Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Watching sports helps a frazzled Seattle girl.

Well, it was a great weekend for Seattle sports!  The Sounders came out with a win against Real Salt Lake, a team who is having a really good season.  The Mariners won 2 of their 3 games against the Yankees which felt really good.  Gotta love beating those guys!  As frazzled as I have been trying to get ready for Spain (both mentally and otherwise), it was really relaxing to just chill out in front of my beloved Sounders and Mariners and cheer them on.  Yesterday, I made it to the ballpark and watched as the M's beat the Orioles 4-3.  I didn't realized how much sitting in front of a game helped me to relax until these past few days, where I watched 3.5 baseball games and a soccer game.  Sounds like a lot of TV time, but the weather here is still pretty cold and gray so I don't feel too guilty.  I did take walks and get out when it was nice.

Also, I went up to the beach and spent a few days with my parents.  We discussed my plans for Spain and I began to read my Lonely Planet Spain travel book to see what it had to say about Seville.  I need to reserve a spot in a hostel for those first 2 nights.  I'm a little nervous to be alone for a few days but hopefully it will work out fine.  I had not considered until recently how much mental preparation I'd need for this move.  It's time for a big change and while change is not easy for me, sometimes in life we need to step out of our comfort zones in order to grow.  Spending those first few days all alone will be tough for me but I know it'll be fine in the end. 

My pastor recently talked to me about how I would probably want to consider finding some sort of church while there and I figure she's right.  My mental and emotional health will need it!  However, Spain is very Catholic historically (well after they took over the Islamic roots of the country), so I don't know what I'll find in terms of a church that is more mainstream.  I doubt I'll find anywhere as hippie liberal as my beloved UCUCC.  I mean hippie liberal as a term of endearment, I promise!  If nothing else, I'll listen to sermons from home off of our church website. 

Well, this is getting long and my workday is finally coming to a close.  Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

Abrazos y besitos,
Ashley

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Plane ticket: $$$, Jet Lag: Lame, Spending time in Sevilla: Priceless!

Hola!

It's official now.  I'm going to SEVILLE (aka SEVILLA)!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night, I bought my plane ticket from cheapoair.com.  I've never bought a ticket through them and am still figuring them out, but they had the best fare by a lot, and it's all the way thru to Sevilla.  I was contemplating flying to Madrid and then taking a train or local Spanish airline/Ryanair (yeah I know) to Sevilla, but I found a good deal on actually getting to Sevilla.  I'll fly through Chicago and Madrid on 2 different airlines (American and Iberia).  I'm psyched to fly on a Spanish airline and see what that's like.  It's likely the exact same but still.  They may have some neat Spanish touches, like British Airways does on their flights.  I flew them last summer and had a good experience with them.  I will need to research how movies work on Iberia air (cuz on a 8 hour flight, they're kinda crucial).

So it's happening.  I'm going from uber excited, to terrified, then back to excited.  This is going to be a grand adventure and I'm looking forward to personal growth, learning more about Spanish culture, improving my Spanish, making new friends with people from lots of countries, and the Mediterranean climate.  Let's not forget sangria.  Mustn't forget sangria!

I'm going to miss home a lot and that makes me nervous.  It's also scary having no idea when I'll be back.  I bought a one way ticket because of this.  Many people have told me that it's "gutsy", "courageous" and "brave" to do this, but I've never actually thought of myself that way!  I am afraid of speed, heights, and rides in general.  Truth be told, I'm kind of a wimp and certainly not extreme.  I suppose they are right though.  It takes a lot of something to go all alone to a foreign country where you don't know anyone.  I do speak the language and know the culture moderately well.  I figure if crisis strikes, I've got Megan and Brian in Germany and that's a lot closer than Seattle.  Let's hope all goes well and that I can find work so I don't have to decide between depleting my savings and leaving.  Also, I'm praying that I meet awesome new people in a hurry!  The first 2 nights I'm there will be spent in a hostel because I don't think I can get into my apartment until the Sunday before class.  We'll see.  On that note, fingers crossed for cool roomies!

Well, thanks everyone for support as I made my journey to this decision to go abroad and follow my heart to Spain.  I'm fascinated with this country and excited to experience new things.  More updates to come as I make further preparations.  If anyone has advice on Sevilla, or Spain in general, I'm all ears!

Besitos y Abrazos,
Ashley

Friday, May 20, 2011

Random thoughts about a job in customer service/hideous things customers said

Hello!

So I'm so excited to be near the finish line at work with Spain on the horizon.  I feel very strongly that everyone should have to work in a job like mine or in a retail job when they are young.  Some countries require their citizens to go in the army, and I think we should have our citizens take a turn working customer service.  It'll never happen but I can still wish.  I think this would be beneficial because people make lots of assumptions about those in customer service related jobs and are just downright awful sometimes.  Here are the assumptions that seem to have been made about us:

  • We are stupid and unintelligent
  • We are not well educated, let alone college educated
  • We don't listen
  • We don't know what we're doing
  • We're out to get our customers
  • We don't know what we're selling
  • We're super strict about returns/exchanges
Well, I know it is none of my damn business what others think of me (multiple sources have told me this), but it still gets really annoying to feel like I'm fighting stereotypes all the time.  Granted, there are many, many people who call in and are wonderful too.  Probably, I'm creating my own stereotypes of people from what I observe in my customers.  Maybe that's just as bad.  So far the stereotypes I have noted are: New Yorkers are rude, Southerners are kind, Texans and Oklahomans are friendly, Floridans are crotchety, middle aged men are degrading and think they're above everyone else, middle aged women and old men are impatient, East Coasters are in their own little world, folks from New Jersey are either really nice or really rude, New Englanders are chatty, Californians are brisk, and women will gave waaaay TMI.  Of course these are just stereotypes and I've had perfectly nice conversations with people from all 50 states.  I just have stereotypes about people over time.  In general we are very conceited as a culture and would benefit from learning to see the world with a "we're all in this together" attitude instead of a "what's in it for me?" attitude.

To show you about those who are less than wonderful, I will now quote several of the humorous, dumb and ridiculous things that customers have said to me over the course of this job.

"The only thing that is well loved is my women...and your men-because I'm sure you do that"
(In this case I had told a gentleman wanting to return 5 year old pants that his pants seemed to be in bad shape from being well worn and loved).

"You went to college?  Then what are you doing in a job like this?"

"I don't know if my husband wears boxers or boxer briefs.  What's the difference?" (Really, lady?  Just...REALLY?)

"Don't you people realize that Americans are just getting bigger?"
(In response to my reply that we don't carry plus sizes.  I've gotten this complaint several times.  My reply to her comment was that our company wants to encourage a healthy lifestyle...was that bad?)

"I don't care about anyone else's order but my own.  I just want my order in time for Christmas.  I don't care how hard they're working in the warehouse.  What are you people thinking having a company party at the holidays?" (Ok that's a slight paraphrase but those are all points she made)

I know there have been many more but I cannot come up with them off the top of my head.  I'll have to add them in later as they come to me.  I've learned a lot in this job, especially about how to deal with people.  That is a good thing and I appreciate it.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Spring has sprung in Seattle!

Hello!

Spring has sprung in Seattle!  Anyone who lives in Seattle knows that spring means it can be raining one minute and sunny the next.  It's been a little crazy like that lately.  The other week I timed it perfectly, running every other day because the 2 days I ran were sunny and the days I didn't were rainy.  On one of those runs, I was running down a residential street with apparently a lot of people who have green thumbs.  The flowers were all in bloom and were so colorful and pretty.  I could even smell lilacs and I don't know what else in the air.  It was so nice to be outdoors on a bright afternoon, smelling the sweet aroma of flowers!  This street in particular was just gorgeous.  I'm so ready for some warm weather, and yes that means I'm awaiting an 80 degree day!  To me, 80 is nice and warm!

What else?  Life has continued to be busy.  I counted and it's like 10 nights in a row that I've committed to something.  Yes, some of these times are just hanging out with people, but it still brought awareness to me about slowing down and making time to do stuff that needs to get done.  I have a list of stuff to do for Spain.  Most of it can wait but not all.  I'm yet to purchase my plane ticket because I'm trying to find answers to the following questions:
  1. Can I buy round trip even if I'm not there totally legally? 
  2. Should I buy one way or round trip?
  3. If I buy round trip, how much would it cost to change the departure date if I come home earlier/later than originally planned. 
  4. Are the rules for changing departure date different if I somehow get to use my frequent flyer miles?
  5. Can I somehow finagle using my frequent flyer miles (I know only to be used on round trip)
  6. What day should I leave?  How early if no one is going early with me?
And there you have it.  I've got work to do!  I need to get this done ASAP but it's not good to buy a ticket until you are absolutely sure when you are leaving.  Mostly, I've been held up by waiting to make sure I know if someone is going with me or not and to hear from the school in Seville.  I know when the class starts though so it'd probably be good for me to nail down a ticket anytime.

Nothing else to report for now.  Nala keeps waking me up at 2am, mean little thing!  So now I'm a bit tired from my 2:30am rendezvous with Nala.  Luckily she wakes me up with sweet kitty kisses on my cheek instead of with her claws.  My dad had to go to church with a big scratch on his face one time because my childhood cat had woken him up early with her claw.  Nala only licks, never scratches.

That's it for now.  Almost time to go home from work!  More later.  And hopefully I'll add some pics once I figure out how it's done!

xoxo,
Ashlita

Friday, May 13, 2011

So much to do, so little time

Well, for someone who's got free time at work, I'm certainly not doing an excellent job of updating this!  Life has been hectic lately.  I went from leaving my schedule very open to being busy almost every night.  It's too much.  I'm going a little insane never getting a night to myself.  However, I like seeing friends and babysitting and doing church stuff so it's hard to figure out what to give up.  I think I just need to mark certain days as "busy" and not commit to anything then so I can at least have a couple nights open each week.  Working long days makes you really want to just be home at night.  I think I'm also feeling that final push towards the finish line at work as Sevilla is nearing.  I will be there in 2.5 months!

What else?  I'm really craving a vacation or even just a staycation.  I just really need a day off to do something fun and relaxing like get a facial or lay out in the sun (if it ever gets warm here).  I volunteered last Saturday for 4 hours and then went straight to watch soccer so didn't get any time to just "be".  Of course I say this and then I'm bored in like .2 seconds of not having something scheduled!  Tomorrow is wide open and I'm leaving it that way.  I am looking forward to Memorial Day weekend and 4th of July weekend.  At least having a few 3 day weekends will be nice.  I'm also going to double check and see how many vacation hours I've got.  I might take a long weekend in June sometime.

Sooo, I think my being really tired is making this entry kind of boring.  I really don't have a ton of stuff to report on though.  Things are good.  I sent in my official deposit for Sevilla and have secured my seat in the class, so that's really happening!  There are some things to figure out though. 

I've got to figure out when I've leaving and get a plane ticket.  I'd love to go over a week early and hang out in Spain and get to know the city and stuff.  So that needs to be determined soon...whether I do that or not depends on if I can convince anyone to come with me.  Plus, there's the whole round trip or one way ticket.  I'd rather buy a round trip because it's cheaper in the long run, but it's hard for a few reasons.  One is that I have no idea how long I'll be there.  I might be gone 3 months and I might be gone 7 or 8 months.  It really depends on how it's going with finding work and just how happy I am there.  Also, I don't know if I can buy a round trip ticket for several months in advance when my tourist visa will have run out by then (in other words, I won't be there legally).  And I don't know who to go to with these questions because I don't know anyone who's done just this.  I'd like to try and use my frequent flyer miles but that may not be an option due to buying my ticket late and because I think that I can only use them on a round trip ticket.  I keep putting all this off, but I've never bought a ticket so close to leaving like this and it's starting to make me really nervous.  I want to get a ticket already!  Hopefully in the next few weeks that part will be taken care of.

Friday, May 6, 2011

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one"

Well the decision has been made!  I'm going to Sevilla for the TEFL course through TEFL International.  They seem to be a well refuted organization that has been around for a while.  I've been in communication with a consultant there for a month or so and he's been pretty helpful.  Actually, I applied with 2 organizations (as I think I mentioned in an earlier post) and the other one would have been my top choice just due to how kind and personable their people were, however-their course cost quite a bit more because it's CELTA instead of TEFL.  CELTA is associated with Cambridge college in the UK and that's cool but to me it's worth it to save the $500.  So I have to tell them I'm going with someone else.  I actually feel a little guilty doing that after they've been so nice!

So Sevilla!!!!!!!!!!  Wow, it's becoming a reality that I have to tell my boss I'm quitting in the next few weeks.  I want to give him like sufficient notice because he'll need some time to replace the wonderful lady that is me.  My last day will be sometime towards the end of July.

Nothing else new to report here.  I'm so tired.  Had a crazy day yesterday with work and soccer and getting stuck in traffic.  There was a bad accident on the Ballard Bridge and of course it was the first time in like forever that I didn't just stay on 99 and took the bridge instead.  It took me an hour and a half to get home!  I work 6.5 miles from home.  People: there's a reason they tell us not to speed or merge lanes on the bridge.  Multi-car accidents are not cool :( 

We were late for soccer because I got home at 5:55 and was supposed to be meeting my friend at 6:05 to carpool.  Oh well.  The game was good overall.  I'm starting to realize which guys pass to girls and which guys do not.  A few of them are awesome about it and have no qualms about passing to girls.  Others are not.  One even took the ball from me instead of breaking away for me to pass it to him upfield.  I was so miffed I didn't even know how to react.  Last night I got maybe 2 passes the entire 2nd half and I was wide open most of the time!  Yet, they would look, see me wide open, and then pass to someone else.  That was really degrading.  I can work on being more vocal and calling for the ball but I don't really get these guys acting like girls are inferior when they are choosing to play on a co-ed team.  It's their CHOICE to play with us!  They can be on an all guys team if they want to.  Anyway, off my soapbox.  Most of the guys on my team seem really nice and I've become friends with a few of them.  Even shared a beer with one last night ;-).  We had a little mini cinco de mayo party after the game.   

All for now,
Tu Ashlita

Monday, May 2, 2011

Sevilla bound?

Saludos!

Wow...I am not on top on this blogging thing at all lately!  La vida es bien ocupada.  Even when trying not to be overly busy, I keep getting too booked up.  Sigh.  One day I'll get it under control.  For now, I'm living for the free time I get on weekends.  Until you work in the corporate world of 9 hour work days + commute, and almost no time off, you really don't realize how hard it is to manage.  You just don't have any time for anything besides working, sleeping, eating, and exercising.  I'm trying to get used to it but I am not going to lie-I'm really looking forward to quitting my job and going to Spain. 

So on to more important stuff-I may be going to Seville or Sevilla as se escribe en espanol.  There are a few reasons for this.  It's funny because I was so set on Barcelona but now I'm thinking it may be Sevilla after all.  I looked at my compare/contrast of Barcelona and Sevilla in this this post and then considered information I've gathered since then.  Mostly I've learned that work prospects are better in Sevilla.  Also, every time I've mentioned Barcelona to someone, they've said it's not "real" Spain.  While I know all about Catalunya and respect it as being different than other areas, it is still part of Spain!  Still, I can't help but let those comments affect me a little. 

Also, I like the idea of being in a city that is "real" Spain in the sense that it has traditional aspects of Spanish culture (food, Spanish guitar, flamenco, Don Quijote, etc.).  So maybe I'm going to Andalucia?!  Andalucia is different from Catalunya in that it has the Moorish influence of Africa and the accent of Spanish spoken there is quite unique.  I'm a little nervous that my accent is going to become too Spanish and not enough Mexican upon my return if I go there, but at the same time, I don't think it'll matter too much in the long run.  I liked Barca because I've been there and know the city a bit, but I know I could get to know a new city in time and seeing a new place would be really cool!

I am still not 100% sure what decision I will make because I was very set on Barcelona before.  I want to let Sevilla sink it for a few days and see how I feel then.  I'm starting to get very aware of the fact that I could be quitting my job in just over 2 months!  It also freaks me out that I'll ultimately buy a plane ticket at the last minute.  I'm such a planner that this gives me some anxiety but it also seems like it's just going to have to be this way. 

Nothing else new in my life.  That's it for now!

Hasta pronto,
Tu Ashlita