"I'm going to catch up" she says...gosh I'm hilarious! That's alright, I promise my delay will come with a good story, eventually. Just remind me to tell you about Garfield...
Week 2 (really still Week 1 but it felt like an eternity had passed with my messed up sleep schedule) marked the entrance of the Sherlock to my Watson (BBC version, of course), Kristina. While I did not expect the person I would get to know best in Australia would be British, she has been everything I could ask for in a travel buddy and more. She's also teaching me how to sound more "propah", but in reality I'm just learning they drop the second half of long city names because they get bored. For example, "Cheltenham" is pronounced "Chelten-m" by the Brits and the Aussies; apparently I'm the only one that sees "ham" in that word. Speaking of ham, I first met Kristina at about 1AM on some night when she arrived after a 36 hour journey and was starving for anything but plane food. So, she got about a half step up to grocery store food, but according to her, she inhaled that premade ham and cheese sandwich. The only other thing she asked for was some milk for her tea, which she obviously brought with her because the kind she likes is hard to find...it's called "Earl Grey". I'm kidding - once I was deemed worthy she did share some with me, and there is something especially delightful about it. Perhaps it's just the novelty of knowing it's actually British tea, but whatever it is, it's delicious.
After we both got some sleep, we had our first of many brunch dates. Cheltenham doesn't have a lot going on, but they sure know their way around brunch! My favorite so far is called Two Bob Snob. This is the main drag on a quiet morning. After work this place can actually get quite busy!
We didn't really know a ton about the city of Melbourne besides the list of tourist sites marked on the map, but we figured it was best to just start somewhere. Lucky for us, the train station we hopped off at, Flinder's Street Station, is right in the heart of the city and backs into the Yarra River, giving us a beautiful view straight out of the gate. We walked back and forth along both sides of the river until we landed at the Arbory, which has become one of our favorite bars as it sits right on the water. We didn't wander too far that first day due to our late start and narcoleptic tendencies, but it was exciting to get a glimpse of the city and enjoy the nice warm weather (uncharacteristically so, but we didn't know that yet) before our official start at A.G. Coombs on Monday!
My first day at AGC mostly made me realize how long it's been since I had to do a first day. It was over 5 years ago that I started at U.S. Engineering as an intern, and I've just stuck to bothering them ever since. They also let me do it in jeans, which means putting dress clothes on still takes me right back to the feeling of being at a Mines Career Fair and I instantly start sweating. Luckily I was more excited than nervous thanks to having Kristina at my side to tackle it together.
First Day of Work!
Kim from HR picked us up to take us to the office that morning, which was the beginning of a long series of introductions, handshakes, guesses on who's accent is from where, and HR videos that only sometimes risked putting us to sleep (jetlag was getting harder to blame at this point, at least for me). Everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming, and they've treated us like royalty ever since. The most intimidating part of that day was not meeting the team nor the literal history book of AGC we were given, but rather the moment when we pulled up to a car dealership to find two nearly identical SUV's out front. One silver, one dark grey, both with red wheel rims and projectors that shine their name on the ground next to the front doors. These are the Chery Omada's (aka The Cherries), brand new and complete with all the bells and whistles, including a theme song when you enter the car. When we first saw them, Kristina and I focused on two different things - I was fixated on the fact that he told me to get in the driver's seat and I had to walk around to the right side; Kristina was more focused on the fact that it took 10 steps to do so. Though she is used to the right side of the road, apparently these cars are massive compared to what she's used to. Now I can't wait for her to come visit Colorado and see what she thinks of our trucks! Though a little nerve-wracking, we did manage to make it back to the office and eventually home in The Cherries that day and all the days since, but I definitely still jump on the opportunity when Kristina offers to drive.
During that first week Kristina and I went to the movies after work one night to catch the new My Big Fat Greek Wedding movie. Since we both always loved that movie, I had just been in Greece, and her dad is Greek, it felt like a no brainer. The movie was...cute, perhaps not as awesome as the first one, but the silliest part of the experience was actually us trying to leave. First, the mall (shopping center, ugh) closes at 9, meaning unless you go to specific doors and spot the tiny green button on the wall to open them, you end up wondering around aimlessly until you spot someone else successfully escape. Once we finally made it to the car and to the garage exit, our ticket to scan out wasn't working. So, Kristina pushed the little "call for help" button and started explaining the situation. Basically, about 20 seconds into the story, the gate just lifts without a word from the other end; we took that to mean Kristina had basically bored them to the point of just letting us leave. The only way I could console her was by pointing out that the only way it could've been worse is by me hopping in there with my not-so-subtle American accent and I think the parking attendant would've been paying us to leave.
That Friday was our first outing with the A.G. Coombs team, and boy oh boy do they know how to have fun! We went to the Australian Football (AFL) Preliminary Final, which is basically the equivalent to the AFC Championship in the NFL. A.G. Coombs was hosting a corporate event there in a box at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is a massive (100K people!) and very well known stadium in the city center. We had gone to a local bar the previous weekend (just me one night, with Kristina another) to try to figure the rules out, so we had the basics, but it was great to watch with people who could explain it to us. Well, at least some could - others were so stressed out about the game that they could hardly speak! There are 18 teams in the AFL, 9 of which are based in Melbourne, so it's definitely the most popular sport in Victoria. Only one of the teams playing was from Melbourne, so 90% of the audience was cheering for Collingwood, who haven't won a final in 13 years. It was also made clear to us that if we were to attend, we were cheering them on, too! At one point the audience was chanting in a way that caught my attention because it sounded like they were saying "U-S-A", but after considering for a second, I figured I must have heard wrong. Well, when it happened again, loud and clear, and everyone in the box turned and looked at me, I figured out one of the Collingwood players is American and thus I now had a favorite Collingwood player, Mason Cox! U-S-A!
This is Kim, the HR Director I told you about
Ultimately the home team ended up winning by 1 point at the very end, which was incredibly cool. The crowd was probably the loudest I'd ever heard, and the entire city was alive with excited fans. That meant Collingwood was going through to the Final, which would take place the following weekend, after a parade in their honor. But, more on that to come!
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