In with the New

I got the job! And I accepted it! After I wrote my last post, God really confirmed that this was the job for me and for right now. After waiting a week for all of my background check stuff to process, my first day was last Friday! I think that Casual Friday with a luncheon is probably the best way to start a new job.

Today was my fourth day at my new job as an assistant in an office in downtown Indianapolis. I like offices. I like 8 to 5, or thankfully, at this job, it can sometimes be 8:30 to 5:30, or pretty much any other variation that has me working my 40 hours a week. It's a really nice set up. I have felt so welcomed. I really can't think of a way to make this job better. The people are great. The job is interesting. I get to dress up for work. I'm going to be learning lots of new things.

What's New

This past week I have had so many new things change my life and my daily schedule. Here are just a few:
1. I started a new job!
2. I now have to get up before 9am. My new wake-up time is 6:15am. I'm slowly adjusting.
3. I'm learning new words: redact, fiduciary, apostille
4. I bought a new car! It's a sporty, red Mazda Protege 5. It's cute and has a sunroof. :) It's nice to be independently mobile again.
5. I dress up for work. I take time before I go to bed to pick out my outfit for the next day. I need new clothes. (And shoes!)
6. I drive downtown for work. Traffic stinks, but I think I will *finally* learn the downtown streets and know how to go somewhere other than Circle Center mall.
7. I talked to a judge on the phone today. He was nice.
8. There is the potential for at least one lunch out a week with various friends who also work downtown!
9. I walk by the State House on the way to my office.
10. I am responsible for the supply closet and get to order office supplies for everyone (and myself!). Definitely a perk for me.

I'll stop with ten for now. I could go on, but it's late and all of this working full time makes me really tired by the end of the day! Not only did I lay out my outfit for tomorrow, I also packed my bags to head down to Bloomington after work.....for my sister's wedding!!! My little sister is marrying her high school sweetheart on Saturday at their church in Bloomington. Lots of family is coming in from out of town and I haven't seen most of them in over a year. The wedding and reception will be beautiful and it's going to be a fun and busy  weekend. Hopefully I'll get more sleep next week!

Life Update: The Job Hunt & Making Decisions

I've been back in the States for almost three months now. It feels like a long time to me, but others keep telling me that it really isn't that long. As I mentioned in a previous blog, culture shock has been minimal. Overall, I think my transition home has been great. I'm helping out with the high school youth group again, I slipped back into my Sunday morning small group, I've reconnected with friends, and I even found a French club here in Indianapolis (to prevent me from losing my language skills and to be brave and meet new people). On the other side of the "transition" is my current stage of life, which, much to my dismay, allows me to really relate to my high school students. The situation: I live with my parents, I don't have a car, I don't have a job, and I don't have any money. Sigh. It's like I just graduated from college. (Except I had a plan then!)

Here I am. Asking the famous question: What do I want to do with my life? Ultimately, I would love to live overseas and help take the gospel and Christ's love to the nations. Right now though, I want to be here. So, I'm looking for a job, not a career, but something that will pay the bills (and hopefully pay off student loans), allow me to use some of my skills, work with nice people, and have my evenings and weekends free to live life. I want to keep taking classes at church (the current class is Apologetics) and even take some art or graphic design classes at the local college. I feel like this is a great time for personal development and I believe that Indianapolis, with my family, friends, and church, is a great place for it.

The Job Search Update:
When I look at my resume and compare it to "Job Requirements" I find online, I get discouraged. I've done so many different things! But, I haven't stayed in one type of job or one company/organization for more than two years. Since the beginning of January I've been applying for various jobs that I've found through job search engines. I've either received emails that say they filled the position or I've heard nothing. In the past few weeks the search has seemed more promising. I have a temporary work opportunity for March that I learned about through friends at church. Then, I got a phone call from a babysitting client saying he knew of an opening at his office. Two days later, I went in for a long (2.5 hour) interview! It sounds like I've got the job, but I still don't know anything about the salary (and there are no health benefits). The people are nice. I met with each person who I would work with. (I would be the assistant to a team of people.) Their concern for me is that I'm overqualified and that I would get bored. It's a job. I'm not necessarily looking for excitement, but does make me ask myself again: What am I looking for? Do I take this job (assuming the pay is sufficient)? Do I keep looking? This is a tough time to be searching for a job. There are lots of jobs out there, but there are even more people looking for work.

Do I really trust God with my life and His plan for me? Do I really believe that He will provide for me and all of my needs? I want to make the right decision. I want to honor God with that decision and in how I live my life each day. And I wonder, can I mess this up? Or can I just decide and go with it, knowing that God is with me? I'm praying for wisdom and guidance, and ultimately that comes from knowing Christ more. That's the goal. I'm so thankful that God loves me, not for my job or what I do, but just for me.

Not So Culture Shocked: Thoughts on returning home

It’s good to be back. Surrounded by familiar faces and familiar places, my reentry to American life and culture has been very smooth. What makes culture shock greater or less? Is it how much time you’re away? Does it depend on where you go, how you, live and/or what you do? I definitely experience a shock upon returning to the US after almost one year in Italy. And then I experienced it again returning home after my second year there. So, why didn’t I feel so shocked by America after almost 8 months in Cambodia?

Perhaps it’s because I’ve traveled so much. I don’t want to say that my time in Cambodia was “just another trip overseas.” I certainly experienced some challenges as I adjusted to living there. But, it felt pretty easy to return to Indianapolis. I do know that my previous overseas experiences helped me to prepare myself for the potential challenges of coming back home. As my departure from Cambodia approached, I began to think about the “reentry” lessons I had heard and learned in the past. I thought about how I might answer some of the common questions: everything from the broad “How was it?” to specific questions about food, culture, and “What was most different?” [I even thought about I might answer, “What’s next?” The response is still the simple, “I have no idea!”] I was able to anticipate some of the changes to my everyday life: I knew Walmart would be big, I knew traffic would be more ordered (and downright boring), and I expected there to be things I wouldn’t remember, like street names and the best way to drive downtown (which I always forget).

I also wonder if my lack of culture shock was due to just how incredibly different Cambodia is from the United States. I mean, I have to really think about it to come up with similarities between the two places. Yes, there was a pretty big grocery store—where I found lovely treats like Banana Nut Crunch cereal and Kraft Mac & Cheese! (But, there was no guarantee that our snacks imported from American would be there at each visit.) And I did find a great coffee shop near my house, but even that experience is so full of Cambodian culture. I discovered many places, food, and people that reminded me of home and contributed to making life in Cambodia fun. But, nothing was the same as home or consistent. Often it was the style, the construction, or simply the way of going about something that made it different. As I think about this way of comparing places and experiencing life in another in culture, my main basis for comparison is Italy and the two years I lived in Rome. When I came back home, many of the differences were more subtle between Italy and my American life. The two experiences for me are still “Western” life and culture, just played out across the Atlantic, whereas Cambodia versus Indianapolis is East versus West. I could write more about the comparison, but this is just a brief effort to communicate why American culture, with all of its negative and positive aspects, didn’t shake me much when I returned from my time in Southeast Asia.

It was bittersweet to leave Phnom Penh. I had found my place in my last few months there. I very much enjoyed my sweet, simple life. I had made some dear friends. Yet, I was excited to go home. I looked forward to reconnecting with family, friends, and my church community that had encouraged and supported me as I was away. I couldn’t wait to meet my little niece for the first time. And there was wedding planning to be done in preparation for my little sister who had gotten engaged while I was gone. My first two weeks home were great. I saw some friends. I jumped right back into church and helping with the high school youth group. Just before Christmas, my younger siblings came home with their (current and soon-to-be) families and reality set in: things had changed. Life happened and I was gone and it hurt. I knew that I would miss out on things while I was gone. And I was able to stay connected through photos and facebook and Skype calls. But, then I was home and feeling the actual affects all at once. So, that was my biggest culture shock. I wasn’t shocked by stores or streets or TV, but I was shaken by family culture and life and how it changes so easily.

I often wish that I could do everything and be everywhere without missing out on anything. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that is not reality. So, now I’m home, adjusting well, yet still not sure what I’m adjusting to. “What’s next?” is still a question without an answer. So, I continue to search for the answer while enjoying the comforts and familiarity of family and friends and………home.