Mmm...

I think aluminium foil hates me because my hands lately get a lot of scratches from foil. It hurts, and my hands look ugly...
Two weeks have been passed since the day I filled a kitchen manager position at shelter. The kids though liked my food, and they would pass me on the kitchen to check what food I cook for them. :)
They always pass on kitchen every time they go to the restroom, so they will stop by and see what I am doing.
One day my coordinator mentioned that they got a "bonus" from me because I got some quite-good cooking skills. She also offered me to lead a group about Indonesian culture in order to emphasize cultural diversity in shelter. I am honestly not sure w/ her idea, but she is excited and there's no way I can say no to her.

FYI, following is the hierarchy in my workplace (shelter):
1. Service DIrector --> she leads three facilities (shelter, male and female recovery houses). She visited our shelter almost every day last week. She is a fashionable lady (green shirt, green handbag,and peridot (bright green gemstone)jewelry). Last but not least, I like her perfume's fragrance for some reason. :)

2. Program COordinator --> she is the lady that I mentioned frequently in my previous blog. She is responsible for hiring full-time and part-time staff, signing any types of forms, and preparing legal paperwork. She seldom answers the incoming calls because staff must answer the phone, not her. I thought she only cared about paperwork, but she apparently played bingo w/ clients (kids) almost the entire day yesterday. It surprised me, but I liked it. :)

3. Day Manager--> he works 7-3 pm, but he works 6-2pm temporarily due to I cannot come at 6 am. He is responsible for day activities at shelter. He will move to the intake office (upstairs) every morning at 7 am to supervise clients' morning shower. He also gets in touch w/ social workers, attorneys, and medical appointment. He'll give updates to workers regarding their clients' behavior. That's the reason, we do log a lot because we'll summarize clients' progress based on the information showed on the log.

4. Kitchen Manager--> she works 6-2pm and prepares 3 meals (M-F), orders food and household items, keeps track on the nutrition guidelines. This is actually the position I am filling in. I will get a headache when the items from food bank and Sysco come because I have to fit all items in two freezers and cabinets. SHe also gets in touch w/ workers, but I am not doing this part because I don't really like it... I mean I have limited information about workers and their clients, so it'll take another hour to understand the situation.

5. YOuth Specialist Regular. RIght now, we have about 5 regular youth specialists. They are responsible for supervising clients, leading life skills group, counseling w/ clients (if needed), updating some news to workers/doctors, completing clients' file. The work hours (1pm-11pm and 3-11pm)

6. Night Hours Manager--> We have two night hours managers. This position is not hard (from my perception) because you only need to stay in the shelter the entire night, do bed check, prepare dishes for breakfast, complete shift updates, prepare new point sheets, and finish laundry. The bad thing is that you have to work from 11:30pm-9AM and 11:30pm-11:30am in between Friday and Saturday.

7.Youth Specialist Flexible. We have 3 youth flexi, and their duties are similar to what youth specialist regular does. The difference is that their work hours are more flexible than the regular staff, means they must be available when shelter needs extra full time staff. The work hours (10am-10pm; 11am-11pm; *12 hours shift...)

8. PRN Relief WORker. This is a part-time position, my original position. I believed I had explained what the relief worker meant in the previous blog. We work on the weekend Sat and Sun (8-1pm) for sure. However, we may work in other times if full-time staff can't make their shifts because of vacation, medical leave, and other issues.

9. Intern/volunteer. Normally ISU students.

Wohoo...I hope the explanation is clear enough... :)

My grad school essays are not yet finished, and I need to submit the application soon. Well, the dateline is Oct 15, but I want to submit the entire application in September. One of my friends asked me if I would like to apply for culinary schools in New York. I happened to think to apply for culinary school since I like to cook. To be honest, my position now is quite satisfying because I can cook, interact w/ kids, so I get all at the same time. However, I know that I can't hold this position because the real kitchen manager will come back at the end of September. I, indeed, expect that my coordinator will extend my position up until October, but it is likely not going to happen, right??

All right, that's all for today...

Thanks...