Ok, soooo I think I just got a job! I say "I think" because it's kind of a weird situation. Basically there's a graphic design company based out of Raleigh, an hour from here. I replied to an ad on Craig's List, and in fact I was one of the first to reply out of over 500 DESIGNERS! Amazingly enough, something about my e-mail caught his attention and we had a 2 hour phone interview/conversation this morning.
The thing is, it's a contracting job so I can actually work from my home or wherever I want. Most people would think this is great, but I was actually hoping for an actual office to show up to and to work with a team. I wanted to learn from a team and be taught, not just work on my own. I also wanted a reason to move to a particular area or city- right now I have no direction on where to go and that's weird for me.
However, this place seems like a really good idea because I'd be working as many hours as I can handle and the pay is grrrrrreat. They said they'll start me off on about 10 hours a week and hopefully move up from there.
So I'll have to get another part time which kinda sucks because I will also be working with a business partner on another web/graphic design business. I'm the kind of person who likes a steady paycheck while showing up to an actual office. I also like health insurance and benefits which I won't be getting. So this is a little outside my comfort zone.
Anyway, I think this will be a good move and I will probably be signing the papers to join the company today! Praise God! Dakujem Jezis! Here's our site:
http://iadvertizing.com/
Wow, what a nice morning. This morning I woke up early at 7:30 (yeah, that's early for me!). I couldn't get back to sleep, and decided I would go get some coffee in Hillsborough in my favorite coffee shop in the world, Cup a' Joe's. I called ahead of time to make sure they were still in business because many coffee shops in this area don't last longer than a few months...understandably so.
I threw some clothes on in the dark, grabbed my computer and iPhone in my backpack, and went on my way. A friend let me borrow her 89' Ford Escort to drive around till I find a car of my own. I'll be calling it "Old Blue" for a while, because it's light blue...and well, old. But it's lovely and I'm so so thankful for it...you have no idea.
So I hopped in Old Blue and went on my way. It's pouring down rain, and should keep raining all week. I stopped in WalMart to get an audio cable so I can hook up my iPod to the stereo in my car. I thought $14 was a ridiculous cost for a simple audio cord, but it's worth the cost of listening to my music in my car.
I hook up my iPod and turn to the Weepies. If you don't know this about me already, you should know that singing along to music while driving a car is one of my favorite things in the world. I missed it so much! It was a little weird getting used to as I haven't done it in over a year (and haven't even driven a car in a year!), but it came naturally and I was singing obnoxiously in no time.
I drive through Hillsborough and I'm so happy to be here. I love this little town. It only consists of about 3 stoplights and a few main city blocks, but it's so quaint and lovely. Mostly liberal neo-hippies live in these parts, but I still love it.
I drive up to my favorite coffee shop and wait in line. I order 4 shots of espresso over extra ice with 2 splendas. The barista remembers that I had come here a ton last year before I left for Slovakia. She asked how my trip went and I shake my head with widened eyes and say, "Awwwwesome", not knowing how much more detail she cares to hear.
I order a pumpkin muffin and sit down with my Mac, muffin, and an incredible cup of iced espresso. I'm serious. This espresso is unbelievably good. It's just perfect. It's smooth, never bitter, a little caramel undertones. The cream is from a farm a few miles away and it's so thick and fresh. Ahhhh, this is the life!
I overhear a conversation of about 5 older people who have met this morning for coffee. They're not your average old people though- they're all drinking strong coffee, they have 1-6 pieces of jewelry on each arm or neck, and they're talking about the differences between deer, elk and moose. A girl sits across from me, intensely looking at her laptop which has an Obama sticker on the front. The cute young man beside me tells his friend about him stopping to pick up a guy who was walking down the road in the rain, his cheap yellow poncho being torn by the wind. He says it with a smile and is proud of his North Face jacket and sturdy leather boots. These are all people who I saw every single time I came here last year when I spent full days drinking coffee and raising support for missions. It's like I never left.
It's still raining outside, and as I sit by the window and glance out, I can still see the red and yellow leaves barely hanging on to the trees outside. The American flag waves in the windy rain above the old Dual Supply Co. store sign.
Gosh, I just love this.
I'm writing this message from a small metal box with a telephone and a bench in it. I've been laying or sitting on the floor for the past 11 hours or so. Part of me wishes a babka would come over and scold me for freezing my ovaries on the cold cement (ohhh Slovakia, how I'll miss you!). The reason I'm stuck at the JFK airport is because I missed my flight to Billings, Montana. Well, wait, let me back up.
I left Monday morning around 7 am from my house and got into Vienna around 8:30. I had a feeling one of my bags was too heavy, even though I checked it a few times with a hand-held scale. Yeah, picking up a 50+ pound bag with a small metal ring while trying to read the weight doesn't work so well, I've learned. I have a lot of luggage. I hate traveling with this much stuff, but I figure that it's worth the pain for so much stuff I've attained over the past year. We get to the counter and of course my duffel is overweight. So I pull over and start yanking out clothes I didn't want that much in the first place and gave them to Kris. Eventually I move things around in my bags so everything works. I even give my guitar to a "special luggage" section and they didn't charge me a penny for taking it.
My first ride to Dusseldorf was fine, but soon after getting on the 9 hour plane ride I realize I'm behind a fussy toddler with unresponsive parents. Great! In the meantime, I'm quite sick with a cold. This puts a damper on sitting, sleeping, and breathing. All in all it was a good flight- great landing, an empty seat on each side of me and 3 entertaining movies. The problem was, once we landed and I saw what time it was, I started to get a little anxious about my upcoming layover in NYC. I knew I didn't have much time as it was, but the plane took another 20 minutes just to drive to the stupid terminal. Finally I get my luggage and plow through people to get in the front of the customs line. Customs is great, but I'm also starting to see how friendly service people are being to customers. I SHOULD like this, but considering the circumstances I absolutely didn't care about their friendly conversation because I needed to get through!
Ok, so I'm one of the first ones through and I get a baggage cart. 5 minutes go by...10 minutes go by...finally after about 20 minutes my luggage comes. Except, when I pick up my guitar case to stand it up on its' own, it almost falls on the ground. Looking at it further I realize that my guitar case is totally destroyed and it was opened up during the flight. Huge cracks are all over it and I feared that I was about to lose it and break down crying if I had opened the case to see my guitar smashed to smithereens. Thankfully, I think, my guitar is fine. Whatever, so I'm running pretty late by this point and I start running.
And running is what I did for the next half hour, as fast as I could, with a full cart of luggage. I go to an information counter and ask where Northwest is. They, of course don't know, consult an old flight book and tell me I should be concerned because it's not listed in their book. Well because I'm a retard and didn't print out e-tickets, I had to consult my computer to triple check that it was from the right airport, at the right time, at the right airline. However, my computer which had no battery was deep in a backpack...which was in another backpack...which was buried under all my luggage. I find a plug. Plug it in and check it, and yes I was right. I ask the same people (as I'm running past them), "WHERE'S NORTHWEST?!" and they slowly take out a map and say, "I THINK it's this terminal here" and show me in the direction of the tram which should take me to the right terminal. I have never seen an elevator or tram go slower in my entire life. What in the world?!
I get to the counter finally, and they tell me I've missed my plane by a long shot. I had two choices- either become furious at the circumstances or just accept it and not blame anybody. They inform me that there are no more flights tonight out to Billings, so I have to wait till 8 am the next morning for a flight. They say I should go downstairs and find the guy at the counter to help me with finding a hotel. I go to the counter and ask what an average hotel cost is around here. He says $200 minimum, and I say Thank you very much then, goodnight!
So... here I am, camping out in an airport. This is the first flight I've ever missed. For those of you ever have to do what I did (take your baggage out, go through customs, and re-check yourself back into the airline), allow yourself at least 2-3 hours! 1.5 isn't even close to enough. I think I gave myself an ulcer.
And, well, of course I'm too paranoid to go to sleep because there are lots of creeps walking around in the middle of the night in this terminal and everything important that I own is here on this cart. So I'm keeping busy by writing, watching Top Chef and Law & Order, and listening to music. I must say, my butt is tired of sitting on cold surfaces.
So a few random things I've noticed about culture shock and cultural differences (since I want to share these things so I don't feel like a freak). First, I've been way too tired and out of it to care about being in this country and being able to speak English. Until I had my most recent coffee and cinnamon bun (HOW I MISS THOSE!), I was so tired I just wanted to cry. But now that I'm waking up I can think more clearly. I am so thankful to speak English. Even though the mean big ladies at the coffee stand were totally mean the 3 times I've been since I got here last night, I was still thankful that they at least understood me. I was even thankful to be able to say, "Whaaaaat? $8.30 for a tuna sandwich I can make at home for like 50 cents?!". How I miss being heard! hah.
I was able to buy straight up coffee. Not an espresso drink, just coffee (for the record, I ordered a latte but the Mexican lady didn't know how to make it so she said "they were out").
Quarters are very thin compared to the Euro.
Many Americans feel the need to be loud and personable in quiet places when it's kinda not appropriate.
I love American electricity plugs. I don't have to use converters any more, and for some reason that makes me happy. Also, I love how many places in this country have plugs in public places for folks to use.
American customer service isn't necessarily better than Slovak in some ways. These two chicks that took my coffee orders were really mean.
That's it for now. I haven't even been outside of this building so it's hard to talk about the shock yet. Just some thoughts I'd share with those interested.
Thanks for all of your support and prayers through all this. Thanks for understanding how mentally difficult this is for me.
Now I'm off to find Air Berlin and harass them about ruining my case and gonna check in for my flight to Billings. :)
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