Standing out

I saw the add for a workshop about leadership and working with people. It was free and by a guy I had seen before and thought was really good, so I signed up. I deal with a lot of people at work and I'm interested in how people function and saw a great opportunity to learn something. 

And I did.

But instead of a room full of people as expected it was me and 8 others in the room. Including the speaker!

8 other man. 

8 other swedes. 

8 other big bosses. 

And me. 

Talk about standing out! The workshop turned out to be quite interesting and helpful, especially after that first uncomfortable half hour. We learned some things, discussed situations and I met people that wouldn't have otherwise. Another plus is that I have a funny story to tell. After telling my boss he asked me, joking, if I was secretly planning to take over his job! 

I'm not. That was just doing the Sara way, as usual.

Me and others*

I have always enjoyed contact with public. My first summer job was as a receptionist in my local swimming pool and I loved it. I have always enjoyed the diversity of personalities, cultures and everything that comes from that. 

I have never worked to the public again but I am finally back at working with a lot of people, which I missed in my previous jobs. 

It's been a few months already since I started working and I was told from the beginning to do things my way as long as they were efficient and obeyed the rules (of course!). So did I. Most people like my ways but some do not and try to resist the changes. It's the diversity of personalities and ways of thinking that make it that way. Working and contacting with a lot of people might also make you roll your eyes from time to time. It's the problem that was never a problem but it's easier to ask than to think by yourself. It's the one who thinks because you drink coffee together he/she doesn't have to follow the rules and can skip the line. It's the one that tries to influence you into favouring him/her. And other similar situations. I enjoy all this! Especially now, so many years after being the teenager working at the swimming pool. Life has taught me how to be impartial (or at least more impartial) and to not judge by appearances, nationalities or whatever. I treat everyone the same way, but I do not expect to be treated the same way by every one.

And for every moment that I feel tired, because I do have those moments anyway, and I think "oh no, not this (one) again", I get twice as many moments with joy and satisfaction. I need the positive feedback to survive at the job, but I need the criticism as much to be pushed to think beyond my point of view and be challenged. They are equally important and I'm equally grateful to have both. 

As long as te balance is kept.

*Post written just after sighing and rolling my eyes, and then reading a super nice email complementing my work.

Stenungsund - Sweden

Some weeks are more interesting than others. After a week of vacation I went back to work on Monday, had the national day of Sweden on Tuesday, in which no one worked, and then went on a two-day conference for work at Stenungsund. The place looked fantastic but unfortunately the weather didn't help much. Luckily, I had my vitamin D reserves on top from the wonderful sunshine I got in Portugal (posts to come soon). I had a great time anyway.

Há semanas mais interessantes do que outras. Depois de uma semana de férias, voltei ao trabalho na segunda-feira, era feriado nacional da Suécia na terça-feira, o qual ninguém trabalhou e depois fui a uma conferência de dois dias em Stenungsund. O lugar era fantástico, mas infelizmente o tempo não ajudou muito. Felizmente, tinha as minhas reservas de vitamina D no topo depois do sol maravilhoso que apanhei em Portugal (posts para breve). A conferência foi boa na mesma. 

The hotel

If only it wasn't all wet from the rain... / Se ao menos não estivesse tudo molhado da chuva...

The floating sauna / A sauna flutuante

Guide to a happy unemployment - Newbie

I became unemployed in December 2015. It was not my first time, but I knew that this time it would be harder and probably longer. I had been unemployed in 2013 as well, but then I was open to work in basically any country and within a month I found myself a job. This time, I was restricted to a single country and a single city, which made things more difficult. 

I was unemployed for a year and four months. When I look back I feel I made the most of my unemployment. I rested and relaxed, used the time to learn something new and to do things I enjoyed and didn't freak out as much a I could have. In general I was happy and I will remember this time as a positive experience.

I know it's not always easy to be unemployed but a positive mind set will always be helpful, no matter what the situation is. Guide to a happy unemployment is the title of my latest article for the Newbie Guide to Sweden and you can read it here. 

If you enjoy it pass along to your unemployed relatives or friends. 

50 years

He left. After 50 years working there, he left. 

Nowadays we move a lot more and change jobs for various reasons, so I can't even imagine what it feels like leaving after 50 years. Perhaps a mixture of longing and relief. A mixture of I will miss this with I can finally relax. It must feel weird.

I hope he will be happy.

His last day was when I was on vacation and when I came back I found this in his closet. Very symbolic.  

Life is full of irony #3

Or funny coincidences. Or whatever you want to call it.

There is a cabinet in my office at work that is locked and there's no key, because the person before lost it. Also, when asked what was inside the cabinet, the person couldn't remember anymore. Determined to solve the problem before I leave for 10 days off I asked someone if there are reserve keys. I was shown to a kind of safe with a bunch of small plastic bags with keys in it. Luckily, someone wrote numbers on the bags, and the search was not totally hopeless, although it still took a while. 

In the meantime, with me stressing because I had a lot else to do and the key thing was taking way too long, someone else approaches me and says that the cable to the projector in the meeting room is broken and we need to get a new one as soon as possible. Great, another pickle... We stopped the key search and initiate a cable search in the storage room. We found one that could work. I should try to find D., because he is tall and can change the cable. No success. D. was nowhere to be found and the cable was not right anyway. 

In the middle of the chaos that was my head, I restarted the key search. While cursing and trying to decide how to get a bloody cable as fast as possible, I found the right bag of keys! Hoping that they would indeed be the right ones, I went to my office and tried them. 

They worked! 

I opened the mysterious cabinet, that had been locked for months and looked inside. What was there? An infinite pile of internet cables and... one of the type we needed!! 

I grabbed it immediately and ran out the door. Who is passing by at that exact moment? D.!!! The long guy who could change the cable. 

And that's how chaos turned into, not one, but two problems solved.

(I'll be back after vacation)

Finding all but Nemo

The job I got is partly to replace a man who has been working there for 50 years and is about to retire. So far, I have been following him around and learning all I can from him. He is a very positive and happy person, and it's been easy and quite fun to spend time with him. One of the first things he told me was that he was "forced" to clean his office, so that now I could also seat there. When he told me that I looked around and wondered how it had been before. I heard the difference is dramatic and I'm guessing he spent a lot of energy on it. I don't know if he finished it or not, because there are some shelves full of stuff that I think he didn't go through. Sometimes, when he is not there (he only works part time) I go through them and I have found very curious things...

O meu trabalho passa em parte por substituir um homem que trabalhou ali durante 50 anos e que está prestes a reformar-se. Até agora tenho estado a segui-lo de perto e a aprender o máximo com ele. Ele é uma pessoa muito positiva e feliz, e tem sido fácil e bastante divertido passar tempo com ele. Uma das primeiras coisas que ele me disse foi que foi "forçado" a limpar o seu gabinete, para eu me poder sentar lá também. Quando me disse isso, olhei em volta e perguntei-me como estaria antes. Ouvi dizer que a diferença é gritante e suponho que ele gastou muita energia nisso. Não sei se ele deu a limpeza por terminada ou não, porque há algumas prateleiras cheias de tralhas onde me parece que ele não passou. Às vezes, quando ele lá não está (só trabalha em part time) dou uma vista de olhos e tento arrumar um pouco, e tenho encontrado coisas muito curiosas...

Christmas lights / Luzes de natal

The flag of an ice hockey club / A bandeira de um clube de hoquéi no gelo

Tea expired in 2014 (I've only seen him drinking coffee), wipes for stationary phones (that no one uses anymore) expired in 2012, and an unopened cartridge bought in 2013. 

Chá com o prazo de validade em 2014 (ainda só o vi a beber café), panos molhados para limpar telefones (que já ninguém usa do departamento) com validade em 2012, e um cartucho fechado comprado em 2013. 

A table tennis racket / Uma raquete de ténis de mesa

A pair of glasses and a plunger

As I said before, the only thing I haven't found there yet was Nemo! 

It's been quite fun and I will miss these times, when he leaves at the end of the month. He is some kind of a legend and everybody likes him a lot. I have big shoes to fill! But I will try to keep weird objects away from the shelves. We will see how it goes when I'm his age. I'll probably be even worse...

Como disse, a única coisa que ainda não encontrei lá foi o Nemo! 

Tem sido muito divertido e vou sentir falta destes tempos, quando ele for embora no final do mês. Ele é uma espécie de lenda e todo a gente gosta imenso dele. Vou tentar ser tão positiva quanto ele, mas vou tentar manter objectos estranhos longe das prateleiras. Vamos ver como vai ser quando tiver a idade dele. Vou provavelmente ser ainda pior...