Status: Employed

At least for now.

A week and a couple of days ago, I had an interview at Starbucks. It was a fairly formal but friendly interview with two different people, one a store manager, the other a manager in training. The interview went well enough, but I didn't answer some questions as well as I could have, and honestly, I don't have any experience. I didn't get the job, to my disappointment, but also to my renewed determination. I went about handing out resumes like nobody's business a couple of days later, and sat back waiting for a possible phone call. This was a great exercise in my confidence; just walking up to someone and trying to show them how great I am in a three second conversation was a challenge.

The next day, I got a phone call from Starbucks. A different Starbucks than before. I had applied to several in one go, since that's what their online application process offered me. I missed their call, and by the time I called back, the manager wasn't in. So I called back the next morning, and went in for an interview that afternoon. The manager and I chatted a bit, I learned what the company is like, I asked a few questions... And then she asked if I wanted to try working there. Bam. Just like that. Most casual interview ever, much more comfortable than the other one, and she didn't seem to care that I didn't have experience, she just wanted to know that I'll do my best to work hard and serve people well. I think the main thing was that I said I actually cared about people, and wanted to improve their days as much as possible, it wasn't just for the sake of getting the job done.

So, cool story. I start on Monday. Apparently their training is pretty intensive. But, I survived the IB program, so I figure I can live through almost anything :). We'll find out.

Here are some reasons why God is good:
-I was extremely confident going into the first interview that I would be the best person ever for the job, and everyone would be proud of me for getting it, and I would breeze through my first job easily, blah blah blah. When I didn't get it, it was a beautiful slap in the face. And it's easy to say this now that I'm employed and happy, but it sucked at the time. I didn't realize how much I had been counting on that job.
-This Starbucks location is in an Indigo, which means a few things. Firstly, that I'm surrounded by books and nice things all the time. Secondly, that there won't be the same crazy morning rushes that other Starbucks' experience. And speaking of mornings, thirdly, the store opens when the Indigo does, at 9am. NO ABNORMALLY EARLY MORNING SHIFTS FOR ME.

Okay. That's it. Still waiting to hear from Cape Town. Still wanting to get snail mail from anyone who feels like writing to me? :) And I'm thankful that I'll soon have something to do with my time, so I won't be such a useless pile of lazy.

Back to Not School

This is the first time in, oh, 13 years or so, that I'm not in school at this point in the year. It's weird. Normally this would be a thrilling, busy, new time in my yearly cycle. Well, right now, I could call my life mildly thrilling, yes; busy, NO; and new, yes. The whole feeling of being on a new adventure hasn't quite left me yet, thankfully. But my daily schedule is so uneventful... I've read three books and watched six movies in the last week and a half. Seriously. But now I can add the movie Good Will Hunting to the (miniscule) list of movies that have made me cry. Possibly because it was 1am and I was over-tired. But who knows.

Bottom line is, I really need to get a job. But I'm getting more creative with my job searching, and possibly a little more desperate :) We'll see what turns up. It's funny, since I don't feel that anxious about actually getting a job. I more just feel that I'm wasting everyone else's time, the longer I go without one. Like I'm wasting my basement room, I'm wasting everyone's confidence in me to be productive. I don't know. It's actually only been 9 days or something, so I don't plan on losing faith too quickly.

However, in other news, I found a really sweet church today. Well, yesterday technically, since it's Monday now. It's called Abundant Life Church (from the verse John 10:10), it's within walking distance of my house, and I went into the service not knowing anyone, and came out knowing a dozen people's names. I also thought I was late coming into the service, but they started 15 minutes after their service officially starts. I like all churches that don't take punctuality too seriously. And I got invited out for Lebanese food for lunch. If that's not a winning church, I really don't know what is. I declined the invitation this time, but if you know me at all, you know that I will hold them to that invitation until it is fulfilled.
I think finding some friends in this city will be good for me. Friends that can hold me accountable and maybe keep me company while I watch movies. Sigh. I've forgotten what one does with friends.

Well, that had potential to be a positive paragraph and turned into a sad commentary on my life. Ha.
I feel as though I should go to bed soon. One of these days I'm going to have something to do in the morning, but by then I'll be so used to my staying up 'til 3, waking up at 3 schedule, I won't even know when the morning is. Okay, my schedule's not that extreme. But I reckon it could be problematic.

Thanks for reading. Oh, I forgot to mention that I found an HMV that was going out of business the other day, so I did get to purchase four CDs for $30. Jamie Cullum's 'The Pursuit' is so good. Just FYI.

So Here's the Deal...

No one seems to be able to keep track of where I am nowadays. Or what I'm doing. Or what my plans are. And really, even someone with a lot of patience can only answer the same question so many times. Once you repeat the same response enough times, it starts sounding boring even to you. Even though it's not. It's incredibly exciting.

Hence, the blog. Hopefully this will put even the most curious souls at rest about my whereabouts. And I'll probably throw in some other items of interest to my posts. Otherwise I could have just created a Twitter account.

So, let's get started with the updates.

My current location is Calgary, Alberta. I'm staying at my Auntie Karen's house, living in a sweet suite in her basement. And I am hanging out with her cat Sprinkles. The purpose of my residence in Calgary is to find work as soon as I can, to save up for schooling. I've applied to several jobs, and hopefully the search won't last too much longer.

Why am I not trying to start a career in Ottawa, you ask?

Well, for one, the home in my hometown just up and moved to Tanzania. For two, jobs are easier to come by in Alberta. And for three, it's pretty awesome living close to the extended family you only get to see once every two Christmases.

You also may be wondering, why is she not in school?

Valid question. My first choice of post-secondary education is the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Their school year begins at the end of January-ish, so their application process is obviously later than most Canadian universities. I've applied there, and am still waiting to hear from them.

Whether I get accepted or not to Cape Town, I'll be heading to Dar es Salaam (the city in Tanzania where my parents live) for Christmas. If I'm going to the UCT, I'll head there after Christmas sometime. If not, I honestly am not really sure what I'll do. Perhaps I'll go back to Calgary and finish the year off working. If that's the case, then I'll go to Carleton University in the fall of 2012, for a Bachelor in the Humanities. [I think I'll explain my choice of university and program in a later post. This one's getting long enough.]

I think that covers most of the essential information. If there's anything you're still wondering, feel free to ask in a comment or send me an email or text or Facebook message or postcard or whatever creative form of communication you can think of. I appreciate all the concern and prayers and support and everything :) I'm doing really well, and I'm living in excited anticipation for what's to come.