So Yea, the end of September and all of October went by in a blur. My last post, September 18, was the day before I entered into the Full-Time Working World, My Last Day of Freedom, if you will. Since then.....it's been difficult. I've worked internships before, with summer jobs and 40-hour-a-week gigs sprinkled in there, but working full time is tough, especially since my job is like 1.5 hours and a harrowing (well, not harrowing but strenuous) 70-mile drive through suburban Los Angeles. I've found a law school friend of mine who will house my a couple nights of the week at his home closer to work, but still it's difficult.
It's hard to describe what the working world feels like. The positives: there's no more homework, the first time I've been able to say that since.....well, 4 years old, I think. I get paid. Not all that much, but I get paid for my labor, which is necessary since my first law school loan payment is due Dec. 24. I learn on the job......you know how they say you learn a lot more on the job than in school? "They"'re probably right. And I want that experience, I need that experience. Work leads to more work, which in itself is a little exciting but a little scary at the same time: You're an adult now.
The negatives: Long hours. Obviously different for different jobs, but I suspect many people share my same conditions: hours and hours at your desk in front of a computer, only briefly interrupted by the lunch hour, and constant drone of work. At school, you go to class for an hour or two, take a break, walk around, go to your next class....work is one long 9-hour stretch that blends into each other. A boss or two will monitor your work; you have assignments that actually need to be turned in (especially at a law firm, where there's court deadlines and whatnot). The most negative part of working (note: these are not at all complaints about the law firm I work at, which I actually like, these are complaints about work in general, the lifeblood of most humans everywhere where we spend almost half our waking hours but ironically kind of sucks the life out of us).
Anyway, long way of saying it's been a long 6.5 weeks (which isn't even as long as my longest stints of internships). It unfortunately leaves little time for me to do the other things in life I enjoy: Tennis, running, fantasy football, TV shows, web surfing, watching sports, reading novels, reading newspapers, trading stocks, visiting friends, vegetating, etc. etc. It alerts me to a somewhat grim but necessary reality: I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my working life (at least 40 years or so). Unless I'm struck my lightening, the world ends, or I win a ridiculous amount of winnings on the lottery, I will be working for the foreseeable future, and I have responsbilities to myself and others to do a good job. I'm up to the challenge.
I've been re-learning a lot of Chinese the last few weeks while at work (during my down-time); it's pretty exciting. I'm pretty sure I can go to China and live with the natives now, no problem; even maybe hold a job there, not that I'm considering that. But it really speaks to the whole "immersion" experience: You have to be in the environment of it, have to force yourself into situations where you use a different language, hear the other language, process the other language, feel it in your bones. Pretty much only way to get better for normal folk like me (maybe some language prodigies can just pick up a language from reading a book?) I can't. Heck, I've been learning and re-learning Chinese for 24 years now......I'm still not all the way there yet.
Quick suggestion: watch a Chinese TV show with subtitles. Specific one I just wrapped up is called "Marriage Battle" about contemporary Chinese families. Great show, gives you subtitles, and gives you a good sense (I think) of what goes on in modern Chinese society (the new Superpower of the World, rumor has it). Where can it be found? The Great Holy Channel that is Youtube.
I got a lot of catching up to do to match or exceed the 88 blog posts of 2010, back when I was still a student. Alas, I'll suck it up and give it my best shot for the rest of 2011.
Btw, My fantasy football winning streak is at 6. Lovin' life.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
No comments:
Post a Comment