Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Then and Now 59 - Three Musketeers

Then and Now 59 - The Three Musketeers
Time: Mid-2007, single and at my apartment.

At the main station, I was having lunch and waiting to meet up with a friend, Andi. I got a call on my cell after a few minutes, and she let me know that she had brought along two of her friends to come meet me so we could have a long walk, and a kind of mobile English-localspeak language cafe. I said sure, and soon enough, all three of them had shown up.

Andi was an energetic girl, clearly the leader of the three girl band, and we spent a lot of time talking in both languages over the next few hours. Her friend Apple was very, very untrained in English, and every time I tried to talk to her in either language, she would give short answers then go back to talking to Andi, so she was basically off my radar for the whole trip.

The last girl, Piper, was my favorite of the three. She was really nice, thin and cute, had great skill in both languages, and loved to smile. She was also really shy, so I had to approach her several times to get to know her better.

After we had introduced ourselves and talked for a while, we all went out to the train to go to the enormous building that I had been to in Then and Now 7, which wasn't terribly far away. We got out of the train and took a walk around a movie district, trying to find a place with a flick we wanted to catch, but none of us found anything interesting (actually, I saw a couple of guy movies I wanted to see, but I decided not to bore the ladies with them). After that, Andi took us to a furniture shop to look around a bit, but there wasn't much more there besides some couches and toilets. While inside, the three taught me how to say "scary" and "scared."

As we walked outside, I saw that it was starting to get dark, so it was about time for us to go to the building and look around. I took the opportunity to let Andi and Alicia talk to one another, and tried to work my magic on Piper in the meantime, and though she smiled a lot through our jokes and sharing experiences from our lives in this country, I still wasn't sure if she was starting to like me or not, or just being polite.

Soon enough, we were at the top of the building and looking out on the world. Unlike the time I came with Andrew, I only got to see the night view, but I still had an excellent time up there. I looked out at the spot where there were thousands of cars traveling up a wide road and shadowed buildings blinking with red aircraft lights behind them, and I got that rush of euphoria once more: I was seeing something most other people wouldn't, and the world had so much to explore and have fun with. I took some pictures of us four up there and talked some more about my travel plans and their schooling, and finally, we headed back down.

Outside, we walked with a huge rush of people going into and out of the building, and we ducked onto a slightly smaller street to find our way back to the train station to get home. We walked past the tall fences and the protective overhangs of several construction sites, all looking out onto the busy streets.

A minute or two later, we passed by two foreigners walking with a few locals, what seemed to be a tour group headed towards the building we had just come out of. As they passed by, I said hello to them and gave them a cute half-smile. One of them ignored me and looked straight ahead, and the other looked at me for a split second before jerking his head ninety degrees to the side to pretend to look at something (the "foreigner fakeout"). I scoffed and shook my head as I passed by, then went back to talking to Piper.

At the station, we all said goodbye and I went back to my apartment. I got on my laptop there and emailed Andi, asking if she could pass me Piper's email, and she did. It was a complete loser move to ask so indirectly, and it probably explained why Piper and I only emailed once or twice before she stopped, then she slipped my mind. Andi and I talked for a while, but after my email went down with the host it was located on, I lost contact with her, too.

But I didn't feel bad: I was still good friends with several beautiful girls like May, Nell and Yvonne, I had dozens of platonic friends to treat to a fun night on the town (whose information was stored on my computer or phone), and there were people emailing me every day to get to know me, so there were always new friends to make, and new experiences and prospects on the horizon.

At least, before I got married.

As for today...

I woke up at 9:00.
I played video games.
My wife and son woke up, so I turned off the game.
I watched TV.
I played video games with my son.
I prepared teaching lessons.
I played video games.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I folded and put away dry clothes.
I did the dishes.
I surfed the net.
I played video games with my son.
I slept.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Then and Now 58 - First Ride

Then and Now 58 - First Ride
Time: Late 2007, dating my wife.

For the sake of this Then and Now, I'm going to refer to my wife as my girlfriend.

Barely a week after my girlfriend and I had our first date and night together, I came down to visit her in her hometown, the same city we live in today. I had already met her mother in the main city at a little cafe near the main station, where the old lady was very quiet and respectful.

My girlfriend picked me up at the train station on her bike, and we took a nice ride around town so she could show me around. I sat in the back seat, and she took us here and there to introduce her city. As we rode about, every time we got to a traffic light, she would rest her arms and elbows on my legs, and refer to me as a "(My name) sofa." It was pretty cute. We drove down a somewhat wide street that led from one side of town to the other, where both sides were covered by lines of tall residential, office and commercial buildings. It's the same road I traveled to go to work from 2008 to 2010, but back then, it was fun to watch our reflections pass by in the mirrored glass of the buildings around us.

After a bit, she took us down to city hall where we got out and I took some pictures of us in a mini-park there, next to a little bus stop. By then, my hair had been so flattened and smashed by my helmet that it looked like a geek cut with little porcupine needles sticking out here and there. I made faces while I snapped.

Next, we headed to the mall that looks like a castle, and went up a couple of escalator flights to get a double luncheon: I got a mini pizza from an independent pizza chain, and she got some fried chicken and french fries, and we shared pieces of our meals with one another. I paid this time, because my girlfriend had treated me to a burger lunch and the Resident Evil 3 movie a week or two before when I had, literally, nothing in my account or wallet. At that time, I was still waiting for my first paycheck, and I had always felt guilty about it. We talked about RE3, her hometown, my awesome apartment, our plans for the future in our work, everything. It was a very relaxing and happy time that we shared together.

After a while, she took me back to her mom's place so she could drop off her bike, then we took a taxi to the train station so we could both go to the main city and look around a bit. I don't remember what we did there, but I do remember walking past some construction going on outside of the main station, one of many such sites that I had seen all over the country. I made a joke and said, "(This country)! Perpetually under construction!" She got fake angry and lightly punched my shoulder, but I laughingly insisted that it was a compliment: things were only getting bigger and better here.

We got on a bus outside of the main station to head back to my place, and there's a conflicting account here: somebody wanted to hold hands on the bus, and the other didn't. I could swear she was the one being shy, but my wife insists to this day that it was me. In any event, the more courageous of us convinced the other to get closer, and we rode back to my apartment, hand in hand and her head on my shoulder, for a night of DVDs, snacks and fun.

As for today...

I woke up at 10:00.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I played video games with my son.
I watched DVDs with my wife.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I cleaned up the floor and table.
I started a load of laundry.
I folded and put away dry clothes.
I did the dishes.
I prepared teaching lessons.
I hung up wet laundry.
I slept.