#WeekendCoffeeShare: Interviews and Alone Time

If we were having coffee, I’d start off by talking about the job search. After obtaining my espresso bar barista job on Saturday, I went in to sign my I-9 paperwork on Sunday and proceeded to hear nothing from my manager about starting work until Thursday evening. I e-mailed her to enquire about what was going on on Tuesday and she e-mailed me back on Thursday apologizing for the delayed reply (she had been off a few days) and asked to meet me to discuss scheduling.

In the mean time, I heard back from two temp agencies and interviewed with both of them this week. Although the espresso bar job is a great opportunity, I can’t survive off of that pay working full time, especially in DC. So, I’m hoping some temp opportunities come up soon while I continue to search for more permanent positions. I’ll continue to do the barista job part time, but it also won’t be my main source of income–and I will also make more as a temp.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about the brunch date I had with a fellow Morris grad last Sunday. She just moved to DC recently, too, as she accepted a job here.  It was quite lovely and it was so nice to see another familiar face in the DC area.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that today has probably been the most exciting day this week. I’ve been interviewing this week and keeping busy in other ways (such as searching for housing in DC Proper…which is a bit of a time consuming task), but today I was able to get into the city and explore a little more. I went in initially to speak to my manager about working, but ended up staying because, well, why not? I visited the Renwick Gallery, which isn’t far from my work. It was closed for renovation when I was in DC two years ago so I was excited to see what it had to offer now that it’s open. It’s one of the Smithsonian’s modern art galleries and there are some really cool installations throughout. It’s one of the smaller Smithsonian museums but I also prefer smaller museums and I really enjoyed my visit.

After the Renwick, I decided to find food because I was getting really hungry. I was going to go to Chop’t, a favorite salad shop from the last time I was in DC, but was disappointed to find it was closed for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Never fear, though! I found a long line of food trucks outside the National Museum of American History and satisfied my hunger by visiting one of them.

Falafel burrito bowl that I got

Food trucks all in a line

After lunch, I headed over to the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival–I had heard someone talking about it on the metro and decided to go over and check it out, since I loved visiting it when I interned in DC in 2014. Most of the National Mall is currently blocked off for renovations, but a small slice was still opened for the festival, which I really enjoyed. The Festival is highlighting Basque culture and the unique and varying cultures of California. I really enjoyed walking around and seeing everything. I then explored a little bit more of some areas of DC that I hadn’t been to yet and then headed home.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you about how much time I’ve been spending doing things alone lately and how great I feel about it. I’m used to staying at home and hanging by myself there–I’m a natural introvert and that’s easy. However, I’ve never been good at planning to do things with just myself. I struggled a lot with loneliness in Thailand and, as a result, clung to a couple relationships I had developed there to the verge that they became unhealthy. After my TESOL course in October, where I was surrounded with all these like-minded people who filled me with so much life, I found myself in my placement feeling very lonely, despite the presence of the other foreign teachers I worked with daily. Loneliness used to be my biggest fear, but I really feel like I conquered that in Thailand. I realized today how much time I’ve been spending alone lately and how okay I am with that. I spent the entire day alone today walking around the city and I was more than fine. Yes, I want to build friendships with people here, but I also know that will come in time. I would always rather be alone than in a group of people I don’t feel I click with. Earlier this week, I was feeling really sad that I wouldn’t be celebrating the fourth of July with my family–my Mom and Dad are heading to Iowa to celebrate in my grandparent’s town, a tradition we’ve had since I was a baby. My twin cousins, who celebrate their birthday on July 3, will also be there and I was feeling really sad about missing that. However, I’m also so happy to be where I am right now–and you know what, if I end up alone on the fourth, that’s okay. Truly. Worse things have happened.

If we were having coffee, I’d be ready to switch it off to you–and I ask if you have anything to share over coffee.

This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share link up at Part-Time Monster