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The most wonderful, spectacular show…

Nobody will ever explain to me why I had to go through three rounds of interviews across six months to do literally the least skilled job that I ever had to do. My handsome boyfriend lost all credibility as he made me believe that working on Games will be the best thing I will ever do. Hands down the worst job I ever had. And that includes waitressing in the hot summer next to the beach in Spain. But of course it wasn’t all bad and the positive person in me likes to find positives in everything so I will start with the really cool things I got to experience. First of all, it was a very multicultural environment and I got to meet some really really amazing people that have travelled and lived literally everywhere. Some of which I am still in close touch today. I actually got the see the Games! So this is something that never really crossed my mind as an object of desire, but when I was actually there, it was spectacular. The atmosphere at the athletics, where I got to see prince Edward and Usain Bolt, was unreal. The same goes for the Rugby Sevens Final, where I got kicked out of the lounge, but not until I had their beer and sweets. Volleyball was fun, before the kickoff at Triathlon Jonny Brownlee actually answered when I spoke to him, swimming was a riot and of course diving – have you seen the body of Tom Daley? Our crew in Logistics wasn’t bad at all and we did share some really good jokes. 

Unfortunately I had the worst manager. But maybe that was a good experience in itself because not everyone I meet will be intelligent, open minded, willing to offer a helping hand and actually listen when you talk to them. Maybe I was too lucky in my past jobs where my superiors were quite happy to let me get on with my work and actually do something worth while. It definitely is a life experience having to work with someone who sucks up to his superiors yet looks down on his inferiors. With someone who is weak, yet finds a way to make your life more difficult. Who wants to prove something, not realising the cost of his decisions. Especially someone who you cannot trust because he only has bad things to say about everyone behind their back. Sure that was an experience too. However when I think back on how amazing the cluster manager and the manager of Logistics altogether were, I feel so sad. So many people in the same role just had a much better experience because they weren’t “led” by a spiteful human being. Long story short, apart from really long hours, which varied from 50h/week in February to 70h/week in April, the work was definitely way too physical. I managed to end up in hospital with a severely bruised intercostal muscle, turns out that when you have 53kg you are not exactly equipped to push and pull about 100kg back on forth every single day for weeks at a time. And it wasn’t just me, my closest colleague ended up at the doctor’s as well with injuries and even the strongest one really had his days. At one point, I didn’t sleep in my bed for a week, only at two office chairs on the sporting venue. So to be entirely truthful, I was never happier to end a work contract and when we sent off the last truck away, we took about a hundred celebratory photos. It took me weeks to physically recover, I didn’t even get to enjoy the wrap up parties because I was just dead tired. So here you go, this was the job for which I was competing with hundreds of other applicants and that paid much much less than my old simple 7-8 hours a day job. 

During this time from January till April it was very hard to squeeze in anything else but work and sleep, but there are a few notable things that are worth mentioning. Luky took me to the Australian Open. Again not something that was on my “to do” list in the past, but when I was there, it was THE place to be. The atmosphere of the game got me instantly. I loved cheering on Czech tennis players and loved seeing them win. I got my tennis balls signed by Tomas Berdych and Boris Becker. I saw Federer too. Anyway being in Melbourne again was great. Gold Coast life truly is wonderful and I realise that every day, but it’s so painfully devoid of any culture and inspiration, it’s sometimes great to check with reality and travel to a bigger city. Most notable foodie experience was in Top Paddock. If you ever do travel to Melbourne, I encourage you with all my heart, please do go to Top Paddock, drink their filter coffee, eat the food, don’t look at the prices and let that experience drive you to the rest of the week. 

My birthday and Valentine’s happened in the middle of a busy week, but my wonderful boyfriend and the most amazing man in the world made it so special anyway. He pretended like we won’t have time for anything and when I jumped in the shower to get ready for a quick dinner out, he magically changed our dining table to a spread of grapes, cheeses, champagne, flowers and candles. There was no need to go out for dinner as we were full after this, so we took the rest of the bubbles to the beach and drunk it under the stars. So freaking romantic, did I say how much I love him? I also got a cake and balloons and work and Lisa came over with sushi and we organised a little BBQ with my colleagues on the beach during the weekend. 

That same month I organised two cool gals to form a TRI team for Luke Harrop memorial Triathlon and we won second place! Given how little time we had to train, this was an achievement so well done to us! They also surprised me with a team t-shirt that featured our team name Snoop Log. It totally got me into the spirit, you know what they say: Swim, Bike, Run – it’s in Everyone. 

During the time I worked on the venue, I have discovered the best coffee place, I don’t usually go to this part of the town and I was lucky. Zi Espresso thank you! Thank you so much for making my days bearable. Half of my salary went to you, but I have no regrets. Your coffee was amazing, your service spectacular and your chicken pesto sandwich got me through the day and you always always greeted me like your favourite customer. When I came to your shop, completely sweaty after already six hours of work with another five to go, you were just the best! And I really thank you for this. 

So this is it, this was the beginning of my year 2018. My hair was completely destroyed from the sun and hard hat that I cut them all off and after we launched Lisa Maria Movement, I started packing for Western Australia and Japan. 

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