Never had I played baseball before, until yesterday. I had a chance to hit a baseball with a bat, in a baseball diamond. Cool!

Around 6 p.m., I met Robin at the park beside Christie subway station, riding on my bike. After meeting some of his friends, I put on a huge leather baseball glove over my left hand, which seems to triple the size of my palm, or like Popeye who has just swallowed a can of spinach, and you can see it being channelled to the hand. Unfortunately I did not earn the superb strength from Popeye, and miss tons of balls that were flying my way. One of them hit me with a loud pop sound, just few inches below of my groin, on the thigh. It hurts, but I couldn’t imagine if it was a few inches higher. Another hit right on my left wrist, tearing some blood vessels and I can still see a green/red bruise mark.

That’s about all the injuries I got. Let’s go to the batting part. With a quick lesson from Robin telling me how to hold a bat, swing it somewhat similar to a golf club, I failed to hit any of the first ten balls. A few “spectators”, knowing it was my first time, gave me some cheer and encouragement. And then there were about half hits and half misses. Obviously, it was still fun!!! The only time I ever held a baseball bat was several years ago, at Playdium, where I tried hit softballs shot out from a machine.

The result from the : well.. the injuries, and sore hips and buttocks. I never thought baseball would work out that area (?!) and I probably lacked exercise for those muscle groups.

Sept 22, 10a.m.
I heard the phone ringing.. I woke up, and … the phone was sitting quietly on its stand. It was a call which existed in my dream. About 10 minutes later, the phone rang “again”. Deja vu? Only that this time it was real. A long awaited call finally arrived, with the lady’s voice telling me, “you are hired!”.

Well.. the first person to know is probably Johnny, he was the first one who noticed and asked. And since then, my MSN name is appropriately named “one - YES! a job offer”, and i received congratulatory messages from just about every close friends on my MSN buddy list.

Thanks everyone! You guys make my day!

And the day went really quickly. I tried to complete the application for visa; ensured that I will get a written job offer tomorrow morning; called my family in SA about the good news; talked to Li and DY for advices…

An unstoppable excitement from the inside made me jump and down. 2 months of applying, and especially these past few weeks of mad rushing and waiting, trying to plan so much but got nothing accomplished, I was worried, until today. Now I have one more and the last obstacle: the employment visa.

Sept 20, 1 a.m.
Still awake, with hands on the mouse clicking and scrolling on all the webpages that has the name of the company. Although bored, I knew I should still try to get as much info in order to prepare for the interview the next day.

Sept 21, 10 a.m.
Finally decided to get up, after my radio alarm clock ringing for the past two hours, and was put into snooze mode several times. And then, the morning route, fast forwarded. Within half an hour I showered, brushed, ate, was dressed, packed and (not-quite-)ready to go.

11:10 a.m.
Getting off the bus at the corner of Eglinton and Mt Pleasant Rd., I walked slowly towards the address I was given, knowing I have plenty of time before the meeting. And I kept walking…, about half a block further before I realize I’ve gone a bit too far… and so I turned back. At the door, I was stuck, looking at a 3-storey building, which looked more like a big house than an office building. Would this be it? Nevertheless, I found the company’s name on the beeper beside the door. The door was unlocked, I simply walked in.

As the elevator door open on the second floor, I was confused. All I saw was a typewriter, on a well-carved, polished wooden desk. No sign anywhere, no receptionist, and no big banner with the company’s name. I started walking around as if to find the office? (Later I found out that the entire floor was the office).

11:25 a.m.
I was warmly invited to the office of boss, by his wife (who is his assistant, I would say). Both of them led me into the office, sat down, and started the interview. Although it was only yesterday, I hardly remember how the conversation start.

Interviews with small companies, are generally, less stressful and more interesting, simply because I am not talking to the HR personnel, who knew nothing about the job you are applying, but keep bombarding you with random questions like “tell me the last experience you had that demonstrate your leadership skills”, or “go through your resume for me”. And especially when these questions are asked on the phone, I tend to be a bit nervous, because phone does not give you any time to think, as oppose to face-to-face interviews. (Of course, on a phone interview, I can lay out all the cheat sheets on the table, which is an advantage).

As for this interview, the atmosphere was fairly casual, and it helped me to relax. I was asked things on my resume, my Excel, Word and Access skills. The lady (boss’ wife) was more interested about other personal topics, like my hobbies, my volunteer experience with PAL. After another 10 minutes of questioning, the boss started to talk about some of the reports that the company has created.

Another few minutes later, I was placed in front of a computer with Excel and Word opened, and I was being tested. I was reading some of the cells with functions like “=VLOOKUP(….)” , and files that are in “.dif” format. Ok, I am screwed, I thought. However, it turns out that the boss was very willing to teach me, right on spot. At this point, I am relieved. They are watching my learning behaviour, rather than just testing my skills, I believed. And hopefully, I am right.

Soon after, I was back at his office, wrap things up. I will be given a call by Friday, the lady reassured me.

This is my last hope for working and staying in Canada.

Over the last two weeks, my feelings cycled from hope to excitement, to disappointment to frustration, back to hope. It started with a series of apparently promising interviews,slowly turning dull, and got to a point where I feel so frustrated because I am not receiving any responses. I mean, even rejections are in a way more comforting than the unknown.

However, today, I am back to hope. I got an interview with a company which work in the energy management sector, a field that is related to “environment” and “energy”, which is great, as it is something that I believe I would like to work for. Well, Friday, this Friday, I hope that I get an offer, or at least, a decision from the company. I can’t wait to hear from them! Even if it is bad news, at least it will end my misery, and I will get over it, and move on (back to South Africa, back to “home”).