Friday 3/23

This was written on Friday, I promise. I just never really had the time to post it until now.

Today has been a long day. I took my final exam this morning at work, in which I scored 96 out of 100, making that a total of 98% in the class. I spent a few hours at the training facility until the rest of the people in my car were done and ready to go to the airport. It took me two and a half hours for the test and I had about six hours left until my first flight.

While I was waiting, I went to a chocolate shop down the street from the training facility that I had been thinking about visiting for the last few days. The second I walked in, I was surrounded by the smell of chocolate and I just about melted. The purpose of stopping was to get my mom a gift; she was the only one I hadn’t bought for yet. I ended up spending almost $40 on chocolates. Granted, they were overpriced, but I did end up with much more than originally planned. Hopefully they are good.

A large group of my peers were on the same flight to Atlanta and a few of us were going to Detroit, so we got to hang out for a little bit longer and wait for the flights to leave. I am usually really bad with goodbyes. I get attached to people easily and it makes me sad to think I won’t ever see them again. I especially had that problem when I left JCP, but I didn’t have the same sentiments today. I think I spent too much concentrated time with some of them and was glad to get my own space. Also, I wasn’t too excited about going home until right when I finished the test this morning. My time there had been more like a vacation, but once it was over and I got my score, I instantly didn’t have anything to strive toward (in Rochester, anyway) and began to get very anxious to get back to Portland and in my own house with my own bed. And I did miss my family and friends.

The most exciting part about today was the Detroit airport. It is seriously the coolest airport I have ever been in. The tunnel between the concourses is a light show! They also had some music playing; I felt like I was in one of those laser light shows at OMSI. Very fun. The main concourse looks like a mall with the big open area and lots of shops. Then I saw the tram – it is indoors! Seriously, the Detroit airport is like Disneyland. My connecting flight was delayed so I got to spend quite a bit of time there, which I wasn’t bothered by in the least. I was kind of hoping I might run into Eminem at the airport, but no such luck. I think next time I fly cross-country, I might purposefully stop in Detroit…it’s that cool. Here’s a couple pics to prove it:

I will post the full set of photos on facebook sometime soon. Hopefully tomorrow. But then again, this post is four days late…so no guarantees.

Thursday 3/22

Yesterday our trainer, Nicole, played a game called Tattoo or No Tattoo. Just like it sounds, she went around the room and guessed which of us had tattoos and which didn’t. Mostly she was trying to waste time before we went home early. She actually did a pretty good job (judged me correctly…no tattoo) but didn’t make her goal of 22 out of 29 correct. If she won, we were supposed to buy her a venti double chocolate frappuccino and if we won, we got an hour and a half lunch the next day (today). We won, but I still bought her a frappuccino. After drinking 3/4 of it, which is mostly all sugar, she decided to inform me that she is diabetic. Wow, way to totally set us up. She was funny, though, saying she could just shoot herself up with more insulin. I really like her.

I decided I could be a corporate trainer. I guess that’s kind of what my mom does. No wonder I would like it.

After class today someone suggested we all go outside and take a group picture, since it was the last time we would have the chance before we all leave tomorrow. So we filed outside and started lining up when we realized not everyone was there. Turns out, the group of people that have been rude and annoying this whole trip decided they don’t want to be in our picture. It felt like middle school, no joke. I thought that was so lame of them. Then I started thinking about those type of people and got myself off on a tangent. Maybe someday I’ll think more about it and make it a blog post.

Anyway, the weather was beautiful again today, and I’m sad to leave it tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get to enjoy it before I go to the airport. I get to start the test at 8:00 am, and I expect it to take about two hours. My flight is not until 5 pm…so I’ll have a little time on my hands. Here’s a pic to prove that we are (still) having awesome sunny weather:

Wednesday 3/21 … Part 2

Right after I finished that last post, I was watching a rerun of Big Bang Theory and the hotel suite went black. This happened two nights ago and the maintenance man came to fix it. Tonight, however, he is not working. A different guy tried to come and fix it but he resolved that there is something wrong with the breaker and could not get the power back on.

The hotel gave Ashley and I new rooms – we each got a one-bed suite. It’s very nice. But I still hope they get the power working for tomorrow night. I definitely don’t want to have to pack all my stuff up twice. And even though Ashley and I didn’t talk much when we were both in the suite, I am still somehow lonelier in this big room all by myself.

I thought this was a worthy enough story for another blog post. And a few pics to prove it:

 
This is what the room looked like when the power went out

The new room. To the left is the kitchen and further back on the left is the bathroom and vanity. Oh, and to the right is the giant flat screen TV and behind is a desk. Awesome.

Wednesday 3/22

Today is Wednesday. I wore pink.

Quiz #2 was this morning and I got all 25 questions right! That means I have 100% so far in the course with the final on Friday. It is completely open-book, so I feel pretty good about my chances of getting a perfect score. I’m very excited.

This was another gorgeous day in Rochester! I believe we got up to 82 degrees!!! It was so hot outside during our lunch hour that we sat in the grass again and I actually had to take off my cardigan. And I got a little bit of a sunburn! Then I heard there has been snow back home the last couple days. Definitely not something I want to go home to…can’t I bring the sun back?

After work tonight we went to check out the local BBQ restaurant that we tried (and failed) to go to last Friday. I have been craving ribs since that night so I was glad to finally get some! They were delicious, fall-off-the-bone ribs with BBQ beans, macaroni salad (good, but nowhere near as amazing as Angie’s), and the most scrumptious cornbread I have ever eaten. The place was fun.

The most interesting news, however, is that I am still an amazing parallel parker. None of the other people in my van are comfortable with city driving, so I took the driver’s seat from work to the restaurant.  It’s downtown, so there wasn’t much parking. While everyone else was trying to convince me to park in a garage or lot, I scouted out a spot along the street. Then I pulled perfectly into the spot in a minivan. This was my most proud parking moment. I had to document it. Here’s the pic to prove it:

Tuesday 3/20

I feel like I’m just rambling now. Nothing too exciting is happening, so I am sort of grasping for topics.

Today, I would like to write about how incredibly awesome the weather is. I know it’s been raining (and even snowing) at home and that makes this all the better. It has been sunny and gorgeous almost the whole time I’ve been in New York, which the locals say is very unlike typical March weather. Today I went outside during my lunch hour and took in all the Vitamin D I could possibly contain.

My weather app said it was 72 degrees, but it felt much warmer in the sunshine. I even laid down in the grass and watched the clouds pass by! It was incredible. Note to self: don’t have too much fun on your lunch break. It is really, really, really hard to go back inside and do work. I have two pictures today, because I really need everyone to believe me (and maybe be a little jealous). Here’s the pics to prove it:

Monday 3/19

Today began week two and our first day with the other corporate trainer, Nicole. She is awesome and hilarious. They also switched up our assigned seating, so I am no longer in the front row! The ironic thing is, though, I’m now sitting next to the girl who is struggling the most out of all 29 of us trainees.

We aren’t really sure what goes on in her head a lot of times, she seems to forget that she needs to pay attention. There was one point this afternoon when we were supposed to be doing an activity in pairs and she just walked out to go to the restroom. So I waited for her to return, because I didn’t want to leave her in the dust. But when she came back, she slowly put on lip gloss and then began asking me about my time in Portland before flying out to Rochester. It was the weirdest thing…like she was completely uninterested in our task. This could be an interesting week.

On the way home from class we stopped to get gas. I know it’s weird, but I like pumping gas. It was the first (and probably only) time I have pumped gas in New York!! The picture is a little weird because it was a busy gas station and I was the weirdo taking a picture of myself pumping gas. But anyway, here’s the pic to prove it:

Sunday 3/18

Today was a very slow day. Everyone was tired from last week and all the activity yesterday so it was very quiet around the hotel. We made sure to get our homework done this morning so we didn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day, and that was nice. We went to my new favorite sandwich place for lunch, DiBella’s, and I attempted to stream CBC’s service online. The internet at the hotel is really, really slow, though, so I gave up and just listened to the audio of last week’s sermon (that I missed due to travel).

The sweet little lady at the front desk of the hotel suggested we drive to the mall that was further away instead of the one down the street, so we did. It was a huge mall and very confusing to navigate. I went looking specifically for a leather jacket, but I think I waited too long in the season and they are all gone now. That’s disappointing. I left with some new nose rings (I lost mine while sleeping and it was never found) and a venti iced coffee from Starbucks.

Since we finished our homework early, we had a lot of extra time in the evening and decided to break out a couple games. We ended up laying Skip-Bo for what felt like forever, but it was fun. Amy from Pittsburgh had never heard of the game before but ended up winning like 80% of the rounds. I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures, but here is one of our game. Here is the pic to prove it:

Tomorrow starts week two. Sounds like everyone is getting homesick, and I kind of feel guilty that I’m not. I’m having fun. Mostly I’m just focused on working hard and doing the very best I can these next couple days. Pastor Frank’s sermon series right now is called Worklife Strategy. He stresses the frame of mind that our workplace is our mission field. He also made the point a few weeks ago that God calls us to succeed in our workplaces. I am trusting God that he will lead me to success here with my training, and that’s what keeps me going. Here’s to the beginning of week two!

Saturday 3/17

Today I visited Niagara Falls!! What everyone told me was right… the Canadian side is probably better. They get to see the falls from head-on, since the American side is where the river flows over the edge. But we still saw some pretty awesome views of the falls. It was a beautiful sunny day. I got to try out my new sunglasses and went to Hard Rock Cafe for the first time in my life. It was a cool experience, even though I wish I could have gone with my friends or family and I wish the Maid of the Mist had been open so we could get a better view. Note to self: get a passport. 🙂 Here’s a pic to prove it:

 

Friday 3/16

This morning we had our midterm. I was one of the only two people that answered all the questions correctly. I knew the material and made sure I took my time. I am typically a very fast tester so I had to try extra hard to slow down. And I was the second person finished! But I couldn’t even celebrate my perfect score; everyone else made me feel bad about it. So now that I know the material is manageable, my only goal in sight is to get 100% all the way through. I have one more quiz and a final to take. Hopefully I can do it. That would make me only the second person to ace the class EVER. I’m sure I can do it. I am too competitive for my own good.

So as each of us finished the midterm today we went down to the café. Then when the last person was done, our lunch hour began. Needless to say, I had lots of time to spare. I think I finished around 10 and was waiting around until 1:25. During the break, Kristi and I went to Dunkin Donuts. Apparently everyone here loves it, so I had to at least try a drink. I got an iced latte, nice and simple. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. (except for that I’m kind of writing home right now…hm) We got a couple donuts too, and here’s the pic to prove it:

Tonight was a very interesting experience. We wanted to go to a BBQ place that we heard was really good. So we plugged the address in to the GPS and started driving. Pretty soon we realize we are heading downtown, which sounded fun. First, the restaurant was easy to find but parking was literally nonexistent due to a college hockey game downtown. Then, we parked half a mile away (no joke), only to find out there was a 90 minute wait! No thank you. We decided to go back next week, hopefully they will be less busy. So we walked around a little downtown, stumbled upon an Occupy Rochester camp and subsequent protest march, and made a new plan to try a place by where we parked, called Henry B’s. My iphone app said it was an Italian/American restaurant, which everyone agreed sounded good.

Once we got to Henry B’s, however, they sat us down and we were instantly uncomfortable. Not one other person was wearing jeans. In fact, many of the men were wearing ties and suit jackets. I was wearing Converse. Then we opened the menu and the cheapest dinner was $16. This was not our style at all and had to come up with a plan..quickly. We decided to just order a couple desserts to share and pick a different restaurant. Not only were we uncomfortable, but we couldn’t stop giggling. The whole situation was just too awkward. We left that restaurant and ended up at the one next door to our hotel, which was a sports bar & grill. The funniest part is that we could have just waited at the first restaurant and gotten our dinners earlier than we did at the last place. It was definitely an experience. Here’s a few pics to prove it:

Welcome to Rochester!

They occupied a small park


Tully the Turtle, of Tully’s Bar & Grill

Thursday 3/15

I’m sorry to say, not much happened today. We have our midterm exam tomorrow morning and a lot of my classmates are studying hard. I’m not typically an anxious tester, and I’m fairly comfortable with the information, so I’m not worried about tomorrow. After finishing my homework I got to work out for a little bit in the hotel fitness room and then spent some much needed alone time with my Bible.

Today was the day of learning words. There is a grocery store here called Wegman’s, and I’ve heard conflicting ways of pronouncing that name. So I asked our trainer, Gretchen, if she could clear it up for me. First, she laughed. Then, she gave us a mini-lesson on how to pronounce things in Rochester. There’s a city called Charlotte, which any normal person would pronounce like the city in North Carolina. The NY city, however is pronounced Shar-lot. Another nearby city is Chili, but pronounced Chai-lie. Confusing. She also tried to tell me how to prounounce Wegman’s, but I still haven’t gotten it. I don’t think we make those vowel sounds on the west coast.

While we were working on our homework tonight, tiredness was getting the best of us and things started to get silly. At one point I was laughing so hard I was crying. The girl from Pittsburgh called us “soup simple,” which is apparently what they call someone who has the giggles. What an odd saying. I’m not sure the meaning behind it, or if it even has a meaning. We were soup simple.

There is no pic to prove any of this today. First, I’m not allowed to have my phone out during class and then I forgot to take a picture during any of the other stuff. I promise tomorrow will have one. And anyway, yesterday had like a million pictures. So we’re all good. You have to take my word for it.