I'm getting really bad at blogging... sorry guys!!!! I have had a pretty slow week I guess. Not a lot going on besides work. I've been working a lot because we are so busy right now. I love working with HRM. We have about 60 staff members so it is great to be able to know everyone and help them all out. I really love my job, like I've said before!!! I only have 2 weeks left of my internship... SOOOO hard to believe! I am hoping to get a position though in the company to stay a little longer. I could stay for another 6 months max so that would be ideal. I guess right now I am going with the flow and praying I can stay a little longer.

I had a bachelorette (or "hens") party last night for one of my co-workers. We had a such a great time! I am lucky to be able to work with such great people!! 

I guess that's all that has really happened in the last week. I have been taking it easy and just enjoying all my time here. The weather has been really nice that past week so I am spending as much of it outside as possible. Life is good!

I still miss everyone back home and am praying for all my loved ones. If you have FB you should check out some of the pictures my fam uploaded. I missed my first Schuette Bowl ever! It was the hardest weekend here because I knew everyone was enjoying my FAVORITE weekend out of the year. My mom and sis created a card board cut-out of me though and I was with them in spirit. They did such a great job!!! 

 

I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please send me an email and let me know how you are all doing! 

:) :)

Holiday in the sun!

Hey everyone! I hope life is treating you well back home! I have had, yet again, another busy week. One of the other interns, Mandy, and I decided we needed a little holiday so we took a long weekend from work and went to the Sunshine Coast. It is just north of Brisbane and the weather was AMAZING! We had 4 solid days of relaxing at the beach and exploring the nice beach town. It was so good to get a little slice of summer. I didn't realize how much I miss wearing shorts and the feeling of it being really hot outside. I can't believe I missed an entire summer. Although it is winter here, it is nothing like an MN winter! I haven't seen any snow so I don't think it really counts as winter. I did get a bit of a tan while I was gone. Everyone at work asked me where I got my fake tan because they did a really good job. I showed them my tan lines then and told them it was real... they couldn't believe a person could get so tan in 4 days. My skin really missed the sun I guess! Don't worry though, I used tons of sunscreen. There is no o-zone layer of Australia, so it is really important to load on the sunscreen.  

Besides my nice little holiday, things are going extremely well at work. I still LOVE my job. I can't imagine working anywhere else. I wish I could either, a) bring all my friends and family to live in Sydney with me or b) move my company to MN. Ideally, everyone would move over here because the weather is so much better and the laid back atmosphere is awesome. I at least now have a better understanding of what I want to do when I grow up! :) 

I have also have had a bit of a tough week. Let me tell you, I have been on an emotional roller coaster the past week. Extreme highs with work and life out here in Sydney and low lows with finding out some of my loved ones aren't doing well at home. If any of you are reading this, I want you to know that I am thinking about you and praying for you! It is SOOOOO hard to go through some of this all alone here but all the emails and fb messages from home really help! I will also be missing my family reunion, Schuette Bowl, this weekend. I think it will be my hardest weekend here to date. I miss all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and the rest of my family SOOO much and Schuette Bowl is my favorite weekend of the year. I know they are going to have a great time and I hope they all have a few drinks for me! I will be there in spirit!

Anyways, that's all for now. Keep in contact. I love hearing from everyone and could use all the letters from home right now I can get.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!! I miss you!

AG :):)

CITY 2 SURF!!

So today was the day of the big race. IT WAS CRAZY! It is the largest foot race in the world. There were over 76,000 people there. Everywhere you looked there were people. It was amazing. It was a 14 km race... mostly up hill. It started in Hyde park, which is in the center of the city and finished at Bondi Beach. It was such a great experience. I didn't have much time to train for it because my company bought my ticket or whatever really last minute. I was surprised how well it went though. We walked the first half of the race, mainly weaving in and out of all the people and jogged the last half. I AM SORE NOW THOUGH!

The morning started off at 6 am... My company had a breakfast for us that our students made. It was some great muffins and other basic breaky foods. It was fun to spend some time out of the office with everyone. There were about 25 of us from work, also my friend Mandy came along. After that we headed out for the 9 am race. Since there were 76,000 people, there were 5 groups, each starting at different times. I was in the last group. Each group had there own gun go off but the finishing times went by the 9 am start. Before the yellow group's gun even went off, the winner of the race finished. It was incredible. He ran the 14 km's in 40 min. Our group didn't really get going until about 10. It was such a great thing to experience. Then after the race, my company also had a big bbq on one of the beaches. It was so great to hang out and feel good of our accomplishments!  

After the race and bbq, I went home and slept most of the afternoon. It was quite warm today so I was exhausted! I have a big week ahead of me. On Tuesday I will be working at a big convention called "Restaurant '09" It is for all the restaurants and food places throughout Sydney. All the top chefs from around the world come to cook at it as well. Hostec's academy was selected to assist the chefs. So a few of our students will be right up there and showing the cooking demo's. I am really excited to go. I guess everyone says it is a great time! Then on Friday, I leave for the Sunshine Coast. It will be a nice long weekend away in the warm weather!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. Anyways, send me an email.... I MISS YOU ALL!

Love,

Amanda :)

Hello all!

So I know I have been pretty bad about blogging lately but I have been quite busy! I feel like I haven't really done anything exciting but I am never home! I have been going out a lot with my work friends and a few of my other intern friends. Sydney is such a great place. 

Last weekend I went to the Blue Mountains. It is the home of the famous Three Sisters. They aren't the kind of mountains you would think... very small and more like rocky hills. We had fabulous weather (everyone said we would freeze up in the mountains). We took a train ride down the mountain side and walked for a while in the national park/forest for a while, then took a tram across the tops of the mountains. It was so beautiful. Then we hung out for a while in the cities of Katumba and Luera. Both nice old fashion mountain towns. It was great to walk around and take in a new scenery. We drove home that night in time to see the movie "My Sister's Keeper." It was one of my favorite books so I couldn't wait to see the movie. I have to say they did a pretty good job on the movie! Then on Sunday I went to Bondi Beach... Couldn't ask for better weather! In fact I even got my first tan lines!!!!!!! I was so excited, I really needed the vitamin D! After that, I was exhausted from the long weekend.

At work this week, I switched departments and am now working side by side with Human Resources Manager. I LOVE THIS! He is really good about letting me work with him on all kinds of projects and really wants me to experience the HR world. Today I even got to sit in on a whole bunch of interviews. Tomorrow we have a whole bunch more. I get to rate each candidate and help decide who would be best for the roles. Sitting in the interviewer seat is such a good feeling. I do have a lot of sympathy though for the people coming in that struggle on questions and are really nervous... I want to tell them I know what it feels like and I am so bad at interviews... I like the power though and I am not going to want to give it up!

I also have really big weekends planned for the next couple of weeks! This weekend on Sunday, I am going to do a 14 km fun run/walk with my company called the City 2 Surf... it will be with 75,000 of my closest friends. I guess it is absolutely crazy and something everyone should experience. They only thing I am really nervous about is the part of the race called "Heartbreak Hill." I guess it is this long curvy hill that is a couple of km long and seems to be never ending. It should be interesting but it will be a fun, light atmosphere... good work bonding time! Then we are having a bbq afterwards at one of our hotel clients. I hope I will be able to walk after it!

If that isn't exciting enough, the following week I am going to the Sunshine Coast with one of the other interns, Mandy. She is also from MN and we have become really good friends. We will be there for 5 days... The weather is a lot nicer there and I am excited for a nice holiday! :) :) 

I'll try to blog more often. I MISS YOU ALL!!!! Please send me an email and update me on all your lives!

LOVE,

AMANDA :):)