Happy New Year!

Hello everyone and happy new year! Sor far it’s been good for me, I hope it’s the same for you. Christmas was lovely, I ended up driving down to my Aunt’s house and spending Christmas with her and my lovely uncle and cousin. It was really great to see Tiffany and hang out with her for a bit, it feels good to feel like an older sister again Thanks Dee for giving me your home for Christmas, it was wonderful

 New Years was also a blast. I hung out with my friend Yvonne in Vegas and we partied at my favorite bar there (Nine Fine Irishmen…and how) and ate lots of good food. New Years itself was kind of a drag because there were about a zillion people on the strip. For those of you who don’t know, they close down the ENTIRE strip and it just gets PACKED with people. It felt a bit like the Vatican at easter. In any case, the rest of the time there was great and tons of fun. Thanks Yvonne!!

I then spent the first week of Jan with my grandparents and that was really nice. I haven’t seen them for quite some time, so it was wonderful to be able to spend some quality time with them. I’ll try to get back out there this summer.

Other than that, I’ve been losing in poker and having a great time catching up with everyone this new year. I’m missing some people and enjoying spending time with the rest. This year promises to be a great one and a good build up to what I hope to be an incredible 2008/9. Time will tell.

Oh! If you have the ability to go see “Pan’s Labrynth” do so. Excellent movie. There are a lot of good ones out right now actually. If anyone wants to see one with me, drop me a line

 Until next time!

 

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

December is always a month of ups and downs. This one is no exception. On the surface everything is wonderful. Job is going alright, weekends planned with parties and cookie contests, my birthday, Las Vegas for New Years and visiting G&G for the first time in a long time. Things are fun and Christmassy and presents are coming along nicely.

 Still, it’s a difficult time when all but one of my best friends are out of town and I don’t have any Christmas plans. What does one do on Christmas when there isn’t anywhere to spend it? I was hoping to do a Christmas like my Thanksgiving, friend infused, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be happening. There’s not a whole lot I can do about it, but I’m considering renting a car for the weekend and driving down to Yosemite or something. I’ve never been and I think it would be a fun experience. We’ll see.

 Anyway, ups and downs aside, things are going well. Poker has become a weekly excitement, although I haven’t won yet. My friend Jing-Yi is moving up to this neck of the woods which should be awesome, and I’m getting myself a bike for Christmas, which I can’t wait for. That’s about all for now, there will definitely be an “after vegas” update.

 

Surprise Appearances and Falling in Love All Over Again

These last couple of weeks have been good ones. Work is clipping along, although at a rather boring pace. Softball is going really well. I had practice for 3 hours on Sunday and a game on Monday. Needless to say my entire body hurt for 48 hours. I’m doing better now though and excited for more fun. Maybe practice this weekend and the last game before the playoffs on Monday. Tomorrow is dinner with Kaylee and last night was dinner with Marissa and I had two job interviews today. Both went well I think. One is at a cocktail lounge called “Bubble Lounge” and is about a 10 minute walk from my work and the other was at a soon to be open restaurant called “B” which could be a cool spot too. I can’t imagine a better gig than working in a champagne bar (gig beign defined as fun side work ) but I would like to start off waiting tables as well, and the restuarant would be that. We’ll see how it goes.

Last weekend was a lot of fun. My friend Jing Yi came up to visit again and we had a full day. Greek food festival with really tasty stuff in the early afternoon, the Summer Music Conference later in the evening (wasn’t that great), a drink at Vesuvio’s (an awesome bar in North Beach) and the Tom Petty concert. Now, the concert was pretty good in general. Low point was that Mr. Petty is just not hitting the tempo he used to. Everything was played a bit slow and “Learnin to Fly” was played as a piano ballad *sheesh*. However, Stevie Nicks showed up! No kidding. It was a pretty awesome thing, she sang a few songs and they sang a duet. Apparently, back in the day, they had an affair. I didn’t believe this the first time I heard it, just seems like an unlikely match to me, but I’ve heard the story retold a few times and now I figure it must be true. Crazy as it seems. Also, the light show during the concert was really badass. So all in all a good experience.

That’s about all for now except for this thought. I was a bit anxious about the beginning of the rainy season here in my neck of the woods. We have been having such unseasonably nice weather and the city is just gorgeous when it’s nice out like that. I was also not looking forward to the cold that follows the rain. However, walking home tonight the sky opened up and I got my first taste of fall. It was like falling in love with the city all over again. There’s something particularly beautiful in the calm that comes with rain and the way it makes the city look. I’d obviously forgotten one of the reasons I’ve always been so happy here.

In any case, there’s your moment of Zen, as John Stewart would say. Night

 

Baseball, Poker and Love

Hey folks. Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written, things have been running smoothly along and it didn’t occur to me to update until I was chastised for my sites lack of informative material.

My friend Evangeline was married on the 19th of August in a beautiful ceremony that brought together an interesting mix of christian and traditional Chinese influences. She was absolutely beautiful and it waswonderful to see her so happy. While there, I managed to reconnect with people I haven’t seen in something like 8 years which was a real treat. Seeing people who grew up with me was more comforting than I would have thought. I am glad I went for many reasons. At this point I have to give a shout out to Yvonne who went as my date, since I no longer have an official date. She’s not big on crowds, especially if she doesn’t know the people, so I totally appreciate her escorting me.

I have recently joined a softball team. It started with the visit of Hannah and Maureen. It was sooo wonderful to see them after their trip to Oaxaca and I’m already thinking of ways to get out to the east coast to visit them in Connecticut. While partying with the ladies I met one of Hannah’s friends, Ener, who just happened to be holding a poker night at his place a week or so after said party. I went to to partake in poker night, played terribly and was introduced to the idea of joining his organization’s softball team which needs women to play. I started this last Monday and my body has been sore everyday since. I’m excited to continue

The San Francisco Love Parade is next week!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am about this, it’s just a huge dance party that goes on for 5 days. I’ll probably party Wednesday night and all day Saturday, it’ll be a weekend to remember, I’m sure. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, basically all the floats in the parade have a couple of DJ’s spinning on them and they  play the music LOUD. They stop at a designated spot at the end of the parade and the music continues well into the night. There is also an after party held indoors that I may be able to get myself into. I have made a new friend over the last couple of months and the “guy she’s kind of seeing” has hook ups  I just love the idea of dancing all weekend!! It’ll be excellent dress up time too. When was the last time I really got tarted up??

The job is going well. I am working for AuPairCare as a return flights processor. The company actually just paid for us to go see a Giants game last night and that was fun. Man those garlic fries are tasty! The people I work with are cool and the work has an international bend so that’s a good thing.

One of my friends from the camino will be in San Francisco on Monday!!! I am way excited to see him. I love that I’m keeping in touch with people that I met abroad, if not face to face, then through e-mail. It’s so great to share their lives after only knowing them for a brief time. I can’t wait to go back and have a reunion of sorts. Anyway, there should be much merry making when Sebastien comes.

Hmm, I guess that’s it for now. Future plans include trying to get down to So. Cal Oct 12th in order to see Kalin. She’s getting home after a summer doing Au Pair work abroad and I can’t wait to hear all her stories and see her pictures. Thanksgiving will be spent at my grandparents house, mmmm I love Thanksgiving. Christmas…. actually, I don’t have any Christmas plans. I’m not sure what I’ll be up to. Maybe one of my housemates will take pity on me and invite me to family dinner (hint hint). New Years will be spent in Las Vegas with the incomparable Yvonne and crew. I’m SUPER excited to party it up on the strip. Drunkenness will ensue, and I think the flask will have to come out of retirement. In the far future, I’m already planning my next big trip. I think this time I’m aiming to be gone for as long as a year. First the camino, all of it, then Rome for awhile, move on to India and end up somewhere in Latin America. It’s ambitious, but I think I can do it. We’ll see how things go. Everything is for the journey.

Speaking of travel. Can’t wait to have Dylan back in the states.

Wow, that was a lot. Enough for now. Until next time…

 

Another Sunny Day, Another Happy Dollar

Hey Folks. Life is goin along at a pretty even pace right now. Work is going really well, although there is a lot of it. It’s rather stressful at the moment, but everyone assures me that things will slow down in about a month. Awesome

The weather here is absolutely amazing still. Today was close to 75 in the city and I’m sure it hit 80 in Berkeley. I am getting more and more excited about going down south next weekend to visit family, friends, beaches and weddings. Even though I’m missing out on Boondegaz camping trip (arguably the most exciting camping trip to come my way since… Florence I guess I’ve got a lot of great plans to keep me busy down in good ol’ So Cal. Beach day with mom on Friday, breakfast with dad, lunch with Nam and Evan’s wedding on Saturday, and of couse, Magin Mountain on Sunday. I can’t wait to go on the new coaster. It’ll be awesome. I must remember to bring lots of water though, I”m sure Ventura is going to be fucking hot.

All the better to experience the might of Tatsu!Excellent stats include:

A Full 2 Minutes of Coaster Time

An initial drop of 111 feet

90 Foot Zero-G Roll

and a record 124 FOOT PRETZEL LOOP!

Pretty incredible stuff. It’ll beat most of my recent weekends. Don’t get me wrong, great books and library time are always good, but I’ll take an excellent coaster over Madam Bovary any day

Anyway, that’s about it for now. More to come after next weekend.

 

Why is the Rum Always Gone??

Hey everyone. These last couple of weeks have been an emotional roller coaster of epic proportions. Although most of it has been really exciting. I’m still interview with room to read and hoping against hope that my last interview didn’t go as badly as I perceived it to go. I just got a temp job offer this morning that I’m taking, but am having a second interview with another company this afternoon because I like their work better. They will just have to pay me more

I saw Pirates 2 the other day and really enjoyed it. Some of it was cheesy, I didn’t necessarily like the references to the funny lines of the last movies, but most of it was really good. The ending was the most awesome part of either of the two movies. Some good character development and I have to say, I love seeing the darker side of Norrington. That guy is such a good actor. If none of you have seen the wonderful BBC show “Coupling” you must see an episode or two. Very good stuff.

A woman who owe’s me a lot of money, AKA Krystal, the girl who claimed we were very good friends before I left for Europe, has written me two bad checks in three weeks and I’m going to have to start taking steps with her bank in order to get my money. The background is that she was supposed to sublet my place while I was gone. She never showed up, never called and never dropped off a rent check. When I returned she gave me a bullshit story and promised me she’d pay the two months rent she flaked on. So now, if I can’t get my money through her bank, I’ll have to resort to small claims court. Frankly I’m beside myself with rage that she would try and screw me over so many times. I think I would have a higher opinion of her if she had just refused to do anything when I got back instead of promising to make good on her BS.

I also just found out that I’m going to have to miss the coolest camping trip of the year in August. I’m going to be going to Evangeline’s wedding on the weekend of Aug. 18th, but in doing so I miss out on tons of awesome people partying it up in the forest. *sigh* choices choices.

However, the great news is that Hannah and Maureen are going to be back in Berkeley for a whole week!! Starting the week I get back from So Cal actually. I’m stoked to see you guys and can’t wait to give you big hugs and lots of whiskey!!

That’s about all there is now, like I said, everything is sort of up and down. But things are looking up for good and I can’t wait to continue on my home adventures

 

Home and Work

I thought about it today and decided that ‘jensineurope’ is not necessarily the most appropriate name for the URL anymore considering I am not currently in Europe. However, considering I’d have to send another e-mail to everyone letting them know that I’ve changed the blog URL I’ll think I’ll just keep the status quo. So, at least according to my blog, I’ll be in Europe for quite some time

 Anyway, home is still good. It’s nice to catch up with everyone as well as myself. I don’t really have plans for the 4th, but I don’t really feel the urge to socialize in large groups yet, so that’s just fine with me. Kristin and I may go bowling… I guess that Ashby Bowling is offering free games that day. Then off to the Marina at night to watch the fireworks from SF. It’s a good show.

I got a call back from Room To Read yesterday, an organization I applied to that works to build libraries, schools and put computers in said schools for the children in underdeveloped countries. They focus on India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. I am more than uber stoked to have gotten a phone call from this organization, and even though it’s a preliminary 20 minute phone interview, I am sure that I have a good chance at the position. We shall see, but I’m excited to have a shot in something that I really want to do.

I have found a World Cup buddy in a French guy named Boris who considered subletting my place last March. We’re watching the France/Brazil game on Saturday at a very French place in SF… I hope the universal language of futbol saves me from my ignorance of the French language

I’m trying to get the guys to play more poker with me, especially since we now have two large poker sets in the house. It was Frankie’s first game in a really long time (so long in fact I had to teach him to play all over again) and he ended up beating both Sri and I. Yeah, sad…

That’s about it for now. I’ll update when I find out about my job and such. In the meantime, here’s a link to all my Euro photos, the albums are finished and I’m sad that I’m not taking more pics. Although, according to my blog I could be…. Until next time.

http://jensineurope.shutterfly.com/action/?a=0IbtWzJs0YsXOg

 

Mmmm, Nothing Like California

So the weather since I've been home is most amazing. Just absolutely beautiful. This sense of wonder and awe towards my wonderfully beautiful state is enhanced by the fact that I had a job interview at a temp agency today that went fabulously. So I should be working soon, an excellent thing!

Being home is wonderful. I have my own bed, my wonderful friends, the amazing weather and of course… Berkeley Bowl. The first real thing I did after getting home was go grocery shopping. Now, I realize that to most of you this may sound rather dull compared to my Euro adventures. All I can say to you folks is, you've never been to Berkeley Bowl! This place is amazing with tons of really beautiful produce and wonderful prices on things like eggs, beans, bread and other yummy staples. Ah, how I love Berkeley Bowl. The best part about the grocery excursion was that when we went (Frankie took me) it was the most beautiful BBQ weather day, so I bought corn on the cobb. Mmmm, that is so good.

Went Karaokeing last night with my friend Jon who will be getting married on Thursday, an exciting week for him Highlights include my rendition of Secret Agent man and realizing that Macarthur Park is the worst song ever created.

Life, in short, is good. I'm happy to be home and seem to be falling into being in one place pretty well Doesn't mean I'm not already planning my next excusion Until next time…

 

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun

I'll be sittin in the eveinin calm. I love that song, btw. So this is my very last night in Ireland, and in Europe….. for now. I leave tomorrow at 10:30. Coming home is going to be strange, but it will also be great. I miss all of my friends so much and I can't wait to see all your smiling happy faces.

I am officially drunk on this last night, as I believe is fitting, esp. in Ireland. I bought a bottle of wine in Dingle and we didn't drink it. So I brought it over to Dublin, and no one wanted any (I swear to God I offered) so I drank the damn thing by myself. As you can imagine, I'm pretty fucked up. But lucky me, I have someone to wake me up personally in the morning because the alarms that they provide are all broken….. yes, that may be lame, but you must remember that right now I have free internet, so that works things out as far as I'm concerened (plus someone is going to wake me up personally in the morning! ).

It's a strange thing going home. I have so much to look forward to and so much to worry about. But most of all I just have to plan for my next trip into South or Central America. Traveling has revealed much to me, and one of those things is that right now I am most certainly not ready to settle down and stay in one place. I am very excited to start a new adventure and move throughout the world…. as much as I can anyway. I've decided that I am more of a rolling stone than I realized. While I long for stability, it really must come after I've seen everything I want to see. And there is so much to see…… I have so many goals right now that I know are achieveable and wonderful and intruiging that there is no way that one place is going to satisfy me for any amount of time, and I am happy with that.

I guess overall most of you will think that traveling has been a bad influence on me. But I really feel the opposite. All my life I've wanted to experience new places and cultures and be truly free of the monotonous 9-5. Now that I've tasted this freedom, there's no going back for awhile, and even if I do, it'll be something that is more than just desk work. To be honest I'm proud that I'm moving beyond that and into my goal from when I was very young. This was to not get caught up in the 9-5 and to move on with life at every opportunity. I realize that this goal will get old as I do….(actually, maybe it won't)…… but if it does, I think I'm also of the temprament to settle down after I've experienced everything I want to. While that's a lot, no one need worry about my well being (mom ) Everyone makes their decisions about life, and sometimes it takes a kick in the ass to really realize it is what you want to strive for. Me, I want to strive for a greater understanding.

Wow, this has been very introspecitive, but I guess it must be after such a long and introverted trip. I love and appreciate those who traveled with me (DYLAN AND YVONNED WOOOHOOOO!!!! (miss you)) and those who have been there for me durning the trip (KARLA, KEITH AND KFIR!!!! (thanks for everything)) But being alone has created the greatest amount of self decision and creativity that would not have existed if I had just decided to stay at home. (Let's not forget those who have made this trip really possible for me since I'm shouting out; Nam, Jay, Dad and Mom and Dad)

Now that I feel like I'm giving shout outs I am going to head to bed, there are too many to thank. I'll let you all know how it is to be home. In the mean time know that my dreams consist of living in Rome, doing the entire camino, going to Nicaragua or Ecuador and traveling to India, Egypt and Turkey the same way that I traveled to the countries I saw on this trip….. not in that order.

I am torn about going home, but I know that right now it is the best decision for me and that it will only create the best situation for me to get traveling again, and that's what I want, for many different reasons.

I think I will try and keep this blog up while I am in the US, so don't stop reading. And if you're in the bay area and reading, invite me to a party goddamn it!!! Heehee. I feel like I'm in Britain or something, having to be reintroduced into society LOve you all, and thanks for all your comments and love. Europe is over for now, but it's just the beginning.

*Sittin' in the mornin' sun,

I'll be sittin' in the eveinin' calm

Watchin' the ships roll in

And I watch 'em roll away again

Sittin' on the dock of a bay

Watchin' the tides roll away*

 

Almost Home

In one week and one day I will be on a plane back to my beloved city of Berkeley. I’m feeling a bit anxious about it as I have a lot of shit waiting for me there, but overall I know that I am ready to be home in my own house and bed. I miss you guys a lot and can’t wait to get hugs.

That said, I’m heading over to the city of Cork today which is supposed to be pure Ireland and after that I’ll be going to the Killarney national park (not Kilkenny as I said earlier…what was I thinking??). Maybe after that I’ll head over to Limerick and then I am coming home! I’m glad that I’m doing a few things before leaving. I was considering staying in Galway the whole time and just hanging out, but I’ve pretty much seen everything I can of this beautiful but small town. Cork should be just as enlightening and fun and I really can’t wait to see the beautiful national park. I’ve seen pictures and it looks just breathtaking.

I was considering applying for jobs while I’m still here and have done some good research, there’s a lot of good things available right now. HOwever, working on your resume and CV while in a foreign country can pose problems. For example, the place i’m in right now with the (blissfully) free internet does not have Mic. Word. Bummer eh? I’ll figure something out, and hopefully I get some things out before I make it home. Never a bad idea to get a head start. If anyone hears anything about an open position in their area let me know!

On that note I should head out, my bus is going to be leaving soon. I’ll update you all in Cork and enjoy the beauty of Ireland for all of you. Until next time…