Then and Now 9 - Jenny at the Zoo

Then and Now 9 - Jenny at the Zoo
Time: Mid-2007, single and at my apartment.

Jenny wrote to me on my internet profile and wanted to hang out for the day to exchange language and say hello. We met up at the main station and exchanged some small talk before we headed out on the train to go to the zoo for the day. I never went down that line, or to that stop, until Jenny and I went out together. Unlike the center of town, the south side of the city was full of cozy little houses and apartment buildings, small streets and lots and lots of trees in mini-forests. It was a very interesting new look at my new country.

The zoo was really fun. It was in a kind of circular shape and had many paths shrouded by trees and other shrubbery that wound around and cut through the animal park, and I tried to take us through as many as I could so we could see the animals from every angle. On the way, we talked about all kinds of things, from her studies at college and my studies of her language, to family, food and fun.

We had enough time to see almost every group of animals and every show, but we were both the most impressed by the rhino pen. Two of them seemed to be really competitive that day, and were kind of nudging and butting into one another until the smaller one gave up.

While we were there, Jenny told me about her foreign boyfriend and how they were together for a few months before he moved back to his home country. I asked if she was going back to see him, and she said that they were both planning on it, once her schooling was done. She also told me with a laugh that he was extremely shy, and that I was much better company than he was. I smirked.

We went around the zoo at a hot pace, and unlike a lot of my other companions, she was in excellent shape and kept up with me, as short (relative to me) as she was. The last place that we went to was the penguin house, but we had gotten there just a few minutes too late and weren't able to see them. It was too bad, because we were both looking forward to it.

We took the train and a bus back to my place because she wanted to check out my pad and Guitar Hero, but to be honest, there wasn't a whole lot to see at my place. It was just impressive because I was the only person living on the top floor of the building.

Not wanting to do any kind of back alley girl stealing, Guitar Hero was the only thing on the menu for that night. I asked her what bands she really liked, and played the two Guns & Roses songs on game 2 and 3 for her, which she was really happy to hear. I can still see the bright smile on her face as I played and she softly sang along. She tried her hand at the game later and played somewhat well on Easy, which was better than my friends' first times to try back home.

After that, it was really late, so I walked her back downstairs and out to the bus station so she could head home. I was a bit disappointed that this cute girl was already taken, but I knew that there was much more in store for me out there as a single man abroad, and I was ready to take on the town again the very next day.

As for today...

I woke up at 11:00.
I ate lunch.
I went out to tutor students.
I came home.
I ate dinner.
I hung up wet laundry.
I started a load of laundry.
I watched TV.
I talked with my wife and son.
I spent two hours doing computer maintenance.
My wife and son went to bed.
I hung up wet laundry.
I played video games.
I slept.