As a state employee I get a lot of days off, 24 earned PTO days and 13 holidays per year. This past weekend was President's Day. My judge has a tradition where he and his buddies rent out an entire lodge (it's a small property) and do some skiing for the long weekend. In recent years his clerk (that's me) has been charged with renting a 6 bedroom house and filling it with clerks and friends.
A total of 15 impoverished young professionals made their way to Sheep Mountain in the Mat-Su Valley, myself and Leigh included. We spent the weekend hanging out in a big house filled with a ramshackle collection of furniture and eating potluck dishes prepared on electric appliances (there was no running water in winter and no kitchen, I find the second aspect of this much stranger than the first). In between naps and meals we did some skiing.
The trails were short, less than a mile, and ran in loops so we could do just one trail for a quick ski or multiple trails to go a bit longer. The views were great. Skiing in Anchorage is fantastic, but the trails are usually surrounded by trees and the ski overcast from living in a bowl. Having uninterrupted views on a sunny afternoon was a nice change for everyone.
Leigh had to go home Sunday afternoon because she had to work on Monday (poor thing), so I stayed behind and carpooled back to Anchorage with a few friends. The weekend renewed my love of X-C skiing so that now I really want to learn to skate ski, though the season is almost over.
No news on the job search front. My plan right now is to stay in touch with the places I've already applied to (two of which have indicated an interest but asked me to hold off on scheduling an interview until closer to summer) and keep my eyes pealed for new opportunities. I'm currently reading one of a long list of suggested books to prepare for the foreign service exam in June. After I sit for the exam I will reward myself with a $500 Rosetta Stone purchase. I was skeptical at first, but after learning more about the teaching methods I'm convinced that the program will be what I need to give myself a more even education in French. The coolest part, which I just learned about, is that Rosetta Stone allows you to have live video chats with native speakers to practice what you learned in the previous lesson. Along with my regular French conversation dates here in Anchorage I should improve quite a bit, assuming I stick to a schedule. If all goes well I might just pass that language test and get a decent spot on the Econ register next year!
In related news, you may recall that I was planning to go to Europe this spring. Well, that plan was thwarted, mostly by money issues and the small problem that I need to be in town in case I get a job interview in March or April. Plus the friends I was hoping to visit in Germany and Switzerland are very busy this spring. They were willing to host me and were being good sports about the timing, but if I'm being honest it's just best to put this trip off until 1) I have more money and 2) my visit doesn't burden anyone. So now I'm hoping to go in August or September (if I can get a few weeks off in between jobs). If the timing works out I should be able to go for almost a whole month and my other half is giving me the go-ahead on a longer trip because she knows how badly I need to blow off some steam before embarking on a permanent job.
So, IF I can get the time off from my life my trip will look like this: Stopover in Iceland (2 days), Bavaria (3 days), Vienna (4 days), Bratislava (1 day stopover by train), Budapest (3 days), Flight to Geneva (2 days), Taize (6 days), Paris (3 days), plus insert a half day here and there to account for travel time between places. In total I'll be gone 29 or 30 days. It's a long time, but I'll get to see a lot of new places and visit some friends in a few favorite places. Upon my return to the US I will buy my way out of the dog house by presenting my other half with many gifts. Good plan, right?
Alas, I actually have some work to do so I should really try to focus. Only 6 more months of clerking left!
No comments:
Post a Comment