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.