Preparing to leave on a jet plane

I'm looking forward to continuing my gaijin blog when I get to Korea. I always have fun trying to explain the customs and practices of another culture to friends and family back in the United States. These things, in addition to taking lots and lots of pictures, serve as a wonderful souvenir for myself and help jog memories when they get too old to come willingly.

I still haven't managed to start studying Korean, which will cause problems if I don't get started soon. I did make the effort to order a textbook to help me teach myself after I asked a couple of my friends what books they used in school. The book should be here Friday, along with a USB charger for my Nintendo DS--which appears to be the only one of my electronics that will not be able to survive the voltage of a Korean outlet. The next most important thing on my list is getting socks. You can never have too many, and right now I have far too few. I mean, what good are immunizations going to do me if I don't have socks to keep my feet dry and disease free?

I have a new found love of the state of California, which in addition to providing me with weeks of gorgeous weather and beautiful scenery is now putting my tax dollars to work in a way that I actually understand. I was worried about going to the local clinic to get a needed check-up, but when I got there I found out that not only was the appointment free of charge, but I got a year's worth of medication at no cost to me. I was so happy I made a donation--$25 is still a fraction of what I would have paid with insurance alone. I can almost forgive them for ruining my phone on this happy day.

small things

I do love California.

Despite the fact that I'm sleeping on a couch in an office that doubles as the rec room, and despite the fact that I think my cat's fleas are trying to eat me alive, I'm enjoying my few weeks of living at home. My parents have a nice house--I have a balcony and a TV in this little office, and the fridge is always stocked with good food. I even have a library card so I can check out as many books as I can possibly read.

Still trying to get everything in order for my big move next month. I've had some problems fighting with the CA Department of Justice and the CDC, but all that pales in comparison to the terrible tragedy that befell my phone last week. It came, it saw, but in the end the ocean conquered. I have a new phone now, but its nowhere near as awesome as my old phone. I suppose its not a big deal since I'm not going to be in the country long enough to really care about this phone. Bleh.

No expectations

A friend of mine wrote a post recently about people who use blogspot or livejournal or whatnot tend to focus their angsty dark thoughts and consequently drive away readers with their whining. I hope I'm not whining, but then again, I also don't think I have the problem of having readers, so no one cares what I write or why I write it, and I kinda like it that way. Obviously this isn't my main venue--I mostly stick to journals because it looks prettier and forces me to really think about what I put on paper. I like not writing for an audience. I'm sure that there are occasional readers here, but I don't know them and chances are they don't know me. So here's my salute to no expectations! Wooooo!

I leave Saturday for San Diego to spend some time with my family and get my documents together for Korea (the job I interviewed for over the phone a couple weeks ago). I'm excited that I get to go, despite any apprehension about moving across the Pacific and living somewhere I don't speak the language. I still have time to learn I suppose.

The colloquial language barrier

I knew when I decided to start interviewing for positions in another country that I would be facing some problems with the interview process. I mean, most Americans can't speak English correctly; some days I don't know why the rest of the world even tries. I'm not trying to make a comment about the poor quality of most foreigners' English, but rather, I wonder why the world has to operate in one of the most difficult languages to learn. Let's ignore the fact that the United States is the keeper of international order for just one second. Is it too late to change the official language of our country to something a little easier to teach...like sign language?

I'd like to think that my English isn't the worst in the world, however, in interviewing with people whose first language is not English, you start to notice some of the idioms and phrases you use that probably aren't recognizable to someone who hasn't grown up in the U.S. I just now really realized that I have the tendency to shorten my "to a" to "ta". I say "ya" when I mean "yes". And while I haven't noticed anything in my speech in particular, I know there are plenty of people who interject every other phrase with "like". I'm not just talking about young people either. I had a teacher who would say "um" at least 400 times per class (believe me, we counted). And I'm not even going to get into the accents that people in this country have, some of which make them completely unintelligible to almost everyone else.

After my interview today, the man who I was speaking to stopped and asked me where I was from, because apparently of all the people he had interviewed for the position, I was the most well enunciated of the lot. Apparently my "ta"s and occasional "um"s weren't enough to keep me from getting my meaning across. I just wonder about all those other people that poor man had to try to decipher before me....

Positive Thoughts

Strange things have been happening, strange strange things.... I have an interview tonight and another one tomorrow. As each day passes it seems more and more likely that I'm going to be moving soon, and it's a pretty big move that I am considering. Affording it will be another matter, but if it is the right thing for me to be doing with my life at this time, then I suppose it will all come together. Just need to keep a positive thought that everything will come together.

Something I think about

Just in case anyone was wondering, the job market right now sucks.

I've been toying with the idea of turning this into a blog about the difficulties facing young graduates these days--a first hand account of the trials and tribulations of a former student trying to find employment. I don't know that I consider myself an ideal subject of discussion for an entire page, considering that I'm don't know if I'm a typical college graduate. I'm indecisive, I don't know exactly what I want to do with my life or where I'm really going. I have some vague general ideas and desires for my life, but in the grand scheme of things I have no clue how I'm going to get there. If there are more graduates like me, the biggest problem that I'm facing is not the lack of job opportunities that I'm qualified to fill, or the not having a clear direction for my life, but rather it is the feeling of being incapable of finding employment, the constant feeling of inadequacy. I want to write about these things but I don't know if any one would read it, or if it would help anyone but me. Just something I think about.

Still trying, still looking, still accepting any suggestions or help that anyone can throw my way. Until then I'm going to keep on chugging along....

just the stress

Just gotta remind yourself, its just the stress talking...

Exactly one month from today, I will be attending the first of my two graduation ceremonies and starting down that irreversible path to adulthood. As of this moment, I have not yet found a job or an apartment, and with all the work that I'm currently putting in to school I don't really have time to find either. My entire live these past couple of weeks has been one giant crying, nauseous mess...

Of course I'm trying hard to keep my spirits up. Had a wonderful Easter with my friends and am looking forward to the joy of graduation dress shopping later this weekend. Even got myself a cute new haircut to try to improve my outlook, but its all a little difficult right now. When everything you eat makes you feel sick, and everything you do feels as though its just not good enough, its just very debilitating. I need a break, someone to throw me some help, so I can figure out what in the hell I'm doing wrong and what I can do to correct it. And unfortunately, I've got to figure this out soon, otherwise I'm going to be homeless and hopeless come May 18th...

I wish I had something happier to say, but between a long distance relationship I'm not really sure about, friends who can't wait to get out of here (and consequently leave me behind) and a mess of homework and end-of-semester shit that is quickly piling up, I feel like the happy I have is momentary and shallow. I really hope seeing my nephew next weekend will change that. I just need something to start going right.