So...yesterday was the last day at Borders. Borders might have a buyer, so its up in the air for the company. Gladd I'm leaving before all that shit goes down. And they are starting to do inventory (literally have to count and make notes of every single piece of item in the store).
Kinda sad bout leaving but yet really exited for Japan. It was rough at the beginning, but I think it was good for me. Just gonna practice for the recital and packing and stuff.
My coworkers, well ex-coworkers now and kept telling me that I have to find a hottt Japanese boyfriend. haha!!!!! I'm excited!
Kinda makes me sad that we don't write in here as often anymore, but I guess everyone is getting busy. Hope all is well.
Team work!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
I'm starting to feel that weird anxiousness you get before traveling (or the one I get before traveling...though I doubt I'm that unique in that respect.) I've got literally only one more full day in Tarnow before heading out. Unfortunately, I teach 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm and then leave Wednesday before 5 am. (My train leaves for Krakow around 5 am, then I have a train at 7:20 from Krakow to Berlin, then from Berlin to Hamburg.)
I feel like I am constantly cleaning recently. Had to reorganize and clean the entire kitchen, which was a wreck because I live with a male. Still gotta clean the stupid bathrooms as well as my room. UGH it'll be so much better next year when I live on my own with Jeff...household tasks will actually be SHARED. I refused to clean up after my flatmate, so the place was a mess, but whatever. I'm not his 1950's mother. I swear to god, why would any woman want to be with a man who doesn't think it's important to clean up after himself? But that's enough complaining for now ;)
My first real vacation in Europe starts on Thursday. Super freakin' excited, except I'm too tired from all this stupid cleaning to really show it. Downside...it's supposed to rain a lot :( Boo.
Also, I'm recently feeling nostalgic about everything, but especially DePauw. Maybe it was cause it was just over a year ago that we all graduated. *sigh*
Thursday, June 16, 2011
MIA for 2 months
So, the last time I wrote an entry was in April. Seems I have been neglecting this blog when I was one of us who was really pushing is to use this in the first place.
I found out my placement yesterday: Matsusaka-shi (city) in Mie-ken (prefecture). Pretty much in the middle of Honshu (biggest main island of Japan). At first I was thinking shit this looks like it's in the boonies since there is only like one rail line to that area, but its actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Further south of the prefecture is really in the boonies. The city's population is about 170,000, so not too small, and it's in the center of the prefecture. Osaka and Nara are about an hour to the west and Nagoya is about an hour to the east. This is totally way far away from Fukushima and where the earthquake and tsunami were. Lots of wilderness and mountains for me to explore and its right by an huge bay/ocean. I'm actually quite some distance away from Ingrid and Charlie, but I'll make it out to visit them.
Oh and the best part, the town I'm in is famous for their beef. Matsusaka-gyu. Japan has like the best beef ever, its called Wa-gyu, sooo good. They like give the cows beer and massages so they aren't stressed out and stuff, and the meat is super juicy/fatty, delicious-ness. There are 3 top types of wa-gyu, and this town is one of the top 3! I'm pretty excited for the beef, but its kind of expensive.
Lets see what else....Waikele Borders closed down so half of their staff came over, including their GM and 2 other managers. We finally have a full staff, but it is still busy and crazy. Since that other one closed down we are getting lots of their customers and just more business in general. But, last week Borders announced another list of 51 stores (including my store and 2 other ones on oahu) that will be shut down by the bankruptcy people if they do not negotiate their leases. So....that sucks. We might be closing, or possibly staying open. They want a decision by the 21st of June, but Borders is trying to push it back to July because they may be a buyer who will buy out Borders stores. Too bad, my store makes the most money of all the Borders stores on Oahu too.
Been working out a lot and practicing a lot. I'm pretty disciplined. Depending on what time I work, I usually wake up early and practice for an hour, go to work, then go to the gym after work. Fitting it all in. I should fit studying Japanese into this somehow too.
Ok, that was pretty much it I think. I'm going to a wedding next week. This is like the first wedding that I'm going to as an adult......kinda crazy.
I'm pretty excited for Japan. Thinking about packing is stressing me out though.
I found out my placement yesterday: Matsusaka-shi (city) in Mie-ken (prefecture). Pretty much in the middle of Honshu (biggest main island of Japan). At first I was thinking shit this looks like it's in the boonies since there is only like one rail line to that area, but its actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Further south of the prefecture is really in the boonies. The city's population is about 170,000, so not too small, and it's in the center of the prefecture. Osaka and Nara are about an hour to the west and Nagoya is about an hour to the east. This is totally way far away from Fukushima and where the earthquake and tsunami were. Lots of wilderness and mountains for me to explore and its right by an huge bay/ocean. I'm actually quite some distance away from Ingrid and Charlie, but I'll make it out to visit them.
Oh and the best part, the town I'm in is famous for their beef. Matsusaka-gyu. Japan has like the best beef ever, its called Wa-gyu, sooo good. They like give the cows beer and massages so they aren't stressed out and stuff, and the meat is super juicy/fatty, delicious-ness. There are 3 top types of wa-gyu, and this town is one of the top 3! I'm pretty excited for the beef, but its kind of expensive.
Lets see what else....Waikele Borders closed down so half of their staff came over, including their GM and 2 other managers. We finally have a full staff, but it is still busy and crazy. Since that other one closed down we are getting lots of their customers and just more business in general. But, last week Borders announced another list of 51 stores (including my store and 2 other ones on oahu) that will be shut down by the bankruptcy people if they do not negotiate their leases. So....that sucks. We might be closing, or possibly staying open. They want a decision by the 21st of June, but Borders is trying to push it back to July because they may be a buyer who will buy out Borders stores. Too bad, my store makes the most money of all the Borders stores on Oahu too.
Been working out a lot and practicing a lot. I'm pretty disciplined. Depending on what time I work, I usually wake up early and practice for an hour, go to work, then go to the gym after work. Fitting it all in. I should fit studying Japanese into this somehow too.
Ok, that was pretty much it I think. I'm going to a wedding next week. This is like the first wedding that I'm going to as an adult......kinda crazy.
I'm pretty excited for Japan. Thinking about packing is stressing me out though.
Monday, May 30, 2011
whoa!
seems like a lot happened this month!
So happy that your kiddies recital went well Rachel! I wish I coulda been there to see them play! Kelly, sounds like you got your 5-year plan set. I don't even know where I'm gonna be in 5 years.
I moved in with Ryan like a month and a half ago. So far it's awesome. I don't have a crazy landlord that asks me to do favors all the time and gives me lectures. (btw she made me wash the walls of my old room because "it reeked of smoke". Weird, because I don't smoke and I never let Ryan smoke there, and, oh yeah, it DID NOT smell like smoke at all.) So happy I don't live there anymore.
My new roommates are supercool. All of them are artists (as in visual) except for one chick who does theater. It's nice, there's usually music and painting going on in the loft at all times. My roommate Cris is working on this project with crayons right now. He melts them all down with this super hot gun and they all end up looking super trippy. I'll post a pic of one.
One thing that does suck though is that there is no a/c. And it's crazy hot right now. The loft is an old brick building (I think it processed lumber back in the day) and it heats up really fast. Oh, and now that its warm outside all the crazies are out. So it's not really the safest place for chicks to walk around in at night. Like an hour ago I wanted to get some ice cream from the nearest grocery store, but it was already dark outside so Ryan wouldn't let me go because he thought I would get raped and killed or whatever. And there are prostitutes (kurwa), really. Saw a truck driver pick one up the other day. Basically, the part of Jersey City I live in is like post-apocalyptic. Like if Judgement Day really happened, my part of Jersey City would have stayed the same.
Um, other things...I went full-time at whole foods for like a week, but now I'm back to part-time because I am GETTING PAID ($22/hr) as a per diem assistant producer at WNYC. I'll be working there two days a week in June and hopefully more throughout the rest of the summer! I bought a viola recently! I haven't had one in like a year so that's really exciting for me. I got it from shar and it's way better than my last one! I'm thinking about joining a community orchestra in the fall after I get my chops up.
AND, I think Ryan and I might come to Indiana in August! It's seriously being considered so I'll let you guys know more as I do.
That's it I think, Ciao!
So happy that your kiddies recital went well Rachel! I wish I coulda been there to see them play! Kelly, sounds like you got your 5-year plan set. I don't even know where I'm gonna be in 5 years.
I moved in with Ryan like a month and a half ago. So far it's awesome. I don't have a crazy landlord that asks me to do favors all the time and gives me lectures. (btw she made me wash the walls of my old room because "it reeked of smoke". Weird, because I don't smoke and I never let Ryan smoke there, and, oh yeah, it DID NOT smell like smoke at all.) So happy I don't live there anymore.
My new roommates are supercool. All of them are artists (as in visual) except for one chick who does theater. It's nice, there's usually music and painting going on in the loft at all times. My roommate Cris is working on this project with crayons right now. He melts them all down with this super hot gun and they all end up looking super trippy. I'll post a pic of one.
One thing that does suck though is that there is no a/c. And it's crazy hot right now. The loft is an old brick building (I think it processed lumber back in the day) and it heats up really fast. Oh, and now that its warm outside all the crazies are out. So it's not really the safest place for chicks to walk around in at night. Like an hour ago I wanted to get some ice cream from the nearest grocery store, but it was already dark outside so Ryan wouldn't let me go because he thought I would get raped and killed or whatever. And there are prostitutes (kurwa), really. Saw a truck driver pick one up the other day. Basically, the part of Jersey City I live in is like post-apocalyptic. Like if Judgement Day really happened, my part of Jersey City would have stayed the same.
Um, other things...I went full-time at whole foods for like a week, but now I'm back to part-time because I am GETTING PAID ($22/hr) as a per diem assistant producer at WNYC. I'll be working there two days a week in June and hopefully more throughout the rest of the summer! I bought a viola recently! I haven't had one in like a year so that's really exciting for me. I got it from shar and it's way better than my last one! I'm thinking about joining a community orchestra in the fall after I get my chops up.
AND, I think Ryan and I might come to Indiana in August! It's seriously being considered so I'll let you guys know more as I do.
That's it I think, Ciao!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
I am bout to give my dog away!!!! (not really)
not really...but No FUCKING JOKE she is driving me NUTS right now. i love her and i don't regret getting her, but it's moments like this that make we wonder if actually do ever wanna have "adorable" little babies of my own. SHE IS SO ANNOYING sometimes. like right now, instead of realizing that i have this monumentally important blog to post, she thinks that she can just fucking jump ALL over me while biting me *ouch* to get my attention. i mean, maybe i'm just a bad puppy mommy, but really i think she's just a puppy. she's only 6 months old, so she's similar to a 3 year old kid or something. she's starting to realize what no means but then chooses to ignore it cause she knows she is cute. ALSJFOIEWFALKSD. i really do love her. don't call animal control or anything lol.
rachel, congrats on your awesome recital! even though i know i said that to you today in the gchat. i'm so glad you were so proud! you deserve it.
so anyway, i'm blogging. rachel's blog inspired me to blog, but also i don't wanna practice. why? BECAUSE IT'S SUMMER. AND I AM STILL IN SCHOOL DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S SUMMER. quarters suck! i have one more week of classes this upcoming week and i'm skipping out on finals to drive to blue lake on june 3. luckily, i don't have any finals. but i have a 10 page research paper due (the only paper i'll ever have to write at ccm..lol) and a take home theory test next week, so that'll be crazy. plus, patrick is visiting, PLUS, steven maijala is visiting on wed/thurs because he's taking the dayton phil audition (which is like 45 min from here). so it'll be crazy to write/take a final/keep from going psycho cause of the dog/entertain two people/pack for blue lake. but hey what's life for if it's not fucking crazy.
oh and now she's doing the thing where she runs around in circles and then pees wherever she wants. crazy ass animal. i really think she might be retarded. she passed the retarded dog test except then the next day she rolled around in some other dog's shit. i just put her in her crate and i think she knows i'm mad at her.
ugh.
patrick is working at blue lake with me this summer. i am really excited cause we'll be in the same place and i'll see him quite a bit more than i did when he didn't work. plus i'll have the puppy up there (god save me) but i think she will be a little more well-behaved because it'll be in the woods and she'll have big spaces to run around, unlike my tiny-ass ghetto cincy apartment. which i can't WAIT to leave.
patrick and i think we're going to move to michigan after i graduate next spring/SUMMER cause quarters go on forEVER. we were gonna live in indy but we changed our minds. rach, don't worry ,it's still doable to visit each other every so often. plus i imagine we'll frequent indiana cause that's where our fam is. i think we're gonna go to ann arbor. i might look for a job at like SHAR since that's where their headquarters are. i think we might both work for a year and then patrick is gonna go back to school to finish up his degree and i might work to get either a second master's at U of M in music ed to get my teaching license, or, if i feel up to it and can get into the school, get my DMA at U of M. CCM is a great program, but there are several things that i don't like about it and I'm not a huge fan of cincy. I've always loved MI and plus, I'll be closer to camp! Always a plus, for me, the camp junkie.
wedding planning is going smoothly, i already have my dress and everything! i'll be taking a hiatus from thinking about ANY wedding stuff while i'm at camp, and then churn it into gear when i am done with that. next school year might kill me--i have to plan a wedding, play two solo recitals, and do my oral exams at the and of the year to graduate. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ok that's about all i can think of for now. i miss you all so much and seeing everyone's grad pictures from dpu made me miss you all even more. love you guys. I'll post my camp address on fb if any of you want to be my pen pal this summer!
rachel, congrats on your awesome recital! even though i know i said that to you today in the gchat. i'm so glad you were so proud! you deserve it.
so anyway, i'm blogging. rachel's blog inspired me to blog, but also i don't wanna practice. why? BECAUSE IT'S SUMMER. AND I AM STILL IN SCHOOL DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S SUMMER. quarters suck! i have one more week of classes this upcoming week and i'm skipping out on finals to drive to blue lake on june 3. luckily, i don't have any finals. but i have a 10 page research paper due (the only paper i'll ever have to write at ccm..lol) and a take home theory test next week, so that'll be crazy. plus, patrick is visiting, PLUS, steven maijala is visiting on wed/thurs because he's taking the dayton phil audition (which is like 45 min from here). so it'll be crazy to write/take a final/keep from going psycho cause of the dog/entertain two people/pack for blue lake. but hey what's life for if it's not fucking crazy.
oh and now she's doing the thing where she runs around in circles and then pees wherever she wants. crazy ass animal. i really think she might be retarded. she passed the retarded dog test except then the next day she rolled around in some other dog's shit. i just put her in her crate and i think she knows i'm mad at her.
ugh.
patrick is working at blue lake with me this summer. i am really excited cause we'll be in the same place and i'll see him quite a bit more than i did when he didn't work. plus i'll have the puppy up there (god save me) but i think she will be a little more well-behaved because it'll be in the woods and she'll have big spaces to run around, unlike my tiny-ass ghetto cincy apartment. which i can't WAIT to leave.
patrick and i think we're going to move to michigan after i graduate next spring/SUMMER cause quarters go on forEVER. we were gonna live in indy but we changed our minds. rach, don't worry ,it's still doable to visit each other every so often. plus i imagine we'll frequent indiana cause that's where our fam is. i think we're gonna go to ann arbor. i might look for a job at like SHAR since that's where their headquarters are. i think we might both work for a year and then patrick is gonna go back to school to finish up his degree and i might work to get either a second master's at U of M in music ed to get my teaching license, or, if i feel up to it and can get into the school, get my DMA at U of M. CCM is a great program, but there are several things that i don't like about it and I'm not a huge fan of cincy. I've always loved MI and plus, I'll be closer to camp! Always a plus, for me, the camp junkie.
wedding planning is going smoothly, i already have my dress and everything! i'll be taking a hiatus from thinking about ANY wedding stuff while i'm at camp, and then churn it into gear when i am done with that. next school year might kill me--i have to plan a wedding, play two solo recitals, and do my oral exams at the and of the year to graduate. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ok that's about all i can think of for now. i miss you all so much and seeing everyone's grad pictures from dpu made me miss you all even more. love you guys. I'll post my camp address on fb if any of you want to be my pen pal this summer!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
RECITAL and other things
ok so my kids' had the recital tonight. THEY WERE AWESOME. so good. so good. and i am super fucking proud. like walking around with a giant smile, etc.
i was also SO NERVOUS OMG. i think i was more nervous than i was for my senior recital. i really do. cuz then i had the party to think about. that was a fun party :)
i meant to take pictures. but i was so worked up. that i did not.
my students are the best
plus i think they like me. idk, i can kind of tell a lil more when im chatting w/the parents and whatnot. Plus I have three students saying they are going to take lessons over the summer. so yay. and i am trying to push three of them into the ius summer string camp. 1 is like "yeah!" and 1 is like "ugh viola" and 1 is like "ooh when?" so that's cool.
you guys shoulda gone to this recital. it was SO AWESOME i am not sure if i was clear but it was pretty freaking fantastic. and i baked cookies. and my chocolate chip ones (just like poison cookies btw - same recipe just me making steada mom) went so fast! i didn't get one :( but i have leftover cheeseball and butterscotch and pecan cookies. :)
so what else? oh so i was like high off my awesome night right? well came home with my parents (who came to cheer me on - sweet) and we listen to a new voicemail. from some fucking arm doctor who my work STILL HAS NOT PAID and then i got mad and i think i have to sue. which sucks. but this happened with my boss's boss this week
tony heineke "hi rachel how are you?"
"i'm bad. i'm getting collection calls from the bills YOU ALL still have not paid"
"what? it's not my fault"
"well whose fault is it? who picked gallager and basset (their insurance company)?"
"calm down"
"it has been four months tony"
"well don't attack me"
"i'm not attacking you, you asked how i am. and i am upset because i am getting calls from collection agencies. that's how i am"
then he walks away visibly upset. my coworkers are like STUNNED and silent. he comes back
"ok start over this is the first i've heard of this"
"no it's not. you asked how i was right when the renovation started and i said "bad my medical bills still haven't been paid" so you have heard about this before"
"ok. well what is going on?"
"well most of my bills have been paid, but the lab bills and the er doc bill still hasn't. i have mailed them and faxed them to my contact at gallager basset and she says she is paying it but now i'm getting calls because she hasn't"
"you have to understand it is a really big company"
"EXACTLY. it is a really big company so they should be able to deal with a few medical bills in a timely fashion"
"well it hasn't been that long"
"YES IT HAS if i am getting calls from collections agencies"
"well tell me about it ask me for help maybe we can make resolution" (sometimes i don't think he understands english)
"ok here is her name and number" he took it, called her, came back and asked for YET ANOTHER copy of the bills. i left them in his office door yesterday. i got a call tonight. WHAT THE FUCK JUST DO IT MOTHERFUCKERS WHY MUST YOU RUIN MY DAY AND MY CREDIT
so that sucks. seriously you guys DO NOT get hurt at work (although it isn't like i planned it) because i really don't think hms host is special in its suckiness.
oh and apparently the thing i'm doing with ofa is SUPER FANCIPANTS. I'm a summer organizer and i was on a conference call for it the other night and i put NO effort into getting this, steve completely hooked me up i think, i didn't even have an interview. and i learned on the call 1. that everyone else had an interview 2. that they only accepted 20 something applicants out of 100 plus. WHO KNEW.
ok now that i have written a novel i am going to eat leftover cheeseball
i was also SO NERVOUS OMG. i think i was more nervous than i was for my senior recital. i really do. cuz then i had the party to think about. that was a fun party :)
i meant to take pictures. but i was so worked up. that i did not.
my students are the best
plus i think they like me. idk, i can kind of tell a lil more when im chatting w/the parents and whatnot. Plus I have three students saying they are going to take lessons over the summer. so yay. and i am trying to push three of them into the ius summer string camp. 1 is like "yeah!" and 1 is like "ugh viola" and 1 is like "ooh when?" so that's cool.
you guys shoulda gone to this recital. it was SO AWESOME i am not sure if i was clear but it was pretty freaking fantastic. and i baked cookies. and my chocolate chip ones (just like poison cookies btw - same recipe just me making steada mom) went so fast! i didn't get one :( but i have leftover cheeseball and butterscotch and pecan cookies. :)
so what else? oh so i was like high off my awesome night right? well came home with my parents (who came to cheer me on - sweet) and we listen to a new voicemail. from some fucking arm doctor who my work STILL HAS NOT PAID and then i got mad and i think i have to sue. which sucks. but this happened with my boss's boss this week
tony heineke "hi rachel how are you?"
"i'm bad. i'm getting collection calls from the bills YOU ALL still have not paid"
"what? it's not my fault"
"well whose fault is it? who picked gallager and basset (their insurance company)?"
"calm down"
"it has been four months tony"
"well don't attack me"
"i'm not attacking you, you asked how i am. and i am upset because i am getting calls from collection agencies. that's how i am"
then he walks away visibly upset. my coworkers are like STUNNED and silent. he comes back
"ok start over this is the first i've heard of this"
"no it's not. you asked how i was right when the renovation started and i said "bad my medical bills still haven't been paid" so you have heard about this before"
"ok. well what is going on?"
"well most of my bills have been paid, but the lab bills and the er doc bill still hasn't. i have mailed them and faxed them to my contact at gallager basset and she says she is paying it but now i'm getting calls because she hasn't"
"you have to understand it is a really big company"
"EXACTLY. it is a really big company so they should be able to deal with a few medical bills in a timely fashion"
"well it hasn't been that long"
"YES IT HAS if i am getting calls from collections agencies"
"well tell me about it ask me for help maybe we can make resolution" (sometimes i don't think he understands english)
"ok here is her name and number" he took it, called her, came back and asked for YET ANOTHER copy of the bills. i left them in his office door yesterday. i got a call tonight. WHAT THE FUCK JUST DO IT MOTHERFUCKERS WHY MUST YOU RUIN MY DAY AND MY CREDIT
so that sucks. seriously you guys DO NOT get hurt at work (although it isn't like i planned it) because i really don't think hms host is special in its suckiness.
oh and apparently the thing i'm doing with ofa is SUPER FANCIPANTS. I'm a summer organizer and i was on a conference call for it the other night and i put NO effort into getting this, steve completely hooked me up i think, i didn't even have an interview. and i learned on the call 1. that everyone else had an interview 2. that they only accepted 20 something applicants out of 100 plus. WHO KNEW.
ok now that i have written a novel i am going to eat leftover cheeseball
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
One of my students told me to fuck off today. To my face. Only he said it in Polish, so was obviously not expecting me to understand him. I'm not sure if I'm more disturbed by the fact that he said that or by the fact that everyone else in the class laughed when he said it...as if showing such disrespect to a teacher is a good thing. Uggggh how do public school teachers EVER survive?!? I have so much more respect for my past teachers now!!
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