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| Hello from San Francisco!I am currently on the last leg of my trip as a chaperone with my work for the field trip I mentioned that takes exchange students all over California. The weather has been pretty good so far. We went to Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Sea World, Old Towne San Diego (there is absolutely nothing there, it is pretty much like an Americanized/Touristy "little Mexico" where you can buy Mexican items for 3 dollars more), Universal Studios, a drive down Sunset, Rodeo Drive, and through West Hollywood, Disneland, California Adventure, Pismo Beach (it was cold and grey, so we only stopped for lunch and drove up farther so we could go shopping at an outlet mall), and now San Francisco. We played some games on the bus on the way up by splitting the bus in half and seeing how many particular items we could get from each side of the bus. This group likes to go shopping, so one of the questions was to see how many new tags we could get from each side (this is just from the one shopping visit at the outlet). One Japanexe girl spent $128 on a Coach purse at the outlet. Granted, that is a good price, it is still too steep for me! I have been spending most of my time with the au pairs, two from Brazil and two from France. They are really cool. I also found out that I am basically the disciplinarian of the trip, so if anyone misbehaves, they have to answer to me and apparently, a lot of them find a way to get drunk in San Francisco. If they get caught, I get to deal with it! Wish me luck! | | |
| I'm back on Xanga...So, as you can see, it has been a while since my last blog. Ever since Tobi arrived, life got pretty crazy busy on the weekends (which is mostly when I would blog because I spend my whole day in front of a computer at work and that is the last thing I want to do when I get home). Tobi left to go back home on Tuesday morning. It was very sad, but we had a lot of fun while he was here. Here are a couple of pictures for those of you who were wanting to see this blonde bombshell:
  
If you want to see more, you can go to www.sirtobi.de.gg
On work: It is pretty ironic that both times I have seriously thought about leaving and actually applied elsewhere, my job has offered me to go on a trip. Last summer I was pursuing a job with Westmont College at their San Francisco campus and the day I found out I wasn't accepted was the day I was asked to go to Phoenix. Last Friday I sent my resume over to Bethesda University (for an ESL job) and the following Monday I was asked to be a chaperon for a field trip that takes exchange students all over California. So, from Jan 24-30, I will be in LA doing the whole Hollywood and Bel Aire thing, then going down to San Diego for Sea World and the beach, back up to Anaheim for D-Land, stop off at Pismo beach for some more fun, and finally end in San Francisco where we will see the sights and then fly home from there. Pretty sweet, eh? (for my Cannuck brothers). Everything is taken care of except for food, but that might be able to be expensed as well :p.
2 1/2 more days of work 'til Xmas break where we shut down 'til Jan 3!!
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| I have a new German brotherIt has been a few weeks since my last blog and although I have had stuff to talk about, it seems like too much time goes by before I can talk about it, and then it seems irrelevant to discuss because these things have happened over a week ago. This, however, is an on-going thing: The weekend after I got back from my business trip in Phoenix, I talked to my dad about getting a foreign exchange student through my work. He took to the idea a lot more than I thought he would. I could see the wheels turning in his head about all the things we could do with and show our potential new family member. After that, all I needed was to talk with my mom. We decided that it would be best to get someone on a 3 month program so that my brother will have a place sleep over Christmas. So, our newest addition is Tobi-- a 17-year-old German guy who is awesome and joined our family last Monday. My brother is pretty jealous because after only 2 1/2 days of school (Wednesday-Friday, with Wednesday a late start day), Tobi had friends to hang out with Saturday night, got invited out again Sunday, but declined so he could go to church with me, and got asked to the Homecoming dance for the following weekend, which he also had to decline because he is going away with my parents to visit my brother. He is a lot of fun to be around and it is cool to see how he reacts to new things. He tasted the best burger he has ever had at In-N-Out and tasted the best pizza he has ever had at Zitos (a regular pizzeria near my house). He's a lot of fun to be around and brings a different perspective on life. I took him to church with me on Sunday night. He does not normally go to church in Germany and has a Catholic background. He said that in Germany you have to wear black (I'm assuming a suit) and it is exactly one hour--no more, no less. So, if anyone wants to make any modifications or has any ideas, they are squashed immediately. I took him to Rock Harbor at the 7pm service. First, he was in awe of the number of young people going to church. Then, he couldn't figure out which building the church was in because it is in a warehouse. Tobi though that was cool because he knows that one can worship God anywhere and it doesn't have to be in a huge cathedral. Then, when the worship music started, he said that he's never seen a guitar in a church before and when people started clapping, he said he hasn't seen that in church before either. The serman was good and incorporated theology and application (not all yay-God stuff), which was later downloaded online and sent to his Latin teacher in Germany because he liked it so much. At the end, I asked Tobi what he thought of the church, and he said that he liked it a lot, but it also made him sad because there is nothing that he knows of that is similar to it in Germany. | | |
| All Grown Up...My first business tripPHOENIX
I was asked by my boss to go to Phoenix for a Western Regional
conference that occurred this last week. Ironically, the day I was
asked was also the day that I found out that the door to San Francisco
was closed. Originally I was not going to be going to any of the
regional meetings, but the president thought it was a good idea to take
me to at least one so I could meet some more people in the company.
Everyone with ASSE was really nice at it was great to finally put a
person to a name that I have been seeing on paper for the past few
months.
The hotel we stayed at was amazing. It was a 5 star hotel, complete
with an award-winning restaurant that offered high class dining,
full-functioning spa (with a eucalyptus scented steam room and cucumber or lemon flavored water), beautiful
restored 1920s mediterranean inspired architecture, genuine personal
service, and an average of one employee to every three guests when the
hotel is full. Taxis are not allowed on the premises except to drop off
guests. If a guest wishes to leave the grounds (either to catch a plane
or to go into the city), they must be picked up by the limousine service
the hotel has an arrangement with. Everything was taken care of...down
to the cocktails before and/or after dinner (which started 8-9pm and we
wouldn't get back until 11pm-12am).
On Thursday night I got stuck at the bigwig table because I had to sign
for the limos and the driver was taking FOREVER. It started out a
little awkward since all the other tables around us were giggling and
having a good time. Then there was my table, which was very serious and
had little to say. Luckily, one of the head coordinators from Germany
was at the table and she was really interesting to talk to and I was
able to carry on a conversation with her. I also scored some
conversations with the president that may play in my favor later on. At
the end of the night, after everyone had consumed their appetizers,
salads, entrees, and desserts (all courses are expected to be ordered,
but especially entrees (obviously) and desserts), I wound up being the
driver for the bigwigs who had rented a minivan.As acting chauffeur
, I
think I also scored a few points, so the evening wasn't quite as bad as
I thought it would turn out.
At what point do I stop giving away information about my age for free?
I was asked twice on this trip how old I was. Would it be rude to
answer the question and ask it back? What are good ways to skirt around
the issue? I am definitely the youngest person to work for the company
by 2-3 years. After that, there is a large age jump to women in their
40s. I don't want to lose any credibility because of my age. But
then, I can also use my age as an excuse for any naivety that I may
have. For example, children often are curious and can get away with
asking questions that for some reason adults become cautious about.
There was a lady on the trip who was born with no finger or toe nails
except for a small little square on her thumbs, index finger, and
coordinating digits. Because she was wearing open-toed sandals and she
was in her early thirties, I knew that she had to be comfortable with
her differently formed hands and feet. Since I was intrigued, I simply
asked her if I could see her hands, which she gladly let me see and
touch as I explained that I noticed them and thought that they were
cool. She laughed and thought it was funny. As far as I know, she was
not offended by my curiosity.
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| So Cal Status Remains StrongLately I have been having a lot of hour and a half Saturday morning
meetings. This last Saturday morning, I met with a lady who is an
intercultural consultant and she bought me breakfast :) She's really
crazy in a fun way and I had a good time gettting to know her. She gave
me a lot of pointers on how I can get involved in the field and it
looks like I am joining my first professional organization. Look who's
growing up! Also, I joined a group of Southern California
interculturalists and am going to their monthly meeting a week from
Saturday. The topic is how culture affects creativity. Very
interesting...
It was a good thing I had such an amazing meeting on Saturday because
that softened the fall for when I found out I was not chosen to work
with Westmont College in San Francisco. They actually called me to tell
me I was not selected, which really impressed me because I was
expecting a vague e-mail. The person they chose was a SF local, so she
knew the area really well and could help students navigate around the
city, and she has a lot of business experience. So, she sounds like a
much better fit for what they need. Which is fine with me.
Although work seems like it is in a constant up and down cycle of how
it is going (more down than up right now as the school year quickly
approaches and we have more students than homes to put them in), I get
to go on my first business trip at the end of the month :) It is only
to Arizona, but it is a start. We are having our annual Western
regional meeting in Phoenix and the president thought it would be a
good idea for me to go so I can meet more people. Yay! If only I could
go to the annual state meeting that is in Rome...but "assistants don't
go." Boo that.
On a higher note, my cousin is getting married on Saturday and I get to
house sit for her. This means that I get to be on my own for a week and
a half. Yay! This means I get to do things the way I have been used to
doing them for the past few years. Freedom!
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