Good Conversation, Bad Food

Fri night was one of those rare occassions where I was invited out and had an excellent time with mostly people I don't know. It was an after-work drinks thing but none of us work in the same office! Drinks started off and ended the evening well, the danger came in choosing the wrong restaurant.

I think that if a restaurant can't serve 8 mains (including 3 steaks) at the same time, they might as well stop trading.

I waited an extra 20+ minutes for my steak whilst everyone else tried to stretch their meal out so I wouldn't have to eat alone! No offer for nibbles, drinks or anything else. In the end it came but wasn't as good as the others' steaks. Kermadec will never have my custom again!

I did look forward to the creme brulee in the beginning but that would have been an expensive end to a terrible dinner anyway...

Sorry for complaining. I feel better now. It's been a turbulant week. I found out that I will have to do the same thing for work again. For the FORTH time. Changes were made without consultation, popular consent, thought nor planning. It's clear that I value my time more than they value the temp's.

I mean, it's not just about the pay is it? I'm proud of my work, and to have to redo it three times when it's not my fault is almost unbearable.

Oh well. Next week's a new week and four WILL be the final number.

Patience is still a virtue

It's been awhile since I did any physical activity. I'm paying for it today and yesterday! My muscles are screaming and I walk like a robot, going "owowow" everytime I stand up and sit down. My own fault I guess, for not doing it regularly.

Anyway, many of you must be wondering about a conclusion to the Japan saga...well, because it IS a saga, you just have to patient. Just like me. In the next week or so, everyone will send back their forms on whether they're still interested or not. From there, they'll have to redistribute the jobs (obvioulsy to those who are still interested) and notify all the successful people. But even if I don't make it, I am apparently still eligible to go if someone wishes to cancel their contract by Dec...

Gosh no wonder they have to have a decent salary to attract ANYONE with a year's freetime and patience to get there!

Office World 2

There are various ways people occupy themselves to get through the work day. Some people mutter and mumble, talking to themselves in a nonchalant disengaged manner, others look disgruntled, 10years older and have the occasional outnburst of swear words, some go walk abouts, visiting other cubiclees attempting to strike up conversation, whilst others linger constantly in the kitchen or the bathroom, yet there are those who are resigned to attend an endless stream of meetings, appearing briefly to gasp for air before disappearing being swallowed by fantastically named identical rooms again...

So all in all, there is a very small proportion of people who actually do some work, resists going insane and bothering others, still yet fewer who manage to go home happy to return again

Why is office life that difficult?
Is it that difficult or just my perception is warped by this particular company?

I'm glad to say that I'm in the last category...though, for how long...?

Life's Lesson No.2

Patience is a virtue.

Or so they say. Just received word back from the Japanese people that I'm on a reserve list, and that they'll get back to me about a position by December 2010 - DECEMBER??? Now, let's just back up a bit and look at the timeline:

Nov 22 - arrive back in Auckland
Nov 24 - Starts writing the application and preparing all necessary documents
Dec 3 - Submits application
Feb 4 - Went for interview
April 10 - receives letter on reserve list
July 28 - Suppose to leave for Japan (if you got the job)
Aug 1-3 - Orientation in Japan
Aug 4 - Arrives at teaching destination
.
.
.
Dec sometime - Will tell me IF I have a job or not. If not, ops, bad luck for waiting around for a year

Does this all sound fishy to anyone? Especially since I haven't received any information on important things like salary, accommodation etc

Patience is a virtue up to a point, right?

An Eventful Week

So much for the end to the long wait for the job in Japan. It appears that I'm now on a reserve list which means someone has to be bumped off in order for me to get a placing. Hopefully there are lots of impatient people ahead of me, and in the 4 months they've had to wait they've already gotten a pretty good job and decide not to go. Anyway more waiting ahead!

I have survived a pretty intensive week with the extended family now gone, I'm back to my "routine". In the end, I did get a nicely written card of thanks for...
- taking them to the beach
- making them yummy food
- 'beating' them for their own good (I did not)
- Teaching them manners (I had to blackmail them by saying they'll never get second dates with their table manners, and not even a first date with their lack of social grace :p)
- Looking after them

So in the end, it wasn't bad at all, and everyone may even have had a little fun in the process...

Office World 1

Whose idea was it to have these open offices with semi partitians anyway? You only get a false sense of privacy and you're affected by noise and smells etc that you won't get with traditional offices. What's interesting about being a temp is that you get to hear all the office gossip without being involved in any of the political battles!

Lately, I've been feeling like a meerkat (Suricata suricatta), bobbing up above the partitions at random intervals to check out the environment. Hehe you can imagine a scene where everyone has head down working away and suddenly a loud noise and all those heads pop up and look around suspiciously...it's just like going to the zoo - except you DO get to feed the animals!

:-)

YAY for Snail Mail

There is truely something magical about hand written letters. I will treasure each and every one for ever!! Especially since it's now a really rare thing indeed. I was in a Toastmasters Area Conference last year and there was a speaker who gave a speech on the art of letter writing; using fine instruments, quality paper and (preferably) neat handwriting....

~*~ Life is just that much more wonderful right now ~*~

And Yes, if you have recently sent me a letter from Finland, I have just received it :-) Thank you very much! I look forward to replying it though I do not have your Finnish postal address.

The Shocking State of Things

I have my cousin and his two boys age 11 and 7 staying over the Easter holidays. It's lovely to have family over since my family is all over the world so it is really hard to get together. I even suggested a full big family reunion in Jan 2012, so that everyone has enough time to save up and get all the holidays etc.
Now for those of you who know me knows that I'm not a fan of kids or babies, and these two were exceptionally good - until their father is out of the room! Gosh, the moment his back is turned, the things that come out of their mouth is unbeliveable. Not only was there general disrespect like calling me fat and asking personal questions, the swear words came rolling out, as well as sexual terms which they obviously learnt from their friends at school, racist and homophobic remarks. I also learnt first hand why TV/movies etc aren't good for kids - it's because they can't distinguish what's "pretend" and what's real life. They believe whatever TV/movies present.

Actual conversation on day 2:
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No, we broke up"
"So did you have a boyfriend?"
"Yes that's right"
"So did you have sex"
"Um...we were living together"
"EWWW so you did. How many times"
"None of your business"

Day 3
"Do you have a husband" - asks the same 11year old
"No. You know I don't"
"Oh yeh. Cos otherwise you would have a different surname"
"um, no, if I did, I would have introduced you"
"Nah, you'll have a different surname"
"Why?
"Cos you have to change your name when you marry"
"No I don't"
"Yes you do"
"Why do I?"
"So it shows that you're the man's property"
"...(getting angrier)...why? NO way. That's crazy. I don't HAVE to change my name. Why do I HAVE to?"
"Cos men are more important than women!"
"...(loses it)...where the hell did you get that idea from?"
"Well cos on TV, it's all men, and they do actions"
"That's not real life is it? Since when have you become an actor and are you now starring in a film?"
"...."

Day 3 later at the dinner table
"Haha I own you" -points finger at me
"wha??"
"You're a loser cos I kicked your arse so now I own you"
"What? What did I lose at and you can't own me"
"I've just decided I do"
"I refuse. And I just decided that I own you - do you even know what that means?"
"You can't refuse. Only I can refuse"

What can we do??? What can I do??? I guess it's harder for kids these days with so much bombardment of media available at their fingertips, it's hard too for parents to keep track of what gets to influence their kids. I really don't know how kids can become decent adults without respect for other people, feeling a sense of entitlement, that they're the centre of the universe, and without consideration for other people.

It's hard for me to believe that kids are our future. I really hope that there is a turning point somewhere otherwise the future's going to be pretty bleak...

Would Jesus be happy to be resurrected in this day and age?