My secret busy life

It's a weight off my chest. I can finally tell you what's been going on in my life. Did some of you guess? I have found a new job.

Secret interviews
The interview process for my new job was thorough to say the least. I have been through four interviews, one of them including an exam-like test. Aside from that I have been in frequent contact with Immigration NZ to make sure I would not be deported from the country.

All of this, I have kept hidden from you and my colleagues at Creative Agency Secrets for the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, the hiring process was relatively short and very intense. I was contacted the first time on 1 May by Anika, who recommended I apply for the position. In the same week I had two interviews with Mike, the agent, and in the following week I had two interviews with Myles, the director, and his colleagues at Needscope.

I could sneak off from work to do the first three interviews in extended lunch breaks, but the final one was a three hour test, so I took the whole day off.

Dealing with Immigration NZ
At night I did immigration stuff. Some would say it's not that complicated, but I disagree. You have to make sure everything is exactly right or you will be in trouble.

The Immigration officers at the counter can be aggressive.
I prefer the relative safety of a phone call

Once I wrote an official statement in the presence of a Justice of Peace officer swearing that my police certificate was printed from my computer in an unaltered state. However, I failed to mention in my statement that I had received it from the Danish Police, so it was not accepted. I fixed it by going to the Justice of Peace officer again to write a new statement. Perhaps this sounds trivial to you, but in total I spent close to 5 hours on it.

Justice of Peace officers are friendly and talkative,
perhaps that explains the 30/45 minute waiting times

Today I received a phone call about another problem. My Danish education "Master's Degree" is apparently not a recognized education. It does not match their description of the Danish education system which says "Candidatus/Kandidatgrad" (that is the direct translation of Master's Degree to Danish). Surely, that must be an easy problem to fix? Not so. I will have to apply for an international qualifications assessment. There is a 35 day process and a "small" fee of 750 NZD. I still hope that they will see sense, but if not I must hand it in by Tuesday.

Last cup of coffee
I said goodbye to Creative Agency Secrets yesterday. That happened quickly too. I officially resigned last week and gave four weeks of notice, but Rebecca decided it would be better with one week. Although I had no say in that matter, I am happy it turned out that way. It will be good for me with some vacation before my new job starts.

I have tried to improve my latte art skills,
 but it's difficult when you drink just one or two cups a day

Thank you

I am happy that it all turned out the way it did. My life was not easy for a while, but things are looking up now. I would like to say thank you to all the people who supported me when I needed it. Both my friends in NZ and Denmark and of course my family.

My family sent me this to congratulate me on my new job.
It's made in NZ, but it felt like a hug from around the world.