Training Tidbits

Ayayay...I overslept. Haven't had time to blog-hop, but I'll do it tomorrow, OK? Started having a mild sore throat this morning, so I decided to take a longer nap today, especially since I felt SO tired when I arrived back home.

Let me write some tidbits of those people I meet in my current training place.

1. It's a small world after all!!! A Dutch couple came by and then the guy asked me, "Were you born here?"

I said, "Noooooooo, I come from Indonesia!"

He was nicely surprised. He said, "Really? I was born in Bandung!"

I was nicely surprised, too. I said, "REAAAAAAAALLYYYY? I come from Bandung, too!"

So we chatted for a little while. Turned out he moved back to Holland when he was a baby (didn't remember anything about Bandung), but he'd love to visit Bandung someday he he he...

Then they complimented my English HA HA HA HA HA HA...THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!! ;-D

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2. An old Finnish guy came by to the office. I don't know him, but it seems he's left some books at the office to sell to people (it's a book on the local Finnish dialect). Then he asked my boss where I came from (my boss was near me when he came by). He called me "pikku neiti" or "Little Miss" hi hi hi hi hi...

Then he said, "Very interesting!"

I was nicely surprised that he spoke English since he looked old enough not to know much English. And then he talked too fast in Finnish, but I think he said that I looked like a doll HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

Nobody's ever said that, so again THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH HI HI HI HI...I take that as a compliment!

3. A Finnish woman came by to buy some tickets to watch Luosto Classic concert (it's an outdoor concert in Luosto). Nobody else was there at the time, so I had to deal with her in Finnish. I'd picked up some of the phrases from my senior when he handled customers to sell these tickets HO HO HO HO HO...

Different from other customers who just left right after getting the tickets, she started chatting me up. She asked me where I came from and stuff like that. She said that my Finnish was good. Oh, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the encouragement!!!

I told her that it was still hard for me to understand if people talk too fast he he he...And the other nice thing about her was that she was all smiles! ;-D And she even wished me a nice summer! ;-D

4. It never crossed my mind that I'd feel my nationality being at stake before moving to Finland. Now I always remember that people here may gather a general impression on Indonesians from me, so I must be a good representative of my country. I don't want them to think badly about Indonesians. :-)))) After all, there aren't any other Indonesians in Sodankylä.

5. I realize one thing about working in this tourist info office. There are periods of time when nobody comes in, so that can be boring, as well, but I've met interesting people along the way he he he he...And more often than not, they're happy since they're on a holiday, so they're not hard to deal with HI HI HI HI HI...Plus, to make sure I don't feel bored, I bring a novel to the store, so I kill two birds with one stone: I can also catch up on my summer reading this way HI HI HI HI...

Mind you, I still dare not pick up the office mobile phone since I'm still not confident with my Finnish on the phone he he he he...but I've begun to be more proactive when there are tourists in the office. Before I didn't have the nerve to come near them and ask if they needed any help, since I wasn't really sure that I could help them HI HI HI HI HI...

Plus I've never been an outgoing person all my life, so even now I still have to push myself to come over and be proactive to them. It seems that life's teaching me to be more active in the "service" area, since I also had to confront customers in the other training place, the souvenir shop.

One time I felt REALLY pleased with myself for having pushed myself to be proactive. I noticed one Finnish lady taking the wrong brochure, so I took the right one and explained to her in brief Finnish that the one she took was the wrong one HE HE HE HE HE HE...I still had to gather courage and try to think of what to say before approaching her, though HE HE HE...

I had NEVER worked like this before all my life, so these two trainings have been SO valuable to me, even though at first I thought that they weren't suitable for me.

So THANK YOU, God, for having given me these opportunities!!!!!!!!!!

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