Birthdays and Boiled Eggs
Oops, I meant to post this a few days ago!
Taiwan Fact: Haggling is not ubiquitous, like it is in mainland and other eastern Asian countries. But it does exist for certain things. This is not exhaustive, but here are some things you wanna argue over the price of: souvenirs, shoes, and appliances (though only over the extras like delivery, installation and warranty).
This weekend I went out to a western-style karaoke bar with Kiah, Adam, Max, Sophie and Sam which had been hyped up to me. It was ok, but Adam and I, initially leaving to find food, went on a betelnut-orange adventure. I got back to a warm snuggly Jordan around 2am. The next night, Jordan went out(!) and woke me up at 4am with a call for directions to another club! What a party animal! She was back around dawn and I woke up a few hours later to play Warcraft with Abe on his birthday.
It was Jordan's birthday yesterday and she was a bit bummed about it. Her third birthday in a country she doesn't want to be in. After a couple of failed plans (one involving the Leonids and a midnight drive into the mountains), I decided to buy her what we use as birthday cake at school (a dense, moist, lemon cake), borrow a bud from Andy (we ran out and can't find more to buy), and make her some foods she likes. This turned out to be difficult because she doesn't love food as much as I do and doesn't talk about it much. But I knew she likes eggs and Taiwan-style cabbage, so I decided to make some deviled eggs and cabbage, with some bacon on the side (turns out she also loves crispy bacon, score!). I also got wine and a baguette. And I shaved my beard, Gift of the Magi style.
On my way home, Kiah messaged me saying that she was invited a bunch of people over for a "impromptu/surprise/not celebration", which, imagining a depressed Jordan feeling obligated to entertain, made me worried. But Cathleen had already insisted on coming over before, so she was expecting someone. And her (former?) roommates came, too. Not too obvious. Then Max and Sophie "stopped by" to drop of a couple of things and stuck around for some wine and deviled eggs. They had also bought Jordan some corn flakes to repay her for the ones they had eaten while they were still getting established, much to her delight. Then Andy called me, having already been invited by Kiah, and I was all like "I just invited Andy to join us, hope you don't mind." Soon, Jordan was wondering where all these people came from, especially on a Tuesday night. Kiah then admitted it had all been premeditated and we all said "awww!" and there was much love. And cake! Also, (Jordan's) Adam came and brought birthday beers. Then after everyone left, the cat peed on the comforter Jordan had just recovered from storage and was looking forward to snuggling into. What a dickhole, but, ask Kiah observed, at least she waited until several minutes after her birthday was over. Jordan cleaned it up, decreed the cat banished from her room, and we joked about leaving her cone on as punishment (it comes off tomorrow).
While Jordan was in the bathroom, I went and thanked Kiah for setting everything up. I misted up a bit, but I don't think anyone noticed. Jordan's very sweet and gracious to me, but usually melancholy, so it was really great to see her really having a good time and enjoying herself. She came back and we smoked the little nug Andy had donated and got in bed slightly chilly, but happy. I fell asleep looking forward to our future and had a Flying Dream for the first time in a long time.
Speaking of the future, it isn't as easy as you might think to save money here and (as I think I mentioned in my last blog) I expect to blow through all of it by the time I'm set up in a new place. Jordan is more worried than I am (I have no debt) so I told her I would start cooking for us, since we eat out every day. While eating out can be cheap and cooking can be expensive, we'll save a lot of money by being careful. It's only been two days, but I haven't eaten out nor gotten snacks or drinks from 7-11 and I think I can sustain that. And if we wind up together in the states, getting started shouldn't be as expensive as doing so alone.
Taiwan Fact: Haggling is not ubiquitous, like it is in mainland and other eastern Asian countries. But it does exist for certain things. This is not exhaustive, but here are some things you wanna argue over the price of: souvenirs, shoes, and appliances (though only over the extras like delivery, installation and warranty).
This weekend I went out to a western-style karaoke bar with Kiah, Adam, Max, Sophie and Sam which had been hyped up to me. It was ok, but Adam and I, initially leaving to find food, went on a betelnut-orange adventure. I got back to a warm snuggly Jordan around 2am. The next night, Jordan went out(!) and woke me up at 4am with a call for directions to another club! What a party animal! She was back around dawn and I woke up a few hours later to play Warcraft with Abe on his birthday.
It was Jordan's birthday yesterday and she was a bit bummed about it. Her third birthday in a country she doesn't want to be in. After a couple of failed plans (one involving the Leonids and a midnight drive into the mountains), I decided to buy her what we use as birthday cake at school (a dense, moist, lemon cake), borrow a bud from Andy (we ran out and can't find more to buy), and make her some foods she likes. This turned out to be difficult because she doesn't love food as much as I do and doesn't talk about it much. But I knew she likes eggs and Taiwan-style cabbage, so I decided to make some deviled eggs and cabbage, with some bacon on the side (turns out she also loves crispy bacon, score!). I also got wine and a baguette. And I shaved my beard, Gift of the Magi style.
On my way home, Kiah messaged me saying that she was invited a bunch of people over for a "impromptu/surprise/not celebration", which, imagining a depressed Jordan feeling obligated to entertain, made me worried. But Cathleen had already insisted on coming over before, so she was expecting someone. And her (former?) roommates came, too. Not too obvious. Then Max and Sophie "stopped by" to drop of a couple of things and stuck around for some wine and deviled eggs. They had also bought Jordan some corn flakes to repay her for the ones they had eaten while they were still getting established, much to her delight. Then Andy called me, having already been invited by Kiah, and I was all like "I just invited Andy to join us, hope you don't mind." Soon, Jordan was wondering where all these people came from, especially on a Tuesday night. Kiah then admitted it had all been premeditated and we all said "awww!" and there was much love. And cake! Also, (Jordan's) Adam came and brought birthday beers. Then after everyone left, the cat peed on the comforter Jordan had just recovered from storage and was looking forward to snuggling into. What a dickhole, but, ask Kiah observed, at least she waited until several minutes after her birthday was over. Jordan cleaned it up, decreed the cat banished from her room, and we joked about leaving her cone on as punishment (it comes off tomorrow).
While Jordan was in the bathroom, I went and thanked Kiah for setting everything up. I misted up a bit, but I don't think anyone noticed. Jordan's very sweet and gracious to me, but usually melancholy, so it was really great to see her really having a good time and enjoying herself. She came back and we smoked the little nug Andy had donated and got in bed slightly chilly, but happy. I fell asleep looking forward to our future and had a Flying Dream for the first time in a long time.
Speaking of the future, it isn't as easy as you might think to save money here and (as I think I mentioned in my last blog) I expect to blow through all of it by the time I'm set up in a new place. Jordan is more worried than I am (I have no debt) so I told her I would start cooking for us, since we eat out every day. While eating out can be cheap and cooking can be expensive, we'll save a lot of money by being careful. It's only been two days, but I haven't eaten out nor gotten snacks or drinks from 7-11 and I think I can sustain that. And if we wind up together in the states, getting started shouldn't be as expensive as doing so alone.