Quite to the point: I have purchased a scooter.
That's right, sitting outside my apartment building, shining in its grayness (greyness for you people of a British English persuasion), is my new Kymco (光陽) G5 125cc scooter. Here! Have a picture! ^^
the greatest give
converse from the take we foster so readily...
admitting guilt,
the involuntary noise
accompanying masses of starving goats;
and now intertwined in our lives,
a seeming connection between those holes,
is the everlasting vacancy of a want, unfulfilled
that desire of expression that results from being bound
to that which is no longer there.
continually, figures peer from behind,
shadowed, oblong, hushed,
reminders of the available time.
I've been known to draw a lot of pictures and diagrams in class. Here are some of my more elaborate, you-had-to-be-there drawings.
Goodness me, it seems that my computer difficulties will be, quite soon, quelled in some respect.
If you are not in the know, my own computational device has been out of commission since turning it off Sunday at 5:47pm. After returning from a Hot Pot Dinner at Jun-Hong's apartment (pictures here), I returned to my own abode to find, much to my dismay, that my computer was not functional.
The next day I visited Scott and Yaling in Banciao, took my computer to the Royal Club ASUS store, and left it for testing. Also of note: I got my ARC back from the immigration office and Scott successfully extended his visa, so he can stay here, legally, for the remainder of his trip. After our going to the immigration office, we stopped off at Scott's apartment, where Yaling's old, white ASUS laptop resided for about a month. Currently, I have said notebook at my place, using it as a loaner until mine is fixed.
Oh, yeah, fixed! I recently learned that my computer will cost NT$4,000 +NT$500 for the testing, which comes to about USD$135. Not too bad, setting me back far less than a new computer would, and being, I believe, less expensive than the same fix would be in the U.S.
A silhouette of an astounding architectural design. To describe with such a cliché-sounding passage would be to diminish the image held within my lacking mind. Though I fail at my ability to describe in any truly meaningful detail the significance that which has been put before me, I can attempt to triangulate the cause of my distraction.
Detailed to flawlessness, each anomaly revealing something of an identifier. I've always felt that scars are indicative of an actively full life, and this one before mine eyes is no exception. An air of less-than-perfection is punctuated by an effective, yet subtle, mixture of sweat and conditioner. There is a choice betwixt lapsing into a state of euphoria, or relaxing and allowing aura to flow freely and invade every sense without losing touch with self? I choose the latter.
On one hand can be counted the differences in dress I have glimpsed, with their similarities showing a want for the casualty of subdued colors and the repetition of geometric curiosities. Can meaning be found in the choices of covering one provides unto their selves? Quite frankly, I have not cared enough to deeply involve myself in the metaphysical and unconscious connotations, only to note that I find the lack of complexity oddly overwhelming.
Pointedly contrasting are differences in attitude: the carefree to the serious, a scholarly appetite offset only by a wicked and knowing glance that says there is more to be had than is beheld.
A gait that expresses the aforementioned, with a weight carried that seems light and child-like in certain respects, yet matured and ingrained with a sense of certain dignity that becomes of one with much experience without age. Bound by a particular stroll that follows no pattern, path, or speed, predictability is equally absent as the previously noted flawless perfection (which is to say, flaws are, indeed, what lead to such a moniker in the first place).
The aberration that is natural is quite the attraction, in saying the least
Friday night, Scott and I had some late night snacks with Chu-chun and Yu-xun (鈺薰). After eating, walking around TKU's campus, and then conversing for a long period of time at the picnic tables near the Education Building, Yu-xun revealed that tomorrow (Saturday) was, in fact, Fireworks Festival! Fireworks? I'm totally in for anything explosive and beautiful. So, we were all in...almost. After some prodding, Chu-chun relented and agreed to come with us.
(From here on, yesterday refers to "Saturday, November 8th.")
(On another note, I'll post a picture of us at the fireworks once I have one.)
Fast-forward a bit to yesterday at 4:30, where I met Yu-xun and Fanyu (鳳羽), a new Hong Konger friend, at the very large statue near TKU's main gate (I'll show you a picture, eventually). We caught the MRT to Zhongshan Station and found our way to the massive line that lead to the bus we needed to take. Our journey was taking us to Dadaocheng Wharf.
Today, after teaching my Saturday X2 class "free time" vocabulary and related lessons, it was time for some actual free time demonstration. I told them my favorite game was Scrabble, and that David's happened to have it. They were game, so we played.
It was four Taiwanese students (adults) versus me. I lost. The winning word, at the buzzer, was "bays," which saved them and led to my defeat. Final score was 248 to 230, my last word being "rue," because my last two letters were U and E.
