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Major update.
Feb. 5th, 2011 10:46 pmI'm in a room in the Charlottetown, PEI Best Western hotel right now. On the floor above me are three of my coworkers.
Why are we here? Promotion, baby! Last week, I applied for a position in Escalations, and was pretty much hand-picked out of the applicants. Kat, Bernice, Joe, and I all got the position, and so they shipped us off to PEI from tonight until Wednesday for training. It may have been technically cheaper to have someone from the Charlottetown centre come to us, but they have so few agents now that could train us that they couldn't really spare anyone. So thus, we go to them.
It isn't too shabby a deal. The company paid for the mileage to get here (we all came in Kat's car), covers the hotel rooms, and reimburses for our meals. I had to borrow money to cover meals for now, but so long as I get it back, I'm fine with that. Tonight we ate at a steakhouse. Tomorrow, the others plan to get nachos and watch the Superbowl, but since I like neither nachos nor football, I think I'll be paying a visit to the little Japanese place across from the hotel and then coming back to my room for an evening of reading.
Speaking of my room, it's a rather nice one. They upgraded us for free, so instead of standard rooms, we now have rooms with kitchenettes. A greater saving for the company, really, since having a fridge and stove and microwave will allow us to just go to a grocery store instead of having to rely on restaurant food the whole time we're here.
As nice as this all is, I can't help but be nervous, though. Not about the new job, no, but being by myself away from home, away from Daniel and my pets and all the familiar things I'm used to having around me. I've never travelled for work before, so that's all new. Plus I can't be as antisocial as normal because I have to get along with the group. It isn't that I dislike the people with me -- quite the opposite, in fact -- but it's my natural inclination to hole myself up and avoid most people, most social interactions, and that inclination is coming through twice as strong because everything's so unfamiliar here. I already feel awkward enough avoiding the nachos-and-Superbowl thing, and while my meal tonight was enjoyable, by halfway through I was feeling tense and like I just wanted to end it and go be by myself again.
I'll be happy when I get home again and don't have to worry about socializing. Weirdly, I'd almost feel more comfortable if I was the only one here. I'd still be alone, but I could be alone more on my own terms, explore on my own terms, and not feel obligated to go everywhere as a group. If I holed up in the hotel room after work and didn't come out until the next morning, nobody would care, and that'd be great.
But it's only until Wednesday. That night, I'll be sleeping in my own bed again, surrounded by fluffy cats and familiar surroundings.
Wish me luck on my first day of training, guys! It'll be in the middle of a snowstorm, so I might need it!
Why are we here? Promotion, baby! Last week, I applied for a position in Escalations, and was pretty much hand-picked out of the applicants. Kat, Bernice, Joe, and I all got the position, and so they shipped us off to PEI from tonight until Wednesday for training. It may have been technically cheaper to have someone from the Charlottetown centre come to us, but they have so few agents now that could train us that they couldn't really spare anyone. So thus, we go to them.
It isn't too shabby a deal. The company paid for the mileage to get here (we all came in Kat's car), covers the hotel rooms, and reimburses for our meals. I had to borrow money to cover meals for now, but so long as I get it back, I'm fine with that. Tonight we ate at a steakhouse. Tomorrow, the others plan to get nachos and watch the Superbowl, but since I like neither nachos nor football, I think I'll be paying a visit to the little Japanese place across from the hotel and then coming back to my room for an evening of reading.
Speaking of my room, it's a rather nice one. They upgraded us for free, so instead of standard rooms, we now have rooms with kitchenettes. A greater saving for the company, really, since having a fridge and stove and microwave will allow us to just go to a grocery store instead of having to rely on restaurant food the whole time we're here.
As nice as this all is, I can't help but be nervous, though. Not about the new job, no, but being by myself away from home, away from Daniel and my pets and all the familiar things I'm used to having around me. I've never travelled for work before, so that's all new. Plus I can't be as antisocial as normal because I have to get along with the group. It isn't that I dislike the people with me -- quite the opposite, in fact -- but it's my natural inclination to hole myself up and avoid most people, most social interactions, and that inclination is coming through twice as strong because everything's so unfamiliar here. I already feel awkward enough avoiding the nachos-and-Superbowl thing, and while my meal tonight was enjoyable, by halfway through I was feeling tense and like I just wanted to end it and go be by myself again.
I'll be happy when I get home again and don't have to worry about socializing. Weirdly, I'd almost feel more comfortable if I was the only one here. I'd still be alone, but I could be alone more on my own terms, explore on my own terms, and not feel obligated to go everywhere as a group. If I holed up in the hotel room after work and didn't come out until the next morning, nobody would care, and that'd be great.
But it's only until Wednesday. That night, I'll be sleeping in my own bed again, surrounded by fluffy cats and familiar surroundings.
Wish me luck on my first day of training, guys! It'll be in the middle of a snowstorm, so I might need it!