around

Quick update on the new job in Japan: forms have arrived at the Tokyo office, and new ones now need to be sent. It is a slow-going process. I'm going to do my best to make sure I keep things moving on my end! In the mean time, I have grown so bored and lethargic that I have taken a part-time job at a local second-hand clothing store, which will fill my hours with much-needed activity, and fill my pockets with much-welcomed extra cash. But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about how much I miss Taiwan, and what that has inspired me to do. There's a tea website called Adagio Teas  that I've discovered recently. The teas are loose-leaf, they come in a wide variety, and are quite good. They're also wonderfully cheap for loose-leaf teas. One of the best things you can do on Adagio is create your own blends for others to  discover and buy. You don't make money off it, but the activity itself is massively fun; you can even customi...

Hey peeps! Ever since I came back from Asia, this blog has been dead. Mostly that's because there's very little to talk about when your occupation is "unemployed" and your location is "my house, I've Lived Here All My Life, USA." I've spent most of my time re-learning how to be American and searching for jobs in Japan. And finally, finally, all that hard work has paid off. I have secured myself one (1) job with an ALT company in Japan. I have no idea where I'll be in Japan, what school I'll be at, or what grades I'll be teaching. However, this does not matter. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Because finally, after two years of working toward this and many years of imagining and dreaming (and being quite sure it would never actually happen), I am going to Japan. MARCH 2014! (As long as my VISA and and Eligibility Application all go through, so, cross your fingers for me on that, please.) In the mean time, I'm working on ...

I fly out of Taoyuan International Airport tomorrow, on a trip that will take me to China, Los Angeles, Chicago, and finally Columbus, Ohio. I cannot believe it's been a year. Packing is annoying. There's always more that you want to take than you think you even have, and once you start trying to put it all into a suitcase, the difference between "stuff" and "available space" quickly becomes apparent. You also begin to realize how many things you have left to do; things you need to throw away, things you need to donate, things you need to recycle, things you need to give away to people. You stare at the mess your bed and floor have become and wonder how you'll ever excavate anything but frustration and tears out of it. I think I'm about 50 or 60% finished. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to pay an overweight fee on my suitcase again; that's just how it goes. I still have to buy a guitar case for the guitar I still ba...

At long last, I have conquered the imposing edifice that is Taipei 101! It is a building of height and beauty, and can be seen towering over the city from many places in Taiwan. It is the third tallest building in the world, and it is designed to look like bamboo. Months ago, I had known that we would have the Wednesday of June 12th off--it was a public holiday for Dragon Boat Festival. I had asked my boss for two additional days off, the Saturday and Monday before it, so between those days, Dragon Boat Festival day, and my usual Tuesday and Sunday off, I ended up with five straight days of freedom. Because I am a genius. Knowing that I would be leaving Taiwan soon, I planned ahead of time to see some things during that week. Taipei 101 was high on the list, and my co-worker Nicole volunteered to go with me. We had a fantastic  time. Nicole is great company, and we took all kinds of funny/cute pictures during the day. Taipei 101 has, as its name implies, one hundred and...

You can tell you've been studying Chinese if: You see an accent over a letter and read it as a tone, not a change in pronunciation or emphasis. You begin to realize how many MRT station names you've been saying wrong  for the past year. You notice when something isn't  in Hanyou Pinyin. You have a preference for a particular Pinyin writing system. (It's the one you're studying.) You catch yourself trying to read the names of stores you're walking past, just because you can. You prepare in your head what you're going to say to the cashier, rather than just checking to see if the menu is available somewhere in English. You wince at your previous attempts to spell out Chinese words phonetically.

I just bought my ticket from Taipei to Columbus Ohio and I'm freaking out about it a little. 'Scuse my cursing but holy shit. I have been in Taiwan for almost a whole year. July 6th will be the one year mark for my time in Taiwan. I remember getting  here. I remember dying in the heat, getting sick from waffles, getting blisters from shoes, being overwhelmed by the Chinese everywhere, baffled by all the new systems, assaulted by the culture. I remember my first days here. I remember the first nightmarket I visited. I remember seeing my apartment for the first time. I remember buying bedsheets and going places with friends while having no idea of where I actually was. I remember being terrified of getting lost. I remember everything being an enormous tornado of new things that I couldn't sort out. It is the weirdest thing to visit the Guting MRT station area, which is where I stayed and had training for SHANE in my first month. I remember that place when it was confusi...

I'm going to miss the seemingly endless biking space in Taiwan. Biking is fun in and of itself, but having long, well-kept biking paths that quite often follow gorgeous scenery is fantastic. Last weekend my friend Katie and I met up with a friend of hers in Danshui to go biking. It was really hot when we got there--like soak-your-shirt-in-five-minutes hot. It was humid, too. Danshui was packed, with most people buying ice cream or cold drinks and then taking refuge in the shade. I was not a little worried that the combination of heat and exercise would give me heat exhaustion or make me pass out. I'm pretty sure I didn't shut up about this fear for twenty minutes. Fortunately, Katie's friend (and a friend of his) arrived and distracted me from bemoaning my weak constitution. We rented bikes from a nearby facility, and then waited for Katie's friend's other  friend to arrive. This was fine with me, as I'd brought my camera and had plenty to photograph. ...

As previously stated, the days in Taiwan are getting hot. A few days ago it hit 91 degrees Fahrenheit, and the humidity was so high it felt hotter. There was no wind. It was a bit like walking through soup. I think I wore myself out just going outside in it. Fortunately, not all the days are like that. We have some pleasant sunny ones that are hot but not crazy-humid, or they come with a breeze. Today we had a thunderstorm that swept through and took the clouds and thick heat with it. What I've always loved about summer, and what I love here, too, is that summer means more sunshine. We've had a few days with insanely blue skies, perfectly or almost perfectly clear, and few things convince me of the beauty of Taiwan like its buildings streaked with bright sunshine and stark shadow, with an overhead of sharp blue. On one of these particular days (not the humidity-soup one), I went to Fuxing to meet up with two friends for lunch. I arrived about an hour early and spe...

We've been getting hotter and hotter days lately. Summer is upon us. On Friday we had a spectacularly bright, clear day, one that made going to work feel criminal. Fortunately today, Sunday, was similarly bright and sunny, and although the heat and humidity were strong, it hasn't been unpleasant to walk around. I quite rightly decided that a day like this called for watermelon. Fruit here is very cheap, and plentiful. The market by my apartment has at least six stores that sell a variety of  whole fruit, and there are little stands everywhere selling fruit juice, which is usually just a glass of pureed fruit. (Uncomplicated and refreshing.) I will miss the fruit here so much when I leave. It's just so good . I have yet to actually eat bad watermelon. It's all crisp, juicy to the point of leaking, and every bite is perfectly sweet. For 50 kuai, about $1.50, you can get a big bag of fruit chunks and some little pointy sticks to eat it with. Believe me when I...

This evening I was complimented on my white skin by the girl at the nearby convenience store. Hers wasn't the first compliment, either. People around here value pale skin, and due to my natural pink-ish coloring and the lack of sunlight during winter, I've gotten quite pale. Now, in years past I always thought of myself as pasty. Pale wasn't something I wanted to be. But here in Taiwan, having pale skin is considered beautiful. People walk around with umbrellas to protect their skin and wear more covering than they need to in warmer weather. There are creams in the cosmetic stores that are for "whitening" as much as "anti-aging". When my photo was taken for my ARC (which I will never show anyone because it's actually hideous), not only were my blemishes cleaned up, they whitened my skin. I'm not one to say "no" to Vitamin D. I love being out in the sun. But it's refreshing to see my pale skin as desirable, as opposed to some...

I climbed a mountain and it may be the last one I ever climb. Let's be clear: by "climb a mountain" I mean "walk up a million narrow stone steps." Really steep staircases, is what I'm saying. They twist and turn, some are lined with ropes, and the steps vary in thickness and actual similarity to steps. I went on this field trip (which was actually a lot of fun, except for the stairs) with my Chinese tutor and some of her other students. We met at Yongning MRT station at 3:30 and walked to the foot of the mountain. The first portion of the climb was easy, as it was on a paved road. This street lead up to a large Buddhist temple, which was absolutely gorgeous. After the temple, we left the road and began the hike up the steps. I am not out of shape. Just that morning I'd gone to the gym, where I had biked AND jogged for a solid hour. My legs are not noodles. But apparently, when faced with anything slightly uphill, they are. Every ...