Arbetsförmedlingen (Job Centre)

For anyone that read my blog yesterday, you should be aware that today i had an appointment with the local job centre once more, i was a bit apprehensive about going today for a few reasons but the main one being the stupid idiot that is normally behind the information desk. 

For anyone not quite sure what i am talking about if you read my post Arbetsförmedlingen (Job Centre) <Part1> you will surly understand the reason why.

But lucky for me when i entered the building it wasn't the resident douchebag that was stood behind the counter but some other women, who turned out to be more than helpful and nice, which in turn made me feel a little at ease about the whole situation i was about to embark upon.

Not only was i welcomed by a lovely woman but upon turning around to go sit down at the waiting area i also found myself sitting next to a old friend of mines who i had met while attending the SFI course here in Sweden, i think it must have been about 3 years now since the last time i saw her but we had a good old catch up which was great since it took my mind off the meeting that was ahead of me, she seemed to be doing good for herself although had found herself in the same situation as i am currently due to the company she was working with having to close its doors (Stupid economic crisis). But she had been lucky to have got herself a drivers licence while she was working so i guess that will help her get a job.

So finally 11am came and i was greeted by the person i was to have my interview with (Ulrika) and no before anyone gets the funny idea she was not called Ulrika Jonsson, although quite funnily enough she was a tall blonde woman. But after shaking hands and being escorted to her office i noticed the thing that was going to make this interview extremely difficult .... Ulrika had a Woman Moustache. I don't know about anyone else but for some very strange reason every time i see a woman with a moustache i am instantly drawn to it every single time i'm trying to talk to them, so instead of looking in her eyes i find myself having a conversation with this blonde moustache. 

I don't think she picked up on it, because she continued to be very nice towards me and she helped me the best she could, so i guess i should be thankful for that.

As the meeting continued i think had to ask the moustache about 18 times over to explain what she was talking about, i believe that she forgot at times that i was not a Swedish person and continued to use Swedish slang, for anyone that doesn't know the Swedish language it's probably one of the hardest languages in the world to learn and on top of that the Swedish people have decided to introduce slang to their language as well. Even though i have lived here for 5 years now i still cannot understand a single word of there slang and i don't think i ever will, when we are taught Swedish we are taught the correct words and no slang is given or used, so when it comes to them using it you find yourself left in the world of confusion, but she eventually took the hint after the 18th time of me asking her what she meant and reverted to using only real Swedish.

The Agreement

I was informed when i made the appointment that i would be given a interview with someone that spoke both Swedish and English, just incase there was words i couldn't find in my vocabulary or if the interviewer said something i was unable to understand (Or decided to speak in slang), but after our conversation began it became very apparent that she couldn't speak the English language, either that or she was deliberately not speaking English to me so that i would be forced to speak Swedish, either way i managed to get through the whole thing without speaking English which was left me feeling extremely proud of myself, ok there was the odd word here and there that i couldn't find so i would say them in English to which she would quickly inform me of what the Swedish word was (Pretty much forgotten half of them now, but some of them stuck). 

But at least now i have a game plan in action, we have came up with an agreement (Picture above) and i have been given a job coach that best suits my job requirements, and hopefully i should be hearing from them by either telephone or mail as to when we shall meet, so i'm really excited and very hopeful for the future. I had explained that some of my Swedish friends had said that some job coaches were not the best and basically didn't really want to help and was advised that sometimes that is the case, but i have just to contact her directly if i feel this and they will deal with it, but i have to make sure that i give 110% to this, and that is exactly what i plan on doing.

So all in all a great day today, what was first apprehension turned into security and i managed to come out of the meeting feeling alot better about myself than i did going into it.

So let's just hope that something positive comes out of this, i have this job coach for the next 3 months so basically up until December this year and if i am still unable to find employment then i will have another meeting with Ulrika to see where we can go from there.

But for now i think i shall bid you all farewell, i hope your day has been as good as mine has. Take care everyone.