Thursday, August 31, 2006
the first week is kicking my butt!
last week was my last week of vacation and i spent the last bit of it celebrating daryl’s birthday with him and yuko, and then heading out to LA on thursday… and staying until sunday! i didn’t really plan on being there that long, but i didn’t have anything planned here at home and watching the entire season of “project runway 3” with two built-in roommates (kat and susan) was so much more funner than being home alone in my cable-less apartment. i took pictures, as usual, of us eating, and wanted to blog about it when i came home…
but when i arrived back here in the land of internet (that would be my house, since kat’s network kicked me off every 10 seconds), i realized i had to go to work.
i know, i know, i had the whole summer off, and i’m pretty sure NO ONE feels sympathetic towards me right now… but this first week of work is kicking my butt!
i have to be there at 8, which means i have to get up around 7… and for some reason, the adjustment period is just really really really hard. i’m tired all the time and i take naps and everything, but i’m still tired. and the daily meetings for 2-3 hours in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoons aren’t really helping either. plus… my classroom is a mess and i have to try to get things all organized around this schedule that we have of meetings and more meetings. add to that, when i get home and try to take a nap, someone usually calls and wakes me up. grrrr!!!! you shoulda heard me growl at the telemarketer who called - especially since i’m on the do-not-call list! he claimed he was from a non-profit organization, which apparently is exempt from the do-not-call list, but when i asked him if it was a marketing call, he sheepishly acknowledged that it was… and i firmly told him not to call me again and that i didn’t appreciate being woken up… but i get one or two calls like that every day! what’s up with that??!?! anyways, that’s besides the point…
the point is that being back at work is tiring me out and i fnd myself wanting more and more sleep, but i have SO MUCH TO DO to be ready for my classroom on tuesday.
*sigh*
at any rate, i would love to post more about my friends and the good times we had eating, but i think i’m gonna take another nap. and maybe this time i won’t wake up till 7am. =)
Monday, August 21, 2006
me and my roomie
i haven’t had a chance to see much of rita since i’ve been back but we were finally able to hang out on saturday night…
Sunday, August 20, 2006
growing up adventist
if you grew up adventist, then you probably share a lot of cultural experiences with me… and this email forward makes you laugh…
but last night, merv and i were trying to outdo each other with our “i was sooo sheltered...” stories, and MAN! looking back on our lives, it’s actually rather funny to think of the stuff that we went through as kids.
for example, my brother and i weren’t really allowed to watch tv. neither was merv. but if my brother and i were allowed to watch tv (only shows such as “jeopardy”, “family ties” and “the cosby show"), we had to turn off the volume on the commercials because we couldn’t let the “bad music” enter our house. yeah - i’m not kidding - and that’s exactly how they said it.
on the other hand, merv’s parents had a “tv allowance box” which allowed merv and his brother to watch 2 hours of tv each week. so they ended up not watching commercials either, but only because they wanted to save their 2 hours of tv watching time.
the funny thing was that merv’s brother actually figured out the parent code - the one that allowed unlimited tv usage - and they would watch tv while their parents weren’t home and then turn off the box and dive outta the living room when they heard the garage open. if that’s not funny enough, get this - one time, the code was actually 1844!
can anyone out there beat these stories? there are so many more i think we could both pull from, but i thought i’d give you a chance to participate before i wow you with the conservativeness that was our parents raising us to be good little adventists.
what type of weird little quirks did you go through as a result of being raised adventist? i’d love to hear that i wasn’t alone…
Thursday, August 17, 2006
running non-stop since i've been home...
it has definitely been fun being home and catching up with people, giving them pasalubong, and just being able to hang out with friends… i’ve been pretty much filling my time with friends and family
- wednesday night dinner at kat & susan’s house last week,
- thursday night dinner with laurie in loma linda (so cool to have a puen cousin nearby),
- friday night concert at redlands bowl, followed up ice cream at my apartment and this wacky science experiment
- lunch with my brother and pauline in venice beach on saturday, after which we went to the tchaikovsky fireworks at the hollywood bowl
- and then i went deep sea fishing on sunday and didn’t get back till tuesday night - that’s right, 45 hours on a boat. catching tuna. but i’ll post about that later...
- coming back from the boat, i dropped off my fish into the freezer, and then headed to gym night for basketball and volleyball, and of course, i had in-n-out afterwards *grin*
- wednesday night dinner at my house, in which we had arroz con menestra, imitation crab ceviche, tuna ceviche (yup, from what i caught on the boat!), fried tuna, baked tuna, potato salad, pancit/noodles with big franks, watermelon, and rainbow jello, followed up by poker night =) and pusoy dos. yeah, i think i went overboard on dinner, but i’m glad everyone helped pitch in too!
the crazy thing is that up until i was on the boat, i was waking up at 7am every morning no matter what time i went to sleep, and i was feeling tired and jet lagged and couldn’t do a thing about it… then all i did on the boat was nap!!! so i think i’m on my way to recovery…
and if i have not yet seen you, i only have one more week of summer vacation - so call me up, let’s make the most of it!
and on to pictures:
(clockwise) me, kat, jay, christina, daryl (& wife, not pictured), laurie, susan, merv, & wendy were all at the redlands bowl, sitting in the back with all the rabble…
perry and i went to venice beach with my brother and pauline
we saw these street performers - all balancing on that one guys legs… craziness!
and the fireworks at the hollywood bowl
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
almost home
i’m back in LA at my parents’ house… and all i did today was wake up, eat breakfast, sleep, wake up, sleep, eat lunch, sleep, etc… i’ve been online throughout the day as well cuz i had high hopes of getting the last of my pictures up, but alas, the glow of the computer screen lulled me back to sleep.
i can’t imagine that i’m this jet-lagged, and i think this is more of a result of not sleeping the night before i left barcelona 2 nights ago, and all the sleep i’ve had since then has been interrupted sleep on buses, trains, and airplanes. yeah… on the last flight from NY to LA i was in between the window seat and the aisle seat. window lady had a urine problem in that she had to wake me up every time i went to sleep because she just had to go pee again. the aisle lady on my right liked to sleep leaning to her left, yup, directly on my chair! every time i got comfortable either she would adjust and lean on me more, or the window lady had to pee *again*. i actually felt like i got a lotta sleep but i suppose i’m still catching up here at home.
i’m finally gonna get outta my pajamas, though, and shower, then head over to kat and susan’s apartment for wednesday night dinner. and then finally FINALLY get to drive my car home…
ahhh, to sleep in my own bed tonight! what a joy that will be =)
Sunday, August 06, 2006
"barcelona - it was the first time we met"
"barcelona - how can i forget.....”so… tomorrow morning begins my days, yes, days, of traveling home. i’m sad to leave this place, and i’m definitely not looking forward to the 3-day trip, but oh how nice it will be to be home! but omg, the trip home will be horrendous!!! i leave my house at 6am (9pm on sunday PST) and i go from barcelona to reus in bus, then in reus i catch a flight to liverpool, which was the only feasible flight i could take. i’ll get there around noon on monday, and then have to take the train to manchester at some point in the day so that i can be near the airport. i have to be at manchester airport on tuesday morning at 8am, and from there i’m supposed to fly home. except the lady at delta sold me a ticket that has me waiting at JFKfor a 7-hour layover! yeah… i didn’t notice till after i bought the ticket, since i was so wowed by the low price (i paid $1000 less than i expected to...). anyways, i arrive at LAX 11:57pm PST. from there, my parents pick me up, and i go to their house in LA. and then on wednesday i’m gonna hang out with my parents, give them their pasalubong (souvenir gifts), see my aunts, give them their pasalubong, then have dinner with susan and kat, and give them their pasalubong! then i can get my car and drive home… i will finally arrive there on wednesday night, probably -after- 9pm, soooo… yeah… that’s 3 full days on the road. ack!
“... and if God willing we will meet again someday"
anyways, i got sidetracked complaining about my long (but incredibly inexpensive - how chinese am i?!!?!) trip home.
what i actually set out to write about was not my trip home, but the fact that it means i have to leave barcelona. i wandered around town today, swam for (what hopefully will -not- be) the last time in the mediterranean sea, went up to a look out point, took tons of pictures, and had dinner on alberto’s balcony. maria had prepared a dinner for me and surprised me by bringing me to her brother’s house, where it was all prepared nicely. it was so nice of them - they’re such good people and they’ve been so nice to me. i wish i got more time to hang out with her… on the way home i realized how much i knew the city because i pulled her towards the end of the metro station, saying that if we waited there, we’d get on the back of the train, and that would leave us closer to the exit that we wanted to take. she marvelled at how much i knew the city and told me that i definitely know more parts of the city than some of the locals who live there. yeah, i think it’s been my city ever since i started calling it “home”
well, while i was up there on top of parc guell, overlooking the city as the sun was setting off in the distance, the refrain from queen’s ‘barcelona’ was going off in my head.
Barcelona - Such a beautiful horizon
Barcelona - Like a jewel in the sun
Por ti seré gaviota de tu bella mar
Barcelona - Suenan las campanas
Barcelona - Abre tus puertas al mundo
If God is willing
-If God is willing
If God is willing
Friends until the end
Viva - Barcelona
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
my big europe update
i just sent out a big mail to family and friends to update them on everything i’ve done while i’ve been here in spain, and it took me forever trying to make sure i didn’t miss anyone… and then after i sent it i realized there were 5 more people i had to send it to… and now, well, i guess i just figure, i’m sorry if i forgot you, but you have the chance to read it here. or - you could email me and make sure i have your address, that way i can get in touch with you sometime!
anyways, i saved a copy of my email in html format, so you can see it here.
or you can click on the picture of me and maria at the beach to read about all i’ve been up to this summer!
