Lady of Leisure

This morning, like most other mornings, I wanted to hurl the possessed alarm clock against the wall when it woke me up at the ungodly hour of 6:15am. I've never been a fan of getting up before 9am. Sometimes I even feel like crying when I have to leave for work in the morning, especially when I see The Boyfriend sprawled out on the bed in the comfy, inviting blankets, knowing that he can still sleep soundly for another three or more hours.

I’ve daydreamed about what it would be like to not have to work or have any big responsibilities. I especially fantasize about getting to sleep in every morning. I can see myself rising out of bed with a smile on my face, and with perfect hair, just like those girls in mattress commercials. I would meet up with my friends for brunch, do some afternoon shopping and basically becoming a master at the art of doing nothing. Of course I’d have a very generous man who would sponsor this lifestyle. I would be the perfect Lady of Leisure.

But then I thought; Wouldn't the Lady of Leisure get bored with her life with no real challenges? You can only go shopping that many times a week, and your friends would probably get sick of you calling them up for brunch every day. I realized that I do like having a purpose in life. You know, it feels good being a part of something bigger than yourself, and making a contribution to society. I also quite prefer making my own money and getting to spend it on whatever I want, without having to explain.

I guess I can accept only being a Lady of Leisure over the weekends. Miss Responsible will stick to throwing the alarm clock against the wall and getting up at 6:15am to go to work. Even if it means that I have to crawl out of bed five mornings out of the week, quite possibly looking the exact, frightening opposite of those mattress commercial girls.

Breakfast for dinner

I've had braces for exactly eleven days now, and I'm about ready to take them off myself. Don't feel too bad for me though, because technically I did put myself in this situation (not literally, an orthodontist put me in it). Thus, probably, I'm not even allowed to complain about it. But because this is my blog and I write it, and I can say what I want, I am going to whine about it.

It's just that I really, really miss food. You know, real food. For the past eleven days, I've been eating cereal, yogurt, soup, cereal, pudding, soup, ice cream, and did I mention cereal? It still hurts too much to bite down on anything. Girls, I know what you're going to say; "look on the bright side, at least you can lose weight." Uhm actually, the joy of losing two kilograms, without trying, cannot even compare in the least bit to the utter elation I would feel if I could stuff my face with a big, juicy hamburger and cheese fries right now.

Apparently, according to my in-depth, exhaustive ten minute research on Google, I should be able to eat solid foods within fourteen days of getting braces. That means that I have three days to go. So I guess until then, I'll just have to eat my little bowl of cereal for dinner. Actually, do you think it's possible to put a hamburger in a blender? Just asking.

Indefinitely, maybe.

I came to Taiwan after graduating from university in South Africa. The Plan was to live and work here for a year to experience a different culture and to travel a bit. That year changed to a year and a half, and that year and a half changed to 3 years. And up until recently, The Boyfriend and I were going to stay for 3 more years. Needless to say, The Plan went out the window, as it usually does.

We realized how amazing and easy our life in Taiwan really is. The Boyfriend and I both have amazing jobs that we are truly happy in. I can list many reasons why we have just stayed and stayed in Taiwan; we can afford a nice apartment, we can travel frequently, and the cost of living is very low, which is great for saving money and getting ahead. Their public services are efficient, people know how to do their jobs, and I can take taxis, the bus or the subway anywhere in the city.

We also have free national health insurance, which means I can go to the doctor for a consultation, and get medicine, for about US$5. (The same for going to the dentist!) And most importantly, I always feel safe.

Taiwan has been good to us, and we have decided to maybe stay indefinitely. We’ve even talked about raising our future children here. Yes, it is hard to be so far away from our families, but we are fortunate enough to be able to afford to visit them every year.

It took me a while to realize how content I really am here. Taiwan was always just a temporary situation and now it might become a permanent situation, which makes me feel at ease. So, The New Plan is to stay here until... whenever. 

August Favorites 2011

I love this messenger bag! I got it back in July in Thailand for dirt cheap on Khao San Road in Bangkok. I like it so much because it goes with everything, and all my essentials fit in there perfectly. Well, almost everything. Everything except my huge wallet, which means that I have a lot of unorganized bills and coins in there. I know I must look like a drug dealer when I take out a hand full of money when I have to pay for something.

I absolutely loved this book, Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi. It's a very honest, and sometimes disturbing, memoir about her struggle with anorexia and bulimia. I got it at the airport back in the States on my way back to Taiwan. I couldn't put it down and finished it by the time I arrived in Japan.

And then, my favorite birthday present this year was from my mom. She sent me a children's cookbook and, I must shamefully admit, probably not as a joke. It has some great recipes in it though, and it's totally idiot-proof, so one of these days I'll whip up a mean batch of traditional South African pancakes, and then we'll see who has the last laugh.

While in the States, I became obsessed with Glade's candles. They all smell so good, and as far as I know, it's not available in Taiwan. I bought four different ones, and always have it burning while I'm at the apartment.

My most worn perfume during August was Wakely by Abercrombie & Fitch. I know my mom has the same one, so I think of her every time I wear it. I also got some nail polish from Essie, and I've loved the color, Tart Deco. It's very summer-y.

I wore L'Oreal's Color Juice lipgloss a lot during August. Oh, and then of course, my all time favorite product ever... drum roll please... Blistex's DCT lipbalm. I can't live without lip balm, and this one is by far my favorite. I can't buy it in Taiwan though, so I cherish the ones my mom sends me from South Africa.

These were only a few of my favorite things for August. Okay, now I have this song from The Sound of Music in my head.

It's Britney b*tch!

Yes, I went to a Britney Spears concert while I was in the US. I don’t understand why some people roll their eyes and disapprove of this. I know I’m 26 years old, but come on, it’s Britney! I knew it was going to be entertaining and a good show, which it definitely was. I was expecting to see lots of teenage girls, but I was wrong. The audience was mostly made up of ladies around my age, their boyfriends who got dragged along, and of course the gay guys who came to worship their idol. (Who at times were actually more entertaining than the actual show.)

To balance this out, we also went to a football game; the Panthers vs the Giants (!?!) I think. (I wasn’t really paying attention to that and I still don’t understand the game.) I was busy checking out the variety of people that go to these games, and drinking beer.

We also went to a theme park called Carowinds. I have a love/hate relationships with theme parks, but I did go on most of the rides, except the biggest and most intimidating roller coaster I’ve ever seen, fittingly called the “Intimidator”. It’s 232-feet tall and moves at 75mph. Uhm, no thanks.

The Boyfriend and I drove up to Raleigh to visit some friends, and he also took me to his university campus and showed me around. We went to say hi to his professors, whom all know him by name (!?!) At my university they only knew my number. If that.

The rest of our time in North Carolina was spent shopping at the hundreds of malls, eating at the thousands of fast food joints, and hanging out with his family and friends. We also went bowling and on a wine tasting. The Boyfriend’s 10-year high school reunion unfortunately got postponed because of the hurricane, so we didn't get to go to that.

Okay, now this post in turning into a short story. Bottom line; my vacation in North Carolina was awesome, The Boyfriend and his family are awesome, and face it, even if you don't want to admit to it, deep down you know that Britney is freakin' awesome, too!

Back to school, back to reality

After a lovely vacation with The Boyfriend and his family in North Carolina, I’m back in Taiwan, punching the clock like I never left. Even though I’ve been back at work for three days, I’m still not truly here yet. I say this because it just took me about 5 minutes to type that first sentence. (Midway through typing it, I caught myself staring at the wall, basically sleeping with my eyes open.) Ugh, I hate jet lag.

We had a great time in the States and did a lot of fun things, which I’ll write about in my next post. I’m way too “out of it” right now to write a grammatically correct and witty blog post about my American adventure.

I've been complaining, to anyone who would listen, how bad my jet lag is this time, and that there's nothing worse than a 13-hour flight where you don't even have your own little TV screen. Come on Delta, get with the program. This 13-hour flight was also made extra unbearable by the old guy sitting next to me who thought it would be a good idea to eat a bag of grapes, and then proceed to pass gas during the duration of the flight.

Me complaining about the flight reminded me of this video that I've seen recently, which made me laugh so hard. It's just so true!