In Seattle
Hello again,
Almost a week ago I flew out to Seattle to see if I would enjoy living out here and find a job to support myself. I am staying with my friend Dylon, whom I met in during studying in Germany back when this blog started, and his girlfriend in their apartment in a small town just outside of Seattle itself.
So far I have a good impression of the place, although I regret having flown instead of driven, as it's difficult not having a car here. However, that's not all a bad thing since it will force me to get used to the public transportation, which is one of the things I was looking for in a city.
Yesterday we all went to have a look around Seattle for the afternoon. We mainly stopped at little shops, but at nearly every bookstore I visited I inquired to see if they could use another worker. They all said no, but I wasn't expecting any yeses on the first day anyway, and besides it would probably be a part time job anyways. I also hope to stop at some other stores, such as Borders or Barnes and Noble, although I won't be limiting my search to just bookshops, of course.
A search is frustrating though because I feel I am at square one with no guidance. I recently found out that my university offers a class for students on how to search for a job. That's a class I wish I had had available to me when I was studying. As it is I feel rather clueless and like I'm at square one. When looking through job sites online it feels like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. So many jobs, but many of them I don't qualify for due to lack of certain skills or experience, or they don't pay well enough because they are just part time temp positions which would be nice supplements but not good enough on their own. Anyone, but especially RPCVs, what resources are you using? Just the RPCV website?
Also out here I feel like a fish out of water. Naturally I expected this transitional period to occur due to the fact I've never been out here in this part of the country before. But it is lonely. I look forward to getting out more on my own and meeting people (hence using the transit system). Despite having lived in bus-filled Germany, and combi-filled Peru, ideas of using bus lines and similar means of transport leave me reeling a bit.
Weather-wise it is yet to be seen how I'll react. Clouds and rain have usually been challenging for me, but how bad it gets depends. In Nebraska the weather was never a huge issue. I even looked forward to cloudy fall days and thunderstorms. In Germany the clouds and rain were a bit of a letdown but never a force that completely dropped me, and Germany's climate was indeed quite wet. In Peru I think it was more the isolation and difficulty of feeling from mud clean that was bothersome rather than the rain. In other words, my relationship with the weather is a back and forth deal.
So why do I want to look at Seattle? Because I've never been out here, I hear that it's gorgeous, and I'm curious about the culture. I've made no guarantee that I'll end up here, but I want to take a gander at the surroundings, see what kind of vibes I get, and see if I like it, simply put.
I will say though that I feel lonely. I would like to be around other Peace Corps volunteers from my group, and I get the feeling that a lot of them are near each other. To the people in my group who read this, is that true or am I imagining things? It seems like many of them are ending up in Boston, DC, or New York (DC is another place I'm going to potentially look at). I would like to stay in touch with my friends I made in the past two years if possible, and want to know if other volunteers will be seeing much of each other or not. I don't want to lose those connections and relationships.
Health-wise I'm getting back into running in the States. It's not fun to run in the cold, but another advantage to being out here is that it is usually warm enough to run. I'm trying to eat healthier, as I've put on some weight since getting home, and while frankly I probably needed to put on a little weight, I don't want to go down that slippery slope. I've also given up drinking soda. I still suck at this frankly, but the truth is I feel like crap when I drink it. I just feel unhealthy and depressed even. I'm addicted to the sugar I guess...I don't think it's caffeine because I can drink caffeine-free pop and still feel the same crumminess. Do I give it up completely? I'm trying to (although today I had a root beer :-S ). I realized that it's too hard for me to cut back on it, so it's either drink it or don't drink it at all. Whether or not I cut it 100% out of my life I don't know. Right now I'm trying to just quit drinking it with as few exceptions as possible.
Anyway, that's my story for now. I'll write again when I have a little to say about my trip out here.
Peace!
T
Almost a week ago I flew out to Seattle to see if I would enjoy living out here and find a job to support myself. I am staying with my friend Dylon, whom I met in during studying in Germany back when this blog started, and his girlfriend in their apartment in a small town just outside of Seattle itself.
So far I have a good impression of the place, although I regret having flown instead of driven, as it's difficult not having a car here. However, that's not all a bad thing since it will force me to get used to the public transportation, which is one of the things I was looking for in a city.
Yesterday we all went to have a look around Seattle for the afternoon. We mainly stopped at little shops, but at nearly every bookstore I visited I inquired to see if they could use another worker. They all said no, but I wasn't expecting any yeses on the first day anyway, and besides it would probably be a part time job anyways. I also hope to stop at some other stores, such as Borders or Barnes and Noble, although I won't be limiting my search to just bookshops, of course.
A search is frustrating though because I feel I am at square one with no guidance. I recently found out that my university offers a class for students on how to search for a job. That's a class I wish I had had available to me when I was studying. As it is I feel rather clueless and like I'm at square one. When looking through job sites online it feels like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. So many jobs, but many of them I don't qualify for due to lack of certain skills or experience, or they don't pay well enough because they are just part time temp positions which would be nice supplements but not good enough on their own. Anyone, but especially RPCVs, what resources are you using? Just the RPCV website?
Also out here I feel like a fish out of water. Naturally I expected this transitional period to occur due to the fact I've never been out here in this part of the country before. But it is lonely. I look forward to getting out more on my own and meeting people (hence using the transit system). Despite having lived in bus-filled Germany, and combi-filled Peru, ideas of using bus lines and similar means of transport leave me reeling a bit.
Weather-wise it is yet to be seen how I'll react. Clouds and rain have usually been challenging for me, but how bad it gets depends. In Nebraska the weather was never a huge issue. I even looked forward to cloudy fall days and thunderstorms. In Germany the clouds and rain were a bit of a letdown but never a force that completely dropped me, and Germany's climate was indeed quite wet. In Peru I think it was more the isolation and difficulty of feeling from mud clean that was bothersome rather than the rain. In other words, my relationship with the weather is a back and forth deal.
So why do I want to look at Seattle? Because I've never been out here, I hear that it's gorgeous, and I'm curious about the culture. I've made no guarantee that I'll end up here, but I want to take a gander at the surroundings, see what kind of vibes I get, and see if I like it, simply put.
I will say though that I feel lonely. I would like to be around other Peace Corps volunteers from my group, and I get the feeling that a lot of them are near each other. To the people in my group who read this, is that true or am I imagining things? It seems like many of them are ending up in Boston, DC, or New York (DC is another place I'm going to potentially look at). I would like to stay in touch with my friends I made in the past two years if possible, and want to know if other volunteers will be seeing much of each other or not. I don't want to lose those connections and relationships.
Health-wise I'm getting back into running in the States. It's not fun to run in the cold, but another advantage to being out here is that it is usually warm enough to run. I'm trying to eat healthier, as I've put on some weight since getting home, and while frankly I probably needed to put on a little weight, I don't want to go down that slippery slope. I've also given up drinking soda. I still suck at this frankly, but the truth is I feel like crap when I drink it. I just feel unhealthy and depressed even. I'm addicted to the sugar I guess...I don't think it's caffeine because I can drink caffeine-free pop and still feel the same crumminess. Do I give it up completely? I'm trying to (although today I had a root beer :-S ). I realized that it's too hard for me to cut back on it, so it's either drink it or don't drink it at all. Whether or not I cut it 100% out of my life I don't know. Right now I'm trying to just quit drinking it with as few exceptions as possible.
Anyway, that's my story for now. I'll write again when I have a little to say about my trip out here.
Peace!
T
posted by Tristan | 9:27 PM
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