life less ordinary
Things have settled into about what feels appropriate. I'm no longer rapid cycling between feeling rather accomplished and absolutely useless but rather at a happy medium of "whatever, take it as it comes." I think it helps a lot that I've gotten through the majority of first-impression "welcome homes" that made me feel like a bloody dancing monkey. From here on out, I'm pretty much free to do what I want. Here's the breakdown:

I'm working full-time until Friday at Justin's workplace (a sign company in Seattle, for those who don't know) doing shopwork in the back. This makes me a) the only female employee and b) the only girl in the shop for over three years. I expected to feel more out-of-place than I do but I'm actually rather at home with the guys. I think if I worked with women I might actually be more likely to be put off. To my delight, I've been adopted by design on several occasiont and taken away from the monotony of my usual job-- the treatment and assembly of no less than 1500 acrylic nameplates for Microsoft-- to handle some work in the signlab. Eight hour days are more tedious than I rememberd but much less stressful.

Last Friday, as I mentioned before, Justin and I went to sushi at our favorite place (we used to be once-a-week- regulars there) before assisting with an easy win in our friend's naked sushi competition. The SPCC was much tamer than I expected, probably because Naked Sushi was a sushi event and not a bondage night. Although there were plenty of voluptuous ladies there wearing less than I expected, most people were in fact dressed in street clothes-- or UtiliKilts-- I'm told those have replaced chaps in the S&M community. I served as a hostess for Monk's sushi, shuttling platters of it around whilst minding my yukata. I daresay my host family (and real family-- hi guys!) would be surprised to discover the places I've worn my summer kimono. It helped me make some interesting friends...

Saturday we slept late and then I rearranged Justin's new apartment, as any good girlfriend should do. [Except that I was muscling around bookshelves and stuff.] In the evening, we attended the Carmina Burana at the Seattle Symphony and went for a late sundae and hot chocolate at Dillatante's on the Ave. Despite that it's July and we should be OUT of the rainy season, the weather here in Seattle has been both piss cold and rainy.

Sunday we drove down to Eugene, where it was a dry 20 degrees warmer (sweltering, in fact) and still pollen-y enough to trigger my allergies. I, of course, hadn't thought to bring medication. Whoops. First things first, we went to Katie and Dave's (Jewish!) wedding, which was beautiful, drank a lot of Murray's dad's wine, danced some, and talked late into the night with our best(estest) friends, Micah and Rachel.

I also toured the triplex unit in which I'll be living next year and chatted with the roomies. I don't think we'll kill each other too quickly. ;-) I was looking forward to trying to find a studio or one-bedroom this year but living alone has now paled in comparison with the prospect of living in a duplex/triplex complex rented entirely by friends. Whee!

I took my written Japanese placement exam early on Monday morning. The test was challenging but not nerve-wracking and because there were no questions I felt I COULDN'T answer (even the reading section, which I mostly bullshitted), it took long enough to make me half an hour late for my lunch date with Justin, Alex and Kristin. I felt like an ass... and then had to run off in another quick half-hour for my oral interview where the prof looked at my scores (incomprehensible to me), asked me a few questions [in Japanese] about Japan and promptly told me that I was awesome and could enroll in whatever classes I wanted. Score one.

Went back to my old work to say hi and the Boss Man said he'll give me another position like my ex-job. Score two.

Decided to drive back LATE Monday night and went for a hike up Spencer's Butte in south Eugene with Rachel and Micah... then proceeded directly to Beppe and Gianni's for excellent Italian (that place is still my favorite!). We didn't hit the road for Seattle until nearly 8PM, after I called Orbitz to rebook my ticket home from Michigan to Glacier, MT [indirect]. Nevertheless, we didn't get in until nearly 1AM last night. That's not to say I didn't sleep the entire way... because I did.

The schedule for the rest of the summer is as follows:

July 17th- August 19th: Unpaid internship at Montana Magazine in Helena, Montana working with dear friend and editor, Beverly Magley. Hopefully some back-country hiking in there as well. Odd jobs... need a new pair of hiking boots and maybe convertible pants, as mine seem to have been lost somewhere between Japan and home. Oops.

August 19th- August 30th: Fly to Michigan to visit hometown and family while traveling with parents and sisters.

August 30th- Sept 6th: This year's Glacier trip... slightly short but surely sweet. Provided the park doesn't threaten to burn down the cabin again. Planned summit: Siyeh mountain (among others). Planned fun: that's a secret.

Sept 6th onward: Pack and move to Eugene, probably with a side-trip down to San Francisco before classes start on the 27th.

That's the sum total of all the parts at the moment. I'm feeling more introspective an analytic than that but as I'm still waffling a bit about how I feel, I figure I'll give myself a few more days to sort out all the loose ends. Until then...