Back on the Chain Gang

Today was my first day at my new job as the Outreach Coordinator for the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. To be fair, although I call this a job, it isn't a real one. It's a Job Creation Program created by the Government to assist people on EI by helping them gain valuable work experience in the hopes that this would eventually help them get a "real job". So basically, this is a way for the Festival to get competent employees and still save money by not having to pay them. I get paid through EI - the same amount I used to make plus, a bonus, a whopping extra 11$ per week. With the amount of bureacracy I had to go through to get accepted to this program, it might have just been easier for the government to simply give me a real salary, but noooooooo. Like rats through a maze...

Anyway, enough about government red tape. Back to my first day.

It started off with a little tour of the bowels of the NAC. The place is like a maze, a hexagonally shaped maze, where every hallway twists and turns into each other. At least I've figured out where the Green Room (a nicer term for "small cafeteria") is. My, ahem, office (that is if office stands for half cubicle) is above the Theatre balcony in a hallway next to the rooftop exit. I am grateful for the faux wall in front of me though, because it's a long, long way down. We're at least three floors above ground with a massive hole in the middle of the room. There is no elevator to get up there and the only bathroom is on the main floor. Think of it like being in the theatre building, except with stairs that go up higher and spin. All I can keep thinking though is how amazing my ass is going to look after a month of this. Either that or my bladder will be able to hold more liquid than a camel.

Things were actually kind of boring today. I spent the vast majority of my time updating their community contact list (how these people got on, I'll never know ;). I hope I won't always be stuck to a desk though. The lights are really dim around the Theatre and when it starts getting dark at around 4pm, my eyes are just aching. You'd think I'd be used to sitting in front of a screen so much, but by the end of the day I also had a massive crick in my neck.

Oh well

Next week looks like it's going to be very exciting! We're having a Sneak Preview of the Festival on Tuesday and there's going to be a lot of prominent people in the Arts community who are going to be there. Unfortunately, my date is bailing on me. Something about having "rehearsal". Like I haven't heard that one before. Why don't you just tell me you're "washing your hair"?