Since we are nearing the end of summer and no one has heard from me in such-and-such amount of time, here it is:

China was an amazing experience. My comprehension of the culture and the language was not only heightened, but I gained a respect for them I never once understood. My next step in my studies is to continue my language study next year in the intermediate class and then to start my first class as a film student in the MediaWork program at the Evergreen State College. As far as academics go; holy shit, yes, this year will be amazing. Also, I have acquired an on-campus apartment-style living space with my three friends at school: Anne, Erin and Ruth, and we are living above some of our guy friends. It'll be a REALLY amazing year.

I had two jobs this summer. A little after I got back to town, I started an internship with Film Action Oregon's Project Youth Doc (PYD), which was a four-week program to help youth make youth-oriented documentaries with topics of their choosing. There are two sessions of PYD, so it was a two-month long deal, with work every week day from 12 to 5 PM. Although satisfying, work was hard and getting the kids motivated was another piece to the puzzle. In addition, I was learning how to use some of the equipment myself, so it was a good experience all around. Yesterday, I finished my internship and now feel like I have a little more free time. It was all volunteer work, so I calculated the amount of money I could've made had I been paid $8.50 an hour: $1700. I worked 200 hours. I kinda wished I had been getting paid for that entire amount of time now.

My second job is digitizing files and organization of files with the Miller Foundation, a foundation that gives millions of dollars away each year to arts and education non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. It's pretty neat to get an inside scoop. My mom is an executive director for the foundation and talked to her superiors about getting me a job because I am underqualified to represent myself. I started that job about a month ago and worked two hours every morning before taking a bus across town to the Hollywood Theatre to work with PYD. Again, work is satisfying, but... eh, it could be worse. It's pretty zen work, so I like the quiet and the almost second-nature aspect of the job.

When I don't work, I actually don't sit on my ass on the weekends. This summer, I took everything off my walls, filled all the holes and repainted my room. The walls are now orange and the trim in cream, with some pale yellow shelves. It really looks nice. Everything is moved around and looks great, and I feel like I've cleaned out my pack-rat tendencies as well. I think I got rid of eight bags of Good Will submissions. The whole process was super-cleansing and I feel ready to proceed into my next step at college this year.

Another joys to my life is a person -- Mary Andre, my new girlfriend (of about four months) has made my life a much simpler and greater pleasure than I have ever known. Although my polar opposite on some issues, we fit together pretty damn well. She is coming to visit Portland for the first time in four days. I am very excited to see her after waiting the entire summer for it to happen. It might be very anticlimactic, who knows? But she and I know each other better than most people in our lives and feel very good about how our relationship is going. I hope some day that you will all have an opportunity to meet her.

So, all-in-all, life is good. My mental state is unwavering. I am on a steady (but expensive) antidepressant that fits really well with my hyper sensitivity and I am quite a ways on the road to recovery as far as being an angsty young person goes. I've been keeping to my new year resolution: I resolve to help myself be as happy and healthy as I am capable. I resolve to exercise, eat right, and listen to my body. I resolve to be honest. I resolve to stay strong, stay thoughtful, and stay me.

I think I have done so rather admirably. My love to you and yours.

xo Cait