'merica

Okay, so I have a pretty good excuse for neglecting this blog. Blogspot (along with quite a few other sites) is blocked in China right now. I can access it via a proxy server, but publishing posts seems to remain an issue. So, I can see, but I can't write.

Well, I'm sitting here in MI typing this up. It's awesome to be home. It's nice to see so many of you but also too bad I can't see those that are far away. Keep on keeping on though and we'll certainly find another opportunity sometime in the future. In addition to the normal Grand Rapids people, Ty and Liz are back in town and Kyle and Connie will be here soon. Joy.

The weather is fucking incredible here, btw. :)

I started a posterous blog called 破釜Sink the Boats沉舟 that I'll be writing at in the future. It seems to be taking on a bit more of a personalness than before so you can keep yourself updated on my life doings if you feel so inclined. (posterous is pretty rad by the way. In fact, it would be great for a multi-author blog like this. You publish via email and just attach pictures/videos, etc.)

Anyway, I'm off to go eat some Chinese food! (the irony...)

Hope everyone is well.

okay...everyone here is very lame...:(

sam cooke!

Our House .. in the middle of a....

Nick and I had our last bid excepted on a house right by my folks house. As long as the inspection goes well, we are proud house owners! Yah!

rainy days in minnesota

yay! it's raining! that means the frigid canadian air will begin to leave us alone and we'll be able to and want to be outside all the time again! it's likely that we'll have at least one more freeze, just so the minnesota winter can have the last word, but before we know it, we'll be laying in the sun and biking to work.

any other rainy weather out there in the world right now? Tricia - Seattle? Dan/Steph/Katie/Bob/Megan/Ty/Liz - Portland? Jason - China? Becca/Miles - Chicago? Cindy/Chead - G-Rap? Ben - NC? Chrissy - Denver? Mary/Dave - where are you again?-nice new house by the way!

did I get everybody?

I'm not going to lie..

I kind of forgot about this blog. But I did read thru all of the posts that I missed in the last three months. And they were great! My favorite has got to be Dan's Christmas Story.

The newest thing in my life is that Nick and I are house hunting! It wasn't exactly how I planned my life (buying a house before engagement) but the market is too good for buyers to wait. It has been pretty interesting trip so far. Nick's Aunt is our realtor so that is very nice. She is gifting us her commission which is amazing. Our (my) loan capabilities are not amazing, but we get something worthwhile eventually. My two favorites so far are:

http://public.grar.com/public/ePubRecn.mac/start?MLS=717944

http://public.grar.com/public/ePubRecn.mac/start?MLS=737881

I have to go because my dogs are currently eating the ropes I bought them and string coming out the other side does not sound fun for anyone involved.

Let me know everyone's thoughts on the houses!

Well shoot...

..I'll write something!
I'm sitting at work with piles of things to do all around me but, well, hmm I think this will keep me from running out the door.
Today it snowed in Seattle. Ya know, a lite dusting, we got about 2 inches at my house just north of the city. Yahoo! It was pretty and enabled me to wear my hip new knit headband scarf that my friends new roommate made for me randomly.
But when I get to the busstop, I get a snarky remark from one of the guys standing there 'sheesh well aren't you the optomist, showing up now' (I had slept in a bit and decided to catch the 7:40 bus instead of the 7:28 bus, and the guys who wanted to ride the 7:28 bus were still standing there, defeated and cold). Apparantly no bus had passed in the last 30 minutes or so. At around 8am one finally comes around the corner!! WoohoO!
It was one of the small buses, not the double bus with the bendy middle that fits all the people that want to ride it in the morning. Luckily my stop is one of the earlier ones so I was able to snag a seat in the waaay back, before the bus was a mess of bodies snuggled up next to eachother.
I notice on my way in there are chains on the back tires of the bus.
Remember when I said there were 2 inches at my house?
There was about 1 inch downtown, but sometimes these people FrEaK OuT!!!!
But it is true that the city of Seattle is cheap and they only have 20 snowplows for the whole city, and refuse to lay salt since we have so many waterways they want to keep clean.
So theres that.

On another note! I decided that I am going to go to nursing school!
I probably won't apply until at least Fall of 2010, but I'm going to be taking Anatomy and Physiology this spring Monday and Wednesday evenings. Woohoo!

On one more final note, I am now a Specimen Collection Specialist at work, and got to go to surgery 3 times this week! Which means I was in charge of cutting up and preserving tissue for further research from women that are enrolled in our Ovarian study. I get the tissue after the Pathologist has gotten it from the surgeon, so its not supercharged Greys Anatomy level of coolness, but I get to wear scrubs and use a scalpel!
Super exciting!

Ok G-Rap All Stars! I did my part!
Your turn.
-Trish

Frankly, if Cello Scrotum and slip-covers won't pull you people out of your rabbit hole, I don't know what will.

where is everybody?

hallo?

anyone there?

i mees you!

~constance the badger

DIY Slipcover

Hey all -

I have purchased what I believe to be enough fabric to sew a slipcover for my enormous sectional couch, but am feeling some cold feet about making the first cut.

Have any of you done this before? Please help!!

~constance the badger

Oh, Thank God...

Phew...

Moving to the Sinking City

I actually already posted about this on facebook, but what hell, this is the point of this blog anyway right?

Next month I'll be starting a new job in Shanghai. I'll be working at the Shanghai Korean High School (original, no?) teaching a few conversational English courses, as well as a lit and comp class. I'm looking forward to it. 

For the past year and a half I've been teaching at what is called a 'training center'. It's essentially a night school with students from all walks of life who come to study/practice their conversational English. There's little prep involved and no homework, but rather comes down to your ability to entertain, hold good discussions and think on your feet. I actually really like the job, but I've got it down and I'm ready to move on to something a bit more challenging. 

This new gig should be just that. The school is a high school for the children of Koreans living and working in Shanghai. (There's a Shanghai American School, Shanghai British...you get the point.) A lot more responsibility but a more professional experience. 

One big challenge is the fact that I'll be teaching Korean kids and not Chinese people. I hang out with Chinese people, my girlfriend is Chinese and I speak Chinese. This makes teaching Chinese people a joy. We have a lot to talk about. For that reason, this new deal should be challenging, but in ways I'm glad for it. I can get my learn on while simultanesouly getting my teach on. 

Anyway, I'll moving down to the big (gigantic) city mid February and trying to get at least a bit settled before I start working. Shanghai is a crazy place and albeit a bit chaotic, I'm still looking forward to the change of environs.

Oh, and the salary is over 2x what I'm making now, which is rad. And even more rad, although my first semester is a probationary period and I therefore won't get the first break, if I stay on, I'll have 2, (read em, 2) 6 weeks paid vacations a year. 

Yeah, that's right.

 

Globular Clusters

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to say hello and happy late new year. Everything is well here in Raleigh, NC although a 5o foot pine tree fell into our back yard and obliterated my glass deck table. We were lucky to not have been outside when it came down and also lucky that it did not do any damage to the house. It was quite a site, but didn't end up being all that bad because we got to cut it up with a chainsaw and now we have firewood for a long time.

It's actually been really cold down here for the last week and the forecast is calling for 2 inches of snow on tuesday. I was informed by the locals to make sure I go to the store and pick up some bread, eggs, and milk. I was also told that almost nobody would be coming into work for the next couple of days because the roads would be so bad. I just laughed out loud and thought to my self I guess I'm supposed to stay home while it snows 2 inches and make french toast.

Wiiiiiiiiii

we got one!!! the boxing is kick ass! i also got the wii fit, so i'm gonna tone my fine curves.

anyone is free to come visit kyle and i to play our wii. we have beds, food, and drinks. :)