This post has been a long time coming. I would like to give my good friend, Libby, a special shoutout for always having such a sad face on her when there is no new posts. I hope this, in time, will make up for the lack of posts.
Holy crap I got a job!
Backstory:
I spent 3 – 4 weeks enjoying unemployment. I slept in a lot. Found Guy and I an apartment. Settled into the apartment. Got things set up. Cooked. Watched Hulu. Slept in. Biked. Lots of biking. Lots of trips to the local library and to the grocery store where I would stare at the shelves of brands I don’t know. Then the money started to run out. I needed a job. I started to apply to almost everything I could, anything that sounded remotely interesting. But not once did I get any kind of callback for an interview. I was frustrated. Guy could tell so he recommended a couple of recruiting offices he used when he was job hunting awhile back. I signed up with two recruiters. With one I went into their office on a Tuesday. That Wednesday she said I had an interview on Thursday. I went to the interview which lasted MAYBE 12 minutes and I thought I bombed. Three hours later on that same Thursday I was told I was hired and started Monday. Like whoa. Made my head spin.
So where am I? What am I doing? Something completely and utterly different from SFDS. I am working 40hrs/week at an insurance company. My job is to schedule times for building assessments for properties that have been damaged in the Canterbury Earthquakes several years ago. I call people, make a time, put it onto quantity surveyor and loss adjustors calendars. That’s it. It is super easy. The atmosphere is pleasant. Several other temps on my team from all over the world. Flexible hours. I can listen to music on my ipod. It is only a 12 minute bike ride from my flat!
I like being able to have an income source and I am coming up on my first month of having all bills basically paid off. My weekday nights have become very boring but absolutely wonderful. Guy and I will go to the gym when we can, watch episodes of Community or True Blood, make yummy dinners, go to bed before 10pm. It is super wonderful to have someone to do the boring stuff with. And I am getting better (I think) at cooking! I made a curry from scratch the other day. Chicken with mash and peas last night. Cottage pie. Stir fry. Soups. Baked veg, mostly broccoli. Pork fried rice from a leftover pork roast.
I am happy to have more people to talk to in my daily life even if we are not talking about anything too interesting. Several of the girls on my team are in my position of just moving to ChCh (Christchurch) on a visa and are trying to make some monies. Most of the others are Kiwi’s from all over who are helping out with this temporary project of getting the earthquake damaged houses in check. They help me learn lots of new NZ stuff, here are some examples:
-“Quay” is pronounced “KEE” not “K-WAY”
-“Madras” (a street) is “Mad-Rass” not “Ma-Drus”
-“Speights” (a beer) is “Spa-Eights” not “Spa-Ights”
-“Good as gold” is an awesome phrase and can be used in most every situation
-Morning tea happens at 10:30am, be there
-Tuesdays are free-fruit days
-Tea is consumed more than coffee here
-Insurance call centers are noisy but amusing
-------I have learned that if a fridge breaks down the food inside is insured, assuming you have receipts for the food
-------If you have one ring covered you can only use the money to buy one ring, not two
-------Old people put in a lot of claims causing the claims handler to yell, loudly
-My eating cereal in my yogurt is weird but an awesome idea
-Coconut water is a starting trend
-Irish people have a tough time saying the word “thermal”
This job is supposed to end of November (also known as Thanksgiving) or around Christmas (also known as the Winter holiday break). I will be sad to see it go but if they asked I probably would not stay. Insurance is boring.
I miss my old work community. The Day School is all I have ever known as an office environment. I guess you don’t realize how good you have it until you are experiencing something else somewhere else. I often spend time thinking about what the kids are doing, wondering if I will remember any names when I visit, wondering if anybody will remember my name when I visit, and when I will visit. Many Day School people skyped me the other day and it warmed my heart to know how many people still miss me.
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