Déjà vu

I went back to my old job after repatriating to say hi to my ex-boss and to drop off some Brasilian chocolate I had promised to bring back. Two weeks later, she emailed me asking if I was interested in going back to my old job. With a grim job market, I eagerly said yes. (Yes, bribery does work!)

It has been a little over 2 weeks since returning to the rat race. I'm still on the fence if I'm really enjoying what I'm doing. Working overseas is definitely more enjoyable. In the States, I have more bureaucracy to deal with. I thought I was able to run away from all of it when I left for Brasil. But in a matter of weeks, it all came back in a big hurry. It feels as if South America never really happened now except I now speak to my Brasilian boss only in Portuguese and I spend a ridiculous amount of time talking to my computer. (The computer part is the highlight of my day... I'm not crazy!)

I have no great epiphanies or even a decent conclusion to this post. All I got is a quote from Richard Iannelli, a clinical psychologist: Spontaneity is the quality of being able to do something just because you feel like it at the moment, of trusting your instincts, of taking yourself by surprise and snatching from the clutches of your well-organized routine a bit of unscheduled pleasure.

I think I need another trip to South America. =)

Confessions of a Nomad

Yes, I've been seriously slacking with the blogging... but with good reason. Since my last entry in November, things had happened. A LOT of things had happened. And with the urging of my very good friend, Glenn, here I go:

My wonderful job at CNA came to an end. While I was hired to write and give a minimum of 5 workshops, I ended up giving only one thanks to bad scheduling and broken air conditioners. I'm still waiting for my writing credit in their yet-to-be-published textbook. (I wrote about being an ESL teacher. I know, a stretch.)
	I spent December and January with a backpack smelling like old socks. I started off flying to Uruguay and parking myself on the beach, taking a boat to Argentina to tango, crossing through the Andes by bus to Chile, and sailed through the Chilean fjords on a ferry remembering how much I really disliked boats. But, the goal was to make to 'el fin de mundo'. And I would like to say to Mrs. Gonzalez, my 6th grade teacher who made me travel my imaginary road to Tierra del Fuego, I made it to the end of the world. Woohoo!
While on my little adventure, in a little city called Córdoba, I did manage to pick up something (or someone) from the Netherlands. Let's just say I definitely wasn't planning on that happening. The things you do after being kicked out of the hostel so the workers can attend Christmas mass and being slightly inebriated by fermented wheat.
	My last month in Brasil was bittersweet. I didn't get to travel as much as I was hoping due to financial constraints. (Patagonia got a bit pricey at the end!) However, I was left with a lot of time to ponder about life, the future, and how to make the perfect caipirinha.
I also managed not to go to Carnival in Rio de Janiero. Why? I couldn't justify spending $1,000 on a 4 day party/drunk-fest. Instead, I hopped on a bus with C and A some 10 hours away with only the clothes on my back and $50 BRL to my name. (It was more of bad planning on my part. Good thing C had clothes and A had money.)
	I said 'abraços e beijos' (hugs and kisses in Portuguese) to Brasil with a bit of a whimper. For the most part, I did enjoy my time in the land of rice and beans. My only regret was the failure of the ring. Sei lá...
Home is where the heart is, I guess. There's nothing like sleeping on my own feather bed wearing clothes that doesn't have holes where holes shouldn't be. And the best part, I got to drive my car. No more buses with random weird guys wiping their sweat on me!!!
	And so, only after 10 days of being in the US, I jumped on a plane to Amsterdam to see what I had picked up in Córdoba. My objectives in Holland were to see a windmill, try on wooden shoes, and eat brownies. (And for all those who are curious: Yes, I saw one from the plane and one up close. No, but saw some middle-aged guy click-clacking around in very fashionable yellow clogs. No, I didn't, but I did the next best thing. It's legal, so it was ok!) As for my big reason for me cashing in all my frequent flier miles to Europe, the future for us is definitely foggy. 9,000km of land and water doesn't help us any. Only time will tell... Or maybe a trip to China...
Now, I'm back to a semi-quasi reality in California. Mother Nature was nice enough to remind me I was back by waking me up with a 4.4 earthquake at 4:04am centered 22km away from my bed. (Sarcastic 'yay!') I'm on day 2 of job-hunting/jury duty waiting/graduate school essay writing/exercising/photo-editing.

And with that, you have now been updated. Congratulations!

Wet

Just returned from: Foz do Iguaçu (PR), Brasil

My little poem:

Water water everywhere

Up in the air

down to my underwear

Soaking hair

to slippery stairs

I ask Mother Nature why

but I do not dare

for I fear

that the sky might not again tear.

(I never said I was a poet!)

I'm Not 30, I'm 29 + 1.

Today is my last day in my twenties, and it hurts. I'm going to try to look at this from a 'the glass is half-full' perspective instead. I found a list of things I should do before turning 30. Since I've only got hours left, I'm just going to tick what I've done instead. Here goes.

1. Try an extreme sport. Does jumping out of an airplane count?

2. Date a bad boy. Hmmm... Define "bad boy".

3. Open a retirement account. As boring as it sounds, I've started one.

4. Dye your hair a crazy color. In college, it was red and blue. I also tried being blonde, but for an Asian girl, it just looked wrong.

5. Do a girls-trip. Just because. I went to a hens weekend in Australia and drove around California with 2 crazy girls all in the same year. That was a lot of girl-bonding time.

6. Sing Karaoke. I lived in the land that created karaoke for two years. Enough said.

7. Pay off your credit cards. Debt is scary.

8. Buy something totally frivolous, ridiculously expensive and utterly fabulous. Plane tickets? My iPod?

9. Fall in love. Hmmm... yeah. Next.

10. Crash a party. Crashing parties is my middle name.

11. Travel. I think I got this one throughly covered.

12. Volunteer. I spent 2 years volunteering at the county hospital. Granted, I was 16 at the time.

13. Do something you're totally terrified of. Public speaking. I am now a teacher.

14. Meet a drag queen. I went to Thailand twice. Both times, we played "Find the she-male."

15. Buy yourself an amazing piece of jewelry. I know I haven't done this. I have a habit of losing or breaking expensive things.

16. Love your body. It is still a process that will take my entire lifetime.

17. Learn how to change a tire. I know how to put on snow chains. That's similiar, right?

18. Reconnect with an old friend/family member. Yeah, yeah.

19. Ask for a raise. First, I must stay at a job for longer than a year.

20. Take a dance class. I took hip-hop during my boy band phase and tap dancing in my "I want to annoy everyone around me" period.

21. Schedule a health check-up. I used to do this when I had someone else paying for my heath insurance. That was 5 years ago. A lot has happened since then.

22. Understand your taxes, 401k etc. I understand that I don't make enough for the government to care. Thank goodness for TurboTax!

23. Apply for your dream job. I did. Didn't get it, but the point is I tried.

24. Do something insanely romantic for someone you love. First, I need to find someone to love.

25. Host a dinner party for your family. I make a good turkey.

26. Master an amazing dish. My brother claims that I make a good brownie cheesecake. I still don't remember this.

27. Swim in the ocean. I prefer pools, but I like sticking my feet in the ocean.

28. Go to dinner and a movie by yourself. Done that. I wait for no one when it comes to Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds.

29. Live alone. It would be nice if I could. My financial funds are a little lacking.

30. Ask a guy out. Did it last night. Drunk texting.

Bring on 30!

Father Knows Best

A sample conversation with my father:

Father: The dryer machine broke down. Your mother is not too happy about it. It will be very expensive to fix.
Me: I don't even have a washing machine. I have to wash everything by hand.
Father: That should be easy. You only have five things to wash a week, right? You have two underwears, a T-shirt, pants, and skirt. Very easy.
Me: [shaking my head in disbelief] Yes, father. I only change my underwear twice a week. I flip it over to get more use out of it. I try to live as simple as possible.