I've noticed that I only write in this during the breaks. Breaks are the only time where I am home alone and things are slow. No deadlines, no roommates, just me and whatever I want to do. Which means lots of time to think, and I find that when there aren't any roomies around to talk to, I just talk to myself and to my blog. I guess as long as I have one outlet to "talk" to I'm okay, which is why I don't blog during school since i'm too busy, gasp, interacting with humans!
I don't know if this is a cultural thing, but both times when I flew to Taiwan some girls dressed -really- nicely. I noticed heels, gorgeous outfits, flawless make up - and then there's me. Jeans, t-shirt with sweat shirt, glasses, comfy flats, and absolutely no make up. I don't know, my number one priority in flying is being comfortable. I'm already going to be in a cramped position for 15+ hours, why make it any more miserable? Plus, the majority of time it's dark and you can't really see anything since the lighting is terrible. I understand if its a 3 or 5 or 7 hr flight, but when its more than 1/2 a day, does a person really need to look nice? On the way back this time the lady sitting next to me was sleeping, then about halfway through the flight spent about 40 min doing her makeup. In the dark. With the little light you get when you press the button. ????? It doesn't make sense to me! I like comfort! I like my face not being clogged by stuff hundreds of miles in the air! And I especially do not like sleeping in my contacts and wearing them for a long time. Maybe if she had done her make up at the end of the flight, but in the middle just boggled me. But one thing I do do for sure on those long flights is floss and brush my teeth. Nothing worse than airplane breath, yuck!
here is my reasonable list of things i want to do before i die... none of that "make a billion dollars" or "marry some celebrity" stuff.
In no particular order:
-Ice skate on a frozen lake or pond. A real solid frozen hunk of ice that isn't in a mall and doesn't require a zamboni (or whatever those machines are called). With trees nearby! Little house on the prairie style
-Go backwards on an escalator and/or moving walkway the entire length. What is stopping me here is the large amount of people that are always around. The day I find a deserted escalator that is moving...!
-if anybody knows me, they know this one: get a dog. The moment I am in a place for at least 1 year, I'm getting a dog. When is another question, as so far I haven't had the time or stability to care for a pup. But it will happen one day!
okay, that is all for now. there is more but i can't think of them for now. i've had this list in my head for a while but I've just now started to write it down
It's my last day here in this lovely city, and I feel as if I ought to write an entry to not only remember my last 2 weeks here but at the very least, organize my thoughts.
I love this city more and more every time I come back.
I love how lucky I am that I can even come back. I love how I have my grandma, 2 cousins, 1 aunt, and 1 uncle here.
I love how the lady who does my alterations is literally across the street from me - and that street is more of an alley.
I love the bakeries here, especially the bread with corn and mayo and bacon. Over the top deliciousness!
I love how my Grandma has a weird sleeping pattern where she'll go to bed but wake up at least 5 times during the night so I get to say hello to her at 10 pm, 11pm, 12am, 3 am, etc. It's nice being in the living room really late and having her pop in and out. She's the coolest old person yet. In fact, I don't think she ever really sleeps - more of a super napper! I think thats why my mom and I are late owls as well.
I love how I inherited the love of peanut butter from my mom and grandma - makes me happy to know its normal in this family and not a freak.
i love my cousin and her husband. i am so glad she found him, he is absolutely perfect and I hope they have many happy years together!
i love my other cousin and hope she finds a boy too so she can make her own happy moments.
i love my uncle 'cos he never fails to make me laugh. especially with mixing up kenting with palau - 2 very different places!
i love my aunt too because she keeps it sane. need some sort of normalcy around our crazy families.
i love the strawberries here. soft, sweet, fresh, juicy - none of those adjectives can apply to american strawberries. i'm not sure how i'll cope when i get back. but i ate 3 full little "boxes" of strawberries all by myself here and I'm not ashamed! they are that good.
i love berry milk, the bakery which only makes desserts using strawberries. cake, pudding, mochi - you name it, they have it WITH strawberries.
i love how the lady at berry milk remembers me. I'm a regular! even if i am a regular at a place in the us, nobody remembers you. but you go twice anywhere in taiwan, and they remember you. and it is a nice feeling to be remembered.
i love bonita. bonita, the little boutique on the 2nd floor of shing kong - i got my sunglasses there in 05, my rain coat and umbrella in 06, and now my awesome scarf, hat, and bag in 07. the saleslady remembers me, which i love because it changes the feel of shopping. its more family like instead of retail like since they treat you like an old friend. and all their products have little touches of uniqueness that I can't resist - like a scalloped umbrella or a buttoned scarf or a very unique folding bag. i love love bonita and will miss it so!
i love how i can hear my grandma shuffle around
i love ay-in and how she treats my grandma like family. we are so lucky to have ay-in.
i love the culture of reading here. i love the bookstores here and I love how it is completely okay to read a book you haven't purchased in the store - although i haven't done it, i love how its acceptable. i'm still a browser. but i llve going to the 24 hr eslite and reading at 9am since nothing else is open.
i love how the culture suits my lifestyle - sleep late, wake up late. the job force here doesn't start work till 10 am, which makes a lot more sense than the 8am time in the us. and you might think waking up earlier and getting stuff done is more productive, but can you argue about how miserable you are at 8? or when you're waking up at 7? And i love how everything closes at 10-11. Even midnight, even later. love love the sleep late and wake up late life here.
i love the subway. efficient. clean. air condition. bi lingual. helpful. little guidebooks to tell you whats fun. people watching. comfortable. CLEAN. clean clean clean! air conditioned!!!!!!! HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOO THAT CANT BE TOPPED. its an amazing system and i love taipei for it.
i love how i can use the wireless internet from the office downstairs. a disconnected cathy is a bored cathy.
i love being able to walk everywhere i need to go instead of driving.
i love how the chinese drivers here haven't hit me yet... thank goodness.
i love making my own friends in taiwan, like wendy and nelson. it is nice to get away from family every now and then.
i love how i am improving on my haggling skills, however sucky they may be. i can haggle once, but i really wish i could haggle like my mom who can go at it for 30 min until she gets a price she likes. if i tried to haggle the way she does, i'll get chased out of the store, banned, and forever be miserable. so i'll settle for my NT$10 dollar discount 'cos at least it makes me feel a little bit better. hey, i'm trying and learning! plus my american accent gives me away, while my mom can bring out the dialects to lower the price. mine only raises the price.
i love the street vendors. i love fresh food. i love fresh food fast. mmm yummy!
i love my new electronic dictionary. i love how i can write a character and it will recognize it.
i love taiwan in the winter since there aren't any ITS - at least, any visible ones that i can see. oh wait, i take that back, i did see one at the living mall. not a good mall, diry and dying, old and smelly, yucky. isn't it amazing how something can age so quickly?
i love strawberries! i know i mentioned it before but i do love them so.
i love "biking" with my cousins. its in quotes b/c its leisurely biking, not lance armstrong mountain bikin'. i'm talking paved rodes, pretty landscapes, abandoned railroad, and drink stands along the way.
i love the blankets in my grandma's house.
i love the tatami room too.
i love and miss my other garndma, and i love how when she couldn't really speak anymore she'd use her eyes to communicate, and it was always amazing when she did her "happy eyes" because she'd blink them like a girl flirting with a guy would blink them, and it was oh so cute!
i love how the taiwanese take their food seriously. as in, i visited my mom's old high school and there is no such thing as this thing called a "sandwich" or "PB&J". its all REAL food - and steamed too boot! none of this sandwich nonsense. its fresh veggies, rice, meat, oh my! but i think i still prefer my sandwiches.
i love how people dress nice here. i don't, but its nice to see others do it
i love how people don't match here... it's really funny and amazing what i've seen.
i love how there is no real way to end this list, and will continue to add to it until i've run out of things to say - but that is impossible as there is so much to love about this city.
i love buying shoes here. hello, 15 dollar boots, 6-12 dollar flats! HELLO HELLO HELLLOOOOOOOOO!
i love how the guy i buy strawberries gave me a discount the 2nd time! 200 first, and 170 2nd - he remembers me!! i love being remembered!
i love STATIONARY. oh my! everybody already knows that though.
i love how the cakes here are very light and fluffy and filled with fruit! rich and creamy is good, but i like not feeling guilty when i eat a slice.
i love exploring the city by myself. and just soaking up the culture.
i love muji.
i LOVE my grandma's rocking chair. my cousin and i used to fight over it when i was little. i still would fight over it if i needed to. i love love love that chair!
i love how we watch tv at dinner time! i love how its culturally okay to watch tv at dinner! the tv is in the dining room table, and we always watch chan 52, which is the news, which gives us something to talk about and discuss over the table.
online sketchbook stuff
too cute.
i also like these:
Just sketchbook inspiration stuff
by Vincent Laforet
July 9th, 2007, I wrote this:
I am finally in Taiwan! It is 12 AM on monday (or does this make it tuesday now), and I left 12 noon on Sunday in DFW. From DFW to Tokyo I rode AA, and from Tokyo to Taipei I rode Japan Airlines. Now, you'd think America Airlines, the biggie, would be wonderful... but no. You absolutely cannot compare Airlines in the US to Airlines in asian countries. Lets count the differences.
AA
-Old & cranky flight attendants.
-food is stale & boring
-plastic flatware
-plays selected movies that you have to adjust your schedule to - no pausing or having more than 4 choices of movies to watch
Foreign
-Young, skinny, nice, pretty flight attendants
-free newspaper upon entry
-food is fresh, tasty,
-metal flatware
-movies and music and games ON DEMAND
-SIDE compartment to store baggage
-birds eye camera view so you can see what is below the plane, not by it
And on July 22, 2007:
This is a mental note for me b/c if i dont write it im gonna repeat my mistakes over and over b/c i always forget... but in case you guys ever come to taiwan, it might help :)
-pack 1 pair of pants, and wear those pants on the airplane so you don't get cold. once you arrive in taiwan, strip 'em off, wash 'em, stick them in your suitcase, and dont wear them again until you are on your flight back home. why? b/c its HOT AND STICKY here. pants cling to you, and they are wet, and you are hot, and it is naysty. the locals can do it but i cant. this will save you the agony of packing 2 blue jeans, 1 black jeans, and 1 khaki - and not wearing any of them, wasting precious luggage space. YOU WONT WEAR THEM BECAUSE PANTS ARE MISERABLE HERE. (as you can see, im having trouble making space right now packing)
-pack cute shorts - you'll actually wear these, you won't have that clingly sticky feeling, they take up less room, and they are cute
-don't pack sneakers - you won't wear them. plan on climbing a mountain? i've done it in heels and i;ll do it again - thery're well paved anyway. now if you are doing REAL mountain climbing off trail in the dirt, okay, then pack your sneakers
-dont pack socks, b./c you wont be wearing those sneakres - another space waster. unless of course you plan on A) real mountain climbing or B)jogging (which there is NO NEED for wokring out as you will be walking miles a day)
-dont pack flip-flops - check - i actually remembered this rule! unless they are cute fashionable flip flops with pearls or whatnot, flipflops are tacky here, plus your feet will be nasty if you wear them since it is a large city
-bring pony tail holders - you will not wear your hair down here, so keep it up
-pack 1 sweater - for the airplane only - leave the rest at home (i packed 2 this time)
hopefully the next time i come back i will read this, remember the weather in taiwan, and pack accordingly to save space
more tips as i ge tmore frustrated trying to figure out how to pack my suitcase!
-dont pack books - you wont be bored enough to read them. and i fyou really want to read something, buy a book when you get here instead - but you wont need to
