Working 9 to 5
A side view of one of the stores in Elora.
… but more like 8:30 to 4:30, but that doesn’t sound nearly as fun as Dolly Parton’s song.
I find it really interesting how quickly my new working life began to feel “normal”. There was a transition period, of course, where I was just still being trained in something new every day and had questions every step of the way. After two months into the job, however, I had a pretty good idea of the regular day-to-day.
There are still new things obviously - special cases that deviate from the norm, certain events that are different from others etc., but for the most part, I know what to do and expect from each day Monday through Friday.
And suddenly, the few months I spent applying to different gigs feel distant. Suddenly, driving to work three days a week (and working from home the other two) is just what I do, and scheduling meetups around work hours is just a part of it.
I know this might sound absurd to literally every other working person on this planet for whom this is totally normal and expected. But to me, it is fascinating how quickly a new normal can establish itself, even after months of a vastly different lifestyle that involved waking up when others would have long made their way to the office and going to the gym when others were having lunch or work meetings.
New normal
I went from being a semi-unemployed freelancer in a new country with no set schedule living in my partner’s parents’ basement to working full-time in Canada while moving into our new place all within 2 weeks. And now that’s our new normal.
Every week, we try to tackle a new house project: hanging pictures, mounting shelves, building yet another piece of furniture (I am so surprised to find out just how much furniture can fit into this space).
Earlier on this blog, I wrote about getting asked the question “Have you settled in yet?”. I think I have now.
Settling in is a confusing concept for me. I still have so many new impressions and am discovering new things constantly. Being in a country thousands of kilometers away from my old home still feels strange on some days, but I don’t even think about it most of the time.
To read more of my Canadian adventure, click here.
