I am a Leaf on the Wind

fourseat — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:17:08 GMT

jens is gone until friday! and without him, I have run out of other ways to procrastinate photo assignment. which will get done tonight since it's easy enough and will be quick once I buckle down.

but now that I've seen more than a season of Dollhouse, it's clear that it's the same as Firefly but without the space cowboys. Where shall we start? A character list.
Topher's Wash. That was clear from the first episode.
Paul's Mal. Made even more apparent recently from all the times he gets beaten to a pulp and sticks to his ideals.
Echo is River- a skinny, dark-haired asskicking girl who recalls and speaks to countless personalities? hel-lo!

It could be argued that:
Boyd is Book, especially considering the last episode I saw
Adele is Inara (I know, ironic choice considering the REST of them are the ones doing the companioning!)
and Dr. Saunders is Simon.
Sierra might be Zoe but that's more purely from looks than any other.

who does this leave out? Jayne and Kaylee. I guess Melly could have been Kaylee, that long while ago.

Now, I don't know if Buffy aligns in this same way, but...

on another note, I'm going to be in Addis in two weeks. and my bottom teeth are moving thanks to one rogue homefry from brunch with Jo more than a month ago, which bent the permanent retainer in there. the dentist said there was no problem, but there is a bit. it's changed the way I say S and now I feel a bit of a gap between the middle two that might be forming. problematic?

off to write the aperture assignment. you know how they say ADDers have problems with dopamine? aka the reward hormone? I think this is why I always "reward" myself before doing anything worth rewarding. hee.

fourseat — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:30:45 GMT

i'm going to electric picnic today! I've been waiting for nine months (since last christmas) so needless to say it's a bit surreal and hasn't quite sunk in that it's actually this weekend. I gotta keep getting ready and packing. anyone who wants to be jealous, look here: www.electricpicnic.ie

fourseat — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:12:27 GMT

I had a cool dream and an awful dream. In the cool dream, I could teleport and I was learning how to bring things along with me- a sofa from room to room. Teleporting felt like falling asleep while I was concentrating on where I wanted to go and it was harder to do with people watching. In the crazy dream we saw a spider on the ceiling about seven inches long with big fleshy front legs and a peacock feather on its head, looked it up online and learned it was the very deadly Jewel-something Spider. We got it down to the floor, where it turned into a tiny fat green goblin and started howling or exhaling, then led it out the door. I called poison control immediately because that's what the Wikipedia article had told me to do and I was worried it had exhaled some poison before we got it out the door. They had to search the entire house for a spider's nest, and to do it they had to remove every tile and appliance. I think they had to search my car too. Then the bell at the local school rang and woke me up.

Today's a windy day and last night was really cold. It was Matheus' last day and I didn't realize it, and he didn't come to school for his last day so I didn't get to say goodbye. I liked him. It was also Yan's last day, and she had just started to open up and smile more in class. Sigh.

I've got stuff to do- I promised them a movie so I'm making up a lesson plan for Blood Diamond, which I haven't seen, but Jens owns. I found tons of stuff online for the class. And I need to give it in today if I want to show it next week. Joanna's on holiday so I won't count on any of the sub-administrators to be bendy like she was for Wall-E. Also I have a doctor's appointment for more foot freezing, and some cleaning to do before I show up to a belly dance class at the Y at 6:30. Tomorrow's the farmers' market and the Festival of World Cultures and on Sunday Jens gets home! and I go zorbing at noon.

in which everything is solved by a Karma bath

fourseat — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:16:38 GMT

today was hard. I talked to Mom about my life and how I'm not doing anything that fulfills me, and about frustrations with life. then I talked to Jens about how we had different expectations for my learning German this week. and then at the end of class time I had five students left and they told me I needed to be stricter. I have been rather aimless in my teaching this week, and it was what I needed to hear. these sentences sound pithy in summary but they were difficult conversations, especially the first one and the second.

anyway, then i came home and took a Lush bubble bath and started a book Mom had recommended to me (Digging to America). these have made me feel good, though I worry I'll be up all night reading.

back to it.

fourseat — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:24:58 GMT

sunburn and watermelon, my summer's now complete. Hope for more days like today (as it was until about 3:30). And now it's midnight and I can go to bed. If tomorrow's sunny, I'll go running. Hope so. I also would like to see more lightning if Ireland can manage it.

I feel a bit iffy, and I'm blaming it on the frozen "lamb grill" (aka half-thick burger) we got for free for spending €20 at the halal store which I ate for dinner. Next meal will not be completely made up of frozen food (lamb, falafels and paratha!)

fourseat — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:09:03 GMT

jens has been gone for five hours and I miss him already. I am making a list of things I should or can do this week to occupy myself, as I'll only be working one shift per day as far as I know. Now it's sunny and warm out so I'm going to sunbathe on the roof terrace with Salman Rushdie and a new CD, wine and cheese and crackers. Quel snobberie. I already went to the farmers' market today. For this week only, it's covered with a big tent (left up from some event last week) and it was so alive and buzzing with the open, stall-less plan. I'd love for that to happen every week. The flower lady had gorgeous purple and rust-colored arrangements which I'd've bought if Jens hadn't brought two sets of flowers home last night. Loaded up on fruit and veg so I'll eat healthy this week. If anyone wants to chat, now's the time. I've even resolved to send emails more regularly (since evening time is reserved for Jens).

Now, more basking.

fourseat — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:14:54 GMT

I was having a really good day until I read my email and heard about some of the bullshit the radical right are pulling out in my country of citizenship. Honest to God, "death panels"? How is Sarah Palin allowed to speak in public? Don't answer that, she has the right to free speech- but sometimes I wish we could have a common-sense censor (or perhaps a truth censor?) who'd punch Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck in the face. Maybe it's worse than I imagine- after all, I only read the emails from my lefty mailing lists and I know those guys are sensationalizing to get more contributions. Still, calling people Nazis is NOT OKAY, EVER. And it's wrong to conflate issues that the President has, as far as I know, made no official statement on (and when I co-googled Obama and euthanasia to try and find any official position, all I got were pages of righty hysteria) with the program he is pressing.

Death panels. The fuck.

Ken Gordon can be a bit crazy for my taste, but his email this week is spot on.

"I was a member of the Colorado General Assembly for sixteen years. I am an extreme supporter of respectful debate and disagreement. I had many disputes with other Democrats who objected to some of my efforts to treat the Republicans with respect. “They didn’t do that for us when we were in the minority,” I would hear.

“And when they treated us disrespectfully, we thought it was wrong,” I would respond.

People of good faith who treat each other with respect can solve problems. People who do not listen to each other with respect, and do not act in good faith cannot.

...

In my email from last week I criticized both Rush Limbaugh and Randi Rhodes. I assert that it is wrong for either a Democrat or a Republican to make these arguments personal. The country cannot be governed by either side if the opponents abandon truth and respect.

The United States will fail if the people in power do not listen to each other and think that the other side is “evil.” And the people in power mirror the people in the streets.

Do any of you feel that it is ever justified to shout down others in a town meeting?

Most Americans are Christians. What would Christ have done?

How did we get to this point? Someone answer this for me. Democrats and Republicans have worked together countless times in our history for the benefit of the country. Yet it isn’t happening now.

The zealots on either side think that their goal is to beat the other party.

It is not.

The goal is to govern the country and participate in the world community in a way that maximizes education, prosperity, health, justice and freedom. In that project the zealots are failing and helping to cause our country to fail.

...

“All for one, and one for all,” may have been a more or less accurate description of the United States when we confronted real fascists during World War II. It may have approximately described the United States during the Cold War.

It does not describe us now.

The people of the United States need to appreciate the necessity of respectful debate and they need to withhold their support and votes from leaders who do not engage in good faith.

We have to stop playing the small game of partisan politics, because the big game will determine our health, our prosperity, the condition of the planet and whether our children die in wars. We are neglecting the big game because we our stuck in the small game.

I don’t care if you are a Democrat, a Republican, or something else, if your elected officials spend their time bashing members of the other party do not cheer them on."

Also see truthout for more comments.

Anyway, I had a great morning- spent the class time chatting with the last three students left, was totally flabbersquocked by the TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE ad in the paper that it's out TODAY?! blindsided with joy! I mean, not totally, because we all know the movie is going to be a Hollywood rom-sellout of the book (last I checked, Ingrid's not on the character list on IMDB, for example...) but will still see it, of course. And Jens's friend Tharani is coming for the weekend, so that's gonna be cool... and we're going to see Sam Sam the Bubble Man today at the Science Gallery. I'm most looking forward to the advertised fire bubbles.

fourseat — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:10:12 GMT

it's been a long time. This weekend's just been too awesome not to post about.

so first of all, I'm living with Jens. I've got a new computer. I am teaching at Abbey in the evenings again. I have signed up for a course in interactive media production which starts in October. I taught teenagers for a month at a summer school where KK was the DOS. Spanish teenagers are hellions and I have no desire to go back to that experience. Now I'm doing my third straight week with college-age Spaniards at Swan, and they are a blessing- probably my favorite class yet.

Friday night we went to the new IKEA with Nina and Paulien and bought a plant and a whole bunch of house goods that makes me feel more like this house is ours, not just his.

Saturday we went to the Cake Cafe and had the last cream cheese pancakes of the day, then to Stephen's Green and bought Villeroy and Boch wine glasses on big discount, which Jens says are really nice and we couldn't have gotten that cheap in Germany. At the farmers' market I had a mushroom taco from Gus and Theresa, who I haven't talked to in ages, and a gorgeous-looking heirloom. On the way home I visited Fallon and Byrne and splurged on the vanilla malt ice cream I've been eyeing for a year or so. And I found out that they now sell Goldfish. I don't need to hoard that bag from the States any more!

Today we straightened up, including putting some clothes in the Ikea compartments which makes the shelf look so much nicer. Jens dropped a lava lamp on his toe, and I'm worried just a bit because it was so heavy. Now, we've finished making hummus and guacamole and are in the process of making a lasagna totally from scratch (minus the canned tomatoes and the veggie mince, but including the pasta and the actual sauce). I IMed with Jens's dad in German with really minimal help from him!

Next week I'm working a KK-last-summer week: 9-1 at Swan, and then covering an Abbey afternoon class for the next two weeks plus my regular evening class. I didn't want to turn down Abbey because money's money and it's a high-level class, which means less work overall, and I couldn't say no to my Spaniards because I like them so much. They're super motivated and listen and work really hard, so I hope they'll see their progress. This weekend we've been cooking big meals (like curry and lasagna) that I can eat during the week.

Back to the lasagna sauce!

fourseat — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:14:33 GMT

I had the strangest dreams.... that Avi came over and I gave him back some shirts he'd given me, then he tried to be funny and I told him no. Then I was talking to Emma, who had a sore throat, to try to convince her that Denver needed a commuter rail link to Lakewood. And then they took me to what they said was my house in Lakewood, but the bottom floor was all kid-sized. I told them this wasn't my house and they said they'd changed it for a reason. The ceilings were about five feet high. There was a mini fridge and some drawers. Upstairs was my actual bedroom, though. I don't remember why they said I should be there, but there was a reason.

After that I read a book that looked like it should be a kids' book but talked about the king forcing himself on women, using metaphors of ice cream, I think. I was transported to the kingdom and watched the king have his way with another woman (or maybe we were My Little Ponies), then knew I was next so (and this took place in my bathroom in Lakewood) I twisted his arm back and started to choke him. I told him I didn't want to act that way, but that's how he treated us, and I didn't know how else to treat him if he didn't treat us differently. I got to my room and turned on some music, and then my mother, who was either the queen or the housekeeper, came in and chastised me about the volume and about how many Lush products I had and I told her only one of them was new. That's when the alarm went off.

More on life later. I gotta move two suitcases to Jens's house now.

the third bad news

fourseat — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:01:33 GMT

from thursday, abbey has terminated my evening class contract. I was the last one left on the eleven (eleven!)-month probation period, which means the only people left now are long-term there (some only by a matter of months)- but they're still getting fired too. Abbey is in trouble, I think. Still, somehow this will all work out. I'm teaching Spanish teenagers in the mornings this week for 20 hours... and then I choose a school to go to, get a student visa, and teach through the summer and see what happens in the fall. I'm going to study tourism, for the fuck of it.

School options: I've looked at two so far. If I get a student visa, it'll be the same as before: work full-time for half the year and part-time while I'm in class.

Eden costs 1250. It has three-month semesters and breaks - July-Sept, Oct-Dec, Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun. I want to start in the October semester but they say my visa will be out of the limits of writing-letter-to-immigration-to-keep-me-in-here (three months).

Portobello costs 2400. Its course lasts the schoolyear. They say they can write a letter keeping me legal through the summer- but I just realized I may not be able to work on the extension-like stamp they can get me. I'll call and ask them.

There are a whole bunch of other schools around (with 4400 approved courses, I'm spoilt for choice really) that i have to look into. but it's just not freaking good. No one will apply for a work permit, and after June 1 it's really gonna be impossible with the rule changes they're bringing out

fourseat — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:39:02 GMT

abbey is closing the class of a permanent teacher. they asked him if he would take an evening class instead, but he insisted on an afternoon class. Since I have had my afternoon class for the shortest time of anyone at the school, they felt obligated to kick me out in favor of him. They're still desperate to keep me... and I have to explain my work permit fiasco to LJ-land.

I'm on an extension of my student visa at the moment. It will expire on June 15th, and I need to be sponsored to apply for a work permit. this means my employer has to advertise my job on the Irish unemployment website for three days, then submit a letter from them saying "so and so many people from the EU applied." on the form they also have to submit reasons why no EU person can do my job and their plans to replace me with an EU person in the future. Anyway, my school's not willing to do that. They say they can't justify me to the government in the face of so many EU applicants and so many layoffs of EU people in the past months.

Not that I believe the government would ask those questions. I'm American, not Chinese or Brazilian or Nigerian; I graduated from an Irish university, which is supposed to be helpful in the work permit process; I already have a job here- couldn't they look the other way? I think as long as the rules are followed and the paperwork is in the right place, no matter what it says, I'd have a shot. But they won't. So I'm looking at other schools and looking into being a student again at some cheap full-time course. Problem is a lot of the ones okayed by the department of education only start in September. Now, I think I could get approved for the summer if I had a letter of acceptance this early, but that remains to be seen... and oy, it's so fucking complicated. More later.

EST-ce que ca va?

fourseat — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:23:45 GMT

cool weekend!

free screening of Don Giovanni in Temple Bar- it was cold and the subtitles were occasionally intermittent, but it was good. some guy from Opera Ireland asked our names for a picture so here's hoping we show up somewhere soon!

Yesterday I learned a bit of German with Jens, then cleaned the kitchen and did three loads of laundry (just one more left to do at home), and went to Pizza Hut for a mystery shop with J before going to Amadou and Mariam. The opening act was Ronan O Snodaigh (of Kila) and Liam O Maoinlai (who just released a highly acclaimed CD). Ran into Shauna and her sister there and had a fantastic time. Jens and I are both buying CDs.

This week ought to be super busy preparing for our trip which starts on FRIDAY! So I have to pack entirely before and after work. I am so freaking pumped.

Last night I dreamed that I was at some dance thing sitting next to Jens and Edward, and I introduced J to Edward as my boyfriend and later in the evening Edward took me into a dark corner and tried to kiss me. I say tried- I did let him for a few seconds because I'd always been curious. But I dreamed he was a bad kisser! I think that was my conscious interfering to make me sure I wasn't regretting being with Jens. Also it could have been that Jens was talking to his ex just before bed. Dream Jens got massively annoyed but real life Jens just laughed.

We're going to the states in four days!!

fourseat — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:45:11 GMT

Avi sent me a threatening facebook message on friday (if I spread rumors that he's not Jewish he'll make my life unlivable or something). he's now blocked and officially asked not to contact me again. Parents want me to go friends-only on my lj, change my linkedin profile, blah blah blah. I understand their concern and get a bit worried every time I think about it- but his threats have never before been a problem.

Today's Dad's birthday. I haven't written him a card yet, but I will today or tomorrow. Oops. Thankfully Mom suggested a joint present for them- a bound copy of my thesis.

This weekend was just lovely, spending all my time with Jens hanging out- and a bit of a party with the workmates. Last night we had a luscious dinner- organic fillet steak with a sauce Jens made that was nothing like bearnaise but still lovely, mushrooms, stir-fried green beans, and purple- and sweet-potato home fries. Then we watched American Beauty.

Today's classes were okay- afternoon was super small but it went all right, and evening was dead the first half but lively til the end. Tomorrow I've got a quarterly observation, about which I'm not worried.

And the LCD on my camera broke some time between the end of the party on Saturday and looking at it this afternoon. Fuck. Jens has found new LCDs online for less than $50 and says he can fix it- the thing is just trusting him to do it. Which I think I do. There are photo step-by-step instruction pages out there. I think I'm still safe using the viewfinder (if anyone knows anything about cameras, reassure me I can do it no further harm by using it when the LCD is broken?) so we'll set about getting a new LCD over the week and figure out how and where to do it.

fourseat — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:56:06 GMT

So. The girls decided it'd be a good idea to ask our landlord to lower our rent, since about half of KK's students have done it successfully. They said that two of the girls are thinking of moving out due to job transfers and we'd need lower rent to get someone else into the rooms. This is halfway true: Candice is moving to a different location at work in April. She needs to live somewhere either in Dundrum or at least on the LUAS line. Seamus said no to lowering the rent and asked for email addresses of those who want to move. The girls say he's being an asshole about it. I think he has the right not to lower the rent- we signed the lease for this amount, though in Ireland it's fine if you just up and leave, it seems (or so they say). Last night Candice told me I should start eyeing other places to live and be ready to move out early because that's the mood of the rest of the house. And what if I don't want to lose my deposit? Yes, it's democracy if three vote against one, and I'm the only one who doesn't desperately need to save money for a purpose (KK for the baby, Candice for her grand Eurotrip, Rachel for loan repayment or her wedding or something), but I don't know- we just lowered the rent already with Rick moving in, and 440 is not that huge an amount to pay for rent. I'm still stuck at 570 because my room is "twice as big" as the others- but I am renting the same kitchen, bathrooms and lounge as the other girls, and that disparity just seems too huge. I can't argue now, though.

My parents are coming in 24 hours! Jens and I had a nice night in last night, in opposition to Sunday night when he was fed up from cleaning and I talked to Emma for an hour and a half instead of hanging out with him. All is now well, though. And I see my parents in one day!

fourseat — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:03:16 GMT

Rick is moving in with KK so they can start to save money for the baby. This will only last for three and a half months, so I hope we can put up with it. The other girls saw more of a problem in my insistence that we recycle than in another human being sharing our household. They also want to buy a bigger fridge. On the plus side we meddled with rents a little so the other three of us will now pay 30 less a month while KK and Rick split 100 more a month than she's paying now.

Jens and I are cleaning up our places this weekend in preparation for my parents' arrival on Wednesday! And we're going to the States in less than four weeks. Plans are falling into place for what we're doing while the 'rents are here though I still have to make an itinerary for their Thursday while I work. Also I'm not sure what we'll be doing Saturday- probably taking the DART somewhere like Howth. Perhaps a tour of Newgrange. Mom was thinking of renting a car and driving three hours away but I talked her out of it.

Today I cleaned up my whole room: straightened, organized and dusted. Tomorrow I'll vacuum the whole house then go help Jens with anything he needs at his place. I can't wait to see my parents and show them the city I've come to know over the past year and a half.

fourseat — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:15:10 GMT

today was not my day at Jens's house- the roof leaked over the spare room, so I went to clean that up, and straightened his house for when his landlord showed up to fix it. Found that the new carton of milk had spilled all over the fridge, and when I went to get water to clean it one of the drain pipes under the sink detached. They're PVC so I put it back in place but I was afraid to use the sink for the rest of the day.

yesterday I was teaching and the boss knocked on my door to ask me to take on another class! Greg (the Saffie teacher) is leaving, and as boss J put it, they need a native speaker and that Greg is quite a character, so they need someone with personality to replace him. And they need me for at least two or three months. That's until contract-renewal-with-a-raise time. And they pulled out the bullshittest excuse ever for not giving KK a raise: two months-old student complaints. They're "observing" her for a month on the same pay rate before making a raise decision. The way I see it they're just putting off paying an extra euro an hour, as well as covering their ass in case of the worst. God knows what'll happen in the future but I won't complain about a second class. It's the highest level taught and I've covered them before. They are leagues above the exercises Abbey gives them so Greg's given me lots of tips on how to teach them. I'm looking forward to it, mostly- higher levels get cocky, but I like teaching them for the grammatical challenges.

A pair of canvassers came by Jens's house last night as we were celebrating my second-class-to-be with wine. It was pissing rain so of course we invited them in, and ended up signing up. But Jens did some more research into the foundation today and discovered they're supported by the Catholic church and they take political positions in conflicts, which he does not condone and I see why. I believe he's going to retract his fledgling membership, and I may as well. I'd rather support someone who doesn't mind people using condoms and supports all sides of an argument when people are suffering.

The next two weeks I'm teaching a unit entitled "communication." I am tempted to play them The Internet is For Porn, but I may offend a few students' finer sensitivities. I may test the waters tomorrow, or leave it out and find another good communication-related song. Thoughts?

Recent weather's been slightly fabulous, slightly not so much- snow Monday, gorgeous snow all during class time Tuesday that turned into sleet and slush by 5:30, and my boots weren't waterproof. Slushy feet on the way to Jens's, loud rain all night which caused the leak in the roof, and he twisted his shoulder which meant no cuddling, and now he may be coming down with something. I hope for better times tomorrow.

fourseat — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:53:50 GMT

thursday was Dubravko's last day. He's one of my last original students in this class. He said I was one of the best teachers he'd had in his life. The cover class also thanked me for good times over the past two weeks.

It hailed all night last night, and this morning it started to snow! It snowed on and off all day, to the delight of my students (especially Amy, my last remaining original student). Then I came home and made fried rice.

Over the weekend I tried to find a dress for graduation. Saturday Jens and I went to Dundrum and looked for four hours with no luck and only miserable moods to show from it. But yesterday I went to Debenhams and found a dress within five minutes that's just gorgeous. It has a big rip in it so I got a 20% discount and took it in to be altered/fixed. Today was super productive for that: I got so many errands done! Lush to return extraneous purchases, mailed Emma's way-belated Xmas gift, paid rent and got the dress in to the alterer's.

And it snowed!

fourseat — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:31:45 GMT

the Lush deal was misdescribed to me by the employee. An 80-euro bag cost 30, rather than spending 30 on other things and getting 80 of bag. Without the other things I was expecting to get, and getting only a load of unessentials, this makes it not a good deal.

I got a haircut which I love. It's a totally 40s bob and it really shows off the curls. One of my students said I look like a doll. I hope I can find a dress to match for graduation. Wonder if I could pull off vintage red lips?

On the job front, Joanna said that applying for a work permit would be no problem- providing, of course, that I'm still an Abbey employee. Latest party trick is to fire teachers just before their 11-month probation expires and a 1-euro raise is contractually obligated. KK's is up tomorrow and I'm due in May. We're still not sure she's getting a new one and won't know until she checks her inbox tomorrow. My employer's really a bastard. I will be getting a nice paycheck for this month, which is cool. Spending money for the States, some loan repayment, and maybe even extra to put away. Also my tutoree may start up again next week or so, which is an extra 80 quid a week.

I started this entry at 10:30 but it's now 2:30. I need to get to sleep.

fourseat — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:40:38 GMT

It's been a decently lucky day. Went to the Gardai and didn't have to wait, since any month but September does not suffer the influx of students that require queuing from 6:30am. Turns out the graduate scheme is just another bloody student visa stamp and I had to pay the fee for a NEW garda card, which has gone up since August to 200 euro. But I am here safe until June, at which point my employer has to apply for a work permit for me. So I'll tell that to Joanna when I show her this one. I hope Abbey doesn't damage my damn passport again- yes, I am blaming the last damage on them.

So anyway, then I went to Lush to see if my (and Jens's) favorite solid perfume, sadly a Christmas limited edition, was finished being sold in person, as it is online. It is not! They sold pots of two different names, and I asked if there was a difference. As the employee went to smell them both she took one away saying it was all beat up and I told her if she was just going to throw it away I'd take it off her hands for her instead. She handed it over- score! Then I asked another employee if I could get one of their black pots to hold my shower jelly, which had come in a lovely eco-friendly compostable paper box that was now falling apart in my shower. Yup. (Five of those babies and you get a free face mask, so I'm well on my way.) And then I was talking to this other employee about massage bars and how much longer they'd be selling the Christmas products and he told me about this huge promotion starting Monday- grab bags filled with all the Xmas specials. If you spend 10 euro they give you 20 or 30 euro worth of free stuff. If you spend 20, you get 50, and if you spend 30 you get 80. I can totally rustle up a 30-euro shopping list between the girls in this flat.

And then to Zara, where I found myself a new pair of work pants for 20 euro. And Stephen's Green, where I got a free kitchen gadget for listening to a knife hawker's "buy one, get 6 gifts free" spiel. And then home, where I punked around doing nothing until it was time to clean the bathrooms and then meet Jens at work. He bought a barely-used bike off someone and is giving me his old bike. Have I mentioned lately that I'm dating a 100% keeper? Just that one of us hasn't slept the night the past couple nights we've been together. Could be visa stress, or anything really.

happy new president!

fourseat — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:41:12 GMT

yesterday TWO passports arrived in the mail! they apparently needed the first one as "citizenship evidence" and returned it when they were done with it. This whole process would have caused me so much less grief if they could have managed to impart that to me at the start. But anyway, I have my new passport, which means I get to go to the guards and ask for a work visa now.

Speaking of, Joanna came by my class this evening to ask what the status was with my visa and if I could be employed 40 hours on that one and whether I was planning to go back to the states... so I think they like me. I also applied to another school, though, which claims they pay above-average rates. Depending on experience. We'll just have to see what happens. For the next week and a half, I'm super happy. And then it's my second-to-last original student's last day (and here's my bias, he's definitely one of my favorites). We'll be having a party.

And guess what? Barack Hussein Obama is my president.

fourseat — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:34:17 GMT

I'm coming home!

March 7-21 I'll be in the States, and I'm bringing Jens with me- first on the East Coast for a week, then to Denver on the 14th. We have to see his friends in NY, my family and friends in NY, not to mention the reason I'm initially going there- my cousin's bar mitzvah- and my friends in Boston, and then I show him around home for a week where he meets the most influential friends in my life and sees where I grew up. Clay's even booking a flight to be home at the same time. I'm taking one week off work, because the second week (Paddy's week) was given to us as holidays (unpaid, I think) because the actual holiday falls on a Tuesday.

No cover work this week. But over the weekend I did discover something wonderful- TGI Friday's magical buffalo wing sauce is nothing more than Frank's Red-Hot (plus butter), which I know I've seen in the Fresh near my house. And I got the letter from TCD with my official MPhil pass (forwarded from home), and got to the embassy, who did hold on to my passport (the dude said it was so they could figure out how it got damaged in this way... I figure if it's not destroyed, it'll be put into the same place Indiana Jones's ark went)- but anyway the new passport should be mailed to me in less than ten days, at which point I go to the Gardai and show them my TCD pass letter and my new passport with the ugly all-american artwork on the pages and get myself a 6-month graduate-scheme work visa.

and this article puts into very understandable words the reason no one should be hopeful for a solution to the, how do I put it, disagreements between Israel and Hamas.

The doctor who's seen me for the past year and a half at TCD wants me to go back to the psychiatrist who keeps telling me "you're of a reproductive age, so you should wean yourself off of everything in preparation for the future" but Dr. H insisted I see her before I go. And she also promised to look up the two ADD specialists she knows of, which is cool.

fourseat — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:06:50 GMT

Somehow in the past month or so, my passport got scratched, so my birthdate shows up as 14 _____ 985. I went to the American embassy today to see about getting a new one and the woman I talked to said they'd need to take it away because it's damaged. Also, I don't have photos for a new passport. So I asked her if I could keep the old passport until I got the new photos... and now I'm debating claiming the old one to be lost, so I can keep seven years of stamps. Maybe a different agent will just hole-punch the scanner codes and stamp "canceled" on it like they did the two expired ones I've had. If it's more trouble than it's worth to claim it lost, though, I'll just give it up. I have pictures from all the places I've been, after all.

Abbey's decided to give us all of St. Patrick's Week off. Unfortunately I've just read my contract and seen that we don't get paid when class is on holidays. My cousin's bar mitzvah is two weekends before Paddy's so I'm now wondering if I should ask for the week after the 7th off and have a two-week Stateside break. Maybe J could come to CO for the second part of it.
I sent in a memo asking for another regular class (in the distant future) and got a response that the waiting list is very long but I'll be given cover work.

Tonight's a belated Christmas/New Year/Gerard's birthday party at Gerard's. I've been looking forward to it all week. Food, drinking, and singing to a Christmas log in Catalan tradition. Also J says Ge has braces, which will be cute.

fourseat — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:07:48 GMT

addenda to resolutions:

a. Stop worrying so much
b. Re-commit to being a GOOD teacher- this includes preparation and knowing precise definitions.

Beginning the search for flights to the states for my cousin's bar mitzvah, and stressing about it. For one thing, J found insanely cheap fares to Denver (we are talking less than 350 euro round trip) so I want to go there with him this summer. Don't know when those fares will end, so I want to buy the flights now. With the money I'd need to pay for the flight to the bar mitzvah. And flying to NJ just for the weekend seems really ridiculous- losing at least half a day in traveling, getting there Friday evening and leaving Sunday, totally messing up my circadian rhythms just for two days...
But anyway, we'll see. Jens has sort-of offered me his Continental miles for the BM, but I told him not to... and I want to talk to my parents about it, too. Maybe I'll get enough money from graduation gifts that I will be able to pay for both flights... this would be fabulous. I'm seeing my parents next month! And tomorrow is the six-month mark from when I met the guy who's now my boyfriend.

Resolutions

fourseat — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:57:18 GMT

1. Lose those 8 kilos I've gained since summer
2. Become an intermediate in German by May
3. Find full-time work (another class at Abbey or another job)
4. Save money for travel, emergencies, a new computer, gym membership, etc.
5. Become self-sufficient (including health insurance and travel)
6. Write emails to people (use Jens for inspiration)
7. Provided it continues to be totally happy and make both of us feel amazing, stick with Jens like a proton to an electron
8. Learn to solve a Rubik's cube (Jens is also helping with that).

Xmas gift haul:
one day in the Roman baths at Friedrichsbad in Baden Baden from his parents
some edible German gifts from Dirk and Ann
J and I are sharing a game from Antje (and Tom?)
body lotion from cousin Traute
body butter from Carolin
from himself: a scarf from Ethiopia, cherry-chilli rooibos tea, a book and A TICKET TO ELECTRIC PICNIC

from TCD: MPhil results (pass)

from laura and craig: chocolates and the world's most adorable guinea pig beanie baby

from mom and dad: a book of crosswords, an anklet, framed photo of me and natalie from portugal, nail files, cute tights, and a mezuzzah to replace my broken one from last fall. I think I lost the pieces of that one, though, and the parchment that goes inside. boo...

from Karolina: four varieties of Polish honey and gorgeous silver earrings

from Candice: shawn the sheep toothbrush/cup holder and bubble bath

from life: such great happiness.

fourseat — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:46:18 GMT

off to Germany tomorrow! We have big plans: Christmas markets in Baden and Karlsruhe, he mentioned something about a media museum, castles, hiking, a casino if we feel like getting dressed up, and the Roman baths (entrance fee is his parents' Xmas present to us). I'm excited, nervous, and sad. Also my parents sent me a package and tried their damnedest to get it to me before I left, but FedEx didn't have the code for the gate outside my apt so they couldn't get in and were missing a digit from my phone number so couldn't call me. I waited all day today, but nothing. Luckily Candice will be home the whole time, so I hope they get it here on Monday when she has a day off. I'm coughing a bit but nothing too bad, and Jens anticipates our first argument as we try to fit all of our clothing for a week into a shared duffel bag just bigger than my backpack- oh, and he wants to bring a huge stuffed animal the size of a small child. the brand is called "squishable" for a good reason, but we'll have to see how it works. He thinks the real argument, btw, will be over my makeup bag which I insist is hardly excessive considering it contains everything for hair, shaving, face, and teeth.

anyway, I've been procrastinating leaving long enough. It's time to go spend Christmas in Germany.