Wastin' Time

Packing up all your belongings when you're about to move inevitably turns into a trip down memory lane. For some reason, I seem to have decided that an essential step in clearing out my bedroom involves flipping through every page of every notebook in search of... well, something important and untrashable. Thus far all I've retrieved of note is hundreds of doodles, one inexplicable sentence written in a corner ("I wish for nothing but absolute success."), dozens of countdowns to COS or my birthday or the visit to America, etc.

On the same page as the 134 Days Till COS, 19 Weeks Till COS, 4.5 Months Till COS countdown was a bulleted list of weird things I missed about America. Must have been written in March, and I'm reasonably certain it was written while I was staring at the wall as my counterpart taught the 4th grade class without seeking or accepting my assistance.

Did I mention that I'm not a teacher anymore? God bless teachers. Being a teacher has given me that extra boost to pursue a career in economics or international politics because those fields are infinitely easier. You couldn't pay me enough to be a teacher again, and your tax dollars don't pay teachers enough as it is. I was a teacher for a measly two years, yet if I had to have a conference with one more parent about why we're not teaching English the same way she was taught as a child (isn't that why you don't speak English now?), or why her child didn't get the highest grade even though he never came to class... enough said. Next time you see a teacher, run up and hug them. Unless it's that teacher who had a grudge against you in 10th grade because your older sibling goofed off in his class.

ANYWAY, in lieu of writing a blog, I thought I'd share with you the list I came up with while I was hard at work making countdowns and lists instead of teaching. I think I started with the intention of making every entry quirky and esoteric, but that theme disintegrated toward the end.

Things I Miss About America

- rest stops on the New Jersey turnpike
- chickens raised on hormone injections
- Netflix
- karaoke
- Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
- unlimited subway passes
- Chinese lunch specials
- diners
- fishing with jumbo bloodworms because the regular ones were sold out when the legitimate fishermen came through the store three hours earlier
- taekwondo tournaments
- Cranium
- Q104.3 New York's Classic Rock
- Sheryl Crow's self-titled CD
- dogs on leashes
- manual transmission driving
- Dance Dance Revolution
- anonymity
- payday
- my violin
- Jeopardy
- No-Ad sunblock