disclaimer
It’s 2am here in Folsom and I finally got settled in my new apartment … my home for the next 3 months! It’s funny how everything looked so empty when I came in … and even after I put my stuff in … it still looked empty!J I dare not be too comfortable since I will only be staying for 3 months anyways! I actually just brought a month worth of clothes … (I intended to just shop … er … wash my clothes for the rest of the two months … J). I remember back in 2002 when I was going home already after 3 years in San Jose and needed to start packing my stuff … my apartment looked so homey already that it took some will power to really start putting things down … and I was crying while doing it! J hehe … It’s actually funny how I started becoming not too attached after that … (hmmm … this should be another blog altogether! J ) anyways, I didn’t feel like sleeping yet since I pretty much slept the whole flight (except for the part when I started chatting with a co-intel employee and the topic got really interesting … hmmm … that is another blog as well! hahahaha … I owe a lot of blog entries!). it’s my first time back in the US … after almost 3.5 years … and after 26 hours of total flight/airport layover/queuing up/some bloopers getting on/off the planes … I’m finally here! I was supposed to be in earlier but it took me a good 30 minutes to locate the building apartment! I helped Arn settle down in his apartment also before I went to look for my own … his building was not so hard to locate … it was the actual apartment complex that took us awhile to find since the directions were wrong! … (stupid yahoo maps or mapquest!J) … we actually wondered around for a while until I decided it’s time to buy a local map … we saw Walmart and so we bought a map from there … and that’s when we got the actual apartment location! We didn’t have a decent meal except the late McDonalds lunch in LA during the 4-hr layover (I vowed to myself that I won’t eat any fastfood while I’m here … but it’s my first day … and technically my relo didn’t start yet … and I ate grilled chicken … grilled … not deep fried!!! J hehe excuses!) … so I was really starving when I finally got to the apartment! Good thinking, i bought some (healthy) loaf of bread and peanut butter in Walmart … and that’s my dinner on my first night here!
The apartment was standard … same furnishing as the next Intel-sponsored relo apartment … same sofa bed … same nightstands … the only thing new here was i actually have a ceiling fan … and a round dining table! … didn’t have those in SJ! 
the walk-in closet was also nice … one of those hidden by a huge mirror kind … i remember the basics i have for my future house … it’s all patterned after these US apartments … down to the broom and laundry closet! hmmm … i just said i don’t want to be too comfortable … but i guess making the most of the apartment won’t be so bad, huh!
Hmmm … I don’t know what these next 3 months have in store for me … I do have a lot of things I want to do and accomplish while I’m here … both professional and personal … I want to learn how to swim … I wanna do yoga … i want to jog and go to the gym everyday … with the overall goal of losing weight! … I want to meet up with old friends … and go back to old familiar favorite places … yeah … too many things … I have to remind myself most times that I’m actually here for work and not for vacation! J … oh well, at the end of it all, i guess if I won’t finish everything I set out to do in these 3 months … I will just be thankful for the chance (haha … my disclaimer!) … I will just be thankful that I was given the opportunity again … and that there will be other ones … it’s funny how I made these 3 months (to some extent) the end-all and be-all of my life in the near-term! I have to pinch myself from time to time not to be too carried away … and I guess this is my reminder … J
