On the way to work this week, I sat next to a guy on the train and I was talking on my mobile. Once I'd finished the call, he asked me if I was Scottish and I explained that I was from Edinburgh and working in Sydney for 8 weeks. Normally, I get a "Oh, that's nice. My friend lives in Inverness, do you know them?" or "Edinburgh, that's near <insert a random place in England>?". Not this week. This week I got a "I used to live in Edinburgh, where are you from?". I live in South Queensferry so just outside of the city, I was sure this guy would only know it because of the bridges, so when I got the response: "Oh, so did I for 6 years. I lived in <again, insert the street name next to mine>!" I was shocked. I travel 10 500 miles and sit next to someone on the train I could've sat next to from Dalmeny into Edinburgh!

Work has been good, I've been helping to organise a sales workshop in September and it  has been a busy week as the sales team for Telstra International had their annual sales kick off. Telstra is a large organistion (think BT in the UK) and provide home internet, mobile capabilities but also offer wholesale solutions. Telstra own some of the main underground cables that connect Asia with Australia and sell the use of their cables to other companies and also use them as part of their solutions. The sales kick off was an opportunity for Telstra International to encourage other business units to promote international solutions and connectivity to their local customers.

I've been learning about Telstra International's network, they place the cables on the sea floor and one of the most common hardware issues is when sharks try and chew through the cable or trawlers lift the cable from the sea floor!

I'm starting a project looking at some sales processes, making sure that there are processes in place so when new agents come into the business unit, they can follow the processes correctly and trying to streamline some of the processes with other business units. The business unit is going under some big organisational change at the moment, it's good to be able to view how change management can work on a more practical level.

I have another lunch coming up with some Global Scots in Sydney, the local SDI representative has been involving me in all the networking events. I’ve also been invited to a few events which are run by the Australian and British Chamber of Commerce so I am looking forward to catching up with other professionals in the Sydney area.

Last weekend, I went to the beach in Manly, it was too cold to swim but there were a lot of surfers and men in Speedo’s braving the water! I also went to food festival at Circular Quay and have a fantastic photo of some camels with the backdrop of the Opera House! They were part of the food festival and offering rides around the Quay.

Sydney is beautiful, I spend a lot of time just enjoying the views of the harbour. If the weather holds out, I’ll be going to the zoo this weekend or perhaps a short trip into the Blue Mountains. It’s winter here so the weather can be hit or miss but I just like walking around and visiting some of the small boutiques and coffee shops in the area I’m in. I can’t believe I’m almost half way through my time here!