Where will I live?

Until recently, I was pretty sure that I was going to live here, on Victoria drive in the appartment in which I am currently staying. However, my parents now seem somewhat keen on moving me back into the apartment downtown to keep an eye on the place as I rent out the other rooms. Right now, all of this is dependent on whether Tina rents the whole apartment to one Mexican family, or whether she only rents certain rooms.

I went to the apartment today after signing my concent forms for some background checks at the employment agency. It was looking really good. Everything was so clean, big and bright. Everything was so tastefully done. I couldn't help but think about moving back in. On the other hand, it is my parents apartment. I would just be living at home. Further, I would be the resident caretaker making sure that the other tenants do not do anything damaging to the place.

My current apartment here is ok too. It is nice and cozy and my roommate is really quite friendly. Commerial drive is also a fun neighbourhood to live in with lots of cool restaurants and cafes. However, this place gives me low level but persistant allergies and I hardly have any friends in or any affinity to the neighbourhood. Even though I feel less isolated here than I did at first, it is still a one hour walk from downtown, where I am going to live.

After writing it out, I think that on balance, I would rather live downtown. However, I still have to wait for Tina to find out whether the place is fully or partially rented. Also, since I will be deciding so suddenly, I will have to pay all or part of the rent here for the month of March.

I am excited to be starting my new job this week. Even though it doesn't pay particularly well, I will have about as much disposable income as I have ever had, which should be nice. I should also think about saving some money for graduate school and possibly some travels in the summer...

I have been somewhat lonely here. Without the context of the university I have not gotten out to see friends nearly as much as I would have liked to. The only person I have been seeing regularly since I have been back is Rae. I hope when start working things will get better.

Wow, what a day. I interviewed at a temp agency this morning and already this afternoon they have offered me a six month job working in a bank as a mortgage broker's assistant. Now I am in the position where I don't know whether I should take the sales job which offers skills and hard work, or the admin job which offers stability and exposure to the financial industry. Even in my most optimistic mood, I never would have believed that I would have two firm job offers in the space of one week. I guess Vancouver isn't as bad of a place to work as I thought.

All of the rational parts of my brain are telling me to take the administrative job. It is what I was expecting, it is stable and steady, it is for a six month term, it is downtown... But on the other hand, I have already agreed to take the job at the other place. I have also gotten my self excited about the prospect of really testing myself and seeing how much money I could make. I only have a short time to make the decision...

I guess the economy in BC really is hot right now if a guy without much job experience like me can just walk into multiple job offers in the course of one week. Greg says that it is largely because I am a recently graduated young white male who has taught abroad, and there is definately some truth to that.

Ok, I just got another job offer. A guy from Primerica saw my CV on Monster and gave me a call. He wants me to come out and talk to him about the opportunities available over there. I don't think I will follow it up, largely because it is out in Coquitlum, but it is cool to get a call.

And all of this doesn't count the email job offers I have recieved in the last two days. I really had no idea.

Happily surprised

So I got a job.

I will be doing direct sales for Infinate Marketing Solutions. I know that it will be hard work, and I doubt that it will be fun, but I am looking forward to a big challenge and hopefully some good money. I really nailed the interview. My experience in China gave me a lot to talk about and my debate experience helped me deliver it in a way that convinced him. I am a bit nervious about doing cold calling and direct sales but hopefully it all works out for me. Anyway, if it doesn't work out, I have a job interview tomorrow at a temp agency.

I have been playing a lot of Sim City lately. It had been a while since I had spent any amount of time playing computer games, so it has been pretty fun. On the other side, between tv and my computer, I have had some days where I barely left the house and thus drove myself a little bit crazy. Now that I know I have a job it is better, but a few days ago, after a whole day of sending out resumes, watching tv, and playing Sim City I was really going nuts.

My dad is coming in tonight. This is good for me because I can get my stuff from the storage space downtown. I also have the possibility of moving back downtown into my parents place. I don't know if it is a good idea. I feel bad about leaving my roommate here in a bind without any rommates. I am also realy liking being here on my own, in a place that isn't my parents'.

Back in Vancouver looking for a job.

I have been back in Vancouver for a few days now. As soon as I got back on thursday morning, I went with Rae and her brothers and one of her brothers' girlfriend up to Cypress to snowboard. It was a fun day. Even though I did not have a particularly good day of snowboarding, Rae improved her turning and it was nice to be out on the mountain. After snowboarding we went back to Rae's place and had hot pot. I fell asleep early.

The next morning we took Rae's brother and his girlfriend to the airport. They invited me to their wedding in August. I am still not sure if I can go. It was really too bad that I only got to see them for such a short time. They were so nice to me when I went to Taiwan, I feel bad that I couldn't return the favour.

On friday night I moved into my new place. It is on Victoria and William, very near Commercial Drive. I would not ordinarily choose to live here, but my sister found the place for me and it was just so much easier to take it. It is also nice to live near her, but not in the same apartment. I think we should be able to hang out without as many problems as we had when we were living together.

The apartment its self is surprisingly nice. It is the third floor of an old house. I would it is around 600 square feet and has windows on all sides. Importantly, it has cable internet to enable my job hunting.

I am hoping to find a job soon. I haven't left the house today because I can't find a reason to. I don't want to spend money when no money is coming in. Other people all have things to do during the day. I am far from the beach and Coal Harbour, my favorite places to walk. I only have one friend in the neighbourhood, and she is not online now. I guess I should get out more... maybe after the Simpsons...

So I was just reading Savage Love and they were printing a letter from the editor of The Economist. Two of my favorite publications, together at last.

So I am in Ottawa now. It is really pleasant here. I don't know if it is too interesting, but definately pleasant, the kind of place that would be good for raising kids. I only wish Rae had been able to come here with me to see it.

Yesterday I went with my mother to see her friend Naomi and her friend who is a visiting professor from China. I think the only reason that my mother brought me along was for my mom to have the opportunity to show off my language skills, but it was a nice visit anyway. The woman wants her son to stay in Canada and get a Canadian education, but she is not sure how to go about doing that. Tonight, we will try to figure out a way to help her.

Yesterday night we saw Bruno's kids. They seemed quite well. Both Patrick and Emily have lots of friends in their neighbourhood and Anne-Marie has gotten much bigger and is talking much more. Bruno also seems to be doing well. My mother has been worried about Patrick for a long time, but he seems to be quite bright and hopefully he will stay on the straight and narrow. We all had a good time skating on the canal last night after dinner. It was a beautiful night and it reminded me of how pleasant Ottawa is. The only thing missing was Rae, who was supposed to have joined me here. I think she really would have enjoyed a moonlight skate and a beaver tail.

This morning my mother and I had breakfast with my mother's friend Henny. I found out from her that her son, Jared will still be a Queens next year. This is great news for me because I might be there aswell and it would be nice to have a friend.

Just now, I saw my friend Helena online. She goes to school at Carleton, here in Ottawa and we arranged to meet last night. Helena is a friend of mine from high school. One of the very few people who I knew at Britannia and even fewer that I have kept in touch with. She is just back from a semester in Japan so I am sure she has interesting things to say.

Tomorrow I am going back to Vancouver. The first thing I am going to do is head up to Cypress to go snowboarding with Rae's family. I hope a 5 hour flight doesn't put me off too much.

I put out a bunch of resumes last night for jobs I saw posted on Craig's list. I think I am quite qualified for most of them. I am waiting for responces...

time for lunch...

Marc

My last day at the UN.

We are handing in the report today and I must say I feel a big sense of accomplishment. The story of our report has been picked up by some papers and it is exciting to think that something I have been a part of might make a real, visible difference in the way one of the world's major institutions works. Here is an excerpt from the New York Sun:

"Two other outside consultant firms, Epstein and Fass Associates, and Eriksen, Faulkner, Foster, were hired to review staff outsourcing. Three options were suggested to enable the United Nations to farm out some in-house functions to private companies, specialists, and nongovernmental organizations. Undersecretary-general Jian Chen has already asked member states to relax U.N. rules that make outsourcing almost impossible."
http://www.nysun.com/article/27479

It is also a bit scary to think that the work we have done here might be used to change the UN for the worse, but I think we did as good a job as we could and helped them to outline where the real risks and opportunities are. They could have done a lot worse by going with dogmatic outsourcing consultants.

On another note, I am sad to leave New York. I realise now that making it in New York is not that easy, it requires a lot of hard work and a good deal of luck. Mostly, it invovles some sort of support throughout the process. For me, even though I would have parental support and could concievable live with them until I am able to move out on my own, the lack of American citizenship adds another level of complication to the whole issue. Not only would I have to find a job, I would have to find an employer who would be willing to go through the hassle of getting me a working permit. I think that at this stage, moving here is still somewhat unrealistic.

I am going to Ottawa tonight. I have not been there for a few years now and I am looking forward to seeing my relatives there. Of course, I am dissapointed that Rae will not be able to join me because I think we would have had a very good time together and that she would have gotten a lot out of seeing Ottawa and Montreal (which I will not visit). The reason that she is not coming is because her brother and her brother's girlfriend are coming to visit her in Vancouver, they are actually there right now. Because of my schedual, I will only be able to see them for one day, which is a shame when I think about the hospitality they showed me when I went to Taiwan.

I saw Roger last night. His nationalism and narrow minded view of the world scare and repulse me. I hope that he is able to move beyond these small thoughts. Maybe being so near China will give him the exposure he needs in order to see that the Chinese government is not the brilliant and benevolent institution that he believes it is.

I saw Jesse and his girlfriend Shera yesterday. It was a very pleasant visit. Jesse is going to try his best to make it in New York as a financial blah blah and I think he has a pretty good shot of making it. He is Jewish enough to network with the Jews, and secular enough to get along with everyone else, which are both important traits in New York. On a more selfish level, I am very happy that he is going to be living in the city because it means that I will have a place to stay when I come back to visit, or if I ever want to move here. Shera is a very nice, easy going person. I think the two of them get along well and are quite happy together. I wish them the best.

I will see Vincent this afternoon. As with Jesse, he is going to try to make it in New York. However, becuase he is still a student, his life is still very much about his studies at Columbia. I am very happy to have experienced a slice of this life with its inteligent people and international atmosphere. I hope he is able to find something good here because that would mean he is closer to me and if I were to ever move back to the city, we could hang out more.

As sad as I am to leave New York, the capital of the world, I am still exiced to go back to Vancouver. The prospect of starting again, but not from scratch is appealing. I am also looking forward to living on my own in Canada for the first time. At 22, it is really about time. I am also looking forward to being near Rae. Being with her makes me happy, and this is a good thing. In addition to her, I still have some friends, and a larger set of aquaintances and associates to keep me socially connected. My hope is that I can integrate her further into my social circles and that I will integrate into her social circles. Even though there are a few obvious problems with this, for a long term relationship to work, this is important.

Finally, I know I have said this before but it bears repeating, I need to find a decent job in Vancovuer. I know I will not be able to find anything as interesting as what I have been doing here, but in a fundamental way, my happiness will depend on what I spend most of my time doing in Vancouver. I also hope to be able to save some money to travel this summer. Unfortunately, it looks like Europe is out of the question, but there are still other places within the continent, that are fun and interesting to visit. This, of course, requires money...

I will be back in Vancouver soon... and maybe later back in New York too.

Going back to Vancouver soon.

I am still worried about what I am going to do there, but I worked it out and I have enough money to last me for a few weeks even if I don't find a job right away. On the other hand, I fear the boredom of being somewhere so familiar, but without the social context that supported me for so long.

East Van is also a big unknown for me. I guess it is as good a place as any to live but whenever I go there I feel somewhat isolated from the city. The lifestyle there is also not one that would call my own. I am not particularly interested in music or art, I am not into the "scene" and I am quite in favour of globalization. I hope that I am able to meet more people like Alex.

Work is the bigger issue. Even though the economy in Vancouver has been good lately, I doubt that I can find a job like the one I am currently doing. Vancouver's economy is largely high-tech based, and that is an area where I have no saleable skills. Vancouver lacks the large core of financial companies found in New York or even Toronto. I don't even know where to start looking for an entry level job in the financial industry.

It could be that these perceptions are based too much on my life in Vancouver as a student. Most of my friends didn't have jobs, and if they did, they were almost never career oriented ones. Maybe if I start meeting people who aren't students, I can get into those circles and find something entirely different. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

New York is still fun

Last week on wednesday night I saw my friend Jesse. Jesse is one of my oldest friends. I have known him for almost ten years and we have always gotten along really well. Even though we have both left Nova Soctia long ago and rarely have an opportunity to see eachother, we always just pick up where we had left off.

It had been about two and a half years since I had seen him. He was looking really good, lost a lot of weight, and was in good spirits. He has lived in New York for a while now. He first came here to study at Yeshiva University. He liked it at first, but then the whole religious thing got to be a bit too much so he moved New Jersey and studied at Rutgers to finish up his degree. In May, after he gradualy, he moved to Hawaii for a month before coming back to New York to make a go of it. Now he is working at a hedge fund doing the most junior stuff they do and making a decent living.

We went for dinner at a surprisingly authentic French restaurant in the Lower East side where he lives. After dinner, we went for a walk around lower Manhattan until we ended up at Pravda, a trendy bar. There, we talked about future plans and dreams which for him include finding a good job and for me include moving back to New York.

On friday I thought I would introduce Roger and Vincent. I guess this probably wasn't the best idea seeing as Vincent can scorn someone very easily and Roger has many scornable personality traits. In the event I went to see Roger with a six pack of beer to start the evening. Unfortunately, since Roger doesn't really like beer I ended up drinking five of the beers to myself. By the time we made it to the bar to meet Vincent, he had already left. Also, becuase he had gone to a noisy club, he didn't hear my calls and I didn't get to intoduce him to Roger.

After giving up hope on seeing Vincent, we walked down to Chinatown to find some bubble tea. New York is not like Vancouver, and there weren't as many bubble tea houses, and the bubble tea wasn't that great either. I also ordred some 炸酱面, a Beijing specialty. It was the worst 炸酱面 I had ever had. The noodles were not real pulled noodles, but rather cheap instant ramen noodles. The sause was also crap. It really made me wonder if they had ever had real 炸酱面.

Saturday I went to work with my parents. We basically spent the whole day doing a big brainstorm session comparing the different options and scenarios on a whole list of different criterea. By the end of the session, it started to become apparant that outsourcing to outside companies is not a good idea on a large scale. What we did deem to be a good idea was to estabilish an arm's length UN subsidary company to handle all the translation outside of the rigid UN rules, but still inside the UN system. Of course, this is easier said than done, but it is much less risky than throwing Security Council work onto the open market.

Last night I had a real New York night out. I met up with Will who had come back from Boston for the weekend. Will is probably my oldest friend that I keep in regular contact with. I have known him for over ten years and he even came to see me in Nova Soctia. He is now in his last semester of a business degree at Northeastern University in Boston.

As soon as I got over to Will's house the first thing he did was roll a joint. He was there with his friend Billy, who was really annoying. He was from some shit town in Mass and he had clearly learned all of his knowledge and social skills from television. The real problem with him was that he was an idiot, but he really thought he wasn't. To make things worse he was in a Master's program so he had some legitimacy. Of course, the only thing I got from him was how shallow and ignorant even some "educated" Americans can be.

It had been six months since I had smoked, and closer to a year since I had smoked pot so it really hit me hard. For the next few hours as more people came over to hang out, I was pretty much out of it, unable to be properly social. It was cool that I got to see some people that I hadn't seen in a long time. After hanging out at Will's place for a while, we went to a bar on 17th and 3rd. It was ok, just a standard bar, the kind that doesn't really exist in Vancouver with one pool table and a lot of TVs. We drank some Budwiser and talked about TV.

Towards the end of the night we all went over to this girl Lauren's house. There, they started rolling a few more and they broke out the yay. I guess that is real New York partying. Around 2:30 some more people showed up. One of them was this Jewish guy who had gone to high school with Lauren. He was a model of conspicuous consumption. He had all of the signs of wealth. Gold cufflinks, expensive cell phone, blackberry, jeans with a rip in the back pocket to expose the LV wallet. All of this went perfectly with the yay and the vacuous personality. I think if I did live in New York, I would do better to spend more time with Jesse and Vincent and less time with people like these.

Today I went to the MoMA with Vincent and his friend Thomas. The MoMA is really great. There were lots of very famous and beautiful paintings. I can not say that I am a real art conneseur, but I did enjoy the gallery.

It struck me today that I only have one more week in New York. My time here has passed really quickly. I have been so busy working and seeing friends, I have not had any time to be bored. I hope that when I get back to Vancouver my life can be this interesting, I also hope that if I do move here, I still have this many friends and that I can have this much fun.

I can hope...