I’ve just disconnected my dial-up internet to write this entry in Word, so I have no idea what I said in my last posting, nor do I particularly want to re-connect until after I have finished writing this. Jeez, I remember that dial-up “bee-boop-beep” sound from back at Maggie Junior High, when the only computer in school that had internet was connecting to that mysterious World Wide Web. These days the only thing that keeps me feeling technologically superior is the relative technological ignorance of my mother. (It’s a pretty lame way to feel good about yourself, let me tell you).

Did I mention this? I have a job now. Two, in fact. I rejoined the ranks of Opus Framing and Art Supply for the Christmas Season… turns out I have a flair for retail, and they’ve asked me to stay on part-time. I’ve figured out the keys to being good at retail sales:
1) smile a lot,
2) never, EVER take anything personally (what a waste of emotion and energy!),
3) keep moving (as Nate’s ex-boss at Tim Horton’s said to him, “If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean!”) and finally,
4) if you don’t have an answer, go get one.
That’s it. Those are the four tricks. Now, go razzle-dazzle ‘em in the retail world.

Yes, I remember. I did already talk about this. So you know I have a job starting on January 5th, teaching English as a second language. Right.

Well, I won’t bore anyone with repetitive details. I would go on and on about Christmas, but I’m already about ready to take the tree down-- which is funny. I’m usually somewhere in mid-January before I hit that point. Anyway, I’ll say this about Christmas; it didn’t go as planned, due to some pretty severe weather, but it was lovely nonetheless. I got a lot of playtime in with my friends’ kids (aged 2 and 5)-- we built a snow fort and a leaping snowman (Morgan stuck the stick ‘legs’ in him at hilarious angles) and I ate a lot of turkey and stuffing and Brussels sprouts, and we made a puzzle and drank egg nog and we all just generally made merry. Which is what you’re supposed to do at Christmas, right? Right. I did miss my family… a little bit. I’m sure they had fun without me.

I’m finding that Christmas doesn’t really hold the same power over me as it used to; it probably has a lot to do with my break from the church. I have a hard time reconciling the birth of the Christ child to the commercial insanity that the unbelieving masses tout… I don’t really know where I stand on it. I don’t ever celebrate Christmas without thinking of baby Jesus, but I feel like an impostor as much in a church as in a mall. There is indeed great joy in giving and receiving… but when is enough too much? And if a custom becomes a habit, stripped of its original motivation and purpose, is there any real value in it?

Whew. Heavy. I just feel very burdened by the excesses and dichotomies of the Western world sometimes.

Regardless. I am grateful for all that I have, and I am ready for what’s next, whatever it is. I wish the same for you.

Namaste,

Endrene

December has been the whirlwind it usually is.
Failing finding an ESL teaching position quickly after my course, I returned to A-1 Pallet for a week, then scrambled to find the next survival job. My ability to find an appropriate ESL position was sabotaged by my own wishy-washiness about WHERE I wanted to teach… I had my nose stuck up in the air over the local teaching positions in Surrey and Coquitlam… but if not local, where?

Anyway, I went into Opus Framing & Art Supplies in Langley (my pre-Japan job) and talked with the manager about joining the team as a Christmas/Boxing Day elf, and have been working there for about three weeks. Honestly, it’s been fun. I love art supplies; I love organizing them and learning about their viscosities and pigment loads and ferrules. Oh, I even love art supply terminology! The customers are great, too. I especially like the Christmas shoppers who come in, saying, “I dunno. She likes to paint…” it’s like a mystery I have to puzzle out.
Me: What kind of paint?
Customer: I dunno.
Me: Does she use solvents?
Customer: No. (OK, not oils)
Me: Does she paint on paper or canvas?
Customer: Canvas.
Me: (OK, not watercolours, must be acrylics…)

Anyway, I just got a (local) job teaching two Korean children for 15 hrs. a week, starting on January 5th. I’m going to the school this coming Tuesday to get more information about the curriculum and expectations there… I’m pretty excited. It’s a foot in the door, and I’m looking forward to meeting the kids.

Oh... and I have the prettiest Christmas tree ever. Nathan and I got it from the same tree farm that he worked at last year. She is all sparkling in reams of tacky tinsel and tonnes of those extremely breakable balls and baubles... some of them quite antique. I love to make my tree look as much like my grandmother Shepherd's as possible. That means lots of colour, and a whole lot of glitter. All is well.