throwing my hat in the air

i'm here in minneapolis. at bob's java hut. sitting in front of the window all the way at the end. do you see me?

stalker.

so minneapolis is great so far. i'm in love with the fact that i'm in love with every restaurant/cafe/shop i've stepped foot into thus far. i'm also applying to a few cafes and such because i need a new job. i don't want to work six hour days at a downtown borders fully of smelly shopping cart people. i love borders. but not that much. i'm supposed to start a week from today, i'm hoping i'll find something else soon so i can call them and let them know i may or may not be working there full-time.

what have i done so far? al and salsa picked me up on saturday, we stopped to get lunch at al's work and brought it back to her aunt's house. it was delicious. i took kimchi outside and discovered he's a pathetic hunkered-down-legs-slipping-out-from-under-him-ice cube if he has to walk on snow or ice. i finally found a patch of dirt, so he no longer stands there shaking and alternatively picking up his back legs so they don't freeze.

it's not even that much colder than nueva york, the ground is just more snowy and icy.

saturday night we went to grumpy's, a bar, and had bloody marys before going to a club to see al's coworker play in his band. they were pretty good and the place was pretty full. after that we considered going to see redman because we had free tickets, but decided we were too tired and headed back.

yesterday i met salsa at muddy waters and we sat at our computers mooching off of the wireless internet and drinking coffee. after that we went down the street to al's work and mooched for food, coffee, wine, and a chili chocolate truffle.

today al and i went to chris' for lunch and finally got to meet the beloved pooch nino. then i met salsa here and FINISHED MY GRAD SCHOOL APPLICATION. hooray! i really hope that this goes through all fine and dandy, because i just want the closure to know yes, i'm getting my masters, and yes, there will be a career at the end of the tunnel.

that is all.

what am i doing?!

i don't know why i'm taking the time to write this, but i figured this might be the last time for a while, at least until i get all situated.

i'm in the midst of packing... aka a mad rush trying to figure out how to get everything organized, considering all i can really take with me are two suitcases of clothes. i have to get everything else packed up so my parents can just throw them in the car when they drive out to see me.

took kimchi to the vet today to get his health certificate to fly. seemed just like old times, except i could actually converse with the vets there.

i got together with everyone last night, jude even made a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting decorated as a crying face. it was awesome. we also ate a ton of artichoke dip, cheese, triscuits, and a stick of french bread. the french bread, which i refuse to call a baguette, was disappointing. much too soft. damn you, hannaford french bread!

and a final note, i am in the application process for hamline university in st. paul. i started looking at schools other than the u of m and discovered hamline, the number one rated school in minnesota, is much cheaper than the u even if you are a resident. so i'm just going to go for it. i requested the transcripts, my letters of recommendation are being written, and the application form is filled out. all that is left is my essay, which i already have a very rough first draft of.

i'm actually very excited about this program. part of the requirement is either two years of a high school second language or one year at a university. that was very exciting considering i took four years of french that will actually count for something. i found it amusing that i needed my high school transcript to get into grad school. but man i can't wait to study french again.

i also realized that after i graduate, maybe i'll take my degree and move to france to teach english there. that would be simply amazing.

i don't want to get too ahead of myself, considering i haven't even been accepted. keep your fingers crossed.

such a sap

some things never change. old yeller was on tv and i watched it for the first time in probably ten to fifteen years. still get teary eyed.

i'm at celeste's now, waiting for her to get home from class so we can go to diane's and have "christmas" all together. celeste and i traded presents last night because we couldn't wait. she and chris got me three months of netflix, three movies at a time. super exciting. it's also super exciting that i'm going to have a roommate again who can also get excited over things like that. i got celeste the first season of 21 jump street on dvd and little miss sunshine. i'm such a great sister.

other than that, what are your thoughts about training to be a court stenographer? they make anywhere from $17.95-28.40 an hour. i've always been a great typist and i didn't win the outstanding student award in my high school typing class for nothing. seriously though, it's something to consider. especially considering i just got my hours at the borders store i'm transferring to and i'm only getting six hours a day. something is telling me it's time to look for a better job.

it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine

i've been watching too much wayne's world in the break room at work.

it's official. the "fabulous apartment" is ours. you have to admit that's exciting. i had a good feeling about it from the beginning, taking the green walls as a sign that it was meant to be because my bedroom is the same color.

also noteworthy, american idol's first city on the list of auditions was minneapolis. it actually was kind of boring. tonight's episode in seattle looks to be much more interesting. maybe i'll move there instead.

no, i think i'd rather be in prince's native land. because nothing compares 2 him.

edited to add...

the day turns more interesting. about an hour ago i heard a loud bang. i looked outside, thinking something had fallen, but didn't see anything. about a half hour later i let the dogs out. hetty came right back in, wanting nothing to do with the ice. my mom looked outside a few minutes later and said something along the lines of "oh my god!" i thought that an old person had slipped and fallen at the post office or something, unaware that the post office was closed due to the holiday. instead, she said "judson's outside!"

turns out the loud bang was a HUGE branch from our giant maple tree that had cracked and fallen under the pressure of the ice, thus creating an opening large enough in our fence to allow dogs of all shapes and sizes to sneak out and create heart attacks. luckily exhibit a was dumb enough to forego his newfound freedom and came galloping right over the second he saw a bag of treats. so now i am stuck on dog duty... no dog is allowed out without a leash. and at some point we're going to have to remove that damn branch.

really?

the time is just past 8 am. why am i not at work? as i write, the streets of schaghticoke are covered with ice. my mom woke me up a little before my alarm went off at 6 and said i was best off not driving in. we were going to carpool, but dr. gleason told her not to come in until 11:30/12. i spent the first hour and a half of the morning trying to find another number for borders because they don't answer the regular number in the morning. finally i was able to get through at 7:30-ish by randomly hitting numbers after dialing the regular number. genius! i told them there was no way i could drive in today, but my mom might be going into clifton park later today so for now i was calling out but i might come in later. they said ok, and call later if i was going to come in. i'll probably just end up staying here because really i never call in (see previous post) and i slept like crap last night, which brings me to my next topic:

the move. things are slowly coming together. the past week or two have been full of questions such as "how am i really going to get there?," "who is going to drive with me?," and "are we really going to find an apartment for february 1?" plans that i never bothered writing about have been changing left and right, but this is the (seemingly) final one. i bought a plane ticket to fly to minneapolis on saturday january 27th. even kimchi made his reservations, and this time he gets to fly in cabin with me! i'll be getting in at 1:20 in the afternoon, just keep your fingers crossed that the weather allows that, considering i have a 1.5 hour layover in chicago. either celeste or my parents are going to drive my car out there later in february. none of us were keen on making the trip at this time of the year.

as for apartments, alisun looked at and fell in love with an apartment yesterday. and it has green walls! she said everything's nice and new and clean, and the landlord seems to be a good guy. though i haven't met him, he seemed quite nice in the email.

al called last night to give me her renting history so i could fill out and send in the online application. the problem with that was i had already been asleep for a few hours, so when i went back to bed, i couldn't fall asleep for another couple of hours. as a result, i slept like crap and i can feel my damn swollen lymph nodes when i swallow. oh how i love the lingering effects of mono. at least i have the day off to catch up on sleep and relax. and hopefully by tomorrow we'll know if the apartment is ours.

saranghae, kim jong kook

first of all, it's a little after seven on new year's day, so obviously i didn't have a big night out. i have to work today (thankfully the store doesn't open till eleven, which means i don't have to be there till ten... whoo!)

the original plan, a month or two ago, was to get a hotel room in saratoga on new year's eve with some friends, but we procrastinated too long on that and they were all booked. then we were just going to go out, but that too never came to fruition. jude and i decided we'd maybe do a potluck at my house and then head out to saratoga, but a few factors were working against us: jeni was sick, which means joe was out, too; amy couldn't do dinner; and the weather was possibly going to become icy and crappy. and secretly, i was kind of tired and not feeling like going out. amy went to some parties in saratoga which we opted out of. instead, jude and matt, who were on the same wavelength as me, came over and we had a mini feast and called it an early night. it was a nice quiet new year, which is what i was craving. by the way, thanks everyone for your happy birthday/new year messages. and boy do i have questions for some of you...

i now have a minneapolis date, which is making me even more excited. i'm planning on heading out there the last full weekend of january, maybe friday the twenty-sixth. that way i can get my bearings before starting work and moving into our new place, which we're hoping to have by february first. also fun, my mom is considering taking the road trip with me. i'm sure she's not too keen on the idea of me doing the drive all by myself. that made alisun excited because she thinks our mothers would really get along. i talked to the store manager at the downtown minneapolis store yesterday, she sounds really nice, and it sounds like i'll be working a schedule of tuesday-saturday, or maybe if it opens up monday-friday. and just like the store here they need daytime workers, so it sounds like i'll have a cushy set schedule. she told me to call her when i get out there and they'll just add me on.

as for the apartment, alisun is doing most of the dirty work. turns out it's just me and her, because salsa is applying to a million teaching programs and doesn't want to screw us over by making us find a new roommate later in the year. but it will be nice to just have two people sharing the space. al is looking at places uptown, and we're hoping to find a decently priced home or duplex instead of an apartment.

ANYWAY. that wasn't even why i really wanted to write this morning. i was surfing around and found this video.

this was my ring tone in korea... it's really called sarang surowon, but the song was translated for youtube. how can you not bop around to this? i love it plainly for its cheese factor. the video is like a korean wake me up before you go go. many a times have i busted out into a spontaneous dance party at the local 7-11 because this song was playing. i even had a class of kids, who knew i loved this song, print out the lyrics so they could play the song and sing along to it for me.

apparently this song was such a big hit because (at least according to a student) kim jong kook usually sings "slow sad songs" and this is a very "happy song."

so sit back, relax, and let your toes tap away to a classic piece of korean pop culture.