Work experience

(Henrik Nielsen)

Monday morning. Work experience starts today. Jessica M is going to be working at Moyles Hotel & Restaurant, Jessica P at The Innovation Giftshop and Cafe, Elin at The Milkshake Bar, Camilla at B@rplace, Bit and Marcus at The Advanced Technology Center. Amanda and Tim will be working in Spar Supermarket. All these students will be working in Hebden Bridge. Olivia and Amanda P will be working in a wonderful place uphill inbetween Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. Place is called Pextenement Farm – they have cows and make organic cheese! In Todmorden Niko, Malin and Felipe will be working at Gordon Riggs Garden Center.

Breakfast ready at 7:30. The food group were on time. All students were up. It went so well that we had quite some time to wait before leaving Mankinholes.

Arriving at Hebden Bridge 9:30ish all went together through the town leaving students one by one at their work places.

I went inside with them and helped introduce and made final agreements. It wasn't easy everywhere. At a couple of places the managers weren't there, but at the end it wasn't a problem at all. Only at Spar they had never heard of us. The staff did try anyway to take in Tim and Amanda, but after a few hours they were send out on the street. They didn't have work enough to offer there. Luckily people and shop owners in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden are very helpful and sweet people. Amanda H was soon taken in at the Heart Giftshop and Tim decided to join his mates at the Gordon Riggs Garden Center the next morning.

The Hebden Bridge work experience group met for lunchbreak at a Fish'n Chips restaurant.

Back home the discussion of the days' experiences were lively. The Pextenement farm girls were enthusiastic. It had been busy and a little boring at the Garden Center. The swedish students' expectations and the reality of British work life had collided. Well, one day isn't much to judge a weeks' work experience from, so I suggested that the students should be patient and wait and see how things would develop.

Afternoon and evening went with grocery shopping, hair colouring, food making, log writing and enjoying the beautiful landscape and buildings at Mankinholes. Here are some views from there and some photos of our neighbours: