in form of a demotion? who would have thought! but let me start from the beginning.
it is may 15 and today is my 32nd day in henley - making it a whole month in england. i have to say there were days were i wasnt sure if i was ever gonna last this long. :) not to give excuses or anything but my predecessor only lasted a month as well and my colleague's predecessor only lasted about 3 weeks. We call them 'the lucky ones' because they got away.
For today let me introduce you to my two colleagues, my fellow sufferers.. ;)
First, there is Franziska, 23, from Northern Germany. sweet girl, great co-worker, very professional and efficient at work, kinda reminds me of myself at that age and the best thing is we have a very similar taste in food - so after traveling the world for i-dont-know-how-many-years i have finally found someone i can actually share a plate with!
Like the other night we went out for dinner together and were both trying to decide between two dishes as it turned out they were the same ones so we simply ordered one each and shared them and the same thing went for the side orders. So cool! And makes eating out soo much more fun.
Then there is Sabrina, 26, from Eastern Germany. Very nice girl as well, and a bit of a travel buff like myself..., but other than that i or we cant really get a read on her. i mean, we know things about her like that she is sort of a buddhist (its more like her philosophy rather than her religion) and she's a vegan - sometimes. but you know, those are just facts, they dont really tell as who she is and that's exactly where we are having a hard time trying to figuring her out.
But now let me tell you about my demotion. Not that i was surprised really. Basically it's just that i was downgraded to regular Receptionist. Which, truth be told, is what i applied for in the first place. i knew, that i wasn't/ am not ready to be a Head Receptionist. I mean, I'm only just beginning to find my professional feet again. I guess, when they asked me about being Head Receptionist, my predecessor had just handed in her notice and so they thought they might as well give it a try.
I am telling you, even though it naturally stung a little to be put down a paygrade, i mainly felt reliefed and at least one chip less on my shoulder. :D
enough for today.
i hope you are doing well wherever you are and may HIS light shine brightly upon you this day.
in his grace
hanna
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Monday, May 02, 2011
Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England
my new place of residence - at least for now. I've been here close to three weeks for now and it already feels like forever. Not a good sign. :)
Don't get me wrong. The town is lovely. Just big enough that it doesn't have me running screaming for the hills or the next big city in my case. lol.
And I've even been blessed with unusually good weather both for England and for this season. Still I can tell in my gut that this is not the place for me. and i was sooo much looking forward to it.
But there is no church to speak of, no chance of developing any kind of social life outside of work. Which incidentally is exactly what I'm looking for.
At least work is not so bad anymore. The first couple of days were a nightmare where I honestly I thought I was never gonna get the hang of things. But once again I managed to land in a place where they dont proberly train but just let you sort of figure it out by yourself and hope for the best - so to say.
And I have to say its not very encouraging to find out that your the replacement of the replacement's replacement or something like this. My entire department has had 2 or 3 complete turnovers within the last couple of months!! Meaning none of us have been here longer than 3 weeks and now we are supposed to train and teach each other. :)
But you know the amazing thing is that even, in spite or maybe it is because of all this I get to rediscover Gods goodness, grace and mercy everyday anew!
Of course it doesnt always feel or seem that way. Take yesterday for example. After having worked my morning shift from 7:00-15:00 I was gonna treat myself to a nice Sunday Afternoon Tea and en route buy a new speaker-headphone to skype home that night. No such luck. The first store closed shop right infront of my nose and the next two stores didnt have it, but only referred me to the first stop. Than when I came to the Tea place, I first had to wait forever for anyone to wait on me only to find out they were fresh out of scones and thus were unable to serve me the long-awaited Afternoon Tea!
Don't get me wrong. The town is lovely. Just big enough that it doesn't have me running screaming for the hills or the next big city in my case. lol.
And I've even been blessed with unusually good weather both for England and for this season. Still I can tell in my gut that this is not the place for me. and i was sooo much looking forward to it.
But there is no church to speak of, no chance of developing any kind of social life outside of work. Which incidentally is exactly what I'm looking for.
At least work is not so bad anymore. The first couple of days were a nightmare where I honestly I thought I was never gonna get the hang of things. But once again I managed to land in a place where they dont proberly train but just let you sort of figure it out by yourself and hope for the best - so to say.
And I have to say its not very encouraging to find out that your the replacement of the replacement's replacement or something like this. My entire department has had 2 or 3 complete turnovers within the last couple of months!! Meaning none of us have been here longer than 3 weeks and now we are supposed to train and teach each other. :)
But you know the amazing thing is that even, in spite or maybe it is because of all this I get to rediscover Gods goodness, grace and mercy everyday anew!
Of course it doesnt always feel or seem that way. Take yesterday for example. After having worked my morning shift from 7:00-15:00 I was gonna treat myself to a nice Sunday Afternoon Tea and en route buy a new speaker-headphone to skype home that night. No such luck. The first store closed shop right infront of my nose and the next two stores didnt have it, but only referred me to the first stop. Than when I came to the Tea place, I first had to wait forever for anyone to wait on me only to find out they were fresh out of scones and thus were unable to serve me the long-awaited Afternoon Tea!
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