I have a personal trainer. Crazy, I know. I can barely afford it but it gets me in the gym and closer to being in shape.
Anyway, this is a real conversation I had with him today, well by any means Facebook chat can be considered real conversation. It really cracked me up:
I didn't change any names to protect the innocent because let's face it—no one is innocent in this conversation. It's a little lengthy but I just couldn't figure out what to cut out because it's all so amusing to me.
Drew: rowdie rohde
Sherrie: whuddup?
Drew:word son word, just got off work
Sherrie:nice
Drew: eating then goin to train
Sherrie: if i knew you were training that late i coulda trained with you today, ive been back since 2
Drew: haha, o well we will get you in next week
Sherrie: you better! you gotta kick my butt before cali
Drew: will do will do, when you leave again
Sherrie: apr 16, till apr 20, not soon enough, stupid illinois, whats with the 6" of snow we're supposed to get tonight?!
Drew: no hell no, not goin to happen
Sherrie: uh, its supposed to, better hope the weather man is wrong as usual, i should've gone into meteorology so i could just be wrong all the time and get paid for it
Drew: he will be or ill kick some ass
Sherrie: haha, what are you going to do about it? just attack some random person in retaliation for something they had no control over either?
Drew: maybe
Sherrie: lol
Drew: bc i dont give a fuck
Sherrie: you're a dork
Drew: so
Sherrie: lol
Drew: i can still beat some ass
Sherrie: as long as you're aware you're a dork, whats with the tennis pic?
Drew: im hot, thats what its about
Sherrie: lol, okay
Drew: you dont think so
Sherrie: haha, i told you that you are a long time ago, go check your myspace profile if you forgot
Drew: hmm where at
Sherrie: haha, probably about halfway down your page, it was in response to your cousin's post
Drew: oh yeah...haha
Sherrie: dork
Drew: u want me..jkjk..eeewww
Sherrie: haha, i used to, but not anymore, i got over it
Drew: good for u not many girls can
Sherrie: lol, its not that hard
Drew: o but it is...damnit
Sherrie: hahaha, you're so full of yourself
Drew: yup, and i love it, but i would, lol
Sherrie: haha, yeah you would
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Do you think I'm handsome?
For all the drama that happens at work, there are always those moments that make me giggle…
After an English class today, one of my co-workers saw the picture of me and Young on my phone. He said, “Oh, he’s very handsome.” And I replied that yes, he was. My co-worker then says in all seriousness “How about me?” Thank god the elevator door opened. I laughed and as we walked into the office I said that I don’t rate co-workers. Big mistake. I had to then explain ‘rate’. But he mistook it as me saying he wasn’t good-looking and said “I rank low?”
Yea, about four people overheard and immediately started laughing at him as I tried to explain that wasn’t what I said.
Gotta love working with co-workers who don’t speak English…
After an English class today, one of my co-workers saw the picture of me and Young on my phone. He said, “Oh, he’s very handsome.” And I replied that yes, he was. My co-worker then says in all seriousness “How about me?” Thank god the elevator door opened. I laughed and as we walked into the office I said that I don’t rate co-workers. Big mistake. I had to then explain ‘rate’. But he mistook it as me saying he wasn’t good-looking and said “I rank low?”
Yea, about four people overheard and immediately started laughing at him as I tried to explain that wasn’t what I said.
Gotta love working with co-workers who don’t speak English…
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Oh noes!!!!
So I am without internet till next Saturday because my modum decided that it was time to die... >< I am working this weekend and not really in my apartment during the day till next Saturday. *sighs* I am at my uncle's house checking email and such. Not sure when I will check again.
In other news I will be going to SIFE regionals in Rosemont by the airport (that is O'Hare). And no you can not take the sifenerd out of the girl. Once a sifenerd, always a sifenerd! And well a great networking opportunity and I would be really stupid not to go. Sooo I will be a judge this time, not a presenter....which will be sooo weird! Oh and JBU SIFE will be presenting tomorrow in Rogers. *crosses fingers* Hopes that there is no upset or if there is, it is in another league. Anyways be back on soon hopefully!
In other news I will be going to SIFE regionals in Rosemont by the airport (that is O'Hare). And no you can not take the sifenerd out of the girl. Once a sifenerd, always a sifenerd! And well a great networking opportunity and I would be really stupid not to go. Sooo I will be a judge this time, not a presenter....which will be sooo weird! Oh and JBU SIFE will be presenting tomorrow in Rogers. *crosses fingers* Hopes that there is no upset or if there is, it is in another league. Anyways be back on soon hopefully!
oh hey, guys
Guess I should post something here, since somebody (I'm betting Sherrie) took the trouble to set this all up...long ago and in a galaxy far far away. WELLLLL...
Been sending out applications and doing homework, ho hum. I have nothing interesting to say about job prospects yet, as I just finished a grand spanking total of 5 employment applications. My goal is to finish 31 more before the day is out (or my brain explodes, whichever comes first). I have the resumes printed and ready (don't ask about that particular brand of drama, not pretty), now it's just a matter of working out cover letters and online/print out applications. However, my mind is "off with the faeries" and distractions are many, while my focus is null.
I shouldn't complain though, nobody here whines that I stay up past 2 in the morning and eat junk food in front of them. Darn vegans. Oh! Some of you probably don't know this but my parents went vegan, which means no more Thanksgiving dinner in my house. I believe this accurately describes my feelings on the matter: "I can has a sad?" :(
Though my Dad lost over 100 pounds and Mom shed all the weight she's been trying to lose for years. Guess the vegetables really do the trick.
Went out with the Carly monster today for lunch, went to some place called Mimi's. Kristen called while we were there, told me to get a muffin. I didn't on account of the fact that I didn't bring enough moo-lah with me. Sorry roomie, will do it next time I go. I know, I'm a disgrace to the name "muffin queen".
Well, I don't have anything else interesting to say. Except that there's one friend of mine from high school who won't stop flirting with me/calling me at inconvenient times (and I don't like him that way) so I'm thinking of throwing something very heavy on him. Like a bookcase... or an anvil. Maybe a car. Hm... suggestions are appreciated.
The Nazi Fiasco
So, at work we have a launch event coming up for a client that makes toy soldiers. On Tuesday I discovered that my manager wanted me to wear some sort of military uniform for the event so that I could be the model for the photo session. My co-worker had the brilliant idea that I should wear a Nazi uniform. So, she got online and ordered it, then told me about it after the fact.
I felt a little uncomfortable about it, but I tried to brush it off. But the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt and the more worried I got. These pictures are going to go in newspapers and magazines. And I would be in a Nazi uniform. Not a good thing to have pop up years later when you're applying for jobs.(Plus anyone remember a certain Royal prince dressed as a Nazi at a party? Yea, not a pretty PR situation...) On top of that, there is a high possibility that it could create a bunch of bad press for the company. Not to mention the founder of the company is attending the event and he's a Scottish guy who use to serve in the British military. The last thing we need is for all our global clients to see these pictures and think that we're Nazi sympathizers. We could potentially offend and piss off a bunch of people.
So, I told my parents about it, Mom strongly recommended that I tell my manager about the possible negative effects. Dad said I should tell them that my family is Jewish and it is extremely insulting to make me wear the uniform. (Half truth, I think the Jewish part is from a long long long time ago.) My old co-workers screamed discrimination because they were making me wear a Nazi uniform because I'm white. And my colleagues who work at another PR firm and a law firm both told me I should absolutely refuse because it's tasteless, offensive and completely ignorant.
I should probably take a minute to explain the cultural misunderstanding. Koreans have a different perspective on WWII than we do. To them, the bad guys are the Japanese since they were under Japanese occupation from 1919 until 1945 when the Allies kicked Germany and Japan's ass. They don't realize just how bad the Nazi's were because at the time they were living through their own hell with the Japanese. Thus why they didn't realize I would be offended by wearing a Nazi uniform or that it could be a potentially bad situation media-wise.
Back to the story...
I mentioned to my co-worker this morning that my father wasn't happy with me wearing a Nazi uniform because some of my family was Jewish. (Ok, so it's stretching the truth...) Her reaction was "Why did you tell him?" And that was the end of the conversation. I spoke with a colleague over lunch and finally got the courage to ask my co-worker for a meeting. We sat down and I told her I thought it was a really bad idea for me to wear a Nazi uniform and then explained why. I told her that me wearing a Nazi uniform is the equivalent to her wearing a Japanese WWII uniform. It was then that she got it. I never got an apology (I'm beginning to think the people at my office don't believe in apologies) but she did agree to let me wear a different uniform and it all happened without a battle. (I'm borrowing my boyfriend's military uniform.) Had she said no, I would have vehemently refused anyway.
So, crisis adverted and I've successfully educated my co-worker on how the West views Nazis...
I felt a little uncomfortable about it, but I tried to brush it off. But the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt and the more worried I got. These pictures are going to go in newspapers and magazines. And I would be in a Nazi uniform. Not a good thing to have pop up years later when you're applying for jobs.(Plus anyone remember a certain Royal prince dressed as a Nazi at a party? Yea, not a pretty PR situation...) On top of that, there is a high possibility that it could create a bunch of bad press for the company. Not to mention the founder of the company is attending the event and he's a Scottish guy who use to serve in the British military. The last thing we need is for all our global clients to see these pictures and think that we're Nazi sympathizers. We could potentially offend and piss off a bunch of people.
So, I told my parents about it, Mom strongly recommended that I tell my manager about the possible negative effects. Dad said I should tell them that my family is Jewish and it is extremely insulting to make me wear the uniform. (Half truth, I think the Jewish part is from a long long long time ago.) My old co-workers screamed discrimination because they were making me wear a Nazi uniform because I'm white. And my colleagues who work at another PR firm and a law firm both told me I should absolutely refuse because it's tasteless, offensive and completely ignorant.
I should probably take a minute to explain the cultural misunderstanding. Koreans have a different perspective on WWII than we do. To them, the bad guys are the Japanese since they were under Japanese occupation from 1919 until 1945 when the Allies kicked Germany and Japan's ass. They don't realize just how bad the Nazi's were because at the time they were living through their own hell with the Japanese. Thus why they didn't realize I would be offended by wearing a Nazi uniform or that it could be a potentially bad situation media-wise.
Back to the story...
I mentioned to my co-worker this morning that my father wasn't happy with me wearing a Nazi uniform because some of my family was Jewish. (Ok, so it's stretching the truth...) Her reaction was "Why did you tell him?" And that was the end of the conversation. I spoke with a colleague over lunch and finally got the courage to ask my co-worker for a meeting. We sat down and I told her I thought it was a really bad idea for me to wear a Nazi uniform and then explained why. I told her that me wearing a Nazi uniform is the equivalent to her wearing a Japanese WWII uniform. It was then that she got it. I never got an apology (I'm beginning to think the people at my office don't believe in apologies) but she did agree to let me wear a different uniform and it all happened without a battle. (I'm borrowing my boyfriend's military uniform.) Had she said no, I would have vehemently refused anyway.
So, crisis adverted and I've successfully educated my co-worker on how the West views Nazis...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Life on the Road
As I mentioned before, for better or for worse, the company I work for does all the state finals merchandising for our state and I attend nearly all of our customization events as well as various others.
The questions customers ask never cease to blow my mind. Everything from asking what flavor of Dip n Dots we have (Hello? If we sold Dip n Dots I would eat them all, so either way we have no flavors.) to if we're selling tickets or programs to where the nurse's station is to one of my ultimate favorites, "Is this like where we can you know like um get our names put on the back of our shirts?"
This past weekend I had another run-in with a cheerleader and her mom. Now don't get me wrong, I have several friends—and even a roommate—who have been cheerleaders. I'm well aware that it's not a requirement to be an ultimate ditz to be a cheerleader.
(As far as whether or not it's an actual sport, that's another debate for another day, let me just say I really don't consider anything that airs on ESPN2 vs ESPN an actual sport.)
Let's be honest though, there is a reason the cheerleader stereotype exists and this girl—and her mother—certainly did nothing to help dispel any claims. I had had little to no traffic for about an hour so I was playing an online game to make the time go a little faster. I noticed them hovering by the list of rosters and various options they could add to the back of their shirts and wisely decided to keep playing my game as they were not going to make it my way anytime soon. Sure enough they'd make one step towards me and then three steps back to take another look at the rosters and stretch those hardworking brains just a little further.
I was in no hurry for them to come over knowing that the only t-shirt sizes I had left were medium and extra large. Every female between the ages of 9 and 27—don't mess with me, these are scientific facts—thinks she is a small. It doesn't matter if our smalls are sold out and it would obviously not fit her without fat rolls squishing out at all angles. She's a small, and that's all there is to it. Cheerleaders are the worst about this. And don't tell me they're all small, I've been to enough of these events to guarantee you they are not all small. Makes me wonder if it's still considered a trophy to date a cheerleader at some of these schools. But I digress.
When they finally made it my way I was soon to realize all my apprehensions about this duo were not unfounded. On top of being out of nearly all sizes at this point in the weekend, we were also out of rosters for this particular school. It was their first time at state finals and even though we went back and reprinted the rosters for this school after the first night we still ran out before their second game. Once I finally convinced them that no, we did not even have just one roster left and that yes, I was sure, I received some huffs and exasperated sighs and stomping feet.
"Well this just ruins everything. It's for her player."
"I apologize ma'am, but we can have the roster sent to your house."
"That won't work. It's for my player. I was going to give it to him at the party tonight."
(As a side note, I about died listening to them refer to him as "her player" or "my player" as if that made him a celebrity and I was supposed to magically have everything they needed because of it.)
The mother informs me her daughter is going to have to think about what she wants to do now and they step back. At which point I realize the daughter is holding a gift bag and tissue paper for the shirt they wanted to purchase. Now tell me, if you were that prepared to have gift wrap ready, why would you wait until the last minute on the second day to purchase the shirt?
Eventually, after much protest to me, each other, and literally anyone else who would listen, they purchase their transfers, spoke to my friend Stephanie, who was working with me, about how great their school is, and leave. Ah state finals, you never cease to entertain me.
My co-worker Andy and I were going to make a Top 10 list for the most unintelligent things we've been asked at these events, but we forgot.
In other news, I saw Michael Jordan there. Twice.
His son's team won.
The questions customers ask never cease to blow my mind. Everything from asking what flavor of Dip n Dots we have (Hello? If we sold Dip n Dots I would eat them all, so either way we have no flavors.) to if we're selling tickets or programs to where the nurse's station is to one of my ultimate favorites, "Is this like where we can you know like um get our names put on the back of our shirts?"
This past weekend I had another run-in with a cheerleader and her mom. Now don't get me wrong, I have several friends—and even a roommate—who have been cheerleaders. I'm well aware that it's not a requirement to be an ultimate ditz to be a cheerleader.
(As far as whether or not it's an actual sport, that's another debate for another day, let me just say I really don't consider anything that airs on ESPN2 vs ESPN an actual sport.)
Let's be honest though, there is a reason the cheerleader stereotype exists and this girl—and her mother—certainly did nothing to help dispel any claims. I had had little to no traffic for about an hour so I was playing an online game to make the time go a little faster. I noticed them hovering by the list of rosters and various options they could add to the back of their shirts and wisely decided to keep playing my game as they were not going to make it my way anytime soon. Sure enough they'd make one step towards me and then three steps back to take another look at the rosters and stretch those hardworking brains just a little further.
I was in no hurry for them to come over knowing that the only t-shirt sizes I had left were medium and extra large. Every female between the ages of 9 and 27—don't mess with me, these are scientific facts—thinks she is a small. It doesn't matter if our smalls are sold out and it would obviously not fit her without fat rolls squishing out at all angles. She's a small, and that's all there is to it. Cheerleaders are the worst about this. And don't tell me they're all small, I've been to enough of these events to guarantee you they are not all small. Makes me wonder if it's still considered a trophy to date a cheerleader at some of these schools. But I digress.
When they finally made it my way I was soon to realize all my apprehensions about this duo were not unfounded. On top of being out of nearly all sizes at this point in the weekend, we were also out of rosters for this particular school. It was their first time at state finals and even though we went back and reprinted the rosters for this school after the first night we still ran out before their second game. Once I finally convinced them that no, we did not even have just one roster left and that yes, I was sure, I received some huffs and exasperated sighs and stomping feet.
"Well this just ruins everything. It's for her player."
"I apologize ma'am, but we can have the roster sent to your house."
"That won't work. It's for my player. I was going to give it to him at the party tonight."
(As a side note, I about died listening to them refer to him as "her player" or "my player" as if that made him a celebrity and I was supposed to magically have everything they needed because of it.)
The mother informs me her daughter is going to have to think about what she wants to do now and they step back. At which point I realize the daughter is holding a gift bag and tissue paper for the shirt they wanted to purchase. Now tell me, if you were that prepared to have gift wrap ready, why would you wait until the last minute on the second day to purchase the shirt?
Eventually, after much protest to me, each other, and literally anyone else who would listen, they purchase their transfers, spoke to my friend Stephanie, who was working with me, about how great their school is, and leave. Ah state finals, you never cease to entertain me.
My co-worker Andy and I were going to make a Top 10 list for the most unintelligent things we've been asked at these events, but we forgot.
In other news, I saw Michael Jordan there. Twice.
His son's team won.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Tragic Death...and Surprising Resurrection...of my iPod
Another request from Sherrie...and yet another example of my ever occuring blonde moments...
So, on Tuesday night I left the office to go meet my boyfriend. I pulled out my iPod and pressed the on button and nothing happened. I kept checking it, flipped the hold button, but still nothing. I thought maybe I had left it on accidentally and the battery was dead. Later that night at home, I plugged it in to charge and still nothing happened. It was slightly annoying since I can't seem to walk or travel anywhere without music these days, but I was happy because I could FINALLY get a new iPod.
I had the next day off and decided to make a trip to the Apple store with my friend Stella. I had just planned to get an iPod Classic and spend maybe 200,000 or so won. I only spent about $250 on my iPod video a couple years ago so I thought they would be cheaper now. Anywho, upon arrival I discovered that iPods had gotten quite expensive with the new generations. I was left with the choice of a 120 GB Classic (which was way more space than I would ever need and bulky) or upgrade to an iPod Touch which would have less space and be a bit more expensive.
After some deliberation, and nudging from Stella, I ended up with a 16 GB 2nd Generation iPod Touch. I about cried when I looked at the price and handed over my card, but I was absolutely giddy as I looked at my brand-new best friend. It was sooo pretty. And it looks even prettier with the skin that I got for it.
Anyway, I was showing one of my co-workers my iPod at work the next day (he's a bit of an Apple fanatic, he has a iPhone even though they don't work in Korea yet). He asked me to bring in my old iPod and he would try to make it sellable for me.
So, I did. And surprise of all surprises, he comes up to me and says "Oh, your iPod is okay." Turns out the hold button was flipped on and I didn't really turn it off when I checked it. So, I felt slightly stupid that I rushed out to spend too much money on a new iPod when I didn't need to. That being said, I am very happy with my new toy.
...and I guess I now have my little brother's birthday present...
So, on Tuesday night I left the office to go meet my boyfriend. I pulled out my iPod and pressed the on button and nothing happened. I kept checking it, flipped the hold button, but still nothing. I thought maybe I had left it on accidentally and the battery was dead. Later that night at home, I plugged it in to charge and still nothing happened. It was slightly annoying since I can't seem to walk or travel anywhere without music these days, but I was happy because I could FINALLY get a new iPod.
I had the next day off and decided to make a trip to the Apple store with my friend Stella. I had just planned to get an iPod Classic and spend maybe 200,000 or so won. I only spent about $250 on my iPod video a couple years ago so I thought they would be cheaper now. Anywho, upon arrival I discovered that iPods had gotten quite expensive with the new generations. I was left with the choice of a 120 GB Classic (which was way more space than I would ever need and bulky) or upgrade to an iPod Touch which would have less space and be a bit more expensive.
After some deliberation, and nudging from Stella, I ended up with a 16 GB 2nd Generation iPod Touch. I about cried when I looked at the price and handed over my card, but I was absolutely giddy as I looked at my brand-new best friend. It was sooo pretty. And it looks even prettier with the skin that I got for it.
Anyway, I was showing one of my co-workers my iPod at work the next day (he's a bit of an Apple fanatic, he has a iPhone even though they don't work in Korea yet). He asked me to bring in my old iPod and he would try to make it sellable for me.
So, I did. And surprise of all surprises, he comes up to me and says "Oh, your iPod is okay." Turns out the hold button was flipped on and I didn't really turn it off when I checked it. So, I felt slightly stupid that I rushed out to spend too much money on a new iPod when I didn't need to. That being said, I am very happy with my new toy.
...and I guess I now have my little brother's birthday present...
Friday, March 20, 2009
A Day in the Life of Retail
Ok so Sherrie has been begging me to do this so here goes nothing...beware it is a long post. :)
Yesterday I had high hopes would go fast and smooth. We are currently trying to set the floor in the home department by Friday. I have 14 different planners for one department. Now many did not change or I just got to a planner that was due oh back in January and now just had the time and man power to redo the floor after I had redone it in November.
A little history of this store: This store has only been opened for about two years. It opened the spring Sherrie, Emma and I graduated. My first encounter with this store was in December of that year. Oh man I wanted out of that dang store soooooooooooo fast. Nothing went well in this store. Everyone was inexperienced which included management and had no idea what they were doing. I was currently working at a store that has been opened since the seventies. They know what the heck they are doing. Nothing was put back in the right spot it should, it was never cleaned up at night so the floor looked sloppy and sooo messed up. Just looking at it made you cry cuz they had so much merchandise and well no one to really clean it up and take good care of it. To make an incredibly long and boring story short, I came to this store off and on for about year before they told me to stay there. Which at first I was devasted because I was so used to the people around me at Joliet. As much as I was frustrated with personality issues, at least they could do their job well. But this has been a very good challenge for me to see what I can do as a manager of people and merchandise. Merchandising this floor is a very creative process and well I can never set the planner exactly because of spacial issues and what not.
So back to where I was yesterday. Every month we get new merchandise in and we have planners and pictures to show us what it is suppose to look like. Today was going to be "Make over the Down Pad day". Our down shop which includes lots of different pillows you can sleep on, lots of different mattress pads you can also sleep on and well Down and Down Alternative comforters and pillows (Down alternative for those who are allergic to feathers or think that down pillows stink like a chicken farm...it really is disgusting) We didn't really get a lot of new merch in for the pad, but it has been so disorganized and the space was not utilized as well as it could be but I hadn't had the time to sit and rearrange this pad yet. So I woke up at 5:00am to go in at six to start this with our new supervisor of the visual team. He is responsible for resetting maniquins and signs in the entire store. So I get there and he had some stuff to do before he started so I tried to finish up the Window set which is another one that is very annoying at times (story for another time I guess). So an hour goes by and we start on it. We move three rows of fixtures off the carpeting and man, I don't think they had been moved for two years....it was nasty. So after a thorough vaccuming, we moved the fixtures into their new homes on the floor. Then we move the beds. We had two beds displaying all the different down and down alternative comforters on the floor. One bed came off and we had to combine the two different comforters onto one bed. So I start vaccuming...and I sucked up something that either busted the belt or something so I had the lovely smell of burnt rubber to contend with....oops... So then it was about time to open the store so I went up front for out morning meeting and then back to the pad. I started working on the wall. We have six four foot sections on the wall and two two foot sections. I started on the short side because our wall is an L shape. So I am thinking that adjusting the shelves to match the other side of the wall is all we have to do...right..... well I find out by reading our core standards that no the shelves are spaced all wrong and every single shelf in every single section needs to be reset. Not to mention the floor has all the matress pads on it. After talking with the store manager she wanted to me to redo the wall...which left no way for this to be done by two o'clock much less four when I actually left. Because when the store is open, I am constantly interupted by customers that need help and Customers in our Catalog and Window area or associates with questions about various things. And I was the only associate in the home department so I had to take all the calls from customers and other stores on the phone.
So, upset about the set back I also started my period and well I was emotional to say the least because I really wanted this finished today and not have to worry about it on Friday because I am off on Thursdays. So after cleaning up my mess and still having a huge empty wall and bins of stuff that either had to go upstairs in the stock room or back out on the floor when we moved some more things around, I wrote my notes to my two associates that work in my department and I left to go crash at home. But not after spending seventy bucks in Sephora...I needed new foundation....
So I go in today because my chiropracter is just a hop skip and a jump down the strip mall, I checked on the progress.... the shelves were reset, either by the associate who worked last night or the ones who worked today but the merch has not been placed in its spot...>< So looks like now I will be in the down shop AGAIN because it wasn't finished today.....so I just had to walk out before I made a scene...so this month...planners will not be done on time...oh well. Roll with the punches I guess.
So there you have it one and all.... a day in the life of retail.
Yesterday I had high hopes would go fast and smooth. We are currently trying to set the floor in the home department by Friday. I have 14 different planners for one department. Now many did not change or I just got to a planner that was due oh back in January and now just had the time and man power to redo the floor after I had redone it in November.
A little history of this store: This store has only been opened for about two years. It opened the spring Sherrie, Emma and I graduated. My first encounter with this store was in December of that year. Oh man I wanted out of that dang store soooooooooooo fast. Nothing went well in this store. Everyone was inexperienced which included management and had no idea what they were doing. I was currently working at a store that has been opened since the seventies. They know what the heck they are doing. Nothing was put back in the right spot it should, it was never cleaned up at night so the floor looked sloppy and sooo messed up. Just looking at it made you cry cuz they had so much merchandise and well no one to really clean it up and take good care of it. To make an incredibly long and boring story short, I came to this store off and on for about year before they told me to stay there. Which at first I was devasted because I was so used to the people around me at Joliet. As much as I was frustrated with personality issues, at least they could do their job well. But this has been a very good challenge for me to see what I can do as a manager of people and merchandise. Merchandising this floor is a very creative process and well I can never set the planner exactly because of spacial issues and what not.
So back to where I was yesterday. Every month we get new merchandise in and we have planners and pictures to show us what it is suppose to look like. Today was going to be "Make over the Down Pad day". Our down shop which includes lots of different pillows you can sleep on, lots of different mattress pads you can also sleep on and well Down and Down Alternative comforters and pillows (Down alternative for those who are allergic to feathers or think that down pillows stink like a chicken farm...it really is disgusting) We didn't really get a lot of new merch in for the pad, but it has been so disorganized and the space was not utilized as well as it could be but I hadn't had the time to sit and rearrange this pad yet. So I woke up at 5:00am to go in at six to start this with our new supervisor of the visual team. He is responsible for resetting maniquins and signs in the entire store. So I get there and he had some stuff to do before he started so I tried to finish up the Window set which is another one that is very annoying at times (story for another time I guess). So an hour goes by and we start on it. We move three rows of fixtures off the carpeting and man, I don't think they had been moved for two years....it was nasty. So after a thorough vaccuming, we moved the fixtures into their new homes on the floor. Then we move the beds. We had two beds displaying all the different down and down alternative comforters on the floor. One bed came off and we had to combine the two different comforters onto one bed. So I start vaccuming...and I sucked up something that either busted the belt or something so I had the lovely smell of burnt rubber to contend with....oops... So then it was about time to open the store so I went up front for out morning meeting and then back to the pad. I started working on the wall. We have six four foot sections on the wall and two two foot sections. I started on the short side because our wall is an L shape. So I am thinking that adjusting the shelves to match the other side of the wall is all we have to do...right..... well I find out by reading our core standards that no the shelves are spaced all wrong and every single shelf in every single section needs to be reset. Not to mention the floor has all the matress pads on it. After talking with the store manager she wanted to me to redo the wall...which left no way for this to be done by two o'clock much less four when I actually left. Because when the store is open, I am constantly interupted by customers that need help and Customers in our Catalog and Window area or associates with questions about various things. And I was the only associate in the home department so I had to take all the calls from customers and other stores on the phone.
So, upset about the set back I also started my period and well I was emotional to say the least because I really wanted this finished today and not have to worry about it on Friday because I am off on Thursdays. So after cleaning up my mess and still having a huge empty wall and bins of stuff that either had to go upstairs in the stock room or back out on the floor when we moved some more things around, I wrote my notes to my two associates that work in my department and I left to go crash at home. But not after spending seventy bucks in Sephora...I needed new foundation....
So I go in today because my chiropracter is just a hop skip and a jump down the strip mall, I checked on the progress.... the shelves were reset, either by the associate who worked last night or the ones who worked today but the merch has not been placed in its spot...>< So looks like now I will be in the down shop AGAIN because it wasn't finished today.....so I just had to walk out before I made a scene...so this month...planners will not be done on time...oh well. Roll with the punches I guess.
So there you have it one and all.... a day in the life of retail.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Matilda Louise
On February 14, 2008, I decided to treat myself to a fairly expensive Valentine's Day present ... meet Matilda.
Cute, huh? Here's a more accurate representation of her personality.
My Facebook photo album of her is appropriately titled "Hi, my name is trouble."
Matilda has entertained my two roommates, our friends and myself with all of her strange little quirks. Probably her most amusing factor is that she chases fairies. I'm not even kidding. There's no other explanation for her randomly tearing through the apartment, jumping at nothing and batting at the air. Even close friends who regularly visit know that this means there are fairies frolicking about.
She also has been known to attack the screen saver on our TV whenever someone leaves the DVD player paused for too long. I guess that color shifting logo that moves about the screen is just too much for her furry little self to handle.
Lately she's developed a new habit I find all too amusing. As a little bit of background, she absolutely loves going out on our balcony now that we live upstairs. No matter what time of day or current weather condition she yells at us to let her out. She generally has the intelligence to decline when we open the door and she finds out we weren't lying to her about the two feet of snow or winds reminiscent of the 100 Acre Woods. Much like me though, she has to see for herself.
Earlier this week she demanded to go out, so I let her out and shut the door while I took a shower. When I came back out she was hiding from the wind under the cooler Kelly has had upside down "airing" for the past six months. I about doubled over laughing as she scolded me and ran back into our apartment.
Oh and Louise? That's the middle name my roommate Mel has assigned to her whenever she needs two names to yell. Not all her quirks are quite so appealing. Like when she pees on my bed. But I won't get into that side of her for now.
Cute, huh? Here's a more accurate representation of her personality.
My Facebook photo album of her is appropriately titled "Hi, my name is trouble."
Matilda has entertained my two roommates, our friends and myself with all of her strange little quirks. Probably her most amusing factor is that she chases fairies. I'm not even kidding. There's no other explanation for her randomly tearing through the apartment, jumping at nothing and batting at the air. Even close friends who regularly visit know that this means there are fairies frolicking about.
She also has been known to attack the screen saver on our TV whenever someone leaves the DVD player paused for too long. I guess that color shifting logo that moves about the screen is just too much for her furry little self to handle.
Lately she's developed a new habit I find all too amusing. As a little bit of background, she absolutely loves going out on our balcony now that we live upstairs. No matter what time of day or current weather condition she yells at us to let her out. She generally has the intelligence to decline when we open the door and she finds out we weren't lying to her about the two feet of snow or winds reminiscent of the 100 Acre Woods. Much like me though, she has to see for herself.
Earlier this week she demanded to go out, so I let her out and shut the door while I took a shower. When I came back out she was hiding from the wind under the cooler Kelly has had upside down "airing" for the past six months. I about doubled over laughing as she scolded me and ran back into our apartment.
Oh and Louise? That's the middle name my roommate Mel has assigned to her whenever she needs two names to yell. Not all her quirks are quite so appealing. Like when she pees on my bed. But I won't get into that side of her for now.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Life in California
Ha, it's gonna be hard to top the Korean dating post. ;)
It always amuses me when people say "Cali" instead of California. No one who lives here calls it "Cali"...
I was born in a typical Southern California city (what everyone thinks of when they think of California). I was too young to really hate it, but my parents hated it, and we moved north to the Central Coast. We live in cowboy country now (complete with cows and crusty old cowboys), totally not what anyone expects from California.
Right now I am looking out the window at a beautiful sunny day, thinking maybe going to the beach would be a good idea. The only thing I am missing is friends. I wish I could bring all of my friends to live with me here, because beautiful scenery and weather can only do so much for a person. Also I have horrible allergies right now...
It always amuses me when people say "Cali" instead of California. No one who lives here calls it "Cali"...
I was born in a typical Southern California city (what everyone thinks of when they think of California). I was too young to really hate it, but my parents hated it, and we moved north to the Central Coast. We live in cowboy country now (complete with cows and crusty old cowboys), totally not what anyone expects from California.
Right now I am looking out the window at a beautiful sunny day, thinking maybe going to the beach would be a good idea. The only thing I am missing is friends. I wish I could bring all of my friends to live with me here, because beautiful scenery and weather can only do so much for a person. Also I have horrible allergies right now...
The Joys of Dating...Korean-style...
I nearly forgot that I promised Sherrie a post about crazy Korean dating…so here it is…
Dating Korean guys is not the same as dating American guys, that’s for sure. In most cases, it’s not that bad. Korean guys tend to be very respectful, especially when it comes to Western girls. They don’t use stupid pick-up lines in bars. They don’t typically try to make passes or grope you in clubs. In fact, they often will ask if they can dance with you versus just coming up and grabbing your- butt- (sorry, censored myself) like Western boys. But they are definitely a bit more intense .
The first guy I went on a date with was a former student of mine. He spoke English quite well, and was only about a year older than me. When I asked him where to meet, he told me to meet him in Apgujeong, which is the ritzy part of town, so I thought I was in for a treat. The night started out okay. We went to a Japanese restaurant to eat and ordered a bottle of sake. He made a show about ordering the most expensive one, which was a little annoying, but oh well. The conversation went a little like this:
Him: So, I graduated from Seoul National University.
Me: Really? Is that a big school, I haven’t heard of it.
Him: (Eyes bug a little) Well, yea. It’s the number one school in the nation.
(I should probably explain that Koreans are very particular about their universities. If you say you graduated from Seoul National University, it’s a big deal. People get jobs based on the sole fact that they went to Seoul National University.)
Him: I just started work at McKinsey and Associates. You know it, right?
Me: Oh, that’s cool. Is it a foreign company?
Him: (Eyes bug again) Uh, it’s one of the top companies in America. All my co-workers are foreigners which is why I had to study English.
(Apparently, it’s the top company in Korea right now…and I was suppose to be
impressed…)
Him: So, when are you going back to the U.S.?
Me: Maybe in a couple years.
Him: Really? I was thinking about moving to the U.S. around then. How is Florida?
Me: (My eyes bug a little) Um, it’s nice…
So, he spent the whole date making it VERY clear that he wanted a foreign girlfriend. He talked about how he was tired of dating Korean girls and working hard to impress them. He then said that he would walk me home. (Which is apparently what every good Korean boy does on the first date. I was suspicious at the time and made it VERY clear that he was not coming up to my apartment.) I was completely turned off by his strong approach on the first date, so needless to say, I didn’t call him again…and luckily my guys friends scared him off in a very embarrassing way a week later. (That’s a story for another time…)
Guy two was very sweet and charming…and three years younger than me…he didn’t make it passed date two when he decided to take me around on the back of his bicycle. It was very sweet, but I felt like I was in a corny Korean drama…or in junior high…
Guy three was funny, charming and learned English in Britain so had an amazing British accent when he spoke English. He was also very clingy. We never made it to the actual date because he was a little scary. He would send me about 20 messages a day, which I thought was cute at first. Then one night I told him that I was going out with some friends and couldn’t meet up with him. He then told me to call if we went to Kangnam and he would join us. I told him maybe, but not to expect a call.
That night he called me six times. Coincidentally, I missed every call. He then kept messaging me ‘Where are you?’ Which I also ignored. Then, my friends and I end up going to Kangnam…and running into his best friend. Who then calls him and tells him he saw me in Kangnam. I then get a message asking why I didn’t call him. I ignored it as well.
He did have the decency to apologize the next day. After ignoring him for about four months, we got in contact again and actually became quite good friends. He’s learned not to be clingy and I’ve somehow become his relationship counselor…
Guy four was a law student from Korea University. (In the top three universities.) By this time I learned to act impressed even though I wasn’t. He seemed nice at first, but the more he drank , the more touchy he got. He kept touching my face (ew) and tucking my hair behind my ear, saying it looked better that way. I kept untucking it, determined to win the hair war. When we left the restaurant to go to a second place, he promptly took my purse and carried it. (Didn’t like that either.) Somehow during the evening, he ended up thinking I was his girlfriend. (Not sure where that came from.) So when I ignored his calls for the next week, he decided to look up my company and called my office. I didn’t recognize the name at first when my co-worker called me over. He said that if I hated him, I should just say so and he would never call me again. I hung up the phone and apologized to my co-worker.
Guy five isn’t worth really mentioning. He was 29, full of himself for living in Hong Kong for two years and boring. He also sent me a message saying he missed me about 10 minutes after I got home from the date.
Now, guy six. This is the good one. I went to a bar with my friends one night for a girls’ night. My friend Eun Young said that it was my choice and said to choose any guy I wanted. I looked around and pointed at the hottest guy in the bar. She then proceeded to skip over to him and started talking to him in rapid Korean and pointing at me. He looked a little embarrassed and shocked. I of course was dying because I didn’t actually expect her to go over and talk to him.
After running back and forth between the two of us for awhile, he came over and we talked. I found out he went to uni in the US for a bit and had an American uncle. We danced for awhile and then exchanged numbers right before I left.
For about a week he messaged me and tried to get me to meet him, but I brushed him off because I wasn’t sure if I could really trust him since I met him in a bar. But as we entered into week two and he was still messaging me, I decided to give him a second chance since guys don’t typically hold out that long for a piece of tail.
We met up again. Immediately clicked and about two weeks and a million text messages later, Young and I officially became a couple. It’s been a month since then and everything is wonderful from the good morning text he sends me everyday to conversations in broken English with his friends. ^_^
And I think that’s about it before I end up writing a book about Korean dating. (Trust me, it’s quite possible. I didn’t even mention the phenomenon known as “couple clothes”.) I’m sure I’ll have more funny stories from the mishaps of dating a Korean guy…I haven’t met the parents yet and I’m sure that in itself will warrant it’s own blog post…
Dating Korean guys is not the same as dating American guys, that’s for sure. In most cases, it’s not that bad. Korean guys tend to be very respectful, especially when it comes to Western girls. They don’t use stupid pick-up lines in bars. They don’t typically try to make passes or grope you in clubs. In fact, they often will ask if they can dance with you versus just coming up and grabbing your- butt- (sorry, censored myself) like Western boys. But they are definitely a bit more intense .
The first guy I went on a date with was a former student of mine. He spoke English quite well, and was only about a year older than me. When I asked him where to meet, he told me to meet him in Apgujeong, which is the ritzy part of town, so I thought I was in for a treat. The night started out okay. We went to a Japanese restaurant to eat and ordered a bottle of sake. He made a show about ordering the most expensive one, which was a little annoying, but oh well. The conversation went a little like this:
Him: So, I graduated from Seoul National University.
Me: Really? Is that a big school, I haven’t heard of it.
Him: (Eyes bug a little) Well, yea. It’s the number one school in the nation.
(I should probably explain that Koreans are very particular about their universities. If you say you graduated from Seoul National University, it’s a big deal. People get jobs based on the sole fact that they went to Seoul National University.)
Him: I just started work at McKinsey and Associates. You know it, right?
Me: Oh, that’s cool. Is it a foreign company?
Him: (Eyes bug again) Uh, it’s one of the top companies in America. All my co-workers are foreigners which is why I had to study English.
(Apparently, it’s the top company in Korea right now…and I was suppose to be
impressed…)
Him: So, when are you going back to the U.S.?
Me: Maybe in a couple years.
Him: Really? I was thinking about moving to the U.S. around then. How is Florida?
Me: (My eyes bug a little) Um, it’s nice…
So, he spent the whole date making it VERY clear that he wanted a foreign girlfriend. He talked about how he was tired of dating Korean girls and working hard to impress them. He then said that he would walk me home. (Which is apparently what every good Korean boy does on the first date. I was suspicious at the time and made it VERY clear that he was not coming up to my apartment.) I was completely turned off by his strong approach on the first date, so needless to say, I didn’t call him again…and luckily my guys friends scared him off in a very embarrassing way a week later. (That’s a story for another time…)
Guy two was very sweet and charming…and three years younger than me…he didn’t make it passed date two when he decided to take me around on the back of his bicycle. It was very sweet, but I felt like I was in a corny Korean drama…or in junior high…
Guy three was funny, charming and learned English in Britain so had an amazing British accent when he spoke English. He was also very clingy. We never made it to the actual date because he was a little scary. He would send me about 20 messages a day, which I thought was cute at first. Then one night I told him that I was going out with some friends and couldn’t meet up with him. He then told me to call if we went to Kangnam and he would join us. I told him maybe, but not to expect a call.
That night he called me six times. Coincidentally, I missed every call. He then kept messaging me ‘Where are you?’ Which I also ignored. Then, my friends and I end up going to Kangnam…and running into his best friend. Who then calls him and tells him he saw me in Kangnam. I then get a message asking why I didn’t call him. I ignored it as well.
He did have the decency to apologize the next day. After ignoring him for about four months, we got in contact again and actually became quite good friends. He’s learned not to be clingy and I’ve somehow become his relationship counselor…
Guy four was a law student from Korea University. (In the top three universities.) By this time I learned to act impressed even though I wasn’t. He seemed nice at first, but the more he drank , the more touchy he got. He kept touching my face (ew) and tucking my hair behind my ear, saying it looked better that way. I kept untucking it, determined to win the hair war. When we left the restaurant to go to a second place, he promptly took my purse and carried it. (Didn’t like that either.) Somehow during the evening, he ended up thinking I was his girlfriend. (Not sure where that came from.) So when I ignored his calls for the next week, he decided to look up my company and called my office. I didn’t recognize the name at first when my co-worker called me over. He said that if I hated him, I should just say so and he would never call me again. I hung up the phone and apologized to my co-worker.
Guy five isn’t worth really mentioning. He was 29, full of himself for living in Hong Kong for two years and boring. He also sent me a message saying he missed me about 10 minutes after I got home from the date.
Now, guy six. This is the good one. I went to a bar with my friends one night for a girls’ night. My friend Eun Young said that it was my choice and said to choose any guy I wanted. I looked around and pointed at the hottest guy in the bar. She then proceeded to skip over to him and started talking to him in rapid Korean and pointing at me. He looked a little embarrassed and shocked. I of course was dying because I didn’t actually expect her to go over and talk to him.
After running back and forth between the two of us for awhile, he came over and we talked. I found out he went to uni in the US for a bit and had an American uncle. We danced for awhile and then exchanged numbers right before I left.
For about a week he messaged me and tried to get me to meet him, but I brushed him off because I wasn’t sure if I could really trust him since I met him in a bar. But as we entered into week two and he was still messaging me, I decided to give him a second chance since guys don’t typically hold out that long for a piece of tail.
We met up again. Immediately clicked and about two weeks and a million text messages later, Young and I officially became a couple. It’s been a month since then and everything is wonderful from the good morning text he sends me everyday to conversations in broken English with his friends. ^_^
And I think that’s about it before I end up writing a book about Korean dating. (Trust me, it’s quite possible. I didn’t even mention the phenomenon known as “couple clothes”.) I’m sure I’ll have more funny stories from the mishaps of dating a Korean guy…I haven’t met the parents yet and I’m sure that in itself will warrant it’s own blog post…
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Passage
Meet my new bike.
I used to spend hours daily on my bike. Now granted it was a $60 bike from Toys R Us, but that thing took me around the 3.1 mile loop I lived on more than several hundred times.
We were kind of like a pack of wolves back in the day. My little brother and I would start out at our place and accumulate other "neighborhood" kids along the way. I use the word neighborhood very loosely as we were in the country so it wasn't your typical suburbia by any means.
Along the 3.1 mile loop we would start and stop at each location of choice. Grab drinks at the Wiegands' or take a swim in the Wilhelmsens' pool. Maybe even chase some farm animals around at the Curriers'. I forgot to mention climbing up and down the grain elevator or swinging from the loft pulley. Sometimes we corralled everyone back at our place and romped through our 16 acres of woods or built a new fort.
As we grew older we lost several members of the pack. A lot of this had to do with school involvement or the apostolic movement. My brother and I would still take our bikes out quite a bit though up until I left for college.
Being the typical freshman, I thought I had to bring my entire life's worth of possessions with me to Arkansas. So I did. Basically. My bike was one of many "essential" things loaded into the back of the 15 passenger van we borrowed.
I think I rode it once my entire freshman year. So I sold it to keep from paying for storage over the summer.
I love being outside, I always have. I think this is largely due to my childhood. My mom would always kick us outside on nice days and not let us in unless we were doing the potty dance. My family was also involved in two camping clubs. Plus we lived on 19.5 acres of land, most of it wooded. Oh, and soccer consumed my life more than half of the year for eight years.
So needless to say when Brian suggested that I ride with him, I decided to go for it and get a new bike: a 2008 GT Women's Passage. The picture is above. The cost was about $260 more than my last bike. The stats can be found here: http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa/eng/printerFriendly?id=5619
As for how our first bike ride together turns out tonight? I'll be sure to let you know if I kept up or created yet another event to add to my list of top embarrassing moments.
I used to spend hours daily on my bike. Now granted it was a $60 bike from Toys R Us, but that thing took me around the 3.1 mile loop I lived on more than several hundred times.
We were kind of like a pack of wolves back in the day. My little brother and I would start out at our place and accumulate other "neighborhood" kids along the way. I use the word neighborhood very loosely as we were in the country so it wasn't your typical suburbia by any means.
Along the 3.1 mile loop we would start and stop at each location of choice. Grab drinks at the Wiegands' or take a swim in the Wilhelmsens' pool. Maybe even chase some farm animals around at the Curriers'. I forgot to mention climbing up and down the grain elevator or swinging from the loft pulley. Sometimes we corralled everyone back at our place and romped through our 16 acres of woods or built a new fort.
As we grew older we lost several members of the pack. A lot of this had to do with school involvement or the apostolic movement. My brother and I would still take our bikes out quite a bit though up until I left for college.
Being the typical freshman, I thought I had to bring my entire life's worth of possessions with me to Arkansas. So I did. Basically. My bike was one of many "essential" things loaded into the back of the 15 passenger van we borrowed.
I think I rode it once my entire freshman year. So I sold it to keep from paying for storage over the summer.
I love being outside, I always have. I think this is largely due to my childhood. My mom would always kick us outside on nice days and not let us in unless we were doing the potty dance. My family was also involved in two camping clubs. Plus we lived on 19.5 acres of land, most of it wooded. Oh, and soccer consumed my life more than half of the year for eight years.
So needless to say when Brian suggested that I ride with him, I decided to go for it and get a new bike: a 2008 GT Women's Passage. The picture is above. The cost was about $260 more than my last bike. The stats can be found here: http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa/eng/printerFriendly?id=5619
As for how our first bike ride together turns out tonight? I'll be sure to let you know if I kept up or created yet another event to add to my list of top embarrassing moments.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Contentment?
I was wondering the other day, I don't remember what I was doing at the time but it was sometime this weekend, if contentment needs to be, by definition, a constant state of being.
According to Dictionary.com content means satisfied with what one is or has, not wanting more or anything else. That really doesn't answer my question but it does bring me to another.
Am I ever truly content, then? I feel "content" about 95% of the time right now but I know that in reality life is constantly in flux. Things will get worse and things will get better. So while I am happy with where I am, I certainly wouldn't begrudge life for getting better either.
Haha, thinking out loud sometimes just goes in circles for me and accomplishes nothing but allowing a little bit of fresh air into my head.
Speaking of fresh air, the last few days have been so nice! Absolutely loving having my sunroof and windows open and going for walks with Brian and Duke.
According to Dictionary.com content means satisfied with what one is or has, not wanting more or anything else. That really doesn't answer my question but it does bring me to another.
Am I ever truly content, then? I feel "content" about 95% of the time right now but I know that in reality life is constantly in flux. Things will get worse and things will get better. So while I am happy with where I am, I certainly wouldn't begrudge life for getting better either.
Haha, thinking out loud sometimes just goes in circles for me and accomplishes nothing but allowing a little bit of fresh air into my head.
Speaking of fresh air, the last few days have been so nice! Absolutely loving having my sunroof and windows open and going for walks with Brian and Duke.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Say what now?
Haha, couldn't come up with a title...
Currently I am working at OfficeMax about five minutes from my house and get paid just a little over minimum wage. Fail! Oh well. I'm also doing freelance design/illustration work, which pays a lot more, but is not very consistent as far as the amount of work. I'm loving the spring weather here, but I also have allergies! I've had to start using an inhaler! I've been trying to spend lots of time with my horsies, though after my *ahem* accident last fall, I am not riding as much as I might be...
Been trying to get my website up and running (with much help from Sherrie), and I'm very close now! Will post a link when it's done. Hmm, that's all for now.
Currently I am working at OfficeMax about five minutes from my house and get paid just a little over minimum wage. Fail! Oh well. I'm also doing freelance design/illustration work, which pays a lot more, but is not very consistent as far as the amount of work. I'm loving the spring weather here, but I also have allergies! I've had to start using an inhaler! I've been trying to spend lots of time with my horsies, though after my *ahem* accident last fall, I am not riding as much as I might be...
Been trying to get my website up and running (with much help from Sherrie), and I'm very close now! Will post a link when it's done. Hmm, that's all for now.
Spring
I love spring and the warm weather that it brings. Despite the allergies, it is nice to have a thaw from the bitter cold winter we had up here.
The unfortunate thing with spring though, is all the hornets in the world thaw out from hybernation and try to climb through my window. I had many flies that like to crawl through my window, but today marks the first hornet of the season... >< I don't mind them just not in my room! And if they were easier to kill. Those suckers are hard to kill unless you have good aim with hornet killer spray which I do not.
The unfortunate thing with spring though, is all the hornets in the world thaw out from hybernation and try to climb through my window. I had many flies that like to crawl through my window, but today marks the first hornet of the season... >< I don't mind them just not in my room! And if they were easier to kill. Those suckers are hard to kill unless you have good aim with hornet killer spray which I do not.
My Turn!
So, I thought that I should finally contribute since we're starting this up again.
Right now I'm working with a small, local Korean PR firm. It's definitely been challenging since Korean business is insanely different from American business. For starters, in small companies you are expected to be friends with all your co-workers. You go to lunch with your team everyday where they ask you a million personal questions. (This has gotten increasingly annoying since one co-worker decided to tell everyone that I now have a boyfriend, even after I told her not to tell anyone...needless to say, I don't tell her anything anymore...)
There is also the phenomenon of the "hywe-sik" or company dinner. Everyone is required to go. Saying "no thank you, I already have plans," is not an option, even if you find out about the dinner two hours before said event happens. (Found this out the hard way.) I've heard that some companies the boss goes as far as making everyone drink until they are ridiculously drunk. Luckily, my company isn't like this. They just require that you go and stay for at least the first two stages (these things normally last until about 4 am and have about 4 stages).
Anywho, I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm still making lots of mistakes and occasionally accidently offending people, but doing better. I'm getting along with my co-workers and I think I'm finally starting to fit in a bit more. I'm no longer just the "foreign" girl or the "English teacher".
Um, let's see...what else...I'm dating a wonderful guy named Young Gyu, or as I call him "oppa" (Korean for "big brother" but commonly used for boyfriends). We've been together for about a month now. He's really sweet, though at times a little oblivious.
I have a kitten named Issie that Young often refers to as my daughter. I love her to death, but sometimes she annoys the hell of me. Like when she tries to claw me to death or gnaw on my leg right after I put on a new pair of tights. She a crazy cat, but I love her to death. She's coming back to the States with me when I eventually get back.
Um, so I can't think of anything else, really. Other than I really love living in Seoul. I love the city and the vibrancy of life here. I love learning the Korean culture and the language. It's wonderful, and you all should come visit sometime! ^_^
Right now I'm working with a small, local Korean PR firm. It's definitely been challenging since Korean business is insanely different from American business. For starters, in small companies you are expected to be friends with all your co-workers. You go to lunch with your team everyday where they ask you a million personal questions. (This has gotten increasingly annoying since one co-worker decided to tell everyone that I now have a boyfriend, even after I told her not to tell anyone...needless to say, I don't tell her anything anymore...)
There is also the phenomenon of the "hywe-sik" or company dinner. Everyone is required to go. Saying "no thank you, I already have plans," is not an option, even if you find out about the dinner two hours before said event happens. (Found this out the hard way.) I've heard that some companies the boss goes as far as making everyone drink until they are ridiculously drunk. Luckily, my company isn't like this. They just require that you go and stay for at least the first two stages (these things normally last until about 4 am and have about 4 stages).
Anywho, I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm still making lots of mistakes and occasionally accidently offending people, but doing better. I'm getting along with my co-workers and I think I'm finally starting to fit in a bit more. I'm no longer just the "foreign" girl or the "English teacher".
Um, let's see...what else...I'm dating a wonderful guy named Young Gyu, or as I call him "oppa" (Korean for "big brother" but commonly used for boyfriends). We've been together for about a month now. He's really sweet, though at times a little oblivious.
I have a kitten named Issie that Young often refers to as my daughter. I love her to death, but sometimes she annoys the hell of me. Like when she tries to claw me to death or gnaw on my leg right after I put on a new pair of tights. She a crazy cat, but I love her to death. She's coming back to the States with me when I eventually get back.
Um, so I can't think of anything else, really. Other than I really love living in Seoul. I love the city and the vibrancy of life here. I love learning the Korean culture and the language. It's wonderful, and you all should come visit sometime! ^_^
Friday, March 13, 2009
Happy Birthday Kristen!
just thought I'd speak for all of us and say happy birthday! :D
I won't even mention the fact that it's also Friday the 13th today... oops.
I won't even mention the fact that it's also Friday the 13th today... oops.
Adrenaline Rush
I work for a small to medium sized company that is the exclusive licensed vendor for our state's high school state finals. Because of this, I have the "opportunity" to go to a very large percentage of said events.
Now most of my coworkers view this as some sort of life sentence while I, on the other hand, thrive on this experience. In most cases it gets me out of the office an extra day of the week, and depending on the event it can equal a nice extra sum in my paycheck.
Probably my favorite events are Girls & Boys Basketball. These two events, spread out over four weekends, are so high energy for me. The music is loud, the fans are excited, and I get to go in undercover to infiltrate the enemy's camp. By that I mean stalking unsuspecting fans and asking them if I can take a picture of their t-shirt.
Now they don't mind because they're so psyched up on carbohydrates, caffeine and team spirit that they have no idea those photos can cause their school to have to pay royalties they skipped out on paying by going through an unlicensed vendor. To be fair, I don't include their faces so that if the pictures get back to their schools no one can take it personally.
For some reason, though, chasing people around with my little Canon Digital Elph for this cause just gives me a huge adrenaline rush.
My boss doesn't mind since he gets a kick back from the royalties.
Now most of my coworkers view this as some sort of life sentence while I, on the other hand, thrive on this experience. In most cases it gets me out of the office an extra day of the week, and depending on the event it can equal a nice extra sum in my paycheck.
Probably my favorite events are Girls & Boys Basketball. These two events, spread out over four weekends, are so high energy for me. The music is loud, the fans are excited, and I get to go in undercover to infiltrate the enemy's camp. By that I mean stalking unsuspecting fans and asking them if I can take a picture of their t-shirt.
Now they don't mind because they're so psyched up on carbohydrates, caffeine and team spirit that they have no idea those photos can cause their school to have to pay royalties they skipped out on paying by going through an unlicensed vendor. To be fair, I don't include their faces so that if the pictures get back to their schools no one can take it personally.
For some reason, though, chasing people around with my little Canon Digital Elph for this cause just gives me a huge adrenaline rush.
My boss doesn't mind since he gets a kick back from the royalties.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I had completely forgotten about this blog. I am very glad we are reinstating it!!!
So life for me really isn't too exciting. I am living in Bolingbrook which is one of the suburbs farthest from Chicago. I work for JCPenney in Woodridge, IL which is like eight miles from my apartment and I am still trying to find a group of friends to hang out with on a regular basis. Part of my problem is the people I know up here are scattered around the city and suburbia. And some of my coworkers really aren't the kind of people I would hang out with...not to sound like a snob but our interests are just completely different. They are great people though!
I think I really miss JBU and how close we were to each other. I miss getting to pester and glomp people that are spread across the country and world...
So every Thursday I am off. I sleep mostly, but today I was up watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. He goes all over the world to sample the different cuisine of the country he is visiting. And he was in Korea today. I was like "Yay I can see some of the food Emma has been eating!" He also likes to taste some of the weird food of the country. They went all over Souel and out in the country. I really enjoyed it! Made me wanna jump a plane and visit Emma!
One of the reasons I wanted to move up here was because this city is one of my favorite places to go. I have relatives up here and so I stayed with them and their three crazy cats. Now I am living in their condo, they live in a house. I love going over there to visit and getting to mess around with the cats. Well two of them will tolerate me. The third hides most of the time. They have Domino, Kitty, and Marshmellow. Domino is the biggest of the three and loves to sleep all day. He might let you pet him but rarely will you get him in your lap. Kitty is very skidish and will spend most of the time you are there up on or behind my Aunt and Uncle's bed, unless he wants to go outside, then he will sit at the back door and meow mournfully till you let him out. Marshmellow is the female and the spaz of the group. She loves running around like a maniac in big empty boxes and her tent and has an unfortunate habit of flinging huge boogers up the wall when she sneezes. It is the funniest and most disgusting thing especially when you are within range of her projectile boogers. The poor dear has allergies that they haven't quite figured out.
Other than the crazy cats, its me and my homicidal clown fish living in the apartment. I hope to get a dog one day, but well that is more money than I have, yay for school loans! Anyway I am gonna stop for now.
So life for me really isn't too exciting. I am living in Bolingbrook which is one of the suburbs farthest from Chicago. I work for JCPenney in Woodridge, IL which is like eight miles from my apartment and I am still trying to find a group of friends to hang out with on a regular basis. Part of my problem is the people I know up here are scattered around the city and suburbia. And some of my coworkers really aren't the kind of people I would hang out with...not to sound like a snob but our interests are just completely different. They are great people though!
I think I really miss JBU and how close we were to each other. I miss getting to pester and glomp people that are spread across the country and world...
So every Thursday I am off. I sleep mostly, but today I was up watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. He goes all over the world to sample the different cuisine of the country he is visiting. And he was in Korea today. I was like "Yay I can see some of the food Emma has been eating!" He also likes to taste some of the weird food of the country. They went all over Souel and out in the country. I really enjoyed it! Made me wanna jump a plane and visit Emma!
One of the reasons I wanted to move up here was because this city is one of my favorite places to go. I have relatives up here and so I stayed with them and their three crazy cats. Now I am living in their condo, they live in a house. I love going over there to visit and getting to mess around with the cats. Well two of them will tolerate me. The third hides most of the time. They have Domino, Kitty, and Marshmellow. Domino is the biggest of the three and loves to sleep all day. He might let you pet him but rarely will you get him in your lap. Kitty is very skidish and will spend most of the time you are there up on or behind my Aunt and Uncle's bed, unless he wants to go outside, then he will sit at the back door and meow mournfully till you let him out. Marshmellow is the female and the spaz of the group. She loves running around like a maniac in big empty boxes and her tent and has an unfortunate habit of flinging huge boogers up the wall when she sneezes. It is the funniest and most disgusting thing especially when you are within range of her projectile boogers. The poor dear has allergies that they haven't quite figured out.
Other than the crazy cats, its me and my homicidal clown fish living in the apartment. I hope to get a dog one day, but well that is more money than I have, yay for school loans! Anyway I am gonna stop for now.
Life Outside the Bubble
So often I heard people warn me about life outside the "bubble" once I graduated. Now I know some people strongly believe our school was a bubble, and I think in some ways it was, but I also think the degree of the bubble depended on the individual inside it. For me, life in the real world is not that different.
Probably the biggest thing that hasn't changed is the drama. I honestly believed that once I graduated all the drama that followed me like a magnet would subside. I couldn't possibly have been more wrong. Now it's just in the form of coworkers and friends who refuse to reach a suitable level of maturity.
I do miss having everyone within a half mile radius so that I could just skip down the hall and harass them for the next season of Friends or whatever the need, comment, or interest of the day was. I think, though, that the reason the transition was so easy for me was because I ended up back in my hometown with the group of friends I developed over the last three years of my college experience while working at a summer camp.
I've got to say though, I still feel like a failure for moving back home. I know it doesn't make me one, but living within the same 30 mile radius my whole life just doesn't do much for my spontaneous and adventurous nature. That said I fully plan to move to the west coast as soon as I am able.
Although I've found a recent distraction to keep me grounded a little longer. Not to mention the debt I need to eliminate.
Probably the biggest thing that hasn't changed is the drama. I honestly believed that once I graduated all the drama that followed me like a magnet would subside. I couldn't possibly have been more wrong. Now it's just in the form of coworkers and friends who refuse to reach a suitable level of maturity.
I do miss having everyone within a half mile radius so that I could just skip down the hall and harass them for the next season of Friends or whatever the need, comment, or interest of the day was. I think, though, that the reason the transition was so easy for me was because I ended up back in my hometown with the group of friends I developed over the last three years of my college experience while working at a summer camp.
I've got to say though, I still feel like a failure for moving back home. I know it doesn't make me one, but living within the same 30 mile radius my whole life just doesn't do much for my spontaneous and adventurous nature. That said I fully plan to move to the west coast as soon as I am able.
Although I've found a recent distraction to keep me grounded a little longer. Not to mention the debt I need to eliminate.
Backstreet's back, alright!
So we're not the Backstreet Boys—although I did go see them in concert this summer—but we are cooler, and we are back. Not that I think anyone actually read this blog before, but maybe that will change.
When we started this place all six of us were in college and five of us lived on the same hall in our beloved dorm. Now all but one of us are graduated and none of us live within a 30 mile radius. One of us even lives on a different continent.
I'm not going to lie, I miss the days when all six of us would pile onto the ghetto couch in our dorm room and watch Friends until the sun came up, but now we're all on new adventures.
With that I bring you, yet again, Posse of Six.
When we started this place all six of us were in college and five of us lived on the same hall in our beloved dorm. Now all but one of us are graduated and none of us live within a 30 mile radius. One of us even lives on a different continent.
I'm not going to lie, I miss the days when all six of us would pile onto the ghetto couch in our dorm room and watch Friends until the sun came up, but now we're all on new adventures.
With that I bring you, yet again, Posse of Six.