Week 24 – Helpless uncertainty lies ahead

1,602 Views

I’m back to write my weekly update and right now its 11am right now on Monday morning but I’m still sitting in the kitchen of my current accommodation (yep, I have to move out next week). Nope, I’m not unemployed. In fact, I’m starting out on a new job in a new company for the maximum of 7 days; with a possibility of getting fired on a daily basis.

Yep, uncertainty – that is how my life is going to be for perhaps the next 16 days or so till Christmas, where I may be forced to buy a one-way ticket to fly out of this country. My visa extension paperwork (was kind of straightforward and foolproof; or so I thought) is kind of facing a soft rejection at this stage and I’m currently filing for a kind of appeal by sending them relevant supporting documents which I hope will work in my favour. That being said, my fate is in their hands, and not within my own control. Previously, I’ve blogged about feelings of indecisiveness and struggles to make a decision but right now, the decision no longer lies in my hands. Should they rule the decision against my favour, I will be booted out of the country in less than three weeks, being forced to buy a $1.1 to $1.9k one-way ticket out of the country (cause of the festive holidays).

Last week was also my final week working in a vineyard. I’ve completed my work experience post last night and you can have a read here: Working in a Vineyard – Shoot Thinning, Bud Rubbing, Wire Lifting. It was a rather weather volatile week as the forecast predicted rainfall everyday. I woke up every morning in anticipation of the ‘no work’ text that may pop up. We ended up with having a midweek rest on Wednesday – where the skies poured for almost the entire day. It was kind of annoying as they told us that we were having a late start twice and finally the last text became a ‘no work, have a rest and see you tomorrow’. To the honest, I believe our managers/supervisors would rather let us work as they know that some of us are pretty tight on money and one day of no work could be rather damaging on our finances but I guess no one can control the weather.

It was also my coldest week ever, in my entire 7-weeks outdoor work. Temperatures were pretty much single digit in the first few hours of the morning with strong winds. I even wore my winter Kathmandu jacket (which I used for skiing) because it was rainy as well. To be honest it was a somewhat uncomfortable feeling when you’re cold on the outside and sweaty on the inside. When the sun comes out (from underneath the dark clouds) you make the decision to remove that jacket, the wind will blow and it will suddenly start raining. It will feel like the weather is toying with your feelings and the cycle repeats many times throughout the duration of the day. However, there’s a silver lining. I think I spotted at least 3 to 4 rainbows or perhaps more during this week of weird weather.

Anyway, if you’ve been following my car updates, I finally got a call from the third workshop (the auto electrician) telling me that they have found the issue with my car (faulty spark plug in the picture above) and fixed the problem. I was pretty surprised and shocked when they told me because usually the norm is that they would inform me of the cost prior to the fix and anxiety was pounding within me before they informed me with the cost. In all honesty, my bank balance was so low (less than $500) that I was so afraid that I may not have the cash to pay up. Thankfully, the problem was just one more ignition coil and they charged me the minimum of one hour for the man-hour ($90/hour). The price tag was affordable and my car hasn’t been malfunctioning since but in all honesty, I haven’t even driven much in my car yet as there’s still some kind of fear tagged to me. The fear of breaking down again >< The only comfort I tell myself right now is that.. I’m already a AA Plus member (paid $79+$49) and should anything happen, help is just a phone call away.

Okay, so the car good news happened on thursday afternoon and I went ahead to collect my car but the next unpleasant news I had to receive had to come less than 24 hours later. My visa extension request (which I paid $280 for) had been labeled with the conditions of not meeting the employment requirements of horticulture/viticulture. When I saw the email.. I was like.. are you kidding me? Did I suffer all that hardship for.. nothing? So, in the words of the immigration officer, general nursery work is not considered. Planting of fruits and plants in a nursery is not considered as well.

I do have an option to submit relevant documents for their review and I’ve submitted my Job Description as per my contract which stated key words like harvesting and packing. At the same time, I’ve sent them additional payslips for my apricot thinning and vineyard job. If they are looking at the month of employment, I do have payslip for every month – October, November and December. Plus, I’ve emailed the HR of the plant nursery, hoping to get a letter to state that my work is indeed seasonal employment. Sighs, why is my life so complicated and difficult? Why can’t I just get an approval for extension, just like everyone else that I know. Seems like my hope of living a stress-free life has suddenly gotten very stressful. *mindblown*

So.. what happens if my visa extension still gets rejected despite all my effort? I will have a short span of time (depending on when they officially reject me) to sell my car, use a Singapore credit card to buy my one-way return flight ticket to Australia or back home, figure out how to pack my luggage, donate away my few months supply of food and figure out what I would like to do for my last remaining days. The thought of it is just a complete nightmare and I have to stop thinking if not I’ll get sleepless nights.

Everything happens for a reason. I just don’t know it yet :/

(Now it’s Monday night; 10PM and I am back from my first day at a Cherry Packhouse.)

Earlier on in the afternoon, I started work at a cherry packhouse which would give me employment for a maximum of 6 to 7 days. As it was the first day, they asked us to start at 12:45pm and we somehow ended at 5:15pm, clocking only 4.5 hours of work. Not complaining since.. it could have been $0 for me today.

The job was fun at the first 30 mins but once my hands got cold and eyes got dizzy, I started questioning myself on how long I can stay on this job. To be honest, factory-style job operation is pretty new to me and I wonder how can anyone maintain high attention span doing the same repetitive action 8 to 12 hours a day? I was just joking with my friend earlier on, saying that 6 hours a day would be just nice for me :/ I’m gonna try with earphones tomorrow and let’s see if things get better.

(On a very small side note) As much as I don’t wish to acknowledge it happened, my car did that slight jerk motion again (just once) when I was stopping, waiting to make a turn. The friend in my car felt it too and at that moment I really feel like freaking out. I’ve already spent $1.8k on my car to date and this is like almost half the price of my car. I just want.. to get over with this car nonsense peacefully and kind of cut my losses but.. can all these nonsense just give me a break? Yes, I am frustrated, tired and annoyed. I can totally just give up and go home right now but I’ll still try to cut down on the monetary losses and I need time to settle it ><

As always, my future is uncertain but this time round, the fate is no longer in my hands.

Stay. Tuned. Next. Week.

to see what other random shit comes flying my way.

Jaded.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *