I can see now why so many Americans can get complacent. I have watched more TV in the last couple days than I think I have in the last couple of months, maybe the last year. Its just so easy to through it on. I have been reading very little because I have the TV there instead. Although now that I have realized this I am trying much harder to sit down and read more. Still it takes a real effort and if you dont notice, then it would be easy to miss it.
Today was my first lesson with my new Chinese teacher. He seems to be really good, a little older, but something like 30+ years of teaching experience. And his accent is very easy to understand so thats nice. We met today for an hour and sat outside going through the first chapter of the text that I ordered but am still waiting for my copy to arrive. I had recently been feeling a little down on my Chinese, mainly because without the same opportunities to speak I am worried that it will fade like my French. But speaking with the teacher today, I felt pretty confident. I felt like I was taking in about 80% or more without problems and was able to understand all the concepts. Just need to work on pronunciation, which has been an area to work on since I started speaking, not just Chinese.
Now that the Chinese teacher is settled, I still need to find a job and place to live. I have been seeing lots of places, but so many are just strange. After my tantric love offer from the senior citizen I went out to see a master bedroom offer yesterday. It felt like a group home. It was a large house, but had something like 10 or more people living in it. In the living/kitchen there were 4 fridges, one for each person so they didnt have to share or worry about people stealing food. But still only one kitchen. Maybe if the group living there was more my peer group, but a couple of Japanese senior citizens, a young family and me does not sound like the match that I am looking for.
I saw one decent place over the weekend and I would take it, but the owner is looking for a longer term tenant and I am not sure that I want to commit to 6 months until I know where I am going to be working. If I can lock down the job at the UH campus near Manoa, then the room would be great. But if its in Leeward then the traffic would blow. But at this point it is looking like most of the jobs are going to be Honolulu and so housing nearby would be the way to go.... I have a few more places to see tomorrow and will keep following up with new places, but I would really hate to have then end of the month roll up and still be in this place. It is way to expensive. And it would also be nice to have a roommate to help with the meeting of people and getting to know to the area.
Finally on the job front, I think that the interview went really well. But I know that the process has involved several people and there is a good chance that some of the others may have the experience in student visa processing that seems somewhat important for the job. Tomorrow is a job fair that I am going to attend and then Wednesday I am going to start hitting the private English language schools that are in the city. I am also going to start offering to volunteer at some of the psychological services that I have tracked down in the hopes that it might lead to something paying... If I can get some cheaper housing it will make holding out for a job much easier.
Today was my first lesson with my new Chinese teacher. He seems to be really good, a little older, but something like 30+ years of teaching experience. And his accent is very easy to understand so thats nice. We met today for an hour and sat outside going through the first chapter of the text that I ordered but am still waiting for my copy to arrive. I had recently been feeling a little down on my Chinese, mainly because without the same opportunities to speak I am worried that it will fade like my French. But speaking with the teacher today, I felt pretty confident. I felt like I was taking in about 80% or more without problems and was able to understand all the concepts. Just need to work on pronunciation, which has been an area to work on since I started speaking, not just Chinese.
Now that the Chinese teacher is settled, I still need to find a job and place to live. I have been seeing lots of places, but so many are just strange. After my tantric love offer from the senior citizen I went out to see a master bedroom offer yesterday. It felt like a group home. It was a large house, but had something like 10 or more people living in it. In the living/kitchen there were 4 fridges, one for each person so they didnt have to share or worry about people stealing food. But still only one kitchen. Maybe if the group living there was more my peer group, but a couple of Japanese senior citizens, a young family and me does not sound like the match that I am looking for.
I saw one decent place over the weekend and I would take it, but the owner is looking for a longer term tenant and I am not sure that I want to commit to 6 months until I know where I am going to be working. If I can lock down the job at the UH campus near Manoa, then the room would be great. But if its in Leeward then the traffic would blow. But at this point it is looking like most of the jobs are going to be Honolulu and so housing nearby would be the way to go.... I have a few more places to see tomorrow and will keep following up with new places, but I would really hate to have then end of the month roll up and still be in this place. It is way to expensive. And it would also be nice to have a roommate to help with the meeting of people and getting to know to the area.
Finally on the job front, I think that the interview went really well. But I know that the process has involved several people and there is a good chance that some of the others may have the experience in student visa processing that seems somewhat important for the job. Tomorrow is a job fair that I am going to attend and then Wednesday I am going to start hitting the private English language schools that are in the city. I am also going to start offering to volunteer at some of the psychological services that I have tracked down in the hopes that it might lead to something paying... If I can get some cheaper housing it will make holding out for a job much easier.
No comments:
Post a Comment