The other day my coworkers and I were sent to a city to have some training. It was two day training, so we had to stay overnight in a hotel. My first trip with my coworkers that included an overnight stay in a hotel. The first day was an evening shift whereas the second day was a morning shift. One funny thing happened on the second day. I was walking ahead of my coworkers towards the front door of the store where we had the training the day before and the girl who was standing behind the door looked confused to see us. I had a big backpack 'coz we had checked out of the hotel already and she probably thought I was a crazy tourist or something LOL!!!
She waved one hand to show that the store wasn't open yet, then she opened the door when I kept on walking towards her and she said in Finnish, "We're not open yet."
I explained to her why we were there and she smiled apologetically. She wasn't there the day before, though, so it was only normal that she had no idea that we were coming there that day HA HA HA HA...
glitter-graphics.com
After the training, I had a chance to meet my friend at her new place, so it was all good. She cooked a great dinner for me and then she drove me to the bus stop. It was already around 8 pm by then but the sun was shining low on the sky and it was shining right at us. VERY warm and nice! I was glad it wasn't raining 'coz the weather report said it would rain when I checked it a few days beforehand.
Anyway, the trainer was excellent, but I wasn't sure how well I was doing considering it was all done in Finnish and there were just LOADS and LOADS of new pieces of information to absorb and remember. While waiting for my friend to pick me up, I managed to write down a list of the most important things to remember so that I had something to hold on to before the real practice day came. We also had some practice during training and I felt a bit all over the place to be honest.
However, today I went to work just to buy some stuff and then my boss was there and he told me that the trainer was pleased with my effort during the training. I was really surprised and TOUCHED!!! (I remembered to thank him). I was surprised 'coz I didn't even ask how I was doing, but it was nice of him to let me know verbally anyway.
You see, being the only foreigner in the group, I do rely perhaps more heavily on other people's feedback to figure out whether I've performed well enough in my tasks, esp. when I'm doing something I never did before in the past (because I want to make sure I understand fully what I'm supposed to do and what they're expecting from me). I'm VERY thankful that my coworkers and boss don't treat me differently and they treat me as well as the other coworkers. I'm also VERY thankful to hear any type of feedback so that I know whether what I'm doing is right or wrong.
Anyway, I hope you'll all have a blessed weekend ahead! I surely will enjoy mine fully! :-D
glitter-graphics.com
Dad is the eldest son of six children, though he has an elder sister. I've never met my grandpa from dad's side 'coz he died when my dad was in his early twenties (not sure about the year, though). Grandpa came from Singapore (perhaps he was born there or his family may have moved there from mainland China - but I don't know the details), whereas grandma was born in Indo (so again like my mom's mother, she didn't speak Chinese). Grandma came from a family where the daughters were only taught how to sew and how to do house chores. Grandpa was a businessman (not sure what he did, though, but he was pretty successful I suppose 'coz grandma never had to work outside of home).
Grandpa's business went bankrupt at one time so that my dad couldn't even pay for his tuition anymore. That was the reason why he quit going to the uni and I suppose not long after that grandpa died, leaving the older kids struggling to earn some income to support the family. Dad used to tell us how during those tough times, they would be lucky to get some leftover food from a restaurant or factory to eat. Dad told me that sometimes at school a friend of his would treat him stuff because my dad didn't have money to buy anything and I know that he cherished his friend's generosity (this friend sometimes came by our place as well).
My mom used to say that even though her own family wasn't rich, but she had never experienced any trouble with the basic necessities in life such as food. Being the eldest son in a patriarchal community pushed dad to find a steady job as soon as possible. Dad was meticulous and he loves planning and organizing and archiving stuff, so he became an accountant for a bakery. He worked there for a few years, then he became an accountant for a family business for many many years. That was when he met mom, but I'll write about it in another post. :-D
Dad loved soccer. He was proud of the fact that he was a pretty good soccer player (he'd proceed to tell us the tricks he did to confuse his opponents back in the days). I suppose he did play a lot of soccer with his friends or neighbours when he was younger. And yes, my own brother loves soccer, as well. :-D
Dad sometimes pulled some pranks on his sisters. One time his bespectacled younger sister put her glasses on the dining room table and she went to have a shower. Then dad switched the glasses with a pair of bras and he laughed so much when his sister came back and she was so surprised when she found out that her glasses had turned into a pair of bras LOL!!! :-D
Dad also told us many times that grandma kinda favored him for some reason. Back during the days, sometimes grandma would buy dad's favourite snack or food and hide it in the pantry and she'd only give it to him once he got back home - and of course the other siblings would protest! LOL!!!
Anyway, after quitting his job as an accountant in that family business, the lady boss told him that because he was so honest, he wouldn't be "successful" (as in dad's not cunning enough to be able to become a rich businessman). Those words were burnt at the back of his mind, propelling him to prove her wrong. I think after that my parents joined forces with my mom's elder brother to open a printing business. They printed lots of pharmacy labels for different pharmacies (the kind of ziplock little plastic bags to put pills into). I remember those rough days. My parents and my uncle hired two people to help out, but still each of them had to do tough work day in day out. The strong smell of the paint permeated the house so strongly that we got used to it after a while. They used the room in the attic to run the business. For a while it seemed to be doing fine, but afterwards it just didn't work as well, so they closed the business and sold the equipment.
glitter-graphics.com
After that my dad became unemployed for a while (mom went back to selling food at the local market) and then he started buying some fish for pleasure but then turned out that he managed to take care of one type of fish well enough that they started breeding. At that time it was quite a good business to sell fish, so with mom's help my dad went on to breed some fish for a while to help make some extra money. Once the "fish trend" died down, my dad couldn't make extra money from it anymore and as luck would have it, a relative introduced him to the world of insurance. Yep, he recruited dad to be an insurance agent.
When he started training, he was the oldest of the bunch and back then insurance was still considered something new in Indo. Being the oldest of the bunch who wore untrendy clothes meant that some people mocked him and undermined him. You see, in Indo even until today I still feel that "appearance" is more important than here in Sodankylä. After all, "status" is more important there 'coz of the social system and the huge gap between the rich and the poor.
So anyway, those mockery propelled dad to prove them wrong. He worked hard despite his shyness and with mom's help and encouragement, he blossomed there. You see, mom used to tell me that in the beginning of their marriage, whenever a guest came over for a visit, dad would hide himself in the bedroom he he he he...He used to be so quiet, but after joining the insurance world, he gained more and more confidence to talk to strangers. In the beginning, though, my dad would always want to be accompanied by mom and he started to sell insurance policies to relatives and friends first and only after that he started widening his net and he grew bold enough to ask for references from his clients as to who else they could refer to him. That was dad's last job. He worked there until he retired. In between selling insurance policies he also tried different types of MLM (multi-level marketing) programs, but they never really worked too well for him.
Rest in peace, dad...in my mind, you're a VERY successful person 'coz you were honest, you never cheated on people or your wife and you put your priorities straight and I never doubted that you loved us with everything you've got. :-)
glitter-graphics.com
Yesterday during the last few hours at work, I felt burnt out already. I'm not a people person, you see, and working 6 days in a row meant I had to meet so many people (two or 3 hundred a day depending on how long the shift is, but normally not less than 100 people a day) and it was just getting too much. I could feel my energy seeping out already during the last few hours and I just wanted to get out of there. Boy oh boy...
I love having my me time and being alone and recharging after spending so much time with people, serving people. Sometimes at work I wonder about my role in life - whether I'm really doing something useful by working at the till. I mean, how much can you actually do for other people by working behind a till in a busy supermarket? However, thankfully whenever I doubt my role in life at work, there's always a customer who states that what I'm doing means something to him/her. :-D And through their eyes, I realize how important attitude is. And that the power of a sincere smile is really underrated.
I've never really met tough/rude customers (luckily enough) and because most of the people here are older people (pensioners), so they've always been so relaxed and patient with me. :-D
One bad thing about working in a supermarket is that if a coworker suddenly gets sick, it's gonna be chaos all over because unlike other jobs where you can postpone doing things until the next day for example, in a supermarket you need someone else to tackle the job right away in most occasions. Otherwise all hell will break loose because things that need to be done that day must be done that day. And if the sick person is the one that's supposed to be at the till, then someone else MUST fill in the role so that the day's workload will go smoothly.
On the other hand, that "bad thing" is also good in a way that I don't bring home "homework". Of course there are things I need to check every now and then (like special offers so that when a customer asks if we have this and that, I'd know what to answer), but other than that, esp. because I'm the lowest in the career ladder (FYI I don't want to go up the ladder 'coz I know my limits and I'm not interested in going up the ladder anyway), I don't have to really think about anything much when I go back home from work. :-D Once a work shift is over, then that's that. :-D
When I first started working here, I didn't feel it was for me 'coz I'm not a people person and in the beginning language barrier was also an obstacle for me. I felt that I didn't fit in, but as time went by and the more customers validated my role at work, the more I realized that my initial thought was wrong. I don't know what will happen in the future, but for the time being I enjoy working at my current workplace and I like the fact that it's a part-time job 'coz I know my limits. I don't think I can serve the customers well if I work full-time because I did try adding more hours once and I ended up feeling burnt-out and it was getting hard for me to be the best that I can be behind the till.
One other bad thing about working in a supermarket is being tempted to buy this and that and try this and that HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...I have to really curb myself and think first before buying things that are sold on special offers hi hi...
I've just started a challenging project. Actually, I didn't come up on it on my own ha ha...OK, here's the story. About a week ago a customer asked me if I could translate a book to English (from Finnish, obviously). I told him I wouldn't know if I could do it or not, but I'd give it a try.
FYI, the said customer had once asked me where I came from, what I did prior to moving to Finland, etc. So he knows that I was a book translator in Indo and that I majored in English literature. That was probably one reason why he asked me that question.
Anyway, he then said that he had written a book in Finnish - thus he wanted to know if I could translate it to English. We didn't have time to talk more that day 'coz I had other customers to serve, so we left it at that. The next time I came to work, though, I found a book in an envelope in my locker (the customer had probably given it to my coworker and told her it was for me). He wrote his name, addy, and phone number on the envelope. I was GLAD to know it wasn't a book of poetry!!!! :-D
I didn't have time to read it because of the wedding party I had to go to last week, so I only started this project this week. It IS challenging 'coz I have never translated any book into English - plus the original language is Finnish. But it's gonna be an interesting project for me. It's been years since I last translated a book (5 years ago), so we shall see how it goes. One thing is for sure...I'll use the dictionaries A LOT - including the online English dictionaries ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...Another sure thing to happen is that it's gonna be A SLOW project. :-D
P.S. One thing I love about life in a small village is that even though there aren't many "activities" and "places to go" here (no university, just a handful of foreigners) , life feels considerably simpler here and I get to meet familiar faces a lot (esp. through work). And it's nice to be able to banter with customers whose faces I remember, even though I don't necessarily know their names.
REALLY thankful for this job that allows me to meet and interact with many people...
Yeah, been busy and tired a lot lately. I've read online about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and I think I'm suffering from it. Not the depression, but the weird fatigue (even though I've slept enough) and being unmotivated. Also my brain doesn't work as well as in summer. I've also read that working shift jobs also affects your body to suffer from SAD. When I was helping out at the library two winters ago, I didn't feel any SAD 'coz I had such a regular work schedule. But now every week I have different work schedule, so my body clock is all messed up now that it gets darker and darker in winter (in December there will be a few days when the sun doesn't come up at all).
I've been thinking of buying a light therapy lamp and I've been browsing A LOT to find out which one I should buy. It's hard to choose 'coz the best one seems to be Philips, but I don't want to pay that much for a lamp (esp. 'coz I don't know if it'll work as well for me or not) and I've been toying with the idea of buying another lamp (made locally) that is half as cheap, but I still haven't decided yet. Gonna browse a little bit more before deciding - plus I want to wait until I get my paycheck first before ordering anything he he he...
Other than that I've been fine. Went to my MIL's yesterday to celebrate an early Father's Day with my BIL and SIL 'coz R2 was having a pre-Xmas party in Levi, so he couldn't come. I walked to my MIL's place 'coz I wanted to get a ride from BIL/SIL HE HE HE...
OK, now here are my 3BT random list:
1. Hubby's home safe and sound and I can BUG him again HA HA HA HA HA...It was boring without him here. Plus he wrote a very funny SMS that made me laugh last nite: "Bunny! Get me out of here! I MISS YOUUUUUU!" HE HE HE HE HE...
2. Watching the clouds today...
3. Noticing that some people have already started putting some Christmas lights outside (on the bushes/trees). They really cheer me up when I ride my bike to work in the mornings ('coz it's already SO dark now in the mornings).
4. A customer asking me if I felt at home already in Sodankylä and when I said yes, he really looked like he cared about it. THANK GOD for caring people! :-D
5. Having warm-hearted non-fussy in-laws that let us do our thing without interfering with anything, that accept me just the way I am.
6. A LONG WEEKEND!!! WOOOHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
7. Fast internet access that never gives us any trouble. :-D
8. Having a job (just when I thought that getting a job here would be close to impossible). :-D
9. Frozen duck (haven't cooked it yet, but it made me SUPER HAPPY to find it at Lidl's again!).
10. Sending an email to someone to say how much I appreciate that person.
11. I'll sleep with hubby again tonight! YIIIIHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! No more lonely bed!!! ;-D
12. Getting some free non-alcoholic cider from Lidl HA HA HA HA HA HA...;-D I LOVE cider!
1. How I've found wonderful human beings through the internet and the blogosphere to share my ups and downs, to support and encourage and understand me. I would never have made it without all of you people.
2. When I've been whiny and annoying (even in my own ears/mind), yet hubby still tells me, "I love you anyway, honey." That is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in my life.
3. Watching autumn colours, especially the red colour (my fave autumn colour) surrounding me...and noticing a squirrel running about cautiously in our yard.
4. Hubby let me eat the last cup of chocolate pudding. (FYI: I bought 4 cups and ate 2 cups, but when the last cup was still in the fridge, I asked hubby if he wanted it or not and he said, "Nah, you can have it 'coz you like it so much.")
5. Getting a permanent part-time job contract means that I had some spare money to buy some things for my in-laws - I bought FIL a warm jacket (with fleece lining inside) and a pair of warm socks for MIL when I visited them the other day and they were happy to get them. ;-D
6. Meeting new foreigners in this small village on my Finnish course and laughing with them when we talked about different topics. In a small village where foreigners are rare, it's always a PLEASURE to meet fellow "comrades-in-arms".
7. Looking back over the past and realizing that God's closed doors led me to this job. If there hadn't been those closed doors, I wouldn't have ended up here. THANK GOD for His closed doors, even though at that time I felt sad and dejected (esp. when I couldn't continue at the daycare) and I didn't understand why they were there.
glitter-graphics.com
8. Having a hubby who knows how to do coining (scraping my back with a coin and some balm). It's VERY VERY beneficial for me 'coz I do need his help sometimes in this area.
9. Living in a small village where there's no traffic jam, less noise, no long queues at the supermarkets/stores, where I can be close to nature.
10. Meeting friendly, warm, patient customers. They're the highlight of my day at work.
Been busy with work and then another Rovaniemi trip today, so I'll cut this short 'coz I still have lots of things to do...
1. We went to the place where they said they could fix Panasonic stuff, but turned out he said they'd made a deal with all the other stores that the one in charge to fix Panasonic cameras is located in Helsinki, so we have to contact them later (either by phone or email first).
2. After asking about the job contract thingie, my area manager called me while we were on the way back from Rovaniemi, stating that they'd like to prolong my contract until the end of this year. We're going to draft a new contract next week, so we'll see about that. *fingers crossed* ;-D
3. Bought 3 tops in the flea market in Rovaniemi for only €6.50. WOOHOOOOOO!!! What a bargain!!!
glitter-graphics.com
4. Found 2 cheap Finnish novels in GREAT conditions (one is new) from different places. YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!! ---> so I guess this action redeemed the fact that I had bought such an expensive novel the other day when we went to Rovaniemi HA HA HA HA...
5. Been feeling out of the weather still. Yesterday when I had my evening shift, I felt light-headed after a few hours and a light headache started kicking in. Uh oh...I hope I'm not going to be the one who's sick next, 'coz two coworkers have been sick for at least a week. I've tried taking lots of sleep, though, 'coz my eyes just feel weirdly heavy even after so much sleep. Oh well...
P.S. Been busy with work and 'coz I've tried to sleep much more than usual in order to avoid getting sick, I haven't had time to blog-hop. I'll do it later when I have more time and energy, OK? Take care, people!!!
Yeah, been quiet here in my blog ha ha...dunno why I feel like I've been so busy lately. Anyway, yesterday my in-laws did a test trial by spending the night in their new apartment. They're going to do some more trials bit by bit before winter comes and then they're going to move there for sure. They hope that next summer they can still go back to their present house, though we'll see how it goes.
So yesterday three cars went to that new apartment he he...Our car, my MIL's car, and my BIL's car. We brought more stuff there with us and we helped MIL prepare the apartment for the night. We rearranged the position of some furniture and stuff like that. I was a bit worried 'coz after being there for about half an hour, my MIL asked FIL how he liked the place. He said he wanted to go back home...ohhhh noooo...so I hope that they could sleep tightly that night and that FIL didn't feel too confused with all that.
This morning I went to work and my MIL dropped by to buy some food. I had a chance to ask her how the night went and she said they slept well. That's GREAT to hear!!! ;-D
Anyway, yesterday I also had time to have a long talk with MIL about different topics. Apparently this apartment will be the first home she lives in where she can decorate it with whatever she wants to use, 'coz she got married young and then she had never lived in a house where there were only her hubby and kids. There were always somebody else there, such as the in-laws. Only after the kids moved out did they begin to live just the two of them. Even so, the house was filled with the in-laws' stuff still. So moving to this new apartment feels like a brand new life for her.
I can relate to her feelings 'coz prior to my marriage, I had always lived with my parents. And even when I first moved to Finland, R2 had everything ready already, so I didn't decorate the apartment at all. Only when we moved to our second apartment (before moving to this house) did I manage to buy some stuff to decorate the house with (some curtains and we bought a sofa-bed).
On the work front, my job contract ends at the end of this month, but when I went to work today, I noticed that they had written down the work shift for last week of this month and on that list, they still gave me work shift for the 1st and 2nd of October. Uh...hello?!?!?! What's going on here???
I told my coworker about this and she told me to ask the area manager later on. I can't continue working before I get a new contract and I don't know yet if they do want to keep hiring me or not, so we'll see about that. I sure can use the money (who doesn't need money?) to buy the plane ticket to Indo next year and to buy stuff for my family and friends. I'll keep you updated about this.
OK, now time to relax 'coz I have to work tomorrow but then I'll have Tuesday off. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!! ;-D Quality time with R2, who still has the rest of his summer holiday he he...
Yeah...can you believe it? I got a part-time summer job today!!! HALLELUJAH!!! A few weeks ago saw the advertisement and decided to send an application without really thinking I'd even got an interview. Was I called to have an interview? No. That was what made today a CRAZY day ha ha ha...
Today I went to a store to buy some groceries and while browsing through the items, one guy approached me and asked, "Hi, are you the woman who sent the application to us?" I nodded and then he said his name and asked if he could interview me. He said he knew it was me who sent the application 'coz a worker there had recognized me - the worker is one of the mothers of the kids at the daycare where I had my last training.
I asked him when he wanted to interview me - thinking he'd say "Tomorrow?". But no, he actually said, "How about you finish your shopping first and then come inside to the office?"
GULP GULP GULP...A sudden JOB interview (in Finnish)?!?!?!?!?! And I was NOT even PREPARED for it?!?!?!?!
But I couldn't say no, could I? So I finished my shopping while trying to calm myself down and then I knocked on the office door.
Funny thing happened at that time 'coz the kids of one worker there (I knew them from the daycare) spotted me and I said hi to them and asked them how they were doing - and then the office door opened and the kids followed me inside!!! ('coz the mother was inside the office HA HA HA...)
The interviewer, who opened the door for the three of us, naturally asked, "Are these your kids?"
I laughed and said no he he he...
Then he asked me the usual questions (which I wasn't prepared for, so I could have given better answers had I had time to prepare myself - but anyway...) and after some time talking, he said, "Congrats! You've got the job!".
HUH?!?!?!?! HUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH??!?!?!?!?!
That's it? I was thinking that he would think about it first 'coz I had a feeling that he was really unsure about my ability in speaking, understanding, and reading Finnish.
So I spent a long time there when he drew the job contract (for 3 months only until the end of September, but it may continue) and explained to me about some stuff there and he also told me about my first week's work schedule. I'll start on the 28th and 'coz it's a part-time job, I'll get a minimum of 10 hours per week, but during summer months I may get up to 20 hours per week.
I went out of the store not only bringing the items I bought there but also a job contract and a handful of other papers to read about the company, etc. I need to go back there tomorrow to submit some papers and I also need to report to the employment office about this. Phew...what a dayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!
It's been below 0'C during the nights for a few days already. Hubby said that early this morning it snowed, though during the day as the temperature rose, it changed into rain. I've started packing since last night. I bought some more stuff yesterday, but I still haven't bought the last-minute thingies he he he...I'll do it only sometime next week.
I'm not going to bring too many clothes with me, though. I need to buy new trousers in Indo and also some underwear. ;-D It's hard for me to find pants here since the children's size is too tight for my womanly hips, whereas the adult size is too long or too wide. At least in Indo if I want to shorten any pants, the cost would be CHEAP!!! ;-D
On Monday I'm going to go to the library to ask if there's a possibility for me to do some training there after I get back from Indo. The unemployment office has been asking me to either apply for a job or find another training place or find some other course.
I don't want to get a job yet since I don't know what I want to do. Plus I'm still waiting for next year just in case they open the Finnish continuation course. I'll DEFINITELY enroll to that course if it opens next year. If not, then we'll see what I can do. However, it's good if I can do some training in November-December at the library, since I AM interested in helping out there.
Cross your fingers so that I can do my training there, please he he he he...OK, time to blog-hop!!!
Oh dear...I've just had a talk with my hubby and it seems there's been a HUGE misunderstanding on my part. Remember a post entitled My "Worth"? Well, turns out that the form has NOTHING to do with my basic salary. So for some weird reasons, they calculate how much I can probably earn per year and then they decide how much taxes I should pay if I get a job here.
So basically speaking, if I get a job here, I should take a part of that form to my employer to show him/her how much they should deduct from my salary. So of all the things they write down on the pages, what counts is just the percentage of taxes I should pay if I ever get a job here.
This is really, absolutely strange for me. *scratching my head* To be honest, I'm still blind about Finnish system. I guess I'll just see how it goes then.
P.S. If you wonder why hubby didn't explain it fully beforehand, it's one of those typical Finnish behavior. Finns don't really elaborate on their answers unless we ask them in detail. My Brit friend confirms this, too. That was why I got it all mixed up the first time around. The first time I asked him what the form was for, he said, "Well, you'll have to bring this to your employer if you get a job here." So I ASSUMED that it meant that I had shown him the basic salary for me. Oh well...
This morning I received something rather intriguing: a form from the Tax Office. My hubby also gets one. In the form it's stated the basic salary, how much taxes we should pay, etc. I was bewildered to get it, since I haven't got a job yet.
Then when hubby got home from work for lunch, I told him about it and he said that it'd be used for when I get a job later on. So if I get a job here, I need to show that form to my employer so that he/she knows how much I should be paid.
Gee...that's interesting!!! So my "worth" has been calculated already by the tax officers even before I get a job?????????
Well, the good thing is that if I get a job later on, I know my "worth" already, so I won't ask for less than that ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...
Anyway, I'm gonna try making risoles soon, and only after that I'm gonna blog-hop...tomorrow I'll be busy 'coz I'll visit my Brit friend, so if tomorrow I'm MIA, don't wonder about it, OK? But I'll be BAAACCKKKK!!!!!! (side note: you have to read it with the same tone of voice as Arnold Schwarzenegger HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA...)
