Monday, April 4, 2011

Being the foreigner

I just finished week one at my new job here in Australia ( I work here ) and other than having no time to workout the week was pretty cool. I met new people and best of all am now back to having income!

In the past I have been pretty quick to adapt to new environments, but I can already tell this is going to take a little more time. I am the only American among many Aussies; they all speak fast and use LOTS of slang. I now know what an ocker and a blower are and also learned that cursing in the workplace is totally acceptable.

I have to be honest, though: it's pretty great being the foreigner! I can get away with so much. I just say "Oh, but I am from America" or "Thats not what we do in America." Plus, they love my accent! One co-worker asked me to setup her work voicemail and another co-worker asked me to call one of our difficult-to-handle accounts because they thought my accent sounds nice and I would have a better chance at winning her over.

I moved here from Manhattan thinking no one could possibly work longer hours than New Yorkers. Man, was I wrong! I start work at 830am here and leave the same time as I did in New York. Plus, public transportation sucks here so after taking 2 buses to get home I have pretty much killed an hour.
Goodbye Lady of Leisure, hello working woman!

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