Just so you know…

[UPDATE] Okay, so my family has seen the patheticness of my life without the internet and let me borrow a laptop they produced from nowhere. YAY! They’re so nice. That being said, I still don’t have any access to any of my previous vids/pics, so I’ll just be posting stuff from now on out. The old stuff will just have to wait. (Which sucks cause there’s a lot).

In my new host family, not only do I have no access to the internet but I don’t even have access to all the videos and pictures I’ve taken. So… this blog is gonna get even slower. That’s ok, right Friends and Family? You don’t mind? Good! ^^ Cause you guys are obligated by blood-ties to be nice to me. As for everyone else (if there are other people out there, lol), I’m sorry but be sure I’m taking lots of notes on stuff here.

This is why I love Ju with all of my heart

I just found a present my Brazilian wife Ju left for me on my camera. I just had to post it here. She did this cause I’ve been having some problems with Miguel (that I may or maynot explain later) and she wanted to cheer me up. Josie is my nickname, if you don’t already know that.

(The words say “I love you” in Chinese)

And this is why love is the most important thing in the world.

Vacation time~!

Fang jia le! (That’s what the book says is “now it’s vacation,” but the book is only right like 60% of the time).

Hello everyone! Thanks to the Chinese New Year that’s coming up (I think it starts Feb 13…) we have a whole month of school off! Yay!

Of course, that means that my time will be endless~! How great is this? Oh, and Wednesday is my half year mark! Can you believe this? It’s unthinkable! There’s no way it’s half over!

Actually, we’ve been on vacation since last week but I’ve been on two consecutive trips all around Taiwan, so I haven’t had any time to write. I just got back tonight but I am moving this weekend so I won’t be able to write till after I move, assuming there’s a computer at my disposal at my new fam’s. Probably not, I’ve been told. The good news: one of our teachers at school let me and Miguel borrow a laptop between the two of us for the entire next semester! So, I won’t be entirely without internet!

That being said, I still have packing to do. MUCH has happened, so look forward to it!

A sneak preview of what I’ll be writing about:

-School graduation trip where we traveled all the way to the bottom of the island and did fun, mischevious things!

-My entire class thinking I’m in love with this cocky kid in my class who thinks I’m a loser (his “boyfriend” also thinks I’m a weirdo loser)

-Angel game

-New Years/Xmas (I’m still working on it!)

-The first of 3 Rotary trips will all the exchange students (this is the one I just got back from) to the middle of Taiwan

-QUENTIN AND MIGUEL BECOMING A COUPLE! This one is gonna be interesting to explain. I’ve known Miguel was gay for quite some time, but he did his official coming out to the YEP this past week and now he and Quentin are dating

-Two new Australians have arrived

-Vids and stuff explaining life here/advice for future exchangers (by now next year’s kids know where they’re going)

-A problem between me and Miguel @.@

Okay! Till next time!

Succumbing to The Lazy

It’s happening…

More and more I’m starting to realize: it’s getting really hard to work diligently on ANYTHING. Even on things I wanna do. >< Even if it’s something I want to do, if it’s on my List of Things to Do, I’ll put it off for something else. It almost seems as if I’m just shirking responsibilty for the sake of shirking it. How can I put off blogging? Talking with my friends online? Comic books?! T.T

How am I ever gonna got to university? I’ll die. lol At first I was like “Haha! I’m starting to get lazy!” Now it’s gotten to the point where I don’t seem to have to drive to even slowly progress my goals. I’m in a “I-just-wanna-do-whatever-I-wanna-do-at-the-moment” phase. It’s not like the inspiration isn’t there. I’m constantly reminded of why I should bust my ass to study Chinese. Then, I’m like “Okay, self! Do it! >< From now on!” Then something ALWAYS comes up. Something as small as “I’m really tired cause I only got 5 hours of sleep last night and should use this extra morning time to nap on that nice, comfy couch” to “I absolutely HAVE to do something at some time that’ll take all day.”

I think it’s a little interesting though. I wish I could watch this from the outside. It’s annoying me, yes, but it’s also giving me something else to think about in the context of this exchange.

Manon told me that she’s just decided to not go to university right away. She’s gonna spend one year studying Chinese and English further in a special one-year program and then go. Because, we’re all just now starting to realize some of the MANY repercussions of this exchange. One of them is that hardly any of us are as diligent as we were. Reid, a super nerdy American boy, is still like 100% as “yonggong”– studious/hardworking/etc. I’m actually kinda jealous, but I think he’s going over the top.

The reason Manon has decided to do this (it’s called LEA in French) is because she says that there’s no way she can go back to France and go back to the way everything was. She is a smart girl who, as far as I can tell, did well in school. But, our lives here are so free in certain ways. It’s so weird to break away from all that you’ve known and all that is important (school, tests, getting into university, pleasing others) and just live for yourself (well, mostly) all day every day. How many people can say that they’ve lived for themselves almost completely. It’s a really strange feeling. Because, we’re always taught that this isn’t what we should be doing. That the world isn’t just about “play” but “work”. And don’t get me wrong, there’s PLENTY of “work” to do here, but as I said,there’s not the same pressure/looming deadlines/etc.

I kinda resent this in a way. I’m a product of the “I only wanna do what I wanna do ALL THE TIME” mentality that has stolen the brains of America’s youth. Sometimes, people, you HAVE to take SOME kind of responsibility. This is not something most young people can phathom. This exchange has made it that much harder. After you get a taste of this selfish living for yourself stuff, I don’t know how anyone can recover. I know it’s gotten me hard now. Snuck in without my noticing and it’s developing to the realm of “fatal.”

I’m a little worried because my only interest in life was Asia and now I can’t even study that, so what am I gonna do? I only like to read manga, study language, and observe people. T.T That can’t get you anywhere, for most people. Even the places it can take you aren’t great. But, I literally have ZERO interest in anything else and I am most definitely a part of the ”me-generation” problem.

If I was given two more years or so of this, I could really kick back. The Chinese will come eventually and there’s just so much to do/see/experience. But, what gets you is that there’s only a year. If you really wanna learn Chinese, you need to buckle down. Especially if you’re like me and don’t plan on studying Chinese in college. (That’s probably gonna end up changing though… I can’t afford to lose what I learned here by just abruptly stopping). This year, if you want it to, can make or break your Chinese study.

But then, on the other hand, you only have a year. One of the most important things I’ve learn about life since coming here is this:

You only have the limited time with people to really be part of your lives. As in, I only have this year to be with Manon, Miguel, Quentin, and Ju (and of course the others but my relationships with these ones are really special). After that, no matter how much we try, unless we live together again, we’re never gonna be on this level again.

This is really surprising to me, but I honestly cannot imagine my life without them. Yes, we’ve only known each other 4 months, but I am almost brought to tears thinking of life “after this.” I spend every day with Manon, Miguel, and Quentin. I share some really precious things with them and them with me. We have formed a bond that is unlike any other I have ever had. We’ll always have this bond, but after this, that’s it. We’ll go back home, have facebook relations, and maybe even visit each other from time to time.

But my life is gonna be changed irreparably.  I hate even thinking about it. But, isn’t all of life like this? I feel really lucky to have realized this, ESPECIALLY because we still have 6 months together. And it makes perfect sense. I’d been wondering why it’s been so difficult to include my two best friends for years (Lupin and Claire) in my life long-distance-ly. >< That’s because unless you’re in the same net of life together, it’s (in my opinion) impossible to have a truly remarkable relationship.

Sometimes, I feel as if I don’t miss them because they’re always in my heart. By this, I mean sometimes I’m shocked to find out we haven’t talked in months when it seemed to me as if they were almost right next to me all the time. They are always in the back of my mind and front of my heart. They have a presence in my life, so I get sad when I talk with them online or whatever and we have nothing to say to each other. It’s like, why can’t we be like old times?

It’s the physical proximity that’s the problem.

So, what do you do? Spend time with friends, spend time goofing off and doing what you want or study, do your homework, blog or journal? >< It really seems like there can only be one of these options left standing. They don’t seem to work in harmony together, at least for me. But when are you ever gonna have a chance to just live your life as close to how you want to as possible? After this, it’s all back to serving “the man.”

It seems that at least for the time being, doing-what-you-know-you-really-need-to doesn’t have a chance.

Progress Report

So, I have 100 drafts of posts to put on here and I work on them little by little and post them when they’re finished. Which is why you haven’t heard anything about Xmas and New Years… (I don’t think).

I’ve decided to do this one now because I think it’s important to stay on track.

In the beginning I set some goals. I’m gonna sorta review them.

1. By the beginning of January, finish the first two volumes of the Chinese textbook series I’m using.

Almost accomplished. I actually have 3 chapters of vocab to go (and it’s already Jan 10… Bu hao). One of the problems is that in the last month I have not only had holiday stuff to worry about, but I’ve been not studying or going to class at all. ^^; It kinda bothers me cause I never did this in the US, but I’m finding that some of the most valuable things in this exchange is not in the classroom or my textbook. Which is obvious, but it’s just never been a choice for me. I’ve always just studied. I feel kinda bad cause now it’s already 1/3 through Jan and I’m not there yet.

Actually, the month of January was suppose to be devoted to just learning the characters (cause I only know like 40 now) but that’s not gonna happen.

Honestly, it’s not a big deal. I don’t have tests or real deadlines, just personal ones. That I made before I even got here.

That being said, I made every deadline but the one for the beginning of Jan and the month of Jan as a whole.

I’ve decided to rework my study schedule since I’m not spending the 3 hours in class everyday (that’s when I studied the most).

2. Be fluent in 4 months

Okay, I heard this a lot. From my rotary back home and from my rotary here. I’m gonna tell you it’s impossible unless you’re a robot. For 3 months I studied for 3 hours a day and I’m nowhere near fluent. And it’s not just me, of course. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the only one who has studied a lot here. There are, to my knowledge, 3 other people who came here with nothing who know as much as me and speak better (XD It’s not fair!). There are another 5 people who speak Chinese really well, but they’ve all studied for a long time before (from .5-5 years more).

It’s not impossible, but you have to be really dedicated and spend a lot of time to be proficient in Chinese in even one year. Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize that my strategy of studying Chinese is not the best.

What I did was just study lots of vocab and some grammar, memorizing hundreds of words in 3 months. But, I haven’t done much with using them. I can’t understand people if they speak too fast even if I know every word, I can’t make more complex sentences even if I know every word and some of the grammar, and I don’t use it very much so then I forget some words. I just spent like 3 days rememorizing some words I never use cause they’ve been popping up recently.

I have been intergrating speaking and listening more, but there are the problems I spoke of in an earlier post. It’s just about trying and making the effort though. One girl, I think I’ve mentioned her, has really inspired me. She even speaks Chinese to her YEP friends. We know the same amount of words but she’s much better at speaking. Actually, there are two girls who fit this situation. I will follow their lead and speak more. ^^

3. Make lots of gay friends

I’ve been really unsuccessful in this category. Actually, I’ve been really unsuccessful in making good TW friends period. Obviously I have Justin and Jacky as my good friends, but they’re the only ones and they’re on and off all the time. I have a small group of guy friends besides J and J but we don’t hang out outside of school. They’re really nice and I love talking to them. I’m okay with how things are now but I hope they progress. It’s the kind of relationship where we don’t really talk much but when we do it’s really good.

Then, there is the group of girls I’m “friends” with. Only one of them I talk to more or less frequently and even then, she mostly ignores me. We’re friends on paper, but that’s really it. They’re really great, but for some reason it’s been impossible to talk with them. W/e. I’ve given up already.

Then there’s the outside TW people, like Tan, Eric, and a few others. I know them through friends or whatever and we don’t see each other much. I barely see Tan cause I’m always late to school now and even so, he’s very TW in that he’s only really interested in having a real relationship with Quentin. The last time I saw him was on Xmas day and he gave me some cookies and I gave him a card. I had some fudge from the US to give him but I forgot to give it to him and ended up eating it. Yum!

To date, I know 5 gay TW boys and 1 bi TW girl (and one girl who we all joke is gay, including her TW friends). And I’m “friends” with one gay TW boy (Cookie-baker from earlier) but he’s not interested in developing anything with me. We talk about cookies and cakes occassionally, give each other presents, and that’s it. Then there’s “OK, ma?” He’s REALLY not interested in having any kind of relationship with me. But not in the mean way that a lot of people do it. It’s more like, he’s living his life and that just doesn’t include me. I’m okay with this though. I do wanna hug him just once though.

Then there’s my next host brother. That’s right! My next host brother and Quentin’s current host brother is gay, but unfortunately he lives in the south of TW b/c of college and he also has NO interest in talking to me or Quentin. Even Quentin! And TW people love him! In the beginning we talked but that was because it was the like second day of us being here and he had just gotten back from him exchange in the US.

Then there’s YoYo, who I told you about already. -_- He’s just… ok, moving on.

The last one is Abraham, a beautiful gay boy Q met online and now hangs out with in person. He’s really glamorous so of course wants nothing to do with me, but he’s been trying to hook up with Q for a while. XD I kinda hope that happens. Quentin was dating a Brazilian boy here but they broke up on New Years (it was really fucked up. >< Stupid Brazilian!). So maybe it could happen.

4. Start a mini-ethnography after the beg of Jan. ^^ I've been thinking about what I wanna do it on. I don't actually know how to do an ethnography so I tried reading a book on it but it was so dry I couldn't get through it (that's why I'm not made for academia). Since my heart's a little broken over the whole Asia-hates-me thing, I don't have my earlier interests to fall back on. And the language barrier is problem too.

I think, as usual, I'll pick something that somehow involves young people and BL. I've been really interesting in the challenges to authority here and the idea of the "bad kids." Unfortunately, all of the "bad kids" really don't like me. You see, there are several levels of TW ppl not liking me. This is kinda the worse. They kinda make fun of my Chinese and other things about me, I'm sure. It doesn't help that this is the group I tripped up the stairs in front of. Twinky, Twinky's boyfriend, Tekken guy, "AnJing~.", Yellow Shoes Jackass, and others belong in this group. Oh yeah, and so does Coffee! She's my insider informant. XD

Actually, I can get lots of info from her. Everytime we are together outside of school, I literally take notes on all the stuff that happens. It's magic. If I was someone who TW wanted to be friends with, I could have had a really great time exploring delinquency here. But, alas, I have to live vicariously through her. And our relationship is strange. It teeters between "I don't know you and it's funny to make fun of you in Chinese to others" to "you're the only one I can talk to about his, Josie". I have a feeling she does like me but she's far too damaged to carry on completely healthy relationships.

I'll talk more about this later.

Okay! So there it is. XD I have to think about how I'm gonna adjust my study schedule.

Taipei Gay Pride Part II

Actually, the video entitled “TP Pride 3″ is the first one chronologically.

I wish I could say more about this Pride, but alas I can’t. I was only there for about an hour and it almost entire consisted of us chasing the parade (and taking pictures along the way), trying to talk to a few people, and watching this performance. ^^ But, I’m glad I went. 

Hope you enjoy too!

Things that make me happy :)

-Burning away 935 calories at the gym and actually feeling the burn on the crunches

-and a stomach full of chao fan (fried rice) afterwards (XD the irony!). And it was at my favorite chao fan stand, which has been closed for the last 2 times I tried to go cause of the holiday

-Good music. Thank you iTunes!

-Zhong wen jinbu le! (Improvement in Chinese!) Last week we had our one and only big cumulative Chinese test through my exchange program and based on the results we got reassigned. (Fyi, in the beginning, they tested us and put us in 1-3 level classes). I was in the bottom the first time, but I moved to the top class this time. At first I was upset by this cause the 3 biggest douchebags are in the top class and I really can’t stand them, but it was actually really great.

The teacher spoke Chinese the whole time. I can’t believe this. It felt SOOOO good to understand 80-100% of a native speaker. When I visited my uni’s Chinese level one class, I was so shocked that after 8 months the class was all in Chinese. But four months? I never dreamed! Especially because of what I mentioned earlier about the status of people speaking to you in Zhongwen (Chinese). Our teacher is really good. She knows just how to push us, she doesn’t speak too fast or too slow, she repeats the best things, she doesn’t translate words but uses Chinese words to describe it. I can’t freakin believe how lucky I am to have her.

And the people I can’t stand are much easier to deal with than I thought. Granted, it’s only the first day  and several times I had to grind my teeth to keep myself from lunging at them because of their insane amounts of douchebaggary, but hey, they’re still alive and I’m not in jail, so I’d call this day a success.

I think my Chinese speaking will improve 10 fold even though I already know everything she’s explaining to us. Plus, she gives us good work to do. This is basically the exact opposite of the bottom class.

On a side note, I’m pretty shocked at the progression of 3 other people’s Chinese. One girl has really inspired me: she has a notebook absolutely filled with great vocab and structures. And although we have the same vocabulary, she can use them and recall them much more proficiently than me.  

-Finding things. Today I lost my new notebook, my ipod, and my adorable, unique, and super cheap cellphone holder that I got at a garage sale and they ALL came back to me! XD In the same day! Wow!

A while ago I lost the ring my aunt bought me on our trip to the Southwest. It was super special and I shared a lot of great memories with it, but that’s still gone forever. I really hope I can find another one like it and it’ll be with me for much longer.

-Deep discussions. I can count the number of “deep discussions” I’ve had here on one hand. In the US, for many years, these played a very important (albeit, un-understandable on my part) role in my life. Exchanges are funny in that they take you away from everything you’ve ever known and suddenly your ability to self-reflect/articulate your life thusfar is exponentially increased. This gets even more interesting when you add the amazingly poetic, eloquent speeches or phrases by people who’s second, third, or 6th language is English. They can say things I can’t in my own language! I can’t imagine what they’re like in their languages!!

These talks really bring a lot of meaning to the exchange. I have had grand realizations about the world that seem really simple and are pretty obvious, but when you’re busy living your life in the context of your own society, it becomes really hard to see them.

-Polyglotism. As expected, many of the other exchangers from nonUS and Canada countries can speak a lot of languages. Today I found out that one of my “enemies” (who’s a native French speaker) can fluently speak not only English but Dutch because he went to a Dutch school for 13 years. Oh, and his Chinese is one of the best in the whole group. He’s studied for 3 years I think he said and he can talk super fast and say a lot, but he’s not a douchebag about it like the other two.

-Feeling like a young person living in an apartment by themselves in a big city. Small things that make me think this bring me such happiness. For instance, I love taking the trash down at 9 pm when I hear the garbage truck song (yes, they sing here… not just any song, the icecream truck song!). There’s something about that that makes me feel closer to my dream of the above city-life. Also, when I take out my key and unlock the apartment and find it empty. That makes me really happy. And, when I discuss with my 16 year old American friend about buying shampoo…. it makes us realize we’re living in another country without our parents (or parental units).

I only wish that I had a lot more freedom to come home when I want, go where ever I want, with whoever I want. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to be in a society where 18 year olds can do anything and not be able to do anything cause of some rules on a piece of paper you signed 6 months ago. It must be awesome to be a college student here. 18 year olds have a lot more power here, I think.

Okay! That’s it for my Super-Happy-Rant-Time. Gotta do that thing called studying which will get me farther in the progression of my goals. Night to everyone!

Gay Pride Taipei

(I apologize for the squealiness of my voice… it’s so annoying! I was just frustrated cause everyone kept showing up with rainbow flags and when I asked them where to get one they said “Oh, they only had one” or “I dont’ know” or “Some guy gave it to me”. I had to go soon because I had the competition to go to so I needed to get one quickly. ) Around :50 you can hear me speak bad Chinese! XDDD I have two more vids I’ll have to upload later cause it won’t let me do it now.

Well this has been long overdue!

Taipei had it’s biggest Gay Pride yet on October 31, 09 and of course I had to go.

Unfortunately, I only caught the tail end of the parade and couldn’t stay for the ensuing performances because I had a full schedule that day. Oct. 31st was a Saturday and I went to my Corinna (Ger) and Ju’s (Brazil) school singing competition. There I met a Taiwanese boy named YoYo who turned out to be bi (but mostly into boys). He moved to Canada permanently a week after I met him and I’m kinda glad. He’s super immature (he’s 16 but in TW years that’s 11) and oversteps his boundaries because we’re foreign.

This should be made into a separate post, but Taiwanese tend to treat other TW one way and then “break all the rules” when it comes to foreigners because, after all, we’re not people. I have a few examples off the top of my head, but I’m not gonna get into that yet.

So, this kid was one of those “I can treat you how I like cause you’re foreign and it’s okay,” even when it’s not. And, I’m pretty sure that before he met me, Ju, and Co (and later Quentin) he had never talked about liking guys with anyone.

The singing contest was boring because everyone sang those sappy love songs that TW love. You know, the ones like this:

Or this, if it was a duet:

Imagine Sung Si Kyung, but Taiwanese. XD For anyone who doesn’t know me personally, I really hate ballads, save a few from DBSK and SuJu. I like super hyper Asian pop music and heavy metal.

But EVERYONE sang songs like this. And most people can’t sing, but because singing love ballads is an actual past time, everyone had a song to sing. It was fun none the less. Afterwards we went to eat (Me, Ju, Co, maybe someone else…, Yoyo, and another Taiwanese boy). Then, me, Co, and Yoyo headed out to meet Quentin and some French ppls because the parade started at 3.

Long story short, Quentin didn’t meet us where we were suppose to meet and kept calling me to tell me he moved cause the parade moved. We spent an hour+ trying to find him so he could take us to the parade. Because of this, we missed the parade except for the end.

I did get pics (Quentin has more; I have them somewhere…) and some vids. AND, when I asked someone where they got the rainbow flag from, they just gave me theirs. Thank you kind person!!! I saw lots of foreigners and beautiful drag queens. Asians really know how to do beautiful and cross dressing, so of course when you put this together… I also bought some temp tattoos. XD

The only performance I got to see was these four really skinny foreigners do this simulated sex dance. It was so great! ^^

I’ll let my pics and vids do the talking though. By now, you probably realize I really suck at explaining stuff. After the parade, I went to a professional ball room dance competition (which is why I had to leave early). It was beyond amazing. Eventually I’ll write about that too.

In an interesting note, the only other Pride I’ve been to is the NYC one (which is the mother of all Prides) and I was 12 and it was the most exciting, amazing thing I’d ever done up till that point. In contrast, the TW one was really quiet and most people just sat around afterwards. They marched in the middle of the street without closing them and only in part of the city, which I thought was cool but inconvenient, and then people sat and watched performances.

In the NYC one, we ran around a huge, closed off area and there was a lot more enthusiasm and fanfare, but that’s how TW do things. It’s not bad, just different. Plus, the parties afterwards were 10x better than the parade. There was organized dancing and singing and little makeshift street dancing competitions and you could buy a million things with a rainbow on it and there was food everywhere. It was like one gigantic party right out on the streets. I maybe walked 10 miles that day with my Aunt and her friends and my sister.

四個月!!! (Four Months!!)

Isn’t that a great picture?

So!! I’ve been here for four months now. Can you believe it? I can’t!

My big Chinese midterm is tomorrow, so I can’t talk long. After this exam, we’ll be reassigned to a different level if we do well. Right now, I’m in the lowest level (level 3) but I think I can maybe make it to level 1. I dunno. That level has people who can speak Chinese very well cause they learned before in their countries. Honestly, I wish I could just stay in my class. I like my classmates. I can’t stand 4 people in the higher levels. They’re complete douchebags (and three of them are American… go figure).

Also, ^^

- I hope your Xmas was great! Mine was. I went to school for two hours in the morning, then me and Miguel skipped and aimlessly walked around for an hour or so till we met up with Manon and Nora (German). They had gone to a club all night. So lucky! Then I went back to school cause one of my classmates called and said there were some presents for me. Then I went to a really, really, REALLY fancy dinner with my host parents, Quentin, and Ayumi (the Japanese inbound here). She’s really awesome. She’s very quiet but has such interesting things to say! And she plays the piano like a goddess!

On a side note, I was practicing my Japanese with her cause it’s been a long while and my brain if full of only Chinese atm, and she turns to me and whispers “Kimochi means ‘feels good’… but people also use it for (sex) [she was extra quiet on the word sex]!” It was so cute! XD

-I still owe everyone a report on Gay Pride…

-We had a really big earthquake and I didn’t even know till much later Bu hao (not good!)!

-I really wanna talk more about the progression of Chinese. But, it’s difficult to talk about cause I can’t really articulate it.

-In one month, I’m halfway done! >0< I can’t believe this.

-My relationship with Taiwan: It’s better for now. I’m enjoying myself more b/c I have finally been able to just live my life regardless of all the other stuff (thanks to the help from my Brazilian wifey!). So, even though the problems are still there, I’ve adjusted myself a little more to accomodate life with them. Taipei is a wonderful city and Taiwan has a beautiful culture, I’m just feeling the loss of the opportunity to gain another culture. I can’t help that it rejects me, so I just have to take what I can from this and stop caring about not being able to fit into society here. If they don’t want me, it’s they’re loss. I came here with certain hopes and expectations (which is never a good thing), but now I know they can’t apply to me.

-New Year’s coming up! I’m going to watch the biggest building in the world, Taipei 101, explode with fireworks. I’ve been looking forward to this for a year (one year ago I found out I was going to Taiwan!).

-Saw Avatar yesterday. I don’t care what critics say, I think it’s the best movie I’ve watched in a really long time. I couldn’t stop shaking for like an hour during and after the movie. It’s not only beautiful, but I honestly like the story and cheesiness. I’m gonna try to see it again next weekend.

-I talked to my aunt and sis on the phone for the first time since the day I arrived!!!!!!!!!! I’m so happy that my new phone can make calls to the US! My old one couldn’t. It was so nice to hear them.

-Filling out the damned financial aid forms for school. Those are a bitch… -_- And my aunt’s MIA till she gets back from Ghana on Jan 28th. Don’t really know what’s gonna happen with that.

Ok, gtg! Love you all! <3

聖誕快樂! Sheng Dan Kuai Le

That’s Merry Xmas in Chinese. :3

Since I have a feeling I won’t get to write in here till after Xmas, here’s my holiday cheer now. >< I still can’t believe Xmas is this Friday. How weird! I have school!

Small note about the picture: this came up on google image search when I put “聖誕快樂” into it. Funny how saying “Merry Xmas” gets me a yaoi pic. Thank you God of Internet!