My Gothic Short Story (Moving to Hsinchu)

Last night, Dave and I moved to 新竹, which is a smallish city down the coast from 台北 a bit (dig my 中文, y'all). I will be here for the duration of July, during which time I shall be teaching a TL A+ class and an SAT class.

It's just occurred to me that I have yet to post about what I actually do here. That will happen soon.

Anyway, Dave has dubbed my room the Gothic short-story room, and I see his point. The walls are purple; the furniture is mostly black and a little shabby. The lighting is poor, and my only window looks out toward a dark brick wall--no natural sunlight here. Old pipes for air and water cause the walls to creak a little. The artwork adorning the walls--an apple, a vase of flowers, a ballerina en pointe--seems generic and cheerful, but each somehow has something a little, well, off about it. The ballerina, for example, stares at the viewer a bit too frankly, in a position that suggests her watchful all-knowingness; the apple's slight green tint and inexplicable shadowing give it an otherworldly feel. Metal roses rim the dingy mirror that reflects mostly shadows, even in full light.

Anyway, you get the picture.

When it was determined that I would live in Hsinchu, the rest of the office wailed in commiseration. It's so boring, they told me gravely. Seriously. There's nothing to do.

Well, I set out today to explore by myself for awhile, and I had fun! Sights were seen; smells were smelled. Tasty-things-in-steam-buns and tasty-things-on-sticks were bought and consumed with indecent fervor.  I also drank a delicious mangoey something that I can neither define nor describe, but rest assured that it was incredible. At any rate, this city doesn't seem so bad to me. Tomorrow Dave and I will hit the local night market, where we will participate in meatball-eating festivities. Then I guess I'll truly be able to judge whether this city is going to bore me to death or not.

In the meantime, I want a suit of armor to stand in the hallway, moving its eyes when no-one is watching...