Work update

I´ve been so busy writing about other things I haven´t had the chance to tell what happened with the job I was supposed to get. First they promised to call me the next day after the staff meeting, but since they didn´t I went there the next day. I was told I could start working after coming back from Tasmania, and they promised to call me. But since I heard nothing from them after our trip I went there to ask what was going on. I was told they don´t need me after all, not at least until they start serving dinner next month. But, on Monday when I was walking to the gym (I always walk past Peace Park Cafe on my way to the uni, gym or anywhere in the city centre) the boss, Darren, started talking to me. He asked me to come to do some training on Tuesday morning, which I did. I was there for 2 hours, just helping everyone. I asked a few people how they liked working there, and their responses were along the lines "no comments..." Everything seemed pretty unorganized, and I heard no one who had been at the staff meeting was no longer working there. This girl I talked to told she doesn´t get shifts but they call her whenever they´re busy enough to need her, and she gets paid only $13/hour. So, after being there for 2hours I was told I wasn´t needed anymore. I was given a $20 note and sent home. I decided to keep searching for another job...

Since I had already assumed working at that cafe wouldn´t work out I spent last Thursday at the Broadway Shopping Centre (which is our "home mall" just a 10min walk from Geegal) going from store to store, asking if they needed any more staff. I did the same this Thursday at the Market City which is a mall next to the UTS Haymarket Campus. I go there every now and then between my lectures. They´ve got a floor of brand outlet stores that are my favorites! They´ve also got fresh food market from Friday till Sunday. I usually go there every Friday after my lectures to buy cheap vegetables and fruit. Anyways, I handed out my resumees at several clothes stores there, too. When I was in Giordano I decided to buy this knitwear, and asked for a job when I was paying for it. The guy, Craig, told they´re actually looking for casual staff. Then he called me half and hour later and asked me to come for an interview the next day. I did, and had a proper interview with the boss. We sat at a cafe and he was asking me questions and telling me about the company. He said I could start working in around a week and promised to call me later about my starting day and signing a contract. That was yesterday and I haven´t heard back from him yet... I hope it´s not a common thing here to promise people they´ve got a job and then just neglet them :/

Besides searching a job I´ve been working on uni stuff... I finished my Olympic Games literature review about ambush marketing. The writing process was actually really interesting. Ambush marketing means non-sponsors´ attempts to weaken the position of official sponsors, that have paid enormous sums for their sponsorship rights, by creating a false impression of involvement to promote their own products. My work paid off and I got 85% on the assingment. The average score was only 65% and I think I was the best in our class :) In general, I learned quite a lot about the sports industry during the Olympic Games. It´d be interesting to learn more about sports marketing! I didn´t do well in the mid-term exam, though. I got only 71%, which was a disappointment :/ I also really screwed up a finance group assingment :( The rest of the group consisted of first year students and they pretty much let me do all the work. I made some mistakes that led to a low grade of 53%. Fortunately it´s not worth that much as a part of the total subject grade. So, now I´ve got only one or two weeks of lectures before final exams. I also have to write an assignment for Global Strategic Management and finish my part of our International Marketing major project.

When not doing uni stuff I´ve been working out at the gym and shopping. Carla and I seem to have devoted Thursdays to shopping ;) We´ve gone to Myers a couple of times just to admire the expensive stuff they´re selling there. It´s close to Pitt Street Mall that´s got more affordable stores. I enjoy going to the city centre every now and then, just to remind yourself you´re living in a cosmopolitan city; walking around and checking out different stores, sitting in some nice cafe, being surrounded by (fashionable) people... That´s something I really like about Sydney!

Shopping at the Broadway Shopping Centre