happy September

Another month has gone by. I am still looking for a job, although I tried a lot harder in August than I did in July. 3/4 of the people do not even get back to you when you apply to shit, so 75% of the work you do is for nothing. I feel like I look really nice on paper but the second they actually have a chance to talk to me, the little red flags go up in their heads. I feel like the last interview I had went really well, though. I guess what you have to believe is that every no is one step closer to a yes, partially because you get a lot of practice on the way.

I had a wonderful day at work today for several reasons:
1) There's this one guy who always has a smile on his face that stops in a couple of times a week, and always gets the same salad, plus a huge cappuccino with lots of foam ("dry" for those of you who know the terminology). Thanks to him I have been able to perfect my milk foaming technique, because so few people order such foamy drinks. He also always tips me. :D Today he brought some friends and stayed to eat instead of taking it out.
2) One of the younger baristas that started about a month ago told me today how she likes working with me because I get excited about little things and it brightens her day. That made me feel awesome.
3) Two men came in today and ordered some food to go, and I found out they were from Switzerland. They must have liked me because after I made their coffee and the other server brought them their food, they came back and found me before leaving, and gave me a Giandor chocolate bar.I got so excited because Swiss chocolate is damn good, and after researching it a little bit I found out that this brand is not sold in the US at all. Bonus points! I also thought it was really sweet of them to give me something at all. Random acts of kindness rule.

In exactly a month I'm flying out to Washington for Zach's wedding, which means I need to find a freaking dress. I'm not in the wedding, but I will be in a decent number of the formal pictures so I want to look nice! There's a bridal store here that has a lot of styles and colors for dresses, even on their online clearance, and my plan is to go to the store and try some of their dresses on just to get an idea of what size I should order (their online deals are amazing, but you can't return the dresses once you buy because they're final sale items). I also hope I get a new job by then so that I don't look like a total slacker, and I'll have something to talk about. I mean it was at that point last year that I flew out there to look for a job, and they didn't take so kindly to me not finding one in 2 1/2 months there.

In other news, I'm getting a study group together for the JLPT and hopefully it will help us all do better, boyfriend had his first live show with his new band last Friday and it was a raging success, it's REALLY hot outside (please fall come soon...), I went to a rummage sale and got some cool things for cheap for my room upstairs (the vase and chair on the left side of the picture, plus a sterling silver bracelet with heart tag and some cute blue polka dot ribbon, all for only $6.25!).

I'm also impressing lots of boys with my cooking lately. It makes me wonder all the more if I belong in cooking school.

melon pan, being happy for friends

the past few days have been fairly productive, considering what I'd done the first few days of my 'vacation'. I got my resume online and had a call this morning already, which is pretty exciting, but it doesn't seem like they're going to be that helpful in finding me a job. I have no experience in engineering or finance, and people with those degrees that can also speak Japanese practically have companies banging down their doors. Meanwhile, I'm going to apply for things I may not be that interested in but I would at least be able to do and use Japanese at the same time.

Part of me still thinks I should live in Japan and work for a while, just to get my speaking skills honed again. And now that Sarah actually got a job (as an English teacher, but at a nice-sounding private school in the area she really wants to live and work) it actually feels viable. She called me this morning with the news, and I'm very happy for her! ^^ She wants to go to Madison next weekend to see everyone one more time before she leaves (she'd have to be in Japan by the 19th or 20th of this month, so she hasn't got much time at all) and said she'll come to pick me up so I can go too. how nice of her ^^ We'll have to throw her a party. I'll get her to think of some things in Madison she's never done or would really like to do before she goes, and we'll make that all happen :)

I called my oldest brother and started talking to him again. He gave me a nice pep talk like he always does (and it still gets me going) and re-extended the invitation for me to go to Seattle and stay with him a while, and look for a job. I still have to research plane tickets and decide when exactly I would go, but that sounds much better than staying home with my parents, really.

A really good job got posted at Nintendo again, something right up my alley. You know, the more I think about it, the more I would absolutely love to work there. I've been playing their games since I was five years old, been watching people play them as far back as my memory goes, and I grew up with one in my house, and even got this scar on my face because I was jumping over controller cords so my brothers wouldn't have to pause the game while I tried to get out of the room and got scratched on a nail protruding from the wall. ^^;;

My question is, would I be able to work there right away or would I have to do a semi-shit job for a couple of years to get experience before they would hire me? The requirements almost point to the long way, but I think as long as I got my JLPT certification, they might consider it. ^^

I have to go finish baking the melon-pan. I may even put up pictures depending on how well it turns out.