So, turns out I'm a Slacker. Who knew?

I guess I knew all along that I was, but looking back at the dates on this blog proves it.  I've been letting it go for a while and I know some of you aren't too happy about that. (I'm talking to you three nine)

Well for those of you who don't know, I've landed a new job.  That is my big news.  I'm leaving the auto industry and starting a new career.  I'll be working for a company that places students from North America into universities here in Australia.  My actual job will be placing students in unpaid internships with companies around the country and in New Zealand. I'll also be their point of contact for support while they are in country. It's quite a leap professionally for me and I'm quite proud of myself for landing it.

I've been trying to get my head around it for the last two weeks.  I got the job last Monday and had to give my notice the next day.  It wasn't as easy as you might think.  As soon as I thought about it I started getting a sinking feeling.  It's not that I was in love with the job as much as I didn't want to disappoint my co-workers.  Remember, I'm new to this country, a foreigner, and as such my boss took a big chance on me.  Also, I've gotten pretty close to Kev, sitting at the same desk day after day.  So while I look forward to embarking on my new voyage, it's bittersweet.

They actually took it quite well, as I knew they would, and my two weeks notice is now nearly over.  I have two days left of the job and most of my loose ends are tied up.  I have to tell you, it's a bit like waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.  The days seem to drag and it's hard for me to worry too much about petty details at this point.  I just want the new job to start already.

My new job, well, it's a ripper (sounds like RIPPA!), as they say.  It comes with a lot of responsibility and a lot more freedom than my last job.  I'll be the only person in the company based here in Brisbane so I'll be doing a lot of work from home at least until I can set up an office.  The company is based in Denver!  That's right, I travel half way around the world to find a company from Denver to work for.  They have an office here in Queensland, about an hour by plane north of here, and I'll be going there next week for training.  And that's just the beginning of the travel.  Looks like this one is going to keep me moving.  I'll be in Sydney for a week in October and in Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bin, btw) for a week at the end of November. And that isn't even taking into account other various little day trips. My calendar is filling up pretty quick and I haven't even started working yet. I think I'm going to see a lot more of Australia than I bargained for.  Woohoo!

Today is the first day of spring here in the Southern Hemisphere and a new chapter in my life is starting.  The weather is getting nicer and the days longer and I'm feeling excited and hopeful.  I'll try to write about it here a bit more.  I should have a more varied and interesting experience now that I won't be stuck in the same office day after day, selling parts for broken cars.  I've been doing that for something close to ten years and It's about time I got out.

Australia has been good to us, to me in particular.  Not only did I find a good job nearly right when I started looking the first time, but when I looked further it provided what I hope will be a dream job.  According to new boss, I wasn't the most qualified candidate that interviewed for the job.  I'm not sure if I would have even gotten an interview in the states.  But in Australia they pride themselves on giving everyone a "fair go" and I've now seen it myself more than once.  Talk about making a bloke feel at home.