Senaste inläggen

Av Marcus Berggren - 18 januari 2016 22:36

This is gonna be a long post cause it's an update of 5 days including today (monday) so I'll be writing everything in English.

I've been bad at updating here because I've been busy and tired once I came back to the hotel. I'll give you all a quick recap. Last post I talked about the rest of the trip. So I recap starting thursday morning. Thursday morning at 10 AM, me, Adam and Robin went to Teleperformance HR department. We got to do a test and then sign the contract once again to confirm. The test wasn't hard at all, basicly logic thinking and problem solving and last but not least reading comprehension in English. It was very very easy. That afternoon we got back to the hotel to get wifi and check google maps to see what bus to take into the city centre. We went with bus 040 (ironically that's the area code for Malmö in sweden lol) and walked up to Akropolis. We came just too late to get into the area with the temples so we went up this hill beside Akropolis and there was an amazing view. We went down on the other side and found a resturant to have a beer and relax, we also had dinner there and then we started to walk back to the bus station to take the bus back to the hotel. By this time it was dark outside and the buses here well they don't stop unless you hold the stop button for like a loooong time... and we couldn't see where we were. we thought the bus was further along the route than it actually was. We walked for 2 hrs.... eventually we got a cab to get back to the hotel. Oh the pain in my feet and legs omfg... we got back and slept well after all that walking.

We had nothing to do on Friday and the weekend so Friday we decided to get to Akropolis early. We went up to the monuments and I took some pictures and also filmed a bit. We also checked out the slope on the side of Akropols (Akropolis is the big "rock" where the monuments are located and the slopes have monuments and ruins as well) before we got some lunch and then decided to go check out the Akropolis museum. When we were finally done there (the museum wasn't anything special really), we headed up to try to find a bank office that I located on google maps. Turns out the bank office didn't exist (or had shut down i don't know). After this we decided to head back and take the bus home. A lot of walking both Thursday and Friday so Saturday, I was mostly on the hotel. We got lunch at a local place where this older guy was thrilled to have us there because he had apparently visited Sweden when he was young :P We ordered a Sandwich Speciale, I think it contained: Omelette (sausage, egg) ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and some delicious sauce. We didn't do much Saturday. Yesterday (Sunday), me and Adam decided to check out the Flisvos Marina that I had been told about (supposed to be like monaco, huge boats and stuff and it sure was). We walked for 45 minutes, i'm not kidding! the roads that google maps shows haven't even been built yet! LOL. but we got there and we took some pictures of the view of the water. We then went further East along the coast to the town called Palaio Faliro. Turns out it's just about 5 minutes away with tram! We tried to find somewhere to eat there but we couldn't find a decent place so we decided to go back to the hotel and eat at K grill that lies next to the Teleperformance building. 

Today, it was the first day of our training. I'm currently a trainee and so it's like going to school but long hours :P
We're learning basic stuff like how to find the information we need to solve certain problems and stuff. Lots of support database information. Also we learned about something called "Soft skills". Basicly, it means customer care. How do you deal with a client who is yelling and is very upset? you let that person talk it off. it will take probably 5 minutes. If you interrupt however, it will take at least 15 minutes :p sounded like Xenofon spoke from experience (he's my teacher and he's been working here for 3,5 years. He's still an agent but an experienced one!)


This week my schedule is 9 AM to 6 PM every day. Next week it will be 9 AM to 5 PM. The following week, we'll be working lke I'm supposed to and I'll be out of training. When I'm done with training i'll be working shifts but it's not bad hours at all. The hours are 10 AM to 5 PM and 11 AM to 6 PM. that includes 2x 15 minute breaks and 30 minutes to eat. The lunch break is 13.15/1.15 PM :/ it's too late! today i was absolutely hungry like a wolf when we finally had a lunch break. Today after work, we were a bunch of people agreeing on eating dinner today later tonight at 8 PM. Half the people didn't turn up :P oh well. It was still really nice, we had a good time and I loved the Pasta Cabonara here! 

I'm not at the hotel and I'm going to sleep! I'll make sure to update more frequently so the posts don't get this long in the future. Until then, Cheers!

Av Marcus Berggren - 14 januari 2016 07:48

Jag kunde inte få tillgång till wifi på Belgards flygplats så jag skrev det offline:

"Det är rätt intressant detta. Jag har aldrig sett att man har säkerhetskontroll precis i anslutning till gate-loungen. Så gör man alltså i Belgrade. Gaterna är i par och varje par har en säkerhetskontroll. Intressant!"

och vilket ruckel till flygplats det var sen. Känns som att man åkte tillbaka i tiden nästan! nåväl. Flygresan gick bra även till Aten och sedan kom min väska nästan direkt på bandet och när jag kom ut i avgångshallen så stod där en trevlig äldre man med en skylt med tre efternamn varav mitt stod högst upp. Då visar det sig alltså att två andra svenskar åkt med samma plan hela vägen från Kastrup till Aten och även ska jobba tillsammans med mig på Lenovo-projektet! Trevligt! Vi samlas där då och sedan blir vi körda till hotellet. Alla var så hungriga så vi drog ut nästan direkt på kvällen här och försökte hitta någonstans att äta. Sedan på kvällen så var jag så trött så att jag låg mest och slappnade av och vilade. Det behövdes kan jag säga!

När jag skriver detta är klockan strax efter 9 på morgonen och kl 10 ska vi vara vid Teleperformance för att fixa de sista pappersarbetet angående vår anställning. Jag skriver ikväll om hur det gick idag och vad vi gjorde.

Ha de gott så länge! :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I couldn't get Wifi-Acess at Belgrade Airport so I wrote this offline:


"This is pretty interesting. I've never seen this before. Here at Tesla Airport in Belgrade, there's a security check in connection to the gate lounge. The gates are in pairs and each pair has a security check. Compare this to for instance Copenhagen airport where you check-in your luggage, then you go up one floor and there's this huge security check with many lined up beside eachother. Then after that you get to the shopping area and everything. Here you have the shopping area (or lack thereof) before the security check. Interesting indeed. And pretty rare in my experience. I've never seen it before. Interesting!"


The place was pretty worn down to be honest, it was like going back in time.  The connection flight to Athens went great as well. I retrieved my luggage pretty quickly and went out to the arrival area. There was an older nice gentleman holding a sign with three surnames on it, mine of which was at the top. It turns out that there's been two other guys from Sweden who had been riding the same plane both to Belgrade and then from Belgrade to Athens. They are also going to be my co-workers at Teleperformance/Lenovo! We went to the hotel and barely settled in before we all decided to go out to find somewhere to have a meal. We had all been counting on eating lunch at Belgrade Airport but turns out they didn't have Euros, only Serbian Dinar, so we were all very hungry folks going out for a meal. Once we came back to the hotel, I was so tired in mind and body that all I could do was to lay down and rest. It was well needed!

As I'm writing this, it's morning at 9 AM here in Athens and in about an hour we're supposed to be at Teleperformance to finish the paper work for our employment. We've all agreed to meet up in about half an hour and walk together. I'll be writing more tonight about how today turned out! 

Peace out

Av Marcus Berggren - 13 januari 2016 08:54

Jag sitter nu vid Gaten och väntar på att få gå på planet som lyfter 9:35. Det blir boarding, skulle jag gissa, cirka 20 minuter innan. Så det blir att vänta ungefär 20 minuter då. Allt har gått bra hittills. Vi tog taxi 6.30 och kom till flygplatsen cirka kl 7 för att checka in och komma igenom säkerhetskontrollen. Allt gick väldigt snabbt och smidigt eftersom att vi var i god tid och det var typ inget folk alls här då. Sedan gick vi till Loungen för att äta lite frukost. Nu sitter jag själv på gaten och väntar. Skriver igen i Belgrad där jag ska mellanlanda, om jag får tillgång till WiFi!
Ha de gott!


I'm now sitting at the gate waiting to board the airplane which takes off at 9.35 AM. I'd guess Boarding, as usual, is set around 20 minutes before take-off and so that means i'll be waiting another 20 minutes here. Everything went well so far. We ordered a taxi picking us up at 6.30 AM and we arrived at the airport around 7 AM to check in and go through security. Everything went real quick and smooth cause we were way ahead of time. No other people around us pretty much. We then went to the lounge area to get some breakfast and relax for a bit. Now I'm at the gate waiting by myself. I'll be writing another post in Belgrade where i'll be having a connecting flight, should I get access to WIFi down there. See ya laters!

Av Marcus Berggren - 12 januari 2016 17:19

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that i'll be translating the older posts so that everything is bi-lingual here now! cheers guys!

Av Marcus Berggren - 12 januari 2016 16:14

Då är jag på väg till mamma snart. Ska sova över där för att sedan imorgon bitti ta taxi till Kastrup. Allt är packat och förberett! Hoppas bara jag kan somna ikväll.


Soon I'm headed to my mom's. I'm gonna sleep there and then early tomorrow morning we're taking a taxi to Kastrup Copenhagen airport. Everything is packed up and ready to go. I just hope I get a good night sleep tonight so that tomorrow will be a pleasant journey. 


 


   

Av Marcus Berggren - 10 januari 2016 18:47

Good evening readers!
I've decided to write all my journal posts in two sections; in English and in Swedish.
This is because I have friends abroad who don't understand nor speak Swedish. I could write it in English altogether but I want to keep my Swedish intact during my stay in Greece as I will be speaking English 24/7 for the first few months at least, until i've started to learn Greek to the point where i can use it in my everyday life.

Now it is 3 days til I'm at my hotel in Athens, even less than that actually cause I arrive in Athens at 3.40 PM local time GMT+2 that is btw so when i write time it's the local time. Anyways, now you know! I've been excited for weeks and now it's actually closing in and I'm starting to get a bit nervous. I'm not nervous about the flight or any of that. I'm nervous about the life there. What will be the same? What will be different? Will I make friends quickly? Will I get a place to stay right away or after some time? All these questions will be answered soon enough.

God kväll, läsare!
Jag har bestämt mig för att skriva alla mina dagboksinlägg på både svenska och engelska. Detta är självklart för att mina vänner ute i världen som inte förstår svenska ändå ska kunna gå in här och läsa och följa mitt äventyr. Jag skulle kunna skriva allting på Engelska för majoriteten svenskar förstår Engelska tillräckligt bra men varför jag ändå kommer skriva på Svenska också är för att hålla svenska språket igång. Det kommer bli Engelska 24/7 åtminstone de första månaderna och då är det bra att ha något att hålla igång svenskan med. Sedan kommer jag försöka övergå mer och mer till Grekiska när jag börjar lära mig språket så pass att jag kan använda det i vardagliga livet. 

See you soon again. There will most likely be a post on tuesday night before I go to sleep. check that out!
Ciao

Nu är det tre dagar tills jag är på mitt hotel i Aten, ännu mindre tillochmed eftersom att jag kommer fram 15:40 lokal tid vilket är GMT+2. Sverige är i GMT+1 eller European Central Standard Time (ECST) och Grekland är då alltså i Europas östra tidzon, Svensk tid plus en timme alltså. Jag har längtat i flera veckor och nu börjar det närma sig. Det börjar bli lite nervöst. Flygningen är jag inte alls orolig eller nervös för. Jag är väl främst nervös för hur tillvaron ska bli där nere. Vad är likadant som i Sverige och vad är helt olikt? Kommer jag få vänner snabbt?
Kommer jag få en lägenhet att hyra/dela med någon på direkten eller kommer det dröja?
Alla dessa frågor kommer att bli besvarade allteftersom.

Ha det fint och kika in här snart igen! Det kommer komma minst ett inlägg till innan resan, förmodligen på tisdag kväll innan jag ska sova. Ciao!

 

Av Marcus Berggren - 7 januari 2016 15:44

Shopping är inte riktigt min grej men nya kläder behövdes och idag blev det en tur till Dressmann på Emporia. Det gick snabbt och enkelt, så som jag vill att det ska gå. Jag har även skaffat Telenor kontantkort rörligt. Jag frågade om att få flytta mitt nummer men då skulle det först flyttas till ett abonnemang där jag var tvungen att betala 249kr för det abbonemanget och SEN kunde jag då flytta över numret till kontantkortet osv. Väldigt mycket klydderi. Jag har varken tid, ork eller pengar till sådant så jag tog beslutet att ta ett kontantkort med ett nytt nummer helt enkelt som jag börjar använda nästa vecka. 100 kr laddat och klart! :)


Igår gjorde jag en första provpackning och det ser bra ut faktiskt! 


Ciao!

Shopping isn't really my thing but new clothes were very much needed and today, I went to Emporia ( a huge mall in Hyllie, Malmö) to do some shopping. It went nice and smooth, the way I prefer it to be. I've also gotten a new prepaid sim-card from Telenor. I asked about moving my old number to the old one but they take a fee for it and it was kinda messy to cause they'd have to move my number from contract to contract and then to the prepaid sim-card. I don't have time, energy nor money to spend on it so a new prepaid sim-card with a new number it is.

last night, I did a first test packing and it's looking good!

See ya!

Av Marcus Berggren - 4 januari 2016 11:40

Nu är det Måndag igen. Sista veckan hemma har börjat. Jag har fortfarande en del att fixa med men mycket är på banan så det känns som att man kan slappna av litegranna   . Nästa på att-göra-listan är att öppna bankkonto hos Forex. Det gör att dels har jag två banker, skulle den ena bankens system ligga nere så har jag backup om det skulle krisa, dels så är det så att på forex så kostar det inget att ta ut pengar i utlandet, normal avgift är runt 50 kr per uttag. Kan tyckas lite pengar men det är pengar det också o det kan bli dyrt efter ett tag. Sedan erbjuder även Forex ett såkallat Euro-konto. Jag kommer att öppna ett sådant hos Forex i Grekland för att få min lön på det kontot. Smidigt!
Min favoritlärare från gymnasiet har gått med på att skriva mitt Letter of Recommendation också, vilket jag är väldigt glad över :)

Blir ett par inlägg till innan resan och lite bilder från packning osv. Sedan kommer inlägg från hotel Delfini i Kalithea, Aten :) 

Ciao!


Now it's Monday again. Last week at home has begun. I still have some stuff to take care of, but most of it has been taken care of so it feels like I can relax a bit. Next on the to-do list is to open bank account with Forex. This means I'll have two banks so should one of the bank's system will be down, I have a backup, and with forex there's no withdrawal fee abroad Forex also offers a Euro Account. I will open such at Forex in Greece to get my salary on that account. Smooth!
My favorite teacher from high school has agreed to write my Letter of Recommendation as well, which I'm very happy about :)


I'll make a few posts before the trip and some pictures from packing etc. The first one from Greece will probably be from the Hotel Delfini in Kalithea, Athens :)


See ya!

Ovido - Quiz & Flashcards