Looking

Looking and looking and looking for a job. This is a full time job! Job searching is new each day, but it becomes boring. Worse though is the accumulating frustration.

It's been a year since I began my job search. Some days I am filled with hope, other days I am just applying routinely. Overall though I remain optimistic and I know that my job is out there waiting for me.

The other day, I had a phone interview with a recruiter, and he asked me about my skills for the particular job. At the end of our conversation, he told me to call him when I get more experience in the US. I was angry and I was not prepared to let that go. I told him that the particular job was not one which would be difficult for me. Heck, it was just a position as an HR assistant. I do not need experience in the US to do this job. I told the guy that I am a quick learner. I told him that even when you change companies you need a little time just to learn the new company rules. It was as if I was talking to myself. All he did was repeat the idea again that I should call him back when something in my resume changes.

I felt frustration and anger. And I am still angry. But is it with him or with me? How can I get [american] experience if that is what everyone is telling I need in order to be hired here?

Also, I really don't like the feeling I get when someone asks me "where do you work?". I feel ashamed when I tell them I am a housewife. Here it may be ok to be a housewife, but it is not something I am used to saying nor is it something I am accustomed to doing. Though now I seem to have become one, and, in all honesty, it isn't so bad.

Surrounded

A quick trip to NYC and I came back with so many impressions:

*beautiful?

*crowded

*really tall buildings

*narrow streets

*alive

*noisy

*neon lights

*Broadway

*the shops

After just 4 hours by train, I walked up the stairs and I found myself surrounded - by lots of people and huge buildings.

Can you imagine that in such a big city people wait in line for taxi - that is civilization.

I got into one of the thousands of yellow cabs (why are they all yellow?) and to my surprise despite the civility, the driver's seat was surrounded by thick bullet-proof glass. I was a little scared - does this mean that the city is dangerous?

Driving there looks crazy. Too many cars on very narrow streets surrounded by lots (and I mean lots) of pedestrians.

The hotel had a gigantic lobby but the rooms were tiny. I heard this is normal for NYC.

Walking on the streets made me feel like I was walking through a tunnel. The streets are lined with huge buildings so that you barely see the sky.

8.3 million on 790 square meters. Crowded in the morning, crowded in the afternoon, crowded at night.

The stores are always open!!! You can shop around the clock. :) Everything seemed BIG! Small candy M&Ms have their own 3 level store in the middle of Times Square. Can you imagine? All different colored candies, and then towels, jewelry, dishes, ornaments, bags, clothes....You name it, they have it, with "M&M" on it. M&Ms are my favorite candies.

I escaped from the tunnel with a walk through Central Park. I only saw a small part of it :( But what I saw was incredible. Lots of ponds, fountains, woodlands, baseball fields, playgrounds and acres of lawns.

A visit to NYC isn't complete without seeing a play on Broadway. So I retreated into the Gershwin Theater where I let myself fly to the land of Oz through the music, costumes and scenery of "Wicked".

Everyone told me to visit NYC because it is so so beautiful. Was it really beautiful? Hmm, maybe, but it is definitely a unique place.