It seems like a long time since I have posted here. Life is getting back to "normal" here. I have started working at Zehrs. So far the people are fun, especially the other girls who were hired with me, and the job is not horrible. It is however a lot more exhausting than it has any right to be! I came home after my first training shift and promptly fell asleep on our living room couch for three hours!! I have too many codes to learn, but aside from that the job isn't really very hard. It is just tiring.
I am not working at Starbucks yet, because they have not called me. I planned on calling them today to see what was up with that, but other things got in the way so I will do it tomorrow or monday. My parents are painting the living room, rather my sister and I are going to do it, but I helped my mom move furniture and wash walls. I also got the slide show for sunday all worked out. I am speaking at my parents church on sunday about my time in Africa. I have put together a nifty slideshow of some pictures and it is set to fun music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Their music makes me happy. So, now the slideshow is finished - it is about 7 minutes long. Now I have figure out what I am saying for the remaining 23 minutes....
This week Brian Dyck was in town. He and his family were living in Mthatha South Africa when I arrived there last fall. They moved back to Winnipeg in November so it was nice to see him and catch up a little bit. While we were talking I started to notice some things that I do differently now that I am home. First of all, the way I go grocery shopping is a lot different. I used to go with a list but if I saw something else on the shelves that seemed useful, interesting or appetizing I may have put that in my cart too. Now when I go I have a list, I look at the floor on my way from aisle to aisle and leave as fast as I possibly can. Sort of ironic that now I work in a grocery store. Anyway, I have realized that the choices and variety available here are just a little overwhelming. I didn't have many choices when I went shopping in Mthatha and now I am not entirely sure what to so with eight different varieties of pickles or tuna. This making choices problem has also extended to my cooking. I used to day dream about cooking and baking when I was in South Africa in my tiny kitchenette with no oven and a poor excuse for a stove. But now I hardly ever cook or bake anything fun because it means I have to decide what to eat! I didn't have any power over what I ate for eight months! Now I do and it isn't as easy as it used to be.
So while some things are getting back to normal, I am realizing that some things aren't as normal as I thought they were. Sigh. But I have been reading Terry Prachett and Orson Scott Card so that makes me happy.
The End.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Good friends in weird places.
So, last night after I finished posting on my blog and then I turned off my computer. Then I heard yelling. Two guys were fighting on the street beside my house! For those of you who have never been to my house, I live in a quiet residential area with virtually no crime and definately no street fights. There was the infamous beebee gun incident years ago, but aside from that nothing really ever happens here.
At least, not until last night, rather this morning at about 1:30am. My parents called the police and as I stood by an open window listening to what was going on I got to piece together what was happening. One guy was very drunk and very angry and really wanted to go and kill his girlfriend. The other guy was pining him to the ground telling his friend that there was no f*#@king way he was letting him up. This of course made angry drunk guy much angrier but he was thankfully really really drunk, so all his yelling and struggling didn't get him very far. I actually have alot of respect for the friend because he put up with a lot of abuse and held his friend down for at least forty minutes. The only time angry drunk guy got away, he ran head first into our fence post. He didn't get far. The police finally showed up and almost wanted to arrest the friend of angry drunk guy until my dad went out and explained what was going on to the cops.
Crazy night!
At least, not until last night, rather this morning at about 1:30am. My parents called the police and as I stood by an open window listening to what was going on I got to piece together what was happening. One guy was very drunk and very angry and really wanted to go and kill his girlfriend. The other guy was pining him to the ground telling his friend that there was no f*#@king way he was letting him up. This of course made angry drunk guy much angrier but he was thankfully really really drunk, so all his yelling and struggling didn't get him very far. I actually have alot of respect for the friend because he put up with a lot of abuse and held his friend down for at least forty minutes. The only time angry drunk guy got away, he ran head first into our fence post. He didn't get far. The police finally showed up and almost wanted to arrest the friend of angry drunk guy until my dad went out and explained what was going on to the cops.
Crazy night!
what the world needs now...
My last post seemed a little whiny. I have a job at zehrs, and right now I am temping at my friend Pam's office as an office lackey and tonight I had a great family dinner and no one fought at all. It was lovely. So my little world is really great.
The rest of the world seems to have gone to shit.
I finally watched the movie Hotel Rwanda tonight. Having read Romeo Dallaire's book as well as several others on the subject and having studied the conflict in a few of my classes at school, I knew what I would see. That did not stop me from again being surprised at the extent to which people can hurt eachother. Of course this movie shows the courage of the people who worked to stop the conflict and save lives, but it is mind numbing to think about what has to happen for a nation to descend into that kind of hell.
Now with the terrorist plot uncovered in the UK and the war in Israel/Lebonon and in Israel/Palistine as well as all the wars still raging in Africa that are ignored by the rest of the world - Sudan, DRC,Western Sahara,Somolia and others - it is heartbreaking and incomprehensible.
Sometimes, given what I have studied and what we are bombarded with in the media, I can get overwhelmed with the magnitude of what is wrong with our world. It seems hopeless, like no matter what good cannot win. One war ends, another begins. One nation or community or family, is able to pull itself out of the mire and begin to be better, more peaceful and good but another is pulled down. It is easy for me to forget that there is hope, that Good has already won. Our world is still in bondage to sin, but the ropes have been cut and it is only a matter of time.
The rest of the world seems to have gone to shit.
I finally watched the movie Hotel Rwanda tonight. Having read Romeo Dallaire's book as well as several others on the subject and having studied the conflict in a few of my classes at school, I knew what I would see. That did not stop me from again being surprised at the extent to which people can hurt eachother. Of course this movie shows the courage of the people who worked to stop the conflict and save lives, but it is mind numbing to think about what has to happen for a nation to descend into that kind of hell.
Now with the terrorist plot uncovered in the UK and the war in Israel/Lebonon and in Israel/Palistine as well as all the wars still raging in Africa that are ignored by the rest of the world - Sudan, DRC,Western Sahara,Somolia and others - it is heartbreaking and incomprehensible.
Sometimes, given what I have studied and what we are bombarded with in the media, I can get overwhelmed with the magnitude of what is wrong with our world. It seems hopeless, like no matter what good cannot win. One war ends, another begins. One nation or community or family, is able to pull itself out of the mire and begin to be better, more peaceful and good but another is pulled down. It is easy for me to forget that there is hope, that Good has already won. Our world is still in bondage to sin, but the ropes have been cut and it is only a matter of time.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
new job....yahoo...?
Well, I am officially employed.
By a grocery store. I will be working with Steph which is GREAT! I haven't had many jobs with fun people so that will be fun. But I am a cashier at a grocery store working for a meager 7.75 an hour. Boo. So, obviously not my dream job, but it is a pay check which is really important right now. Also, I am applying back at, thats right, Starbucks. Sigh. They are opening another store in town and they need people so I will get hired. Maybe even as a shift supervisor. I liked working at Starbucks, so this is not a horrible thing, and I get lots of free coffee (yahoo!) but I don't feel like I am going anywhere. sigh.
This post is a little pessimistic. I really am glad to have a job and a paycheck and neither job is heinous or vile so things are ok. I will keep looking for a "real" job. At least now I will not be bored stupid. Yahoo!
Oh ya, and I heard about the call centre job. Apparently they don't want me. My best friend works in HR at the company and was told that my written french wasn't up to snuff (funny since the job doesn't require much written french and they have hired people without it before...) but I think it was because when they asked about what kind of work environment I expected I said supportive and enthusiastic. They had weird looks on their faces like both concepts were foreign to them, so I think that may have been it. But they should have hired me. I am cool and they loose!
By a grocery store. I will be working with Steph which is GREAT! I haven't had many jobs with fun people so that will be fun. But I am a cashier at a grocery store working for a meager 7.75 an hour. Boo. So, obviously not my dream job, but it is a pay check which is really important right now. Also, I am applying back at, thats right, Starbucks. Sigh. They are opening another store in town and they need people so I will get hired. Maybe even as a shift supervisor. I liked working at Starbucks, so this is not a horrible thing, and I get lots of free coffee (yahoo!) but I don't feel like I am going anywhere. sigh.
This post is a little pessimistic. I really am glad to have a job and a paycheck and neither job is heinous or vile so things are ok. I will keep looking for a "real" job. At least now I will not be bored stupid. Yahoo!
Oh ya, and I heard about the call centre job. Apparently they don't want me. My best friend works in HR at the company and was told that my written french wasn't up to snuff (funny since the job doesn't require much written french and they have hired people without it before...) but I think it was because when they asked about what kind of work environment I expected I said supportive and enthusiastic. They had weird looks on their faces like both concepts were foreign to them, so I think that may have been it. But they should have hired me. I am cool and they loose!
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