:]

Also...Happy December! Hope your holidays are wonderful!

(cute holiday picture)

Katie Curtin

My last new friend! I'm sooo glad I met her too. This girl has done everything that I have contemplated doing in school and after I graduate (namely being an RA, doing summer orientation and Teach for America). I had a really long talk with her and it was wonderful. I met a lot of freshman recently and I have imparted small amounts of wisdom. Tonight, I GOT ADVICE! And it was wonderful talking with her.

She's soo down to earth and very relatable. I can understand why she's an RA. I really enjoyed learning about all the things she does here. She inspired me to take on more responsibilities in the clubs I am involved with. We talked a lot about her leadership roles, that girl really knows how to get involved and climb that success ladder!

success ladder.

Katie grew up in Phoenix although she had no desire of ever being a ASU Sundevil. She doesn't spend much time at home because of busy college life but it's good to see that she's doing great and making her own path in the world. It makes me more comfortable about this stage in my life where I don't spend all my breaks going home. I want to be less of a baby about it - and more like Katie. :]

(also my HS mascot)

If you ever go to the roof top again, Katie, please take me with you! That sounds pretty awesome. Also, I stand by my claim that you looked very pretty today and didn't need to send me a picture. But this one is cute too! Thanks for being my last new friend, I have a feeling I'll stop by and say hi to you at some point this year.

Karen

Congratulations Karen! I met her on the T today. I was eves dropping (hey, the T is boring!) on a lady's conversation, she was talking about her son who got married in Canada over break. It turns out, Karen is her new daughter-in-law! She was sitting across from me with her husband. We talked briefly but didn't actually strike up a conversation until it was time to switch trains.

She asked me where I was going and we began conversing after we found out our destinations were nearby. Her wedding seems lovely. This is the first time I have heard of this, but she wore a sweater dress to her wedding. A red sweater dress. That's so intriguing. She painted a very quaint picture, I'm sure it was a wonderful weekend, especially since it was so close to Thanksgiving.

Karen, her husband and her mother-in-law were all so nice! They kept asking me questions about my life at BU (e.g. major, activities, etc) and I in turn learned about their lives. Karen majored in cultural anthropology and now teaches yoga a few towns away. Her husband studied at BU for some time too!

Malinowski - anthropologist

So now I have met someone on her birthday AND someone who celebrated a wedding. Yay celebrations! I'm very glad I met Karen, she was a nice lady and good company waiting for my next T. I kinda wish I could have seen her one her wedding day, I'm sure she made a beautiful bride.

Theodore

My last San Diego friend, Theodore! I met him after my yoga class when I was waiting for my dad to finish his swim. He was standing right there and politely greeting people. Whenever I pass someone who's looking for donations, I am usually hounded with their requests! Nope, not Theodore. He just smiled and said good morning. If someone came up to him to ask him why he was standing there, as I did, he told them about the organization he works for and say they accepted donations.

Theodore began working there a year ago. Right after he got out of the penitentiary, he saw someone doing what he does now and asked the man about it. The man put Theodore in contact with the boss of the organization and they set up a time to meet. Long story short, Theodore now works for this organization that helps homeless people get back on their feet. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name, which makes me sad. I have been good about remembering the little details but now I regret not writing that down.

Before his stint at the penitentiary, Theodore lived the life of a "night crawler." He said he did some bad things, including a little drug dealing but that part of his life is over. It's so amazing watching him smile about the life he has given all that has happened to him (including two strokes!). He is proud to report he got his family back and they are all working to build a relationship again. AND he lives in sunny San Diego.

Not exactly what he had in mind,

but this is Google's definition of a night crawler

At one point he just smiled at me. This carefree, happy smile and said, "I'm still breathing and I get time with my family." I know Thanksgiving is over but that was such a great moment. He is thankful and people are drawn to him because of his amazing attitude. I'm very glad he was my last San Diego friend. Too bad he actually lives in San Bernadino. San Diego people: Keep your eye out for Theodore. He'll definitely provide you with a conversation worth pausing for.

I love my dad! So now you know, if you want more info on his organization. Check out the website :]

Sarah, or Peach!

Hmm..past two days I have met two mall working ladies who both lived in Japan at some point. Weird!

Sarah worked in the comic book store that I entered in an effort to find my friend a birthday present. I didn't end up finding one but I was grateful for meeting her. We started talking about the action figures she was stocking and then as she tried to help me find a present, we started to bond! Maybe she had to be friendly because she was on her shift but I really enjoyed her presence.

She taught me about World of Warcraft action figures and gift cards. Apparently, people spend money on stuff within the game on top of the money that they use to subscribe. All this money....goes nowhere. Except maybe to their pride if they do well? Makes me feel a little better about my Black Friday shopping. At least everything I purchased had a tangible value.

We then moved on to her tattoos. She has many. The most noticeable one is a woman pirate on his upper left arm. (As shown in the picture above.) She also has hieroglyphics on her other arm and a mermaid. The artist from Lilo and Stitch also drew the mermaid that she replicated on her arm and he's going to draw an addition specially for her tattoo!

Unfortunately Sarah had to get back to stocking, she had about 4 large boxes of action figures to put on the display before closing. I still really enjoyed the time I spent with her. She had an impressive knowledge of comics, which makes sense because she works at a comic book store. But that's still a LOT of information. Maybe I'll see you at the mall again sometime, Sarah.

OHH!!  P.S. Her nickname Peach came from the year she spent in Japan.

Comments!!!

Hello! So I realize I only have a few people left to meet. But I wanted to throw something out there. Just a thought. If you read a post and you have something to say about it, you should leave a comment. I enjoy getting feedback on either the post or the person in the post. And I know there are a few people that read my blog often. (Yes, Dad and Sammie - I am talking to you)

Phineas, Ferb and Perry the Platypus say HI! :]

Rachell, 19

So internet in SD failed me last night and I had to use my phone to write my post. And apparently that doesn't work so well. So Sammie, I'm sorry my dear. I will re-write my post on my new friend Rachell now.

Happy Black Friday! In honor of this special day, I found a new friend that works at the mall - more specifically UTC. She was sitting at a table getting ready  for work when I asked her if I could meet her. She seemed annoyed with the conversation at first but it turned out to just be shyness.

UTC food court

Rachell's name sounds like "Rochelle." She told me that when she was born, her mom wasn't sure how to spell her name so it ended up being wrong on her birth certificate. But as it turns out, now she just has a really unique spelling of a very pretty name!

This girl is quite the dedicated shopper. Because she was working on Black Friday, she came hours before her shift started to put in some good bargain shopping time and then drop everything in her car before work. She also added how annoying it was to have a car. WHYYY!? I didn't fully understand why but from what I gathered, when she lived in Japan she didn't need to drive. (She lived in Japan until the beginning of this year.) She enjoyed taking the train and walking places - driving seemed so useless. Also, in Japan when she needed to drive, traffic was slow. She was not a fan of the crazy California drivers, especially when she first drove from LAX to her home in San Diego. Can I just point out, if everyone thought like her (that walking and public transportation were superior to driving) it would have a wonderful effect on our environment.

Another cool factoid about Japan: the people there are nicer than here. When I say here, I mean California. I would understand if she thought they were nicer than the East coast. No, nice than Californians. I definitely consider the West coast the nicer coast so I was very surprised to hear this. Her reasoning was that all the workers, "even people who picked up trash," would smile at you if you passed. Apparently people who work here are a lot more negative about their jobs or bitter about it when they interact with others. It goes beyond the customer service though. Japanese culture emphasizes being outwardly nice to others when you are having a bad day. This makes sense. It's your bad day, not everyone elses. I think I like Japan.

Sooo after meeting Rachell, I learned Japan is awesome and I should visit again, having a unique spelling of your name helps people remember you better and really quiet and shy people open up most when you ask them about what they are most comfortable with, (in Rachell's case it was her home)!