Friday, June 25, 2010

Waiting

I am at a airport coffeeshop in Denver, CO. I'm here, staring outside at the airport's fake rendition of the Rockies (if you've been here, you know what I'm talking about), trying to kill three hours. I am headed to Orange County this weekend for a friend's wedding - and because I have no money, I could not afford a non-stop flight. Alas.

I have never been to LA, the city I am flying into. Tonight, thanks to the dealings of my friend Dan Edelstein, I am staying in the Santa Monica Motel. I know, it just sounds like the setting for a horror movie. The only reviews I read about it said, "I can stand cheap, budget hotels, but this place is just gross..." Ha. Should be an adventure.

So yeah. I am waiting. Waiting for my flight, waiting for one of the employers I've contacted to call me back. A lot of our lives our spent waiting. At least someone invented the Internet. It sure makes waiting a lot easier.

(Oh, and a special shout out to the Denver airport for having free wifi. Way to go.)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Leaving everything, and graduating.

I am a selfish human being. And the other day, I had an experience that slapped my selfishness hard, revealing its raw stupidity.

I have a friend who was a refugee from Burma, she arrived in the U.S. two years ago, and we've been hanging out since. This past week, she graduated from high school. She asked me to come to her graduation, at the LEAP school in St. Paul. Of course I said I would go, but deep down inside, I did not want to attend a graduation ceremony. I was thinking of ways I could skip. How rude.

But alas, I do have some heart, so I went. And as soon as I got there, I realized that this experience was a gift. There they were, 56, students who came over to the U.S., barely knowing any English at all, graduating from high school. Their friends and families were there, so excited and proud. They had come to this new land with nothing, and now, one of their own was graduating from high school, in America. I mean, do you know what these kids had to go through to get a degree? They had to adjust to a new culture, a new language, override the temptations that come from rough neighborhoods, to graduate. I was honored to be in that gym at that moment. It made me realize how frustrated God is with us most of the time. I mean, he tries to give us good things, but we brush them off before we taste them, because shallow, selfish desires like spending time on ourselves seem more appealing.

The scene was a funny one, at LEAP school graduation. It was very typical of what I've experienced from my short times in the developing world. It was definitely not like a suburban high school graduation. For one, people talked throughout the ceremony, there was a constant conversational buzz. I would sit there and scream in my head, "listen to the speaker!" But alas, no one heard my inner thoughts. Additionally, most people came late, with balloons. What's time? Just a number. But even if they were whispering and answering phones throughout the ceremony, when their student walked across the stage they erupted in cheers louder than any you would have heard in Hastings.

Perhaps, its because, this student accomplished a greater achievement than most in Hastings. I mean, I had to go through a couple break-ups in high school (not to minimize those! man, those were rough), not submerge myself into a different culture a million miles from home.

After the ceremony, I went to see my friend. She was so excited and looked great in the cap and gown. This was the best graduation I have ever been to. Accomplishments mean more, the more there is to overcome.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Life of the Unemployed

I've decided to start blogging again, because I have a lot of time on my hands. Ah, the life of the unemployed.

The good news is that I just graduated with my master's degree. Woohoo. Just call me Master. Just kidding. The bad news, however, is that my last paycheck was last week, and now I am literally living on a prayer.

This is how bad it is, people. Last week, I went to Savers and scourged through the racks of jeans until I found five designer pairs that people oddly gave away. I then decided to sell them on eBay for some extra cash. My entrepreneurial initiative didn't go too well, I only sold one pair. Consequently, although I made $10 on that pair, it put my total losses at $20. Dangit. I'm going to have to put them up again, maybe lower the prices.

I do have a job babysitting Thursday and Friday. Yes. I have a master's degree and so far the only jobs I can get are the same ones I got at age 13. Let's not dwell on that fact.

I have been applying religiously for only a week now. So far, everything has slammed shut in my face. I have a feeling this is going to be a long road. That is not a fun feeling. At least I can sit by my parents' pool during the day instead of work. Looks like I'm going to be extremely tan, and bored, by the end of the summer....