The qualitative properties of salt

Notice the subtle change in the title.

From: A new life? to A new life!

Any rumors that you heard about me finally getting a job are most definately true. And no, my new job is not at KFC or McD's nor Wal-Devil... I mean Wal-Mart.

My new, awesome job is at the Fortwood Center in Downtown Chattanooga. As of Wednesday, this is my third day. Previously, I was not very excited about the position because of the low pay. I would now venture to say that I have found my niche. I am not stuck in a cubical--I don't even have one, or even an office for that matter. I just have a desk that I am rarely at. My title is Case Manager. My co-workers and I help manage the lives of a few of Chattanooga's individuals who are quite poor (some make just as much as we do actually), have a severe mental illness or two, or three, and have nowhere else to go. We help them. We talk to them. We visit with them when no one else will--for most of them, their families completly shut them out.

Chris Willis asked me after my first day if this "is my dream job?" I thought for a second and realized it is! I know that it sound pretty cheesey to reply "I just want to help other people." But it is completely true! In my life, I have been helped a lot. During my college years, I was longing for a time to pay back all of that food, love, support and encouragement that was that was given to me (oh, I have recieved much!). But now, I am in a position where I can love people that have never been loved before in their lives! I can help them to cope with their lives and mental illness. I can give them a friend.

I know this sounds sappy, and I may not feel these exact emotions in a few months when thirty people are constantly asking me to do things for them; but I hope that I can remember that I am helping them.

I am glad that God has given me my prayer that I will not just be stuck at a job, in a cubical, staring at a computer screen.

Meet Suat

Last Wednesday, the 30th, was my 22nd birthday. To celebrate it, Wendy took me do the Chattanooga tourist thing on Lookout Mountain (because I have never done it.) But something happened that morning in the Incline railway line that made my birthday ultra cool. Meet Suat, pronounced Swat. He is a chemical engineer from Istanbul, Turkey.

Suat is here on a work exchange with Dupont. It is a great idea! Employees of Dupont, I urge you to participate. In the program, they fly you to your desired city, allow you to explore around your new surrounding for a couple of weeks, and the only slightly downside (but I think that it is still cool) is that you work for a few hours a day at the Dupont you are vacationing to. It is a great program, and because of it we were able to meet Suat and learn about Turkish culture.

For those not working at Dupont, like myself, visit you local tourist traps and befriend a slightly confused traveler. It will make your visit more interesting and more memoriable.

So, my motto for this week will be, "Why look at a stranger, when you can talk to a friend. They just might be from Turkey!"