Lansing: Day 1

Well, here I am! Working apart from my beautiful wife in Lansing for a couple of months while she finishes teaching her last year of school in Virginia. I’ll catch you up on some particulars.

A week ago, I found a posting on Craigslist for a super-cheap room for rent in Lansing that I could rent from month to month. I jumped on it and emailed the landlord. He emailed me back with some pictures of a clean-looking bathroom, a promise to email more pictures, and his phone number for me to call. I decided that since the bathroom looked good enough, I’d just go ahead and call him to claim the room.

Judging by his Japanese-sounding email address, I figured I’d be rooming with someone from Japan. Sweet! I got his voice mail. I was greeted by a message saying, “Hi, thanks for calling Greg’s esoteric healing and gem stone store!” Uh oh! But I thought, it’s cheap, I can deal with this. I went ahead and left a message. Later on, we talked and he sounded pretty nice and he had other roommates. He remarked that my name “sounds like a cowboy name.” I kept telling myself it was worth it because it was cheap and that all my other attempts at finding a cheap room fell through. We arranged to meet Sunday night (the 22nd) and if I didn’t like the place, he knew of other people who needed roommates. He said he’d call me when he got home that evening when he was ready to meet.

On Sunday, I drove my little RSX packed with clothes and an inflatable mattress up to Lansing. I stopped in Pittsburgh for a healthy helping of Primanti’s. I made it to Lansing at 6pm and grabbed some dinner at Panchero’s, a burrito joint. It’s amazing how many burrito joints have sprung up ever since Chipotle popularized the theme. This joint’s shtick was that they make the tortillas fresh, right before your eyes. Definitely not worth waiting an extra 5 minutes for your burrito, especially when it doesn’t taste any better. Their guac was also quite bland. Note to self: Don’t eat huge burritos after a week of eating leftover chili and leftover burritos.

In Lansing, there are two kinds of cars: huge GM cars and huge Fords. I definitely feel out of place with my compact hatchback, although I have seen a few college students driving RSXs. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the “rolling couch” style of car, but I can see why they’re popular here. The roads are very bumpy - so much so, it’s difficult to drink a latte or scoop your ice cream sundae while driving with a tight suspension. Virginia had potholes the size of Texas, but Michigan has cracks that would break a [insert cliche here]’s back. Sorry about all of the cheesy jokes. I’m kind of bored and still in “culture shock.” I’ll try to hold back.

While I was killing time, I checked out a house we saw online that looked really cool and was affordable. It looks even cooler in person and I hope it’s as good inside as it looks outside. It looks completely renovated. While I was gawking at the house from the side of the street in my car, a local cat found me and started meowing at me. I had my window rolled down and it even attempted to jump into my car! Dang cat!

I still hadn’t heard from my landlord, so I decided to drive to the street the house was on. I knew which street it was on, but I didn’t have the house number. I drove by a house with an “Impeach Bush!” sign in front of it and a guy with long, silver hair in the yard. I thought, “this has to be it,” but I didn’t stop. Later on, Greg (landlord) called me and was ready to meet. Sure enough, it was the correct house.

There was a miscommunication. I was under the impression that I would be moving in that night, however, Greg thought I was just coming to look. Thankfully, he was flexible and had no problem having me move in right away, I just had to help move his stuff downstairs. So what’s the house like? Let’s just say that it’s a work in progress. He’s refurbishing it, but it’s a bit stale (smell-wise) and full of stuff. Lots of stuff. Not what terrible, but not exactly the Ritz-Carlton. My other roommate is an MSU graduate student who doesn’t talk much and spends most of his time elsewhere. I can understand. At the moment, I’m at the MSU union mooching off of their guest wireless internet access. I don’t plan on going “home” for a while. I think the toughest part is living with an “energy healer.” I can’t quite figure him out, but he seems to be into Native American animism (a plethora of Indian implements, such as pipes and medicine pouches), Hinduism (likes Chakras), Buddhism (likes good Karma), and … Christianity! He has some bibles laying around and was whistling “Jesus, Name Above All Names” last night. Hmmm.

It’s all worth it, though, with the money we’re saving. Hopefully either we can find a house soon, or at least my landlord is going on a business trip to Switzerland in the middle of May. So there is relief in sight. Again, it’s still probably just culture shock. I need to love him despite his differences. That’s been a big lesson. I talk (or at least think) all about showing love and sharing the Gospel, but here I am avoiding the situation. Please pray that God will work our this situation for his glory! At least pray for my sanity!

On the work front, I finished my first day of work today. I’ve really enjoyed meeting all of my new workmates, and it looks like it is a very fun community. I’ll be filling my brain with ASP.NET training and starting to work on some websites pretty soon. This weekend, Julie is visiting this weekend and we will be looking at houses with a realtor. I can’t wait to see Julie!!!