by the way, I just took Bizarro's "which kung fu star are you" quiz and it turns out that I'm Jackie Chan. Could be worse - coulda been Van Damme.

I like Jackie Chan, especially in the old days when his hair was longer and flailed around more.

I should've been Bruce Lee, though. YEAH doesn't everyone say that??

I have been commanded to post something, so here I am.

It's been a long fucking stupid week. Last night was nice - mr. club and his wife catwoman met us at Landru's (drink coffee...it is the will of Landru...you are not of the body!!..Lawgiver!!!!) and from a lively talk about our favorite childhood TV shows we went to T-Bones for a drink (I had Jameson's straight up...mmm... warmth...). Then they came over and sat on our deck while Bizarro scarfed pizza and I bitched and moaned about a situation with one of my friends that cropped up this week - the same friend that Bizarro goes on about her connections with college deans and local bobos.

In short, she's been dropping nasty hints about me not inviting her to my dinky apartment and when I finally cornered her on why she's been being a bitch to me, it came out that we've had a "one-sided" relationship because she's always being generous and I haven't (apparently) been reciprocating. Now, usually I'm not accustomed to using a ledger sheet to determine the value of a friendshp but apparently that's her style. What a Republican thing to do!! Anyway, so I tried to kindly remind her of all the times she blew me off when we had made plans but apparently that didn't register in her otherwise long memory. So basically I apologzied and we agreed to move on from here - my suggestion was that we BOTH - meaning SHE as well as myself - try to be better and making and keeping our dates and that I'd make an effort not to be so scatterbrained about following through with things I promise to do.

See, the thing is... (heh)... seriously, I am usually way too over-taxed with things to do and people to see. I suck at multi-tasking. During the school year, I don't see ANY of my friends very often, so why she should get special treatment is ... well... it's because she's helped me in getting the apartment and she also loaned me money (which as been paid back in full since last fucking november). So I guess that means I owe her my first born?

I often feel very stressed out about being stretched too thin between my classes, teaching, and other personal reaponsibilites. If I don't write something down, I forget it 2 seconds after i've agreed to do it. it's just part of my charm, so people are gonna have to fuckin' GET USED TO IT!!.

In other news, I'm working hard on my lesson plans for China. I did send another letter to Korea, this time to Daegu University, but I've heard nothing so it looks like I'll be applying to teach in Taiwan in 2005. well, at least I'll be able to study some kick-ass T'ai Chi there. And it'll be easy to take Chinese at school in the fall (there are no Korean classes so I'd have to cobble together an accaptable language-program). Plus, I've never been to Taiwan so it'll be cool. Most importantly, they have hot springs there so I can indulge in the public baths the way I did in Korea. Bizarro can come too and we can have a BIG AMERICAN PAHHHTY!!!.

Anyway, it's time I'm outta here. Gotta pick up Bizarro at 10:00 from the diamond factory. Mr. Club - hope you're happy now!!

photo hosting

Okay I'm back. I realize it's a been awhile and my most recent posts have been quick and sloppy with not a whole lot of human interest.

On being engaged....
It's a feeling every girl dreams of and yearns for. In my case, I had pretty much considered myself a single-for-the-rest-of-my-life-and-that's-okay kind of woman. Then I met Bizarro through his website while I was in Korea, and after he met me at the airport, well...that was that! Being engaged, as cool as it is, really hasn't changed anything. Just an official statement to the world, really. The ring itself is loaded with history and sentimental importance, coming from my mother who had it set with diamonds from her wedding and engagement rings after dad passed away. That is the coolest part, really, feeling part of my family tradition, even if we aren't going to have a traditional wedding.

On going to China...
A dream come true! Despite all the stupid shit and poor pedagogy, I am thrilled at this opportunity to travel to China, with (almost) all expenses paid. And because it's only for 6 weeks, I'm hoping that everything that is bad will not seem so bad. Everything that is good will seem better. The only downside, of course, is being away from Bizarro for 6 weeks. That part's gonna suck rocks. Really. A lot.

Okay, NOW I really have to go eat.

The quarter is over, I've begun tutoring and working on my lesson plans for China. And still debating what to do for Fulbright.

I sent a letter to EPIK (English Program In Korea) to ask about possible sponsorship for my Fulbright proposal and they had not idea what I was talking about. They thought I was trying to contact Fulbright and sent back an apologetic email saying "we're sorry to inform you that you have reached the wrong party..." Sooooo I wrote back and tried to explain that in fact I had reached the right party, etc. etc. etc. A week later I wrote again to confirm receipt of my letter and follow up, and so far no response. I'll give them til the end of the week then I'll contact a university in Korea for my project. If I can't get any bites by the end of June I'll be applying for a teaching assistantship in Taiwan instead.

The job in Wuhan becomes increasingly stressful each week. Today - JUST today - our coordinator bothered to finally tell us what immunizations we need. I called the health department on my own to find out basically all I need is a Hep A shot. What sucks is that Hep A actually comes in two parts, with a month between. But she said that the first one is 95% effective and that I should get it at least two weeks before leaving. So that means it has to be this week. Wednesday Bizarro and I are going up to Columbus to stay with some friends, so on the way I'll juststop off at Lancaster and get my Hep A. $25 for the shot, and a $20 "administrative fee".

Tutoring my Korean student is as difficult as it was back in December. She's trying to take the TSE and has been for about a year - with poor results each time. She insists on studying "For" the test (a damned hard thing to for standardized tests of spoken English) instead of working on her English skills. If she'd spent the last year working on pronunciation and learning more natural American English expressions, she'd be in much better shape for her test on July 10. Oy vey. At least I'm getting paid. Not well, but better than nothing. And this time she's paying me for whatever work I bring home. That's a good thing, because last time I did a shitload of prep work at home and making sample tests for her to practice with and I got paid only for the time I spent in her home.

Anyway, so all is going as well as I expected thus far. It's so great not to have classes and be crammed with work. Yay!

Saturday night we had a little soiree for my friends from school to say good bye to those going back to their home countries etc. Only a few people showed up, which was fine. It made me clean my house so now I don't have to worry about cleaning! Unfortuantely, one of my guests walked through the screen door to the patio and completely knocked it off the tracks. So now it only sorta kinda works. Coulda been worse tho, the screen could have been ripped out of the frame and we'd really be screwed. She felt bad, too, poor thing. Embarrassed as hell, as you can imagine. All night everyone kept getting confused by the presence of a screen in that door because it wasn't very visible. I dunno.

Well it's time for me to get my snack on and my drink on. It's 2:10 and I haven't eaten anything but breakfast and a couple cookies at my tutee's house. La la la...

A day for blogging...

Yesterday was special, in more ways than one. First, it was my father's birthday. Remembering my dad on his birthday is a more important way to remember him than by the date of his death, I think. It's more joyful, which is how I remember him alive.

Don didn't know it was dad's birthday when he decided to propose to me yesterday, however. This was something I told him later in the day, and although I suspected and hoped that last night was THE night for popping the question, I didn't quite know what to expect.

As it turned out, I was (am) still sick and our plans to see Harry Potter were thwarted. We tried to go to Yun Palace (his idea, formed around a plan to propose outside the restaurant, unbeknownst to me) but it was 9:35 already and they closed at 10:00. We tried to go to th new Japanese restaurant in town but they were closed. We ended up at "BDubs" and watched Friday Night Fights while scarfing wings. From there we rented a movie and all the while he was making noises about "going out" after the movie, or whatever, without me. By the time we got home, I was thoroughly bummed out and feeling pouty. So there I was, moping around, sitting on the edge of the bed, and he came over... and after explaining what he had hoped to do for a proposal earlier in the day... asked me to marry him and pulled the ring out of his pocket. *sigh*

I'm in la-la-land today, and it ain't just the Tussin DM I'm taking for my cough!
Finally.. engaged and knowing for sure that this one is THE ONE and I have no more worries about being alone or mistreated ever again.

I have quite a packed summer coming up, but with this ring... I feel a new fount of inspiration...

And now it's back to work with me...