Chinese New Year

So it's Chinese New Year in Taipei, with all the fun that entails. Fireworks non stop for 5 days now and everyone on vacation. I'm surprised I can even access the internet as the lag has been horrific lately. Half the shops are closed but the rest are constantly busy from what I can see.

On Chinese New Year (CNY), Felicity was kind enough to invite me to her house for dinner. Then she included lunch too so I went over around noon. I've had traditional CNY food but this was a first. The first dish that came out was deep fried fish, that we aren't allowed to eat. It has to have a head and tail, and stay on the table for good luck. Then came a pan fried salmon fillet with a pepper sauce on the side that was really good. Some of the other dishes were rather unique too. One dish looked like pigs feet, another was baked chicken served cold sliced, the final dish was an interesting one with Tofu and egg whites.

Dinner was much the same except there was a vegetable dish with mutton in it. I liked the vegetables, not the mutton. There was lots of fruit served with lunch and dinner plus a vegetable soup. I was really surprised that there was so much meat despite Felicity's mom being a vegetarian. She didn't eat any of it, but I guess that it's tradition to have lots of meat at CNY.

After lunch Felicity and I watched some movies and she answered some Chinese questions I had. It was a pretty lazy day all and all. Eating, napping, watching TV, eating some more, more TV. I'll probably have to spend the next week in the gym to make up for how much they fed me.

In the mean time, I'm still working and fireworks are still going off. I have to fly to Macau again next week, this time to get a new 6 month visa. It should go off without a hitch I hope. They offer same day service so I'll fly in the morning, get the visa, and return in the evening.

The State of Brett

Since I keep getting emails about the "State of (Insert Place name here)", I figured I would blatantly steal the title for my post. The State of the Union, the State of California, the State of Long Beach, the State of CSULB, etc etc. It also works since this January and a good time to update everyone as to how I am doing.

I can say that I am doing better than most Americans right now. My debt (except for my student loans) is very low, almost zero. I have a job. I don't have health or dental benefits, but I do have a retirement account. I have my health, I'm working out and I am eating well.

Now the negatives. The economy is horrible in Long Beach. 7.2% unemployment in the state and an estimated 9.2% in Long Beach. The CA budget shortfall has left me unsure if I'll have a job past June. I imagine I will, just to finish off Anthony's last book, but after that there isn't a need for me at CSULB. My skill set is Chinese braille, and there aren't anymore books to braille. I can do general editing for them, but they won't want to pay me 15 dollars a hour when they can pay a student assistant half of that.

I've had trouble finding work here in Taipei. Despite sending my resume to several locations, not one has called me back. This worries me because I don't even know if they received my resume. The bigger issue is that the contracts run 1 solid year at a minimum. That would be Feb 2009 to Feb 2010. My apartment lease ends Sept 2009 and can only be renewed for another year. Timing is coming to bite me in the butt.

I can either gamble and wait until August to start looking for work, or find work now and worry about the overlap later. The overlap would mean I need to find a 2nd job in August (when I find a new apartment) so that come next Feb I'll still have legal residency.

In the meantime, I have to leave TW for a few days in Feb to get a new visa. Mine will expire and I need to get a new 60 day multiple reentry one. This is also going to cause a problem if I get a job because all the listings want me to start right after Chinese New Year. I can't fly before CNY due to the prices being much higher than normal. It will take at least two days to get a new visa, Day 1 for processing and pickup on day 2.

Those negatives aside I'm happy that I can pay off my student loans. I am extremely happy that half of them they are only 6.8% and the other half are 4.5%. None of them are private loans at 15% interest or more.

I'm happy that I've kept to my plan to work out 4 days a week. I haven't seen much improvement yet but I feel like I have more energy when I work out. I also feel very sore afterwards. Now I just need to cut back on the snacks. That would be easier except that felicity has a sweet tooth for chocolate. She also can't eat alone or else she feels that she'll get fat. Somehow by feeding me chocolate, she can eat more without feeling guilty. I don't pretend to understand, only to help her feel less guilty.

I wish I could spend the time studying Chinese every day like I want to. So far I've been studying 3 to 4 times a week for an hour each time. I don't know how it happens, but I get busy with work and then look at the clock and have lost several hours. I think I need to be more diligent and force myself to study every day or else I really won't improve my Chinese, despite being here.

All in all, I am happy here but I miss my friends and family back home. I can't wait to see everyone this summer when I visit. I can't wait to see the beach and have warm days that aren't so humid I feel like I'm drowning.

I talked to some of my friends today who told me it was in the 80's in CA. Lucky punks. It's a high of 54 degrees here with 60% humidity and wind. I forgot how lucky I am that my apartment is newer and insulated. I had dinner at Felicity's Monday night and was freezing afterwords.

I hope everyone back home is doing well and I can't wait to see you again.