Showing posts with label Working abroad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Working abroad. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Back in from the cold!




I'm back, from a really chilled out two weeks in Grindelwald, Bern, Switzerland. Chilled out in many senses of the word!

It was work, which I shall get onto, however I was thinking on my 17 year long journey home from the airport yesterday, I can't think of one moment when I was stressed or angry or annoyed. Happy days! 

While I've been away I took a couple of books with me, one is called 'Destructive emotions and how to overcome them'. Sounds like a self help book, it isnt. It's a narration of one of a series of incredible sounding seminars between the Dalai Lama and loads of scientists, physiologists, phsycologists theorists written up by Daniel Goleman, I've already raved about one of his other books, emotional intelligence in one of my other posts. 

It's a good read, really interesting and I am seriously considering buddism or at least a bit of meditation. I took it to babysitting one night while I was away, the parents came back, and theyre always quite surprised to find you reading instead of slobbed out in front of the telly or on the laptop, but the parents came in, I was sat with this book in my hand about destructive emotions, with my goofy reading look on and wearing my uniform which makes me look really butch and slightly like a lesbian. Well they looked a bit like they were thinking, 'shit, who have we left our kids with? a phsyco bitch? I hope that books working' Funny. 




young love
So yes, Grindelwald is beautiful. I've been working with a 'luxury family holiday operator', which are painfully expensive and exclusive, as a creche assistant, which entailed working with another lady looking after the grand total of...... 3 children in creche, and taking one out to ski lessons every morning, then babysitting every night. it's not a bad job, with us we had 3 people in charge of the older kids and 4 ski guides in charge of the bigger kids (i.e. adults). I'd definatly say I had the least demanding job of all being in the creche. but I'm not going to complain. 

I took to my skis for the first time a few days after we flew out and didnt have much chance after that. I got really frustrated with myself, how hard is it to learn how to move differently? I kept on and on, side stepping up the littlest hill and whizzing down again and I. Just. Didnt. Get. IT. 



until I did, after 5 hours and the help of one of the local ski instructors (a friend of a girl we were working with) who was an actual godsend and taught us on her day off. so then I snow ploughed the life out of that tiny hill and finally worked up the courage to go on the tiny magic carpet up and do a little bit of a run a bumpy bit. it was great fun, I can't wait to get some more ski time. However I am desperate to try snow boarding, it looks so much cooler. 

I have so many things I want to blog, but if at all possible I'm even less organised than normal and I have a suitcase full of washing and bed room that needs tidying, mail to open and all the other things your supposed to do as a sensible adult who's just back from a trip away.

I shall return soon and regale you with stories of love, lust, adventure and humorous stories, or I may just blog some more... 

x




And a special mention to my beautiful, amazing friends who created this amazing cake as a welcome home present! If I could cry, I would have. made my day.


Wednesday, 21 December 2011

3031 veiws! yeah baby!


Ducking hell, I cant believe how many people read this!

Now just before you start rolling your eyes, I'm not doing this to be popular/get as many veiws as possible or become famous etc etc, I just write my blog because... I do. But yay!

I wrote My first Post in February of this year, so thats, what, almost 10 months ago, in some ways, I've grown in those ten months, in some ways I'm still the same. It also means I've been single for 10 months, as when I started blogging, I'd made alot of big decisions, decided to quit my job, to work abroad, to put an end to my long term relationship, to find myself again (as cheesy as that sounds) and to live more.

so now I'm making decisions again.

I just wanted to Thank YOU for reading my blog so far, and by YOU I mean family, friends, fellow bloggers and those people who have stumbled across my blog while searching for things like....




Honest to god, these are how some people have come across day dreams from feef, I dont know wehter that says more about my writing, or how random people are...

Love you lots,

New posts coming soon :-D



Friday, 28 October 2011

I needed to write this.


Frikkin internet is down so I’m blogging

I don’t mean it like, oh, theres nothing else to do.... this is what I mean;

I’ve just made a decision, I’m going back to UNI. I miss it. I actually feel a little bit empty without it. A bit like when you know you’ve not packed a toothbrush when your going away, or you have a sneaking suspicion that somthing isn’t right.

I know it.

Maybe I was a bit foolish not going this September as planned, but hey ho. If I had I wouldn’t be feeling this urge, I need to go back.

I think the time has given me the opportunity to set myself up right. So what, I have perhaps from one perspective wasted a little bit of time, but hey, what’s a year? I’ve been reading, I’ve been thinking, reflecting, and jesus, I feel like I could go and write three whole essays on anything and everything.

This could be linked to the effort I’ve made tonight, treated myself. I’ve been for the first run in about a year (and after putting on about a stone since my last) and then swam and then, I did a face mask and read. I feel GOOOOOOD.

So I’m a bit frustrated because I the internet isn’t enabling my begging emails to Ms Torrence and also to the boss so that I can leave next season early. I just want to DO. SOMETHING. I’m at a very uncertain point right now and to know that I have made at least one decision about the not to distant future is great, but I want to act on it. I shall just have to wait. And read.


So my current book, which I LOVE (!) is Emotional Intelligence: why it can matter more than IQ (by Daniel Groleman (I keep going to write Dave Grohl, ha)

The two chapters so far that have really... Moved (?) me are Mind and Medicine and The Family Crucible. The first one, really relates to my feelings toward the work I did with the hospital and with the mental health service, or really the work I wanted to do I suppose.

 It’s like he’s written my mind for me, aside from the actual scientific stuff that I would never have discovered. He describes and proves the link between emotions and the Immune system, the impact our emotions have on health and then the impact emotions have on recovery from ill health.

One bit that I find soo scary, but really interesting, is the possibility of Anger and hostility causing heart disease leading to heart attacks. Woah. How many kids do we see who are hostile and angry (with just cause) in youth work. Obviously they need help to sort out whatever is going on with them, but just think how important it actually is, to help them work through their anger and deal with it.

Then in the family chapter, I feel a bit sad (and maybe if some of my family read this they may dislike what I’m going to talk about, but hey, it’s my blog)

I won’t go through what it talks about but I had to put the book down, I was just thinking.... S**T, the boys are actually going to be really affected by this, and they totally are, you can see it. Not just because of the obvious break up and stress, but because of the emotional issues and then the pressure on them to live up to the male stereo type. (If you are reading this, beware, I am not judging, I have never attempted to bring up a child and I am never, will never lecture you on how you should bring up yours)

[Earlier in the book, I was comparing myself to the people they describe as having no emotion = Zero empathy = psychopath (it doesn’t read exactly like that...) and I got a bit worried, because I find it difficult to show emotion. I’m not worried now though, I totally want to cry]

So yeah.

I love my book.

I want to go back to study sooner than I expected.

I think I only want to do it part time.

I still don’t have a job when I get home.

But today has been a good day.

Totally just finished my first season.
x


Monday, 8 August 2011

I'd like to give the world a blog, and furnish it with thoughts....

with ponderings and mutterings, of philosophy and love..... :-)

So yesterday I was in a bad mood, it happens to us all sometimes, It happens to me about once a week. I usually get homesick on a Sunday, ring my mum and then I'm fine for another week. This week it was Tashie's birthday and it's also Megan (darling neice of mine)'s birthday tommorow. I'm gutted to miss either, so both sucks ass, big time.

I haven't spoken to my mum or dad or the rest of the clan, I'm making a point, trying to anyway. You know where I am, You know I miss you all. Pick up the phone.

Things are going well out here, it's peak season and it feels like we have 20 thousand children. in reality we dont have any where near that but they create enough havoc, noise and stress for it to feel that way. We had 10 French children in all (including babies) and they just seem to be a little bit feral. Lovely, but a teensy bit mad. One good thing is we have babysitting jobs coming out of our ears so we can earn some pocket money.

The riot's happening in London this weekend are crazy, I'm watching the news right now. Is it true that it started because a boy was shot? and the prime minister is living it up in Italy... crazy. I only found out because  they sell the Sun in the hotel, not that I read it mind, I came online and had a look. I feel really quite cut off from the world at the moment, not having telly or the papers. did you know it's like 4 euro for the international times? I dont even read the Times but I nearly bought it the other day until i saw the price.

I miss work. That's not sad right? I do, I miss the young people, I miss the banter, My team, working toward something... I'm not ungrateful, don't get me wrong, I love being out here and having the opportunity to spend such a long time in a beautiful setting and with great people, we've even met a couple of famous people, the latest being John Hannah from Four weddings and a funeral/ the rock/ cold case/ the co-op adverts. that was pretty cool and we've had some really decent kids in that we've grown attached to, I had a couple of kids tell me they love me, then parents that want to take me home, one kid wouldn't wear sun cream unless we put it on for him and not his mum.

my veiw right now is beautiful, I'm sat outside on the balcony at the apartment where I'm babysitting two gorgeous 6 month old twins and I can see right across the bay to Spinalonga and the sun is just behind the mountains making a big sillouette


So in other news...

I have found a new hobby, creating beautiful one off art work in the form of fax cover sheets

I have been pencilled in to work in the teen club in Cyprus next year, snorkelling, climbing, biking, all sorts, frikkin amazing!

I drove the other day. not at all legally, or particularly well

I love that you've read this blog and hopefully aren't asleep yet. :-)

Be good x