First Week in Portland

Amazing view of the city from the office😍.

Home-cooked meal.

Korean spicy noodle (bibim myun) with side dishes all in a bowl.

Fish, baby carrots, spaghetti and rice. (Yes, I eat a lot.)

Plain spaghetti.

LA Kalbi

Sweet and spicy chicken.

Waiting for the bus.

Getting a taste of the city.

On Monday, the 10th, I started my full-time job with the accounting firm located in Portland downtown. So I've been getting up at around 5:45am every morning and got to work by 7:45am. I live in downtown but I need a lot of time to get ready... and I never skip breakfast. 

My first day at work was full day orientation. There was 8 new hires. The HR manager introduced us to the firm. We had lunch with the transitional coach who helps us adjust to the office. I asked her many questions which she kindly answered. We also received our laptop and had the system set up. Then, we were on our own to work through the "newcomer checklist" that has a list of tasks for the new hires. Most of them were training videos. 

On my second day, there was a team meeting to go over the client work schedule. I was scheduled for 15-hour client work the following week😲. One of the seniors invited me and another new hire for lunch. Free food... the best. Who disagrees.

I asked few people to give me some tasks if they had any. I mean... I'll even make coffee if you want me to haha. Probably this is the only time that I'll appreciate any tasks given to me. 

On Thursday, I was asked by a senior associate to do a simple manual work for him. YES! But, it made me nervous. I received the file then, he gave me some instruction. As he was explaining, I took notes to make sure I didn't forget. ALWAYS TAKE NOTES! I was working with the spreadsheet trying to figure out what goes where and how to copy & paste... I know it's a simple task but when there is already so much on the sheet, you need time to absorb the information. Anyways, I've spent about an hour and DONE! No big deal. I've sent it back and asked for his feedback. He said, "Everything looks good. I am sending it to the manager." Wow. That's a lot of pressure. But, it made me feel like I've accomplished something👍.

Throughout the week, I worked on the checklist and the pre-work for Tax Fundamentals training which I'll be leaving for on Oct. 23rd. 

First week wasn't too stressful... but truthfully, my body tells me that I'm stressed. I would wake up every hour during the night to make sure I wasn't late for work. I am tired all the time. After I get back from work, I cook dinner for myself and devour the food in 3 minutes. I take some food to work but I'm always starving. As you can see from the pictures above, I eat a lot. I rarely have left overs. But, this morning I got on the scale and found out that I've lost almost 4 pounds. 

Today is Sunday so I went to church. I get emotional during the service because I am thankful and blessed, but of course I try not to cry. The service and meeting great people give me energy. I feel comfortable with these people as if I've known them for a long time. I hope to get more connected with the church.

Finally, I hope that I can quickly adjust to the new environment. First week is over and starting my second week. Very nervous and excited at the same time.