Friday 9/6: A No-Show Typhoon

 

In the morning I looked out and saw nothing but a little rain and wind, so I was positive we still had class.  I waited what seemed like a rather long time for the bus, so by the time I got there I was running late  Ran to class and it was dead.  School closed!  I could’ve slept in more.  As I left I saw a guy walking in and thought about telling him, but decided to let him experience his own revelation and self-disgust.  The P.O. was closed too so I couldn’t open my bank account.  Back home, I stopped at Watson’s for some beauty products, went home anticipating the typhoon all day, but all we had was some wimpy wind and light rain.  I went to the 24 hour Wellcome supermarket to check it out.  It’s awesome and has everything, a great find.  It looks so small outside but is actually quite big; there are all kinds of groceries, from Chinese to American to Japanese.  Frozen dinners, kimchee, all kinds of tofu, cheese, milk, ice cream including Haagen Dazs, raw meats, cereals including Honey bunches of Oats, Doritos, peanut butter.   Grape Nuts still cost almost $7 but are a little less than at SOGO, and there’s a deli takeout where a lunchbox is only 29NT. 

 

Dave called me around noon his time.  I told him I’d call that night (Friday night his time) and he said OK.  I spent the evening catching up on my journal, and the typhoon never came. 

 

Sat. 9/7:  First Long-Distance Fight

 

I called and he wasn’t home, and finally reached him out drinking with friends.  I’m mad that he forgot we’d set this time to talk and that he doesn’t like going out when I’m home and now all of a sudden he does.  I’m strained, insecure, not knowing what goes on in his life anymore.  I’m just someone tens of thousands of miles away.  Lots of yelling (on my part) and silence (on his part) ensues.

 

Had lunch at a Japanese restaurant with GuMa, Mom and Dad.  Only 310NT for salad, steamed egg, miso, rice, 1 entrée choice (sashimi, tempura, eel, or pork katsu), side of fried mackerel, and green bean dessert.  It was the first meal I’ve truly enjoyed here, and eaten until I was full.  Then went to SOGO; Mom keeps pointing at pointy shoes and saying they’re popular now and would I ever wear them?  At first I declared I would never subject myself to such discomfort.  But after seeing them around so much, I’m starting to waver.

Cleaned my apartment.  Was still mad at Dave and had to get out, so I went wandering to Eslite, the 5-level 24-hour bookstore that I’d heard about, just around the corner.  It was very crowded and there was no place to sit, but people just stand in the aisles and read, so standing up I read parts of “Buddha in Suburbia,” a funny but twisted book about a half-Indian growing up in the 70s in London.  

Lastly, stopped at the Internet Café.  They now recognize me and didn’t need to see my ID.