, schools etc..), but they all ask dumb arse things like "describe your personality", "describe yourself in five words" & "what would you consider your best achievement?". Not that l mind answering these coz l LOVE talking, and my fave subject is myself. But l do mind writing the same answer over and over, it gets kinda boring. And there are only so many ways one can describe oneself. But trying to put my cornucopia of awesomeness into words wasn't the hardest thing. Oh no....

...they asked for a picture.

No, it's not like l don't have any pics of myself. Noooooo...they asked for a pic that describes my personality.  So, what a dilemma: do l send in a pic of me smiling nicely, looking pretty. Bit upon exploration of my extensive photo collection, we found better options that shower my personality better. Should l go the orange peel smile? cross-eyed loon? two-rolls-of-tape-as-glasses? lil Miss piggy? My sister suggested l  just put them all on a page & send them all in, but l thought that might send the wrong message. ln the end l fiiiiinally settled on a pic taken in Switzerland of me laughing when we were out at dinner the day before my 18th.

So that's where l'm at gap-year wise. Fingers crossed ONE of the resorts will let me chill on their beach and maybe do some work.