My first fulltime office job in ENGLAND

This is going to be a diary style blogpost about the first week of my new job and how I got it. 

April 2017:
An agency has contacted me because they saw my CV online and would like to interview me. Fortunately the agency is located in my town, so I could easily go there. The interview was very interesting. We went over my CV and discussed my options. I signed a contract with the agency, that they would immediately start looking for temporary work for me, and from June onwards would also search for a permanent position.

Over the phone I applied for National Insurance.

May 2017:
The agency called me that they found a position for me, described it and asked if I would be interested. I was. I still am. They passed on my details to the company and arranged an assessment day for me.

I went to the job center in the next bigger town for my National Insurance interview. They told me I would receive a later with their decision soon. With their decision, really? I felt really unwelcome....

I went to the assessment center together with about 7 other people. It lasted just over 2 hours. We received a lot of information about the company, their client and their customers, as well as the different roles. It was a very open and accommodating environment. We also got to see the work in action, I liked it. Afterwards we filled out some paperwork, did some computer tests and had individual roleplays as part of the interview. 3 days later I knew I had the job. YES!

I finally received my National Insurance Number. My NINO.

June 2017:
I bought some more business clothes for work.

19.06.2017
My first day at work. I got up at 7am. That was way too early for me. As a student I definitely wasn't used to this anymore. And even though I tried going to bed early the night before, it was just impossible to fall asleep in the heat. England, or at least this part of it, is experiencing a heat wave at the moment, I can't really cope. But I managed to get up early, shower, put on a nice business outfit, have a good breakfast and leave early. I am very lucky, I just have to walk 5 minutes door to door. I arrived and got to enjoy the air-conditioned room with 10 other people. The first two weeks of the job aren't actually working, it's training at the moment. There are eleven of us. It is a bit like school at the moment. I really like my team.

20.06.2017
I still struggled to go to bed early and to get up at 7am.
After learning that there is no canteen in the office on my first day, I brought my own lunch today and sat in the staff room. Most of my colleagues are English, but I am not the only "foreigner", there is a lovely Romanian girl, and after she told me she feels more comfortable in German than in English, we spent the lunchbreak speaking German and exchanging our experiences with cultures and languages.

21.06.2017
I managed to fall asleep at a decent time but 7am still felt way too early. We had our first test today, it seriously is like school. But I passed, so everything is alright. We also started learning how to use the computer systems.

22.06.2017
I am slowly getting used to the early mornings. Today we didn't continue learning the processes and products of the company but had a soft skills day instead. Btw, I think I forgot to mention, I am working in customer service, so people skills are very important. So, today we had an MGI (Mary Gober International) seminar, that will earn us a certificate that we can add to our CV. I really enjoyed today. Time flew. I learnt so much and got to deepen my knowledge and enhance my skills from previous seminars I took during my undergrad.
And the weather is slowly going back to normal. I know, that has nothing to do with the job, but it highly affects me. I also managed to have enough energy to actually do something after work today. And to write this. I am writing this on the Thursday, so yesterday for you, because whilst this goes online I'll still be at the office. Tomorrow is dress-down Friday. I actually think this makes it way more difficult to decide what I am going to wear. Business outfit is easy, but now I have to decide how casual I can go to still be work-appropriate... First world problems I know.. And that will be the first week over already. Wow, that went quick.
I log my hours through the agency which will pay me on a weekly basis, so I have to remember to submit my timesheet on Friday.

I am excited to learn more and then to actually start working.
I will soon do another blogpost like this with my ongoing experiences.

See you next week
Lots of love
Jen
xx

Living in Essex - Third Term

All three terms are over now, there is only the summer left. Wow. I had an amazing third term though! No lectures anymore, "only" working on assignments, starting my dissertation, looking for jobs (I will actually start my new job on Monday, how exciting!!) and of course lots of fun!

Spring term ended with a lovely end of term meal with the writing society who I love to bits and pieces. We had a delicious dinner at Prezzo and received some hilarious awards.

I spent Easter on campus and had a delicious homecooked meal with the CathSoc. Later on this term we all went bowling together, I had a lot of fun!! Even though I lost :D

What else happend this term? My best friend came to visit me from Germany, we spent an amazing day in London, bought myself a MacBook, did a lot of video work together as well as a lot of walking.
 

We discovered some new areas near where I live, went on the rides in Clacton and enjoyed cooking together and showing each other some of our favourite films, because trust me, we might be best friends, but our tastes in movies couldn't be more different!

Watch our Best Friend Tag here:

 
And now it's June, which is the international pride month so we had some pride celebrations on campus and the last ignite of the year.

To celebrate the end of the year we had the Summer Ball, which was an incredible mixture of rides, circus artists, festival atmosphere, fireworks, dance club tents and live entertainment and concerts. It was overwhelming! The absolute highlight for me was to see Jack and Joel live. I first heard of them as part of the Oxford University acapella group Out Of The Blue, who I also desperately want to see live!!! I followed them on YouTube and over time they started doing their own thing, mostly accoustic medleys. They are so incredibly talented and it was pure joy to see them on stage. I really hope I can go and see them in London next month!
Oh, and Joel, thaaaaank you for taking a photo with me!! You are the best!!!

 Jack

 

and Joel

You will see a lot more of the night in this month's gratitude project.

And I will see you next week,

with first impressions as a full time graduate employee!

Lots of love

Jen

xx

Work in progress

Sooo, with all the stress of finishing lectures, a broken laptop, celebrating my birthday in Disneyland, buying a new laptop and and and I might have lost most of the Disney footage, so there is no second Disney Vlog today (or ever?)....
Which reminds me, have you seen the first?

There are actually quite a few new videos on my YouTube channel. So much has happened in the past few weeks, and so much more is gonna happen over the next couple of months!
I am currently writing my dissertation, which, trust me, is stressful as it is! So much work to do, so many decisions to make... And at the same time I have to think about what I am going to do after this. Finishing my undergrad was stressful and I had a lot of anxiety, but it was okay, because I knew I could continue doing a postgrad. But now? I am in a different country, I DEFINITELY do not wanna move back to Germany again, I wanna stay here. Which means: I need to find a job and some place to live. ASAP. On the bright side, I just accepted a job today. That won't actually solve my question, what I'm going to do after summer (as it's just a summer job) but hey, it's a first step.
Oh, and did I mention? It's proper SUMMER in the UK right now, sooo hot, how did I survive living in Spain? I know I'm just rambling right now, but all my creativity and brain has already been used up for my dissertation. So, I'm just gonna leave my last YouTube videos and a couple of photos here, and then I'm gonna see you next week with a brand new video!!

See you soon,
lots of love,
Jen
xx

Easter holidays in Germany

Disneyland Paris

with my Mum

for my birthday

Living in Essex - Second Term

The second term here in Essex has passed so quickly. I did so much that I just didn't see how time flew. I started the term with some partying with my friends, as well as a 6 week Mindfulness seminar, to balance it out :D

SO MUCH FUN!!!
But of course I soon had to focus and work a lot for my modules. This term I learnt an awful lot about Film Production and was the producer of our very own short film. It is unbelievable how much time and effort went into that project, but I enjoyed it a lot and definitely felt like I grew with it.

I enjoyed this term a lot! Producing a film, learning how to calm down and live life mindfully, choosing a topic for my dissertation, watching several good movies for my adaptation module and getting an extra excuse to watch even more NCIS for my coursework, joining all the Writing Society workshops, playing Badminton, Squash AND Tennis, spending time with friends, and of course walking, walking, walking....

The term started quite cold with some snow and a lot of rain and wind. We even had a proper storm. But that's over and spring has come. What a perfect start to the Easter holidays! Over the past couple of weeks I had a lot of visitors here. My Dad came to see me, we did some excursions and went to London to see Aladdin the musical. My roommate back from Boarding School came here for a couple of days, which was really lovely. And last but not least one of my hotel guests from Lanzarote (and now a friend) visited me. What a lovely time!! And now whilst you are reading this, I am on my way to Germany. I will stay a couple of days at home and then my Mum and I are driving down to Disneyland Paris. EXCITED!!!

How will the next term be? Unfortunately my Russian course has ended, but I will try my best to keep working on it from home. Of course I will continue excersing, walking my 1000 miles for charity, meeting up with the societies and spending time with my friends, playing games like Phase 10 :) Oh and yeah, I will be busy writing my dissertation. For that, I chose to translate a popular blog from English into German, so I actually think this will be quite enjoyable.

What will I do after this? Where will I go? What will life bring for me? Who knows? I'll keep you updated!
And meanwhile: Thank you for such a lovely term!

If you want to support me in my 1000miles as fundraising for charity and donate money to Mind-The Mental Health Charity:

Click here

I am grateful for every single one of you!

Have you seen my latest YouTube video?
Weekend Vlog - London, Aladdin, Seaside

See you next week
Lots of love
Jen
xxx

The Travel Tag

1. Where are you from in the world?
I'm from Cologne, Germany.

2. Have you been overseas? When/Where?
I have been to sooo many countries, I couldn't list them all. Here's a link to my earlier blogpost about all the holidays I ever did. Including Germany I went on holiday in 29 countries, 31 if you add day trips, 33 with airport stopovers. To mention a few.

USA, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Dubai, and most of Europe

3. Do you prefer summer or winter? Why?
WINTER is my favourite season of the year!!!

4. Summer or winter fashion?
Winter! Boots, scarves, coats, jumpers, tights...

5. Where is somewhere you would love to travel to?
Russia, Iceland, Canada, Kazakhstan, Greenland, Finland, Norway, Alaska, Washington, New York, California, South America, the list goes on and on...

6. Name your essential makeup items for the beach
Sunscreen!!! What's the point of makeup if you go for a swim?

7. Are you currently saving up for a trip?
Yes!! But I am not going to tell you where said trip is going to be, be surprised ;)

8. Do you like/dislike travelling?
ABSOLUTELY ADORE TRAVELLING!!!!

9. Name a place in the world you would love to shop.
New York

10. Who is your favourite beauty guru and where do they live?
I don't watch beauty tutorials

11. What accent in the world is your favourite to hear?
All variations of British

12. How many countries have you visited?
Approximately 30 as you can read in the second question ;)

13. Why do you travel
I grew up travelling roughly twice a year. I love seeing new places, learning languages and experiencing different cultures. I wanna get to know the world!

14. Favourite city or country?
UK

 London

15. Most memorable experience abroad?
Living abroad:
2 years of Boarding School in the Lake District, UK
3 months internship in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
6 months semester abroad in Andalusia, Spain
1 year postgrad in Essex, UK

16. Best item purchased abroad?
So many things come to mind, think of all the shopping I did over the years in London, Disney, UK in general, Spain, Dubai, Paris.......

17. Advice for those who want to travel but think they can't?
Why would you ever think you can't? Don't buy random shit, save it in a separate travel account. Work hard, get time off work. Pick a destination. Read about it. Prepare. Be confident. Fly solo. Experience the world!

18. Travel accessory you always pack?
Camera 

19. Can you recite your passport # from memory?
Yes hahahaha

20. Preferred method of travel: planes, trains or automobiles
Planes, cars, trains.

 

21. Top 3 Travel items?
Camera, sunscreen, extra shopping money

22. Hostel or hotel?
Hotels for sure, absolutely love them! Would never choose a hostel if I didn't absolutely have to pricewise.

23. Are you a repeat visitor or do you explore new places?
Both. I like to explore new places and my goal is to see as much of the world as possible, but if I particularly enjoyed a place I will most definitely revisit.

24. Do you read up on your destination for culture, history or safety or do you wing it?
Yes I do, not just for health and safety reasons but also to know what kind of sightseeing I wanna do

25. Favourite travel websites?
I'm too oldschool for travel websites. Real travel guides are my thing :D

26. Where would you recommend a friend to visit? City and why?
Dubai for all the cultural experiences, the lovely climate and learning so much and stopping prejudices against other cultures

27. You're leaving tomorrow, money is no option, where are you going?
Shopping in New York, work my way down to Florida, via Texas and Mexico to South America, through Brazil down to Argentina and Chile, back up with a short excursion to Galapagos, further up through Central America to California, short excursion to Hawaii, further up Washington, Alaska and a nice long trip through Canada. I mean you said money is no obstacle :D I hope time is no problem either. Otherwise just New York for a couple of weeks. 

28. Favourite landmark you have visited?
Land's End Cornwall

29. Beach holiday or travel/explore holiday?
Always travel and explore!! I want to learn and see new things!! And I am not made for the beach, my alternative to travel/explore would be a cosy cabin in a snowy forest.

30. To travel is to...
Grow









Have you seen my latest video? March Gratitude:

See you next week
Jen
xx 

Mind - The Mental Health Charity

I have walked over 150 miles so far and I am well proud of it. Yes, I said it out loud. I am proud of myself for doing this and I won't stop sharing my progress and announcing my fundraising over and over again. Because it is important! MENTAL HEALTH is a really important topic that needs to be addressed. And my way of doing it is fundraising for MIND - The Mental Health Charity.

Mind is a charity that offers support to those who struggle with life. They have a helpline you can call when you just desperately need to talk to someone because you might have some really bad ideas in your head. 1 in 4 people suffer from a mental health problem. This means all of us are affected or know someone who is. Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health problems are not rare or weird or fake. They are as real and serious as any physical health problem. More and more men take their life because they feel they can't talk to anybody about how they feel. Common phrases like

"Just get over it"

"It's just a mood swing"

"Just try and be happy"

"At least you're not actually ill"

and so on really don't help. If a person has a mental health problem they can't just get over it, it is not just a mood thing, they cannot simply try and be happy, they are seriously ill. Mental Health is REAL. We need to stop the stigma against mental health. Which is exactly what Mind is trying to do.

Mind has also created a safe place for people to talk to others who feel the same. Elefriends is a virtual online community where you can talk about your feelings anonymously, give each other support and receive help from professionals. It works a bit like a big online group therapy. I think Mind and Elefriends are doing such a good job; I just wanna support them, help them to grow bigger, to reach more and more people, so that nobody has to go through this alone. Together we can do this!

I am walking 1000 miles over the course of this year and you can support me and donate money to Mind - The Mental Heath Charity.

Even the smallest donation can save a life!

Click here to learn more about my project.

 The next five people donating 8£ or more will get one of five different Elefriends badges!

Together we could save so many lives!! I appreciate every donation and every gesture. If you could share this with as many people as possible I would be so grateful. This cause means the world to me.

I also created a YouTube video about this, watch it here:

Thank you so much,

see you next week!

Lots of love

Jen

xx