{something updatey-like}

Life here is as busy as I expected. I work about 40 hours a week (sometimes over, but don't tell my manager!), often 14 hour days because I pick up other peoples' shifts when they need off for whatever reason. Once everyone goes back to school in late August/early September, I fully expect to be working 50 hours a week, as those of us who aren't leaving try to hold down the entertainment department for what we call "New York & New Jersey Week". NY and NJ don't start school until about a week after PA so things are always tighter in our tourism as kids try to squeeze one last quick vacation before their 9-month confinement. :)
Even as crazy as it is, I still love my job and especially my coworkers. Most of them are my age or younger, though people seem to view me as older because I'm out of school and out of my parents' house. I find that this gives me an interesting advantage in making an influence in their work lives, and some of them, in their personal lives as well. Each day I work I see (well okay, I try to see) chocolate world as my new mission field. I'm trying to build stronger relationships, and keep on modeling Christ in my work and my attitude. It's hard... but I can't say it's not worth it. And usually right about the time when I think it's not making any difference at all, there will be one comment made, or one small conversation about Christianity, or one person who encourages me. God does have perfect timing.
One thing about coming back from "The" mission field (as if there were only one, and it were somewhere other than wherever I am at the moment) is that just about everything I do after returning seems selfish. Moving out, working, dividing time between friends, and basically making larger choices of any kind. It's been interesting adjusting to that aspect of life. I also have realized that I picked up some habits that are a direct result of spending so much time in a latin culture. For example, the Nicaraguans used to make fun of my team for eating sandwiches. They weren't considered food, I guess, because they weren't cooked like 'normal' meals. Well.. I think I've packed a sandwich ONCE to take to work, and I only ended up eating half of it. What it is about some meat or peanut butter stuck between two pieces of bread, anyway? Maybe they take more time to make, but I like cooked meals over sandwiches now. :)