And China, too!!

I’ve made up my mind. I think.

A few days ago, Michelle and I made the trek to The Keg in Brampton for dinner and drinks with Danielle, an Australian friend we met while down in Peru. She’s in town for a few weeks for the holidays, as her sister lives here and is about to pop a baby. She also worked here a couple of years ago, and had numerous friends show up for the mini-reunion dinner. It turned out to be a great night, with great food, drink, people, and conversation. I spoke with one woman in particular, Margaret, who I believe was the one who tipped the scale for me. I’ve been debating whether to go to Asia after I finish up with school this spring, or spend the next few months applying for jobs, and hopefully landing one in time to start after I graduate (again). The latter just seemed to make more sense – why waste the next few months not applying for jobs? That is a lot of precious job-hunting time, especially for someone as old as I am. But at the same time, what’s a few months in the greater scheme of things? When I’m a senior and no longer well enough to move around at will, which am I going to regret more – the lost opportunity to be accountant for an extra five months…or the lost opportunity to travel, experience, and have a real adventure? I think the answer to that one is pretty obvious…at least, I hope it is.

I can’t quite explain what it was about my conversation with Margaret that pushed me in that direction. Perhaps it was simply all the talk about travel itself. Or perhaps it was the fact that her stories worthy or telling and retelling were results of being abroad, of meeting people abroad, of witnessing the things she saw while abroad. And despite all the hardships she’s encountered (alcoholic ex-husband, etc.), she has all these other experiences that have made her life worth living.

So I’ve made my decision. But of course, being the reasonable person that (I believe) I am, if a career opportunity presents itself, I’ll take it. If it doesn’t…I’ll happily pack my bags.

Laptop on the couch with me, Christmas tree directly in front of me, still giving off the scent of pine, a candlelit oil warmer basking the living room with the soothing scent of warm vanilla sugar, and a mug of honeyed ginger tea.

I decided that if I want to finally get back into blogging mode, I had to give myself a different environment to work in. Sitting at the same old desk in the same old room does nothing to stimulate me.  So here I am, stimulating my nose and my taste buds, and hopefully my blogging. I’m a little rusty.

So…Christmas has come and gone. It’s kind of hard to believe. It’s like this long, dragged-out process that culminates in a giant eating fest or two…and then it’s over. I kind of stopped in my tracks afterwards and thought, “What was it all for? What did I just spend all that money for?!” Perhaps I feel that way because this year was the first in about seven that I actually had the opportunity to enjoy a stretched-out holiday season.  Normally, I’m writing exams up until a few days before Christmas, and so Christmas day didn’t seem as…anti-climactic.  Speaking of anti-climactic, it doesn’t look like I’ll be doing anything too exciting for New Year’s Eve either. Perhaps I’ll end up at my cousin’s party, but ringing in 2010 with a bunch of married people isn’t exactly my cup of earl grey tea. But I guess it’s better than sitting at home without cable – because if I can’t even channel-flip between the ball drop in Times Square, the countdown at Nathan Philips, or Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, I think I’d be even more depressed.

If you have plans that don’t require me to fork over a load of cash or leave the city for more than a night, and wouldn’t mind having my company, let me know!

Happy New Year!

My Sundays usually suck.  If I don’t have an exam to write, I’m studying for one.  If I’m not studying, then it’s because I’m procrastinating at home.  If I’m not doing that, then I sleep through the entire day, because I’ve been sleep-deprived the whole week.  Needless to say, my life sucks.

But today was good.  Adrienne and I met up downtown for an impressive performance of the The Nutcracker ballet.  We had orchestra seats, so our view was pretty damn good.  I have to say, I was more intrigued with the stage sets than the actual dancing.  Not to say that the performers weren’t amazing (because they definitely were amazing), but the sets were just…wow.  Especially for the “In the Pine Forest” scene, which also happens to be my favourite part of the suite.  It made me want to be a stage designer…

During intermission, Adrienne and I headed over to the Ballet Boutique for a little browsing.  There were nutcrackers of all sizes, ornaments, t-shirts, headbands, books, CDs, and jewelry, amongst many other things.  We couldn’t believe what a killing this place made just during intermission!  People were buying things left, right, and centre.  Sadly, I contributed to this killing of theirs by impulsively purchasing a (very, very pretty!) beaded necklace.  As if my ticket to the actual ballet wasn’t expensive enough.

Afterwards, we walked down Queen St. to the Queen Mother Cafe, where I had a cocktail and an absolutely scrumptious dish of pulled pork empanadas.  Dear Lord – it was totally worth what I paid for it.  I looked up the restaurant when I got home, and it turns out it’s owned by the same people that own Rivoli, which surely explains the quality of the grub.  The service was great, the atmosphere was cozy, and as usual, Adrienne and I had some great talks.  I think I’ve just found my new favourite Queen West haunt!

I’ve come to realize that you can usually measure how good your day was by noting how many of your senses were stimulated.  Now, as I slip my feet into my oh-so-comfy lambie slippers, I can say that I had a pretty darn good day.

Nothing like writing Christmas cards while listening to Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, and Johnny Mathis’ renditions of all the holiday classics.

(Bernard, I guess now you know what your card looks like!)

It felt even more surreal once a few of us started having discussions about marriage and kids.  How strange is that, when the last conversations you had with them were about…I don’t know, who has a crush on who.  In the age of Brandy, the Spice Girls, and Aaliyah, and at a time when Aqua, NSync, Mya, and Destiny’s Child were being introduced to the world, life was so simple for us.  We were thirteen, and completely unaware that there was a whole world out there beyond school property and MuchMusic, with more important issues than our mundane problems.  Well, maybe I can’t speak for everybody, but I think that was the case for a lot of people.  It was nice to see how everyone has grown since those ignorant days.  But I have to say, some classmates surprised me, and some are exactly where I expected them to be, for better or for worse.  Either way, it was great catching up with everybody, and I’m looking forward to the second get-together a few of the girls are planning, with hopefully more of our old classmates in attendence!  Still can’t believe this first one actually happened.  Just…surreal.

I’m also excited to see people I haven’t been able to see over the last few months.  Seriously.  It’s been months since I’ve been able to regularly interact with the rest of world.  The fact that my best friends practically live at my house definitely helped, but other than that, I’ve only been able to sporadically meet up with anyone else.  It’s time to rejoin civilization!! To be a normal human being again!  To go out for nice dinners with nice people and drink nice drinks and talk about nice (or not so nice) things!

And, of course, work in between all that.  But it’s all good.  ‘Cause I’m FREE.

Bored of the Internet

I know, I just got back not even three months ago.  But I bought Lonely Planet’s Thailand guide back in October, and the more I read it, the more excited I get.  It’s already filled with Post-It tabs, and I haven’t even officially confirmed whether or not I can even go.

My plan:  Spend three weeks volunteering in northern Thailand (in Chiang Rai), two weeks in southern Thailand, then perhaps another three weeks roaming Southeast Asia, and perhaps Beijing via Hong Kong.

The problems:

- Taking two months off work.

- I considered the possibility of going for a shorter length of time but, as I have no one to travel with, I was hoping to find some travel buddies in Chiang Rai first.

- I kind of want to get started on my career.

I think that last one is the big one.  I really want to get started on the rest of my life – it’s been delayed for far too long.  But when will I ever be able to take off for two months ever again??  I’ll admit, I was ready to go home after a month in South America, but there was still so much more I wanted to see.  I wanted to photograph Patagonia’s icy landscape, roam the wide avenues of Buenos Aires, and sip wine in Mendoza.  And I believe if I wasn’t as ill as I was, I wouldn’t have wanted to leave.

My favourite part of that trip was the fact that there wasn’t the need to spend every waking moment taking pictures, or touring.  I spent my days in Cusco working, going to class, hanging out with both the gringos and locals, shopping in the local markets, then going home to eat dinner with my Cusqueñan family.  In that way, I was able to indulge myself into the Peruvian culture so much more.  I was forced to speak Spanish – not a soul at the orphanage could speak English, and my host mom was the only one in the family who knew a bit of English, and even then, it was very limited.  I didn’t feel the need to capture everything in pictures like I usually do, because I had the luxury of time.  And with that luxury came the ability to just…live.  And I really miss that feeling. My senses were heightened simply because I was constantly surrounded by the unfamiliar.  And I love it when my senses are heightened!

And so the age-old dilemma of choosing between settling down or taking time off to live the “single life” hangs in the air.  What to do, what to do??

A client came into the bank today and presented her Visa to me.  “I want to take some money from this,” she said matter-of-factly.  Secretly thanking her for such detailed instructions, I asked her how much she wanted, and if she wanted it in cash or deposited to her account.  She tells me she wants $3300, and then asks me how much it would cost her to borrow that money.

“Well, it depends on how long you plan on borrowing it for, ” I told her.

“3 months.”

So I did the calculation for her and told her it would be around $160 in interest.

“…Ooh, I mean to borrow the whole amount of my card.”

“…You mean, you want to do a cash advance of $19,000 from your credit card??”

“Yes.”

“You realize the interest rate on the credit card is 19.75%, right?”

“Yes.  So how much will that cost me?”

I did the calculation.  “$935 for three months.”

…….

Further questioning revealed that she wants to start a business – by withdrawing lump sums from her credit card.  I wanted to say to her, “Seriously, woman. With interest rates as low as they are these days, you’re leveraging your business on 19.75%?!?  Have you no common sense whatsoever?!”

Instead, I told her in the nicest way possible that what she was doing was ridiculous, and she should get on filing her business papers and applying for a business loan. That, or increase the line of credit she already has.  Geez.

Then there are the people who are living proof that not everybody has money because they’re smart.  A regular customer with a decent amount of money in his account is constantly told by every service rep he talks to that having a savings account that charges $5 per withdrawal is not a good idea when he is making 40-60 withdrawals a month.  That’s right, he pays on average $80-$130 in service charges every month.  And he absolutely refuses to open a chequing account.  Why?  I have no clue.

Another customer I dealt with last week had a similar situation. He was paying ridiculous amounts of money in withdrawal fees, and when I advised him that he’d be better off with a chequing account, he insisted that he wait until “things settle down and I start working again.”  Well dude, isn’t not having a job all the more reason to hang on to that $20-$40 you’re throwing away every month?  This is how banks make so much – not because they overcharge for their services, but because there are so many idiots out there just pouring money into their pockets!!!

Then there are the young university students that come in.  Even with minimal account balances and measley credit limits on their Visas, they are incredibly in-tune with what goes in and out of their accounts.  They regularly transfer money to their savings account.  They instruct me to do their banking in a way that minimizes their number of transactions.  They inquire about interest rates.  Some of them even have investments.  In other words, their financial management skills far exceed those of many 35+ adults, who have no idea what’s going in and out, are getting cheques and payments bounced back, and check their transactions only when they make their monthly visit to the bank (and of course, stare at their statement for a good five minutes before they remember that – oh yes – they did in fact make that $160 purchase at Walmart).

Is there a systemic reason for this gap between the generations?  Were basic financial skills not taught to these people by their parents or teachers (or by common sense)?  Or perhaps it’s a technological reason, since those of the new generation are more open to embracing online banking, allowing them to consistently monitor their accounts.

Or, maybe, it’s just plain ol’ stupidity.