This is nicole having a minor heart attack. It's almost like that "this is your brain... this is your brain on drugs" egg in frying pan commercial... Remember that? Anyways... I'm a Virgo. Generally a very organized person and always on top of the finances. Somehow within the past month I have become flat ass broke. It's sad but true. I believe it happened when I just paid off my VISA and realized "ahhh shit, I shouldn't have done that". Madness. Lucky for me, the studio still owes me for the plane ticket. I wonder if they mind whining and nagging? :)
So I promised an update on teaching my first class, didn't I? Which I have not done, only because the class was not particularly note-worthy. The heating system is high-tech and fancy... and the controls are in mandarin. Yay! You set the heat and the system adjusts the controls to maintain that temperature throughout the class. However I guess the controls in the room I was teaching in are occassionally "buggy" and so the heat got a little high for my preferance... and not understanding the language of the controls, I was unable to really do much about it. Otherwise teaching was good. The class size was pretty small - 6 students including Ryan. Everyone (except Ryan) seemed to understand about 1/2 of what I was saying... the rest of the time I had to demonstrate. And that, my friends, was pretty much that (See... not so exciting).
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Things that have stood out for me so far:
1) I now appreciate the ability to drink water directly from the tap... even if you need to filter it first. Having to buy giant bottles of water to drink is a rather bizarre limitation. I find that I am drinking much less water and am suffering a little from dehydration (which I am working to remedy).
2) I love peanut butter. Oh, how I miss you!
3) I have not been full-on bored for what feels like years. Except for now of course. It's a bizarre feeling. I guess working two jobs, having friends, social life, cable, internet, playstation, Queen Video, etc. really counters the idea of boredom. Here I have two channels of english movies and the internet. I haven't found anything to do in walking distance that isn't shopping or eating... and really, how much shopping and eating can a broke-ass girl do?
4) Dryers are humanity's friend. Without dryers, you have clothes that always feel slightly damp. Are they still wet? Or just cold? Can you tell?
5) Full-length mirrors make getting dressed much easier, thereby making mornings flow much smoother.
6) Ladies in Taiwan dress very fancy and quite conservatively.
7) I work everyday at some point in the day for the next two weeks.
Things I want to do:
1) Find a park or garden in walking distance from our apartment.
2) Get a plant.
3) Get a goldfish.
4) Remember to drink 1 litre of water per day.
5) Go to Longshan Temple.
6) Go to the mountains... and the ocean (goodbye city!).
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Ryan and I took the MRT by ourselves today to go explore and find the Taipei 101 building (the tallest skyscraper in the world?). The MRT is the subway in Taipei... it is very clean, new and modern. Puts our ol' TTC to shame! Oh Toronto, why can't your public transit be as modern as that in Taiwan? Taipei 101 was not as exciting as we wanted it to be... though honestly, I'm not sure what I wanted. It was mostly a mall for people with way more money than anyone I know. There were Gucci, D&G, and Prada stores... which we did not go into... because why would we? But (be EXCITED) there was also an ISSEY MIYAKE store. I gazed lovingly through the window at the bizarre shapes and funny pleats. I would have taken a picture, but the window sign clearly forbid it. *sigh*
We decided to eat in the food court, and found a Subway. Which of course sounds rather lame, considering we're in a foreign country and should be enjoying the diversity of the food and culture... BUT a little comfort from home never hurt anyone... plus there were olives for my sub... and mayonaise. Mmmmm, olives and mayonaise. I noticed that the Taipei 101 food court is the mecca for non-asian people. I saw the MOST white people in that food court than I have seen anywhere in Taipei so far... except for maybe IKEA. Nope... not even. We perused a grocery store in the basement that caters to foreigners. You can buy "regular" American food and brands for just an arm and a leg. No seriously... $12 snack mix? I'll stick to the BV's (Buddhist Vegetarian buffets) for less than $5 a meal.
So... that's me this evening. Settling in to life in Taipei. Noticing the pitfalls, as well as the pleasures. Learning to appreciate the things I would otherwise unknowingly take advantage of... like having at least two rooms in my 'tiny one-bedroom apartment'. Oh I'm full of jokes and hilarity! :) Right now you guys are sleeping soundly, a couple hours before your alarms go off... Sweet dreams and happy St. Patricks day!
love always. -n.
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