Thursday, January 31, 2008

Silly Facebook

So, someone on Facebook has declared tomorrow "Hug a Gay Day."

I laughed when I read that. Is that bad?

It's a nice idea, but the thought of carrying it out is kinda weird to me.

Me: Stand still so I can hug you.

Gay/Bi Friend: Oh, yay, a hug.

Me: Yeah, I promised someone on Facebook I would hug a gay person today.

G/B Friend: Um, well, that's nice I guess... So wait, you didn't just spontaneously want to hug me? This is all for some stranger on the Internet??

Me: Well, I mean, um, I was trying to be sensitive! I mean, um... I'm sorry.

See? It's weird.

Actually, that's probably not what would happen. I don't think I'm going to see any of my gay friends/coworkers on Saturday, because I might not even leave the house (naps and tv, mmm). If I do go, say, go to the grocery store, and I decide to participate in this festivity of sensitivity I would have to hug a random gay person. And how might that play out?

Me: Hi, okay, so according to Facebook, today is Hug a Gay Day, so if you're willing I would like to hug you.

Gay Person: .....Um, well, this is awkward.

Yeah. So no.

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Friday, January 11, 2008

Taiwan and Japan

I realized I never wrote about my Taiwan/Japan extravaganza. It was so long and so awesome and so tiring that I honestly needed a few weeks to process it. And then I forgot to write about it.

I just want to say that I should have brought my digicam. I ran out of disposables and only bought one extra bc I was busy. Now I have to learn to print photos so I can print my friend's photos to have some that I'm in! Like the one in front of Tokyo tower with the girls we met at the hostel. That's a great one.

Anyway. Everyone should go to Taiwan. Just make sure you know someone Taiwanese who comes with you because tonality is a pain in the ass if you aren't used to it. I learned "hello" and "thank you" and that was really all I had time for bc I was busy having a blast and reviewing Japanese.

But I should also let you know that if you plan to go on a tour bus full of girls don't stay over a week and a half. My choir is not a bitchy choir (we keep the drama on the DL or avoid it altogether) but we were starting to go a little crazy without men. We were so excited just to make a male friend in Taiwan (nice guy, we played pool with him - of course our choir conductor came, too).

So, basic impressions/memories that come to mind:

Taiwan is BEAUTIFUL.
There are too many stray dogs.
The seafood is excellent.
Apparently a tourbus full of American girls is easily mistaken for a tourbus full of Disney performers.
Taiwan consists of 3 tectonic plates, I think.
I met that famous T-Rex skeleton, the one that's the most complete. She was in a room in a natural history museum, not on display, but the door was open. My friend went NUTS over her.
The stray dogs like granola bars.
Velvet dresses in summer were a bad idea.
The Kenting night market ROCKED! Yummy ice cream, nearby beach, guy in leather underwear... he was just waiting to freak us out and I just looked at him like, yeah, right, don't go there. He didn't. He did touch my friend's arm. She was weirded out. My other friends posed for pics with him.
The mountains go right into the sea on the east coast so they had to extend the shore for a road. They used big concrete blocks shaped something like jacks, which, if you're careful, can be climbed on to get you from the road to the beach. I was not wearing the appropriate footwear and I had already taken my pic of my feet in the Pacific (my favorite ocean!) so I just watched.

Then there was Japan. This old guy at a temple started talking to Jamie because apparently being a Russian/Polish Jew makes her look half Japanese. (Thick black hair and slightly yellowish skin tones? Actually makes sense when you think about it). So we talked to the man and he said, in English, "You should keep speaking in Japanese. I can understand what you say." That was great, because I couldn't really figure out what he was saying. I had that problem a lot. I knew how to ask for what I wanted. I just couldn't figure out the responses too well. I'll work on that for next time, whenever next time is.

So, I'm officially a world traveler. It is AWESOME!!!

And I love my choir. I miss being in choir. Victor, the man with all the connections, also known as our conductor, called to invite me to karaoke tonight, but I work in the morning. Because he called something special must be going on. By special I mean he has something for us to do and needs a good showing at the restaurant. Not sure what project he's working on these days except maybe that SATB choir he's starting that he said I could join. He didn't mention it in last night's call, though. He did say they go there every week and I should come. If I can get a ride from the train, which should be easy, I just might. I miss the girls. And singing. I wanna sing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I sang that a lot while banquet serving; the DJs played it at almost every party. I should practice. I'll have to find the song!

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Thursday, January 10, 2008

NEW JOB - WOOO HOOO!

This is my last month of 800 # hell.

^______________^

I applied for two jobs down the hall. One position provides support to our satellite locations and the other gives academic help via email to students. The first one pays $2,500 more, but, like the idiot I am, I decided I'd like to have an enjoyable job for once. So in February it's goodbye Callcenter, hello Academic Support!

*breaks to buy chocolate*

Should have gotten a Snickers... the M&Ms just aren't hitting the spot.

Anyway, new job.

Things I'm looking forward to:

Coming in at 9, not 8:30.
Being able to do things after work because I won't have to get up before 6 am anymore!
Training - I'll become an expert on the question types that appear on various standarized tests (SAT, GRE, GMAT, most likely).
I'll sort of be teaching again (teaching SAT prep was the only job I've ever had that I liked)
I can yell at students all I want and they won't be able to hear me!
Training myself not to be a jerk about run-on sentences. (Let's see... you're having difficulty with the writing section and you don't know what a clause is? Hm........) Being a grammar nazi (which I am NOT... using bad grammar is fun sometimes and using correct grammar 100% of the time can alienate ppl) is very stressful.

But I am a grammar nazi to some extent. Yesterday, I muttered something that my coworker overheard:

Me: I hope I don't go crazy.
Jim: Going?
Me: Um..... what?
Jim: You said you hope you don't go crazy and I said, 'going?'
Me: *chuckles* Oh, so you used the incorrect verb form in your attempt to insult me! *laughs in his face*

Poor Jim. He didn't know what to say. But what was there to say?

So I am a little crazy when it comes to grammar. I do misuse "hopefully" all the time, though, and then remember, duh, that's wrong... but I only care so much.

Anyway.

I just got off the phone with an SAT mom who was very confused by the college admissions process. "This is just so confusing," she repeated. I gave her contact info for the College Board and tried my best to address her concerns and listened as she repeated things three times and asked questions that I would have no way of knowing the answer to like, should her daughter start out at a community college and then transfer to a four year school, does the College Board already have her daughter's information online because she took the PSAT (this one she asked about three times), etc.

Mom then mentioned that she is an English professor at a community college.

She just answered my question - What do you do with a BA in English? If she can get her masters and become a professor, why do I think it's probably not that hard?

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