Day 4- I'm thankful for my apartment because even though it's -1000 degrees Celsius, I at least have a roof and four walls that (kind of) keeps out the wind. ***Update: I now have HEAT in my apartment!***
Day 5- Is it superficial to say I am thankful for the internetz? Cuz I am. Fur seriouznezz 'does. I needz me some internetz. Erry. Day. Besides the fact that it is a wonderful database for finding out anything you ever wanted to know, it keeps me connected to my American home. Without the internet, contact would be very difficult and I'm not sure if life would be so easy if I couldn't see/watch/hear pieces of America/English once in a while.
Day 6- (Geezum I have lots of days to catch up on.) I am so thankful for my clogged toilets, leaky sinks, and frigid apartments because I become fix-it woman in China. If I ever live in America again I won't have to worry about calling a plumber at the drop of a hat because I've fixed all 3. Well, currently I'm still working on the clogged toilet one. I've tried plunging and the hot water/soap trick but to no avail. Any suggestions? ***Update: It unclogged later that night!***
Day 7- I like the fact that children are so freaking smart. I taught this song to them in one day.
Peace in My Heart
Day 8- I'm thankful for having friends that are bilingual. It comes in handy when you get in a jam in a jam in a foreign country.
Day 9- I am so happy that I like children now. For many years, I was very uncomfortable around them and didn't really know what to do with them or look at them or play with them. My junior year of university I went on a mission trip and worked with several very young MKs. One boy in particular was 5 years old at the time and I was never bothered or annoyed by him the entire 2 weeks I was abroad. Our favorite thing to do was look for scorpions under rocks and I was always in awe whenever he could already understand Arabic at the age of 5. Previously in the year, I also became acquainted with a young girl in America who was around 6 at the time that I still occasionally get to hug now even 2 years later whenever I am home in the US. She was probably one of the first children to say, "I love you," even when she had only met/seen me a few times.
Day 10- I enjoy movies. And escaping into the worlds they create for me for a few hours. Whether it be hundreds of years in the future on the USS Enterprise, go through the Fire Swamp with Buttercup and Wesley for 500th time in the medieval times, or watching superheros bust through brick walls and swim to the depths of the oceans.
Day 11- I enjoy that China has a special holiday of 11/11. Everything is on sale. It's like Black Friday for China. Except I didn't buy anything or go shopping. Because I can't read sales signs anyway. And I was too tired from work.
Day 12- I am thankful for my ukulele. Piano always use to be a go to stress reliever for me when I was a teenager. Now having my own apartment but no piano readily available I make do with what I have. Which is the uke. I first picked up a uke in my early teens but then didn't see think of it again until around my freshman/sophomore year of college. I now can pick out almost any simple song in a matter of minutes. My students love it and I'd really like to think about teaching the uke to some kids next year as a part of music class.
Day 13- I am thankful for all the different languages in the world. This world would be boring if everyone could understand each other.
Day 14- I am thankful for a grocery store within walking distance of my apartment. I don't have a car or bike so I have to take a taxi, bus or walk everywhere I need to go. Walking is obviously the cheapest option, then the bus with taxi coming in last with that still not even being THAT expensive. It still less than 20 dollars to go somewhere even 30 minutes away. Anyway, I then buy everything I need food wise put it all in my reusable grocery bag (since you have to buy plastic bags at the register is you want to use them).
Day 15- I am thankful for Sonic and their crushed ice. And Butterfinger Blasts. And Cherry Limeades. And many hours spent discussing stresses, people, music, dating, professors, existentialism, screaming, singing, and stuffing our faces on many Sonic Wednesdays during university years at 3pm every Wednesday after Chorale. What started as 3 people sometimes grew to as many as 6 but we always had our foundation of 3.
Day 16-(Phew I never thought I'd catch up)
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| This is me. But for real. |
Day 5- Is it superficial to say I am thankful for the internetz? Cuz I am. Fur seriouznezz 'does. I needz me some internetz. Erry. Day. Besides the fact that it is a wonderful database for finding out anything you ever wanted to know, it keeps me connected to my American home. Without the internet, contact would be very difficult and I'm not sure if life would be so easy if I couldn't see/watch/hear pieces of America/English once in a while.
Day 6- (Geezum I have lots of days to catch up on.) I am so thankful for my clogged toilets, leaky sinks, and frigid apartments because I become fix-it woman in China. If I ever live in America again I won't have to worry about calling a plumber at the drop of a hat because I've fixed all 3. Well, currently I'm still working on the clogged toilet one. I've tried plunging and the hot water/soap trick but to no avail. Any suggestions? ***Update: It unclogged later that night!***
Day 7- I like the fact that children are so freaking smart. I taught this song to them in one day.
Peace in My Heart
Day 8- I'm thankful for having friends that are bilingual. It comes in handy when you get in a jam in a jam in a foreign country.
Day 9- I am so happy that I like children now. For many years, I was very uncomfortable around them and didn't really know what to do with them or look at them or play with them. My junior year of university I went on a mission trip and worked with several very young MKs. One boy in particular was 5 years old at the time and I was never bothered or annoyed by him the entire 2 weeks I was abroad. Our favorite thing to do was look for scorpions under rocks and I was always in awe whenever he could already understand Arabic at the age of 5. Previously in the year, I also became acquainted with a young girl in America who was around 6 at the time that I still occasionally get to hug now even 2 years later whenever I am home in the US. She was probably one of the first children to say, "I love you," even when she had only met/seen me a few times.
Day 10- I enjoy movies. And escaping into the worlds they create for me for a few hours. Whether it be hundreds of years in the future on the USS Enterprise, go through the Fire Swamp with Buttercup and Wesley for 500th time in the medieval times, or watching superheros bust through brick walls and swim to the depths of the oceans.
Day 11- I enjoy that China has a special holiday of 11/11. Everything is on sale. It's like Black Friday for China. Except I didn't buy anything or go shopping. Because I can't read sales signs anyway. And I was too tired from work.
Day 12- I am thankful for my ukulele. Piano always use to be a go to stress reliever for me when I was a teenager. Now having my own apartment but no piano readily available I make do with what I have. Which is the uke. I first picked up a uke in my early teens but then didn't see think of it again until around my freshman/sophomore year of college. I now can pick out almost any simple song in a matter of minutes. My students love it and I'd really like to think about teaching the uke to some kids next year as a part of music class.
Day 13- I am thankful for all the different languages in the world. This world would be boring if everyone could understand each other.
Day 14- I am thankful for a grocery store within walking distance of my apartment. I don't have a car or bike so I have to take a taxi, bus or walk everywhere I need to go. Walking is obviously the cheapest option, then the bus with taxi coming in last with that still not even being THAT expensive. It still less than 20 dollars to go somewhere even 30 minutes away. Anyway, I then buy everything I need food wise put it all in my reusable grocery bag (since you have to buy plastic bags at the register is you want to use them).
Day 15- I am thankful for Sonic and their crushed ice. And Butterfinger Blasts. And Cherry Limeades. And many hours spent discussing stresses, people, music, dating, professors, existentialism, screaming, singing, and stuffing our faces on many Sonic Wednesdays during university years at 3pm every Wednesday after Chorale. What started as 3 people sometimes grew to as many as 6 but we always had our foundation of 3.
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| Ethan, Me, Shannon |
I am forever thankful for my years at Worlds of Fun. I remember as a 15 year old kid working at a lovely little pizza place as my first ever job thinking I would NEVER under ANY circumstances work at WOF as all I had heard was horror stories about it from people but secretly hating touching weird food and working only 2 hour shifts 3 times a week. (Seriously, I don't even know why the pizza place kept me on as an employee as I hardly put in any hours there at all). I was finally convinced by a good friend to at least apply and he got me in (through some connections) straight to a second interview. I don't even remember the interview but 2 days later I was coming in for my first day. I kept returning year after year working my way from the wonderful life of a ticket taker, being deathly afraid of handling money and practically refusing to be a ticket seller, to spending days on end being fried by tropical sun rays out at toll plaza, cleaning up bodily fluids, running/speedwalking a few miles everyday, and then being left alone at an amusement park gate clicking through thousands of will call orders trying to find ONE barcode because parents had given their 5 year child a ticket to hold on to which the child then promptly tore in half or ate. I also dealt with many animal incidences one being some deer that lept over the turnstiles down at RSG in the wee hours of the morning and us rallying together with height sticks to beat them off, naming the spiders that lived in the corners by the computers, and watching people wade through Syphilis Swamp and Gonorrhea Gulch to find snapping turtles. Then discovering how honest and dishonest people can be. This place taught me people skills to the MAX. Though the job took me away from home a lot in the summers, I think it is the way I could deal through any hardships. It distracted me from stuff that could have sent me over the edge in many ways. I knew I could go to work, put in my hours, work as hard as I could, and not really have to think about things outside of work. Even though there were 2 summers I was completing tests or discussion boards for online classes I was taking during my breaks. The first picture is of my second summer at WOF with a coworker Megan and the one on the right is of myself and my dear friend Darren. He listened to so much of my crap over the years and watched me cry on more than one occasion. I'd also like to credit myself partly to the person and position he is in today. I was his first ever lead down at our home sweet home, the Turnstiles!
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