IKEA Backpacker, Belfast
Tattoo Info;
This is my story; When the day came with the news that I was the chosen one to represent IKEA Norway I was happy to tears, I had an hard period behind me and I just wanted to leave the situation I was sitting in, my motivation for my current job was gone just because of a love affair with a guy from my store. I really learned from that one, don’t mess your private life with your professional life, tough something very common in a huge company as IKEA but for me it has shown me not be a good idea after what I had experienced.
IKEA Backpacker, IKEA Belfast;
There was still 2 months left before leaving on my first backpacking program, there was plenty of things to deal with at the time. Me and the guy from work was still living together and we continued being on and off with each other. Even if I were going for a year abroad we was talking about to work it out between us, we maybe just needed to give our relationship time to grow and it may would work out somehow if we had some distance and time between us, but such a stupid thought and decision of us. I don’t know how we was thinking at all in that situation but this was something that we finally decide to do or I probably didn't gave him another option. We moved out from our apt in the city center for move out to an island near Oslo, we had rent an basement of an house that was turned into an small apartment, it would be cheaper for both of us since I was going away for a year, it wasn’t the best option for him since it was further from both city and work but it was a decision we made together. It was finally October and it was time for me to leave for my first backpacker project who would take me to Belfast, Northern Ireland, I had just got the news about the destination a few weeks earlier... Honestly I wasn’t overwhelmed about going to Belfast at the time, I didn’t know much about the city and the region of Northern Ireland more than its cold, rainy and that they have a rough history behind. But knowing we were 3 backpackers going to the same store felt more exited, knowing I wouldn’t be totally alone for my first project. My project would be within customer relation department, a project about Living with Children. My mission was to create an action plan for the next 3 years by plan and secure action considering living with children in the store.
I arrived to Belfast in beginning of October, I was going to share a house with a polish girl working for sales in the store. She was picking me up at the airport and took me home to our house. This typical small village where all house looking the same, the good thing was that is was a parc not far from the house where I could go running during my free time so nature was close by. I was happy to share the house with this girl, we was more or less in the same age and we came along well together, we had the same kind of interest, both social and liked going out.
The first day in IKEA Belfast I finally met the other 2 girls, one of them from Spain and the other from Belgien, we all around the same age. We was very different from each other but we came along well together and our time together would turn out to a close and long friendship. Our projects took its start, we all worked with different projects within the store and within different functions but it was nice to have other backpacker there since we still could support each other. My project was very big and it was all up to us as backpackers to organise and involve the people we needed within our projects, there wasn’t much of support from the store at least if you didn’t asked for it... that’s the thing with this project, it was a program that started 4 years earlier in 2009 it was a program supposed to be going on for 5 year and developed new leaders within the company but we was the last ones out that year since they decide to cancel the program the year after. The return of investment wasn’t what IKEA had expected but I know why it was that way, the problem was that the places that received the backpackers wasn’t enough informed and what support they should support with. I think in my case I was lucky but I think it was a lot up to ourself as well to make it work. I was focus, well organised and I had been out traveling and stayed away from home long before but if you haven’t done that it’s more hard and you need more support from others. My project and time in Belfast started good, I had in the same time I arrived signed up for the biggest gym and got myself a personal trainer. I saw my 6 months in Belfast as an recovering project for myself as well, I had just left a year of pain and suffer behind me and felt that I needed to take care and focus on myself, in all what that meant. I was working out 5-6 days a week depending if I was traveling during the weekends or not. I had my personal trainer 1-2 times a week focusing to build up my whole body. I was both doing workout in the gym, swimming and running. I ran several times a week to work and then have my workouts in the afternoon in the gym. I took massage sessions to be able to relax myself and I cooked healthy food most of the time. It was only during weekends when I cheated on that since I went out clubbing with my new friends but if I stayed in the city I also tried to manage a workout.
My first 3 months before the Xmas break was all about research in my project, I spend the time to dig into deep about our living with children customer, there behaviour and shopping experience for later use the information to create my 3 year action plan. 3 months of workout, traveling around Northern Ireland, Ireland and UK with the girls. We manage to see a lot from the country and surroundings, both the girls had driving licences so we rented a car and discovered the countryside, such a beautiful and amazing landscape. I think the 3 of us has seen more than the people living here. We went out a lot together and I also made a lot of new friends within the store and outside the store. We past dinners, dancing in the different clubs and enjoy traveling together. I was still together with the guy from home but it felt I went longer and longer away from him. My new experience, finally being on my own and the distance between us was hard. I had start feeling the attention I made around guys and I felt good to be on my own taking care of myself. I still cared for my ex P and we stayed and supported each other from distance. When I needed to talk about my problem it was him I turned to and he was there supporting and listening to me when I needed it. My guy was over one time during my first 3 months but I had realised I no longer felt exactly the same anymore, my feeling slowly fade away and that continued after he left, I maybe didn’t see that in that time but when I was home during Xmas I felt so different. I felt I was trapped in something by being with him and my 3 months in Belfast had shown me that I needed time for myself. No one could replace the pain and suffer I had felt after breaking up with P after such a long relationship and I realised that going from one guy to another was my way to deal with the situation, to break free from my long relationship with P but it wasn’t the nice thing to do, not for this guy or at least not for myself but that was something I would experience several months later. But by looking back on it today, I see that very clear and I would never recommend any one to leave someone for moving together with someone new after a such a long relationship, that isn’t good for anyone. By the new year after Xmas I ended our relationship after a fight on the New Years eve, I finally realised it would never worked out between us and there was too many reasons for that, people are not always the ones you think they are when you first met and it takes time to really get to know someone, it take years before you really can see each others true colours, we took that risk but it show out to not work out.
I left Norway after the new year and returned back to Belfast to finish my 3 months. I was so happy to be back since the Xmas break had been a mess and I just wanted to be back in my routines that I been building up before I left. My last 3 months was amazing, we traveled more, flew to Liverpool, Edinburg, London spending time in Dublin, climbing Mourne mountains, clubbing you name it. I felt more free than ever and the only one I needed to think of was myself. My project had finally take another direction, my plan started to came alive and I had started to implement my actions. My biggest achievement had been transforming the whole Family shop base one the results from my research. The shop had start making money and we had also increased family members. My hard workout had start giving results, I had lost a few kilos, my measurements had decreased and I have start transformed my body, I felt much stronger in myself, both physically and mentally. I was ready for my next mission and destination. When my time finally came to an end I looked back on my 6 months with happiness and a time of change. A time where I had the chance to discover myself, a new country and culture, travel and explore. A time where I met and made incredible friends, a place with humbleness, people in Northern Ireland is very humble and unique, service minded and friendly. An amazing landscape full of nature, from the deep colourful forest, over mountains to the white cliffs along the coast. A place to discover and I hope one day I return to this place in summer because I think it’s even more beautiful during this time of the year. An period of time and place that always will stay in my heart forever.
// Isabell
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