staff party update-i'm still here!

Well Hello Hello!

i have typed a christmas letter, hastily so you can all read it and tell me what i have missed, as you might remember better then i do about what happened this year. also, i wanted to update on the christmas party: so we had a pool for our drink money in which everyone put in 10 pounds. i had far more alcohol then i wish to comment on but it was over the course of 5 hours, at one pub, yeah i know derrick, sound familiar? only there were no snack involved. yep, i'm sorry to say mom but i had alcohol for dinner, i had water when i got home but no food, not so much in the food mood! so i managed 2 pints of guinness and 2 vodka mystery drinks? no sickness thought, so thank got, i don't know how those people can drink so much Elise and i, the 2 smallest people were a little worse for wear when we walked to the sidewalk at 10 past 10, but we had to be to work the next morning. but it was great to feel like being part of a team, and it was interesting to talk to all these scottish people. so i have to say i took a raincheck on the debeham's xmas party as i really didn't want to do this much drinking bit in 3 days so yep.

also random question, Derrick, you know in office space when Jennifer Aniston's character is talking to her boss at TGI Friday's what are all the badge and buttons called, is it flare? i couldn't remember i was trying to tell the scottish people about it.

so on to the letter:

Christie here just spreading some superficial Xmas cheer, i'll try to lay off the sarcasim but as you all should know by now, it can be tricky!!! so here's the DL about life this past year:

1)I graduated from college with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design, and 2 minors one in Photography and one in Art. Thank God!!! I didn't think i would ever get off that train. LOL. i was ready to move on but i knew i needed to follow through with the career choice/path and i did, so this degree verifies that i can operate a computer to do graphic design, a useful, skill, i also learned all sorts of valuable life skills like: time management, IT skills, reading and temporary retention of information for test skills. So done and dusted.

2) I left the country using university work permits and i went to Dublin Ireland to work and live. I think i learend more life skills in that 4 months then i did in my whole 4 years of not living with my parents and going to college. So amazing, it really felt like a home, the people were great and interesting.

3) I moved to scotland, Ediburgh to be exact, to use a 6 month work permit. Yeah, don't dig it as much but i'm making an effort. I haven't found my crowd yet and my flatmate Steve turned out to be a little bit of, oh i would say a control freak. So i am really thinking about moving but we will see what happens. I currently work 2 jobs, I work at the city council where if you have ever seen office space, it's a little like that, pretty disfunctional and i am just waiting for someone to blow up the building, at least i have Jean, the temp i started with who likes to have a laugh about the situation we are in! my other job is at Debeham's a department store, where i wait on people, put stock in size order and stand in the dressing room and assist customers. so i don't love it either but its only through Jan 6, the people are pretty fun and they range in different ages, but as my mother would say "they probably don't know what to think of you." this is true, as when i say something to someone they get all excited and say Canadian? American? so good times.

4) this holiday season: on christmas eve i will be having dinner with Bethany, my fellow Minnesotan and on christmas day i have been invited to a coworkers house for dinner, i will bring a lentil loaf and some vegetarian gravy but it will be great Craic, as the irish would say! For New Years, i will be going to an event called Hogmony, which means New Year in scottish, interesting but useless!:P So it is basically a huge street party with lots of people and music and the german christmas market etc etc etc. so good times again.

so that's the current DL here in EB, so hope you all enjoy your holiday, and don't get too carried away, remember to enjoy the day and each others company:)

xoxo,
christie

lots of love from a different parallel

it's been a week and i'm still on the island!!!

Hiya everyone!

so here's the update on my life. so on friday i went to a job interview for Debenham's, a department store as kind of a half assed attempt to get a seasonal job, i was called on saturday and went to work on sunday. so i will be working a little bit through the holiday season, to get the discount at the store, new work duds and such, as well as meet a few more people and since i only work 30 hours a week at the council get a few more bucks in the old pocket!

sunday was also the day of the amanda going away party! we had a great time at her friend Chantel's house, Chantel works at Debenham's as well, which is why i applied! so we were at her house till 2am on monday morning but had a great time talking to everyone! great craic!

monday was pretty uneventful at work, we got handed over to the job evaluation team (which is the team i worked with last week, and requested to be on instead of the lame-o job i was doing before) so we are at our same pay grades we are just on a different team so we have been figured into the schedule. also these are the people who invited us to their christmas lunch and drinks afterwards, so that is thursday, tomorrow!!!

i also went and saw the film "who killed the electric car?" and discussion afterwards, great stuff lots of interesting information and quiet sad, boo california and your backing down about zero emissions, i blame you for the ozone depletion! well, not really. but good stuff, i highly recommend it for everyone to watch, super crazy what the oil industry, georgie-porgie, and the auto industry can do. do you know that reagan removed the solar panels from the white house that jimmy carter put up? boo raegan, i don't care if he does have alzheimers and died of it, shame on him!

tuesday same old at work day, but i made falafel and talked to fra fra on the telephone, cheerful cheers! she left for india today:( so i hope she has a great time and it was good to talk to her today.

wednesday, not much going on today but here's a query for you Poll: do you think i should just move out of my flat and move in somewhere else without telling steve if we don't find a flatmate? i don't really have over 400 pounds for rent in jan, and that's how much it is going to be, but i suppose it would be the same if i moved somewhere else for deposit and rent. well i'm kind of sick of steve and his controlling nature so i don't know what to do.

so hope everyone is doing well, i will blog about the company work party in the coming future, i know you are all on the edge of your seats!:) i also need to pass on that i have been telling everyone about the film office space and how it is required viewing if you work in the office, i've got fiona saying "sounds like someone's got a case of the mondays." in a scottish accent: hilarious. so Ta!

xoxo,
christie

i have purpose at the city council!

well hello there handsome:)

hi everyone, hope you are all doing well so here's the word saturday i went and saw the film Pan's Labyrinth, by Guillermo Del Torro, it was fabu! beautifully done spanish film, the fantasy part of the film was just awesome a little gruesome at times but a great story and a great film and paralleled the innocense of childhood and the perils of war. great craic! then on sunday i went and saw a double feature at the cameo, little miss sunshine again (i can't get enough it is too funny) and a double feature with the film sideways, same director, nothing to write home about there. on monday i went to the forest and showed them how to make popcorn and stayed for the spanish fim tie me up tie me down, this one was pretty funny as it was about an exporn star who is kidnapped by a man and is told that he will be her husband. pretty funny story line. did i mention she is addicted to crack and heroin, so he always has to go out and get her some drugs while she is being held hostage? oh yes. on tuesday i showed amanda how to make a sweet potato pie and after that i got a call from Francesca! UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! i was really excited to hear from her. i also called my friend ruth in dublin on sunday, great to hear from her after she had her baby, Joey!

on to the work aspect. so the last few days Jean and I have been working with another team on the same floor doing the job evaluation part, data entry! it's not extremly interesting but at least i'm doing something besides nothing:) i feel like i am a valuable part of the team, and after a few days of working with fiona she invited myself and Jean to their christmas party on december 14th 4 days before the one i am not invited to with the team i am working with. so not everyone is insanely neurotic about the temps! today i even got to type up directions on how to transfer info from microsoft word into microsoft excel, i know sounds boring once again, but i learned myself how to do it that's why i am so proud! so that's the word from this islad. enjoy the snow!!! Ta.

xoxo,
christie

Parcel City

helloooooooo!

well guys i volunteered at the forest today, it's this cool nonprofit cafe venue that makes really inexpensive food and all proceeds go to pay a few people on staff and rent of the building. i talking a huge plate of food for under 3 pounds. amazing all vegetarian as well!!! so i did a 5 hour volunteer shift and met a bunch of people more like me so it was great. i even helped make a salad with alex, one of the kitchen managers and he said what should we call it and i said TLC salad since we both put our love and effort into making it and so that's what we called it, i know pretty corny. but alex is great, do any of you remember the SNL skit with Asriel Abyss and whoever Molly Shannon was? ...and they had like this cable show about how gothic they were and gothic events. so alex is so much like this character it is scary, only he is scotish! so it was great craic i met a few people stayed and listened to a guy talk about afganistan and what his little group of unique individuals is doing to rectify the problem over there...blah blah blah. i roll my eyes at this point as you don't need to educate us on this, as we should already know about all this stuff, we just choose to be silent and not do anything. so there is my 2 cents. so not too much else happened it has been a really slow week at work and i look forward to there being work again soon, i hope. also flatmate amanda moved out:(sadface)! so it is really quiet in the flat and hopefully we will find another flatmate soon! so i got my parcel from earleen and charlie on thursday, 2 envelopes from my mom, and an envelope from my aunt lois, so thank you thank you.

that's it guys

xoxo,
christie