Now that I’ve been in the London workforce just over a month I understand what people mean when they say London is a hard city. The jobs themselves haven’t been that difficult for me to find, luckily. But the daily grind is what is so much tougher than New Zealand. The commute and the hussle of getting a good spot on the train where I can breathe and not have anyone sniffing (use TISSUES, PEOPLE!) in my ear is like a daily marathon. Walking to the nearest supermarket because I’m missing one ingredient is a pain in the arse and means I often just settle for soup for dinner. By time I get home to my, thankfully, beautiful and cozy flat I am beyond exhausted and find myself ready to curl up with my book or an episode of something trashy.
Learning a new job is never easy, no matter where it is. This job has been my toughest so far as the lady training me has left on maternity leave earlier than expected due to health complications. She’s an amazing woman, and become a great friend, I have no negativity towards her leaving – she still helps me by phone most days, being that it is, today, only my fifth day in the office. The problem is the bosses are not willing to help nor train me. Yesterday was a real low point in the job for me. I’d even decided I was going to walk out – I’d called a couple of my recruiters to tell them to start hunting for roles for me again. The frustration from not knowing what to do or what’s expected of you when no one asks if you need help or how you’re getting on.
But today, after a lovely dinner and wine out last night with a friend talking it all through I am feeling much more positive about the whole situation, much to the annoyance of my recruiters - I’m going to stick at this role. The pay is great, it’s for 12 months which gives me security, the location is beautiful, my colleagues are amazing – we have lunch out often and have booked in a boot shopping expedition for next week, and now I have my lovely flat I need to be a grown up and continue to pay for – there’s no running to the parents! Of course there’s also the goal of travel – Turkey is looking very likely in November.
Bringing my positive attitude towards this role with me to work today has severly helped too. The bosses have been more attentive, I am understanding what I meant to be doing, the work is not difficult and I feel like I’ve caught on to it already. That, or I have it completely wrong and am going to end up down a well with a paper cyclone and system issues surrounding me. But I refuse to believe that.
Add to that the fact that when I arrived there was a payslip on my desk for my days worked in September and I am a happy girl. I’m not one for living in a dirty, grungy flat so I just need to toughen up and remember that this is just a job and I get to go home to my beautiful flat in Greenwich with my lovely and hilarious flatmates – and I even have surplus cash for shopping trips and bottles of wine should the day have been really that terrible.
