Malta week 19

Dear Readers,

Unfortunately, this will be my last blog update. This 20 weeks went insanely quick, at first I didn't know if this company was made for me, but after 1 week when I had more experience, it started getting better, my colleagues were nicer and so on. I can't imagine how my life on School in the Netherlands will look like by now. Special thanks to my colleagues, for helping me and teaching me a lot of things.

Not only my work was perfect, also Malta itself, especially the organisation where I volunteered, as a organisor. I've met so incredibly many people here in Malta, that it will be hard to go back to the Netherlands. 

On the other hand, I am glad I started this adventure, because I didn't want to miss this. 

This week was going incredibly hard, especially because I know I am leaving soon.

I am going to enjoy the last 2 days. And on Friday there will be a party and we are having dinner with my friends.

I want to thank all, for reading it every week.

Don't worry, I'll come back in the Summer Holidays. 

Best wishes,

Rik 

Malta Week 18

Dear Readers,

This week was going incredibly fast, unfortunately this is will be one of my last updates on my blog.

We started on Monday with a crazy day, there was a new student from the Netherlands to replace me. It was extremely busy.

On Tuesday the shipment came, and we started to organise it.

On Wednesday we finished preparing the shipment, we did some orders and eventually I started with batching the treats.

On Thursday I finished with the treats, and did some side jobs; for example I packed some sticks, and sealed them.

Friday I worked on my core tasks.

This was a short one compared to the other weeks, this is because my work is always kind of the same.

See you next week.

Wishes,

Rik

Malta week 17

Dear Readers,

This week was so much fun again. The week started the same, especially the work.

On Monday we did the orders, and we fixed the treats as well. On Tuesday we unboxed the shipment, and we wrote down the pre-orders, so that the clients that bought something special, would get is as soon as it was unboxed. Obviously, pre-orders must be bought separately, since those are not regular orders, and will only be sold a couple of times a year if you are lucky. On Wednesday we continued with the shipment, and that day was pretty tough. Then the Thursday, I made sure every single products was filled, and if there was no space, we were trying to find a solution for it. On Friday I worked on my core tasks again.

Then last Sunday there was an huge event called "St. Patrick's Day". I didn't know it would be that big in Malta, since it is an Irish event. But obviously I wanted to check it out, so we went with 'The Dutchies' to the square in St. Julians, to go for an huge experience. It was one of the best events from Malta in here (at least from what I've seen). There was an DJ, playing Music above the square, and it was so loud, that you could even feel the ground vibrating. The funny thing is that almost every single person was dressed with something green. Personally, I was wearing a green sweater and a hat, that we got for free from the Dutch organisation. There were so incredible many stands to get some local Beers, Spirits or just Water or Beverages. In the evening we went out for some food, and it took us about 15 minutes to get 10 Metres further. After that we went to Footloose, to end the day. Obviously I couldn't go and drink too much and for too long, because I had to wake up 6:00 the next morning for my Internship.

This was it for this week. I hope you've enjoyed it.

Best wishes,

Rik

Malta week 16

Dear Readers,

This week was extremely nice! We started Monday with the orders, and since there was a bigger shipment, compared to the other weeks, I had to finish the Pet treats on Monday, after that we started with the orders. On Tuesday, the shipment came again, and we had to make some space, because there was almost no space for the new shipment. When this was done, I helped with the orders, since now we are currently running the warehouse (orders and shipments), with 3 persons. This means that plans changed, compared to the other weeks I helped with the shipment, and now I help with the orders, so that my colleague can do the shipment on its own. Wednesday, I fixed that the products where all at its place. On Thursday, I did all the treats (Batching and expiry date), myself, and finished quite early to be honest. After that me and my colleague, arranged everything. This way we were able to cut down 3 Pallets.

Last Friday me and the other organisators of Dutch Young People in Malta, we were organizing a "Bar tour" we went to 5 Bar/clubs. Our group started at the Network bar, after that we went to Corks Karaoke Bar, then Bellinis, Memories Karoaoke bar, and finally we ended up in Footloose, and it was a huge party! All the Dutchies from the Bar Tour, were also joining in Footloose. We all had the most craziest costumes. Also we had some exercises, so they put Mascara on my eyes, and I had to walk with it the whole evening.. When we were at Footloose, everyone could recognize us because of our ugly hats. Unfortunately we didn't win, but it was a amazing evening, still feeling honored that I was part of the organisator group, and share this amazing evening with everyone!

This was it for this week, I hope you've enjoyed.

Best wishes,

Rik

Internship Malta week 15 + Carnival

Dear Readers,

This week was perfect, there was more work to do (except for Thursday). We will begin with Monday; In the morning, we will check if there is anything that can be filled, this is because on Friday I am allowed to work on my Core Tasks. Since there are a lot of customers on Thursday and Friday, Monday will be quite busy, especially for the office part. On Tuesday there was the shipment coming, and on Wednesday we were organizing everything, filling the products, and so on. Thursday I started with a part in the office. I had to check all the data of the sales persons going to the shops, since it wasn't updated yet. After that I worked on my core tasks, same as Friday.

On Saturday there was a big event; Carnival, this is located in Gozo (Nadur). We were going with the party boat to there. The way to Nadur was a total disaster, people got sick because of the high waves. When we arrived there, we were going by bus to Nadur, and there was a huge parade, and I have never seen it before, everyone had costumes, and there was even a 'Carnival Car', and everyone was allowed to stand on there. Personally I was wearing a Pinguin onesie, but I've never seen so many costumes, there were also Bears, Tigers, Pandas, Monkeys and so on. When we went back to the boat about 1.30 nobody was paying attention to the waves again, and their party was phenomenal.There was even some Dutch music, since there were so many Dutchies, and when they started playing "Kind van de Duivel" everyone was singing it, even the ones that are not Dutch. There were about 100 Dutchies and 400 other people. If you compare Carnival in Gozo with the Netherlands, there are some things that make a difference, for example: In the Netherlands, it is more about going to some bars/restaurants to get beers, and in Malta it is more about the show itself. It was extremely crowded, if you wanted to pass, it took you almost 10 minutes to get 10 Metres. It was definitely all worth it!

This was it for this amazing week.

See you next week.

Rik

Malta week 14

Dear Dutchies and other readers,

This week was pretty relaxing, on Monday, there were more orders, which makes it more fun to do, instead of all waiting for 1 order. On Tuesday, the supplier came in the afternoon. I was joining the delivery persons today, the first one was because it was quite heavy to do it yourself. The second one was just some shops, but the boxes were also quite heavy to carry them all by yourself.

Wednesday I started with the cushions and blankets, and after that we batched the treats and put the expiration dates on it!

Thursday was kind of boring in my opinion, since there was almost nothing to do, with the employees that were available at that moment. So in the afternoon, I started working on my core tasks again.

Friday we were only with 2 in the Warehouse, so that was more work than we expected, but in the end, we fixed everything.

This weekend, was one of the worst ones ever, there was an Tropical storm, which did a lot of damage to buildings, trees and animals. There was free Fish that was picked up by locals, to sell them in the Restaurant.

Also there was water all coming down, due to high waves the "Stone Bunkers" weren't able to controll the, and water was flooding everywhere. This affected a lot of things.

This was it for this week.

Thanks for reading,

Rik

Malta week 13

Dear readers,

Unfortunately there are only 7 weeks left. Time does fly when you are having fun, can't imagine why I wasn't that sure about this.

Now that I've gotten a lot of experience, it gets easier and more fun every single day. The only thing that is bothering me, is that there is not that much to do, for the last 2/3 weeks. Orders get less big, shipments are becoming smaller and so on. Of course there is always something to do, but most of those things, are already done in the previous weeks.

My core tasks are going allright, I started pretty late, but now I am almost back on track.

I hope the upcoming shipments will be bigger, and the orders as well.

Also organising the events for the Dutch young people in Malta, is a lot of fun, everyone was giving their opinion about the events, and try to make it better for the (new) students.

This was it for this week, I hope you've enjoyed it.

Best wishes

Rik

Stagestartweek

Beste leden van Nederlandse jongeren op Malta,

Over 13 dagen begint de startweek met het eerste evenement. Natuurlijk zullen wij er alles aan doen om het voor de studenten zo leuk mogelijk te maken.

Ook zijn er nog een paar mensen, die hier nog niks van weten, of niet helemaal op de hoogte zijn, dus zal ik het voor jullie nog een keer opsommen:

Donderdag 28 Februari: Beerpong in Footloose.

Vrijdag 1 Maart: Welcome drinks in Black Gold in Sliema.

Zaterdag 2 Maart: Carnaval Gozo, zorg dat je Tim of mij zo snel mogelijk contacteert voor een kaartje, want ze vliegen er doorheen!

Donderdag 7 Maart: Gratis indrinken in Footloose.

Vrijdag 8 Maart: Kroegentocht, met leuke opdrachten en een mooie prijs, geef je hiervoor ook op, zodat wij een strakke planning kunnen maken.

Zondag 9 Maart: Uiteten in the Daily Grub, dit is een nieuw restaurant, en ook maar beperkt aantal plaatsen beschikbaar.

Wij gaan er vanuit (de organisatie), dat iedereen bij zoveel mogelijk evenementen aanwezig is, zodat we er een top stagestartweek van maken!

Ik hoop dat jullie nu ongeveer een idee hebben van wat de planning is, mochten er nog vragen zijn, dan kun je het altijd aan Tim of mij vragen.