Two Weeks Left :-(

How has the time gone by so quickly? I can't believe I've only got two more weeks left at LCC!What do I think I have gained from my time here in Lethbridge? (Some thoughts so far):

• New colleagues – I’ve enjoyed being part of the team here at the Buchanan Library. My colleagues at Burton are fantastic & I don’t want our team there to change, but it has been great for me to work with a new set of people with different ideas & experiences to learn from and with. Hopefully we'll remain in contact on my return home.
• New friends – who wouldn’t want more friends? I've met lots of new people & had lots of fun, it'll just be a challenge to stay in touch with everyone.
• New skills – working in a new library gave me new responsibilities from those at home and I’ll be able to apply the things that I’ve learnt & achieved there to my ‘old’ job.
• Confidence building - both personally & professionally this has been a great experience. Discovering that I do have the ability to bring my skills to a new job in a new country and enjoying living in a completely new place is certainly an achievement. I even count figuring out how to use the laundry with top-loading washing machines as a new skill these days!
• Cross-cultural growth – people from Canada aren’t all that different, but there are cultural differences to those at home and overcoming these has better equipped me to work with a wide variety of people at home. [Sorry to the girls who research I possibly spoiled with my lack of views on Japanese immigrants – “What Japanese immigrants?” - The Nikka Yuko Gardens here should’ve given me a clue].
• Networking & publicity – this has provided many opportunities for myself professionally as well as for the College to use as publicity.
• Assessment of “my” library – it’ll be very interesting to see changes Kathy has made and the suggestions she has for improvement.
• Travel opportunities – what more can I say!!! [See further into the blog if you really need more details].