The hunt for a job

Yikes. Trying to find a part-time job is a tricky
deal. Especially if you're me and you're really
picky. The wheels I have spun to find a good one
would (I think) be an amusing story, so I thought I'd
share a timeline of it with you. So you could get a
small glimpse of what it's like to be somewhere where
you know nowhere...

9/6*
- Arrival in New Zealand. At this time I decide to
not look for a job until I have a more permanent idea
of where I'll be living. Diane's mom, Glenys (bless
her soul), is a chief lecturer in the hospitality
college at Auckland University and forwards me job
leads in the hospitality industry.

9/13
- Arrive at new house in Grey Lynn. Ask roommates
about local restaurants that would be good, and am
pointed in the direction of two, SPQR and Estacy.
-Call to make an appointment to meet with Nish, the
owner of a handful of restaurants at the Viaduct
Harbour (via an e-mail from Glenys).
-Am told by roommate Joy that her bar, Shanghai Lil's
is hiring as well. She'll take me in to meet her boss
and get started on Friday night.
-Am told by roommate Julia that her work is hiring
telemarketers, that it pays $20 an hour, and she'll
take me there the next day.

9/14
-Head to SPQR to fill out an application. Pete, the
bartender, tells me they are always hiring and that
it's a great place to work. Get application and
leave.
-Hop on the bus and head down to the Viaduct to meet
with Nish. Fill out an application, am offered a job.
I decide to wait and think about it, hoping something
closer to home will open up. SPQR? Shanghai Lil's?
Telemarketing?
- Julia does not take me to her work.

9/15
-Take application back to SPQR. Am told that they'll
be hiring in a couple of weeks (darn!).
-Decide to walk down to Estacy as well. The manager
Kevin asks me to come in for a trial on Sunday
evening.
-Go to Shanghai Lil's with Joy and meet Russell, the
manager. It's a nice place. Then, the American owner
walks in, and without any provocation, announces to
Joy that friends of friends are not allowed to work at
Lil's, and that I have to leave. Immediately. So I
do.

9/17
- I try out Estacy. The trial goes fine, but I find
out that Kevin will pay me $2 less than they would
have at the Harbour, and that he can only give me two
shifts per week. He informs me that he'll call me on
Friday or Saturday if they need me.
- I walk away irked, but remember that Julia is taking
me to her telemarketing job on Tuesday to meet her
boss.

9/18 (side note)
- The flat gets into a huge fight with Julia (head
tenant) about the bills.

9/19
- I go to observe at two local elementary schools. At
the second, I find out that the assessment tools they
use to test readers are the same as the tools I was
trained in at Waukee. So I offer to come back for the
rest of the week and administer assessments. I am
taken up on my offer.
- Go home in the afternoon to have Julia to take me to
her work. She has decided, though, that because of
the big fight (that I was hardly a part of) that she
doesn't want to take me to her work. Finally, she
agrees to take me, after a large debate about her
ethics and character, which I won.
- At Julia's work, I am told that they are not hiring
(big surprise).

9/20-22
-Continue to do work at Elementary schools.
-Have not heard from Kevin for the weekend hours.

9/22
- Finally decide that maybe I need to just try the
Harbour out. Upon calling Nish, I find that the
position has been filled.

9/23
-Upon walking to the store, I notice a flash new
restaurant called The Living room.

9/24
- Go to The Living Room to hand in my CV**. Speak
with a friendly Kiwi bloke called Gervais.

9/25
- I call The Living Room to see if my CV was received
by a manager. Gervais (luckily) answers the phone and
asks me to come to meet a manager today, and to bring
another CV. I met with the manager at 5.

9/26
- SPQR calls (finally!) and asks me to come in for a
trial on Wednesday.

9/27
- The Living room calls and asks me to come in for a
trail on Friday (when it rains, it pours, right?).
Even though I am going to SPQR, I decide to do agree
to a trial.
- I do trial at SPQR. The place rocks and I love it.
At the end of the night, I find out that there are
four other servers I am up against. I become VERY
glad that I didn't turn down the trial offer at The
Living Room.

I'll find out about my job at SPQR tomorrow. If it
doesn't work out, I have a back-up plan. Finally, all
of this waiting just may have worked out, as SPQR was
my first choice. The Living Room would be second.

Check out the SPQR website: www.spqrnz.co.nz. It's a
pretty impressive place. And really, really, really
gay. The workers and the clientele. Some of the best
dressed and most unavailable men I have EVER seen.

More good news - my qualifications passed. I was told
this on the phone by my caseworker at the New Zealand
Qualifications Authority. Although I have not
actually seen the paper, as far as I know I am now
officially able to teach in New Zealand.