A new Job and a different life

a-new-life-and-expensive

After all the exams finished, I had been trying to find a part-time job during this summer holiday. It was quite hard and I guess there are many competitions in London. Over few days out for hunting jobs, and submitted over 100 copies of resumes, luckily, I had several  interviews, however, employers were keen to have full-time employees rather then part-time.

However, today it was my happiest day. After 3 interviews, one was offering me on the spot, and another one called me back today and said I was hired out of 3 competitors. Moreover, I went to school to pick up my final transcript, and I was nominated by the tutor that I was the best student in the class, and received 25 pounds for buying book. I was so thrilled in a day, and I felt that my hard working finally rewarded it.

I will work hard and meet more new people. At the first time, I felt like I am part of this country rather than being a student or a visitor. Everyone was so happy for me and me too. Life is not easy, but I will find a way to fight for it and enjoy it.

一份新工作,一份不同经历

自从5月底所有考试结束后,2个星期都在不断努力为这个夏天找兼职。一切都不容易啊,虽然伦敦遍地是机会,但因为大家都知道,所以更多的竞争着来自世界各地,加上欧洲国家的人都纷纷来伦敦工作。简历都投递了超过100份,也有了几份面试的机会,但他们大多要求一年4季长期工作,而不止是兼职。

但今天是我的最幸运的一天,昨天有3份面试哦,时间都安排的蛮紧的,第1份说很喜欢我,但他们希望我能全职,第2份工作在面试就说马上请我,周一上班,第3份工作今天打电话说请我,(面试时候见过3个和我竞争的对手,显然我打败她们)我十分开心,当然我选择个最合适我的。惊奇的另一件事是,今天去学校拿最后的成绩单,不但我考得蛮不错的成绩,一打开信封,教授提名我最佳的学生,奖励我25英镑买书卷呢。哦,天啊,又找到兼职,又有奖励,我的心甜过蜜糖呢!整天都超级开心,真的很想大喊几声,谢谢自己一年来这么努力,很辛苦很辛苦的付出才拿到好成绩的!来之不易啊!大家别看我吃吃玩玩的多,辛苦的时候超级辛苦,压力十分大,只是没有和大家说而已。不过我十分满意我这1年来的付出和努力!常言道,生命短暂,辛苦时候还是要努力享受生活的。

我会好好努力工作,同时也认识多点新朋友。第一次感觉到自己不只是这个城市的游客或过客,而是真正的生活在伦敦!谢谢大家的支持和鼓励哦,让我们为生活继续努力吧!

Summer time

summer-day

I do enjoy the sunny day and hot temperature in London, and it is hot, but as humid as China. I asked friends to come to my house and made some cakes together before they fly back to HK and Japan. We bought so many ingredients and made the pumpkin pie and chocolate trifle cake.

Vicky and Miwa enjoyed making cakes and we had so much fun, even though Vicky had some flower everywhere, and Miwa dropped an egg on the floor, it’s part of the fun and experience with friends. After 2 hours hard work, we ordered Papajohn’s pizza and watched some girl’s movie – He is not in too you. Then drinking and chatting until 1 am.

I enjoy the quality time with friends here in Summer day, cool breeze, hot sun, summer clothes, cool beer, good food and good accompany, then what a happy weekend. Here are some of our latest pictures.

I have been working hard to find a part-time job, had 2 interviews yesterday, but we will see the  results and I have work harder hunting on Monday. Tonight we will see Keane and Ladyhawke’s concert in Shepherd  Bush, I am so looking forward to seeing them.

一个休闲的夏天

喜欢伦敦夏天的阳光,大大的太阳,感觉很热但风是凉爽的。虽然热,但不至于流汗,不过市中心因人多,汽车多,所以就超热,但没有广州那么潮湿,干爽天气。下周大家都快回各自的国家了,所以我叫泳棋和美和,来我家齐齐动手做蛋糕和派,我们买和超级多材料,做我们之前做过的南瓜派和巧克力莫丝。

泳棋和美和一起搓面粉啊,切南瓜,虽然他们都是第一次亲自烤蛋糕,泳棋把厨房搞得到处是面粉,美和把蛋掉到地上,这些都是开心的片刻,和他们一起享受生活美食的经历。经过2个小时的辛苦准备,终于完成了我们的派和巧克力蛋糕,然后我们叫了papajohn的pizza,一起看电影,甜点就是我们的派和蛋糕拉。

我十分享受夏天的凉风,热太阳,夏天的短裤,好朋友一起吃喝一起笑,轻松的夏天周末就这样过!这里是我们的最新照片

我在努力找兼职呢,昨天有2份面试,不知道成不成功,英国兼职很难找啊,很多欧洲人来竞争,加上金融风暴,好在伦敦到处都是机会,周一再接再厉。今晚去听Keane 和 Ladyhawke的演唱会,约翰喜欢ladyhawke,等待疯狂的激情的夜晚终于来了。

Goodbye 2008, good luck 2009

happy-new-year-09

Another year has passed and another year will soon arrive. As our lives fall into a routine, a day feels like a blink, and a year feels like a month. What did we remember about 2008? There were the Olympic games in China, the worldwide financial crash, and the USA’s new president Barack Obama. 2008 was not exactly a good year for some people, and not a good year to invest.

I feel my shoulder (responsibilities) get heavier every year. Personally, I think I achieved many things and challenged myself in 2008. It is my dream to live aboard and experience the life in the UK. However, I never take this for granted, because it is not easy to come so far and the road will not always be stable. I see it more interesting to walk and face challenges. Despite the fact that life is hard, let’s ‘getting some fun out of life’ like a song from Madeleine Peyroux always encourages me.

When we want to love, we love; When we want to kiss, we kiss
With a little petting, we’re getting Some fun out of life

When we want to work, we work; When we wanna play, we play
In a happy setting, we’re getting; Some fun out of life

Maybe we do the right things ; Maybe we do the wrong
Spending each day; Wending our way along

再见08,09新的开始

一年又过去了,日子过得好了,时间眨眼又一天,一年就好像一个月。08让我们最难忘的是北京的奥运,西方的金融风暴和美国新的总统奥巴马。08并非一安稳的好年,09年可能继续陷入金融复活期,但我们以积极的态度去面对,望好的方面去看。多一岁,肩膀的责任越重,但我仍然为自己的梦想奔波着,挑战新的一年。本人来说,08年完成了满多任务的,约翰和我双方见过父母,放弃7年广州的生活,到英国充实自己,学习新的东西,这是我的梦想也是我人生日记中新一页,但这所有的一切来得并不是容易,约翰和我努力着为我们的将来奋斗着,将来的路也并非容易的走下去,我把它看成多点挑战,多点惊喜给自己。我想每个人都有他追求的梦想,有他的问题要去解决,但永远不要忘记,象爵士歌曲中一首歌曲中唱得,记得在生活中 ‘苦中作乐‘, 无论生活多么不如意,这首歌曲永远鼓励我。

Evaluate yourself

Evaluate yourself

First I would like to apologise that I haven’t written anything for the past 3 months. Sometimes you find it really hard to squeeze time and to clear your mind and sit down to type for a couple of hours. Every single day is occupied by work and when you return back home, you’ve got a life to lead. Actually my friends have been complaining that they haven’t seen me for over 6 months as well.

I found another interesting topic to talk about, which is the difference between how the West and the East evaluate employees. Have you ever sat down and evaluated yourself? I never have until now, and even scarier was needing to talk about my own performance.

Recently I’ve watched TV programmes like “American Top Model”, “Project Runway”, “The Apprentice”, and “Hell Kitchen”. They are all basically the same show, and are designed to evaluate who is the very best. The evaluation process is generally performed by a panel of judges who are experts in their chosen field. The most important parts of the shows are when we watch the contestants perform under pressure, and see what they have to say about themselves and their abilities.

I never thought about this process until it happened to me at work. A few weeks ago I was asked to evaluate myself, and told that my answers would directly affect my bonus. As a Chinese who has never worked for a foreign company before, and who has therefore never taken an evaluation, this was quite a challenge for me. The fact that it affected how much I got paid made it even more nerve-wracking.

I was told to talk about my achievements and the contributions I’ve made to work, and not to exaggerate or be embarrassed. This I found very difficult as it’s just not part of the Chinese culture. Even though I am a confident person, I still did not like talking about myself in front of my superiors, and especially did not enjoy being criticised or praised. This is a very noticeable difference between how the West and East operates

As a Chinese person, if you are working for a Chinese company, you always undertake the exact job assigned by your supervisor. You are not expected to do anything else, and you are not expected to show initiative – a job is a just a job. This how it works in China. In the West, however, it seems that a job is more of a ‘career’, and an employer is wanting to help improve your whole career, not just wanting you to work more efficiently.

Confucius tells us to always be humble and stay low, even if you are outstanding. This is the opposite of a Western viewpoint where they are taught to express themselves and try to shine as much as possible. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the West is typically more creative.

This is not an argument about which side is better. It really depends on your knowledge, personality, and background. I do admire the West’s openness, honesty, and decisiveness. I find it fascinating to learn what life is like in another culture, and look forward to experiencing more differences.

评价自己

开头先跟大家说声抱歉,已经3 个多月没有写任何东西在网站里;平时除了忙碌的工作,下班后又想享受下私人的时间,没有什么时间能挤出来平静的写点东西;有些朋友甚至投诉我6个月才见我一次,哈哈,对不起拉,兄弟姐妹!

又被我找到一个中西方文化差异的题目,我觉得蛮感新鲜也对我很有启发性。我猜大家都曾静下心自己反省过自己那里不足,从而自己打心底去改进?但大家有没有经历过要在别人面前评价自己,反省自己的不足呢?

相信大家可能在追 “美国模特真人秀”, “天桥骄子”, “飞黄腾达”, 或 “ 地狱厨房” 都是强者为王,弱者淘汰的商业电视节目. 我相信大多都是真人秀, 有血有泪才赢得光荣嘛! 最紧张的时候就是看淘汰选手的那几分钟, 大家站在评委面前, 说出自己哪里表现得最好,自己哪里不足?

我从没想过自己在工作岗位也要面临这样的 “命运” . 在外企, 大家每半年都要向最高领导评价自己, 不只是领导评价你,你还要自己评价你自己对工作的贡献和不足. 当然啦,多劳多得嘛. 但不能天花乱坠夸奖自己, 别人有目共睹的嘛,再说,还有你的上司评价你呢? 对我来说, 真是个挑战阿. 之后,我觉得这个也是体现中西方文化不同和教育不同的差异.

虽蛮自信的我, 还是觉得有点别扭. 感觉就像在评委面前说自己哪里好,自己哪里不足, 我们不是在这种文化长大的嘛! 我有点尴尬的实事求是的说了我自己的情况拉.

大家都知道, 在中国的企业或机构, 总是领导给你任务你就执行;或者自己跑业务打关系赚提成. 我们都是在这种文化熏陶长大的嘛. 我想大多中西方思维和文化的不同. 就像我之前谈的 “ 功夫茶”, 西方国家的人很独立自主, 也毫不修饰的别人或事业上面前表达自己; 作为孔子的后代, 就算你是成功人士, 也总是学会 “ 谦逊为主, 低调为辅”. 可能西方国家更注重培养主动权在自己, 而不是任何事都被动去接受, 这也是他们多于创新主义的源头.

其实这没有哪边好或哪边不好,大家在成长在不同的知识,性格和教育背景,你只能选择适合自己的一方。不过我真的欣赏西方人的思想开放,坦诚,豪爽和无可否认他们的诚信。事实上,归咎于社会教育文化的不同,就是这些点点滴滴不同,我才发现很多中西方不同的东西让我很着迷和好奇。或许之后再让我评价自己,我会做得更好,因为我要每天都提升自己。