- checked bags at optimal weight of 45 pounds?
- three carry-ons successfully carried on?
- study permit acquired?
- canadian money exchanged?
- taxi ride taken to new house?
- new landlords met?
- groceries procured?
- dinner eaten?
- family contacted?
- blog updated?
Mission(s) accomplished! For today at least.
I am in Vancouver and it is *beautiful.* It's so green--there are so many trees--and it's just generally gorgeous. There are mountains! My taxi ride was through pretty neighborhood after pretty neighborhood and my new place is built on a ridge with an incredible view of downtown. I've seen lots of bikers and the city seems very bike friendly (yay!). The local Safeway is a ten minute walk and my school bus stop is a mere five. My landlords have been lovely and hospitable.
I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Ah, that's right, it rains here. And as usual I've left behind lots of people and places I love. I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too, even if you're not a gluten-free eater.
Anyway, tomorrow's projects are as follows:
- public transportation
- finances
- unpacking
The fun never stops! Stay tuned for the next episode of "Christina experiments with being Canadian."
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
the simple (and well considered) life
This always happens when I come home--I think I have all this time to relax and organize my life and spend time with my family. Then all of a sudden I have three days left and a whole mess of things to do.
Case in point: dealing with my clothes. Gathering all my clothes in one place for the first time since I left for college, I have reached the following conclusion: I have too many clothes. Corollary: clothes are a pain. I am thankful that I have enough clothes to be adequately (sometimes even attractively!) clothed, but I start to wonder when eight pairs of shoes is my bare minimum to be prepared for all wardrobe (and weather) eventualities. I'm inclined to believe monasticism had it right--a vow of poverty is the best way to reduce both hassle and the burden of possessions. Fashion, packing, and matching shoes become a non-issue when you're wearing the same thing every day.
I like to think that it's my year of LVC-induced "simple living" that's bringing about this change of attitude towards my possessions, but it's more likely that I'm just tired of carting my life around in a suitcase. 100+ pounds of luggage gets old after awhile.
Along similar "life value" lines, I stumbled across this article about twenty-somethings on facebook and it made me think. I fit nearly all the descriptions of this new "emergent adult" ("untethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes...avoiding commitments...forestalling the beginning of adult life." Check, check and check!) and it's kind of interesting to be a subject of sociological interest. I agree with the psychological nitpickers at the end of the article: I don't think emergent adulthood is a required step of psychological maturation; I'd say it's simply a cultural phenonmenon resulting from the optimism of the Millenial generation, enabled by the middle-class privilege retained from the baby boomer generation. That said, it's real and (I think) worth studying. I'd be interested to know what the experts, and eventually history, decide--is this emergent adulthood good or bad? Is it good to be financially independent? Undoubtedly. Is it good to do good in the world and seek a life goal, if that opportunity is available to you? I think so. The million dollar question: are the two mutually exclusive? As one stuck in it I'm not sure I'm the best one to judge. I certainly have gone the route of "seeking" instead of "growing up" per se, but I hope that doesn't mean it's not possible to do both.
It is a little bit of a blow to realize that in my apparently unorthodox life path, I am actually behaving like a predictable young adult of my time. So much for being unique and thinking out of the box. I guess it's okay to be on the gospel train if you're bound for glory.
Case in point: dealing with my clothes. Gathering all my clothes in one place for the first time since I left for college, I have reached the following conclusion: I have too many clothes. Corollary: clothes are a pain. I am thankful that I have enough clothes to be adequately (sometimes even attractively!) clothed, but I start to wonder when eight pairs of shoes is my bare minimum to be prepared for all wardrobe (and weather) eventualities. I'm inclined to believe monasticism had it right--a vow of poverty is the best way to reduce both hassle and the burden of possessions. Fashion, packing, and matching shoes become a non-issue when you're wearing the same thing every day.
I like to think that it's my year of LVC-induced "simple living" that's bringing about this change of attitude towards my possessions, but it's more likely that I'm just tired of carting my life around in a suitcase. 100+ pounds of luggage gets old after awhile.
Along similar "life value" lines, I stumbled across this article about twenty-somethings on facebook and it made me think. I fit nearly all the descriptions of this new "emergent adult" ("untethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes...avoiding commitments...forestalling the beginning of adult life." Check, check and check!) and it's kind of interesting to be a subject of sociological interest. I agree with the psychological nitpickers at the end of the article: I don't think emergent adulthood is a required step of psychological maturation; I'd say it's simply a cultural phenonmenon resulting from the optimism of the Millenial generation, enabled by the middle-class privilege retained from the baby boomer generation. That said, it's real and (I think) worth studying. I'd be interested to know what the experts, and eventually history, decide--is this emergent adulthood good or bad? Is it good to be financially independent? Undoubtedly. Is it good to do good in the world and seek a life goal, if that opportunity is available to you? I think so. The million dollar question: are the two mutually exclusive? As one stuck in it I'm not sure I'm the best one to judge. I certainly have gone the route of "seeking" instead of "growing up" per se, but I hope that doesn't mean it's not possible to do both.
It is a little bit of a blow to realize that in my apparently unorthodox life path, I am actually behaving like a predictable young adult of my time. So much for being unique and thinking out of the box. I guess it's okay to be on the gospel train if you're bound for glory.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
to the single ladies!
Dear Bon House girls,
We've all talked about this before, but I love and cherish you all. I'm going to miss you, as individuals and as a collective.
Thanks for the year.
Love,
Christina
We've all talked about this before, but I love and cherish you all. I'm going to miss you, as individuals and as a collective.
Thanks for the year.Love,
Christina
Saturday, August 7, 2010
graduate school?
This year of LVC has been like a graduate course in "real life." I haven't missed college this year because my mind has been so engaged with all the new, real-life stuff that I've been learning about through my work, my housemates and living in DC. At our house retreat last weekend, Nora shared something she'd written for her school's alumni network--alums were invited to post mock-courses that described what they were living and learning in their time after college. Aha! I said. It's not just me. So this is my list of "courses" that I have taken this year (with thanks to Nora for originating GWS/MUS 287).
EDUC 350: Advanced Topics in Adult Education (no prerequisites)
RMCS 230: Washington Natives: the story of Washington D.C.'s black community
MATH 005: Elementary School Math for Former Math Majors
ENGL 200: Basic Grammar and Usage for Writers of GED Essays
ECON 215: Simplicity and Sustainability in Collective and Personal Budgeting
GWS/MUS 287: All the Single Ladies: Female Empowerment through Communal Living, Pop Music, and Learning to Like People Different from You Even Though They May Drive You Crazy
PE 207: Urban Biking
HEALTH 115: Cooking for Food Allergies and Picky Eaters
EVS 010: Composting for Dummies
EDUC 350: Advanced Topics in Adult Education (no prerequisites)
RMCS 230: Washington Natives: the story of Washington D.C.'s black community
MATH 005: Elementary School Math for Former Math Majors
ENGL 200: Basic Grammar and Usage for Writers of GED Essays
ECON 215: Simplicity and Sustainability in Collective and Personal Budgeting
GWS/MUS 287: All the Single Ladies: Female Empowerment through Communal Living, Pop Music, and Learning to Like People Different from You Even Though They May Drive You Crazy
PE 207: Urban Biking
HEALTH 115: Cooking for Food Allergies and Picky Eaters
EVS 010: Composting for Dummies
Monday, August 2, 2010
an embarrassment of riches
Blessings of the weekend: having Friday off, having a van, having a van with 7 seats/seatbelts, having a van with tons of storage space (even enough for Alli's bike), having a van with a not-crappy engine, having a van with a/c, stopping at McDonald's on the way out of the city, listening to 94.7 Fresh FM, getting to Callie's family's farm in Palmyra (our destination), lounging in the house a/c, petting the house cat, swimming in the pool, making Emily swim, making gaga faces at Callie's niece Lucy, hot-tubbing, watching a lot of disney movies and then doing feminist critiques of the heroines, playing Beatles rock band, reading books, running around on the ATV, hiking, writing, eating ice cream, listening to our "bon house music mix" on grooveshark, drinking wine and cocktails, having dinner together, having "intimate" conversations, complimenting each other, sleeping, doing Buddhist chant, giving/receiving massages...coming back to a city where we have jobs (at least for another week and a half), a house and hopes/dreams for the future.
For people who only make the equivalent of 4.86/hour, I'd say our lives are pretty good
For people who only make the equivalent of 4.86/hour, I'd say our lives are pretty good
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