Thursday, June 30, 2005

big brother is now tuned in

Today I completed step two in my search for a job: I registered with Assidic, the unemployment office. Because, you see, before I can register with the employment office, I have to go to the unemployment office. This is a process I like to call, "Run, Vivi, Run."

I was very lucky to arrive when I did, as I only had to wait about five minutes, though I was a bit worried at first, since the number on my ticket was 900 and the number currently on the board read 306. Considering there was no one else in the waiting room yet, it certainly confused the hell out of me. Happily, the board changed to my number and I entered into an office containing one man, one desk, and one computer.

I am very happy to report that I understood approximately 70% of everything the man explained to me. This is, no doubt, because he was explaining the paperwork in front of me. I always was a sucker for visual aids. I learned that I need to contact the agency once a month if I haven't found a job, if I find a job, move house, change my name, go out of town for seven consecutive days; basically I need to let them know if I feel a sneeze coming on. It is slightly Big Brotherish, but I'm still feeling pretty good about being in The System.

The next step is to register with the employment office by the end of July, and I have a big book of information to fill out before I go, which may actually take me a month to do.

No comments: