Sunday, November 14, 2004
I think the third wave of culture shock is melting away and today I felt more comfortable than I have here ever before. I've started smiling at starers again instead of having staring competitions with them and imitating the way they try to get a stare in without being noticed.
"Oh I think I might look at that lamp shade on the far wall over there, which may give me the oppurtunity to get a look in during the second I swivel my head around to do so." No, wait, I'm still as sarcastic as always. But seriously, can this country do everyone a favour and not pretend to be all international and dynamic and stuff so dumb-arses like me don't come here and freak the f*** out. This was no 5-week cultural exchange to Germany, no siree.
I sussed out the Let's Go China book today. I've definitely got time for the three gorges. Traveling around Taiwan for a week was easy but doing it for five weeks is going to be different. Like, where am I going to wash my clothes and stuff? Holy shit.
Last night Miss Flatty and I saw The Village and King Arthur for a hundred kuai. The Village was really good, I thought it was going to be about the salem witch trials or something like that but it turned out to be like the Truman Show or the Beach. It rocked. King Arthur was remarkably boring but inspired me to want to take old stories and retell them, that would be so much fun. During the movie, I couldn't really concentrate because of people eating hot-dogs out of noisy plastic bags.
Anyway, I figured out how to write my best-selling novel. I already have a solid character for it! This character is a writer and a socialite, the first genuine socialite I've ever met, so proud of myself. She goes to parties and cultural events and knows more about Western culture than my friend Lily from Marseilles does. Likewise, speaking English is as easy as scratching your arse for her. She mixes, mixes, and mixes some more, when she's not ghost-writing love stories for a local magazine. She has vowed never to speak to her father again but my guess is, we'll never know why. Ooooooh, mysterious!
Who's the second character. A guy. We need someone remarkable, someone whose utter uniqueness deserves to be recorded and preserved through the ages. Can't think of anyone at this time. But dude, a guy that I met last night, that I actually like (bonus), just sms'd me.
¶ 21:57
"Oh I think I might look at that lamp shade on the far wall over there, which may give me the oppurtunity to get a look in during the second I swivel my head around to do so." No, wait, I'm still as sarcastic as always. But seriously, can this country do everyone a favour and not pretend to be all international and dynamic and stuff so dumb-arses like me don't come here and freak the f*** out. This was no 5-week cultural exchange to Germany, no siree.
I sussed out the Let's Go China book today. I've definitely got time for the three gorges. Traveling around Taiwan for a week was easy but doing it for five weeks is going to be different. Like, where am I going to wash my clothes and stuff? Holy shit.
Last night Miss Flatty and I saw The Village and King Arthur for a hundred kuai. The Village was really good, I thought it was going to be about the salem witch trials or something like that but it turned out to be like the Truman Show or the Beach. It rocked. King Arthur was remarkably boring but inspired me to want to take old stories and retell them, that would be so much fun. During the movie, I couldn't really concentrate because of people eating hot-dogs out of noisy plastic bags.
Anyway, I figured out how to write my best-selling novel. I already have a solid character for it! This character is a writer and a socialite, the first genuine socialite I've ever met, so proud of myself. She goes to parties and cultural events and knows more about Western culture than my friend Lily from Marseilles does. Likewise, speaking English is as easy as scratching your arse for her. She mixes, mixes, and mixes some more, when she's not ghost-writing love stories for a local magazine. She has vowed never to speak to her father again but my guess is, we'll never know why. Ooooooh, mysterious!
Who's the second character. A guy. We need someone remarkable, someone whose utter uniqueness deserves to be recorded and preserved through the ages. Can't think of anyone at this time. But dude, a guy that I met last night, that I actually like (bonus), just sms'd me.
¶ 21:57
