Status Quo

..Ah, Now I remember why I deleted my other blog; I rarely update! =P...I keep a diary, so whenever I feel the need to write something down I do it there....that's probably why I don't really update this blog. But, several months has passed since last time, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to jot down some words.

- Right now I've got Yann Tiersen's "Comptine d'un été" on replay on my iPod (if you haven't heard it then you definitely need to check it out=)) ,,,so let's see if I can be inspired to write something worth reading..-

Contrary to other blogs I've read recently I'm not going to start this blog-update by typing: "sorry for not updating, I have been soooo busy lately..."..I won't do that, first of all because I don't know who I would apologizing to- meaning I don't know who my readers are (except from the three who follows this blog, lol)..and second of all, I haven't been busy at all...lol!

Ever since the master thesis was handed in, I have done nothing else than applied for jobs. The process so far has been interesting..in the beginning I was restless,,I wanted a job, and I wanted it ASAP! The days were boring and fairly unproductive..besides from one unfinished painting, and one ring that I made for my sister (I love arts and crafts, I only wish it wasn't so expensive to buy all the little things you need to make the stuff you wanna make..) I haven't really "produced" anything..Im used to going to school..having to "produce" a term-paper, a presentation...anything..or at least go to work and make money...so unemployment has been a bit of a journey, I guess you could say. Since September I sent out about three applications every week,,some I didn't hear from, and from others I received e-mails with a polite rejection, or even a harsh one where the title of their e-mail was "Rejection of your application",,,,how mean is that..at least give me some time to get excited about even getting a reply by mail before shutting me down completely =P

One of the first big interviews I landed was with Orkla (http://www.orkla.com/eway/default.aspx?pid=243) , I was told that the interview would last for three hours, and right away I knew that I had to be prepared for a case or two. Long story short, I didn't get the job, but I left with one heck of an experience. Convincing men in dark suits is fun....the harder it is to get a job, the more interesting and intriguing it is to me. I need a sense of accomplishment, and I won't get that if I get the job after only one interview...the longer and harder the process, the better,,,,I know, I'm crazy,,,but I need a sense of confirmation that I'm getting the job because they need someone like ME, with my type of background and experience...and not just because I was available and could fill a position right away..I want to get into companies that "play hard to get" I guess you could say,,,,it makes the chase and the price (getting the job) so much more fun...

After NOT getting the job at Orkla, I moved on..I knew that I wasn't going to get called in for a second interview the minute Ieft the interview room...the position just wasn't for me....too many numbers involved.. too much math,,,,so, I wasn't sad when I got the feedback, just glad and flattered to be called in to one of the biggest companies in Norway..=)

I was called in to other interviews..mainly positions related to HR and recruitment,,but after Orkla's 3-hour interview, other interviews that "only" lasted for 45-60 minutes were just not interesting. Call me judgemental, but one of the interviewers I met ,for a position as a recruitment agent, was dressed in a black leather dress, and leather boots that reached her thighs,,,she had a faux tan, too much make-up on, her hair was blonde, but not natural, and she had silver-looking lipgloss on...it was my second interview for this position, and this lady held a higher position than the first guy I met,,,yet, I had a hard time taking her seriously,,,I dont know, maybe I was too used to seeing people in boring dark suits..something about her just made me cringe,,,some of the words she used also made me take her less seriously...I got an offer from that company, and declined...and guess what? It felt good to be able to decline a job-offer=)...I am not a job-beggar, I'm a resource broker, darn it! =) (or at least that's what Richard N. Bolles says, lol).

Besides from applying for jobs, I've learned to enjoy doing very little. Unlike many people, who take a year off after high school to travel, or just to take a break from school, I went straight to college. It's weird to think that I've gone to school since I was 7 years old...and every summer since I was 6 I spent one month of my summer vacation at a summer school where they taught Vietnamese...I hated it back then, but looking back at it now, I'm glad my parents forced me to go. Anyhow,,,unemployment has been somewhat relaxing..,,to begin with I was so bored..I imagined that this was how maternity leave would be..,,staying at home, cleaning the house, and taking care of your baby....I would go nuts ( Im not ready to be a mom, as you can see =P),,,,but, recently Ive started to enjoy being unemployed..mainly because Ive landed a temporary job ( that doesn't start until Nov 11th),,,but also because this is a good time to take a breather...=)...I will be working until Im 65 (isn't that the retirement age in NOrway?) so a little break from serious work can't do any harm...In addition to the temp work, I've been contacted by a recruiter from a big company...Im not going to say the company name, though,,,,,not yet..because I haven't gotten the job yet, and I'm so competitive that I think I would feel embarrassed if I revealed the company and didn't get the job at the end,,,it would feel like a loss...a public loss...there are a few who know that Im in an interview process with this company..and, I'll leave it like that for now..if I get the job, I'll announce it on my next blog-update,,if not, I fear it may take some time before there'll be another update...because Im sooo busy you know =P....


Until next time :-)

Unemployed and Sick, and sick of being un-employed.

I thought this was going to be a fun process..the applying-for-a-job-getting a call-in for interview- and-get-the-job-process.....but, so far, nothing. This may sound silly, but I have always gotten the job I applied for...of course, it was all part-time jobs, but I always got them..every single job I've applied for, I've gotten. After I finished my bachelor degree in international marketing, I even got a job offer as a real estate agent,despite the fact that I had no experience or education within real estate....but the real estate market during summer 2008 wasn't really a good one, and I took my boss' advice (AKA, my dad) and declined the offer. Good thing I did, cause I don't think I would have been able to keep my job under those economic circumstances..

...I love the interview process, I enjoy having to convince people that I'm up for the challenge,,,maybe because the convincing-part is what I do on a daily basis,.I convince myself that I can do certain things, and reach certain goals...if I reallly want do, I can do it..that's my motto, I guess you could say... Henry Ford said it better:

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right".

For the most part I think I can.,.but now I'm kinda on my way to the bottom. I haven't hit rock bottom yet, and I believe it's a far way from where I stand and rock bottom..but career/job-wise, I think this is as low as I've ever been..Of course Im gonna get a job eventually, and Im going to be working for the rest of my life, so I don't really need to stress out about it,,,but I HATE loosing...and for every application I've sent out and heard nothing from, I feel a sense of loss. People say one shouldn't aim too high when you apply for your first job, but guess what: I didn't go to a private school in Norway for 5 years to get a mediocre job. Of course you need experience to get where you really wanna be, but something bothers me when people tell me to expect less....
----
Whatever happened to the spirit we had when we were kids? When most the girls wanted to be a ballerina, or a princess..and the boys...well,,I kinda don't know what the boys wanted to be...my brother once wanted to be a priest, but when we asked him again later on he had changed his mind, and no longer wanted to be a priest...he wanted to be GOD...LOL..God bless him, cause he was the cutest little boy when he was younger. And being God is definitely better than just being a Priest...priests have such a bad reputation anyways,,,,especially the catholic ones :P.....I don't want to "grow up" when it comes to being ambitious...having dreams, and daydreaming about things that almost seem impossible to reach, or do. I don't know whether that makes me an optimist or what not, but I see the glass as half-empty and call myself a realist with ambition.

Onto something else...I've been sick for over a month now...not sick as in throwing up, but I've had a cold since mid May, coughing a lot with a stuffy nose..I thought it would pass eventually, but it never did and still hasn't. It wasn't until my ribs started to hurt, that I finally gave in and went to the doctor. Turns out that I've managed to fracture my ribs after coughing so much. I didn't get anything for it...just advice to buy some pain killers...and at the end of doctor's appointment she the asked me: "are you paying with a card, or with cash"?....health care in Norway is essentially free, and the amount you pay when you see your doctor is pretty much a symbolic one,,,but there's something non-health-care-ish about a doctor when he/she asks for the payment right after the session...I don't know how it is in other places in oslo/norway...but where I went, the doctors all had a little card-transaction-thingie (I don't know what you call it)...so, you pay in the doctor's office...it was so surreal!! I'm used to going out to the reception and pay there..and even though the fee is the same,,,it just feels different to pay in the doctor's office,,,,it makes the doctor appear like a sales-man/woman,,,getting paid for each patient that enters the office,,,and the faster you get the patient outta there, the quicker you can move onto the next and make more money....I'm sure they changed it so that there won't be a super long line at the reception.....but, I would actually rather stay in line, and keep my respect for doctors, than what I feel about them now...besides..Im still coughing, my ribs still hurt, and now my right lung hurts when I breathe and it hurts even worse when I cough...the doctor looked ar the symptoms, but never once questioned the source for why my ribs were hurting...Ive been coughing for over a month and never once did she question that fact...anyhow,,,Im heading back to see another doctor on Friday..hopefully I'll be cured soon...=)

Until next time..

How does a typical Vietnamese person look like?

Im at work and a customer just came in,,she looked around, and out of no where she asked me: are you half? (meaning half Asian, and half..something else...) I said "no". Then she asked me where I was from, and I said "Vietnam". She then said: you don't look vietnamese, you look half something...both of your parents are Vietnamese? I replied "yes", and she kept on.."I'M Vietnamese..YOU don't look Vietnamese..anyhow, thanks, bye!"..and then she left the store...

the incident made me think about how everyone has different conceptions of what a typical Vietnamese person looks like...or what a typical any-kind-of-nationality looks like...you see, to me, the woman who came in looked Chinese..and I, I look Vietnamese,..are you one of those people who think they can tell the difference between a Chinese, and a Vietnamese person? Can you tell the difference between a Swede/Danish person from a Norwegian?..If so,, DO tell me how you do it, cause it intrigues me how people just KNOW that I'm NOT Vietnamese, or that I just MUST be Vietnamese..

In search of the perfect cucumber- value for money-

I didn't realize how it was to truly live like a student until earlier today. Sure, I've studied a year in France, and had to feed myself and clean my own clothes. But, there's something about living on your own, in your own country that gives it a little bit of a different feel to it. I feel like I have to save more money now than I did when I lived in France....I mean, who saves money while studying in France anyway? You shop all you can before you go back..and then the logic is that; although you weren't so careful with your money while studying a broad, you at least managed to bring back clothes that you wouldn't be able to get in your own country. Value for money in France meant purchasing stuff that you couldn't get in Norway....value for money (when you live alone) in Norway is way more boring...here, it means purchasing the perfect vegetable....:s

I went grocery shopping earlier, and found myself spending quite some time in search for the "perfect/biggest" cucumber. When the price isn't based on weight, but on per piece (of vegetable) you buy, you bet I'm gonna try to get value for money.,,..yeah,,,there I stood, for about 5 minutes,,,looking for the "perfect" cucumber...how does a perfect cucumber look like, you might ask?...Well, in my mind it should be somewhat equally large from beginning to end..in other words, it should be proportionate............I didn't find the perfect cucumber..felt stupid when I realized how retarded I must have looked while I stood there digging through the pile of cucumbers....I just had to accept that cucumbers are like people...they're not perfect..and they're certainly not proportionate.

--And that was the lesson of the day...:P

Random: 100% Orange & Toasted SpongeBob

Read a sticker on this orange saying "100% Orange"...wait wait...if THIS orange has a sticker saying that it's 100% orange, then what the hell has been in the other orange-looking stuff I've been eating? :P...







I like my toast extra toasted...and preferably one that leaves a spongeBob print.....I'm living like a real student now..toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. :P

Please do not leave dried pee-marks on my toilet. THANK YOU =)

This student apartment is renovated...everything is new,,love it=)...The problem, however, is that not everything is done yet, like: the doorbell isn't working yet, there's no shower head in my shower, which means that I can't shower..etc. But, I'm a little bit too excited to be on my own to stress out about it. I went to the gym earlier, worked out a bit and took a shower there..where there is a will, there is always a way ;) ..Because everything isn't done yet, it means that electricians etc have access to my apartment. It's a bit of a creepy thought, but I expect them to be professional and not look through my stuff/steal it while there here. However, you can't expect workers to work at your place without allowing them to do their thing when nature calls....

The other day I gave the keys to the apartment to my boyfriend so that he could help me get some stuff in here. When I got back I saw that the toilet seat was up, and I sent him an SMS, jokingly saying that I know that a man has used my bathroom, because the toilet seat is up. To my surprise, he told me that he, nor his friend, had used it:s-----so, it has to be one of those construction workers/electricians. I inspected the toilet and noticed yellow marks of dry urine......UGHhh,,naaaasty...and I haven't even gotten the chance to buy stuff to clean the toilet with..I took some toilet paper, water, and some soap from the kitchen and cleaned it up....Since the shower head isn't at its place yet, I know they'll be back.. I plan to stick a note above my toilet, saying:

"Go ahead and use the toilet. But, please do not leave dried urine on my toilet. PS! A woman lives here, thus, please put down the toilet seat after use. THANK YOU=)"


....of course, I can't really do that...the guy who peed here in the first place might invite all his coworkers to come and pee all over my place...:s....

-to be continued-