Fall on the East Coast

I was driving to the grocery store the other day with kamron and realized how beautiful fall can be over here. There are actually seasons here! The leaves on all the trees are turning all the wonderful colors of fall. It is especially scenic because there are so many quaint tree-lined streets. The air is starting to get a little crisp and the days are getting shorter.

Another thing I have noticed is that Halloween is more of a big deal on this side of the U.S. In Cali, Halloween has been relegated to costume parties and a reason to decorate your house. Here, kids still actually go trick or treating, the costume parties are much more extravagant and the decorated houses are out of this world! This is evidenced by the great abundance of Halloween superstores on almost every other block. I think I seriously live within 5 miles of like 6 stores. Unfortunately, I have to work until 8:00 on Halloween, and we dont know anyone here yet, so Halloween at least for us will be quiet. Maybe next year.

I am officially working 40 hrs a week and it is killing me! I have a new appreciation for everyone that must stand on their feet for eight hours a day. But I will finally be able to finish getting things for our new home with my paychecks. Kamron will be done with his ob/gyn rotations soon and will have to take an exam. Thankfully I will be working a lot so he will have plenty of time and quiet to study at home. After that he will start his pediatrics rotation which is reputed to be substantially easier with fewer hours. We miss all of our family and friends back home at this time of year and look forward to maybe having some visitors during the holidays....

Is it cold in here or is it just me?

Okay, I knew that an East Coast winter was going to be hard for me and Kamron since we are from Cali (where 'winter' means sweat jackets) and have been living in the Caribbean for three years, but really? I mean, why is it already SNOWING in some parts of NJ and we are still in October? Is this normal?

In California it gets into the lower to mid forties at the end of November/December not October. Heck, I remember wearing shorts until Halloween back west. Now I am miserably huddled on the couch trying to stay warm! Much to my dismay, our heater hasnt been working properly. We live in an apartment building where heat is included in the rent. Unfortunately this also translates into: the heat only gets turned on when the building deems its necessary. This in turn is very bad news for me. So I called the office to inquire about this and was promptly instructed by the Yugoslavian maitenance man to fiddle with the nobs some to get it to work. Lo and behold nothing happened and it is still about 60 degrees in here.

I have come to the realization that sweatjackets, thin bedspreads and mediocre jackets just arent going to cut it out here. I better start stockpiling scarves, gloves, hats, long johns and more thick sweaters if I am to survive.

New job, New Apartment and New Kitty

This week has definitely been the week of 'the new'. It all started shortly after I wrote the previous post about my perpetual joblessness when I got hired in a seasonal position at Macys. I will be working in the Fine Jewelry area during the holiday season. While this definitely isnt my dream job it will be perfect for now. My teaching papers are taking longer than expected to go through and I cant take my teaching test until November. That means the earliest I would be able to teach would probably be January...... So for just the next 3-4 months working this job will prove to be sufficient... And YAY I finally will be able to do something productive with my days or nights for that matter.

In addition to this, about three days later we found out our permanent apartment was FINALLY ready for us to move into. It is in the same building but on a different floor and minus the ocean view. That is the only thing I will remotely miss about our old apartment. I WONT however miss: the noisiness of people passing in the hallway, the sun blaring in my eyes every morning (the blinds didnt work properly AND we faced the ocean-the east), and the general run-down condition of the place. Our landlady person gave us basically one day to move all our stuff out.... That was definitely an interesting experience and very tiring! But thankfully, we havent acquired that much stuff or furniture yet since we have only been here a month. It only took us one afternoon.......

And lastly, we completed our new home with a new addition to our family: a domestic short haired black and white cat named Jenna. I decided to rescue one from the shelter here because we wanted one that was a little older (Jenna is 3) and because there are so many that need homes. It was inexpensive and generally a good experience. It is just a matter of getting her acclimated to her new home here with us now. She still likes to run and hide in the bathroom when she hears loud noises and she isnt eating much yet. Hopefully this will pass soon as her anxiety and stress subside..... Here is a picture of her

Got a Job?

If you are one of those few that answered yes to this question you do not realize how lucky you are. Indeed, jobs are getting difficult to come by nowadays. I have been in New Jersey for a month and have been looking for a job for almost double that time with no positive results. Sure, I have been on several interviews, but none of them ended up being the job for me. Sometimes because they were down right awful and sometimes because the pay was way too low. I always thought (maybe wrongly) that if you had a college degree you would always be able to find a job after you graduated, even if it was just an entry-level position. Well, as has been proven to me over the past few months this is clearly not the case.

It leaves one feeling as if the degree you received was a waste of time, and more and more I am realizing that mine also falls into this category. College is great IF you chose the right degree. A trade degree is exactly what one needs in order to be successful in today's hostile job market (Ie; engineering, nursing, physical therapist, etc). Another inportant reason to get a 'specialized' degree would be because most jobs look more for experience in a given field than they at your actual education and GPA. In a specialized degree you get exactly that through internships, and trade oriented in-classroom education. But with a general degree like mine, you dont receive that and when applying for a certain position the employer will most likely hire the person with the experience and no college degree over you with your general degree and high GPA.

These are just some of the things I have learned over the past few months. I have realized that in order to be successful I will either have to go back to school or jump through an endless amount of 'hoops' to get into one of these specialized fields that provide a secure career (for me probably education/teaching). So, next time you hear someone say 'hmmm, what should I major in?' or 'I really like philosophy or political science', you should say NOOOOOOO!!!! Really think about it in light of today's world and not the world as it was ten or fifteen years ago.

New York

Just this past weekend Kamron and I made our first venture into the big apple. We really enjoyed the environment, the food and the shopping.
We took the train from our town into Penn station which took only about an hour and a half.
Our first stop had to of course be Times Square! We ate a street hot dog there, walked around and ate at Bubba Gumps (I know, kinda lame for NY but we were hungry!)

Next we took the Subway to China Town/ Little Italy. We ended up doing some shopping and stopping at a little Italian cafe for some drinks (limonatas and Italian beer). It was so busy everywhere and the shopping deals were great. I think the thing I will always remember the most though is the fake designer everythings.... purses, watches, jewelry, clothes, etc.

The last thing we had time for was a stop at the Empire State Building. Although I didnt get to go inside (it was too expensive and too long a wait) I took some pictures of it as we were walking by it.....

Overall, it was really fun and Kamron and I plan to go back many more times and explore a different part of the city each time. Just remember if you want to come visit you can come with us too!!!!

Our New Home

New Beginnings

In the Reeding Terminal in Philadelphia

It has officially been a week living in our new apartment by the sea in Long Branch, NJ. The weather is absolutely wonderful here, breezy, sunny, with highs in the mid 70's. Our front yard is the ocean, with a view of the pool as well. It reminds me of Grenada so much, minus the extreme humidity, mosquitoes, and lack of proper grocery stores. This apartment we are living in is only temporary however. In about two or three more weeks we will have to move upstairs to a different, slightly smaller apt on the second floor. I am definitely not looking forward to having to move all of our furniture and things upstairs on the elevator.......

The differences between coastal U.S. and Grenada are very stark. I enjoy having a seperate bedroom in my apt, and not just everything in one room like our studio in GD. I also like how I have so many choices at the grocery store, I can get milk or cheese anytime, and dont have to wait weeks to see a tomato....haha...... However different NJ is from Grenada though, California seems like another planet as well. For example, I find it impossible to get used to the "if you need to make a left turn you have to make a right turn" idea here. It just seems unnatural and a waste of gas. Also, the BYOB policy in most restaurants and the lack of alcohol in grocery stores. The thing that is the hardest though is the abscence of anything familiar, especially family and friends. It is always hard starting somewhere new and not knowing anyone.

Aside from that, Kamron started his orientation this week in Livingston, NJ, which is about an hour and a half away. Poor thing has to get up at the crack of dawn just to make the drive there and be there by seven. But thats only until Friday. Next week he will be at Monmouth Medical which is only a couple blocks from our apartment. I meanwhile have been looking for jobs constantly...... I think that I have probbaly applied to close to 5o jobs already with only one response and one interview.

Geez, what does it take to find a job in today's world??? I have a college degree, Im young, hard-working, and have volunteer and work experience. Yet the only job I have gotton any response from wants to pay me slightly above minimum wage? I feel like I went to school for nothing and it might just be McDonald's for me. haha.....