So Far

It's been a hectic week, a week of having my mind crammed with info, of figuring out a longer commute, of trying to adapt to different offices, coworkers, tasks… I've been panicked, I've been discouraged, I've been exhausted and I've been optimistic, in potpourri fashion.
I've been parachuted in someone else's office, in her personal belongings and files, so I can't really settle down. I feel like a squatter.
I don't speak about the nature of my job on this blog, so to give me a little latitude as far as stories to tell, I'll just say this: in my new job, my clientele is the general public. Our office is in a very multi-ethnic part of Montreal which couldn't be farther from where I live, an all white well-to-do families and retirees’ community.

I am literally fascinated by the people I come in contact with. They're all colors of the rainbow, they have panoply of accents, they come from so many countries and so many cultures… I have this longing to find out about each one's history: where were they born, how did they end up here, what is their way of life? Needless to say, I'll never know. I see bearded old men who barely speak English and try to imagine their lives, sixty years ago. Who knows what their childhood looked like? Who knows where it took place? I see shabbily dressed black women, with little expression on their faces, which mistakenly lead us to think they're not sharp. Then you discover, through the hesitant language, a mind just as quick as your own.

So I foresee endless material for observing a class of population I have otherwise very little contact with, and I expect it to be very enlightening.

Otherwise, however, my quality of life has taken a drop. In a day where I have to put in full work hours, eating, training, seeing my son, showering and such, my commuting schedule has increased by one hour per day, which is enormous. It brings my commute to a total of three hours per day, ridiculous. I'll do it, until I find a way out, but it will be in my priorities to somehow decrease that. I am no longer autonomous in my work, I have a shorter lunch period, I am not allowed to have a cup of tea or coffee by my side, I have less time to see my son before I go back out to the gym, I can no longer work longer hours to take a Friday off once in a while. All this, to me, is clearly a drop in my quality of life. Now if I implement a change, it's with the ultimate goal of improving my quality of life, not making it worse! So I will give myself a couple of months, to settle down into my new routine, then I'll reassess.