Intelligence Is A Curse

O-H-I-O

Tellie — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:29:21 +0000

Well I figure i should go on ahead and announce the fact that I’m moving to O-H-I-O. Yup, I am now a proud Buckeye. I’ll be attending The Ohio State University for graduate school. I’ll be moving to Columbus in 10 days. Normally, I’m a little secretive about my location, but I figure it won’t be rocket science to figure out where I am when I post pictures from football games and such. So if i have any stalkers out there, I have made your job that much easier!

I’m not nervous about the move, or the changes that come with it. I don’t really see moving to Ohio as that big of a change (this will actually be my shortest move distance wise by a few thousand miles). I AM nervous that graduate school is going to rape me, and that I will fail miserably. I have self confidence issues. Hopefully I’m wrong.

If God is Willing

Tellie — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:12:16 +0000

I do realize that a good chunk of my last 10 posts or so have been rather somber. I promise this is the last one for a while! But I can’t let this day pass without a post regarding one of the many places I call “home”. As everyone should know, in 5 years the state sof Louisiana and Mississippi endured one of the greatest natural disasters and the greatest environmental disaster in U.S history.

Most of my extended family is located in Louisiana and Mississippi and they have suffered so much. I have family members who died as a direct result of Katrina, and also those who died indirectly due to the stresses of Hurricane Katrina. I also have family members who fish in the Gulf and have lost a source of income due to the recent oil spill.

I’ve been watching Spike Lee’s documentary If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise which has truly been an eye opener. Although the documentary is somewhat biased, there is a lot of truth. I know that a lot of things that happened following both disasters was, and still is, horrible and unjust but seeing and hearing from those directly impacted brings it under a whole new light. It is surprising to realize that even five years after Hurricane Katrina, the devastation is still there. Over the past 5 years Louisiana and Mississippi have had to deal with the issues like post traumatic stress, poor health care, underfunding, corrupt police, and an inadequate educational system. It’s astounding to see the amount of irresponsibility and neglect, but even more astounding to witness the amount of resiliency both places have exhibited during such trying times.

Tellie — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:22:24 +0000

When asked where I am from, I hardly know the answer myself. I am a Third Culture Kid, and I’m coming to terms with difficulties associated with my globe trotting childhood.

Third Culture Kid or Trans-Culture Kid (abbreviated TCK or 3CK) is a term that “refers to someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture.” Third Culture Kids are also referred to as Global Nomads.

-Wikipedia

I graduated from high school in Korea, I have spent most of my life in the UK, I have also spent a good chunk of time living in Japan as well. Although I would not change my upbringing, it has been hard transitioning from living abroad to living in America. It’s been three years since I moved “home” . While these three years have been productive, oftentimes I feel isolated. I missed out on so much American life. I missed out on the fashion, the trends, the TV shows, the pop culture, the movies, etc. I want to feel like a normal American citizen but I can’t.

I really have so much more to say about this subject but I it’s hard for me to find the right words. I want everyone to understand where I’m coming from, but I find it impossible to do so if you have never experienced the TCK or expatriate life. I guess the best way I can describe being a TCK is as a quasi-identity crisis. Who am I? Where do I belong?

Hello Haier!

Tellie — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:46:07 +0000

The idea of sharing laundry facilities has never sat well with me. I shared laundry facilities all throughout college, and it sucked. I have ruined whole loads due to someone’s leftover bleach! Not to mention the fact that I’m washing my laundry where 100+ individuals wash theirs. The cost of using such facilities is horrendous as well; I spent approximately $7-10 each week washing laundry!

One of the things I loved about the prospect of getting a new apartment was having my very own washing machine. Unfortunately, the apartment complex I will be living in uses shared facilities *pout, pout, pout*.

But I have found a solution!!

Helllloooo Haier HLP21N!!

For <$200 I can have a portable laundry machine in my apartment, and it will pay for itself in approximately 4 months. The model I have chosen has great reviews, and it’s also not an entirely foreign concept to me. I lived in Asia for 6 years, so I’m use to this type of washing machine. Other pros about the Haeir include but are not limited to:

Not having to drag my laundry across my apartment complex in the cold
Not having to babysit my laundry for hours every week
Not having to drag my laundry across my apartment complex in the dark
It’s an incredibly green concept. The cost of operation is estimated to be about $25 worth of electricity per year and you use less water
Not having to drag my laundry across my apartment complex in the period!

Okay mabe the main reason why I really like this idea is because I’m lazy, but hey, it’s economical and environmentally friendly. So, I’ve already ordered it, I can’t wait!! No I wasn’t paidi to advertise this product, I’m genuinely excited!!

My First Craigslist Experience

Tellie — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:15:42 +0000

In less than a month I will be moving into my first apartment. Naturally, this means that I’ve been doing a lot of furniture shopping. Ideally I’d be able to afford new furniture, but in reality I am a poor college student who has had to resort to craigslist.

Craigslist is…well…interesting. People post ads to sell anything from sex to cars to furniture. I’ve been contacting sellers all week and for some reason everything just wasn’t working out. Either the price was being jacked up, or something just seemed “shady”, or someone else had just bought it, etc. But eventually I came across a very good ad for an extremely gently used IKEA bed set. Brand new this set would have cost me $500, but this was listed as only $100. Honestly this sounded too good to be true.

So I contacted the seller, and after a little back and forth, I realized I was under a time constraint. Whoever got to the place first, and with cash would be the recipient of the set since there were about 3-4 people wanting to view it at the same time.Mind you this was at too-early-in-the-morning-o’clock.

So I got dressed as quickly as I could, I didn’t brush my hair, or my teeth, or anything and raced off for this persons house. I arrived about 30 seconds before this other girl who decided it was okay to push pass me towards the front door of the house. She even tried to trip me! Needless to say I wasn’t to happy about that, but I don’t go around acting childish over silly things. The owner of the set realized we both came at the same time so we’d have to compromise. Of course the girl wasn’t having none of that, so we ended up flipping a coin. And guess who won? Me!!

The girl was beyond mad, she stomped her feet like a 2 year old and ran out of the house. She was probably equally as mad to see a parking ticket on her illegaly parked vehicle as well. Ahh, I love karma.

It’s Been a While

Tellie — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:01:41 +0000

I am in a better mood than when I wrote my last few posts. I don’t know if I mentioned already but my friend’s son passed away. I am glad he’s pain free. The situation has me thinking… As much as I complain about my pain, it doesn’t even compare to the pain he felt. It doesn’t compare to the pain his mom and dad must feel.

I will be back to updating the blog more. Not because I’m doing better but because I’m paying for a domain name and the ability to self host. So let me catch you up on my whereabouts.

I’ve been doing an internship all summer doing nothing, prepAring for grad school, and that’s about it. Oh. And my computer died which is why you may see a lot of spelling errors. I’m currently writing from my mp3 and don’t feel like double checking… I’ll go into more details tomorrow

Update On Baby J

Tellie — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:01:06 +0000

He is not doing well. But he does have a fan page on facebook if you want to become a part of his support team.

Please pray for peace for his family, and a painless passage for J.

Pray for Baby “J”

Tellie — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:42:49 +0000

I know I said I wasn’t going to post for a while but I am interrupting my indefinite break to ask for urgent prayers from any readers I may still have to pray for Baby “J”. Every time I think about the bad days I have, I think about Baby “J” and it just seems so petty.

Baby “J” is the son of a friend and he is only a year old. Baby J has been fighting cancer for over half his life. His cancer has spread and it does not look good. Whatever path his life may take, please pray for Baby J. Please pray for his family.

Indefinite Blogging Break

Tellie — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:12:58 +0000

I will not be updating my blog until I find some serious answers. As you can see, I haven’t been updating my blog as regularly as I would like. I wish it was due to a lack of motivation, but the real reason is because I’m still not feeling well. I know I must sound like a broken record. But this illness, whatever it may be, is taking a huge toll on my life. The more I try to ignore it, the more it glares its ugly head. As much as I hate to admit, my health is the number one determinant of my actions; it dictates my mood; it controls my life. And I hate that. I just want to be pain free.

To: Dad

Tellie — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:29:32 +0000

Looking through old family possesions we came across my late grandmother’s pay stub. “Wow! $400!” My dad said. “That must have been a good month!” Then we realized, it was a pay stub for the month of December. $400 was all she had earned for that entire year.

My dad grew up in abject poverty within the poorest state in America. He had a brother and two sisters who who were all raised by a single parent. When my dad was 10, my grandmother got sick and could no longer work regularly. Although there are many programs in America to help people in such situations because he lived in a racially divided state, getting help was hard. There were many days where he went to bed hungry.

To think my dad came from all that and to see how great we have it, is statistically impossible. I have traveled the world, I have achieved a college education, and I have never once gone to bed hungry.

I love you Dad for all the hard work and sacrifices you have made so me and my brother would not have to face a similar plight. Happy Father’s Day!