Entry 009: It’s been a while...
Date: Saturday 03.12.16
Location: Starbucks in Dublin
Hey, everybody out there!
I know, it’s been a while since my last entry, and that is mainly because of two reasons: Number one is that there is so much to do at the moment. (Obviously.) And number two is the lack of internet at my current accommodation. I know, lack of internet never stopped me from writing posts and publishing them later until now, but these days I was just too exhausted to even write something in English. But now I actually have some free time (fri, sat, sun), so I’ll try my best to recap the most important events of the last 22 days before the Starbucks closes!
After working at the deli for some time (either 12-9pm or 6 am - 3pm, so really impractical times) I realised that it was not quite the job for me. I had to stand all day, preparing the food (chopping tomatoes, onions, potatoes, chicken,) and doing a lot of dishes (up to 4 hours straight). In addition it seemed like nobody really ever appreciated my work there, as the store managers came up to me almost every ten minutes, saying I should work quicker and more accurate. I was frustrated very quickly, as I was bored but at the same time stressed out. But I kept working there, even tho I felt uncomfortable and did not even get minimum wage...
After a few days I got three days off to look for a flat, as my employer knew that I was still living in a hostel. I went to view a house share on Saturday 19th of November, and had a pretty good impression. My room was small, but I had a big closet, a mirror, a working heater and a window that I could open. All bills were included, and all in all it only costed me 480€ a month... which is quite cheap for an accommodation like this. Only negative point: There was no Wi-Fi. I decided to give it a go anyway, so all preparations were made for me to move in on Sunday the 21st.
On Saturday I took the St. Kevin’s Bus to the Wicklow mountain national park, where had been before already, with my English course the year before. The bus takes approximately 2.5 hours between St Stephen’s Green and the visitor information centre, and a return ticket costs 20€.
As the bus departs only twice a day in winter time, I had to walk a route that takes only two hours, to be certain to catch the bus back to the city.
But it was definitely worth it: The weather was amazing, the views incredible. There was even snow and ice on the mountain tops. I will upload some pictures as soon as possible. Unfortunately my phone’s camera didn’t get the contrasts right, so either the sky is blue and the rest is black, or the landscape coloured and the sky is grey... so just imagine the landscape being in colour and the sky being blue.^^’
On Sunday finally I moved to the house. It took me a bit longer than expected, as I had a lot more things to carry than on my way from the airport. I needed to take three or four breaks on my way to the house, which usually takes me about half an hour but now took a whole hour.
I had a talk and some food with the main tenant of the house and afterwards I emptied my backpacks and placed my belongings in the room. I even decorated the walls with pictures.
But in the beginning it all went well.
You notice that I said “in the beginning”- because already on my second day there, the situation escalated. I sat at the table with the said main tenant, he was eating, I didn't, and it was afternoon, as my Japanese house mate entered the hallway (in which the table is located). She joined us, standing, and I told her about my interest in Japan and Japanese culture. We talked a bit, for about 3 minutes, before she left to her room again. Afterwards, the tenant became pretty serious, as told me not to talk to new people in an exited way, as they would not respect me and would think I am weird. I don't want to bore you with unnecessary details, so long story short he became really angry as I said he should not comment on that as it is part of my character and said I should leave the house by the end of the week.
I went to my room, quickly made up my mind and then went back to him to apologise, as I had no time to find an other accommodation in such a short time. He wanted me to sit down again and then talked to me for 3 hours straight (like, he talked. I said maybe 10 sentences in these three hours. He's so weird...) and then said that I could stay as long as I wanted. So that was one of the experiences with him, that made me feel a little uncomfortable in that house... I tried to avoid him from that day on.
Everything went for some days. I got up each day at 4:45, worked from 6 AM till 2 or 3 pm and informed myself on internet sticks and dongles and mobile broadband over the week.
The best solution I found was an internet stick from Aldi the German supermarket, which is only available in Germany but has the best conditions for travelling abroad. (Prepaid 4.99€ for 500 MB for 7 days, which is amazing compared to the Irish prices and conditions.) I am still waiting for it to arrive, as my father send it to me last Friday.
On Friday 25th of November, my employer wanted to talk to me, and he said that I should reconsider if I wanted to keep working there, as the managers seemed to pick up a bit of resistance from me (which I expected, regarding said circumstances). He wanted to come back to me on Monday before 12. So I went home again, though my decision was already certain.
I should have mentioned before that I met a German girl at the hostel. She arrived at the 8th as well and had booked the hostel until 22nd, just as me. She gave me the card of a woman from a placement agency who already found a few jobs for her quite successfully. So I called the woman (her name is Rachel) on the Friday, and got in contact with her. She send over three descriptions of companies looking for employees and I e-mailed her my CV, which she passed on to one of the companies that seemed to look the most promising. We stayed in contact over WhatsApp, and she promised to contact me as soon as she heard something of the company.
I spend the Saturday with the German girl (her name is Lina), drawing and sketching, as she asked me to design a tattoo for her. On Sunday I joined her and another German girl at a tour to the Christmas market in Belfast.
I spend the Monday at a Starbucks, writing applications and waiting for my employer to contact me (which he didn't, unfortunately).
On Tuesday, now, a lot of things happened.
At 8 in the morning, I was still sleeping as I had been up until 4 to draw a picture, I suddenly heard loud knocking at the front door. I ignored it and tried to continue sleeping, as I heard noises in the kitchen so I knew somebody was awake, and the tenant had constantly told us not to open the door for anyone if we didn't expect visitors.
But suddenly I heard a loud voice shouting “Police! Police!” and woke up in shock. At first I thought it was the tenant and somebody tried to break into the house. But then I realised that it was the police itself, entering the building. They were looking for the tenant, and after finding him, searching his room and talking to him explaining the situation, they arrested him with handcuffs and took him to the station.
They also asked me for my name, birth date and how long I lived there. I overheard the conversation the police officers and the tenant had, and got to know a few details. First interesting thing was that the tenant had apparently given us a false name, and I also eventually found out the name of the landlord. But the most interesting was the reason for the arrest: somebody had accused him of rape.
When they were gone, my house mate and I met at the table and had a conversation about what to do. We had so many questions left that we went to the police station to get some answers. We became kind of close during that day- we exchanged numbers and talk to each other every day since then.
He came back from custody that evening. Apparently he wasn't guilty, but they still kept his phone, so I am not entirely sure what is going on there.
In addition, Rachel contacted me. She told me that she got a positive reply from the company, and wanted to meet me on Wednesday to prepare me for a job interview on Thursday!^^ I agreed as I has nothing to do on either of these days.
I met her at 2 PM in a small cafe, where we talked for 1 ½ hours. She tested my answers to some possible interview questions and briefed me about what the job actually was. I am going to work in a call centre, speaking German and earning 11,75€ per hour. I will work Monday to Friday, 8AM - 4 PM. She motivated me a lot, so that afterwards I was really looking forward to the interview. I used the time between Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for the interview (and buy black trousers, as Rachel told me the Irish weren't so fond of jeans).
On Thursday, I went to the office at 12, to meet the interviewer. He was a nice guy, and the office is well designed and very transparent. I had to do an English test at first- exactly the one I used to prepare for the work and travel to test my English skills all the time. So I almost knew the answers by heart... :D
Second, I had to answer some interview questions. The usual ones- I was prepared for them. I don't know if my answers were that good, tho.
Third, I had to do a role play about how I would interact with a customer. As I love role plays and am in a musical group as well, I was very convincing doing so. When I was done, the interviewer even said, quite surprised, that I was very quick and had done well.
We had brilliant weather that day- with a tea in my hand I sat at the Liffey and enjoyed the sun. Photos of that will be uploaded... some time soon!^^
Yesterday, Rachel contacted me to tell me that the company was impressed and now looking forward to hiring me! They only needed to references, but I could even hand them in later. I will start working on Monday, getting an introduction at 1 PM (after my appointment at the PPS Centre at 9:45).
Today I spend my day at Starbucks again, writing on this text, telephoning with my best friend and doing lots of other stuff. This second it's 18:45 and the shop closes at 7 pm... afterwards I am going to get myself some food and then go to the cinema. “Moana” was released the day before yesterday in Ireland, so I am going to watch it!^^
Tomorrow, I am going to go to the shore and take some time for myself... I need some rest, as the last three weeks feel like one long, never ending day...
Stressed in general, but free and confident (and hungry),
