In case you didn't know, my search for employment ended about 6 months ago. I now am... a 'poetsvrouw' -- or cleaning lady. Pretty awesome, right? (Thanks, liberal arts degree!). You may think that this is actually kind of terrible. Rest assured, it most definitely is not.
There is very little work to be found in Belgium part time that does not require a level 2 proficiency of Dutch or higher or additional need of knowledge of French. It's also the sorry state of affairs that there are basically no jobs for people that can/do do calculus that come in the part-time variety -- for any level. P has been having a hard time finding any job that is just 80%, not even true part time. Why this is the case, I'm not entirely sure, but it is what it is. Belgians (at least the Flemmish) seem to love having lots of work so they can complain about having too much work.
Additionally, there appears to be a general problem with Belgians not wanting "foreigners" to work in Belgium, regardless of if they are here for seasonal work, or are asylum seekers, or permanent residents. If you don't have a green id-card that has 'BELG' on the top, you can usually count on having your data not entered and being told that you aren't eligible for most jobs that a job-placement office or temp-job office has. Hearsay! you say. But I had this happen: I went to one place to be put onto the temp-jobs waiting list and was 'inscribed' for about 15 minutes. I was supposed to send in a CV, and when I did, they said I didn't have a file and that I needed to register with them. I'm not the only one who has these problems. In the social orientation classes a lot of the other people who were 'successfully' registered at the temp-agencies and job-offices said they've been waiting for contact from upwards of 17 different offices. OUCH! There are also places that will let you come for an interview and then say they'll get back to you in a little bit, and they'll definitely have work for you -- but they don't. And they won't return your calls, or emails (also happened to me!).
To be honest, I actually don't have the credentials to be cleaning houses, which made things even worse (and is the same for all others who are in the same position). I have never taken a course on cleaning and have never had black work cleaning houses, nor have I ever cleaned in professional offices. This was actually a really big deal and I had to explain about how I've done chores and can successfully make things not dirty for years. It was a hard sell on my part, but eventually someone decided to take a chance on me, and poof! JOB!
So, anyway, being a cleaning lady is most definitely not the end of the world, and I'm actually feeling pretty lucky that I found any work in white what-so-ever. White work gets lots of taxes taken out of it, but it also helps when you get pension payouts. Black work is... black work and rather unpredictable and you have absolutely no worker rights. White work cleaning houses means I get: federal holidays (whaaaaat're those? I hadn't seen those since high school...), paid days if I get sick, starting next year paid vacation, insurance in case I break expensive things or myself, and various other awesome things like steal toed safety shoes. Oh, and I also get to talk in Dutch with them. Win!
The only hard part is convincing the people I work for that I have a degree in physics, but have only found employment as a cleaning lady. They seem disturbed and a little affronted that I'm a decently educated individual working for dienstencheques--service checks. That's why I'm hoping the people I clean for say the title of this post as they are having chit-chat with their friends over a cup of coffee -- because it's true: I do acid-base reductions to get ride of those hard water build ups. I just can't get the families to listen to me prattle on about how it works...
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Bees? Yes, Please!
This past weekend we went to P's parents house by train (because the component that keeps the saddle pole up broke on P's bike, and the bike-parts-stores were all closed). So we spent all weekend in Heist-op-den-Berg. We did the normal lifguard-swimming-training on Saturday evening, but Sunday was the real treat. The neighbors accross the street not only have geese to cut their lawn, but they also have, you guessed it, bees. Two colonies, actually. The bee keeper (imker) father explained he had one, and then it swarmed onto a tree branch nearby and he re-caught them and now has two.
As it so happens, the day in question was 25°C and sunny -- and time for the first check of the bee colonies after winter! Unfortunately, there were only 2 bee suits, and I didn't think to grab my camera in my complete reversion to a 5 year old that gets to play with the bees. I think you can all imagine the moment the father told me I could put on the bee suit, photos probably wouldn't be doing a moment like that justice.
My job as to execute bursts of 'fine rain mist' to make the bees hum go from "HMMMMMMMMMMMMI'MABEEANDYOUOPENDMYNESTBOX!" back to "hmmmmI'mahappybeedoingbeethings" as the father opened the boxes and checked out the colonies.
No one got stung, and there were 2 combs of honey to be taken. We ended the afternoon sitting eating fresh honey and gnawing on fresh wax (it's like chewing gum, except you can't snap it! :D) and listening to stories of the father about the man who taught him about bee-keeping.
Somewhere in the middle of the stories me and P looked at each other and decided we needed to invest in a suit for each of us and look up the nearest local meetings of bee-keepers. I mean, what 60-90 year old man DOESN'T want to spend the afternoon with a 20-something female who isn't scared of bees, right? Right. I'll tackle bee-keeping after tackling becoming a certified 'compost master'. Classes are for 3 weekends in May. Woot! Just in time to figure out what to do with all the greens from the garden we keep needing to cut back!
Oh, and in other news, I think I might be getting even more people to clean for, and Dutch classes are starting up again, so my time for skyping is going to be wonky again. I'll be posting times once I know my schedule.
As it so happens, the day in question was 25°C and sunny -- and time for the first check of the bee colonies after winter! Unfortunately, there were only 2 bee suits, and I didn't think to grab my camera in my complete reversion to a 5 year old that gets to play with the bees. I think you can all imagine the moment the father told me I could put on the bee suit, photos probably wouldn't be doing a moment like that justice.
My job as to execute bursts of 'fine rain mist' to make the bees hum go from "HMMMMMMMMMMMMI'MABEEANDYOUOPENDMYNESTBOX!" back to "hmmmmI'mahappybeedoingbeethings" as the father opened the boxes and checked out the colonies.
No one got stung, and there were 2 combs of honey to be taken. We ended the afternoon sitting eating fresh honey and gnawing on fresh wax (it's like chewing gum, except you can't snap it! :D) and listening to stories of the father about the man who taught him about bee-keeping.
Somewhere in the middle of the stories me and P looked at each other and decided we needed to invest in a suit for each of us and look up the nearest local meetings of bee-keepers. I mean, what 60-90 year old man DOESN'T want to spend the afternoon with a 20-something female who isn't scared of bees, right? Right. I'll tackle bee-keeping after tackling becoming a certified 'compost master'. Classes are for 3 weekends in May. Woot! Just in time to figure out what to do with all the greens from the garden we keep needing to cut back!
Oh, and in other news, I think I might be getting even more people to clean for, and Dutch classes are starting up again, so my time for skyping is going to be wonky again. I'll be posting times once I know my schedule.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
I picked up the GBFK!
Not too much more to say besides the title. We were finishing root-toning the last of the healthy-but-cut-off-anyway branches from the plum trees and I was able to pick up the GBFK and put in on my lap. He was in my lap for about 15 seconds. I think my progress with taming/training the GBFK is going well. I think in a few more days he'll let me cut off some of the large mats he has.
In other news: every month I appear to become a little bit more like Grandma Boo. We were using the rootone that I somehow didn't have to pay for from the yard/garden/feed/baking store. I am now eye-ing up plants that I pass wondering if I have jars or pots the right size to take a 'sample'. Next thing we know, I'll developer a love for milanos and then it'll be orange hair and... then somebody needs to stop me before it's too late. But I guess orange hair is the no-turning-back point.
The microwave has dinged and it's time to check on the accidental cheese that has sprung out of our attempt to heat the 1 month old milk -- direct from the farm -- that decided it wanted to be cheese instead and separated before the milk was hot enough to take the yogurt cultures. And This means another round of saurkraut started from the whey. Mmmmmmmm saurkraut!
In other news: every month I appear to become a little bit more like Grandma Boo. We were using the rootone that I somehow didn't have to pay for from the yard/garden/feed/baking store. I am now eye-ing up plants that I pass wondering if I have jars or pots the right size to take a 'sample'. Next thing we know, I'll developer a love for milanos and then it'll be orange hair and... then somebody needs to stop me before it's too late. But I guess orange hair is the no-turning-back point.
The microwave has dinged and it's time to check on the accidental cheese that has sprung out of our attempt to heat the 1 month old milk -- direct from the farm -- that decided it wanted to be cheese instead and separated before the milk was hot enough to take the yogurt cultures. And This means another round of saurkraut started from the whey. Mmmmmmmm saurkraut!
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