Well I have managed to get myself along nicely in this fine town of Salzburg for the last few days and have been having a bit of fun making random crap in the kitchen. The wonders of getting bored and making Brownies or Choc Chip cookies.
Hell, if I had the right type of trays and things to use I'd probably be making muffins and possibly even cakes.
My first couple of days here I had off because they didn't know for sure if i was going to be coming, had the breakfast on the Saturday which was OK except for the fact that the lazy topdeck assholes left the majority of their plates on the tables, all 50 of them, and I was working my myself; a lot of people got free breakfast until I could clear all of the tables off and clean them down. The rest of that day was a bit of a nothing day... it was Valentines and being wonderfully single and not in the mood to go out and play the field it was a boring day - although I did get a message from a fellow single friend of mine, Jen, which lifted my day from a chore to just another day which at the time was an achievement.
Dinner that night was a breeze and the wonders of having to do breakfast the next morning was something that I was so looking forward to. The one thing I did do that night which was a little bit different was to make myself, and the two other people working, a roast chicken. It was meant to be a two hour chicken but the wonders of a fan-forced industrial oven cut that cooking time down to just under an hour and got rave reviews all around.
The next breakfast was another snooze, only had a couple of people come in, 15-20, and only had to break out the fry pan twice for the eggs so it made for another boring morning. The day dragged on and then I crashed out early so I could manage to stay awake through my night shift which I had the joy of doing.
Dragged myself down stairs after a few hours sleep at 11.30pm and headed into the bar where the reception guy was hanging out with the barman and the regulars. Two beers quickly disappeared and then I was on the job, didn't really do much for a couple of hours till the people in the bar finally fucked off and left. Then I setup the breakfast bar, chatted to random people on FaceBook and then decided to use the random baking supplies I had the foresight to buy the day before, no shops are open on Sundays.
At 4 am I made Choc Chip Cookies, and then at 5 am I got bored again and made a tray of brownies.
After dragging the last few hours the shift was over and I headed to bed at a bit after 8am.
The rest of the day was a non item and then the night came around... I had ten euros and some change to spend, had three beers here at the YOHO and then decided to go out and see if I could run into the random American girls at O'Malleys again. They weren't there but I got a beer anyway and got talking to a guy called Toohey (like the beer) and a girl called Amber at the front bar. One beer turned into two and then I headed with them to a live music joint where Toohey was playing, great little place and the first that I have managed to find that has beer that is cheaper than here at the hostel. Got a couple of beers, chatted randomly with a couple of cute local girls and then decided that my lack of money was a sign that I had better get back seeing as I had the breakfast shift that coming morning too.
Breakfast was another non item, then I got pro active and did a total stocktake of the kitchen from scratch, which apparently hadn't been done in months. That wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be considering what I was used to doing back at the football club. Then it was another slow night in the kitchen but no breakfast which is something I was grateful for... back to the repetitive monotony of work.
On this fine day I have finally been told the kind of hours I would be working and how much money I should be expecting per month.
-6 nights a week
-5 mornings a week
-1 day a week off with the following morning off as well.
around 40 hours a week and around 500 euro's a month, and that includes accommodation and some food as well so its effectively around 1000-1200 euro a month if you add those costs in too.
Things are starting to become a bit more solid which after so much variability is a bonus.
That and its only a bit under two weeks till I get to catch up with my old mate Sam in Paris...
Today's feature is an old favorite.
"Johnny I hardly knew ya" - Dropkick Murphys
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
The light at the end of the tunnel...
So after the mounds of shit that had quietly presented themselves to me things have taken a move towards the positive.
An emergency credit card care of FedEx turned up half way through Thursday and then I got packing. The card with with emergency increase in limit so I can actually move myself between cities is what i needed. I paid my accommodation and got on the first train that I could get myself onto to Salzburg, EC115.
Hadn't been on an EC train yet but it was nothing to complain about, good fast train with comfortable seats, I was in Salzburg just under 2 hours later and couldn't wait to get myself back to the wonders that are the YOHO. Good to be somewhere where I know the accommodation is covered and the food is free... and I get to use the kitchen.
Upon coming through these doors here at the YOHO I was greeted with a cheer from the people at the front desk... apparently they had been trying to get in touch for a few days to confirm when I was going to be turning up... surely enough I was here and to the sound of it, it's a good thing.
Chrissy from the kitchen has her last shift tonight, Anita is leaving the kitchen soon too, Sabina the cleaner/kitchen person left without notice a few days ago and one of the people from the office got fired the other day - I picked a fucking great time to come back; from tomorrow I have:
-three kitchen shifts
-two morning reception shifts
-one night porter shift
And that has the opportunity to grow to even more so it should be fun.
So from where I was just a few days ago, I am loving where I am now.
Lets just hope that it stays this good... and that I keep remembering to update this thing often enough.
An emergency credit card care of FedEx turned up half way through Thursday and then I got packing. The card with with emergency increase in limit so I can actually move myself between cities is what i needed. I paid my accommodation and got on the first train that I could get myself onto to Salzburg, EC115.
Hadn't been on an EC train yet but it was nothing to complain about, good fast train with comfortable seats, I was in Salzburg just under 2 hours later and couldn't wait to get myself back to the wonders that are the YOHO. Good to be somewhere where I know the accommodation is covered and the food is free... and I get to use the kitchen.
Upon coming through these doors here at the YOHO I was greeted with a cheer from the people at the front desk... apparently they had been trying to get in touch for a few days to confirm when I was going to be turning up... surely enough I was here and to the sound of it, it's a good thing.
Chrissy from the kitchen has her last shift tonight, Anita is leaving the kitchen soon too, Sabina the cleaner/kitchen person left without notice a few days ago and one of the people from the office got fired the other day - I picked a fucking great time to come back; from tomorrow I have:
-three kitchen shifts
-two morning reception shifts
-one night porter shift
And that has the opportunity to grow to even more so it should be fun.
So from where I was just a few days ago, I am loving where I am now.
Lets just hope that it stays this good... and that I keep remembering to update this thing often enough.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
And then things go pear shaped...
Things have gone from great to fucking abysmally bad.
Somewhere in the mix my credit card and possibly my cash card as well have been cloned.... got an email from my bank on Monday which prompted me to check my balance online only to find that my credit card has been over drawn by $250, which is a difference of around $800 from the last place I left it at. I made a call back home to number my bank had provided and was told that I should cancel my card, which I have, but then I went to go and use my cash card – the main one I have been using all the time over here but it only works in ATM’s – the cash card is saying that I have exceeded my limit which is its way of saying I have no money left.
FUCK is the only thing I could think of saying at the time
After too many phone calls I have an emergency replacement for my credit card coming along tomorrow which is good for the simple fact that this way I can pay for my current accommodation and the train ride back to Salzburg where hopefully I can earn enough money to cover at the very least my visit to Paris in march, the one set plan I have made is to meet up with Sam in Paris on the 4th and that is the only thing that is keeping me from cutting my losses and regearing my flight back to OZ a lot sooner .
The one thing that I’m not certain about yet is whether or not my cash card got cloned or not... I can’t get through to the service number that they provide and their internet service has been a stonewall for the last three days so I can’t even register for it let alone login. I get the feeling that if I’ve lost all of this on one card then chances are that both have been ripped off which is fucking annoying.
I’ve finally managed to talk to Dad though which is a massive relief, he’s going to sort out some money for me which is more than I could ask... I know for a fact that there isn’t anyone else in the family I could ask on this short notice.
I have been a hermit at the hostel for the last two days and then this one too, but with the phone call and the other stuff starting to look in the right direction it can only get better.... pity I have no money to even buy myself a beer... or some post cards to write.
But if nothing else I have free internet and a ton of movies I grabbed off someone a while back... time to waste another day, tomorrow will have to be a day of something at least...
And the random music selection today is something I saw on a German music channel, I know some people from back home aren’t into this scene, but some most certainly are....
"Ring Frei" by LaFee
Somewhere in the mix my credit card and possibly my cash card as well have been cloned.... got an email from my bank on Monday which prompted me to check my balance online only to find that my credit card has been over drawn by $250, which is a difference of around $800 from the last place I left it at. I made a call back home to number my bank had provided and was told that I should cancel my card, which I have, but then I went to go and use my cash card – the main one I have been using all the time over here but it only works in ATM’s – the cash card is saying that I have exceeded my limit which is its way of saying I have no money left.
FUCK is the only thing I could think of saying at the time
After too many phone calls I have an emergency replacement for my credit card coming along tomorrow which is good for the simple fact that this way I can pay for my current accommodation and the train ride back to Salzburg where hopefully I can earn enough money to cover at the very least my visit to Paris in march, the one set plan I have made is to meet up with Sam in Paris on the 4th and that is the only thing that is keeping me from cutting my losses and regearing my flight back to OZ a lot sooner .
The one thing that I’m not certain about yet is whether or not my cash card got cloned or not... I can’t get through to the service number that they provide and their internet service has been a stonewall for the last three days so I can’t even register for it let alone login. I get the feeling that if I’ve lost all of this on one card then chances are that both have been ripped off which is fucking annoying.
I’ve finally managed to talk to Dad though which is a massive relief, he’s going to sort out some money for me which is more than I could ask... I know for a fact that there isn’t anyone else in the family I could ask on this short notice.
I have been a hermit at the hostel for the last two days and then this one too, but with the phone call and the other stuff starting to look in the right direction it can only get better.... pity I have no money to even buy myself a beer... or some post cards to write.
But if nothing else I have free internet and a ton of movies I grabbed off someone a while back... time to waste another day, tomorrow will have to be a day of something at least...
And the random music selection today is something I saw on a German music channel, I know some people from back home aren’t into this scene, but some most certainly are....
"Ring Frei" by LaFee
Monday, February 9, 2009
Where have I been of late?
Ok, once again it has been far too long and just a little bit has happened.
I was in Salzburg for quite a stint, and funnily enough on the day I decided to leave I was offered a semi permanent position in their kitchen five days a week, I was a bit floored by that but left the offer hanging for a bit to see if I could manage to scrounge up something a bit different or different in one of the other destinations in one of the towns I was aiming for.
With that in mind I moved on to a ski town called “Bad Gastein” where there was another hostel with a possible position that I could have. I got there and the manager, as so many are, had a degree in being vague when it came to whether or not the position actually existed. The position in question being running the hotel/hostel’s second bar which they had yet to open this season, if I was going to take the position I would be essentially the only person running the bar along with marketing it; which while daunting was something I was looking forward to taking on as a challenge. But after being left in the lurch for two days doing a whole lot of nothing I decided to enjoy the fact I was in a ski resort and started snowboarding with a lesson and it went well and even with the copious amounts of pain involved I made what was good progress.
Day 1. Lesson
Day 2. Practice/bunny slopes
Day 3. Blue runs
Day 4. Blue and Red runs
Day 5. Red runs and a bit of off piste
And it kept going on from there for a few days before I finally pulled the plug on that spot and made a move to my next ski town and possible job in “Kirchberg.”
Getting myself to Kirchberg was easy enough and I got chatting with a guy from London on the train who was heading in the same direction as I was. When I got to the hostel, which had lost my booking, I ran into him again and it turned out he was staying there too. The guy was great and the next thing I know he’s letting me use his spare snowboard and bindings for the time I'm there which is great for me, good reduction in the rental cost for me. I snowboarded for the next few days before my Lift pass finally expired and I didn’t feel like shelling out for another one, €140 for 4 days, so I moved on to Munich.
After missing a train by 1 minute I and waiting for an hour for the next one, and then another hour for a connection to Munich I finally managed to get to the home of beer in Bavaria. Got here and got reasonably drunk with the manager here that night, then the next night I went on a beer tour and then went drinking (plus other things) with a few people I met in Bad Gastein who work in the hostel next door – I got messy, messy drunk; probably the worst I’ve been in Europe.
But who said that something like that could stop me... the next night I went out again... and controlled myself a little bit more than the previous night. I started slowly on the Saturday night and then moved venues at least four or five times and then it gets hazy, but I am sure that I got in around midnight on the Sunday night... and then slept well... it was a good party session. Not something I could do every weekend but definitely something I could do again.
An awesome time and it makes me glad that the offer in the kitchen at the YOHO was still there and it’s only 2 hours away by train if I want to drop in and have fun with the guys.
and the feature of the week...
"E-Talking" by Soulwax
I was in Salzburg for quite a stint, and funnily enough on the day I decided to leave I was offered a semi permanent position in their kitchen five days a week, I was a bit floored by that but left the offer hanging for a bit to see if I could manage to scrounge up something a bit different or different in one of the other destinations in one of the towns I was aiming for.
With that in mind I moved on to a ski town called “Bad Gastein” where there was another hostel with a possible position that I could have. I got there and the manager, as so many are, had a degree in being vague when it came to whether or not the position actually existed. The position in question being running the hotel/hostel’s second bar which they had yet to open this season, if I was going to take the position I would be essentially the only person running the bar along with marketing it; which while daunting was something I was looking forward to taking on as a challenge. But after being left in the lurch for two days doing a whole lot of nothing I decided to enjoy the fact I was in a ski resort and started snowboarding with a lesson and it went well and even with the copious amounts of pain involved I made what was good progress.
Day 1. Lesson
Day 2. Practice/bunny slopes
Day 3. Blue runs
Day 4. Blue and Red runs
Day 5. Red runs and a bit of off piste
And it kept going on from there for a few days before I finally pulled the plug on that spot and made a move to my next ski town and possible job in “Kirchberg.”
Getting myself to Kirchberg was easy enough and I got chatting with a guy from London on the train who was heading in the same direction as I was. When I got to the hostel, which had lost my booking, I ran into him again and it turned out he was staying there too. The guy was great and the next thing I know he’s letting me use his spare snowboard and bindings for the time I'm there which is great for me, good reduction in the rental cost for me. I snowboarded for the next few days before my Lift pass finally expired and I didn’t feel like shelling out for another one, €140 for 4 days, so I moved on to Munich.
After missing a train by 1 minute I and waiting for an hour for the next one, and then another hour for a connection to Munich I finally managed to get to the home of beer in Bavaria. Got here and got reasonably drunk with the manager here that night, then the next night I went on a beer tour and then went drinking (plus other things) with a few people I met in Bad Gastein who work in the hostel next door – I got messy, messy drunk; probably the worst I’ve been in Europe.
But who said that something like that could stop me... the next night I went out again... and controlled myself a little bit more than the previous night. I started slowly on the Saturday night and then moved venues at least four or five times and then it gets hazy, but I am sure that I got in around midnight on the Sunday night... and then slept well... it was a good party session. Not something I could do every weekend but definitely something I could do again.
An awesome time and it makes me glad that the offer in the kitchen at the YOHO was still there and it’s only 2 hours away by train if I want to drop in and have fun with the guys.
and the feature of the week...
"E-Talking" by Soulwax
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Whoops...
Just realized that I haven’t said much on this one for a while... I’m still alive and I’m still going as best I can at the moment. Once I find a quiet corner I’ll make another video to put up here...but alas that time is not now... stay tuned.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
... so a few words from me.
So I've finally managed to pull out that nice web cam of mine...
There's my little chat for now, you might have to turn it up after 20 seconds... I didn't get around to fixing the audio levels.
The random vid of the week is:
Eisblume - "Eisblumen"
There's my little chat for now, you might have to turn it up after 20 seconds... I didn't get around to fixing the audio levels.
The random vid of the week is:
Eisblume - "Eisblumen"
Sunday, December 14, 2008
My new friend - Buses
It has been quite some time since I’ve managed to get around to thinking about doing all this stuff to do with the blog. After being either stone walled or being told that advertised jobs didn’t exist I got pissed off and left the joyous town of Sankt Anton and travelled to Bern in Switzerland with no real idea of what to expect considering I hadn’t even heard of the city until then – it’s the capital of Switzerland by the way. It was a nice town...very old and had a cool museum and stuff. I enjoyed my quick stay and moved on after a couple of days with the intention of going to Lyon in France.
I got myself to Lyon and it was a bit of a drab day.... and I was far from in the mood for actually caring about it, I got myself a train ticket to Paris straight away and got there around 7pm at night.... after spending an hour finding an internet cafe I managed o get online and find a hostel that I had recommended to me. It wasn’t that good and was probably the worst “included” breakfast I’ve had so far. The day after getting myself to Paris I was still in a shit of a mood and I didn’t like the vibe so made my way along to the bus station (my new friend). When I got there I had a choice of going to Rotterdam, Brussels or Amsterdam. What do you think I chose?
Amsterdam was the way to go.
The bus there was pretty par for the course, until we almost left some one behind in Brussels, I thought it was hilarious at the time but in retrospect it wasn’t but it all sorted itself out in the end. On the trip there I got chatting with a group of American art students who where based in Paris and were tripping it up for a couple of days. Managed to work it so that I could stay with them as they had a hostel organised with an extra bed in the room and that way the overall cost was less. Ended up spending the next two days hanging around with them and they are by far the best people I have met in my travels and it made the days that much better. To be honest it was the most fun I’ve had since I got over here.
After spending a couple more days in Amsterdam I figured it was time to move on again, I was going to hop on another bus and go somewhere....but they weren’t being cooperative so I ended up having to catch a train. Was going to go to Dusseldorf but that changed when I saw that Köln (Cologne in English) on the list of destinations after that one so I paid the extra few Euro’s and went there.
The main reason for me wanting to go to Köln was to go to the Cathedral, the Dom. It was opposite the main train station so I got to see it in all of its glory pretty much straight away...and it was fucking awesome. Got to the hostel and did my usual part. The next day I went into the cathedral and had fun with my camera, and then I paid to climb the tower..... Fucking hell is that thing massive. After that I wandered around for a while.... there are Christmas markets every city I’ve been to and all of them are cool....great food too which is always a bonus.
After much walking I made my way to the bus station again and got myself ticket to the destination that looked different, so I got on a bus to Krakow, Poland.
At this point I should mention that it cost me less to go from Köln to Krakow by bus than it did to go from Amsterdam to Köln by train – buses are my new friend.
After spending 17 hours on a bus I got to Krakow.... got to my hostel about half hour after that (10.30 am) and got myself a bed ASAP. This is the bit where this hostel is one of the best so far. Normally at a hostel they have a lock out from around 11 am through till about 2 so they can clean up and stuff....this place didn’t. I got in, got my bed and then after making it....crashed for four hours.
Did a free tour around town yesterday which was good, got to see a ton of stuff I wouldn’t have even known was there. Last night was fun....it was shots tasting night.... between four people we polished off a big bottle of vodka and I had already had three beers so I crashed out before I got too messy. Today I got up feeling very fuzzy around the edges but I still managed to get myself on a bus and out to Auschwitz....it was hard to describe, moving is one word but it doesn’t quite give it justice.
Tomorrow I was going to go to a seven hundred year old salt mine.... but Daniel happens to be in town so we’re going to some random markets in the morning which should be cool.
The fun topic of searching for work which I have been avoiding is no fun at all. In Sankt Anton I’ve applied for about a dozen jobs and gotten a few negative replies and a more no responses, which gives me the impression that the entire fucking town doesn’t check their fucking emails which I'm not liking very much. I’m going to go back to Innsbruck soon and try searching a bit more. If I have no luck there I’m probably going to move on to a German city and search there.... and if all of that fails I’m thinking that I might go and lean on my relatives in England and try and get myself a job over there....I’m just not sure....with the way my money is burning through I’m probably going to run out soon... failing at this endeavour is not what I want to do.
In a wrap....since last time I chatted to you I have been to Bern- Switzerland, Lyon and Paris- France, Amsterdam- Netherlands, Cologne- Germany and now Krakow- Poland.
Who knows where I might end up next...it's awesome.
I'm trying to stay positive in all of this.
-CJ
I got myself to Lyon and it was a bit of a drab day.... and I was far from in the mood for actually caring about it, I got myself a train ticket to Paris straight away and got there around 7pm at night.... after spending an hour finding an internet cafe I managed o get online and find a hostel that I had recommended to me. It wasn’t that good and was probably the worst “included” breakfast I’ve had so far. The day after getting myself to Paris I was still in a shit of a mood and I didn’t like the vibe so made my way along to the bus station (my new friend). When I got there I had a choice of going to Rotterdam, Brussels or Amsterdam. What do you think I chose?
Amsterdam was the way to go.
The bus there was pretty par for the course, until we almost left some one behind in Brussels, I thought it was hilarious at the time but in retrospect it wasn’t but it all sorted itself out in the end. On the trip there I got chatting with a group of American art students who where based in Paris and were tripping it up for a couple of days. Managed to work it so that I could stay with them as they had a hostel organised with an extra bed in the room and that way the overall cost was less. Ended up spending the next two days hanging around with them and they are by far the best people I have met in my travels and it made the days that much better. To be honest it was the most fun I’ve had since I got over here.
After spending a couple more days in Amsterdam I figured it was time to move on again, I was going to hop on another bus and go somewhere....but they weren’t being cooperative so I ended up having to catch a train. Was going to go to Dusseldorf but that changed when I saw that Köln (Cologne in English) on the list of destinations after that one so I paid the extra few Euro’s and went there.
The main reason for me wanting to go to Köln was to go to the Cathedral, the Dom. It was opposite the main train station so I got to see it in all of its glory pretty much straight away...and it was fucking awesome. Got to the hostel and did my usual part. The next day I went into the cathedral and had fun with my camera, and then I paid to climb the tower..... Fucking hell is that thing massive. After that I wandered around for a while.... there are Christmas markets every city I’ve been to and all of them are cool....great food too which is always a bonus.
After much walking I made my way to the bus station again and got myself ticket to the destination that looked different, so I got on a bus to Krakow, Poland.
At this point I should mention that it cost me less to go from Köln to Krakow by bus than it did to go from Amsterdam to Köln by train – buses are my new friend.
After spending 17 hours on a bus I got to Krakow.... got to my hostel about half hour after that (10.30 am) and got myself a bed ASAP. This is the bit where this hostel is one of the best so far. Normally at a hostel they have a lock out from around 11 am through till about 2 so they can clean up and stuff....this place didn’t. I got in, got my bed and then after making it....crashed for four hours.
Did a free tour around town yesterday which was good, got to see a ton of stuff I wouldn’t have even known was there. Last night was fun....it was shots tasting night.... between four people we polished off a big bottle of vodka and I had already had three beers so I crashed out before I got too messy. Today I got up feeling very fuzzy around the edges but I still managed to get myself on a bus and out to Auschwitz....it was hard to describe, moving is one word but it doesn’t quite give it justice.
Tomorrow I was going to go to a seven hundred year old salt mine.... but Daniel happens to be in town so we’re going to some random markets in the morning which should be cool.
The fun topic of searching for work which I have been avoiding is no fun at all. In Sankt Anton I’ve applied for about a dozen jobs and gotten a few negative replies and a more no responses, which gives me the impression that the entire fucking town doesn’t check their fucking emails which I'm not liking very much. I’m going to go back to Innsbruck soon and try searching a bit more. If I have no luck there I’m probably going to move on to a German city and search there.... and if all of that fails I’m thinking that I might go and lean on my relatives in England and try and get myself a job over there....I’m just not sure....with the way my money is burning through I’m probably going to run out soon... failing at this endeavour is not what I want to do.
In a wrap....since last time I chatted to you I have been to Bern- Switzerland, Lyon and Paris- France, Amsterdam- Netherlands, Cologne- Germany and now Krakow- Poland.
Who knows where I might end up next...it's awesome.
I'm trying to stay positive in all of this.
-CJ
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