June 4th, 2008
THE GBF
My first full day of work at Infine. The previous two had been only half days, spent getting acquainted with the office. It was time to rock 'n roll.
Upon arriving at work, I was tasked with doing a bit of research on a performer that our company was going to be working with, a dancer/choreographer named Caroline Carson. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble finding any information. I spent the next hour piecing together bits of useless information in an attempt to compile a page of info. Then, just five minutes before I was to turn it in, I discovered that Cedric had given me the wrong spelling of her name. It was supposed to be Carolyn Carlson. In a frantic rush, but aided with this helpful knowledge, I threw together some notes and reference sites in time to give it to him for his meeting with her. *Whew*
I then got to spend the next half hour proofreading Melody's English translation of an article she wrote in Chinese. This was really enjoyable and rewarding, as I would explain every correction I had made until she understood. I felt like it really helped her improve her English, and since I have always enjoyed teaching and tutoring, made me eager to start the English lessons I had been preparing for next week. Before starting work on my event video, I was introduced to Milla, another intern working at Infine.
Unable to postpone the inevitable any longer, I started work on a 90 minute video using iMovie. I ranted enough about my feelings towards this program, so I'll restrain myself here. But let's just say the initial few hours were very frustrating, as I had to teach myself to think unintuitively and illogically in order to use to learn the program. In addition to editing the Alliance Francaise video, I was simultaneously creating a tutorial for the girls in the office to use to learn how to edit. I learned a great deal about writing technically working on this tutorial. Since I was writing for non-native English speakers, I had to write the directions in the most simple, clear, and concise manner possible. This is something I usually have alot of trouble doing (as if you couldn't already tell from reading these posts). I would even say that speaking English here in Taiwan has improved my English. Many times I need to speak slower and more clearly than I am used to, and need to take care not to use unnecessary words or slang, in order for non-native English speakers to understand me. This has surprisingly made me a better English speaker, despite my current location being Taiwan, and has helped to combat the damage that living in Southern California can wrought on one's English. My Chinese may not be improving much (if at all), but at least my English has gotten better.
The rest of the workday was fairly uneventful, save for the time when I completely forgot I was in Taiwan. I've felt surprisingly at home here in Taipei, despite it being less than a week since my arrival. But while reading an English website and listening to the construction outside, I completely forgot my status as a foreigner. Throughout most of the day I'm constantly reminded that I'm not at "home" anymore (not understanding a word of what most everyone is saying, the look and feel of the city of Taipei, the unique food offerings lining the street, the insane mopeds, etc). which isn't a bad thing at all, mind you, just very very apparent. But for these brief few minutes, I completely forgot.
I also got a taste of what 5/7 of my next two months would be like. The chair I am to occupy does not provide much cushioning, and being skinny and having a small, if non-existent ass does not help matters. And our office is a very small, compact office with not much air circulation. Only one small AC unit located at the one and only window cools the office. Wearing dress slacks, an undershirt and dress shirt, tie, dress socks and shoes, I was drenched in sweat for most of the day. Every time I was especially soaked, I would look around at the other workers, hoping to see someone else perspiring who would turn up the AC. Instead all I saw was everyone else working comfortable at their computers. And every time I was cooling off, everyone else would become cold and turn off the AC. I drank enough water for a small - scratch that - large army. I felt like a big, black husky during a hot summer day, passed out in the park, as the surrounding hairless greyhounds ran around and played. The below-zero Montana winters had not been a good preparation for this climate.
If my body will be getting a work-out, but I don't even want to think about how blind I will be in two months. I spend most of my 10+ hour workday working at a computer. And my iMac's beautiful 24-inch screen at first seemed like a godsend, but is now a curse. I have to sit less than two feet away from it in order to reach my keyboard. I began to see colors and shapes that no other human has ever seen. The eye-ache/head-ache, the ass-punishing chair and the constant perspiration, had really taken its toll on my by the end of the loooong day. I really like the office, the work I was doing, and especially my co-workers, who are all great people. But the work week would definitely be a long, trying one.
I departed the office at about 6:30pm, having logged a solid 10 hour, 50 minute workday. Exhausted, but still hungry for to explore everything Taipei had to offer, I caught up with Helen, Cyndy, and Jeanie, and joined them on a trip to Ximending Pedestrian Mall. To call Ximending a sort of Grove on steroids wouldn't really do it justice. This ultra-chic, high class, massive shopping district has echoes of a mini Tokyo. Young, hip socialites browse the expensive (even by American dollar standards) clothing malls, shoe shops, and bag vendors. Many of the women's clothing that was on display at these places would look more at home in an anime than reality. Ximending is the type of place that a heterosexual, non-shopper such as myself could get lost in. Lucky for me, tonight I had been temporarily (or maybe permanently...) appointed Gay Best Friend (or GBF for short) in order to accompany my lady friends on their shopping excursion. This gave me all rights to share my very opinionated suggestions on clothes, as well as free reign to share my thoughts about which guys I thought were cute, all the while maintaining my masculinity (on second thought, something about this doesn't sound right...). Needless to say, it was fabulous.
After sharing some shaved ice, and getting a demonstration of the "Soulja Boy" (the dance, not the act of) from Cyndy, we made our way back to the hotel, courtesy the friendly MRT. After a long day of workin' hard and shoppinharder, one thing was agreed on during Beer in the Park #5: the weekend couldn't come soon enough.
Up next: UMBRELLAS, DUMPLINGS, AND SHOTS
No comments:
Post a Comment