Fiji Bleedin' Fiji!

I know its been a while. I returned to Tassie in May to fill the very empty coffers and to repay and enormous phone call I had unwittingly created. I have found work as a relief teacher in a number of Northern Tasmanian schools, and travelling around has been most enjoyable. I find visiting different schools a challenge, a bit of an adrenalin surge as I walk into an unknown class and work out how they are going to respond. On the whole, very well, as it turns out. I have also done a bit of travelling around the North East and absolutely love it. We used to have a beach shack at Bridport and memories overtake me everytime I drive into the town.
Meanwhile back in Fiji, Chita loses his mobile phone accidentally and I have no way of talking to him for a couple of months, other than arranging chats on his brother's mobile phone. Joe is supposed to be working in the cafe with Chita, but never seems to be around. I ring Friday nights and talk to his wife, or Saturday mornings and arrange a chat with Chita. To a Fijian with a very elastic sense of time, he can wait until he sees me next, but as an uptight European I need constant contact and it drives me nuts.
Although he did say last time I talked to him
'Its good to hear your voice!'
I am constantly racking my brains how to get back to Fiji and trying to find a job seems the perfect solution. However, I have been applying for jobs in Hospitality for over a year and no response until I arrived home one Friday night to hear my dad say:
'A man from Fiji called!'
I immediately thought 'Shit, something has happened to Chita?' Then my rational brain kicked in - if he was hurt, Victor would surely call me, and he has my mobile number......
so who is this mystery man?
I waited impatiently until 7 pm, and got a phone call from a food and beverage manager at a resort saying' Do you still want the job as Restaurant Manager?'
I quickly replied' Yes'.
I waited a very long week for him to ring back and say' Can you come to Fiji for an interview?'
I so wanted this job. I wanted to leap on the next plane. Then I decided to query the job. I had not received a job description or salary. I looked up a payscale website and found out how much I would be paid in Oz, and made an offer of my own.
I flew to Nadi where transport was supposedly waiting to pick me up. A van. I was dropped off at the foyer of the hotel, and the F & B manager raced up, introduced himself and said
" Settle yourself in, we'll have an interview tomorrow'.
I showered, changed and waited for my love to appear. Nothing, no one, nada. I rang Phylis who came to pick me up and we started searching for him. In the village was a farewell for Chita's brother Joe and his wife Natalie, who are migrating to the US and Chita nowhere in sight.
With no mobile I couldn't track him down. I rang Victor on the hill - no answer. Having just survived the flight I couldn't be stuffed walking up the hill to see if he was there, and Phylis hates driving her four wheel drive up there as the road is steep and very rocky.
I waited. Nothing. No one. Had dinner with Phylis and then headed back to the hotel to rest and prepare for my interview. At 10 O' clock I get a phone call from Chita. He had been recovering from too much kava for a wedding or funeral up at Victors and had just strolled down the hill to Phylis's house. She told him to call.
I thought ' buggar it. You can wait until tomorrow to see me. My mind is on getting this job!'
The interview went well the next morning. I really liked the F & B manager but there was no clear job description and no job offer. We talked about upgrading the restaurant menu and retraining staff. It all appealed greatly. The restaurant is only open at night and I could work with Chita by day in the milkbar..... great thoughts...
I was asked to prepare a few food items for the Regional Director, a man loathed in these parts, and I was a bit anxious. Working in a side kitchen with little or no equipment was difficult. I needed time to get someone to set up what I needed as far as ingredients and equipment. I spent 3 hours the first night testing the kitchen preparing two items which should have taken me an hour. The next day I was supposed to have everything ready to go, with assistance. Instead I found myself swinging around in akitchen, with cupboards locked and the Head chef nowhere in sight. Preparing the food took 5 and half hours..... I had help in assembling the dishes for half an hour only.
I was a nervous wreck. The director is a rude and arrogant man. I knew that. He pulled my dishes apart.
I made homemade tortelloni filled with ricotta, prawns and cinnamon, in a lemon butter sauce.
His response ' What's that? I don't see a big New Zealand or Aussie guy eating those.'
Then I made a salad pizza. It should have been rocket and parmesan on top but of course I couldn't find it.
"What's that? This time laughing.
I seared tuna on top of a lemon risotto cake served with caramelised onions in vincotto and shredded basil and orange zest on top.
'What else can you put on top of that?'
I could tell this guy wanted to piles and over load. Fijian hotel food is stuck in the 70's. Where was the cream sauce and trio of prawns?
I was so pissed off. I have never felt so demoralized in my life, when he flicked his fingers at me and said' Off you go, I will talk to the F& B manager'.
I went up to get my portfolio and then waited in my room.
I was invited for a drink in a far corner of the Japanese restaurant by the manager who then offered me
$20,000 Aust salary.
I was angry. Then I thought about it. If I could work just nights at the restaurant and then by day with Chita maybe this could work. I swallowed my pride and said 'yes'
I flew back to Oz and waited for the contract. When it came, I thought ' Where are all the benefits we discussed that would make working for the hotel worthwhile?
Nowhere to be seen.
I sent a copy to a friend to look at. Her response. Its a standard contract but where's the job offer. No relocation package. Unspecified working hours, and no opportunity to work elsewhere to subsidise my salary.
I refused the job. Have spent a week feeling angry, pissed off, uptight and then I remembered the words of a hotel owner I had asked advice of, six months a go.
Amanda if you work in the hotel, its poorly paid and you are better off working for yourself.
Would love to be setting up my cafe, but we have no money for infrastructure; there are no grants available at present and we can't take out a loan until the land issue has been signed over to the clan and we get a signed lease.
I am so sick of travelling back and forth to Fiji. I sooooooo want a little shack for us to live in, but I never have enough money to build it. I so want to spend time with Chita having fun, but we never have enough money to do much....
I love the climate, the people and the lifestyle, but as a kavalagi I need a white girl's job to stay. I need to support Chita. His mum. Provide weekly groceries for his mum's house. Slowly help Chita with infrastructure such as a fridge, table and chairs, lighting, water pipes and our own electricity source. Its so hard, because everything takes soooooooo long.
I am going to apply for a job at an International school and hopefully there are vacancies. I know they pay their staff appropriate wages. I can then help Chita crank up the business so he is making money and so am I. Carrying the load now for two years has been tough.
I feel sometimes that we are not moving ahead. Maybe its just coz we are not moving ahead fast...... a results orientated approach to Fiji is doomed to frustration.
I sooooo want to be there. I sooo need a good job, with a reasonable pay. Any ideas anyone?
I love Fiji, but it also drives me nuts at the same time. Phylis says
'At least you know you are alive in Fiji; its never dull!'