Introductions?

Being a Disney fanatic in Australia is mostly just being crazy for the movies… you have so many more Disney opportunities in the USA! One of my friends was a cartoonist for Disney for a couple of years, which thrills me to no end. I’m guaranteed to cry and/or get goosebumps in pretty much every Disney movie.

You know, they do have Cultural Exchange programs for people living in Australia! I actually knew someone who enrolled in a community college for just one semester just so he could be considered a student and apply for the program haha.
I have to say, I am very fortunate to be studying at a school so close to Disneyland. If I wasn’t, then I probably would have never thought of doing another program! But it’s such a great experience :)
The movies are great though. I’ve seen so many Disney movies, and there are still a whole lot of classics that I need to watch!

Oh my gosh that’s so cool!
You know, I actually kinda sorta look up to you. You’re definitely older than I am, but ahh you’ve just had so many experiences and so many stories to tell to your kids and I’d like to think I’ll be like that someday. Fall in love, grow old, drink tea for hours on end hehe :)
And three miles a day!? That’s more than me! The most exercise I get is walking to class! See, where I live, campus is so close that if I drive to school, it’s just going to take like 5 minutes, and I can’t even park right next to my building because that’s for Professors only. So I just do that 45 minute walk uphill every day :) Knocks out my exercise so it makes me feel a bit better haha

Carol, you are my hero! I’m a Special Education major! I would love to hear about your experiences and any advice you’d care to share! Also, please tell your husband that I have two cats. :)

Gosh… thanks. My best advice is to take college Spanish and get your ESL endorsement. Even if you don’t become fluent it will be on your records. The ESL doesn’t require you to have the foreign language just be able to teach second language learners. Most school districts seem to be requiring it to teach at a Title One school. Make sure you try several grades to find the one you really like. So many new teachers give up after a year or two because they were teaching at grade they really didn’t enjoy. All levels have their pros and cons. I love little kids and grades 1 -3 were great for me. Most of my teaching was at grade 1. In special ed get as many certifications as possible. A lot of programs go with Cross-categorical which covers a lot of things. I’m certified in ages 3-21 in LD, BD, Mildly and Moderately Mentally Handicapped, and elementary education grades 1-6. I have a degree as a Reading Specialist and am trained in Reading Recovery. These certifications have made it very easy to get jobs whenever we have moved. It’s also easier to change subject matter and age groups. Spend some extra time in working on reading instruction classes. As a teacher, we often found new graduates ill prepared for reading instruction. Balanced literacy, guided reading and interventions are really important. Reading isn’t usually taught by just using basals and “programmed reading”.
And of course, drink lots of tea. Okay, that was way to much advice… now aren’t you sorry you asked.

Absolutely not! Thank you so much! I hadn’t even given any thought to systems requiring ESL to teach at a Title One. I have some experience with Kindergarten and 1st grade, some with middle school, and some with high school. I, too, prefer the little ones.

Win for Special Education Teachers!

I agree that tea and cats go together—I’ve got just the one but she’s the light of my life, a ten year old calico named Jellyfish. I got her from the RSPCA when she was a little runt! I would love more cats but Jelly wouldn’t…

I’m glad if my suggestions were of any help. The little kids are fun!

I have to say, 32 is still pretty young in my books and you’ve traveled to all those places!? That’s pretty cool :)
Dude. I love food so much. I’m taking a professional cooking class right now and we have to dress up in our chef’s uniform and though it’s a 4 hour block every day of class, I love it so much! I’d definitely love to try cooking with tea in the future though. Definitely going to try making pasta with matcha soon enough :)

Aw, thanks for the response! Yeah, my husband has struggled mightily with trying to stick it out as a public high school teacher (this is his last year, he decided he couldn’t handle it anymore), but one big plus to his trying for years was the summers off—with my job the way it is, it meant we could spend months traveling. The bulk of my travels have been in the last 4 years. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.

I am jealous of your cooking class! That sounds so cool. And being creative with it is the best—your matcha pasta idea sounds awesome! :D

You have great taste in movies. Well, great taste in everything, but the movies stood out.

Aw thanks! I figured I’d throw ’em out there ’cause you never know when someone else might dig what you do and then you can have a rare awesome conversation! Most of my IRL local pals think I have excruciatingly boring, slooooow taste in movies and music and well…everything, haha.

Are you crazy excited for the Veronica Mars movie? I’m crawling out of my skin.

You sound well travelled! It’s called Busan now, and it is amazing. Love the food!

Yes, yes I am Mem! Haha. I was also excited to hear recently they’re considering reviving Chuck…

My sister’s been, M Mack. So jealous.

I dig weight lifting too :) and My husband and I are happily child-free (agreed upon before we married) and we have pets instead.

yeah, i’ve never felt strongly either way about the kids thing, just lots of trepidation no matter what i imagine. but as i get older and older i recognize more and more that it’s probably unlikely i’m ever going to be like “yes, NOW i feel ready” on so many levels. and people always say “well, no one’s ever ready” but they don’t know exactly what i’m thinking about, bad family/genetic history, emotional issues, probable issues trying to conceive and bring to term anyway (i have PCOS and thyroid problems among other things), enjoying my freedom and immaturity, wanting to be able to move or take on some surprising life-changing opportunity at the drop of a hat, and just not being particularly maternal. now that it seems more and more a sure bet we aren’t, i’m coming to terms with it. it’s always good to hear from someone around my age who’s made the decision not to have kids and is comfortable with it (older folks too…i met a couple once in their 50s and she was very content with their decision, which gave me hope). so thank you. (:

ohohoh, and yay to another weightlifting lady! i often feel left out with that; all my friends run marathons and do yoga and think it’s weird i love lifting the heaviest weights i possibly can, ha.

Another one who is excited about the Veronica Mars movie. I am hoping that Veronica and Logan will be back together, but not counting on it.

ChildFree-My being CF wasn’t intentional and wanted to have kids when I was younger, though of course not till I found my dream guy. snickers Well being Queer now kind of changed that, and nearing 40, and potential health issues because of my weight. Oh I know that it’s doable still and I could very well decide with my future partner that we want to have kids, but I think I’d rather look into fostering and adopting. (Yeah I know, whole ‘nother kettle of fish.) But for now, I think I’d rather spoil my nephew (Now that he’s getting old enough to enjoy it.) and willing to ‘adopt’ a niece/nephew among my friends. Oh and would love to have more kitties, maybe a dog or 2 (Though not till finding that dream partner! And having a house with a enclosure for the pooch and maybe a heated dog house. Working full time and may not be able to go home for lunch to let the dog out, and considering the mean winter we’ve been having, the idea of just leaving my poor pooch out in the cold for long periods…argh nightmare.)

I did weightlifting in high school, I liked it:) Thought about getting back into it, though I am a procrastinator! Yoga intrigues me as well.

@ifjuly: I’m never, ever, EVER in a bazillion years having children. I hate children. I think they are the scourge of the earth. I think babies are nothing but bags of vomit and fecal matter, and there is nothing that brings more pain to my eardrums and makes me want to carve my heart out with a grapefruit spoon more than a baby crying. “Oh, you’ll love your own kids!” they say. “Changing diapers isn’t so bad!” they say. “Being a mother is the most rewarding feeling in the world!” they say. They lie. My brother has 4 kids. If I had his life, I’d kill myself. His kids are cute and all, I would throw myself in front of a bus for them, if anyone ever hurt them I would kill them in a cold-blooded rage, but I shudder at the thought of spawning my own. SHUDDER. Plus, I would make a terrible mother. I have zero patience for temper tantrums, zero patience for “naptime meltdowns”. I think my parents are finally coming to terms with the idea that I won’t be having children, and I think my mom is still upset by it. But you know what? I don’t give a flying poop. This is my life, and I get to choose what to do with it. Anyone that has a problem with that, including my family, needs to re-evaluate their own lives and find out why they want me to have children so badly. And all that money people spend on their kids and their kids’ educations? ALL MINE TO SPEND ON SPARKLY THINGS. And tea. Buy all the tea!

You know what drives me bat poop crazy? (Trying to watch my swearing though that statement doesn’t look right without the S word. lol) is when people say stuff like that to Childfree individuals and couples. I mean ok, they might grow to regret it, but they might not! And further more because the system is already chock full of kids who are unwanted, have been abused and/or neglected I think there needs to be more people to man/woman up, declare they don’t want kids, do something about it (Usually requiring surgery.) Sorry for the diatribe, but I have relatives/friends who have been/still are teachers,social workers, firemen, police officers, etc. and have had my heart broken listening to the awful stories. Anyways….sorry for that.

Oh my gosh, Jen M, I second, third and fourth all that you said, and the rest of you childfree guys, too. My husband and I do not want to have kids either and it is so annoying how people always ask me, ME, because my husband is a man “and you know how men are, you have to convince them, they usually say don’t want to have kids – but you, you are a woman, it is a natural thing blah blah blah”. I cannot stand it… I hope that in 10 years when I am nearing turning 40, all this pestering will just stop.

I also haven’t met yet a person in “real” life (not that I meet that many of them) that would declare, as I do, that they don’t want to have children. It makes me feel kind of… lonely. So I am all the happier to hear a few voices of fellow tea-lovers that agree with me on the matter :)

Deciding whether one wants to have children is one of these serious lifestyle choices, much like choosing what you want to major in in college, where you want to live, what you want your career to be, whom you want to marry. One doesn’t HAVE TO do it. Nobody questions anyone why they are working as a nurse by asking “Why not work as a teacher? WHY NOT?”, or “Why did you marry this guy you met in college, and not your neighbor? He’s such a cool guy!”

@Kat_Maria: I find that old people have the biggest problem with my “like H-E-double-hockey-sticks I’m having kids” attitude. Back in my grandma’s day, when she was my age, it was essentially her duty to have children. She did a lot of stuff that, back then, was not “the norm” (she played hockey in University, went to University for that matter, and then worked until the day she turned 80). But not having kids if you theoretically could? She probably would have been disowned.

If other people want to have kids, power to them. I dunno how the heck they do it (like my brother and his 4 kids; 1 has autism and another has type I diabetes. Holy handful), and if that’s what they want then power to them. I’m not about to judge someone else for deciding to have 1 kid, 2 kids, 4 kids, 7 kids, or 14 kids. Just like I would hope they wouldn’t judge me for my choice to have 0 kids. But, of course, that’s a MASSIVE PROBLEM for some people. My uterus. I does what I wants with it, thanksverymuch.

ANYWAY. Tea. Yes…tea. More tea for me. And no teenagers that will steal it. I’m bad with “sharesies”. I must have skipped that class in kindergarden.

I declared at 10 – don’t like them don’t want them “awww that’s so cute, you’ll change your mind once your get older”
At 20 – don’t like em don’t want em “you’ll change your mind you just haven’t found the right guy yet”
At 30 – still don’t want any “your clock isn’t ticking yet – just wait you will”
At 40 – so happy I didn’t have any “you’ll regret that decision, you will be old and alone”.

Leave me alone, I’m perfectly happy not having any. Agreed if you want to have 1,2, or a dozen that’s fine with me, but you have to accept that my choice was ZERO. More annoying are the people who did have 3-4-6 and don’t look after, neglect etc. I think it’s better for me to realize that I don’t like them, probably wouldn’t be a good parent – than to have a couple because you are suppose to and not love and cherish them as they deserve….

Wow, look at all these childfree people here! I thought Schmiracles was the only other one. I don’t get bothered about it too often. I did for a while when I had an office job, the sort where all the coworkers have to know each others gossip and life story all the time (ugh, I hate that kind of environment). They always gave me the same “you’ll change your mind” spiel. But since then, no one bugs me about it. Im not really social enough to encounter such interference and my parents know me well enough to believe that its not going to happen.

As for changing one’s mind, sure, its possible. But you’d have to be pretty damn certain about it before getting married. Imagine the awkwardness of telling your partner that you changed you mind, assuming that you were both uninterested in children in the first place.

I am not maternal and children give me anxiety. I don’t “hate” children, though. I like the concept of a child, but i know it’s not something I can just put away in a cupboard when I’ve had my fill. Thinking about the whole responsibility alone gives me anxiety. Also, my husband and I both want careers. I believe that being a mother (or stay-at-home parent of any gender) IS a career. I have respect for parents who, due to life circumstances, must work and raise children, but if there is a choice, I believe one parent should be a parent exclusively. I hate that being “just a mother” is always modified with the “just” word. I blame feminism for this. From my perspective, all that movement did was confirm that a masculine gender role is superior and that we should all have the right AND desire to live that role. We should have the right, yes. But it shouldn’t feel forced on us. Everyone needs a non-parenting career to feel fulfilled these days. it’s sad.

Yeah, I feel the same way Shelley_Lorraine! I don’t dislike children really, it’s more that they make me nervous, and the notion of that level of responsibility towards another person just overwhelms me. I know there would be so many moments I’d be like I CANNOT DEAL WITH YOU RIGHT NOW and that’s rarely an option when it’s a kid!

Shelley_Lorraine – “all that movement did”? Look, we’re all entitled to opinions, but let’s stick to the facts here. Feminism wasn’t just a ‘movement’, and it isn’t over. If feminism were some dodgy cult of the past, accomplishing merely a glorification of masculine gender roles (whatever that means) I would not…

…get to vote.
…get to make decisions about my own life and body.
…get to have a job.

&c, &c, &c.

Before you criticize someone else’s ideology, please make the effort to read up on it. Feminism is a complex, controversial term and needs to be treated as such.

yeah, i was tempted to say one of the awesomest things about feminism is that it’s had a clear, fascinating evolution. it isn’t over, and part of the third wave and beyond has been about addressing the earlier movement’s (often subconscious) normalization/reification of conventionally masculine (not to mention white middle upper class) roles.

@anna

I am not much of an aggressive insant attack type and I’m also terribly awkward at replying to heated sorts of remarks, so please forgive me if I offend you or if I already have.

I am not so uneducated as you instantly assume of me. I have taken gender theory courses and written papers on related subjects. If anything my comment was taken the wrong way and I used wrong word choice. I agreed that the rights women have are a good thing that came from feminism. I said as much above. However, the gender role issue is a major negative side effect that I see has come from feminism and it is one of the rare few things at all in the world that I am opinionated about. I hate that in media and movies, guys living female roles ate objects of comedy and to be laughed at while the more serious dramas are reserved for girls who are tomboys, lesbians, or important CEOs. I don’t see that this third wave of feminism is addrssing the issue as much as it should, but I respect everyone’s opinions and humbly apologize for my poor choice of statement.

In summary, I believe everyone of all genders should have equal rights and respect no matter what they choose to do. Choosing not to be a CEO shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of. Choosing to be a housewife should be equally as respected, but I doubt it ever will.

Soon to be 19! Ah, you are still a little baby :D Good luck with the job hunt. I know it is hard to get started in the work force but I’m sure you’ll find something.

OMG, I cracked up when you mentioned meeting Marsters! I just went through Buffy up to the end of season 5 a month or two ago for the first time, and spent a lot of time analyzing Spike. I wonder if he’s as funny-charming as Spike could be…

Congratulations on sobriety. We sound pretty similar in that regard along with the “no idea what to call myself” stuff re: attraction and all that. It’s nice to be reminded I’m not alone.

You sound very self aware and neat, I wish I’d been half as with it at 18, man…I was a totally confused overwhelmed mess of a lady then. I guess I still am to some extent, but over time I know myself more and more.

Ah, you have to watch season six and seven! Easily the seasons where Spike gets the most character development. He becomes very important :)

I always feel at home with fandom people. I’m not actively in a fandom any more (and even when I was, I was always on the outskirts) but fandom people are generally My People. :)

Kinda out of topic with where these comments are going, but dude. You’re young and you still have like your whole life ahead of you, do don’t you worry about a thing when you don’t exactly don’t know what to do with the rest of your life.
I’ve been in a very Disney mood lately, and if you’re job hunting and willing to maybe take a semester off of Uni, you can definitely apply to be a part of the International Programs that Disney offers :) I walk around Epcot a whole lot and I love talking to all of the international students I see, even at the bus stops in the housing area :)
Right after high school, I was just like you! I moved like 400 miles away to study at Uni. Dang. That was like.. tough my first year, but then I got used to it. And then I moved to Florida for like 5 months and I just got used to living without my family that the distance wasn’t too tough on me.
And I think you’d definitely get along with my roommate. She loves btvs and she’s definitely trying me to get to watch it! Sooooon though. I’ll catch up to all my other shows and then start watching that show and then I’ll be jealous that you met James Marsters. I may not know a whole lot about that show, but I do know several actors because of how much my roommate talks about it :)

It’s gone now, but I just wanna say I love Marianne Moore too, haha.

Oh, yeah. I decided my first one was too much info. But I love Marianne Moore a lot. She’s kind of fallen out of vogue these days, and it’s really sad.

I also like fancy cocktails in quiet bars, but my cheap go-to is G&Ts (or even gin and soda if the gin is good enough). We don’t have to brawl over it though; it means more gin for me and more vodka for you ;)

I love gin and tonics too, but I’m always afraid if I order one in a cheaper bar, the gin will be bad! Cheap vodka is so much more drinkable to me than cheap gin! And now I pretty much drink only vodka and tonics because I’ve gotten really fond of them.

Gin & tonics all the way. Also Irish coffee.

Gah. The only Vodka I’ve liked is Smirnoff’s flavored stuff or with a sweet and non pulpy orange juice. (A friend of mine once made me a screwdriver with Orange/Banana/Pineapple juice and garnished with strawberries. It was crazy good!)
I’m not even close to being a heavy drinker. One drink can make me tipsy as hell.

I want to live in Southern California! That border just seems like such an obstacle at times.

So jealous/impressed you do BJJ! Wish I was coordinated enough. (:

Oh, man, I’m a horrible nail biter, and I’ve started spending obsessive amounts of time painting my nails, which is working, but holy cow it’s so easy to collect polish…

On a more serious note, I’ve been thinking about going into counseling. But I don’t know.

I married an american, that’s why I moved as he has the better paying job.

BJJ doesn’t take too much coordination. I mean, I’m klutzy and not that strong, but I got some flexibility which really helps. You’ll learn to use what you got in terms of body shape.

And yeah, counselling courses was interesting. A lot was like self reflection and separating like one’s opinion/values/beliefs from the clients. Clients time to time might say stuff that’ll set you off (or the client did something that you find morally offensive) and you need to learn what those things are to be prepared, not react poorly, or be able to pass the client to someone else. Other than that, lots of stuff about listening and asking the right questions with the right words.

I hear you on the nail polish collection!

Where in SoCal are you?
I originally lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I’m studying down in SoCal near Disneyland hehe :)
I’ve never met anyone who did BJJ before! That’s actually pretty cool. I do have a close friend who was a black belt in Krav Maga, if that counts haha

Hey Jump, I’m in Long Beach, so not far from you. We got some great BJJ schools in the area, mine has lots of women and does free womens seminars couple times a year.

Professional curiosity here, but how big is your nail polish collection? I’m a nail tech with a love of polish and nail art ;)

Hmm, that’s a good question. Appears that I have 165 bottles, including top/base coats. So 158 colours mostly OPI, Zoya, and Color Club. My favorite brand at the moment is Zoya. Oh, and I got a couple sets of BM and a set of Konad plates.

Zoya is my favorite too! <3 I need to go through my spreadsheet and take out the bottles I’m trying to sell but I think I have around 600 not including base or top coats. Have you heard of MoYou London? They have some gorgeous stamping plates. I haven’t gotten any yet myself but it’s one of my goals for this summer.

I’m a huge China Glaze person myself, but I’m waiting for Zoya to have a sale, because I’m really intrigued by their colors and people rave about the polish application. I have an amazing Color Club color, too. It’s bright orange and a dual chrome. I haven’t used it yet, because the color is a bit too spring. That was a tangent.

I don’t think I could do counseling as a career, (Well not actively. Though there are many jobs where having the knowledge and skills would be useful.) So I think taking some classes in that subject would be really interesting.

Nail Art-lol. I admire the skill, but overall if I have any polish on my nails I prefer it to be clear or just a tad sparkly or lightly metallic. Working with my hands alot often makes my nails look like crap, and I don’t usually have the patience to give myself a manicure or the moola to pay for one.

I prefer JRPGs too! The guy at the used game shop always looks at me curiously when I pick up another Atlus game, haha.

Yeeeeees! Square-Enix and Namco too.

You need a third parakeet! It should be white and you should name it Gandalf as well.

That has been presented to Fiance numerous times already and was promptly shot down each time. So was acquiring two blue budgies to name Alatar and Pallando (the two Blue Wizards/Maiar).

Sigh.

What?! Nooooooo! What if a parakeet just magically turns up on your doorstep in a box one day? He couldn’t turn it down then, could he?

Now that, that might work.

I used to have a parakeet. nobody believed me (except my family of course) he talked. He had like around 100 words in his vocabulary and could speak some sentences like 3-5 words. Of course he memorized those sentences. mostly like when my mom was mad at my sis for not doing her hw. I had to leave him with my friend in Russia, he wouldn’t make it to US. He was like 21 yr old when he passed. His name was Roma

Aww, Roma sounds wonderful! I’m sorry you had to give him up. That’s always insanely hard. It’s incredible how long he lived, though.

I had to do the same with my cockatiel, Fuzzlesworth, though. He used to chirp to commercial music and wolf whistle at mirrors while calling himself ‘Pretty Birdy’ and have a couple other delightful phrases. He lives with a nice family south of where I am now.

I think parakeets can indeed talk, but aren’t the smartest birds (which doesn’t mean they aren’t smart!) But that Cockatiels have tongues that can’t produce speech, but are wicked smart and good at mimicking. I can’t remember where I read that, just something I picked up, I think for a poem I was researching for and never wrote. I’ve always wanted a bird, but I just don’t know if I can take the plunge into being a first time bird owner. I love birds, though, and I’d love to own a cockatiel.

No no no no no. That is absolutely not true.

Birds don’t use their tongues at all when they talk, they use a part of their throat called a “syrinx”. All members of the parrot family (including parakeets and cockatiels) are capable of speech.

Misinformation like this perpetuates the myth that birds need a clipped tongue to speak and that is terrifying and absolutely inhumane.

I had no idea about that, or that people clipped bird tongues. That’s really sick.

Yay! Another Tolkien and JRPG lover!

Hehe, love the Babe reference. Tasmania sounds like a really interesting place. I was in Australia once years ago but never made it to Tasmania.

Tasmania is stunning. All four seasons are beautiful, it’s lovely and temperate down here. In winter (and at really random times of the year) we get snow on the big mountain that looms over Hobart (Mt Wellington) but not down in the city. 40% of the island is protected forest. We have some of the best bush walks in the world (check out Cradle Mountain and Wineglass Bay for an example) and more recently one of the most interesting museums (the Museum of Old and New Art). I’ve been here for 18 months now and I’m so happy with my decision to move here. The only thing I really miss are my close friends and family from QLD, but a lot of them have visited at least once since I moved, because I am their excellent excuse to visit Tassie!

Build-A-Bear is amazing!

God, I read the crap out of the Tamora Pierce books when I was younger. And the Mercedes Lackey books that were retellings of fairy tales using elementals. I’m really fond of the Tamora Pierce books still, though.

I used to love Mercedes Lackey and Tamora Pierce, as well!! :)

I am way too old but I still re-read the Tamora Pierce books (and keep up with the new ones), they just make me so happy :)

No such thing as to old for any kind of book! grins

You are my kind of person!

Some of my most prized possessions are my signed Song of the Lioness quartet and personally signed copy of Wild Magic. I choose to believe that it’s totally fine for a grown woman to read young adult novels. Also to shamelessly eat the occasional whole pint of ice cream for dinner.

You have signed Tamora Pierce books? That’s amazing.

Yay! More Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce and Rick Riordan fans! As for Anne McCaffrey, I wanted to like her stuff, but the only books I got into were the Pegasus books (Starting with To Ride Pegasus.) then the later connection books starting with The Rowan, and Damia. (Wasn’t crazy about Damia’s Children or Lion’s Pride, though wanted to be.) My Mom liked Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders, and for years she was pretty much the only Fantasy author that she would read. (My Mom as a kid/teen read Heinlan, Asimov, etc.) But luckily in the past 20 years she has been able to expand her reading to enjoy the Darkover books started by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Sara Douglas books (Wayfarer Trilogy.) and Lisanne Normon’s Sholan Alliance Series. My Dad enjoyed some of those as well, though he mostly prefers Military influenced fantasy.