Time is definitely flying.  In the beginning when I first arrived here, I was just so overwhelmed with loneliness and busyness as usual, but I’m just really thankful for all the people that I was able to meet during my stay here in Iowa.

The manufacturing plant here is definitely different than the one that I was in for two months in Missouri because things are going faster, production volume is heavier, and in fact, people are working longer hours (normally from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.), along with some people working full days on Saturday.  For the first week that I was here, I wasn’t guilty at all about coming to work at 7:30 in the morning and leaving at 4 in the afternoon, but as the time went by, I became just like the people working here by coming to work at the same time as them and leaving from work at the same time as them.

People here are definitely different.  The atmosphere of the city is different.  I can’t really proclaim which one that I like better than the other, but both places have good and bad.  I really liked New Haven, MO because of the relaxed environment overall.  I hated New Haven because of one of the first questions that they ask you all the time when they meet you, which is “are you married?”  I really like Keokuk, IA because of the professional environment at work.  I hate Keokuk because of the fact that it’s in the middle of nowhere (nearest Macy’s is more than two hours away in Peoria, IL).

I have seven working days left and I’ll be finally done with this manufacturing rotation.  Honestly, I’m very excited to get out of here and go back to my regular life, but I know that I’ll be missing all the people that I’ve met during my journey to these different places.  Bittersweet…but more leaning towards sweet at least for now…

Wow, I just can’t believe that it’s already December.  Yet again, another year just flew by with a blink of an eye.  I feel like every year as I get older and older, the time is definitely going faster and faster.  Sometimes I just wish that somebody can just turn the clock back, so I can go back in the past to fix some of things that I wish I could’ve done it differently.  At this point in my life, I try my best every day to live a life that is without any regrets, but it seems like I’m failing at that every single time.

Meanwhile, I safely arrived to Keokuk, IA, for my last third of training.  This town is definitely bigger than New Haven, MO by having little over of 10,000 people, but it’s a very blue-collared town, which makes it look little more desolate with all the factories and plants around this area.  So far, I’m at my last three weeks of training.  This is one of the things that I’m thankful for as the time goes quicker and quicker because to be honest, I really want to go back to Ann Arbor and back to home in Nevada to take some time off and really reflect.  These days, I’m so much engraved into my loneliness that I just can’t think about anything else, but to doubt and have that sense of insecurity run over me.  People at work are very nice, but none of these people are at my age.  They’re actually a lot older than me.  So, even if people are nice and I can talk to them if I ever wanted to, but it’s just so hard to relate to them.

I have been really losing my productiveness here because of the fact that I’m homesick, and I think people at work are starting to notice that.  This past week, my mentor came up to me and asked me if everything was okay.  I really didn’t say anything though, except telling him how homesick I am.  This training is definitely taking a toll on me.  I work extremely longer hours, especially here in Keokuk, IA and even though I wish I can take a personal time after work, I’m just too tired to do anything else.  At this point, I’m just praying and hoping that time will move even faster so I can enjoy my time off for Christmas…