Near the end of the train ride home, I felt someone watching me, and I turned around to see a smiling local girl watching me play a game. I found a save point and turned it off so I could talk with her.
She was a cute girl and pretty nice, but she didn't know much English, so we spoke mostly in the local language. I told her where I was from and about my company, and I asked her where she had learned her English; she went to the same school I taught at during this and last year. She was holding a can of tea, and when I pointed it out, she offered me a sip. I politely refused, because my stomach was a bit wobbly from some black coffee I had had earlier.
The train quickly came to the last stop, and she got in line to step off, throwing glances back at me several times. She got off first, and waited for me as I came outside. As we walked to the pay area, I asked her name and she gave it to me, and as we walked out of the station, she walked closer to me. At that time, I told her that my ride was in the opposite direction, and she smiled and said goodbye.
So I didn't ask for the cute young girl's number or anything; I just went home. The place where I had chores to take care of, and another in a long string of sexless nights since that time in October or November when my wife and I last had sex.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Then and Now 54 - Mall Concert
Then and Now 54 - Mall Concert
Time: Mid-2007, at my bud's aunt's place.
My bud and I went out to the roller coaster mall one day, and we spent a good deal of time walking to a bus stop to take us there. I had already been there before in Then and Now 2, so I was absolutely ready to walk there in about thirty minutes or so, but my bud wanted to take the bus because it was blastingly hot that day.
Just before we got to the waiting area, we stopped at a local convenience store to get some drinks. There was a separate display for each cash register, and looking at the wrong one, I was confused as to why my drink cost so much. When the lady pointed me to the correct one, I sheepishly apologized and said I had just arrived in the country recently. This was the point where the happy drunk appeared, the one I mentioned in my Problems post, and it was kind of unnerving, so I'd rather not repeat myself in a Then and Now.
My bud and I left the bus stop, and the whackjob, and went to a coffee shop just a few blocks away. It was another jazz themed place, with some comfortable lounge jazz coming in through the speakers. There were even little statues of the greats around the place: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, even a near-life size statue of Louis Armstrong, his feet glued to the wall and pointing his trademark trumpet downwards. I picked up a local newspaper and tried my best to pick out the words I knew, and happily drank my black coffee when it arrived.
When we were done with our drinks, my bud and I realized that we had waited for that bus to arrive for almost an hour while the idiot drunk guy accosted me. So, we decided to just walk over to the mall to see what was going on. By the time we had made that decision, is was starting to get a little late on in the day, and when we finally arrived at the mall, the sun was barely over the horizon and casting glistening light over the fountains outside of the mall.
My bud and I went in and I showed him the crystalline figure store, with sculptures of animals, people, and even the country itself on shelves around the place. After that, we headed to the roof to see the amusement park, but neither he nor I had any money to ride anything, so we just watched some screaming kids on the little roller coaster, then went back downstairs to head home.
On the way out, we saw a gathering of people in front of a newly erected stage which wasn't there when we walked in. There was someone with a mic up there, introducing crowds of high schoolers and college kids doing dance routines together to blasting music. We watched one group bust a move, from that awkward part in the beginning where they're all standing still and waiting for the music to start, to the satisfying finish where they've put their best out there for everyone to see. As we were walking away, my bud smirked.
"What?" I asked.
"She just said, 'I see some foreigners in the audience. How are you guys doing?'" he replied.
"Really?" I answered. "Let's go back and say hello!"
"If you want to," he said.
By that time, though, the lady had moved on to some other topic and was introducing another dance team, so knowing I had missed my chance, I refrained. We continued on home to my bud's aunt's house to play Guitar Hero and watch the B-movie channel.
I felt embarrassed about not understanding the woman for that entire night. I had studied the local language for a few months before I entered the country, but I knew it was absolutely not enough, and "immersion" was not working. The very next day, I re-doubled my efforts at learning the local language and even gave myself homework every night. I spent the next two months memorizing the local language, but I'll get to that in another Then and Now.
As for today...
I woke up at 6:00.
I played video games.
My wife and son woke up, so I turned off the game.
I watched TV.
I watched DVDs with my wife and son.
I played cars with my son.
I roughhoused with him.
I played video games.
I watched DVDs with my wife and son.
I played blocks with my son.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I folded and put away dry clothes.
I did the dishes.
I played video games.
I slept.
Time: Mid-2007, at my bud's aunt's place.
My bud and I went out to the roller coaster mall one day, and we spent a good deal of time walking to a bus stop to take us there. I had already been there before in Then and Now 2, so I was absolutely ready to walk there in about thirty minutes or so, but my bud wanted to take the bus because it was blastingly hot that day.
Just before we got to the waiting area, we stopped at a local convenience store to get some drinks. There was a separate display for each cash register, and looking at the wrong one, I was confused as to why my drink cost so much. When the lady pointed me to the correct one, I sheepishly apologized and said I had just arrived in the country recently. This was the point where the happy drunk appeared, the one I mentioned in my Problems post, and it was kind of unnerving, so I'd rather not repeat myself in a Then and Now.
My bud and I left the bus stop, and the whackjob, and went to a coffee shop just a few blocks away. It was another jazz themed place, with some comfortable lounge jazz coming in through the speakers. There were even little statues of the greats around the place: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, even a near-life size statue of Louis Armstrong, his feet glued to the wall and pointing his trademark trumpet downwards. I picked up a local newspaper and tried my best to pick out the words I knew, and happily drank my black coffee when it arrived.
When we were done with our drinks, my bud and I realized that we had waited for that bus to arrive for almost an hour while the idiot drunk guy accosted me. So, we decided to just walk over to the mall to see what was going on. By the time we had made that decision, is was starting to get a little late on in the day, and when we finally arrived at the mall, the sun was barely over the horizon and casting glistening light over the fountains outside of the mall.
My bud and I went in and I showed him the crystalline figure store, with sculptures of animals, people, and even the country itself on shelves around the place. After that, we headed to the roof to see the amusement park, but neither he nor I had any money to ride anything, so we just watched some screaming kids on the little roller coaster, then went back downstairs to head home.
On the way out, we saw a gathering of people in front of a newly erected stage which wasn't there when we walked in. There was someone with a mic up there, introducing crowds of high schoolers and college kids doing dance routines together to blasting music. We watched one group bust a move, from that awkward part in the beginning where they're all standing still and waiting for the music to start, to the satisfying finish where they've put their best out there for everyone to see. As we were walking away, my bud smirked.
"What?" I asked.
"She just said, 'I see some foreigners in the audience. How are you guys doing?'" he replied.
"Really?" I answered. "Let's go back and say hello!"
"If you want to," he said.
By that time, though, the lady had moved on to some other topic and was introducing another dance team, so knowing I had missed my chance, I refrained. We continued on home to my bud's aunt's house to play Guitar Hero and watch the B-movie channel.
I felt embarrassed about not understanding the woman for that entire night. I had studied the local language for a few months before I entered the country, but I knew it was absolutely not enough, and "immersion" was not working. The very next day, I re-doubled my efforts at learning the local language and even gave myself homework every night. I spent the next two months memorizing the local language, but I'll get to that in another Then and Now.
As for today...
I woke up at 6:00.
I played video games.
My wife and son woke up, so I turned off the game.
I watched TV.
I watched DVDs with my wife and son.
I played cars with my son.
I roughhoused with him.
I played video games.
I watched DVDs with my wife and son.
I played blocks with my son.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I folded and put away dry clothes.
I did the dishes.
I played video games.
I slept.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Then and Now 53 - Chased
Then and Now 53 - Chased
Time: Mid-2007, single and at the hostel.
Olivia was one of many girls who messaged my internet profile, and when I found the time, we met up at the main station. She didn't send a picture, so it took a while for her and I to find each other and start talking.
She was just barely entering college and had an innocent, somewhat naive outlook on life, and I would have considered her a candidate for dating... if it weren't for her weight. Standing just over five feet tall, and weighing just about what I weighed then, I didn't find her physically attractive at all. But she seemed like a great friend to mutually bounce ideas and language off of, and I wanted to see some local attractions and have a bite to eat with her; you know, show her a good time.
We started by going to the underground mall under the train station, which was a path with stores lined up on both sides. The mall went between a few different train stops for those who wanted to take a peaceful stroll to their destination while checking out a few stores. After turning only a few corners, and before even entering the shopping area, Olivia and I came across a musician in the corner, playing some music on the flute. He had his flute box open at his feet for donations, and a music sheet on a stand in front of him. I thought the music sounded beautiful and otherworldly, but as we walked by him, Olivia turned to me and pretended to play the flute like he did. I smiled nervously, even as I thought it was a bit rude, and motioned for us to move on.
As we walked, we spoke in the local language, because her English wasn't very good. She told me about hanging out with another foreigner a short time before, one who had rented a limo to take her around the city. They talked for a while until the man looked into her eyes and tried to kiss her, at which point Olivia told him she wasn't interested and left the car.
By that point, I wasn't surprised at all by the way foreign men acted here. I told Olivia that I had little respect for someone who came to another country and treated it like a brothel, and that people should be trying to get to know each other for at least a few days before taking things further. She agreed wholeheartedly, and I could almost hear her heart thudding as we continued on, like she thought she had finally found a catch. I just said it to be honest, though.
We walked through the underground mall for a while until we came to one of the eastern stops, and we rode an escalator to the top. We saw a poster with an elephant on it on the way up, and she said that it was her favorite animal. Up to that point, I had never thought of it as anything but a tough and proud beast, but the picture was pretty cute. Soon, we came up onto the street and walked past a gated school, covered in the shade of trees, then continued down the street, talking on the way.
Things get pretty hazy at this point, and all I can remember are swirls of images: walking past a park, talking about her going to college soon at a place in the mountains and the fact that her family was rich, just a couple of things here and there.
My memory picks up again when we came to a monstrous, horrible intersection that went in no less than six different directions, with confusing traffic lights placed in every direction. We stood on the southwest side facing northeast, and there was a little car dealership to our left. The sun was beating down heavily on us, and I noticed Olivia getting pretty sweaty and uncomfortable, so I knew it was time for us to start heading back. So, we crossed a horrendous trio of streets through three traffic lights, and came back towards the street that led between my hostel and the junction station to the east.
As we got to the busy intersection outside the hostel, Olivia looked like she was having trouble breathing, and she asked if we could take a taxi to the station. I smiled and encouraged her to keep walking, because it was only about a half mile away, and we could have been there in just ten or so minutes. She agreed with another smile, and we started our walk up the road. I had to wait up for her to sit down and catch her breath four or five times on the way, but I didn't mind; I admired her tenacity in continuing the walk over there, and I remembered being that out of shape when I first got to the country. When we finally got to the station, she looked happier, like she knew she had accomplished something, however minor it was. We said goodbye, and I headed back to the hostel.
Olivia ended up making several calls to me throughout my time as a single man, and would hardly ever try to speak English. Most of the time I understood her, but sometimes, we just couldn't communicate at all. The calls started getting more numerous as time went on, even three or four times in one day. In emails with my mom, I told her about some of the many things I was up to, including this day and the calls. She ended up telling my brother, who wrote back, "So... I hear you have a new 'friend.'"
Olivia and I met three more times: once was for a quick lunch, where she had cheese fries and I had some fruit. Another was a bank trip with her mom one night because they were in the neighborhood while I was out and about, and her mom's hand was bandaged from where she had been bitten trying to stop two dogs from attacking each other on the street. I admired her bravery.
The next and final time, Olivia met up with me outside of the hostel for a few minutes and gave me a present: it was a handmade wooden carriage, put together with carefully placed glue. I knew at this point that I needed to do something. When we got to a store, I opened my wallet to take out some money to pay for a drink, and slyly made sure that I kept it open so she could see a picture of Sammi, when I thought I still had a chance with her. Olivia asked who she was, and I said she was my girlfriend. Nothing showed on Olivia's face, and I felt relieved, like I had only imagined her wanting to date me, and that I hadn't let her down. I thanked her for the gift, then went back to the hostel to give it to the boss there, because it was a bit too bulky for me to carry around without a fixed address.
A few days later, I got a call from Olivia at 2 or 3 in the morning in the local language, asking me what I was up to. I was a bit annoyed at being contacted so late, so after a quick conversation, I hung up and texted, "Please don't call me so late, you scared my girlfriend."
A few minutes later, she texted back, "Fine! I won't talk to you anymore!" I recognized that symptom of Borderline style behavior immediately; I had been in that position when I was younger, on both the giving and receiving ends.
I never heard from her again. I felt bad friend-zoning this girl because of her weight, but that and a bad attitude are my two no-gos when it comes to a relationship, because both aspects of a person usually show self-control issues. The final text I got should have been proof enough of this. But I still hope I didn't hurt her too bad when she stopped talking to me; I did try my best to be good friends with her.
This was the first time in my life that I had ever been chased by a girl, and I was playing the part of every woman who had rejected me back in high school and college for being a loser. I certainly didn't feel happy having to be the one to reject someone at that time, but at least, this experience was a clear showing of how far in life I had come, and other opportunities that could have been in store for me if I had continued to be unmarried.
As for today...
I woke up at 7:30.
I went to work by train, and played video games on the way.
I taught students.
I came home by train, and played video games on the way.
I ate lunch.
I hung up wet laundry.
I surfed the net.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I ate dinner.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I watched internet movies with my son.
I slept.
Time: Mid-2007, single and at the hostel.
Olivia was one of many girls who messaged my internet profile, and when I found the time, we met up at the main station. She didn't send a picture, so it took a while for her and I to find each other and start talking.
She was just barely entering college and had an innocent, somewhat naive outlook on life, and I would have considered her a candidate for dating... if it weren't for her weight. Standing just over five feet tall, and weighing just about what I weighed then, I didn't find her physically attractive at all. But she seemed like a great friend to mutually bounce ideas and language off of, and I wanted to see some local attractions and have a bite to eat with her; you know, show her a good time.
We started by going to the underground mall under the train station, which was a path with stores lined up on both sides. The mall went between a few different train stops for those who wanted to take a peaceful stroll to their destination while checking out a few stores. After turning only a few corners, and before even entering the shopping area, Olivia and I came across a musician in the corner, playing some music on the flute. He had his flute box open at his feet for donations, and a music sheet on a stand in front of him. I thought the music sounded beautiful and otherworldly, but as we walked by him, Olivia turned to me and pretended to play the flute like he did. I smiled nervously, even as I thought it was a bit rude, and motioned for us to move on.
As we walked, we spoke in the local language, because her English wasn't very good. She told me about hanging out with another foreigner a short time before, one who had rented a limo to take her around the city. They talked for a while until the man looked into her eyes and tried to kiss her, at which point Olivia told him she wasn't interested and left the car.
By that point, I wasn't surprised at all by the way foreign men acted here. I told Olivia that I had little respect for someone who came to another country and treated it like a brothel, and that people should be trying to get to know each other for at least a few days before taking things further. She agreed wholeheartedly, and I could almost hear her heart thudding as we continued on, like she thought she had finally found a catch. I just said it to be honest, though.
We walked through the underground mall for a while until we came to one of the eastern stops, and we rode an escalator to the top. We saw a poster with an elephant on it on the way up, and she said that it was her favorite animal. Up to that point, I had never thought of it as anything but a tough and proud beast, but the picture was pretty cute. Soon, we came up onto the street and walked past a gated school, covered in the shade of trees, then continued down the street, talking on the way.
Things get pretty hazy at this point, and all I can remember are swirls of images: walking past a park, talking about her going to college soon at a place in the mountains and the fact that her family was rich, just a couple of things here and there.
My memory picks up again when we came to a monstrous, horrible intersection that went in no less than six different directions, with confusing traffic lights placed in every direction. We stood on the southwest side facing northeast, and there was a little car dealership to our left. The sun was beating down heavily on us, and I noticed Olivia getting pretty sweaty and uncomfortable, so I knew it was time for us to start heading back. So, we crossed a horrendous trio of streets through three traffic lights, and came back towards the street that led between my hostel and the junction station to the east.
As we got to the busy intersection outside the hostel, Olivia looked like she was having trouble breathing, and she asked if we could take a taxi to the station. I smiled and encouraged her to keep walking, because it was only about a half mile away, and we could have been there in just ten or so minutes. She agreed with another smile, and we started our walk up the road. I had to wait up for her to sit down and catch her breath four or five times on the way, but I didn't mind; I admired her tenacity in continuing the walk over there, and I remembered being that out of shape when I first got to the country. When we finally got to the station, she looked happier, like she knew she had accomplished something, however minor it was. We said goodbye, and I headed back to the hostel.
Olivia ended up making several calls to me throughout my time as a single man, and would hardly ever try to speak English. Most of the time I understood her, but sometimes, we just couldn't communicate at all. The calls started getting more numerous as time went on, even three or four times in one day. In emails with my mom, I told her about some of the many things I was up to, including this day and the calls. She ended up telling my brother, who wrote back, "So... I hear you have a new 'friend.'"
Olivia and I met three more times: once was for a quick lunch, where she had cheese fries and I had some fruit. Another was a bank trip with her mom one night because they were in the neighborhood while I was out and about, and her mom's hand was bandaged from where she had been bitten trying to stop two dogs from attacking each other on the street. I admired her bravery.
The next and final time, Olivia met up with me outside of the hostel for a few minutes and gave me a present: it was a handmade wooden carriage, put together with carefully placed glue. I knew at this point that I needed to do something. When we got to a store, I opened my wallet to take out some money to pay for a drink, and slyly made sure that I kept it open so she could see a picture of Sammi, when I thought I still had a chance with her. Olivia asked who she was, and I said she was my girlfriend. Nothing showed on Olivia's face, and I felt relieved, like I had only imagined her wanting to date me, and that I hadn't let her down. I thanked her for the gift, then went back to the hostel to give it to the boss there, because it was a bit too bulky for me to carry around without a fixed address.
A few days later, I got a call from Olivia at 2 or 3 in the morning in the local language, asking me what I was up to. I was a bit annoyed at being contacted so late, so after a quick conversation, I hung up and texted, "Please don't call me so late, you scared my girlfriend."
A few minutes later, she texted back, "Fine! I won't talk to you anymore!" I recognized that symptom of Borderline style behavior immediately; I had been in that position when I was younger, on both the giving and receiving ends.
I never heard from her again. I felt bad friend-zoning this girl because of her weight, but that and a bad attitude are my two no-gos when it comes to a relationship, because both aspects of a person usually show self-control issues. The final text I got should have been proof enough of this. But I still hope I didn't hurt her too bad when she stopped talking to me; I did try my best to be good friends with her.
This was the first time in my life that I had ever been chased by a girl, and I was playing the part of every woman who had rejected me back in high school and college for being a loser. I certainly didn't feel happy having to be the one to reject someone at that time, but at least, this experience was a clear showing of how far in life I had come, and other opportunities that could have been in store for me if I had continued to be unmarried.
As for today...
I woke up at 7:30.
I went to work by train, and played video games on the way.
I taught students.
I came home by train, and played video games on the way.
I ate lunch.
I hung up wet laundry.
I surfed the net.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I ate dinner.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I watched internet movies with my son.
I slept.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Then and Now 52 - Odds and Ends 7
Then and Now 52 - Odds and Ends 7
Time: Before I got married.
For the sake of this Then and Now, I'm going to refer to my wife as my girlfriend.
A few months after I started my job, I had to go to some work training with a few people from the school. I wasn't looking forward to it, knowing how companies love to overcomplicate and micromanage everything about themselves, and especially when I had already taught for so long and knew exactly what they were going to explain. I got to go with my co-worker Natalie, and she took me over there on her bike. At first I held on to her belly, because I was unconsciously mimicking my ex-girlfriend back in America doing the same with me. But when I realized that I was putting my hands in a danger zone (and acting really feminine), I quickly yanked my hands back, put them on the back of the bike, and apologized. She was cool about it.
We drove through many, many streets on our way to the training hall. I remember going under a freeway overpass, over a very long bridge over a sparkling river with high-rise buildings a few blocks from its banks, and between the shining windows of a thousand office buildings. When we got to the training area, Natalie parked, and we got a quick bite to eat at a sandwich shop, where I got a meatball sub. We talked for a while about work and life, then we went to the training hall: a huge building surrounded by a rolling fence, like it was the UN or something.
Soon after we entered, the training started. I spent the whole time doodling on my handout, and pretending to listen as the speakers endlessly repeated themselves and explained things that I had mastered years before. The only thing I took away from the two hours I was in there was treating an English sentence like a train, where the capital letter in the front was like the engine, and drawing this picture for beginning English students to learn capitalization more quickly.
Hours later, the godawful training was done, and Natalie and I took a walk around an outdoor market across the street. There was a video game shop there, a place that she shopped at before, and she surprisingly told me that she was into Guitar Hero. She had to leave soon enough and I didn't stay too long, but I used that little tidbit of info to give her one of my guitar controllers for her birthday later. Horribly enough, before I gave it to her, she was using a regular controller to play the game.
-----
I had just arrived in the main terminal of the main station, and I saw a huge commotion there. There were people everywhere: both locals and foreigners from every country imagineable all grouped together in hundreds of groups with dozens of people in each one. I let myself get carried away listening to others' conversations, one after the other, as I walked through the throng of people. Some languages I could understand, others not at all.
One source of all this popularity was just outside, at a huge fair being held in front of the main station. There were booths lined up one after the other in the central courtyard of the station, sitting between the station itself and the multi-lane road across the way. Walking up and down the aisles between the stands, I enjoyed the sights of many different kinds of clothes and DVDs, the smells of a multitude of sweet and breaded treats, and the sounds of hundreds of people enjoying themselves on that hot day.
I was still saving money at that point so I didn't buy anything, but I still had a friend to meet that day, so I headed back into the station to meet up with her and enjoy another day abroad.
-----
I mentioned this place briefly in my Vacation post, but I'll go into more depth here. I was wandering around the main station when I found this place: a combination public garden and interactive museum with old barracks and houses within. It was about two or three blocks away from the station, and past a tunnel that led to underground parking under the station, and the garden/museum sat on a city block surrounded on all sides by roads. The place was also surrounded on almost every side by a stylized wall with small, curved cuts in the stone to allow looks inside. Welcoming visitors at the entrance was a huge statue of one of the country's heroes, smiling broadly.
Going past what looked like a small guard room, I entered the place and found a miniature scene of country life. There were two mini lakes surrounded by a stone path, and they were split up by a bridge between them. In the lakes swam large and colorful fish, and as I walked around the lakes, they seemed to be following me and waiting for bread to be tossed their way. I took a few pictures of the place, standing between or behind trees to find perfect views of the peaceful area.
I left shortly after, and went a few blocks past the garden house so I could wander around the shopping area. I found a DVD store with a ton of movies sitting on shelves with tons of locals around, and I came back to buy "Batman Begins" for my girlfriend just a few months later, as she had never seen it. It was probably a bad gift for a girl, but she was extremely happy to receive it back then.
-----
I'll never get back those two lost weeks at my bud's aunt's place, just like I'll never get my life as a young single man back, but at least those lost weeks served as a counterpoint to the great life I had quickly made for myself. Those weeks were a way of contrasting that best time of my life by comparing it to the lazy depression that defined my early adulthood, the same lazy depression that almost consumed me again when I first went abroad. Shortly after I decided to never be that kind of loser again, I quickly found my life improving a hundred fold in just a few days.
I already talked about the construction walk to the mall and the long walk with my friend after this critical turning point, which were longer experiences, in Then and Now 2 and 10. But this one was just a quick piece of fun that I had after I decided to be happy.
It was a hot day, and I decided to take a walk by the ocean to get some sea spray and ocean wind in my face to cool down. My bud decided not to come, so I went alone. The sea was relaxing and calm, and I saw a few other people walking on the beach and flying kites as I stepped on the warm sand in my sandals. After I left the beach, I turned left onto a street and walked in some random direction, and passed a park to find a collection of outdoor fruit stalls.
The bosses were really nice, but I'm glad they didn't talk to me, because I was barely twenty or thirty pages into memorizing the dictionary, so unless their conversations involved aardvarks or ants, I wouldn't have been able to respond. After that, I walked down some more narrow streets and past a bunch of fenced-off houses, until I found the main road that led back to my bud's aunt's place.
-----
One day of traveling and meeting friends all around the main city, I was absolutely dog tired. I could hardly stand, the world seemed a bit fuzzy, and I was sweating pretty badly in the heat. But I still had another person to meet that night: a girl that I had met on the internet and scheduled a 5:00 meet-up with. I was honestly feeling too tired to go out with her, but I had made a promise to her, so I absolutely wasn't going to cancel, regardless of how I felt.
I was in a train station with a lot of advertisements for classical music concerts and ballets going on in the main city, and it was soon apparent as to why: the station was connected to an underground concert hall. I had a quick blast of euphoria there: I thought to myself that I could go to one of those concerts in just another month or two, when my finances were up. That blast of euphoria also got me pumped to meet my new friend, and I quickly found the strength to meet up with her.
It turns out that there was no need. After I got to the top of the station's escalator and had waited for about five minutes, my new friend called me and said she couldn't make it. She apologized a lot and said we would talk again someday, but she never followed through. I was relieved, but a little disappointed, so I went out of the station to take a quick look around the area to finish up the day.
The road was busy and there were a couple of buildings quieting down in the fading light of the day, and while I was out there and still sweating, it started to quietly drizzle. It looked like the plans I had for my new friend and I would have been ruined anyway, and the rain helped solo me to cool down after a long day of travel. Soon enough, I went back to the subway to take a car home.
As for today...
I woke up at 8:00.
I played video games.
My wife and son woke up, so I turned off the game.
I did a puzzle with my son.
I watched TV.
I ate lunch.
I took a nap.
I woke up.
I went to work by train, and played video games on the way.
I taught students.
I came home by train, and played video games on the way.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I folded and put away dry clothes.
I started a load of laundry.
I showered my son.
He fell asleep.
I played video games.
I slept.
Time: Before I got married.
For the sake of this Then and Now, I'm going to refer to my wife as my girlfriend.
A few months after I started my job, I had to go to some work training with a few people from the school. I wasn't looking forward to it, knowing how companies love to overcomplicate and micromanage everything about themselves, and especially when I had already taught for so long and knew exactly what they were going to explain. I got to go with my co-worker Natalie, and she took me over there on her bike. At first I held on to her belly, because I was unconsciously mimicking my ex-girlfriend back in America doing the same with me. But when I realized that I was putting my hands in a danger zone (and acting really feminine), I quickly yanked my hands back, put them on the back of the bike, and apologized. She was cool about it.
We drove through many, many streets on our way to the training hall. I remember going under a freeway overpass, over a very long bridge over a sparkling river with high-rise buildings a few blocks from its banks, and between the shining windows of a thousand office buildings. When we got to the training area, Natalie parked, and we got a quick bite to eat at a sandwich shop, where I got a meatball sub. We talked for a while about work and life, then we went to the training hall: a huge building surrounded by a rolling fence, like it was the UN or something.
Soon after we entered, the training started. I spent the whole time doodling on my handout, and pretending to listen as the speakers endlessly repeated themselves and explained things that I had mastered years before. The only thing I took away from the two hours I was in there was treating an English sentence like a train, where the capital letter in the front was like the engine, and drawing this picture for beginning English students to learn capitalization more quickly.
Hours later, the godawful training was done, and Natalie and I took a walk around an outdoor market across the street. There was a video game shop there, a place that she shopped at before, and she surprisingly told me that she was into Guitar Hero. She had to leave soon enough and I didn't stay too long, but I used that little tidbit of info to give her one of my guitar controllers for her birthday later. Horribly enough, before I gave it to her, she was using a regular controller to play the game.
-----
I had just arrived in the main terminal of the main station, and I saw a huge commotion there. There were people everywhere: both locals and foreigners from every country imagineable all grouped together in hundreds of groups with dozens of people in each one. I let myself get carried away listening to others' conversations, one after the other, as I walked through the throng of people. Some languages I could understand, others not at all.
One source of all this popularity was just outside, at a huge fair being held in front of the main station. There were booths lined up one after the other in the central courtyard of the station, sitting between the station itself and the multi-lane road across the way. Walking up and down the aisles between the stands, I enjoyed the sights of many different kinds of clothes and DVDs, the smells of a multitude of sweet and breaded treats, and the sounds of hundreds of people enjoying themselves on that hot day.
I was still saving money at that point so I didn't buy anything, but I still had a friend to meet that day, so I headed back into the station to meet up with her and enjoy another day abroad.
-----
I mentioned this place briefly in my Vacation post, but I'll go into more depth here. I was wandering around the main station when I found this place: a combination public garden and interactive museum with old barracks and houses within. It was about two or three blocks away from the station, and past a tunnel that led to underground parking under the station, and the garden/museum sat on a city block surrounded on all sides by roads. The place was also surrounded on almost every side by a stylized wall with small, curved cuts in the stone to allow looks inside. Welcoming visitors at the entrance was a huge statue of one of the country's heroes, smiling broadly.
Going past what looked like a small guard room, I entered the place and found a miniature scene of country life. There were two mini lakes surrounded by a stone path, and they were split up by a bridge between them. In the lakes swam large and colorful fish, and as I walked around the lakes, they seemed to be following me and waiting for bread to be tossed their way. I took a few pictures of the place, standing between or behind trees to find perfect views of the peaceful area.
I left shortly after, and went a few blocks past the garden house so I could wander around the shopping area. I found a DVD store with a ton of movies sitting on shelves with tons of locals around, and I came back to buy "Batman Begins" for my girlfriend just a few months later, as she had never seen it. It was probably a bad gift for a girl, but she was extremely happy to receive it back then.
-----
I'll never get back those two lost weeks at my bud's aunt's place, just like I'll never get my life as a young single man back, but at least those lost weeks served as a counterpoint to the great life I had quickly made for myself. Those weeks were a way of contrasting that best time of my life by comparing it to the lazy depression that defined my early adulthood, the same lazy depression that almost consumed me again when I first went abroad. Shortly after I decided to never be that kind of loser again, I quickly found my life improving a hundred fold in just a few days.
I already talked about the construction walk to the mall and the long walk with my friend after this critical turning point, which were longer experiences, in Then and Now 2 and 10. But this one was just a quick piece of fun that I had after I decided to be happy.
It was a hot day, and I decided to take a walk by the ocean to get some sea spray and ocean wind in my face to cool down. My bud decided not to come, so I went alone. The sea was relaxing and calm, and I saw a few other people walking on the beach and flying kites as I stepped on the warm sand in my sandals. After I left the beach, I turned left onto a street and walked in some random direction, and passed a park to find a collection of outdoor fruit stalls.
The bosses were really nice, but I'm glad they didn't talk to me, because I was barely twenty or thirty pages into memorizing the dictionary, so unless their conversations involved aardvarks or ants, I wouldn't have been able to respond. After that, I walked down some more narrow streets and past a bunch of fenced-off houses, until I found the main road that led back to my bud's aunt's place.
-----
One day of traveling and meeting friends all around the main city, I was absolutely dog tired. I could hardly stand, the world seemed a bit fuzzy, and I was sweating pretty badly in the heat. But I still had another person to meet that night: a girl that I had met on the internet and scheduled a 5:00 meet-up with. I was honestly feeling too tired to go out with her, but I had made a promise to her, so I absolutely wasn't going to cancel, regardless of how I felt.
I was in a train station with a lot of advertisements for classical music concerts and ballets going on in the main city, and it was soon apparent as to why: the station was connected to an underground concert hall. I had a quick blast of euphoria there: I thought to myself that I could go to one of those concerts in just another month or two, when my finances were up. That blast of euphoria also got me pumped to meet my new friend, and I quickly found the strength to meet up with her.
It turns out that there was no need. After I got to the top of the station's escalator and had waited for about five minutes, my new friend called me and said she couldn't make it. She apologized a lot and said we would talk again someday, but she never followed through. I was relieved, but a little disappointed, so I went out of the station to take a quick look around the area to finish up the day.
The road was busy and there were a couple of buildings quieting down in the fading light of the day, and while I was out there and still sweating, it started to quietly drizzle. It looked like the plans I had for my new friend and I would have been ruined anyway, and the rain helped solo me to cool down after a long day of travel. Soon enough, I went back to the subway to take a car home.
As for today...
I woke up at 8:00.
I played video games.
My wife and son woke up, so I turned off the game.
I did a puzzle with my son.
I watched TV.
I ate lunch.
I took a nap.
I woke up.
I went to work by train, and played video games on the way.
I taught students.
I came home by train, and played video games on the way.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I folded and put away dry clothes.
I started a load of laundry.
I showered my son.
He fell asleep.
I played video games.
I slept.
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