Dec 17 - Job Agencies and Tron 3D

Today, we decided to be proactive and visit Hays job recruitment agency in person, dressed nicely, with resumes in hand to plead our case. After a tasty brunch of toast, eggs and soup, we printed off a couple resumes and were on our way. Earlier this week, we had emailed our stuff to the Hays contact person as requested, and didn't ever hear back. Then we called a couple times, and apparently she was on the phone or in a meeting all the time and would return our call when she was done. But she never returned our calls. So with a little frustration and a new assertive plan, we walked over to the Hays building and into the office. It's a weird office in that there is no reception, just a couple chairs and a small table with business cards. Just like the first time we went in there, someone immediately came out from behind a closed door and asked what we were doing there and what we wanted in an annoyed manner. We explained we wanted to speak with Lorraine and that no, we didn't have an appointment, so the girl went to the back and got Lorraine. She came out and was equally as short and mildly annoyed. Always a good start to any meeting. We explained our situation and that we wanted jobs and had tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with her before. She looked at Brennan's CV and said she would give it to a colleague who dealt with the accounting field. She looked at mine, got into a weird discussion about me doing work for the Edwards School of Business and told me she didn't deal with education jobs and to email someone different in the office. Unable to explain or protest, we stood there as she bid us adieu and we shrugged and went down the elevator and back outside. Not really what we had in mind when we set out this morning. So we hiked a number of blocks to a second job placement agency. Went in and again, no reception. We had to use a phone in the hallway and dial a random employee's extension and ask if we could talk to them about jobs. Eventually a lady came out and directed us into a boardroom. She talked to Brennan mostly, as he had applied for a couple accounting jobs through this agency earlier in the week. I wasn't as lucky, however, since their site didn't have any marketing or admin jobs listed. So she said she would pass along Brennan's info to one of their partner companies that they do hiring for and that I could email my resume too if I wanted. Went back outside and walked back to the hostel, stopping for Starbucks on our way. At this point I was extremely frustrated with the whole job scenario and spent a couple hours reading in the room. Checked for more jobs on various sites for awhile after to no avail and called it quits to go eat supper. Brennan had cooked up some pasta and I heated up some niblet corn and we chowed down on that.

Killed some more time on the internet and then walked over to the Darling Harbour IMAX theatre to watch a movie. This particular IMAX theatre is the largest movie screen in the world apparently. We bought some $28 tickets to Tron 3D, added a popcorn/drink combo each and rolled into the theatre. Movie theatres assign seating on tickets here, so you have to sit in a specific row and seat, at least if the movie is close to full. The 3D glasses they use are much bigger than the ones back home, and resembled big sunglasses or ski goggles, but did the trick nicely. But to my disappointment, despite the enormous screen in front of us, not all of it was used. A rectangle on the big wall had the movie projected onto it, but there was a huge border around it (like 30 feet wide all around the screen) so in actuality, the viewing area was probably the same size or maybe a bit smaller than a screen at Galaxy Cinemas. Regardless, the movie was pretty entertaining, with some excellent 3D going on. The one issue I had was that after guzzling the pop, I had to pee so so so bad about an hour in. Not wanting to miss any key plot points I held it in like a trooper, but when the movie finished it felt like my bladder was about to burst. I rushed for the bathroom (along with about 30 other people) and had to wait in line before I could be relieved. Luckily, due to people having self-conscious issues, I got to use the urinal a lot quicker than expected, as several waited for the privacy of a stall. Walked back to the hostel through very busy Friday night crowds. There were even more people out and about than normal due to a Bon Jovi concert tonight that let out just before our movie. Read some more and listened to music, then called it a day.