oh oh and one more thing
note to guys who have a particular target in mind, and who actually want the girl to like him back:
1. do NOT follow her around
2. do NOT outright tell her you're "interested" in her when you've only first met
3. do NOT keep sending her messages if she's not replying
4. do NOT keep waiting around for her if she looks like she's going to go somewhere with her GIRL friends
5. do NOT keep STARING at her, it will freak her out
*nod*nod* words of advice. he actually seems like a pretty nice person but when you do the above five things, it's.. sorry. :(
9.30.2003
fun and games
this is definitely mr. blog-worthy.
so i went to a dance tonight. it was for the colleges of liberal arts, engineering, agriculture, and management. my first time at a taiwan dance!!! woohoo~~ well, it wasn't far from our normal american dances, except they served alcohol at a school-sponsored event. uh not sure how american colleges do it??? cuz apparently here the legal drinking age is 18. yet you can't vote until 20. strange huh?
well they threw out glowing bracelets like crazy.. and they had this big giant beachball. it was HUGE. you could probably fit four of me in there. anyway they bounced it on top of the huge crowd and everyone kinda got to hit it like a volleyball. at first it was fun but then it just kept on.. bouncing.. around.. and it was like.. ok i get the point. but everyone else kept on jumping up to try to hit it so er.. *shrug*
taiwanese people are more conservative, but only in general. i mean, the people who really danced ARE very very good dancers and they really "get the party going." but the majority kinda just compose the circle around those really good dancers. ooh and i went up on stage w/ a buncha friends!! haha..
they had these lil round stickers that they give to everyone. they said you can stick them on the people who you liked and wanted to get to know more. soooooo this resulted in this one guy getting like completely buried in lil round stickers. hahha.. i got like... five or six. but it's not what you guys think!! it was all in good, clean fun. ^_^
however, contrary to popular belief (haha yeah right), shelley's life is not all fun and games. *serious tone* i have actually been studying quite a lot! not japanese.. -___-;; but chinese. i'm learning to read wen yan wen (old chinese? as compared to old english?) better now.. it's so hard it gives me so many headaches. *sigh* that genius tutor guy is helping a lot. we spent a whole hour on like.. 8 sentences of shi ji, which is written completely in wen yan wen. then we spent another hour just on the DESCRIPTION of another bunch of sentences. so basically that's what i've been spending most of my time on. and i've been reading some random chinese literature i found to be interesting... so i can express myself better in chinese.
tired... mm not my style to end a post like this mr. blogger but g'night. x_X
so i went to a dance tonight. it was for the colleges of liberal arts, engineering, agriculture, and management. my first time at a taiwan dance!!! woohoo~~ well, it wasn't far from our normal american dances, except they served alcohol at a school-sponsored event. uh not sure how american colleges do it??? cuz apparently here the legal drinking age is 18. yet you can't vote until 20. strange huh?
well they threw out glowing bracelets like crazy.. and they had this big giant beachball. it was HUGE. you could probably fit four of me in there. anyway they bounced it on top of the huge crowd and everyone kinda got to hit it like a volleyball. at first it was fun but then it just kept on.. bouncing.. around.. and it was like.. ok i get the point. but everyone else kept on jumping up to try to hit it so er.. *shrug*
taiwanese people are more conservative, but only in general. i mean, the people who really danced ARE very very good dancers and they really "get the party going." but the majority kinda just compose the circle around those really good dancers. ooh and i went up on stage w/ a buncha friends!! haha..
they had these lil round stickers that they give to everyone. they said you can stick them on the people who you liked and wanted to get to know more. soooooo this resulted in this one guy getting like completely buried in lil round stickers. hahha.. i got like... five or six. but it's not what you guys think!! it was all in good, clean fun. ^_^
however, contrary to popular belief (haha yeah right), shelley's life is not all fun and games. *serious tone* i have actually been studying quite a lot! not japanese.. -___-;; but chinese. i'm learning to read wen yan wen (old chinese? as compared to old english?) better now.. it's so hard it gives me so many headaches. *sigh* that genius tutor guy is helping a lot. we spent a whole hour on like.. 8 sentences of shi ji, which is written completely in wen yan wen. then we spent another hour just on the DESCRIPTION of another bunch of sentences. so basically that's what i've been spending most of my time on. and i've been reading some random chinese literature i found to be interesting... so i can express myself better in chinese.
tired... mm not my style to end a post like this mr. blogger but g'night. x_X
9.27.2003
決定愛你 徐若瑄
詞：大塚雄三
曲：大塚雄三
中文詞：徐若瑄
愛你 不需要原因 只要有一顆真心
分隔兩地 也可以傳給你
愛你 不會有距離 只要你在我心裡
隨時隨地 我也可以感覺得到你
nanana…
小時候 常常擔心的一個問題
男人結婚之後 到底會不會外遇
我的爸爸媽媽在我小學三年級
他們離婚了 其實我非常地傷心
長大後 覺得沒什麼了不起
愛情並不是生活裡全部的事情
只要此時此刻 我們愛得很用心
就足夠我一輩子去回憶
Repeat *
有時候我也會碰到不如意
寧願哈哈大笑 也不要哭哭啼啼
付出去的感情 就算都沒有回應
可以碰到你 已經覺得非常幸運
失敗做錯了 也沒什麼關係
換個髮型 或是唱唱歌發洩情緒
不要浪費時間 一直躲在後悔??
要找回那顆 不認輸的心
決定要做的事情 不要輕易受打擊
今天不行 還有明天可以
決定要談的愛情 不要隨便說放棄
幸福全部要靠自己努力去爭取
有天我一定會等到 生命?堥漲鴙^雄
有天我一定會找到 被我的愛 感動的人
喜歡 賴在你身旁 看你說話的模樣
就算我們不能地久天長
喜歡 為了你而忙 看你開心的模樣
就算沒有我想要的答案
詞：大塚雄三
曲：大塚雄三
中文詞：徐若瑄
愛你 不需要原因 只要有一顆真心
分隔兩地 也可以傳給你
愛你 不會有距離 只要你在我心裡
隨時隨地 我也可以感覺得到你
nanana…
小時候 常常擔心的一個問題
男人結婚之後 到底會不會外遇
我的爸爸媽媽在我小學三年級
他們離婚了 其實我非常地傷心
長大後 覺得沒什麼了不起
愛情並不是生活裡全部的事情
只要此時此刻 我們愛得很用心
就足夠我一輩子去回憶
Repeat *
有時候我也會碰到不如意
寧願哈哈大笑 也不要哭哭啼啼
付出去的感情 就算都沒有回應
可以碰到你 已經覺得非常幸運
失敗做錯了 也沒什麼關係
換個髮型 或是唱唱歌發洩情緒
不要浪費時間 一直躲在後悔??
要找回那顆 不認輸的心
決定要做的事情 不要輕易受打擊
今天不行 還有明天可以
決定要談的愛情 不要隨便說放棄
幸福全部要靠自己努力去爭取
有天我一定會等到 生命?堥漲鴙^雄
有天我一定會找到 被我的愛 感動的人
喜歡 賴在你身旁 看你說話的模樣
就算我們不能地久天長
喜歡 為了你而忙 看你開心的模樣
就算沒有我想要的答案
things to be appreciated
a few things i realized i used to, or have always, taken for granted:
mrs. stebbins: i never really knew how much i liked going to her classes, sitting in my seat and hearing smart comments from the people sitting around me. i liked the way she introduced books to us, such as making us take a quiz of "what women want" before reading madame bovary. i liked her thought-provoking questions. i liked her projects. i liked her essay-grading standards. i liked the books she chose. i liked her essay prompts. i loved feeling like i learned a lot from just TALKING during discussions. the english class i'm in right now is.. so much less. i wonder what ms. stebbins would think if she knew what i was doing.. true, my english class was never designed for native english speakers, and of course was not an AP class, but.. what am i doing in this class???? purely for credit. purely because i have to. waste of time.
my mom: in the couple of weeks that i spent in taiwan while she was still back in tino, it felt horrible because no one here really cared about how i thought of certain things. they took care of me, yes, but there was no emotional/mental support. wherever my mom lives, that is where home is. that's how i define "home." she provides the stability i need and i never knew that before this because i've always been able to live with her every single day.
sunshine: of course the sun still shines here, but it rains a lot more.. i guess that's why everyone talks about the california sunshine or whatever.. sunshine state? or is that florida. hrm. anyway, i realized i'm one of those people whose mood is affected by the weather.
the lack of cockroaches and rats: self-explanatory.
HEXAGON!!! i've made many friends here, but still have not built intimacy. i suppose it will all come in good time, but i miss just being able to call people up and go swimming or watch a movie or whatever..
being able to drive: i love the freedom of driving to wherever i want to. and turning on the radio as loud as i want to and singing along and rolling down the windows. and just parking somewhere and just sit there in my car and think. and not do anything else but sit and think.
furry carpets: impractical solution here in tw because it will get moldy. but they're so comfy. ^_^
free toilet paper! if you forget to bring you own lil pack of tissues before you go into a bathroom stall, you suffer the consequences. *grave nod*
i think that's it for now.. i probably left out some important things, as always, but my eyes are getting tired.
mrs. stebbins: i never really knew how much i liked going to her classes, sitting in my seat and hearing smart comments from the people sitting around me. i liked the way she introduced books to us, such as making us take a quiz of "what women want" before reading madame bovary. i liked her thought-provoking questions. i liked her projects. i liked her essay-grading standards. i liked the books she chose. i liked her essay prompts. i loved feeling like i learned a lot from just TALKING during discussions. the english class i'm in right now is.. so much less. i wonder what ms. stebbins would think if she knew what i was doing.. true, my english class was never designed for native english speakers, and of course was not an AP class, but.. what am i doing in this class???? purely for credit. purely because i have to. waste of time.
my mom: in the couple of weeks that i spent in taiwan while she was still back in tino, it felt horrible because no one here really cared about how i thought of certain things. they took care of me, yes, but there was no emotional/mental support. wherever my mom lives, that is where home is. that's how i define "home." she provides the stability i need and i never knew that before this because i've always been able to live with her every single day.
sunshine: of course the sun still shines here, but it rains a lot more.. i guess that's why everyone talks about the california sunshine or whatever.. sunshine state? or is that florida. hrm. anyway, i realized i'm one of those people whose mood is affected by the weather.
the lack of cockroaches and rats: self-explanatory.
HEXAGON!!! i've made many friends here, but still have not built intimacy. i suppose it will all come in good time, but i miss just being able to call people up and go swimming or watch a movie or whatever..
being able to drive: i love the freedom of driving to wherever i want to. and turning on the radio as loud as i want to and singing along and rolling down the windows. and just parking somewhere and just sit there in my car and think. and not do anything else but sit and think.
furry carpets: impractical solution here in tw because it will get moldy. but they're so comfy. ^_^
free toilet paper! if you forget to bring you own lil pack of tissues before you go into a bathroom stall, you suffer the consequences. *grave nod*
i think that's it for now.. i probably left out some important things, as always, but my eyes are getting tired.
9.24.2003
tonight
"is it you?"
strange way of saying hello, i thought. i pretended to be in full control of my bike (i still wobble occasionally) while he showed off, of course, taking advantage of oncoming speed bumps. he caught up with me even though i sped up on purpose, and we rode side by side for a while, palm trees all along the sides of the road.
"don't you think this is kind of dangerous?" he was referring to my unusual habit of riding on the left side of the road. i told him about my theory.
"this way the cars don't come up behind me." i still stubbornly held onto the belief that riding on the wrong side of the road was actually safer, despite the obvious irony that the only reason it would be "safe" was that i was the only one doing it. so obviously i was "safe" at the cost of everyone else's safety, trying to avoid me. but no matter.
the night hid my anxiety. i was nervous because i wasn't used to having someone riding so closely beside me for such an.. extended period of time. i liked to have them pass me. i liked to see them coming toward me, then pass. and one by one they pass. all going in the opposite direction.
we rode side by side in silence. two bikes foolishly riding against traffic.
the wind blew against my face but unfortunately my hair didn't magically float up in wispy strands like it's supposed to in fairy tales and romance movies. so the pomade works. our dear hair styling products always help to pull us back into reality.
i turned left in the direction of my dorm room. he turned too. but the basketball courts were in the opposite direction. we said our goodbyes.
i rode on.
until i crashed into another bike. it was coming towards me.
strange way of saying hello, i thought. i pretended to be in full control of my bike (i still wobble occasionally) while he showed off, of course, taking advantage of oncoming speed bumps. he caught up with me even though i sped up on purpose, and we rode side by side for a while, palm trees all along the sides of the road.
"don't you think this is kind of dangerous?" he was referring to my unusual habit of riding on the left side of the road. i told him about my theory.
"this way the cars don't come up behind me." i still stubbornly held onto the belief that riding on the wrong side of the road was actually safer, despite the obvious irony that the only reason it would be "safe" was that i was the only one doing it. so obviously i was "safe" at the cost of everyone else's safety, trying to avoid me. but no matter.
the night hid my anxiety. i was nervous because i wasn't used to having someone riding so closely beside me for such an.. extended period of time. i liked to have them pass me. i liked to see them coming toward me, then pass. and one by one they pass. all going in the opposite direction.
we rode side by side in silence. two bikes foolishly riding against traffic.
the wind blew against my face but unfortunately my hair didn't magically float up in wispy strands like it's supposed to in fairy tales and romance movies. so the pomade works. our dear hair styling products always help to pull us back into reality.
i turned left in the direction of my dorm room. he turned too. but the basketball courts were in the opposite direction. we said our goodbyes.
i rode on.
until i crashed into another bike. it was coming towards me.
inspiration
i don't know if i deserve to be quoting this poem as if my situation was similar to the speaker's. but i feel like it speaks for me, and i was stricken with awe when i discovered it in chinese. it's such an inspiration for me, but i don't want to give away the title of this poem so easily.. you figure it out for yourself. ;-)
在一片黃樹林裡, 有著兩條分岔路,
很遺憾, 我不能同時走這兩條路,
我站在第一條路許多,
遠望而去, 直到路隱沒在樹叢裡,
然後, 再看看第二條路,
景致也是同樣怡人,
但似乎更吸引我,
因為草深蔓延, 人煙者然;
雖然只要途經於此, 總也會留下痕跡.
這時, 晨曦鋪灑在這兩條路上,
落葉滿地, 還未留有旅人的痕跡,
喔, 我還是等來日再來走第一條路吧!
但, 踏上路後, 不知會走向何處,
我懷疑我是否再回過頭來, 重走一遭.
在多年, 多年以後的某個時候,
我或許會深有所感的訴說著:
在那片黃樹林的雙叉路抉擇,
而我..., 選擇了人跡罕至的那一條路,
而人生的風貌, 也就因此全然不同了.
在一片黃樹林裡, 有著兩條分岔路,
很遺憾, 我不能同時走這兩條路,
我站在第一條路許多,
遠望而去, 直到路隱沒在樹叢裡,
然後, 再看看第二條路,
景致也是同樣怡人,
但似乎更吸引我,
因為草深蔓延, 人煙者然;
雖然只要途經於此, 總也會留下痕跡.
這時, 晨曦鋪灑在這兩條路上,
落葉滿地, 還未留有旅人的痕跡,
喔, 我還是等來日再來走第一條路吧!
但, 踏上路後, 不知會走向何處,
我懷疑我是否再回過頭來, 重走一遭.
在多年, 多年以後的某個時候,
我或許會深有所感的訴說著:
在那片黃樹林的雙叉路抉擇,
而我..., 選擇了人跡罕至的那一條路,
而人生的風貌, 也就因此全然不同了.
9.23.2003
new bike
that tutor guy taught me SOOOOO much today.. and other people who passed by were all like, completely awed by his.. his.. wealth of knowledge. ^^;; they were all asking him how he knew so much about chinese history. and he memorized like huge blocks of obscure passages from ancient chinese literature that everyone else forgot.. he's just.. really.. really.. smart. ^^ but after two hours of strenuously battling with the text, we finally finished only one section. -__-;; and there's two more i have to do before friday. and i get all this for FREE. :P muahahahhaa..
after "class" i went to practice biking with a buncha girls from our major. and then we went to buy my bike! :D so i'm officially a biker on the NTU campus. ya! *fobbish V* of course, two locks were required..
japanese is going ok... i look at my roommate's desks and i see like huge bulky texts for calculus, chemistry, java, and an endless selection of chinese literature/poetry. and i have.. these colorful illustrated cute little japanese books with tapes and such.. haha.
after "class" i went to practice biking with a buncha girls from our major. and then we went to buy my bike! :D so i'm officially a biker on the NTU campus. ya! *fobbish V* of course, two locks were required..
japanese is going ok... i look at my roommate's desks and i see like huge bulky texts for calculus, chemistry, java, and an endless selection of chinese literature/poetry. and i have.. these colorful illustrated cute little japanese books with tapes and such.. haha.
9.22.2003
recently me
i can't say that i don't miss it back in cali. but when i was in cali i missed taiwan terribly too. why can't i just 100% love wherever it is i happen to be?
it was a few degrees cooler today.. almost felt like i was back in tino again except it was still humid and very cloudy. i still wore shorts while other ppl broke out their sweaters. everyone kept on asking me, "aren't you cold?" but i haven't felt so comfortable in a long time...
went to the welcome performance (er? translation) for aero club (aerobics) today.. i think i'm going to join.
i'm getting someone within our major to tutor me in chinese. it's like, comparable to shakespearean english except i'm studying it as if i'm a new fob to america. i had never been so completely confused in one class before. my tutor is really really smart though. apparently his entrance exam score was enough to put him in the pre-law major at NTU (it requires the highest score within the college, and NTU requires the highest score of all tw colleges, so basically he could have gone to ANY college ANY major he wanted to). but he chose japanese as his first choice because he liked it so much. everyone jokingly yelled at him for it. haha. and in case you're getting any strange ideas, my dear innocent reader, he's off the market. (come to think of it, aren't i kind of too?)
there are officially 20 majors that want to have mixers with us. TWENTY!!!!! the jap major this year probably broke the school record. oy -__-;;
fobbish act to come #2: we're gonna go karaoke-ing!!! like, the nice palace-y kind, not the cheap imitation stuff. :P haha that was kinda cruel. but it's true!!! new KTV, heard it's literally like a palace.
a chameleon changes according to its environment. it doesn't become EXACTLY like it, but it changes enough for its own survival. but if it was not concerned with survival, i wonder if it will still change? but if it does not want to change, does it know what its original color was? and if it doesn't know, then won't it just keep on changing colors, desperately trying to find what color fits him the best? and what if the chameleon never finds that color..?
it was a few degrees cooler today.. almost felt like i was back in tino again except it was still humid and very cloudy. i still wore shorts while other ppl broke out their sweaters. everyone kept on asking me, "aren't you cold?" but i haven't felt so comfortable in a long time...
went to the welcome performance (er? translation) for aero club (aerobics) today.. i think i'm going to join.
i'm getting someone within our major to tutor me in chinese. it's like, comparable to shakespearean english except i'm studying it as if i'm a new fob to america. i had never been so completely confused in one class before. my tutor is really really smart though. apparently his entrance exam score was enough to put him in the pre-law major at NTU (it requires the highest score within the college, and NTU requires the highest score of all tw colleges, so basically he could have gone to ANY college ANY major he wanted to). but he chose japanese as his first choice because he liked it so much. everyone jokingly yelled at him for it. haha. and in case you're getting any strange ideas, my dear innocent reader, he's off the market. (come to think of it, aren't i kind of too?)
there are officially 20 majors that want to have mixers with us. TWENTY!!!!! the jap major this year probably broke the school record. oy -__-;;
fobbish act to come #2: we're gonna go karaoke-ing!!! like, the nice palace-y kind, not the cheap imitation stuff. :P haha that was kinda cruel. but it's true!!! new KTV, heard it's literally like a palace.
a chameleon changes according to its environment. it doesn't become EXACTLY like it, but it changes enough for its own survival. but if it was not concerned with survival, i wonder if it will still change? but if it does not want to change, does it know what its original color was? and if it doesn't know, then won't it just keep on changing colors, desperately trying to find what color fits him the best? and what if the chameleon never finds that color..?
9.21.2003
9.20.2003
just human
i see so many parallels of people here.. it's so strange because my "best friend" in taiwan so far is this wylie parallel, and wylie also happened to be my best friend during my first year in america. and there's this guy who reminds me so much of charlton! and a girl who was a combination of chrissy and kitty. and i don't really know exactly what makes me think of them as parallels of other people.. is it their personality? what they like to do? the way they say certain things? their thought processes?
how can humans be so different and yet so alike? sometimes it seems as if the only thing that separates us is the kinds of things we've picked up along the way because of our environments. things like learning languages, slangs, the kinds of songs we like, where "the party's at," our daily habits from day to day.. but those are only superficial details. the way people treat me remind me of friends or foes back in america. the way people express their ideals remind me of people who are completely different from them in other ways. and even though they may never know this other world with people who are just like them (if they don't move out of taiwan, that is), collectively the people around me is what my own little social polygon consists of. and even though they are completely different individuals, each serves the same purpose as each one of my old friends who used to be in the very foreground of my life.
ah my friends, don't think that this means you have been replaced! no no. what it means is that i have been somewhat developing my own way of surviving socially here. so that even though i don't have you guys here with me, i kind of do at the same time because there are these parallels of you. and even though none of you can ever be replaced, there are shadows of you that continue to revolve around my everyday life.
so maybe the things that happen around us can be on two opposing ends of the spectrum. and maybe the way we express our reactions to them have nothing in common with each other. but no matter how you express it, the emotions involved are universal. we may all mourn in different ways, but the feeling of loss we feel are the same. we may all express love in different ways, but we all know it when we love someone. i suppose it's our own human nature, that same "human nature" we blame all of humanity's mistakes on, that is universal among all of us. our every inevitable emotion, desire, needs, reasoning.. and we must depend on these very basic things to unite us when all else fails.
how can humans be so different and yet so alike? sometimes it seems as if the only thing that separates us is the kinds of things we've picked up along the way because of our environments. things like learning languages, slangs, the kinds of songs we like, where "the party's at," our daily habits from day to day.. but those are only superficial details. the way people treat me remind me of friends or foes back in america. the way people express their ideals remind me of people who are completely different from them in other ways. and even though they may never know this other world with people who are just like them (if they don't move out of taiwan, that is), collectively the people around me is what my own little social polygon consists of. and even though they are completely different individuals, each serves the same purpose as each one of my old friends who used to be in the very foreground of my life.
ah my friends, don't think that this means you have been replaced! no no. what it means is that i have been somewhat developing my own way of surviving socially here. so that even though i don't have you guys here with me, i kind of do at the same time because there are these parallels of you. and even though none of you can ever be replaced, there are shadows of you that continue to revolve around my everyday life.
so maybe the things that happen around us can be on two opposing ends of the spectrum. and maybe the way we express our reactions to them have nothing in common with each other. but no matter how you express it, the emotions involved are universal. we may all mourn in different ways, but the feeling of loss we feel are the same. we may all express love in different ways, but we all know it when we love someone. i suppose it's our own human nature, that same "human nature" we blame all of humanity's mistakes on, that is universal among all of us. our every inevitable emotion, desire, needs, reasoning.. and we must depend on these very basic things to unite us when all else fails.
9.17.2003
lalala
i feel the need to report some recent happenings but it all seems so trivial. i'm living here. and surviving. having.. as much fun as a person could have moving to a completely new country to start college.
sometimes when i'm right in the middle of doing something, i'm suddenly struck with this feeling of awe, because the way life works is just so.. strangely beautiful. i'm.. here. i'm actually really back here now. i don't know if you, the reader, have any idea what i'm talking about because i really don't know how to describe it. perhaps it's because i always felt like if i went to berkeley, it was the normal, obvious way to go. but now i'm here, and it all feels like such an adventure. it's almost as if my whole life i've been on this one track, and i didn't know any other one, and i never stopped to think WHY i'm at a certain place doing certain things and talking to certain people. life made sense. not that it doesn't make sense now, but i feel like i've.. diverged from my original track and gone.. this way. the way i'm going now. it's.. different.
i'm in pain right now because today this guy in our major had to take me somewhere on his bike and we crashed into this other girl who turned without looking behind her. pain. pain pain pain.
sometimes when i'm right in the middle of doing something, i'm suddenly struck with this feeling of awe, because the way life works is just so.. strangely beautiful. i'm.. here. i'm actually really back here now. i don't know if you, the reader, have any idea what i'm talking about because i really don't know how to describe it. perhaps it's because i always felt like if i went to berkeley, it was the normal, obvious way to go. but now i'm here, and it all feels like such an adventure. it's almost as if my whole life i've been on this one track, and i didn't know any other one, and i never stopped to think WHY i'm at a certain place doing certain things and talking to certain people. life made sense. not that it doesn't make sense now, but i feel like i've.. diverged from my original track and gone.. this way. the way i'm going now. it's.. different.
i'm in pain right now because today this guy in our major had to take me somewhere on his bike and we crashed into this other girl who turned without looking behind her. pain. pain pain pain.
9.16.2003
fobbish
today, i did the most fobbish of all fobbish acts.
i went to take sticky pics with some fellow jap major girls. and yes, we did the fobbish victory sign. ^^;;
i went to take sticky pics with some fellow jap major girls. and yes, we did the fobbish victory sign. ^^;;
and even more updates
apparently, we jap major girls in NTU have become.. er.. quite famous among the male-dominated majors in the school. ^^;; it's not my boasting or exaggerating, but we already have at least 12 representatives from other majors who want to (my translation) have mixers with us. haha it's really funny because when i went onto our college message board, in our major is like.. a whole bunch of posts with stuff like "we would like to contact your public relations officer blah blah blah..." and so i curiously went onto the EE board and they had stuff about their PR's having a race to see who got to contact us first.
despite all the hype about boy meets girl or girl meets boy, my college life has remained surprisingly.. single-sexed. even though our major DOES have a few guys, the guys always segregate themselves and so i don't really know them very well. and when chrissy and i went to visit berkeley, we found ourselves to be one of the few girls in foothill, but that is opposite here because my dorm is all girls. so day in day out my contacts have really just been.. girls. *nod* i don't think this is a problem though, because everyone says that the first thing you have to do socially is to build a strong group of friends who can help and support you, and then consider the rest such as possible bf's etc. not that every guy i meet is a potential target, but it seems like being in a girl-dominated major, our friends will most likely be girls and not guys. that is, unless i join clubs, which is a different story.
last night i met a lot of upperclassmen from this on-campus Christian club. one of them (the leader i think) helped me get my internet connection up!!! and yes, it really was very complicated. yup.
there is way too much to write about i've only touched the surface!! gah >_< i guess the only way to make this blog not be a laundry list of what i do each day is to just talk about.. what i feel/think/see? as opposed to what i did? but it's so hard to explain what certain things are because we simply don't have that in american culture! it's like.. when i tried to explain to them what AP classes were.. they don't choose their own classes in high school so yeah..
i'm surprised by how i can become so.. part of the group most of the time even though i've spent an entire 9 very important years of my life in a completely different environment. i'm really glad that i've been able to somewhat keep my chinese language abilities because it's really become critically useful here. i find that as accepting as some people can be about different cultures, it's still difficult to be able to feel like you belong somewhere if you can't even communicate with the people half the time. at the risk of sounding cynical, i still think it is human nature to want to associate with only the people who you consider to be like yourself, perhaps it's because you can identify with how they feel. there are very few people who truly enjoy doing things they've never done and conversing with people who have very little in common with them. it's so easy to just group together in your own little bubble and talk only about the things you ALL have come to familiarize yourselves with.. i suppose we need friends of both kinds then. ones who are like us because they came from the same background and you can say very little and they'll know what you mean. and the second kind, people who open your eyes to things.. people who allow you to be aware of completely different lifestyles, cultures, ways of speech, living habits, what's considered as "normal" and what's considered as "strange."
i'm really glad i've gained so much.. er.. cultural experience in the past month i've been here. i guess i've never really appreciated american OR taiwanese culture because i just took it for granted that taiwan has good food and america has clean air and many large, open spaces. yeah it sounds weird when i put it that way but everywhere i go it's so cramped and crowded i'm being so squished all the time >_<.
i've learned that it's one thing to survive in a place, and it's another to belong in a place. and since i learned to survive in cali and even felt like i belonged there, i'm learning to belong here as well. there's only so much you can see if you look from the outside. you see even more when you're.. part of it all. and you see it happen right in front of your eyes instead of just reading or hearing about it. it's.. it's been quite a journey for me.
despite all the hype about boy meets girl or girl meets boy, my college life has remained surprisingly.. single-sexed. even though our major DOES have a few guys, the guys always segregate themselves and so i don't really know them very well. and when chrissy and i went to visit berkeley, we found ourselves to be one of the few girls in foothill, but that is opposite here because my dorm is all girls. so day in day out my contacts have really just been.. girls. *nod* i don't think this is a problem though, because everyone says that the first thing you have to do socially is to build a strong group of friends who can help and support you, and then consider the rest such as possible bf's etc. not that every guy i meet is a potential target, but it seems like being in a girl-dominated major, our friends will most likely be girls and not guys. that is, unless i join clubs, which is a different story.
last night i met a lot of upperclassmen from this on-campus Christian club. one of them (the leader i think) helped me get my internet connection up!!! and yes, it really was very complicated. yup.
there is way too much to write about i've only touched the surface!! gah >_< i guess the only way to make this blog not be a laundry list of what i do each day is to just talk about.. what i feel/think/see? as opposed to what i did? but it's so hard to explain what certain things are because we simply don't have that in american culture! it's like.. when i tried to explain to them what AP classes were.. they don't choose their own classes in high school so yeah..
i'm surprised by how i can become so.. part of the group most of the time even though i've spent an entire 9 very important years of my life in a completely different environment. i'm really glad that i've been able to somewhat keep my chinese language abilities because it's really become critically useful here. i find that as accepting as some people can be about different cultures, it's still difficult to be able to feel like you belong somewhere if you can't even communicate with the people half the time. at the risk of sounding cynical, i still think it is human nature to want to associate with only the people who you consider to be like yourself, perhaps it's because you can identify with how they feel. there are very few people who truly enjoy doing things they've never done and conversing with people who have very little in common with them. it's so easy to just group together in your own little bubble and talk only about the things you ALL have come to familiarize yourselves with.. i suppose we need friends of both kinds then. ones who are like us because they came from the same background and you can say very little and they'll know what you mean. and the second kind, people who open your eyes to things.. people who allow you to be aware of completely different lifestyles, cultures, ways of speech, living habits, what's considered as "normal" and what's considered as "strange."
i'm really glad i've gained so much.. er.. cultural experience in the past month i've been here. i guess i've never really appreciated american OR taiwanese culture because i just took it for granted that taiwan has good food and america has clean air and many large, open spaces. yeah it sounds weird when i put it that way but everywhere i go it's so cramped and crowded i'm being so squished all the time >_<.
i've learned that it's one thing to survive in a place, and it's another to belong in a place. and since i learned to survive in cali and even felt like i belonged there, i'm learning to belong here as well. there's only so much you can see if you look from the outside. you see even more when you're.. part of it all. and you see it happen right in front of your eyes instead of just reading or hearing about it. it's.. it's been quite a journey for me.
9.15.2003
more updates
ahhhhh so much has happened in the past few days i don't even know where to begin! but first, my explanation for the long-time-no-blogging state. and that is because i moved into the dorms on thursday night and i couldn't get my friggin internet connection to work. i asked my computer nerd roommate (she's not really nerdy, just very good at it) and she couldn't do anything about it. we figured that it was because i haven't paid my dorm fee yet, out of laziness, so i paid, and i haven't checked to see if it works.
the computer lab is all the way across campus from where i live.. GAH!! >_<
the past few days have been jam-packed. to make a long story short, thursday night went to see a chinese musical (the chinese version of romeo and juliet, liang shan buo yu zhu ying tai). friday had orientation (it's nothing compared to berkeley's) and afternoon started our little dating camp. i call it dating camp because it was the japanese major (all girls) with material science engineering (all guys) and every activity we did was just very obviously trying to set us up w/ people. unfortunately, i didn't get hooked up. *melancholy sigh* hahaha.. actually i don't think anyone did because the girls and guys were pretty segregated most of the time. taiwanese culture? freshman culture? i don't know..
first day of classes today. OH MY GOSH THE GYM IS SO NICE. our first PE class (yes we have PE but no math how strange?) was like a tour of some fitness club. it is sooooo nice and soooooo cheap because we're students. yay!!
much more to say but no time because i'm checking out on-campus clubs but i miss you all!! and having much fun here. :)
the computer lab is all the way across campus from where i live.. GAH!! >_<
the past few days have been jam-packed. to make a long story short, thursday night went to see a chinese musical (the chinese version of romeo and juliet, liang shan buo yu zhu ying tai). friday had orientation (it's nothing compared to berkeley's) and afternoon started our little dating camp. i call it dating camp because it was the japanese major (all girls) with material science engineering (all guys) and every activity we did was just very obviously trying to set us up w/ people. unfortunately, i didn't get hooked up. *melancholy sigh* hahaha.. actually i don't think anyone did because the girls and guys were pretty segregated most of the time. taiwanese culture? freshman culture? i don't know..
first day of classes today. OH MY GOSH THE GYM IS SO NICE. our first PE class (yes we have PE but no math how strange?) was like a tour of some fitness club. it is sooooo nice and soooooo cheap because we're students. yay!!
much more to say but no time because i'm checking out on-campus clubs but i miss you all!! and having much fun here. :)
9.10.2003
i hate rain
i went to register today. but i don't know why i was so scatterbrained today.. first i forgot my wallet, and i didn't realize it until i got to the MRT ticket place and i realized i didn't have my card. but originally some of us already agreed to go register together so we'd meet.. obviously i'd be late but i realized i couldn't call them cuz i didn't have their phone number. after i finally got the wallet and got back into the MRT station and got on the train, one of them called to ask where i was and i told them what happened and for them to go ahead first. but as i hung up i wanted to enter in the number in my phone book, which was when i realized that i HAD HER NUMBER ALL ALONG! so i finally get to the NTU campus expecting there'd be directions or signs, but there wasn't, and i realized that i stupidly forgot to check where to register. HOW I COULD FORGET TO CHECK SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT IS BEYOND ME. so i asked some people who were going to register also and they were also trying to figure it out. after i finally finished the whole process, i come out and it's like.. huge pouring rain. -__-;; and there were all these people eagerly trying to get me to join all sorts of clubs and i do appreciate their enthusiasm but.. yeah.. wrong time. so i walk toward the bus station only to realize that the bus i was waiting for just drove away, and no matter how i chased it it wouldn't stop. -__-;; and the whole time it was pouring and i happened to be wearing sandals... *sweatdrop*
so, as you can see, today was not exactly the best day of my life.
the funny thing is, my mom made the observation that had i remembered to bring my wallet, i would have made it there on time so they wouldn't have had to wait for me. and then they would also know where to go so i wouldn't get lost.. and if i had finished sooner i wouldn't have been caught in huge pouring rain and missed my bus.
*huffs and puffs*
so you see, christina, i still cannot survive without you. ^_^;;
tomorrow i move into the dorms. oh and i have to start memorizing the 100 japanese er.. what do you call them. syllables/phonetic symbols/alphabet whatever.
so, as you can see, today was not exactly the best day of my life.
the funny thing is, my mom made the observation that had i remembered to bring my wallet, i would have made it there on time so they wouldn't have had to wait for me. and then they would also know where to go so i wouldn't get lost.. and if i had finished sooner i wouldn't have been caught in huge pouring rain and missed my bus.
*huffs and puffs*
so you see, christina, i still cannot survive without you. ^_^;;
tomorrow i move into the dorms. oh and i have to start memorizing the 100 japanese er.. what do you call them. syllables/phonetic symbols/alphabet whatever.
9.08.2003
they have mutated.. aerial mobility has greatly increased
oh... my.. gosh.. i just saw a FLYING COCKROACH.
it was bigger than my pinky and i totally freaked out and woke up my sister. at first she didn't want to kill it but then it crawled to a more advantageous position, who would have known that it started flying toward us when she was trying to throw a slipper at it. i screamed and ran behind a door while my sister attacked again. at last it fell to the ground with its many limbs grasping in the air. it took three layers of tissues to pick it up and flush it down the toilet. -___-;; now i'm going to have nightmares of millions of cockroaches climbing all over my body.
to charlton: and you thought killing spiders was scary?
it was bigger than my pinky and i totally freaked out and woke up my sister. at first she didn't want to kill it but then it crawled to a more advantageous position, who would have known that it started flying toward us when she was trying to throw a slipper at it. i screamed and ran behind a door while my sister attacked again. at last it fell to the ground with its many limbs grasping in the air. it took three layers of tissues to pick it up and flush it down the toilet. -___-;; now i'm going to have nightmares of millions of cockroaches climbing all over my body.
to charlton: and you thought killing spiders was scary?
updates
wow. so much has happened i don't even know how to update. and i never really liked writing about daily happenings anyway. i think it's a waste of er.. digital space. ^^;; if there is such a thing.
but yeah, i saw my dorm room, it's on the fifth floor, no elevators. so i'm on my way to developing non-jiggly thighs eh? hehe.. taiwan is still very hot, and i don't get AC until tuesday, so i decided not to move in until after tuesday. yup. of course, the dorm sucks, definitely not as good as berkeley OR ucla OR stanford. but i guess i'll just have to do. whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right? (ahem yeah sure)
lately we've been doing much planning for the new home and throwing out old furniture. moving into a new house (well, a new house and an old house and a new dorm all at the same time) is a VERY overwhelming process. we have about 200 boxes worth of stuff coming in in a few days. this means we've been very diligently throwing out old things..
planning for paint, ceiling, light fixtures, furniture arrangement, AC, curtains/shades/blinds is very very... *sweatdrop* tiring.
i've been going on BBS an awful lot lately..
oh yeah one of my roommates is majoring in chinese. yay! i can ask her questions.. and she's thinking about minoring in japanese, so she can ask ME japanese questions, that is, if i'm good enough at it.. -__-;;
but yeah, i saw my dorm room, it's on the fifth floor, no elevators. so i'm on my way to developing non-jiggly thighs eh? hehe.. taiwan is still very hot, and i don't get AC until tuesday, so i decided not to move in until after tuesday. yup. of course, the dorm sucks, definitely not as good as berkeley OR ucla OR stanford. but i guess i'll just have to do. whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right? (ahem yeah sure)
lately we've been doing much planning for the new home and throwing out old furniture. moving into a new house (well, a new house and an old house and a new dorm all at the same time) is a VERY overwhelming process. we have about 200 boxes worth of stuff coming in in a few days. this means we've been very diligently throwing out old things..
planning for paint, ceiling, light fixtures, furniture arrangement, AC, curtains/shades/blinds is very very... *sweatdrop* tiring.
i've been going on BBS an awful lot lately..
oh yeah one of my roommates is majoring in chinese. yay! i can ask her questions.. and she's thinking about minoring in japanese, so she can ask ME japanese questions, that is, if i'm good enough at it.. -__-;;
9.07.2003
9.06.2003
oop. there it is.
ladies and gentleman, the moment you've all been waiting for...
*drumroll*
TADA!!! the birth of a brand new blog. brought to you completely in chinese.
...
oh yeah, it's private. *wink*
*drumroll*
TADA!!! the birth of a brand new blog. brought to you completely in chinese.
...
oh yeah, it's private. *wink*
9.05.2003
練習打中文
yay! chinese works. i have to start practicing typing in chinese now so for those who can't read it, SUCKS FOR YOU!! muahahhaha *evil laughter*
最近我常常上BBS.. 發現還蠻好玩的..
唉 我打中文實在是有夠慢的 不過 也只好一直練習吧!
嘻嘻..
嗯 肚子餓了 出去吃東東囉!!
最近我常常上BBS.. 發現還蠻好玩的..
唉 我打中文實在是有夠慢的 不過 也只好一直練習吧!
嘻嘻..
嗯 肚子餓了 出去吃東東囉!!
9.01.2003
hey! i know leos!!! XD
this cracks me up. btw, in case you're doubting, it's an honest result. hehehehe
You should be dating a Leo.
23 July - 22 August
This mate is honest and loyal, with a sunny
disposition. Though this lion has the tendency
to be arrogant, sulky or smug, he/she is
unrestrained in bed.
What Zodiac Sign Are You Attracted To?
brought to you by Quizilla
You should be dating a Leo.
23 July - 22 August
This mate is honest and loyal, with a sunny
disposition. Though this lion has the tendency
to be arrogant, sulky or smug, he/she is
unrestrained in bed.
What Zodiac Sign Are You Attracted To?
brought to you by Quizilla