hello everyone!
another week has gone by in beautiful, yet chilly, lille and i wish i could report settling into a "normal" routine, but that would be a lie. since the last blog, that week and this week have been complete opposites.
last week was filled to the rafters with interviews, either in person in paris or via skype and phone with canada. you see, it was recruitment season for my last co-op and so i began applying. i also wanted to find an internship in france - no matter the cost - to live my dream of living and working and having a life based in europe - even just for a few months. living here is sort of like a drug. its a way of life that is exactly what i had envisioned. while i dont get to go to the market every day for fresh food inspiration, i do have the opportunity to walk in beautiful parks to get to the tram, or up the street to the boulangerie or a just across to class. i love that my life has turned from sedentary to active. honestly, it feels like if i havent gone for a walk in a day (like today because it started to snow), my day isnt done.
anyway, interviews. in total, i had 8 separate interviews, 2 in paris, 2 or 3 on the phone and the rest on skype. i was most excited for unilever france because a) it would allow me to be working in the industry that i want in the capacity that i want and b) it would let me stay in france for at least another 6 months! the night before my interview, i laid everything out, packed my bag and got myself ready for a 5am wake up. i set my alarm on my phone and plugged it into my tablet - something i've done dozens of times before - to let it charge. i closed my eyes and went to bed. i wake up with a start and turn on my phone to see the time - sunlight outside is telling me that it`s later than 5am, but that`s impossible, my phone would have gone off. click. click. click. oh fuck. the batteries dead. i turn on my tablet. 8:30am. shit. how could this be happening to me?? i spend the next few minutes unsure if i want to cry or yell or curl up and disappear. how could this be happening????? it was like a scene from a nightmare. i emailed my school and my friends asking for their thoughts. at 9am, not many people were on fb, so i sat and thought. train! i can take the train! seeing as it takes me an hour to get to the train stations, the best i could do was 10:30 or later. great. train at 11:42, gets me to paris by 12:42 and another hour to the headquarters - just enough time to get me to the part right after lunch and just before my interview. let`s do this. i throw on my clothes and off i go. i get to the train station at 11:38 and sprint to the ticket booth. 11:39 - all booths open, i ask everyone to bud them. 11:40 - i tell the ticket person that i need a ticket to paris now. she looks at me and says the next train is at 1:10. what?? what happened to the 11:42? i learn that the TGV closes its doors 2 mins before departure so even if she sold me the ticket, i wouldnt be able to board. all i can think is... FUCK - WHY GOD, WHY?????? me, being me, calls my friend who is at unilever already and tries to see if it`s worth it for me to go. they're still in a conference and i can`t talk to the department head... goodness gracious! why was the world against me today????? i finally get contact and she says that the department head isn`t available right now... next interaction - she`s not in the area. next interaction - what next interaction? i dind`t hear anything. fine. left to my own devices, i bit the bullet, waited an ever so torturous 15 min wait to buy my ticket and bolted onto the train. finally, sitting there, i did my make up and closed my eyes for a quick nap. in what felt like no time, i was approaching paris gare du nord and it was time to get to unilever. train after train after train. all i could think about was making it there before interviewing started. 3pm. obviously, nobody in the neighbourhood knew were unilever was, right? 3pm and i step out from 40 mins of transit to, like all french streets, no clear indication of where anything is. thankfully i met someone who knew where the headquarters and off i went. "just up the street" he said... 25 mins later, i`m just outside unilever and i don the jacket and the shoes. a quick reflection in the mirror and i think to myself - wow, i may actually be able to pull this off. some classmates see me and giggle because i`m so late, but honestly, who cares? my dream is sitting in front of me. it`s up to me to take it.
after a brief pause at the reception, the department head comes up and looks surprised. "what are you doing here? didn't you get the message that unilever got your message and understood that you couldn't come today for an interview? that you could do your interview over the phone?" pasted smile. "no, i dind't get it. its fine though. i wanted to do this interview in person. it was important to me." inside:"stupid, stupid me! why did i come?!?!" all things said and done, i was taken downstairs to wait with the rest of my class. they looked confused as to why i was coming so late. i just wanted to get my interview done with. i was told 45 mins after i arrived that my interview would be at 5:30 (it was around 4:30 by that point). an hour of pleasant conversation later, i look up and see that there were still people waiting to be interviewed. asking around, i realize that the person before me still hadn`t gone in; the interviewer was running an hour late - good thing too, because apparently they didn`t have my resume on file. i needed to borrow a classmates phone to forward my initial email to someone else who had to print it and give it to the HR responsible. goodness gracious. i don`t know what else i could handle that day. the inteview itself finally came and honestly, i felt awesome. it felt like my interview with gsk when i got my first co-op. i even used the day`s events as proof of character and interest. it was awesome. at the end of the interview, they told me that they`d call me in 10 business days. ok, so i took the bus back and all i could think about was how i could move my life over here. i wanted the internship so badly.
the week continued with the rest of the interviews, including another interview in paris with fiat/ fga capital. that interview was the most elaborate interview i`ve ever done. my friend was right, interviewing with a big company really is exhausting. it required going to paris on thursday night after a day of class, spending the night at my friend`s place, waking up at 6:30am for a 9:30am interview, arriving late, interviewing for 2 hours and then taking more that 2 hours to get back to my friend`s place. after all of that, i couldn't get in touch with my ride share back to lille AND i get a call from my school in canada telling me that a food cpg company wants to interview me last minute and wanted to know if i was available. as it turns out, i was already on my way back to lille from paris for another skype interview and having spent the better part of the last 24 hours away and travelling, i just wanted it all to end. obviously i wanted to do the interview so i said yes, but i was truly exhausted. then, on the ride back, the snow storm hits and 21 km from lille, the highway comes to a stand-still. 1 hr in 35 mins. do the math. we had to get off the highway at 6:30 and, seeing as my interview was at 7, i had to call canada to ask them to rearrange my schedule of interviews. the next one was scheduled at 8. the guy driving did his best and i got back to my appartment at 7:56pm, just in time for my interview. unfortunately, the interview didn`t go so well and while they were smiling at the beginning, the manager was nothing but withdrawl physical gestures by the end. it was unfortunate because that was the job that i wanted. oh well, what could i have done. the second interview happened and it went well, but i didn`t have the heart to do it anymore. i ended up calling my sister to hear the kids laughing. (i swear, it does magic for the soul.)
the next day i was supposed to go to brugges, brussels, but alas, with the snow, everything was cancelled. i ended up spending the weekend at home recuperating after recruitment week, desperately waiting to hear unilever call.anyway, the next week, monday night, i get the results of the interviews in canada. 3 offers, 2 "ranked" places and 3 "no rankings". i also hadn`t heard from unilever. then began the difficult task of figuring out what exactly to choose. i waited until i could call unilever at a normal hour and presented my case. the HR rep who interviewed me told me that i should take the certain one in canada and then come back to unilever. and that is exactly what i did. i broke my heart and after my decision, i was broken for 2 days. like seriously, it was like what i`d imagine a break up to be like. i couldn't focus, function, i was sad. horrible feelings. then, on the 3rd day, i decided to start booking my trips and taking full advantage of my time here, as short as it may be. 4 trips were booked in one day, the first being the following saturday to cologne. after that, anyone ever heard of retail therapy??? it was so nice to just walk around the stores and finding new things to get - one of which was my trivial pursuit - french gastronomy edition. as one of my friend`s puts it, it`s really a story of love...
this past week, unlike the one before it, was light in work and stress. i got a chance to buy a grocery buggy and found a way to traverse the park over a bridge. i watched old people meander along and kids walk on the frozen "river". it was so pleasant. it helped put things back in their place.anyway, this past saturday rolled around and i got everything ready for cologne. i made travel notes and jotted down ideas of what to do. problem was, i forgot to set my alarm. no alarm, no waking up. no waking up, no bus to cologne and definitely no trip. thus, another weekend in lille. good thing i still hadn`t exhasuted my retail therapy... new coat, bag and many gifts. oh how i love them all!
lol, i guess, some things never change :)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
a week of pleasant surprises
hello everyone!
as promised, here is the second installment of my crazy week after arriving back from bordeaux.
not having done the groceries in a week and a half, i had asked a group member if we could pass by the carrefour market on the way to the subway after one of our group meetings. trust me when i say that i have never done the groceries that quickly. within 30 mins, i had bought enough cheese and pate to last 3 weeks, a dried cured french sausage, clementines, fresh salad 2 bottles of wine to entertain with and a bag of petit pains. all part of a healthy balanced diet, no? i knew that i had 2 different people set to visit in the week and i wanted to be a "good host" and all... (turns out that one of them didn't drink wine and the other one didn't come... oh well, more for me :D )
anyway, monday night comes along and i wait in anticipation for my friend to come. she had messaged me at 3am asking if she could a) bring the stuff over earlier and b) tell me that it had taken 3 hours to make "blanquette d'agneau" so i knew something good was coming my way... at 20h35 i hear my phone ring and i quickly run outside to open the door for her. enter charlene, my new friend from edhec, and one beautiful pot of "blanquette d'agneau". blanquette d'agneau is a wine and cream-based dish made by stewing pieces of traditionally tougher pieces of meat in the liquid for hours and hours until the meat is fork tender and fall of the bone. over a bed of fresh rice, the dish is best served along side a healthy dose a friendship and laughter. it truly was delicious, but if anything, the company was even better. for dessert, she whipped up her family's secret melting chocolate cake served with a cup of hot tea. while neither of us could eat for another day, it was a beautiful way to start the week.
the next day, i buy tickets to bruges (a city stopped in the medival times in belgium) and prepare for my first marked anything in france. keep in mind that i've been told that a 12/20 is a good mark here, so when i'm preparing, i can't help but have a little fear in me that my professor, who seems to have taken a liking to me and my educational background, will mark me harder than anything. unfortunately, my mind is split in 2 because the first of my recruitment interviews is the day before the presentation. not having done an interview in a while, i'm slightly stressed all thursday until 15h when i sit outside the in the freezing cold for an hour to find a place of silence to do my phone interview. by 16h i was breathing again and back in class, but that lightness lasted for a grand total of 1 hr before the realization that the big presentation was coming up. after sending off more CVs and cover letters for internships, i turned to rehearsing for the presentation.
note to self: must learn to wake up earlier. especially if your presentation's practice is at 12:30 and you wake up at 12, having only just made your script before going to bed with the promise that youd work on it in the morning.
scrambling out of bed, i rush to get into presentation clothes and quickly do a once over on my sleeping computer screen. no time, just run. 20 mins later, i'm rehearsing my part with my 2 co-presentors and i realize that i'm really screwed. they're prefect and i'm not. english is my first language and i'm still not. i don't know what's come over me, but it's just not flowing the way it's supposed to. too late now. class is about to begin and it's time to go in. god must have been on my side that day because we were at the end of the presentations so i was able to spend 1.5hrs trying to memorize what i was supposed ot say, only to realize that i hadn't retained anything. break passed in a blur and before i knew it, i head "china 2, please come up and set up." thump, thump, thump. i feel like my heart is about to burst out of my chest! the first part passes without a hitch and it's my turn. thump, thump, thump. i enter into the zone and deliver the presentation of a life time. i don't know how i did it, but it flowed and while i could hear the quiver in my voice, after the first few sentences, it was gone and was replaced by nothing by solid authority. passed over to the next presenter, she confidently presented our numbers and the 1st presented concluded strongly with our next steps for Q1. after a few brief questions, he asked the entire team to come up, picked up our printed copy of our presentation and turned to the class and said, "what do you think this team deserves as a mark?" a voice from the back of the class ventures "20?" and we all laugh nervously. but he turns and says "exactly. that is exactly what they'll get. and you know why? it's because this presentation was better than the presentation given in real life. class, this is what i expect for your final presentation." i was floored. 20/20 is unheard of by the french. honest! i was extactic! i couldn't believe it! that, added to the fact that not only one, but TWO of my french applications for internships had be responded to with interview requests, i was on cloud 9! Unilever France was interested in my candidature for a marketing internship and wanted to interview me on monday!!!!!!!!!!!! how could this week get any better?? by a friend being set to come that night of course!!
and that is exactly what she did. lydia (an exchange student who came to live with us for a month when i was 13!) and her boyfriend came for a weekend visit to lille and we spent the days walking the streets in stick-to-your-bone cold following a course set out by lydia's boyfiend before arriving. it was great because it let me hang out with a good friend and catch up while doing all the touristy things around lille without me feeling like an idiot, lol. for lunch, we splurged and ate out where we had all the local favourites like carbonade flammande, potlevjech and "welch". after getting lost in the street of viex-lille, we bought Meert macarons and waffles and a fresh waffle covered in nutella and whipped chantilly cream. by night, we ate at home where i cooked the first night (drunken chicken in tomato and wine sauce, rice and couscous veggies, ice cream for dessert) and lydia cooked the second night (fois gras on brioche with onion confit, pasta bolognese a la lydia and ice cream for dessert). sunday, we saw the "new" lille and climbed to the top of the city hall's tower for an aerial view of the city. a tram ride home and it was time to exchange photos and say goodbye, because the next day was the beginning of recruitment week!
as promised, here is the second installment of my crazy week after arriving back from bordeaux.
not having done the groceries in a week and a half, i had asked a group member if we could pass by the carrefour market on the way to the subway after one of our group meetings. trust me when i say that i have never done the groceries that quickly. within 30 mins, i had bought enough cheese and pate to last 3 weeks, a dried cured french sausage, clementines, fresh salad 2 bottles of wine to entertain with and a bag of petit pains. all part of a healthy balanced diet, no? i knew that i had 2 different people set to visit in the week and i wanted to be a "good host" and all... (turns out that one of them didn't drink wine and the other one didn't come... oh well, more for me :D )
anyway, monday night comes along and i wait in anticipation for my friend to come. she had messaged me at 3am asking if she could a) bring the stuff over earlier and b) tell me that it had taken 3 hours to make "blanquette d'agneau" so i knew something good was coming my way... at 20h35 i hear my phone ring and i quickly run outside to open the door for her. enter charlene, my new friend from edhec, and one beautiful pot of "blanquette d'agneau". blanquette d'agneau is a wine and cream-based dish made by stewing pieces of traditionally tougher pieces of meat in the liquid for hours and hours until the meat is fork tender and fall of the bone. over a bed of fresh rice, the dish is best served along side a healthy dose a friendship and laughter. it truly was delicious, but if anything, the company was even better. for dessert, she whipped up her family's secret melting chocolate cake served with a cup of hot tea. while neither of us could eat for another day, it was a beautiful way to start the week.
the next day, i buy tickets to bruges (a city stopped in the medival times in belgium) and prepare for my first marked anything in france. keep in mind that i've been told that a 12/20 is a good mark here, so when i'm preparing, i can't help but have a little fear in me that my professor, who seems to have taken a liking to me and my educational background, will mark me harder than anything. unfortunately, my mind is split in 2 because the first of my recruitment interviews is the day before the presentation. not having done an interview in a while, i'm slightly stressed all thursday until 15h when i sit outside the in the freezing cold for an hour to find a place of silence to do my phone interview. by 16h i was breathing again and back in class, but that lightness lasted for a grand total of 1 hr before the realization that the big presentation was coming up. after sending off more CVs and cover letters for internships, i turned to rehearsing for the presentation.
note to self: must learn to wake up earlier. especially if your presentation's practice is at 12:30 and you wake up at 12, having only just made your script before going to bed with the promise that youd work on it in the morning.
scrambling out of bed, i rush to get into presentation clothes and quickly do a once over on my sleeping computer screen. no time, just run. 20 mins later, i'm rehearsing my part with my 2 co-presentors and i realize that i'm really screwed. they're prefect and i'm not. english is my first language and i'm still not. i don't know what's come over me, but it's just not flowing the way it's supposed to. too late now. class is about to begin and it's time to go in. god must have been on my side that day because we were at the end of the presentations so i was able to spend 1.5hrs trying to memorize what i was supposed ot say, only to realize that i hadn't retained anything. break passed in a blur and before i knew it, i head "china 2, please come up and set up." thump, thump, thump. i feel like my heart is about to burst out of my chest! the first part passes without a hitch and it's my turn. thump, thump, thump. i enter into the zone and deliver the presentation of a life time. i don't know how i did it, but it flowed and while i could hear the quiver in my voice, after the first few sentences, it was gone and was replaced by nothing by solid authority. passed over to the next presenter, she confidently presented our numbers and the 1st presented concluded strongly with our next steps for Q1. after a few brief questions, he asked the entire team to come up, picked up our printed copy of our presentation and turned to the class and said, "what do you think this team deserves as a mark?" a voice from the back of the class ventures "20?" and we all laugh nervously. but he turns and says "exactly. that is exactly what they'll get. and you know why? it's because this presentation was better than the presentation given in real life. class, this is what i expect for your final presentation." i was floored. 20/20 is unheard of by the french. honest! i was extactic! i couldn't believe it! that, added to the fact that not only one, but TWO of my french applications for internships had be responded to with interview requests, i was on cloud 9! Unilever France was interested in my candidature for a marketing internship and wanted to interview me on monday!!!!!!!!!!!! how could this week get any better?? by a friend being set to come that night of course!!
and that is exactly what she did. lydia (an exchange student who came to live with us for a month when i was 13!) and her boyfriend came for a weekend visit to lille and we spent the days walking the streets in stick-to-your-bone cold following a course set out by lydia's boyfiend before arriving. it was great because it let me hang out with a good friend and catch up while doing all the touristy things around lille without me feeling like an idiot, lol. for lunch, we splurged and ate out where we had all the local favourites like carbonade flammande, potlevjech and "welch". after getting lost in the street of viex-lille, we bought Meert macarons and waffles and a fresh waffle covered in nutella and whipped chantilly cream. by night, we ate at home where i cooked the first night (drunken chicken in tomato and wine sauce, rice and couscous veggies, ice cream for dessert) and lydia cooked the second night (fois gras on brioche with onion confit, pasta bolognese a la lydia and ice cream for dessert). sunday, we saw the "new" lille and climbed to the top of the city hall's tower for an aerial view of the city. a tram ride home and it was time to exchange photos and say goodbye, because the next day was the beginning of recruitment week!
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