work update from work

Have been a bit more busy now at work the last two weeks. A few things that I need to have done before leaving for holidays, also since I'm back at work first on 7th of January and won't have time then.

The whole work thing I still haven't gotten over but it has moved in the right direction at least. I had the meeting with my manager. And found out that his boss had told him that he doesn't know what I can do so wants my manager to look externally as well. Which is just f**ked up. I don't even have a relationship with my manager's boss since I don't work directly with him, so how can he know what I can do? I know my manager have received some heat due to certain things, so does my the boss don't trust my manager's opinions regarding me?

We had a meeting and I told him everything I think have been crap and handled really bad. My trust and loyalty to this company have definitely suffered a heavy blow. And HR at this company is totally crap which I found out the bad way and has only been confirmed by all the others I've talked to at the company.

Well, going forward me and my manager have agreed on some objectives that I can be judged on in mid February. Still a very short time, since it basically only gives be about two months if you start counting from today. I mean, those objectives should have been set day one, which I also asked for but never happened.

So that's the crappy situation. I'm moved past it, although of course it is still there in the back of the mind. I mean, how can you disregard things like this? But the only thing I can do is to go forward and make the best of it. And then in mid February I can think about it again if it is a company I really want to stay with.

But now, it's the last day of work and then I'm off on vacation and will not think about work for one minute!

where's the loyalty towards me?

Honestly, my loyalty against the company is decreasing a bit every day at the moment. Not sure if they even realize it.

I sent an email to my manager today explaining parts of it. Have a meeting tomorrow with him, so we'll see if he's able to restore some of it.

Almost two weeks have passed now since they advertised "my" permanent position and I have received basically no information. That's just really bad. Where's the loyalty towards me?

Lets see what comes out of the meeting tomorrow.

happy first advent

For the first time in many years I actually feel the Christmas spirit ahead of Christmas Eve.

I've usually never really felt any Christmas spirit when I lived somewhere else than where I grew up.

So it has kind of taken me by surprise this year. This morning I lit up the first candle in my newly acquired Advent candlestick. Had some breakfast with 'rågrut' and Swedish cheese. After that some mulled wine, ginger snaps, and a saffron bun.

Can it get more Swedish?

crowded

It's always exhausting to venture out on Oxford Street. So many people. One wonders if there is ever a time when a store on Oxford Street is not crowded.

At least all the Christmas lights make it better.

new favorite store

I guess you can guess what kind of store I went to today. Sure, if you're Swedish it gives you an edge. As all the products are things you can find in a normal grocery store in Sweden.

This is all from the store Totally Swedish in London, luckily not far away from where I live at all, I think it took me about 15 min to get there. Very convenient indeed.

You know how it is. You start missing everything so much more when you don't have easy access to it. I do miss my 'filmjölk' in the mornings with the cereal. And the 'knäckebröd' with some butter and cheese. And for first advent on Sunday I've got two lovely saffron buns that I can eat with my 'glögg'.

How Swedish am I. I almost feel more Swedish now than I do at home in Sweden. Of course it becomes more evident when you move abroad.

how i missed you

There are no words to described how much you have been missed.

And I've only been in London two months... Not sure if that bodes well.

yes!

You remember this?

Well today I got redemption! Because this morning I became the happy owner of two tickets to Robbie Williams on the 29th of June in Wembley Stadium in London. I could not be more excited!

Last time (that time we don't talk about) I signed up for the pre-sale which also means I will in the future also be contacted for any pre-sales. Luckily. Because otherwise I might actually have missed that he would do another tour next year. Luckily I saw the email a few days ago and hanged on the door at 9am to buy a ticket. Wiser from the previous time and no mistakes where made.

Awooohoooo! I will finnaly get a chance to see Robbie live.
Now I just need to find out who wants to go with me. (And willing to pay for the other ticket...)

sick in so many ways

The last two days have not been too good. I woke up on Wednesday feeling quite well expect from the fact that it's starting to get cold and hence cold in my room. I so wanted to just stay under the covers in the warmth. I also had a slight feeling on something in my throat. I chose to disregard it and continued on with my day after I finally managed to venture out of bed.

In spite of my disregard that tiny something in my throat extended into my head and made my brains stop working. Everything became a bit fuzzy and when the clock hit two I left the building.

That tiny something in the throat is usually not wrong. I also stayed home from work today. Lying in bed the whole day. Also because of the fact that the heating in our house is turned off during the day so it's freezing. Which kind of sucks. But I haven't really checked it out if you can do something about it either. So I just stayed in bed hitting a Friends marathon. Again. It would be impossible for me to guess how many times I've watched Friends by now, but surely I must have passed thirty by now.

I even know the bloopers by heart. So much so that when I see a regular episode I think about the outtakes connected to that scene. Hi, my name is Carin and I'm a Friends addict.

some tribal manicure

I enjoy doing some freehand nail art once in while, even though I wish I did it more often. This time it ended up with a tribal or aztec or what to call it, manicure. Love those patterns. The left hand more than the right, the left hand still needs some practice.

down south in clapham

Saturday night I ventured down to south London, to Clapham. First time on the south side. Well, I had an interview in Croydon but that doesn't really count. Or that I've been at Gatwick airport.

Had a night out with two of my house mates and some of their friends. It was a really nice night. We started out with a couple of beers at a bar called The Belle Vue. Then we ventured to another bar for some dancing and shaking, called Venn Street Records. A lot of fun and lots of dancing. Which continued on at Café Sol before eventually heading back home late night/early morning. Think we were at home at 4 am. Hence the evening should definitely be categorized as a great night.

So my first trip down to south London was definitely a good experience and I might even dare to go again.

after work

Went for an after work today with some co-workers. I've been quite tired at the end of this week and after only two glasses of red wine it didn't really get better. Had a good time but left quite soon, like 2 hours after we got there.

I left the after work at 5.30 pm. It felt quite weird to leave the after work at that time. But when you finish at 3.30 pm on Fridays (hell yeah!) that's kind of what will happen.

But it's dangerous though. If you go for some beers with your co-workers, by the time your friends finish work and you want to meet up with them you can basically be drunk. So either you're drunk and way ahead of your friends or dead tired and already on your way home when they finish work.

Life is hard.

the search for the hair dresser

I'm at the hair dresser. Second time in one week actually. I went last week to get a hair cut. It was a disaster. I'm the one who has to go home and get a feeling for it and look at it from different angels. I really tried to explain how I wanted it, I thought I did. Maybe I didn't, or she interpreted it in the total opposite way. I never seen myself as fussy, but now I guess I know exactly how I want it. Sure, nobody else could even tell I got a haircut, but that doesn't matter. Cause I would be annoyed every
I was thinking to call back and ask for a new cut and give her a second chance. But at the same time, do you really want to go back?
I went for no. I had even thought about trying another place as well. That's where I'm at now. At least it really looks like my kind of place, interior wise.

swamped

Well, not really swamped at work at all. Have bits and pieces to do but not really busy. And my manager is quite busy and we haven't even gone through everything I'm supposed to do yet. I think it's the plan to do it in December and I'll start dealing with those things in January. So I guess I still have it a bit chilled for the rest of the year.

What swamped was actually referring to is my gorgeous nail polish I'm wearing at the moment. It's the indie polish from Happy Hands called The Swamp. Got quite many comments for this one.

please give me my own job

Came to work yesterday, thought it was a realatively good Monday morning.
Then me and my co-worker had a quick catch up meeting with our manager and we were both quite stunned after that.

We both signed a six month contract with the promise of a permanent contract after that. Today we found out that the procedure for permanent positions is to have them published internally so that anyone can apply. This also means that I actually have to contact HR and tell them I'm interested in the position.
"Hi HR, I'm interested in my job."
"Hi HR, I wish to apply for the job I currently hold."
"Hi HR, please give me my own job."

My boss said that its' the procedure and if someone applies they have to set up an interview process. He couldn't tell me if we had to go through another interview process. How redicilous would that be.
"I would be great at this job as it is my job." I would honestly refuse.

I'm fine with the procedure, if that's how it is in the company then there's nothing to argue about. I just wish they could have told us sooner. And not make it sound like we basically have secured our permanent positions by just getting employed by this six moth contract.

Sure, I don't take anything for granted until the papers are signed. But when hearing this I feel like I should actually call that recruiter I was contacted by last week and tell her that I'm actually interested in what she may have to offer.

go sweden, go

Did some arts and crafts this morning when I arrived at the office. A very interesting soccer game last night between Sweden and England which of course resulted in a win for us. 4-2 to Sweden with a brilliant last goal from Zlatan.
Wanted a flag to wave at my coworkers and my friend came up with the brilliant idea to just print one. So that's what I did and now have a Swedish flag waving at my desk.
Well, not so much waving perhaps since it's made out of paper. But still nice.
Unfortunately the office is basically empty since all is gone for sales conferences, so there's not many British here to tease... Dammit...

knackered

I'm totally knackered. (I'm learning British words!..)
After a full seven day working week, I was back at work on Monday morning. For a six day working week. I was really tired sitting on the tube Sunday afternoon at 4 pm. Sitting down and started to relax I yawned the whole way home. I had to struggle to keep myself awake to be able to fall asleep later for the night.

Waking up on Monday morning with the lack of weekend was definitely felt in the entire body. Same thing today. I'm just beat. Not at all as efficient as after a proper weekend off. (Hush, don't tell my manager...) At least I will have the upcoming Sunday off. Looking forward to that one.

waking up early is great

It's great to wake up at 7 am on a Saturday morning. It's even greater to end up going to bed late and only get around six hours of sleep. Even better is that you're waking up this early because you have to be at work. The whole day. And be there for a dinner.
A long, long day.

Can you tell I'm looking forward to it?

what a beautiful morning

That's the song I started humming this morning when I looked out the window and saw a little bit of sunshine.

Now I'm at work and it's gray, gray, gray as far as the eye can see...

blocked

Well this is good news, at least I can access Blogger at work. (Now I have it as a bookmark so perhaps I can remember to post more regularly again.) Because they have blocked social sites like Facebook as well as video sites like Youtube. Even radio and Spotify because the internet apparently can't handle it. But with a big company like this, what kind of crappy connection do they have if you can't watch videos and stream music?

I thought I had fooled the system as the Swedish radio was working which I miss listening too. However, one week later it was blocked. I could guess they have some surveillance and noticed I listened to some radio that wasn't on their blocked list.

But you know, there are always ways to come around it. I mean, these days basically everybody has smartphones...

Annoying company that blocks everything fun. Come on, they actually expect us to work when we're at work. Who has heard of something so silly....

stomp

Sometimes all these networks we're part of truly are great in connecting people. This time it was LinkedIn that made me connect with an acquaintance from Copenhagen that now lives in London as well. We met up on Saturday and another friend of hers. Went for a stroll to Tower of London and then along the water and London Bridge. It was a really nice evening that we ended with watching the show Stomp.

I really love Stomp. I actually watched it about 10-12 years ago in Stockholm. Just as great this time. After that you just feel like being the long lost member of Stomp and hitting anything and everything. In my mind it would sound great and musical, but if I actually tried making music out of drumming on things it would probably just come out as weird noises.

STOMP in London

So one show and many more to go. I want to go through them all! Well, at least try to. At least all the musicals. Me love musicals.

exhausting flat hunting in london

Last Thursday I packed my bags, well honestly, they where already packed since I never really unpacked. After staying two weeks with my dear friends who let me crash at their flat, I moved out. I took my bags and jumped into a cab, cause honestly, I would never have carried those three bags all cross London on several different modes of transportation.

The flat I moved into was actually my number one choice. I came to the apartment twice actually, since some of the flat mates where not at home the first time. The second time I was here I thought it was done, it felt like a good match and that they liked me. However, when I was about to leave the girl said that she would let me know tomorrow but that she also have a friend who was gonna view the place.

Then I just thought dammit, cause what chance does a stranger have against a friend? I never heard anything like she promised and I sent her texts. I kept going on viewings and two days later I found a quite nice apartment which I was offered and accepted. That very same night, the girl from the favourite flat sent me a text offering me to move in. In addition to that I also got a third offer. Everything comes in three, as they say.

Funny enough, just the day before I felt like I was ready to give up. A whole week of apartment hunting and viewings, at least one and sometimes up to three viewings everyday after work. Exhausting going all over London for viewings.

So I ended up having to turn down to flats, of which I already accepted one. After the credit and reference checks where done, deposit paid, I could move in. What a lovely feeling. I know have my very own little place I can call my own.

It's not big, but it's a nice and modern flat. Nice kitchen and living room in one with high ceiling. A bathroom I only have to share with one other. Only wooden floors, so no carpets! Three other really great flat mates, one French guy and two Australians, one guy and one girl. So a very nice mix.

A really nice area, close to Finchley Road tube in Hampstead, north west of London. Even better is that it's only about 25-30 min door to door for work.

I couldn't be happier. 

smoothly

I read a lot about moving to London before I actually did. Certain things could be a hassle, and from previous experiences in other countries I know it for a fact. Getting registered or opening a bank account can be annoying.

But surprisingly everything has been running very smoothly. (Knock on wood!) After only one week I found myself a flat, a really nice one with great flat mates I have to add. I managed to get an interview appointment right away for getting the National Insurance number.

It was even easy to set up a bank account. I had read stories about needing a proof of address like a bill of some sort, but come on, if you're new to the country, who will have that? All I needed was a reference letter from my employer that also stated my address. And my passport. That was it. The bank account was set up within half an hour. So Lloyds is the bank to go to in United Kingdom if you're a foreigner needing a bank account. At least if you're a European that is.

Strangely enough it was more difficult to go to the bank in Denmark. Not difficult to set up the account itself, but get the debit card. That was just a pain in the ass, here you get it automatically when opening the account.

Only 2.5 weeks into living in London and everything has been set up and I have moved into my own flat. That definitely feels quite alright. Where ever would that happen? In Stockholm you would never be able to move into a flat that fast.

robbie williams

Dammit. I really screwed myself.

I happened to see that tickets to Robbie Williams concerts here in London in November where to be released today. But from the words above you probably can guess where it's all heading. I was hanging on the door at 9am, well, electronically anyways.

I was so excited to have a chance to go to a Robbie Williams concert since I've missed the two in Sweden. First one in 2004 when I moved to USA two weeks before the concert, and the other one in 2006 when I just had my second back surgery. So I really have had kind of bad luck with his concerts. Didn't get better after reading great reviews from both of the shows in Sweden.

Anywho, was hanging on the door to get the tickets. But I managed to mess it up and stood there like a girl who sold the butter and lost the money. (I know translating idioms really doesn't work but I think it's fun, which apparently should be close to an English one "like a dying duck in a thunderstorm").

So once again I will be standing on the sideline.

And it sucks.

night out

I can cross off my first night out in London. A friend from previous exchange studies happened to be in London with three of his friends. The plan was to only join for some dinner and go home with the last tube, since I'm still clueless when it comes to the night buses.

However, things don't always end up the way you plan. I guess I wasn't that difficult to convince either. I was offered a place to sleep in the flat, in an extremely comfortable bed, like one in hotels. So I ventured out for a night on town with four German guys. Of course plenty of German was spoken, of which I understand nothing. But as the evening progressed and the percentage alcohol in their bodies increased, so did the level of English words.

Good fun.

exciting #2

So lets try doing this again. For real. I promise.
My intention is truly good this time.

Cause I have to tell you, a lot of things have changed.
You know the interview I wrote about? They called me three days later and offered me the job. Two weeks later I moved to London. The day after I had my first day at work. Everything have gone very quickly now in the end. And after a week of exhausting flat hunting I managed to find a really cool place with nice people. Hopefully all the reference checks will work out and I can move in next week.

So there you go. This will become a "new in London/life in London" blogs. Sure, there are plenty of them out there I'm sure. But hey, I don't care. Here is another one for you. Hope you will join me.

exciting

There are two jobs in London I have interviewed for that I have been really - really! - excited about. The first one was an insurance company but they handled it all so bad so in the end I was not as disappointed as I could have been.

The second one I interviewed for a week ago. Basically exactly the same job as I had previously and even with footwear! When talking with the interviewers over the phone I got a great feeling and a good connection with them.

Today I got a pleasant call from the recruiter inviting me for a second interview with the company. They would even pay for the ticket to London. Something I would never expect but definitely not turn down.

I have a really good feeling about this one! So now I just need to make a great impression in person as well. Not to sound overly confident or anything, but that should be a peace of cake, haha... I would be a perfect fit!

my wig

Picked up my new passport today. I never manage to look good on the photo, I always turn out looking like a freak. Especially now when you are not allowed to smile.
But the new photo is just horrible, it looks like I am wearing a really bad wig.
And I had to part my bangs a bit to show some brows, which I think is quite stupid, because I could have had painted on brows different from my own.
That I am daring to show it here still surprises me...

how you been?

Still working on that new chapter of mine. Got an email yesterday from a recruiter I've been in contact with regarding a job, she wrote:

"You were the first person they put through to second interview and they can’t make a decision until they have someone to compare you to."

 What's up with that? Odd, in my opinion. Just give me the damn job! I am that good, you don't need to compare me with anyone. (And it's even a temporary contract, so why are they dragging this on...)

reading

Reading, reading, reading.
Preparing, preparing, preparing.
Interview, interview, interview!

Going to London tomorrow. Two interviews booked with companies and a few meetings with recruiters.
Wish me luck!

brain freeze

So I had my first telephone interview about two weeks ago. It was a very short one, about 15 min, with a manager at the company. I got what you could call a brain freeze. And not the kind caused by ice scream.

He asked how my current role relates to the one I applied for. The problem here was partly that I had only got a very vague job description and it was for a job in online marketing. Another think he asked was what I know about the company and what they do.

I had been reading up and I even had that interview with Google long time ago which dealt with a few of the same things. But being a new field and different business lingo I kind of choked. Not good at all.
I did, what I in Swedish would call word pooping. I just did not have a great line of thoughts. Not at all.

For next time I just need to be more prepared.

between two jobs

I am officially unemployed.

Had my last day of work on Monday. With mixed feelings. I always joked that I wanted to make an out of office message that read "I have left and joined a different circus".

Of course I did not have the guts. I still want to have nice references. But I do miss some of my co-workers that brightened up my day.

Now it's "vacation time"!
Well, of course not really. I do have the option of sleeping in a bit and not having to get up at 6am. But of course there is that constant feeling of what I need to do to get a job.
However, compared to last time of unemployment I am much more confident now that I will get a job much faster.

a new chapter

Woops. Almost three months now.
And a lot of changes have been made and will be made as well.

I think this blog will start its new chapeter as it has several times before. It is time for a big move once again. So perhaps a recap is in place.

A year ago I started my current job and about eight months ago I moved into a flat in Stockolm. Everything was going well and I enjoyed Stockholm. Even though I enjoy Stockholm I have always seen Sweden as temporary. Before I have looked into getting a job somehwere else but never taken the step, but when a friend of mine got serious about finding a job in London I finally took the leap. Perpahs you can tell where this is heading.

My current job ends 30th of April as it is a maternity cover. Also the perfect opportunity to start something new. I also moved back home to my parents in March as my conctract for my apartment ended. My intention was to extend the contract so I could stay and enjoy the last months in Stockholm. Then my mom put ideas into my head so I moved back home to save some money and not having to worry about the rent and put the money to London instead.

So no turning back now. I have not applied for any jobs in Stockholm at all, so I have the full intention to get out. Have applied to quite many jobs in London and get a fair amount of responses as well. It feels good.

Applied to about thirty jobs this weekend (so easy compared to Sweden, as here I always have to write a cover letter and in UK you just send your CV! Loving it!) and already on Monday the phone started ringing. In addition to that I get the random calls from recuriters who have found my CV on different job sites. So lets see if I manage to get any interviews. It's looking good so far.

So.

London baby!

muffins times three

My apartment was a little bit of a bakery today. Three kinds of muffins. Delicious ones. A pizza muffin, a more foody one, with tomato and mozzarella. Then a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. Then my personal favorite (as chocolate is not actually my favorite), cardamom and apple muffin.

the new man

My man.

This is my eye candy at work. Put to this front page from the newspaper at my desk.

Now I even got my chance as he is getting divorced. What is it they are saying in 'The Secret', if you believe it it will happen?

I believe.

kiwi-tini

What better way to start the first working week of the year to only have 3 ½ days of work. What we called Trettondags jul is apparently called Epiphany in English if one trust wikipedia. Had no idea.

Anyways, days off work is always great no matter the cause. I dedicated my Friday off to doing absolute nothing. I felt I needed one of those days. And in the evening I went to a nice restaurant with a couple of friends. Really nice food at the place called Mississippi Inn with Southern American food. Of course I ordered the burger with some delicious potato wedges and a chili bearnaise that was in fact really hot. Since everything in Sweden with the word chili in it usually means swedified chili: ie not that strong at all so that Swedes can handle it.

Then I topped it off with a fabulous Kiwi-tini. I loved just saying it. They even had to run out and buy more kiwis because they were out. How sweet.

The cutest butter serving for the bread, delicious burger and green Kiwi-tini.

#12 of scotch tape manicures and more

Perhaps some manicures since I have been away for so long. There's been a couple during the many last weeks.

My New Year's manicure of 2011 (this one for 2010). I liked it a lot! Made with the best pal called scotch tape. 

Wet n Wild - Black Creme and Color Club - Sugarplum Fairy

I have been wanting to do a striping manicure for forever, and then I found this cute set of five polishes at H&M which would be perfect. I know I also saw this manicure somewhere else at the same time and cannot remember where. It's all freehanded.

H&M polish box of five: Coral, Mustard, Petrol, Berry and Purple.

  An adorable color from H&M with some glitter to make it sparkle. Not usually a fan of light colors but this is just so nice. However the brush was a pain, but I can bear with that.

H&M - On Ice with LA Girl - Nostalgic.

happy 2012

So December came and went.

2011 came and went.

But the winter never came. It has barely even been below zero and the snow is nowhere to be found. (Although I don't mind about the snow.) It is very strange winter, especially compared to the last two winters with degrees as low as minus 25. Of course those two winters where extremes as well. But I'm still wearing the lovely, warm boots even though it's not below zero.

Now I'm hoping and striving for a better year. A better job. A little bit better of everything.