Time to catch up

Matthias, a friend who I met in AfroX, Kenya last year, is currently travelling through Aisa with his girlfriend.

It was quite a surprise when I received an email from him a few weeks ago. It was also quite a surprise for him that I'm currently in Taiwan. We've "lost" contact after the conference, it was the last time we've seen or heard anything from each other, which was about a year and a half ago. Naturally, since he is on my turf, we decided we'd meet up for coffee. Ironically, we met in "New York, New York", in Taipei for a coffee in Starbucks. Plus my lack of knowledge about Taipei in general, he ended up giving me some pointers on where I should visit (hahaha). I'm so gonna get a Lonely Planet!!! Or else like Matthias suggested, I should perhaps contact AIESEC Taiwan to find out if they have some reception weekend or re-integration activities.

It was great seeing Matthias again, and meeting his girlfriend. It's been so long that I've been around AIESECers. Obviously we couldn't resist to talk about AIESEC. But it was actually quite refreshing, and it felt good talking to someone who has been there. It is so true that you can only starting to put AIESEC into perspective once you pull yourself away from the organisation. Then you realise that it is not all golden and shiny... It's also true that AIESEC connects the world. I mean who will think that I, a Taiwanese-South African, met this Austrian guy in Kenya, and then met up again in Taiwan. I guess I can only say that this is the power of AIESEC. In the short time we caught up on what each other's been doing, their Asian trip so far, what he's going to be doing and what are my plans, etc.

All in all, it was a pleasant meeting. Wishing them the best for the rest of their trip.

jule

To come or not to come... that's what everyone has been asking

We are expecting the 5th typhoon for this season, of which 3 had come straight for Taiwan (including this one). Typhoon No. 5 is named Kaemi. It's a medium-sized typhoon, but a relatively strong one, bringing with it lots of rain.

The question that has been on everyone's head and mouth is: "Do we need to work tomorrow?". Unfortunately, for us, the folks in the northern part of Taiwan won't be taking a day off for the typhoon, while the rest of the island will be staying at home. I suppose that's the cost of being the economic hub of the country...

To be honest, as much as I would like to have the day off, it is also a worry that the typhoon may cause too much damage to the island. Every year the typhoon season brings heavy downfall of rain and strong wind that causes damage up to millions of dollars. So, I guess one shouldn't pray for a typhoon to come just for the benefit of having an extra holiday.

Anyways, it'll be work tomorrow then. Cheers folks!

jule

Taipei 101

It seems to be a norm in Taiwan that you have to do some activities on Sunday. Reason being, most people have been busy working throughout the week, and Sunday is the only day in the week, when they can do whatever they want. Unlike SA, you only see people going in and out of church, then you don't see them at all on Sundays.

So, like most people we decided to go out today. But where do you go and what do you do? I mean afterall it is like a oven out there, no matter where you go... it is hot. Luckily we found somewhere we could go, where it's air-conditioned and have something for us to do/see. We decided that since the family will start renovating the new house soon, my folks could go to the Home Deco Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Centre, while Elaine and I would go to Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 is the "tallest building in the world", after the Twin Towers were brought down in 911. Well, actually I'm not quite sure if it still holds that record, since every country in the world is competing to build the tallest building in the world in their country. I think the likely candidates were Shanghai or Dubai.

Anyhow, this was my first time really going to Taipei 101. I mean I've admired the magnificent building from afar and up-close. But until today I've never been "inside" of Taipei 101. The place actually reminded me of Menlyn... sorry correction SANDTON, well only better! It is opened to the public as a shopping mall from ground floor up to the 3rd/4th floor. In it, it was filled with upper-class boutiques, such as Dolce & Gabbana, Vouis Vuitton, Issey Miyake, Tiffany & Co. Shops that us, ordinary people would never dream of shopping in, or will only set foot in when, or if we ever go to Paris/Milan/New York. We managed to sneak a few shots inside, which we were not allowed to, and was "promptly" stopped by the "nice gentleman" from Louis Vuitton. Unfortunately, since neither of us can afford to be sued by giant boutique store such as Louis Vuitton, I cannot share my wonderful time in Taipei 101 on the blog or anywhere on the internet.

The best part of the whole place, I thought, was Page One. It's got all kinds of books that you'll ever need, from Management to Fictions, Literary to Sci-Fi. It's got books in both Mandarin and English. Page One is literally almost like a little book city. But what was most empressive, or more correctly surprising, was when I found "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee in the store. It was such shock, but also nice to see that one can find his book in a far away country, which most people probably don't even know who he is or where he is from. The down side of discovering this place, besides that the books are quite expensive, is that I can't take them home. Elaine and I both have an obsession with collecting books, she likes to put the on the book-shelves, and I like to read them. But considering our current limitations with space at home, we've been decreed not to buy any books. You can imagine how hard it is for me to refrain myself from making an impulsive decision, which in return could be a long and painful lecture from the "parentals".

All in all, it was a good trip today. Besides from being completely exhausted, it was quite an interesting and fruitful day. :-) You just gotta love weekends.

jule

One week later...

I've been working for a week now, so far so good. More specifically I've been watching training videos after training videos, writing reports. I'm still familiarising myself with the environment and the work, plus "receiving" training.

Anyhow, I guess it's completely different from how I would have worked in AIESEC, i.e. you get thrown into the deep-end of the pool, and you just have to learn to paddle and keep your head up. So far I've found that things are pretty much done by the "standard protocol". I find it somewhat lacking innovation. For example the marketing strategy, we send out flyers and newsletters in mass numbers. But I don't think we really know how effective they are. It kinda feels like we are just waiting for the customers to arrive or to call.

Well, as you can see I'm just dying to have my say about many things and wanting to do a lot over there. I hope I'll be able to make some changes soon. But right now, I'm just observing. For sure I've already picked up quite a few things that need improvement. I'm also learning a lot. I think the most important thing that I'll gain is the experience in services marketing, i.e. how to face the customers/clients and building relationships with them.

Besides that life is pretty much routined at the moment. I work the afternoon-night shift, so I only get back around 11.00, meaning no more late night TVs! Plus I work 6-days in a week, so I don't have much time to go out or anything. Even though I really really want to go for some clubbing, or at least a pub with good music and drink in hand. But I don't think that's happening soon, considering the fact that I'm living off my previous savings and it's still far from the pay-cheque day. I'm learning to live life to the minimal, which is almost like the MC days. Anyways, I'm not complaining. I'm planning on saving as much as I can, and since my salary is not yet astronomical, the "living life to the minimal" will carry on for quite a long time.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the current arrangement. I've never been a morning person in any case, so the working-hour kind of works for me. Well, except the bus part... currently my biggest fear is missing the bus home (hehehehe).

jule

viva Scuderia Ferrari

I've always been a F1 fan, although I've missed several seasons. So you can imagine I took the chance this Sunday and tuned into the race. All the good ol' time just came back to me, sitting in front of the tele on every racing weekend, talking about the race, the drivers, and the strategies. I really miss it!!! Most of all, I missed the commentators. The commentators we have over here, I can only describe as incompetent and unprofessional.

It's fantastic to see Ferrari and Shumi win. Especially after Italy's victory in the World Cup. I'm gonna be chuffed and walk around with a smile on my face for the rest of the week. Hahaha! I guess if I have a Ferrari t-shirt, I'd wear it too!

jule

First day of work!!!

Today is my first day of work at the new job. I'm quite looking forward to it, afterall I've been looking for a job for quite awhile now. I'm really really excited about it, so am keeping my fingers cross for it.

So I've been job hunting for a while, and some of the companies that I've come across really surprised me. I mean sometimes you cannot help but wonder the level of their professionalism. About 2 weeks ago, I was close to have found a position with a Language school (not the same one I'm going to, luckily). In retrospect I'm glad that I didn't take the job in the end. What happened was I went their for a 1st interview (on a Saturday?!), then they called back a few days later to have a 2nd interview, when I got there I waited for 15 minutes to have a 15 minutes conversation with the Manager, who didn't even introduce herself. She acted as if though "they want me, but if they don't have me, it's ok", and what she said was "you can think about it, and if you want to come work here, get back to me before Friday". So, I kept on looking for something else, and by Friday I was sure that ok, there are no other options, I called them back... Long story short they didn't get back to me, the worst part was when I tried to follow up with them, the lady kept on saying "yes, I need to discuss with my manager when you can start working, but she is not in the office yet". I mean what on earth is that? You want me to work there or not!?

Another example of unprofessionalism, which pissed me off more than any other was with the position working in the Taipei American School. I got the call from the lady responsible for interviews, which we agreed that I would go in for an interview the next day, even though I wasn't completely matched to the position. So I went there the following day, another lady came out and greeted me. She told me that they are sorry, but they meant to cancel my interview because I was more into marketing, and not admin. I explained again that it's alright, I've had such experience and I would like to have the interview... and NO she said. Point of the story? I had to drive all the way across the town for an interview that should have been cancelled the previous day... I'm just so glad that I got told about this when I showed up for the interview!!!

Hew... enough of the bitching. All that has passed, now I'm going to get ready for my "first day of work". ;-) Wish me luck!!!

jule

Addictions

Lately I have a new addiction, which I have also successfully pass that onto my sister. We are so addicted that we have to have our daily fix... from Monday to Friday.

Coffee? No! Well, we'll need coffee everyday actually. The name of this addiction is - CSI. More accurately, CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York. Initially I really disliked CSI, I thought what is the point of watching? I couldn't understand why people would like to see some "dead-body" being disected. Then I saw one episode of CSI, then I wanted to see the next one, and the one after that, and it keeps on going.

When I came back to Taiwan, I thoughtfully introduced the show to my sister as well... Well, long story short, now we are both addicted. Lucky for us, the show is on Monday to Friday. So we have CSI: Miami from 8pm to 9pm every weekday. Then we have CSI/CSI: New York from 9pm to 11pm on Monday nights, which we have dubbed Monday night as "CSI Marathon night".

I've read somewhere before that shows such as CSI, Law and Orders, 24, Alias, etc. have become extremely popular in the post-911 America. For the reason being, people need to see crimes brought to justice, even in their fantasy world.

I don't know if that is true, but for sure there are a whole lots of similar shows around, for example: CSI vs. Law & Orders vs. NCIS vs. Crossing Jordan. These all have the common theme of cutting people open, blood spilling everywhere. On the other hand, you also get shows such as: 24, Alias, Threat Matrix, which are all about saving the world espionage. Actually, the are a whole lot of shows out there that have similar themes. There are even what I call "Reality TV turn script TV" shows, i.e. Survivor vs. Lost, Extreme Make-Over vs. Nip&Tuk.

Anyhoo, it doesn't matter. The matter is: we are addicted to CSI and we love it. :-)

jule