I only take up a little of the collapse in space--
I tried to save it for a rainy day, it's raining all the time.
Forget it, nothing I change changes anything.
I won't let it--I won't let it ruin my head.
So things are good, contrary to the dour message of the above lyrics. It's just that the National has come out with a new album and their poetry and music combined together is just sending me into raptures. And I went on youtube, debating whether I should do something productive or not, and BOOM I find a live performance where they seem to be playing all their new songs. I haven't even unpacked all their lyrics yet and I've listened to the album maybe fifteen times already? It's so lovely to discover a new album you can gradually become acquainted with, drawn in at the beginning with the simple hooks and melodies that set off something in your head and your heart, and then beginning to unravel and ascribe meaning and parallelisms between the song and your life.
I just wanted to update since it's been a really damn long while. I've moved to Taipei, and I'm living on my own. It's been about four weeks now actually... I think I moved in August 18. I started my job two weeks ago (this is my third week now) and it's been rough going. I broke out the first week of work and got like fucking fifty blisters on my feet, big boils that were like filled with fluid making it hurt so much to walk...and just making myself go exhausted me. Because of that, I didn't perform well, I didn't prepare, none of the things I wanted to do. So now I'm reaping what I saw, and having to 'walk it back', try to revise their opinion of me. I'm under observation every class, and I have to turn in lesson plans before every class session. I'm being criticized, and I got scolded last Friday. But I still feel fine (after the fact of course--I was pretty upset last week) because shit there's so much to enjoy about life! New Bojack Horseman season, new rick and morty episodes, new music, new friends (oh, yes, I made new friends btw!) and the continuation of old, strong bonds with Linh, Stephanie, Jerry, Gideon, Barbara--actually I need to put a little more effort into her. I have a package for her, but I haven't written the letter yet nor put it all in one parcel. I suck! But I'll do it soon. Speaking of which, I need to send Linh a letter back. And email Jacob back too. Oh boy. But I'm feeling like I have enough energy to do that now, so it's all good.
New friends, new city, new cast. The Taipei Crew.
Art: He came from Los Angeles about a week or two after I got here, and has been teaching English along with me but we were always living far from each other. He lived in Hsinchu and I in Taoyaun. Now he's moved to near Tamsui and I'm in Xindian. Still far but at least we're in the same city. I can always count on him to be blunt, positive and easy going. We cancel on each other at about the same rate and we commit to hang outs at about the same rate too, it's always easy to see him and hanging out is always harmonious. It's really a fundamental friendship for me; the main reason I didn't go to work after being scolded like a dog with its tail between its legs was because I hung out with Art afterwards. He said what I needed to hear "Be confident. You are a good teacher but there's no chance they'll see that if you don't have confidence. Don't make yourself miserable based on what they say, do you what you know you can do." It just helped haha. He's really reliable and consistent, always a little exciting to talk to because he'll come out with some real talk out of nowhere and will gently push you forward. I now see why Barbara loved him so very much!
Sonya: I saw her the first week I was here but haven't found the time to ask her to hang out. We see each other maybe once a month? But whenever we do, it's a very long, heartfelt and affectionate hangout. One time we were supposed to watch a movie after lunch but she said, would you mind if we don't watch a movie? I want to keep talking for as long as possible. So sweet. Last time we hung out she said she loved me...! Hahahah ^_^ Man I need to hit her up. LOL
Tony and Kai: I'd say they're definitely a power couple. Whenever they have parties, the guest list ranges from 30-60 people? A couple weeks ago I roamed the streets of Taipei with them for Kai's birthday and Tony kept running into people on the street who knew him. She's slightly overshadowed by him, I think he's the more effortlessly extroverted one but at the same time he's the more sensitive one as well. She seems more grounded but also prone to insecurity (with girls throwing themselves at him all the time, I understand). Because of the fact that I'm a girl and thus a threat to some TINY degree, I feel like there's a natural barrier between me and her and that we can never be that close. It doesn't help that I feel closer to Tony because he seems more enthusiastic about talking when we converse, but I am careful not to hit him up for too many one on one conversations because I really do like Kai and want her to know I want to be both their friends. It's rocky going and yet a source of great positivity and a growing bond.
Robin: I met her at Kai's birthday party and immediately liked her because I literally asked her two times in like thirty minutes what her name was. The second time she kind of raised her eyebrow when she answered and I realized I had already asked before. But she laughed it off and then she said her pizza was too spicy and I was eager to be friendly so I said I'd get her another one. And then she was like, 'Thanks so much', and then comically looked between the two pizza slices she was now holding ahahhahah. She's ABC as well, she came from the South Bay and we kind of bonded together throughout the night. Whenever a group moves around, there will be lots of downtime, standing around and inaction for SOME reason, and while i'm chatting with the other peoples, we'd make eye contact and I could tell she's like 'omg why are we still sitting here' and then I'll go talk to her and we'll both try to get everyone moving already. I don't know, it was just really natural and fun.
And there were a couple guys who kind of hit on me, one from the beginning of the night throughout (chris) but not in a gross way, just like 'hey I like this chick, she's cool', stuff like that. And then eric showed up later, this guy who was at Tony's party and trying to hit on me real hard there too. He gave his Line to stephanie because my phone died and then she messaged him and he never said anything. So that like...lack of follow through. So matches how he was that night too. He got my line at the end of the night and was holding me around the waist (it wasn't too bad, I am maybe a little attracted?) and then started the most boring line conversation with me in the world. Bleh.. Chris is a writer and we sort of talked about meeting up for coffee or bowling later that same week but then our conversation kind of died out too. Idk? anyway I'm tired now soooo yeah. More updates to come later.
I'm unpacking my neighborhood in a way similar to this album. So far I've found a bookstore, three tea shops (one is ehhhhh but it's the closest, the other is farther and pretty good and the farthest is my favorite), Ive found two ways to get to my work place, a shaved ice place, a grocery store five minutes from my house, a cold noodles restaurant (the best cold noodles I've ever had) on the bus route to my school, a shabu shabu restaurant, several random late night food stalls, two buffet style taiwanese restaurants, a pizza place, a couple of mcdonald's I try not to go to, and a restaurant right in my building. Seems like a Bob's Burger setup with a husband and wife being the store-runners. My dad took me there a couple weeks ago and asked the lady to watch out for me. SHE SAVED MY BUTT when I closed my outer metal gate door that locks automatically with a bang, without my keys. I was in a rush to catch the pizza delivery person!! And so I was stuck outside in my pajamas basically and ran to her and said ZEN ME BANNNN and she brought me to a locksmith literally next door. They opened up my door in about twenty minutes. Whewwwww.
Alright I'm spent. CHECK OUT THEIR ALBUM GUYS. Sleep Well Beast is the title. I can't figure which song I like most or which lyrics to write here, so yeah. The song at the top is Walk it Back!
Forget it, nothing I change changes anything.
I won't let it--I won't let it ruin my head.
So things are good, contrary to the dour message of the above lyrics. It's just that the National has come out with a new album and their poetry and music combined together is just sending me into raptures. And I went on youtube, debating whether I should do something productive or not, and BOOM I find a live performance where they seem to be playing all their new songs. I haven't even unpacked all their lyrics yet and I've listened to the album maybe fifteen times already? It's so lovely to discover a new album you can gradually become acquainted with, drawn in at the beginning with the simple hooks and melodies that set off something in your head and your heart, and then beginning to unravel and ascribe meaning and parallelisms between the song and your life.
I just wanted to update since it's been a really damn long while. I've moved to Taipei, and I'm living on my own. It's been about four weeks now actually... I think I moved in August 18. I started my job two weeks ago (this is my third week now) and it's been rough going. I broke out the first week of work and got like fucking fifty blisters on my feet, big boils that were like filled with fluid making it hurt so much to walk...and just making myself go exhausted me. Because of that, I didn't perform well, I didn't prepare, none of the things I wanted to do. So now I'm reaping what I saw, and having to 'walk it back', try to revise their opinion of me. I'm under observation every class, and I have to turn in lesson plans before every class session. I'm being criticized, and I got scolded last Friday. But I still feel fine (after the fact of course--I was pretty upset last week) because shit there's so much to enjoy about life! New Bojack Horseman season, new rick and morty episodes, new music, new friends (oh, yes, I made new friends btw!) and the continuation of old, strong bonds with Linh, Stephanie, Jerry, Gideon, Barbara--actually I need to put a little more effort into her. I have a package for her, but I haven't written the letter yet nor put it all in one parcel. I suck! But I'll do it soon. Speaking of which, I need to send Linh a letter back. And email Jacob back too. Oh boy. But I'm feeling like I have enough energy to do that now, so it's all good.
New friends, new city, new cast. The Taipei Crew.
Art: He came from Los Angeles about a week or two after I got here, and has been teaching English along with me but we were always living far from each other. He lived in Hsinchu and I in Taoyaun. Now he's moved to near Tamsui and I'm in Xindian. Still far but at least we're in the same city. I can always count on him to be blunt, positive and easy going. We cancel on each other at about the same rate and we commit to hang outs at about the same rate too, it's always easy to see him and hanging out is always harmonious. It's really a fundamental friendship for me; the main reason I didn't go to work after being scolded like a dog with its tail between its legs was because I hung out with Art afterwards. He said what I needed to hear "Be confident. You are a good teacher but there's no chance they'll see that if you don't have confidence. Don't make yourself miserable based on what they say, do you what you know you can do." It just helped haha. He's really reliable and consistent, always a little exciting to talk to because he'll come out with some real talk out of nowhere and will gently push you forward. I now see why Barbara loved him so very much!
Sonya: I saw her the first week I was here but haven't found the time to ask her to hang out. We see each other maybe once a month? But whenever we do, it's a very long, heartfelt and affectionate hangout. One time we were supposed to watch a movie after lunch but she said, would you mind if we don't watch a movie? I want to keep talking for as long as possible. So sweet. Last time we hung out she said she loved me...! Hahahah ^_^ Man I need to hit her up. LOL
Tony and Kai: I'd say they're definitely a power couple. Whenever they have parties, the guest list ranges from 30-60 people? A couple weeks ago I roamed the streets of Taipei with them for Kai's birthday and Tony kept running into people on the street who knew him. She's slightly overshadowed by him, I think he's the more effortlessly extroverted one but at the same time he's the more sensitive one as well. She seems more grounded but also prone to insecurity (with girls throwing themselves at him all the time, I understand). Because of the fact that I'm a girl and thus a threat to some TINY degree, I feel like there's a natural barrier between me and her and that we can never be that close. It doesn't help that I feel closer to Tony because he seems more enthusiastic about talking when we converse, but I am careful not to hit him up for too many one on one conversations because I really do like Kai and want her to know I want to be both their friends. It's rocky going and yet a source of great positivity and a growing bond.
Robin: I met her at Kai's birthday party and immediately liked her because I literally asked her two times in like thirty minutes what her name was. The second time she kind of raised her eyebrow when she answered and I realized I had already asked before. But she laughed it off and then she said her pizza was too spicy and I was eager to be friendly so I said I'd get her another one. And then she was like, 'Thanks so much', and then comically looked between the two pizza slices she was now holding ahahhahah. She's ABC as well, she came from the South Bay and we kind of bonded together throughout the night. Whenever a group moves around, there will be lots of downtime, standing around and inaction for SOME reason, and while i'm chatting with the other peoples, we'd make eye contact and I could tell she's like 'omg why are we still sitting here' and then I'll go talk to her and we'll both try to get everyone moving already. I don't know, it was just really natural and fun.
And there were a couple guys who kind of hit on me, one from the beginning of the night throughout (chris) but not in a gross way, just like 'hey I like this chick, she's cool', stuff like that. And then eric showed up later, this guy who was at Tony's party and trying to hit on me real hard there too. He gave his Line to stephanie because my phone died and then she messaged him and he never said anything. So that like...lack of follow through. So matches how he was that night too. He got my line at the end of the night and was holding me around the waist (it wasn't too bad, I am maybe a little attracted?) and then started the most boring line conversation with me in the world. Bleh.. Chris is a writer and we sort of talked about meeting up for coffee or bowling later that same week but then our conversation kind of died out too. Idk? anyway I'm tired now soooo yeah. More updates to come later.
I'm unpacking my neighborhood in a way similar to this album. So far I've found a bookstore, three tea shops (one is ehhhhh but it's the closest, the other is farther and pretty good and the farthest is my favorite), Ive found two ways to get to my work place, a shaved ice place, a grocery store five minutes from my house, a cold noodles restaurant (the best cold noodles I've ever had) on the bus route to my school, a shabu shabu restaurant, several random late night food stalls, two buffet style taiwanese restaurants, a pizza place, a couple of mcdonald's I try not to go to, and a restaurant right in my building. Seems like a Bob's Burger setup with a husband and wife being the store-runners. My dad took me there a couple weeks ago and asked the lady to watch out for me. SHE SAVED MY BUTT when I closed my outer metal gate door that locks automatically with a bang, without my keys. I was in a rush to catch the pizza delivery person!! And so I was stuck outside in my pajamas basically and ran to her and said ZEN ME BANNNN and she brought me to a locksmith literally next door. They opened up my door in about twenty minutes. Whewwwww.
Alright I'm spent. CHECK OUT THEIR ALBUM GUYS. Sleep Well Beast is the title. I can't figure which song I like most or which lyrics to write here, so yeah. The song at the top is Walk it Back!