alice

Today I went back to work. I have my old job back for the summer and I’m very happy about it. It was so nice to be back, with the same lovely people. I chatted to everyone and it felt as though I’d never even been away for 3 months. J and I have agreed to only speak in German from now on, and I’ve been given the task of teaching 3 people Italian.

It chucked it down all afternoon and I walked back in the rain. I love the rain. Today it reminded me of being in Zürich, when T and I were caught in a thunderstorm in the middle of the city centre. It was raining harder than I’ve ever seen it before. Within seconds we were soaked to the skin. At first we huddled under a canopy on a bridge and watched the rain. After 10 minutes it showed no signs of relenting, so we decided to screw it and go on. Then he turned to me and said something I’ll never forget.

He said,

It just goes to show who’s an optimist and who’s not. It’s only a bit of rain and it might not stop for hours. Why bother wasting time waiting?

I’ve ended up completely loving my job.

Really and honestly and completely. I don’t want to leave.

I’ve learnt that things always work out. Maybe in a different way to how you imagined it, or how you think you wanted it, but it’s always for the best. Even when things go wrong, it’s for the best. It didn’t happen any other way, and it never will again. It’s been and gone, so I think just make the most of what’s happened, and think of it in a good light. I really have found that everything always works out, you know. Everything that scares me and worries me and wastes my time because I spend ages thinking, oh god, how do I do that?. It all works out. And it’s not because I’m a ‘lucky’ person, and everything always goes right for me. It’s because I want it to work out, and I believe it does. That’s who I am as a person. Plenty of stuff doesn’t go exactly as I would perhaps like it to, but it doesn’t really piss me off or get me angry, because I don’t like being angry and I don’t like feeling pissed off.

Stuff just happens, and I kinda believe everything happens for a reason. When something goes wrong, it forces you to find a solution and resolve the situation.

Enough of the philosophical shit haha.

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Lol, I just got this email at work, hope you enjoy it as much as I did

____________________________

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, “my car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?”

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, “we can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.”

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.

The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car.

That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks reply, “we can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.”

The man says, “all right, all right. I’m dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was, is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?”

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I do like my job. It’s straight-forward and quite easy, well-paid and it’s giving me a great sense of the world of full-time employment. And I’ll get a good reference from them for sure, for the future. Everyone in my departments is really friendly and helpful, and it’s great to work for such a huge and successful company such as this.

This was a great opportunity for me and I am glad I took it. I think I would have regretted passing up this chance. So I try not to complain, because at the end of the day, the job is just that, a job, to earn money so I can afford to do what I really want to do: go travelling.

But at the same time, I could not face working here everyday for the rest of my life. I like this job for the minute, because I know it’s only temporary - I will have racked up 7 months work ‘experience’ from here, which is great. But the trouble with my job is that it’s not specialised. I don’t feel like I’m really needed for this. Anyone could do it. There’s no specialist skills involved which mean that I’m really the right person for this role. I mean, I am good at this job: you need to be organised and punctual and able to manage and sort out things. I can do all those easily and with skill. I am an efficient and hard-working person, and my managers have told me they’re glad I’m around as I’m really useful and helpful. Which although that is always nice to hear, there is more to life than arranging inter-departmental meetings and co-ordinating spreadsheets and databases. There really is.

In the future I want a job where I am hired for my skills and abilities. I want to have actual responsibilities for a company which relies on me to get work done. My current job is only temporary, so it’s all good. I do like it for the moment. So I can’t, and won’t, complain

Today has been amazing. I’m not even sure why so I am going to compile a list to work out the good things which make me feel so good.

1. Work was fun. I mean actually fun. I don’t care if that sounds sad, I felt AMAZING at work. I feel so comfortable among my colleagues now. I had some great conversations with my bosses. I got a lot of work done. Had a MINT time.
2. I bought new boots.
3. I posted photos to Ted.
4. All the new stuff for my skin I bought really works! Skin is getting clearer and clearer.
5. Similarly, the Body Shop does AMAZING make-up. I like their pale face base. I like the way it makes my skin look.
6. I feel good about myself.
7. I tried on skirts and decided I liked them again.
8. I have been out for a meal and had some wine mmm.
9. I like text messages.
10. It’s the weekend!
11. I feel a bit sick and I have stomach cramps but I still feel like smiling.
12. I also have new eyeliner.
13. I have lots of yummy photos to look at in my room. I mean prints of photos
14. I feel really good about myself.
15. Uka got his Wispa bar I sent him!
16. I heard a German person in town and UNDERSTOOD them.
17. Two weeks today til London baby.
18. I have green tea right now mmm.
19. I’m actually not feeling tired for once.
20. Infact I feel motivated. Like really eager to do stuff. I feel keen.

Go me.

Tomorrow at work is apparantly Email Free. So no emails sent, none received.

I find it ironic that the way they advertise this is, yes, via email.

Ik leer nu Nederlands.

Including starting one job, leaving another, being tired, yummy muffins and camera neglection

Argh so much has happened and I’ve been so busyyy. Where do I begin?

I finally have plans for the gap year I do still plan to go abroad at some point, but for now… I’m an office girl

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I’m not sure why I felt like writing that in German. But yes I have a job now yay. I went in this afternoon for some introductions and a bit of basic training, and then I start properly on Monday morning! I’m excited!

The job is working for the Halifax at their Dean Clough quarters, where I do admin type work in a team of people. It’s a bit of a fluke how I managed to land myself the job…

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I should have been more organised and got my gap year sorted ages ago. I guess it’s easy to say that though, in all honesty I have been looking for months now for something to do during my gap year, I just should have put a bit more effort in.

I wanted to go to France and work there for a year. This would improve my French no end but also give me independence. Plus I want to move away. I just kept putting off sorting myself something out. I applied to Disneyland Paris to work there but got no reply (bastards, hire me!). I just want something to do, I can’t face just staying at home doing nothing for a year.

I’ve been looking into various organisations and schemes and things on the net recently, and have a few info packs about various courses. I’m too late to apply for anything starting this autumn, so I reckon the plan is from now on (well, starting sometime in September) to find a full-time job in town working from now til Xmas, then after the New Year I’ll hopefully go and work abroad. Must apply to these organisations.

I could probably hook up a job in China for the New Year as well, and go teach there like my brother did. But it’s so so so far away. France is nice and close.

I just wish I had something organised.

Mmm and today begins my week of being in charge at work. I don’t normally do lunchtimes during the week, but now I’ve finished college/exams I told my boss I can do any time, any day, for shifts so I’m working everyday this week (lol) during the lunch shift. It’s pretty cool ‘cos it’s not usually that busy, and I get to really sort out stuff at work, which badly needed doing. I wrote a lot of post-it notes for all the newer staff with my helpful notes on what to do with stuff/in certain situations. Haha I know you’re thinking, what a geek, but yeah new staff who don’t do stuff right is annoying! But in a similar way, it’s up to me and the others to train them I guess.

But yeah anyway, we had a fair few people in today, must have heard I was working haha. Um no but really, it was quite good. A group of people from the Halifax came in, as I was on the bar today I got to have good chats with customers. That’s what I love about working there, you get really nice people (and the occasional drunken fool, but we can ignore them) who you can have really good conversations with, if it’s quite quiet.

After I closed and locked up I went into the function suite to set up for the wedding party on Saturday. I ran out of forks halfway through, so it’s not finished yet, I left a note for Jeb telling him I ran out and that I’d finish it tomorrow. Dom and I sat at the bar for a while while he drank a pint of milk (”it’s good for your bones!”, haha bless). Eventually at 3:30 I left to come home. It wasn’t raining so I walked it.

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