The Keht Abides

After an absence of little less than a year, I am back. Or at least, making an attempt at being back.

Today I saw Hannah, (Hannah! My best blogger buddy, who is now married, whom I've not seen in about 2 years, when we met up in Berlin), who told me I should get back to this "blog" thing. And right now, I have the motivation.

I didn't post during that almost-year because I was teaching English on Princess Cruises. A job which I have decided to give up. Still not sure why I decided that, exactly, but no regrets (yet)!

Also jetzt bin ich zu Hause, with the parents (sans Leah while she continues her stay in Paris), for better or for worse. They say they'll start charging rent in April, so that gives me...4 months. I'm pretty sure I can be out by then.

To close, I will leave you with a cartoon by Roz Chast. She's a cartoonist for the New Yorker, and I got a collection of her stuff for Xmas. I'd never heard of her before yesterday, but she's definitely worth checking out. A great mix of random and witty.


PS-I got more Melty Bars this Christmas! Hooray!!!

Too much is going on!

I met Hedwig!! As in, from Hedwig and the Angry Inch!!!!! And I finally saw the musical live, which was totally worth every cent. Cammy was there. It was awesome.

And I leave for my cruise ship training tomorrow. My first official day of training is on my birthday. Not sure how I feel about that, but it'll probably be a...stimulating day at the very least, right?

Wish me luck!

In the spirit of affectionate meanness

I love these "unValentine" cards I found on the craft site Etsy. I would totally give them to people, if I weren't so stingy to begin with.

Move over, Keira Knightley

"I'm 5 foot 7, and I've got pasty white skin. I don't think I'm ugly, don't get me wrong, but I'm not your classic lead man, Brad Pitt guy."

A quote from my new love, James McAvoy. I just saw Atonement today, and while the film overall left something to be desired...so did James McAvoy, in a good way. Ha ha. I think he was the sole reason I was actually still watching in the film in the last hour. And as this quote illustrates, he's not too arrogant either. Too bad about the 5' 7" part though.

For the time being...sigh.

GAH!

Why is it SO HARD to buy work shoes for size 11.5 feet?!? I honestly can't find ANY passable ones, even after checking Nordstrom's and Zappos!!!!

Must...refrain...from looking up pictures of radio personalities. I made the mistake of looking up the guys from Filmspotting, a film reviews podcast I'm addicted to.

Finding out what these people truly look like just dashes all of my hopes of them being nerdy yet adorable emo-ish boys. Dang it.

Hey man slow down, slow down

Today I spent $62 on two skincare products. I didn't think I was one of "those people" who drop outrageous amounts of cash on beauty stuff, but apparently I am.

In other news, I'm done being a Tourist for a while, and am back from Ecuador. It was Amazing! I will probably post highlights from the trip on Facebook in the near future, but I have to drive Leah up to Berkeley tomorrow, so...the near future.

It's kind of funny to think how Leah and I just spent 2 weeks traveling together in a foreign country, and now we have to spend another 7 straight hours driving together in a tiny enclosed car...can we make it? Yes, I think we can--just barely.

I'm using Facebook more and more to announce this stuff

I'm off to Ecuador tomorrow!

Well, technically Leah and I are off to Cammy's house in Seal Beach, and then off to LAX after that for our flight to Ecuador at 1 am.

I'm excited! And stressed! And also calm to some extent. If that's possible.

PS-Finished Snow Falling on Cedars. I DO NOT recommend that book, it's the definition of tedious.

I couldn't ask for more

Highlights of Xmas Eve/Xmas day:

-Playing "soccer" with my cousin Max (who's 8 years old)
-Being pestered by my other cousin Mason to play with him (Also 8, he usually prefers to play with my dad!)
-Watching Leah feed a baby mouse to the snake she's pet-sitting (A novel Xmas activity like no other)
-Getting MELTY BARS!!! my favorite chocolate bar from my dad's secretary

I need to watch more movies like this

I just watched a really thought-provoking and inspiring documentary about Sudanese refugees relocated to America. I really liked the film because it gave a very balanced view of the situation for refugees; it didn't hit you over the head with all of the atrocities, and it didn't try to sugarcoat the positive sides of moving to the United States. The film is called God Grew Tired of Us, and I strongly recommend it to everyone.

ps

Merry Christmas everyone!

For anyone who is interested, my mom is going to be on channel 28 (PBS, I think?) today (Christmas Eve) at 6:30pm-ish, playing with her dulcimer band on a live Christmas broadcast from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Yeah, I know. My mom's pretty cool.

Back from the dead?

According to the Facebook iLike application, Chet Baker is (On Tour). I thought he was dead?

Unexpected

I'm interviewing this Wednesday to teach English to the staff of a Princess cruise ship. Like, while on the cruise. I don't really know if I want the job (it's a lot of teaching hours, working six days a week), but apparently they're desperate for teachers...so it's good interview experience, at the very least.

It just sucks to still get stressed out about a job I probably don't want anyway. But you NEVER KNOW!

Schade....

There isn't much more of a turn-off (for me) than talking to a somewhat attractive guy at a party who's about my age and hear him start a sentence with "So, when I was married...."

Perhaps I'm being too judgmental.

UPDATE: OK, for anyone who cares, I've reconsidered and decided that there are worse things a guy could mention. Like being 100% for the death penalty or thinking all women should be stay-at-home moms. You get the idea.

Thanks a lot, "Tarot"

My roommate Katy's friend, Sat, reads tarot cards, so Katy and I both asked her to look at her cards to get advice on where we should teach English. Right now, I've sort of narrowed down my countries to South Korea, Vietnam, and Poland (well, basically just Eastern Europe, but I had to choose just one country). Lately I've been leaning the most towards Vietnam, mostly because it just sounds the most exciting (and the mildest winter).

This is what the cards apparently said:

1. Korea: According to the cards, I feel uncertain about teaching there, but in the future I would be very good at passing on knowledge to other people (so good teaching opportunities perhaps?).

2. Vietnam: Very good, strong positive card, representing future hope, peace and harmony. So I could have an awesome, empowering experience. But then I got the "tower" card, apparently the most negative card representing death or chaos (see picture). So Vietnam could be an amazing experience, but also really bad. Like, someone could die. Or alternatively, "you might feel emotionally like your world is crumbling around you." Hmm.

3. Poland: This one had the most straightforward positive cards; however, nothing really remarkable about it. The main reason I'm interested in Poland is that I would be so close to the rest of Europe, and Poland currently has the highest demand for English teachers in Europe. But hey, Europe is overrated. OK, maybe not overrated, but there are so many equally awesome parts of the world.

So while it was definitely need to get another kind of input on where I should apply for jobs, the tarot cards didn't help me narrow things down too much. Oh well. I think a lot of this kind of thing should be placed on chance, and adapting to whatever presents itself.

Yes, I am a music elitist, thank you VERY MUCH

Freakin' "iLike Music Challenge." Just because I don't know which Usher song that is, or that Taking Back Sunday song, or who sings that bland, cliched techno song (Oh, it's Madonna? I should have known! NOT!) I don't think my lack of knowledge about these "artists" should classify me as a "music novice." I got all the ones about the Rolling Stones, RHCP, Nirvana, and the White Stripes right!

How DARE they?!?

I have internet again!!

Hello!

I'm living in Point Loma right now, renting a room from one of the girls in my amTEFL program, Katy. We finished the class last week before Thanksgiving, and now I'm back to continue volunteering/assistant teaching until the end of the semester, Dec. 14th.

Life is pretty much a party now; I go in to teach about 3 hours a day at most, or not at all if I don't feel like it. (Or if I get locked out of my apartment for 4+ hours, as was the case last Wednesday. It was time well-spent bonding with the neighbors.)

The rest of the time is generally spent trying to get into jogging mode again (haven't done it for about five months), taking belly dancing classes (yes!), exploring the new bars in the area (and attempting to flirt with bartenders before finding out they moved here from Minnesota to get married....), and going to shows (we saw Iron and Wine on Tuesday, and perhaps Grand Ole Party or Blues Traveler this Sunday).

All of this translates into my bank account rapidly decreasing. But I figure it's worth it. And I'll only be down here for two more weeks. I can't completely use up my money in that span of time, right? :/

Also, my apartment is literally a 2-minute walk from the bay (I don't really know which bay, but you can kind of see Downtown San Diego on the other side), so it's really relaxing to walk along the beach and sit on the rocks to read a book or watch these weird sea black birds diving under the water for food. They can stay under the water for about a minute. Dylan, any guess what those birds might be?

OK, that's all I can think of for now. I will close with a link to this news story I found funny, and totally unimportant.

You wait much long for update, yes?

Yes. I am updating.

I still have no internet within a mile radius, so that's why I don't update much. I went through initial Facebook and shopping-online withdrawals, but have gradually been learning to appreciate this new-found time. I can read books! I can go for walks! I can...watch TV! (Is this an improvement? I seriously doubt it.)

Anyway, I had my first FULL week of class training to be a teacher. Class is from 9 to 5. AND we had make-up class on Saturday too. So basically, it feels like I have a job. But definitely more fun, even though it is quite boring at times. But I have to present my first lesson plan tomorrow! Exciting and challenging. I decided to do it on manners, and comparing what people consider to be good and bad manners at a dinner party. Hopefully people won't be too bored.

And Halloween! Hannah's post about Halloween motivated me to post something as well. I partied with Cammy and her ex-roomie Sarah and all of the International Relations grad students in La Jolla. It was good times. It's been a long time since I've been at a party where I pretty much didn't know anyone, and we were all about the same age.

Yeah, I can't figure out how to rotate this picture. Oh well.

My initial costume was Laura Ingalls Wilder after she came to L.A. I figured I could spice up the bonnet and plaid dress with some big sunglasses and stilettos. But the first comment about my costume happened to be, "Are you Paris Hilton from the Simple Life?" So I decided to nix the shades and fancy shoes and just be Laura Ingalls Wilder. Which prompted many other interesting costume guesses, including Betty Crocker, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Aunt Jemima. Yes, I think many people had had quite a bit to drink. It was rather amusing.

Cammy conceived and assembled her entire costume the day of the party; she managed to concoct an AWESOME Wilma Flintstone costume, red-haired beehive and all. She was also very excited to have bare feet as part of her costume.

The theme of the party was Day of the Dead. So Cammy's friend, Sarah, dressed up as La Llorona, the weeping ghost woman who murdered her children, according to Mexican folk tales. She was dressed all in black with lots of runny mascara. Sarah's current roommate, Cathy, dressed also dressed up as an awesome Frida Kahlo.

OK, I think my writing skills are going down the drain. This is my conclusion. Friends, drop me a line sometime! Much love to you all!

These fires are more serious than I thought....

Classes at all SD schools are canceled for the week, so I'm heading back up to Monrovia for a bit.

My thoughts go out to all the people who've been evacuated from their homes.

Smoke in the air

I'm in San Diego! I've been here for a whole 24 hours! And things are kind of exciting. Although not in the way I imagined. There have been huge fires in the area, fires so bad that they cancelled my first day of class 2 hours early, and also cancelled all classes tomorrow at SDSU. I guess the city of San Diego itself isn't threatened, but the people of Chula Vista have "recommended evacuation," and most beaches along the Orange County coast have mandatory evacuation.

The woman I'm renting my room from asked me today if it's alright for two of her friends to stay at her house for a while. They've been evacuated from their own house and don't really have anywhere to stay yet. I hope they can move home again soon, and not because I like my privacy!