My new specialty: Soft Lumber

Hello. Hello. We're going to be breathing down your necks for this whole week, er I mean, auditing your facility, this week, and we'd like to get an understanding of how your business works, first.

Hmmmm. This conversation turned into a two hour tour of Princeton's finest sawmill. First trees come in, then they get analyzed by a computer in this control room as to what kind of length and size boards will be feasible for each tree, then they get chopped, go through a type of quality control, and come out and get wrapped and sent off. What you, my friend, read in about three or four seconds, I lived through two hours of. Haha. Actually, my attempt to communicate to you the brutality of those two hours is for not. I enjoyed it. I love watching How It's Made on the Discovery Channel, so it's always cool to see what the heck they do behind the scenes before the wood goes on the house or whereever they decide to put it. However, I feel it necessary to insert a disclaimer here for those of you who also enjoy How It's Made: Most of what they tell you is not true. I watched an episode once when they were making a Kenworth Truck (nothin' but love)... and well, I worked in the plant where they made this stuff and that was my home away from home last summer for two and a half months. I think I understood the process pretty well. How It's Made gives you an awfully dumbed down version, misses all of the important details... it was just pitiful. But anyway, yes, our tour of the facility here in chilly Princeton (cross your fingers that it doesn't snow and keep me away from majestic Seattle) was very interesting. Such a mundane product. But totally cool. The tour guide, we decided, has an extremely high level of job satisfaction. I think my job satisfaction mirrors his, but I don't think it would take me two hours to tell you what I do... well, partly because I'm still not sure of exactly what I do ;) HAHA, I joke. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing :) This is why I enjoy being here in Canada, eh, on this audit because since I'm new, it gives me a look at the whoooooole process in a microcosmic world. We do all audit steps, just on a smaller scale, because, well... the plant is much smaller than say, a Fortune 500 Company... but that's just an estimate :)

In other news: The WSJ apparently says the email era is over... what???? "Why Email no longer rules"... people are moving more towards social networks and community sites. Interesting. I just sent an email about 30 minutes ago.... I think socially that's true, but for work... email is king. Like in accounting, cash is king (which, ironically, is the same sentiment I feel for my bank account... payday tomorrow!). Most social networking sites are great, but some are just far-reaching. Twitter, for example. I signed up for it for a week and then deleted my account. I just don't see the point. I think Twitter was invented for those people who constantly need to stay connected and let everyone know what they are doing. This is probably reflective of the level of importance we all feel. I mean, how many times have you had a conversation with someone and they complained to you about this or that, and you say, "OMG I have it so much worse... This one time, [insert any antidote here]" So Twitter feeds this need of letting all of your tweet followers what you are doing that is so important. And, let's face it, even if it isn't important (I'm sitting on the porch...), you want people to see that you are so important and finally have a moment of freetime for some R&R. Anyway, this rant sprang from the WSJ article about email. I call shenanigans on Jessica Vascellaro. Well, not 100%. 50% shenanigans. Email is still important for work. We can't post crap about confidential information on facebook. However, I agree, I typically "comment" or send a message to my friends via facebook instead of email. Although, I did send an email yesterday to a friend from my gmail account. Email will still be important when you sign up for crap, like notifications from Barnes and Noble or The Loft about when they have sales or if they feel so inclined to send you some discount coupons. Still important for those Nigerian money scams that people are still retarded to fall for. Still a totally viable means of communication. Perhaps, email is the new form of snail mail.

What are your thoughts about this? Is email really the old way? Are we really getting that old, that we now see the shifts and have to adapt to them? Are we going to be those people when we're like 50, we don't understand the "new" technologies, much like our parents today? (My mom still doesn't know how to save a phone number in her phone, for crying out loud! haha).

Cheers,

Oh, Canada

Well, two real weeks have gone by in my first position post-graduation. And I'm still swimming. No sinking yet. I have actually also been driving. Five hours of it today. From Seattle to Princeton, BC... which is about 200 km east of Vancouver, just to give you a little bit of geography. Want some more geography??? This town is about two streets wide and three streets across. It's super tiny. The hotel is great, though. I have two beds, I have a table, a microwave and a fridge, and a pretty nice bathroom. The TV has cable, so obviously I'm getting my fill of CNN. It's probably a good thing I don't have cable at home because I would watch CNN all day long... which would mirror what I do on the weekends now that football season is upon us. I try to be productive and study and do really important, meaningful things. But then that turns into me sitting on the couch with my Becker book in my lap watching all the games. So then, I migrate to Starbucks by my house to study because there's less to do there besides, well, study. And then it turns out that my cute Starbucks boy is working and so then if he comes by to pick up garbage or sweep or something I just get nervous and can't concentrate because he is so adorable. And of course I've never spoken to him. But it's nice eye candy, you know. Who has time for all of that mushy gushy stuff anyway?

So anyway, now I'm in Canada and in a hotel room there isn't much to do. Which will be great for my productivity after I finish writing this post. There are so many things just going through my mind, though, it's crazy.

Obama won the Peace Prize? Really? I mean, I voted for him and I'm so glad he is leading us, but the Peace Prize? What about all those people who devote their entire lives in the name of peace? The people who are nameless and faceless right now, working behind the scenes, orchestrating wonderful not for profits or are on a mission working with the underpriveledged and war ravaged towns. What about those people I say! Summary: Go Obama, but let's recognize others as well. (I mean, what's next? Will Brangelina get the Peace Prize next year???)

Next: I cannot find my Twilight DVD. I am so sad. I was hoping to watch it this week while I'm in Canada-ville. But, it was no where to be found in my room. I might have left it at my sister's house when I was housesitting in August, actually, because I haven't been able to find it in a while. I finished reading all the books and I am so excited to watch New Moon. I will be in Moses Lake I think when it comes out, working, however I might just sneak out at midnight to go watch it. Just because it's the Twilight Saga. And I wish I could have a romance like theirs in my own life. Even though all men are assholes, especially finance majors. It's a catch 22. (Which is a great book, btw. I can't wait to be all settled down into a work routine, sorta, and have some time to read for fun!!!)

El tema proximo: I miss Europe so much. I had the lucky opportunity of visiting Rome for training for work a few weeks ago. It was absolutely amazing. I love European cities. Life is so different there. Granted, yes, I am usually there on vacation and so life in general has the "rosy sunglasses" feel to it for that sole fact... but I did live in Sevilla from September to December last year and I got into a groove. Life is so slow paced there. It's honestly, stressfree. My senora... the only thing that woman worried about was cleaning her floors, really. She went out with her friends to tapas all the time, saw peliculas every miercoles with her boyfriend... she was living the life. The Siesta is a reality, not a myth. Taking a nap in the middle of the day??? Nice. Especially since we would usually be up till late in the evening. The style is so nice there. Guys actually know how to color coordinate and know what looks good and actually apply it to their wardrobe. Zara is amazing. Bershka. Stradivarius. El Corte Ingles, obviamente. Life was super.

DISCLAIMER: Not to say I don't like living and working in Seattle. But you know the song by Augustana called Boston. Sometimes I want to do that. Just move. First move, though, will be moving OUT. I really think living downtown would be super, but it's a little pricey so I think I'll just move to Eastlake with Cybal and Tina or stick to West Seattle but just... the other side of West Seattle that's further away from Mama. I love her to death, but I need my independence. And I just signed up for the gym in West Seattle for one year... so it'd be pointless to move away from it. I've gone consistently for the past two weeks I've been a member and it feels so great. In the summer, I went running in Lincoln Park almost every morning, but it's too chilly for that, and now the gym has so many machines so you can work lots of different things, not just the cardio. So this is super.

I also really am enjoying my job. So why would I move away from something I liked? I know I just started so it's all still fresh and new and exciting, but I think it's actually a really great place and I do like challenges and this job will probably present many of them. So, yay. I want to definitely stay long enough to get to move around a little bit... move up, yes, and then moving literally would be cool but not necessary because I adore Seattle and all of her glory (But let's be honest, a global rotation in Sevilla or London or Warsaw would send my excitement levels to the next galaxy). And then move to like, Advisory or DPP would be super rad.

Okay, I think that's enough for now. I still have lots of thoughts. But, I should look at my Becker book before I go to bed :)

Cheers,

Olivia

A day in the life

I've been studying for my CPA test a lot lately. I've also found that it is much harder to study at home than it is to study at, say, a coffeeshop. Why is that? Well, for one, I can't really organize anything much at the coffeeshop. My room has been cleaned more often since I've started studying for the CPA exam than I think it ever has been cleaned. I also find that it's pertinent I give myself a pedicure at home, or a facial, or a bath... things that would not be possible at a coffeeshop. In addition, I especially love going to Starbucks to study because one has to pay for internet there still (gosh, what is this? The 20th century or something???). And since I am broke and cheap, I choose to operate sans internet while there, making Facebook visits impossible, making blogging impossible, making amazon.com and postsecret.com visits impossible. (Although danger is lurking on the horizon since I have a BlackBerry now...) Therefore, all of the aforementioned factors combined make it all the more possible for me to be efficient at a coffeeshop. However, today I didn't feel like getting dressed up or doing my makeup until I go and have drinks with Erin and watch The Ugly Truth down at Southcenter... which is making studying a hassle. I've done some, but I could have accomplished this in about two hours at Starbucks, where here it's taken me about 4 of 5 hours. What have I been doing, you may ask. Well, I facebooked. I am blogging, for crying out loud. I walked my dog. I played with my dog. I thought about New Moon a lot. That book made me so depressed last night. I did some stretches while watching the news. You know, really important things that just HAD to be done.

Bah.

Well, I have about 3.5 hours left of studying so I should get back to it.

I also wanted to mention that I would LOVE to move to Europe right now.

A Legend Lives On

So, you may have heard that pop icon Michael Jackson passed away last Thursday. It's one of those moments that you'll always remember where you were, what you were doing, how you felt... My mom told me over the phone that my beloved MJ went to the hospital but I didn't believe her because she always talks jibberish. However, I turned on Channel 2 (since I have no cable...) and they corroborated my mom's claim. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach, and I'm sure it would have ended up in the earth's core and melted if it could sink any further. I was distraught. And the funny thing is, I never knew the guy (big shock). But, I think his death really touched me because of the role he played in my life. It's always easier to dismiss the deaths of those we have never met, have never interacted with, have never been affected by... of course, death is a part of life and people die every day, and those deaths never make the news. It could be a mom, a son, a civilian, a scientist, an cancer patient... and no one makes a fuss about it to the degree of fussage about MJ's death. MJ was a controversial figure in the public eye, the camera lens was always in focus in all corners of his life. He was ridiculed and criticized on his every move, and while you can't say "Oh poor Michael, what a hard life you led, you had everything you ever wanted..." I'm sure he did have a hard life even with fame and fortune and it's not fair to deduce that well, because he was famous he shouldn't complain, he shouldn't have had a hard time at all. He lived his life under a microscope, he had to live up to expectations, starting from when he was a young kid at his dance practices and rehearsals. I know everyone dies and many people die in worse states than Michael, but his contributions to music and even communities worldwide were great and shouldn't be discredited. He was one of the best musicians the music industry has ever seen, the inspiration for many acts that followed, and the soundtrack to many more people's lives. For me, he was my first musical obsession. I remember singing MJ with Ola and Peter in their living room, Peter wearing my black leather jacket and me and Ola being back up dancers. I rememeber getting MJ's HIStory cassette tapes for my birthday one year and jumping up and down and then listening to them forever. The song Little Susie always scared me. I know I obviously wasn't the biggest fan ever, however, Michael was a big part of my growing up and even lately, I had been in an MJ mood, playing his hits in my car and listening to him at the Duchess on the jukebox. Not to mention my horrible attempt at the moonwalk. In any case, I really am sad to see Michael leave, especially when he still had more on his agenda to accomplish. He wasn't done, but his time was stolen from him and that makes me sad. I've seen many celebrities go, but none have really affected me like Michael's since he was the first from "my" generation that I felt attached to and could attach meaning to. I grew up on MJ and I know that many more will continue to grow up on MJ. His music is timeless and will last forever. Michael may be gone physically, but he will have an everlasting presence through his music.

RIP Michael Jackson.

A Fresh Start :)

I started this blog with the intent of solely using it for my Spanish adventures... keeping mainly my mom and whoever else bothered to read my dabbles up-to-date about what I was up to. Looking back, I wish I kept it going for the month of December. I sort of stopped with Nantes I think and never got around to writing about Paris, Madrid, and the end of my stay in the wonderful ciudad de Sevilla. However, I think I'll pick up the blogging again... just a good way to escribir mis pensamientos. Especially considering that I'm at a pivotal point in my life... the end of senior year in college, the beginning of freshman year in LIFE. It's a really exciting time full of hope and dreams for something truly amazing. I was at Seattle Prep's high school graduation about two weeks ago, and a type of bittersweet sadness overcame me. The high schoolers were SO happy. And I was actually a little jealous! They are about to enter one of the best, best times of their lives. Now, I know I haven't lived life very long post-college, however, I feel I can safely say that college is truly one of the most fascinating four years (or five or six...) that I will ever have. If I could do it again, I would. Needless to say, though, I am very thrilled for what's to come, although somewhat nervous and hesitant since... this is what I've been preparing for for about 17 years, haha.

So, point of the story... I'm going to start blogging again. For myself. But if you want to read it, too, then that's alright with me. Invited, actually.

A week in review

Well, one more week down. It was pretty uneventful. I have made it a goal to complete all or most of my projects before December 9th when Erin gets in so that I have time to hang out with her :) So, the majority of this week was dedicated to researching and doing work. Really, uneventful. I went on a run, did some Pilates... figure it's time to get in shape again. I'm thinking of getting some tanning sessions because I'm way too pale for Spain but it's too cold to suntan exactly... Let's see... that's about all I did this week...

Oh, I recall some more.

We had a seminario in my Finance class this week on Tuesday where we watched a video and discussed it with some Spaniards who are also studying finance. That was pretty interesting, although not a major showing of people from the Spanish side. I guess the only reason we showed up was because it was mandatory for us. Also, I called KPMG finally and talked to the partner who hired me, which was nice. I got invited to go to Georgetown in February for the case competition there, and I accepted. It was quite funny. I got done writing a "sorry I can't do it because I know I'll be too stressed out" email, and then right before I sent it I was like, really, who am I kidding? Of course I want to do this, I love case competitions! So I deleted it and replied with a "yes I would be sooooo happy to do this" email. And I am. Good choices.

We went to Gibraltar on Friday with my econ and finance classes. It was pretty interesting, actually. We went to a presentation by the Chamber of Commerce there about Gib's history and economy and importance to the world. After that commitment, that only lasted about two hours max, we had about four or five hours of just touristing the town. SO well, this place is known for it's monkeys, so we decided to go check them out. Laura and I took the cable cars up to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar while Jenni stayed down below at this awesome looking park because she's already visited Gib. So, the first thing we get when we get up to the top of the Rock... a monkey ninja jumping into our cable car - it looked like it was going to land on Laura's face. We screamed, everyone laughed at our ridiculousness. Good times. We got off and looked around and monkeys were everywhere, just like squirrels on the UW campus. Seriously, it was ridiculous. We walked around a bit and took photos of the beautiful landscape. Just in case you didn't know, Gibraltar looks out on the Strait of Gibraltar, which is the most narrow strip between two continents and you can actually see Africa from there... when visibility is good. Visibility was bad. The clouds were hanging low and everything. But oh well, it was still pretty. We met up with some other people in our program while we were up there and walked down this path where there were more monkeys. I was so scared of them at first, but we got gutsy and would get closer and closer and then we finally got them to go on our backs for great photo opps! It was amazingly cool until one monkey thought my dangly earrings were cool and started pulling on it... yeah, did not feel good. The same monkey was on my back earlier and it started picking through my hair like they do to each other so often. It was so weird being so close to them, because they seriously look just like us but with lots of fur. Little miniature people. And one mom took her little baby monkey and dragged it aside and it looked like she was disciplining him. Like, wow, it was SO cool.

But anyway, after we had our fun with the monkeys, we made our way back down to Gib via cable car and we had an interesting thing happen during that time too. One of the monkeys from the top of the rock was up on the top of the cable car and as we were getting down closer to the bottom, he jumped off and fell pretty badly down into the shrubs below us, it was a pretty far fall. But we saw him get up so we were like oh he's okay, but the cable car operator said that they need to go get him because otherwise the pack of monkeys from the middle part of the rock will kill the monkey from the top. They are like gangs in LA with their red and blue colors and all. Poor monkey, I hope he's okay.

So, after that debacle, we made it down to Gib and walked down mainstreet popping in to some stores. I found some gorgeous gowns which were all out of my price range obviously. We finally made it to the main square where we just couldn't pass up some Fish and Chips! This is a "colony/territory" of England, after all. What a good choice that was - the fish was delicious :) And fries, meh, fries are fries. On Friday night Jenni, Brett, and I went to go see the new James Bond movie - it was opening night and Brett has been dying to see it so we thought we'd be good friends and accompany him :) It was a good movie, but we thought it was a little ridiculous that we pick the action movies to see in Spanish - you know, instead of some nice romantic comedy that moves at a slow pace, we're like trying to keep up with all the Spanish in this rapid moving movie. I was impressed at our ability to understand James Bond in Spanish though. Way to go, us. Three months in Spain have served their purpose.

On Saturday the group went to Cordoba but Jenni and I were losers and stayed in Sevilla. I really felt like I needed to get things done for classes, and I have no more weekends left in Sevilla after this because I'm traveling all of them. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to just relax in my city :) I got a lot of homework done this weekend and much progress was made on the marketing project. It will be done today, my portion of it. On Saturday night when the group got back from Cordoba we got together and went to go see a Red Hot Chili Peppers coverband at this bar near our business school. They were pretty decent. We met some Brazilian bankers who thought they were so rico suave, though. I'm ready to be done with the men here, they are ridiculous and I don't fall for their shenanigans. They'll have to go find another dumb American :) But anyway, after the show, we went to Club Caramelo where they wanted to charge us 30 euro for going in, aka they didn't want us to come in, so we went to Club Abril and stayed there for about a half hour. I was tired and really not in the mood for dancing or anything, I wasn't really dressed for the club either, so I called it a night.

Yesterday (Sunday) I woke up and got to work on my marketing plan. It's looking fabulous, really. I can't wait to turn it in, haha. My senora left for the whole day and my bitch Spanish sister was in Madrid all weekend visiting her boyfriend, so I had the whole house to myself ALL day. AKA I made myself tea whenever I wanted, I ate lunch when I was hungry not when it was given to me, and I listened to my music a little louder. Oh, and during lunch I watched the Spanish Disney Channel. It's the small things that make me happy, haha. In the evening I went with Laura to Starbucks to study for a bit and then we went to mass in the Cathedral, which actually was a side chapel in the Cathedral. I don't get Spain at all. They are slow about EVERYTHING and start everything late. Mass was supposed to start at 8 pm, so we get there and they are already like at the homily! What's going on? They actually start mass earlier. But here in Spain the people don't seem religious at all, and church is more of a motion for them than a spiritual necessity. Which is fine, I don't judge, but the mass is so quiet and expedited. Get in, get out. Which is weird because everything else in Spain does not happen as quickly. I waited like five minutes for my Americano at Starbucks. Howard Schultz would be disappointed, haha. But mass, oh no, it's a quick one. Anyway, in the evening I went with Laura to TGI Fridays to get a drink and we sat and talked for a few hours, it was a really nice way to wind down the weekend. I had trouble sleeping last night. I had a horrible dream that I left my purse somewhere that I thought was secure and it was Halloween night and I get back and my passport is torn to shreds, my money is gone, and my debit card is missing. And NOBODY cared and nobody wanted to help me. They were like, oh Olivia it's Halloween, come out with us tonight and take care of all of that tomorrow! So I woke up from that and I was stressed out because well, I am stressed about it happening in real life. I don't walk around with my passport though, or ridiculous amounts of money. Partly because I don't have ridiculous amounts of money left, haha. Oh Spain how you have made an indent on my bank accounts. As long as I have enough to pay off one of my loans when I get home, I'll be content though. And all of my purchases have been quality ones, not to mention all of my Christmas shopping :)

Anyway, a new week has begun. London and Nantes starting Thursday. Lots of work to get done in the meantime. Like class in two hours... :/

Cheers, hugs, and kisses,
Olivia

I <3 Barcelona

These were the street performers we saw on Las Ramblas before we went to get delicious kebabs... and before my feet died.

The oh so awesome Marcet de Sant Josep... or more commonly known as La Boqueria.

This is the marina where we ate our lunch one day :)

And finally, this is the Arc de Triumf. No more videos sadly :/