Yesterday someone asked me if I was looking forward to Easter.
In return, this person got the blank stare I've gotten in the habit of giving everyone who asks me if I'm looking forward to one holiday or the other.
No, I'm not.
Listen, I don't mean for this to be a sob fest/pity party. The fact of the matter, though, is that as a single expatriate, you don't live with your family. Full stop. When the holidays come around, you may Skype with them or what not, but you're normally spending that day alone.
I can only speak for myself, of course. Some people may do things with friends, or some people may go home for whichever holidays they can/want to.
In the last five and a half years, it's become very clear to me that spending my holidays alone is a fact of life. It's really not the end of the world. I'm not religious anyway, so I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything in that respect. The most I'm really missing out on is whatever seasonal bird is ending up on the table back in Canada.
All the holidays/long weekends/whatever give me are an extra couple of days away from work/uni to work on whichever writing projects I've got on the go at the moment. It's not sad, mopey or depressing. It's just the way it is -- another day.
Still, don't ask me if I'm looking forward to the holidays. Sure, it's nice to not set the alarm for an extra morning or two, but really. No. I'm not looking forward to the holidays. Why would I?
27 March 2013
24 March 2013
BLIP: I like Candy
Tyrkisk Peber makes me happy. So does finding it on Amazon, which gives me the feeling that I can go ahead and eat the 12984 bags I brought back from Finland when my heart so desires.
19 March 2013
"Minderwertiger Mensch"
Today at the staff meeting at one of my jobs, there was a discussion about whether or not we should be hanging art in the workplace, and what kind of art that should be.
Then, one of the people noted that the company could employ an SHK to take the pictures to and from a van and hang them. A previous SHK who used to work in the office with me (who now has a real job and thus recognition as being a real person) looked at me and a simultaneous headshake took place.
Those of you who know me will know this whole SHK thing is one that drives me crazy and that I choose to bitch about quite often. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the German system, an SHK is typically just slave labor, akin to an unpaid intern with a degree who spends their days getting coffee for higher-ups. Our bosses are pretty much convinced we do dick all, even though we often do tons of work that they get to take credit for later on. Oh yeah. And we get paid practically nothing to do it.
On the one hand, it's good "experience" to have on your resume, even if it doesn't technically count as "work experience". (Which, considering the amount of work most SHK's I know do, is laughable. I do more work here than I did at any of my previous full-time "normal" jobs.) On the other: we're stuck doing the lousy work that no "real" employee wants to take on; are not given keys to get into the buildings we work in because "we might throw parties" and thus have to hope the person manning the front desk will open the door for us when we get to work; and are treated generally like baby monkeys, even though enough of us are running around with Bachelor's degrees.
It's a half-win/lose situation, but we deal with it... Mostly because we have to. You can't be choosy when the best jobs out there pay 10€ an hour or (normally) less if you're a dreaded student, regardless of the vow you made to yourself at 17 that you'd never work for less than the equivalent of 13€ an hour again.
What drives me crazy, though, is the potential for exploitation. Of course, I'll do the grunt work! Of course, I'll unload a car! And then, of course, I'll be happy to go back to my regular work where -- were I a freelancer -- I'd be getting a cool 300 yoyos a day, but of course I'm DELIGHTED to take my 60€ before tax! Of course!
Are SHK's the new Yes Men? Yes!
As for my previous co-worker, he went from being a Yes Man to a "real" human being whose thoughts could be respected from one day to the next. As far as I've been able to tell, nothing happened that day to make him more "important" or better of a person (except for the fact he got a key to the building).
Grumble, grumble. Here's to hoping my day comes eventually.
Then, one of the people noted that the company could employ an SHK to take the pictures to and from a van and hang them. A previous SHK who used to work in the office with me (who now has a real job and thus recognition as being a real person) looked at me and a simultaneous headshake took place.
Those of you who know me will know this whole SHK thing is one that drives me crazy and that I choose to bitch about quite often. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the German system, an SHK is typically just slave labor, akin to an unpaid intern with a degree who spends their days getting coffee for higher-ups. Our bosses are pretty much convinced we do dick all, even though we often do tons of work that they get to take credit for later on. Oh yeah. And we get paid practically nothing to do it.
On the one hand, it's good "experience" to have on your resume, even if it doesn't technically count as "work experience". (Which, considering the amount of work most SHK's I know do, is laughable. I do more work here than I did at any of my previous full-time "normal" jobs.) On the other: we're stuck doing the lousy work that no "real" employee wants to take on; are not given keys to get into the buildings we work in because "we might throw parties" and thus have to hope the person manning the front desk will open the door for us when we get to work; and are treated generally like baby monkeys, even though enough of us are running around with Bachelor's degrees.
It's a half-win/lose situation, but we deal with it... Mostly because we have to. You can't be choosy when the best jobs out there pay 10€ an hour or (normally) less if you're a dreaded student, regardless of the vow you made to yourself at 17 that you'd never work for less than the equivalent of 13€ an hour again.
What drives me crazy, though, is the potential for exploitation. Of course, I'll do the grunt work! Of course, I'll unload a car! And then, of course, I'll be happy to go back to my regular work where -- were I a freelancer -- I'd be getting a cool 300 yoyos a day, but of course I'm DELIGHTED to take my 60€ before tax! Of course!
Are SHK's the new Yes Men? Yes!
As for my previous co-worker, he went from being a Yes Man to a "real" human being whose thoughts could be respected from one day to the next. As far as I've been able to tell, nothing happened that day to make him more "important" or better of a person (except for the fact he got a key to the building).
Grumble, grumble. Here's to hoping my day comes eventually.
13 March 2013
07 March 2013
Frühling ist da!
Don't get me wrong -- I don't like -30 and snow. I mean, I'm a crazy person, but not that much of a crazy person. While I'm at it, I don't much like a one-and-a-half-month summer.
I mean, life in Germany isn't that much better. It rains 346 days per year, for which ten nice days are hardly any consolation.
As much as I like the fact that Germany is warmer than back home at any given time, the seasons here still -- after six years, mind -- have a way of messing with me. Back home, we have the seasons of: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction. At the beginning in Germany, I liked having the four distinct seasons of: rain, cold rain, warm rain and yes it's still raining, mostly because there were leaves on the trees for more than two and a half months in any given year.
You'd think that, after all this time, the weather here would become normal and expected.
But, no. Really.
Last year I came back home from a winter-break trip to Canada in the middle of March. I ran around snapping pictures of the budding trees, because after so long, I still couldn't believe it. I came back from Finland this week, marvelling at the warm weather and the fact the Germans were still running around in coats like the winter apocalypse was coming (if they only knew a real winter...).
As nice as not having to be bundled up is, though, it just feels wrong. The back of my mind is still, after all these years, saying, "Just you wait! The heavy May/June snowfall that kills all the trees is still coming."
The one thing that was nice about Finland was that it was still winter. Technically the weather was warmer than seasonal, but there was still a bucketload of snow with temperatures regularly dipping fairly below freezing. March. Winter. Cold. Snow. Right.
Germany weather. Wrong.
I should stop complaining and bring out my nice summer pumps before the rain starts again.
But it just feels wrong that spring is springing. Cold weather is in the blood of a Canadian.
It's kind of like that temperature chart that has been floating around the interwebbies since the day the interwebbies were born:
50 Fahrenheit (10 C)
New Yorkers try to turn on the heat
Canadians plant gardens
40 Fahrenheit (4.4 C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably
Canadians sunbathe
35 Fahrenheit (1.6 C)
Italian Cars won't start
Canadians drive with the windows down
32 Fahrenheit (0 C)
Distilled water freezes
Canadian water gets thicker
0 Fahrenheit (-17.9 C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat
Canadians have the last cookout of the season
-40 Fahrenheit (-40 C)
Hollywood disintegrates
Canadians rent some videos
-60 Fahrenheit (-51 C)
Mt. St. Helen's freezes
Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door
-100 Fahrenheit (-73 C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole
Canadians pull down their earflaps
-173 Fahrenheit (-114 C)
Ethyl alcohol freezes
Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg
-459.4 Fahrenheit (-273 C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops
Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"
-500 Fahrenheit (-295 C)
Hell freezes over
The Flames win the Cup
(Yeah, it's been a slow day. But didn't you know that talking about the weather is a favoured national Canadian pastime?)
I mean, life in Germany isn't that much better. It rains 346 days per year, for which ten nice days are hardly any consolation.
As much as I like the fact that Germany is warmer than back home at any given time, the seasons here still -- after six years, mind -- have a way of messing with me. Back home, we have the seasons of: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction. At the beginning in Germany, I liked having the four distinct seasons of: rain, cold rain, warm rain and yes it's still raining, mostly because there were leaves on the trees for more than two and a half months in any given year.
You'd think that, after all this time, the weather here would become normal and expected.
But, no. Really.
Last year I came back home from a winter-break trip to Canada in the middle of March. I ran around snapping pictures of the budding trees, because after so long, I still couldn't believe it. I came back from Finland this week, marvelling at the warm weather and the fact the Germans were still running around in coats like the winter apocalypse was coming (if they only knew a real winter...).
As nice as not having to be bundled up is, though, it just feels wrong. The back of my mind is still, after all these years, saying, "Just you wait! The heavy May/June snowfall that kills all the trees is still coming."
The one thing that was nice about Finland was that it was still winter. Technically the weather was warmer than seasonal, but there was still a bucketload of snow with temperatures regularly dipping fairly below freezing. March. Winter. Cold. Snow. Right.
Germany weather. Wrong.
I should stop complaining and bring out my nice summer pumps before the rain starts again.
But it just feels wrong that spring is springing. Cold weather is in the blood of a Canadian.
It's kind of like that temperature chart that has been floating around the interwebbies since the day the interwebbies were born:
50 Fahrenheit (10 C)
New Yorkers try to turn on the heat
Canadians plant gardens
40 Fahrenheit (4.4 C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably
Canadians sunbathe
35 Fahrenheit (1.6 C)
Italian Cars won't start
Canadians drive with the windows down
32 Fahrenheit (0 C)
Distilled water freezes
Canadian water gets thicker
0 Fahrenheit (-17.9 C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat
Canadians have the last cookout of the season
-40 Fahrenheit (-40 C)
Hollywood disintegrates
Canadians rent some videos
-60 Fahrenheit (-51 C)
Mt. St. Helen's freezes
Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door
-100 Fahrenheit (-73 C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole
Canadians pull down their earflaps
-173 Fahrenheit (-114 C)
Ethyl alcohol freezes
Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg
-459.4 Fahrenheit (-273 C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops
Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"
-500 Fahrenheit (-295 C)
Hell freezes over
The Flames win the Cup
(Yeah, it's been a slow day. But didn't you know that talking about the weather is a favoured national Canadian pastime?)
05 March 2013
BLIP: Coming Back
Distance is a tricky little fucker, and I wonder if that makes coming back to Germany after a trip away harder than it needs to be. Not only are you plunged into a sea of disgruntled Germans grumbling into their phones or barking at the person next to them, but the distance between where you are and where you just were a few hours ago makes you pause and wonder -- did your trip actually happen, or were you just daydreaming until a more-disgruntled-than-usual German made you snap out of it?
My thoughts for the evening: I hope I'm just having a rather boring night of REM action right now, and when I wake up I'll be back on the guest mattress in Finland, complete with a certain someone peeking around the door to see if I'm awake yet.
My thoughts for the evening: I hope I'm just having a rather boring night of REM action right now, and when I wake up I'll be back on the guest mattress in Finland, complete with a certain someone peeking around the door to see if I'm awake yet.
02 March 2013
Five Reasons Life is Beautiful: In Pictures
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| Reason #1: Being able to make a best friend happy on her birthday. |
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| Reason #2: Being lucky to not have just one amazing Mooma, but an amazing Äiti to give you a home away from home. |
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| Reason #3: Grumpy Cat and the cheer he inevitably (and likely unwillingly) brings to everyone. |
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| Reason #4: Life is better with a cider in the evenings. |
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| Reason #5: Nuff said. |
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