This Girl's Life...

Today I had lunch with my old roommates - Bonnie who now lives in Hong Kong with her husband Matt, who is from England... they met in China; and Hoi Ning, who is from Hong Kong and now lives in Toronto. Hoi Ning also brought her friend Ally to today's lunch. Ally is from Korea and is currently studying here in Toronto.

The past few years have introduced quite an eclectic variety of worldly people into my life... here is a cross-section of these wonderful relationships I have built over the years:

Hoi and Bonnie as mentioned above.
Hana: Studied in Toronto, from Slovenia and currently working in East Timor.
Another Bonnie: We met on exchange in England and her love for the jolly ol' place brought her back there after graduation to live and work.
Erika: Going on a work assignment to Dublin in January.
Adam: Moving to Hawaii for an internship in 2007.
Kirsten: We met in Ireland and she is now back home in New Zealand after her recent one-year working-holiday spent in Canada.

I have to wonder, do I gravitate to interesting and adventurous globe-trotters OR are international relationships (be them friendships, lovers, family, working relationships etc) increasingly more common?! Probably a combination of both of these.

I am delighted and thankful for all of my relationships with these people. People say that understanding different cultures can be achieved through experiencing/immersing yourself in the culture itself. Meeting and relating to people that have done that is the next best alternative when you can't/won't/don't do it yourself. Travelling and learning about the world teaches one to appreciate and celebrate differences and that would hopefully lead to more positive understanding around the world between different cultures. A number of forces have come together to allow our generation in particular to enjoy this privilege - democracy, technology, access to information, the Internet, more wide-spread immigration, cheaper and increased modes of transportation. And for that we are very lucky!

Why are groceries carried around in bulky, awkward paper bags by characters in the movies but no one actually does this in real life? I always wonder this when I see characters in movies with their large paper bags with unnamed contents. Is it because the paper bag can allow a closer-up upper body camera shot than a plastic bag wheras a sagging plastic bag would require a full-body shot? But why is the paper bag even in the shot? Is it because the paper bag makes the character look like their hands are full? Maybe sometimes, but not usually. Sometimes the character is on a cell phone and trying to carry the awkward paper bag, but they never actually mention the paper bag that is causing them clumsiness or say anything about what's in the bag. And the call doesn't end either. For the most part, the bag is just there for no reason. In the movie I just saw, and many others with the paper bag groceries, there is never any reference to the groceries or hands being full as if the bag is creating a hurdle to some other task the character is trying to conquer. Nothing about what's in the damn paper bag. Why oh why is it there? Why can't the character just walk from the car into the house without any groceries? Argh. Everytime I see a character with a paperbag in a movie I lose track of the plot and get into this mindless battle with myself about the damn paper bag. The paper bag is very distracting.

I bought my first bottle of perfume, real perfume yesterday!! I don't know why I'm so excited... but I am! It smells like cherry and vanilla and yum yum! I have always enjoyed different scents - shampoos, soaps, etc but have never spent big dollars on fancy perfume. But as I was perusing the different scent booths and smelling different eau du this and eau do that (and coffee beans to neutralize my sense of smell), I became so excited that I could find a scent that I would want to buy. Of course I'm sure other people wear my scent too but I think it smells a bit different on me. I won't tell you readers what it is either - to add to the perfume's allure! Shopping is fun.

I applied for an apartment that met my criteria! Fingers crossed!

This PSP ad strikes me funny: "Play in traffic"
Isn't that dangerous except maybe for public transit commuters?

Chris is dog-sitting this week. His puppy is cute. He might come on our ski trip this weekend to the lodge. I like that word lodge.

I'm sniffling... caught cold.

Given that our lease is ending and I'd like to shorten my commute to work, I've started my hunt for a new apartment... this has led me to wonder about many considerations I have regarding where exactly I want to live. My thoughts are going in circles...

I want to live along a subway line. To be more specific, there are really only a few subway stops that I want to live near in the first place. However, these are often the most expensive places to rent.

I want cheap rent. Not so cheap that I have to bunk with mildew, mold, pests and rodents, but not so expensive that I have to succumb other aspects of my life to squalor (such as clothing and entertainment budget).

Cheap rent can be found in unkempt apartments, but mostly in hither-dee-dither places that are not along the subway line. This would not decrease my commute to work with all the switching and transferring involved on public transport when you're not on the subway line. But it would allow me to save faster for a place that I could own instead of rent.

I don't want to pay exorbitant rent for a place that I do not own. But I do want the apartment building and its amenities to be kept in great condition such that as it would be if it were owned by its tenants. That includes a renovated interior (i.e. not squeeky-slimy-crooked cupboards where I would never place any food inside of).

Are my constraints unreasonable?

Is there a quick-fix, needle-in-the-haystack, gem of an apartment out there with cheap rent , a new interior and of prime location on one of my preferred subway stops?

None of my contacts really blog anymore - I have noticed. Except for Bonnie and Wendy B. I shall reappear for at least a little while.

What's new? I have started playing WoW - it's actually quite fun. And difficult... with all the multitasking that must be done throughout the game. The main tidbit of information that enticed me to play was that you don't actually 'fight' the trolls/makuras/scorpids and the like, you just click on weapons that you acquire and they do the workfor you. Of course there is some credit to the speed, intuition and coordination in doing this. But I don't really like fighting games, which is what I thought WoW was. I'm glad there's more to it than that.

Can a person ever make you feel like 'home'? Before I met Chris my mind was adrift with many thoughts and ideas but no conclusions of where I would feel at home. But he has become the sandbags to my drifting hot-air balloon. He provides me with great stability and that makes me happy to discover that I found the person that can make me feel that I really belong somewhere. With him.