It's Wednesday night, and I'm sitting here with Mum while she watches a movie called The Odessa File. It's about how the Vatican helped a number of high-ranking Nazis escape to South America.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned in this blog that I have applied to do a Certificate III in Hospitality, starting in July of this year. It's a six month full-time course. My thinking is that I will go back to uni next year, but I also really need to generate an income. I know I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for hospitality-type roles, but sometimes I see an older woman waiting tables, and that is what I am going to go for.
I also asked one of the lecturers at TAFE if they ever get mature students, and she said that they do and that I shouldn't have any trouble getting a job.
I had the option of applying for Certificate II or III in Hospitality, and the difference in price is over six and a half thousand dollars, with the higher qualification costing more. I decided on the Certificate III because, by the time I apply for a job, I won't have worked for just over ten years, and I thought it might give me an edge.
I will also have to undertake a placement of 150 hours, which they didn’t have in the Certificate II. I think the placement would be good for experience and could lead to a job.
There are three cafés around town that I have always said I would love to work at. So, on Monday, I met Maureen—my former tutor, friend, and substitute daughter—in town, and we went to take a look at the cafés. Our main priority was to look for older staff members.
The first café we went to was the SA Museum Café. This is my favourite café, and I would absolutely love to work there. Below, you can see the entrance from inside the museum itself.
We didn't see any significantly older waitstaff, but I feel like the SA Museum would be a workplace that celebrates and welcomes diversity.
I used to religiously go to Night Lab, an event the museum holds a couple of times a year. These are themed after-hours parties where people dress up, and there are a whole lot of activities and things to do across the museum.
It was the dinosaur-themed Night Lab that prompted that ugly incident with that money-hungry woman, Louise, from my origami class.
We didn't get anything to eat at the café—just had a look—and I decided that it would be a dream to work there.
The next café we went to was the Art Gallery Café. Even though I have a keen interest in both viewing and studying art, I haven't been to the Art Gallery in years. As we briefly walked through to get downstairs to the café, I took photos of two pieces of religious artwork that I liked.
The first is Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist. Unfortunately, it didn't have any information about the artist.
The second piece of artwork that spoke to me was a wooden Christ. It is called The Yellow Christ by Rosemary Madigan. She was born in Adelaide in 1926 and died in Yass, New South Wales, in 2019.
When I was at Adelaide Uni, I noticed how the Art Gallery Café spilled out onto the campus. This is the primary reason it made my top three cafés to work at.
But when we got downstairs, I got a bad feeling about the place. I have mentioned in this blog before about my deceased half-brother's mother-in-law, who I view as unbelievably snobby, and the ultimate elitist. She is a volunteer at the Art Gallery, and I just pictured her—and people like her—having a coffee or something to eat at this café.
We took a quick look, then I searched for the closest exit. I managed to get one photo, which you can see below.
It was interesting because, while I’m not interested in working at this particular café, it was there that we saw a much older woman working tables. It was nice to see someone around my age—or even a little older—working in hospitality. It gave me a sense of hope about my own future in the industry.
Below, you can see two photos from inside Brunelli.
When summarising the exhibition, the Australian Friends of Palestine Association said:
"Palestine is the home of three major religions that are closely related to the land, its people, and their history. This exhibition at the Palestine Centre for Peace, a registered Fringe Venue, will feature artworks by artists with backgrounds in the three religions."
I took the two photos below—the first of religious iconography and the second of the beautiful cranes, which I couldn't help but instantly fall in love with.
We then set out for our final destination—café number three. The third café was in the Botanical Gardens. It’s more of a restaurant than a café, and it’s set just next to a small lake. It’s so beautiful, and I thought I would love to work there.
But then I thought about leaving work in winter when it starts to get dark. I would have to walk through a significant part of the Botanical Gardens just to get out, and you do hear stories of women being assaulted in there. So, I took this one off my list too.
I say I don’t want to work there, but, well, they probably wouldn’t want me either. It’s just that I think the older I get, the more concerned I am about things like personal safety.
Below are two photos of the Botanical Gardens café/restaurant.
To top things off, we saw one of Dale Chihuly's pieces inside the Botanical Gardens, which you can see below.
This particular piece is called "Sapphire Star," and it was created in 2010. It is made of blown glass and steel.
I like Chihuly. He is one of the founders of the Pilchuck Glass School, which I hope to go to one day in Stanwood, Washington, USA.
Chihuly has bipolar disorder, and it's nice to see that people don't make a thing of it. It’s also good that they let someone with such a serious mental illness near a flame.
Mum, Maureen, and I are going to see the full exhibition of his work in the Botanical Gardens next week. But this "Sapphire Star" was certainly a beautiful glimpse of what I believe is to come.
