2021-10-22 Audio Book - 2 As time passes, it was almost the end of chapter one when I was about to give up, thinking only some bookworms or book manias can take this. But the twist at the end of chapter one keeps me listening to chapter two. And chapter two makes me listen to chapter three. And….. I couldn’t stop. Even though I didn’t get all I was listening to but it was tremendously interesting that I didn’t want to stop. Especially, when after the game began in the book, I listened to it all the way through until the end. INTERESTING!! Now I am listening to the second book, Catching Fire. Once I finished the trilogy I am going to listen to another book! Please recommend to me some audiobooks you felt interesting! What is your recommendation? :)

2021-10-16 Starbucks Job Interview-1 1. Tell me about yourself I am a positive, supportive person with great interpersonal skills who wants to work in the tea & coffee industry. Through my past experience, I have built up abilities about working in a fast-paced environment, how to serve customers, and communication skills with multiple languages according to procedures and rules in the workplace which I understand, are prerequisites for working at Starbucks. I believe I can become a good ‘partner’ of the Starbucks team because I love teamwork more than working alone. I am interested in learning new things especially in making beverages according to recipes, brewing procedures. Hopefully, I can make my own recipe someday which will be able to contribute to Starbucks. 2. Why Starbucks? “The world's largest coffee company which treats their employees with respect.” This is my first impression of Starbucks when I saw a poster saying, “Starbucks partners are the most precious assets of the company” at Starbucks in Korea. Among coffee shops in Korea, only Starbucks paid overtime fees and holiday fees to employees as I know. Secondly, the Starbucks training system is well known for great training focusing on professionalism. I heard that many people in Starbucks started their job with no experience and have become good baristas. Additionally, the atmosphere of Starbucks retail stores makes me feel welcomed and comfortable. Staffs are politely getting orders with great service skills and always get me a good-tasting beverage.

Starbucks job Interview-5 5. Tell me a time in the past when you demonstrated that you are good at teamwork? In 2019, when I was working at a bakery café in Osborne village, we expected a large number of customers on Canada Day. The manager asked to me work on that day, as I only work on weekends at that time, and I accepted. In fact, there were several new workers among us so we decided to train them intensively and quickly which menu is popular, which ingredients are needed and which kind of bowl or dish are often used and should be cleaned first. It was the busiest day in my life in retrospect. I remember we got orders so many that we even don’t have enough time to go to the washroom. I moved faster than ever at that time to prepare all the ingredients with my co-workers making sure whether following the recipe properly or not. I switched my job flexibly wherever help was needed from back to front. As the result, we made it successful on that day. That was the iconic moment for me to believe that I could overcome any hardship working as a team, no matter how hard it is.

Starbucks Job Interview -2 3. How would you provide top-quality customer service? I would make sure that I always followed rules and procedures in Starbucks. I would greet customers with smiles in a polite manner and always be open to listening to their feedback. I would train myself hard enough to know every ingredient and recipe quickly and answer properly to satisfy customers when they ask questions. 4. How would you deal with a difficult customer while working for Starbucks? I would listen to the customer what problems or concerns he or she felt. And I would apologize for any issues that have happened and quickly find out the solution to fix them. But, if the issues are beyond my abilities, I would report to the manager and ask whether those can be solved as soon as possible. Especially at this moment, I would be representing the Starbucks brand so my behavior affects hugely to the customer. I would always keep this in my mind. At all times, I would keep in mind that I am working for Starbucks to make customers feel happy and appreciated

2021-10-11 Gym So I agreed on this crazy idea at that time and started this ridiculous routine. Triceps and chest on Monday, legs on Tuesday, biceps, and shoulder on Wednesday, abs and back muscle on Thursday and repeat this cycle. God, he was so strict that the memory when I was in the army came up to my mind. So I agreed on this crazy idea at that time and started this ridiculous routine. Triceps and chest on Monday, legs on Tuesday, biceps, and shoulder on Wednesday, abs and back muscle on Thursday and repeat this cycle. God, he was so strict that the memory when I was in the army came up to my mind. Even he was doing heavier, more difficult than I do and he didn’t seem to take a rest quite often. What an iron man he is. I thought I could get a good sleep after working out but it turned out my heart keep beating even I went to bed. It took an hour to get me into a deep sleep. I knew that it wasn’t a perfect idea to exercise late at night from the first. After 3 weeks, however, I feel so delighted when I saw my muscles are slightly built up. I said hello to them like ‘Hey, it’s been a long time since we last met. Since Covid19 I think?’ I believe some positive effects that exercise brings. Though it looks crazy hitting a gym at night, still there are a few people doing that time and it’s better than doing nothing. Today, I go to the gym again, believing I can be better than who I was yesterday.

2021-10-11 Gym -1 Getting fat is the easiest thing to do in the world. It came out of nowhere when you are not going on a diet or exercising. Well, there are definitely lucky people who don’t need to worry to get fat thanks to their physical constitution that keeps them slim or makes them hard to get fat. In this perspective, I am not a lucky person. I am working at night. Normally get up at 10 am and start my shift from 2:30 pm to 11 pm. If I wake up early in the morning, like 7-8 am, it seemed Ok to hit the gym. But one day, I felt quite exhausted when I carried out my job after working out at the gym. This affected my efficiency a lot. So I asked one of my friends, Jake, whose body is firm with muscles, what I should do. And he suggested that we can work out together after finishing my shift. After 11 pm? Are you kidding? But that’s the only option for me. The gym called ‘The brick house’ he is going, operates 24 hours for 7 days. He persuaded me that there could be no one exercising at that time so we will be able to use any of the equipment freely. After working out you will have a good sleep like a baby. Plus, no worry about COVID. Hmm. It does make sense.

2021-10-10 Kimchi I have never made kimchi by myself until I come to Canada. In Korea, only I know was eating kimchi, not making those. So there was only 2 way to get kimchi in Canada. Buy or being offered. Kimchi is quite expensive here and they are only available in Korean or Chinese groceries or Costco. I couldn’t afford them as much as I used to eat in Korea. More importantly, I had to spend too much time on the way to a Korean grocery market when I didn’t have a car. Sometimes, I got kimchi from several friends (especially Korean Ajumma) who know how to make kimchi. But how can I always be being offered? So one day, I made my decision to make my own kimchi. Honestly, I got tired of kimchi in grocery markets. Most Koreans, I believe, consider the one that has just freshly made as to the best. And I have been missed that taste of freshly made kimchi a lot. Finding a recipe wasn’t that difficult as there are tons of recipes on the internet. Gathering food materials was time and money spending works as I had none of them. One good this was that Napa cabbages were relatively cheaper than those in Korea as they seem like not daily-needed material in Canada. Let’s pass the process of making kimchi. Just it’s annoying that soaking the cabbage in the salt and water needs one and a half hours. Too long. What about Garlics? I never thought making kimchi needs garlic that much. Today I used almost 4 bulbs of garlic to make kimchi with 3.4kg of cabbage. Anyway, it took me almost 3 hours to finish but it was so delicious that I hummed a song to myself. This is it! I made it! I should have tried this earlier! Jesus… Can’t wait for the day to have my family taste it.

2021-10-09 YP-2 Today I met him for a reason. He got a job offer from Victoria recently and move out from Winnipeg next Wednesday. It was really good for him but on the other hand, our chance to meet each other could be very rare from now on. I am not sure I would go to Vancouver, the place is known for its highly expensive rent price, the place crowded with people who are always busy with their routine. He looked determined, telling me that there could be more chances to improve his skills, earn more money, and to know what differences between the small city and the metropolitan. Aged almost 50, but his passion and faith seem even stronger than mine. (I am 34 years old) On the way back home, a lot of thought crossed my mind. Living abroad, Passion and dreams, memories with friends. I had a dream when I have just come here. I also worked for freaking 7 days for my future, believing the day that I become what I wanted to be will come. How about now? How I have ended up being complacent like this? Thanks, YP. Thanks to you, I had a chance to look back on myself. Thank you for all the favors you have given me. I will miss you. Good luck in B.C.

2021-10-09 YP-1 It’s been a long time writing a diary since I was an elementary school student who has got to do it as a daily duty. I don’t know how students are doing here in Canada but we wrote a diary compulsively in South Korea until we enter middle school. Anyway, it’s good to write it again, not as a kid but as a grown-up, not compulsively but voluntarily, in ENGLISH. One of my friends, YP, has helped a lot when I’ve just got to Winnipeg. We met in OFE (Opportunity for Employment), the organization was made up for job seekers especially for immigrants or refugees to search and find jobs. In fact, his wife and I were classmates for the job search session in OFE, developed and collaborated by Canada Goose. Since his wife nearly couldn’t speaking and listening to English well, I helped her translating whatever she didn’t understand in the sessions. As a favor, YP often gave me a ride to get home. Since then, we have kept in a good friendship until now. We rarely spend much time together because he had to work almost every day. Even so, I still remember the time he brought some fresh sushi for me from his workplace late-night asking whether I had dinner or not, the time he asked me to join a trip to Ontario with his family, which has become my first trip to go outside of the city. He and his wife also helped me to immigrate to Canada, introducing an agent to ask some questions for immigration, being my immigration guarantor. I was so thankful that I treated them in Stella’s café where I worked part-time at that time.