Well, I got back to France yesterday. The last week or so has been kind of a blur because we’ve been so busy, so I’ll try to summarise it.
My last update was Saturday 25th April, so I have to think hard about what else has happened!
On the Sunday, we went to Gloucester, and met some of my mate’s friends for lunch. We went to a little pub/bistro which was amazing inside, and gorgeous outside. I had a Caesar salad which was enormous and not very expensive. We had a lovely lunch in the sunshine, and after we had finished, we were going to go to Guiting to an interview I had organised. The guy from the pub there had told me to come up either after five on Friday, or over the weekend. I had explained to him that I was dependent on my mate for transport at the moment, and that I would do my best to make it up as soon as possible. So, Sunday it was. I had the bright thought to phone before we got there to make sure that he was there. He said yes, no problem, see you in a bit, but then phoned me back within two minutes to say well actually don’t bother because you’ve left it too late. I wasn’t quick enough to think of a retort while I was on the phone but as soon as we got home (luckily we hadn’t driven very far out of town) I went upstairs to the office and wrote an email to him basically saying that he had said pop in over the weekend and as far as I was concerned Sunday WAS still the weekend. Well, it obviously was not meant to be, so I put that out of my head. We went out in the evening for an Indian, and after that we went to the local pub, where they were advertising for an Assistant Manager, so I applied for that too.
I spent most of Monday morning trawling the job sites on the internet. My phone rang halfway through the morning from one of the agencies, offering me an interview at 2pm in Tewkesbury. So, I went to the interview, thought it went really well, and went off into Cheltenham. The agency rang back saying that the company wanted me back immediately for a second interview. I got the feeling that I had a great chance at this job. I thought that the second interview went pretty well – it was with a different person to the first one, and I left with my hopes high. On the way home we called back into the local pub where we had a drink, and I gave them my CV, as there was more information than in the application form. Only to be informed that the position had already been filled, the staff had not been told, which was why I had been given a form to fill in. We stayed and had a couple of drinks, gave the new assistant manager a little light hearted abuse, and met a couple of people including a chef who I got a couple of good contacts from.
The rest of the week was spent waiting to hear about the job, going to the dentist with my mate – she ended up in serious pain and on antibiotics and painkillers, but at least it was al at the government’s expense! The worst thing is when you have to pay to be in pain!
I didn’t hear, and I didn’t hear, so eventually I phoned the agency to ask what on earth was happening. By this point I had accepted that I probably hadn’t got the job, but wanted confirmation of that. Apparently the person who deals with my file had been off, but the person I spoke to asked me what on earth went wrong in the second interview. I was stunned – as far as I was aware, nothing had gone wrong. The guy who had interviewed me had completely misunderstood what I had said. I had told him I was relocating back to UK, I had to collect my car in France, and that I would be back straight away. I said I was staying with a friend, and once I had a job I would be looking to rent my own house. He seemed to deduce from this that I was homeless and moving back to France. Apparently, I lost the job not through any shortcomings on my part, but through a misunderstanding. I was so disappointed. I had really wanted that job.
No point standing still though, back to the grindstone of applications and painting the house! We must have painted the hall stairs and landing (including the banisters) about five times! It’s done now though!
Last weekend, as in the Bank Holiday weekend, we went to a friend of my mate’s for lunch. She has a really cute little girl, and we all went to the docks in Gloucester after lunch. We had an ice cream while we looked at the canal boats, and then went into Gloucester to see the cathedral, which is gorgeous. Apparently, in the houses around the cathedral, they filmed the Christmas episode of Doctor Who. I did kind of recognise it from the show – does that make me sad or cool? You can see pictures of the filming here.
My last update was Saturday 25th April, so I have to think hard about what else has happened!
On the Sunday, we went to Gloucester, and met some of my mate’s friends for lunch. We went to a little pub/bistro which was amazing inside, and gorgeous outside. I had a Caesar salad which was enormous and not very expensive. We had a lovely lunch in the sunshine, and after we had finished, we were going to go to Guiting to an interview I had organised. The guy from the pub there had told me to come up either after five on Friday, or over the weekend. I had explained to him that I was dependent on my mate for transport at the moment, and that I would do my best to make it up as soon as possible. So, Sunday it was. I had the bright thought to phone before we got there to make sure that he was there. He said yes, no problem, see you in a bit, but then phoned me back within two minutes to say well actually don’t bother because you’ve left it too late. I wasn’t quick enough to think of a retort while I was on the phone but as soon as we got home (luckily we hadn’t driven very far out of town) I went upstairs to the office and wrote an email to him basically saying that he had said pop in over the weekend and as far as I was concerned Sunday WAS still the weekend. Well, it obviously was not meant to be, so I put that out of my head. We went out in the evening for an Indian, and after that we went to the local pub, where they were advertising for an Assistant Manager, so I applied for that too.
I spent most of Monday morning trawling the job sites on the internet. My phone rang halfway through the morning from one of the agencies, offering me an interview at 2pm in Tewkesbury. So, I went to the interview, thought it went really well, and went off into Cheltenham. The agency rang back saying that the company wanted me back immediately for a second interview. I got the feeling that I had a great chance at this job. I thought that the second interview went pretty well – it was with a different person to the first one, and I left with my hopes high. On the way home we called back into the local pub where we had a drink, and I gave them my CV, as there was more information than in the application form. Only to be informed that the position had already been filled, the staff had not been told, which was why I had been given a form to fill in. We stayed and had a couple of drinks, gave the new assistant manager a little light hearted abuse, and met a couple of people including a chef who I got a couple of good contacts from.
The rest of the week was spent waiting to hear about the job, going to the dentist with my mate – she ended up in serious pain and on antibiotics and painkillers, but at least it was al at the government’s expense! The worst thing is when you have to pay to be in pain!
I didn’t hear, and I didn’t hear, so eventually I phoned the agency to ask what on earth was happening. By this point I had accepted that I probably hadn’t got the job, but wanted confirmation of that. Apparently the person who deals with my file had been off, but the person I spoke to asked me what on earth went wrong in the second interview. I was stunned – as far as I was aware, nothing had gone wrong. The guy who had interviewed me had completely misunderstood what I had said. I had told him I was relocating back to UK, I had to collect my car in France, and that I would be back straight away. I said I was staying with a friend, and once I had a job I would be looking to rent my own house. He seemed to deduce from this that I was homeless and moving back to France. Apparently, I lost the job not through any shortcomings on my part, but through a misunderstanding. I was so disappointed. I had really wanted that job.
No point standing still though, back to the grindstone of applications and painting the house! We must have painted the hall stairs and landing (including the banisters) about five times! It’s done now though!
Last weekend, as in the Bank Holiday weekend, we went to a friend of my mate’s for lunch. She has a really cute little girl, and we all went to the docks in Gloucester after lunch. We had an ice cream while we looked at the canal boats, and then went into Gloucester to see the cathedral, which is gorgeous. Apparently, in the houses around the cathedral, they filmed the Christmas episode of Doctor Who. I did kind of recognise it from the show – does that make me sad or cool? You can see pictures of the filming here.
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