a lot has happened, but actually not much

A week has gone by with not too much progress, regarding work ofcourse! On Sunday I went to an event "Reinvent your career" which is aimed for people who wish to make a change in their professional career. I had a talk with a lady from Queensland Government who suggested to take a look at their own job portal and also to contact a recruitment company who is specialized in finding people for QLD Government, both temporary and permanent workers. So far I have no offers from them however as they will only contact me in case they have something available which matches my qualifications. So it's kind of a stupid situation because as it has turned out, I cannot really apply for a job matching my qualifications because the employers seek for people with local experience, moreover with permanent work perspectives. I also had a meeting with one recruitment agency who is dealing with logistics companies. They were honestly not too enthusiastic regarding a serious position. It would be probably easier to get a warehouse casual worker position, but they again do not deal with those positions. So throughout the week I have searched and applied for both - logistics positions as well as simple casual positions. Yet again, even to get an answer takes time! Or am I doing something wrong?!

To get my mind off from job hunting I went out on Friday night with the british couple who lives in the same house here - Scott and Jade. We took a look at West End, the region of bars and restaurants. It was fun to have a nice chat and enjoy a couple of drinks. However the drinks are quite expensive here, compared to Estonia. It does not really make any sense to compare the prices, but for your information - a bottle of beer, usually 0,33/0,35L is about 5-9AUD. A longneck bottle, 0,75L is from 12-15AUD. A rum-cock coctail is about 8AUD, small 200ml glass. But you can also find BYO restaurants - that is Bring Your Own bottle. In that case you just pay a charge of 5AUD. But if you visit a small kebab or pizza place for a quick bite with BYO option, you just enjoy yur drink for free :)

Yesterday we agreed to have a quick trip to Gold Coast. Well, actually Scott and Jade went to check out a car they were interested in buying and as they planned to go to the beach also, they invited me along. Gold Coast is one of the most popular holiday and surfing places in Australia. To read more - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast,_Queensland

It's a place where I would, if possible, like to live for a while. Somehow the beach was far more inviting there as it was in Sunshine Coast, I am not sure why though.

Later on Saturday I had a meeting with the local Estonians, to get to know them and also to find out a bit more about the local life, about the options here, what are they doing here and maybe to get some ideas regarding work. It was a nice evening, we had some drinks, went out to a bar on South Bank. As it turns out, most of them, at least who I met are either doing construction work (men) or hospitality work - bars, restaurants, caffees (women). So basically only a few people are doing what they have learned / done before, which is not construction or hospitality work or they are doing that work because they have done it before.

You might say Australia is a very take-it-easy and no-worries country, but if you get to know the fact of life, it's quite strict here. For example, regarding alcohol consumption. In order to work in a bar or caffee you need to have a RSA (Reasonable Service of Alcohol) licence. This certifies that you are aware of the laws and conditions here. Which are STRICT!! For example - one is not allowed to sell alcohol to a person who is obviously drunk or in your oppinion should not drink anymore. If you still do it and if you get caught doing it, everybody involved gets fined. That is, your employer gets a fine up to 32000AUD, you as a seller up to 18000AUD and the buyer up to 6000AUD! That is A LOT of money! So you better think twice before doing anything stupid ;)

Added some photos - https://picasaweb.google.com/saksmargus

All the best from here! And keep your fingers crossed for me to get a job quickly ;)