Ok winter is here. my hands are freezing and i feel like my nose is made of concrete and is about to fall off. Paris is cold. It doesn't help that i packed for summer and i've had no money to buy clothes. the scarf I'm wearing around is the socceroos one Steve gave me as a present during the world cup. it looks like i am constantly on my way to a football game or something. (Incidently, yesterday I wore it to the Moose for warmth and was lucky enough to find that the final of the international rules game in dublin was being televised. Australia won by the way.) So now that I have been paid I'm going to go find a cheap market or shop where i can get a nice black or navy scarf so that i can be sufficiently parisienized so as not to get spit on in the street. I think i might need gloves as well, and a thick jacket and a beanie. I don't know how i'm going to carry this stuff with me to america when i go. Weight is gonna be a huge problem.
So work has been going really well and i'm starting to get into a groove. Last sunday (not yesterday) I worked for 12 hours from 8am to 8pm, which tested me. The problem was that i then went out after work because sunday is always fun. Monday I did the same 12 hour shift then had to rush off to my weekly quiz, which was an average quiz, but my friend Abi, from Garmisch in Germany, one of the original members of the quiz team, was in town so it was nice to catch up with her. It was a halloween themed night and one of the bonus questions was 'how many darth vader costumes were sold in US for Halloween in 2005?', I guessed 867,012, and the answer was 1.2 million. Somehow I was the closest and as a result we won a free round of beers. It was great. Following quiz at the Auld Alliance pub, we headed to the Beaver pub where they have open mike night on Mondays. It was a lot of fun because loads of friends are there and everyone is excited from a fun quiz. I left at about 1am cos I knew I had to work the next morning. Yes, at 8am again for another 12 hour shift.
Tuesday was Halloween and with no time for anything but work I had absolutely nothing planned for a costume for the evening. My brain was constantly thinking about what I could do with no money or time. Oskar had arrived back in paris the day before and so we were going to spend halloween together. A while ago now he missed his train to Austria and changed his mind to going to Torino instead and find a job during the ski season there. Except once there he found the city to be boring and rude and was disappointed to discover that the season didnt start until late december. H e was desperate for money so he returned to Paris and is now in Tours in the french contryside. I haven't heard from him but i assume he's alright. Anyway, so halloween day at wokk went pretty quickly, and the boss decorated the place for a halloween party there later in the evening. At the end of my shift I rushed home and quickly created some shoulder armour out of cardboard and sticky tape. It wasn't as crappy as it sounds but at the end of it all it looked more like NFL should padding then armour, so I borrowed one of Oskar's football jerseys and changed the costume into an NFL player. I had no make-up so (although its a bit disgusting, it probably isnt that bad) I used ash with water and spred a black like under each of my eyes so i better look the part. Oskar and I then headed off to the Moose because they were having a party and got a heap of drinks there. I then rushed off back to the hostel so that I could make their party. I was buggered by the end and got home with enough time for 2 hours sleep before I needed to get up and off to work because yet again I was working from 8am doing another 12 hour shift.
Somehow I got through my forth 12 hour day in a row on wednesday and thankfully had thursday off to recover. Friday I got paid for my long hard months worth of work so that was great and lifted a huge burden of worry from my shoulders and allowed me to buy some food. I took the weekend pretty easy although partied a little too hard on friday and saturday night. Yesterday I was spoke to take it easy again, but after meeting some friends and getting some free drinks I was wrecked by 5:30 in the arvo. However I had a relatively early night and work this morning was a piece of cake so I am feeling good. Tonight its quiz again so I am greatly looking forward to it.
Opposite my apartment is an old hospital which isn't used anymore. They have started some demolition and here are two photos.
My plans for the rest of my trip are coming together so I am pretty pumped. I'm travelling to Spain and Sweden before I leave Europe, and next year I'll spend a month travelling in the US before Hawaii and back home. Its pretty exciting and there'll be plenty more to tell. I miss everyone and Melbourne and I hope you are happy and healthy. Please let me know what's going on.
PS. here are three photos of three different demonstrations down my street all in the same week.
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