I am wondering if I should go.
Silly question. However, I am going to Berlin with Fran in early November and that will cost money. And Laura doesn't want to go with me to see the Monkeys because she doesn't like them that much.
And there's a circus performance that I want to go to called Traces, which is on later this month. And I should go see a gallery or two before Winter starts officially, and the line ups aren't that long.
Bah. Decisions, decisions.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
it just dropped like 10 degrees overnight here
just thought you should know.
Looking for the feeling in my fingers.
If it's not raining, it constantly looks like it's going to rain, or slightly drizzling in 80% humidity, or it's windy as hell.
Now this.
Ungrateful little city.
Looking for the feeling in my fingers.
If it's not raining, it constantly looks like it's going to rain, or slightly drizzling in 80% humidity, or it's windy as hell.
Now this.
Ungrateful little city.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
It's true, I am cocky and pretentious...
... I updated my facebook workplace information.
I haven't had that information on there for nearly 2 years, but I thought it was time to become a real marketing wanker and put it up there. (Just in case anyone I hated from highschool or otherwise in life infiltrates all my security measures on facebook, and happens to get nosey. Honestly. It's the only reason. Then again isn't that the only reason facebook exists? Why deny it?)
A little early to be getting cocky about my new role seeing as I haven't even passed the probation period yet- I just finished my 2nd day actually - but hey, who am I to downplay my own awesomeness??Just basking in the wonder that is myself at the moment. You can find me high fiving myself in front of my bathroom mirror.
Ironically, apart from a police clearance form from Australia to prove that I'm not in The Netherlands while I am on parole, my boss also needs to see a copy of my degree. Well, seeing as it is in a frame in the spare bedroom in my sister's house in Australia, I think the latter is going to be hard to get. My next alternative is actually an academic transcript. OUCH.
I don't think that's a document he really needs to see. From memory it went a little like this...
Business Finance - 6 Withdraw Fail
Management Accounting - 33 Fail
Micro Economics ( 1st time around) - 48 Fail
Micro Economics ( 2nd time around ) - 52 Pass
Arts and Cultures of Asia - 85 High Distinction
You get the idea.
I was looking around in my (somewhat sterile, overly corporate) surroundings today, and I had to laugh on the inside. If you had told me six years ago that I would actually use my degree or that it would get me somewhere today, I would have just stuffed another gravy covered chip from the University Refectory into my mouth and asked you what time the Unibar opened.
Who gets an "Only English required" Marketing Job in the Global HQ of a Multi National Corporation based in Europe in the middle of a Global Economic Crisis?
Me, that's who.
I rock.
I haven't had that information on there for nearly 2 years, but I thought it was time to become a real marketing wanker and put it up there. (Just in case anyone I hated from highschool or otherwise in life infiltrates all my security measures on facebook, and happens to get nosey. Honestly. It's the only reason. Then again isn't that the only reason facebook exists? Why deny it?)
A little early to be getting cocky about my new role seeing as I haven't even passed the probation period yet- I just finished my 2nd day actually - but hey, who am I to downplay my own awesomeness??Just basking in the wonder that is myself at the moment. You can find me high fiving myself in front of my bathroom mirror.
Ironically, apart from a police clearance form from Australia to prove that I'm not in The Netherlands while I am on parole, my boss also needs to see a copy of my degree. Well, seeing as it is in a frame in the spare bedroom in my sister's house in Australia, I think the latter is going to be hard to get. My next alternative is actually an academic transcript. OUCH.
I don't think that's a document he really needs to see. From memory it went a little like this...
Business Finance - 6 Withdraw Fail
Management Accounting - 33 Fail
Micro Economics ( 1st time around) - 48 Fail
Micro Economics ( 2nd time around ) - 52 Pass
Arts and Cultures of Asia - 85 High Distinction
You get the idea.
I was looking around in my (somewhat sterile, overly corporate) surroundings today, and I had to laugh on the inside. If you had told me six years ago that I would actually use my degree or that it would get me somewhere today, I would have just stuffed another gravy covered chip from the University Refectory into my mouth and asked you what time the Unibar opened.
Who gets an "Only English required" Marketing Job in the Global HQ of a Multi National Corporation based in Europe in the middle of a Global Economic Crisis?
Me, that's who.
I rock.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Three Amigos surprise visit
Best surprise ever when Luke, Sar and George came to visit me in Amsterdam on the whim... Well, they only announced it 24 hrs before they arrived, despite trying to tease me on facebook for 2 days beforehand...
I don't have any pics of the visit because I keep procrastinating buying a new SD card!!
But here are some George took.
Photos from George's facebook profile.
I don't have any pics of the visit because I keep procrastinating buying a new SD card!!
But here are some George took.
Photos from George's facebook profile.
The.Next.Test -
First day in the office went well.
Apart from waking up feeling like my throat was filled with sand, the morning went well.
The company has 700 people in this particular building, made up of 2 global head offices for a couple of the company's brands. There are a LOT of people that work there.
And so many funny little things that really, really threw me off balance.
Being who I am, it's no wonder that most things I am going to mention today are all food related.
Like;
- working for a company which has a cafe AND a restaurant in their complex; You load up your staff card with money and the restaurant (more like an up scale cafeteria) serves really nice appetisers, mains, pasta, soups, desserts, miniature sandwich provisions ( like proscuitto and swiss cheese and boiled eggs and freshly baked bread rolls etc) Soup is like 65 euro cents. I had a really nice hot meal of grilled turkey, steamed beans and mash potato for 3 Euros today. I don't think I could make my lunch for any cheaper than that!!! No need to haul lunch around then!
Mind you, there isn't much around to eat out at, in this office complex. But it sort of blew my mind - it reminded me of something I read in "The Devil wears Prada", where the main character works for publishing house in New York, and all the girls that work in the fashion magazines hang out by the salad bar painstakingly reading the calorie counter on the menus, and then run to the bathrooms after eating. But I digress. The point moreso was to discuss how new it was to me, and how kinda cool at the same time.
I should mention at this point that the dutch are infamous for not liking two hot meals a day - dinner should be the only hot meal. I have been told this 3 times now... AND not only that ... people told me that cheese sandwiches are their favourite lunch and breakfast options. No condiments. No salad. No meat. Just bread. And sliced cheese. I thought it was a myth. The myth was sustained today as I sat and ate with my colleagues.
Will you never cease to amaze me Dutchies?
- The 'cup of soup machine' in the coffee room. Yes. You heard it here first. Free cup of soup. Don't all rush over here at once people....
- The industrial coffee making machine in the coffee room, where you can choose from approximately 26 different types of beverages, including how strong you want the coffee, and the amount of sugars you want from pushing various buttons.
- The fact that noone has a "personal" mug, and everyone uses and abuses miniature paper cups all day. It's disturbing. I feel like crying for the earth when I look at my colleagues wastepaper basket.
- The standard etiquette that you can't make a coffee for yourself without asking the whole room if they want one. And possibly the room next door too. Seriously.
- Working with an agency that's based in London.
- Getting lost in this monstrosity of a building that has a skywalk, and is oddly circular and rectangular at the same time.
- Being surrounded by expats - I am almost sure I heard an Australian accent today in the restaurant.
- The heating in my building not working, and me wearing 3 layers of tops, and freezing all day.
- The fact that I might have been given a blackberry today to my dismay and shock, but luckily, I'm not getting one. Thank God. It would have been "Goodbye life, hello Crack-berry addiction." So not why I moved here.
On another note, I have made the major decision to seek a thermos, so I can drink tea on the train to work.
Today was the worst day in terms of weather that I have ever seen in Amsterdam. So wet. So grey. So foggy. I'm upset. It's finally here. The bad weather. My flatmate was telling me tonight to get used to it. And to purchase a rain poncho to cycle in.
I'm sorry, I don't DO "rain ponchos" unless I am super drunk and watching live sports. So in other words, I just don't do them. I told her my new job pays for an unlimited public transport card. I am doing the public transport thing all winter. She looked at me and laughed. I was concerned and confused at such a reaction.
Apart from waking up feeling like my throat was filled with sand, the morning went well.
The company has 700 people in this particular building, made up of 2 global head offices for a couple of the company's brands. There are a LOT of people that work there.
And so many funny little things that really, really threw me off balance.
Being who I am, it's no wonder that most things I am going to mention today are all food related.
Like;
- working for a company which has a cafe AND a restaurant in their complex; You load up your staff card with money and the restaurant (more like an up scale cafeteria) serves really nice appetisers, mains, pasta, soups, desserts, miniature sandwich provisions ( like proscuitto and swiss cheese and boiled eggs and freshly baked bread rolls etc) Soup is like 65 euro cents. I had a really nice hot meal of grilled turkey, steamed beans and mash potato for 3 Euros today. I don't think I could make my lunch for any cheaper than that!!! No need to haul lunch around then!
Mind you, there isn't much around to eat out at, in this office complex. But it sort of blew my mind - it reminded me of something I read in "The Devil wears Prada", where the main character works for publishing house in New York, and all the girls that work in the fashion magazines hang out by the salad bar painstakingly reading the calorie counter on the menus, and then run to the bathrooms after eating. But I digress. The point moreso was to discuss how new it was to me, and how kinda cool at the same time.
I should mention at this point that the dutch are infamous for not liking two hot meals a day - dinner should be the only hot meal. I have been told this 3 times now... AND not only that ... people told me that cheese sandwiches are their favourite lunch and breakfast options. No condiments. No salad. No meat. Just bread. And sliced cheese. I thought it was a myth. The myth was sustained today as I sat and ate with my colleagues.
Will you never cease to amaze me Dutchies?
- The 'cup of soup machine' in the coffee room. Yes. You heard it here first. Free cup of soup. Don't all rush over here at once people....
- The industrial coffee making machine in the coffee room, where you can choose from approximately 26 different types of beverages, including how strong you want the coffee, and the amount of sugars you want from pushing various buttons.
- The fact that noone has a "personal" mug, and everyone uses and abuses miniature paper cups all day. It's disturbing. I feel like crying for the earth when I look at my colleagues wastepaper basket.
- The standard etiquette that you can't make a coffee for yourself without asking the whole room if they want one. And possibly the room next door too. Seriously.
- Working with an agency that's based in London.
- Getting lost in this monstrosity of a building that has a skywalk, and is oddly circular and rectangular at the same time.
- Being surrounded by expats - I am almost sure I heard an Australian accent today in the restaurant.
- The heating in my building not working, and me wearing 3 layers of tops, and freezing all day.
- The fact that I might have been given a blackberry today to my dismay and shock, but luckily, I'm not getting one. Thank God. It would have been "Goodbye life, hello Crack-berry addiction." So not why I moved here.
On another note, I have made the major decision to seek a thermos, so I can drink tea on the train to work.
Today was the worst day in terms of weather that I have ever seen in Amsterdam. So wet. So grey. So foggy. I'm upset. It's finally here. The bad weather. My flatmate was telling me tonight to get used to it. And to purchase a rain poncho to cycle in.
I'm sorry, I don't DO "rain ponchos" unless I am super drunk and watching live sports. So in other words, I just don't do them. I told her my new job pays for an unlimited public transport card. I am doing the public transport thing all winter. She looked at me and laughed. I was concerned and confused at such a reaction.
Beginnings and Ends
Tomorrow I start my first day at the new job in Marketing.
On Saturday night, it was my last shift at the restaurant.
Weird to think that I was dreading my first day at the restaurant/bar 2 weeks ago, but I was quite sad to leave.
Working full time in a restaurant (40+ hours a week), I got to know all the different people in the kitchen, bar, and on the floor, and I really really liked them. It's such a social atmosphere, everyone is young, and because of the crazy hours, you never know who you are going to be knocking off from work with, and one knock off drink turns into two, or three, and the next minute you are out at dinner and cycling around the city together, and good friends, and you just met that morning on the breakfast shift. There are so many staff there, I started just calling people by their nationalities because I got so confused at first. Head Chef was "Scottish", Sous Chef was "Irish", Sous Chef 2 was "Polish", Bar dude 1 was "Gay and sweet Thai dude"... you get the idea - it worked out because generally they would just call me "The little Asian Aussie." Or "Food runner". Or Gina. Or Rina.
I literally just started learning everyone's names, and then even tonight, I swung past, and saw faces I hadn't worked with yet.
The hospitality lifestyle is definitely conducive to a party lifestyle. I felt like I had to leave the job just to put some sense of routine and normality back into my life. I mean, I was loving the lifestyle a little bit too much I think, to the point where I had to fit my washing, grocery shopping, cooking and sleeping AROUND the partying. ( And it never usually worked out. The continuous late nights, and bright lights were really becoming an issue for the household chores.)
The thing is, logic had to win to some extent. The restaurant was starting to get a bit quiet now that tourist season is over, and the autumn has come (my lord, is it cold here at the moment - the freaking wind and rain is really starting to get me worried... I can barely pedal my bike, the wind is so fierce) so hours will be cut right down, and there's no sick pay if I fall off my bike again and hurt my arm, or catch a cold....
During my last shift, I told a few people that I was leaving, and probably not coming back next week. They were sort of used to it I guess, it's a physically demanding job and not everyone can hack it, but they were a little bit surprised because I held off on telling anyone for ages. I think the turnover rate of staff is astronomically high. But none the less, from what I hear, I'm the only Aussie that has ever worked there, and it completely worked in my favour.
After everyone had finished work on Saturday night/morning, the chefs decided that we should go out to honour my departure, and we drank tequila at the restaurant, and then went on a work pub crawl around Dam Square. One of the chefs, Karl the Irish, had a few friends visiting from Dublin, and we met up with them later on the night, and everytime I finished a drink, another two were being thrown into my hands. It was a lot of fun, to say the least.
I dropped by the restaurant today to pick up my pay (woohoo!), and saw the little party crew from last night, working hard again. I don't know how they do it.
The restaurant manager told me to keep in touch, and if I wanted to come back, I was always welcome. It's something to consider in the summer next year i guess, when the tourists come back and there are hours again. If I save some money from this job and decide I don't want to work the lat 6 months of my visa, I could probably go back to 25 hours or something at the restaurant and just take it easy and not worry about money for a while. Anyway, it was nice to know that I am leaving on good terms and there are no hard feelings.
It sounds like a good idea.... save, travel a bit, live a nice lifestyle, and then kick back and pursue something I really really love for 6 months.....
Hello corporate world... I'm baaaaaaaaaack.......
On Saturday night, it was my last shift at the restaurant.
Weird to think that I was dreading my first day at the restaurant/bar 2 weeks ago, but I was quite sad to leave.
Working full time in a restaurant (40+ hours a week), I got to know all the different people in the kitchen, bar, and on the floor, and I really really liked them. It's such a social atmosphere, everyone is young, and because of the crazy hours, you never know who you are going to be knocking off from work with, and one knock off drink turns into two, or three, and the next minute you are out at dinner and cycling around the city together, and good friends, and you just met that morning on the breakfast shift. There are so many staff there, I started just calling people by their nationalities because I got so confused at first. Head Chef was "Scottish", Sous Chef was "Irish", Sous Chef 2 was "Polish", Bar dude 1 was "Gay and sweet Thai dude"... you get the idea - it worked out because generally they would just call me "The little Asian Aussie." Or "Food runner". Or Gina. Or Rina.
I literally just started learning everyone's names, and then even tonight, I swung past, and saw faces I hadn't worked with yet.
The hospitality lifestyle is definitely conducive to a party lifestyle. I felt like I had to leave the job just to put some sense of routine and normality back into my life. I mean, I was loving the lifestyle a little bit too much I think, to the point where I had to fit my washing, grocery shopping, cooking and sleeping AROUND the partying. ( And it never usually worked out. The continuous late nights, and bright lights were really becoming an issue for the household chores.)
The thing is, logic had to win to some extent. The restaurant was starting to get a bit quiet now that tourist season is over, and the autumn has come (my lord, is it cold here at the moment - the freaking wind and rain is really starting to get me worried... I can barely pedal my bike, the wind is so fierce) so hours will be cut right down, and there's no sick pay if I fall off my bike again and hurt my arm, or catch a cold....
During my last shift, I told a few people that I was leaving, and probably not coming back next week. They were sort of used to it I guess, it's a physically demanding job and not everyone can hack it, but they were a little bit surprised because I held off on telling anyone for ages. I think the turnover rate of staff is astronomically high. But none the less, from what I hear, I'm the only Aussie that has ever worked there, and it completely worked in my favour.
After everyone had finished work on Saturday night/morning, the chefs decided that we should go out to honour my departure, and we drank tequila at the restaurant, and then went on a work pub crawl around Dam Square. One of the chefs, Karl the Irish, had a few friends visiting from Dublin, and we met up with them later on the night, and everytime I finished a drink, another two were being thrown into my hands. It was a lot of fun, to say the least.
I dropped by the restaurant today to pick up my pay (woohoo!), and saw the little party crew from last night, working hard again. I don't know how they do it.
The restaurant manager told me to keep in touch, and if I wanted to come back, I was always welcome. It's something to consider in the summer next year i guess, when the tourists come back and there are hours again. If I save some money from this job and decide I don't want to work the lat 6 months of my visa, I could probably go back to 25 hours or something at the restaurant and just take it easy and not worry about money for a while. Anyway, it was nice to know that I am leaving on good terms and there are no hard feelings.
It sounds like a good idea.... save, travel a bit, live a nice lifestyle, and then kick back and pursue something I really really love for 6 months.....
Hello corporate world... I'm baaaaaaaaaack.......
Friday, October 2, 2009
New Job
I have formally just accepted a position as a Marketing Executive, on a contract basis.
The company is situated just past the Amsterdam Schipol airport, and I will spend about 25 minutes on a train every morning and night commuting - good thing I live about 2 mins from Centraal Station.
The job sounds interesting, but the pay sounded more interesting. Obscenely interesting. Too interesting to deny really.
Back to the 9-5 grind? Wondering if I am ready to be corporate again, after being a flashpacker for 4 months.
Anyway, looking forward to now having an income for all the good things in life, like restaurants, warm clothing, dance performances, books, and big nights out, where I might be able to afford a taxi home!!
Also, other things, such as paying off my credit card, dutch language lessons, and more travels!! Woop Woop!
The company is situated just past the Amsterdam Schipol airport, and I will spend about 25 minutes on a train every morning and night commuting - good thing I live about 2 mins from Centraal Station.
The job sounds interesting, but the pay sounded more interesting. Obscenely interesting. Too interesting to deny really.
Back to the 9-5 grind? Wondering if I am ready to be corporate again, after being a flashpacker for 4 months.
Anyway, looking forward to now having an income for all the good things in life, like restaurants, warm clothing, dance performances, books, and big nights out, where I might be able to afford a taxi home!!
Also, other things, such as paying off my credit card, dutch language lessons, and more travels!! Woop Woop!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The head food runner headhunted from Australia
Sometimes I walk into my apartment building and can't believe I am a waitress. It's too amazing.
When people ask me what I'm doing in Amsterdam, I tell them that I was flown in to be a food runner at the restaurant I work in.
Imported all the way from Australia, because I am the best at delivering meals and clearing tables.
Ha ha.
When people ask me what I'm doing in Amsterdam, I tell them that I was flown in to be a food runner at the restaurant I work in.
Imported all the way from Australia, because I am the best at delivering meals and clearing tables.
Ha ha.
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