The Raven Story 🦅

Although we haven't taken any big trips in the past few weeks, there are still a few events that I want to tell you about!

Let's start with the spectacular raven attack!

As I walk to work on a rainy Friday, dark clouds cover the morning sky. I pull my hood deep into my face and walk quickly through the street. In the distance, I hear the cries of ravens, which I only vaguely notice. Suddenly, a man comes towards me, and I am still wondering why two ravens are loudly screaming and flying quite low. A few steps further, they are still calling out, and suddenly they fly very low, getting closer and grazing my hood!

Then I see a small raven on the sidewalk, flapping its wings but still unable to fly. The two ravens are apparently the concerned parents protecting their offspring! At that moment, when I see the little one, I turn around and walk away. I don't want to anger the parents. So I walk a few meters back and cross the empty street to continue my way on the other side. But this peace offering is not enough for the parents: They continue to attack me with loud caws and fly toward my head! I try to shoo them away with arm waving. But they follow me for a few more minutes until they leave me alone. The whole street is filled with the cries of other ravens, and I shudder at the thought of being stuck in a Hitchcock movie. Thoughts fly through my head: Will this attack be a bad omen for the day?

It wasn't a bad omen for the day, and the parents are just very caring about their offspring. Nothing happened to me: My head is still intact, and my hood is not damaged. But unfortunately, now whenever a raven caws above me, I speed up my pace and shrug my shoulders. 😒

To process this dramatic experience, I tell it to anyone who wants to hear it and doesn't. 😂 A colleague said that ravens can remember people, and I actually feel like every time I walk through the street again, they caw at me, and a shiver runs down my spine.

Now to work:

After the first few days of cleaning up the mountains of garbage, I get to do a lot of 'Protection' in the following days. As I write this, I feel a bit like 'Lisa from Australia'... 'Protection': I don't even know how to say that in German. 😂 In any case, I really enjoy this work: I put blue film on the stovetops, ovens, and wine cabinets. I also lay down fluffy film on the wooden floor and place thin wooden boards on top. I stick cardboard onto the kitchen counters and the tiles in the bathroom. Different types of tape are used for different surfaces, depending on how sensitive the surface is. I'm becoming a real construction worker and professional protector.

I diligently practice speaking English with my colleagues. It's definitely helping me a lot. And because I don't mind anymore when I don't know the words, I dare to have longer conversations. By now, I have a handful of colleagues I speak to during work. They ask me a lot of questions, and I can answer them. If I don't know something, I describe it, and they often tell me the missing term. I also enjoy being able to ask them personal questions and learn a lot about them. One colleague listens to music at work, and when I work with him for half a day in an apartment, the music playing in the background while we talk, I feel like I'm in an English class doing a Listening Comprehension! 😂 When we're not talking, he sings along to the songs, and I start to understand the lyrics better. I philosophize about soccer with another colleague. Some of you know how well I can commentate soccer games. He's a Bayer Leverkusen fan. A Mexican colleague makes me laugh when he tells me that his mom - while he's briefly away - dismantled the chicken he ordered in a fancy restaurant because he will always be her little boy.

When I work on Saturdays, I have a bit of peace and can do my tasks without so many people around. Unfortunately, last Saturday I had a not-so-great experience with two guys. It starts off innocently enough: In the elevator, I ask Joal, who operates the elevator, for a walkie-talkie because not all floors are equipped with one. Then one of the guys says that I can have his number and call him... I say 'No' and walk away. Shortly after, I have to work on the same floor as the two of them. They are gluing the carpet, and I'm not supposed to walk across the corridor anymore. When I ask if I can take two steps over the glue into the stairwell, one of them wants to help me. But I decline.

Later, I run into the two of them on the parking level. One of them insists on getting my phone number. And they don't believe that I have a boyfriend. Instead, one of them stands in the doorway so I can't get through. They ask me if I'm not friendly, don't want to make new friends, and if I have something against Turks. It makes me so uncomfortable, and I'm relieved when they finally leave.

But I also have really nice colleagues: One works for a German and tells me that his boss is looking for new employees and is always happy to speak German. I like the offer, but I don't think I can just work there for a few weeks. Besides, the construction sites would be further away, and I wouldn't be able to walk to work anymore.

Glenn is back since last week! I'm really happy about that. After working a day with the new guy (who doesn't know which way to hold the utility knife), he got sick, and Glenn requested a new employee through Pristine. I also work with the utility knife specialist sometimes. It's always funny, but his work attitude is like Baloo from The Jungle Book. 'Bare Necessities...' 😂

One day, Manny, the boss of Pristine, comes by to see how things are going. We also talk about Julian: He wants to find Julian a job for experienced workers. Then Julian would get more money per hour. I also put in a good word and tell how much Julian enjoyed working as a roofer. 😉

Last Thursday, my German colleague quit, as she is starting a road trip. We're all sad to see her go but want to stay in touch. Joel, our elevator operator, is also sad and asks me if I could leave instead of her. 😂 Yes, thank you! Very kind! 😅 But this morning, he gave me a fist bump because of Corona. And he also gave me the advice to give all annoying people a fake phone number - specifically the number of the information desk.

Julian saw a skunk at work and sent me a photo. In the beginning, he thought it was a raccoon. But it's a cute little skunk.

Now let's get to another important topic:

Food & Drinks

One evening, Julian and I go to a bar after work. We order Poutine - the typical Canadian national dish! It's really delicious. You have to try it! 🤤

Julian treats himself to regular coffee breaks. Of course, I have to make an urgent appeal to him to be more economical with his money. Of course, I told him about this before mentioning it in my blog! He is fine with it... I just have to report to you in return that I also bought a coffee during lunch break... *¹

Our roommate is not so tidy anymore. I often have to wash the dishes on the sink again because there is still food on them. 🤢 In the past few days, we had a small to medium fruit fly problem because there were still a few onions on the shelf that belonged to the nanny. Our roommate asks if we also have the fly problem in our room. I deny it because we never leave used dishes in our room. But he tells me that he has a lot of flies in his room... eww... By now, the problem is solved, and we are fly-free again. 🐜🚫

Now for an important matter of mine: If you have any topics or questions that you're burning to know, please write them in the comments or send me a message. I will address them in the next post! I'm looking forward to hearing from you! 😃

And see you real soon!!

*¹: ... and when I made the payment with my bank card, I accidentally selected 'Savings Account' instead of 'Checking Account'. So I had to pay a $5 fee, making the coffee cost more than $9... Well... Not my brightest moment! 😅💸 But the coffee was delicious!