I've moved in to my new studio apartment, close to the center of Taipei, and am starting to get settled in. I went to a Carrefour about 6 blocks away to get household items for my apartment, where I spent around $120USD on various things, but had to delay buying certain items since it would have been to heavy to carry everything back the 6 blocks. I've gotten too reliant on cars to get groceries and household stuff, and need to relearn certain habits (ie, no large purchases without lining up transport for it).
Along with some food and silverware, I bought some cleaning supplies, since the studio was covered with soot when I moved in. No one has lived in it for about a year, and the window was slightly cracked open. On the window ledge right in front of the cracked area, was a nice thick area caked with soot from the Taipei air. From there, the entire floor, which is all tile, had a thin film that would leave prints when I walked in it. I bought a swiffer wet wipe pad to use, and it just left the dirt in streaks when I tried it. So I got down and dirty on my hands and knees and wiped the whole floor clean, then once more just to get rid of that sticky film that was leftover from the spray I used. I think my next purchase will be some throw rugs to warm up the room, as opposed to the sterile feel it has now.
In job related news, I had an informal meet and greet with two directors and the VP of AMD Taipei, and they all seemed to like me. Collectively, they all liked me, but individually, it was something different they found interesting and was enthused about my being in Taiwan and my particular skill set I could bring. Which takes a lot of pressure off me from my dad. Now comes the waiting game, as they're currently going through a re-org, and won't have positions firmed up until mid/late March. I'm in no rush, as classes won't start until June and I'm still hoping to take that trip to Thailand.
Now that I've dispensed with what's going on with me, I'm going to start posting a new segment each post called "things I notice", that has to do with trends here vs the states. Today's observation are glasses worn by the youth. It's always been a stereotype that Asians have horrible eye sight, and to some extent, that may be true. I really don't know the statistics, if there are any, but I'm the only one of my generation of cousins that doesn't wear glasses or contacts (my brother doesn't count since he got Lasik :P), and that's 13 of us. So their options are glasses or contacts, or stumble around into things all day. A lot of the youth I see wear what appear to be glasses, but turns out to be just the frames, without any lenses. A lot of these frames look like "birth control glasses", what the military issue for soldiers in boot camp. They call them BCG's because if you wear them, you'll never get laid because they're so ugly. I first noticed this with my 18yr old cousin the first week I was here. Apparently, they don't wear the lenses because their eye lash extensions are so long that they would brush against the lens. I just find it odd that they wear contacts, and still put on the lenses for the sole purpose of a fashion accessory. And that folks, is something I've noticed. Until next time, please skype/email/facebook me, as I am getting lonely sans friends :(
Another thing you'll notice Rick, is that girls will wear these contacts that make their irises look bigger, hence cuter, more kawaii. Faint. Cringe. Vomit.
ReplyDelete