Random Rambles

What does one write when the week has not held any outstanding events? Do my friends care about normal things? Who knows.....but write I shall.

First of all, I still haven't decided when to make the trip back to the US. I got all excited when I thought I found a super-dirt-cheap flight from Hong Kong in March, and then I realized the price was listed in Hong Kong dollars, not Taiwan dollars, which made it about the same price as the May/June flights I was checking. My balloon of happiness popped so fast that I dropped with a resounding thud to the ground, bruising myself quite badly. I'm now checking flights around June 8 to Jun 19, which are marginally cheaper than any other time, but still more money than I want to spend, given the fact that I am jobless and the money I have is ALL the money I have and must last goddess knows how long. Perhaps I should solicit for donations, ha.

Hm, what did I do this week? Well, I got a haircut on Wednesday, the second I've had since arrival. I went back to the woman who had done the highlighting last time, and although it was expensive (around $30 US), I did get it cut the way I wanted it and not how the stylist thought it should be. No need for a paper bag on my head this time. I don't think I'll have her wash my hair next time, since she charges $10 US for that (it is not included in cuts and other services here in Taiwan), and she doesn't even give the half-hour marvelous head massage I can get at other salons for about $3-5 US. Paying $10 for a Western-style wash that takes all of five minutes just doesn't cut it.

I've lost my Tuesday night student, which means I've lost $100 US per month income. Double crap. She's going to be living in China for four months, working with her boss there. I think when she returns she'll want to come back for class, but I need to look around for more students to make more money to be able to afford a trip back to the US! Also, the Thursday night gals aren't really reliable. They have to work overtime quite frequently, so that means the class is either short one person or gets canceled altogether. Again, no money. Hiyoshi's friend Sherrie has a friend with two small children, and the three of them together are interested in studying English, so I may give that a try. Gee, you all know how much I love children, right?

The funniest thing that happened to me this week is this: One day after class Hiyoshi, Mao Fu (another Japanese guy), and I were still in the classroom, talking about something or other, Hiyoshi standing across from me and Mao Fu between. All of a sudden, as he's talking, Hiyoshi unbuckles his jeans and unzips his pants and proceeds to tuck in his shirt, treating me to a nice shot of his colorful underwear. I was so shocked that I began to sputter, "What the hell are you doing? You can't just unzip your pants in front of a GIRL!" while at the same time laughing so hard I almost peed myself. He honestly didn't see anything weird about it and told me later "it's a common sight in Asia." Well, damn, it's the first time I've seen it, but I'm looking forward to the next experience. Mao Fu said it seemed as if I was incredibly happy :) Truly cute undies, sort of a tie-dye effect, requires closer inspection, I'd say.

Today is Guoxi's 30th birthday. I'm hoping this evening to have dinner with him and Tona and David from Singapore, but still haven't discussed it with the boy. Since he got back from New York on January 6, he's been busy recording the Mojo CD, and Friday he told me it was finally done. Now they just need to complete the mixing, and next month the CD will be released. There will be at least two performances in Taipei to attend, and then on April 2 Guoxi will head off to Australia for a year of pilot training. Dang, that makes me so sad. I know I'll hardly see him between now and then, and I miss hanging out with him.

I've started reading a book in Chinese, my first! It's very simple, a book for young people, called "Diane's Diary." I also bought a book of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales in Chinese, but it's a little more complicated, and I have to spend too much time looking up unfamiliar words. At least with "Diane's Diary" I know most of the words and can figure out the meaning first, then look up the words later. I'm looking forward to the day I can read easily in Chinese, because Chinese books are way cheaper than English ones here.

Ummm, I think that's it for this entry. Hope no one fell asleep while reading.