In a Different Country...

Idaho is really fun because of the people I am here with... but there are some times when I feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere. For instance, I have had some problems with keeping up my grooming practices. I have been to three stores and none of them had my hair color. They only carry like two shades of blonde... so I am having my mom send my color to me. I finally found a place that does eyebrow waxing... but they don't do it well. The girl totally messed up my brows, but at least they will grow back. From now on, I only want asian women to wax my brows.

After that horrible experience, I was nervous to get a haircut. For various reasons, I didn't get a cut before I left LA. I have had the same guy cut my hair for years, and was very scared to have someone else cut it. It turned out to be a good experience, except when the 24 year old hairdresser asked me, "Are you married?... I was the last of my friends to get married (at 22!)."

Fun in Idaho?! Hell Yeah!

I've been having a blast in Idaho. I am starting to like my job, even if it involves long hours and waking up early. It's very materials-based, which is awesome. The best part is that I work with a bunch of fun guys, who make me laugh often. They also laugh at me often. About 6am my first day on the bus to the site there was a crazy lightening storm. I haven't really seen lightening like that before and was totally entranced. Just about when all the engineers start to fall asleep, I acidentally say outloud, "woah!". Lately I have full-on ran into the desk and was offered medical assistance, hit my head on the bus, and said some silly stuff. A couple of the guys started a quote list by me. The list includes:

"What do potatoes look like?" (i meant above ground....)

"I didn't know Nebraska was next to Wyoming until I saw my shower curtain last night."

"But everyone else got highlighters!"

Living in a Town of Saints

I have been in Idaho for about five days now. Overall, it is way less boring than I thought it would be. There is a great place in town that serves good wine and beer, and when we went they had a jazz quartet. The guys that live in my building are fun; we play poker and drink lots of beer together. Last night a few of us even shotgunned some natty lite. It was hilarious. I have drank every night I've been here... there isn't a whole lot more to do. Last night we went on a beer/liquor run, but discovered the liquor stores arent open past 9pm on friday and saturday, 6pm during the week, and not at all on sunday. They dont sell liquor in grocery stores... it's very different.

It's a very nice area to live. There is a river running through the town, and paths all around it. Last night four of us went on a 'run' near the river. The altitude killed me, I ended up walking most of the five miles. On the plus side of altitude effects, its much easier for me to feel buzzed.

I haven't gotten too much into work yet, mostly just been badged and attended presentations. I will be working about an hour away though, taking a bus, and will end up being gone about 12 hours a day. The hours will be difficult at first, but it will be nice to have every other friday off. I will probably be doing hands-on materials lab stuff, which will be awesome. My mentor is really nice, fairly young, and super athletic. I totally thought he would be like 60 and all the other fellows would be antisocial. Things are about as good as they could be.

Quotes:

B- "From the back, you guys look like a mormon couple"

me- "this car isn't a rice rocket!"
M-"that's true, it's not even a rice."

The Simple Life

I am currently safe and happy in Idaho. On monday I finished my finals and headed to Vegas. I was pretty nervous about traveling alone, but it all turned out great. I got to Vegas, headed up to my room, looking forward to a shower. My room turned out to be at the very end of the hall, around the corner, and facing the stairwell... completely isolated from the rest of the rooms. I was uncomfortable, so called the front desk for another room option. The women said they only had rooms with loud music until 3am or ones that needed a couple of hours to be cleaned. I was trying to come up with a decent compromise, but was hesistant. Then she found out I was only there for one night and immediately put me in a suite. It was totally awesome. There was an entryway, a living room with a widescreen flat tv, another widescreen flat tv in the bedroom, and smaller flatscreen tv facing the jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. The bathroom had two sinks and a nice large shower. I was so stoked. I cleaned up and went down to Toby Keith's bar.

I was feeling sort of lonely when I first went down to the bar. It was a crowd of mostly middle-aged women and they were playing country music videos on all the tvs. It turned out to be a pretty fun night though. I talked to the bartenders, who seemed grateful to have a young person around. The gave me free beers and I even shot-gunned a redbull with a bartender named 'Chocolate Thunder'. The bartenders were mostly young cute guys who liked to juggle alcohol bottles and stand on the bar to pour free shots into people's mouths. It was very amusing to watch.

The drive to Salt Lake was mostly uneventful except for the crazy weather; alternating between pouring and sunny. In Salt Lake, I stayed with a very nice Mormon family. The kids were adorable and the mother very sweet. The only strange thing was when the 7 year old said, "I want to work for a couple of years, then quit my job, get married, and have kids". A 7 year old!

When I arrived in Idaho the next day, I got lost 3 times in town before someone found me and had me follow them to the destination. I unpacked, went grocery shopping, had a couple beers at a local place, then got to know the guys in my building over a couple more beers. Everyone seems nice and interesting and I think it will be a very fun summer. I just have to get used to waking up at 5 am to take the bus to the site I will normally be working at....

Yet Another Fresh Start

I am sitting in my mostly-packed up room and its super weird. I am leaving for Idaho very soon and it feels like a big deal. I will only be gone 2.5 months, but I have this feeling of excitment about the future. It will be my first time leaving California for this long, staying in a hotel by myself, and moving someplace where I won't know anybody. I have no idea what to expect. I know it will be super fun, but I am sure I will miss my friends. I will especially miss my ex, because he doesnt want me to contact him for two months, which will be extremely difficult. That unnecessarily dramatic situation has made me emotional lately. I really value my friends and can't imagine not having someone I care about be there for me.

As a perfectionist, I am always thinking about situations as 'new starts'. Every quarter, calandar year, new apartment, etc. is an opportunity for me to make things better. Being newly single and leaving for this fabulous fellowship is a great new start for me. Updates in the near future.