A friend of ours is leaving Taiwan tomorrow - her year is up, and she’s headed home. So, naturally, we went out tonight to have a drink with her and all the other drinking regulars. We didn’t stay too long (had to get home and post, right?), but I was glad to see her one last time before she went.
Work is getting better, it seems. I mean, it’s still annoying and Lola is still throwing fits over nothing, but I’m working on the whole let-it-just-roll-off-you thing. It seems a little absurd now that we were upset enough to be considering packing up and leaving fast enough to be home for Christmas, but I guess stress and a new teaching job can do that to a person.
We’ve got big spending plans for this weekend - while last weekend was a mishmash of domestic appliances and household needs, this weekend is going to be the one when we buy new techy toys. A new camera to replace the busted one, new headphones for Seth, a ne harddrive, possibly a new laptop (as mine seems to be slowing noticably by the day), and I don’t know what all else (the list is more in Seth’s brain for this sort of stuff).
So, this daily posting has been fun. Sometimes a hassle and an minor annoyance, but mostly fun. I like the feeling I get knowing I’m recording everything, even the mundane minutia. My plan is to continue to post daily. We’ll have to see just how well that works out, eh?
So long, NaBloPoMo! (Woo! I did it!)
Well, not to tempt fate or anything, but today seemed to be better (quick, knock on wood!). It helped that it was the first sunny day we’ve seen in a month (still cold, though), but also, I actually pretended to be happy, and it sort of didn’t feel like pretending. Man, I hate it when that happens - I mean, I’m much happier to feel happy about a situation I’ve chosen, but there’s something about nurturing and growing a really nasty bad mood. I know it’s bad for my health (mental and physical both), but there is a strange sort of vacuum that I’m aware of, which is weird. Does that make sense?
Eh, I’m tired, and if I keep trying to explain it all to myself, it’ll just get more confusing as the word count increases. It makes sense enough for today, I guess.
So, this week has been sort of difficult for Seth and I. We were almost ready to pack our bags and go home, but a talk with my mom has helped me remember that teaching is hard no matter where you are, and that I’d probably regret leaving now for a really long time.
Still, it’s hard. Oh, the teaching itself isn’t so bad; it’s everything else - the communication barriers (we’re still working on getting Chinese lessons), the frustratingly inept and apparantly brainless managers, and for me, the universal frustrations of working with 15 3-year-olds. So, we’re going to do our best to make it better.
To paraphrase a drama camp counselor I once had, I’m going to act enthusiastic so I’ll be enthusiastic ( I will not, however, pickup trash while chanting “A clean ampitheater is a happy ampitheater!”). I’m going to do my best to act as if school (kindy, especially) is exactly where I want to be more than anywhere else. I’m going to try to shower my HRT (and Seth’s, and Nicola’s) with smiles and love and baked goods (see, we got a toaster over, so I can do that now - just need to buy some pans to bake in). I’m going to make this work, dangit, and I’m not going to let them see me sweat.
So, readers, friends, loved ones: help me to remember that this is what I’ve chosen, and I’m strong enough to handle it even when it’s the hardest thing I’ve done in my lazy life so far. Be my Bela Karoli - “You can do it, Lisbeth! you can do it!”
The great tv catch-up has begun. I watched both Project Runway episodes last night (holy burrito, that Elise is clearly made to play the reality-tv weirdo) (she does do nice work, though, notwithstanding the spewing tumor that erupted from the back of Challenge 1’s dress), and tonight I’ve watched an episode of Men in Trees, two episodes of Private Practice, one episode of Grey’s Anatomy, and I’m about to watch another. This is a trend that will probably continue for the immediately foreseeable future.
So, have I mentioned that it rains here? That it rains here a lot? I’m really getting tired of it. So, so, so very tired of it. All the freaking time, it’s raining. Sometimes it’s a drizzle, sometimes a standard shower, others it’s a genuine downpour. But I’m tired of it all. As soon as I find the person responsible for it, they are so fired.
Eeep! Can’t blog now - I’m finally getting around to watching Project Runway. I just finished the first episode, and I’m going to watch the second now, and then to sleep, with visions of crazy designers and ultra-awesome Tim Gunn floating around my dreams.
Today started of sort of …eh… and just got better from there.
We met up with Evelyn to go to Taipei for a work thing that was pitched to us as an area fun day - we’d be bowling. I was a little thrown by the fact that we were meeting her at 10:00am (seems a little early for bowling, don’t you think?), but sure, whatever. Then, when we get there, she’s looking for some hotel. Turns out the part they didn’t tell us was that the lunch portion was actually a banquet and mini awards ceremony type thing. Banquet isn’t really the right word - it was buffet style and pretty good, actually (somehow, I never associate good food with banquets, ever). I knew they were feeding us, but in my head, it was pizza, not fancy schmancy stuff. Anyhow, most of the talking was in Chinese, which, you know, we don’t really understand (still working on finding time for Chinese lessons and working on not accidentally saying incredibly innappropriate things), so it was pretty boring.
Then, we finally moved onto the bowling alley around 1:00 or so, and it was … different. The bowling alley was well-lit, with bright white walls and no smoke wafting over from the next lane. Also? The pitchers everyone had were filled with tea, not beer. I mean, sure, we can bowl, it’s fun (I played an almost respectable few games), but it was a little surreal without the seedy element that seems to permeate even the safest midwestern bowling alleys.
After that, we went to Carrefour. It’s a French import that feels remarkably like a super Walmart, given that we were able to buy kitchen appliances and bedsheets and foodstuff in one go. Heh. What’d we get? We finally got stuff to make ourselves feel almost truly settled in, now that we’ve been here over 3 months. Sheesh. Anyway, we got:
- Microwave (~$4700NT)
- Toaster oven (~$1500NT)
- Rice cooker (~$1300NT)
- 2 sets of duvet cover + fitted sheet + pillowcases ($1000NT each)
- Messenger bag for Seth (~$1500NT)
- Shaving cartridges (~$250NT) (I’m sure the inclusion of this one in the list is of incredible interest to you, right?)
- Measuing spoons and liquid measuing cup (~$100NT)
- Plastic corner shelf thingie for the shower (~$250NT)
- Noodles (rotini and pipe rigate {scroll down}) (~$200NT)
- Black bean hot cereal (I’ll have to let you know how that one works out) (~$100NT)
I think that was about everything. We spent about the equivalent of one week’s pay for one of us, but I think it was worth it. I can make cookies! And we can now reheat leftovers, if we ever have any (like, say, if I was to cook up a big batch of black beans - yum!) - woo!
So, now that I’ve set up the cooking appliances, and stripped the old dirty sheets and replaced them with some new ones (that are much nicer, incidentally), and graded two days worth of Treehouse homework, and written on of the longer posts I’ve written in a few days (weeks, maybe?), I think it’s time to go to bed!
This morning, we scootered into work with the sun shining, and the temperatures gloriously mild. This afternoon, we rode home in full rain gear, the water rushing down, angry and cold as it hit our skin like little balls of barely ineffectual teeth. Tonight, we’ll sleep beneath a down duvet, a space heater aimed at my feet.
Today, I:
- Saw my parents and the older of my two younger sisters (yay for Skype and webcams!). During the visit, I:
- learned my mom has cataracts, although the webcams aren’t really good enough for me to see them
- remembered just how big my parents’ kitchen is
- Amost, sort-of, maybe liked my kindy class
- Tolerated my Treehouse and Clubhouse classes
- Got home at a decent hour, and:
- did 3 (three! woo!) loads of laundry
- did the dishes
- cleaned the stovetop of all the baked on nasty
- boiled water for drinking
- tidied the living room
- tidied our bedroom
- swept the tile floors (that would be all of them, really)
- took out trash
- sorted my coin jar into the $1 dollar coins and the actually-useful-if-you-need-to-grab-some-money coins
- paid the plumber for fixing our hot water
- interneted
Holy productivity, Batman! I got stuff done today!
Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans (sorry, all you Canadians, I’m, what, a month late?)! I’m hoping you’re having a great day wherever you are. So, what am I thankful for?
- Seth. He is my constant, my life, my joy. I love you sweetie!
- The instant potatoes and stuffing and gravy mix I had for dinner tonight - mmm…imitation American goodness! Thanks for sending those Mom!
- All the incredible good thoughts, love, and can-only-get-it-in-America food and treats people have sent our way. Truly, these have kept us going during the rough patches.
- My improving demeanor and positive outlook on life lately (roses and cherries and hearts, oh my!) (oh, the cheesle, it is ooey gooey).
- Our new NST, for taking a huge load off of our shoulders.
- Our one working scooter (it looks as though we can probably get by just fine with one, maybe we should sell the lemon?).
- My new corduroy pants - so cozy! I actually had a student pet my leg when I was wearing them yesterday…
Enjoy your turkey and stuffing (or dressing, if you rather), and save a slice of pecan pie for me! (Wait, you don’t do pecan pie? Well, nevermind then. You’re missing out, though.)
I feel sick still, but relative to most of the day, I feel quite nearly fantastic. I woke up sick yesterday and got progressively worse until early this afternoon. Late last night, I thought I felt a migraine coming on. Eventually I had to take two Tylenol3 to even get to sleep, and a third one at 3:00 am when I woke up because my head hurt so badly I had to throw up. The migraine passed around maybe 4:00 this afternoon, so despite a sore throat, body ache, dizziness, lingering normal-level headache, and myriad other symptoms, I feel pretty good.
So while I was busy trying to sleep off whatever virus is assaulting my immune system, we got a visit at school from our HNST, sort of the sub-manager who acts as a liaison between NSTs and actual managers. As I wasn’t there to speak to him, I can’t say exactly what went down, but I’m having greater doubts all the time as to whose best interests he is concerned about. Maybe more on that later, we’ll see how the next few weeks pan out.