Getting settled
Door: Elke
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Elke
07 Februari 2011 | Verenigde Staten, Cincinnati
The last few days I have spend on getting settled.
Friday I met all people that wanted / needed to see me before I got started. Turns out I am a bit further away from work than I anticipated based on google maps. Without traffic jams it should be 30 minutes, that’s not what it took Friday however. This was partly due to traffic jams, partly due to the number of wrong turns I took, since me and my GPS system don’t always understand each other. By now I think I can call myself ‘Queen of the U-turns’.
The weekend was for shopping. I found a store online that sells organic food and it did not seem too far away, so I went there... (this was when I realized not to use google maps anymore for orientation). I also noticed that 1 suitcase to get here really, really is not enough. With the outfits in my suitcase I could only just wear a different set of clothes every day of the week (I am kind of expecting a comment here from a certain someone about a green sweater and a red sweater. Just rest assured that I have not forgotten about that). Anyway. Shopping here is great. I can go to the ‘petite’ section and still wear a medium size sweater. Since I realized at that point that I could grow to huge proportions here without even realizing it or being bothered by it, I spend an hour on the home trainer afterwards.
Today was my first ‘real’ day at work. I am now the proud inhabitant of my own cubical :). The height of my desk reminded me again of my relative length compared to the other people here. It feels like being in one of those japanese restaurants, where you have to sit on the floor. I already had 65 e-mail in my inbox!! Except for 3 of them they are all deleted now. I was not too impressed by the lunch they serve here, so I have decided to bring my own.
To get my badge I had to go to the employee’s health department. The building seemed to be close and it was … by car. Or to be more specific by shuttle bus, because everybody is strongly advised to take the shuttle busses that get you around campus, since being out on the streets here is apparently very dangerous. I think the biggest danger is the hospital getting sued if something were to happen to me. After filling in more paper work, I was glad to see that my Dutch immunization forms were acceptable (there happens to be a Dutch nurse here). Only one tube of blood needed to be drawn to get a titer on one of the immunizations I only had once and should have had twice according to protocol here. So another needle went in my arm (I already had 1 flu vaccination and 2 TB-tests before). And then it was time for my urine drug test (that’s why they kept offering water to me). I am not getting into the discussion again about how outrageous it is that I have to give up some much privacy while in my opinion no safety is added. I just smiled when the nurse said “It’s all for the children” and I took it as part of the inter-culture learning experience, as a smart colleague of mine advised. So we went to the toilet with a cup that had a clear line on it indicating my expected production capacity. A blue tablet of dye went into the toilet, to assure that I would not dilute my urine with water from the toilet. It was stressed that I could NOT flush the toilet, the nurse would do that when I was done. When afterwards I tried to wash my hands, I discovered that no water was coming out of there either (while only minutes before I was asked to wash my hands there). The water started running again only after indicating I was done, after which the nurse opened the door and dispersed some soap in my hands (that had been removed as well, in case I wanted to dilute my urine with soap). After being complimented on the healthy look of my urine (I did not participate in eating or drinking parties during the super bowl yesterday), the sticks went in. And after 12 x 2 lines showed up, it was official that I had not been using any of the controlled substances tested for. I could have told them that. I received a paper that I should show at the front desk, to have my picture taken for my badge. However before the picture was taken I had to provide some more information. Height: 1.78 -blank stare-, sorry don’t know what that is in inches. Weight: (number is censored) kg -annoyed stare-, sorry don’t know it in pounds. Then I needed to be ten-fingered again. The lady asked me whether I had my finger prints taken before. So I told her they took them for my visa as well. Did you have a problem with that? “Well, now that you ask. I do think it is a bit ridiculous that my finger prints are being taken everywhere.” “No ma’am, was there a problem taking them?” “No.” Long story cut short: I am now a proud owner of a CCHMC badge.
Friday I met all people that wanted / needed to see me before I got started. Turns out I am a bit further away from work than I anticipated based on google maps. Without traffic jams it should be 30 minutes, that’s not what it took Friday however. This was partly due to traffic jams, partly due to the number of wrong turns I took, since me and my GPS system don’t always understand each other. By now I think I can call myself ‘Queen of the U-turns’.
The weekend was for shopping. I found a store online that sells organic food and it did not seem too far away, so I went there... (this was when I realized not to use google maps anymore for orientation). I also noticed that 1 suitcase to get here really, really is not enough. With the outfits in my suitcase I could only just wear a different set of clothes every day of the week (I am kind of expecting a comment here from a certain someone about a green sweater and a red sweater. Just rest assured that I have not forgotten about that). Anyway. Shopping here is great. I can go to the ‘petite’ section and still wear a medium size sweater. Since I realized at that point that I could grow to huge proportions here without even realizing it or being bothered by it, I spend an hour on the home trainer afterwards.
Today was my first ‘real’ day at work. I am now the proud inhabitant of my own cubical :). The height of my desk reminded me again of my relative length compared to the other people here. It feels like being in one of those japanese restaurants, where you have to sit on the floor. I already had 65 e-mail in my inbox!! Except for 3 of them they are all deleted now. I was not too impressed by the lunch they serve here, so I have decided to bring my own.
To get my badge I had to go to the employee’s health department. The building seemed to be close and it was … by car. Or to be more specific by shuttle bus, because everybody is strongly advised to take the shuttle busses that get you around campus, since being out on the streets here is apparently very dangerous. I think the biggest danger is the hospital getting sued if something were to happen to me. After filling in more paper work, I was glad to see that my Dutch immunization forms were acceptable (there happens to be a Dutch nurse here). Only one tube of blood needed to be drawn to get a titer on one of the immunizations I only had once and should have had twice according to protocol here. So another needle went in my arm (I already had 1 flu vaccination and 2 TB-tests before). And then it was time for my urine drug test (that’s why they kept offering water to me). I am not getting into the discussion again about how outrageous it is that I have to give up some much privacy while in my opinion no safety is added. I just smiled when the nurse said “It’s all for the children” and I took it as part of the inter-culture learning experience, as a smart colleague of mine advised. So we went to the toilet with a cup that had a clear line on it indicating my expected production capacity. A blue tablet of dye went into the toilet, to assure that I would not dilute my urine with water from the toilet. It was stressed that I could NOT flush the toilet, the nurse would do that when I was done. When afterwards I tried to wash my hands, I discovered that no water was coming out of there either (while only minutes before I was asked to wash my hands there). The water started running again only after indicating I was done, after which the nurse opened the door and dispersed some soap in my hands (that had been removed as well, in case I wanted to dilute my urine with soap). After being complimented on the healthy look of my urine (I did not participate in eating or drinking parties during the super bowl yesterday), the sticks went in. And after 12 x 2 lines showed up, it was official that I had not been using any of the controlled substances tested for. I could have told them that. I received a paper that I should show at the front desk, to have my picture taken for my badge. However before the picture was taken I had to provide some more information. Height: 1.78 -blank stare-, sorry don’t know what that is in inches. Weight: (number is censored) kg -annoyed stare-, sorry don’t know it in pounds. Then I needed to be ten-fingered again. The lady asked me whether I had my finger prints taken before. So I told her they took them for my visa as well. Did you have a problem with that? “Well, now that you ask. I do think it is a bit ridiculous that my finger prints are being taken everywhere.” “No ma’am, was there a problem taking them?” “No.” Long story cut short: I am now a proud owner of a CCHMC badge.
-
08 Februari 2011 - 01:55
Jasper:
haha goed verhaal! Ben ik even blij NAAST het childrens hospital in Indy te werken. Ik kreeg gewoon een toegangspas van een ongeinteresseerd iemand :-) Oh, en daarmee kan ik ook het children's hospital betreden ;-) Zal wel "less for the children" zijn... -
08 Februari 2011 - 08:02
Marieke:
Klinkt als een enerverende eerste dag! -
08 Februari 2011 - 08:41
Robin:
Heb je al iemand gevonden om iedere dag je "Groene bakje" mee te nemen? -
08 Februari 2011 - 08:55
Remco:
Nice story. Tip voor je cubicle: zet gewoon je stoel heeeeeel laag, doe ik ook in de mijne :) -
08 Februari 2011 - 10:46
Max:
Is that the "suitcase" I got to know very well? -
08 Februari 2011 - 21:57
Harm:
So......when is your lie detector test? -
09 Februari 2011 - 00:33
Elke Krekels:
@ Robin, de afdeling is niet zo groot, zitten allemaal bij elkaar, dus kan voor mezelf zorgen (hoewel het natuurlijk veel lekkerder is als anderen dat voor me doen)
@ Max, shut up
@ Harm, I plead that amendment that says you have the right to shut up. -
14 Februari 2011 - 14:40
Liesbeth:
Hi Elke,
What a story - "all for the children"... yes, that is how it works.
Hope, now, you have settled more and start to have time for the "real" job. Take care!
Liesbeth -
16 Februari 2011 - 15:19
Marianne Krekels:
hallo Elke,
in Meerssen vandaag een prachtige lente achtige dag met koffiedrinken in de tuin. Waarschijnlijk een uitzondering. Bij jou nog steeds winter aan de foto's te zien.
Al een beetje aan het wennen aan de culturele verschillen?? In ieder geval veel (werk)plezier en hartelijke groeten
Marianne -
21 Maart 2011 - 13:53
Liesbeth:
Hoi Elke,
gaat ie nog goed?
groet
Liesbeth
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