Out of shape Went climbing for the first time this year. I haven't discovered such a nice climbing hall like the one that I had in France yet but it'll do for the couple of times want to do climbing here. Felt like pudding next to all these people who have been clearly doing this more often than once every semester. I didn't manage to climb much but it was fun to watch the shirtless guys climbing up the routes like spiders. Climbing would be such a sexy sport with all the muscles showing but the smelly feet that you get from the climbing shoes ruin everything.
Something I won't do again Once I fell asleep on the train. I just woke up to see the doors closing again at my stop. The train had already started to move but I still managed to thrust the train door open. As the train was going relatively slow I figured I could make it and jumped out. The outcome: Fell on concrete, ripped my suit, ruined pair of dress shoes and got a scar on my knee. The train stopped a few seconds after that so that the conductor could close the open door. Memo to myself: Wait at least five minutes before doing something stupid.
Skip the Honeymoon I don't have to marry TS after all (except for getting a pronounceable surname). We both come home from work at around 6:30 (if you count internships as work). TS usually gets home before me so that the first thing I'll see when I enter the room is him in boxer shorts watching TV. Then we ask each other how our day has been, complain a bit about work, eat something, watch some more TV and then go to bed. Then one of us says "I'm sorry, honey, but I'm soooo tired." We're already leading the life I expected to have when I'm 30. I feel so old.
Harry Potter 5 I just bought the book to see which character they'd kill off this time but so far I'm on page sixhundredsomething and still everyone that matters is alive. Bummer!
Saturday night Lychee Martini might sound like a good idea but it definitely doesn't have a positive effect on an Asian girl that already downed about a quarter of a absolut vodka bottle in less than an hour and didn't have a proper dinner that day. After my first attempts at alcohol with 14 I should know by now when I've had enough but when you mix different kinds of booze it has an unpredictable outcome on me. Threw up everything I could, then couldn't walk anymore and had to be dragged to the cab by TS and another friend. It's the first time I was so drunk I couldn't speak anymore so TS made me move my hand to signal him that I've heard what he'd said. On the next day I woke up with almost no hangover whatsoever. Barfing has its upsides.
"Last four ... three... two... looking good." Corporate Workout Day: We got to do aerobics with an overly upbeat instructor who made us do linedancing to that "Summer holiday" song. The only solace was that the president of the company did the linedance, too.
Nature flash My inner city girl keeps getting excited over seeing animals. In England I saw a fox, little ducklings and robins but that's nothing compared to yesterday: I saw a colibri when going to a BBQ party. Later at the BBQ a bat flew over the pool. The tropics are sooo cool.
Another HR story Today I read a resume which ends with "The End" on the last page. Does the guy who wrote this think that his working life is a fairy tale or what?
Schwarz, schwarz, schwarz sind alle meine Kleider... Seems like I'm the inofficial goth queen of the HR department. The girls in the office have asked me for the third time whether I have clothes that are not black. That once again proves that no good can come from working in a guyless environment. If this had been guys I could've just made fun of pink and and cracked a Darth Vader joke but girls.... I mumbled something incoherent and tried not to choke on the oestrogen saturated air.
Plans for tonight I know it's my first Friday night in Singapore and I should go out, go wild and get drunk but I really don't feel like it. So I've just bought three different flavors of ice tea (mango, apple and lychee), one bag of chips, 3 liters of diet coke and one bag of doritos. All this I plan to consume while watching four episodes of Friends on VCD. Alone. I feel like Bridget Jones.
Instant pictures I just had passport photos taken and I didn't want to wait an hour for retouching. So I look just like my mother on them. This internship isn't at all becoming.
HR creeps Even though I've worked in Human Resources before I've never fully realized how frightening it is. I'm currently filing applications that were rejected and it feels voyeuristic to read the comments on them. First impression judgements: too young, too old, too inexperienced, overqualified, too whatever... And these motivation and personality tests look so predictable. Who would ever tick the "agree" box next to the statement "I prefer doing an easy job that pays well than a difficult one with less money"? No, of course, we all slave away for the sake of accomplishing something and money is no issue. I must try to become a better liar.
On one interview assessment form there's a comment saying "applicant has 11 fingers". Now, why is this relevant and are 11 fingers a good or a bad thing?
Dude, where's my suitcase? Two days without internet and I'm on turkey... At work, I don't have any internet. And I'm in HR which means this is a girls only thing... and my main task at the moment is filing CVs. If it wasn't for the air conditioning I would think I'm in hell. But that's okay. I've found an internet cafe which is pretty close to my apartment. And after four days I finally got my suitcase from Emirates which left me without anything for four days. Fortunately TS got a credit card so we went on a shopping tour for underwear, casual clothes and a suit for work. The clerks must think I'm a sarong party girl. At least I got 270 Sin$ from the airline. The poor guys have been looking for that suitcase all over the world and today some guy called and told them he had took it. When we got it I was sure that he had stolen all the good stuff out of it but everything was there even though it was in a mess. What person would just takes a suitcase that belongs to a stranger and returns it after four days without stealing anything? He either must have been in a coma for the last couple of days or a complete asshole who likes the thought that someone has to wear the same socks two days in a row.
I still live They have free internet at the airport. Great stuff. I just survived the roughest flight I've ever had. I even got sick which is not very practical with these watersaving toilets. Who had the brilliant idea of serving a breakfast that includes spinach? Anyway, I was glad that I threw up before the captain started the landing maneuver otherwise it would have been even less pretty. As if listening to an easy listening version of "How deep is your love" on the airplane (five times) wasn't enough to make you sick as a dog.
Auld lang syne Nostalgia night: Plugged the good ol' Super Nintendo into the TV and had some good Street Fighter Turbo fights with my brother. This game always makes me so agressive that I want to beat up my brother for real. So we switched to Secret of Mana where we got killed by some badassed mutant ninjas before reaching the final boss. Ah shucks!
On the phone TS called me from Singapore to ask me to buy some duty free booze at the airport...
Yes, honey, I'm looking forward to seeing you again, too.
Singapore, here I come After three weeks of waiting for my working permit I will finally embark on the big adventure of doing an internship in Singapore on Thursday. It seems that a working permit is a very complicated thing. Apparently somebody from my company has to come to the airport and hand me the visa that comes with the working permit before I'm allowed to pass immigrations.
In Singapore I will probably realize that I am much more German than I look on the outside. Hell, I can't even eat properly with chopsticks (even though I try since I'm 2 years old).
I hope I won't screw up anything major. Throw out the chewing gum: check. Don't forget to flush the toilet: check. Don't litter the roads: check. Don't be involved in any indecent exposure: check. Throw out the drugs that are hidden in my teddy bear: check. Five laws abided, two million more to go.
New look Look at what 883's done for me. He talked me out of the green Hawaiian floral background I first had in mind and so we finally ended up with this really cool template (even though he still doesn't like the stars which are too girly in his opinion). Thanks a lot, bro. Also lots of thanks to Dan whom I owe this disgruntled samurai bunny. Let me know how you like the new look. Whew! I'm so excited, I think I won't sleep tonight.
Ruhrgebiet blues I've spent the whole spring in Nottingham with all this lush green grass and flowers and trees that seem to like the temperate climate and lots of rain. It was a true nature spot where I got to see ducklings, foxes and robins which is a nice change of rats and pigeons in my hometown. In England the flora and I got along fine. Now that I'm back home my hay fever has broken out.
NB: Oberhausen is a former coal mining town. There shouldn't be enough plants here to cause any allergies.
