Theme of the week: Men Suck! I know, slightly juvenile and melodramatic, but it's totally true. All my girlfriends here are single so we spend plenty of time bitching about men...how they don't call, how they haven't a clue, how they stink, etc. On the other hand, we spend so much time talking about them and it gives us such amusement that it would be a shame for a guy to actually sack it up and call (credit to Marissa)!

The move into the house is good for the most part, but having it's ups and downs. The day I moved I was feeling really good with a huge sense of freedom and independence...no more hostel bunks! My new roommates (well, the ones I met) are awesome! Jaki is from Galway in Ireland and has the sweetest accent, but the things (or should I say tings?) that come out of this girl's mouth...hysterical. Anna is from Tampa, Fla and I met her the first night I was here when I went with the IEP group to Scruffy Murphy's for $5 meals. Of course, there's Kate...no need for introductions. Li is from Taiwan and is here getting her Ph.D in Nursing. I hardly see her and haven't had much time to bond, but everyone says she's nice. Then there's Eduardo...the elusive Eduardo from Spain. I saw him exactly once the day I moved in and it was only from afar as he was at the top of the stairs and I was at the door. Supposedly he is nocturnal. Too bad Seamus had to move out. He's the guy whose room I overtook, also from Ireland and a pisser!

The ups have included staying up and chatting with my roomies, having my own room, having a kitchen that doesn't close at 2 in the morning (like at the hostel), and not having to climb up a ladder to go to bed. Surry Hills is also a groovy place to live with a pub on almost every corner (including one 2 doors down from our house). The downs are mainly due to the traffic flow outside my window (very heavy), not getting much sleep because I'm not used to the bed (that will get better over time) and the steroid-pumping cockroach Jaki found in her room (thank goodness I didn't see it). Supposedly there are cockroaches everywhere you go, especially in cities and I have seen them outside on the sidewalk at night. But I am so not used to them since we don't seem to get them on LI, at least not in my house. I'll try not to freak out about them but I know I'll have to face them sooner or later (hopefully not literally face to face). As for the traffic flow, I bought a fan yesterday and it did wonders. I can close my window, decreasing the amount of noise AND mosquitoes at the same time, and the white noise drowns out most of the traffic. So yay me! I actually got a decent night's sleep for the first time in 3 days.

I took the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) course last night. Everyone who serves alcohol in the hospitality industry has to get one. It's a 6 1/2 hour course and costs $70. It was relatively painless, despite being mind-numbingly boring and full of basic commonsense. So now I have my trial at another cafe, this one in the QVB (Queen Victoria Building), this amazingly beautiful shopping center. I'm trying not to take this one seriously considering my last experience. The Strand cafe never called me back, even after I went in there and asked what's what. They said they're still trialling people. Apparently a lot of places do this so they get free labour...this does not make me feel hopeful about today's trial. I asked the job people at IEP what I should do and they said that it's normal and basically there's not much I can do about it. Really frustrating! But on a good note, I got a call from a catering company I applied to and I'm meeting them next Tuesday. I really hope it works out...