16.-20.5.

Hejsan alla,

16.5.

We got to choose, which one would go to The Point and which one to Baystreet. I went to work on The Point and surprisingly it wasn’t as frustrating as it had been earlier.

The tasks weren’t any different, I just patrolled and answered to the customers questions. A lot of customers actually came to ask something, Monday’s magic.

17.5.

I went to work to the office and continued doing the same things, engagements, terminations and filing. I really  got a hold of those things and it wasn’t as boring and dull as I thought at first. And I did an alright job, because I was let to do those things several times. That was the work I enjoyed doing the most.

18.5.

The Point, again. Nothing changed, only patrolling and I got asked fewer questions.

19.5.

It was our last day at the office. We returned our uniforms and received our contracts, job certificates and final grades about our internship. We also got reference letters. I don’t completely agree with the grading method, but it’s their company and as they saw us as workers. It’s nothing personal and I get that.

20.5.

Lavinia gave us the last day off. We decided to use the opportunity to visit Popeye.s Village. It’s a theme park, the movie set of 1980’s Popeye film. I’m not a huge fan of theme parks (mostly because the overly pushy mascots) but this one was great. It was well preserved and there were just enough activities to keep the day interesting.

A lot of films have been filmed in Malta due to the amazing views and landscapes. And if I recall correctly we visited at least two more (Game of Thrones and By the sea) but I can’t remember where they were. 

Overall experience about the internship trip is that it was good. It wasn’t what I expected (I really tried my hard to not to expect anything and just take what was given, but apparently I  still expected something.) but it was at least different from what I was used to, the country and the work.

I got to travel and live abroad and that’s what I wanted. I would go again because it’s always a unique chance to actually be a part of people in a country and not just a tourist. 

-Mirja

9.-13.5.

Hey,

9.5.

On Monday I worked in the office. I did some engagements for clerks that already had a contract. I also made them files (Or more like attached the red cover of the file with a fastener and some plastic sleeves.) and sorted their papers out into the file. he I did their name tags and attached them. I really enjoyed working on those files, because I felt like I know how to do my work and that I was trusted to those correctly really gives me a boost.

Friday hadn’t gone that well, because I also had to correct one contract I had done incorrectly on Friday. Not a biggie though, I had just put in the wrong ID number. I also had to find the files we had done back then and put in their place (Those cupboards are bursting out of their seams, by the way.), because they still needed to be put in the payroll system.

10.5.

I went to work in Baystreet. It was the same as usual, patrolling at first, then car park watching. They had managed to fix the indoor car park barrier, which I’m really glad about. I also did something I guess could be called hot work surveillance. And believe it or not, that’s how it’s called in English.

What happened was there was a guy changing the flooring in the elevator and I was told to change shifts with the other security guard watching the guy work.

I wasn't given any specific directions on what to do, but my best guess is that I was supposed to do hot work surveillance (but there was nothing to put out a fire near, nothing) and watch that no one comes to interrupt him working (a.k.a. to be a work safety hazard).

PS. It’s getting so warm here that the mosquitoes have awakened and currently they’re trying to invade our apartment, one bite at a time. And these aren’t nice little mosquitoes like in Finland. You can’t feel when they bite but oh **** does it sting and itch later. And it itches for days (and I’m not even allergic). Seriously, my right arm looks like a meth addicts face.

11.-13.5.

On all of the days above I worked in the office. I did the same things everyday: engagements, terminations and updating database, occasionally copying some documents.

On Friday however on top of those I got to print engagement and termination notifications from ETC and file them in their file.

The wages were also finished, so I cut payslips (like with scissors from paper), enveloped them (not sure if that’s even a real verb…) and wrote the addresses on and stamped them with Signal8Security’s stamp. Posting stamps they already had. I liked doing Friday’s tasks. Especially putting payslips into envelopes and writing the addresses. Because I never get to do that anymore, so it was fun. (What I define as ”fun” might be the reason why I have very few friends…)

Anyways, next week will be the last week here. And I would apologize for not blogging until now, but deep down I know that nobody cares.

-Mirja

5.-6.5.

Hi,

5.5.

I went to work in a different Lidl, in Santa Verena. This change of physical location did not change the fact that the work was the same and equally frustrating. I also wish that the staff members would had told me with more details what they wanted me to do, than just let me do something and then come saying I was doing what I did wrong.

What I did there, was the same thing as in the Lidl before. I patrolled, looked that no one stole anything, that the customers didn’t open any packages or try anything (clothes, shoes) on and that no one ate anything they hadn’t paid. Basic retail security. I also helped customers if they asked me something.

6.5.

I worked in the office. I enrolled engagements and terminations, made contracts and scanned a few things. I’ve got quite good with those things, to be a bit proud of myself. Human resource managing isn’t as bad as I’ve always thought.

I’m sorry this is a bit brief, but I’m sick and have fever. New stories and better condition on Monday.

-Mirja 

3.-4.5.

Hejdå,

3.5.

On Tuesday I went to work in Lidl in San Gwann, My job was the basic retail security job, watching that people didn’t steal, check the customer’s purchased items if the alarm gate went off and do customer service. An add to those tasks was also checking that customers didn’t open any packages, used gloves when taking food items on the ”daily baked” section (You know, that section which is in every Lidl where is bread, donuts etc.) and didn’t eat anything before paying for it. The San Gwann Lidl is the busiest (read ”the most lucrative”) Lidl in Europe.

The customers weren't too nice to the staff and there was more than one occasion where there was a disagreement about whether or not they have to follow the rules and whether or not I was doing my job right. 

The store in itself was nice, though. And the people I worked with. They showed me what I was supposed to do and showed the products that make the alarm gate go off (There were a few items that made the alarm gate go off regardless of the item had been paid for or not, because those items get stolen an awful lot.). I can’t say I enjoyed working there, but it was useful. It was different to work in a retail market than in a mall. And at least it wasn’t boring.

4.5.

Today I worked in the office. I got to submit some engagements and terminations, make contracts and name tags and fill some dates in some sort of a working hour system. The day was quite busy,but I liked making contracts and submitting engagements and terminations. I also did a few copies of some papers and filed contracts after they were ready. 

-Mirja

2.5.

Hi,

Today I worked in the office. I did the same job as last time: updating database and filing the papers afterwards. Today the papers were a mess though and it was really hard to find their files. There were papers fr past employees, current employees and new employees without files. So most of my time went to trying to find the files. I also filed monthly time sheets.

The work wasn’t too bothersome, though. I didn’t have to ask everything and I realized I can check if the employees are still working from the database. I also had my own working space, so it was easier to do paperwork.

In the afternoon I spent my last working hour ”guarding” the office. Lavinia and Kim had to go somewhere and Jovan hadn’t yet come back, so I sat there for an hour (because officially the office is open 9-17). David was upstairs, though, so I wasn’t all alone. I just had to say if someone came there to come back tomorrow. One person actually did come there, but he just had a bank detail paper, so I collected that. 

-Mirja

29.4.

Hi,

Today I went to Baystreet. I started by patrolling, and today they let me do the patrols on my own. On every patrol I checked the hotel floors and shopping centre floors, and looked out for the same things as I’ve explained before. I did in total four patrols along the day.

Some more excitement for the day brought the non-working parking system barrier and the traffic in the road next to the parking area. The barrier of the incoming traffic was broken, and despite the efforts to fix it, was still broken when I left. Due that, we had to in the morning write the parking tickets for the incoming cars. Later on the ticket machine at least started working, but after that we had to keep an eye on that people coming in actually took the ticket. If we didn’t keep an eye on them, they didn’t and then came to complain, when they tried to leave, that they couldn’t get out (because you have to have a paid ticket to get out). The human race never fails to surprise me…

In the 0 level’s corridor is a scaffolding, and today the construction workers came there with a pick-up car to pick up (See what I did there?) some scaffolding materials that were stored under that. I went there to check that others than the workers walked under the scaffolding and let them work in peace. (Clear explanation is clear…) So I guess I did some kind of work safety supervision.

But to be honest, I mostly stood on the bridge and told people whether or not there’s space in the parking area, that including going around the parking area and counting parking spaces.  

-Mirja

28.4.

Hejsan alla,

I worked in the office doing the same as usual: Updating database. I had a pile of uniform papers, whether given or returned, and I started with their updates. I also had some completely new employees to put on the database and some email addresses and bank account numbers.

After updating the papers, I of course had to file them somewhere: red files, past employee files or some other specific file for that paper. I was glad that there were only a few papers to be filed in the past employee files and even they were found quickly. I enjoyed working today, somehow the work just felt easy, I knew what I was doing and I had something to do for the whole day.

A huge bonus for today was that I got my private guard course certificate (and only failed one question on the test)!

-Mirja