So, until now, this blog has just been a place for me to throw my deep thoughts out into the void, but I've decided that the name is very appropriate for my life at present. I chose the name "Until I'm Home" as a reference to life until I'm home in heaven having a rocking party with Jesus and it can still mean that to an extent, but I've discovered another way it applies to my life. This is the blog I will use until I've found a true home, away from the house of my parents and the comfort of the world in which I once lived. So, when taken that way, I will use this blog "until I'm home".
I finally moved away from home. Though I've dreamed about it for an extremely long time, when the time came to actually physically move out of my parent's house up to my aunt and uncle's in Connecticut, I was absolutely petrified. It wasn't just the moving that scared me, though. It was also the thought of driving ten hours all alone with nothing but music and 1/3 of my possessions packed into the back of my car. But, as everyone has said to me, it's an adventure, and it's one that I've wanted to take for as long as I can remember.
Once I got to CT it wasn't so bad. It wasn't the first time I'd stayed in my room at my uncle's house so it was almost like coming home. I drove up on a Saturday and woke up very, very early for church at Trinity Methodist. Their contemporary service was at 8:15am, SO much earlier than I'm used to! I wore jeans to service which at my home church isn't a big deal, but I felt like I was being judged for my choice of clothing the moment I walked in the door and saw dresses, slacks, and three-piece suits. Only three people willingly spoke to me, all of whom were far older than myself, one of whom was the pastor. Only after the pastor spoke to me and discovered that my grandfather usually attended the church and that I'm from Ohio did the man in front of my turn around to tell me that he and his wife were both originally from Ohio and went to Ohio State. Their children have been trained to love Ohio State, a fact that made me groan inside a little because I had hoped that by moving away I'd escape that madness. However, because barely anyone spoke to me and because I nearly fell asleep during what I'm sure was a beautifully worded sermon, I won't be going back to that church.
After church I took a tour of the town, finding the library and looking for as many historical houses I could find. It's a beautiful town, not unlike where I moved from though far larger. The downside is that it's a thirty minute drive to my work directly through the heart of downtown Hartford. Due to the horrid commute I am searching desperately for an apartment that is cheap enough for me to rent. Or a roommate. I thought I'd be able to find a roomie at work, but all the females in my training class either live with someone, have children, or are married. Only the guys need roommates and, quite honestly, having grown up with sisters I'm really not prepared to live with a male, nor would I feel comfortable doing so.
My first day on the job was interesting. Within the first fifteen minutes, just as we were about to introduce ourselves, the fire alarm went off and we spent our first hour of orientation standing in the freezing cold parking lot. Talk about a warm welcome! However, it was not a drill (somehow I doubt they would schedule a drill on the same day as new hire orientation). The Verizon Call Center I work for houses a switch, aka the equipment that makes cell phones work, and the moment there's smoke they shut down that area of the building, suck all the oxygen out of it, evacuate the building and the fire trucks come to pry open doors and find out what made the smoke. After that little mishap the rest of the day was exceptionally boring, although I made friends with all the people sitting around me and had a fun group conversation during my lunch break. Overall it's a marvelous place to work and the only thing I don't like is the annoyingly long and very early morning drive I have to make to get there. Due to company policy I can't blog about anything that goes on at my job in detail so all I will say is that so far I'm really enjoying myself. But, then again, today is only the first day of the information overload we will endure for the next seven weeks so my enjoyment may not last.
So far I really like Connecticut. I don't think I'll be staying here for the rest of my life, but as far as I can tell I will really like working for Verizon and will probably stay with the company for an extremely long time, if not in the Northeast. It's weird to realize that I'm out working in the real world away from everything I've ever known and I would be terrified if I didn't work with a group of 23 exceptionally nice and friendly people. I have not yet met a person that I don't like, but then again, I always try to find the good in people and make an effort to like them no matter what. It's an interesting crowd of people I work with, from single mothers to homosexuals to the unmarried mid-twenties bracket like myself. But no matter how different the twenty-three of us are, so far we all like each other and have a really great time for the eight hours we spend in that training room.
Apart from my new job I haven't done much. The commute gives me little extra time to spend doing anything else other than showering, sleeping and eating, though I have made it to the library. Really the library is the only place where I can go to use the internet. Unfortunately they won't let you get a card unless you have legal proof of residency so I have to pay a dollar for an hours time on the internet, but that is just enough time to check email, look up whatever I need on Google, and write in this here blog. Since it's only my fourth day living here I don't have much to say yet, but I will say that it's a whole new world I've been tossed into and it's very close to the change I've always waited for.
This weekend I have plans to visit my friend John up in Boston for all of Saturday. I've never been to Boston, so I'm really rather excited and might just throw some tea into Boston Harbor just for the heck of it. I hear recreating experiences helps with remembering the crazy history of our country. ;) I'm looking forward to spending some time with a good, Christian friend (none of the people I work with are really what you would call Christian, so far as I know) so Saturday will be a breath of fresh, smog-filled air.
That's all I have so far! I can't promise this blog will be frequently updated, but I'll do my best.
