Thursday, March 27, 2008

Adios Madrid

Well, unfortunately it doesn't look like I will be doing TEFL in Spain after all. I just really can't afford it. Too many bills, too many uncertainties. It is definitely an option for after this summer. I still want to see Europe and I would be there if money weren't a factor. It is too expensive to go over there without a job or regular source of income.

To be honest, I have been giving a lot of thought to the Peace Corps and/or the Center for Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawai'i. The more I work on my presentation and read my old blog entries, the more I remember how much I loved my trip and how passionate I am about the Pacific.

Speaking of my presentation, what would you want to hear about Pohnpei? My presentation is set up in two parts; Part 1 being sort of an atlas introduction to Pohnpei; and Part 2 is all about my trip and what I learned. Please share in the comments below what you would want to know if you (hypothetically) were coming to my presentation. Thanks!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

For and Against: Volume 2

I'm just gonna jump right into this one.

What I'm for: Humor

I had a great weekend in Kalamazoo with a bunch of friends. The whole weekend was one big laugh and it felt great. We laughed at nicknames, diseases, jokes, art, everything. You name it, we laughed about it. Saturday night we saw Tracy Morgan. That man's stand up is so incredibly dirty, but hilarious nonetheless. I laughed so much this weekend that my face hurts.

I feel bad for those people that are so uptight that they can't laugh. Humor is such a great way to forget about any sort of troubles. Humor and laughing is good for you. Humor can be such and absurd escape from reality or the spot-on truth, and either way you can laugh. I was thinking about quoting a line from "Garden State", but that would just be lame. If you know it, you know it, if not...you can look it up on this page. It's pretty far down there.

Anyway, enjoy this video of Zac. Something I found funny.

What I'm against: Drinking too much

Monday was St. Patrick's Day and Zac and I decided to celebrate, as we have done for years at college. We started with an Irish breakfast at Kilkenny's and a few beers. Drinking beer at 9:00 am is easier than it sounds. We met up with a pub-crawl at noon and continued our binge.

Unfortunately, I drank way too much. Don't get me wrong, I had a fun time and met a ton of people, but I didn't need to drink as much as I did. As a result, my whole week has been thrown off. I wasn't able to work Tuesday because I was feeling the effects of Monday's gluttony. I had to peel myself out of bed just to get in the shower. Wednesday still felt weird and I couldn't find a job.

In a way I'm glad it happened because it reminded me of how much I hate being hungover. It was reminiscent of my days in college, but I'm not in college any more. The consequences of drinking are greater now. It costs more, its unhealthy, and I always feel down the next few days. So from here on out, I'm going to be taking it much easier.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

For and Against: Volume 1

Welcome to the inaugural "For and Against" post. "What is 'For and Against'" you might ask? Well its my attempt to tell about the things I appreciate, enjoy, like and those things I am against, hate, or am annoyed by. I hope to bring you "For and Against" every Sunday and write about events or things relevant to my week. In that capacity, "For and Against" will also update you on some of the things I've been up to or some of those things I experienced that may not get their own post. Some will be humorous (at least I hope), some will be deep, and some may be boring (I hope not). Comprende? So without further adieu...

For and Against: Volume 1 --

What I'm for: Chicago/Chicagoland


What a great city! I got a chance to go visit my nohnoh at my Aunt Kimiya's house in St. Charles - a suburb of Chicago. (More on the visit in a bit) We took a wrong exit and instead of bypassing Chicago we ended up on the Chicago Skyway. While it took us an hour out of the way, we got a chance to drive next to the city.

The Chicago skyline is THE original skyline of America; the skyscraper was was first built and popularized in Chicago. From the Sears Tower to the Hancock Center and all buildings in between, downtown Chicago just looks like a city with a lot going on. I think of it as New York City with a Midwest attitude.

Driving by reminded me of my high school spring break trips with my siblings and my grandma. We went every spring break and explored the city. We went to plays and musicals, we went shopping at on Michigan Avenue and the Water Tower Place, and we always ate at restaurants - some new and some favorites.

Chicago is clean, fun, and relatively safe. Even metro-Chicago is nice. It is clean, plenty of shopping and restaurants, and they all have a small town feel.


My Aunt Kimiya and Uncle John live in St. Charles which is 40 miles due West of Chicago. Unfortunately my Grandma has had to fly all the way from Guam to have more work done on her heart. The good thing (maybe selfishly) is that I got to visit my Grandma for the first time since this summer. We talked for the longest time and her voice immediately reminded me of our late night talks from this summer.

It was the first time I've seen my Aunt since before the trip and I enjoyed talking with her about my experience and showing her my pictures. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit them soon.

What I'm against: Winter

The drive down was beautiful. It was sunny and the temperature was between 55 and 60 degrees; you could smell Spring. It was so refreshing.

The drive home was not so pleasant. The further north we drove the thicker the snow became. Thankfully it was sunny, but it is still depressing to see all this snow (especially after the tease of aforementioned weather). I don't need to go on about this as you can read my thoughts below.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Almost Famous

Only if famous means "your name tucked in some far corner of the Traverse City Record Eagle in a blurb about a group of presentations" I am famous. Think of it as the Where's Waldo? standard of fame. Before you read the plug I would like to clarify that: a)I am not an International Student nor am I a student of NMC and b) when it says "lived on Pohnpei" the writer is referring to the two whole months I lived there. No autographs please.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Jinxed

Me to Josh: "I hope this is the beginning of the spring thaw, although I probably just jinxed it."

Weather this morning: 13 degrees and snowing.

I am so sick of winter.I am sick of four-wheel-drive. I am sick of jackets. I am sick of walking up the driveway because the car won't make it up. The gray and the cold, it is so miserable.

This is what I want to do: lay on the beach, swim, throw a frisbee, and play volleyball all day. I want to be able to hang out outside. I want to barbeque. I want to camp.

I have been cooped up for 6 months now. Puxatony Bill is a bastard.