Eeeeeeeeeezay.........

The job-hunting is still going on, but it looks as if I have a good shot at getting a job at a couple different places. A few days ago, I got something going with a restaurant called On The Border. It's a Mexican restaurant owned by the same people who own Chilji's and Macaroni Grill. The place seemed nice enough inside, and I was able to sit down with the Manager and talk to him. Whenever the Manager wants to sit down and talk to you, it always seems more likely than not that you have a chance at getting a job. He's a nice young guy, and he said he would give me a call by Friday the latest. Until today, that was the job I had at the top of the list in my mind.
Yesterday I went around checking out different restaurants in Birkdale Village, which is one of those nice outdoor malls that is a mix of places for entertainment and places for people to live. I learned about these type of places in my Consumerism class this semester. The outdoor malls are gorwing all over the country, and they are as great as they sound. It's a really nice place to walk around. It has a great atmosphere. Anyway, I checked out this place called Eez Fusion and Sushi. The restaurant is sweet, with a really nice inside and a section for outdoor dining also. It's nice and clean, and the bar looks like a nice place to buy a drink. I filled out an application yesterday and went back today in order to have an interview with the manager. The manager is a nice, young guy as well and it seems as if I have an even better chance of getting a job at this restaurant. He said they are currently training four new employees and are still in need of two more. The decision-making on who they choose for the jobs will be happening on Monday, so I should be getting a call either then or Tuesday morning. He said I was in good shape for it since they base their decision off of availability, prior experience, and a people-personality, all which I have to offer. If I get a call from the guy over at On The Border, I think I'm going to tell him that I found another job. I don't feel totally safe doing that, but I'd rather work at Eez and I have a feeling I can get a job there. Any disagreements on that decision?

I've been coming across some interesting things while reading The Makioka Sisters. As slow as I am in terms of getting around to reading it, the things I come across are cool to read about. For example, there is this thing that the sisters suffer from called "beri-beri", which I never heard of before. It's caused from a lack of thiamine, which is a lack of Vitamin B. It is more common with Asian people since their diet lies heavily on white rice which contains no thiamine. In the novel, the sisters take the feeling of drowsiness and such as an indication of needing more Vitamin B. In order to make things better, the sister's use injections of Vitamin B. Interestingly enough, it was due to the research on beri-beri that the discovery of vitamins occurred! Dutch physician Christiaan Eijkman was responsible for the discovery and awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

Another really important thing to think about is the idea of arranged marriage. So far, the main plot in the novel has to do with the 3rd oldest sister, Yukiko, and that fact that she has not yet married though women her age do so years earlier. Her older sister Sachiko tried her best to find her the right prospect, but, so far in the novel, to no avail. It is very important that Yukiko finds a husband. Traditionally, the younger sister must wait to marry until the older sister has married. Taeko, the youngest sister, already has a love for a man but cannot fulfill her love because of Yukiko and her lack of a husband.

A lot of people consider the idea of an arranged marriage completely wrong, and rightfully so. I am not one in favor of the idea, but I can understand why the practice was done by others. In traditional Japan there was a class system, and family names were highly regarded by many. Living in that time period, it makes sense to carry out arranged marriages in order to make sure that one family wasn't marrying into another family that would shun their name. The people were just moving with the times. It seems that the idea of the individual wasn't so big back then. It was one's duty to make sure that they represented their family's name in the most positive way possible.

I can't wait till I can watch William Wyler's Wuthering Heights(1939) again. I viewed it for the first time over Winter Break and absolutely loved it, but have yet to catch it on TV since! I watched another Wyler film the other night, and it didn't disappoint: Roman Holiday(1953) with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. It was the first of Hepburn's films that I've been able to watch, and I thought she was great. She also won an Oscar for Best Actress for that role. Check it out if you get the chance.