Oh how I despise U-turns.
My passengers find it even more irritating and end up blaming me for
making such a stubborn choice which caused me to make such a sharp U-turn in
the first place. The worst part is when
you end up being in the same place, realizing you have been wasting your
critical time going around circles.
Looking at my previous post “Step-by-step in Sweden:
Checklist”, it seems as if I am getting absolutely nowhere. I had 4 goals listed: 1, get a job, 2, get
educated in Swedish, 3, get a Swedish driver’s license, and 4 get a permanent residence
permit. Among the 4, I checked #4. So that’s deleted off my list. Now I will add a new #4, and I will get back
to that later. Next, I half-checked #1 and
#2 because, apparently, they were “in progress.” Let’s not forget #3. Something that will remain unchecked for a
while. Almost two months have passed and
I will tell you all about my sudden U-turn which caused #1 through #3 to be
fully unchecked.
Never got the job
I thought I got hired by Lycamobile after that super short
interview I had with the quiet Sri Lankan guys.
They sure did give me the date to start working, so I thought everything
was final. What I didn’t know that they
had to get this “approval” from Lycamobile’s main office, which is in London,
to get me started as an employee.
Weird. If they didn’t get the
approval to let someone work as marketing assistant, why post the position on
Arbetsförmedlingen and many other job search engines in the first place? So as the time approached for me to start
working I called to check up on the whole approval status. Every time I called, I would get the same
reply: “We’re sorry, we can’t really say much about your schedule before
getting the approval. We have to wait
for the approval. We will let you know
as soon as we get it.” So my last try
was just emailing them saying whenever they get the approval to let me
know. They said ok. They didn’t know “oh, we’re sorry, the position
is no longer available,” instead they just left me hanging. I got the point. It wasn’t going to happen. I was not going to get the job.
Never got the course
Yea remember I had big plans for starting this 5-month long
receptionist course packet? Well I didn’t
get in. I was qualified. I just never got in. Vuxenutbildningen are in charge of handling
all the paper works. I despise them because they are so lazy and
lack service. They are actually kind of
rude. I called them a few times to know
about the status of my application. The
one that was just sitting there for months.
Instead of patiently listening to my simple problem, they interrupt me
and treat me like some illiterate naïve stranger who has no idea about how the
system works. All I know is there system
sucks. I get infuriated after getting a
letter by mail the day before my course starts, letting me know that I never
got in because there were too many people who applied for the same course. Even though I did apply early, and I did have
all the requirements, I did not get in.
Thanks for letting me know about that the day before class starts.
Driver’s license
I heard driving tests outside of the main city are not as
tough. Whenever I decide to take the
test (which will NOT be this year) I will definitely take it outside of the
city. Meanwhile I’ll stick to walking. It’s better for me anyway.
My new #4 Changing my last name
I’m married but my name is still the same. I was waiting for my permanent residency which
I got. I need to contact Skatteverket to
get my last name as the same as my husband’s.
I was thinking more about the future when we have kids. I need to do that before this year ends.
Refreshing the to-do
list
1. Get a Job
I got in contact with a job coach. She helped me with my CV and personal letter
in Swedish. Now she’s going to help me
look for jobs. Very helpful.
Also, I have this interview on Sunday
afternoon to work at the post office. I
told them I was interested in working as a seasonal employee. Christmas is coming, who knows, maybe ill be
lucky enough to finally work in this country.
2. Get an education
I applied to a few universities to begin
the nursing program starting spring semester 2013. They are extremely selective, and they will
definitely take the smart swedes here first.
I am still praying to get in. It’s
a 3-year program which I really want to do.
I’m waiting for the result.
3. Get a Swedish driver’s license
4. Change my last name
I've been sick lately.
That’s just the cherry on top.
No, wait. The cherry on top is ….winter
is around the corner. Here I am sitting
by the window typing, and at times, glancing outside. The strong cold wind is separating the vibrant
autumn leaves from their twigs. Grey
clouds spread like a thick blanket on top of freezing cold Sweden. It’s 3pm, but it feels more like 7pm. Darkness is taking over once again. So depressing.
