How has it been two months since i’ve posted anything?!? And just where have i been?
Stupid me didn’t quit my job. I was suspended June 26th and fired just before Independence Day. I told a coworker not to be rude to customers (as she had been doing for hours) and i was the one who was suspended and fired. As far as i know she still works there, she was on register every time i was brought in to be interviewed about the event. She shunned me every time, i apologized via e-mail, still no response. There is no justice in this world i suppose. I really love her daughter and grandkids but she had been treating me badly for a year before this even happened.
While i was suspended i had a lovely time visiting with my uncle and his family who were visiting from Tucson, AZ. It had been far too long since we had seen them. I wish that we had a closer relationship but i doubt it will ever happen. We had some thought provoking conversations.
Afterwards i thought about applying at the nearby Dairy Queen (which is perpetually hiring). I did apply at Starbucks, Burger King, and StarTek (a local call center that does IT support). Only StarTek called me back (quite eagerly, tbh, it was encouraging), but the training session was so long that i would have been leaving for Japan in the middle of it. I was looking for temporary work or something i wouldn’t feel guilty quitting.
The moment i was suspended i was terrified that Japan would no longer be a possibility. A day later i chose to keep pushing towards this goal. Before Caption Colorado jobs started up again i was working on memorizing hiragana and katakana a lot. I worked on it for a while every night before bed (which is when i used to study German the most), then for hours in the afternoons. Even when i went on a raft trip with my father, two of my sisters, a friend of my father’s, and his son, i was trying to remember hiragana while sitting in the sand beside the river.
My sister and her family came for a visit after all! After her eldest had appendicitis we were afraid they wouldn’t come to visit but they made a short trip of it (not a month long visit like last time). My brother-in-law actually came along this time and we had some of the best interaction since i’ve met him. He wants to move out here, my sister wants to fix up their house some first. Maybe when i come back from Japan they will be moving here around the same time.
After my CSM was fired, i resolved to stay at Hobby Lobby just a little longer since i had decided for sure to go to Japan. I figured i could stick with it for a couple more months, right? Well God took that out of my hands. I was promoted again at Caption Colorado (to the top pay tier)! I had three insane weeks put together where i had more work than i could handle. At times i was so exhausted that i despaired, but i really need the money and it’s totally a blessing. I’ve been working my butt off but will probably only have a call or two next week and only have three this week.
The good news is that the apartment i have chosen has ethernet, and if it’s a good enough connection i can still work come next quarter (mid-October). Most of the shared house rooms only have wifi. They are closer to the subway but also much smaller for the price. I’m not paying very much more and the landlord lends bicycles for free. It’s more than i wanted to pay but not outside the budget i set for myself (many Tokyo apartments are over 100,000 yen, this one is about 2/3 of that).
When my first choice of room was already taken i was more upset than i should have been. I decided to go for the room off the beaten path. With my own kitchen there will be less temptation to eat out when i shouldn’t. My building is almost close enough to walk to class, it’s definitely close enough to ride, but it’s a fifteen minute walk or a five minute bus ride to the station. I anticipate i will be walking and cycling a great deal.
I have now lost over thirty pounds in the past year! I bought some closeout REI tops that were XL recently (not even XXL) and pulled out some old clothes to see if i fit in them again. I’m not quite there yet (i got some zippers up but they were too snug for comfort) but i think that by Christmas i will be back down to a 16 with hopes for size 14. Perhaps those tops weren’t an entirely practical purchase, but they were great for my ego and will be serviceable work clothes in Japan. No cleavage, no shoulder, and even long enough to cover my hips! I hope they last as they are travel tops and a more expensive brand than i usually wear.
While working i have had a strong desire to both write fanfiction and lowbie level in WoW. I let my subscription stop after getting fired as i wasn’t sure when the next paycheck would be coming. I may renew later this week, but my current focus needs to be on cleaning my room, packing everything up to either go to Tokyo or in the attic, and studying Japanese. I haven’t asked anyone for donations or gone the crowdfunding route, but i am thinking about getting a personal loan to consolidate my credit card debt and have a little bit of a buffer in case i don’t get hired directly out of my TEFL program. I anticipate living off of ramen until i find a job. xD
p.s. i also went to Denver after being fired, nearly all expenses paid by my mother, to see my sister’s softball team play at State. They came in 2nd place.
p.p.s. My church’s head pastor resigned about three or four weeks ago! He has already moved to sunny Arizona to continue ministering to the elderly (he loves to visit the ill/injured in hospital or home). My family’s church will have to find a new pastor without me!
s.p.p.s. I am planning to attend a missionary church led by the parents of one of my Mom’s fellow homeschool mothers. I’ve taught two of the three grandchildren to the local pastor’s wife. She grew up in the mission field and has a sibling still in South America. I guess missions is really important to them.
~ 