Week Sixteen (1 – 7 Dec)

        I was supposed to have a day off on Monday but I was wakened up by the driver at six in the morning. He asked me if I wanted to work and of course I answered yes because I didn’t want another day off. I worked with another few Koreans and we took the transport for such a long time to reach the farm. When the supervisor arrived, he asked me to go to another side of the farm while other people followed another supervisor.

        My job was to collect the water pipes in the field. I had to tie the ends of the water pipes to the tractor so that when it moved forward the pipes would be pulled out of the soil. In the middle of the field, the tractor would stop. I had to control the speed of the turning machine so that the water pipes could be winded up properly. When all the water pipes were winded up, the process was repeated for the second half of the field and the water pipes would be disposed. The job was easy and comfortable because I could always sit on the tractor when it was pulling the water pipe out. I got really frustrated when the pipes were broken because they were stuck in the grass. I didn’t bring any lunch there but the supervisor gave me a lot of food to eat. The job finished at around three o’clock.

        The Gatt’s cherry tomato farm reopened on Tuesday, but I really didn’t want to go there. I couldn’t grumble anymore because so many people were on the stand-by list. Margaret was not here to arrange the jobs and so many people did not have a job. Every time I went there, I really wanted to leave and after making the twentieth bucket, I already wanted to stop. I made twenty two buckets for the whole day and I already did not mind how much I could make. I just wanted to enjoy life in Australia. Because we had finished the whole block, we had day off the next day as usual. I chatted with the Taiwanese girl Chi-Chi and German guy Stephan outside the backpacker for more inner feelings, which was so nice. We chatted till 1:30 am because all of us did not have to work the next day.

        However, the next morning, I was wakened by the driver and I was informed that I had 10 minutes to get myself prepared for work. I had to substitute someone from the watermelon farm. I hesitated a bit when I knew that I had to work in the legendary farm requiring workers to throw the watermelons. However, I didn’t want to miss the chance to work.

        When we arrived there, we had to make the bins and put them onto the wooden block so that other staffs could fix them. Then we headed on the field and we started to stand in two rows. The front row had to cut the watermelons and we had to pick them and to throw them to the person standing next to us. Finally all the watermelons could be passed to the edge of the field. Thank God, some of the watermelons were smaller so that I could hold them. However, the seeded ones were enormous but I could catch them. We shifted our position from time to time because the guys in the middle of field were the most tired as they had to catch and throw the melons at the same time. I drank so much water during the break and my arms began to feel so sore.

        I did not bring food to the farm because I did not have enough time to prepare for it, so one of the German guys shared his lunch box with me. After the lunch break, here came the worst and hardest part of the day. We had to throw the watermelons up the tractor and they knew that I was too weak to throw them up, so they assigned me to clean the watermelons first and then came back to help. However, I was amazed by the fact that I could throw the huge melons up the tractors, even the seeded ones. The supervisors and farmer were so caring and they asked me to take a rest when they saw me feeling so tired. This eight-hour job today was the best farm experience to me throughout my whole stay in Bundaberg.

        I was so proud of myself because I did not give up although I wanted to. The backpackers working there told me many people left after the first hour of work but they appreciated that I could withstand it for the whole day.

       I went to another farm for weeding on Thursday and later on I found that it was the new Queensland Harvester, but the name was changed now. All of a sudden, all the horrible memories of working there came back. However, it was completely different now because the contractor was changed. The supervisor was very nice and even we did slowly, he wouldn’t hurry us. The weeding job was hard as usual especially under the fierce sun. However, in the past, we had to finish two rows before we could get the water to drink and today we could finish the first lane and get the water. The best part of the job was probably the discovery of cucumber field next to the tomato field we were weeding. We picked a lot of cucumber back to hostel. They were so good for making sandwiches!

        The Gatt’s melon farm re-opened on Friday and Saturday. It was one of my favourite jobs so far in Bundaberg. We worked for nine hours on both days but I did not feel very tired because I loved this job. However, I hurt my hand when I was working on Friday. The blood dyed the white glove red and that looked horrible. However, I had to keep working as the watermelons were coming incessantly. When I was working, I did not feel that much pain.

        I had to go back to cherry tomato farm on Sunday and it was my seventh day work of the week. However, there were only a few people working, so it took a long time for us finish picking the whole block. Again, after the twentieth bucket, I wanted to stop picking. However, if I stopped, it took longer to go back. I must continue to pick. We worked from 6:15 to 3:30pm and despite my laziness for the last few hours, I was able to make 43 buckets.

Week Fourteen (17 – 23 Nov)

        We only worked for two and a half hours in the grape tomato farm on Monday because there were not enough tomatoes again. Luckily in the afternoon, we got another job in the sweet potato farm. Our job was to plant sweet potatoes and it was simple but tiring. We were given some branches of sweet potato places. Then we had to use our four fingers to press it into the soil and covered it with soil. The crazy supervisor did not allow us to wear gloves because he thought the gloves would bother the working process and it would burst anyway. After the four hour work, my hands were full of soil and the pits of the nails were extremely dirty.

        The weather on Tuesday morning was so gloomy and it seemed to rain soon. It was still fine when we started working at 6 am. However, there was very light shower after around one hour and the rain got heavier and heavier. At one moment, it poured and everyone in the farm screamed. By the time, we were still picking the fruits and we were all soaked wet. Actually I would like to continue to work but the supervisor thought it was very dangerous to continue. Therefore we had worked for only two hours and stopped.

        Although we had one full day’s work on Wednesday, we had only worked for 5.5 hours on Thursday and Matt told us that we were going to have a day off on Friday. Fortunately, I was arranged to another farm with two other Koreans to pick sweet potatoes. Despite being bad to the back, it was really simple. What we needed to do was to pick up the sweet potatoes on the field and put into the buckets. We finished our job in 4.5 hours and I picked one sweet potato back hostel. However, I had no idea how to cook it.

        Many friends who were working in the tomato farm left this week. Yutaka, the Japanese guy and Stephan the German guy left on Tuesday and we had a mini farewell dinner with them. Brock left on Saturday and there would be one person less to share the “special lunch” Chocolate Scotch Finger. He would go to Sydney and we promised to meet each other there next year. I started to cook with Chi-Chi, the Taiwanese girl this week and she taught me how to make mashed potato with cream sauce.

        After a day off on Saturday, I was arranged to pick watermelons on Sunday. I was so worried but yet excited because it was a new experience to me and I heard from other people that watermelon picking was so harsh. Some German guys in the hostel told me they had to throw the watermelons. When we arrived at the farm, we were asked by the supervisor to go up to a big tractor with a treadmill. There were five big paper bins on it to place the watermelons. Two people had to pick the watermelons from the ground and place them on to the treadmill. The watermelons would be sent to another person and he had to clean the surface of the melons. Then he had to pass the watermelons to the remaining two people who stood around the bins. The watermelons were placed into the bins until they were filled almost full. Thanks to the treadmill, we didn’t have to throw the watermelons. However, the picking job was still hard due to the heavy weight of the enormous watermelons. Therefore, we shifted our duties after finishing each traitor of watermelons. I was amazed by the fact that we had picked over ten tones of watermelons today. I really love this watermelon picking job and I especially love the part when we ate fresh watermelons together during smoko time.

Week Fifteen (24 – 30 Nov)

        I love my watermelon picking job so much and I wish to continue with it. I asked the reception whether I could stay in that farm and she said it was possible. However, when I checked the work list, I was still in the Nixon’s grape tomato farm. I was a little bit disappointed but I was glad that they were operating after three days of rest. However, on the way to the farm, the farm phoned the driver that we were not working and we were lifted back to the hostel. I was discontent because we had to wake up so early and we had dressed in our dirty work clothes already. I spent the whole day playing with computer and I was able to survive a boring day. I found that I was put to another watermelon farm, the Gatt’s melon farm. I was excited again because I could pick watermelons again.

        The next morning, I had a full breakfast and got prepared for a day’s work. A tractor with treadmill was used in this farm, same as the last one. However, there were 9 bins on the tractor and I was asked to stand inside the bins rather than beside the bins. In addition, the farm looked larger than the previous one. Personally I like this farm even more than the previous one because my colleagues were so fun, especially the Danish guy, Casper and the two pretty French ladies. Casper was arranged to pick the melons, probably because he looked stronger. The two ladies only had to clean the melons coming from the treadmill. We worked fro nine hours but I didn’t feel that tired. I picked two melons back and gave one to the Japanese girls. I had the same job on Wednesday but the time of working was a bit shorter. The guys who worked in the first watermelon farm came into Gatt’s farm to work which made the atmosphere even better. I love this job so much and I thought I could stay there for a week or so more. However, when I checked the work list, I was put to Gatt’s not melon farm but cherry tomato farm which was paid per bucket. I consoled myself that I only had to stay there for one day only.

        On Thursday, our crew of cherry tomato pickers went to the “old farm” and there were so few tomatoes. One bucket was only around 4 dollars after tax and we picked for 4.5 hours today. I was able to pick 20 buckets and the per hour paid was actually higher than hourly job. However I still like hourly job more because it was too competitive and I hate people grabbing tomatoes as if they had never hold one in their hands. There were so local Vietnamese-born Australians who picked incredibly fast. They basically grabbed all the tomatoes and the whole block could be finished so early. I couldn’t talk to people in this job was another part I hate about this job. Friday was a dayoff because there were no more tomatoes in that farm but on Saturday, I had to work on the same place again.

        I did not have much incentive to work in this job although the per-hour rate was higher than my previous jobs. I was so unhappy and tired after the work and I basically did not want to do anything. I finally realized that a job which enabled me to earn a lot was not the most important to me. I preferred a job that I enjoyed and if I enjoyed the job, I would still like it and wouldn’t feel exhausted even I had to work for so long hour. I spent the afternoon shopping in Woolworths with Chih-Chi and we bought a big box of chips near the train station.

        This week was completely my spiritual depression and may be a day off on Sunday was a good chance for me to refresh and re-adjust myself.

        However, there were some delightful events in this week. For example, cooking with the Taiwanese girl Chih-Chi was really nice. I bumped into Yutaka and ,Stephen, who left our hostel last week, in the library one day and they gave me a lift back to the hostel. I cooked Stir-fried Rice noodles with chicken with Chih-Chi and Yutaka joined our dinner. There was a Hong Kong guy came to East Bundy. He was a little bit weird and he was so quiet (may be shy). One day, I asked him if he wanted me to cook him lunch. He praised my spaghetti with cream sauce (can’t believe it).

        I found that I had already concerned less about how much money I could get before end of January and I just wanted to enjoy everyday in Australia. I had understood myself more and had known more about what I really wanted this week. That’s a good sign.

Week Twelve (3 – 9 Nov)

        I thought most people would be so hard working after the announcing of 14 buckets per day (which was impossible). I worked so hard and made twelve buckets but it turned out that people only made seven or eight buckets today. However, I knew I had to work hard for Christ’s sake. In the quiet time recently, I read 1 Peter and God taught me to serve my supervisor well in 2:18, despite his leniency. God also taught me to behave well in front of the foreigners, so I mustn’t be that lazy.

        Tuesday, I miraculously picked 15 buckets, partly because I had to pick some cherry tomatoes which were enormous. Although I told myself not to work too hard after knowing many people were not putting in effort, I thought I had duty to do my best because I got paid hourly. I could never believe I could do more than 14 buckets in a day together with the break. I suddenly remembered one sentence “God could do what people couldn’t do” in the Bible. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, so I began to sweat a lot when working. To me, the hot weather was okay as long as I could earn some money. Unfortunately, the supervisor told us we would have a day off the next day. Actually I preferred earning money to taking a rest.

        I spent my holiday in the library, surfing the Net. It was such a boring day and I definitely prefer working. Thursday’s work was harsh because the tomatoes were so down and Matt told us again the boss was going to kick the slow pickers out of the job. They had been saying that for a week without taking any visible action. That made me rather insecure and somehow lost motivation to work. May be that was the reason why I could only make 9.5 buckets today. However, I guessed it was partly because of the poor tomatoes today since most people picked less than me.

        Friday, I tried to motivate myself more to work harder despite feeling bored about the picking job. The block we picked today was also shitty because the tomatoes were at the bottom again. However, it was better than my first pick of that block as they were at the CORE of the earth. I could not believe I picked the most buckets of tomatoes for the first block. The second block we picked was a bit better than the first one and I sat the buckets and picked them. The whole day I made 11.5 buckets and I was quite satisfied with that. I checked the salary after taking a shower and I found that the stupid ATM machine took 4 dollars for my service charge in total for merely checking my balance. I was damned angry and grumbled to my dorm-mates. I would never check balance using that stupid machine again! 4 dollars is two packs of Doritos!

        We only had to work for 4.5 hours on Saturday because the supervisor claimed that there were no tomatoes. However, my friends and I thought that was not the reason since we found there were so many tomatoes in another block. Probably it was because of salary or management stuffs. In the afternoon I went out with Matthew and did some shopping and I also wanted to check whether I was paid for last week. I had only received $220 which was only for the contract amount for the first two days. I found that we had another day off the next day. The poor management of the farm really made me hate it more. I just wonder why all the farms I worked for had some problems with management. Should I request for a change in the farm? I really didn’t know what to do. I really want to work for many hours a day and seven days a week.

        The next morning, I got up at 5 am in the morning because I had slept too much. I found the lady I met from Hong Kong was sitting in the common area waiting for a transit. I chatted a bit and she told me she had forgotten to bring water. I immediately went to my room and gave her my bottle. Due to the wet floor after the rain, I slipped and broke my one of my slippers on the stairs. I fell and knocked my forehead on the staircase. Fortunately my forehead did not bleed (thanks for my long hair in the front) though my leg and area around my right eye hurt a bit. I felt a little bit dizzy right after my and my arms were so dirty. I washed myself after giving the bottle to her. I grumbled a bit in my heart and recalled the lyrics in song “Cross” sung by Kay – “No good consequence after doing good deeds”.

       I went to church after listening to some music. There was communion today and I didn’t have it for a long time. After the worship, I chatted with other backpackers and had a cup of tea in the common room. I met Ted of the church and he was so kind to drive me back to the backpacker. I was amazed that he told me he broke up with his wife and we had a very nice chat.

Week Thirteen (10 – 16 Nov)

        This week is a rather peaceful week and I was enjoying the farm life. Recently, I could make over 14 buckets on most of the days (I got 18 buckets on one of the days). It was so miraculous when I thought back. Matt, the supervisor one day emphasized to everyone that all the people should be able to make two buckets per hour because of the good fruits. He came to me and said that was no problem for me because my performance was always good. Despite the knee pain and lack of motivation, I forced myself work a bit faster than I wished for that day. I didn’t want to fail him though.

        A Taiwanese girl Chi-Chi entered the hostel and we could always chatted in mandarin. She cooked so well and I decided to ask her to teach me how to cook! I got a day off on Saturday and I spent the whole morning in the library with Brock and Taka. On the way back to the hostel, we met an English guy. He came to us and asked where he could find a working hostel. I introduced our backpacker for him and we led the way. However, on the long way back, he told us he needed to get his car and asked us where the hostel was. I indicated him that it was near the water tower. I thought he might be impatient to walk such a long way, so he left. However, I saw him appeared in the backpacker after two hours.