If some people look forward for their Friday nights and weekends, its the opposite for me. I dread Friday nights and weekends. Why if you may ask? Should it be the time that one looks forward to to make fun and to keep the mind off work? Unfortunately, its the opposite for me
as those days drive me restless.
What am I doing to make things better if you may ask? Why not try to plan something out with colleagues, friends and acquaintances? If I am free, then they would surely be free as well as everyone is on official work stoppage during the weekend. With all the courage I have left, I mustered to ask friends and colleagues if they would be interested to plan something out over the weekend. The generic question was 'Do you have any plans for the weekend/Would you like to do something over the weekend?' and here are their responses:
Person 1: Unfortunately I won't be able to join, I will be going to visit Rome over the weekend and visit the colliseum and make a wish on the Spanish steps.
Person 2: I'm sorry but I will be skiing in Chamonix (France) this Saturday with my friends.
Person 3: Oh, I'll be going to Lichtenstein to visit the country and have a souvenir passport stamp.
Person 4: I'll be taking some time off to visit Madrid and go wine-tasting in the Spanish vineyards.
Person 5: My mom would be visiting and we would actually be travelling to St. Gallen and Ticino.
Person 6: Regrets but my boyfriend and I would be driving to the Swiss mountains over the weekend.
Person 7: Sorry Mark, but I already have things planned this week and next week.
With the number of persons I tried, I don't know if all of them are indeed genuine or not. Is it just bad timing or bad luck? Is it because its very un-European to ask for an appointment 2-5 days if you propose something and that you need to ask a minimum of 3 weeks in advance? Or is it just a covert way of saying 'You are boring and I don't like your company?'
With the rejections I have been getting over the week, you just can't help but think the unthinkable and run out of logic in your head. It surely drives down your self-worth and plunges you deeper down the doldrums. And the weather hasn't been co-operative as well as it is
all cloudy and gloomy the past few days.
So what are my ideas for the weekend then? Here are my ideas:
1. Count the number of stars in the sky until you fall asleep.
2. Watch YouTube videos and laugh out loud like a lunatic by yourself until your dreaded neighbour reports you to the landlord.
3. Talk to your friends and family back home until your load runs dry and/or they have had enough of your rants and hang up.
4. Splurge yourself on a shopping spree and shop and spend compulsively with Switzerland's affordable prices.
5. Shop in Migros for ingredients, treat yourself with your own culinary expertise and cook in the cramped confines of your kitchen. Savour your labour by yourself by pretending to have the appetite to eat what you did and congratulating out yourself loud how good a cook you are.
7. Practise your French by talking to strangers on the bus stop and trams to the best of your ability.
8. Go to your office on a Saturday and do an 8-hour workday pretending it is not the weekend.
9. Watch the second hand of your clock tick by until you get dizzy and hypnotized and brought back to reality by the church bellfry countdown nearby.
10. Take the SBB train to travel out of Geneva and enjoy the marvellous scenery this country has to offer, stroll by the lakeside by yourself clutching a Lonely Planet guidebook and a dictionary and stare at extremely happy and content people flaunting their signature
clothes and watches while sipping coffee/tea in posh cafés/restaurants.
Indeed, it could be tough at times.
Hmmm, if I had a choice, I'd go for number 6. :P
ReplyDeleteThings seem to be pretty gloomy for you right now, but that shouldn't bog you down! So what if you have no social contacts for the weekend? Can you not live without social contact? Of course you can! What's the difference between impressing yourself with your own culinary skills and impressing another person? If you ask me, I couldn't care less what other people think. It's how I feel about myself that counts. If you let this lack of social contact get to you and you fixate on all the things that might or could be if only you had someone to share things with, then of course you're going to be depressed. The point is you don't have to think about it! Humans are a very social species and you can't get around these negative feelings. What we can do though is understand these feelings and identify their source. Know that it's because you have no other person to enjoy things with that's making you upset and understand and convince yourself that it doesn't matter!
Remember, the world is only as good as our perceptions of the events around us. If you stay optimistic and concentrate on the good in your life (your friends back home included!), you'll overcome these petty feelings and be able to get on with your life.
Happiness comes from within not without.
Sorry, this is kinda long. Hope you can understand it all. lol Tried my best to put my two cents into words.
How about reading a book? You can spend a weekend or two hunting for bargain books (ala booksale) then read them on the succeeding weekends.
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