Life post-job

Happy Samhain everyone!

As always, long time no talk. What can I say, writing hasn't been on my mind lately. But I am back with juicy details of the last few months.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we. It's usually a good place to start, and in this case the beginning would be almost two months ago, when I lost my job out of the blue. Turns out they didn't need that much people, so three quarters of the staff got cut. You walked into work that day to learn that you were fired. Happy times.

But anywho, that triggered my job hunt that is still active (but maybe not for much longer). Still, job or no job, I had a holiday booked for Portugal and I was going! Not just any regular trip, though: I spent a week at surf camp. That's right, this little Canadian learned how to surf. Not very well, mind you, but enough to be proud of myself. I had an awesome time. Except maybe for Tuesday, where I got pretty bad low sugar levels and got stung by a spider fish. What a day that was. But I came back from Portugal with a kickass tan and a horrible sunburn on my feet, so it was all worth it! Even made a friend, my new aussie "aunt" in England. :)

After my crazy adventure in wetsuits, I came back to Ireland to resume my job hunt. I reached a new low at that point. The money was going and none was coming in. I was panicking. I didn't know what to do more than what I was already doing. Why weren't the jobs coming? I was burned out. I started having panic attacks. Then my boyfriend and I went to a psychic/holistic fair in town. One lady caught my eye. Her booth said she did healings, similar to Reiki. I gave it a try, and it was one of my better ideas. What a world of difference it made. A huge weight was taken off of my shoulders and I could finally breathe.

That was about two weeks ago. I wouldn't say the dark cloud is completely gone, but it's not overbearing anymore. Plus, things are looking up at the moment. Two job interviews in the same week, both of which are looking good. Hopefully I will at last find a job within the next couple of weeks and got some moneys flowing into that cobweb filled bank account of mine!

Until next time!

Don't worry, I remembered pictures! :)

City of Opporto, I believe

My little (big) hostel house

Surf school

The beach in front of the school, where we surfed

The surf school again. The front is the terrace of the restaurant.

Same beach :)

The view from our room's balcony

And my room! My bed is the one at the bottom in the back

I'm still alive, promise!

Fancy meeting you here!
Why yes, I'm still alive and kicking, although I can understand the doubt. After all, five months is a long time, and I believe the longest time I went without posting any news. What can I say, it's been quiet over here. Well... maybe that's not entirely true.

My sister graduated from college in May, so for the first time since my departure a year ago, I got to go home. It was amazing to feel like I belonged again, to be surrounded by my family. I'm really glad it went to well, especially considering all the trouble I had getting there. You see, my first flight was one hour and twenty minutes late, which means I missed my connections. After going in circles for three hours in the London airport, I finally found the right counter, where they told me I was just short of an hour late to catch the next flight. And so, they sent me to a hotel where I spent the night, waiting for my new flight the following afternoon (without my luggage, of course, which at that point I had no idea where it was). But wait, it doesn't stop there! When I arrived the next day (five hours early, mind you), I was told that I had not been properly booked the previous day, and that the flight was now full. I was going to have to take an earlier flight that day, with an extra stop in Toronto. Well let me tell you, I ran like hell in Toronto to catch my flight, but I finally made it, 24 hours later than planned.

 Luckily, I met a very nice lady at the London airport, who graciously freshened my face and made me look like my luggage had always been with me. I was also greeted at the airport by my parents, my sister, and a wonderfully still warm poutine. The time in Canada was wonderful though, and I can't wait to go back and see my family again.

Since then (and also previously to that), I have successfully survived the launch of the game I work for. Yes it was hectic, yes we were running around everywhere, but we made it! We even dressed up for the occasion. :) Naturally, now that launch has ended, we don't need as many people. But lucky me, I have made through the cuts, and still have a job! Until July 6th, anyway, which is when my contract expires. I do hope it gets renewed, as I still have a year to go on my visa and I would love to spend it there. Keep your fingers crossed!

Asides from work, I have been my most rebellious self so far this year. On my birthday this past February, I ignore the advice put in last year's birthday card from my parents, and went under the needle. I got my very first tattoo, a little design I did myself to commemorate my time in Ireland, the ups and downs. (Picture below!) Although it hurt quite a lot, I felt extremely proud of myself when it was over. I had conquered one of my fears and I was exhilarated.

I have also celebrated my first Saint Patrick's Day in it's home country, Ireland. I'll be honest, I was expecting a little bit more. Especially that evening in the pubs. I was told however that most Irish people start drinking early on that day, so everyone's in bed by 6pm. Fine by me, more room for us tourists! I had a blast that night, even checked off an item on my bucket list: hear the song Galway Girl live in a pub in Galway.


Now for pictures! :)

A cathedral in Galway city center

A couple horses from the day I spent at the stable

Work hard, play hard. This is me and my work colleagues on our day off, enjoying some paintball

The two beautiful bouquets of flowers I got for my birthday

And my tattoo! The shamrock to represent Ireland and the triskellion to represent moving forward (it's on my right ankle)

Keep smiling, love bugs!

Christine

Christmas and the beginning of a New Year

Good morning folks!

Christmas has come and gone, and so have my plans to go backpacking. That's right, I'm still in Galway. Turns out giving up on my apartment and my life here isn't worth it yet. And so I am back in a full time job, which I started last Monday. So far, it's excellent. I now work at a video game company who will be releasing a new game in April, for which I will provide support. These two weeks are for training, so unlike my last job, I will have product knowledge before giving people information about it. Everyone there is really friendly, too. It's the kind of place where you don't feel like a bother if you have a question or are unsure of what you're doing. We'll see how it goes when the real work starts, but so far I'm glad I got this job.

But before I started that adventure, I had the chance to go to Munich for Christmas. It was not at all what I expected, but it was a nice trip nonetheless. The hostel I stayed at (Wombats) was great, with a bar and a cozy common room with hammocks where they played movies on a big projector screen. Sadly, I was sick for a day or two, but things got better once that passed. I was part of a little group with people around the globe and had tons of fun with them. On my last day in Munich we went to Dachau to visit the Concentration Camp. Combined with my trip to the city museum, I now know more about WWII than I did when we talked about it in high school. Although it wasn't necessarily a pleasant trip, it was definitely worth going. It makes the whole thing appear more real, instead of being just another thing of the past. It also changes your perspective of humans, as you see the best and the worst that we are capable of. But the best part of the trip was without a doubt my visit to the ballet, where I saw The Nutcracker. I had never seen anything so beautiful. Even the theater itself was breathtaking, with marble floors and velvet cushion seats. Speaking of seats, I was really proud of the one I had chosen. My view wasn't perfect, but it wasn't far from it. Considering that I had never seen the layout of the theater before, I was quite proud of myself. It was my first time seeing a ballet and it surely won't be the last.

Have no fear, I have not forgotten pictures:

Munich really had some beautiful architecture

The Christmas Market

On my way to the English Garden (I have yet to figure out what was English about it)

Mercedes Benz store

The above mentioned English Garden

Inside a church:

"Work makes you free".   Welcome to Dachau

The new foundations laid where the bunkers used to be:

The crematorium: 

Graves created by Americans when they liberated the camp:

No Concentration Camp is complete without a gas chamber:

 Happy thoughts!
What an eventful month it has been. But knowing me, I would be bored if it wasn't. Let's hope this coming year is full of good adventures, travels and happy times. And I wish the same to all of you!

Christine

Step 3: Forget everything you thought you knew ... again

Hello folks!
So it's been - wait, two months?! My, time flies. We are now in the middle of snow-less December here in my side of the world. Although Christmas is near, I can't say I feel it. It's hard to be in the Christmas cheer when there's no snow on the ground and the thermometer indicates 10 degrees. There are also no decorations in my apartment because honestly, what am I going to do with it all after Christmas? I'm sure Munich will have plenty of Christmas cheer to compensate for what I am lacking at the moment anyway. Although I will admit that it's about more than decorations and snow; I miss the present hunting and wrapping, the smell of turkey, mashed potatoes and cookies, the warmth of a wood stove and skating. But mostly, I miss the comfort of being surrounded by my family, the people who matter the most to me. It's a good thing we have FaceTime!

I also did get to see my dad a few weeks ago, which was fantastic. It was much needed. We didn't do anything too crazy, but I was happy just having him around. We did two bus trips, which were great. My favorite one was without a doubt Kylemore Abbey and Connemara. The scenery was beautiful. And they are sheep everywhere! Now I know where they hide them all. Scroll below for some pictures!

As for my travels, I have my trip to Munich coming up very soon, for which I am very excited. My first vacation in quite some time. It will be lovely to just enjoy myself without having to worry about this and that. However, my travels will not stop there. I will be leaving about one week after I come back from Germany, this time for weeks, hopefully months. As I found myself abruptly without a job Sunday night, I was faced with two choices: find another job or go travel. Out of desperation I looked at the travelling option as I could do something about it right away. Once I had calmed down, however, I started applying to a few jobs. Sadly, most jobs available at the moment (or in general, really) are in customer service. At least, the ones I'm qualified for. Here's the problem: I don't want to work in customer service anymore. I have no interest in putting on a fake smile and be nice to people just so they will buy something or give my company a good review. There is more to life than that (at least I hope). And so it seems Ireland has done everything it could for me for the time being. I have learned a lot, but I feel that it is time for me to go learn other things in other places.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am scared. Terrified, actually. I am leaving certainty and the comfort of a beautiful apartment for the unknown, uncertainty and possibly a couch instead of a bed. But I choose to have faith, to believe that everything will work out for the best and that when I need it, I will find another beautiful and comfortable apartment. My desire to learn, discover and be happy again overpowers my fears. I see it as a quest. I'm not sure what I'm searching, but I am out to find something. In all my thinking, I have managed to pinpoint the reasons why I want to go travel:
-Learn about everything and anything
-Discover new things and rediscover old ones
-Find myself and my happiness
-Fall in love, even if just for a night
-Feel alive

So that's that. I'm not certain of all the details yet, but I plan on waiting after my trip to Munich to pinpoint my exact destination. I have a feeling that I will meet people there who will inspire me, invite me to join them, or even give me some ideas. After all, a lot of what I have learnt so far was taught to me by fellow travelers. I'll keep you posted!

Now for the fun part: pictures!

I went to Belfast for a weekend with a fellow Canadian I met in Galway. We made sure to stop by the Titanic Museum:

Scenery from Connemara:

The beautiful Kylemore Abbey:

A new friend of mine I made at the Galway Aquarium:

A few pictures of our trip to the Cliffs of Moher:

This is actual a gravestone, believe it or not:

The Cliffs of Moher! We had a beautiful day, with very little wind and a lot of sunshine.

That's all for now! I must go back to hunting for my next destination. I have many emails to send...

Christine