We are currently staying with family in the LA area. We left the unseasonably sunny skies of Seattle and arrived to the gray drizzle of LA. Venice Beach had an endless shadowed sky surrounded by little blasts of colorful beach houses. The mountains were marbled from the mudslides during their past few days of rain. And we are now in a quiet, loving home in the burbs, attempting to take care of things.
Now that we are sort of homeless, it feels like I have a heightened sense of "place", something I never had or noticed before. Seattle feels different Newbury Park which feels different from National City which feels different from Santa Cruz. Each home signaled some kind of rebirth for me. I wonder who I'll be in Korea?
This is a little hint of who I was in Seattle:
- coffee patron and conversation buddy to Maggie
- summer hot dog eater of Dog in the Park at Westlake Center. Kosher combo meal!
- morning walker at Volunteer Park, hiking up the stairs to the water tower
- badass, braving the Seattle rain sans umbrella
- dog radar for MacDaddy, Rufus, Tum Tum, and Bacon (famous bulldogs of Capitol Hill)
- theater participant
- rock climbing pansy with Sara
- vintage shopper
- philosopher and swinger at Cal Anderson Park
- nosher of the awesomest lunch at Baguette Box: tofu samich, truffle fries, limonta
- experiencer of heaven at Broadway Grill: Broadway Cookie Sundae (holla)
- English language partner
- a body living without a soul for 5 years
- a giver of the best full body hugs you will ever experience
I miss Seattle. I miss everything Seattle had to offer. I miss me in Seattle.
- Chips
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Scavenger Hunt
Soon, I will be inviting more people to this blog. Smaller people. This Friday I leave behind a class of about twenty-six 2 1/2 to 5 year olds. I will miss them. We will be keeping in touch via this blog. The idea is that they will be sending me on a scavenger hunt. They will ask me to find or experience certain things on my trip and I will send them pictures and stories back.
Less than a week left in Seattle. It's kind of fun living in an empty apartment. We're not buying much at the grocery store so I'm having to forage food from the leftovers in the fridge, trying to finish things rather than throw them out. It actually can get pretty fancy. My lunch today was organic peanut butter, white wine jelly, on a toasted hamburger bun and drinking Crystal Lite from a plastic champagne flute.
-Ships
Less than a week left in Seattle. It's kind of fun living in an empty apartment. We're not buying much at the grocery store so I'm having to forage food from the leftovers in the fridge, trying to finish things rather than throw them out. It actually can get pretty fancy. My lunch today was organic peanut butter, white wine jelly, on a toasted hamburger bun and drinking Crystal Lite from a plastic champagne flute.
-Ships
Monday, January 11, 2010
It took me two years to fall in love with Seattle
It is a typical day in Seattle right now: gray, overcast, misting cold rain, slight wind chill. All the trees, and there are many of them, look like they are covered in and dripping off diamonds. Our balcony sits empty; our summer plants have been taken indoors, waiting to be pawned off on craigslist before our impending move to California then abroad to...KOREA!
We turned down a job in Taiwan because it didn't offer free housing. Korea has been the country that has consistently offered the best contracts for ESL Instructors. The way I'm wording this sounds like we don't have a job settled there yet. You are correct. But we are working on it and that is all I'm willing to say. By writing it as vaguely as possible, it sounds as though we're actually quite busy and working on it. So. Yeah.
Back to Seattle. On a day like this, I recommend sitting in the warmth of your empty living room, looking out at the dreary miserable cold through your picturesque balcony window. Drink a hot cup of green tea. Listen to Abbey Road. I wish I could take a picture and show you my daily gray happiness but we're working on this whole uploading pictures thing on this blog. Apparently, our computer is so slow, that every time I try to upload the picture, I'm giving "invalid URLs".
Let me be as descriptive as possible to make up for the lack of visual representation: There is a simple old brick apartment building across the street where you can spy on the neighbors' silent coffee moments, our balcony has a few toasted crispy leaves on the floor, one evergreen is covered with cold sweat, another tree is an intricate maze of naked branches, down the hill is a metal echoing lake full of still boats from Seattle's well-to-do and the promise of rainbow dotted lights within the span of a few hours as Seattle gets dark very early in the day still. A car whizzes by and a few blocks down, several teenagers are practicing tricks at the most amazing bike park under a freeway ramp. A few blocks the other direction, there is probably a grimey junkie sex offender trying to make his life work and up the hill from him, jaded hipsters in their leather jackets, boots and striped shirts are talking about a low budget film that no one else in the country has probably seen, a beautiful couple will stroll past them with their child dressed better than me and their pug, cold and happy.
We turned down a job in Taiwan because it didn't offer free housing. Korea has been the country that has consistently offered the best contracts for ESL Instructors. The way I'm wording this sounds like we don't have a job settled there yet. You are correct. But we are working on it and that is all I'm willing to say. By writing it as vaguely as possible, it sounds as though we're actually quite busy and working on it. So. Yeah.
Back to Seattle. On a day like this, I recommend sitting in the warmth of your empty living room, looking out at the dreary miserable cold through your picturesque balcony window. Drink a hot cup of green tea. Listen to Abbey Road. I wish I could take a picture and show you my daily gray happiness but we're working on this whole uploading pictures thing on this blog. Apparently, our computer is so slow, that every time I try to upload the picture, I'm giving "invalid URLs".
Let me be as descriptive as possible to make up for the lack of visual representation: There is a simple old brick apartment building across the street where you can spy on the neighbors' silent coffee moments, our balcony has a few toasted crispy leaves on the floor, one evergreen is covered with cold sweat, another tree is an intricate maze of naked branches, down the hill is a metal echoing lake full of still boats from Seattle's well-to-do and the promise of rainbow dotted lights within the span of a few hours as Seattle gets dark very early in the day still. A car whizzes by and a few blocks down, several teenagers are practicing tricks at the most amazing bike park under a freeway ramp. A few blocks the other direction, there is probably a grimey junkie sex offender trying to make his life work and up the hill from him, jaded hipsters in their leather jackets, boots and striped shirts are talking about a low budget film that no one else in the country has probably seen, a beautiful couple will stroll past them with their child dressed better than me and their pug, cold and happy.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Last Chair
Things are happening quicker than I expected. Our apartment has more boxes now than furniture. Our dining chairs our gone and tomorrow our couch. My wife and I are going to be fighting over our one chair these last few weeks. We've been in contact with about five or six people about jobs abroad. It's still hard to picture what my life will be like in a couple of months.
My New Year's resolution is a bit vague. Or it can be defined flexibly at least.
Try better.
I can physically feel the difference between my lazy and my active state of mind. I've been opting for lazy too often, taking the back seat to my life. It's time I start driving. If I'm going to survive traveling the world, leading a classroom, teaching English for a living, that's got to become a habit. So get buckled Asia.
My New Year's resolution is a bit vague. Or it can be defined flexibly at least.
Try better.
I can physically feel the difference between my lazy and my active state of mind. I've been opting for lazy too often, taking the back seat to my life. It's time I start driving. If I'm going to survive traveling the world, leading a classroom, teaching English for a living, that's got to become a habit. So get buckled Asia.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Making it Happen in Twenty Ten
2010 is here and the only resolution I have is to be more like a duck which can be interpreted as follows:
- Like water off a ducks back, I will try not to let things bother me so much.
- They like to fly south for the winter. In theory, I’d like to move around more, as my life dictates a better opportunity is available.
- They fly in a perfect V-shape, as witnessed in Disney’s The Mighty Ducks. I will try to be a better team player.
I’m doing ok so far. This January will be full and busy. We’re set to leave our current home in the sometimes lovely Seattle in order to spend some time with the family in southern California before leaving to go abroad and teach English. Where? We don’t know yet. It’s a headache and if I write about it, it will stress me out. Which will make me a failure on the whole “I will try not to let things bother me so much” goal.
As of today, we have about 25 days to get rid of 90% of our worldly possessions (which is difficult because I like stuff), settle on a job (which is even more difficult because it’s kind of out my hands) and tie up any other loose ends (and I discover a new string to tie every day). It’ll get done because it has to. For now, I have a mondo To Do list and I’m trying to remain calm and organized.
Quack quack yo.
- Like water off a ducks back, I will try not to let things bother me so much.
- They like to fly south for the winter. In theory, I’d like to move around more, as my life dictates a better opportunity is available.
- They fly in a perfect V-shape, as witnessed in Disney’s The Mighty Ducks. I will try to be a better team player.
I’m doing ok so far. This January will be full and busy. We’re set to leave our current home in the sometimes lovely Seattle in order to spend some time with the family in southern California before leaving to go abroad and teach English. Where? We don’t know yet. It’s a headache and if I write about it, it will stress me out. Which will make me a failure on the whole “I will try not to let things bother me so much” goal.
As of today, we have about 25 days to get rid of 90% of our worldly possessions (which is difficult because I like stuff), settle on a job (which is even more difficult because it’s kind of out my hands) and tie up any other loose ends (and I discover a new string to tie every day). It’ll get done because it has to. For now, I have a mondo To Do list and I’m trying to remain calm and organized.
Quack quack yo.
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