Guess Who's Happy to be Working in Ireland?

Thankfully, they don't reject work permits based on the photos, otherwise they wouldn't have let me into the country as I look PISSED OFF. And just to clarify, yes, I was pissed off at the time of the photo; (and hot, sweaty and dishevelled to boot). Unfortunately, I had to use these photos up, so this is also going to be the photo for my Irish driver's licence which is just.....Great.

Slightly off topic, I couldn't convince the girl at the car motor tax office to give me a one year licence at the cost of 5 euros. Apparently that's only for the over 70's with the whole mind set of why pay for more when you could be dead the next year....? Blah. Whatever.......

My scowl was apparently not a deterrant as reported by the recruitment consultant who collected me at Shannon airport nearly a year ago. The guys at the agency were checking out all the applicants applying through the recruitment drive. Apparently there were a lot of "Nup," and "Eh, next.", and then out came my photo, and the guys reportedly all thought I was "pretty" and had my passport photo pinned up on the board in the office for the whole week. How embarassing. Before anybody thinks that I'm going to get a big head, let me clarify. 80% of people hover around the average mark with a scattered few above and below average. Then you get the occasional "extremely good looking" (and "extremely ugly"). I am just average, just like everybody else. The only reason those Irish guys thought I was "pretty" is because I am not ginger. This is why pick up game is lame. Where's the challenge when you're already one step ahead just because you don't have red hair....?

It's official. The work contract has been sign, and I am staying another year in Ireland. I can tick the "Moving to a Country where I wouldn't know Anybody" off my list. There's something so empowering about knowing that you can just pack up and go some place else. Anything after the first time is like a breeze, and there isn't any fear. I'm glad I did it as I think most girls are pansies and would have been too scared to do so. Am I smug...? Just a little.

There are parallel universes running along side ours, with our lives running in totally different directions from decisions and choices that could have been made. It's a little surreal to think that in mine, I would have been in a relationship and would still be stuck in P Town, going to work with a bunch of girls who research "what it is like to be pregnant", spend their weekends at Bunnings with the boyfriend they've had since they were 13, and talk incessantly about how their boyfriend doesn't like eating corn.

Instead, I've ridden a camel over the golden sands of the Moroccan dessert at sunset, haggled in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, wandered the deserted streets of east London at 6am wondering how the hell I was going to get home, shaken Tony Colman's hand at a Hospitality night, eating too many frites with mayonaise in chilly Belgium, pranced by the Pegasus fountain, had chills running down my spine at Auschwitz.... How could any girl chose this over the mind numbing "white picket fence" life?

Say hello to another year of the "Not So Lonely Planet". After that, I'm not sure.... Hopefully a turn for the best in terms of career and finding a place to call my own, my home and to live. Given a choice, I would love to live the life of travelling every single month, but at the cost of everything else - from the insipid career to the distant relationships..... There needs to be a balance somewhere.

Just as long as I don't end up like one of those fricking girls who constantly talks about how their lame boyfriend doesn't like to eat corn. I mean, how fucking boring can you get?

Signing off,
xoxo
Closetblonde