The Real World

Officially started my life here in Boston.

Office life isn't half as bad as I imagined, people were super nice and very friendly to the new people. And I am not afraid or shy to say 'hi' and meet new people, any more. I guess my philosophy of "forsake your tiny inner self and timidity, just smile and reach out earnestly, people will respond in their own ways" is working out okay. My supervisors are super supportive and welcoming, the whole corporate culture is just homey. It is great to see some familiar faces around too, since I got placed into the same department as last summer.

Challenge to come: Remember names and where people work, it sucks to repeat the same generic questions to new people while forgetting their answers every time.

Out-of-office life is pretty good. Living with a new friend/colleague in this huge house with nine other people is a very special experience. It is a super quiet house for its size and population. House mates are rarely around, but very friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Some offered ice cream while others' guest treated me a bottle of beer. I guess it doesn't hurt to be nice and a little bit adventurous.

Haven't cooked any Asian food since I moved to Boston, it's been cheese sandwiches for lunch and pasta for dinner for the past two weeks. It sucks not having all my cookwares and Asian sauces in the fridge. Sigh, laziness is the real reason.

Oh, I went to volunteer at Rosie's Place yesterday evening with some other actuarial folks in the company. It's a place where they serve free lunch and dinner to homeless women and children. Cooked one huge pan of ground turkey to make meat sauce for their pasta. Turned out to be a bland, healthy, not-too-appetizing dish. But we feed about 70 people. And all the volunteers had a good time.

I feel thankful for having a roof over my head now, and my new laptop - IdeaPadY460 ^-^

The meaning of life? Hmmm... still trying to figure that out.

For now, it's being thankful for what I have and giving back to the community around me.

And the inevitable "What are you doing for July 4th weekend?" question...

I need to work on coming up with something less embarrassing than "Watching TV and sleeping in at home."