Competitive Disadvantage

I was recently reading an article (I was unable to relocate it) about a giant, would-be NBA player. This 7'6" Chinese basketball star worked out for a number of NBA teams but was sent home without a contract. The feedback? Tall, yes, but lacking the competitive drive necessary for the NBA.

Well, after 2 months on the job market (and 6 full months of looking for jobs), I'm finding that I suffer from the same problem as this Chinese basketball player--I just don't have a competitive streak thick enough to box out my competition. Don't get me wrong, I love watching sports, I rarely get as thrilled as I do when watching the Olympics, and the one show I'm following right now is The Next Food Network Star. (This link reveals the loser from July 5th!) I even remember clearly the nervous thrill I got whenever I was embroiled in academic competition or deacon basketball.

But when it comes to involving myself in the extremely competitive nature of today's job market, I find that I lack the drive to really promote myself. Don't get me wrong, I am fully confident in my ability to do a great job and I truly believe I have a wide range of talents that will be beneficial to almost any workplace. But when it comes to "selling" myself, I prefer to let my work speak for itself. Unfortunately, this tactic hasn't been working. Maybe it's my stark commitment to honesty combined with an acknowledgment that the future is a fickle jester that disinclines me to make promises about how I will perform in any given job. Maybe it's an inborn childhood fear that I won't be able to finish something I start (a fear that has never proven true). Maybe it's a fear of commitment that I allow to sabotage my mentality between battles. Or maybe it stems from an unwillingness to push others down for personal gain.

Whatever the reason is, I'm reminded of the words of Gordon B. Hinckley: "We live in a highly competitive age, and it will only grow worse." How right he was. With national unemployment figures creeping ever closer to 10 percent, and a stock market that's making it nearly impossible for aging baby boomers to retire, the job market is flooded with experienced talent, as are the inboxes of just about anyone that posts a job opening. In this economy we're all having to ask ourselves this: "What's preventing me from getting the job I want?"

In the case of our Chinese basketball player friend, it turns out to be biological. The pituitary gland that ultimately led to his incredible physical growth also was the cause of a brain chemistry that lacks the ramped-up competitiveness needed to succeed in his chosen career. Hopefully it'll be easier for me to overcome my subdued nature and land my dream job.

Life of an unemployed graduate

I'm unemployed. There, I said it.

Although I fail to qualify as unemployed according to government poll-takers because of my recent graduate status, I still feel it. I feel like an unutilized piece of newly manufactured machinery in an underproducing factory. So in order to prevent the spread of rust on my shiny, steel surface, I've decided to enjoy the one asset I have plenty of--free time.

Between sessions of resume writing and job searching, I've taken on creative projects! I've done plenty of cooking, cleaning (cleaning can be a very creative process for me), flower arranging, herb growing, and a little interior design and photography. Here are just a few pictures of some of the things I've done.

A little photography, some intended some unintended:







Some flower arranging for Mother's Day using a dozen purchased roses and some other flowers from the garden:








I decided to add a little flair to our blank dining area:

Worst economy in 75 years?

Every day we read headlines and statistics about the slowing economy, many of which make some claim about this certain statistic being the lowest in 3, 5, 20, or 50 years. But I wonder every time I read these claims, "Is that so bad?" Is it so bad that home prices have dropped to the 2004 level? Or that consumer purchasing has dropped the most in a month since 9/11? Is it so bad that we've seen the most jobless claims since 1992? Certainly these things are bad signs, but shouldn't these be--more than anything--comforting? Isn't it a good thing that, despite all the gloom and doom we constantly hear, house prices are only down to the prices of 4 years ago? Isn't it good that consumer purchasing hasn't dropped MORE than the month following 9/11? And wouldn't we be so lucky as to go through the mild economic slowdown of the early 90s?

It would certainly be nice for the reporting agencies to put these facts and statistics into a more appropriate light to offer real meaning rather than just looking back through the past 30 years of economic history and finding the next worse thing. But it may even be more necessary to make sure that we, as consumers, realize that throwing up a time period to show the weakness of the economy may not mean what we first guess it means.

In other news, my savings account is at its lowest level since I opened it 2 years ago. Go figure.

Olympic Fever!

A few days back I was discussing with a co-worker my general apathy about my current life and future prospects. He asked me, "What do you get excited about?" And I honestly couldn't think of a single thing!

However, in the past few days I've realized that there is ONE thing that I get super excited about: the Olympics! Few things get my blood pumping and my brain agitated like good athletic competition. And the Olympics are, in my books, on the highest echelon of competition. It's a wonderful feeling rooting for US athletes, even though I've never even heard of most of them. And it's an even better feeling when those US athletes win.

But which events am I looking forward to most?

1. Track and Field
2. Gymnastics
3. Swimming
4. Basketball

And which am I looking forward to least?

1. Table Tennis (As much as I like watching crazy asians wildly smacking a tiny ball that you can't even see, I'm embarrassed that Americans aren't even close to being competitive.)
2. Rhythmic Gymnastics (This always felt like a cheap ripoff of REAL gymnastics, created by Eastern Europeans to ensure winning at least a few medals.)
3. Biathlon (I know that this is only in the Winter Olympics, but I'd still like to take this opportunity to complain about the seeming uselessness of this sport. Skiing for a few miles and then shooting a target also seems like a cheap event created from two other, already-existing events: cross-country skiing and shooting. Why don't we also create an event called biathlon that consists of competitors swimming 3 miles and then getting out of the pool and playing a round of curling?)

While we're on the subject of the Olympics, can I just say how much I despise the "bird's nest"?
So it appears that my life will have purpose, at least for most of August, when I'll be watching the Olympics day in and out! Which events are you most looking forward to?

PS. Check out these links for some pretty interesting insight on the pollution problems hovering over the Olympic games.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=oly&id=3481809
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3457413

What do you want to be when you grow up?

In our family, taking photos and videos was a very rare occasion. Therefore, the few videos that have survived the past few decades are a real treasure. Perhaps one of the most enlightening moments for me on these videos is when my dad was interviewing each of us individually. I was probably 6 years old at the time. And when my dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I answered, "A fireman." !!! I don't recall ever having a burning desire to be a fireman, no pun intended. But it's an appropriate example of something I've just recently realized: I can't make up my mind what I want to be when I grow up.

Over the course of the past decade, I have changed my mind almost a dozen times about what I was going to study and eventually become. Some of the mind changes came about because of necessity, some because of fear or doubt, some because of being fed up, and some because, well, I think I'm wishy-washy.

Here's a quick overview of what I've wanted to be at certain ages, and why I changed my mind:

age 6--Fireman (grew up?)

14--Composer (self-doubt)

16--Architect (wasn't offered at BYU, where I wanted to go to school)

17--Singer (wasn't accepted to program, then desire went away)

19--Linguist (more of a passing thought)

22--Accountant (grew to hate it)

23--Web Developer (scared of computer programming classes)

23--Russian (Thought I wanted to live abroad, but now I'm not so sure)

24--Pastry Chef (Culinary school, as it turns out, is super expensive, and life as a chef is crappy)

24--Technical Writer (I considered this last summer, but the fire was rekindled recently)

What have you wanted to be at various stages in your life?

My Poor Lungs

After just over 3 weeks in Russia, I have decided that it will be a miracle if my lungs survive the summer unscathed. Three separate forces have colluded against my poor lungs, determined to destroy them: my relentless cold, the spring пух (pookh), and second-hand smoke.

First, the cold I got last week is teetering on the edge of going away, but isn't giving up quite yet. I still have some phlegm buildup in my lungs and some faints signs of a continuing headcold.

Second, the пух. This is a phenomenon that few people truly understand until they've lived through it themselves, but each spring, a certain tree (I don't even know which tree, to be honest) releases its seed in the form of a floating piece of fluff. The fluff literally fills the sky so that it's nearly impossible to get from your apartment to the metro stop without getting a few pieces in your hair, on your clothes, and unfortunately, sucked in through your nose or mouth while trying to breath. I have found myself holding my breath for short periods of time while I feel my face being assaulted by a thick cloud of пух. While the picture I have described here may be slightly exaggerated, it hasn't seem that way to me. This spring has been a lot worse than the springs I remember on my mission in terms of пух in the air. Thankfully, it's started to die down.

Third, and worst of all is the unavoidable second-hand smoke I am forced to inhale everywhere I go. Stepping outside the apartment into the stairwell, I smell it. Walking to the metro I can't avoid it. Coming out of the metro I have to take it in. And entering or leaving the building at work forces it upon me as well. Basically, if you're ever outside and there are people around, there will be second-hand smoke. Now, before you accuse me of having lived in Utah for too long, I want to say that I have experienced my share of second-hand smoke in Philly, but this far outweighs anything I experienced there. Everyone here smokes. I'm not sure what the actual percentage is, but I just read an article that put the number at just over 50%. I wonder, though, if that includes dogs and cats and cows. It seems to me that it must be closer to 80%.

Anyway, I ask you to keep my lungs in your prayers this summer. And if you're planning a trip to Moscow, it might just be best to bring a gas mask just in case.

Modern Russian Folk Medicine

Anyone who spends at least a few months in Russia and has any sort of meaningful contact with locals will no doubt come across what I call "modern Russian folk medicine" (I think you'll see why). Almost every American I've met who's spent time in Russia has as much trouble accepting these practices as I do. It seems that in the US we have learned largely to rely on proven science to determine the effectiveness of treatments. Russians, however, seem to depend on these folk traditions. This week I came down with a pretty bad cold and subsequently faced a barrage of such folk remedies. Allow me to introduce you to a couple:


Our Russian language professor offered this remedy to get rid of a stuffy nose: "Take a clove of garlic. Place it in one nostril. Hold the other nostril shut with your finger. Take a long, slow breath in through the nostril with the garlic. Do this five times. Then, remove the garlic and put it into the other nostril. Close the first nostril with your finger and take five more breaths. Now don't take more than five breaths, or it will burn the insides of your nose. If you do that the first day of your stuffy nose, I promise that the second day it will be almost gone. And if you do it the second day, I promise that the third day it will be completely gone!"

The same professor also recommended the following: "If you're having problems with your heart, eat apricots. And if you're having problems with your stomach, you need to eat plums."

My friend Rachel passed on these to me:

To remove toxins from your blood: Place a tablespoon of mustard in a sock and put it on your foot overnight. But if you're using a strong mustard, you'll probably want to put a clean sock on between your foot and the mustard-sock or else you could burn the skin.

To help expediate the healing of a bruise: Place a cabbage leaf on the bruise for a few hours. If you're trying the mustard-sock thing, you might as well keep the cabbage on the bruise for the night as well.

To help remove congestion in the lungs (or something): place a few hot cups on your chest for a few hours. You can also put the cups on your back.


My host mother recommended the following to get my temperature down: "You need to place some raspberry varenya (a combination of fruit and water that is boiled and conserved in jars) in a cup and add hot water and drink it before going to bed. During the night, the raspberry varenya will cause you to sweat and as the sweat dries, it will cool off your body and in the morning your temperature will come down."


While I can certainly see the science behind the cooling effect of evaporation, this recommendation came as a surprise to me considering Russians' great fear of WIND. Of course I exaggerate (slightly) when I say that, but I have had countless experiences with Russians who have scolded me for not wearing a scarf. "Ветер дует" they say. "The wind is blowing." And then they tell us that we will get sick if we don't cover up our necks from the wind. My host mom also has repeatedly mentioned to me the dangers of the infamous "сквозняк." Skvoznyak is a crossbreeze that can be created by having multiple doors or windows open in a building. While most Americans would agree that a crossbreeze is generally a good thing, barring cold weather, Russians have an innate fear that even a minimal amount of time spent in a skvoznyak will indubidably result in you getting sick. I quote my host mom: "Even the slightest skvoznyak can cause you to become terribly sick, even nigh unto death."

Despite all of these recommendations, my host mom told me that there was one thing I absolutely had to do. "There's a special drink," she said, "that we always drink when we have a cold or flu. Vitaly (my host dad) will run down and get some from the store. And you need to drink it three times a day until you feel better. We always drink it when we're sick and it always helps." I, of course, met this suggestion with some skepticism, but because my cold was so bad, I was willing to try it. Wouldn't you know, Vitaly comes back from the pharmacy with a few packs of Терафлю, "Theraflu". And wouldn't you know, after two days of regular doses of this Терафлю, I felt almost 100%.

Maybe there's something to this "modern Russian folk medicine" after all.