On job hunting…
Posted: July 11, 2011 Filed under: Work | Tags: freelance, freelance writer, job, job hunting, linked in, seeking work, Work, writing 2 CommentsEvery day I wake up, and I restart the seemingly fruitless job hunt. Since I returned from Japan at Easter, I have been job hunting (also known as banging ones head against a brick wall). I started out with this naive confidence, believing that it was only a matter of a few weeks before I would be back in the land of the employed. Well it’s been eleven weeks since I returned to British soil, and I’m still looking.
At first, I was very choosy. I would look for only the jobs that I really, really wanted to do. As time goes on I’m, let’s say, broadening my horizons. But I remain realistic. If a job calls for skills I simply don’t have, I don’t waste anyone’s time by applying. I can’t fake my typing speed (around 45 wpm, ish), I can’t pretend I know shorthand (even the word “shorthand” gives me chills – but that’s another story), and I can’t even begin to speak French, let alone fluently (I can speak conversational Japanese though, but that doesn’t seem quite as in demand).
People say to me “Yeah, the job market is terrible, isn’t it?“. Well, no, actually. There are loads of jobs out there! At least, if you look on any of the main recruitment websites that’s how it seems. Last week I applied for 27 jobs – all of which I was qualified/experienced to do. How many responses did I get? Three. One was from the website I had applied through, saying that the job in question might actually be a fake, uploaded by robots or something. Two others told me I hadn’t been successful in getting interviews.
Since I began my search, I have applied for more than 50 jobs, registered with a number of agencies, and contacted some companies directly. I have interviewed with only 3 companies. Interestingly, of the 3 companies I interviewed with, only 2 ever actually got back to me. I don’t claim to be any maths expert, but there’s something wrong with those numbers.
But, as far as I know, I’m doing everything right. So I’ll just keep on doing it, and keep my fingers crossed.
By the way, if you happen to stumble upon this post and think you might need a PA/Administrator/Office Manager/Writer/Ambassador for Japan, you can find out more about me on LinkedIn, or check out my freelance writing portfolio here. I’m looking for a job in London, but am also open to Brighton and other big cities.
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Observations from an exercise class…
Posted: July 5, 2011 Filed under: Dieting & Health, Exercise & Fitness, Women | Tags: aerobics, dance, diet, exercise, exercise class, fitness, health, hip hop, latin, merengue, Music, salsa, women, zumba Leave a commentA bunch of pink, sweaty women, writhing around in a school gym on a Tuesday night – what must we look like? Every week (well, almost every week – you know, unless there’s an offer of something better to do) we gather to shake our booty to the Latin-inspired beats of what is known as “Zumba“.
We wiggle, we shake… we even try to shimmy. The toned and tanned instructor smoothly moves from dance step to dance step, encouraging us to be sexy. Sexy? In an exercise class? Yes. We’re supposed to be sexy women, proud of our bodies, shaking our butts and sticking out our boobs. Calling out to imaginary men to come and dance with us.
We try. In our minds, we all aspire to look something like this:
In reality, we actually look more like this:
The class is entirely female, although men are welcome. Men do do Zumba, but not here. Our class is made up largely of middle-aged women – some younger, some older. There are certain stereotypes you will find in every exercise class. There’s the ever-so-keen one who always arrives first and stakes her place at the front, chatting with the instructor. Self-tan woman, who is an interesting shade of orange. Awkward girl, whose body is really stiff and robotic. The older lady, whose boobs occasionally brush the floor. And me – the hopelessly uncoordinated yet still enthusiastic one.
I generally stand somewhere around the middle, but to the side so I can dash out for water when I start choking on my own sweat. I try to watch the instructor and ignore everyone else around me. I try to “dance”, rather than “exercise”. I try to forget aerobics classes and think salsa, merengue, hip hop. I try to “zuumbaaaah” but, being British, I do find all the shouting and “yee hah”s a bit much.
Still, at least I earn my dinner on a Tuesday night.
Sugar limits…
Posted: July 5, 2011 Filed under: Dieting & Health, Food & Drink, Money & saving | Tags: cafe, costa, drink, money-saving, nero, starbucks, sugar, vanilla Leave a commentI may have finally had enough sugar.
It was hot yesterday, and I decided to treat myself to a cool, vanilla, creamy drink from a high street cafe chain (not the one with a mermaid logo, but another popular one here in England). I often go there, and I often order the same drink, made with skimmed milk.
I didn’t taste the drink until I had left the store. The first sip wasn’t bad, but on the second sip I got a mouthful of sugary grit. My teeth soon became filled with the sugary stuff and I began to wonder what was up with my drink. I gave it a good stir, but to no avail. It definitely had more than its fair share of sugar/syrup/something.
I had been greedy and ordered a “medium” where I usually order a “small”, and it took me the whole 25 minute walk home to attempt to drink the plastic cup of liquified sugar. I ended up dumping the last inch or so in a bin before I reached my house.
I felt sick.
For the rest of the day yesterday I couldn’t face anything sweet. Even dinner (a spicy jambalaya) was a little hard to stomach. This morning I tried a yogurt and some fruit, and my taste buds said “ok, but that’s enough sugar now, thanks“.
So perhaps my sweet-tooth has finally been satisfied. This is certainly good news for my dieting and money-saving attempts, so perhaps I should stop by the cafe and say “thanks“. I won’t be buying a drink though.
Why blog?
Posted: July 5, 2011 Filed under: Writing & Blogging | Tags: blogging, blogs, websites, writing 2 CommentsI sometimes wonder why I blog. I wonder why I feel the need to share my thoughts and photos with the world. Why not just keep them to myself?
I began with Haikugirl’s Japan. It was a way of sharing my love of Japan with my friends and family, as I planned to move to Japan. While in Japan I made a lot of friends and contacts who also blog about Japan, and became a part of a J-blogging community. Even though I’m back in England now, I feel like I’m still part of that community. In fact, I’ve been adding to it by finding other people living in England who also love Japan and write about it. I love writing about Japan, taking photos of Japanese-related things, and sharing them online. I don’t think that will ever end.
Then there was Haikugirl’s World. Once I realised I would be going back to England, I thought it might be nice to have a place to write about other trips and travel experiences. This blog is still very much in its infancy, but I’ve been writing up past trips and plan to continue doing that, while also adding in any new trips. The concept of this blog is travel though, so it’s not a place where I can write often (although I do wish my trips were more frequent).
There’s also Kit Kats! – a blog about my love for Kit Kats. In Japan, I often found new flavours to post. Now I’m back in England I expect this blog will slow right down, although I am always on the look out for new flavours.
When I returned to England I needed a way to stay inspired, so I started Picturing England. This is solely a photo blog. I post one photo a day, from anywhere in England. It could be a nice view, something funny, something interesting – anything, as long as it’s taken in England.
Then there’s Only me… This blog right here has been somewhat on the back-burner. I’ve used it mainly for musings and thoughts on writing, so far. One thing I believe is really important when blogging is to keep to your theme. For example, I wouldn’t write about a trip to London on Haikugirl’s Japan, unless I did something in London which had a connection to Japan. Likewise, I wouldn’t post a photo taken in France on Picturing England. But that doesn’t mean this blog is a place for everything else that’s left over.
There are two reasons I write:
1) I have to. I have words clamoring to get out sometimes.
2) The response. I love that people actually read what I write. I get all sorts of feedback, and it’s not just from friends and family anymore. Perhaps I can help someone, amuse someone or inform someone. I don’t mind what people get from my blogs, so long as they get something.
So, this blog, Only me…, isn’t dead yet. But I’d like your feedback.
What sort of topics would you like to see me writing about?
I’m open to challenges… Please leave your comments and suggestions below! Thanks. 😀
On writing…
Posted: January 23, 2011 Filed under: Writing & Blogging | Tags: blogging, career, jobs, writing Leave a commentRecently, I’ve been making some life decisions. When I move back to England to start my career I have to first figure out what that is.
But, didn’t you always say you wanted to be a writer?
You know what, I am a writer. I always have been and I always will be. Blogging has helped me to realise that and, if I needed any more evidence, I’ve even been published now. But you know what I’ve realised? I don’t want to write about things that don’t interest me. I only want to write about the things I’m passionate about.
I can’t think of anything worse than finally landing that perfect writing job and hating it because I’m forced to write about topics I couldn’t care less about.
Sure, I could be an eternal optimist and assume that I will land the perfect writing job and find myself writing about Japan, travel, Kit Kats… but what are the chances, really? I have to stay realistic.
So where does that leave me?
It leaves me in a new and strangely bright place, actually. I will always have writing, and I will always write. And, who knows, maybe someday someone will even pay me for what I’ve written or I’ll get lucky and publish my novel. But maybe there are other “day jobs” out there that could make me happy. I have my eye on a couple of options right now, and will start making contact with some companies and organisations soon.
In the meantime, I’ll keep writing about it! I hope you keep reading! 😉
I need to buy a ticket…
Posted: January 18, 2011 Filed under: Goals, Life, Reading & Books, Work | Tags: eat pray love, elizabeth gilbert, job, ticket, Work Leave a commentAccording to Elizabeth Gilbert, “There’s this wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging, ‘Dear saint – please, please, please… give me the grace to win the lottery.’ This lament goes on for months. Finally the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, ‘My son – please, please, please… buy a ticket.‘”
My lament has gone on long enough. It’s time I bought a ticket. I don’t really think that trying to win the lottery is the way forward though – the odds aren’t really that great. So instead, my “ticket” will be a metaphor for action.
I haven’t been lamenting because I’m poor (although I’m not exactly rich). No, I’ve been lamenting because come April I will be unemployed for the first time in over ten years (if you count part-time jobs). I won’t have an income, and I will be back at my Mum’s house in a town I don’t really want to live in (nothing personal to anyone living there).
So I need to make a plan of action – I need to buy my ticket. If I don’t have a ticket, I’m never going to win, am I?
Plan of Action
1) Spruce up my CV.
2) Make a list of all the companies I would like to work for and agencies who deal with those kinds of companies.
3) Apply! (Even if no jobs are advertised.)
4) Believe that I can get a new job (this is a belief based on the knowledge that I’ve done everything in my power – not just a vain belief)
Wish me luck! 😉
Tobogganing…
Posted: December 1, 2010 Filed under: Goals, Life, Music, Poetry, Work, Writing & Blogging | Tags: nanowrimo, novel, november, toboggan, writing Leave a commentIn my last blog here, I announced that I have just completed the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in less than a month. I know that it is not yet a good book, and that it will take a lot of time and effort to make it something that could possibly one day be published, so why am I feeling so relieved right now? When I know that, actually, there’s still a lot of work to do, why do I feel like I’m over the hill and tobogganing down with the finish line in sight?
I’ll tell you why.
Because, not only have I been dragging that damn toboggan up the hill all throughout November, I’ve also been dragging it about behind me everywhere I’ve been for the last three years or more. It’s a weighty old thing and can be really tiresome to drag around behind me, no matter how beautiful it is or how important I know it could be. I’ve dragged it around behind me all this time, hoping that one day I would have the time and energy to climb up that hill and take a ride, but always making excuses and feeling too scared to do so in case I reached the top of the hill and found I couldn’t let go and slide down. I was scared I might never reach the finish line, but also too scared to try.
Well, let me tell you, dragging my toboggan up that hill was worth it. Not only was the journey towards the finishing line spectacular, even the view as I was dragging it up the hill was worth the effort.
And, now that I’ve gone through the process of dragging the toboggan up the hill and enjoying the ride down, I know that there’s nothing to be scared of, and it’s worth a little blood, sweat and tears. I won’t be afraid to do it again, and again, until I become a world-famous professional tobogganist!
So, if you’re dragging your toboggan about, whatever kind it may be (a novel, a song, a poem, a painting…), don’t let go of it. Just get started on that hill, chase yourself to the top, admire the view, and enjoy the ride towards the finish line…
NaNoWriMo – I'm a winner!
Posted: November 29, 2010 Filed under: Writing & Blogging | Tags: alice, alice in wonderland, japan, nanowrimo, novel, writing Leave a commentYou may remember that a few weeks ago I made the rather rash decision to join NaNoWriMo 2010 (National Novel Writing Month). The challenge? To write a 50,000 word novel within the month of November.
Well, I am extremely proud today to be able to say… I DID IT! 😀
I was so thrilled when I got to 50,000 words, but heartbroken when I copied and pasted my novel into the website and found that it was apparently 500 or so words short. I’m not sure what caused that, but I think perhaps it had some way of knowing that I was trying to cheat by having my characters sing Hey Jude at karaoke (“na na na na na na na!”). Anyway, I quickly bashed out another few hundred words, and now my official word count on the NaNoWriMo website reads 50,020. (My unofficial word count, according to my computer, is 50,492. That’s 83 pages, by the way.)
Once I had officially “won”, I was taken to the winner’s page of the website. The page read:
Author, on November 1 you accepted our challenge to write a novel in 30 days. Harnessed with a hard deadline, you persevered in the face of countless obstacles. You wrote with determination, you quieted that inner critic, and now you’ve reached the hallowed Winner’s Circle.
We couldn’t be more proud of your amazing accomplishment! Thank you for joining us on this outrageously creative adventure—we’ll see you next November for more.
Well, actually, I accepted the challenge on November 11th, but I still “persevered in the face of countless obstacles”, such as work, work, work and work. I don’t want to blow my own horn or anything, but boy am I feeling chuffed right now.
So, a couple of people have asked me if they will be able to read it. The answer to that is “not yet”. I’m really serious about this novel, and I think it could be good. I’ll edit it over the next few months, as and when I have time, and then I will have to think about what to do next. Honestly, I’d like to get it published of course, but I really don’t know how I will go about that, and if it’s good enough. There are parts I’m pretty darn proud of, and parts I know I need to chuck out and rewrite. But I think it had potential.
So, I will leave you with this tiny teaser…
Alice’s Adventures: A Year in Japan
I felt a little like my namesake, Alice, when she discovers the cake marked “eat me” and the bottle marked “drink me”. Never quite sure what I was about to eat or drink, or what effect it would have on me. Would I suddenly shrink to the size of a grain of rice, or grow to the size of Godzilla? Who could tell. Anything, it seemed, was possible in this land.
P.S. If any agents/publishers happen to read this, please feel free to contact me! 😉
NaNoWriMo…
Posted: November 12, 2010 Filed under: Writing & Blogging | Tags: nanowrimo, novel, writing Leave a commentNaNoWriMo? What’s that? It’s National Novel Writing Month, that’s what! The event lasts for the whole of November and, well, I’m a little late in starting…
The idea is to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. The emphasis is on quantity, not quality, and the site advises us to save the editing for December. Well, as most of you will know, I claim to be a writer. However, I really haven’t done all that much writing to speak of – yet.
Despite the fact that I love writing, I’m happy when I write, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing, I still find it difficult to knuckle down and actually write something. I need pushing. I need encouraging. I need a good shove in the right direction. I’m hoping NaNoWriMo will be it. Even if what I write turns out to be rubbish – at least I will have written something.
So, as the Japanese say, “ganbarimasu”! I’ll try my best!
Guilty pleasures…
Posted: November 6, 2010 Filed under: Reading & Books, Writing & Blogging | Tags: Books, carrie diaries, harry potter, Reading & Books, satc, sex and the city, twilight, twilight saga, writing 2 CommentsI have a confession to make. Recently, and not for the first time, I have got into a book, even though it’s meant for kids or teenagers. Yes, me, a fully grown woman, reading books about teenage vampires. I’m talking about Twilight, of course.
As I said, this is not the first time. Before Twilight came along, I read Harry Potter. In both cases, I resisted reading the books for a long time. Even when they became hugely popular and movies were made of them, I still tried to resist. I thought I should be reading grown-up books. But, both times, a friend eventually recommended the book to me, and I do like to trust a friend’s recommendation. So, I gave in.
As for Harry Potter, I enjoyed reading the books, although I grew a bit tired by the time I read the last one. I felt it had gone on a bit too long. I also watched the movies, but gave up on them somewhere along the way. The movies were good, but much more for kids than the books, I felt. The books, despite being written for kids, included a lot of adult themes and jokes; things which would perhaps go unnoticed by the younger kids.
Twilight also seems very adult, despite being written for teenagers. Actually, when I first started reading it I was still resisting, and still thinking “this book’s for kids!”. But, about half-way through, when it started getting really romantic, I found myself getting drawn in further. As a teenager, I had been really into vampire stories – I liked Anne Rice and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and reading Twilight just brought it all back for me. I guess it makes me feel like a teenager again, and that’s why I like it (god I sound old!).
I do have one final guilty pleasure to confess: The Carrie Diaries. This is a prequel to Sex and the City, about Carrie as a teenager and, actually, I didn’t realise it was meant for teenagers when I bought it! It wasn’t until I started reading that I cottoned on. But, despite that, I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next book. It was painfully funny at times and, again, reminded me of being a teenager.
So, this all leaves me wondering: should I be writing books for teenagers? I had feared that perhaps teens would soon be quitting reading in favour of computer games and movies, but it seems that maybe that isn’t the case – yet. Anyway, if I write a book for teenagers and no teens want to read it, I’m sure some adults will! 😉
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