...one last time... (?)
V...

I went to kung fu for the first time since I got back. As always, I felt like I was absolutely dying. Well, I left class early to go watch Shakespeare In the Park with my friends. I'd wanted to go since about 6th grade, when I first heard about it, but I guess I just was never motivated enough to get it all figured out. It was pretty good; they performed Two Gentlemen of Verona with some hints of modern culture dropped here & there.

There was no real admission fee to the event, but there was a "$5.00 donation requested." Well, having come straight from kung fu, I hadn't changed pants, and therefore didn't have any pockets. So I had slipped a 5-dollar bill into my shoe, but by the time I'd walked to the place to give the money it happed fallen out of the shoe. I wasn't about to walk all the way back to get more money (I'd parked really far away), so I was like, awww screw it. Well, they say it's the thought that counts, right? hahaha...

Well, I finally got back to the states late Wednesday (06/27) night. It was an altogether [different] experience from my previous trips back- I just did different stuff, I guess.

The most memorable experience(s) of the trip would probably have to be the clubbing. I had a lot more fun than I expected at it, actually. I'm usually not very inclined to dance, but I guess there's something about being in a room full of people you'll never see again that makes dancing so much easier, haha. In Taiwan, they refer to 'em as "pubs" or "discos" - haha, the word "disco" always puts a funny image in my head. I went to a couple clubs, always either with my brother or cousin Jack (and their friends). Of the ones I visited, here's how I'd rank the clubs of Taipei:
1. Plush (very nice interior)
2. Twins (the only one with a decently sized dancefloor)
3. B1
4. TU
5. Juliana (a lot of old people, though)
6. 151
7. 45 Pub (really just a bar)

But also, as an inherent part of clubbing, there was drinking. Now, I'm usually not one to drink, but my cousin (Jack) seems to be the only person who ever manages to get me to. It was legal (drinking age in Taiwan is 18), but that doesn't change the fact that I felt pretty guilty about it afterwards. In fact, drinking this summer broke my (almost) 2 year abstinence from alcohol. Well, anyways, needless to say, I got pretty tipsy... *sigh* Man, what good is all that STAND stuff, if when it comes down to it you still cave in to peer pressure? =/ ...and well, not to be advocating alcohol usage or anything, but it does makes dancing feel a lot more natural. Hmmm... must be that bit about reduced social inhibitions, eh? Well, for now, it's back to saying "no" to alcohol... I fear what college might hold.

Anyways, on to other things... My cousin (from my dad's side) took my brother & me to a waterpark near Taichung. (That's kind of like a tradition we have: going to waterparks.) Well, this one, named Mala Bay, was particularly crappy... so crappy that we all joked about how soon we thought it'd go out of business. We set out bright and early from Taipei to beat the anticipated rush, but when we got there, we found the place almost completely deserted. There were probably only 10 other people in the place; the employees surely outnumbered the customers, it was so bad, hahaha.

On the day of the Dragonboat Festival, my entire mom's side (minus a cousin here and there) gathered for dinner. Man, kids grow up so fast in 2 years- I hardly recognized some of my cousins. We took lots of pictures. The night before that, I hung out with my cousin Jackie (Jack's sister) and her friends from the American school in Taichung. I realized that despite whatever knowledge I may have of Chinese, it's still infinitely easier to get along with people that speak English. =/

Also, I met up with Frankie (as we had arranged back in Plano). We didn't do a whole lot actually, we just wandered a mall, basically- the XinGuang SanYue (or like shinkong mitsu... something or other). We basically just ate then went up & down the (several flights of) escalators about 5 times.

The thing I probably hated leaving behind the most would probably have to be the kendo class. It turned out to be a lot more fun than it looked. And I was finally starting to get the hang of it when I had to leave- several of the instructors said I showed promise or had nice execution of technique (particularly the diagonal slice). Also, it wasn't until my last class that I actually started making some friends... dangit... arrrrggg...

As for shopping, which usually tends to be one of my biggest activities while in Taiwan, I didn't shop as much this time around. I had in mind that I was gonna buy this and that, but when I got there, I didn't see stuff that I liked. So for the most part, I came home practically empty-handed. =/ Oh, and I practically didn't play videogames at all this time; that used to be THE most time killing thing to do when I went to Taiwan. I used to play at my cousins' place, but they were too busy cramming for exams to play or hang out or anything, so it wasn't as fun.

One of the (many) things about the Chinese language that absolutely irritates the heck out of me is how there are like a gazillion names for different relatives. For instance, instead of a simple title such as "Uncle," there's like jiujiu, shushu, bobo, guzhang, yizhang, etc. (?) (yea, I know my pinyin ain't so great.) Multiply this by however many titles there would be in English, and you get an approximate idea of the [problem]. Add to this the fact that Chinese people like being called by their titles as a greeting (especially by visiting ABC's, I think =P) and you start to realize why visiting relatives can sometimes be a rather stressful occasion, haha.

Here's that Chinese dictionary-ish site I gotta remember; I'm always having to look it up again when I need it.

*In other news, I've joined a kendo class over here- mainly cuz my relatives were getting on my case about not just watching tv all day. Well, it's, umm... [different], I guess you could say, haha. I think it's really an exercise in concentration more than an exercise in the sense of an aerobic/anaerobic workout- but hey, whatever get's you like Kenshin, right? =P Yea, but one thing that really throws me is how the basic sword stance basically goes against half the stuff you'd do for a fistfighting stance- wacky.

**Oh yea, in other news, today is my blog's birthday, haha, WHEEEEEEEEEE!!! =P "Another day another dollar..."

I'm at an internet cafe type of thing right now. Well, maybe you'd call it a cafe, I dunno... maybe it's more of a computer lounge or something. It's at this place called the "Y17 Youth Party" (Taipei youth activity center, or something like that)- kinda like an upscale YMCA or something. My mom's got this gig teaching English at this place, so I tagged along. But anyways, yea, they've got internet access and a bunch of games. The only problem is, a whole bunch of the games are in Chinese, bleeehhhhhh... don't feel like reading (Chinese). Even Diablo 2, had all Chinese-text, grrrrr... and I think my old multi-player characters got erased from battle.net. =( Then I played some CounterStrike (in English, luckily) and rediscovered how badly I suck at that game, hahaha.

Let's see what else has happened... Ummm, I ate lunch with some more of my brother's new friends. They work at this place called the AIT (American Institute in Taiwan); it's kinda like an embassy or something, complete with security and the whole kit & kaboodle. Yesterday (6/09), I had lunch with some of the relatives on my dad's side. I usually live/hang out with the relatives from my mom's side, so this was actually a rarity, you could say.
Then for dinner, my aunt treated us to dinner at [the Matador], for lack of a better word/phrase, anyways- it's one of the more renowned steakhouse chains of the area. They've got this killer black-pepper sauce- very good stuff.

I've been jetlagged for a loooooong time. I sleep a whole lot, and one day kind of just blends into the next around here...

Taiwan's been having water shortages recently, so to remedy this situation, the government has started a series of [no-water] days, at least in Taipei. Basically, government guys come around and shut off your building's water like one day a week or so. Frankly, I think it's a pretty silly idea. People find ways to get around this ban- where there's a will, there's a way. For instance, my (extended) family has several households in a pretty close area, so when one house has its water shut off, we go to another one of the houses to bathe and whatnot. Not very environmentally friendly of us, but what can we say?

I'm reminded of an essay I read once about the actual efficacy (or rather, the lack of it) of a week-long gasoline embargo in lowering gas prices. Here's the basic gist of it: Because it's a foretold temporary shortage (stoppage) of gasoline entering the consumer market, consumers will stock up on gas ahead of time, causing gasoline suppliers to see an increase in demand, thereby causing them to boost prices. By the time the temporary embargo takes its effect, the only thing it will have achieved is to undo the price spike that they caused themselves a week earlier. Hmmmm... how does this relate to water, you say? Well, in anticipation of the water stoppage, people might start storing water in large quantities the night before.

And besides, what if there's some kind of emergency that requires water? (e.g. fire) Then you're pretty screwed. And plus, add to that the fact that you can't flush toilets or wash your hands, and you've got a pretty big sanitation problem on your hands too. (My two years on the Health & Safety commitee of student congress makes me think about that kinda thing, haha.)

No, I don't think stopping water is the answer. I think perhaps a better solution to this problem would be to quadruple the price of water for a given day of the week. That would be just as effective in discouraging water usage. And that way, if you really did need water, you could still get it... at a price.

I went clubbing tonight for the first time tonight. As Lily puts it, I'm a "virgin to clubbing no more," haha. But anyways, I went with my brother and some of his new friends (he makes friends easily, unlike me- no fair, grrrr...) to a place called TU. It was an [interesting] experience- pretty much what I would have expected. But I did find out that we obviously don't like the same kinds of music. Everytime the DJ started playing stuff with more electronic beats (which I prefer), they were like, "hey, let's get out of here for a bit." grrr... yea, but oh well, whatever.

*Oh yea, time & date stamps on entries are gonna be all off while I'm over in Taiwan.

My mind feels jumbled recently... it's like I've lost the capacity for clear thought...

Well, I'm leaving for Taiwan in a couple hours... I come back on the 23rd.

*Correction: ...make that the 26th now... =/

You know that feeling you get when you finally realize that there's a good chance you'll never see a lot of your friends again once you go your separate ways for college? Yea, it just hit me recently... took awhile... I'm slow like that. *sigh* Kinda gets you down thinking about it, no? =/ They say that it's easier to stay in touch these days with the advent of instant messaging and e-communication, but it's been my experience that none of this changes the fact that people drift... *siiiiiiiiigh*

I just got back from eating at Denny's with Vivian and Johnny, two such people that I probably won't see again after this summer. It was... [quiet].