All posts filed under: Life Abroad

Post #22: The Dream

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Welcome to the twenty-second post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012. Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com. We’ve been house-sitting this weekend, there’s always such bizarre noises and odd things that happen at this house. I have had some horrible dreams, and one in particular, has been troubling me ever since. It was so vivid, so horrifying to experience. But it would be an amazing premise for a film… It all took place at the Lake Merritt station. I was waiting there with the American, and suddenly the Operations Control was patched through the loudspeakers: Attention! This is BART Operations Control. Driver of the train, could you please contact BART Operations Control. I repeat, the driver of the train, could you please contact BART Operations Control. We have lost contact …

Post #16: From A Land Down Under

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Welcome to the sixteenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012. Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com. I am an Australian living abroad. That informs so much about how I see the world. I get to talk about Australia a lot with the people I meet. I love being asked. Gravitating to fellow antipodeans in the area stems the homesickness with a good ol’ yarn and an exchange of imported groceries from someone’s trip home. There’s some things you just can’t get anywhere else but home.  I’ve yet to find a place to pick up a ‘Dog’s Eye’ with ‘Dead Horse’, or some hot chips with chicken salt. Today is Australia Day. It’s “unAustralian” not to celebrate Australia Day.  It’s a day when you attend barbies. You eat until you’re …

Post #15: Currently Listening to — KDFC

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Welcome to the fifteenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012. Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com. I love my job and the million things I have the opportunity to do each day, and as I discussed the other day, it’s just the mornings that ruin me. My office cubicle is rather large, with a great workstation with plenty of surface area. It’s climate controlled, with great neighbors like Rebecca T. I am rarely lacking for conversation, food or overheard ‘crazy’. And the coolest thing? I have my very own escape hatch. If there’s one thing that really improves my productivity, it’s the Bay Area’s own classical KDFC. I have been listening to the station since I moved here permanently in 2009, and it’s a breath of fresh air. Following …

Post #14: Learning a Second Language

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Welcome to the fourteenth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012. Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone. Thanks to Rai for today’s topic. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com. Taking language classes is difficult. I have had about a month off since my last class ended and already, I feel as though I’m starting right back at the beginning. Ah, shade. I find that I’m just not able to retain the words as easily as I used to. Perhaps this is what they mean about getting old… But with the difficulty comes reward. It’s rewarding to learn new things, meet new people and string it all together. Eventually, I want to be able to converse in German. Why? Just cos. Learning another language and being bilingual is something that I have always wanted for myself. I …

Post #12: Jeopardy!

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Welcome to the twelfth post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012. Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone. Kudos to Maia for the suggestion. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com. Whilst every woman and her dog is in Salt Lake City for the Alt Summit, I “opted” to further a goal on my Life List: to be a contestant on Jeopardy. I have been watching Jeopardy for years, and I really get a kick out of just having a crack at it. So when I heard the yearly Jeopardy Online Test was rolling around, I set reminders. I set alarms for the reminders. I set email pop-ups. I was committed to the cause. Alex joins us each night for dinner each night and it’s the only program we watch religiously. So the opportunity to be here and …

Post #11: Belonging

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Welcome to the eleventh post of the Great Writing Challenge of 2012. Five days a week for six months, I will be given a topic to write about. The stipulation: it must be 250 words (or more), and positive in tone. If you would like to suggest topics for me to write about, please email me at TheRebeccaProject [at] gmail [dot] com. A friend at work surprised me with big gift last week. It was her way of saying thank you for helping her and her new Aussie husband with their immigration paperwork. And it was big! And heavy! I had thought myself immune to the giddy joy of unexpected gifts, but thankfully not! My friend had aced it: a bottle of red, some really hard-to-find Heinz beans and something I didn’t even know I was dying for: a jaffle maker (or as we always called it, a ‘toasted cheese sandwich maker’). At once, I could taste the toasted cheese sandwich-y goodness of my childhood. Scalding my mouth on tinned spaghetti jaffles. Easy Friday night …