Under Review

As my one month review at work has just passed, so I thought it would be a good time to review the past month myself.

Work's going....good? Well? Positive pronoun anyway. I've got the hang of it, and it's the kind of job that when you leave work, you've left your work behind. As I start really early and am technically contracted for 9:30 hours, there's always the danger that staying even 20 minutes past 5 will mean that I would have been at my desk for more than 10 hours. People always seem surprised that I manage to leave bang on 5 everyday, including the Chinese girl who sits next to me. She gets in about 6:45 and leaves even later than I do! Today referred to me as a "超人" (superhuman), but it all boils down to the fact that I just don't want to live at work.

The general public also seem very concerned with the fact that I have to wake up quite early. You get used to 5am (promise), as long as you go to bed at 10. Needless to say, Martin isn't really feeling it. It won't last forever, but it's causing a stir amongst the community regardless. I'm not sure why everyone at my workplace feels it would be much better for me to move out of my parents home and closer to work. Well, it's not like they're outraged, just genuinely surprised. Of course, why wouldn't I want to pay rent, buy my own food, cook my own food, live with 5 other people and be cleaning up after their mess and dealing with their drama (don't pretend that you don't have to deal with that). I have to pay some money and contribute to meals and upkeep in my parents' house, of course.

But they also have: cleaners, an ironing lady and unlimited central heating. 

My back-to-the-gym initiative is also going well, though some weeks are better than others. I have yet to find a yoga class that I like, but at least I don't have to attend a Gym Box. Did you know that a membership to a Gym Box is -- no. Don't get me started. I was honestly so outraged about it when I found out that till this day I don't believe that anyone could pay so much for - literally - a box with no swimming pool.

My biggest problems at the moment consist of choosing what outfit to wear tomorrow, so I'm not making arbitrary decisions at 5:35am, and deciding to what charity I should donate. Don't worry, I'm not gonna try and fit that drama into this post.

I still feel that in general, I've taken to long to get my sh*t together. I feel like I should be further along with my projects, making more of my weekends, knitting (although to be fair I should probably cut out some Real Housewives of NJ if I really wanna get that done), inflicting more blog posts upon unsuspecting friends, etc etc. But working life is hard! How long do you think I can keep using that as an excuse to not take driving lessons?

So that's my review. Unfortunately, I can't say I miss China itself but I do miss the boys! That's another thing I've been neglecting - it's all in one big list, this post taking a prime position - but it's all coming soon. As soon as I get some time to myself.

Well, it's 9:25 so.....I'm off to bed! Happy Wednesday everyone.

THE BUILDERS' REACTION WHEN I GET ON THE 6AM TRAIN

My first week at work/Delete!

OK, a little late as I've actually completed two weeks of work now, but it's been a heavy settling in period you know? I think it's going alright, there's really no way to tell with these things, is there? I mean, it's not a formal training plan, everything's very chiiillled, and yet there are deadlines. Daily deadlines. It's a little weird (as I have to keep explaining to people on the phone). I would explain what it is I do exactly, but I like to keep people on tenterhooks. Also, it's kind of hard to explain. Maybe I'll give it a whack later on.

I'm sorry for the  rambliness of these sentences. I wake up very early. My working hours are 7:30-5, meaning I have to wake up at 5. Yeah. I even got sick this week, which was probably due to a combination of new schedule, waking up early, and the fact that everyone on SouthEastern is ill, and yet no one seems to feel the need to cover their mouth when they cough.

Things are on a schedule: meals, the gym, social media. Expect these posts to get fewer and further between. Yes I have started going back to the gym - mainly classes though as working out of one's own volition is just plain boring. I tried Yoga and Zumba, which I think I'll stick with, with a bit of pilates and swimming thrown in when I have the time. Those of you who know I've always dissed Yoga heavily, the change of tune comes because I've now accepted the fact that I'm probably too inflexible for a 22 year old, and the fact that I really struggled with the downwards-facing dog means that I should realistically keep going. Also it's really helped with my breathing.

The office and the people I work with are cool and laid back. We even occasionally have an office dog, which our MD is in love with, and helps to alleviate the compete lack of tension within the office space. One complaint - it does get really warm. And then really cold, because I sit next to the window which has to be opened for all the people who don't, despite the fact that it's still spring so everyone needs to calm down and take their jumpers off. No but it was quite warm actually. There was even some (premature) talk of turning the air conditioning on, which my editor strongly objected to. Office life, eh?

Oh, about the 'Delete' thing. You know how I now have a job, right? Is there some way of informing all the job alerts of this fact that I don't know about? I actually didn't know that I had subscribed to so many email updates - it's like the more I delete, the more pop up. Sometimes from accounts that I'm sure I've deleted already. I'm talking to you, Reed.co.uk. Deleting one's online presence has all of a sudden become challenging; why can't these things just fizzle out like Bebo?

So that's it really. Living in the UK = seeing friends more often + having very little time to one's self due to the need to earn a living. I miss uni. But  the settling period is over, spring has sprung, which means I should get on those other projects that I've been meaning to start/finish. There is no longer any excuse.

1st up, writing back to the Student Loans Company....