Ishicilelwe: 27.02.2017
After spending the weekend with Max and Diego, I went back to the hostel during the week. Not much happened there because I was waiting for the companies' responses. Together with the bunkmates and hostel residents who had been living here for a while, we passed the time with chess, conversations, walks around the city, and fitness exercises in the hostel's basement. There were no equipment there, but we knew how to make do with the surroundings.
Every afternoon, we always went to the cafeteria of the Community Center near the hostel, where you could get a whole lunch with soup, dessert, and a small salad for €2.50. Among other things, the Community Center also offered cheap food that was a few days past its expiration date. My roommate Nico, who has been living in this hostel for an incredible 2 months, suggested that the Community Center should have its own little chapter in my blog. Although I can't fulfill his wish completely, there is at least a paragraph about it! :-)
After being invited to job interviews, some online in the hostel and others in person at the company, I immediately took one on Wednesday. The night before, I stayed in another hostel because it was closer to the location where I had to take the interview. Unfortunately, this decision turned out to be a mistake, as one of my roommates snored loudly. I woke him up three times during the night by throwing a towel in his face. Of course, he wasn't very pleased after the third time, but I was equally unhappy about his snoring!
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, I went to the interview, which I thought was very easy. After that, I immediately put my plan to buy earplugs for future hostel visits into action.
Afterwards, I returned to my standard hostel. The next day, I went to a cafeteria with an older gentleman named Alfred, who frequently stays in this hostel when he is in Montreal. Two other hostel guests, one from France and the other from Germany, accompanied us. Montreal was Andreas' last stop after his 6-month journey through North America. After the cafeteria, Alfred took us on a little tour of the city. He drove us up to Mount Royal and showed us the Jean-Talon Market, the largest weekly market in Montreal. In return for the small city tour, we helped him load his car with clothing and fabrics. He was doing this on behalf of a boutique that also has a second branch in Quebec City, which is about 4 hours away and a city I also want to visit. Since he wasn't as fit anymore and we 3 strong guys were helpful, we gladly did it for him and loaded the car within 10 minutes.
Since I still had to wait for the companies' responses and the weekend was approaching, I asked if I could stay with Max and Diego again on the weekend. They had no objection, but unfortunately, we couldn't do much on the weekend as I caught a cold and was bedridden for 2 days due to a runny nose. However, this also fit Diego's weekend plans as he had to take 2 exams next week. On Monday morning, I received a positive response from Volt Media Consulting (VMC), where I took the interview on Wednesday. They told me over the phone that I passed the test and already had work for the next day. Now, the everyday life as a game tester for German translation can begin!