A REAL Job.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my whole "crisis" about doing good things or getting rich. ( Thank you for all your encouraging comments, by the way. It really helped.)

I made my decision and decided to go with the job that pays less but will let me do good things. I figure, I'll get rich later. I'm still completely lost on what I'm passionate about, but you guys had a good point when you mentioned that your job shouldn't necessarily be your passion. I just hope I like it. I'll just take it one day at a time, like I've always done. I'm SOOOOOO not a planner. I plan trivial things like what to wear for the entire week, but I never have planned what I'm doing 5 years down the line. Did I ever tell you how I applied to the college I ended up attending? My mom threw it in a pile of applications at the last minute. I halfheartedly completed the application form, didn't even take a look at the essay question and just sent in the same one I wrote for USC, and sent it off. Bada bing, bada boom. It's amazing I got in at all. ( I got rejected by USC, though. Them bastards. They'll rue the day, I tell ya.)

Anyhoo, eyes back on the original topic.

I took a new job at a non-profit service center as a Case Manager. It's a bit like a social worker, except that I won't be dealing with children and childcare issues. I'm supposed to help low-income families get affordable housing and employment. Most of the clients are Latinos, so I'll be utilizing my Spanish. Finally. I'm slightly hesitant about my language skills, but part of the interview was in Spanish, so I'm hoping it's good enough.

I'll be saying Adios to the temp on Friday. I have to say, with all things said and done (mainly bitching about it), I've learned quite a lot from this temp. First of all, the office was a completely different country. I learned some valuable business Japanese and customs. ( I do have some issues with the custom part, but I digress.) I learned a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeensy bit about banking. ( Minuscule, but at least it's something.) And most of all, the people were really nice. In the beginning, they were a bit confused as to how much Japanese I understood, or how much about Japan I knew and had experienced. There were times when they would ask me a question equivalent to "Do you know what a hamburger is?" and other times when they expected me to know complex structures of Japanese corporations. It's given my a prospective on how gray my position is in the wider spectrum of what it means to be Japanese, and Japanese American. I don't want to get all preachy and analytical, so I'll leave it at that.

I'm excited for my new job, and I'm sad about leaving the people at this one. But that's what I do. I move on to the next.

Oh by the way...

It's this person's birthday pretty soon...


So.

HANNAH I MISS YOU!!! I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL YOU COME HOME!!

I've been soooooo lacking in the picture department... I'll try to fix that.

CIAO.