Living like a local & wondering when work became so much fun

In addition to my booming call center career, I've started picking up some casual work on the weekends and have had such a good time doing so! My first weekend job was working as a waitress on the Sydney Harbour Cruise ship for their Latin Viva Cruise.  I was told to wear formal catering attire with long black tie and button up white shirt. I was prepared for a formal evening and perhaps maybe even a stuffy crowd.  Was I ever wrong! We were immediately given brightly colored t-shirts and told to get changed.  There was nothing stuffy or formal about this cruise! Apparently it's a new cruise that has just launched this year and includes a number of tapas courses served throughout the night, a complimentary mojito or corona was served immediatly upon boarding, and unlimited sangria all night long! The salsa music and dancing were entertainment in and of itself and we actually got paid to be there! My only mistake was not paying attention to my directions that the cruise actually docked on the opposite end of town from where we launched so I got my evening exercise after all the fun! haha
I've also gotten work at the Olympic Park Stadium working as a bar attendant.  The stadium is massive and it's a pretty cool feeling to walk through the olympic park.  I had never been to a rugby match and was lucky enough to work the Australia VS New Zealand match.  Something different that I hadn't ever seen before is that all of the spirits were premixed in cans.  They had Smirnoff ice, bourbon/coke, rum/coke, and scotch/coke all in cans that were just poured into cups with no ice---not sure I could get used to that myself but the aussies and kiwis didn't seemed bothered at all!  The match itself was incredible--I have a new found respect for rugby players worldwide.  It's insane how rough they are and come out smiling after these massive pile-ups! I'm not sure I totally understand it but then there is still plenty of things I still don't understand about American football and I've watched it my entire life! These fans were pretty intense but I was impressed how respectful they were to each other after it was all over with...New Zealand won by the way.  One thing is for sure though--there were no Who Dat cheers outside the stadium after the match..I was tempted to start one on the train heading into work Tuesday morning while you were all watching Monday Night Football!--not sure they'd really understand so good thing I just kept to myself!
This coming weekend I'm working the NRL (national rugby league) finals between the Dragons and Tigers. I'm looking forward to another exciting match--haven't decided which team to cheer for yet, though I'm a little biased to cheer for Tigers! :) 
I'm settling in to life as a local for now and am counting the days before we can spend our days on the beautiful beaches nearby! Also working up my plan for travels around the country after the new year...overwhelmed by how much I still have to see and do!
I stumbled across a Spring festival while on a run through town a few weekends ago--there was a street parade and everything--they've got nothing on Mardi Gras but it felt a bit like home standing on the street with marching bands going past.  I even lucked out and won 2 free tickets to a local theater groups upcoming production next week so we're looking forward to checking that out! A friend from work told me about another play in town at the Sydney theater--August: Osage County.  It won 5 Tony awards on broadway in New York and was an amazing show! There were some familiar faces in it as well--you know how I love to see famous people so I was most excited! haha
There was a Brazillian festival down at Darling Harbour this past weekend so we went to partake in the music and festivities.  It was beautiful weather for it as well...keeping fingers crossed that Spring weather really is on the way!
I know it's been awhile since I've blogged or posted pictures so I'll try to stay on top of it from here out!
Take care! :)
xoxo