Suburban Lush

Keeping Busy - Volunteering

I miss having a job: the social aspect, the challenge, the daily routine, the sense of accomplishment. Oh yeah, and I miss the pay cheque too! So, to fix all of the above problems except the pay cheque, I've joined two organizations as a volunteer. They are both small organizations with no paid staff, and it feels good to help out.

Volunteer position #1 - Development Officer at Chemists Without Borders (CWB)

CWB is a group of chemists working to "solve humanitarian problems by mobilizing the resources and expertise of the global chemistry community and its networks" (yup, I stole that off their website). A lot of the work they do involves chemical education and raising awareness about poor water quality resulting from chemical contamination. As Development Officer I am working to create and implement a fundraising and awareness raising campaign for them. It's pretty interesting work, and luckily I don't need to know anything about chemistry.

Volunteer position #2 - Grants Coordinator with the Family Alliance for Counseling Tools and Resolution (FACTR)

FACTR is an organization whose work is a little closer to my heart. They work with recent immigrants and refugees in the South Bay, providing counseling, advice and community support. I originally contacted FACTR as they were looking for grant writers and experience with grants is a definite gap in my CV. The organization is local in San Jose, and meets monthly. I coordinate a group of volunteer grant writers and research which grants we should be applying for.

Having done volunteer management myself, it is nice to actually be a volunteer. It keeps me busy and it gives me a sense of purpose. Plus there's the added bonus that since I'll be looking for work in the non-profit sector it will look great on my CV.

The Saratoga Gap and Ridge Trail

I went for my first hike in ages today, and my first one in California ever! My friend C and I spent an afternoon in Castle Rock State Park, less than 40 minutes drive from where we live. I'd gone to the bookstore in Sunnyvale to buy a book on local hikes, and was keen to try it out.

We weren't able to set off until 2pm and the sun sets reasonably early still, so we opted for one of the shorter walks. The Saratoga Gap and Ridge Trail Loop fit the ticket - a spot close enough to drive to, a short-ish walk some elevation to get the heart rate up but not enough to be truly killer and a shorter option in case it started getting towards dusk.

So, with a packed lunch and raring to go we headed out. It was a beautiful walk: through forests, past a waterfall (where we stopped for our late lunch), over and around sandstone outcrops. All topped with stunning views across the Santa Cruise Mountains to Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. We stopped often and at every view point to enjoy the scenery so in the end we did need to choose the shorter option, but no doubt we'll be back before too long to enjoy the full loop and explore the park a bit more.

 

New year and new home

As I mentioned, we’ve moved into our apartment in Sunnyvale. John was off over Christmas and New Year so that gave us plenty of time to sort things out and get settled in.

We did a big IKEA shop before we moved in and our shipment from the UK arrived, which was pretty exciting. We've made great use of Amazon (free 2 day shipping? Yes please!) and so we've gotten ourselves fairly well set up. Most importantly, we have a cappuccino machine and the teapot I ordered is being delivered on Friday.

The apartment is big and bright, somewhat 1970s in style (especially the kitchen) and has a large balcony which gets lots of sun. It's close to John's work which is fantastic as he was getting pretty tired of commuting for 3 hours each day. It now takes him about 5 minutes each way and he may even start cycling to work. We're close to shops and about a half hour walk from the train station. The only real drawback for us is that there's not much nightlife around here, but we’ve found a couple of local spots including a nice little English pub and a very friendly dive bar which are both within stumbling distance.

The complex we live in has only studio and one bedroom apartments, and rather than apartment blocks each unit is only 2 stories (we’re on the top floor). There’s a clubhouse, a small gym, a pool and a tennis court, which all sounds really fancy but is pretty standard for around here. Not to say that it isn’t nice. There is also lots of greenery, BBQs  and picnic tables that we look forward to using in the summer (we still don’t have a table in the apartment), and lots of squirrels. We’ve even met some friendly neighbors who are keen to join us for a couple of beers.

But enough of words, how about some photos! (probably more than you wanted)

First, the apartment

The lounge, which still needs some personal touches:

 

The kitchen, adorably retro:

 

John's "study" (AKA the place he games when not using the Xbox):

 

The bedroom:

 

And the balcony:

 

And as for the complex, there's plenty here too!

Clubroom and gym:

 

The pool and tennis court:

 

We can BBQ poolside, or there's the BBQ area:

 

And it's pretty green around here too:

The squirrels were all hiding from the heat when I took pictures, otherwise there'd be some of squirrels too, and as you can see it is definitely sunny in Sunnyvale!

So that's where we're living for the next 6 months or so. After that we'll see whether we want to stay where we are or check out another neighbourhood. But for now, it suits us just fine.

Merry Christmas from Sunnyvale California!

It's Christmas Eve and we're settling into our new home. We've spent the last couple of days moving in and getting sorted and while we're still missing some things (a table and chairs, plates and cutlery, pots and pans) it's already beginning to feel like home. I'll tell you all about it soon.

We're pleased to have a home sorted out for Christmas, although it has been hard to muster up Christmas spirit. Luckily we're both used to Christmas in the sun, and while a cold Christmas is indeed lovely, I imagine we'll enjoy being able to go outside tomorrow.

Because we're still settling in we haven't gotten a Christmas tree or bought any decorations. Still, you need somewhere to put your presents and a few lights always improve things so we rigged something up:

We've been for a few evening walks in our new neighborhood and enjoyed looking at the OTT Christmas lights on the houses. I think John is getting ideas for next year!

And of course, what California Christmas would be complete without decorated cable cars?

And boats!

Without a properly stocked kitchen it's been hard to do much Christmas baking but I did manage a big batch of Pfeffernussen yesterday. And last night we had a mini pre-Christmas at a friend's place so we won't go completely without a roast dinner.

We'll kick off celebrations tonight with our traditional martinis and salmon for dinner, and brunch tomorrow will be bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese (it will be nice not having to panic about hollandaise sauce!). And though we won't be able to cook a proper meal for Christmas dinner, we're still able to pop the cork on some bottles of bubbly.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Identity Crisis

I have never lived in a place where you'd pick me out of the crowd as being foreign. But speak with me, or hear me speak, and it immediately becomes apparent I'm from somewhere else. Until I was 11 I'd been a normal Canadian kid, not even aware of accents. I was unremarked, unnoticed, sounding the same as everyone else. This all changed when we moved to New Zealand. I was suddenly different, and people teased me for the way I said things. For the shy girl that I was, this was extremely awkward. People noticed. People paid attention. I would have preferred that they didn't.

My sister suffered the same problem, but she overcame it. She lost her accent, and it didn't take long for her to sound like one of her peers. Despite being younger, my accent stayed. I doubt it was a conscious act on my part, but slowly I came to appreciate sounding different. I didn't quite fit in with the crowd for a lot of reasons, but this was one reason I could be proud of. People even thought it (me!) was cool. I had an identity. I was 'that Canadian girl'. Plus it made small talk (something that I was very bad at) easy. 

I've been back to Canada several times since the move, and each time I miss my accent. I'd feel unremarkable and suddenly I didn't enjoy being one of the crowd. Oh, there were a few indications I lived somewhere else - speak with me long enough and a Canadian would become aware that I said some words oddly and had an unusual turn of phrase - but it wasn't obvious and you had to speak with me for quite some time to notice it. I took to wearing a greenstone pendant. When people remaried on it they either asked where it was from or could identify it as Kiwi, and I could explain that that was where I was from, too.

But trips back to Canada were just short interludes. In New Zealand, and then again in Northern Ireland, it was clear that I was a foreigner. And it became a large part of my identity. "Where are you from?" "Is that a Canadian/American (insert totally random nationality here) accent?" "How long have you been here?" "What brings you to our country?". These were the mainstays of my casual social interactions. An easy way to start the conversation. 

But now here we are in California and I sound, if not just like then close enough to, everyone else. It isn't the first thing that's noticed. It isn't remarked upon. People ask John where he's from but not me. It is infuriating. From that shy girl who didn't want to be different I've become someone whose difference is very much part of how I see myself. It singles me out as a traveller, an adventurer, someone who has tried something new and seen something different. And while it has been many years since I've identified myself as solely Canadian, it's been a great way to start the conversation of who I am.

I recently read this article and much of it resonated with me. It helped crystalize one of the reasons that I've been feeling like I've lost some of my identity. To quote: "The foreign has long been my stomping ground, my sanctuary ... foreignness became not just my second home, but my theme, my fascination."

I've loved and embraced the otherness. It made me feel special even when deep down I didn't think I was. It marked me out as different, not one of the crowd, unique and worth talking to. I hid behind it, using it as a shield. It made people satisfied that they new something about me without me having to reveal anything below the surface.

I started writing this post with no conclusion in mind, but I guess the takeaway is this - perhaps I'll have to come to terms with the fact that, even though I sound like everything else, I really am my own precious snowflake. My own person, different from everyone else, with valuable opinions, and worth making small talk with. Even if I do sound just like everyone else. 

Foodie tourism

Here we're surrounded by restaurants and we're having lots of fun checking out all the locals. The standard of food in California is amazing. And though we've found plenty of awesome restuarants we'd like to re-visit, at the moment we choose a different one each time we go out for dinner.

The other day we came across the Delancey Street Restaurant. It's just around the corner from our apartment so we thought we'd look into it further. Ratings on Foursquare were good, and their ribs were recommended, so we knew where we were headed for dinner.

Little did we know what a great choice we'd made - it turns out Delancey Street is not just a restaurant, it is part of a residential self-help organization for former substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom.

Bullet points:

• There is no staff: the place is run by the residents themselves.

• All money raised is funneled into the community, and each resident receives food, housing, clothing, education, entertainment and all other services at no cost.

• The average resident has been a hard-core drug and alcohol abuser, has been in prison, is unskilled, functionally illiterate, and has a personal history of violence and generations of poverty.

• The minimum stay at Delancey Street is 2 years while the average resident remains for almost 4 years – drug, alcohol and crime-free.

• During their time at Delancey Street, residents receive a high school equivalency degree (GED) and are trained in 3 different marketable skills.

• Beyond academic and vocational training, residents learn important values, and the social and interpersonal skills that allow them to live successfully in the mainstream of society.

Seriously, this is one cool place, and the food was great. The menu changes daily and combines foods from residents' particular ethnic or regional backgrounds (they're encouraged to use old family recipes) and traditional American cuisine. And it's popular - it was packed full of families on a Sunday night.

So, about the food - good homestyle meals.

To start, buffalo wings

And calamari

John ordered BBQ ribs with collard greens

which was served with sweet potato pie

While I chose blackened meatloaf (meatloaf with a Jamaican twist) served with chips and spicy coleslaw

We shared everything (except I ate the bulk of the collard greens and the sweet potato pie - something I'd always wanted to try and John thought was weird) and as you can see the portions were huge. It was great value, and tips are treated as donations.

Not only a great meal, but a good cause too! This is one restaurant we'll definitely be back to.

For more information check out their website Delancey Street Foundation.

 

Yup, I'm totally a tourist

Walking around San Francisco is a sure-fire way to get in some good exercise. The hills are steep, and everything seems to be further than anticipated. On the plus side it is fun, and you quite often come across stereotypically 'San Fran' sights.

Like cable cars

Which are even more satisfying when you manage to get a picture of one directly outside the cable car museum

Fisherman's Wharf for all the crab you can possibly eat

Ghirardelli Square for excellent chocolate

And of course the Golden Gate Bridge

Also you occasionally see bizarre things like giant crocodiles made out of bread

And at the end of the day, there's always another hill

Thanksgiving Holiday Week

John's work shut down for the whole of Thanksgiving week, so last week I had some company. We spent a lot of time relaxing (I read 7 books in 5 days) but also did some sightseeing. We discovered a wonderful cocktail bar which was funky, filled with old typewriters, a little pretentious but with great cocktails. We also spent a day in the South Bay area looking at apartments, and think we've found one (we're currently waiting on our application being approved, so fingers crossed). John was on holiday so I took the week 'off' too - no job hunting.

Thursday was Thanksgiving itself. Growing up we always celebrated (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and it's a tradition that I carried on in Belfast. I'm all for celebrating holidays involving food.

So what did we do for Thanksgiving? We both went to the gym/for a run in the morning, and in the afternoon went for a long walk along the Embarcadero to Pier 39. I refused to let the holiday slide completely and am struggling a bit not having a fully stocked kitchen and pantry but I'd managed to get a roasted turkey breast from the supermarket and served it with roast veges and cranberry sauce.

I'm a lover of pumpkin pie but John is not so knowing that if I bought a pumpkin pie I would probably (definitely) eat the whole thing myself, we instead got a small cherry pie.

And we had a few drinks too of course.

(with a name like Smoking Loon how could I resist?!)

It ended up being not too shabby a Thanksgiving, but it's definietly a holiday better celebrated with family and friends.

Not remotely keen on braving Black Friday sales (we're more Cyber Monday people anyway) we planned a day trip across the bay to Oakland. The plan was to head out just before lunch, but fortunately John noticed some reports on Twitter saying that the BART line was closed due to Ferguson protests. The line was cleared by early afternoon, so at about 2 we carried on as planned. We caught the train to downtown Oakland which was underwhelming (lots of boarded up shops which was sad) and then made our way to Lake Merritt.

We walked around the lake which reminded us both a lot of Hamilton Lake, and stopped for a beer part way round (heck, it was a holiday after all!). As dusk fell we carried on our walk, enjoying the fairy lights strung along the pathway. Next stop: the Oakland Museum of California. Not for the museum itself, but for their Friday Nights at OMCA. It was ... pretty awesome really. Seriously, check out the promotional video on that link. There was music (and plenty of people dancing), local beer and wines, and food trucks. Oh my the food trucks. Tacos, currys, a truck that specialised in bacon, Cuban sandwiches, pretty much anything you could want including dessert foodtrucks (creme brulee or cupcakes). We inhaled our food so quickly I didn't even manage a pic, but can tell you that we shared a great Cuban sandwich, 'porky fries' (fries with pulled pork, pork belly and bacon on top), and a smores cupcake. Oh my were we happy.

And that's pretty much our Thanksgiving. I imagine next year we will be able to celebrate properly with friends, but we had a good time nonetheless. And this week, it's back to work for John and back to job hunting for me.

First fortnight in photos

Well, we've been in San Fran for just under 2 weeks, and I finally got around to taking some pics! 

Here's our apartment:

And around our apartment complex:

And along the Embarcadero near our apartment:

Not too shabby a neighbourhood, really.

Routine

When you're not working it's easy to slip into perpetual holiday mode. While this sounds lovely (and so many people have told me that I'm lucky not to have to work at the moment) it's not ideal for a sense of personal accomplishment. And although it is tempting to let the days slip past as I do nothing but read books and watch TV, I hate ending the day feeling like I've done nothing worthwhile. Plus John is working hard so I can hardly sit around being lazy. 

Hopefully by the time my visa comes through I will have done some research and made connections that might make getting employment easier. In the meantime I find it important to have some routine, and to be able to end the day with a list of accomplishments. At the moment we are living in temporary accomodation about an hour away from where we plan on settling, so it's a little pointless to spend much time looking for jobs at this point, but there are certain things I'd like to achieve while I have the spare time.

So here's my average day:

• Get up when John does and make coffee. Because of the bus schedule John doesn't have to get up too early. We're up before 8. Except for the other morning when he had to leave for work before 6am and if you think I got up then you are sorely mistaken. Anyway, we have coffee together and John leaves for work just after 8:30.
• After that I read my book for a bit and make a list of things to do that day. Yes, I'm a list-crosser-offer.
• At 9:30 I either head out for a run or to the gym. I was pretty lazy the last couple of months in Belfast, and in the last 2 weeks did almost nothing but go out for meals and drinks, so a bit of work on my fitness level is required. By the time I've finished exercising (plus had a dip in the pool and a soak in the hot tub - I love our apartment complex) it is after 11.
• Next is all-important internet time: looking for job and volunteer opportunities, reading articles, working on a self-improvement project (next up: hour of code ) or doing something equally productive (blog post, anyone?).
• Lunch! Which is also breakfast. I should probably stop having coffee and no food at breakfast time.
• After lunch I take myself off for a walk to check out San Francisco and see some sights. I promise to take some pics today and share them. I always take my book and if I pass a nice cafe or park I'll often stop for an hour or so and either read or watch the world go by.
• On the way home I usually stop at the supermarket. Because we're living in temporary accommodation we don't have a fully stocked pantry. This drives me rather insane, but it's not like I don't have time to pick up a few groceries every day. On the list today: BBQ sauce and orange juice.
• Once home I do chores. We have a fortnightly cleaning service (yeah, I know) so I don't actually need to clean but there's always tidying up, emptying the dishwasher, laundry etc.
• Only after 5 will I allow myself to turn on the TV. I've started watching The Tudors and I could seriously just watch it all day. 
• John's bus gets in around 8 so I either go and meet him and we go out for a meal, or I cook dinner and we eat in the apartment together when he gets home. 
• Finally, time to relax in front of the TV (we've started watching Cosmos which just proves what a geeky household we are) and then bed.

So yeah, that's my exciting life at the moment. It's fulfilling if a little lonely but I know it is only temporary. As soon as we're settled into our new place I will be out proactively making friends and sorting out our house until I get a job, but until then I'm happy enough with my own company. Of course, it doesn't make for the most exciting blog post material, but that will come in time.