Halloween
Last night we celebrated Halloween with a get-together/cookup. People were surprised that Australians don't really do anything for Halloween. As my Dad is Canadian, I vaguely recall one year when I was a small child, dressing up to trick-or-treat at the house of one of his work colleagues. We knocked on the front door and our targets were perplexed to find two spooky looking kids and my Dad on their front porch jabbering on about candy. They had no idea what Halloween was!
It was a fantastic atmosphere last night. We carved pumpkins and cooked up a huge feast that pleased the punters. I chatted with some interesting people and had a really great time. I feel very at home here already. We had our first house group meeting this morning to sort out issues and establish systems. Our rent is ridiculously cheap and as long as we're not wasteing too much on food/utilities, everything should be fine.
I'm really keen to get working now. I had my training for Unicef yesterday. I was able to suss out the oranisation a bit more and a few of my concerns were alleviated. The organisation I'm working directly for is an umbrella group that fundraises for many different charaties. They began only a few years ago after some Greenpeace canvasers realised that too much money was being wasted through Greenpeace's direct fundraising methods. I was pleased to see that the philosophy of the organisation is strongly against 'hasseling' people for money. It is person-to-person work but not about a hard sell. I have further training this coming thursday and then start work proper on Monday. I'm trying to get some construction work too 'cause I'd like to work solidly all winter.
My goodness it's cold here. Staying warm is a logistical nightmare. I've realised I need to by a proper pair of winter boots. The gloves I bought are next to useless as well. My big coat is fantastic though as are my standard issue long johns. I have months of this ahead of me and it's only going to get colder. Well if my ancestors could do it, year in year out, I'm damn well going to stick it out.
MG
It was a fantastic atmosphere last night. We carved pumpkins and cooked up a huge feast that pleased the punters. I chatted with some interesting people and had a really great time. I feel very at home here already. We had our first house group meeting this morning to sort out issues and establish systems. Our rent is ridiculously cheap and as long as we're not wasteing too much on food/utilities, everything should be fine.
I'm really keen to get working now. I had my training for Unicef yesterday. I was able to suss out the oranisation a bit more and a few of my concerns were alleviated. The organisation I'm working directly for is an umbrella group that fundraises for many different charaties. They began only a few years ago after some Greenpeace canvasers realised that too much money was being wasted through Greenpeace's direct fundraising methods. I was pleased to see that the philosophy of the organisation is strongly against 'hasseling' people for money. It is person-to-person work but not about a hard sell. I have further training this coming thursday and then start work proper on Monday. I'm trying to get some construction work too 'cause I'd like to work solidly all winter.
My goodness it's cold here. Staying warm is a logistical nightmare. I've realised I need to by a proper pair of winter boots. The gloves I bought are next to useless as well. My big coat is fantastic though as are my standard issue long johns. I have months of this ahead of me and it's only going to get colder. Well if my ancestors could do it, year in year out, I'm damn well going to stick it out.
MG
posted by Matt G at 10:49 AM
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