Hat Store

Its amazing how many times in life you start over. After highschool you are given the opportunity to recreate yourself in college. After college you try out the adult hat. At some point you realize that hats fits very nicely. Then eventually, we all in our own ways all of a sudden get sick of the adult hat and throw it away. I did that when I decided to move to China. I'm back now and I realize that I miss that hat I threw away. Unfortunately, that hat is long gone. It's been tossed aside and stomped all over and only one person knows where it is. You can call him God, Buddha, or whatever. So here I am again, starting over not by natural life paths such as college or highschool but essentially because of my own choosing. I stand here at the hat store looking for something similar to what I had, but I don't know if the shop will have it, or if I'll even want the same one. Standing here looking at all these choices before me I get excited yet scared at the same time. All metaphors aside, I have questions and fears running through my head. Will I find a job? Where to live? Am unmoving forward in life or have I taken a step back? Will society accept my atypical decisions or will they shun me and make my life difficult? How can I make this starting over point as least stressful and scary as possible? And most importantly will everything be alright in the end?

Only time will tell at this point since the big Buddha hasn't opted to share my future fate with me. I pick my hat carefully but still unsure of its outcome. Here we go... I pick that one!

The diving culture

I'm alive and well but can't write much due to lack of computers (I'm sooo totally not typing on my iphone!) and lack of solid internet. However, it is 7:45pm and the town we are in has nothing to do AND has actual computers that we can use. So here I sit, sipping on my 1% alcohol content beverage (something called Anglia that is beer and lemonade mixed together, writing a little something something mostly to let you all know that I am alive.

Brandon and I have spent the last two days on the island of Mabul taking part in the diving culture. We found people that were there diving for 3 to 5 days. After our two days we were all worn out so I have no idea how people do so many days of diving! We dove and stayed with a company called Billabong scuba and they definitely left us wanting a bit more from our experience. Let's just say that on our first day of diving, between the two of us, Brandon and I had a problem with every piece of equipment possible. Nothing life threatening, just annoying. Brandon's BCD clip was broken so he couldn't properly fasten is around his waist and his wet suit was jacked. My first tank had a small leak, my depth gauge was broken and on my second dive someone took my fins so I had to use crappy broken ones. All small problems but ultra frustrating. Further, the organization was just nonexistent. We were going on dives but we didn't know what time or where or with who. It was just a huge mess but we figured it out. On the second day we were used to it so we didn't get as frustrated and just went with the flow. Made things a bit more enjoyable just to chill out. The second day we dove at a very popular sight that people from all over the world come to see. We were surrounded by sharks the whole time and got to see giant turtles and barracudas. I actually got attacked by a trigger fish, so that was an enjoyable/funny experience. Overall it was wonderful but I don't think I will ever dive more than two days in a row ever.

Tomorrow we are off to Kuala Lumpur for a long layover and then off to Phuket, Thailand. Can't wait to be lazy on the beach for about 4 days. Then Changmai and Bangkok. We're about halfway done with our trip and are looking forward to the second half. I'll write again next time I see a computer. Miss you all!