makin' it happen

I recently made a decision to make some new things happen for myself. When things are the same for too long I get a little restless and that is how I am feeling. So, I applied to grad school and I applied to work at a summer art program in Michigan....well I got both. As exciting as that is, it came with stress.

For grad school, there is finance stress...the worst kind of stress. I have to fill out the FAFSA again...suck! It's pretty complicated too this time around because I am applying for U.S. financial aid based of my Chinese taxes (which I cannot read) for an Australian school that may not accept U.S. financial services.

The U.S. offers a lot of support for students going to college that I never realized wasn't available other places in the world. I had no idea that foreign schools may not even have a financial aid office...which is my case. There is no one to ask questions to except for the general agent that I have been assigned to. So, really, this hasn't been an easy process. And you know governments, it's hard figuring anything out from their websites. I think I may have it figured out though. The finance office at my work has been helpful and I think that the U.S. will defer my existing student loans from undergraduate school while I am a grad student...great!

I also applied to be the sculpture teacher at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. I guess it is just north of Muskegon and I will be at the camp for 10 days in the summer. I was really feeling unprepared to work at a camp like this because I thought that I would have to come up with these ingenious projects since the students may be gifted in the arts and may have had previous experiences with every material that I can think of. I looked at some pictures of the previous summer and realized that these kids are still kids...for goodness sake Kate, they're Jr. Highers, not professional sculptors. I'm not really sure why I was so worked up.

Anyway, today was a great day! I received the pictures of camp and got my Chinese taxes all figured out for the FAFSA. On top of that, we went to Hot Pot. Hot Pot is great! It's boiling broth in the middle of the table. They bring raw vegetables (and meats, which I don't eat), to the table and you cook them in the broth, just like fondue, but with chopsticks. Then you have a dipping sauce. I generally do a spicy broth with cabbage, tofu, and golden mushrooms. For dip, I use a sesame sauce with cilantro and scallions. It's delicious! I have been asking people to do Hot Pot for quite some time, well I guess today was finally the day. Wonderful!

If hot pot sounds interesting to you, here is a great website so that you can make it at home. http://www.thespicehouse.com/recipes/hot-pot-with-three-sauces

Anyway, I really feel like things are coming together...the work has paid off. Love that!