Winter’s White Path

White dust falls

In the still wind

When 18 feels like 18, and no less.

I take a minute to listen to the sound of snow,

As I tread And dance in freedom knowing a Father singing over us all.

In the still quiet white 7 inches deep

I’m remembering places far away from times long ago

The blue spruce, sugar maple, and white pine covered

when id run through the woods kicking snow into my pant legs

And 12 year-old eyes not knowing this serenity

ive traded many things as a vagabond

the open road and the open sky have led hither and thither

but I am thankful for trading this back.

The return of snow

And on the day of the storm,

A quiet white winter path.

Jobs and relocations

Before Entering college and during summer breaks in college, I worked at a fortune 500 Company in south eastern Massachusetts. Tyco Healthcare. The great thing about it was I worked with my closest friends. we loved eachother and loved to hate our job together. we were in the facilities department of this corporate giant. Our job description included  staining countless desks/credenzas, destroying and throwing away obsolete cafeteria and office equipment, installing ergonomically sound keyboard trays into employee desks, digging holes and pouring concrete to install handicap parking signs, worker safety presentations, file and data entry, inventorying Dennis Kozlowski’s –former tyco CEO who is now in prison for embezzlement of company money — expensive and exorbitant artwork/trinkets and furniture which festooned his 4000 sq ft nantucket office. And everything inbetween. We would drive “disco dave” the 26 ft box truck back and forth from the warehouse to the office probing the rock stations for the worst man rock bands at that point in the decade (our favorites were the song headstrong, down with the sickness, and  for the laughs that could take our mind off the jobs we loathed so much. “I just can’t wait to be finished here this summer” our words every week starting in may going until August. We were thankful, but we didnt enjoy our lives so much

I went to College in Anderson Indiana. I always thought about taking a year off after graduating high school. But I concluded this would leave me behind. I decided to go to college with no real plan. I just was young and anxious to get out and see more of my country, and saw college as a great opportunity to do that. I made my decision of where to apply based on a girl (probably one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made in my life in hind sight).   At the end of my first summer at Tyco, I was off to Anderson Indiana. Once in College I felt trapped, and not able to change my ways. I was dating a girl (who was a different girl than the one I had applied there for) who I thought I loved, yet I didnt really know myself. I started out as an English Major but didnt want to teach so I eventually decided to study Marketing Communication thinking maybe I could use business someday.

My Senior year I took a job as an ad salesman at a student-run company on campus. I hated the persuasion. I wasnt good at it. I never persuaded, I just told prospective clients we had space and told them our circulation and asked them if they needed advertising. I think I sold a total of 4 ads throughout my tenure both semesters. I hated what I did.

I moved to Los Angeles in May 2007 I had no idea what to do after graduating college going into my second semester. over spring break i had the opportunity to visit my brother in sunny SoCal. After returning I made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles I might have better job prospectives,and I would get to enjoy warm weather year-round.

In June of 2007, I took a job at an advertising agency. Our client was mitsubishi motors. I was an assistant media planner. Our staff was so busy that I had no time to do anything except change and input orders into the system so that buyers would know what to purchase. I also trained in programs that analyzed market research. This job was Ok at first. I thought it was pretty simple. I felt I did a good job with my job description. I didnt really know how to “go above and beyond” what was expected for I am introverted and easily intimidated. It was very uncomfortable for me to do such things. The longer this job progressed the more I hated my life. I would pray and would be in tears sometimes in the parking garage before going into the office because I was stressed and didnt like what I was doing and didnt know why I was there. I got let go/quit in January 2008.

As a child I used to frequent the candle factory — a pretty reknown old country store as well as a place where candles were manufactured–  to buy candy. set down a hill from a main road with acres and acres of forest surrounding, it was a beautiful little cozy store. One day I returned to see the childhood rides and christmas gnomes turned over on themselves. and a sign that read going out of business. Less than 6 months later I returned to see the rustic wood sign gone and the store completely gone.

In spring February 2008 my parents told me they were moving to south carolina. I came home to visit them for a period of 2 weeks to help them get the house ready to sell. I was happy for them that they were moving, and didnt think much about them leaving that house. The transition didnt really affect me until the last two christmas times when I was not going to and am not going home to a place that is home to me where my friends are there. Friends who will always be my friends that I count on seeing at that time every year. that consistency is gone  Now I go home to a place that is only home because my parents live there.

In July 2008 I took a job working with the worship pastor at my church. He is a great man. We got to travel together when he would play his music all over the country. It was fun. But I could not take it to where he wanted it to go. I didnt have the keen astute business sense he needed. I told him I needed a change in October and We parted ways in Novemeber.

Happy Birthday Amanda

You know, the hip hop artist Q Tip said in an interview.”You wake up and all of a sudden, it’s 20 years gone by. That’s crazy. Time just moves on. It’s not yours. So you have to make it yours.”

I don’t always like birthdays because they remind me of the time I am losing to do all the things I want, yet havent  done.

Amanda, in addition to being an awesome girlfriend, and wonderful person, I have to thank you for modeling what it is to truly make time your own. and doing your best to live to the fullest. You have 7 years under your belt and one more to go. Keep up the good work!

and thanks for inspiring me like you do.

Happy Birthday.

Sinaia and peles castle

Amanda, had an old college friend come and stay the week with us. We all took a nice fall trip up to Peles (pronounced “pelesh”) castle in Sinaia. the town of Sinaia is on the south side of the carpathian mountains about 2 hours from bucharest. Peles castle was built over a 39 year span, finished in 1914. Romanians ‘outsourced’ a monarch, and had a german family come in and assume the throne King Carol in 1839-It was the last dwelling place for the royal family while Romania was still a monarchy (before communism) The castle is rated as one of Europe’s most beautiful It was the worlds first castle operated fully by electric power, and it was the summer home of the king and his family. The royal family is hoping to move back in, and soon the castle will no longer be open to the public. We were very happy to see it before this happened. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

park in sinaia

Up the hill to the castle

the guard dogs

Peles

side view

Sinaia train station

old post WW II communist train station not being used anymore

Classic view of the castle

armor in the castle

statues in front of the castle

Cafe in sinaia

mountain-side house

tourist cafe down the street from the castle on the mountain

jerry-wired telephone booth right next to the castle. — Only in Romania

Phones, Sushi and Scandinavia

Amanda and her fam are away for a retreat this weekend. As much as I miss having company and not being alone. It’s nice to have the house to myself. I can feel like true 24-year-old male bachelor. IE watching star wars or lord of the rings while eating pizza and kicking back a brew. and I can clean up whenever I want.

Yesterday my students’ dad came through for me. He hooked it up with a new cell phone for me at no cost. Super nice dude, he is. My previous phone broke when I dropped in on the ground. It was replaced by a loaner from a friend, which happened to be a legit panasonic of the early 90’s It looks more like a tv remote than a cell phone. The only reason i would not be super stoked about this phone is that it cannot text message. So, I when I found out my students father worked for LG, or rather IS LG in Romania (he is the president) I asked my student if he might be able to get me a phone for cheap. Sure enough he was nice enough just to give me one! Unfortunately it is not working at the moment with my sim card–Burn.

I think October is on the way. Rainy tomorrow and high below 20. That sounds like fall to me. Also sounds like a good opportunity to enjoy some contemplative music like sigur ros, or album leaf. Speaking of, Sigur ros, I have always had a fascination with northern Europe — iceland, norway/sweden/finland. I think maybe because growing up in new england I never thought it could be colder anywhere in the world, (-5F with a -20F wind chill is pretty dang cold!) but then I found out about these parts where they are in the artic circle. Then in college I discovered some great artists who reside in these parts. (sigur ros, Bjork, Mew (denmark), the radio dept. etc…), and I was just that much more fascinated. Living in Europe now is even more exciting because I have a much better opportunity of actually visiting some of these winter havens. I heard on an interview with Bjork that she spent some time in Greenland with the inuits and recorded one of her albums there. How sweet is that!? greenland! i think the entire population of greenland is like 57,000 and it is roughly 1/4 the size of the US. I think there are more than 57,000 people in a 1 mile radius of where I am right now.

Well, Sunday Amanda and I are getting together with Mario and Claudia again for dinner. Sadly their bakery is not turning out to be what they had hoped. Apparantly the manager/business partner Mario is partnering with doesnt have a clue about what she is doing, and isnt all that thrilled to work. As a result, Claudia is picking up the slack for her and in addition to having multiple births in a week (mind you, which can go up to 40 hrs per birth, she is spending 6-7 hours a day at the bakery).

Anyway, I hope we can encourage them and be a blessing to them. Claudia told Amanda that we are the least hypocritical christians she has ever met. she and mario are both non-christian, so that means a lot to us. They also have traveled all over the world, so that is also saying a lot.

Not much else is new. More hours with the Koreans. I am now getting home at 9pm-ish on MWF, doing english tutoring from 2:30-5:30, then 6-8. Sat is 1-5 or 2-6. That is well enough for me.

Amanda and I found a legit sushi place last week. It was great. Not too expensive either. We both walked away full, and spent the equivalent of $40. For a sit-down sushi place that is very reasonable in comparison to the states. Especially considering the fish has to be all imported here. That is very nice. I love sushi. I think either sushi or mexican food I could eat everyday and be content.

That is the latest. Cheers.

European Cool Factor

March 22nd is when I got here. its now september 23. Just 6 months later, though it seems much longer than 6 months. I guess you live a lot of life when you move to a completely different country. It makes time seem so much longer when you have so many changes.

I think one of the biggest changes I have noticed in myself is the notice I take of internationals. I never really understood them in America. Here I am one, and thus I completely understand them.

Recently, Amanda and I went to one of the more prominent Indian Restaurants with our french friends Mario and Claudia. This is a couple who are truly European, when you think of a quintessential European. They live in a very nice expensive flat, that is festooned with post-modern european furniture, Mario is fluent in 4 languages, Claudia 5. Mario grew up in France, Claudia in Switzerland. She is trying to practice here as a midwife, She has traveled and lived all over the world,worked briefly with mother teresea, lived in australia, uganada, and a few other places. She has a midwife practice, chinese medicine and does acupuncture, and her parents are chefs for the king of Jordan. And he is a manager at a architecture firm, and also just opened up a french bakery. Both have traveled all over Europe, and are very particular about the quality of their bread. The bakery’s prime baker is named jerard. He has been baking in france for 40 years, and is no less than a master of his craft. They also import french wine at this bakery. Mario and Claudia hope to change people’s perception of quality bread and quality wine here in bucharest. I quote claudia: “zese peepul pey too mooch munay for zeir shetty wine, ze franch wine es mooch betar, and costs mooch less, we wunt to shuw zem zer ar mooch betar teests then whut zey ar used to.”. So there you have it, our french friends trying to change the tastes of bucharest through their bakery. And, I do have to say that the bread is exceptional.

about a month ago we played  petanque (french name for bacce) twice with mario, claudia and jerard. I have probably never had so much fun with people I could not understand (most of the time they were talking in french). It is very strange to be united in activity but disunited in speech (granted our friends are fluent in english, jerard can only speak french, so Amanda and I were outnumbered, and therefore the majority of communication was french.

I guess Amanda and I like to hang out with Mario and Claudia. When we first hung out with them, (about a month after I had been here) they invited us over, served us nuts and nice wine, and then she made chili con carne and guacamole. BAM! she hit the spot. After our delicious dinner i was asked by mario “you wunt ze digestive?” I thought of course he was talking about some sort of pill. “i said..uhm, ok” so he goes over and pulls out a bottle of liquer. “this es a homemade franch ____ (i forgot the name of what it was called but it was the equivelent of schnappes) frum my home” I didnt know if I was suppose to shoot it or sip it. I sipped it as he did.

Normally being around people like them, I would feel really intimidated and insecure because I am so less cultured especially as an American, and I think there is a certain distaste for americans in Western Europe (where they are chiefly from), but I feel very comfortable around them, they are very humble. I think part of the reason we like to hang with them is because we have this emotional need to feel cool. and whenever we are around them that need is met. Amanda also really wants to support Claudia as its tough to find support in this city when it seems everyone is against her efforts as a midwife. So Amanda really wants to support her. and I have the joy of teaching Mario how to play drums, which he enjoys despite it making him feel “handicap”.

Anyway, we went to this indian restaurant recently that–of course–Mario and Claudia knew about, and it was a very enjoyable time. I had some really spicy chicken dish. and a carlsberg on tap. Delish, and to finish it all off, per our friends’ suggestion we had mango icecream that was shaped in a cylindrical shape. It was very difficult to eat because it would slide around the dish whenever you dug your spoon into it. For this reason it was very awkward and comical, and our friends were very excited about this. I think when you can laugh about something awkward it makes one feel more comfortable, and their willingness and excitement for the fun awkward experience of this icecream desert, is what makes them so fun and enjoyable to hang out with. And of course because of the cool European Factor we experience from them.

Subway Station Rock Show Pt 1. the stage rider

I step onto the platform off the train. every time it transforms into a stage. as the crowds walk on with unfulfilled desires to take home a musical experience they can talk about for the rest of their lives. They are waiting to see the pillars come crashing, and what it would have looked like for communism to fall in the form of a rock show.

Here is the rider.

1. A set of sleigh bells

2. my drum kit

3. 3 other skilled musicians (a bass player, guitar player, and vocalist.special note *** guitar player needs to be proficient at drums so we can switch off instruments)

4. 12 years + guitar playing under my  belt so I can Shred

5. a fender twin-amp with a giga delay and loop station

6. a rickenbacker 330

7. a set list of original progressive/post rock songs

8. a PA system

9. a fender rhodes and a nord

10. a korg electribe emx and esx and KP3 kaoss pad

11. strobes, and other lights.

Let’s not get too comfortable

A perfect collage with the most contrasting collections. This is why I enjoy being here.

“Who do I belong To?
Not Earth
Not world
Not Evil
Not mortals
Not wretches
Not horrors” 

Perfect Strangers

“We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home, but not quite knowing what or where home is. We glimpse it sometimes in our dreams, or as we turn a corner, and suddenly there is a strange, sweet familiarity that vanishes almost as soon as it comes.” – Madeleine L’Engle

“Vreti aceasta sticla?” (you want this bottle?) I asked the woman one of the many small, local bohemian convenient stores, after purchasing a one liter bottle of Timisoreana (one of the better tasting beers here, at the price of 2 ron — $.66). “Da” (yes) was her response. As silly as it seems to return empty glass bottles with the romanian brand of brew on them, as though the company only distributes x amount of bottles, or charges each distributor for each bottle they use– I have this strange sense of community as a result of this mundane routine I would never have to do in America.  I wonder who I have shared this bottle with in the community that frequents this store.
“bine, multumesc, La revedere”. (Well, thank you! goodbye)
It’s rather empowering and humbling to communicate in a foreign culture, and in a foreign language on my own. I have never had to think so hard about what I am saying, and even still mess up what I was trying to say. As broken as I am in my language capabilities, and as foreign as i probably sound, I am thankful I have a rather musical ear, and can at least fudge a romanian accent. Anytime I speak to a native here, I picture myself in LA with a mexican or spanish foreigner talking to me in broken English, and I can really sympathize. That was about the greatest extent to interaction with foreigners I had on a consistent basis up until coming to Eastern Europe.
I picked up 6 hours of English Lessons this week with some Koreans going to a private British School. Two girls age 9 and 12. My heart breaks for my 12 year old student. She came with her family 3 weeks ago. Left all her friends behind, has no friends here, and has little confidence in her ability in school because she cannot speak English very well. Her mom said she was stressed a lot this week, and was sick for two days because of it.
I have been teaching Junghoon Ahn, another Korean, who is 29, 5 hours a week since April. Junghoon is one of my favorite people here. Aside from Amanda’s Family, I can vent with him the ridiculousness of the society here. I am also teaching Eun Ji Park, another Korean who goes to Bucharest Christian Academy drum lessons each week. I taught her and her sister English 3 hours a week each this summer.
I received another email from another Korean Family Asking me to teach 4 of them for a total of 10 hours per week, friends of the Lee Family (the 9 and 12 year old girls).
It is interesting to me that I was going to teach English to Koreans in South Korea, until my plans were changed and that opportunity was slammed shut in my face twice.
I didn’t expect to teach Koreans here in Romania, and I never expected to identify so well with them. Maybe I was suppose to teach Koreans, but more importantly, maybe I was suppose to identify with them. I probably would never had had the opportunity to relate so well to them in Korea. In Romania, where you have to return empty beer bottles where you bought them, where dogs rule the streets, where you cant keep your windows open at night because of the noise pollution, Where water trucks spray water on the streets to “keep the dust down”–turning all the dirt to mud to be thrown everywhere by automobiles, where you can find flat screen TV’s for advertising in the metro stops but can’t get clean sheets in a hospital bed, Where you can walk down the street and have the air in your local proximity contaminated with any sort of chemical that may be coming out of a broken compression canister in the bed of a pickup truck that would normally be prohibited from the road because of the excessive black and blue smoke coming out of the tail pipe, Or where English and/or Korean  isn’t the official language–we are not home. In a way, we are the same. We are foreigners to eachother, but yet foreigners together here.
Maybe that is why I am here and not Korea.

Hello world!

Hey everyone,

thanks for joining in and caring about my life as it unfolds. For those who followed me on blogspot, thanks for bearing with me on the transfer to wordpress. I wanted the cool widgets and nerdy things like stats to see.

take care and I hope to hear from you in the comment section.

cheers.

-Nate