CNY

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone! Too all my Asia-dwellers: hope you are having a lovely holiday! I’m noticing that not so many people over here care so much about CNY.. and I’m really wishing I had the weekend off and MK and I could go to Bali.. which was our CNY thing to do every year.. except for that one time that we didn’t. Anyway.. a little Bali would be just the thing…

From bed..

I’m not feeling so hot. The nice thing about working in a department with a lot of “mom” types is that they are really good with the sympathy thing. I looked horrendous today and only had to teach a couple classes this morning so they all insisted that I miss the boring afternoon meetings and go home to bed. I stopped in the village for some cans of soup and came home and promptly slept the afternoon away. I still feel icky but not as bad.

I think it’s a result of too many late nights.. out in the rain. Friday night was pouring on and off and it was chilly. I’m not used to these so-called seasonal changes.

Sunday I was a good girl and went to church but then Carissa and I had a pub lunch at an Irish pub and I downed a pint of cider. It made me feel really tipsy so I’m thinking I’m not well. 

Had a bit of a chat with Jimmy tonight. It was good. He asked me what I missed about Indo and I had some trouble coming up with anything overly concrete. Other than Bali and some people and happy moments.. I’m not sure. He’s in the same boat I think. We decided that it’s best to discuss this over a pint or so of something strong. Visit has been penciled in. 

I finished Season 5 of Six Feet Under.. finally! The last episode made me cry. Anyone who has ever had to say goodbye to people would be able to relate. Made me realize that a huge part of my life has to do with the fact that I am constantly saying goodbye to people or finding myself in a different country from all of my loved ones. I do love my life but I do hate missing people all the time. It comes with the territory I suppose. 

My wee sister is going car shopping today with my dad. She’s going to get a new one because she’s rich and still lives with my parents. I figure.. if you’re going to live with your parents.. it’s good to have money. If you’re going to be poor.. it’s good to live somewhere exciting. The philosophy works for me!

Oh.. most of my students are obsessed with the Twilight series so I’m giving it a go. So far it’s pretty entertaining. I can see why they like it although the whole vampire thing isn’t really my thing.

And tomorrow.. assuming I feel better.. is my first day of German lessons. I did lose the receipt though.. so hopefully they’ll let me in.

And that’s it for now!

Saturday Coffee Time

It’s a lazy Saturday and I’m loving it! Last week was my first 5 day teaching week and I survived it. It was a pretty full on week but it is now over. Last night I couldn’t be bothered to go out and so I make pizza and watched some Sex and the City and had a nice hot candlelit bubble bath and it was all very simple but very nice. Tonight promises to be a tad wilder.. which will be good but it’s not necessary. 

I am loving my job. It’s lots of work but I find that I’m finally starting to really get through to the kids and get my usual classroom vibe back. Takes a while for kids to warm up but I’ve only got one class left to “win”. What I’m loving is that my colleagues are so fantastic about encouraging me and they aren’t the least bit threatened by a new young teacher.. the way some old birds tend to be. Most of them are mothers and so it feels like Kali and I are their new daughters. And they are always bringing treats into the office! I love it!

In other news.. the Indian guy I met in Bali.. .will be here in a month. WTF?? It’ll be good to see him I think but rather bizarre too. Last time we saw each other he was with my friend and I was all sunned and sweaty in a dirty Bali dance club. This will be a definite change of environment. He did mention just wanted to chill in some cafe somewhere and have coffee and talk. I’m up for that. We’ll do that.. I’ll take him out.. but I’m not wanting anything to happen.. I don’t think. The way things are with me right now.. I’m not into merely fun flings.. I think.

Adam is still tall and lovely but also somewhat distant. I think it would be stupid to get involved with a guy from work unless I was a thousand percent sure it would go somewhere decent. Upon getting to know him more though.. it doesn’t seem like there would be the right kind of chemistry and sparks.. so yeah.. big hulking work buddy it is! 

NBB keeps texting me. He’s in Amsterdam and wants me to swing on over to hang out with him and his friends. I told him he needed to give me a little more warning and he said he’s been hinting about it for weeks. Why can’t British dudes be more blatant?? Or why am I so horrible when it comes to reading between the lines???

And then we get to BNB. He and I have been chatting on and off all week. It’s been only during his work hours, once I get home from school. I didn’t think much of it because at times it seems like the ball is way too much in his court. However, he started sending me messages after work last night and they lasted til the early morning hours and then picked back up this morning. I don’t know…

And then there is First Date Boy who solves the world’s problems with me almost every night. He’s amazing to talk to and we never run out of things to say. We make each other laugh and he really does “get” me the way I need a guy to “get” me. But we live in the wrong places and I don’t think it would ever really work. He is trying to move to France though.. so hmm… 

So yes.. I’m busy.. I’m working hard.. I’m trying to get myself a life and it’s starting to work. All the pieces are falling nicely into place!

Boys Boys Boys

Right now there is lots happening in the Boy World. Well not quite lots but there is definite POTENTIAL for things to start stirring.

Kali (one of my 2 friends.. and a girl I also teach the same stuff with) was talking to Adam today and he asked if us new girls go for Friday Night Drinks. Then he said he was hoping he’d see us there. This is good.. and especially good cause Kali is planning to bring her German boyfriend along. So that’s Adam.. Kali is determined to make this happen!

Then there is the guy from Bali who I was supposed to go on a date with in Singapore before I left Indo.. remember? Anyway he emailed me today to say that he’d be here in Germany for some big exhibit thing for his work. He wants to stay with me… hmmm. This would be in September.

Then there is the NBB.. (Newer British Boy) he’s my internet friend who lives in England. I think I have mentioned him before.. we started chatting back when I was 18 and have stayed in touch for quite some time… anyway he’s trying to get an invite for a week or so.. hmm.

Then there is First Date boy who I have been chatting with incessantly since I arrived. I don’t know man.. there is some kind of underlying chemistry there that I can’t explain.. maybe it stems back to the fact that there are some major unresolved issues from back in the day.. or maybe we’re just on the same wavelength sometimes.. I don’t know.. but lately I have loved talking to him.

Last of all there is: um.. remember BNB? (Badly Named Brit) I wrote about him a bit on my other blog I think. The British dude I met in Bali who I totally fell for only to be strung along for 5 months and then told that I was being traded in for a girl who didn’t live 6000 miles away.. remember? Anyway I cut him totally out of my life for ages.. but for some insane reason.. lapse in logic.. I included his email on a huge “I’ve moved and here is where I am” email.. just to see what would happen. I bring this on myself… So he was quick to reply and since then we’ve chatted every day. It’s not a matter of falling back in love with him but more a matter of being in a healthier head-space in which I can flirt and enjoy the attention but not expect or want or need him to come and rescue me. It’s proving to myself that I am in control. Dont’ roll your eyes at me! Oh I still haven’t asked about his current relationship status.. but I kind of wonder.

So yeah.. when I’m not coming up with riveting lesson plans.. these are the boys I think about.

Holiday routines are the best routines..

Well I think MK and I have pretty much perfected our holiday routine. We have always traveled well together in that we feel the same about spending money on the same things.. we like doing the same things and we enjoy the perfect blend of laziness and activity. It’s all rather ideal.. We went out the other night which was hilarious. We are into meeting the most random people and making big happy groups of people.. it beats the regular Bali make outs with strangers. We developed a bit of a following the other night.. which included several aussies, one who kept a snake in his shirt, a couple korean girls, an aloof indian guy and this crazy guy Steve, who I’m sure was on something because NO ONE can dance with such energy the whole entire night! It was good though…

So back to holiday routines.. I really shouldn’t blog on holidays.. my brain shuts down… We wake at a leisurely hour, put our bathing suits on and sloppy beach wear and have breakfast.. then usually we hit the beach for a good long while. We walk the beach and chill in the sun with our books. Then mid to late afternoon we walk back to the hotel and spend some time chillin by the pool and eating a late late lunch. Sometimes we get massages.. then as the sun goes down we get two large Bintangs and sit on our balcony and watch the sky turn various shades of pinks, purples, oranges and then black. Once the sun goes down we shower or watch movies or just chill and then head out for a long late dinner. It’s bliss really. Then depending on our mood.. we go to big noisy Kuta for a big noisy night or we just walk around or come back to the hotel to chill. It’s all very lovely really.. and the best part??? I still have the better part of a week! Blissss…..

Bali Bliss…

Ahhhh…. I am happy. Bali is fantastic. One full day down and oh so many more to go! MK and I were just talking about how we feel so much happier and healthier here. The fresh air works wonders and the sun and blue sky and ocean and fresh fruit and.. and… and.. it’s great!

Have been staying rather low profile for the first few days. Gotta get the tan going and get into the vacation swing. We’re supposed to be meeting up with Jimmy for drinks one night as well as a few other random friends here. Overall.. it’s great. I’m so glad I decided to come here before heading directly home to Canada. Nice to get a comfortable breather in there somewhere.

And.. breathe

Leaving school today was surreal. Walking out of that building and knowing that I won’t be going back was strange. I feel like I need to let out a huge breath but I just can’t. It’s too big. Sure it sounds really dramatic but it’s how I’m feeling. Just really kind of uptight and like I’ve been holding my breath for three years and now.. I can let go. But at the same time I don’t want to.

I finished work around noon and then went home and dropped my stuff. I took the ojek to MK’s house and then hung out with her for a bit til we went to the salon for our hair, mani and pedi. Lovely and relaxing. I love getting my hair washed and straightened. Then we went to meet some of our other friends at Starbucks. They were heading to Cork & Screw.. probably my favourite restaurant but I didn’t feel like going tonight. I don’t really know why. I think because I have had such incredible times there with MK and Jimmy.. I didn’t want to mess with those memories. Weird of me.. but hey I can be weird if I want to. 

So MK and I went for Chinese and then picked up a few things at the mall. We also sang Karaoke songs in one of the little booths in the mall. It’s like a portopotty but with music! It was good fun and we sang some great songs.. we finished with Michael Buble’s Home.. which was a mistake. Way too sad. We had a bit of a moment! Have you ever really paid attention to those words?? Not good for two friends who don’t want to part ways.

Jimmy popped by MKs house and we all had a bit of a laugh. He also dropped a card by my house and it said all the right kinds of things. It was really very nice and I think he and I will be okay. He’ll be surfing in Bali so he wants to meet up and take MK and I out… seeing as he drank all our liquor this year and never contributed to the supply.. it’s the least he can do. I do think things will be better with me and old Jimmy.. 

So yes.. tomorrow is Bali.. it’ll be a good place to unwind and breathe a bit..

Convince me

Right now I am doing an assortment of things. Jimmy’s maid locked him out of his house so he’s having his afternoon nap on my couch while Before Sunset is playing on TV in the background. I am typing up the beginning chapters of my book and also trying to sort out things for Germany. My flat rental contract came in the mail today! Anyway there is oh so much to sort out. I am finding this whole new move thing is really playing a game with my mind.

In Bali I met two teachers who were working in HK and had been for the past 10 years. They went on and on and on about how amazing it is to work in HK and how there are so many jobs and what a great life it is. It wasn’t helpful for me at all. Suddenly I began having second thoughts and wondering what the heck I’m doing when part of me still really wants to be moving to HK. CF spent the better part of the afternoon talking to me about why Europe is better for me now and I think I am convinced again. It just took me a while to get totally on the Europe train and then these two people totally shook me off.. for a bit.

I think Germany will be good. Fresh air will be good. Taller people will be nice. Being able to live outside of this bubble I’m in now will be great. Career wise it’s a good choice. I’ll learn to be a bit more responsible with my money… or starve to death trying. I can learn German. I will be closer to some pretty incredible places. I’ll be able to meet new people. I’ll be closer to Canada. I need to stop being such a spoiled expat. I’ll be in a more creatively inspiring environment. I’m closer to my friends in London. More people will be able to visit me. I can start meeting real boys instead of developing unhelpful emotional attachments to the wrong ones. And the thing is.. it’s a brand new experience and experiences make us grow and develop and change.. and change is good!

Back.. sort of

Back from Bali and having a quiet time before the final term 4 insanity hits for apparently 11 weeks??

It was a fantastic holiday and I was able to read a lot and even get some of the creative juices flowing. Also feeling sunned and healthier and just better about everything.

Met some really cool people.. as you tend to do.. and had a great time talking about all things.. I love the random people one comes across on holidays. It’s funny how you can meet people and find some connection and then feel as if you’ve always known them..

Had some fun party nights and some chill nights.. ate some good food.. had some great drinks.. spent hours and hours lounging and it was just really great…

Still caught up in the post-holiday lull.. I’m back but only in body..

Yet I know that this is my final term of work at this school and so I need to give it my all. It’s going to be quick and a lot has to happen.. but it all will…

and before I know it.. I’ll be back in Bali again…

Holiday Update

Still in Bali and just taking a break from the sun for a bit. It’s crazy how internet is so accessible in this place. Actually it’s not crazy at all seeing as this is a tourist hot spot and it’s not like the internet is some new fangled communication device. Anyway been having a fantastic time and spending many a lazy day reading fun stuff and swimming and happy that the hardest decision I have to make is whether or not I want to start drinking before noon. And I do! Actually it’s been great just relaxing and getting my mind all relaxed and refreshed. Massages and stuff don’t hurt as well.

Haven’t been having as “wild” of a time as past times but I’m okay with that. There comes a point when being hungover by the pool all day isn’t as fun as it seems… wow.. I think I’m getting old! Anyway it’s been good and we have three full days left of this good stuff!

The hotel we are at is quaint and out of the way of the majority of drunken australian tourists. It caters more to europeans.. and us.. and those two other Canadian girls we met the other day. It’s not a large place so it’s easy to get to know the other guests. Or if not speak to, to at least be able to observe.

Been getting lots of story ideas and think I might actually have one that is going to work. I’m going to try to begin it today.  I’ve been reading so much that it feels like I have constant descriptions and phrases running through my head. I can’t seem to turn it off! I think I’ve had too much sun.

Alright well I need to order my coffee and so I’m off..

Chaos to Comos

Wow! I am finally safe inside my lovely apartment with full blast AC! I spent the morning and early part of the afternoon marking and I can now say that I’m done baby!

Anyway I felt like I needed to escape my little nest and venture out into the world for a coffee and snack and to check out some DVDs. Big mistake! This is some religious holiday (not Easter.. but something else today) and so everyone is off work but the mall is open. It’s not open but it’s filled with three times the normal amount of people.. slow walking people.. not so fresh smelling slow walking people.. it’s loud and chaotic and probably the closest thing to my personal hell. Oh, and for some reason they decided not to turn on the Air Conditioning.. so you can imagine.

Well I was committed and so I walked the entire mall to where the new dvds were and picked up the next installment of Nip/Tuck. OK not fabulous tv at all.. I mean really quite trashy but it’s another guilty pleasure and hey! I’m on holidays! There is time for mindless trash now! Got the dvds and made my way back to Starbucks where I sweat to death while placing my order, got my latte and booked it out of there!

There are some things I am NOT going to miss and that horrible mall is one of them!

So now I’m home and safe.. it’s quiet and cool and I’m quite happy to stay here tonight. What makes it even better is that this time tomorrow.. I’ll be flying to Bali!

Three cheers for Spring Break!

Almost Break Time

Slowly things are getting done! All my report card comments are complete and now I’m just plugging through some mock exam papers which I hope to have finished by tomorrow evening! Work ends in an hour (although let’s face it.. I’m on holidays in my head now!) and then that is the end of the third quarter of the school year. Wow! I cannot believe how quickly this year is going by. I’m off to Bali on Friday for 10 days! 10 glorious days!

I have almost filled out all of my surgical insurance forms.. what a pain in the ass that is. All I know is that I’d better get coverage or I am very very screwed.

So glad that it’s holiday time! I need a definite breather. Have had far too many “bad mood days” lately and no, it’s not PMS related. I don’t think anyway.  Nothing a little time on a beach or by a pool with a good book won’t fix. I’m going this time with another hardcore reader so between the two of us, I think we are bringing a small library. Although I tend to start looking through the stack of left over books at the hotel and always find a few that I wouldn’t know to read or like. I just love holiday reading! I’m bringing a mix of total chick lit (guilty pleasure), a few dark artsy books and a couple I got for Christmas and should probably read before I go home in the summer and see the people who gave them to me.

I also want to spend some time writing, although what tends to happen is when I actually have the time to pursue it, I have zero creativity. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time.

Anyway I’m off to sort myself out and then I’m outta here!

Airport HookUp

I like how little things happen sometimes to make me smile. One of my boys on the back-burner suddenly re-emerged yesterday. This is a guy I met in Bali once and we’ve stayed in touch sporadically over the past months. Things have been a tad quiet but he explains its due to work, which is fine with me because I’m not emotionally invested in it at all. Anyway as it turns out he’ll be in Singapore at the end of June and wanted to know if I could get myself there. Strangely enough, I think I can. I have a monster layover there and think I can actually meet up for a ‘date’. Granted I may be all emotional because it’s the day I’m leaving here but a nice distraction never hurts!

Goodbye February, Hello March

Well February is finally over and so I’m going to tell myself I’m done with the whole “winter blah” stage. It is weird because of all the rain, seasonal depression is affecting everyone! But there is way too much going on and way too much to be excited about to let the depressing thoughts dominate.

HKN has been ridiculously nice to me this week. Not that he isn’t normally but this past week it seems he’s been very committed to helping me relax and be happy about Germany. From his initial offer to buy me plane tickets to Canada every Christmas to promising to buy me Eurorail passes whenever I want, the guy is committed financially to my happiness. It’s really really sweet and it’s all his idea. I always feel somewhat bad accepting huge presents, especially when they have huge monetary value (I am the girl who loves the card more than the present) but HKN has that all sorted out too.

Yesterday he told me that he’s going to come to Germany for Oktoberfest.. with a side mission of introducing me to his Europe friends so that I’m guaranteed to have a small network of seemingly cool people to hang out with. That’ll be a ton of fun but I’m also hoping that I have some cool friends by then to add to the mix as well. I just like how he’s looking out for me.

The other plan he came up with is to bring his HK crew to Bali in April. I’ll bring MK and it will be a weekend of definite trouble. We’re going to try and plan it all on Monday. I love planning things! Love it, love it!

Also today is March 1st.. if I want to be a smoke-show for the summer and Europe.. I need to be extremely diligent and hardcore starting today! And so.. I shall try. I’m getting really bored of always starting over again… so I’m just going to do it! Eat right, exercise my ass off and be disciplined.

So here is March… let’s make it great!

Something Else

I have been tagged.. hmm.. so here it goes:

7 Things I Approve of:

1) Starbucks Coffee- not just the fact that they have such an array of excellent beverages but as a place to be.. to chill.. to escape the somewhat SEAsian chaos.. it’s lovely and comforting to know that some things are the same. Nevermind all that globalization business..

2) Romantic Idealism – I approve of being a Carrie Bradshaw about love and “never settling for anything less than butterflies”.

3) Bali - it’s a love it or hate it place and I love it. Not only it’s beauty as an island but the fact that its an escape from everything. It’s a place a girl can go to find complete tranquility and peace or a place she can go to find all the beaches, booze and boys she could ever want!

4) Weirdness/Originality – I approve of character traits, abilities etc that set people apart from the average norm.

5) AirAsia – the best budget airline in the world. Sure its more like a flying bus with not a lot of service but to cheaply get from A to B and not crash.. it’s a good feeling Sport! I heartily approve.

6) Rain – it provides opportunities to curl up with a book or someone nice, it’s somewhat cleansing and basically.. rain is just sexy.

7) BBC’s The Blue Planet - I can’t get over how amazing it is!

As for tagging.. well this is awkward but hey, let’s go with: LondonGirl, Treespotting, Indy and M.