I arrived a week before the fringe festival was over and during that week, I had the chance to work as a person in charge in one of the booths there. I immediately started working in that booth owned by my agent, who fetched me from the airport to my new house right upon dropping off my luggage. I worked 6 to 7 hours every evening on weekdays and 12 hours on the weekends.
Later on after fringe, I was introduced to a local restaurant owner who hired me as a kitchen hand. I was rostered for 3 to 4 days in a week comprising for at least 7 to 10 hours shift with 15 minutes lunch break. I was paid roughly 13 dollars per hour during the first 2 weeks but later had a 1 dollar additional thereafter. I stayed for 4 to 6 weeks and left when I thought my well-being was already at risk.
To cope with daily needs, I and some of my housemates decided to do catalogue work for our weekly food supply. Since I was the only one who stayed at home and not working at that time, I usually did the sorting and when they arrived from school, we would deliver them to our designated area. That was during winter time, the time when I really felt so down. That was also the time when I started sending my resumes to a number of centres and received calls asking for my certificate. This prompted me to think about my situation especially on the financial side as I also had to pay for the next term fee. That means, I would only be left with a thousand dollar after tuition fee payment and yet my accommodation and other living expenses were also at stake. I encouraged myself to just go with the flow, finish the Certificate 3 which was packaged with my Diploma course and try applying after.
While doing the catalogue, we (with some of my housemates) would also do house cleaning to a house a few kilometres to where we lived. The cleaning would be done a fortnight and whoever was available could join in to clean.
My placement took place and my housemates became busy so we had to give up the catalogue work. After barely a month of placement work consisting of 2 and a half days per week, I was
asked if I could work and start immediately. I was hesitant as I did not know if
my school would allow me or if I would not breach any conditions. I asked my
school and fortunately I was allowed.
I worked as relief/casual in the centre while I did my
placement. I did not encounter any difficulties so far as I was really careful
in my new environment especially with the protocols. I learned to
adapt their ways here and still learning as of the moment. With all the
experiences that I had, I can really say and attest that in every workplace,
there are cultures and practices at how they do things. However, in
handling the clients, I can also say that one has to have the passion and the
heart to genuinely be happy and enjoy the work. 