Beginning a habit is always harder after you've stopped

Good morning and good evening!

I hope all of you have been well and relatively warm in whatever area you are in. I am definitely warm in Labuan (except when I turn on the AC inside).  The culture shock of jumping back into life in Malaysia has been a little bit rough, however I am definitely adjusting again. Awesomely enough, about a week after I came back to work, I got my package from the US containing CHEEZITS! One of the best days ever! It is a good thing that I sent two boxes, because they are definitely going fast. Oddly enough, none of my coworkers really like them, so I am not required to be polite and share.

My work life has become a constant cycle of post school studying, shop training, and projects. Even though I am pretty busy with most of the basic studying and training, it seems that every time I look up either the maintenance manager or my ops manager is always saying "Rebecca, could you look this up? Find this thing? Do this project?" It is both gratifying that they think I am competent, but frustrating that I cannot just concentrate on what I want to. Also, I am frustrated because I was hired to do this of job of going out to rigs and monitoring drilling and programming tools, however, this is not what is happening. My location is so slow right now, that I would maybe get to spend a couple weeks on a rig every month and a half or so for the next 4 months. I feel like it is a waste of my time and my company's money to sit in a base being relatively unproductive except for busywork.

However, instead of just complaining, I promise I have been trying to address this issue. I've talked to my manager several times and recently he told me that since I was American he is trying to get me sent to America (because there are always jobs there!) for my post school jobs. I am definitely crossing my fingers for this, as (a) I do love America and (b)hooray for not-Labuan and (c) I have more chances at seeing my family and boyfriend!

Besides that, wish me luck for being healthy and working out. I am also not really putting a lot of effort into that I know I definitely need to be focusing more. It is so much easier to nap and relax than go running and exercise to workout tapes!

Promise I'll write a little sooner next time.

Love you,

Beccca

And regular posts will now resume

I am back! In Labuan, I mean. You already know I was in Kansas. And it was glorious!! I got to have Christmas with my entire family which was fun, busy, sometimes loud, and an incredibly good time. I met my gorgeous niece for the first time and may've fallen for her a little. She is so small cute! She makes these little squinchy faces that are so entertaining (and then, of course, she cries and I quickly hand her back to her mom)... :) I miss all of my siblings and siblings-in-law so much when I am gone. I love having a family that is wonderful enough to miss and I wish I could be there to be more involved in all the fun things that happening in your lives! However, that will be soon enough, because even though this job is challenging and interesting, I will not be in Malaysia forever. When I am back for good, be prepared! We will have so much fun together!! I loved getting to stay at home and enjoying our parents presence. From the beating on each other, to teasing, to just hanging out with them, it was just wonderfully...home-like. Finally, it was indescribably good to get to see and spend time with Adam, unpixelated, and in person. Lets just say that I have no doubts in my mind about the fact that I picked an absolute winner for a boyfriend. Every single subsequent day with him just makes that more and more clear. :)

However, as wonderful as vacation was, it is now over and I am back to working again. Labuan is as I left it; warm, rainy, and full of smiling people. I have jumped full on into my post-school control cards (6 out of 24 down) and will hopefully head out to a job in the next 10 days. If not, I will just keep on doing my post school studying and shop training. My goal? To breakout (work jobs by myself) as soon as possible.

My favorite part about being back so far is that I've met some Australians! Randomly and in the supermarket. They approached me and asked how long I've been here (they are a married couple in their 30s), and then offered to help give me basically a support group of other westerners, along with some great advice about where to find beef that won't make me visit the bathroom for hours.  Along with that and some cream of mushroom soup, I can make some excellent stroganoff!

Well, that is all for now. Just wanted to let you know I was alive.

Love you guys!!

Becca

Flights back to Labuan

1205 to 1335 Manhattan to Dallas AA2732
1650 to 740  Dallas to London AA50
915 to 2015 London to Abu Dhabi EY 12
250 to 1400 Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur EY 418

And to get back to Labuan??? Um..not sure

Think it is 1845 to 2110 Kuala Lumpur to Labuan MH 2636

Wish me luck!

I had a wonderful time and I will miss everyone.

Love you.

Becca