Here I am in a beautiful city, having a once in a lifetime experience and all I want to write about is the cleaning crew that services our apartment! I am fascinated by how incredibly casual things can be here. So far I have seen an older woman, an older man and two teenagers in various teams at various times. Last week was by far the best cleaning experience thus far excepting, of course, the horrible smell and the necessity of rewashing our floors.
In all the times that the crew has come, the older woman and the older man always seem to be the most thorough and do the best job. I was very excited Friday when they showed up to clean and it was both of the older folks. I was expecting a fabulous cleaning (and I didn't even care if I had to wipe the floors down after they left).
He went into the bedroom and started making the bed with fresh linen. She went into the bathroom and cleaned the toilet and sink - then her phone rang and she went in the hallway to answer it. The guy finished making the bed, thanked me and then left. They didn't dust, clean the kitchen, clean the floors, vacuum or refill any of my detergent packets. Nothing. Just fresh sheets and a clean toilet.
The part that kills me is that we are spending a small fortune here every week and I know a substantial amount of the price is there because of this great "service" that we receive.
At least I didn't have to rinse the floors down this week though!
In all the times that the crew has come, the older woman and the older man always seem to be the most thorough and do the best job. I was very excited Friday when they showed up to clean and it was both of the older folks. I was expecting a fabulous cleaning (and I didn't even care if I had to wipe the floors down after they left).
He went into the bedroom and started making the bed with fresh linen. She went into the bathroom and cleaned the toilet and sink - then her phone rang and she went in the hallway to answer it. The guy finished making the bed, thanked me and then left. They didn't dust, clean the kitchen, clean the floors, vacuum or refill any of my detergent packets. Nothing. Just fresh sheets and a clean toilet.
The part that kills me is that we are spending a small fortune here every week and I know a substantial amount of the price is there because of this great "service" that we receive.
At least I didn't have to rinse the floors down this week though!
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Hi Mimi, I'm just catching up with your week, as I haven't had a chance to drop in before now. All in all, I think you are settling in here really well; it sounds like you have a love affair with ole Sydney Town! Your comments and photos remind me of the last time I was there about 5 years ago. We also walked around the Rocks area, and were impressed by both the Coat Hanger (bridge) and the Opera House.
You may not know this, but when white people first came to Australia, they were just as amazed as you at the quality of the light here. The Heidelberg School of artists were among the first to try and capture the light in their paintings. When you live here you take it for granted, but I remember being overseas in various countries and thinking 'their sky looks washed out', even on a fine sunny day.
As for the cleaning service, well if it was me, I would do something about that. You don't have to come the heavy; just make polite inquiries with whoever is in charge of those apartments, as to what service you are supposed to actually receive, in comparison to what you have got so far. I worked in home care for aged and disabled people, and I was disgusted at what some of my working colleagues DIDN'T do...clean under beds, brush down spider webs, and so on. Some people are just plain lazy.
Hey Gina, I think if this had happened our first or second week I would have said something to someone about it; but we are out of here in 4 days and I just don't care enough at this point.... Oh well, from here on out I will have to clean up after myself so I shouldn't complain!
Yea, the light here really is incredible - much much stronger. My weak American sunnies really aren't cutting it here - more fashion than function... I'm going to have to pick up a pair that really works!