Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My Pink Bed

There's nothing in life quite as exciting as keeping people guessing. I usually do this unintentionally. It's fun to see people squirm a little bit.

It just hit me. I have an awful lot of pink for my bedding. Usually, this wouldn't be a concern for me, but my roommate has stopped sleeping in our room. He does have a girlfriend so I guess that could be the reason. I hope so. It might also be that my setup is giving him the willies. If it is my bed time getup, I've found a fool-proof way to get a private room when it should actually be a shared room. I guess if I really wanted to make sure he didn't sleep in the room I could look over at him every night, smile, wink, turn over, mutter something and then fall asleep. I'm pretty sure the effect would be the roommate deal breaker and my own room.

I don't think I'll do this. However, the card is definitely in my hand. I mean, a private room for the price of a shared room. The pink sheets might just be worth it. I'll have to post some pictures so you know what I mean.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Funny Stuff!

Dating is funny stuff! Seriously, I'm about done. With the amount of time I've put into dating I would expect a little bit more...success, let's call it. I am your typical "nice guy". Unfortunately, I'm finding the old axiom, nice guys finish last, to be true.

I've noticed a few categories that most people fit into. The first group are the ones that snub you right up front. These are the cold cruel she/he-devils. The attraction you have for them is purely physical, and in reality, it's a good thing these relationships never actually work out. Luckily I haven't had to deal with many of them. When I do, I wish I hadn't. This people will give curt one word answers to any question you ask. These are also the ones that walk on the opposite side of the hall, change class schedules, or get plastic surgery, all to avoid you. How do these people know right of that it isn't going to work out?!

The second group are the ones that: when you leave the country for a couple months, the next thing you know, when you get back, they are "dating" and no longer want to date you. This group can also be enlarged to included those that you date a couple time and then decide they can do better...after 2 dates. I don't even know if I like a pair of shoes after I try them on twice. I think people should get a little bit more wear as well.

The third group are the people that you yourself can't decide to date or not. You see the good in that person but think you can do better. I'm convinced that at some point there is nobody better. The longer I last the more I've convinced that marriage is nothing more than two people settling for the best they can get. Sometimes this works out great. Other times, not so much. A lot of the whole process comes from timing. I, however, have never been very good at timing. I'm the guy that bolted from a front porch.

I guess love exist but sometimes I wonder.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Time

Yesterday it hit me. I need to leave this place! I was getting all of my stuff together and I noticed my roommate's class ring, 2005. Yep, I graduated in 2001. I am also sharing a room, something I haven't done since my mission. I've lived in a house for the past 4 years and had a private room sometimes the entire house. Usually, most students work in reverse. Not me baby; I like to mix things up.

I also realized that if I had not gone to Brazil I would be graduating this spring, maddening. At this point it's hard to see how my foray into international finance will benefit me, things being the way they are. I, however, remain optimistic. The experience was great and I picked up some Portuguese. This semester should be entertaining none the less, and I expect a few adventures/drama to come my way.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Going Home

I'll be honest, I've got mixed feelings about coming home. I'm excited to see my family and to start school again, but I'll miss the adventure of being in another country. This week I flew to Buenos Aires. It was amazing! (I even used and explanation point, so obviously it was pretty cool.) If I had a chance to live there, I wouldn't have to think about it for too long. The city kind of reminded me of Chicago.

I've had some crazy experiences here in Brazil and in Argentina. They make great stories. Odd things usually end up happening to me, and being here was no exception. I think they make me a more interesting and diverse person.

During this internship I've also come to the conclusion that I'd prefer to work for a company that isn't extremely large or when I have my own business don't let it become a giant corporation. I think there are a lot of flaws with that type of organization. Finance isn't so bad, but I think I'd really like to work in a different type of area; say, deciding strategy for the bank or who money should be lent to. I think that would be really awesome.

I'm really grateful I had the opportunity to learn some Portuguese. I think knowing languages will be come increasingly important. I think the next language I'm going to try to tackle will be Indonesian or German. We shall see. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading the blog and hopefully I'll keep writing once I start school again.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Winding Down

Things are slowing down. I have 2 work days left. This internship experience has been great, overall. Somethings didn't exactly go as planned. Being a trailblazer is never easy. In this particular event of my life, I was a trailblazer.

Myself and the other intern spoke with our main boss yesterday and, it was, memorable. There are many analogies of how the internship went. Most involve a football, doorknob, or some other strange object. Perhaps the one I liked best was the one our boss got me thinking about. 

The gist of it was, how many astronauts ended up exploding before they made it to the moon? Guess what, I think the overwhelming consensus is, we didn't make it to the moon. They'll send in the clean up crew to scrape our remains out of the instrument panel. However, we did contribute to a noble cause. The next group they'll be sure to tell not to press the red-skull button or maybe give them more training on how put on the flame retardant booties. It'd be a shame if they canceled the space program just because a few astronauts got fried. It'd be a shame if this internship program never reaches its full potential.

I'm going to miss some people here a lot, but with the miracle of our digital age they won't really be too far away. Overall, I've benefitted a lot from this internship. Having an international work experience has been great. Learning some Portuguese has also been extremely beneficial. I plan to keep up the Portuguese. You can't really go wrong learning another language.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Firsts



In life we always have firsts. This past Friday I wore a complete spandex uniform. I had to edit it a little, but it was interesting. The reason, I was wearing spandex, is because my work went to a interactive circus. It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

My "act" was to do some gymnastics type stuff on a ring suspended from the ceiling. I did okay. There were photos taken, so, I'll post some once I get them. I'll be honest I'm just really glad I had some pants to cover the bottom part of the spandex suit. There's a few things you don't realize, or fully appreciate, before you put on one of those suits. I would have a hard time being spider man. There are a few things I really don't want to show the rest of the world.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Edit

After reading through some of my past posts I realized something. I need to take some time and carefully read what I've written. If I didn't have an edit capability I'd be completely out of luck. I mostly make errors that involve using similar words that spell check automatically picks up, but completely change the meaning of your sentence. 

I also went to an interesting film yesterday, Romance. It was a Brazilian film that did a take on the Tristain and Isod story. It was pretty good. It was a nice break and great company, wink. 

This weekend has also been great since it has been a long one. I haven't been to work since Wednesday. It's hard to believe I'll only be in Brazil for 4 more weeks. It's been great. I hope something works out for me after this internship. This experience has given me a better view of the world and a better perspective on Brazil. The only way this internship could have been much better would have been getting paid in Dollars.