The first main event of April was Australia versus Uzbekistan at the ANZ Stadium in Olympic Park. We were always keen on going but never got around to getting tickets because we thought we could turn up on the day. On the day of the match we said we should book them with Charlie’s credit card just to be sure.
Me and Conor met up with Tom, Gary and Charlie outside the venue and noticed the lads had big novelty inflatable yellow hands. We knew there was going to a crazy amounts of jokes made and photos taken of us with the hands.
As the five of us entered the arena and made our way up the ramp of the ANZ Stadium we knew it was going to be an impressive stadium. Some had even compared it to Croke Park. It is an awesome stadium and even though it wasn’t packed to its full capacity the 56,000 fans there let there voices be heard. If Australia won they would all but guarantee their spot in the 2010 Wold Cup in South Africa. We started off sitting up in the nosebleed section of the main stand but moved down before the second half to get a better view of the action.
Josh Kennedy opened the scoring midway through the second half heading home superbly off the upright. Harry Kewell then tucked away a penalty to wrap up the win.
We left early before the final whistle to beat the crowd to the train station, something we’ve never done at Old Trafford! Overall we had great craic and were glad we came even if Tim Cahill sat on the bench for the whole game!
This month I happened to get a few freestyle football gigs. The director of coaching at Brazilian Soccer Schools spotted me practicing down near Bondi Beach and asked me to perform a show at one of his soccer camps for kids aged 5-16 years of age. The show went well and the kids loved it even though I dropped it a few times!
For my second show I made $100 for an hours work! This time it was for Sydney Soccer Schools in North Sydney. I performed for around 80 kids and their parents and it went much better than the first one, barely ever dropping the ball for the 20-30 minutes. I also had the honour handing out trophies and medals to all the kids and had to pose in photos with them and their parents. I was like a celebrity for 10 minutes! All-in-all it went very well and the head coach said he may have some work for me in the future at various different sporting events!
Mike
I recently joined the ranks of the working. I acquired a job in the pharmaceutical industry. Ok let’s lose the fancy talk I’m working in a chemist. As you know Gary works in the Chemist Warehouse in Chatswood, so he had a word to some of the head managers and they decided that the franchise needed another Irish worker. So after 2 months of rejections I have finally gained work.
The store that I’m working in is located in Bondi Junction. For those who don’t know Bondi Junction is similar to Galway City in size. It’s gotten a large shopping centre (Westfield) and a few other shopping centres and streets. It’s about a 25 minute walk from our accommodation. So I walk to and from work every day. It’s a decent walk full of small shops and café’s.
I have been working now for nearly a month. It’s gone pretty ok so far. There is an Irish girl working with me so it’s great to hear her experiences of Australia. Most of the other worker’s seem sound aswell. I get on well with a few of them. My accent confuses them a lot though. I’m on the checkout so have to deal with the customers. It was tough at the start not knowing where anything is but at this stage I’m fairly sure of the stock. It’s good learning a bit about prescriptions and medication. For any advice on how to stay healthy I’m your man. Some of the customer’s seem to enjoy hearing about my travels and telling me how great the Irish are. Funny how the pay works over here: I am getting paid more than some of my fellow workers solely because I’m older then them. I will hopefully save up a good bit for when Kieran Costello arrives next month. I’m working a lot of nights though, that’s the only downside. All good though. I’m happy out.
In the last month we have gotten Foxtel. Foxtel is the equivalent of Sky Plus back home. It’s made life a lot easier for us in that we don’t have to go into a pub at 3am or 4am in the morning to watch the football. Foxtel allows us to choose what match to watch when they are on. It’s been a welcome addition to the apartment. It also allows us to record movies and watch them later. To top off a great channel package you need a big TV. The TV in our place was a small 18inch one until one night we were on the way home we came across the TV of our dreams. It was a large 28 inch TV. It was heavier than a fridge! Mike and I attempted to lift it and held it for 2 seconds before dropping it. Luckily the four of us were there so we all dragged it into the apartment. We are fully pimped out now except for the PS3 that’s needed.
As we are on the other side of the world the dreaded winter is on the way. The days are getting shorter and the night’s longer. We have seen the cold weather at last after enjoying two summers back to back. This week was full of rain and clouds. The winter here is still pretty mild compared to Ireland. It’s mainly fairly ok with temperatures during the day about 17-19 degrees but cold at night time. A few times this week a hot choc in front of the fire would be nice.
During this month we all celebrated a big event. This event being Dani’s Birthday. We went out to Wollstonecraft to celebrate. We had a nice takeaway and a lovely Birthday cake. As a result of the job’s we were all able to treat her to a few nice gifts. Some perfume, chocolates and a nice cactus to brighten up the room. Good fun celebrating a birthday in Aussie.
Conor
Me and Conor met up with Tom, Gary and Charlie outside the venue and noticed the lads had big novelty inflatable yellow hands. We knew there was going to a crazy amounts of jokes made and photos taken of us with the hands.
As the five of us entered the arena and made our way up the ramp of the ANZ Stadium we knew it was going to be an impressive stadium. Some had even compared it to Croke Park. It is an awesome stadium and even though it wasn’t packed to its full capacity the 56,000 fans there let there voices be heard. If Australia won they would all but guarantee their spot in the 2010 Wold Cup in South Africa. We started off sitting up in the nosebleed section of the main stand but moved down before the second half to get a better view of the action.
Josh Kennedy opened the scoring midway through the second half heading home superbly off the upright. Harry Kewell then tucked away a penalty to wrap up the win.
We left early before the final whistle to beat the crowd to the train station, something we’ve never done at Old Trafford! Overall we had great craic and were glad we came even if Tim Cahill sat on the bench for the whole game!
This month I happened to get a few freestyle football gigs. The director of coaching at Brazilian Soccer Schools spotted me practicing down near Bondi Beach and asked me to perform a show at one of his soccer camps for kids aged 5-16 years of age. The show went well and the kids loved it even though I dropped it a few times!
For my second show I made $100 for an hours work! This time it was for Sydney Soccer Schools in North Sydney. I performed for around 80 kids and their parents and it went much better than the first one, barely ever dropping the ball for the 20-30 minutes. I also had the honour handing out trophies and medals to all the kids and had to pose in photos with them and their parents. I was like a celebrity for 10 minutes! All-in-all it went very well and the head coach said he may have some work for me in the future at various different sporting events!
Mike
I recently joined the ranks of the working. I acquired a job in the pharmaceutical industry. Ok let’s lose the fancy talk I’m working in a chemist. As you know Gary works in the Chemist Warehouse in Chatswood, so he had a word to some of the head managers and they decided that the franchise needed another Irish worker. So after 2 months of rejections I have finally gained work.
The store that I’m working in is located in Bondi Junction. For those who don’t know Bondi Junction is similar to Galway City in size. It’s gotten a large shopping centre (Westfield) and a few other shopping centres and streets. It’s about a 25 minute walk from our accommodation. So I walk to and from work every day. It’s a decent walk full of small shops and café’s.
I have been working now for nearly a month. It’s gone pretty ok so far. There is an Irish girl working with me so it’s great to hear her experiences of Australia. Most of the other worker’s seem sound aswell. I get on well with a few of them. My accent confuses them a lot though. I’m on the checkout so have to deal with the customers. It was tough at the start not knowing where anything is but at this stage I’m fairly sure of the stock. It’s good learning a bit about prescriptions and medication. For any advice on how to stay healthy I’m your man. Some of the customer’s seem to enjoy hearing about my travels and telling me how great the Irish are. Funny how the pay works over here: I am getting paid more than some of my fellow workers solely because I’m older then them. I will hopefully save up a good bit for when Kieran Costello arrives next month. I’m working a lot of nights though, that’s the only downside. All good though. I’m happy out.
In the last month we have gotten Foxtel. Foxtel is the equivalent of Sky Plus back home. It’s made life a lot easier for us in that we don’t have to go into a pub at 3am or 4am in the morning to watch the football. Foxtel allows us to choose what match to watch when they are on. It’s been a welcome addition to the apartment. It also allows us to record movies and watch them later. To top off a great channel package you need a big TV. The TV in our place was a small 18inch one until one night we were on the way home we came across the TV of our dreams. It was a large 28 inch TV. It was heavier than a fridge! Mike and I attempted to lift it and held it for 2 seconds before dropping it. Luckily the four of us were there so we all dragged it into the apartment. We are fully pimped out now except for the PS3 that’s needed.
As we are on the other side of the world the dreaded winter is on the way. The days are getting shorter and the night’s longer. We have seen the cold weather at last after enjoying two summers back to back. This week was full of rain and clouds. The winter here is still pretty mild compared to Ireland. It’s mainly fairly ok with temperatures during the day about 17-19 degrees but cold at night time. A few times this week a hot choc in front of the fire would be nice.
During this month we all celebrated a big event. This event being Dani’s Birthday. We went out to Wollstonecraft to celebrate. We had a nice takeaway and a lovely Birthday cake. As a result of the job’s we were all able to treat her to a few nice gifts. Some perfume, chocolates and a nice cactus to brighten up the room. Good fun celebrating a birthday in Aussie.
Conor
