31 July, 2007 | 4 Comments

something to quell my rage from earlier this evening…a care package from hell-ay! my sister sent me two packages of uncle eddie’s vegan cookies — peanut butter chocolate chip and chocolate chip with walnuts. yippee!!! there ain’t nuthin’ bettah than peanut butter and choco chip. the box also included her super 8 video footage of paris, edited together with fab music such as the amélie theme song. and of course there was footage of me dancing around outside notre dame. that footage should be burned.

but really, the paris on the video is the dreamy postcard paris. and while i was watching the footage of the eiffel tower and the seine and my favorite crepe stand, i felt a little twinge of nostalgia. happy nostalgia for the good times i had in the city of light. at last.

31 July, 2007 | 6 Comments

Today my travels took me through Waterloo Train Station. I went into WH Smith and was disgusted by what I saw. All over the shop — inside and outside at the entrance — was the latest issue of Maxim magazine, featuring two naked women in an explicit pose. [If you live in London, I bet you've seen this.] Just the other day a co-worker and I were discussing the fact that men’s magazines like Maxim, FHM and Stuff are marketed as mainstream publications, when in fact they are porn, plain and simple. Would WH Smith display a porn magazine all over their shop? Of course not. But there’s Maxim and other similar trash publications sitting right next to mainstream publications at eye-level in the most prominent spots. And the covers of these magazines are becoming evermore explicit — the women are completely naked and the accompanying text is a disgrace.

I had a strong reaction to seeing these magazine covers everywhere inside the shop this evening. As a professional woman, I felt humiliated and degraded. Looking around the shop, what kind of men do we see on magazine and newspaper covers? Gordon Brown and other political and business leaders. And what kind of women do we see? Whores. Yes, whores. People who sell their bodies for money are whores. It’s bad enough that these magazines exist at all, but there is no need for WH Smith to plaster them everywhere in our faces. If they want to sell these magazines, the covers should be concealed.

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29 July, 2007 | 2 Comments

I will be able to move into my new accommodation on 10th September. And from then on, I will not have to pay rent. What a relief! I wish I could move in sooner, but that’s not possible. So I have six more weeks of being bled dry by the rent mafia, six weeks that will cost me £810/$1620. Gulp.

If you saw where I was living for that price, you’d laugh. Did I mention that I still don’t have a kitchen? On the plus side, I can see the London Eye from my place and if it’s really quiet outside, I can hear Big Ben strike the hour. I’ll likely never find myself living in such a location again, so I’ll make the most of it. But I’m sick of being poor. Though I’ve started teaching at the university already, I won’t get my first check until the end of August. What do they think I can live on till then — air?

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29 July, 2007 | 3 Comments

“One thing I never could stomach about living in Santa Carla…all the damn vampires.”

I just read that The Lost Boys, that glorious 1980s vampire movie starring Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland and the two Coreys…celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. TWENTY YEARS! How is that possible? I was a teenager when that movie came out. Crikey. I have reached a new level of oldness.

Meanwhile, the two Coreys have their own reality show now on A&E. Check out this video clip of Corey Feldman telling Corey Haim that there’s going to be a direct-to-dvd Lost Boys sequel but that Haim was not invited to be in it. He starts crying. Oh dear.

[My apologies to those of you who were not American teenagers in the late 1980s and don't know who these people are. But to those who were -- I met Corey Haim in an airport once. Lucky me!]

27 July, 2007 | 5 Comments

You are now
In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow
At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore
Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more.
Yet in its depth what treasures!
– Percy Bysshe Shelley

26 July, 2007 | Comments

I used the phrase: “…blustery July day…”

That’s London, baby. Rock on.

25 July, 2007 | 29 Comments

I’ve been getting a lot of flack lately for my anti-Harry Potter stance. The other day on the phone, someone (who may or may not be a blood relative) called me evil. Gee, y’all sure do get defensive over Harry Potter. Millions of people love these books but if a handful of people like me say anything, we’re attacked!

Well, here I go again. This evening I was in a bookshop and I saw the new HP book and picked it up. I read the first page. WOW did it suck. I mean, the writing is bad. Atrocious. I was pretty surprised. I know it’s genre fiction, but I didn’t think the writing was that poor. A big fat cliché in the first sentence? Eeek. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I have been reading Virginia Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse, so my literary brain suffered quite a shock. It was like feasting on lobster one moment, then dining on three-day old garbage from the dumpster the next.

I am a book snob, I admit it. I’ll watch trashy movies and TV shows and listen to Duran Duran, but books are sacred to me. And furthermore, what would you say if someone like me was in favor of Harry Potter? That would be no fun. I like to wind people up, true. And not everyone thirsts to suck on the teat of mass-produced crap culture with the rest of society

I think I need to explain why I don’t like Harry Potter, besides just the fact that the writing is dreadful and I have no interest in hobbits or fairies or wizards or leprechauns or trolls. I have good reasons, you know, and what follows is rather lengthy. You have been warned.

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23 July, 2007 | 5 Comments

Britain is slowly being submerged underwater. Thus far, London has managed to keep her head above the tide, but there’s a lot more rain still to come. Tonight the newspaper headlines — in their subtle way — claimed that the Thames may overflow. “Get ready to flee,” the headline said. Oh dear. I have nowhere to go.

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22 July, 2007 | 7 Comments

Right now I live quite close to the Tate Modern. It’s not my favorite museum because I’m not a huge fan of modern art, but I love the building. The museum is housed inside the former Bankside Power Station and it’s a fabulous space to explore. Not only that, but it offers spectacular views of St. Paul’s Cathedral and a portion of the London skyline. [They could open a roof terrace and make me really happy -- that'd offer amazing views of the whole city.]

Like many of the major museums here, it’s free! Admission to churches costs an arm and a leg, but museums are free. Go figure. This is the exact opposite of Paris, where churches are free and museums charge admission. I used to love hanging out in churches in Paris and it’s been really tough to give that up. And you know, I’ve been thinking. The churches in Paris are Catholic and the churches in London are Anglican. Hmmmm. Anglican = greed?

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20 July, 2007 | 8 Comments

Today during lunch, a teacher came into the staffroom and exclaimed: “Don’t go outside! There are freaks everywhere! They’ve got magic wands and pointy hats.”

She was referring to the Harry Potter fans who had taken up residence outside Waterstone’s bookshop nearby in Piccadilly. They’ve been camped out for a few days and are waiting to be among the first to buy the new book tonight at midnight.

[Click below to see more of the photos I took outside the bookshop -- as if I could resist this freakshow.]

The mere mention of Harry Potter was greeted with groans amongst the teachers I work with.

“F–k Harry Potter!” this hilarious Scottish guy said. “I hope the little sh*t dies.”

“Yeah, but I want him to commit suicide,” another guy said.

“How?”

“He gets in the car, right. He runs a hose from the back and then –”

“Asphyxiation. I see what you mean, but that’s not painful enough.”

“Then what?”

“Guillotine.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s the only way we could be sure he’s dead.”

Gee, I’m gonna miss working with those guys.

[BTW -- It was my last day teaching at the language school. It was also the last day for many of my students, who are heading back to Taiwan tomorrow. They gave me presents and a few of the boys gave me cards with messages inside that said, "I'll miss you forever," and "It's a big world, so we are lucky to meet each other." If it weren't so cute...it'd be a tad creepy.]

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19 July, 2007 | 3 Comments

In the lavatories, there are signs on all the walls — translated into 15 languages, from Polish to Arabic — that say:

“Please do not throw dirty toilet paper on the floor.”

Lovely. Tomorrow is my last day there. I’m movin’ on up to the university. It’s been quite an experience teaching at the language school every single day, in a cramped building on Oxford Street, with dirty toilets (ahem) and no air con — which means I get to teach in a steambath of a classroom with lots of smelly teenage boys. Today I didn’t have any water to drink and taught for three hours straight. And right in the middle of a vocab lesson I almost fainted. No joke. It’s sorta like the educational equivalent of a sweatshop. But I still had fun.

Today I just had to take a few photos. The students make signs with tips for each other and hang them up all over the school. Click below to see two from my classroom.

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18 July, 2007 | 4 Comments

I know I posted this photo last year on Splicegirl’s birthday, but what can I say, I like it. We were both so sweet back then. This photo was taken at Disneyland!

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18 July, 2007 | 7 Comments

Today a guy from Moldova joined my class. [Where the hell?] He immediately began to complain that he can’t understand my American accent. Whoa! He can’t understand me? Little ol’ me?

Hmph!

He wanted a new teacher and I was only too happy to get rid of him. After the course ended I took him to my boss’s office and she agreed to let him join another class…that just happens to be taught by an Australian.

Ha ha! Good luck, mate.

17 July, 2007 | Comments

My Korean students were telling me that in Korea, age is calculated differently than it is in Western countries. They start counting in utero, which essentially means that Koreans are two years older than people in Western countries. So if you’re 38 in the US or the UK, in Korea you’re already 40. Surprise!

This conversation started because I asked one of my Korean students how old she was when she started university. She said in Korea she was 20, but in the UK she’d be considered 18.

This sorta highlights just how silly it is to be hung up on the issue of age. It really is just a number.

BTW — My students (who range in age from 16 to 32 in non-Korean years) tried to guess my age the other day. None of the women in the class would admit their age, regardless of how young or old they are. That annoys me. So I said they could guess my age and I’d tell them. And they guessed 22. Um, no. And you couldn’t pay me to be 22 again.

When I told them my real age — or rather, when I told them my date-of-birth — they quickly calculated the numbers and then gasped in horror. You’d think I had just revealed I have a terminal illness. You’re over 30? Nooooooo!!!!! You don’t look that old!

Gee, thanks. And in Korea I’m even older.

15 July, 2007 | Enter your password to view comments

14 July, 2007 | 3 Comments

I watch a lot of sunsets, but tonight’s was truly spectacular…

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12 July, 2007 | 15 Comments

I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!

…deep sigh of relief…

I have more to say…but I’m exhausted. I’ll give all the details soon. My interview was full of embarrassing mishaps. How did I get this job? And not only that, but get offered it on the spot? Beats me.

12 July, 2007 | Enter your password to view comments

11 July, 2007 | Comments

I’ve had a few super long days, so I’m going to direct you to Mask of Anarchy and Women’s Field for details about another horrific story of people in the Middle East being stoned to death. There is a campaign to save the life of an Iranian woman. Her crime? Committing adultery, apparently. She and her male partner have both been in prison for 11 years. Their children are in prison with their mother. The male half of this pair has already been stoned to death, as ordered by the courts. I’m too disgusted to continue writing about this. Here is a petition from the Stop Stoning Forever campaign.

Links to my posts on stoning victim Du’a Khalil Aswad.

10 July, 2007 | 3 Comments

just received:

how be you? do ya fancy lunch tomorrow? love me xxx