whoa, a whole week

with no posting. Sorry to any dedicated readers who might've checked back every day.

Monday Fabio & Etienne headed back to Brazil. I finished "Scrapped Princess" with Scott. In the evening talked with Amanda & the Zhang 'rents for a while about stuff. She seems to have revised her untenable position. Turns out she just really wants to go chill with her Ama, so the children will probably go down there first while a 'rent or two stays here to keep me alive & get me to the plane on time. whee

Tuesday involved some talking on MSN in the morning, followed by hanging with Scott in the afternoon at 101. Oh, while enroute I met some random Canadians, mentioned a few things they could do in Taipei (they just got here). I read part of a book called "Underground" about the Aum cult's 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Also drank some really good (but pretty expensive) bubble tea. The lady at the store where Scott got his something said there wasn't any around, but then I saw a girl with some. So I asked her where she got it & we found the store. huzzah

Wednesday featured the watching of part of "Angelic Layer" at Scott's, plus dinner with Claire, Ivonne, & Scott at the Zhangs'. Seemed pretty random, probably for the girl.

Thursday I went back for the last day of school. Got about 17 kilos of books & stuff and tossed the rest. It was heavy to carry around. I gave a card to my music teacher & Rolin gave me an ocarina. w00tage. Also ditched my English magazines &c on Lingling.

I took a bus to 101 after that. I finished reading "Underground," the book I'd been working on. The first part was all interviews with the victims, and then it ended. Then there was an essay in the middle by the author. Then, just to add to the coolness, the last part was interviews with Aum Shinryoko cult members (not the perpetrators) so you could hear their accounts of what it was like. All in all a badass book, and one which provided interesting tidbits of Japanese culture.

Friday I got up early and went to Xindian to meet with my classmates for one last BBQ. Actually, they didn't invite me at moon festival (mid-autumn festival) but if you'll recall, other classes did. At that point in time, my hair was short, and some girls liked me, but I couldn't speak Chinese so darn. When I got to the station I realised I was an hour early, so I ate a 7-11 burger, and looked wistfully at the faraway Bubble Tea store. I made a card for my classmates but I forgot to give it to them.

Anyway, it took us forever to get stuff like the beverages, and meat (which arrived by courier on a scooter). Then we rode the bus for a long time to Wulai, which is very south, but still in Taipei County. A hot chick on a scooter smiled at me. We walked to a riverside to bbq & play in the water. It was a hot spring, so the water by the edge was anywhere from warm to "oww, freakin hot!" The rocks were so hot they hurt to sit on after a while, and I got stuck in the river... because it was cool, but when I stepped on shore in my bare feet it was WAY too hot and I had to run back.

The food was pretty good & I took some pictures--some at the station & one by the riverside--that are really, really ace. Just ask me about them. You can wait 12 days, can't you? I certainly hope so.

Saturday... hanging out with Scott, hurray! His phone was broken so I called him at like 4 pm to be like "dude, where was my phone call?" And thus, we watched more Angelic Layer.

Today we went to the Zoo. The girls he was meeting there were mad late. Like, an hour late, so I had McDonald's, but it was crowded. Basically we spent the whole day hating small children, because it was the zoo & they were numerous, but not guai or quiet at all.

His schoolmates were cool, but kind of boring in that they had no interests & all conversations with them just ended after a sentence or too. One girl was at the Avril concert as well. Subsequently, there was the conclusion of Angelic Layer at Su Jia. If we have time we'll watch Trigun.

The past few nights I've been trying something new. Scott had a really awesome teacher who taught him Chinese/calligraphy at his school. One time he asked her, "You're a Chinese major. You just studied English on your own. Why is it so good?" And she replied, "well, I found a way to use it every day, so that I won't forget. I write a story, a very long story, in English; it's not a good story, but it doesn't have to be. Each day I write one page. I learn words I don't know and ways in which I want to express something. That way I keep studying and don't forget."

Soshite, I started doing it. My story started out crappy, but then just last night a twist came up. I think it was Holly Lisle who said it, but something like "your characters take on a life of their own. Bit characters start demanding more lines, they use their heads. The red-shirted Ensigns get smart & start dodging bullets, and the token character that should have died keeps coming back." Anyway, now it's interesting & fun as well as beneficial, but I haven't done it for tonight, yet.

My internet has been kind of crappy of late, so I apologize if I miss responding quickly to an email. And Brad, I'll get to that eventually. :p rock on