Work = DONE, Ergo: Shirley = On A Trip!!


Can you tell I like boats? More (of the same ones) outside of Nha Trang, Vietnam.

So get this: I'm leaving town (and the country) tomorrow evening and for the next 4 days I'm going to be in Louisville, KY at the 4th International Conference on Media, Religion & Culture. Phew. Even the name goes way over my head.

Jason will be presenting a paper there and I decided to tag along for fun. Why? Goodness knows. This is his first major presentation at an international forum, I'm there for moral support, I love him, yada yada yada.

Him: And it's a pretty nice hotel too.
Me: Shut up! I'm not going for the hotel you eejit. You should know that.
Him: But you gotta admit, it's a pretty damn nice hotel.
Me: Yeah. I know.

It's Louisville's GRAND hotel. Premiere, luxury, featured in The Great Gatsby and all that. So I'm looking forward to the hotel. Other than that, I'm a little tense.

Seriously, I'm going to a conference, an INTERNATIONAL conference on Media. And Religion. And Culture. The extent of my knowledge of the aforementioned topics probably all stem from The Simpsons in one way or another. This is the kind of gathering where people have long strings of letters after their names, and are doing "research" and publish books for a living.

They are all that and something else: old.

Without a doubt, I am going to be the youngest person there at my ripe 20 years of age. Not that this is a major problem, but I'm really not going to have anything to talk about with these fancy-schmancy published researchers. No, I'm not doing any research, no, I'm not really that interested in your research and no, I have no idea what's going on. Maybe there will be grad students (goodness, I hope there will be younger grad students), but I'm going to start a list of interesting things, ice breakers, and big fancy words that I can work into conversations justincase. I'll wear my glasses. And button-up collared shirts.

And create my own business card!

Shirley M, NFAGT

(Shirley M, No French After Grade Ten)

After a 16 hour bus ride I'm sure I'll figure something out to make the next few days more entertaining. But don't be surprised when you see photos after we come back. And I'm alone in the corner. With a wine glass in my hand. Having it refilled. Again. For the seventh time.

Here we go. *deep breath*
10:46 pm

Saturday, August 28, 2004

Scene From A Boat


A rusty anchor from Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Isn't rusting just the coolest natural phenomenon ever? It looks just like the waves in the water.

Two more shifts and my days of being a Victorian tea maid are over - for the summer. The family has expressed much interest in having me back for the winter holidays as they may need help at the restaurant again and for sure, they will want to employ my gift-basket making skills at the mall. Because, boy, am I skilled. Give me a bunch of merchandise and some cellophane and I will make a gift like nobody's business. I'm glad they want me back because I love working for them; you really can't find better people to be your employers.

I've been spending most of my time packing recently thus making possible the move of half my stuff up into my new bright green room just 4 minutes from campus. The other half sans computer will go tomorrow and finally, I will part with my comp on Tuesday.

And then a week off! Without school, without work, without parents and other distractions. Just me and the boyfriend in Louisville, KY and Chicago, IL for a week before we get too stressed out to see each other. Does anyone have suggestions as to things that are worth our time and moola in either city? Cheap hostel info would also be greatly appreciated.

8:51 pm

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Gosh, I Miss The Outside


The colourful shores of Nha Trang, Vietnam.

What I would give to be back where this photo was taken, to boat away into the middle of the Pacific and float around, looking at coral reef.

But alas, it is not to be. Other things will be, apparently, eventually.

It didn't hit me when I bought notebooks and paper and the most fantastic bright green paint for my new room. It didn't hit me when I started packing up my things.

I think it hit me sometime yesterday, last night when I realized I wasn't going to be able to sleep in my big, comfy double bed for a while. Because it's time to moveinNOW or notatall. My schedule is busying itself way up and I'm already half stressed out and classes are still weeks away.

It might start to get kind of lonely around here as I'm finishing work, packing, and planning a little bit of gallavanting into the States.

11:16 pm

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Airport Series III: Hong Kong (Again)

As my grandma called it, an 'electric road'.

At least once a week, during a meal, my father mentions my aunt and uncle in Vietnam and how they would like it here or how they wouldn't or how they would react to the kind of food that we were eating at the time. I find myself thinking about our trip a lot too, but I've not been able to talk about it as much and now that so much time has passed, I'm finding it harder still. I'm not quite finished organizing our album of (tangible) photos; thank goodness for digital and computers making the sorting of my (not so tangible) photos that much easier.

When I look at my pictures of the ariports, I remember the giant sense of relief that washed over me when I stepped off the plane and onto Canadian/Ontario/Toronto soil. I felt so good to be home, and not only that, but so safe to be back on native land. It was a kind of quiet confidence, an unspoken comfort and security that being someplace familiar gives me.

I was no longer that strange pale person that looked like she could be Thai or Vietnamese, but probably not since she's so pale. And so not thin. While some people found me attractive overseas, a lot of them looked at me like I was a birth defect. I'm glad I don't get that too often here. I fit somehow, I belong in the mishmash of people. I'm not an intruder.

And I suppose I feel the same way about blogs. I read certain ones where I feel comfortable knowing the person and the various details of their life. I know a bit about them, they know a bit about me; an online acquaintance. And now a question that I've wanted to ask for a while now:

Why do you read my blog?

7:25 pm

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Airport Series II: Hong Kong

Bright lights at Hong Kong International Airport.

It's not even 10am and this day has gotten off to a wonderful start! Yesterday, Jason was lovely enough to drive me back to campus for a job interview with Career Services. The position is simple, I'm an Assistant really, just helping out with paperwork, answering phones and questions, that sort of thing. But I really, really wanted it. I wore my most professional outfit, with my shirt tucked in and a pair of sensible, albeit uncomfortable, shoes. After nearly an hour of questioning, typing and proofreading tests, I went back home to work with tea.

After work, I listen to a message left on the answering machine. It's from Career Services. They called at 1:45pm. What could they possibly want with me merely 3 hours after my interview? It's 9:30pm, I'll call them back tomorrow.

This morning, while still rolling around in bed, sleeping of course, the phone rings.

Dear goodness, it's 8-freaking-30 in the morning, what the heck could anyone --

(Sweetly) "Hello?"

They offered me the job.

Bodily status
Mouth: Open
Insides: Jumping
Foot: In the door

Wahoo!

Annnnnnd. I got an A+ in my Anthropology course!

Wednesday mornings rock.

9:52 am

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Airport Series I: Toronto


Nighttime at Pearson International Airport, Toronto.

This photo officially begins my Airport Series, a collection I've been wanting to share for some time. I really love airports for some reason(s) that I can't put my finger on. I guess it's a sure-fire way to know that you're definitely going somewhere, anywhere, out of your normal boundaries. And to me, that's a pretty dang good thing. They're such exciting places; full of people from all over the world and even though you may never see them again, a sense of companionship grows because you're all in the same place at the same time just for a little bit. Plus, there's the ever cool duty free shops and free internet for travellers. I love being a traveller (for more reasons than just the free internet).

Since I was working yesterday, I missed the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, but I caught the tail end of the re-run at night. From what I saw, it looked absolutely magnificent! Being the Classicist that I am, my heart ached knowing that I missed an ancient Greek-themed spectacle. Man, what I would give to be in the stadium one day during the ceremonies.

Only one thing rubbed me the wrong way. The announcers on CBC kept saying that the flame was going to be lit in a cauldron, but to me, that thing looked like a giant cigarette. Actually, because of the tapered end, it wasn't so much a cigarette as it was a...doobie. Right? Or is 'cauldron' another slang term that I, the uber-Geek, am not familiar with?

7:16 pm

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

My Classics Teacher Would Be So Proud


My little nerd duckie.

I've had this thing lately that makes me think I know Jason better than he knows me. We've even been quizzing each other. Well, I've been quizzing him more than he's quizzing me, but that's beside the point. I've asked him some difficult questions, and every now and then I feed him an easy one. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I asked him this:

"Do you know what my favourite derivatives are?"

(FYI, I've got 2, one Latin and one Greek. 'January', coming from the Latin word ianua, meaning "door", because January opens the new year; and 'utopia', coming from 2 Greek words, topos, meaning "place", and ou, meaning "no", because utopia really is nowhere at all.)

He didn't know what they were.

Disappointed, I exclaimed:

"You don't know what my favourite derivatives are?!"

And then I realized something: I have favourite derivatives.

Favourite.

D E R I V A T I V E S.

Why can't I just have favourite colours or something? Why do I have to be such a Geek? I was so embarrased I buried my head in my hands and couldn't even look at my computer.

Well, that's enough nerdiness for one week. I have 3 parties lined up for the next week and a half and have to get C-O-O-L for them. No more derivatives. Not even my favourite ones.

11:34 pm

Monday, August 09, 2004

Public Transit Woes

A typical 'bus' in Thailand and Vietnam.

I am officially at odds with the public transit system that I have loved and depended on for the last 5 years, even though I still kind of depend on it now. Not once in all my 5 years of high school did I complain about taking the bus to and from school, nearly twice a day everyday. I saw bus drivers as the unsung heroes of the modern world who allowed me to get just enough exercise by running after large moving vehicles.

And though bus drivers are still generally neat people, I really do not appreciate them getting me to work late every time. Actually, let me correct myself. I am not mad at the bus drivers. I'm mad at the people who work at the call center who, when I ask for route schedules and times, always give me the wrong times.

Get this:
They tell me the bus comes at 11:13. It comes at 11:25. Okay, fine, that's only 10 minutes or so. No biggie.

They tell me the bus comes at 12:42. It comes at 12:55. Hrm. I'm getting more disgruntled with the amount of time I'm wasting just sitting at the bus stop.

They tell me the bus comes at 11:40. It comes at 11:55. Alright people, Not Cool. I start work at 12:00 and I am clearly late.

I just don't get it. Why are you telling me to wait at the stop when there is clearly no bus arriving at the times you said? The problem is, I have no real way to solve this little conundrum either. I suppose I'll just have to start bringing a book to read and try my luck out there.

Oh, and did I mention that the subway broke down over the weekend? While I was in it? And that it took nearly 3 hours to get home from Toronto, which is only a 25 minute drive away? And let's not even mention how much I had to pay for Greyhound tickets to and from my exam on campus.

10:53 pm

Sunday, August 08, 2004

Back To You


JM himself with the prettiest concert backdrop ever.

All I have to say is:

Awesome exam.
It felt so good to wake up this morning and know that I had no more reading to do!

Awesome concert.
I'm buying Maroon 5's CD today and John Mayer needs to marry me.

Awesome 3 hour trip home from a city that's only 20 minutes away.
The subway broke down, but at least we weren't in the tunnel.

11:34 am

Monday, August 02, 2004

My Name? Tip. Tip The Waitress


Bay Street, Toronto

The long weekend has been beeeeoootiful. And I've missed it all because I'm stuck indoors at work. My entire household had the Civic Holiday off and I was the only one who had to work. The Entire Weekend. I'm really wondering if I should be complaining though. Work on Saturday wasn't too bad, and today was alright. But Sunday, Sunday was a totally different story. At one point in time, I had 23 customers to look after simultaneously, 9 of which were together for a birthday party, 7 of whom wanted refills for their tea.

After Sunday, I realized that I am officially a bonafide waitress. I can take 3 orders without writing it down on a pad (it's more professional of you memorize it I was told) and I don't mess anything up. I can carry 3 plates, cutlery and a pepper grinder. Or 9 plates and a 2-tiered plate of sandwiches (tried that one on Sunday). And all that is without, I repeat, without a tray. Give me a tray and I can carry anything. Including the mess of 3 children and a bag of crisps.

At the end of the day, I can barely bend my knees enough to sit down and every joint in my body hurts. Even the parts that aren't joints. And so while I feel like my feet are never going to forgive me, I really wonder if I should complain. The wondering if I should complain part comes when I remember that I made $81.70 in tips that day.

Maybe I can use my newfound wealth to buy myself another back and a new set of knees.

8:33 pm