The last un-updated week was actually a really exciting one! I definitely felt the sting to not be able to update things in my life. The fast version of everything follows:
I had a board game night on Monday. 10-ish people showed up, we had some drinks, played some board games, and by 1:00 a.m. everybody had left except Kirsten. (The Kirsten who gave me the end-all of hugs.) We kissed, which turned into full-blown making out, which turned into “Hey, it’s 8 a.m., I’ve gotta be getting up.”
Thursday night, things led there again! We had the “talk” … “I’m moving to China, we can just date for a month, have some fun, but I’m really leaving, so what do you want to do?” And she surprised me by saying, “Sounds great! I was hoping you’d say that.” The end! No high drama, no estrogen, nothing I was afraid of. We’re on the same page. We’re going out for dinner in a few hours.
Leave it up to me to meet a girl I actually LIKE right before moving to China.
Speaking of China, Echo called (my Chinese contact) with the news that she has found me a home-stay family for my month off in Zhenjiang. I’ll be living with a 35-year-old man, his wife, and their 9-year-old son. The man speaks English fluently, and all they expect in return for letting me live with them is some English tutoring for their son and some “cultural exchange.” (I’ll cook them some burgers and an apple pie!) Not only will that save me about $500(US), but it will also give me a guided introduction to my new city, a social-inlet to people who I will live near, and a chance to acclimate to China before I’m just working all day, every day. Very good news!
Kirsten’s Dad is a pilot for Northwest Airlines. She’ll be spending a few weeks in August in Shanghai. I’ll get to see her in China! I’ll only be 3 hours from Shanghai. That’s just a side note.
I got an email from a few other Americans who will be living, teaching, or traveling around my area when I’ll be there. Two teachers from Denver will spend their summer at the same summer program. I emailed back and forth a few times with Karen and she seems really great! (Get this: she teaches English, her friend teaches Math! I just happen to like both of those things!)
Another girl emailed me to say that she’ll be teaching for a year in Nanjing, which is about an hour from Zhenjiang. I’m getting a lot of networking done before I even get to China! Hopefully that will give me a safety net for those nights of culture shocked loneliness that I’m sure will hit me around 3 months in. (At least if I’m planning on them, they won’t be as drastic!)
And of course I’ll have my wordpress blog to vent any pent-up culture shock. Writing is my favorite ventosity (right after inventing words, that is.)
Sarah P. is coming to see me, May 15th - 19th! (Well, she’ll be seeing her family, too, but I’m the reason for the trip!) I’m very excited for this.
Work has been going really well lately. I had to demonstrate the new Math website that I built to the entire department at their staff meeting. I hooked up a laptop and a projector, gave them the requisite “ooo’s and ahh’s” tour of their new site, and explained how the site will be stored, managed, and most importantly, updated! My pet peeve is when a website exists with no plan for being updated. When you publish, you make a plan. That’s my rule!
Friday was poker night. I didn’t win. I got pretty drunk and I played really aggressively. I was the Betting Bully all night. Until people called my big bluffs and made me poor. But I had a lot of fun!
Last night, I went to Spiderman 3 with Dan, Skyler, and Chris. Chris is an awesome violinist. He’s the concert master for CSU’s orchestra. I’ve been to maybe 10 of his concerts? He recognized me from his shows! It turns out he’s friends (and possibly dating?) my gay friend Skyler, the bassoonist. Mostly I’m impressed with Chris because a) he is awesome at violin, and b) he was as excited as me when Bruce Campbell made his Spiderman appearance! Bruce Campbell is great. Oui oui!
Today, I did laundry, I went grocery shopping, I cleaned my apartment, I read the first of the new Punisher comic series, and I’m about to get ready for dinner with Kirsten. I hope she wants to sleep over tonight. I’m not sure what it is - stress, loneliness, or just needing some action - but I’m a cuddly son of a bitch with her! When it was time to sleep next to Kim, I was like, “Roll over bitch, you’re touching my side.” But with Kirsten, I’m getting a koala bear death grip on her, and then I’m sleeping like a baby! A drugged out Benadril baby, even.
Dan pirated the new Command and Conquer game for me, but I can’t figure out how to make it work. I keep getting frustrated and resorting to Rise of Nations, as usual. Damn pirated games need to work better!