The day after...

So this is the day after. A day filled with lots of feelings.

Rejection for the job of yesterday but with the message that "I'm a very strong candidate, interview was very good and written test was one of the best" but they choose someone else.

I already knew when I didn't got a call in the morning so I felt very bad for a while and then suddenly took a shower, put on my clothes and went to an interim office to give my CV and find temporary work. Woman said they didn't have work for me, which was a huge bummer. She said I should contact another office. I answered that I was already contacted that office 5 months ago and never heard of them. "I'll will give them your CV again." Yeah right. For once I take some action, they send me away.

Not fun.

So I went home and searched for jobs like crazy. Found 2 interesting ones but I don't know it's interesting to contact them as the contract is not flexible. It's a job for 4 months, very interesting but if I find a permanent job where I have to start right away, I can not end my contract... A dilemma, so I need to think about it. I just don't want to sit the whole winter inside without a job....

Around 5 PM they called me tell me I didn't got the job. Yeah, I already got the message. I really didn't need to hear how good I was and how good my interview went. That doesn't give me money to buy food. Let say the next 30 minutes it was a bit rough. I tried the whole day to think positive and to take some action but then, the energy was gone and the only thing I wanted to do was to burn my diploma. Having a university diploma isn't helping me, they need to pay me too much and I'm only qualified in family law. Only when you go to court, you need that, not for a "normal" job...

Anyway...

I had dinners plans with one of my best friends because we had to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We've been friends for more than 5 years but on this day 5 years ago, it was the last time we saw someone who said us that we would have never been friends without her. Something we still disagree on and now 5 years later, we have done so many fun and crazy things. We went to Berlin, Gran Canary, Milan and even New York. We had the best 5 years! So if anyone dares to see we wouldn't have been friends, it's wrong. Very wrong.

We had some cava rosé and a delicious burger, that reminded of us our trip to New York. Lovely evening.

I've said it before but these days I'm surrounded by so many nice things and people. Searching for a job is really hard but I'm not going to give up. I won't. It can get more difficult but I must be prepared for it.

Welcome to the real world.

And there are always worse things. The government pays me, it's not that I will die of having nothing to eat, 1200 euro is a lot of money. On the other side, I did almost work 9 years to get this money. There are some countries where you get nothing when you don't have a job.

So I'm going to repeat it: go go go!

Job interviews feels like exams & dating!

Oh, what do I hate them!

Job interviews are like dating & exams. You can think it went OK, but it can turn out different. Like on a date, you think there is a "match" after a lovely evening but the day after you wait for a phone call and nothing happens. The day after you still wait for a phone call and still nothing happens. After a week you think you imagined everything and when you text the person to ask if he would like to have a drink, there's only silence.

After an exam, you think: I think I answered all the questions right and after a few hours you realize you made a mistake.

I just had this feeling, I think I made a mistake in the first question! Thank God there are 4 other questions, but still... The questions were filled in without a name, with a number, so they don't know who is behind the questions. At the end of the day they will now, but still. They know I don't have experience with question one... At least the oral part was good. I could answer every question and I feel very good about my responses...

I must say the interview was wacko. When I arrived there was sitting another woman also waiting. I think I've seen her on university many years ago, also in the law department. She wasn't friendly and seemed very nervous. When a woman came to get us, she acted like a shy person while I was talking and answering the person's questions. The woman first gave us some info and while I looked at her, interested, the other candidate kept looking at her papers and didn't respond on what the woman of the firm was saying.

They put us together in a small room, together! So wrong! I don't think it's OK to put 2 candidates in one wrong to prepare for a written test. Anyway, the candidate refused to look at me and when she did, she tried to kill me with her eyes. No problem with that, I'm not open for those things. People can't get me freaked out by this, in contrary.

So when they came to get me for the interview, they said I could leave my papers there. NO WAY! And the other candidate could look into them!! So I took them with me. I just don't get that they couldn't think of that themselves. Obvious they don't things like this all the time. We even had to write out our answers, normally you get a computer to type them out...

Wacko...

Now the waiting can begin, I only know there are a lot of other candidates but the interview was very good and ignoring that stupid question one and the fact that I would have preferred not to write my answers (of course I had to write a few mistakes and change them) it went good. I'm not going to think that I have the job, I thought this after my first interview but seemed to be a dating experience. "I'm going to call you very soon" and then I never heard of him again...

Yeah yeah, the struggle for a job, oh the joy!   ...not...

So another week...

And what do we do on a Monday evening? Putting on fake eye lashes, trying out some make-up and trying what you can do with your hair now it's kind of "very" short. It's for a birthday party on Sunday and as it will be Halloween, the birthday girl suddenly decided we need to dress up...

Oh.. Hmmm...Ok. If you want me to dress up. I will, but it will be my kind of dressing up...

I like to dress up as in putting on a prom dress or a cocktail dress or (of course) dressing myself as someone from the sixties for a movie! But dressing myself as an animal, nurse, (doctor I don't mind as I played a doctor a few times in the new telenovela and that was fun), a witch or some stupid character from a book or a movie, no, I don't like that. Minnie Mouse for example is lovely, but not if you have to look like her.

The fact is, we don't celebrate Halloween and we only know it because of the movies and the stories we once heard from other people. Those "other" people live not in Belgium but in the US. Another fact is that if you tell people to dress up in something or someone, nobody does and your evening will be spend sitting there feeling kind of stupid in your cat suit or blue wig :)

But anyway, if they want me to dress up, I will, no problem. But don't expect me to walk into the room as an animal. Sixties woman it will be! With this outfit I will look a bit different but not weird if everyone decides to come in a jeans and t-shirt.

The rest of the day was spend with reading legal letters I once wrote to my clients and made a few fake ones for myself to see if I can still write good letters. Tomorrow more practice and some laws that I want to read. Yes, there is another job interview. It's for a temporary job but I've the feeling it could be a very interesting one. It's not that I've already another job so I'm going to take what I can. They even don't pay me as a master in law but as a bachelor. But that's almost 400 euro more than I would get from the government. Interesting!! Last week I got a mail that I did fail the selection test, the day before my birthday, which wasn't a surprise at all... I still don't get it why you need to do a mathematics test for a legal job. I felt bad for 5 seconds and then realized that this isn't the kind of job I'm looking for. Don't let me work with numbers or statistics because it will kill me and the firm I'll work for..

It was nice to finally get a phone call after sending out mails, yes, mails. For every 10 mails I send out, I get 1 phone call, which means: not many...

Well, I guess that's the life of a jobless lawyer.. I can't change it, I only can prepare myself for a good interview and keep writing mails!

Go, go go!!!

Flowers

Flowers do make the livingroom more cosy :)

Last minutes of being 32...

What a year, what a year!

Today was not a top day after a horrible selection test for a job where I failed the whole thing. Mathematics are not my best friend & I don't get way you need to know this for a legal job. Anyway. Tomorrow is a new day with new jobs and new things!

Tomorrow, in 15 minutes, it's my birthday!

Not that I'm looking forward to become 33, single as always but there are worse things in life. There are plenty of things to be happy about and you never know what the future will bring but it's time to find a nice boyfriend & marry! Ok, not that fast, but next year this time I don't want to be single. And if not, there's always Paris. (I love to say this: "There's always Paris!". The city I love and where I have so many lovely memories since I was 12...

The year of 32 was one of the best years I had, in life, ever. I think if I count the happy days and compare with other years, it's a big winner. So that's nice, that's very nice.

In the last minutes I just want to be grateful for life, the sun, my friends, the great times I had on holidays and movie sets, my ex co-workers, old & new friends, all the books I read, the music I heard, the evenings having fun, the night I danced away, the park where I spend several sunny days and all the other things that came on my way in the year I was 32.

Didn't I said it somewhere: the best is yet to come? Yes, I believe it is. There won't be sunshine every day (certainly not now when it's getting colder every day) but there is so much more to know and to explore on this earth.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Copiapo - miracles do exist

What a day, I've been watching CNN to see how the miners in Chile came up again after several days under the ground. 69 days, imagine that!

It's amazing and at the moment 17 miners are rescued and there are more to come. I hope everything will go right until the last one comes up. I also hope the post traumatic stress will be under control in the next days and months, maybe years. Their life will change enormously, just imagine that there are 2000 journalists there to report about it and then I haven't mentioned the impact on their lives after being under the ground for 69 days.

Sepulveda, one of the miners said when he was on the ground again: "I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won," beautiful words...

If you ever thought of becoming an extra, I think today is the day I will talk you in.

So back to the normal life, searching for a job, washing the dishes, doing laundry after 2 days at the movie set of that British movie. I'm still full of adrenaline and I think this will last for the next days.

Amazing, just amazing to be a part of that movie! To be surrounded by lovely people all dressed up, getting your hair done and make-up, being followed by stylists who fix your hair and make-up during the whole day. You won't be surprised if I tell you that we all felt like a real movie star. The crew was fantastic, the actors lovely, the food delicious and the building that was supposed to be hotel Trevi in Rome was very beautiful. Even the director was nice! Location was an old hotel in Ghent that's normally closed for the public. The only people that have entrance to the building are rich people who play bridge and drink brandy, a kind of elite club. When a few men came visit the set, I saw what they meant. They looked liked they had escaped from an aristocratic family and they probably did.

The first day in Ghent was spend in the restaurant, having lunch and talking. I'm always surprised that a scene of 5 sentences can take that long to be filmed. But with all the extras in the room, the image had to be perfect. The waiter had to move on the right moment and we had to start talking on the right moment. They also always take shots from different angles and that means it will take some time as the camera must be moved around. I was sitting right behind the table of the actors, so there will be at least one shot where I will be visible. I was wearing the orange dress, my favorite of all my outfits and I really really loved my hair that day!

The day after, every one's hair and outfit looked more "normal", comparing with the day before, but still lovely. I wore a beautiful pink coat. I wasn't a great fan of my hair but it still looked fantastic and very sixties. We spend the whole morning waiting for something to happen, first upstairs but later downstairs at the street, where the catering table was with tons of delicious food. So a huge part of the day was spend waiting, eating and most of all: talking!! It's fun to chat the whole day and it's so much fun to meet all those interesting people! Inside, the actors were doing a lot of scenes. After lunch, it was finally time for some action. There were rumours there was an investor on the set, who gave a lot of money to invest in the movie and so he got himself a little extra role. He came especially from England to be there. I've heard stories of this before, investors that come visit a movie set and are treated like kings, which I can imagine as thanks to them they can make a movie. I blame it on my lovely coat but me and another woman were chosen to stand next to him for a real close-up scene while talking about Rome and how we love it. It's more than just a few seconds and Boris, the extra director came tell us we were "huge" on the screen! Me and Rebecca, the other woman, were so excited that I think we almost exploded of joy on the screen! I hope the result looks good & I don't look like a dork or something :)

                                                   Me & Rebecca right after our scene.

                                                                 In the restaurant.

                                                                       The ladies.

                                            Star Trek fans might recognise him: Colm Meany.

Sixties this & sixties that...

Sixties shoes.

                                                          Sixties couch.

Sixties hair.

                                            
                                           Doesn't he look at bit like Don Draper?

So today was spend in Rome, in a very fancy restaurant with only 2 hours of sleep but the day was (again) priceless so I survived. Tomorrow I've to wake up at 6 AM but I don't mind, I'll recover afterwards. This movie is just too amazing to be tired.

To be honest, I don't understand the actors all the time as they have a heavy British accent. But we also are to busy with acting like we are sitting in a restaurant, ordering food. I was right behind the actors so there's at least one scene where you can see me and last week, in Luxembourg, when the nun leaves her cab, you'll also be able to see me. Well, I hope, you never know. Scenes can be deleted or it's possible you are not seen as they zoom on the actors & not the extras.

We'll see, it's all about the experience. Being in the movie/visible would be fun but this is so amazing it really doesn't matter. Fake eyelashes, great hair, lovely dresses...

Sunny Sunday afternoons in the park are fun!

So the whole afternoon was spend outside, watching Mad Men in the park! I took my computer with me & although the sun was a bit too much, I had a lovely time. Too bad this can be the last time there will be so much sun to sit in the park.

Anyway, I enjoyed it a lot!

Waking up early, but it's all for the movie...

If you ever thought of becoming an extra, I don't think today is the day I will talk you in.

I have to wake up at 4:30 AM, that's still night to get to Ghent at 6:30 to get my hair done, make-up and get dressed in my sixties clothes. I'll love it tomorrow but today I'm almost freaking out. I'm not a morning person but 4:30 is just still night. Thank God someone will pick me up and I don't have to take the train of 4 AM, imagine that...

My cheeks are exploding and my adrenaline is just a bit too high. It's all very exciting but the thought of waking up so early makes it a bit less exciting. I may not think about the fact that the day after it can be the same. And then I've one day of recovery and then it's waking up at 6 AM again.

Last week was unforgettable. I think I'll never be on a movie set like this again, as I still don't know how long I'll be able to be an extra. Surrounded by 80 other extras dressed up in great clothes & great hair. Wow, just wow. I even got goosebumps on a certain moment and the only thing I could think of was: "What a year I'm having, what a unforgettable year I'm having!" I would have never done all those things if I wasn't fired.

So on the first of October I officially registered myself as "jobless", a weird experience to be in that building with hundreds of people, also without a job. The woman before me also was new so we had a nice chat as we didn't know to which desk we had to go, what kind of papers we needed etc. It turned out I had everything I needed so that was fine, even the woman behind the desk was surprised that my ex boss fill in the papers on such a good way. Well, that's the least they could do as I was the "easy" person who got fired, I even gave them some helpful advice and it seems they appreciated it. Someone even put an important letter in my mailbox, instead of sending it with the post so I would get it at the first of October. I was kind of touched by that because it was a very nice surprise, that I never expected :)

So next week there's a selection procedure for a job I hadn't applied to yet but wanted to. They did contact me themselves, which is nice I guess. It's also weird as the boss there is my ex boss who went away 3 months before I got fired. He knows everything about me, I think that's good or that also could be bad as I had a conflict with my team boss when I left. At least I know he didn't agree with me getting fired because he always liked me as a lawyer & as person we also had a good relationship.

We'll see how it goes.  

In the meanwhile it's glamour & glitter, playing business woman and doctor for the new telenovela.

Doesn't sound boring to me, doesn't it?