Above:The Baha'i House of Worship of Asia. Below:Life and times of your fellow World Citizen, Kolya

So!  If you haven't heard yet, here's what's been going on!
Everything's mostly good here.  It's very beautiful (trees, hills, snowcapped mountains in the distance, wildlife... i saw a raccoon), has a lovely small town close-to-nature feel that i love, although, of course, the weather is quite British!  But i knew it would be (however, the weather was dry and sunny the first 5 days or so!).  I have found a place to move into (renting a room in a house) with 3 (male) house mates-- similar to my situation in Denver. The home owner, is a senior student at Evergreen State college.  One of the other house mates is also a student at Evergreen and the third manages a Starbucks drivethu.  There's also 3 dogs but the house is kept very clean and pleasant, i will only be sharing a bathroom with 1 person and it's got a great rental price which includes the util. and wireless internet.  I stopped couch-surfing and moved in on Thursday evening on the 31st of January.
My first 10 Days in Oly i stayed with a local Baha'i family, John and Kathryn Luckey and their 18-20 year old son, Derek.  He's autistic, and so it was an interesting experience, since i'd never spent time around an autistic person before.  They had a guest bed available and had offered their hospitality to me before i arrived.  They also have a son in southern China who i once met briefly in Macau or HK.  I didn't want to impose too long on them, though, so for the few days before i moved into Simon's home i stayed at the home of a kind retired couple who contacted me from a post i left in Couchsurfing.com.  ( I actually had a few more responses through GlobalFreeloaders.com but i ended up choosing the couple from Couchsurfing.)  They have an adopted foster son who is 16, interested in martial arts, theatre and fantasy books.  They're not Baha'is but do have Baha'i friends in Olympia.  The mom describes herself as Jewish and the son as Wiccan.  :^)  Also they've spent time teaching English in China!  So, they're pleasant to spend time and chat with in the evenings after my day's job searching.
I've been using my time looking for work opportunities, for example, as a teachers' assistant, and other higher paying possibilities.  I think eventually i'd like to try and get a Master's in Education or Speech Pathology (apparently very easy to find a job with this degree, plus interesting to me)... but that might be a few years from now.  Last week I also got a 1 day gig, on Feb. 19th, helping set up for the Broadway Musical Gypsy at a local Performance Hall, the Washington Center for the Performing Arts since they need extra help for such big shows.  It's just minimum wage but through it i might be able to one day get more long term employment as a stage hand/tech crew there (which i would really enjoy).
On Monday i then did get a better job than the Great Wolf Lodge one, in the sense that it's in Olympia, is reachable with the city buses and also pays a dollar more per hour, or two if i work on the weekend.  It will mostly be Monday to Friday also, which is better too, since most Baha'i community activities are on the weekends.  And lastly, the schedule will be more flexible, which is also a big plus since it will allow me to also do some theatre work, for example, for Harlequin Productions, where, after meeting with the Production manager, Jill, last Tuesday it looks like i will be getting some back stage work here and there and even get to do lights or sound on some shows eventually!  The main M-F job is as an in home care provider, basically, house keeping for a woman with three children who is too sick to be able to do everything that needs doing around her house.  She got in touch with me because she's a member of the Olympian Baha'i community and had heard i was looking for work, so after meeting with her, she put me in touch with the Korean Women's Association of Washington who are my employer, (they in turn are paid by the lady's insurance).  It's tiring work but it's great to be doing something that feels like a real and important service.  Baha'u'llah has elevated work done in the spirit of service to humanity to worship of God and with this kind of job you can really feel that.  :^)
Tomorrow i'm going to go to an auction with Gary and possibly get a good deal on a car, after we're done with the Ruhi book 2 study circle that Gary is facilitating and i'm participating in.  I'm very grateful that Gary is so helpful!
On Monday i went to a young man's 21st birthday party with Mukti Khanna, a college professor who i know from Fort Lewis College, also my parents and i saw her one time in New Delhi.  It was the 5th day of a 5 day event!  He practices Native American spiritual teachings and one of the attendants was Native American.  After eating we introduced ourselves, and then after a break and eating some more, (more people had come bringing more dishes), we each shared a song, prayer, story and/or drumming.  I said a Baha'i prayer and afterwards i found out that the Native American, Roderick, has been to a lot of Baha'i events and has met Ruhiyyih Khanum and Kevin Locke!  He invited us to a Sweat ceremony today but because i don't have my own car yet i wasn't able to go because it takes so much longer to get anywhere by bus here.  So i feel disappointed about that.  I had even already bought the cloth and string to wrap the gift of tobacco in (but not yet any tobacco) but hopefully i'll be able to go find out when the next event Micheal or Roderick host will be!