I get to cross another one off The List! On our first day in the city I told Erin I had a little surprise for her. I think I got her hopes up by saying that, but I was really counting on her to like it more than she actually did.
Okay, we went to the New York Public Library!
I have walked past it at least fifty times, but I had never been inside. And better yet, I didn’t have a library card. And now, now, I do.
Before we left for the city my mom reminded me of how excited Erin was to get her first library card in Saratoga. It was one of my mom’s little tricks to make the move to Saratoga sound exciting. More and more of these tricks are surfacing as I age...
While I knew I didn’t need to coax Erin to be excited for the move to the city, I thought she would enjoy it! Honestly, I did.
When she figured out what I had up my sleeve on the subway, let’s just say she was less than thrilled. Then, when we looked like tourists, and not locals, while in search of the library card station, I thought she was going to lose it. And to top it all off, I made her take photos to document the experience. And of course, my camera accidentally flashed in the reading room. Mortifying.
She's really good at pretending to look happy.
Here I am, in NYC, acting just like my mother, and completely embarrassing my 15- year- old sister. But, I checked another one off The List! Erin is now reading a book, has visited three different branches, and she is proudly displaying her NYPL card on her keychain. I’m pleased with my surprise, and I think Erin is too, even though she will never admit it.
So, I have referenced the cruise, and told you about the lap of luxury that we kids enjoyed for the week, but I haven’t told you anything else!
Much to my dismay, there isn’t a lot to tell. My parents are seasoned cruisers at this point, and they always have so many stories to tell when they return from another chunk of days at sea. But after this cruise, I’m beginning to think they make all of the stories up. The two of them would come home with stories of crazy characters in the dance club, by the pool, in the dining room, and wandering about aboard. They would often give the characters names based on the outfits they would wear, the way they spoke or the way they carried themselves.
Erin and I attempted to do the same on this cruise, but without much success. We spent the week calling one girl “Rhythm,” because she didn’t have any. We called two brothers “The brothers.” And we called an older man with particularly impressive dance moves “Hips.” But that was it. And those are far from memorable.
I so badly want to believe that all of my mother’s stories of Elaine-like dancing, massive cleavage and couples in Hoverroun- oun- oun- oun- ounds are true, but after this week, I’m finding it challenging. Except for one small detail: my mom has pictures of her characters! Why on this ship wasn’t there anyone exciting to make fun of? Does that just mean everyone was making fun of us? Oh, well. Here is the basic rundown, without characters.
Elaine dancing. Classic.
We spent our first day at sea before coming into Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. Garvey and I went scuba diving for the day while my parents, Chip and Erin relaxed on the beach and later by the pool. Scuba diving was great. I saw my very first sea turtle! Woohoo!
Day at sea
Our night at sea was the first formal night.
Grand Turk
The next day we spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We met up with the Holland family and enjoyed an authentic Puerto Rican lunch. After lunch, while the rest of the 12- person party explored the Old Town, I beelined it for the nearest place with free wifi, Senor Frog’s. I spent far more time there than I want to admit, but it was necessary. Erin and I were just over a week away from moving to NYC, and there were a few things that I needed to take care of.
First arriving in San Juan
Old Town
The party of twelve, minus me.
On Thursday, my mom, Erin and I rented beach chairs and an umbrella in St. Maarten. We drank our beers (and sodas) while watching Chip and my dad spend the morning racing a real America’s Cup sailboat.
The woman selling hats on St. Maarten. It reminded me of one of my favorite books, Caps for Sale.
Friday was another day at sea before hitting our last stop, Half Moon Cay, on Saturday. Half Moon Cay is Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas, and it is stunning. If Disney World were an island, this would be the island, but I loved it. It was spotlessly clean, with over two miles of the softest white sand beaches I have set foot on. Honestly, going on a cruise will never give you an authentic cultural experience, so why not enjoy the perfect island experience? Half Moon Cay was great!
"We're over here! Over here!" Oh, yeah, Dad? Is that where you are?
Our shells for the day.
"Look at Chippy. It's just like the old days with him and his pink boat on a string."
Job searching. Finding a job. Looking for a job. Job seeking. Nope, I am not doing any of those things. Ladies and gentlemen, I am job huntin'. And you have to say it with a deep southern accent, when you swallow the middle part of the word. Job huntin'. That's what I'm doing.
I have officially lived in New York City for five days. Five whole days is beyond the amount of time you can count in hours, and therefore, I live here. And while Erin and I have taken part in a variety of activities and accomplishments throughout the city, unfortunately, I have spent a large amount of time in front of my computer. Bummer. Yes, I have been working on my resume, cover letters, applications, and huntin' for jobs in general. My recent google searches include: "how to write an awesome cover letter," "include in cover letter," "format resume," "jobs in nyc," and "thesaurus.com." My next searches will probably be along the lines of "free things to do in nyc" and "living in nyc on a budget." And depending on how long this unemployment lasts I may begin searching "making blogging a profession."
But, all is not lost.
Thanks to Allison and Stephen I had two phone interviews today. Score! I also just submitted an application for a position that could be pretty darn perfect, and surprisingly enough, I am qualified for!
For the time being I am going to continue applying here, there and everywhere and sending good vibes out into the universe. I'm not into all that hippy dippy stuff, but in this waiting game, sometimes there isn't a whole lot more you can do.
Now that my brief blogging break is over, I'm back to job huntin'. Anyone need an outgoing, intelligent and hardworking employee in NYC? She has a pretty rockin' blog...
When I visited New Zealand I was going through a very tough time. I was leaving Thailand, knowing that I had only 48 hours left with my best friends for more than 2 years.
Jennifer and I talked a lot. She could clearly see the internal demons I was fighting. I was struggling with emotions from all different continents, corners of the world and different relationships. The first thing she addressed was the issue of Paul. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know if Paul reads this blog or not, but either way, it won’t change the story.
Jennifer first asked me what the real relationship was between the two of us. So, to clear the air for all of you wondering, (I like to pretend I have people following me out there) we are best friends. From the moment we began spending time together, Christmas eve of 2009 to be exact, we were instant friends. Something between us clicked. We understood each other. We understood each other’s sense of humor, and at times, lack thereof. There was something about us that worked. From the moment it happened, I was thrilled. Yes, I had Koreana in my life, and living right next door nonetheless, but I craved male friendship. I had spent the majority of my life having a male best friend, and I missed it. Throwback to the years in grade 4 and 5 with Garret, 7 and 8 with Joey, 10, 11 and 12 with Kareem and Devin, university with Drew, and Dave when I would come home for the summers... Well, you see the pattern. I always have a male best friend in my life. And yes, while in the past I have had some trouble with mixing friendships with attraction, I have always had man friends, and I am still in contact with all of them.
So when I arrived in Paekakariki and Jennifer said, “tell me about Paul” I responded as I would to anyone: “he is my best friend.”
I told Jennifer a little about him, how we first met, where he is from, etc. And for those of you who don’t know, he is from New Jersey. Yes, as my mother said in her loudest, and most motherly voice, “you went allthe way to Thailand to meet a boy from New Jersey?!” Yes, I did.
After I finished the basic explanation, Jennifer waited, allowing me to finish my thoughts, hoping the silence would coax me to continue. When I didn’t she asked, “is that it?” I think she, just like everyone else in my life, thinks that he and I have had something more than just friendship going on. She eventually broke the silence by saying, “well, from reading your blog, he clearly plays a huge role in your life. I thought there was something more there.” (Jennifer, please forgive me if I have misquoted you, but this is how I remember the conversation)
She was right. Jennifer was completely right. He did play a huge role in my life. He was my best friend. He was my coworker. He was my drinking buddy. He was the owner of my Manao’s dog friend. He was my business partner with the after school program. He was my exterminator. He was my Didine- eating, movie- watching companion. He was my moving company. He was my taxi company. He was my voice of reason. He was my voice of immaturity. He was my everything. Nearly.
Coming back to New York was thrilling. I was beside myself when I was able to see Kareem again. My eyes welled up with tears when I saw Devin. And Dave, well, he made a few inappropriate comments, I blushed and told him he was embarrassing me, and we were back right where we had left off. Now all of these boys are short phone call or text away; I don’t have to dial internationally, use precious minutes and hold my breath for the off chance he may pick up the telephone. But with Paul, I have to do all of those things.
I’m incredibly grateful to be back in the States and close to so many of my friends and family members, but I still miss Thailand. And I still miss Paul.
Unfortunately, there are zero photos of the two of us. So here is a dark, blurry and cropped PhotoBooth photo.
We have better photos of our dogs than we do of ourselves.
