the offWhites

I’ve had a bunch of posts knocking around in my head but for various reasons, didn’t post them.  I should have posted them then (that’s why you have a blog, dingbad!) (shut up, scolding voice in my head), but I didn’t, so I’m posting them now.  Can I get half-credit for doing the work, at least, even if it’s way past due?

A few weeks ago:

The thing with the cabs here, I’ve noticed, is that the people driving them tend to listen to either cheesy pop ballads or sowme sort of talk radio. The cheesy pop stuff is as annoying here as anywhere else, but I don’t really notice the talk. Well, I thought I didn’t. This morning, I got into a cab in which the driver was listening to classical music. It was so calming, so familiar, so very unlike the talk radio which all of the sudden seemed extremely loud and shouty to me. It actually made me cry, right there in the cab, because it reminded me so intensely of home, and more specifically, of my dad.

Hi Dad. I miss you!

On the 22nd of October:

So. I’m 27 now. Sheesh. I thought I’d be more of a grown-up at this age. I mean, 27? That’s late 20’s. That’s like, almost 30, which is, like, old. Or something. I got cake at kindy and lots of fun new clothes from home, though, yay! Also, a fever of 104F on Friday, so no going out on Saturday for me. I’ve been sick practically every other week. Fevers suck. Kindy kids with multitudes of germs suck. Taiwan sucks. When is this culture shock crap supposed to go away?

The week following my birthday:

Holy crap. I don’t know what’s happened, but all of the sudden, kindy doesn’t suck so much anymore. Granted, I’ve been 4 students short of a full class most of the week (including one of my more difficult students), but it seems clear that something has clicked with me and the kids and the routine of class. It’s a good thing, too, since it seems like maybe that’s helping the feeling of despair go away. Maybe it wasn’t culture shock - maybe my job was just sucking dead bears and now that it’s not I can feel like a person who doesn’t hate attending a good third of my current life? Huh. Either way, things seem better. Plus we’re getting scooters soon!

Last friday afternoon:

Scooters! Scootersscootersscooters! We’re getting our scooters tonight!

Last Friday night so late it was probably Saturday morning:

Wooooo! We got our scooters! Scooters are magical! Scooters are wonderful! I love my new scooter! This might be the final nail in the coffin of the craptacular time I was having adjusting to this crazy new place!

Monday, 12:30pm:

Stupid scooters. I know we bought used and all, and that means I expected we’d have to deal with problems sooner or later, but 3 days after we got them? That’s crap! My scooter won’t start, at all. I mean, I stick in the key, grab the break, and push the starter button - nothing. Not even a wheeze. Stupid scooter.

Today:

So, Seth got my scooter going by slapping it across the face and saying “I’m the boss, you dumb scooter, and you better start right now!” and it worked! Well, really he just sort of hit it really hard a few times right by the starter, and then it started up just fine (I don’t know if any harsh words accompanied the beating - I was just making that part up), leading him to think perhaps my scooter’s got a short in the wiring. Or, rather, his scooter’s got a short in the wiring, because he decided I should be driving the one he was driving (it’s the newer one, but the one I was driving has big “Herself 125″ stickers on either side, so we figured it had to be mine, right?). I have the newer one now, and it’s got a lot more get-up-and-go, which is a little freaky just now when I’m starting it up, but otherwise, lots of fun! Of course, it rained today, which makes riding the scooter a little less fun and a lot more wet, but it’s not as if I didn’t know that was coming. Rain is an almost-constant. Seth loves it, but I am underwhelmed.

In other news, tomorrow is Halloween. I’m short a few key items for my costume (it’s not exciting or anything), but I’m still trying to make it happen. I’ll post pictures of tomorrow’s festivities tomorrow evening or the next day, I promise!