5 days, bwah

Man, I sure have been neglectful in updating. I had a draft post a few days ago, but truth be told some of these days I haven't done much. Recently I've been battling a rebellious body which I think is making a statement about heat, food, sleep & the likes. I am like "I must eat more!!!" and it's like "nooo.... too hot... no energy needed at all..." Or I want to exercise but it's just so freakin hot & I lack energy. I think the heat is decreasing my quality of sleep or something. Anyway I was feeling not bad today.

Yesterday I wasted most of the morning/ early afternoon. I was feeling sleepy & directionless... originally Scott & I had planned lunch and pool with Flora. I had just got into bed sometime after 3:00 PM for a nap when Zhang mama summoned me to receive a phone call: Scott informed me Flora kept him waiting for info for 3 hours & then said she had some shiqing & could only hang out for a short time. Well, when plans fail... ANIME! whee. So we watched like 5 hours of Evangelion. We'll watch the rest some other time.

Saturday I can't remember what I did. Oh now I do... I wasted most of the day doing nothing, but then Scott called around dinner time. He had just finished writing a Chinese proficiency test at Shida & proposed going to see "Batman Begins." So we did. I was thoroughly impressed. This was kind of like going to see Star Wars, except the plot, dialogue, acting, characterization, pacing, etc. was all good & realistic. Unlike Anakin's shaky move to the Dark Side, Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman was a logical development in character. The ninjas were a nice touch as well. Also, I liked the one or two random lines of Chinese he got.

Actually, I am going to recommend you go see this movie. Maybe don't bring your small children, but go see it. It was really good, unlike all previous batman movies.

Friday (go reverse chronological order) was school. I did swimming in PE with S101 then probably just studied japanese in class for most of the day. At 2:00 PM I went to Starbucks with the teacher-lady to help edit her Master of TESL thesis again. It's been taking a long time. After that I busted a move on back to the school for the choir end party thing. It was also Ms. Liu's birthday the next day so we had two big cakes. They gave me cards & then I gave everyone my card so they can visit/contact me. And then I made everyone sign my shirt. Or, like 30+ people on one of my uniform shirts. So it's like a yearbook you can wear, but never wash. Luckily it was clean before, so I don't have a stinky 'yearbook.' :p

In the evening, Scott, Claire, Chen Ma & I went to Chen Shihan's school for her graduation dance performance. It's an all girls' school -- I think it's a mix between art & drama because the had crew members in equal part to dancers. A lot of it was pretty darn good. There were interpretive, hip-hop & classical numbers. Randomly in the middle was a version of "the ant & the grasshopper" with dancing. The little kids memorized so many English lines & delivered them great; we were impressed. Dobson & Dyson give it two thumbs up.

Scott: "I'm impressed--they're pretty good for a middle school performance."
Kevin: "Uh, Scott, this is elementary school only."
Scott: "Wow."

I'll save my 'wow' moment for later.

Today was quite a day. In the morning I headed to Wanfang to meet up with the teacher chick for lunch, but she cancelled. "So," I thought to myself, "what do I do for the next 7 hours?" First, I had lunch at the restaurant, then talked to one of the ladies that works there. I was enjoying the lovely clearish-skies but found it too hot. I had a vague idea of looking for a public library in which to study, or at least somewhere with airconditioning. I settled on taking the MRT to Danshui, so I could study for a long time, enjoy climate-controlled environment, and take in some view when the tracks go above ground past Minquan W. Road station. So I did.

When I got to Danshui I stood on the platform and was blown away by the nice scenery. The clouds alone were neat to watch, and the view was clear. I guess I've been missing seeing ocean, mountains, anything but cloudy skies & crappy looking buildings. I spent some time by the seaside in the shade enjoying the breeze & the salty yet clear air. I then took a walk (very far) to find a library which was closed, gave up and headed back along the seawall. I did find a wall covered in neat paintings by children & a KMT office. I also handle bubble tea & it was pretty good. The girl at the store was hot & also pretty much the only person I talked to besides that teacher & the Zhangs. mmm.... silence

On returning to Taipei I read part of an English-translated Japanese book about the sarin gas attacks on their subway. It was made up of interviews from people affected. Then I went to a choir concert, which rocked. I had originally thought it might suck because it was Zhang ba's company hosting it. As with other corporate events, however, it was actually quite good. They had a pro baritone on hire who sang stuff from "The Barber of Seville" & random Italian stuff for starters... there was also a masterful Erhu player (with cool blue robe & he did an encore) and a great cellist.

All the accompanying pianists were hot chicks too, and none of them were bad at piano. The company choir wasn't that good, though the family-members choir was ok. My wow moment came with the second set of the "Taipei Chamber Chorus"'s second set. The first part was accompanied but this was a capella. When they came out dressed in aboriginal costumes I was like "whoa this is going to be campy & bad" but I forgot they are professional singers. So they did a train song (way better than "Plenty Good Room") with a guy making a falsetto 'woo' steam whistle sound... then 3 aboriginal songs (the last ending in a dance) -- these alone restored, and in fact redoubled my respect for Taiwan's native culture. Together with the train song it compromises one of the best choral sets I've ever seen. wow

Anyway, my host mom just said I was up too late, but I'm not the one getting up to take phone calls in the middle of the night. I mean wtf is that. rock on / K out