So. Disgusted. There's a facebook fanpage with the following title: "DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN."

Some of my friends 'like' this page, and my goodness, that's about the most disgusting thing i've ever witnessed. Cripes, disagree with him all you want, but actively praying/hoping for the death of a US President? Terrible.

back in America, and this time, it's permanent...at least for the next 2-3 years.

Traveling SE Asia by myself for the past month has been the most INCREDIBLE experience. I feel like a whole new person.

I'm in Cambodia. It's such a beautiful country. Maybe I'll live here for awhile.

anyone know where i can download Word and Powerpoint for free?

shit shit shit.

this returning to china deal is turning into a very frustrating situation.

my back is kind of messed up. i want a massage like whoa.

my family is gross and lazy. they never clean up after themselves. And they're so wasteful! I tried to get them to recycle more a couple years ago, but of course, that ended as soon as i left for China.

I'm (hopefully) headed back to China soon. I've been so bored thes last 2.5 weeks. part of it's my fault for not getting in touch with friends sooner, but also, everyone is bust living life and doing their own thing--or scattered around the country--so it's hard to make plans to hang out. That, and I don't have phone numbers for people anymore. such is the life of an ex-pat, thought I'm not sure I can really call myself an ex-pat. If I live abroad for a few more years, then maybe.

I need to go shopping. I want to get a laptop and a new digital camera. Any recomendations for a camera?

Later

whooo!! I bought an Ipod! i'm about 3 years late doing it, but i finaly did it! now i gotta figure out how to set it up.

Man. I'm stupid. I should have tried to go to the olympics. i totally could have. I'm sort of kicking myself that i'm not there. i could have been sitting poolside by Michael Phelps' mom.

back in the beautiful country. that means America, for those of you who don't understand my weird version of chinglish

i'm officially done as a peace corps volunteer. as i flew from beijing to detroit, i alternated between crying that it's over (best and hardest 2 years of my life) and being scared shitless to be back with my family for an unspecified amount of time. i'm hoping to be back in China by the end of the month. i have a job there next year, doing the exact same thing that i did as a volunteer, only making a decent salary. it's low by amerian standards, but upper-midle class by chinese standards. i'm excited. i hope i can get back.

oh. and you should check out Bon Iver. AMAZING, sensual, hot music. go to ww.boniver.org and download the song "skinny love." thank me later.

when I come back to the states, my sister will be 30.

thanks to those of you that sent me well wishes via AIM tonight. they were much appreciated. I'm so tired of waiting, I want to just be on the plane and flying over the country.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

I don't know when I will be able to post again, but think positive thoughts and say a prayer (if that's your thing) for me and the rest of my volunteers as we travel.

Definitely having a great couple of days. Went up to OD on Sunday to see Lisa since i hadn't seen her in like 2 weeks. It was nice catching up and sharing one last iced capp before I left. Then, I drove up to Mt. P to visit the church that i used to attend and to also visit Jim and Kaye, the people I used to live with. Kaye, to my surprise, and been diagnosed with breast cancer last August. I felt kind of like a dumb ass, because i mentioned i liked her short hair. I said to her, "I like your hair short, did you recently cut it?" and she was like, "no, it fell out from the chemo."

yeah, my jaw kinda dropped and i felt so incredibly stupid. We went to Tony's and sat and talked for a while about what i had been up to, what their kids had been up to and so on. Their oldest son, Steven is going to Kenya in a few weeks to teach at a school for the US embassy. and get this, they take mandatory field trips to Europe. Must be nice to teach in a school like that and not worry about budget cuts and the like.

Oh, and holy construction, batman. It's like MP is getting a face lift.

Today i finished packing--I think. I'm taking a lot of shoes. But I figure, I wear a size nine, which is supposedly hard to find over there, so i'm sort of justified. but maybe i'm just being too girly.

I had coffee with Erica, had dinner with the family, finished writing my thank-you notes, and then went to Applebee's with Stephanie. I'm glad i got to see her before i left...i caught her up on all the crap that's been going on lately, and she filled me in on all the drama in her life. Man, it's going to be 2 years before i can gab like that with her.

i feel really bloated....bleh

Ok, I'm kind of done packing for the time being. I still have stuff I need to add, but I also have stuff I need to take out. I'm taking too much winter stuff, I know that right now. I think I need to make a box/crate of things that I want to have shipped over to me.

And I still need to finalize legal stuff like Power of Attorney. And I want to go up to Mt. P, maybe on Sunday. I need to visit with Jim and Kaye...I haven't seen them in about 2 years, and I sort of left on a sour note.

I can't believe that it's only 5 days away unil I leave. where did the time go?

such a good couple of days.

started packing yesterday, and I think i might be taking too much. we'll see, i'm still in my preliminary stages of packing.

I'm pretty sure that my siblings are going to be happy when i leave, because the focus and attention is going to be off of me. Well, mostly. My dad actually invited ABC 12 to come out my party on Friday...they didn't come, and I'm GLAD they didn't. I appreciate the thought and all, but I'm getting rather sick of this whole spectacle/sideshow that i've created. I'm not doing this for attention or for glory, or for any other reason except to serve. that's it.

So tomorrow, I have a ton of stuff to do. I need to go to the bank, to Crossover, and to the recycling place, and then i need to start writing my thank you notes. That's one of the blessings about more people not showing up, it makes for less thank you notes to write and less postage to buy. I HATE writing thank you notes.

Tuesday is lunch with Taylor. and hey, Becky, are you free at all on Tuesday? Let me know either here or call me.

and yeah, I have a myspace now, too. add me if you want http://www.myspace.com/merrykarilou

it's not all cool looking yet since i just got it yesterday. but it will be, eventually, i suppose.

so my going away party was yesterday, and it was disappointing. I probably invited close to 300 people, and only about 65 showed up. I know stuff happens, and I know that several people really and truly had other things to do that couldn't be avoided (like work), but really, it only confirmed my suspicions that I pretty much won't be missed. It's times like these when you can tell who your real friends are, when you can tell where lines of loyalty have been drawn, and when you can tell if you've made an impression on people. I obviously have not made much of an impression.

Today feels like a friday.

OMGTHENEWBARNESANDNOBLEOPENSTOMORROWSQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

/bookgasm

so much to do, so much to do, tra la la.

I can't believe that i leave in 15 days. 15 days. i should probably start packing, you know, soonish. I should probably get off my ass and do something productive.

Tomorrow is my second to last day at Office Depot. I'm sad to be leaving there, actually. I feel like I've finally made friends there, I've finally started to hang out with people, and now i have to leave. I love the life i live, don't get me wrong, but moving around as much as i have in the past 4 years makes it difficult to stay close to people. I feel like I've finally achieved some kind of balance in my life, and now I'm uprooting myself, AGAIN. The sad thing is that I don't think that i'll be settled until im about, say, 30.

and then, the irrational fears/delusions take over: no one will even notice i'm gone, no one will miss me. Absurd, I know, but i can't help but feel that way every now and then.

Dear anxiety: go away.

so much to do....

it's so strange, the things you learn about your family as you get older. i learned a couple years ago that my grandma was pregnant when she got married. i probably could have figured that out on my own by looking at their anniversary date and the DOB of my oldest uncle. but still, it seems so scandelous to me, not only because it was the 40s, but also just because the were the most upright Christian people i knew.

and then today, Aunt jan was telling me about the fact that her kids, my cousins donny and kasey always felt slighted by them. it seems hard to believe, since i can't imagine my early life without them.

I realized the other day that when i get out of the Peace Corps, I'm going to be 24, almost 25. that seems so old to me. i know it's not, but it seems so far away!

ok. think i need to study my chinese 24 days!!

Today could have been a really crappy day, but it turned out to be a pretty fantastic day. First of all, I woke up feeling awful. I subbed yesterday and had a rather rowdy group of kids. Rowdy kids+raising my voice [ok, yelling]+being kinda sick==no voice for subbing today. Well, It turned out to be an ok situation, because the 2 rooms i was in had para-professional workers in there, so i didn't really have to do anything or even talk that much. Then, I had to work tonight at OD, and it was pretty fun, even though it was rather slow. Amy and I got to talk and hang out tonight, so that was cool. It sucks that I've just now started going out and hanging out with people from there, and now i have to go and say good-bye in a few weeks. It's not fair! I feel like i finally have friends here in Flint and now i have to go and leave them. Same thing happened at Kroger, too.

Then, after work, I got to hang out with Matt, my hot friend. We went to Bennigan's and chilled and talked for a little bit. He's got a baby on the way, and it feel so surreal to think that one of my closest friends is going to be a FATHER. Wow. Crazy!

So yeah, nothing all that spectacular happened, but it was a good day. I get paid tomorrow from OD, so that will be nice. yay money! boooo bills.

oh, and did i mention that i get to see the man, the legend, Damien Rice in California? Oh yes, I definitely am.

You’re Invited….
To a Graduation/Bon Voyage Party for Kari Hatfield! I’m moving to China to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer, where I will be teaching English in the Sichuan Province. This is your last chance to see me for twenty-seven months! When: Friday, June 16th Time: 5pm-?? Place: G-3560 Beecher Rd, Flint, MI 48532 (directions below, or use MapQuest) Questions, please call (810) 733-3599 or (989) 400-6236 From the south—Take I-75 to exit 118 (Corunna Rd.) and turn right . Turn right onto Graham Rd. Graham Rd curves to the left and then back to the right. The road ends at the church parking lot. From the north—Take I-75 to exit 122 (Pierson Rd.) and turn right. Turn left at Linden Rd. Drive approximately 2.5 miles to Beecher Rd and turn left. Drive approx. 1 mile and the church will be on the left side. Hope to see you there!

I had cool graphics and everything for this, but i'm too computer illiterate to figure out how to get them on here. Oh well. Sorry if i screwed up your F-list

so i was studying my chinese a little bit ago, and then i tried to go to bed, which was kind of a mistake, because then my mind started going a mile a minute. the general consensus that i got from my tumultuous thoughts is

HOLY CRAP, I'M ACTUALLY DOING THIS.

i'm moving to china.

in less than a month.

It's not that i'm panicking, it just that i don't think that it really hit me that i was leaving US soil for 2 years. for China. for 2 years

wow.

Being sick sucks. I think that i'm the only person that actually eats more than normal when sick.

And i'm so bored. I want really badly to go read a book or something but i can't concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.

Things are slightly better at work. no one is really talking about my drunken evening, so a lot of it was all in my head. i figure, as long as i can stay away from certain people at work, everything will be ok.

i leave for San Francisco in less than 30 days. and if that wasn't awesome enough, on the 29th while im in San Fran, i'm going to see Damien Rice and Fiona Apple. I'm so lucky, their tour just happened to be in Cali during that time : )

I feel like Cassio.

"Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost

my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of

myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation,

Iago, my reputation!"

"I remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly;

a quarrel, but nothing wherefore. O God, that men

should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away

their brains! that we should, with joy, pleasance

revel and applause, transform ourselves into beasts!"

For fan's of "Grey's Anatomy", pay attention at about 2:58 into the video

Seriously.

Such a blast. I went to the Machine shop and sang karaoke with jeremy, amy, Lisa, and Lucas from work. Was waaaaaaaaaay fun, and so much less lame than Bdubs. I did my standby songs, "i will survive" and "I want you to want me." The guy that was running the karaoke told me that i had good taste in music:). Amy's brother was also there, and he sang "Cowboy" by Kid Rock. Lisa and Jeremy both dared me to go up on the stage and dance around with him while he was singing, so i did, which made everyone laugh. Her bro slapped my ass a couple times, which was kinda unexpected, but all in good fun.

Man, it was so fun. I needed that, the opportunity to go out and be social and hang out. And everyone at work is flippin sweet, so it was a good time. I think i might go out with them again next week, too:)

what a good week.