Monday, September 17, 2001

In just 2 days I leave for Amsterdam, terrorists be damned.

I am a little more manic than I would like. On the one hand, I am excited to finally do something I have been aching for for years. On the other hand, the thought of travelling for so long is exhausting, as is doing it all myself.
posted by k8Lin 9/17/2001 11:51:03 PM

Today I went to the Sheboygan internet cafe which was funny as hell. On one side of me were two teenagers looking at used cars on the web, ripping each selection to shreds. For example, "Oh man, I would never pay that for that piece of crap. I wouldn't even give them a dollar." On the other side was a man in his early forties musing about whether a lady he had been in contact with over the web would finally come and meet him face to face tonight.

I sorted through another 100 Dutch web design web sites and now my eyes are bleeding. I am planning on giving out resumes and doing informational interviews. I may not be able to work there until the EU laws change again, or I make a domestic partner of a European. Check out this letter I got from one work placement company in the Netherlands which works specifically with foreigners. (And I thought they would be a good shot for me!)

Dear Caitlin,

Thank you for the interest in Undutchables. There are really only two ways for a non-EU citizen to obtain a work permit for the Netherlands. The first way is to apply to companies yourself. As a recruitment agency, we are unable to help people obtain one due to restricitions by law. Should you find a company that is interested in you, they will apply for a permit, but there is never a guarantee that they will get it. This process can take up to three months. The company does have to prove that they have interviewed people from the Netherlands and from within the EU but could not find someone suitable. This should explain why they wish to hire a non-EU citizen. Along with this, they also have to show proof of having advertised within the EU for a suitable person. So as you can see, it is a very difficult process.

Alternatively, if you have a partner who comes from an EU country and is living and working in the Netherlands, then you can obtain a work permit if your partner is prepared to sponsor you. This means being financially responsible for you while you are not employed here. You have to be able to prove that the two of you are together as a couple as well as living together. This takes about 6 months in total, so it is a long wait before you can start working. These are the only options available to you. Please visit our web site http://www.undutchables.nl for more information or contact the Dutch foreign police on 0031-20-5596300.

Met vriendelijke groet/Kind regards,

Undutchables Recruitment Agency BV
Telefoon 020-6231300
Fax 020-4281781
www.undutchables.nl
email: office@amsterdam.undutchables.nl

I have to give them credit for giving me a complete response. (I'm including their address because I have read good things about them on Usenet and mailing lists, and if you meet one of their conditions you may want to contact them.) Most people haven't even bothered to write me back. I realize that that's pretty normal in the job game, but when even American companies like Randstad who make their business finding people jobs don't write me back I get worried.
posted by k8Lin 9/17/2001 11:59:22 PM

Monday, September 03, 2001

I have been in Sheboygan for about 2 weeks now and I'm going nuts already.

I've sent out 24 resumes which isn't very many, granted, but after I got back the first three "we can't help you because you'd require work permit sponsorship" I decided I'd better spend my energy a little more carefully.

I just got back from Madison where I spent the weekend with my brother and sister. I got to see my sister pay at the Cafe montmartre with her band The German Art Students. They are really tight now. They have even been nominated for some national award. It was kewl.
posted by k8Lin 9/3/2001 09:48:50 PM

Sunday, August 19, 2001

I have not worked so physically hard that I can remember as I have in the last few days. I have taken bags and bags to the Goodwill and to the dumpster every day. I must have gone up and down the stairs to my apartment at least 15 times a day for the last 3 days. Tomorrow I hope to hit the road.
posted by k8Lin 8/19/2001 02:49:30 AM

Sunday, August 05, 2001

God I am depressed. Now my job is over, which is great. But I am still a little down about it, and scared about having committed to this path.

That, and I just hung up from a phone conversation with my mother where she said "Now all you have to do is diet!"

That shit just makes me want to kill myself. And somehow it always hits me out of left field and I never know what to say to defend myself.
posted by k8Lin 8/5/2001 08:33:37 PM

Thursday, August 02, 2001

Interviews with Caitlin

Q: Caitlin, today I'd like to ask you about your cat. She's all over the site. What's the big deal? Are you just another crazy cat lady?

A: Well, she's a very special cat.

Q: How so? She saved your life once or something?

A: You could say that. I got really depressed when I moved out to California and she distracted me from that. Sometimes I wonder if I might have gotten depressed enough to hurt myself if she weren't always here at home staring at me and the like.

Q: You're never going to sell that story to the Enquirer. Tell it so she paws the bloody razor from your hands and dials 911.

A: But that's not what happened.

Q: (Rolls eyes.) Moving on. What's your cat's name?

A: Nikita

Q: After Krutschev?

A: After the French movie by Luc Besson, "La Femme Nikita."

Q: And why did you name her that?

A: When I went to get her at the ASPCA shelter three years ago, she was the only cat without a birthdate or any information about her past. Most of the other cats had little stories written up about how they got there, how they got along with children and cats, and that sort of thing. Nikita's card only contained the information you could get by physically examining her. I still don't know how old she is exactly. And as you might recall, in the movie, the main character Nikita is not allowed to tell her friends anything about her past because she is a government assassin.

Q: So you believe that she's a government assassin?

A: Like Nikita's boyfriend in that movie, I am comfortable not prying into her past life. She doesn't get out much so I suspect she's retired from whatever she did. It adds to her mystery and charm, anyway.

Q: What is her personality like?

A: Very sedate. Often sedentary. She won't be troubled to play with things very often, even if I give her catnip. When I first got her she wasn't affectionate at all. It wasn't until I got surgery on my knee and couldn't move that she started sitting on my lap. Now she does it all the time. She also greets me when I come home, and she likes having company over, although she doesn't like it if they try to pick her up. Now she is sometimes affectionate even to casual visitors. I like to think that I've made her feel comfortable and secure enough to do that. She's smart, too. She has an intelligent face.

Q: This interview grows tiresome. We'll have to continue it later, when I don't find you so boring.

A: Okay then.
posted by k8Lin 8/2/2001 02:12:24 PM

Interviews with Caitlin

Q: So... I heard that you rang in the new decade with a cat other than Nikita. What's the story there?

A: It was a pretty sad story, actually. A little more than a year ago a friend of mine found a kitten and I took her home to live with me and Nikita. I was hoping it would make Nikita less lonely when I was at work, but apparently the extra stress and exercise that Emma gave her wore Nikita out. A neighbor of mine who claimed to be an animal lover said she'd come and look in on the cats when I was in Sheboygan for Christmas, and I was happy to avoid putting them in a kennel. When I returned a week and a half later, Nikita was so weak she couldn't move. I had to take her to the vet on New Year's Eve and they kept her for several days. She was severely dehydrated and they put her through test after test. Several days later, after her ultrasound, they told me that she has an enlarged heart, a defect which is not uncommon among her breed. Now she is very healthy and on medication, but at the time I was worried sick. I had planned to boycott the year 2000 hype and stay home with my cats, drink some wine, and watch the Twilight Zone marathon on the SciFi channel. Me and Emma tried to enjoy ourselves but we sure missed Nikita.
posted by k8Lin 8/2/2001 05:15:47 PM

Monday, July 30, 2001

I should so be asleep by now it's not funny. But I am all excited because of the nice date I went on this weekend. That's all I'm saying.
posted by k8Lin 7/30/2001 01:37:20 AM

I put in this nice long entry and blogger ate it. Thanks a lot, blogger.
posted by k8Lin 7/30/2001 01:43:04 PM

I made an appointment to get my hair lowlighed and streaked next Tuesday, during my first week of being unemployed. It will probably look something like this, or this, except that I'll be much chubbier, and I don't have visible eyebrows. I'm very excited. I've never dyed my hair before. This is what happens when you work in an office for three years and develop punk hair envy.

I was thinking about getting my eyebrow re-pierced too, but as I recall it can be kind of messy, and it always bangs on things and causes much pain. Last time I got it pierced I was quite depressed so the pain was sort of a welcome stimulation, but now I'm not so in the mood for that. That, and someone told me that eyebrow piercing can sever a nerve in your face that keeps an involuntary muscle holding your eye up, and if you damage that nerve, you get permanent droopy eye. I don't know if that's true but it sure turned me off.

This is my last week of work. I am getting very, very excited. And sort of exhausted from the packing and shipping and planning. People keep asking me what job I have lined up and I'm just like "Job?" Heh.
posted by k8Lin 7/30/2001 04:00:01 PM

Friday, July 27, 2001

Today is Friday then five more days, five more days of work.
posted by k8Lin 7/27/2001 10:14:16 AM