City Cycling....
(engels)Man @ WorkIn my last post I mentioned me bagging a new job, and to be honest it is that job that killed my blog. It is a long commute to work (two hours each way): by bicycle, train, bicycle or twice a week: bicycle, train, bus, or if I have had some foamy beverage: walking, train , bus. So there is a lot of time for listening to podcasts and trying to catch up on sleep.
One of the first decisions I made about my commute was that because my days were going to be so long, I will never find any time for exercise during the week. Also, being stuck on a bus for half an hour to work, and then again on the way home, would drive me crazy. So I decided to bike it!
It is about 6km (4 miles) from the train station to my work, and I knew I would need to keep a bicycle at (or near) the train station for long periods of time. So I needed an old bike, one that your average bike thief would not be seen dead riding. So I got on the Swedish version of eBay, found a local seller and bought a really old aluminium framed mountain bike for about £90 ($135). Piece of rubbish real, but as long as it could go, it was fit for the job.
So during the Spring, Summer, Autumn months I happily peddled backwards and forwards, my bike fitness ticking over, losing a bit if weight, and getting plenty of fresh air.
Now during this time there have been several protests against the driving of cars in the centre of Gothenburg, and on a few mornings I have seen people in orange boiler suits waving placards at car driving commuters and occasionally cheering cyclists on. Then one morning while I was going to unlock my bike at the station I noticed a TV camera, and a women interviewing someone. Anyway while getting ready to ride, the woman asked if I wouldn't mind giving my opinions of what it is like to cycle in Gothenburg. The result? Well take a look here.
anytime.tv4.se/webtv/
My translation of the piece goes something like this:
Reporter: "What is it like to cycle in the city?"
The first lady was saying that when cycling in the city there are many (traffic light) crossings and it takes a long time to go a short distance.
Reporter: "How is the cycle parking in the city?"
I said, my bike's front wheel once went missing, which was not good.(In fact this is not true, it was my back wheel, but I was too nervous/tired to get my facts straight)
The last guy was saying that the cycle parking is close to the station, but not very good when it is raining (the verb he used was erm... pissing down.)
And then me saying goodbye (hejdå - pronounced hay-door).
Yeah I know, blink and you miss it, but there you go....
I have noticed I am having a lot more mechanical issues with the bike now winter is here and I will have to hang up the cycling shoes when the snow comes... which is a shame. But I would encourage anybody to consider cycling instead of driving to work. There is also a mental benefit to cycling. It helps me clear my mind, solve problems and any stress I might have simply evaporates away.
I know it is not for everyone, but if it is feasible, try it for a week and then decide.
That is all.
LITW
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Job for the Boy
(engels)Man @ WorkI have been working from home now for the last two and a half years, and it terms of mixing with Swedes and integrating with the society in which I have chosen to live, that was the worst thing I could do. But when people offer you work, it is hard to turn down.
So anyway, in the meantime, I have been doing things like posting my CV on Swedish job agency websites on a regular basis, and applying online for jobs, Over the past year, I guess I have applied for about fifty. A reasonable effort I would say, but I have not had a single interview. Until a couple of weeks ago....
I was putting some shopping in the car, and my mobile rings. Sounds ordinary doesn't it, but my mobile NEVER rings. It always gives me the willies when it does ring, good news never comes from an infrequently ringing phone. Anyway I had to get my brain in gear as it was a woman from an agency who had stumbled across my CV and she was asking me lots of tricky questions in Swedish. She was saying that she had a job for me that I may be interested in, “..er OK” I said trying to close the close the boot of the car with my chin.
She asked me down to meet with her in Gothenburg, which I duly did, which involved mainly padding out my CV and discussing “what kind of person am I”. It seems she was keen to get me to an interview at the company. So we agreed a date/time over the phone, apart from the oddness that Job Agency Lady (let's call her ”Jal”) was going to go to the interview with me, I really didn't think any more about it.
First thing, on Monday, I drove down to Gothunberg, it takes about an hour and a quarter, for a stress filled day in a real city. Got to the general location of the job agency, no parking places. Tried to phone Jal on her office and mobile, nothing. Great start. Drove to some multi story parking and the mobile rings. Jal tells me to meet her outside and I will follow her in her car. Originally I was going to ride with her in her car, which would have been a lot less stressful than following an ordinary looking Swedish car (a Saab) through a city full of Saabs.
We arrived at the my potential employers' premises without Jal losing her self-imposed tail (me). I shook lots of hands and we sat in a reception area, which turned out to be the precise location of the interview. Jal knew the level of my Swedish, and suggested that we did the interview, half in Swedish, and half in English. The boss suggested we start in Swedish... which tends to mean in my experience that that was the language of choice, and I'll be lucky to hear any English at all. And so it was. But, people nodded at my poorly constructed answers, they didn't laugh at my awful grammar, they seemed to understand what I was saying, even though I could hear mistakes after I said them.
The interview seemed to be over, and the boss showed me around the company, and soon Jal had to go and pick up her young child from day care, so I was left alone, just the boss and me. We discussed what the business did, a little more of my experience, and I think I was offered the job. The offer was lost a little in translation, I though I was being asked what I felt about the company, but what I was really being asked was how would I feel about working there. Well, I kept nodding and smiling, so I got the job.
I don't start for another month, but I am really excited. I have done what none of my peers have done, work for a non-UK company, outside of the UK full time, and I did the interview in a second language. On the way home I was way proud of myself.
I am doubly proud of myself, as often the first job an immigrant secures, is often a low skilled position, even if they have skills and a good education, getting an interview without having fluency is really difficult.
I start in a month, so I have time to learn what I said I knew on my CV.
Joke.
That is all.
LostInTheWoods
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In Demand (possibly)
(engels)Man @ WorkJust had a guy phone me up about some work in the UK, but he isn't the first. Often, once they understand that my geographic location is, erm... permanently Nordic, they hastily retreat and thank me for my time. This guy launched into a full on telephone interview, and was trying to talk me out of doing part time work and do it full time. I agreed, stating when I would be available.
I understand he has a job to do, he has to match up potential employees with companies, so I am used to these guys talking things up, but this enquiry was different. I am not going to hold my breath, hope requires effort, and I don't have enough energy for that at the moment.
OK, the tally so far:
Jobs Applied For: 4 (yeah I know, need to get going with this....)
Interviews: 1 (I think I will include the phone one as well.)
Job Offered: 0
Rejections: 1 (They placed someone before the application close date. Gits.)
Jobs Accepted: 0
That is all.
LostInTheWoods
New Blog Category, New Start
(engels)Man @ WorkOK, after living here for nearly two years, it is now time for me to find gainful employment with a Swedish based firm. I have started this category to document how this pans out... I am optimistic, but finding a job here, where I am going to have to flex my new found foreign language skills, is going to be, well, interesting with a dash of scary.
At school I guess I was considered quite bright, I know this because I recently found some old school reports, but the words of praise were often proceeded with the words “Could do better.”. It seemed as though the teachers had a “Could do better.” ink pad and stamp that they passed amongst themselves for my reports.
Anyway, the one subject that I couldn't understand why I was really poor at was German. At that point Germany was a place far off that I had never visited, and learning it seemed like a academic exercise that I was no good at. I remember being kept behind class one day and being given the finger wagging treatment by a diminutive teacher (just Google-stalked her, she is still working as a foreign languages teacher) for handing in really poor homework. Foreign languages just did not stick... anyway I wanted to pursue a career in Science, so I guess you can see which way my brain was wired.
Spin forward about twelve years. I had a Swedish girlfriend and I was making frequent visits here, and don't believe what you've heard, not everyone speaks perfect English here. In the big cities maybe, but I have found people where I am very reluctant at times to speak English (to me anyway, maybe it's me?). So, at an age when it is not normally recommended, I started to re-wire my brain to accommodate a new language....
And it has not been easy so far.. but for the past nine months or so I have been going to school studying “Swedish for Immigrants”, and it has really helped. But I have seen loads of people who have English as a second language, shoot past me in their proficiency of Swedish. Tortoise and the hare-esque.
I am approaching my biggest test. The whole job thing. I am going to have to speak Swedish everyday, probably all day. With some help, I have translated my CV into Swedish, and I have tried (not quite successful yet) to post it online (yup, still a few issues with the lingo...), and Phase 2 of my integration here is about to start. Gulp.
That is all.
LostInTheWoods
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