tagged: years ago & five things

10 years ago:
Still working in the office of a small paint brush manufacturer. It was a good company with nice management, but my direct supervisor was a bit of a harpy, bitter at the world because she had been stuck in the same rut for over 20 years. Exactly 10 years ago was a turning point for me actually. I had been there for a decade, but had secretly applied for university and was waiting for the result. By January I had given notice and was finally jumping out of my own rut and into a Bachelor of International Studies.

That supervisor's reaction on finding out I was leaving?
"Oh, how exciting for you!" ??
"Gee, Chosha, we'll miss you." ??

Uh, no. Her first response was, "Great, now I have to hold bloody interviews."
My next thought: "Goodbye, and good riddance!"

4-7 years ago:
Seven years ago I was loving life as a student; working my butt off, but having enormous fun doing it. I worked a few part-time jobs - things like research assistant, tutor, editor, plus some random stuff like child care and car-counting. I got really good marks - much better than in high school - mostly because I had the feeling that I'd given up work and become poor for this, so I better do it right. This was good for me. It made me feel like I could tackle anything.

Four years ago I'd been living in Osaka for almost 18 months working as an English teacher in a senior high school. My favourite indies band had just broken up (in August) and I was just about to randomly come upon the wondrous information that the lead singer and drummer (my favourite two members) had become part of a new band. Delivering that news to my fellow fan-girl friend Roofshadow was rocking good fun. I was seeing a lot of school baseball and soccer, enjoying drum club, not studying enough Japanese and shopping a lot for secondhand CDs.

Now:
Working as a policy analyst for the public service. It's good, I like it, but I miss teaching. I've been home in Australia for two years and am living in the cold capital, Canberra. It's a little too quiet. I'm getting used to it, though I'm still glad it's close to Sydney. (Might move to Sydney in a few years.) Sharing with my flatmate Phi, who's generally adorable and cool. Sorely in need of a new hobby. Main goal in life is to be debt-free.

Five yummy things:
1) Wiener schnitzel with mashed potato
2) kakigori with tangy lemon syrup in summer
3) Japanese band boys
4) cherries (no, the fruit, smart alec)
5) Orlando Bloom

Five songs I know by heart:
1) Torn, by Natalie Umbruglia (my favourite karaoke song in English)
2) Say the Word, by Namie Amuro (my favourite karaoke song in Japanese)
3) Believe, by Cher (which I'm going to do at karaoke when I get my voice back)
4) Chatanooga Choo Choo (which my dad and I used to sing when I was little)
5) pretty much any other song I've ever sung more than ten times that has a catchy tune

Five things I would do with a lot of money:
1) buy a house and stop paying rent
2) travel
3) make life a lot easier for my parents
4) do work that I want to do that doesn't pay much, like an internship with David Korten's Yes! magazine, for example. Writing full-time also appeals.
5) hire a personal trainer

Five places I would like to escape to (I'm going to take that as "visit"):
1) Japan (always)
2) LA (to visit friends)
3) Prague (for the centuries of unbombed architecture)
4) Nepal (to see the roof of the world)
5) Thailand (to see the elephant hospital...elephants are so cool)

Five things I would never wear:
1) pocket protector
2) six inch heels
3) pimp daddy bling bling
4) Louis Vitton
5) white jeans (this would be like me wearing a t-shirt that reads: Hi, spill things on me!

Five favorite TV shows:
1) Stargate SG-1
2) Whose Line is it Anyway?
3) Numb3rs
4) Family Guy
5) Will & Grace

Five things I enjoy doing:
1) seeing live rock
2) photo-journalling
3) dinner parties
4) dissecting movies
5) swimming in the ocean

Five Favorite toys:
1) Computer
2) Samsung YH-J70 (mp3 player with video and stuff)
3) Gloomy, the bloodthirsty bear
4) Bratz pirate girl, Raphael
5) digicam

Five people who get this meme:
1) ? Anyone
2) ? in the
3) ? mood
4) ? to
5) ? share.

Bonnie added a 5 things bonus, so I thought I would too. Here are five church signs that made me laugh out loud:





Staying in bed shouting, "Oh God!" does not constitute going to church. (Could be quite a transcendent experience though. ^_^)








Stop, drop & roll does not work in Hell. (Ouch!)









A 4-inch tongue can bring a 6 foot man to his knees. (Uh-huh. How did the preacher not catch that? How?)








Ask us about our vow of silence. (We'll smile and nod and...yep, that's about it.)










Don't give up. Moses was once a basketcase, too. (Cute.)