Sunder

"Are you happy? Because that's all that matters." 

 ...

So jet lagged...

This post will take some time to finish. Headaches and other aches are kicking in. I am not happy with this jet lag.

Beijing

     Complications all over the Au Pair program. What the hell, complications since this whole trip started. I should've seen it coming. But I went for it anyways. Never seen myself as a quitter. I will not go into big details about why I am no longer doing the program. It's something a bit personal. But rest assured it wasn't because I couldn't handle the pressure. On the contrary, those last few days things seem to be really looking brighter. Had friends, the family wasn't pushing me around so much, I was pretty much getting used to everything there. But then misunderstandings here, problems there and everything pilled up, making me take the hard decision to head back home. It was not easy. I spent a few nights thinking it through. But in the end it was the wisest thing to do. I did make a fast stop before getting home.

     Saying goodbye to the girls was not easy. The last two days the girls asked me why did I had to leave and if I was coming back after that. They kept hugging me each minute and saying "I live you Valerie" or "I love you my baby". Yes, they had this weird thing where they kept saying I was their baby. I just went with it. The night before the oldest one started crying saying she didn't want me to leave. I've just been there for two and a half week and they were reacting this way. I was impressed.

     The morning of the day I left was a bit more relaxed. Woke up to help with the girls (yes, I decided to work until the last minute), got them ready for school and said goodbye. They both hugged me tight. The oldest started crying again and the host mother took some pictures of the oldest not wanting to let me go (which was a bit too much for my liking). I wont lie here, a tear or two may have came out. Those girls had been just a bundle of love when they were with me, their witticism was so funny. I came to grow affectionate towards them. But there wasn't much I could do, and the goodbyes had to be said.

Seattle & Portland

     Since I was leaving early, I missed him and Seattle was on the way home, we kind of decided I would stop there for a few days. There were no exact plans for the days I would be there, but things turned out better than if there was an actual plan. First night in the USA, and all I could think about was pizza. And so pizza it was. I didn't know how much I missed and loved pizza until then. I had a moment with that pizza that can't compare to any other moment with any other person in the world. So powerful. Food...

     Did a date on Portland. His idea, not mine, which was kind of exciting since in a old post I wrote I wanted to make a date out of a concert without him knowing it and... you understand. Let's just keep going with the story... While I was tempted to say no, he did say yes to me in Chicago, so why couldn't I do the same? This time it was dinner and movies. Dinner was perfect. We had some street cart burritos (Portland is really famous for it's street food. And now I can see why.) and then saw Edge of Tomorrow. It's nice to have someone to share your love for time-travel (sci-fi) movies and things. The movie is really good. Simple, funny, full of action and eye catching. I was fangirling inside.

    Actually... this trip was pretty much a big canned cheese. It was just us two having fun and being total goofballs around Portland, and I don't think you are really interested in that. Lets just say that the stop in Seattle/Portland created some amazing memories and marks a new stage in my life. And this is kind of more than you need/want to know. So, NEXT!

Puerto Rico (home)

     Slept almost 24 hours straight once I got home. The whole Chicago-Beijing-Seattle trip threw my body clock away. I am happy though. I did more than I could have asked for. Even if I couldn't go to South Korea like I wanted, I can't say I had a bad time. For me this past month counts as the whole summer. Even if I don't do much here in Puerto Rico for whatever is left of summer, I will say I had the best summer vacations ever.

     People all over have been impressed that I am back. The common comment is "Hey! Weren't you in another country or something?". I wish I could just reply "well, you see me here now. That pretty much means I am back. Just saying...", but the nicer version of me comes out and I usually say "Yes. I just came back." Then the questions of what happened start. I am lucky to have amazing friends who just help change the subject since they know that's something I don't want to think about. But they keep asking so eventually I've had to say "let's just not talk about that okay?". People...

      What else...? Oh! Once again I feel lucky. I got my old job at the library back. So at least I can make some money while I let my summer pass by. I am seriously considering getting another part time job for the summer. Something simple. Just want to make a bit of extra money and do something with all this free time I have. I'll probably see if I can find something when I go to the mall today.

...

      On side note, I really don't know what to do with the blog now that I am no longer an Au Pair. Should I just continue to use it as a kind of place to let my thoughts about those daily things come out or just let it be until my next adventure? Let me know what you think!

(:

Settling

"Did you sleep well last night? Was it hot?" - HM

"Yes...?" *thinks* Am I supposed to not turn the ac on? Because I do. Every night since they fixed it. There's no way I will sleep with this heat...

...

This post is long overdue, I know.

     What can I say? These past two weeks have not been easy on me. Lots of things have happened, but mainly it's been work. Day after day. Sometimes from 7am to 10pm (on the weekends mainly). The contract says we are supposed to work just 25 hours a week, but none of us do. We all work up to 40 hours. Specially during Holidays or whenever the kids make up some illness to stay at home.

     I want to make something clear, working as an Au Pair in China is no easy job. No one speaks your language except for the kids, they make you work a "flexible" schedule (pretty much means when they need you) instead of the 25hrs by contract, they don't pay your pocket money until the end of the month, you only get one day off during the weekdays and other down points. But I can't say the family has been bad to me. On the contrary, the aunt feeds me all day, she tries to communicate with me, the girls adore me and are sweethearts (as long as the parents are not here), the parents are really nice to me and no one oversteps their boundaries. But that's my case. Some people are not so lucky.

     I started writing some daily things, so I will post here what I had so far. Understand it's not that much since I have to take care of the kids, take Mandarin classes and then study for them. So here's what I got...

Tuesday, May 20

            The girls got sick today, so the host parents decided they should stay at home and rest. This pretty much meant that I had to take care of them all day long. Halfway through the day I was exhausted and the girls didn’t want to play with me anymore. I was out of games and energy. At least the parents were considerate. They got back from work, we all had dinner and then they took the girls away. It was 8pm and I was free. Any normal person would just go to bed. But the girl’s cousin invited me to play basketball, and so I did. Don’t think I am any good at it. It was just nice to finally get out of the house. After we played a bit and I watched him play with others, we went to a coffee place near the house. I was happy to discover it was also a waffle house and besides it there was a hamburger place. Now I will have a place to calm my American cravings near.

Wednesday, May 21

            The host mother told me we would go downtown to the Au Pair agency office today. It was a 45 minute drive with that awkward silence you get when you don’t know the person in the car with you that much. We got there and there was someone waiting for me. Went to the office, met another Au Pair, walked around the place, found a movie theater (yay!), headed back to the office. There I talked with the person in charge of the company. They were genuinely worried about everything that happened these past few days. They asked be about everything. From the food, to the house, the family, the place and how I was feeling. They also gave me a phone with a card to make calls. I am excited to have my own Chinese Beijing phone number. About 12:30 I headed back to the house, but didn’t get here until 17:00. Yes, I got lost in Beijing. The metro is no problem for me. It’s just the same as in Shanghai. But the bus… wow. That’s a whole other thing. They told me “get in 31 bus line” but never told me where the bus stop was. So I walked around, tried to ask, a few people helped get me lost, got in a bus that led nowhere (3 stations north to be exact), had to take the metro again. I gave up, asked a taxi and to my surprise… he didn’t know either. So there I was in the middle of I-don’t-know-where without any internet. Decided to walk until I found a mall. I was hungry and broke, so McDonalds sounded perfect. I hate fast foods, but this was as good as it got there. No one can judge me because of that. After, found a Starbucks, but the internet asked me for some things that I didn’t understand, since it was in Chinese. A nice German soul was sitting besides me and was kind enough to explain when I asked for help. I was so happy to have a Chinese phone number at that moment, because the Wi-Fi required a phone number. I messaged (in WeChat) the girl’s cousin (from now on referred as… Mike) and he sent me the location of his workplace so I could get there and then he would explain. It turns out I was “near” the place. Just a 30min walk. I decided to wait for him to get out of work, got a free coke and headed back home. Girls came back late, so I just had to play with her for 3 hours and then they went to bed.

Friday, May 24

            I woke up with a stomachache, but at the moment I thought it was just the anxiety of the day about to come. Also, I was having a nice dream (I don’t remember what it as about right now), so the alarm made my heart jump. I had my first actual Mandarin class.

(From here on I will write what I remember of this day) Class was hard and fun at the same time. Met another Au Pair, a Swedish girl who I will refer to L from now on. It was funny because the teacher said "Initials and Finitials" instead of finals. But we understood, so we just went on with it. Classes are 3 hours long with a small 15 minute break in the middle. I think the hardest part is having to actually speak in Mandarin. This language is so complicated.

Now I will start jumping around to random memories I have about my stay here.

     My first day off in Beijing (Tuesday, May 27) was actually fun. I was used to using the subway by then. It takes around 2 hours to get from the house to downtown. I went there in the morning, took some language classes to be in the same place as L and then walked around a bit. I knew there was a movie theatre near the office in some big mall. The problem was finding the mall in those streets. I did eventually find it, and just in time to watch X-Men: Days of Future Past. Good movie, nothing too memorable though; so expected. So then I walked my way to the subway, but instead of heading home I decided to stop and have a nice glass of wine at a Irish Pub that I found. Happy hour was on, so I managed to have a big glass for just 32 RMB. I stayed there for about 2 hours. No point in getting home early. The girls would just attack me and won't let me go. I got home around 9pm that night. The girls tried to play with me, but I just went directly to bed. It was nice. 

     I've met other Au Pairs too (not just L). A girl from Finland, a boy from the UK and another girl from... I don't remember. They are all super nice and friendly. I love the fact the we connect so fast over our host kid's stories. We all have something funny or some complain to share with others. Also, it's nice to compare your work, that way you know what's actually normal and what's not. The guy from the UK is really... let's go with funny. He wasn't here for a complete week before he left. Said he was expecting a really rich family that gave him everything, like the first one he had, but it wasn't like that so he decided to go back to his girlfriend. The other girl just told us "It's normal that he's leaving. Everyone leaves the first week. I will not lie to you." That was a nice day. I hate beer, but I even had a beer with them. 

Now that I remember I also had a beer with the HD and Mike.

      Yesterday we went to Summer Palace. Once again I can confirm that this is my favourite place in the world (so far). It's so amazing and so peaceful even with the hundreds of people walking around. From the actual Palace to the lake, it's just perfection. One of the girls started getting a fever while we were there, but the parents practically ignored it and went on with the scheduled boat ride. Then the host mom got a stomachache, so we had to leave faster. You know, stomachaches, way worse than any fever in the world.

     Today is Dragon Boat Festival (Holiday), which pretty much means that the whole family is free. I was expecting a lot of extra work, but to my surprise, I haven't worked that much. In the morning I helped the girls get ready for breakfast, played with them and helped with homework. That took me until noon. After that it's been easy sailing. The girls have been just having simple fun with the family and I even took a nap! I am sure I'll get some more work in the night, but for now I will enjoy this small break of air I get. (I didn't actually get more work. Just like an hour of English time with the smallest girl. She's the easiest to deal with once I've got her attention.)

     I've learned a lot in my Mandarin classes. It's nice that the class is just L and me. That way we have a personalised teacher that helps us in every step of the way. Sometimes it takes us just 1 hour to get the pronunciation right (z,s,c,q and r are the hardest), but she is just so patient wit us. She also taught me how to say "I want a beer" in Mandarin. That will be very helpful. I practice my Mandarin back home with the girls and Mike all the time. They've helped me a lot along the way. I am  so happy to learn a 3rd language.

     A great example of unlucky Au Pairs is my friend L. She got kicked out of her house today. Like "you need to go now. We don't want you here." kind of kicked out. She'll have to sleep in a hotel tonight and then see what she will do. When she asked the company what happened they just said "I have heard so many stories of you, very disappointed. You were rough to the family. No one like you. Including all other people that met you." which came out of nowhere because the other day she told me that the HM told her how much everyone liked her. See, not all of us have good stories to tell. I am glad to be able to say I like my host family so far, and I will miss the girls when I am gone.

     There goes the older girl screaming to her mom again. As I told you, they are a sweetheart when their parents are not here. Once the parents get home, they start screaming and crying to get what they want. They've maybe spoiled them just a little... 

And there goes the mom to scream at the girl in the room. Screaming does nothing if all you do is that, scream. They take no action whatsoever to correct the behaviour. Mike told me the older girl curses at her mom when they are fighting and that she just doesn't do anything. I can't deal with that, so I usually just go away when the fights start. 

I can smell food... bye!

Maze

"How old are you? You seem very young to be traveling alone." 

...

     It turns out that, it wasn’t enough having complications with the visa, but also I took the worse flights so far. You should know that this will probably end up being a long post. So many things happened in the last 7 days. So let’s start.

Tuesday, May 13th
     Finally could take all the papers to the Chinese Consulate. Thought that it would be possible to get the 24hr service, but it wasn’t like that. After unsuccessfully trying to explain what happened to the lady behind the glass, she just told me “Pick up Thursday morning.” I was supposed to leave Wednesday. That meant changing flights and wasting so much money. Money that I was going to use to go to South Korea. Kept calm as much as I could, and decided to just enjoy the rest of the day with him.

Wednesday, May 14th

It’s funny how, when you less want things like this to happen, they end up happening. See, I had everything planned out perfectly, and falling for someone was not on those plans. I will spend 3 months in Beijing. There was no time for that. But then again things never happen how you want them too. And sometimes that’s not a bad thing. This time, I can’t be happier that things didn’t go as I expected. But plans are plans, and I had to say goodbye (for now) to someone special that day. I created great memories and am sure more will come.

Having to leave later also meant having to look for a new place to stay. That ended up being kind of scary. Every not so sketchy looking hostel with good reviews was booked for the week, and I needed to stay at least until Friday. Found this one that was pretty far, but looked nice enough. Wrigley Hostel. Check-out in the hotel was at 12pm, and the check-in at the hostel was at 2pm. So I decided to head there, leave my bags and walk around. Found a Wal-Mart Express, got my favorite cheap wine and by the time I was back I could check-in. Went to the common room, started drinking the wine by my own. By the 3rd glass I was kind of drunk (light drinker) and some British and a Chinese came in. Incredibly nice people I must say. Played pool with them, had dinner and kept on drinking. Had some free jello-shots at a bar just because I left my cup really clean. By the end of the night I was so drunk, I got to my bed and everything moved around me… and I missed him.

Thursday, May 15th 

Woke up early to get my visa back. The Chinese had to go downtown too, so we took the metro together. Got to the Chinese Consulate, did the line just to find out that I had left my credit card on the back pocket of my other jean at the hostel. Had to go back and get it. While I waited for lunch hour to be over, I booked my flight to Beijing. The cheapest I could find had 1 layover at Guangzhou. Good enough for me. Flights done. Headed back to the Consulate, got my passport with the visa back (never felt so happy) and went back home exhausted. Took a 4 hour nap. Woke up and talked a bit with my roommates. Random person that works in the hostel knocks and invites us to “Wrigley Hostel 1 Year Bar Crawl”. Six bars, one night, free beers. The right thing to do was to ignore it and go to sleep, since my flight was leaving early in the morning. But the girls ended up convincing me (didn’t need much convincing though). It started at 9pm. Free vodka with orange juice. Played some games. Met new people from all over the world. Had some big laughs. But being as responsible as a young adult can be, I headed back by midnight with no more than one drink in my system. Had a perfect goodnight sleep… and I missed him.

Friday, May 16th 

Finally! Woke up early. Took a nice bath since I would be traveling a complete day. Headed to the airport really early. There was no way in Earth I would miss this flight. Got to Vancouver on time. Got my passport stamped (yay!!) and everything went smoothly. Until I got to the gate and found out my flight was delayed. That’s when the whole nightmare started. It got delayed around 2 hours, which meant I wouldn’t be able to catch my next flight in Guangzhou. I was told my bags would be sent directly to Beijing, so that was so confusing. There was a BIG thunderstorm in Guangzhou that delayed all flights. Boarded the airplane. At least I had a window seat. It would be a long 14hr flight to Guangzhou.

Saturday, May 17th 

     You know what’s worse than a delayed flight? A cancelled flight. My flight from Guangzhou to Beijing was cancelled. I was stuck in an airport where no one understood me. But that’s not all. When I went to rebook my flight, I was told I couldn’t do it until I had my bags. So I had to go look for them in the “delayed flights bags”. I got there at 9pm. Midnight stroked and no bags yet.

     Something funny did happen at the airport while I was waiting for my bags. Out of nowhere, people started running in one direction with their phone cameras on and I heard some screaming. Five minutes later all I see is security guards taking some guy in and trying to keep the crowd away. They started screaming something that I can only guess was “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” and stayed at the security office entrance for almost an hour. When everyone went away they started fighting again. It was so funny because I couldn’t understand a thing.

Never felt so alone in one place… I missed him.

Sunday, May 18th 

      My bags didn’t appear until almost 3 am of Saturday. The rebooking was so stressful. The English speakers had gone home, so I had to try and explain the situation to people who didn’t understand me. Finally one girl came in and helped. The airline booked me for the earliest flight and paid for a hotel, which I only used to take a shower and nap for 45mins. Then headed back to the airport to take my flight. I had 100 Yuan on from last trip that saved me from hunger. So happy I kept them. Also, the taxi accepted my American dollars. God bless America! (sarcasm right there). 

My host family was waiting for me at the airport. They had colorful papers with my name on that were made by the little girls. The smaller one hugged me and was so happy I was there. The bigger one is a bit shy, so she just said hi. We drove to the house. Their place is really beautiful. The family is really nice. They knew after all that had happened, I would be exhausted, so they let me sleep as much as I wanted that day. My room is comfortable. Just besides the girls’ room.

Monday, May 19th 

      My first day as an au pair officially. Woke up early. Helped the girls get ready for school. Had breakfast. Took them to school. Did nothing until they came back from school at 6pm. The house was so silent. I don’t mind being alone, but I still don’t feel as comfortable here. The aunt was here (she lives here) but we can’t understand each other, so it’s like she’s never here. 

The older girl got sick today, so I just had to play with one. The most hyper and harder to please. But it was nice. At the end of the night she was as exhausted as I was. Can’t wait to get to my bed…

I am too exhausted to continue. That is so far everything that has happened. So yeah… I’ll let you know more about it next week. Until then…

Means

So many conversations in one week and I can't recall any of them to post here. I'll just write what someone special told me yesterday in dinner:

"We'll grow fat together, because I don't think we'll make it to old."

...

     Last week was terrible. So much schoolwork to do. I only slept about 2-3 hours a night. I felt like a zombie. On the other hand, it was so hard having to say goodbye to my family, specially to my little brother. Mom told me my grandmother is angry at me for leaving without saying goodbye. It was kind of hard since I had a test every day until I left. Easiest part was saying goodbye to my friends. Not because I don't love them, but because they were really supportive and didn't give me much drama about it. All hard times these last days, so far, have been worth it. I'm in Chicago right now having an AMAZING time while I do the visa process. 

     Talking about the visa... UGH! Nowhere in the Chicago Chinese Consulate site does it say that every paper must be on computer. I got there early. Made #B250. Waiting patiently just so that this not-so-nice lady tells me "We don't accept handwritten papers". Needless to say I was not a happy camper. Walked to the nearest Fedex to do it fast, but everyone was in the same boat, so computers were all taken. Decided to head back to the hotel room to get my laptop, but  by the time everything got done, it was too late. So here I am waiting for 1pm to walk there again. Hope everything works out perfectly after that.

     So far, haven't done much in Chicago. First day I got here we just checked in the hotel room, which is amazing by the way; walked around and had dinner. Woke up really early yesterday for some odd reason. Rented a bike and rode it across the seashore up to the Navy Pier. There we got to walk around, take few pictures and just enjoy a sunny day in general. Later for dinner I had this amazing pasta with shrimp, orange (raw) and a green sauce (not creative) that tasted so good. I wanted to order like ten of those to go. So good. And today... well the visa has taken all day so far. At night I'm going on a date. Yes. It's an official date because it was clearly stated it was. Then tomorrow is the Neon Trees concert! Secretly, I want to make that a date too. (I just hope that he doesn't read this post...)

     Just a few more days and I will be heading out for Beijing. If all goes well, next post will be officially my as an Au Pair. I am really nervous and excited about it. Wish me luck guys! 

Horologe

"In truth, you wont notice the difference so much. When you see us online on Facebook, it makes it feel less far away than it seems. You will only feel the distance in time (zones) and you get used too. We made our polygamous relationship work last semester, one summer is nothing." - G

...

      I am actually in my Geography class writing this. Don't have much time to do the blog out of class. Plus, I have no wifi at my new place. And since I am going away soon, I don't care much about it.

     I'm leaving on Saturday. First stop will be Chicago. I'll be staying 5-ish days there. Neon Trees Concert, Beercades, The Amazing Spiderman on IMAX and Sears Tower (staying away from the sky-deck for sure) will be some of the activities I'll do while I wait for the Chinese Visa to process. I just remembered that I need to cancel my couchsurfing request. I'll just do it later. The host seemed so cool and eager to take me around. Hoping I get to hang out with him sometime while there.

     The fact that I am not heading directly for Beijing has kept me from being dramatic about my leave. Three months seem so long and short at the same time. Those three months are without taking in consideration the pre and post stops. No time seems enough to spend with my family and friends. Wish I could just be done with school and work, head home and be there with my mom. I know me not being there on Mother's Day will make her sad in some ways. But we get to do our yearly Ednita Nazario's concert.

     Five days, seven things to do. And by things I mean schoolwork (finals, essays and such). Yet, I am not as stressed as I should be. I've been doing everything greatly so far. I am sure that as the departure date gets near I will start going crazy stressed about stupid stuff that can be resolved easily. At least I have found a way to calm down when I feel like this.

     No bags done. No visa yet. I need to memorise all the information about the host family in case they interview me in the Chinese Consulate. Haven't bought the host family's presents yet. I kind of have some idea of what I will get them. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books for the girls,  Puerto Rican rum for the host father (Don Q or Bacardi) and no idea for the host mom (Comment ideas please!). Women are always the hardest.

Professor is talking about monkeys stealing watermelons in Lajas, PR. This... wow.

Tautness

May 18, 2010

"I was calling you. I was about to leave the house and sleep in the street today. I didn't do it mainly because of N.  Also, I knew people would worry about me. I just... don't know." - She wrote

"Take it easy. You know I have your back. Call me tomorrow when you wake up. I love you. Don't worry, it's just menopause." - Her friend replied

... 

     I've been thinking about how what seems important in life changes with age. I remember wanting to run away from my house a couple times when I was a teenager. Yet, now that I think about it I had the stupidest reasons to do so. Yes, my mom drove me crazy. But who's mother doesn't drive them crazy from time to time? Life was so simple back then. It still is in many ways. Funny how time passes and priorities change. What seemed important a few years ago now seem so trivial. I guess we've all been here, and it will keep being this way until I no longer live.

Oh! Just remembered I need to send copy of my Chinese L visa to the Au Pair company ... DONE!

     Let's talk about the visa now that we are at it. Can someone explain to me why don't we have a Chinese Embassy or Consulate in Puerto Rico? Getting a Chinese visa here is as expensive as buying your own flight to Washington DC and doing it yourself. I am not lying or exaggerating. The problem is that the F visa (Business/Cultural Exchange) sometimes requires a interview. So in the event that they ask for an interview, I would be paying the expensive visa fees from Puerto Rico plus the flight to Washington DC anyways. So I decided to just go to Chicago, take care of the paperwork, since I am already there, see one of my favourite bands play live and just make the most of whatever happens. 

     As my departure day comes closer I get more and more excited. I want to say I am terrified because I am going to be actually living in a foreign country, not knowing but a few simple words of the language we talk about, in the home of someone else taking care of the thing that's more precious to them, their kids; but in reality as days pass the fear decreases. I am pretty independent and I know moving around and finding new friends and such won't be really hard, it will be like starting from the bottom (I can't help but to sing Drake's song in my head while writing this) and I love the idea. I think it partially has to do with the fact that I have bigger things to worry about now. A bigger fear to say so.

     I have so many schoolwork to do. About 5-6 (or more) essays, a physics homework (more like final test) and work. Add the fact that I have to move out my current apartment by Thursday, and that won't be easy since I have a lot of stuff in my room. At least I have some amazing friends who will help me out. So much stress right now. I like to think that at the end, all this work and effort will be totally worth it.

I still need a place to stay in Chicago though... *sighs* Time to go back to work.

Disposition

“I was thinking it would be easy leaving Africa and coming to the USA. I thought I would learn the language and then get rich! But after five years here, I still can’t even talk good English. I work 10 hours a day as a taxi driver just to pay for the basics. There’s no money left for anything else. But at least it’s not hot here in Seattle. I love this cold weather”

…

            I shouldn’t write feeling like this. I think the whole point of a fun adventurous blog dies when you are at the airport feeling like you left something behind. It’s a weird feeling you get when you have to say goodbye to great experiences, places and, above all, to amazing people. For some of us, heading back home isn’t as exciting as leaving home.

I am biting my nails again…

            This week we saw some wonderful things in both Vancouver and Seattle. Vancouver was the first stop. I threw my first snow ball (at my friend Jean and totally missed), tried to go snow tubing just to find out it was a children’s ride, hiked for 3 hours, went shopping, had a stranger try to kiss me, almost ran over someone, saw some gorgeous young homeless people and was just amazed by the beauty of the city and it’s utterly nice people. I hope I can live in Vancouver one day.

 

A shot of courage…

            Part 2 of the trip was Seattle. It was a more relaxing experience here. The only real big activities we did were The Seattle Great Wheel and the EMP Museum. On the way to the wheel, I saw the first ever Starbucks, not that I care much since I don’t like coffee. The wheel looked terrifying because it was set upon a large dock (for those who don’t know, I am dead afraid of fish). At least I had someone besides me who was as scared as I was, if not more. I want to pause to just give a honor mention to someone who made this day perfect: Salmon BLT; thank you for existing and making the ride worth it. Back to the activities. The museum I fell in love with. It had music, movies, sci-fi and everything pop-culture. I am a big fan of sci-fi, so you can imagine I just fan-girled all the way.

            It was a great week. Every second of it was memorable. But it’s time to head back to reality. A lot of schoolwork is waiting for me back home. Also, a lot of Au Pair papers to sign and send. I took a pause, now it’s time to resume normal life. But to be honest… I just can’t wait for SK to happen.

One last word... MAJESTIC.

Oblige

"You are smart, but soooooooo lazy! If you were more responsible, you would do so much better in school" - Every person I've met since college

...

     Tomorrow I'll be done with the last papers of the medical examination for the Au Pair Program. I need to wake up at 7am, get the different test results, take my Theories of Modern Politics test and then head to the doctor's office to get the papers signed. The nice woman in charge of my case is on holidays and I have a man doing my paperwork now. Feels weird since she and I already had a connection after all these months (or so I feel). I hope she gets back soon so she can answer all of my new questions. Just one more month until I am in Beijing. So excited and scared at the same time.

     It's funny how I love reading science fiction books, yet I can't sit through a chapter of any book for a class without taking ten bathroom breaks. I'm on my last weeks of class, which means there is a lot of pressure on us right now. Tests, essays, bonus point projects and such is what these weeks bring.  Actually, I have a test in less than 24 hours. I have read only the title of the theme, yet here I am writing this blog while I listening to Bach. I just love procrastination. Don't get me wrong, I have average grades (above average in Political Sciences), but I do accept I am irresponsible when it comes to school work. On the other hand, I am surprisingly responsible in my professional life. I always get on time, exceed in what I do and am never absent unless I feel really sick. Why can I be like that in school too?

     Apart from all the school work and Au Pair things, my mind is running crazy with the notion of leaving for Seattle/Vancouver on Wednesday. I haven't made my suitcase yet, or the laundry for that matter. Been procrastinating so much lately. Guess tomorrow will be a long day. I'll just go watch a movie now with a friend...

P.S. If you are reading this Monday April 14th, 2014 remember to watch the lunar eclipse tonight. It will be amazing. 

      

Progression

I'll try to post weekly until I am actually in Beijing.

"This will be hard. Physics is something that I can practice in any part of the planet. Law, on the other hand, has limitations." She said

"We can always come to an agreement. I can take the USA bar exam. We can live there. Be rational. Stop being so whimsical."

"But I want Canada, East Asia, Europe, not just one place! Can you really blame me for that?"

...

     I never thought that going to "work" (Au Pair is considered a cultural exchange) in another country would take so much paperwork. The problem isn't getting the papers, but the fact that Puerto Rican agencies are SO inefficient. Just to get one paper you have to wake up at 05:00, be in line by 06:00 and don't expect to be out before 13:00. A whole day wasted in one thing and I still have 10 more things to get. I guess there won't be much free time this week.

   Even when I don't want to, I have high expectations with my host family. When they made my weekly schedule, they told me I wouldn't have free weekends because they wanted to share their free time with me. They want to take me to famous places in Beijing like The Great Wall, Summer Palace and such. In some way it's really nice of them to want to spend so much time with me, but it will feel so weird for me. I am not really a family person. I like to spend a great amount of time alone, specially on the weekends. It will take some time getting used to. This is what I wanted, there's no turning back now.

     To be honest, as the departure day gets closer and closer, I get more scared. I don't really want to think about it, so let's skip that for now, at least until I get back from Seattle/Vancouver. That trip will be amazing. Knowing I'll be out of the country again with my closest friends makes me feel real fortunate. I'll take that trip as a my farewell party. I know I will just be 3 months in Beijing, but who knows what may happen? What if I find an amazing job in China and decide to stay?

Basic Principles

     For us 90's kids, from birth we were bombarded with tv. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Every step of the day had to some degree a tv involved. I still remember watching Pokémon with my father and brother each morning before class, and Dragon Ball Z after I got home from school. Dinnertime was Star Wars. There were always others, but something about these made them stuck in my mind. A boy who leaves his house to become a Pokémon Master, a man stranded in a alien world, a journey across the universe. Now that I think about it, these are the things that have defined my life until now.

... Forward to that moment.

     Spring Break 2013. That was a big turning point in my life. You see, never do people expect to end up being that person who meets the perfect guy and ends up doing stupid amazing things for him. That Wednesday night I met him. There, at the end of the bar. I can still see him there laughing with his friends. Because of him I got the courage to book a flight with my friends and stay over at his place in New York City. Or to, a month later, book another flight to see him again, this time alone. I won't say it was true love. No. It was more of a international crush. But after those two short trips, I understood that traveling was just a matter of will. But little that I know that was just the beginning of an astounding new phase in my life.

     Just in one year I went from "only been to Florida" to "I've visited New York (2), Florida, Texas, Beijing and Shanghai, soon to visit Seattle/Vancouver". But most importantly, and the reason to this blog, I will be working as an Au Pair in Beijing for 3 months during this summer. Yes, I will be spending 3 months living on someone else's house taking care of their two girls, learning the language and immersing myself in Chinese culture. Language and culture are the main reasons I applied in the first place. The placement confirmation came in last week and I though that a blog would be a great way to share my experience with whoever is interested. The program won't start until May, but the paperwork starts now, so I might as well record the whole process.

Wish me luck!

:)