on the opposite side of the sun

one of the coolest things about austin is how small businessy it feels. downtown is kind of lame/has ugly '70s architecture/doesn't have a whole lot to do during the day, but there's a lot around campus. one of my favs is milto's. it's a greek/mediterranean place.

it has 10 parking spaces that are always full and it's located on the corner of a busy intersection so you almost get in an accident every time you circle around. but when i was a freshman i used to go there right before they closed & they'd give me big paper bags of rolls that they were going to throw away. they're made from the pizza dough & covered with garlic oil. yum.
they have the beeeest $5 gyros. i found one place with gyros in DC & they were $10.
it was a beautiful day in austin today. clear, warm (57). ..i keep thinking about planning a trip to DC, and then i think of the snow.. and then i look out the window and decide to stay in austin for a bit longer.

does anyone know someone in the military who could use a penpal? or know someone in the military who might know someone without a lot of support?

did i say that i love you?

isn't it interesting how every region in america has its own vibe? i was born in california but i really grew up in flagstaff, arizona. we were there for preschool-4th grade. it's really clear and crisp. we used to go drive my dad's beat up truck in the aspen forests and go skiing in the winter. it was an overwhelmingly outdoorsy place to grow up. i used to grind up plants (and grasshoppers. i admit it.) in the back yard with cinderblocks and pretend like i had my own cooking show.

anyway if i keep going like this, it could be a long night. but today was a good example of how DC feels like a northeastern city. it was drizzly and gray all day. the trees felt like leaves were bending down with rain and the slate on sidewalks and front porches was darker than usual. you just wanted to curl up with a sweater, socks and a bowl of clam chowder or cup of coffee.

but in austin, a rainy day is a whole different thing. it's usually clear until all of the sudden a big downpour happens with giant rain drops and water rushing down the streets. everything gets dark for half an hour or so and you curl up on the couch with a book, but next thing you know it lets up and it's back to normal and sunny except that everything seems a little greener and perked up.

i guess this week has just been a lot of me thinking about what kind of environment i'm looking for. i liked the adventure of taiwan but it could sometimes feel very far from home. i like austin because it reminds me of how much fun i had with big groups of friends, but they're gone now. i like DC because it's 'northeasternyness' reminds me of summers in new hampshire at my grandparents' house. it's nice to feel like i could go in any direction, but i also don't feel particularly tied to anywhere which can be a little scary.

unrelated: i made it all the way to work without slipping on rainy sidewalks and RIGHT when i walked into my building, i was rushing to the security desk, stepped off the carpet and onto the marble and my legs went out from under me and i fell right on my butt with my wrist on the floor. i get it! enough already.

mid twenties

it's my birthday!
andy and i went to walton's fancy and staple for lunch, which i had never heard of/looooved. it's owned by sandra bullock and it's new to austin. kind of a bistro, but in the back it's a florist and stationery shop. so beautiful.
i could live in there if they would just tuck a bed into the side of the wall or something. so light and bright with fresh daisies everywhere and giant white windows.(these are pictures i took with my iphone. so fancy.)
then we went to a frozen yogurt place for dessert. what a nice start to my birthday.

tonight i'm going to the melting pot with the fam. right now i'm in the process of talking my mom into letting me open oneee present. i'm not winning the battle, but i haven't really given it my all yet. i'll post pictures after dinner tonight.
update: i got to open gram's presents. check out how fluffy my shoulders are in this top.

other than that, yesterday i sorted everything in my room that's been accumulating in there since i was little. you wouldn't believe the things i uncovered. pictures to come.

503

we've passed 500 posts! woooo.

i wish i brought my camera to the lake today. ripley went swimming in 'the gladiator' (the name of her doggie life jacket). too cute. she is such a princess though. she would just stand on the steps and bark at us until jeff went under water and didn't come up and then she'd finally feel like she had to jump in. what a lovely day on the lake though. boats were zipping by, it was warm but not scorching out, we had cherry limeaids.
i slept for an hour or so in my big, soft, wonderful queen sized bed. it had my old sheets and duvet on it and i was in heaven. miss that bed so much.

jeff and i stopped at opie's on the way home and had brisket, ribs, jalapeno sausage, potato salad, beans and cherry cobbler. yuuummm!! on the way out, they were closing down so the woman sent us home with spicy corn casserole and tater tot something.

kuo

called the kuo's this early morning while it was their evening. makes me cry. i miss them so much. i think i'm going to call them every sunday. that will just be our thing.
(ripley got a bath. this is the scene of the crime).
yesterday was jam packed full of stuff. will, abha and i met with our journalism adviser from high school for lunch at chuy's, which is such an austin-y restaurant. we meet with her once a year or so and discuss what's gone on, what everyone's doing. since she worked at school, she knows everyone we know. the fact that everyone keeps in touch with her speaks to what a formative experience working on the hs newspaper was for all of us. for me, it lead me to work at the daily texan, which was the only reason i got a job when i graduated.
after that, will, abha and i met up with andy at barton springs which is a freeeezing cold spring in downtown austin with kind of a giant community pool. we hung out on a hill for a couple hours and people watched/critiqued bad tattoos.

then i went to dinner at the neighbors house. we've lived here 13 years and our neighbors have a son my age, so we've always hung out. we had yummy chicken a l'orange (heck if i know how to spell that) and cupcakes for my birthday!
(just to be clear, this is an 'after' photo).
after thatttt i went to a house party downtown and chatted with people i used to work with at the paper in college. i ended up spending quite a bit of time chatting with a linguistics major, now law student in a pink shirt. he was camp as christmas but we had a nice time.
THEN, i come home, i'm exhausted, i'm taking my shoes off and the power in the entire neighborhood goes off. jeffy isn't home, i just let ripley outside. luckily i had JUST used the wind up flashlight for something the other day so i know exactly where it is. pretty creepy to brush your teeth by the light of a flashlight.
and after all that, did i sleep past 7:30 this morning? nope. jeff and i are headed to the lake though so i knoooow i'll be able to sleep when i'm in MY REAL BEDDD!!

i'd have baked a cake

i think murphey's law is in full swing for me right now. decided not to go to the doctor about my flulike symptoms while i was in taiwan/covered by the national health insurance, coughed all the way from taipei to austin, haven't stopped since. although ironically after i took an expectorant this morning, i haven't coughed much at all.this is the jungle that we used to call our backyard.

my lingering illness is making it so i don't have the energy/good health to visit with any of my friends, which has left me in the house by myself all day while my brothers are at school and my mom is out working.
those pots are empty because every time we plant flowers, the cat just smothers them until they die. it's his favorite place to sleep/keep a lookout.

this morning i thought i'd treat myself to a nice, lung-opening bath. i haven't taken a real bath in a whole year. so i grab some girly bubble bath from under my sink, have a nice bath, and then about an hour later, the lower half of my legs are on fiiiire itching. i think it was from the old bubble bath. not sure what else would just make the bottom of my legs itch.and then i was eating taquitos dipped in parmesan cheese and cheese went all down the front of my dress =\ and it probably would have just easily fell out if i wasn't wearing my newly found, faaavorite bra that i left home at christmas by accident.it took an hour to kick in, but now i stand behind aveeno hydrocortizone cream.
so now it's just me and ripley, hangin' out. can you tell how excited she is?

deep in the heart of texas

i'm home! matt picked me up at the airport wearing a t-shirt from high school, gray thai fisherman pants and loafers. i was so ill by the time i got to austin i could barely talk without coughing. i already had a cough in taiwan but it just got worse and worse breathing that dry air in the planes. anyway i'd prefer not to think about all of that traveling.

when i got home, my mom had piled up all of the stuff i've sent home over the last 9 months on my favorite chair in the living room. it really was christmas. dresses, necklaces, cookbooks, shoes, masking tape! i haven't opened the regular mail yet but i know my non-expired debit cards are in there somewhere, too.

ripley found a baby opossum. i don't think she killed it.. it looks like she just licked it. i guess we'll see if it's there in the morning or not.
matt bought me taiwanese lychees from HEB! i love matt. i love lychees. i love taiwan.

my american boy

can you believe it's the end of july already? three weeks from today, i'll be on a plane to the US! to say that i'm thrilled is an understatement. it all feels so right.
(this weekend was the first/only time ripley has been in the back of the truck. you can see the happiness. she loves to go for rides, but i think this took it to a whole new level.
speaking of puppies, one of my favorite girls, angela, is getting a new puppy tonight and she offered me one. the "mom dog" has 3.)

for nowww though, i'm trying to enjoy the last few weeks in taiwan. my body freaked when i decided to limit myself to one cup of tea a day and i've been feeling sooo thirsty that i figured to heck with it. if i spend an extra $30 in tea this month, it'll be worth it.

tonight was the first time i've had to tell a class i'm leaving them. this class isn't one of my favs and i don't think they're super crazy about me, but they were pretty shocked. i told them about my job and they thought it was preeeettty cool. two more weeks with them.

the kuo's were funny tonight. i brought 3 cups of green tea; one for me and one for each of them. when i was at the tea shop, i thought 'should i get an extra just in case amanda is there? noo, she doesn't get off until 7 so i won't see her, and mr. wang and mr. chen haven't come on a weekday in months.' so i get there and mr. kuo and mr. wang are sitting there, drunk as skunks, and mr. wang is wondering where his tea is. whoops!
mr. kuo said i could marry his son if i was interested, and mrs. chan showed me her pumpkin plants, growing by the side of their house in a big pile of broken up concrete and glass, that have sprouted thumb-sized pumpkins.

best story of all!
we had a review day in my little kid class that can't read, can't remember any QA's, can't sound out words. i reviewed 'ae', 'ee', 'oa' and 'ow' words, got them reading, and then told them to look in their little story book for words with those phonics. these kids usually don't give a hoot about phonics, but today they were screaming 'megan! deer! tree! boat! road!' and running up to me with their books, pointing at words. i really could have cried, i was so proud of them. some of them would find a word with the right letters and point to it, but they forgot that they knew how to read it now. watching the lightbulb light up over their head as they sounded it out was aaaamazing.

free and easy down the road i go

i think i've finally reached a point that i don't feel homesick at all anymore. who ever thought that the girl who cried every day for the first week would say that! i do miss hanging out at the lake and seeing the fam, but hoooopefully i'll see them in another month and get to do all of that summery stuff. the lake is probably the biggest thing. the lake and my queen sized bed with millions of pillows.
well there's one girl in my second class, coco, who i don't know what to do about. her sister is older so all of her books are already written in. lots of times, she just won't participate. today she was supposed to ask a question and she knows if she just stands there long enough, we'll tell her to sit down. last time i held up the class until she did something, she just started bawling. it's times like those that a little training would come in handy.
that class was pretty cute tonight when i told them i was going to thailand for 2 weeks. at first they were kind of disappointed, but then we decided i could ride elephants, swim in the ocean, and eat lots of thai food (which ryan says is disgusting). they said they want to see lots of pictures of elephants when i get back. 5 days!
dawn left for thailand today. she was eating a mango and she noticed some little white things and we think they were maggots. OMGGG. dena, dawn and i inspected it for about 5 minutes before we decided they were definitely worms. then dawn got sick. it was gross. i made her some tea and disposed of the partially eaten, wormy mango for her.

p.s. rattlesnake in chinese - xiang wei she

the sun-sweet berries of the earth

i haven't done so well with pictures this week. alex guppy invited me to be a part of a group he's forming where we have a new photo assignment every 2 weeks. this weeks theme is 'an object out of its element'. i guess right now there are only 3 of us. two in taiwan and one in paris.
it's just for fun but if you want to submit something, just email (this means you, david chu).

well tonight i went to bobo's movie night because my early morning classes were canceled! and serena goes back to america on sunday so it's likely the last time i'll see her.
it always makes me feel a little heartsick when people leave. i can't believe we've already been here for a year! it's bizarre to think back to this time last year and how the dynamics in the dorm have changed since then. but being an english teacher abroad reminds you, more often than most situations would, that things are always changing and you can't live in the past.

things to love about taiwan today..
-a bundle of lychees, 2 mangoes and a bag of gingery plums for $5 and the continuation of my new fruit women friendship. i swear every time i go there, there are more butchering stands along the path to the fruit way at the back
-my 3rd favorite tea shop lady was wearing her work polo with a gold sequined, multi-tiered skirt, leggings and boots
-bobo's nighttime security guard, michael, who i haven't seen in months and his unabashed hitting on every foreign girl in sight

p.s. anthropologie did its fashion shoot for the catalog in austin this time and they wrote about it on design crisis. love that blog.

oh, you are my star

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

stole this from sara and james at you can't go wrong with a fork. it had the word 'texas' and 'party' on it which i think qualifies it for this blog. and it's awesome.

don't let your heart get heavy

i discovered a trail of ants creepin' down my wall yesterday and smushed them all and i thought they learned their lesson.. but they just moved their line a foot to the right. they aren't in my bag of candy so i'm wondering what they've found.
another new stamp :X i ordered one for kristin because i think it's a cool thing for new people because you always see everyone else with them but you don't know where they come from yet. there are binders full of designs you can get printed on them. i think they're so asian-fab.

it was a beautiful day today. sunny and warm. although right in the middle of the afternoon i was just coming out of carrefour and there were 3 little rain drops and then 5 seconds later there was a torrential downpour. buckets of rain. i found refuge at starbucks and dena and alex gholz were both there so we just hung out.

.. other than that, tonight there was a mom sitting in on my first class and she was literally crying the entire 2 hours. after the first hour, i asked my coteacher what the deal was, and she said 'she's crying? i didn't even notice.' HELLOOOO! i couldn't stop looking at her, it was so distracting.
i never did find out why. she was in there because she wanted to see why her kid's english is so bad though. she must have just been reaallly upset about that.

hey austin i'm going to try to find a creative job in austin. please keep your ears open for design, letterpress or otherwise creative, hands on, artistic jobs.
ANDD tiff's treat's coupon of the week is buy 3 dozen for 21.99. you have to mention the online coupon when you order

hey NYC j. crew sample sale this week!

p.s. if you have a minute, go see how pretty/simple/personal this woman's house is. it's one of the sneak peak's at design*sponge today

there is an element of fun

eunice, ryan, vanessa, joseph and mandy at our demo a few weeks ago.

3 things i miss about texas
1. ballet class. mainly because i enjoy wearing a skirt over my leotard and prancing around the farmer's market next to the ballet studio before class on saturday like i'm a real ballerina and not an uncoordinated wannabe.
2. kerbey queso, central market dinner-for-two's, south congress cafe's queso flameado, shady grove's veggie chilli.
3. driving to the lake on saturday morning with the fam, with ripley standing on the armrest because she's so excited to be off the leash for the day. and the delicious italian food and freezer full of popsicles and the hammock and the sunday morning show.
me, ryan, eunice, joseph, jessica and elaine

3 things i love about taiwan
1. taiwanese people like the kuos who go above and beyond being hospitable to me when i don't do near enough to repay them.
2. cong you bing aka scallion pancakes with egg on one side. those things are ridiculously delicious and they keep me going for hours.
3. my kids

ryan's mom made me a cd of pictures and videos from our demo a few weeks ago. this video is one of their mini plays.

no-ayyyyy

well almost everyone in the dorm came out for noe's goodbye bowling party and we had a really good time. it really seems like yesterday that i was homesick and wishing for some more texas in my life when noe showed up at the dorm with his texas mug, cup, whataburger hat, and all kinds of other paraphenralia.
i'm bummed that i didn't bring my camera tonight because this is the only picture i have of both of us.
noe and i had a great time together though and i'm really going to miss him around here. who will bring me apple pies from mc donalds?! and who will i kill an hour with between classes every friday? and who will pretend ninja fight and fantasize about mexican food with me? at least the internet makes staying in touch really, really easy.
i guess that's the problem with this kind of job though. people are always coming and going. oh! did i tell you japanese restaurant is closed UNTIL APRIL?!?! bobo said the sign on their door says that they went to japan for some professional development training. i went to another japanese place today for dinner in an attempt to find a suitable temporary replacement, but it was disgusting and they looked at me like i was an alien. although the woman did tell me i was beautiful on the way out. but even that didn't make up for how awful the mushrooms tempura were.
i'm the keeper of the bumper sticker now. the only texan left. maybe i need to start throwing gratutious 'ya'lls' into my vocabulary.

aaand happy birthday, matt. 19 woooo!

tale as old as time

i accidentally left my camera cord at home, so i haven't been able to transfer pictures all week. but today i scooted over to the camera shop downtown to have a look. the guy was waiting in the doorway for some reason when i got there, and he recognized me and asked how i liked my camera. they did have the USB cord i needed.. for $1000 NT (around $30) but he suggested a memory card reader instead. it was only $100 NT and did the same thing. sold!

this is all the stuff i fit into a duffel bag and my suit case on my way back to taiwan. it was mostly groceries, 4 tops, and books.
here's the seoul airport lounge i was waiting in. the floor is so pretty.
quick product review: i bought this shampoo in taiwan when i found myself with 2 conditioners and no shampoo, and it worked so well in conjunction with dove conditioner. so when i was home, i bought the conditioner to match (for 1/4 of the price it was in taiwan) and body wash.
i suppose, like everyone on this natural foods and products binge, i'm happy to support companies that make things that don't contain too many unnatural ingredients.. but the truth is that they don't work the same. my hair feels really brittle afterward and it's a mess to try to brush when wet.
the body wash is pretty good though. the exfoliating claim is a lie though.
books to last until july. i'm 1/4 of the way through Three Cups of Tea (which isn't pictured since it's on my nightstand) and it's really really good.
finally, my favorite, the bottles i comandeered in kaoshiung. aren't they so pretty? now i'll be encouraged to drink more water and have a pretty reminder of taiwan every time i open my fridge or have a dinner party when i'm in austin. (andd they were each $5!)
this morning alex guppy and i went to check out a yoga studio on da you rd, but we decided it's a little expensive and the hours aren't super convenient. if i don't find a better option soon, i'm just going to go there anyway.

later this afternoon, danielle and i were drying our hair at the same time and we blew a fuse, so martyn showed me how to reset the fuse box. it's weird how things like that are gendered. i've never known how to do it because whatever guy was around always did it for me. here's to being an independent lady.

that's why i hang my hat in tennessee

oooh man it is chilly. i like to get bundled up and wear flannel jammies and socks, but i think i'll be ready for the spring when it comes. the silly thing about the dorm is that it always traps in whatever weather is outside and magnifies it. maybe it's the tile floor, but it feels a lot cooler inside than out.

this morning i gave bobo the swiffer vac, filters, pad thingies, underwear and hairbows for the girls, and a shirt that says 'i [TX shape] TX'. she was really counting on jerry to bring her back a swiffer when he went, and she was pretty disappointed when he blew her off, so i think she was extra happy to receive the stuff i brought. i was happy to repay her a little bit for all of the things she's done for me while i've been here. having helpful friends like her really makes a difference when you're so far from home.

tonight i had one of my favorite classes and i think we were all happy to be back together. i was kind of nervous because i know when i sub classes, i always play my most fun games with them and kind of goof off, so i didn't know how it would be to come back as the regular teacher, but we picked up right where we left off.
i brought little red riding hood, which is one of the books i bought at half price books when i was home, and at first they rolled their eyes and gave me that, 'oh, please megan. we're in 6th grade, why are we reading a story book?' but they really got into it once we got going. i think it's exciting when you're learning another language to try to read something and test what you actually know. they followed along really well.

back in texas, mom joined facebook and now she's glued to the computer moreso than she was before, which is kind of frightening. hopefully it'll get old and she'll get back to her mom life :P we'll see.
i can barely keep my eyes open. i guess it's time for bed.

guei shan

back in taiwan. i was just telling mom it feels a lot different than it did when i got here in june.
this time, dan from latini's was there waiting for me when i got off the plane, everyone was milling around the dorm when i got home, and my room was full of my stuff. it feels much better. i still have a little bit of the heartachey feeling that i think comes with being jetlagged and fresh from being home, but i'm happy to be back.

it's almost 1am here and i feel kind of floaty and tired so i'm going to see if i can fall asleep. night!

international update

i didn't realize i didn't mention that i was flying back to taiwan!
my flight to atlanta left yesterday at 7am, i think i got there around noon and then i flew back across the US, up through canada, over russia, and into south korea. this airport is sooo beautiful. i have about an hour to spare so i grabbed some [japanese, unsweetened] green tea and now i'm happily catching up on my computer.

i don't remember who i sat next to on the first flight, but my long flight was beside an american man who was probably in his 60s who had done the peace corps when he was my age, went to get his PhD and worked on malaria research in Malaysia for his whole life. his wife, who was with him, is Malaysian. so that was interesting.
we were seated in this magical exit row with no seats in front of us, so we could stretch out our legs and we had special tv screens that pulled out from the side of our seat. the only downside was that we had to keep all of our stuff in the overhead bin, so i just crammed my purse, a couple of books, a scarf, a sweatshirt and my blanket into my seat with me. it was a little squishy.
the seoul airport is really beautiful. i can't find a good picture online, but it seems very new. i'm sitting in a leather chair with dark hardwood floor underneath me and my tea is on a granite table thing.

my airport experience the second time around has been much more pleasant than the first. there have been no tears and no freakouts. this time i'm going back to friends and kids who i have a routine with.

that's not to say i don't super miss being home. i did everything i wanted to do, saw everyone i wanted to see [except brian levy and glinkowski], ate everything in austin, and had so much fun. it was just what i needed to make it here another 6 months. i do feel like a stronger, more independent, more wordly version of myself. so, good day in asia.

he makes me happy

there was a short pause in blogland while i went to marble falls for my friends jillian and zach's wedding!
she walked down the aisle to 'you make me happy' sung by miss piggy. and since they aren't particularly partial to any religion, they incorporated parts of all different cultures into their ceremony. i love jillian.
jill and i met during RA tryouts our freshman year in college and then we had a math class together the following semester so we used to do our homework together, and the rest is history.
we lived together when she was an RA our junior year and i had been in england for a semester and then i moved into her room in the spring. i remember when she brought over this guy gordon, who she was sort of dating, and his friend zach. i told her zach was way cuter and that she should switch, and she did. they dated for the next 2 years and then they got married yesterday :)

below are valerie and her boyfriend, scott (i think). she and i had a poetry class together and we used to try to keep each other from giggling the whole time.
what a pretty reception!
dave and i worked together at the daily texan. we speculated about the wedding cake and exchanged witty banter all night.

this is chelsea, jill's best friend. she is so warm and fun to talk to. i guess i haveee known her for years, but no matter how long you've known her, she makes you feel like you've always been friends.

i'm so happy for them! their wedding was beautiful and they're so well matched. and it's exciting when two of your friends get married. much easier to keep in touch that way.

the [day]/night before christmas

took a family trip to el lago this afternoon.
this is the view from the porch. it was such a pretty day.
ripley loves to be at the lake.

get this-- it was so hot out today that we were eating popsicles on the porch. we actually went home because it was too hot to sit out on the porch in the sun after a while.

maj hasn't taken this silly santa hat off all week.






we went to the melting pot tonight for dinner. mannn it was so tasty but now we're all grumbling in pain from being so full. we took matt's girlfriend, janette, as tradition dictates.







time for bed before santa visits. i might have one more glass of wine before bed. i have the hardest time falling asleep on christmas eve!