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What was it that I came here to do, well, I worked in Chichester College in the Business department and I was working closely with the Admin Assistant and I got the chance to see what her job entitled.\u00a0 First weeks I was walking on eggshells just to get my bearings on things, didn\u2019t really know people, didn\u2019t really know what was happening and how this office here worked, what was it\u2019s purpose etc. Day by day, everything just started to clear, at least a bit. I got my own desk where to work and just that made me feel more like I belonged here, having a desk where to come every morning. Little by little, I got to know the people I was working with and I started to remember people\u2019s faces and their names. There are still people on the department that I don\u2019t know, we have 4 office rooms here where people are working so I\u2019ve grown custom of the office that I\u2019m in. My office is filled with crazy people (meaning it as a good thing) and one Irish who is the whole office\u2019s sweets guy. People would literally come to this office and ask if he would have something to eat and if he weren\u2019t at his desk people would help themselves to his drawers. This person is sitting right behind me so he is always offering snacks to me.\u00a0 Their sense of humour is just fantastic and I must say that I have had fun in this office, but it\u2019s home time for me. (A little private joke we used whenever we felt tired).<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n I have done a lot of archiving, photocopying, scanning, sending emails, and learned how to post mail here. I have also done of my share of answering phone calls and did a bit of research via phone. I have mastered skills on spreadsheets, updating, creating, making formulas etc. I have sold books to students, I have been typing letters and mailing them, using word mail merge. I have done a bit of inventory, splitting PDF files. I also helped a student in her mock exam, by reading it to her out loud. Therefore, I think I have learned a lot and many different things. I have had proper professional training and have gotten the support of my colleagues, and learned the office life in the UK. I must say that I have not really worked in an office before, so I do not know how it is in Finland, but I am pretty sure it would be similar to this; hard working people with good sense of humour and coffee (well, mostly tea here). I just think in overall this school cares for it\u2019s students and want them to succeed as well as in their studies as in life in general.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I have been in the workforce for many, many years so I think I really have not changed in that regard; I know how the world works in working life, and I still consider myself a trustworthy, diligent and conscientious worker. If I had done this work experience in Finland, it would have been easier, but only because we would have shared the same language, but besides that, I believe I have managed well. I am sure my English skills have improved while being here, and I am writing English better than before, because I\u2019m writing the blog every week in English, plus of course I have to write at work also. My listening comprehension skills have improved; I understand the conversations around me but I could very easily just phase it out and then it would just be a noise in the background.\u00a0 Speaking of my verbal skills, I\u2019m still very harsh on myself and I think I could do better, it isn\u2019t as natural as I would wish it to be and I believe that would correct itself if I would stay here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, how could I stay? If my husband would pack our dogs and fly here with me! We would get a nice little cottage of our own and we would name it the Lynx Cottage. Many people here have named their houses and you could see the sign outside their homes, the house where I\u2019m staying is called the Clayton Cottage. You don\u2019t have to name your house, it\u2019s not mandatory, but many people do. We would have a nice home, with fence that would go all around it, so that the dogs could run freely in the yard and we would have garden there and a palm tree! We would take nice strolls outside on the public footpaths that go through the fields and our dogs could run freely there as well. We would have different coloured door, something bright, inviting, and black frames on an otherwise white layout. We would have a fireplace because it gets so damn cold in here sometimes and we would have hot water bottles at night. We would have a gas stove and a washing machine in the kitchen. We would have to get a car and learn how to drive on the other side of the road so that we could pick up our friends at the airport who would come and visit us. We would enjoy the very interesting and incalculable British weather and we would not miss the snow in Finland, if we would, we could always visit. We would learn to be more polite and we would get drinks in the pub with the locals and share stories.\u00a0 The airport would be a short train ride away and we would have better options to fly elsewhere for holidays. Yes, I could see the life I would have here\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I do miss home though, I miss my car, I miss driving my car and singing to a country song out loud. I miss my home, I miss my hobbies, and I miss my sisters, my mum and dad, my friends. I miss sauna, (I\u2019m going straight there when I come home), I miss salmiakki and Finnish candy in general and not just the candy itself, the opportunity that I would be able to get it whenever I wanted. I miss the familiarity of my surroundings back home. I even miss those crazy sounds our neighbours make. I miss my husband\u2019s cooking and his jokes. I miss the constant attention of my dogs, when they are all around my feet and following me everywhere, I miss the smell of their paws.\u00a0 I must say being here for those two months, I have seen a lot. Not just Chichester, but I also saw Brighton, Arundel, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight and London on my journey here. I have seen a castle, I have seen beautiful sceneries, and I have seen old buildings and ruins. Actually, where I\u2019m staying, right across from it is this 2000 year old ruin, called Fishbourne Roman Palace and it\u2019s the largest Roman ruins in UK and on my last Sunday here, I finally went to see it. I must say even though it was nothing more than old mosaic floors I can imagined how it once stood there. In addition, if I would be living here I would be rather proud of those old historic ruins because that is something I\u2019ll never get to have in Finland.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s my last day in the office and I spent last evening baking Finnish Pulla, and I think I did alright with the ingredients I had, I couldn\u2019t find ground cardamom, so that\u2019s what they are lacking. I also had a wee problem with the baking sheets, because the Pullas got stuck on it which is weird, because I bought the paper just to prevent that from happening. People seem to enjoy them and that\u2019s what matters.<\/p>\n I just want to thank everyone involved in my exchange journey, in here in Chichester and in my school in J\u00e4ms\u00e4. I want to thank the patience of my teachers who answered calmly in every of my constant questions, before, during and after this trip. I\u2019m also so grateful for the people in here who were patience as well and so, so nice and I will cherish each and every one of them for the rest of my life. I just can\u2019t believe that I got the chance to have this opportunity at all. I have always considered myself someone who was born in the wrong country but I think I might be true Finn after all.<\/p>\n But now it has come the time to go where my heart is. Home.<\/p>\n I left 2 months ago to take upon a new journey which life had put in front of me, and I can still remember the excitement and the sadness I was feeling. I remember how I cried leaving my husband behind, but I also remember the feeling of strength I had for going towards … Continue reading Going where my heart is…<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"