I've applied for several Christian school jobs in Columbus, but haven't heard back from any yet. I'm debating whether to apply to public schools since Christian schools pay even lower than I expected.
Apartment hunting has been the biggest challenge so far. Kevin, Kraig and I were hoping to live together this summer in Columbus. Obviously, there are hundreds of apartments in Columbus, but finding ones that offer 3 month leases has been difficult. And then we've gotten caught in a catch-22 because most apartments won't let you lease if you are unemployed. But we can't find jobs unless we know where in Columbus we'll be. You need an address to get a job and you need a job to get an address! You can't win! Fortunately, I have found a few places that are a little more flexible and will allow you to lease as long as you can pay for the whole 3 months up front. So, I'm still looking into those places and also looking into subletting from Cedarville students.
The cell phone is at a stand still because we are trying to get a family plan, but waiting on Kraig to get back here from China. Things are more complicated and expensive than I expected and everything is taking twice as long to do!
So, that's the update on my "to do" list. I've reunited with several friends in the area, but still have many more people to call/see. I've gotten to spend a lot of time with Kevin and gotten to know Kraig's girlfriend a little. I've enjoyed many of the things I missed from America: driving, Arby's, Dr. Pepper/Cherry Coke, Mountain Dew, Cheez-It's, Mexican food, American bread, cheese!, instant meals, many other foods, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, American TV, the smell of fresh cut grass, fresh American air, corn fields, and many other things I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention. My favorite thing, by far is the English everywhere!! I can read and understand everything and even eavesdrop on people in public! :) This doesn't necessarily mean I can figure out how to do things here in America! It's a complicated place with so many rules! But, I'm slowly figuring things out and trying to get settled. I'm very anxious to get into an apartment and finally unpack my suitcases and stop mooching off of Kevin! :)
Things that have changed in America since I left:
- Americans hate Bush even more than before. There's even a cartoon called Lil' Bush that mocks our president! Only in the USA...
-People are even more obsessed with global warming, saving energy; being "green"
-Gas prices, of course have just continued to climb. It's been between $3.25-3.49 lately.
-Cedarville has finished the outer construction of an entirely new building for the Bible department!
Areas of reverse culture shock for me:
-People wearing shoes in the house instead of taking them off at the door and wearing slippers! I just can't get used to it again- it feels so wrong!
-Remembering to throw the toilet paper in the toilet, not the trash can! I've gotten so accustomed to not flushing T.P.
-The lack of recycling in most places. After Taiwan's obsessive recycling; I feels so wrong to just throw everything away together!
-The sun sets so late! I had forgotten about that! It's so weird to still be light out at 8pm!
