Sometimes I have strange dreams. I'm still trying to read That Hideous Strength, but for some reason I'm struggling getting into it. Well, in the beginning of the book they're discussing whether or not to sell part of their college property that has Merlin's Well, it's like a big deal and stuff. The company, NICE, was going to build stuff on the land and ruin the historical landmark, but the college needed the money.
So in my dream, I was with a group that was getting chased and one of the bad guys threw a Molotov Cocktail at one of us and they fell down this huge hole (sorta Balrog-style) and then suddenly all of us were falling down this hole and landed in water at the bottom, so we swam to the top and found that we had fallen into Merlin's Well. When we climbed up, the stones around the outside of the well were glowing, along with some paths that lead to different parts of the room, and it felt like Atlantis (Disney version) met National Treasure (no Nicholas Cage - whew). It was really cool. I felt like no one had been in this room for a long time, like it was long-forgotten. But I turned around, and there was a door cracked open and swaying gently, I could even see the daylight through it. I thought, Yes, we can escape!, but alas, all the doors were locked with slide latches from the inside; there was no way we could get out without someone knowing what we had discovered. So we walked up the spiral staircase, desperate to escape. Then I woke up, terrified. That is all.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
It's Not Unusual
I made it to Vancouver!!! 36 hours is a long time to spend on a train, but it was cool going through the mountains and riding along the Colombia River. Plus I got to walk around a lot and meet a heap of interesting people, it was fun. When I arrived I learned that the train had lost my bike. Really? A non-stop train? Can't I travel somewhere without something going terribly wrong? It's interesting how much I love travelling even though something like this always happens.
So my friend Kaylen, and her boyfriend Keelen, (cute, right?) picked me up from the depot, dropped my stuff off at the house I'm living in and then we hung out around the town a bit. It was really great, they make me happy. Once they dropped me off at the house, I unpacked everything and got settled in and then had a few breakdowns. One because of the bike, another because I budgeted, another because I'd eaten one meal in the past 2-3 days and couldn't go anywhere to get food, another because my shower stuff was in the box with my bike so I was unable to shower after that 36 hour train ride, and to top it off I was tired after spending two nights sleeping in my seat on the train. Fortunately, my mom talked me into bringing my guitar to Vancouver so I had some worship time and then I felt better.
It's funny how a few wrong things can make you feel like the entire world is crashing in on you. My mind was telling me that I was screwed, but my heart knew that I was here for a reason and that God wasn't going to leave me hanging. And that was day 1.
Today I called around to a bunch of train stations, none of which could locate my bike, and then a call came from the Vancouver depot saying that there was a bike coming on the train and that, hopefully, it was mine. And sure enough, it was! I don't have the slightest clue where the bike went - the paper I got said something about Seattle and Portland and Minneapolis. I don't know, but it doesn't matter anymore. So I pieced my bike back together (because I had to disassemble it for baggage check), SHOWERED! and then dressed up and went out to find a job. I applied to a lot of places, and an awesome coffee shop even said they were looking to hire someone! That would be so great. I also stopped in at a church nearby and made friends with the children's pastor, she's going to introduce me to some people my age on Sunday. Yay new friends! Ben is also coming down to see me this weekend, and that's going to be a lot of fun! So overall, day 2 was a severe improvement on day 1. I feel at home here, I like it.
So my friend Kaylen, and her boyfriend Keelen, (cute, right?) picked me up from the depot, dropped my stuff off at the house I'm living in and then we hung out around the town a bit. It was really great, they make me happy. Once they dropped me off at the house, I unpacked everything and got settled in and then had a few breakdowns. One because of the bike, another because I budgeted, another because I'd eaten one meal in the past 2-3 days and couldn't go anywhere to get food, another because my shower stuff was in the box with my bike so I was unable to shower after that 36 hour train ride, and to top it off I was tired after spending two nights sleeping in my seat on the train. Fortunately, my mom talked me into bringing my guitar to Vancouver so I had some worship time and then I felt better.
It's funny how a few wrong things can make you feel like the entire world is crashing in on you. My mind was telling me that I was screwed, but my heart knew that I was here for a reason and that God wasn't going to leave me hanging. And that was day 1.
Today I called around to a bunch of train stations, none of which could locate my bike, and then a call came from the Vancouver depot saying that there was a bike coming on the train and that, hopefully, it was mine. And sure enough, it was! I don't have the slightest clue where the bike went - the paper I got said something about Seattle and Portland and Minneapolis. I don't know, but it doesn't matter anymore. So I pieced my bike back together (because I had to disassemble it for baggage check), SHOWERED! and then dressed up and went out to find a job. I applied to a lot of places, and an awesome coffee shop even said they were looking to hire someone! That would be so great. I also stopped in at a church nearby and made friends with the children's pastor, she's going to introduce me to some people my age on Sunday. Yay new friends! Ben is also coming down to see me this weekend, and that's going to be a lot of fun! So overall, day 2 was a severe improvement on day 1. I feel at home here, I like it.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thea and the Singing Telegram
I finally have a blog-worthy adventure, for tomorrow, I will be moving from White Bear Township, MN to Vancouver, WA for three months [not Canada, this one is by Portland]. Earlier in August, I applied for a spring 2012 internship with Shared Hope because I really want to work with non-profit International Human Rights organizations. A week or so ago, I received an email back asking whether or not I would consider a fall internship because they still had an opening. Ummmm, YES. It would be awesome experience and a good organization for an internship. I was pumped, but I still needed a place to live and transportation to get there, because, you know, I don't know anyone specifically in Vancouver and you can't fly with a bike. Ok, yes you can, but it's really expensive and complicated and bikes can die. Not exactly a risk I wanted to take with my sole method of transportation. Plus it's cute.
Human Rights Internship: check.
The plan was that I'd arrive in Vancouver during the second full week of September, so I needed to find a room fast. I tooled around Roomster looking for a lady or family with a spare room or something. Kinda sketchy, but alas was disappointed with the results. Either the rent was too high or they never replied to my inquisition. I started calling up local churches to see if they had any leads, and... nope. I signed up for a roommate search thing, which cost me $6 to learn that there were NO SEARCH RESULTS. Really? This stress resulted in a few freak-outs, but I knew that there would be something better for me if this didn't work out. Then, on Wednesday night I decided to give Roomster a second chance, since it at least had a significantly larger user database than the other ones. I came across a newer listing of a single mom who had two rooms to rent, with cheap-to-reasonable rent and she left her phone number on the page. I gave her a call to see if they were still available and, sure enough, the cheaper room was! We spent about half an hour interviewing and she told me that this room had just opened up on the previous day because, here's where it gets better, she had been housing a Japanese foreign exchange student over the summer. Determined for her to have a good first-impression of America, she decorated and furnished the whole room, including bed sheets and pillows! This is really exciting because I'll probably be biking from wherever I arrive in Vancouver to wherever I'll be living, so everything will have to fit in my Osprey... and bedding is bulky, and expensive if I were to buy it there. In all honesty, I was prepared to bring my compression sleeping bag and sleep on a floor; it was already at the base of my pack. So, um yeah, SCORE!!!
Place to live: check.
Now for transportation. Initially, I had found a bus line that would get me to Portland, so my plan was to then bike from Portland to Vancouver which I think would take about an hour. My parents suggested that I consider the train. Sure enough, I found a non-stop train from St. Paul to Vancouver that was only a little more expensive than the bus; but I couldn't buy the ticket because at that point I hadn't found a place to live. So on Wednesday night I looked up the price of the train and it was now $70 more expensive than it had been. Booooo-yet-understandable! Slightly upset but reallllyyy freaking excited, I went to bed. The next day I decided that I should stop stalling and buy the ticket, so I got back online and when I found it again, it had gone back to its original price!! Ahahahaha PTL! Also, it's only $5 extra to check your bike on the train. I'm leaving 11:15pm Saturday night and I'll be arriving there at 9:15am Monday morning. 36 hour train ride, blehh, but dad says that a lot of people say that taking the train over the mountains is the coolest thing ever because you ride on the very edge where no other vehicle goes - I hadn't even thought about that! MOUNTAIN TRAIN, FTW!
Transportation: check.
Now, the job. Just kidding, I don't have a job there yet, although my landlady did tell me about a shopping area near the house where there are a lot of coffee shops and stores and stuff, so I'm bringing a pile of resumes. Wish me luck! I do have a savings account for this specific purpose, but I'm still not confident in my ability to live off that for 3 months. I guess we'll find out!
Until we meet again,
Mern
Purely for your amusement, here's the FIF song behind the title:
Currently Reading:
Captivating - Stasi and John Eldredge
The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis
Just finished:
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Crazy Love - Francis Chan
Human Rights Internship: check.
The plan was that I'd arrive in Vancouver during the second full week of September, so I needed to find a room fast. I tooled around Roomster looking for a lady or family with a spare room or something. Kinda sketchy, but alas was disappointed with the results. Either the rent was too high or they never replied to my inquisition. I started calling up local churches to see if they had any leads, and... nope. I signed up for a roommate search thing, which cost me $6 to learn that there were NO SEARCH RESULTS. Really? This stress resulted in a few freak-outs, but I knew that there would be something better for me if this didn't work out. Then, on Wednesday night I decided to give Roomster a second chance, since it at least had a significantly larger user database than the other ones. I came across a newer listing of a single mom who had two rooms to rent, with cheap-to-reasonable rent and she left her phone number on the page. I gave her a call to see if they were still available and, sure enough, the cheaper room was! We spent about half an hour interviewing and she told me that this room had just opened up on the previous day because, here's where it gets better, she had been housing a Japanese foreign exchange student over the summer. Determined for her to have a good first-impression of America, she decorated and furnished the whole room, including bed sheets and pillows! This is really exciting because I'll probably be biking from wherever I arrive in Vancouver to wherever I'll be living, so everything will have to fit in my Osprey... and bedding is bulky, and expensive if I were to buy it there. In all honesty, I was prepared to bring my compression sleeping bag and sleep on a floor; it was already at the base of my pack. So, um yeah, SCORE!!!
Place to live: check.
Now for transportation. Initially, I had found a bus line that would get me to Portland, so my plan was to then bike from Portland to Vancouver which I think would take about an hour. My parents suggested that I consider the train. Sure enough, I found a non-stop train from St. Paul to Vancouver that was only a little more expensive than the bus; but I couldn't buy the ticket because at that point I hadn't found a place to live. So on Wednesday night I looked up the price of the train and it was now $70 more expensive than it had been. Booooo-yet-understandable! Slightly upset but reallllyyy freaking excited, I went to bed. The next day I decided that I should stop stalling and buy the ticket, so I got back online and when I found it again, it had gone back to its original price!! Ahahahaha PTL! Also, it's only $5 extra to check your bike on the train. I'm leaving 11:15pm Saturday night and I'll be arriving there at 9:15am Monday morning. 36 hour train ride, blehh, but dad says that a lot of people say that taking the train over the mountains is the coolest thing ever because you ride on the very edge where no other vehicle goes - I hadn't even thought about that! MOUNTAIN TRAIN, FTW!
Transportation: check.
Now, the job. Just kidding, I don't have a job there yet, although my landlady did tell me about a shopping area near the house where there are a lot of coffee shops and stores and stuff, so I'm bringing a pile of resumes. Wish me luck! I do have a savings account for this specific purpose, but I'm still not confident in my ability to live off that for 3 months. I guess we'll find out!
Until we meet again,
Mern
Purely for your amusement, here's the FIF song behind the title:
Currently Reading:
Captivating - Stasi and John Eldredge
The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis
Just finished:
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Crazy Love - Francis Chan
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