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Saturday - Saturday

23/6 to 30/6

In the evening on Saturday, I met up with John in the city. We went to Colonial Stadium. I knew he was going to football but I did not realise he meant watching a match live. When I saw the pitch, I thought I was seeing a computer-generated image. I sat down at the front and found it hard to believe this was real: I thought it looked like a sharp quality computer screen or TV. Sydney Swans and Richmond Tigers (Melbourne) were playing against each other. Some players were rough on each other. I saw a few goals being scored and I could hear their cheers - the roar meter was displayed on the monitor: it went as high as 75 but later went down to 50. Obviously the audience were losing their voice! I was sitting with Tiger fans behind one of the goal posts; on the other side were fans of the Swans. There was a great atmosphere there. After the match, we went to an Irish pub in Southbank, PJ O’Briens. It’s a very nice pub and I met a few deaf people there. Compared to Sydney deaf people, the Melbournian deaf are very friendly.

On Sunday, it was a mild day. There was no sun but it was dry and warm. I walked up to St Kilda with Cathy and we browsed around the markets before browsing around the shops there. The interior of a small shopping centre is quite colourful; its tables and chairs were painted with people. Hanging from the ceiling was a tramline with a tram and people – no, not the real thing!

The next day was the day to search for work. First thing, I checked email. I was pleased to find that an agency has got a job for me so I went to the city for information. I was to work in the next day in Government Superannuation Office (GSO), in the city. There ends my search for work. I started on Tuesday but was surprised to receive no training, even more surprising when I was asked to use my email, as there was no work. Later on, I was asked whether I would like to work overtime, I said yes, but the supervisor later said that I’m not trained for the work. I was told I would be trained the next day.

I forgot to mention last week that I was close to getting work. I got an email late in the evening telling me to go to work in Telstra but I did not see the email until the next morning. It was too late. This week, I got a fax telling me of a job stuffing envelopes. Luckily I was already working: it was my first day when I got the fax.

During the week, I worked. I did not have much work and am surprised at how laidback the workplace is – there is no supervisor on the 11^th floor, where I worked. We have internet access and if there is no work, we can do what we like! Of course, I’ll be careful! Lets hope there will actually be work for me during next week. There was a mini party there for some of the staff on Friday afternoon: we were to bring in food from our country (not literally). I didn’t bring anything! The selection of food was tasty. Two hours later, there was a party for all staff: it was to celebrate GSO’s 2^nd birthday. I had a look at it but it wasn’t good, so some of us didn’t go. Cathy and I were going to see the movies instead but we later changed our minds, as I wasn’t feeling OK after being in front of a PC the whole day. It was time for a quiet night in. I watched two DVDs but they weren’t great: "Dick" and "Against All Odds". The second one was boring that it literally made me sleepy! Just as well we didn’t have to pay for them as they were in the house already.

I worked overtime the next day until 3 o’clock – I was on the ninth floor most of the day. As yesterday, I had another quiet night in.