Friday, January 30
Sisters, OR
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Today is our last day in Sisters (for this part of our journey). We're packing up our stuff and getting ready to head to the valley tomorrow. The plan is to stay at Kristen's grandmother's house on Saturday and Sunday. While we're there, we will set up plenty of apartment viewings for Monday and possibly Tuesday. Hopefully, we'll find a place fairly quickly because I'm due to start my new job on Wednesday. I'll write more about that in a couple of weeks' time, after I have settled in a bit.
Beautiful day today. 59 degrees. The mountains were in full view. We will definitely miss being out here and are a bit sad to leave, even though we are looking forward to starting the next chapter. We're so grateful to have gotten the chance to stay here at Kristen's aunt'n'uncle's ranch.
I just want to say a few words about Sisters, OR. If you're ever coming through this part of the country, be sure to...
*Hang out at Sisters Coffee Company. They've got free wi-fi and will happily let you sit there using it as long as you've bought something from them. Their coffee is AMAZING! I never really drink "drip" coffee, but I have fallen in love with theirs. So damn good! Even Kristen, who is a devout Starbucks-ite, loves it (albeit, the iced lattes with flavoring). I highly recommend the Black Butte Gold house coffee. Really balanced and wonderfully aromatic. A rich, caramelly aftertaste. Also good as a "Black Butte Bomber" (i.e.- espresso to which you can add any of their brewed coffees from the coffee bar). Also good, the mexican mocha. Their baked goods are delicious and they sell all of their coffee beans at a fair price. We bought a bag of their espresso blend to take with us.
*Grab lunch at Depot Deli. Great sandwiches and interesting daily specials. Quirky decor, complete with a model steam-train at ceiling level above the seating area. They also serve local Oregon ales in bottles and from draft.
*Sip some brews at Three Creeks Brewing Co. We went there for lunch the other day and, boy howdy, was that good! Their beers are a little more interesting than the usual brewpub. For example, instead of keeping an IPA in their stable, they brew a unique style called IBA (India Black Ale). This is a fairly new hybrid style that originated in Central and Eastern Oregon. It's pretty strong and it is FLAVORFUL! Not for the faint of heart. Also fairly unique is their Stonefly Rye. This is their version of the ubiquitous wheat beer. They've added rye malt to it, so it has an extra dimension that makes it stand out.
*Go to a movie at Sisters Movie House. This is a quirky little movie theater (right next to Three Creeks Brewing... hint, hint) in the theme of a big red barn. The decor inside fits that motif, too, with things like axe door-handles, pitchfork velvet-rope stansions, and aluminum roof vents as lamp-shades. They have four screens with a pretty good standard of projection, all film. Furthermore, they've got a snack bar serving paninis, wraps, burgers, pizza, coffees, soft drinks, wine, and beer! "And I'm not talking about now paper cup. I'm talking about a glass of beer!" You can eat your snacks in the cafe, take them into the theater, or have them delivered directly to your seat. The cinema experience is going by the wayside what with all the home theaters and the bad economy, so get it while you still can (and support a great local, independent company, too).
*Pig out at Sisters Bakery. They bake everything fresh daily on premises. Their donuts are amazing and I'm told their apple fritters are out of this world. I wouldn't know because they're always sold out! The donuts are a dollar a piece but so are Dunkin Donuts and these are 10 times better. Their breads a bit pricey, though.
There are other things to do here and other restaurants to enjoy, but these are the ones we had time to fully investigate during our time here. Also check out: Black Butte Ranch, a golf resort, basically, and one of the places that a lot of Oregonians come to this area for.
Thursday, January 29
Waiting and Not Waiting
We are very close to severing ourselves from England. The landlord responded to my letter (that was more than a week ago, though) and denied pretty much all of my claims, but he did relent on one thing, so I decided to just give in. It wasn't worth the continued chasing and arguments. All that remained was to send in a signed form to the management company so they can release the funds. We just got an email from them today saying they had received the form, but there is a backlog in the finance department so it would take 7-10 days to release it. Ridiculous! How could their possibly be that many deposits to process? Utter BS. Then again, there's the tea breaks, socializing, vacation, and sick days to account for, so I guess that's how it could take that long. We've waited since November 19th, I suppose we can wait a little longer.
Another thing we're waiting for is the license plate for our car. We started the process of registering the car in Oregon and have sent in all the forms, paid the fees, and so on. There was a little trouble proving that we are Oregon residents, though, so we had to send in some more paperwork. To keep us legal until we get the plate, we have renewed our temporary plate for the third time. The plates will probably come through soon. Then the next step is to change our driver's licenses to Oregon, which requires an address and taking the written test. So, we're waiting to do that until we get an apartment in Portland.
AND we're waiting for our shipment from England. It will have made its way across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and into the Pacific. Supposedly, it has arrived in Los Angeles on the 24th. It will take ten days to get through customs and then another three to six days to let us know when it is going to be delivered to us in Oregon. So, it is probably going to be mid- to late- February before we have our stuff back.
Finally, we're still waiting to hear from the jobs we've applied for. The closing date for a few of them have passed during the course of the last week or so. And of course, I had the interview on Monday for one of them and was waiting to hear the outcome.
Well, on Tuesday, just as we got back to Sisters, an email came through on my BlackBerry stating that they are ready to offer me the job, providing that my references check out. Good news, but there was a bit of nail-biting because it was difficult to get a hold of the references I listed from England, so I actually had to give them some alternative people to check with. When I woke up this morning, I was thinking that it was going to be a while before this is all resolved, but while I was in the shower, I got an email and a voice-mail offering me the job. Sweet!
So, I can officially say "I'm employed!" I will be starting next week, probably on Wednesday, if not sooner. They'd like me to start ASAP. Problem is, we still need to find an apartment. We were planning to head into the valley on Saturday, then check out some apartments on Monday. At the moment, though, we're thinking we might need to go sooner. Like tomorrow, so we can look for apartments on Saturday. We're suddenly busy as hell!
Another thing we're waiting for is the license plate for our car. We started the process of registering the car in Oregon and have sent in all the forms, paid the fees, and so on. There was a little trouble proving that we are Oregon residents, though, so we had to send in some more paperwork. To keep us legal until we get the plate, we have renewed our temporary plate for the third time. The plates will probably come through soon. Then the next step is to change our driver's licenses to Oregon, which requires an address and taking the written test. So, we're waiting to do that until we get an apartment in Portland.
AND we're waiting for our shipment from England. It will have made its way across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and into the Pacific. Supposedly, it has arrived in Los Angeles on the 24th. It will take ten days to get through customs and then another three to six days to let us know when it is going to be delivered to us in Oregon. So, it is probably going to be mid- to late- February before we have our stuff back.
Finally, we're still waiting to hear from the jobs we've applied for. The closing date for a few of them have passed during the course of the last week or so. And of course, I had the interview on Monday for one of them and was waiting to hear the outcome.
Well, on Tuesday, just as we got back to Sisters, an email came through on my BlackBerry stating that they are ready to offer me the job, providing that my references check out. Good news, but there was a bit of nail-biting because it was difficult to get a hold of the references I listed from England, so I actually had to give them some alternative people to check with. When I woke up this morning, I was thinking that it was going to be a while before this is all resolved, but while I was in the shower, I got an email and a voice-mail offering me the job. Sweet!
So, I can officially say "I'm employed!" I will be starting next week, probably on Wednesday, if not sooner. They'd like me to start ASAP. Problem is, we still need to find an apartment. We were planning to head into the valley on Saturday, then check out some apartments on Monday. At the moment, though, we're thinking we might need to go sooner. Like tomorrow, so we can look for apartments on Saturday. We're suddenly busy as hell!
Monday, January 26
Portland Trip #2
So, we're in Portland today. I had my job interview this morning. Went really well (I think) and I'm really excited about the prospect now. It would be a GREAT experience and a GREAT stepping stone. No idea when they will notify me, but they did ask me when I could potentially start. We'll see!
We also checked out an apartment building in the Pearl district. It's a "green" building, brand new. Lots of cool amenities like a fitness center, a "fido field" (an astro-turf area with a fire hydrant) and swanky, common areas with free wi-fi. Unfortunately, it's a bit too pricey, especially since neither of us is employed yet! But it also caused us to re-evaluate our plan of moving to Portland with or without jobs (so that we can be "in it" to do the networking). It's probably a bit over-ambitious, so we will wait until at least one of us has a job. Then we will find a place near that. Another thing we realized is that we don't want to live in a studio apartment or possibly not a small 1 bedroom either. We're done with being squished! This means we will probably have to give up our idea of living downtown. It would be fun and a great experience, but too pricey. We might check some other parts of the downtown area, though.
For now, it's back to Central Oregon again tomorrow.
We also checked out an apartment building in the Pearl district. It's a "green" building, brand new. Lots of cool amenities like a fitness center, a "fido field" (an astro-turf area with a fire hydrant) and swanky, common areas with free wi-fi. Unfortunately, it's a bit too pricey, especially since neither of us is employed yet! But it also caused us to re-evaluate our plan of moving to Portland with or without jobs (so that we can be "in it" to do the networking). It's probably a bit over-ambitious, so we will wait until at least one of us has a job. Then we will find a place near that. Another thing we realized is that we don't want to live in a studio apartment or possibly not a small 1 bedroom either. We're done with being squished! This means we will probably have to give up our idea of living downtown. It would be fun and a great experience, but too pricey. We might check some other parts of the downtown area, though.
For now, it's back to Central Oregon again tomorrow.
Sunday, January 25
Good news
I've been invited to an interview for the Americorps job. It's on Monday, so we're heading to the valley today. We'll spend the night in Eugene, after doing some quick clothing shopping for an interview "ensemble", then drive up to Portland in the morning. There are also a couple of apartments we might take a look at.
Things might start happening very quickly now!
Things might start happening very quickly now!
Friday, January 23
Jawbs
There's a lot of doom'n'gloom on the news every day about the economy, job cuts, high unemployment, and so on. Stuff like this:
In December 174,819 Oregonians were unemployed, an increase of 69,966 from the December 2007 level of 104,853. December marked the largest number of unemployed since January 1983 when 176,815 Oregonians were unemployed.
Or this (not a very good article, but the comments are interesting!):
The seasonally adjusted figure -- the highest in more than 23 years -- could well increase further, economists said Tuesday. The recession is dealing Oregon one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, which had a 7.2 percent jobless rate in December.
And this:
Intel announces that it will close or stop production at five of its manufacturing facilities, including plants in Oregon and California. The closings will take place in 2009 and could affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees once all of Intel's plans are finalized.
In the face of news like this, we must be STUPID to try to find jobs, right? Rest assured, we do realize the gravity of the situation and that we will be VERY fortunate to find a job each, not to mention jobs that we actually desire. I sure as hell will be damn proud of us when we accomplish this seemingly daunting task. Notice I said "when" and not "if"!
The thing is, it's not as dire as it seems. When you see these figures in the media, they don't always qualify the data with further details. For example, in Oregon, the worst hit job markets are Construction, Manufacturing, and Trade/Transportation/Utilities. Take a look at this graph from the Oregon Employment Department:
Notice how Government and Financial Activities haven't really dropped that much? Now look at Educational & Health Services. It has actually been climbing steadily! Furthermore, it has been said that having a degree (I have 2, Kristen has 3) really helps you to stay out of the jobless ranks. There was an article in The Bend Bulletin titled "In hard times, having a degree is a lifesaver". I've included a LINK to the article. Unfortunately, you can only read the first paragraph (unless you have a subscription), but there's also this PIECE from the New York Times which states: "The job situation is likely to weaken considerably for less-educated workers as the downturn persists, however, because employers are likely to raise skill requirements. Employers tend to be more selective in downturns. A study by Paul Devereux, for example, found 'the education levels of new hires within occupations are higher when the unemployment rate is high and this effect is more pronounced in lower-paying occupations.'" This bodes well for us. Sure, we might not end up in the job of our dreams at this point, but that's OK. First of all, we live quite modestly by most standards, have relatively low debt, and don't have any dependents. We're not looking to become millionaires. As long as our basic needs are being met and we can afford to go to a movie or out for dinner once in a while, we'll be happy. The 5 years we spent in Europe really taught us to re-evaluate what's important and to take a much less materialistic approach to life. That certainly has been helpful for us when we got back to the US to find the economy collapsing. People have been living irresponsibly, way beyond their means. That's just how the American society has been for the last 50 years or so. Consume, consume, consume. If you want to find a positive side to how things look here now, the fact that people are starting to change their consumer behavior and re-priortize is a REALLY good thing! Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have had to learn this lesson the hard way and are close to, if not firmly-planted, in destitute. The economy is such a complex organism and things will level off eventually and then we can all start putting things back together and rebuilding. The America that will come out of that will be so much stronger than before. We just all need to be a part of the solution. Anyway, I digress...
Some more evidence that we aren't insane for thinking that we can find jobs in this economy:
One thing is for sure, the Portland momentum has started. The Po Mo, as Kristen has dubbed it.
In December 174,819 Oregonians were unemployed, an increase of 69,966 from the December 2007 level of 104,853. December marked the largest number of unemployed since January 1983 when 176,815 Oregonians were unemployed.
Or this (not a very good article, but the comments are interesting!):
The seasonally adjusted figure -- the highest in more than 23 years -- could well increase further, economists said Tuesday. The recession is dealing Oregon one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, which had a 7.2 percent jobless rate in December.
And this:
Intel announces that it will close or stop production at five of its manufacturing facilities, including plants in Oregon and California. The closings will take place in 2009 and could affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees once all of Intel's plans are finalized.
In the face of news like this, we must be STUPID to try to find jobs, right? Rest assured, we do realize the gravity of the situation and that we will be VERY fortunate to find a job each, not to mention jobs that we actually desire. I sure as hell will be damn proud of us when we accomplish this seemingly daunting task. Notice I said "when" and not "if"!
The thing is, it's not as dire as it seems. When you see these figures in the media, they don't always qualify the data with further details. For example, in Oregon, the worst hit job markets are Construction, Manufacturing, and Trade/Transportation/Utilities. Take a look at this graph from the Oregon Employment Department:
Notice how Government and Financial Activities haven't really dropped that much? Now look at Educational & Health Services. It has actually been climbing steadily! Furthermore, it has been said that having a degree (I have 2, Kristen has 3) really helps you to stay out of the jobless ranks. There was an article in The Bend Bulletin titled "In hard times, having a degree is a lifesaver". I've included a LINK to the article. Unfortunately, you can only read the first paragraph (unless you have a subscription), but there's also this PIECE from the New York Times which states: "The job situation is likely to weaken considerably for less-educated workers as the downturn persists, however, because employers are likely to raise skill requirements. Employers tend to be more selective in downturns. A study by Paul Devereux, for example, found 'the education levels of new hires within occupations are higher when the unemployment rate is high and this effect is more pronounced in lower-paying occupations.'" This bodes well for us. Sure, we might not end up in the job of our dreams at this point, but that's OK. First of all, we live quite modestly by most standards, have relatively low debt, and don't have any dependents. We're not looking to become millionaires. As long as our basic needs are being met and we can afford to go to a movie or out for dinner once in a while, we'll be happy. The 5 years we spent in Europe really taught us to re-evaluate what's important and to take a much less materialistic approach to life. That certainly has been helpful for us when we got back to the US to find the economy collapsing. People have been living irresponsibly, way beyond their means. That's just how the American society has been for the last 50 years or so. Consume, consume, consume. If you want to find a positive side to how things look here now, the fact that people are starting to change their consumer behavior and re-priortize is a REALLY good thing! Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have had to learn this lesson the hard way and are close to, if not firmly-planted, in destitute. The economy is such a complex organism and things will level off eventually and then we can all start putting things back together and rebuilding. The America that will come out of that will be so much stronger than before. We just all need to be a part of the solution. Anyway, I digress...Some more evidence that we aren't insane for thinking that we can find jobs in this economy:
- When we went to Portland last week, we spoke to two professionals who told us that Portland has not been hit as hard as many other cities in the country. The city is still thriving. There might be more of an effect in the future, but at the moment, it's OK. There as jobs out there. You just have to be more pro-active in finding them (i.e.- networking).
- We have each applied for 5 to 6 jobs already and there are more in progress. And these are pretty much all for jobs that we would actually want! We haven't started reaching for the bottom of the barrel yet. As I'm writing this, Kristen is sitting across from me applying for two more jobs.
- Monster.com, for example, has 1373 jobs listed for Portland, OR today. Sure, they aren't all ones that we are qualified for or interested in. We definitely would have more job options if we had a degree in healthcare, law, or finance, but there are plenty of jobs out there for us to apply for. By the way, we don't use Monster because they don't have a lot of listings for the kinds of jobs we're looking for.
- And one final piece of news is that I have had a nibble on the Americorps job I applied for. This morning, I had a prelimanary telephone interview. There are two other people who are being seriously considered for the job. The interview went really well and it seemed like I made a good impression. I feel pretty good about my chances.
One thing is for sure, the Portland momentum has started. The Po Mo, as Kristen has dubbed it.
Tuesday, January 20
Historic Moment
We're planted here in front of the television watching the Inauguration of President Barack Obama and a new dawn for America. I can't help but to think about how different, how disheartening, it would have been if it was McCain and Palin being sworn in up there. Instead of being filled with hope and pride in this country, I would feel dispair and anger. For that reason, and for so many others, we are so emotional and happy about this very historic moment in history. And so thrilled to actually be in the US to experience it, albeit in front of the television!
[See also this great message from Michael Moore].
[See also this great message from Michael Moore].
For the past couple of days, we've have been surrounded by freezing fog hear in Sisters. And I was suddenly attacked by a vicious "Man Flu". Things were looking a little gloomy, but today, the future just looks a lot brighter. The sun is even shining again now. It is also quite appropriate that today I got an email from one of the jobs I had applied for, an Americorps position in Portland, requesting a phone interview this week. Should the interview go my way, I will be able to spend a year serving the community by teaching low-income teenagers, which will also give me really good experience to take into a career in secondary education.
We're still working on our job search and other job applications. Our trip to Portland went really well. It was nice to walk around in the city. Such a nice vibe. And our "informational meeting" was very useful. We got a lot of really good advice for how to find a job, especially in the current economic climate, which put a bit of wind in our sails. It is highly likely that we will move to Portland in about a week, so that we can be there because it is a bit difficult to do an effective job search from here. Our hope is that it will not be too much longer before we're both employed, but we thought we'd try to find a fairly cheap studio apartment in the city to use as a launch pad. This will give us time to get to know the city, too.
Monday, January 12
January Update
We're still out on the ranch in Central Oregon. And LOVING it! When we're next in a big city, it's going to be culture shock!
It was unseasonably warm today at about 55 deg F. That's really warm for this time of year, even in this part of Oregon. Weather like that makes you think twice about moving to the more cloudy, rainy Willamette Valley! Though, personally, I don't mind rain. More water for making beer with!
On the job front, it's looking a bit sparse, but there are definitely jobs out there for us. I've applied for three or four jobs, ones that would actually be pretty good jobs (i.e.- not scraping the bottom of the barrel). Kristen has also found a couple that she has applied for. Sure, under normal circumstances, there would be more jobs out there, but it's not as bad as the Media makes it out to be. Then again, we're not in the industries that are hardest hit. In Oregon, that's all the industries related to construction, particularly the lumber industry.
Oh, and we still haven't fully "detached" ourselves from England. The deposit from our flat is still in hock. Can you believe it!? I've been contacting the management company periodically since we found out that the landlord wanted to charge us for some stuff. That was in late November. It was not until last Thursday that finally received the list of charges. And they were a little bit absurd. I wrote a frank letter back to them to refute some of the charges and to make counter-offers against the rest of them (basically 50%) based on the validity of the charges, the "hardships" we endured during our tenancy, and the long time that has passed since we moved out of the flat (50 days at the time of writing the letter). Still have not heard anything back from them. Hopefully tomorrow.
What else... we are taking the car in for a check-up at the dealership tomorrow. It's still under warranty, so we thought we'd take advantage of that and have it checked after its long road-trip. Also, during the trip, I broke the latch in the center console armrest (I just barely touched it!). Hopefully, they will fix that under warranty.
On Wednesday, we're going to Portland to have a bit of a look around and to hang with Kristen's sister. Also, my renewed Danish passport is ready for collection at the embassy (it was due to expire on December 24th, so I renewed it in Florida and they were kind enough to ship it to Portland). Then on Thursday, we are having a "face to face" with someone who might be able to give us some good job leads in Portland. After that, we'll head down to Eugene to stay the night before driving back to Sisters on Friday. The unseasonably warm weather should allow us to drive there and back without snow trouble.
Keep an eye on the Sisters, OR photo album as we have been adding pictures periodically.
Wednesday, January 7
We're still here!
Please forgive me if you had the impression that we got stuck somewhere in Little Rock after Day 3 of our road trip. It was my intention to write a bit more during the journey, but then the internet connection in the hotels were sometimes too shoddy or I was just too damn tired to write a blog. Our road-trip stamina is not what it used to be. And we were doing relatively short days of 8-9 hours! Suffice it to say that the rest of the trip was really good – no adverse driving conditions other than some fog in Sacramento – and we made it to Eugene, OR on December 31st. The photos will have to say the rest:
We arrived in Eugene around 8 o'clock, but we were too tired to stay up until midnight, so we just watched some of the festivities from other parts of the world with Kristen's Grandma and then hit the sack by 10. I did wake up when the fireworks started. And promptly went back to sleep. Took it fairly easy the next couple of days. Just visiting relatives, unpacking the car, opening the boxes of stuff we had ordered from Amazon during the course of last year, taking car of the car registration, and so on. We even had a “little christmas” with Don (Kristen's Dad) and Bev.
This past Saturday, we hit the road again. A much shorter trip this time: to Sisters in Central Oregon. It's a small town near Black Butte, about 20 miles from Bend. Despite the snow remnants and risk of icy roads while ascending and descending the Santiam Pass, it took us about two and a half hours to get to Jim and Judy's ranch (Kristen's aunt and uncle). Though we did not have snow tires, the A4 made it without the slightest trouble. We didn't even have to put the chains on.
Central Oregon is very different from the Willamette Valley region. It is drier and higher elevation (3100 in Sisters). Lots of Pondersa pines and scrubland. And LOTS of wildlife! The weather can be much more harsh in the winter (bitterly cold) and summer (searing heat). When we arrived, it was most definitely COLD! There was still lots of snow on the ground, though it had been plowed away from the roads. We are staying in a 100-year-old ranch house (it was originally the main house on the property) right by a small stream and pastures with cows, alpacas, and Friesian horses. Right now there are hundreds of robins hopping around on the grass by the living room windows and in the pasture. (I always thought they were solitary birds). It's not as cold now as it was when we got here. In fact, most of the snow has melted and it's almost Spring-like. It is VERY peaceful out here. And SO much SPACE! This is just the kind of decompression we needed after living in England and after our time in Florida [photos].
We are little-by-little getting our life started here and I'm working on becoming an Oregonian. (It's not going to be difficult for me... I feel like I've been on a 33-year journey to get to the place I'm supposed to be!). Today we set up a PO Box here so we have a mailing address while we figure out where we are headed. The employment situation in Central Oregon is not so good (unemployment is around 10% right now), but we are looking here even though our main goal is still to move to Portland. I'm a bit torn because I find both prospects quite appealing (living in an amazing city VS. living in the “wilderness”). We are casting our net wide and will go where the job is. It's either Bend or Portland. Right now, it's anybody's guess, though job-wise Portland is ahead because we have already found and applied for 2-3 jobs each in Portland and zero in Bend. This kind of open-ended, follow-your-fate existence is both invigorating and frightening. Although, I'd say we are in a much better position now (mentally and financially) than we were when we landed in Belgium, almost on a whim. Sure, we have to pinch our pennies right now because neither of us has full-time employment, but we're safe at the moment and I feel strongly that one (or both) of us will reel in a job in the near future. Then we'll be on our way to a little house with a dog, three chickens, and a garden. And soon I will be able to brew beer again!
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OK, so that's you all caught up (for the most part). Now there's just this business of the year-end wrap up as is our custom on this blog. Better late than never!
2008 was a year of...
*Change. Not just Barack Obama's Change (for which we are incredibly relieved, to be sure!), but the change that we have enacted by pulling the plug on our life in England and heading back to the US (a change that we had been getting ready for all year). The change of acclimating to American culture. The change of being homeless (i.e.- living out of a suitcase and staying with family) for a while. The change of getting ready for our life in the US, under very different circumstances than when we left a little over 5 years ago.
*Scholarship. Kristen finished writing her PhD thesis in June and endured a brutal viva (defense) in August. Then after making the required changes and additions, she was granted her doctoral title in November. She kicked the ass of that PhD; finishing it in record time!
*Drama. There was always something going on in the Kingsgate building. If it wasn't the cadre of pensioners trying to assert themselves against us, it was the various maintenance issues requiring utmost patience and endurance while trying to find resolution. I still think the Rosemary's Baby allusion is particularly apt. They kept wanting to get in our apartment!
*Spain. After spending a long weekend in the Catalan region of Spain, we absolutely fell in love with it. We were completely taken by surprise, actually. At the moment, we are completely done with long-haul flights, but when we recuperate from that at some stage, we definitely want to explore more of that country. It is beautiful, laid back, and filled with amazing food! We have been cooking a lot more Spanish dishes since then and will continue to do so.
*Planning. We had to keep it a secret for a long time because I didn't want my job to find out about it prematurely, but from the beginning of 2008, we knew we were going to move back to the US. We bought the tickets in December of 2007. It was a bit frustrating because there was a lot of juicy stuff we could have talked about on the blog. We came up with our "exit strategy" and then there was a long process of weighing the pros and cons of various places we might like to live. The list started out quite long and was whittled down to two or three places eventually. It wasn't easy! As our departure date got closer, we had to figure out all the logistics of the move.
*Fitness. I continued with my classes at the Minnesota Kali Group UK and also achieved Level 1 grading in Jun Fan/Jeet Kun Do. Kristen started taking some of the classes, too; mostly the kickboxing, but eventually I convinced her to try Kali. And sure enough, she liked it. We also added an extra element to our fitness routines. Kristen started volunteering 2 days per week at the YMCA in town which meant that she could use the gym for free. Then she convinced me to get a membership (cheap as chips at the Y!) and start weight training. The resident trainer drew up some training programs for us and the rest is history. Both of us are hooked now (Kristen more than me probably, but I pretty much hate exercise!), so much so that the day after we arrived in Florida, we got a temporary membership at the local gym there! Anyway, we've both seen major improvements from this added exercise, so we're really happy about that.
*Politics. The 2008 Presidential Election. What a doozy! We didn't realize exactly how tense we had been about it until, to our ecstatic relief, we saw Barack Obama give his victory speech at 5am (UK time). Both of us reached an historic level of interest in politics and activism during that race. We felt like our post-repatriation happiness absolutely counted on an Obama win. So, between emails and Facebook, both of us partook heavily in the internet war for the White House, fighting for Obama's team. And we feel so proud of the US now.
*Facebook. Speaking of which, I spent a fair amount of time on Facebook last year. This social networking site is quite addictive. Kristen eventually folded and signed up for it, too. More evidence for my theory that, eventually, EVERYONE ends up on Facebook!
*Lack. We only posted 67 blog entries in 2008. And that was down from 72 in 2007. Our peak was 122 in 2004 with 109 in 2006 and 107 in 2005. Shameful! I guess between getting exhausted from my job, feeling a bit burned out by blogging, and having our hands "tied" for job security reasons, the blog suffered. To be honest, I'm not sure what the future holds for this blog. It's "Project: Repatriation" now. Once we're "repatriated", then what? We will probably keep it going for at least one more year to see us through our process of settling in Oregon because I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about. After that, perhaps it gets retired. Or perhaps we start a new blog. Maybe a member-based one on Ning.com? We'll see, I guess!
We arrived in Eugene around 8 o'clock, but we were too tired to stay up until midnight, so we just watched some of the festivities from other parts of the world with Kristen's Grandma and then hit the sack by 10. I did wake up when the fireworks started. And promptly went back to sleep. Took it fairly easy the next couple of days. Just visiting relatives, unpacking the car, opening the boxes of stuff we had ordered from Amazon during the course of last year, taking car of the car registration, and so on. We even had a “little christmas” with Don (Kristen's Dad) and Bev.
This past Saturday, we hit the road again. A much shorter trip this time: to Sisters in Central Oregon. It's a small town near Black Butte, about 20 miles from Bend. Despite the snow remnants and risk of icy roads while ascending and descending the Santiam Pass, it took us about two and a half hours to get to Jim and Judy's ranch (Kristen's aunt and uncle). Though we did not have snow tires, the A4 made it without the slightest trouble. We didn't even have to put the chains on.
Central Oregon is very different from the Willamette Valley region. It is drier and higher elevation (3100 in Sisters). Lots of Pondersa pines and scrubland. And LOTS of wildlife! The weather can be much more harsh in the winter (bitterly cold) and summer (searing heat). When we arrived, it was most definitely COLD! There was still lots of snow on the ground, though it had been plowed away from the roads. We are staying in a 100-year-old ranch house (it was originally the main house on the property) right by a small stream and pastures with cows, alpacas, and Friesian horses. Right now there are hundreds of robins hopping around on the grass by the living room windows and in the pasture. (I always thought they were solitary birds). It's not as cold now as it was when we got here. In fact, most of the snow has melted and it's almost Spring-like. It is VERY peaceful out here. And SO much SPACE! This is just the kind of decompression we needed after living in England and after our time in Florida [photos].
We are little-by-little getting our life started here and I'm working on becoming an Oregonian. (It's not going to be difficult for me... I feel like I've been on a 33-year journey to get to the place I'm supposed to be!). Today we set up a PO Box here so we have a mailing address while we figure out where we are headed. The employment situation in Central Oregon is not so good (unemployment is around 10% right now), but we are looking here even though our main goal is still to move to Portland. I'm a bit torn because I find both prospects quite appealing (living in an amazing city VS. living in the “wilderness”). We are casting our net wide and will go where the job is. It's either Bend or Portland. Right now, it's anybody's guess, though job-wise Portland is ahead because we have already found and applied for 2-3 jobs each in Portland and zero in Bend. This kind of open-ended, follow-your-fate existence is both invigorating and frightening. Although, I'd say we are in a much better position now (mentally and financially) than we were when we landed in Belgium, almost on a whim. Sure, we have to pinch our pennies right now because neither of us has full-time employment, but we're safe at the moment and I feel strongly that one (or both) of us will reel in a job in the near future. Then we'll be on our way to a little house with a dog, three chickens, and a garden. And soon I will be able to brew beer again!
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OK, so that's you all caught up (for the most part). Now there's just this business of the year-end wrap up as is our custom on this blog. Better late than never!
2008 was a year of...
*Change. Not just Barack Obama's Change (for which we are incredibly relieved, to be sure!), but the change that we have enacted by pulling the plug on our life in England and heading back to the US (a change that we had been getting ready for all year). The change of acclimating to American culture. The change of being homeless (i.e.- living out of a suitcase and staying with family) for a while. The change of getting ready for our life in the US, under very different circumstances than when we left a little over 5 years ago.
*Scholarship. Kristen finished writing her PhD thesis in June and endured a brutal viva (defense) in August. Then after making the required changes and additions, she was granted her doctoral title in November. She kicked the ass of that PhD; finishing it in record time!
*Drama. There was always something going on in the Kingsgate building. If it wasn't the cadre of pensioners trying to assert themselves against us, it was the various maintenance issues requiring utmost patience and endurance while trying to find resolution. I still think the Rosemary's Baby allusion is particularly apt. They kept wanting to get in our apartment!
*Spain. After spending a long weekend in the Catalan region of Spain, we absolutely fell in love with it. We were completely taken by surprise, actually. At the moment, we are completely done with long-haul flights, but when we recuperate from that at some stage, we definitely want to explore more of that country. It is beautiful, laid back, and filled with amazing food! We have been cooking a lot more Spanish dishes since then and will continue to do so.
*Planning. We had to keep it a secret for a long time because I didn't want my job to find out about it prematurely, but from the beginning of 2008, we knew we were going to move back to the US. We bought the tickets in December of 2007. It was a bit frustrating because there was a lot of juicy stuff we could have talked about on the blog. We came up with our "exit strategy" and then there was a long process of weighing the pros and cons of various places we might like to live. The list started out quite long and was whittled down to two or three places eventually. It wasn't easy! As our departure date got closer, we had to figure out all the logistics of the move.
*Fitness. I continued with my classes at the Minnesota Kali Group UK and also achieved Level 1 grading in Jun Fan/Jeet Kun Do. Kristen started taking some of the classes, too; mostly the kickboxing, but eventually I convinced her to try Kali. And sure enough, she liked it. We also added an extra element to our fitness routines. Kristen started volunteering 2 days per week at the YMCA in town which meant that she could use the gym for free. Then she convinced me to get a membership (cheap as chips at the Y!) and start weight training. The resident trainer drew up some training programs for us and the rest is history. Both of us are hooked now (Kristen more than me probably, but I pretty much hate exercise!), so much so that the day after we arrived in Florida, we got a temporary membership at the local gym there! Anyway, we've both seen major improvements from this added exercise, so we're really happy about that.
*Politics. The 2008 Presidential Election. What a doozy! We didn't realize exactly how tense we had been about it until, to our ecstatic relief, we saw Barack Obama give his victory speech at 5am (UK time). Both of us reached an historic level of interest in politics and activism during that race. We felt like our post-repatriation happiness absolutely counted on an Obama win. So, between emails and Facebook, both of us partook heavily in the internet war for the White House, fighting for Obama's team. And we feel so proud of the US now.
*Facebook. Speaking of which, I spent a fair amount of time on Facebook last year. This social networking site is quite addictive. Kristen eventually folded and signed up for it, too. More evidence for my theory that, eventually, EVERYONE ends up on Facebook!
*Lack. We only posted 67 blog entries in 2008. And that was down from 72 in 2007. Our peak was 122 in 2004 with 109 in 2006 and 107 in 2005. Shameful! I guess between getting exhausted from my job, feeling a bit burned out by blogging, and having our hands "tied" for job security reasons, the blog suffered. To be honest, I'm not sure what the future holds for this blog. It's "Project: Repatriation" now. Once we're "repatriated", then what? We will probably keep it going for at least one more year to see us through our process of settling in Oregon because I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about. After that, perhaps it gets retired. Or perhaps we start a new blog. Maybe a member-based one on Ning.com? We'll see, I guess!
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