Visiting Lourve..

Despite being in france for nearly 3 years,
Im kinda ashamed to admit that i havent been to the lourve.
Yes, i went numerous time to the iconic glass triangle
but never into the museum.

First, because im not a big museum fan
I find museums so big here
that im feel so overwhelm by all the artworks in 2hours
hmmm, maybe i should go same museum 5 times 
and try not to see everything in a day.

Secondly, the famous mon lisa
If you ever google mona lisa in lourve
its often the scary crowded, full of people room
with the tiny mona lisa painting
Im not interested to squeeze with everyone to see her!

Anyway husband received free tickets to lourve

so we took 1 saturday to go

Sadly, i was really tired that week,

hell, im tired verey week since my colleague went holiday

and my boss dumped all her work onto me..

But husband still managed to drag me there

for at least 2.5hours, haha

We were surprised that there was no queue to enter

and no big crowds at mona lisa

that we could even went in front to take photos

Being superficial art lovers

we went to look at the famous artworks

and finally to the eyptian area 

which i think is quite nice

but im thinking all the mummies must be sad to be far from egypt

i bet the afterlife they were promised to

definitely doesnt include being in Paris.

Okay! 1 tick on the must do check list...

33th Birthday..

The weekend before my birthday
we took a short trip to Lille
Basically it was a shopping trip
because theres nothing much to do except shopping
and husband didnt know what to get me as a gift
so we decided to just buy anything i saw
Good news for him is that i didnt really found much things to buy
I dont know is it because i was in the no-mood mode
because the kids were supposed to be my birthday present
but it was nice to get out of normal routine.

We did visit some churchs
but it was mainly just roaming around
and the only nice thing i remembered
was this 2nd hand books place located in a courtyard
and this is where i found my coolest birthday gift
A newspaper published on the same date of my birthday
but 100years older than me!!

The rest was eating and walking around
i think im so glad that husband bought his new hiking shoes
at least he didnt complained about all the shopping!
This year winter seems to be here early
So, it was chilly with rain 
that during 1 evening, i learnt my scarf to husband
and he ended up looking like a strange woman..haha

I forgot when is the last time i spend my actual birthday alone
or went to work during my birthday.
Anyway, husband had a work function in the evening
and i didnt want to take any day off
so, it was simply a normal day spent.
Except that husband woke me up early
made a special birthday breakfast for me
gave me all the presents we got from our trip
and the famous konmarie tidying book
which my friends sent me an exact copy a few days late!
Make me wonder is it a sign to ask me to clean my home more often...

Since i dont really love my colleagues
I was glad that my birthday went un-noticed till almost it was time to go
The evening was peaceful with me eating my favorite instant noodles
and husband managed to come home before midnight
to force me to eat my birthday cake...

I guess this has not been a great year
but nevertheless, i survived it...

First family trip

Since my family is full of kids,
we often went on family trips or outings together.
So, it came as a big surprise to me when i knew
that husband's last family trip was many years ago
and they probably didnt travel as a family for 10years!
Anyway, I suggested that we should do a family trip
and I proposed that we can go centerparc,
which is resort style place in the forest
where they used to spend christmas there
when they were kids.
To my surprise, after exploring the options of trips,
the in laws think that centerparc is a great idea!
So, all was booked and we were to go for 4 days at the end of october...

I didnt bring my camera because my mil is a big fan to take pictures
so i left the 'honor' for her to do so
and i dont have any photos to add to this blog.
I googled to give an idea of centerparc:

The biggest attraction is the indoor poor

which comes with a few water rides (Free)

while the other activites, eg bowling, golf...

are payable and quite expensive.

Since we went on a long weekend here in France,

I think we were prepared for the crowd.

However, is my first time to a public pool here,

i was totally shocked by the amount of people in the pool!

They had a counter outside the ppol entrance

and i think at 1 moment it shown 800+?!

Frankly, i do not remember much of the holiday,

except it was swimming pool every single day.

I think I got overdose of the pool

especially when im not really a water-person

and when its super crowded.

but it seems swimming pools are not so many as in Sg,

the family really wanted to make full use of the pool.

The rest of the holidays were spent in the cottage,

where the in laws brought lots of food to cook our meals,

having long conversations

and playing some boardgames.

It did felt a little like christmas where we spend time at in law's home

but i think is still nice to be out together as a family.

Probably im not a big fan of centerparc for now,

but it will be nice when we have more kids in the family..

Hmm, i guess its time to use my power of persuasion

to start thinking about family trip 2017??

5 lessons that my dad taught me...

Although you left us for 10 years,
you are often still in my thoughts...

5)Never be ashamed of your job
Maybe i was too young,
I never heard you once complained about being a hawker.
Even when you fried kway tiao stall didnt do well,
you tried to add fried hookien mee into your menu,
in the end, you ended up joing mum's yong tau foo,
yet, i never heard you say that maybe hawker is not for you
and tried to change your career.

I admit that i was immature 
and never was proud that my parents were hawkers.
I remembered that i was hurt deeply once,
my ex boyf laughed at how my allowance was all in $2 notes
and i felt like i couldnt defend you 
because i was not proud of your job.
End up, his friend scolded him
and indirectly reminded me that,
you are making a decent income,
you are not doing bad things to feed the family,
why should i be ashamed of your job?

4)Never lose your humor
Despite not being the best joker,
or ever good at telling jokes.
I lost count of the times that you repeated old jokes,
or told us jokes that you heard,
that ended up being unfunny after your interpretations.
Yet, in the last few months of your life,
i recalled sitting on your hospital bed,
trying to crack you up with silly jokes or acts,
and you never failed to laugh
or gave me a smile when you couldnt.
How many of us can be like you,
not losing our sense of humor
in face of pending death?

3) Be proud of your child
Being low educated and manual labors,
i guess you never had high hopes 
about how each of us will be successful in life.
You always told the same story 
how you saw really smart people who went crazy
in the mental hospitals,
that you would never force us to study.
Yet, all of your children managed to be university graduates.
And i always remember the pride you have on your face,
telling others how all your children are university graduates.
If you can see us now,
im sure you must be so proud that we are doing well in life...

2) Love your child unconditionally
After you left,
i always had the same image in mind,
it somehow became an anchor in my heart,
that whenever im feeling lost or simply tired of the world.
I remembered clearly how you used to cycle me after school
we went by the same garden to go back to the stall,
the garden was full of jackfruit trees
and i always told you that they were beehives
because i was young that i cant remembered the name of it.
Each time without fail, 
you always told me gently the correct chinese name for them.
Never once, you judge me for not remembering the name
or gave up at telling me repeatedly.
It was such a simple act of non-judgemental love,
that often reminds me that i should not worried whether im good enough 
because i deserved to be love as who i am.

1) Never never never give up...
I never known someone as brave as you.
You survived your first cancer,
even when it required a major surgery to remove your foodpipe,
with the risk that you may never eat normally again,
you managed to do so and lived a normal life.

In about a year, you got stroke that had you paralysed on the right side,
at your age and state of the stroke, 
no one had high hopes of your recovery,
yet, you worked hard at therapy,
created an umbrella cane because you didnt like having a real cane,
became mobile and independent in such a short period of time.
You never liked or let mum to hold you to show your independence,
but never once complained when i do so.

Life seems unfair to strike you with cancer again.
Even though we didnt dare to tell you the truth early,
you seemed to know and still tried your best to fight it.
I remembered the nights that you were in so much pain
and mistook me as a nurse begging me for more morphine,
but times when pain was berable,
you are back to your cheerful self to 'entertain' many who came to visit.
And in my heart,
i always felt that you left us so fast
within 3 months of the official diagnosis,
because you cant bear to see us 'tortured' by your sickness.
Your bravery is something I wish i have...

Its the month of november,
apart from being appreciative that you and mum gave me life
its also the birthday month of the 3 of us.
Till the day we meet again,
i will hold these lessons close to my heart....

Am i still in grief?

I remembered in 1 of my sessions with my therapist,
we were speaking about my father
and i asked 'When will grief ends?'
Despite studying grief process as part of my studies,
I really wondered about whether there is an end to it?
I kinda remembered that she answered maybe grief never ends,
but its just transit into a way that it interferes less in daily life.

This year, i had 2 big losses.
First, were the twins.
Next, was nono.
Since my sis-in-law got a new cat,
husband and i spoke about having a pet.
Although he is a cat person, 
I am a dog person,
im sure we can come to an agreement on which to have.
Or maybe a cat-dog.

I must say the idea of having a pet sounds good
especially now that we have no kids
and a terrace in home.
Yet, it will all come down to i dont want a pet
because im so afraid to feel the same pain when Nono left.
I wondered how so many people can continue to have pets
after their pets left them.
Maybe, im not good at handling deaths.

Finally, November is coming.
A big reminder that we could had been parents now
if the twins never left us.
Friends, who got pregnant at the same time,
had delivered or soon to deliver.
It does not help that we dont have good news each month.
At times, i wondered whether we lost our only chance to have kids.

Compared to husband,
im definitely less hopeful or excited 
at maybe we will have it this or next month
or even the near future.
As the trying becomes futile,
my hopes and efforts reduced.
It took us 10months to get the twins,
and it has been 6 months of trying now. 
Apart from the monthly disappointments,
I guess there is the fear of 'what if it happens again?'

I think I am not as brave as I thought.

Boss management

Since my training period,
I noticed that my boss and manager are micro-controllers
from the way they trained us,
or how they 'love' to comment while someone is on the phone,
eg you should say this and that,
are tell-signs that they are not easy to manage.

Although i have not suffered under their hands 
except from daily OT that they take for granted,
i do see my colleagues 'suffering'.
My colleague and i concluded that unlike them,
who are young and without families in france,
i have a french husband,
so they are more mindful in handling me
in case my husband decide to sue them, haha
Sounds a little crazy, 
but thats how 'wonderful' french employment laws are...

I thought i had seen the worse from my ex boss
but i never expect to meet the 'higher mountain' of bad management here.
First of all, micro-management.
They really micro-manage every single stuff.
I dont understand whats the point to ask how long i finish stuff A,
after giving a time limit
and checking every 10mins whether i finished stuff A.
I do not get the sarcastic comments that my colleagues received yet,
but im glad that they still try to control their patience for me,
be it for whatever reason. 

Second, using fear to manage
I think they didnt meant to use fear
but because of they constant screaming or scolding,
it creates fear in the office.
Its a big taboo to surf the web or even use our handphones.
At times, i wondered whether we are in prison.
Is not as if i have time to do anything else than work,
but i think it shouldnt be set as a 'law'.
Tonight, my colleague accidently locked us in office after she left,
we noticed it only 30mins after she left.
She rushed back from her home to unlock us,
before she arrived, she was already texting me whether the bosses are angry.
Even after the incident, 
she was still texting me about how the bosses reacted,
and how she is going to get a big scolding on Monday.
I told her not to be bothered about it,
yet, i see how fear had already sunk so deeply into her...

Third, i hate to use the word 'abuse',
but at least i think its really a mental abuse.
We have a part-timer that i agree creates more trouble
than solutions for us whenever he comes in.
However, i don't agree at how my bosses screamed at him
whenever he did something wrong.
Yes, it can be the 10000000x he did the wrong thing again,
but it doesnt give the bosses rights to scream at him,
and i mean really scream at him.
I know is common for bosses to belittle staff
to make themselves feel good.
What i cant stand is after all the screaming,
there is always the 'pet talk' on how they are trying to help you
thats why they screamed at you.
Talk about self-righteous abuse.

Recently, the weather turned chilly,
and the part-timer did not wore a coat to office.
Apart from the fact that he had been scolded continously
since he stepped into the office,
my colleague and i could see that he was really not taking it well that day.
My manager decided to pester him about not wearing a coat?!
like making comments that whether he thinks he is superman not afraid of cold,
going on and on about how she is 'worried' that we would fall sick,
yet, we dont have proper heater facilities in the office?
I think the part-timer got so pissed off,
he finally said that he doesnt have much formal coats for work.
Then my manager went on about how he is in office work,
he should own more formal clothes etcs....
He is a fresh graduate and working part time here,
how can they expect with him having more formal clothes
when they only pay us with minimum salary?

I felt so bad for him that i wrote him a note
that i can pass him husband's old coats if he doesnt mind.
He told me that he would be happy about it.
After telling husband about it,
he was happy to pass on his old stuff too.
So, the next day, i secretly handed him a bag of clothes.
Oh, we werent 'encouraged' to make some talks in office too,
thats why we communicate via secret post-it notes.

For the time being, 
i am still surviving well since i dont get it as bad as the rest.
But i think witnessing all these and cant do anything about it,
do build up the negative energy in me.
Strangely, my manager seems to 'enjoy' making small talks with me,
that i think are too personal stuff, eg how much husband earns, to share,
so i just bullshit alot to her.
And with my collegue making secret texts to me,
or asking me to help cover her up when she comes late for 5min,
i feel im in middle management once again
but this time, im just the lowest link of food chain.

I heard there is a place that you can whistle-blow 
on such harassment in offices,
but i think with only 5 of us in the office,
it will be too easy to be find out as the one to report it.
For the time being,
i guess i will try in my way to induce tiny bits of positive energy in office.

French and i...

Despite being in france for nearly 3 years,
my french sucks.
It seems like french is oil
and I am water,
we are never going to mix together perfectly.
I dont think French and me love each other so much...
Its not helping that Im working full time in english environment
I felt that French is slipping away faster than before
I remembered times where i could speak more fluent french
and now it seems even harder to do so as before.

Initially the plan was me being unemployed 
and french classes to start in mid september,
however, i started work full time
and classes got started too.
Its crazy that im working OT daily,
which is uncommon in France,
if im a french, im supposed to threaten to sue my company
or go on strikes,
till they pay me the extra hours that i worked.
Sadly, Im not french
and i want to be employed more than threatening my company,
so im the perfect employee to be exploited, haha

I tried to attend class once last wed..
I didnt knew that there was different level of classes
and accidently went to the basic class
because i managed to left work early 
and wasnt half dead yet.
Despite class starts at 8pm and i end work at 7pm,
it was a good 12mins walk from the station/my home to classes
I never expected the class to be so basic,
that we were learning a,b,c and 1-10!

Anyway, the teacher realised im above this level
and looked totally dead and bored,
oh, im the only one working in the class,
and i guess working full time is rarer,
she recommended that i go for the Tue and Thu level 2 class instead.
The class ended at 945pm and i reached home at 10pm.
The next day, i felt like a zombie 
and didnt force myself to go for the level 2 class.

Class is supposed to start officially in October
and i hope ill be able to survive this...

Singaporeans in Paris.

although i have been here coming 3years
i have not joined any singaporean évent here.
Apart from the embassy,
there is a singaporeans in France club
thats organise regular event
eg popian night etcs
but I think is just not in me to search
and miggle with fellow Singaporeans here

every year the embassy organize a ndp celebrations
I'm not even excited about ndp while in sg
I'm definitely not excited about it here
due to the summer holidays
the celebration is normally in Sept.
This year, I decided to ask for the invitation card for the event
since 1 of my fellow Singaporean friend is going
husband was really looking forward
because he was sure food will be great, haha.

oh there was a recommended dresscode
of red and white or traditional costumes
of course, we didn't follow the dress code.
we were late because we had so much errands to do
but people were still arriving after us
I was suprised to see the number of people attending the event.
And it was held in a nice and expensive location in paris...

Apart from the usual speeches,
where no one was paying attention to,
nationals day songs on repeat mode,
there was the lucky draw for a SQ ticket to singapore,
quiz on Singapore to win presents,
free flow alcohol (champagne too)
and of course, buffet of food!

We didnt queue for the main buffer line
because there was a long queue
and looked like it was curry puff, noodles etcs
But we did enjoy munching the small stuff 
that was put on the small tables around
and what the waiters were bringing around,
which disappeared super fast.
So Singaporean to focus on the food..
Oh, they had free flow masala tea too,
which was sooooo good.

We spent some time with my friend
but left after 2 hours.
Going grocery shopping was more attractive
then staying around not knowing anyone else.

I guess if in the future we have a kid
we probably will enjoy such events more
but for now, i think its okay to just stop by
and not spend crazy amount of time there
Well, im not that patriotic i guess.

*Pictures taken from the club's facebook*

Seeing from this side of the world

In Singapore, i admit im not so bothered by world news.
Probably just reading Yahoo news updates 
and discussing at times with friends/colleagues.
Strangely, i became more into news here
because i have more free time,
is becoming 'closer to home' than before,
or because we dont have kids to waste discussions on
and get to discuss all the issues with the husband/ friends.
And i think france has been having so many issues,
it creates endless discussions and topics.
The most common topic will be about the migrants or terrorists.
Although at times i wish it can be view as separates,
its hard to see the distinction at times.

For eg, the burkinis ban in France beaches,
i feel sad to see how bans are used to solvethe matter
when there is definitely more details to be look into.
I know Singapore is famous for its bans and fines,
but we hadnt done ban like this
because of our multi-racial population.
im still shocked by this ban,
at least people around me are feeling the same
im glad that we are all on the same side to agree
that it wasnt the best decision made.
Especially if the decision was to reduce the possibility of terrorists,
or to promote integration in France.

 Next, is the growing numbers of migrants.
Husband and i watched a documentary on the infamous 'jungle calais',
where many migrants are living there 
without adequate resources, eg proper water facilities,
risking their lives to smuggle themselves into UK
by stopping transportation trucks in really dangerous way
that also risk lives of truck drivers.
And not forgetting the lives of local are affected too.
I am sad to know that they are planning to spend millions
to build a wall along the highway to reduce the smuggling,
yet not using the money to build more facilities for the migrants.
Yes, the migrants are not interested to stay in France,
but i think if there are more resources to help them for now,
there will be less clashes between the locals and them,
and at least it will be a temporary solution
than waiting for the perfect solution to end all!

Amidst of all these,
the fear of terrorist attacks has been the hardest to ignore.
I think most people are like us,
trying our best to go on with daily lives,
and not to be crippled by fear
but is definitely harder to do so in real.

Recently, after work,
i was waiting for my train home 
and there was a delay that it took about 15mins wait.
Normally, train comes in about 10mins max.
After i board the train; 
i managed to find a seat and started playing candy crush.
There was a french lady A sitting opposite me,
a man beside her,
and a french lady B beside me.
After the man exited the train, 
Lady A realised the man had left his bag behind,
and to make matters worse,
it was a big sports bag!

Lady A announced that she should alert about the bag
which would stopped the train,
and probably takes another hour before the train service resumes.
So, she informed everyone that she is not doing so,
and decided to change cabin at the next stop
and hope she will make it to her station before the train will be stopped.
Then, she left.

While many people started to think aloud about what to do,
most people like me prefer that all will be well till our station.
Lady B decided that she would check the bag,
while everyone is thinking that she is brave,
i realised that im sitting inside
and wouldnt be able to run if she really found something in the bag.
Luckily, it seems that its really a normal sports bag with shoes etcs.
Well, there could still be something hidden.

I think most people like me,
would just leave the bag where it is after opening it,
which would end up affecting the train services
when the bag would be found by another passenger later on.
Lady B was reaching her stop and she did an amazing thing,
she told everyone that she is alighting
and she would bring the bag with her to the control station!
Everyone was so amazed by her bravery and kindness to do so,
a part of me feels ashamed that im not like her.
But is so hard to know what is the best decision to do
at the moment of the time!

Husband and i had a similar incident of bag.
We board the train and after a passenger left,
she left a shopping bag.
While everyone was thinking aloud about what to do,
a brave lady opened up the bag
and announced to everyone that is just full of smelly diapers!
Well, still was a good news!

Its strange that everyday we make different decisions
based on our past, experiences and personality,
but decisions like these are really hard to be made...

Life as a full timer

Officially, i have started as a full timer for a week!
And, i no longer do much for the operations admin
but mainly deal with accounting and billing,
which surprisingly that i enjoyed it more than operations.
I guess i prefer to be emailing people to chase for data and money,
then be subjected to the stress to answer to clients in real time.
Despite tons of backdated invoicing to be done,
im glad that im in the billing department.

Although in my contract i am to work 35 hours per week,
I have been working much more hours.
Maybe because i am slow in invoicing
or simply there is too much work to do!
Unlike the french who really want to be paid extra
or work the exact hours in the contract,
I think the workaholic in me doesnt really mind the extra hours
and I rather work late to clear my stuff 
then to face it again the next day.

So, im supposed to work 10-1830,
but i normally get to leave office at 19;30
and friday, i stayed till 20:00.
husband think im crazy to be smiling happily
even though i ended work late.
I guess its hard to explain the adrénaline rush i get at office
that really pushes me to work more.

Strange as it sounds,
I hadnt get any monday blues,
as i do look forward to work on Mondays
but i do look forward to Fridays,
I think i burnt enough of my energy from Monday to Friday.

Initially, the thought of a full time office job here
will help me understand the work culture of France
or improve my french somehow.
Yet, everyday when i stepped into the office,
i feel like i left France and is inside the Singaporean working world again!
Because:

There is only 1 french in the office (The boss) -
My direct supervisor is indian, 
my colleagues are from Mexico and india.
Although at times, french is spoken,
everything is done and speak in English.

Speed and efficiency -
I wonder is it because we are in the line of service provider
that requires immediate updates etcs.
Everything has to be done really quickly
and the need to multi-task at times.
There seems to be time limit to complete task
or time is never enough to complete everything.
Hack, my boss dont even like to see us using handphones for 1 second.

American office? - 
Since our main clients are from the states,
I think the way of work is more american style.
And i think the style is quite similar to Singapore offices,
it seems never strange to work late
or even work from home,
which i know is totally not french working style.

Life has changed - 
Not really financially since i hasnt get my full pay.
Day passses quickly and there isnt much time to do nothing
which i dont really miss that.
My french seems to be getting worse
as i felt im using less french then before.
Home feels messier during the week,
weekends are for grocery shopping or household chores.

The biggest change is that:
Husband has become the weekday chef
because im always home later than him! Haha.
I think is still a novelty to hime
that he hasnt start complaining
but i think is good we plan the meals beforehand
that he needs not crack his head on ideas for each day.

Unsure how it will be when my french classes starts
or whether ill give it up for the time being,
At least im still enjoying being a full timer..

Tidying and housekeeping

I was never a neat and tidy kid.

I know I was good at hiding things,

such as dump everything into the drawer

and pretend all is neat and tidy,

concept of out of sight, out of mind!

Apart from my mum's OCD influence,

I think my sister is also quite a neat freak.

As we shared a wardrobe for a big part of our lives,

i remembered that her part will be so neat

and mine is in a big mess

and how she would constantly tell me how to fold the tshirt,

that the logo are all in the side side and direction, haha.

Crazy enough, as i grew older, 

i became kind of a neat freak,

I think it started when i started working,

i love to keep my working desk free of clutter

and everything in order.

I think is due to the work stress,

having uncluttered workdesk always feels good?

At home, I still do have the 'dump everything into drawer" mind,

and once in a blue moon i will pack them well

for the process to be repeated, neat-messy-net-messy...

Since i have moved quite often in my last few years in SIngapore,

I think i picked up skills to organize my stuff in limited storage,

to dump things easily and know how to recognize my esstentials.

Our new home has more storage places than before,

at times i still have my "dump everything into xyz"

but overall, on the surface it looks well organised,

please dont open my drawers! Haha..

i still tried my best to fully use my packing and throwing abilities,

but it doesnt help when i can define husband as a hoarder, haha.

It can be so hard to convince him to donate an old tourist tshirt,

that he cant fit in now, was a gift from somebody,

and looks really ugly - i dont appreciate touristy tshirt style, opps!

When we shifted, we cleared quite a lot of husband's style,

or i try to contain them eg plan to make tshirt quilt,

but having extra storage space and a basement storeroom,

seems to give us both more excuses to hoard stuff!

1 of the way i  tried to maximise storage space,

is to turn roll up the tshirts into the drawer in our entrance.

Husband was amazed and proud

that i recalled him showing people the tshirt drawer,

yes, quite a strange thing to show to visitors...

Although i dont think is the best way to keep tshirts wrinkle-free,

it takes much less space than normal folding method.

Few days ago, husband and his colleagues went talking about the Konmari,

her famous ways of organising home and how she even wrote books on it!

After looking at some photos,

husband told them that our tshirts and rolled 

and is similar to konmari's method!

All the colleagues were impressed that i was following konmari,

but truth is what i did was not konmari's style,

She folds the tshirts instead of rolling them etcs.

and lot more about gratitude towards your stuffs... 

More about konmari:

http://www.marthastewart.com/1106009/konmari-trendy-new-organizing-method

Anyway, husband came home and asked me whether i was following konmari.

I was sure that i dont know who she is,

after googling, i realised i read about her in a blog that i followed!

But i didnt really check out what she was doing...

I started trying to google for more information of her methods,

but it seems what i can find online for free is the standard minimum stuff,

So i got inspired,

I tried to clear my very full wardrobe,

which became fuller because im starting to try get more working clothes,

and was proud to manage to get rid of some clothes

that i was always thinking "Someday I will wear it"...

Then i went crazy and decided to pack the overflowing socks drawer

that were full of socks rolled up in pairs

and always threatening to overflood when i open/close te drawer.

I tried my best to follow konmari's method for socks,

and to my suprise, we dont have so much socks as i imagined!

It was so full just because everything is messed up...

I did managed to threw away some socks 

that dont bring me joy

because they were uncomfortable, very old

or constantly giving me problems when i wore them.

Woohoo!

I was telling husband that i should really do more konmari's style at home,

I think i should buy the book!

Husband thinks that he should never told me about konmari

because i started this "I want declutter mission"

and he will definitely be involved in time to come.

He tried hard today, 

i was allowed to remove 3 tshirts from the drawer

to the box of tshirt for quilt,

well, a tiny good try ya?

I guess if i buy the book and start full force on implementing it at home,

husband will start a forum on how much he hate konmari, haha...

Side note:

At covert garden london,

we visited a nice old toy shop

and bought a vintage looking paper theatre at 20pounds?

We finally set ourselves to complete it today,

and i think it looks really great!

Okay, OCD me put a piece of cling wrap around the threatre,

in hope that less dust will accumulate...

Converting to full time

It has been about 1.5 weeks since i started work
It still feels good to be back to the office.
So, I started training with another girl,
who was from eastern europe,
she speaks french, english and her native language.
What differentiates me from her is that
she really has much more knowledge about geography,
which is kinda important to my job.
Well, at least thats how it made me felt 
whenever the boss tested us on which states/capital of countries.
I guess these knowledge came from her interest in geography
and her past sales jobs in Disneyland..

She seems much younger than me
but we didnt had much time to interact much
because we didnt had time to make small talks at work.
On the first day,
she was searching for a new appartment and need to leave early.
I remembered being surprised that she currently stays at the 16th of paris
which is really the high-end part of paris!
But she told me that its her friend's place and she is just there temporarily.

When i told husband that another girl was in training with me
he told me that maybe the boss would just keep 1 of us
Im like thinking he was bullshitting,
why would the boss kick someone off so early,
when most of the things in training really needs time to be familar.

Over the next few days,
the girl seems to have difficulty to catch up on the work processes
but i wondered was it because all the training was done in English
and really requires lot of memorising.
Thanks to Singapore's training,
i generally managed to pick up faster than her.
She mentioned to me that she really hope to stay in this job
because it was her first admin job
and she does not want to return to be a sales girl.

Normally, i took a train earlier than required,
for fear of trains' problems and be late,
so i am always earlier than her and starts before her in office.
I think it was the 5th day of training on Wednesday,
that she actually arrived early and we had time for small talk.
She told me that she just found an appartment outside of paris,
which i mentioned to her that we visited the area during our home search,
but didnt like the area because the train station didnt felt safe.
She indicated that she would be shifting on Saturday,
and intended to only stay for 1-2 months,
and after this job is stable,
she would find a better appartment.

Although both of us started with the same job scope,
I sort of got assigned to the billing department
and normally had to stay back 20mins more than her.
However, on Wednesday,
i was let off early and she was asked to stay behind.
I didnt think much about it but she was struggling alot that day
and i thought they probably wanted her to practice more.

The next day,
my boss wanted to speak to me after i arrived.
He told me that they had let the girl off 
because she was struggling!
I was shocked because it was only less than a week?
I mean shouldnt there be like a 1 month trial
or even 3 warnings?!

Boss then proposed to me to convert to full time!
I guess they rather i become full time
then to find another part timer and redo the training.
I accepted the offer since it will be the same jobscope,
but more salary and benefits!
And the good thing is full time is only 35hours per week
and macdonalds is just 2mins from office, haha.
So, my first official full time job in france!
Even though is just a 1 year contract for now...

Back to the girl,
I dont know is it because i knew about her plans
and current situation,
that i really feel bad for her.
Husband says that is normal in France
to sack someone early if the company feels that is not working out.

Anyway, going start full time in September!

New job

So, after my babysitting contract ended 
Husband and I thought that I would be jobless 
for a long time since we are not keen for me 
to take on another babysitting job for now
and i dont have much luck searching for another type of job here
so the plan was to wait for the start of my french class
which should start in mid september
Since the classes were suppose to be in the evenings,
i wont be able to work as babysitter too.

Out of boredom i decided to sent my cv 
on a random part time admin asst job in end june
which was posted on an english job website
that have random jobs eg waitress, babysitter...
I got a french reply for them in a week
asking about my employment visa here.
And i was concerned that the email was in french,
but the boss assured me that the job is in english.
after my reply I didnt hear from them for a month
so, i thought i didnt get the job

Surprisingly, i got an another email from them
asking about my employment visa again
and this time an interview was arranged!
I wasn't having high hopes about getting the job
but i tried my best to prepare myself for a french interview
which i did badly once when i applied for a sales associate job.

Thankfully, the job interview was in English!
So basically, is a company that provides limousine
and other high end transport services.
English is the main language as most clients are from US.
The downfalls are im to work mon-sat,
4h/day at a hourly rate lower than my previous babysitting job.
The interview went well,
and i did hope that I would be able to get the job.
I think getting an admin job will greatly help
in my chances to get deskbound jobs here in the future!
The plus point is they are located 20min from my home..

So the interview was in end july,
and i mentioned to them that i will be able to start mid aug.
I emailed them my interest to take the job
on the night of the interview and started the waiting game.
After 1.5weeks of no replies,
i was close to giving up of the possibility of this job.
I decided to email them again just to check for the last time.
And i received a confirmation from them to start the job!
Husband and I are definitely suprised that my unemployment ended so fast..

It had been 4 days since i started the job.
It definitely feels good to be back to office job:
- I get to dress up more often than my usual casual wear
- I start to learn more about french working culture
- I am occupied everyday

Well, im still in the training period,
which i dont know till when,
getting tons of information loaded about this industry,
and starting to see some traits of the people in office.
I guess for the time being, 
im just happy to be employed and eat the humble pie to learn...
and feels like is the first job of my life
all over again...