Sunday, November 05, 2006

The New Chapter

So, how was the new job?

For the first time in my life (as far as I can remember), I took plenty of initiative. I don't know if it is because I have plenty to live up to or just because of my maturity that I took on this new approach, but I did it. I had some prior warning that I was going to work with someone who was rather inefficient and I needed to be "on the ball", but my kind boss also told me that I only needed to do my work and not have to take on any other responsibility. That helped to ease the pressure but my good friend Maya has been introducing me to everyone outside the department as someone capable and responsible and at the back of the mind, I am half doing the "Who is this person she is talking about?" and the "Omigod. Please don't do that." thingie.

It has been a trip down nostalgia as well, reliving the memories of my student years and walking the same paths again as staff. The food is still bad for what its worth but I am getting a lot more walking exercise (up and down campus), which has been good. On my first week there, I even had the opportunity to be a model for the new Undergraduate Prospectus, which will probably be published for students next year.

It was a rather chilly morning that we had to do it and it was strange trying to pretend to be friends with someone we only met 5 minutes ago. There were also a few "F.R.I.E.N.D.S" shots with 6 of us walking in a straight line (Yeah! Like that's what happens in real life) and pretending to be doing group work with a gap in front, so that photographer gets to photograph everyone's faces. Still, it was time off doing real work and getting paid (with an added bonus of two free movie tickets), so I guess I shouldn't complain. ;-)

The best thing was getting to know some colleagues from the same department on a more personal friendship basis and also having many laughs. We also constantly warn each other not to stick our fingers in our noses, no matter how tempting it might get because there was a prior incident which is now infamous in the handbook of this particular guy pretending to listen to a lecture and having his finger up the "no-no" region.

Last Friday, I also attended the Postgraduate Ball, which was a rather smallish event but shockingly amateurish. Altogether it was a rather boring event but since it was free, it was good to catch up with colleagues outside the work environment as well. Beats me though why anyone would pay for an event like this. Ha! Ha!

So, the first two weeks have been great but it has been a rather steep learning curve and strangely, even though the hours are shorter, I am feeling rather tired and am trying to find the motivation to share more on my blog, hence the time lag of posts. There looks to be many more Christmas and Thank You functions since it is near the end of the year, so maybe I did choose a good time to enter. It is a new change and I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead of me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see that you are enjoying your new job! stay happy!

Terence

JameZ said...

Ha! Ha! Ryan. It's new and I am enjoying working in a team again. I guess I will have to work a little longer to really say if I truly enjoy it but it's different, at least for now.

JameZ said...

Thanks Terence. Long time no hear! Hope to catch up over email soon!