I’m in frickcin’ Ottawa!

What happened?!

Back in October 2011, I chose to go to Ottawa for my first work term.

Mainly because I want to get away from everything (not my friends, I LOVE YOU GUYS). I needed a vacation.

I made a bad decision career-wise. I feel that I was tricked because the job description does not match what I’m doing. But this is a rant for another time.

I have a lot more time now. But I have been neglecting this blog for some odd reason. Here are some photo dumps of the stuff I have done since coming to Ottawa:

IT’S A TRAP!

I innocently got on a train without realizing that my job is a joke and the $600 deposit I put on my room was going to a waste.

The train ride was longer than I expected. My butt was hurting by the end. Ottawa greeted me with black skies and a few lights. I thought I was in a field 😦

Slumlord Trap

I didn’t get the actual confirmation of my job until December 23rd, so I did not want to commit to a house until I knew I was employed. This left me with a few days to find a place. I naively set down a $600 deposit for a small room in a house that I did not look at before arriving. Bad mistake and lesson learned. Next time I will spend a night or two in a hotel and actually see the rooms first.

The address of this place is 489 Maclaren St. If you are a stranger and stumbled upon this post. I wish that you will read the rest of this second and see the pictures for yourself. I cannot repeat myself more. Stay stay stay AWAY from this place. The entire house is disgusting and smelt of ammonia. It would take a major revamp to get this place to a sanitary condition to live in.

The window had a piece missing. This is winter. There is nothing between the room and the weather other than a screen.

The place was absolutely disgusting. I was promised a clean, basic place and as you can see, I did not get that. The mouse trap had rotting food on it and the kitchen was not sanitary. I left the place after 10 minutes and looked for a new place.

Beacon of Light

I immediately started calling places to see if I can move in right away. I got very lucky. The first place I called was 3 blocks away. Once I arrived, the landlord was extremely empathetic and the house was more than “basic, clean and liveable.” I took a few pictures of one of the rooms. This is not my room, but it is very similar:

My landlord is very nice. My room mates are awesome too. They were very welcoming and we talk frequently.

Moved in!

After settling down for the night, mom and I went out for a late night dinner(oh yeah, thank god mom came along with me!)

My Office

My work environment is very welcoming. My coworkers are really nice and my boss is very chill.

A quirk tradition in our department. This decor is passed on to the newest employee of the department, who must pass it on the next new employee. I heard some people just moved into our department. So I might be loosing this soon. 😦

The Weather

AHAHAHAHA!!!

I got trolled by Ottawa’s weather. Out of all the things I considered, climate was not one of them. As a Torontonian, I suffered greatly.

My daily schedule:

1. Wake up at 06:30
   1. put on snow pants
   2. waddle to work
2. Lunch time
   1. put on snow pants
   2. waddle to find food
3. 17:00
   1. put on snow pants
   2. waddle to gym
4. 18:30
   1. put on snow pants
   2. waddle madly home

This is a nice day. While there is a shitload of snow on the ground, my face is not assaulted with fast-falling snow.

this is what most days are like. My face hurts.

WatPub

Watpub makes life easier. We meet up every week to do things such as visiting museums. They also brought along many new experiences for me. Thanks guys.

On Being Alone

I have a problem with being alone. Moving to Ottawa means a new city with absolutely no one. It wasn’t until Watpub that I actually met up with people that I can relate to. It’s a lot better now. My room mates and I get along fine as well. I chose Ottawa to get away from school and to avoid going home. But I really do miss my friends.

New hobby to keep me from going insane. As great as work is, there is still a taste of cubicle syndrome. These make my little area have more character.

Birthday

It’s in a few days. I will not be celebrating since I am in Ottawa by myself. It’s also the day after Family day, which I will also not observe since it is a provincial holiday and I am a federal public servant. 😦

I have been thinking about what I should treat myself on my birthday. A recent conversation enlightened me to a few expensive items that are staples for every young woman. Neither I, or the friends I hang out with have ever considered this factor. So it seems like a very big investment right now.

Here is a front runner. I hope this doesn’t turn into an obsession 😦

It’s the Fossil, Maddox Patchwork Satchel, with a price tag of $228.00, a pretty big investment. It also does not blend in with everything, so I don’t think it should be my first purse. But it is the one that instantly stood out to me among all the other bags at the Fossil store. On the other side of the coin, how many purses will I buy? Probably just one. Shouldn’t I buy the one that I like?

It’s pro vs con notepad time.

Conforming

The people I met in Ottawa certainly made me re-evaluate my opinion on my place in society. I never thought too much on the importance of blending in to society standards. Now, there are people who will say that this is unnecessary and that the most important thing is yourself. Screw what other people things! But there are things in life that we do against our ideals. We see unjust things but suppress them because it will cause too much problems if we stand out.

But I think both sides are bullshit. it is sometimes selfish to do the right thing. Because the right thing is sometimes not the ideal things and you will be breaking some of the responsibilities that you carry. We have to suck up shit and turn a blind eye to be conservative.

I think we need to find a balance between the two extremes. To do the right thing while still being able to shoulder our responsibilities to those we care about.

Finding that balance is seemingly impossible. So I will take it one step at a time. There will be regrets along the way. But in the bigger picture, surely everything will be okay.