The best:
I lived in London for a year and worked as a currier for a travel agent. Business people would order flight tickets to go someplace that day and I would deliver the tickets to their hotel or office. I got to roam around London all day, hopping on and off busses and tube trains. It was a cool way to get to see all parts of London. 😊
The worst:
I worked in a kabab shop in a rough part of Dublin. There were customers fighting every night. It was so bad there that the police would not come when we called them. Well, they would come but it took them several hours and all would be over by the time they got there. Then the manager fired me because I wouldnt let him grope me. 😞
Mel
Reply to this Best - My current job, translating and editing for an international law firm in Ukraine: superb people, attractive office and a reliable coffee machine!
Worst - English teaching in Russia: I only had one student and she was scared of me!
Are many travelbloggers working abroad? Any work-related adventures/nightmares to share?
J
Reply to this I'm going to nominate the same job in both categories; a jockey.
Worst parts - the very early mornings in all weather, the travelling and the injuries.
Best part - the buzz and adrenalin of raceday.
Reply to this Worst - Selling ice cream on the beach for the Good Humor Ice Cream Company, carrying two 50 pound boxes filled with dry ice and pops, sandwiches, drinks, etc., for about 25 cents an hour. Actually, we were on commission, so we got about 2.5 cents per item sold.
Best - What I am doing now, travelling around for the past 6 months covering about 25,000 miles from California to Corleone, Sicily, Italy, then back to Newark, New Jersey and meeting many nice people along the way. Actually, getting started as a reporter was the best job, where you get to ask any reasonable question...before the papparrazzi (sp) ruined the industry. The pay was about the same as the Good Humor job, without the two 50 pound boxes.
Reply to this Best - Divemaster in paradise - Perhentian Islands, Malaysia. Why? - I love diving and I like people - working with both. (no money really though!)
Worst - The jobs from my teenage and university years, shelf stacking, jam packing, factory and supermarket work - incredibly boring with very low pay.
Reply to this Jonathan... I haven't worked abroad, but I'll share a travel nightmare of my dad's. He used to go down to South America a lot back in the 80s for an engineering firm that had mining interests down there. There was one time he went to Colombia and was put up in a local village where the mine was--far away from any urban center. They gave my dad a local guy's basic hut to live in for the duration of the stay, but apparently never told the guy. The first night my dad was in Colombia, he woke up with this confused Colombian holding a knife to his throat demanding in Spanish why he was there. After several attempts of broken high school Spanish, my dad luckily convinced the guy that he was an American on business there and meant no harm so the guy let up. He found housing elsewhere for the duration of his trip.
He still loved it though and went back down repeatedly to several South American countries. I can't wait to have my own work-related experiences abroad, especially if they aren't too life-threatening.
Reply to this Dressing up like a Giraffe for Toys R Us. the head was attached to my shoulders like upside down crutches. It was heavy, hot and kids would pull my tail. After about 10 mins I felt like fainting, but had to wear it for atleast 20 min sessions then a break. The dumb thing was that I was a teenage employee earning about $8 hour, wearing the mascot owned by the store. Nearly all the other characters (hired - disney type things) were professionals earning $50 hour.... I felt ripped off!!
Best : running an import business with my husband. We imported books and gifts from the USA and I got to read as much as I wanted.
Reply to this Worst: work as a waitress in a pizza restaurant that the British mums took as a kindergarten and used to think we were their servants and worked for them instead of for the restaurant. 😞=😞
Best: at the moment I work for a book company that buys books from publishers and sells them to schools and universities; I spend the days going through books and surfing the Internet... 😊 = 😊
Reply to this Worst: Cleaning tyre presses at a michelin factory. I lasted 2 and a half days...
Best: Santa for a day (working for disney) scaring little kids all across northern japan.
Reply to this Worst: Concrete former/general laborer for a redneck construction company during my university years (I only lasted two months).
Best: Working for the US Antarctic Program for a winter in Antarctica - It was the best because of the amazing experience of just being there and the great people, but it was also a close contender for the 'worst' spot due to the silly government politics and huge design flaws.
Reply to this Worst: Working in a Coca-Cola factory line as summer extra labour. Hands down, the most boring, alienating, demotivating job I've ever had. Even selling books door to door wasn't nearly as bad. And when I sneaked into the lab I didn't even manage to put my hands on the secret formula!
Best: Working as a translator. Light and utterly intersting job. And extremely well paid.
Reply to this Worst : there was quite a few when I was a student...but guess, that the worst experience was working in a male dominated business in a Japanese company in Tokyo...lost in translation type of experience, with daily 8 hours meetings entirely in Japanese (mine was really average), and people who spoke fluently English but would only reply to you in Japanese... Loved Tokyo and its people though!
Best : quite a few too!! hahaha...but the one I have been doing the past few years is definitely the best one so far! Create and organize some truly amazing/ out of the box fashion events...and well...China is THE place to be! Last one in date, the Fendi show on the Great Wall
Reply to this My boyfriend was job hunting today, and he came accross a company looking to hire somebody to get back lost customers.
Dealing with dissatisfied customers is part of working life for many, but to do nothing except it all day would make the job a good candidate for the worst job ever title. And it would certainly make it even more unpleasant, if you have to contact the dissatisified customer and bring back their bad memories.
Reply to this worst - was working for a Russian family as a nanny and have been treated as a made - I did it for 2 weeks - I think I was too patient.
best - working for the Hungarian Social Minister as a program assistant. I loved that job. Organising the minister daily program and her meetings.
At the moment I don't have any... relaxing time... But beeing a mom isn't a job? 😉
Reply to this But beeing a mom isn't a job?
It is the best job ever, but also one of the most wearing and difficult jobs, in my opinion. 😊
Reply to this I don't know that this is my best one but it's the most memorable and interesting one: Stage manager of Les Girls in Melbourne. It's a transvestite cabaret. I was also PA to the MC during the show.
Worst: The way I'm feeling at the moment, being a high school teacher. It can be both the most rewarding and yet the most demoralising job ever. Looking for a career change as we speak.
Reply to this In what ways is it demoralising, Stacy? My sister is also a high school teacher. She is particularly good at it, but many say it is incredibly stressful and they hate it. It seems like such a good job for a traveller because of all the time you get off, but my sister says that time is taken up with doing stuff like marking exam papers, supervising extra circular activities.... But, could it not be made a bit easier? Is all that vacation work optional, or is it expected? I am probably talking a lot of nonsense, because I have no experience with doing that job myself....
Reply to this I've chosen to be a supply teacher not a full time teacher so I don't have to worry about all the extra out of hours work. When you're full time that work is totally necessary in order to be able to teach. Though the more years of experience you have the quicker it is to complete. The planning and marking can take up more time than the face to face teaching depending on your subject. And don't forget all t afterschool teachers meetings. In terms of how it's demoralising, having a class (or classES if you're really unlucky) you aren't able to focus, engage or control really tears down your confidence in your ability to teach. Teenagers can be horrible when they want to be too.
Reply to this Teenagers can be horrible when they want to be too.
I heard that they are as difficult as toddlers. It is making me apprehensive about the 9 years my daughter will be a teen for. Toddlers are really really stressful, but they are only toddlers for a couple of years, unlike the 9 teen years. I sure hope I dont run out of steam before she reaches adulthood.
Just a nosey question: What subjects do you teach, Stacey?
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