Survey Time
Jun. 12th, 2012 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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midnight21. I like these surveys - I like to talk about myself, I suppose is what it amounts to. They're good for when I don't want to talk about other things, or when I don't have time to get into a big long complex emotionally charged entry.
Have you ever visited your country's capital city?:
Washington DC? Yep. It's very expensive there. They pay enormous amounts of sales tax on everything there, and then are taxed additionally on dining and entertainment, plus the cost of living is astronomical. There's also a lot of crime - Philadelphia has more (I think...) but it's still pretty bad. Cool, huh? I've never been inside the White House, but I think I have been inside the Lincoln memorial and the Washington monument. This was all a very, very long time ago though. My dad was briefly doing some business in DC and he brought my sister, my mom, and me along for a little vacation. At the time, I was more impressed by the EXTREMELY FANCY hotel we stayed in (his work payed for it) than anything else I saw. There was some kind of event going on in the ballroom of the hotel, so the lobby was full of men in tuxes and ladies in evening gowns, and I was all OMG RICH PEOPLE! I figured people who had lots of money wore evening wear all the time, lol
What are your plans for next Thursday?:
I have school. I have school AT school, and then I have an online class with virtual meetings. So I could in theory attend my online class ALSO at school, which I might, if I feel like staying in the city all day.
When was the last time you were outdoors for over an hour?:
Today. I take public transportation so I spend a lot of time outdoors, nothing is exactly a direct trip or door-to-door. I also go outside and look at my garden for a little while every morning. I've never grown things outside before and there's so much stuff, I like to take the time to look at how it all changes from day to day. And I get my morning sunlight that way, release all the happy chemicals in my brain and all that. If I was hardcore, I'd push my manual chair around my neighborhood for a while in the mornings too, but... I'm just not that hardcore. I tell myself I'm saving all my motivation for school, but... I dunno. Maybe I'm just lazy, or maybe I'm just self-sabotaging, I don't know.
What is the shortest amount of time you've lived somewhere?:
Well, define "lived." As in, "lived" vs. "stayed." I mean, I spent three weeks in Jason's apartment in Wuhan and it was starting to feel like I lived there, I mean there was the spot where I slept and a place where I kept my stuff and my food and etc... but I'm not going to count that as living there. I LIVED in Cape Town SA for about two and a half months - I had responsibilities there (I worked for a church), and had a transportation pass, and was registered as being a foreigner who was allowed to be there, had a phone number where ppl could reach me - stuff like that. I guess I can say I was LIVING there because I expected to be there a little longer than I actually was and had set things up as if I was going to stay for a while, not just stop in for a visit or whatever.
What's your favorite kind of mint? (Peppermint/wintergreen/spearmint/etc.)
This is a weird question. I like mint tea...
What was the last thing to frustrate you?
I frustrate myself, daily.
What was the first movie you ever went to see in theaters?:
I think it was The Little Mermaid, but I'm not sure. I looked at IMDB for a while, going through the mid-80s movies trying to see if one sparked a memory of having seen it in the theatre. It's definitely not something I did very often, my parents kind of didn't believe in media or spending money, so that kinda cuts out trips to the theatre. Disney is different, though, cause that's ART, so I thing it might have been The Little Mermaid, I vaguely remember seeing it on the big screen and the timeline matches up.
Do you do volunteer work, or have you ever done any in the past?:
I have not done any volunteer work since I have been old enough and skilled enough to be paid for what I do. When I was a teenager I did things like volunteer at Sunday School and at a church camp, things like that, but since then my time has become more valuable to me and I don't know if I could stomach doing WORK without getting PAID. I guess because at the time, I did it because I was bored and it was something I enjoyed and I thought it would look good on my itty-bitty resume or college applications or whatever, and as an adult volunteering is more like charity work, you know, giving of your time and effort for a good cause. I haven't had any available time and effort to give in recent years, nor the desire to do so
When I was in college (the first time around) one of my professors was in charge of an after-school/weekend program for high school students. She said she needed a lot of help with the program but she could only pay student workers who had work-study as part of their financial aid package. She wasn't getting enough work-study students, though, so she was asking for volunteers who didn't have work study to work for free for a few hours on the weekends, just for the experience and a line on our resumes. I was all for it - I wasn't old enough to be thinking "ugh, volunteering, doing WORK for FREE? HELL NO!" I was just thinking, ah, good, work experience, I can do this, I am good with kids, I want to be a teacher anyway, I need to get used to working with older kids too (cause really they were only a few years younger than I was, and I could sense a potential for awkwardness in a teaching environment there) and I knew that my friend (and room mate) Daniel worked for the program and taught a class and really loved it (he got paid tho, cause he had work-study) and I was like OH YES SIGN ME UP!
My professor was delighted, took my info, assigned me to a grad student who was teaching a drawing class, and told me what time and day to show up and gave me the schedule for the semester. I arrived early, and, kind of nervous (as I am in any unfamiliar situation with strangers where I have to make a first impression) but sucking it up, I introduced myself to the teacher (the grad student I was supposed to be an assistant to) and shook her hand (she looked at me like I was a whack job) and specifically introduced myself as her assistant and mentioned the professor in charge of the program, saying I was in one of her classes and she gave me the job of TA a few days ago, and asked her if there was anything I could do to help her set up before the students arrived.
She told me I could just take a seat at the desks she had set up in a circle, and I asked her if she was sure I couldn't do anything, and she said to just sit down, which I thought was weird, because I had introduced myself and I thought she would then introduce herself to ME, and maybe give me some kind of overview of what she was going to do with the class, or what she might need me to do for her, or hand me the syllabus to look over, or even send me over to registration to help the HS students find the classroom, or ANYTHING, but she told me to sit down, so I did.
Then the students began arriving, and when they were all sitting, she introduced herself to the class and handed out a survey sheet for everyone to fill out with their contact info and their previous education in drawing (like was this their first drawing class ever, were they AP art students in their HS, were they returning students to the program from last year, that kind of thing) and I felt really weird about that, like if I was her assistant, she could have had me hand the papers out, so I got up and asked her if I should just fill one out too, so she could have my contact info or what, and did she want me to collect them when everyone was done, or anything at all???
She told me to just fill it out and sit down, so... I did, but I started feeling very weird, like I just wanted to get out of there because stuff wasn't really adding up and I was feeling super awkward. She gave everyone a sheet of newsprint and a charcoal crayon and had everyone turn their desks to face each other in pairs, and there was an odd number of students, so I turned mine to face the girl next to me and said, hey, cool, I would LOVE to do this too, and you need an even number of people too, that's ok right? But I kind of said it to myself - I mean she had already handed me a sheet of newsprint and everything.
Following? She thought I was a HS student. Like, one of the kids in the program. I was maybe 20 or 21 at the time, but I can see looking HS-aged I guess. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I INTRODUCED MYSELF AS HER ASSISTANT, AND MENTIONED THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM AND THAT I WAS IN HER UNIVERSITY CLASS. I kept going over and over in my head what I said to her when I first spoke to her, but it all sounded reasonable, responsible, professional, etc, and she did make eye contact with me and everything, it's not like she was distracted doing something else and I didn't have her full attention. But she thought I was some over-eager or incredibly arrogant HS student who was constantly asking "do you want ME to do this menial task like filling out contact info as well? You don't understand, I am BEYOND that. In what way can I brown nose you?"
As we drew she walked around looking at everyone's work and she complimented mine (of course, since I'm fantastic at portraits AND HAVE HAD ACCESS TO COLLEGE LEVEL DRAWING CLASSES, unlike the HS students I was drawing with) and even said something about me having a mature style (ARRRGGGHHH!) and after that exercise I became fixated on ways to just escape the entire situation. I decided to be as professional and responsible and mature as I knew how, though, and just waited for the break time to start and approached her again and introduced myself as her assistant a second time, again mentioning my professor and stating again that I was a college student. She said she was glad to have me, but she didn't really NEED an assistant, it was just a short weekend class and she pretty much had everything worked out herself. I told her I was probably going to be an education major and wanted the chance to work with HS-aged kids instead of elementary like where most of my experience was. She said she would try to find something for me to do but that she REALLY didn't need an assistant.
This was kind of the opposite of what my professor had told us in class, I was under the impression that the program was seriously understaffed (and underfunded) and that she badly needed student help - instead I felt kind of like a pest. I mean she just told me she didn't need me. For the second half of the class I tried to just take initiative and do stuff like collect and hand out things, and walk around and comment on the students' work, but at the end of the class when I tried to help her pack her stuff up she told me AGAIN that she didn't need an assistant. I decided to just speak up, and told her that I was given the opposite impression by the director (who was my professor) and that she told us she needed more help than what she could pay people for, and was asking us to volunteer, and that was why I was there, because I thought I was NEEDED. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "she has you volunteering?"
That was the last time I volunteered for anything. That was the last time I went to the class, too. When Saturday rolled around the next week, I'd been kinda worrying about what I was going to do, how I was going to get past this awkwardness and make this whole TA thing worth while and how I was going to get something out of it (because I really wanted to put on paper that I was involved in the after-school HS program) but when it came time to leave for campus, I just... didn't go. I just felt this huge wave of FUCK IT, she doesn't want me there anyway, she told me so herself, several times, and OBVIOUSLY I'm not needed. I'm not wasting my time with this. She never tried to contact me, and my professor never mentioned it. My friend Daniel soared in the program - by the next year he was doing a grad student's job even though he was an undergrad, being paid like a grad student (something like 1k a semester per class) to teach a Saturday morning and a Saturday afternoon class, loving it, and getting rave reviews. I had tried to take the opportunity to get involved, it totally bombed, and... I had no idea what to do. Looking back... I guess I could have gone back to my professor and said, hey, she clearly doesn't want an assistant, where else could you use me? You said you desperately needed help, and I want to be involved. But I was just so humiliated after that first day... it was so awkward and embarrassing and I felt like a little piece of trash... but yeah, that was the last time I volunteered for anything.
Have you ever been to a bachelor or bachelorette party?:
No, but I am a bridesmaid in my sisters wedding so I guess I will go to one soon!
Did any of your family members serve in WWII?:
Not for the US army, but it's possible I could have some relatives who served for another country. I've got a big family.
What's your favorite kind of salad?:
Hmmmmm.... chicken with apples, white raisins, and walnuts over baby spinach is pretty good...
Are you more realistic or idealistic?:
I like to think I'm a little of each.
Do you have a home security system?:
No.
Have you ever been to Ohio?:
Never.
Are you currently borrowing something from someone?:
I guess you could say I'm borrowing some medical things from my insurance, since I don't get to keep them when I'm done needing them and I didn't buy them...
Is anyone currently borrowing anything from you?:
My boyfriend uses my stuff like it's his, so it's highly likely.
What is your last name's heritage/country of origin?:
My last name is Mexican. I feel like it's kind of misleading. I think people see my name and expect me to be bilingual, and while I do speak Spanish pretty well, I studied it in school and I don't sound anything like a native speaker and could never work as a translator, or even have an easy time speaking Spanish over the phone. And I think other Mexican people see my name and expect me to have been raised with cultural similarities to them, and I really wasn't. My dad is Mexican, as in, born in Mexico and grew up there, but he wasn't around for much of my growing up and my mom had her own culture to raise us in. I don't identify myself as Mexican-American any more than I identify as any other [whatever]-American and I've seriously considered changing my last name to something a little less identifiable. Maybe even back to my mom's last name, which is how it shows on my birth certificate anyway. Or I'll marry my boyfriend and change my last name to HIS. OK probably not, but you never know.
When did you last buy a new pair of shoes? What kind?:
Uh, last week, and they're Converse One-Star Juniors. I'll post a pic. And I don't need any more shoes, for any reason. I now have every sort of shoe I could ever possibly need to own. No more new shoes!
Is your car paid off, or do you make payments?:
I sold my car when I started school again. I owned it, but I couldn't afford the payments and since I was back in the city, I didn't really have a use for it anyway. Public transportation was easier.
Have you ever experienced culture shock while traveling? If so, where?:
I fell asleep on a bus in Ireland and woke up looking out the window. We were driving on the "wrong" side of the road and the signs were in Gaelic. It startled me for a second.
The poverty I saw in Africa really shocked me. Like, it REALLY shocked me. I still find it shocking now. I don't know how else to describe that.
I saw human bones in the desert in Egypt and police with guns accepting bribes. Also men refused to speak to me or make eye contact with me.
I was in Italy during the start of the Iraq war, and the non-violence of the anti-war/anti-USA demonstrations shocked me. To me a demonstration like that was something to steer clear of for fear of getting caught up in something nasty, not somewhere to sell ice cream and balloons.
The poverty in Viet Nam shocked me.
In China I think the rudeness shocked me the most. The staring and the spitting and the gross bodily sounds that no one hides in public was a real surprise and hard to get used to, and did I mention the STARING? More than once strangers commented on me being left handed, or me not being with my family, and more than once, while eating in a restaurant, every other single diner crowded around our table to watch us "try" to eat with chopsticks, like they assumed that because we were white our struggle to eat would entertain them, and were laughing amongst themselves about "no fork, no fork." (I can eat with chopsticks. I thought everyone could?)
Korea looked like the future. Or Futurama. It felt so much more foreign to me than China, because I had been preparing to go to China for quite some time, studying Chinese and all, and I was with people who lived there and could smooth over any cultural misunderstandings and etc. In Korea, suddenly we were ALL out of our comfort zone. I'd say it was the most foreign-seeming place I've ever been. Like a different world. How much do you know about Korea? I knew next to nothing. It was close to the east coast of China, and a lot of their citizens left to come live in North Philly. That was IT.
Thing is, when you travel, you EXPECT a little culture shock. REVERSE culture shock, when you come home after a long time living in someone else's culture, it's really hard cause how do you prepare for that, and who's there to guide you along? I KNOW this happens to ppl other than me - it's been kind of odd watching it happen with someone else though, and then someone else again. Interesting, but odd.
Are you able to see the stars at night where you live?:
Not very well. My neighbor told me recently one thing on his bucket list was to see the Milky Way. I was kind of shocked, like, really, you've never seen it? Looking up on a clear night, though, I realized it's prob impossible to see here because of there being so much ambient light. Try living on an island on the edge of the Atlantic that shuts its lights off at midnight. You can see EVERYTHING.
Do you include your middle initial in your signature?:
MY WHAT??? Yeah, my parents neglected to give me a middle name.
What brand of computer do you have?:
Both are Macs. It's worth it.
What operating system does that computer run?:
OSX
What's the oldest piece of clothing that you still own and wear?:
Ugh... ok so I used to weigh less than 100lbs, all right? For like ALL of my adult life. I don't wear anything old because none of it FITS. RUB IT IN, WHY DONT YOU?
Do you have a passport?:
Yep.
How many miles are on your car?:
My what?
What has been your favorite class you've ever taken?:
Color
Have you ever been to an estate sale?:
No.
How many relationships have you been in?:
Four. I'm including the one very dysfunctional one that didn't involve anything official status or commitment-wise but still involved sex and spanned several years. I'm not including once-and-done encounters or casual hookups.
Have you ever had Greek yogurt?:
I have a problem with yogurt. My mom used to make it and it grossed me out. I mean, she'd put it in a casserole dish and hide it in a closet, and then later we were supposed to EAT what grew in the casserole? She also used to pour the juice out of it, add some salt, shake it up, and drink it from a glass. It's a Greek thing. And it's disgusting.
Is the area in which you live flat, hilly, or mountainous?:
It's flat, and Philadelphia is below sea level, but I happen to live in a house with a driveway that's a short incline. Like if it was a ramp, it wouldn't be ADA compliant. I'd blame poor planning on my part, but really, finding ANYWHERE to live that was even PARTLY accessible was nearly impossible.
midnight21. I like these surveys - I like to talk about myself, I suppose is what it amounts to. They're good for when I don't want to talk about other things, or when I don't have time to get into a big long complex emotionally charged entry.Have you ever visited your country's capital city?:
Washington DC? Yep. It's very expensive there. They pay enormous amounts of sales tax on everything there, and then are taxed additionally on dining and entertainment, plus the cost of living is astronomical. There's also a lot of crime - Philadelphia has more (I think...) but it's still pretty bad. Cool, huh? I've never been inside the White House, but I think I have been inside the Lincoln memorial and the Washington monument. This was all a very, very long time ago though. My dad was briefly doing some business in DC and he brought my sister, my mom, and me along for a little vacation. At the time, I was more impressed by the EXTREMELY FANCY hotel we stayed in (his work payed for it) than anything else I saw. There was some kind of event going on in the ballroom of the hotel, so the lobby was full of men in tuxes and ladies in evening gowns, and I was all OMG RICH PEOPLE! I figured people who had lots of money wore evening wear all the time, lol
What are your plans for next Thursday?:
I have school. I have school AT school, and then I have an online class with virtual meetings. So I could in theory attend my online class ALSO at school, which I might, if I feel like staying in the city all day.
When was the last time you were outdoors for over an hour?:
Today. I take public transportation so I spend a lot of time outdoors, nothing is exactly a direct trip or door-to-door. I also go outside and look at my garden for a little while every morning. I've never grown things outside before and there's so much stuff, I like to take the time to look at how it all changes from day to day. And I get my morning sunlight that way, release all the happy chemicals in my brain and all that. If I was hardcore, I'd push my manual chair around my neighborhood for a while in the mornings too, but... I'm just not that hardcore. I tell myself I'm saving all my motivation for school, but... I dunno. Maybe I'm just lazy, or maybe I'm just self-sabotaging, I don't know.
What is the shortest amount of time you've lived somewhere?:
Well, define "lived." As in, "lived" vs. "stayed." I mean, I spent three weeks in Jason's apartment in Wuhan and it was starting to feel like I lived there, I mean there was the spot where I slept and a place where I kept my stuff and my food and etc... but I'm not going to count that as living there. I LIVED in Cape Town SA for about two and a half months - I had responsibilities there (I worked for a church), and had a transportation pass, and was registered as being a foreigner who was allowed to be there, had a phone number where ppl could reach me - stuff like that. I guess I can say I was LIVING there because I expected to be there a little longer than I actually was and had set things up as if I was going to stay for a while, not just stop in for a visit or whatever.
What's your favorite kind of mint? (Peppermint/wintergreen/spearmint/etc.)
This is a weird question. I like mint tea...
What was the last thing to frustrate you?
I frustrate myself, daily.
What was the first movie you ever went to see in theaters?:
I think it was The Little Mermaid, but I'm not sure. I looked at IMDB for a while, going through the mid-80s movies trying to see if one sparked a memory of having seen it in the theatre. It's definitely not something I did very often, my parents kind of didn't believe in media or spending money, so that kinda cuts out trips to the theatre. Disney is different, though, cause that's ART, so I thing it might have been The Little Mermaid, I vaguely remember seeing it on the big screen and the timeline matches up.
Do you do volunteer work, or have you ever done any in the past?:
I have not done any volunteer work since I have been old enough and skilled enough to be paid for what I do. When I was a teenager I did things like volunteer at Sunday School and at a church camp, things like that, but since then my time has become more valuable to me and I don't know if I could stomach doing WORK without getting PAID. I guess because at the time, I did it because I was bored and it was something I enjoyed and I thought it would look good on my itty-bitty resume or college applications or whatever, and as an adult volunteering is more like charity work, you know, giving of your time and effort for a good cause. I haven't had any available time and effort to give in recent years, nor the desire to do so
When I was in college (the first time around) one of my professors was in charge of an after-school/weekend program for high school students. She said she needed a lot of help with the program but she could only pay student workers who had work-study as part of their financial aid package. She wasn't getting enough work-study students, though, so she was asking for volunteers who didn't have work study to work for free for a few hours on the weekends, just for the experience and a line on our resumes. I was all for it - I wasn't old enough to be thinking "ugh, volunteering, doing WORK for FREE? HELL NO!" I was just thinking, ah, good, work experience, I can do this, I am good with kids, I want to be a teacher anyway, I need to get used to working with older kids too (cause really they were only a few years younger than I was, and I could sense a potential for awkwardness in a teaching environment there) and I knew that my friend (and room mate) Daniel worked for the program and taught a class and really loved it (he got paid tho, cause he had work-study) and I was like OH YES SIGN ME UP!
My professor was delighted, took my info, assigned me to a grad student who was teaching a drawing class, and told me what time and day to show up and gave me the schedule for the semester. I arrived early, and, kind of nervous (as I am in any unfamiliar situation with strangers where I have to make a first impression) but sucking it up, I introduced myself to the teacher (the grad student I was supposed to be an assistant to) and shook her hand (she looked at me like I was a whack job) and specifically introduced myself as her assistant and mentioned the professor in charge of the program, saying I was in one of her classes and she gave me the job of TA a few days ago, and asked her if there was anything I could do to help her set up before the students arrived.
She told me I could just take a seat at the desks she had set up in a circle, and I asked her if she was sure I couldn't do anything, and she said to just sit down, which I thought was weird, because I had introduced myself and I thought she would then introduce herself to ME, and maybe give me some kind of overview of what she was going to do with the class, or what she might need me to do for her, or hand me the syllabus to look over, or even send me over to registration to help the HS students find the classroom, or ANYTHING, but she told me to sit down, so I did.
Then the students began arriving, and when they were all sitting, she introduced herself to the class and handed out a survey sheet for everyone to fill out with their contact info and their previous education in drawing (like was this their first drawing class ever, were they AP art students in their HS, were they returning students to the program from last year, that kind of thing) and I felt really weird about that, like if I was her assistant, she could have had me hand the papers out, so I got up and asked her if I should just fill one out too, so she could have my contact info or what, and did she want me to collect them when everyone was done, or anything at all???
She told me to just fill it out and sit down, so... I did, but I started feeling very weird, like I just wanted to get out of there because stuff wasn't really adding up and I was feeling super awkward. She gave everyone a sheet of newsprint and a charcoal crayon and had everyone turn their desks to face each other in pairs, and there was an odd number of students, so I turned mine to face the girl next to me and said, hey, cool, I would LOVE to do this too, and you need an even number of people too, that's ok right? But I kind of said it to myself - I mean she had already handed me a sheet of newsprint and everything.
Following? She thought I was a HS student. Like, one of the kids in the program. I was maybe 20 or 21 at the time, but I can see looking HS-aged I guess. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I INTRODUCED MYSELF AS HER ASSISTANT, AND MENTIONED THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM AND THAT I WAS IN HER UNIVERSITY CLASS. I kept going over and over in my head what I said to her when I first spoke to her, but it all sounded reasonable, responsible, professional, etc, and she did make eye contact with me and everything, it's not like she was distracted doing something else and I didn't have her full attention. But she thought I was some over-eager or incredibly arrogant HS student who was constantly asking "do you want ME to do this menial task like filling out contact info as well? You don't understand, I am BEYOND that. In what way can I brown nose you?"
As we drew she walked around looking at everyone's work and she complimented mine (of course, since I'm fantastic at portraits AND HAVE HAD ACCESS TO COLLEGE LEVEL DRAWING CLASSES, unlike the HS students I was drawing with) and even said something about me having a mature style (ARRRGGGHHH!) and after that exercise I became fixated on ways to just escape the entire situation. I decided to be as professional and responsible and mature as I knew how, though, and just waited for the break time to start and approached her again and introduced myself as her assistant a second time, again mentioning my professor and stating again that I was a college student. She said she was glad to have me, but she didn't really NEED an assistant, it was just a short weekend class and she pretty much had everything worked out herself. I told her I was probably going to be an education major and wanted the chance to work with HS-aged kids instead of elementary like where most of my experience was. She said she would try to find something for me to do but that she REALLY didn't need an assistant.
This was kind of the opposite of what my professor had told us in class, I was under the impression that the program was seriously understaffed (and underfunded) and that she badly needed student help - instead I felt kind of like a pest. I mean she just told me she didn't need me. For the second half of the class I tried to just take initiative and do stuff like collect and hand out things, and walk around and comment on the students' work, but at the end of the class when I tried to help her pack her stuff up she told me AGAIN that she didn't need an assistant. I decided to just speak up, and told her that I was given the opposite impression by the director (who was my professor) and that she told us she needed more help than what she could pay people for, and was asking us to volunteer, and that was why I was there, because I thought I was NEEDED. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "she has you volunteering?"
That was the last time I volunteered for anything. That was the last time I went to the class, too. When Saturday rolled around the next week, I'd been kinda worrying about what I was going to do, how I was going to get past this awkwardness and make this whole TA thing worth while and how I was going to get something out of it (because I really wanted to put on paper that I was involved in the after-school HS program) but when it came time to leave for campus, I just... didn't go. I just felt this huge wave of FUCK IT, she doesn't want me there anyway, she told me so herself, several times, and OBVIOUSLY I'm not needed. I'm not wasting my time with this. She never tried to contact me, and my professor never mentioned it. My friend Daniel soared in the program - by the next year he was doing a grad student's job even though he was an undergrad, being paid like a grad student (something like 1k a semester per class) to teach a Saturday morning and a Saturday afternoon class, loving it, and getting rave reviews. I had tried to take the opportunity to get involved, it totally bombed, and... I had no idea what to do. Looking back... I guess I could have gone back to my professor and said, hey, she clearly doesn't want an assistant, where else could you use me? You said you desperately needed help, and I want to be involved. But I was just so humiliated after that first day... it was so awkward and embarrassing and I felt like a little piece of trash... but yeah, that was the last time I volunteered for anything.
Have you ever been to a bachelor or bachelorette party?:
No, but I am a bridesmaid in my sisters wedding so I guess I will go to one soon!
Did any of your family members serve in WWII?:
Not for the US army, but it's possible I could have some relatives who served for another country. I've got a big family.
What's your favorite kind of salad?:
Hmmmmm.... chicken with apples, white raisins, and walnuts over baby spinach is pretty good...
Are you more realistic or idealistic?:
I like to think I'm a little of each.
Do you have a home security system?:
No.
Have you ever been to Ohio?:
Never.
Are you currently borrowing something from someone?:
I guess you could say I'm borrowing some medical things from my insurance, since I don't get to keep them when I'm done needing them and I didn't buy them...
Is anyone currently borrowing anything from you?:
My boyfriend uses my stuff like it's his, so it's highly likely.
What is your last name's heritage/country of origin?:
My last name is Mexican. I feel like it's kind of misleading. I think people see my name and expect me to be bilingual, and while I do speak Spanish pretty well, I studied it in school and I don't sound anything like a native speaker and could never work as a translator, or even have an easy time speaking Spanish over the phone. And I think other Mexican people see my name and expect me to have been raised with cultural similarities to them, and I really wasn't. My dad is Mexican, as in, born in Mexico and grew up there, but he wasn't around for much of my growing up and my mom had her own culture to raise us in. I don't identify myself as Mexican-American any more than I identify as any other [whatever]-American and I've seriously considered changing my last name to something a little less identifiable. Maybe even back to my mom's last name, which is how it shows on my birth certificate anyway. Or I'll marry my boyfriend and change my last name to HIS. OK probably not, but you never know.
When did you last buy a new pair of shoes? What kind?:
Uh, last week, and they're Converse One-Star Juniors. I'll post a pic. And I don't need any more shoes, for any reason. I now have every sort of shoe I could ever possibly need to own. No more new shoes!
Is your car paid off, or do you make payments?:
I sold my car when I started school again. I owned it, but I couldn't afford the payments and since I was back in the city, I didn't really have a use for it anyway. Public transportation was easier.
Have you ever experienced culture shock while traveling? If so, where?:
I fell asleep on a bus in Ireland and woke up looking out the window. We were driving on the "wrong" side of the road and the signs were in Gaelic. It startled me for a second.
The poverty I saw in Africa really shocked me. Like, it REALLY shocked me. I still find it shocking now. I don't know how else to describe that.
I saw human bones in the desert in Egypt and police with guns accepting bribes. Also men refused to speak to me or make eye contact with me.
I was in Italy during the start of the Iraq war, and the non-violence of the anti-war/anti-USA demonstrations shocked me. To me a demonstration like that was something to steer clear of for fear of getting caught up in something nasty, not somewhere to sell ice cream and balloons.
The poverty in Viet Nam shocked me.
In China I think the rudeness shocked me the most. The staring and the spitting and the gross bodily sounds that no one hides in public was a real surprise and hard to get used to, and did I mention the STARING? More than once strangers commented on me being left handed, or me not being with my family, and more than once, while eating in a restaurant, every other single diner crowded around our table to watch us "try" to eat with chopsticks, like they assumed that because we were white our struggle to eat would entertain them, and were laughing amongst themselves about "no fork, no fork." (I can eat with chopsticks. I thought everyone could?)
Korea looked like the future. Or Futurama. It felt so much more foreign to me than China, because I had been preparing to go to China for quite some time, studying Chinese and all, and I was with people who lived there and could smooth over any cultural misunderstandings and etc. In Korea, suddenly we were ALL out of our comfort zone. I'd say it was the most foreign-seeming place I've ever been. Like a different world. How much do you know about Korea? I knew next to nothing. It was close to the east coast of China, and a lot of their citizens left to come live in North Philly. That was IT.
Thing is, when you travel, you EXPECT a little culture shock. REVERSE culture shock, when you come home after a long time living in someone else's culture, it's really hard cause how do you prepare for that, and who's there to guide you along? I KNOW this happens to ppl other than me - it's been kind of odd watching it happen with someone else though, and then someone else again. Interesting, but odd.
Are you able to see the stars at night where you live?:
Not very well. My neighbor told me recently one thing on his bucket list was to see the Milky Way. I was kind of shocked, like, really, you've never seen it? Looking up on a clear night, though, I realized it's prob impossible to see here because of there being so much ambient light. Try living on an island on the edge of the Atlantic that shuts its lights off at midnight. You can see EVERYTHING.
Do you include your middle initial in your signature?:
MY WHAT??? Yeah, my parents neglected to give me a middle name.
What brand of computer do you have?:
Both are Macs. It's worth it.
What operating system does that computer run?:
OSX
What's the oldest piece of clothing that you still own and wear?:
Ugh... ok so I used to weigh less than 100lbs, all right? For like ALL of my adult life. I don't wear anything old because none of it FITS. RUB IT IN, WHY DONT YOU?
Do you have a passport?:
Yep.
How many miles are on your car?:
My what?
What has been your favorite class you've ever taken?:
Color
Have you ever been to an estate sale?:
No.
How many relationships have you been in?:
Four. I'm including the one very dysfunctional one that didn't involve anything official status or commitment-wise but still involved sex and spanned several years. I'm not including once-and-done encounters or casual hookups.
Have you ever had Greek yogurt?:
I have a problem with yogurt. My mom used to make it and it grossed me out. I mean, she'd put it in a casserole dish and hide it in a closet, and then later we were supposed to EAT what grew in the casserole? She also used to pour the juice out of it, add some salt, shake it up, and drink it from a glass. It's a Greek thing. And it's disgusting.
Is the area in which you live flat, hilly, or mountainous?:
It's flat, and Philadelphia is below sea level, but I happen to live in a house with a driveway that's a short incline. Like if it was a ramp, it wouldn't be ADA compliant. I'd blame poor planning on my part, but really, finding ANYWHERE to live that was even PARTLY accessible was nearly impossible.
