"And here we go again...

we know the start, we know the end; masters of the scene."

Those of you on the mailing list will be relieved to know all postcards have been secured and inked with their recipients' addresses. I also spent a good hour deciding what to write to each of you. Then I looked at the cards and they seem small. I almost want to write letters, but my mind isn't quite in good enough shape.

Friday

I stayed up a little late (around 2:00 AM) on Thursday, because I knew today I didn't have anything except language class at 2:00 PM. "So," I thought to myself, "I'll get plenty of sleep if I go to bed 12 hours in advance of my appointment." And thus I drifted off to sleep... Suddenly, I awoke bleary-eyed to a tremendous clamour. It persisted, rhythmic and ridiculously loud. I checked my watch and discovered Taipei had deigned to bless me with around 6 hours of sleep, then ran to the window:

My confusion rapidly metamorphosized into anger as I beheld a train of drummers pulled by a truck slamming out drumbeats at the head of a long procession. The thought running through my mind was from Llowyn's words, except focussed this time on culture. On my windfall day off--a day of rest--I was allowed less than usual sleep.

I spent a goodly amount of time into the West Coast primetime talking on the internet, reading blogs & the likes. Sent a few people pictures and videos. Partway through, my desk started trembling, then shaking. "Hey wise guy," was my first thought, "Stop messing around." But of course no-one else was home. Soon the floor began to vibrate, as if I was sitting atop a washing machine. Eventually, I realised I was experiencing an earthquake. But by that time it had ended and nothing had broken. Let this be an example of the ineffectiveness of school "earthquake response training:" in the face of the real event, I did not hide under a desk, nor count any number, nor watch out for aftershocks. Stupid social engineering.

Anyway, eventually I had to head off to school. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate that the subways were temporarily shut down (not to mention the huge traffic jam in front of the station) for fear of further seismic activity. Luckily I only was obliged to wait a little while, and finished only five minutes late (due to some sandal-running). All in all I got there faster than usual. Class was good, the teacher explained to...certain members of our class that they were being relocated to another class (due to their extreme slowness). We should move quicker in the future, yay.

Dinner was good, something with noodles. I did a little laundry, and also bought a postcard for Laura. Then I spent about 90 minutes writing Alleah's because I had a lot to say; however, the postcard was small, so I had to write really small. I hope it is legible, but she'll be the judge of that. I haven't dropped it in the mails yet as I'll do them all at once. It will be a race, to see if three addressed to proximitous locations dropped off at the same place will take the same route. I am also wondering if international postage is expensive. And that's just about all I have to say about that. TGIF I suppose