Packing and Complaining About It.

I HATE packing. (If you haven't already guessed, the next paragraph or so are going to be filled with whiny comments about how hard it is to shove too much stuff into seemingly gargantuan - yet somehow inadequate - suitcases.) I have too much clothing, too little time, and only two suitcases for an entire year which, despite much practice, ability, and packing skill on my part, is falling entirely short of what I need. I NEED to be able to fit 365 days worth of Emergen-C, 70+ doses of Sudaphedrine, and every skirt I own and never have or will wear into my suitcases, I really do. 

I went to Frys yesterday and bought a webcam and a new battery for my laptop (as apparently holding a charge for ~ 20 minutes is "normal wear and tear" on a battery and will not fall under warrenty). I'm in love with both of them, and talked to my Dad (who lives about 30 minutes away) with the webcam for like half an hour just so I could shake my new haircut in the tiny recorded image. My hair is very pretty - Caitlyn cut and dyed it, and my sisters complimenting it so much I'm actually beginning to wonder if she's trying to overcompensate for some unknown missing patch in the back or something.

Speaking of sister, she surprised me with a lovely photo album yesterday. She wasn't supposed to give it to me until tomorrow, but that's pretty par for the course - she's not good with surprises. Or secrets, actually. However, she's held this one for a month, apparently, so she's growing as a person. 

And speaking of secrets (and yes, I did plan out that transition in advance, wasn't it nifty?) Heidi and Co. threw me a surprise party on Tuesday night, which was lovely - thanks for that guys, sorry I was so crabby and didn't want to come into the restaurant and nearly ruined everything! For those of you who didn't attend, this was an entirely reasonable response - their cover story for getting me INTO the restaurant was that Allison had lost her wallet... and I didn't see why she needed my help in retrieving it, and also didn't want to lose shotgun. Though to be fair, "I'm leaving for Taiwan" is a pretty good get-anything-you-want card...

In summary: I am stupid, do not pick up on hints, and am usually not terribly cooperative. Congratulations are in order to all those who manage to work around this.

I'm going to go repack... again. I WILL MAKE THAT COSTCO PACK OF LOTION FIT, BY GOD!

And it's official!

I will be working at Lincoln American School in Chiayi City, Taiwan! I've booked my plane ticket (and been suitably annoyed at the surprise fees given at the last moment... damn you, Expedia, you sneaky sneaky bastards) for the 28th of June, and the cheapest flight available (because yes, I am that cheap...) means a 5-hour layover in LAX until 2 in the morning, when I depart for Taiwan. I always feel time changes when you're flying are somehow mysterious and magical... I'll leave at 6:30 pm on a Saturday and arrive 6:30 am on a Monday... with a 19 hour flight and a 5 hour layover.

I'm not sure how I'm going to handle an 11 hour difference. It is, essentially, the worst time difference one could conceive of... because when it's morning for me, it's night time for them, and so my whole schedule will be entirely thrown off. I'm thinking that if I just keep myself awake for a very long time with caffeine and then, the day of the flight, make sure I fall asleep at what constitutes Taiwan night-time, I will be better able to adjust. But Jet Lag's going to be a bitch, regardless.

Went to the doctor's yesterday, got a TB test. My doctor had a fairly strong German accent and the tendency to speak directly at the pile of paperwork, so I'm not exactly sure why I had to get a TB test. But I have to go in tomorrow and find out the results. Basically, she poked me with this strange needle (it was pronged like a freakin' trident) and then told me in a calm voice that the growing bump on my arm would subside soon. It did, but now its red. Hopefully that means negative; while I wouldn't be surprised if I had tuburculosis (I have the immune system strength of an AIDs patient on their last legs, and no personal boundaries), the 6-month treatment of medication would be a bit of a bitch.

An Introduction

So, apparently I am not the only member of my family to venture to Taiwan, nor am I the only one of my friends to do so. I knew that my cousin, Sean, had taught there for a while, but I did not know that that one 2nd-or-so cousin who suffocated me with a pillow when he was twelve also has gone there, or that my friend Alex taught there too. Apparently, Taiwan is the place to be!

I'm going through Reach to Teach Recruiting, an awesome collaboration of people who've lived and worked in Taiwan and who aren't annoyed (visibly) by my incessant questions on food, feminine hygiene, or communications. At this point, we are still hammering out the whens and wheres of my teaching adventures, and waiting on a few vital pieces of information, namely my degree. This will be coming in less than a week, a fact that terrifies and excites me - it has taken a long time to get to this point!

I've recently gotten ahold of a perhaps-not-entirely-legal copy of Rosetta Stone software, and find the Chinese program hillariously entertaining and very useful. Interestingly, the Chinese word for 'cat' sounds exactly like the way my 2-year-old nephew slurs "I see Mrow," which is his way of indicating my sister's devil cat is in the area. I always knew he was born to speak Chinese!