Beethoven In Trance - Episode 67
It is 02/15/2017
2016, what a year!
A year full of twists and turns. It was a hectic start at work but I was able to get a handle on it shortly. In the next month, I did the Lasik, which turned out successfully (Great!).
In March, we took my in laws to Grand Canyon and Vegas for vacation. It was a good trip, except that we had to stay one extra night in Vegas because the flight was cancelled.
And then, the rest of year got on the fast track. My parents' visa application process became the main event of the year. Their immigration plan fell through in April. They were sent back home at the port of entry because they didn't have the proper paperwork. In the following 2 weeks, I was able to research the process and quickly turn in the paperwork for the application. My parents had to rent a place in Shanghai temporarily. After months of painful waiting, their applications were approved and their visa were finally proved. It was a bumpy process, but looking back, it was not as long as we heard from others. They went to the general consulate in December for interview and entered the states in Jan. 2017. That finally concluded the journey.
As I was preparing the immigration paperwork, one thing became apparent to me; I need to start the Seattle plan right now. I made the plan for each month to prepare for the move. At the end of September, I was ready to sent out the resume across state. In Q4, I started to actively send out resumes, and I was fortunate to receive a phone interview opportunity in November with Amazon. My first phone interview was bad. I ended the call with thinking Amazon would never ever call me again because it was not a good conversation with the interviewer and clearly, he was looking for someone else. Interestingly, I received a second phone interview a week after, and it was a better conversation with another interviewer, but not my best. Soon after the second interview, I received the notice that I wasn't selected. It didn't surprised me, and I was ready to move on. The recruiter emailed me again weeks later to ask me if I was interested in another opportunity with Amazon. I agreed and had the third phone interview. It was a very good conversation over the phone and I felt pretty good about it afterwards. Weeks later, I was invited to an interview on campus in Seattle and that was in Jan, 2017 already. I went to the interview prepared, and talked to 7 (1 for lunch, 6 for interview) people on the day of interview. It was not an easy interview, but I thought it went well. 3 out of 6 people I supposed to interview with changed the last minute. I thought it was a good experience no matter what they decided. Three days later just before Chinese new year, I received the offer from Amazon. I was happy and felt that I could breath a little bit. My parents were happy to hear the news and the whole family had a great Chinese new year. Days after the news, I felt weak and almost sick. I felt the same when I was in China 2012 year end just before I left my previous company to join my current employer. My body was relaxed all of sudden from the intense interview preparation in all the previous months, and it was adjusting. So, 2017, I would started the year with new job and new city, and dealing with the move and home finding.
Other than the immigration application, preparing for the move to Seattle and interviewing for jobs in Seattle, there wasn't much going on. Alice started violin lesson and skating class this year. She seems to like them both. She also has the swimming class in the weekends.
2016, what a year!
A year full of twists and turns. It was a hectic start at work but I was able to get a handle on it shortly. In the next month, I did the Lasik, which turned out successfully (Great!).
In March, we took my in laws to Grand Canyon and Vegas for vacation. It was a good trip, except that we had to stay one extra night in Vegas because the flight was cancelled.
As I was preparing the immigration paperwork, one thing became apparent to me; I need to start the Seattle plan right now. I made the plan for each month to prepare for the move. At the end of September, I was ready to sent out the resume across state. In Q4, I started to actively send out resumes, and I was fortunate to receive a phone interview opportunity in November with Amazon. My first phone interview was bad. I ended the call with thinking Amazon would never ever call me again because it was not a good conversation with the interviewer and clearly, he was looking for someone else. Interestingly, I received a second phone interview a week after, and it was a better conversation with another interviewer, but not my best. Soon after the second interview, I received the notice that I wasn't selected. It didn't surprised me, and I was ready to move on. The recruiter emailed me again weeks later to ask me if I was interested in another opportunity with Amazon. I agreed and had the third phone interview. It was a very good conversation over the phone and I felt pretty good about it afterwards. Weeks later, I was invited to an interview on campus in Seattle and that was in Jan, 2017 already. I went to the interview prepared, and talked to 7 (1 for lunch, 6 for interview) people on the day of interview. It was not an easy interview, but I thought it went well. 3 out of 6 people I supposed to interview with changed the last minute. I thought it was a good experience no matter what they decided. Three days later just before Chinese new year, I received the offer from Amazon. I was happy and felt that I could breath a little bit. My parents were happy to hear the news and the whole family had a great Chinese new year. Days after the news, I felt weak and almost sick. I felt the same when I was in China 2012 year end just before I left my previous company to join my current employer. My body was relaxed all of sudden from the intense interview preparation in all the previous months, and it was adjusting. So, 2017, I would started the year with new job and new city, and dealing with the move and home finding.
Other than the immigration application, preparing for the move to Seattle and interviewing for jobs in Seattle, there wasn't much going on. Alice started violin lesson and skating class this year. She seems to like them both. She also has the swimming class in the weekends.
Movie wise, I watched the trilogy from Lee Ann again, pushing hands, wedding banquet, eat drink man woman. Still, eat drink, man and woman is the best. Rouge 1 and Sing topped 2016 movie list. I watched Sing with the family at the theater and it was a great experience.
I played Tomb raider series on PS 4 and it was a great experience. The Uncharted series is great as well. I sold "Dragon Age" because I don't like it any more, and I gave some other games to the coworker as white elephant gift. I plan to sell the Uncharted 4 as well.
Right now, I am preparing for the move to Seattle, my last day at work will be this Friday.
I played Tomb raider series on PS 4 and it was a great experience. The Uncharted series is great as well. I sold "Dragon Age" because I don't like it any more, and I gave some other games to the coworker as white elephant gift. I plan to sell the Uncharted 4 as well.
Right now, I am preparing for the move to Seattle, my last day at work will be this Friday.
Labels: 2016 annual letter
posted by SH at 11:22 PM
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