Otaku 3.0

I'm pretty much a full time homebudy.

Since I got back to Taiwan about 2 months ago, I started to translate for a Taiwanese company which does voice over and titles for movies and TV shows. The job is pretty nice and easy except once a while I get myself in trouble by stepping into politically correct issues.

It seems that sometimes the clients don't even watch the clips when they go through the translation. They would get mad at me when they saw some purposely done typos. I had to explain that if only they click the movie, they will see how these start to make sense.

Anyways, I shall be grateful for any money making thing I've got, especially this kind of gigs I can always do wherever I am. In a few days, I will step into the voice-over part. By then, I'll update you more thoughts.

Other than translating, I've been also busy running around teaching group and private students. Teaching is really fulfilling. Even though I am not using my full knowledge, I still feel so inspirational because of nurturing young minds. I hope they will all do excellently, but most importantly, I want them to make friends with music forever.

I thought I would be making sesame after coming back. It's actually pretty descent. What happens if I get comfortable here?

Besides work, my single parented son, Mr. Tako Lee, has been a great companion. Watching him grow has been amazing. He starts to get huge and I have to stop him doing his kitten stuff because it starts to hurt people. So far, he's been cooperative. It will be really hard if I ever have to give him away. Luckily, my parents are growing on Tako. They started from the unknown dis-likeness. Now they go feed and play with him without me asking.

Being away from home for too long makes me miss this house so much. I've been doing some living improvement, and teaching my parents who I am all over again. Last night before my dad went to bed, he told me, "don't do any hood-rat things when we are not at home". It sounded so silly. Right, I can't wait to make a mess only now.

A few days ago, my dad asked me what I want for dinner. I gave him a name of a restaurant. He told me that my mom doesn't like it. When I asked him why, he told me, "your mom says it's a CHINESE restaurant". I said, "It's just food, dad. You ate in Japanese restaurants all the time. Why wouldn't you dislike Japanese food. You are missing out the goodies from Chinese cuisine. But, I am not gonna push you if you don't want to try something you've never had."

That's it. The stupid political stand point even makes people decide what not to eat. Don't we all live hard enough?

So, Otaku 3.0 will probably move back to Taipei one of these days. I will be a relocating homebudy.

TBC

Coraggio, Ü 9

I completely forgot to talk about the museums... Here is the brief. I liked the Museum of Science(Da Vinci Museum) in Milan very much, except lots of labs weren't open when I visited. All the duomo in Italy I visited were beautiful. Most of the places in Rome were crowded. Vatican has enormous collections of pretty much everything.

Notre Dame de Paris was absolutely magnificent. There was mass going when I entered. I could not understand anything they said. The music sounded solemnly beautiful. The treasure room has impressive luxurious collections. That's what I was missing in my soul!? Louvre is just huge. I glanced two floors of Italian and French paintings. There are a lot more to see for my next visit! Eiffel was full of people that I didn't bother to do anything but standing underneath to take pictures.

Not very long ago, I got a gig for a group of pretentious peops writing about museums around the world. This may have been the best time fulfilling their wishes. C'est la vie!

Coraggio, Ü 8

        This one is fully dedicated to Ms. M in Ddorf. Ms. M is an American who has moved to Germany decades ago. Because of her connections in all the theaters, everyone knows Ms. M whenever I mention it in front of my fellow musician friends in Europe. I was connected to Ms. M through Tom. Ms. M had studied with Tom quite a while ago in the US. After Tom's email introduction, I wrote to Ms. M online and she very generously offered me her place while wandering around in Germany. I shall be forever grateful for this. My head has been occupied by spending all my saving soon. My friends told me about fund raising websites and so I built one on my website. After feeling embarrassement sending the group email out for money, I so far, collected 5 USD, which was the test transaction from my love.

          Do I worry about money? I'm feeling on edge everyday. Not to mention that I still somehow need to pay my lawyer 2500$ upon the approval of my petition. Nor to mention that I still don't have an airline ticket to go back to Taiwan yet.  The longer the adventure gets, the more poverty I will become. The kind offers from my friends and from Ms. M to whom I was a complete stranger. They prolong the chance of potential success. Or at the very least, I don't just die from hunger with shelters(a good word from Bear Grylls). Every single one of them was great company providing laughters for my unknown destiny.

        If I make it to Europe, it's because of all these people. There is nothing I can match in return, and I hope one day I will be able to help when I am more capable. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE GENEROSITY!!!

Coraggio, Ü 7

              The whole purpose of this trip is to find job. How successful has it been? I finally went back to YAPTRACKER again. Matt told me about writing to ZAV long ago but I completely forgot about that. I've sent my applications to various organizations with some requests of dates according to where I was at that point. A competition in Italy got back to me, except the dates conflict with so many other things. At the same time, it wants to charge me a ton of money for registration to the competition and the hotel business. After I arrived Paris, I received some news about Freni's masterclass in Italy. Again, with just the audition plus student housing registration up to 195 Euro. It also means routing back down to Italy by the end of September after my audition with an agent in Karlsruhe. It's a huge task to my reflex. Alright, I have to use my brain unlike reflex... Perhaps, as Dottie likes to say, "I bounced back well!"

                No one got back to me about the dates I was available. I have to make their schedules happy. At least, all the Italian organizations got back to me after processing my applications from the deadlines. Most of them were the reminders of payments. Of course. The myth of writing to houses for audition chances wasn't really working. There must have been so many applicants already that most of the houses didn't even get back to me. An agent told me that there is an Asian overflow that he doesn't even want to hear me. When I sang for a Studienleiter, he told me that with my talent, I should be able to find some jobs once they hear me. However, some places didn't even want to hear me before I take some German language classes. With that being said, until this very moment, the only one who agrees to hear me is the one agent in Karlsruhe. I was told to stay strong and focused in Germany but I didn't see anything happening in the area in terms of auditions. When La Scala wrote to me to remind me of the payment of the application, I decided to risk my application fee.

                A message to my love, and the application fee for both Freni and La Scala was done. After the payments, I heard back from both Freni and La Scala having audition opportunities by the late Septembre. The trip down is inevitable. Friends also told me datajobs.de, but you must be in the union to use that website. I kept hitting the wall writing to people/theaters/agents. Out of no where, I saw Hungarian State Opera casting for mainstage on Ytracker. It didn't cost money and I emailed my material right away. A few minutes later, Ágnes wrote me back and said that she would call me a day later for my audition time. I was very impressed but I knew no Hungarian except one swearing word Ligeti taught me in Taiwan during Don Giovanni rehearsal. The day later didn't bring the news from Ágnes. I then wrote another email telling her that I also had a German cellphone if that was easier to be approached. So, I got it from Ágnes. The audition time is in a few hours, 17:00 on the 18th of September. Finally, I looked at where Budapest is on my Eurail map. In the mean while, I checked the tourist situation as a Taiwanese person from the tourism Büro. I happily confirmed the time, and here I am in Budapest.

Coraggio, Ü 6

The train from Marseille to Paris was OK. Eurail pass in Paris gets restricted in various scales. Anyways, I still got all I wanted without too much hustle. I got in Paris and the train station felt just like the subway in New York. I found Nicolas' place easily, and that was the very first time I met his wife, Kae! Immediately, I read both their weddings' albums from Japan and from hmm hmm...(How dare I...) They are both very upbeat, the laughter never stops between us!

They gave me a tour of their apt. It was fully equipped, and I saw that famous Nespresso machine again! After that, they took me to a very nice French restaurant. We pretty much shared our food(Asian influence!), and I ordered Goat testicles! The food was delicious but the service was only OK according to Nicolas. But then, he still wanted to leave an Euro or two as tip!? Oh well, let the French do what they want in France!

After the meal, we watched some south park and turned in. Green, a Taiwanese friend living in Brusells, told me that we could meet up the day after. After getting a nice haircut in Paris, I went to Gare du Nord but I missed Green. After calling him, we finally met up with his friend Yiching and Alice. First we got the amazing icecream fix! And then, we walked around to look at the river. Again, fun time went by really fast, we then decided to buy some grocery and made Green cook for us. There he was, making a 4 course, 5 star restaurant quality taste and presentation. These three straight girls melt and tried to turn Green straight again but en vain!

It was so late when I went back to the apartment. Nicolas almost locked me out and luckily they were still awake. I came in and told them my adventure. Sleepy time!

And the next day, I got my hair highlight. It cost way too much money and I will only do this unless someone else pays for it. I went to Notre Dame de Paris and started to walk toward Louvre. After walking by Louvre, I felt this huge hunger. I decided to take my Paris hairdresser's suggestion going for Korean food. After walking more and more, I found the restaurant rest at that moment. Yes, people in Paris eat around 9pm. While suffering from extreme hunger, I saw this sign of "Taiwanese Bubble Tea and Taiwanese Deep Fried Chicken Bento Box". My eyes were in tears!!! The owner told me it's only open until 7pm if I want to dine in at that moment(6pm). I told them that I was so hungry that there would not be any problem in terms of eating fast!

There they were, deep fried chicken bento box and my bubble tea... I was in heaven!

I went back to the apartment with huge excitement. Everyone was impressed by my random discovery. I later on found that place online. It was the most famous place to get Taiwanese food. My dear Taiwanese people. Thank you for feeding me!!!

Another day has gone, Italo and I met up in front of the fountain. He told me about this intersection from Boheme in Paris. The street names have been forgotten already but they sounded very convincing. I took a ton of pictures as a tourist. We looked around Louvre, Eiffel, and ended up getting lunch somewhere around. I got this delicious duck dish of meat and fat! After lunch, there was more looking around and eventually we decided to visit his studio and checked out some music. Again, fun time went by in no time.

I had a little chat with J in the apt and I decided to look at the arc of triumph! For some reason, because everything looks grand in Paris, I wasn't really turned on to take pictures. I got a picture of the arc, and I left right away. On the way down, I saw a fnac and immediately thought about being able to purchase ticket to Louvre in fnac. So, I walked in and used my poor French asking for the ticket to Louvre with no manner. The doorman was very nice to give me compliment about my French. I thanked him and got my ticket. On the way out, I almost bought walking dead comic books. That reminded me it was time to contact my walking dead council! 

Yiching and I decided to meet up after my Louvre trip. After walking like crazy in Louvre, Yiching took me to all the cool shops around. We bought Hermes cookies and ate some of our purchase at the park. The rest was for Nicolas and Kae. Later they really appreciated these small colorful sweets!

I was a wimp when Yiching was seriously showing me around. Eventually I slowed her down with one funny taste mojito on a party boat. She then took me to this cute village to see more cool shops and some photos of a cool grandma. Once the so called broadway singers started to sing, I grabbed Yiching and escaped. Yiching decided to take me to a Vietnamese place. We were lucky to get a table right away. The meal was incredibly tasty and affordable. On the way out, I saw this huge line of people waiting to get in. Yiching then told me that the line's there even in winter.

Nicolas and Kae went away on the weekend but they had been checking me out on fb. I brought back the goods and shared my stories with them. There were many more places to see. Next time!

Coraggio, Ü 5

            Being an Asian in Europe may be quite an experience. Before I'm even able to speak their languages fluently, there are already boys, men, and old fools going crazy for just my appearance. My 3 day house mate Gian Carlo in Siena, the entrance keeper of Bocca della verità in Rome, the man who lent me his phone to call Hsiaopei on my first day in Milano, a crazy drunk lady who really wants Alice and me to go to her house for dinner with her son, and now, a waiter giving me a note of his comment and his number while bringing the check in a café in Paris. Oh! European guys, you are such flirts.

              Happy days in Marseille flew by. I mailed a box of goods to Jared. At the same time, I wasn't sure what to get Alice and Nicole. One day I was out around the port, I bought my childhood memory, GTO. That was later the gift for Alice wishing her GTA! My only thing in return for Nicole would be to speak French next time I meet her. I guess I can't ask Alice to let me stay in Marseille at this point. My french is getting better but still pretty broken.

               Marseille felt like home because of the sea. I was so in love with the calanques. While I was walking around, I decided to get in planet sushi. There was a little sushi train running around the tables and I couldn't figure out how to ask the server, "do I must eat from the train instead of ordering in the restaurant?". Luckily, the tourists next to me spoke English. They translated and I got a Tiger role and tea. It was a delicious meal!

               Oh! I miss the days I don't need to pack.

Coraggio, Ü 4

           After the endless walking days in Roma came the journey to Marseille. I missed Freccia Rossa badly. The regional trains cross the border are pieces of crap. The dirt on the windows showed how much they cared about the train. Luckily, I didn't pay for neither, since none ever came to check me up. And even if I had to pay, only 1.5 or something like that each.

            I was checking the TGV in France. The French is more difficult. They not only restrict Eurail pass holders to a specific place. If the place gets sold out, the Eurail pass holders will be required to buy a full fair. Seriously? And from the Eurail pass website, there are booking sites for Italy, Switzerland, Germany, but no France. Indeed, the French is extra special.

            It was war when I was trying to get on three trains to get to Marseille. The trains are old, and the seating set up is funny. My coach has two restroom but one is not working. At some point, one passenger was shouting like someone is stuck on the door. Later on, by other passengers' translation from languages to languages. Finally, I learned that the man was shouting because he realized that his wallet got stolen right before the door closed. I heard of the pick-pockets so often, but that was the first time I experienced it.

            Because of the delay, I was three minutes late when I arrived Nice. I had to wait for another hour. It was not good because Alice was gonna come pick me up at Marseille St. Charles. I went to the public phones but I couldn't figure out how to use it at all. Finally, I turned off the data running on my iPad and sent an email to Alice. Ah! Verizon is gonna cash me bad.

            An hour later, I hopped on the train. And a few hours after, we got in Marseille. I recognized Alice right away. It must have been two years since the last time I saw her in New York. The hyper super shuttle driver thought we were sisters. (really?) She took me to her Volkswagen, and I started to experience the beauty of Marseille. Right after I got in the car, I sensed the promptness in traffic. I was very impressed by people driving so close to each other and to react so fast. Wait until you see how they park on the pedestrian walkway. It's hell for Jared indeed. Amen to rental cars, I suppose!

            Right after my arrival, Alice took me to the church with a golden statue on top of the roof. The view was great. The entire Marseille was under our feet. It was very windy and eventually we had to leave because it started to get chill.

             A beach known of very few people was led by Alice. It wasn't big and there she was, a topless woman getting sun tan. Woohoo to Marseille! Alice told me that people go topless in France very often. We then, went to les goudes, a very cute fisherman's village. Alice pointed out some very expensive restaurants on the way. Maybe one day, we will go visit them together!

             Another drive on the narrow streets, we reached Alice's. It was a house full of modern technology. They have light switches with brightness control, a bread machine, a vacuum machine with a tube connecting to the wall sucking dirt and stuff right through the wall, a Nespresso coffee maker, wifi(pronounced in French, please), and so on. Everything is neatly stacked. My room has the shades with an electrical switch. Everything feels very convenient to access. I'm in Marseille? What a pleasant surprise! Alice's mom, Nicole, is a very independent woman. The two of them took great care of me. I can never thank them enough. Nicole's english is definitely better than my French. I wrote in my thank you card saying that next time, I will speak more French.

             Later, Alice decided to take me to her favorite Thai restaurant. It was unfortunately now open. She was puzzled but soon we went to another street to search for dinner. It is common for French to have dinner starting around 9pm. I slowly got used to it by waking up late. Ha! Eventually, we found a Lebanese restaurant. We ordered the 22EU menu including many different kinds of appetizers, an entree, choices of dessert, and tea. It was heaven. BTW, we parked in the parking lot, and the parking lot didn't have the pedestrian door open. Alice was all dressed up, and we had to walk out from the entrance of the cars.

Coraggio, Ü 3

         There are two things to keep in mind in Italy. The first is to reduce asking questions to any human beings if possible. Most of the people do not know what they are talking about in this country unfortunately. Our handout from the previous program was incorrectly written. The discription of the transportation didn't even exist. The direction to a performance place had a huge mistake right from the 1st line. The worst is that after so many different tourists not being able to find where to go, the handout will stay the same probably for the coming decade! Help yourself by googling places online.

          The second thing is that don't panic, because nothing will work anyways.

          My philoshphy is to prepare for the worst, but to imagine the best. Although people may not know what they are talking about. Most of time, they are nice. They can be really direct, but it's just the way they live. Nothing should be taken personally. While I was deciding to buy a pair of boots. I asked the sales lady about the color. She told me that she can't decide for me and she has been extremely tired after a full day of work. My Italian plus her English finally made both of us realize that I was not making her decide for me, and she was just tired.

         Some places charge you service fee unlike the no need to tip everyone talks about. However, if you tell those places that you are a student, sometimes, they take the service fee out from the check. Basically, wherever you want to go, you have to pay. When you have a global Eurail pass, there may be some discounts and deals you can get.

         Men are forward in this country. Do not accept anything unless you are ok with what he expects in return. I accepted a map of Italy with a kiss on my cheek. My friend got kisses all over her neck after this guy agreed to drive three of us home. Apparently, we were out too soon to miss the show. And yes, the man is married with kids. The doorman of Santa Maria at Roma who let me take pictures without "offering 50 cents" asked what I was doing later. After the disappointment of knowing me going back to Milano right away, I gave him 3 hand shakes with "good luck" in return.

Coraggio, Ü 2

      Italy is very special. Until now, every day has been unbearably hot. Air conditioning is a rare luxury. Thank god that after working in Siena, the weather turned milder. While treating myself two nights in Athena Hotel(for all the hard work since day one in Siena), I contacted friends in Milan. Actually, we only met briefly for work in the same facility 2 years ago in Taiwan. She was superb and told me that I could come "tomorrow". I did. And that's why I'm in Milan now.

       Nobody knows how things work in this country. The people in Siena told me the only way a foreigner can get an Eurail pass is to get it in his/her own country. Books tell you that travel agencies can buy passes for you but none of them was able/willing to. The website tells you that you may be able to buy it at some train stations without telling you which tran stations they are. At one of the desks at Trenitalia in Milano Centrale, I was able to buy the Eurial pass.

       Buying tickets is art as well. The online tickets can only be purchased long enough in advence, and sometimes, because of the stations, you can't buy online tickets. When I was Milano Centrale, at the desk of trenitalia, I was able to buy the one way ticket to Roma Termini. When I was coming back just now, the lady at the desk told me that Eurail pass holders can only use the self-served machines purchasing tickets for routes in Italy. There is really no way to talk them through, unlike in the US with a louder volume.

       And no, although metro seems to exist in many cities in Italy. The metro card you buy is only good at the city you purchase the ticket in. In Rome, one should be extra careful. The ticket machines only takes cash when it doesn't give you more than 6 euro of change. Unused one time ticket get you nowhere once it's passed 100 minute after the purchase time.

       Drinking water is for purchasing. Sometimes, when you order enough, you may be able to get free water. But, rarely. Full grown bushes under the armpits can be seen occasionally. Everything looks artistic and beautiful in Italy. Frecciarossa is very comfortable. However, when I chose "silent coach", there was still a woman picking up her phone three times with high volume. What can you do? There seems to be no rules in this country. As long as you don't kill anyone, anything seems fine.

       Shockingly, operas are not as popular as I expected when I told people I work for opera productions. The generation of the appreciation of opera definitely is not broad. People even shush me after they requested me singing something from the opera. When I went to concerts, masterclasses, and voice lessons, lots of the singers sang with complicated octupus arms. Expression seemed to be confused with unvolantary meaningless hand movements.

       Perhaps once I leave Italy, I will change my mind!?

Coraggio, Ü 1

      Many of you may not know that I am on a mission in Europe now. About a year ago, I got fxxxxx by a state university. They at the very last minute told me that they never saw O1 VISA in their lives and they had to put me on hold until they figured out how to work me there. Nothing was sorted out before 2012. At the same time, I did not win any competition. The grand disappointment was not getting an artist fund. All the things together delayed my new VISA progress. On top of that, I switched to a different lawyer, and I can tell you that she is not really on top of everything after all I've been through.

      Finally, I got the money, and started the process. It was a huge pain in the butt to get all my recommendation letters. Because of the new announcement from USCIS, I was rushing to send my application out before July 1, 2012. The very last letter was finally collected/received by the end of June. My lawyer told me that it's too risky to send the green card application out because I will be checked intensely by the government, and apparently, she doesn't think I have all legal prooves of the work I've done. Although, after Jared and I looked closely on USCIS website, it said things differently. I could have had a chance.

    The lawyer suggested me to get married(of course, another application fee for her), because it can wave all the "illegal" process I've experienced. And if I get married, even though I have no legal status currently, I can be completely ok waiting for the green card in the US. It was really tempting but as you know by now, nothing happened. For that topic, I got into many arguments with my partner. While struggling for no answer, I thought about the opportunity to work in Siena invited a few months ago. After contacting them, I agreed to work for the program with only one-way ticket to Siena as my compensation and potential artist mangagement after the program.

    The answer is no if you ask me whether I get any auditions/contact from the organizer of this program in Siena. The person who got me involved with this program felt extremely sorry, and thankfully, with his help, I was able to connect with a descent network in mainly Germany. Also, thanks to my friends all over the world on facebook, I am able to couch surf in many places. I'm forever grateful for having being friends with you all.

     Well, the best story about my adventure is that my parents only learned where I was about 5 days ago. As usual, my mom worried about me alone in Europe. I told her that I started from scratch in the US, it is just a broader picture to think about in Europe. Certainly, I will face more language learning phases on this continent.

First week in Milan

A message to both Hsiaopei and Wilnn, a day later, I was in Milan. Milan is very different from Siena. The public transportation is fantastic. There are also many great stores for shopping except I can't afford anything before I finish this trip. I visited Duomo and also saw the night life of my friends, rather mild but lots of fun still. The Chinese food here is amazing.

My only struggle was trying to buy a month continuo Eurail pass. When I was in Siena, they told me that as a foreigner, I can only purchase at my own country. When I went to a travel agency in Milan, they told me that I need to talk with people in Stazione Milano Centrale. Eventually, I got it at the trenitalia counter with the salesperson who doesn't really speak English. In a day or two, I will activate this baby and travel everywhere as much as I can!

Hsiaopei is a very nice gal. She speaks Italian very well and lives a rather regular life starting with practice her voice to cook meals and watch downloaded TV series. She is extremely good at taking care of people. I am very blessed to be hosted, because our only encounter were the few minutes we saw each other while working in Experimental Theater in Taiwan for two different productions a few years ago.

During the day time, Milan is less hot than Siena. During the nights, I've been a killer of zanzare(mosquito). After visiting the Duomo and the castle, I've been sending job application and connection emails like crazy. It's indeed the most adventurous journey I've had for my entire life. The best part of this trip is that I get to use my broken Italian, French and German to communicate with people from all over the world, and it can really frustrate me sometimes, especially when I can't find the word I want from my electronic dictionary!

Oh well, the loneliness has not got to me yet. After speaking with my parents last morning, they seemed very impressed by my unknown plan and journey. Let's just hope that I can manage money well and at least make it back home to Taiwan ok.

As usual, love you all and ttyl.

Siena 2

I thought I posted something last week but I just realized my failure. The program is finally finished. By the third week of the program, from the students to the faculty all felt home sick. My italian language still stays present tense only. Hopefully, by staying in town for a couple of more days, I'll be able to practice and move on to past tense.

The program has been a true task. We learned how to deal with the disorganization everywhere in Siena. When I think about how long they have maintained the Palio culture, it is not hard to imagine their laid back philosophy could go on for centuries as well.

To the laid back thing, I thought "Italian time" was well established. However, our landlady came to examine the room right at noon without any delay. I suppose, there are very few exceptions. Or, when it's about kicking people out, there is no delay. :p

I met some great talents and made some new cool friends. Ursula had been not only the policewoman keeping our environment clean, but also rocked the world like Marilyn in her Orlando performances. Caroline is kind, generous, intelligent and a beautiful human being, as her beautiful voice! Caroline provided all sorts of snacks that I'd never seen. The coolest part about Caroline was the fact that she speaks 4 languages fluently. So, don't ever say you are fluent in something unless you are really fluent, or, if it's Mandarin. Allison has the most resonated laughter, and she definitely knows how to have a great time. (I learned while hanging out with the gang on the last night at del campo). Joanna looked very serious for most of time. Her presence as zia principessa was invincible! Because of living together, we got to discover her other talent. I completely lost it when she turned into Ms. Piggy having a conversation with Alvin, the chipmunk(by Ursula). Let's not mention how flexible her facial muscles are, and what they can make possible! Joanna is a great sister. She taught us the philosophy of Hedonism. She, Urs and I successfully polluted Emily with our practice at Enoristorante. It was a day to remember in Siena, air conditioning, cab, and more air conditioning in a wifi provided restaurant with lots of alcohol, veggie, bread, and more fiorentine. I miss them greatly while bogging. Finding a good roommate is hard enough. It was incredible for me to spend three weeks with these amazing talented women.

It was emotional when Tom, Stefano, Maria and I said goodbye at Hotel Palazzo(Joanna booked a kick ass room there). I'm forever grateful for having to know their wonderful being and support in art and in person. Stefano's Risotto will be forever missed! I'm still the same rice whore.

Every single student/colleague in this program moved me in his/her own way. Some of them came with great talents and training, and some of them were only beginners. I was touched and very impressed by how much work and how much improvement we'd got every day until the performances. Nothing is impossible after this experience.

Marishka is a beast! She is sexy, intellectual, fun, and full of energy. I still can't believe she ran every day in this hilly town during the program. Her love to teach was highly appreciated by every student. I was absolutely stunned while watching the last Broadway classic concert. Marishka's artistic hard work with the singers inspired and shined beautifully. There were two numbers I couldn't get out of my mind, Jessica's good and evil & He had it comin'.

Alright, I better get out for a little bit before I come back for my siesta nap!

Siena 1

Fri morning, Pablo and I hugged each other with happy tears before I took off for my first trip ever in Europe. My shuttle came early and it still took us 2 hours to get to the airport. Our driver drove as he's riding a scooter. Safely, I arrived Airberlin at terminal 8(?). While checking in, the lady at the check in asked me if I have a VISA for Italy. I told her that I am Taiwanese, and also told her that my country decided to have a new look of Taiwanese passport by the end of 2003. Mine was done too early in 2003 and that was why mine didn't have "Taiwan" written on the cover. Just like that, she swiped my passport and saw me as a Taiwanese on her computer.

I safely got in and had a pretty nice flight to Germany(txl). On the way, I couldn't sleep at all but reviewed A Fish Called Wanda, Ghost Protocol, and A game of shadows. Once I flew in Germany, I was worried if the Germans were gonna give me a hard time being an old Taiwanese. He said nothing but stamping my passport. The waiting for the transfer was a bit painful. There weren't much seats for overflowed passengers. I used the airport wifi to text Jared. The next Airberlin came, and it was very small. Airberlin was fantastic from JFK, but not as impressive to Italy. I bought Haribo and was teased by the flight attendant. 

After landing in Italy, I waited for my luggage for forever. Without actually going through the customs officers, Maria found me in the lobby and we started our next epic journey in Rome. Our handout was only a suggestion with not much accuracy. We were very lucky to actually get to Siena with my wits and Maria's unstoppable fluent Italian.

Without knowing where we were actually going until we got in Siena, luckily our great friend, Stefano, Tom's love of life, had contacted David, a very nice guy who works for Siena School of Art. After calling Stefano, we took a cab to a hotel and got in a very nice room. Yes, Maria and I spent night together, mwahahahaha... 

After a great night sleep, we completely got off the jetlag and walked around in Siena before our new journey to the life in regular apartment. It was a very long day. Everything in Siena is slow. We met up with the gang by 3 and I finally got into my space by 7pm. I have my own room in an apartment with many people from the other 5 rooms. After I came back from my grocery shopping, my neighbor downstairs had a huge crush on me, and immediately invited me to the Fiesta next door at night. I turned him down with the excuse of welcome dinner. I'm glad that my broken Italian is good enough to make people fall in love with me and to get out from the situation soon, too.

We had a huge group for dinner at Bandierino. I was so excited to see Claire, Tom and Stefano. At the time, I gladly found that Bandierino provides WIFI. We must have left dinner by 11pm. Once I returned home, I started to feel the FIESTA of Siena. Holy crap, the smokers were so loud and energetic until 3am. I started to cough and at I-don't-remember-when I fell asleep. The first day of town tour started at 10am. Lisa was our guide and walked us around to special and rather important places. By 11am we got in the school for our orientation. We had a break by 12pm and restarted at 1pm.

The first day of work was long. The singers recited the Italian words from Orlando and Suor Angelica. I worked as the chorus master for the SISTERS after their read through. We made it half way through in the no air conditioning room. Lauren was very nice to help me take notes of the division of voices. After 2 hours of intense Angelica torment, Lauren, Maria and I went back to Bandierino insieme. I had to have my risotto in martini sauce to go after failing to finishing it.

My neighbor downstairs was so excited to see me back home. His friend said, "tua principessa?" quietly but I still heard it. After ignoring that, my neighbor brought me a map of Italy and pointed Naples to tell me where he is from. I must have looked enlightened and he decided to give me the map as a gift. DO NOT ACCEPT GIFTS UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WANT IN RETURN!!! He then asked, "may I do..." and invited himself to kiss me on the cheek. Right after that, he shied away and went back to his grilling. After I collected myself, I excused myself and went back to my room. WTF... was spinning in my brain and from now on I won't accept any gifts from anyone I know for less than an hour...

A long night of party must have drained some energy, my neighbors finished their party sooner this time. I managed to get more sleep with less migraine while waking up. Lauren, Maria and I decided to meet up early to get to the school. I brought the girls peaches I bought a night ago and had breakfast at a dirt cheep place around the school. We marched uphill and got to the top floor for our first day of Italian class. Stefano was marvelous. He carried on the class with logic, clarity and humor. Now, we know how to say trecentoventunotrilionisettecentoquarantottomiliardiseicentocinquantaduemilionicentonovantanovemilanovecentonovantanove... Great eh?

I coached three singers after that and headed out to hunt an internet device in Wind. After purchasing it, I realized I completely left my iPad somewhere. Luckily, my iPad was completely safe sitting in my coaching room. I then went out for lunch and got myself a yucky burger. Why? I had a session with Mitch and got very helpful info for my career. Angelica chorus was following right after. On the stairways, Tom told me that he's really happy with what I did with the chorus. I could only promise him better and better by the approaching performance dates. The singers are eager to learn and they want to get the most of everything. I had a great time pushing everyone harder in that hot and sweaty room.

According to my roommates and the rumor, there was a used condom in the restroom discovered in our bathroom. The living condition was pretty challenging and they made a serious case. We were all gonna move out today but I finished work late. Oh well, I guess I could survive smoking one more night!? It's not so bad after realizing my friend from Naples on the way to Naples now!

Later! 

One of the follow ups

I got a letter from the High School I was bitching about. It said that in order to pay you 400 dollars, we still need your original contract(which says nothing right about my later modified service), and btw, because you only have one DIRECT CONTACT with the students(OMG, what did I do?), you do not need to go through fingerprint process. I can't wait to bring that piece of paper to shine that mean old lady's face, "Guess what? Someone broke your sacred LAW, and it's not me. It is said by your own orginazation!" Anyways, Jared and I found it always amusing to read the contracts with facilities in this area. We found out that I can say and do pretty much whatever I want because my work is based on my own "professional opinion". And there is also a phrase making sure that no matter what the school does to you, you cannot legally sue them. Everything is out of order and everything is out of control. People try to sneak and push things without telling their boss, and it's just not gonna work. At the end, the boss still needs to agree on things. Because of the sneaking/pushing behavior, it doesn't always end well. I learned something, threatening works a lot better than asking. And when I have nothing to lose, what will I not do in order to get what I want? So, the drama with High School shall stop. Now, still waiting for the Univirsity.

Stress is like a non-stop period

That is what I've been feeling since September 2011. I didn't follow up to an offer in Tenessee because of the offer in the university in New York area. Because of the facility or because of human dis-organization, my position had faced serious difficulty in order to happen legally. People kept telling me they found a way and made me promise them that I wouldn't do anything else, so, when the position followed through, I could get back to work right away. At first, they told me it would be only a few days, weeks of wait. It turned into a bizarre situation and I couldn't commit to anything because I was hoping to jump into the position as soon as the problems were solved. It finally kind of happened by the beginning of this semester. The brilliant minds who worked this out seemed to plan on sneak me in without notifying any authority. After I sent in the invoice as the completion of a month of work, I soon got a note from the campus lawyer saying that I must provide the evidence or the exemption of workers comp coverage. After I managed to do that, there was the need of disability... So, after a brief day of work in Sep 2011, plus the two past months of work in the university, I received nothing as my compensation. After describing my situation of not being paid at all for all this time thus I don't have money to go to work. Some office people interepreted this as "I quit"!? And according to the office peops, HR might give me more hard time about my current employment. The never ending documentation seemed to happen because the people tried to sneak me in. It was bad that I couldn't work. And now, because of this action, I worked for free. The other one was a high school production of musical. They got me by the end of January with plenty of hours without plenty of money. After about two weeks of work, their school office told us that whatever agreement I had with the music teachers was not valid. They need a board meeting to hire me and I need to sign an official contract with the administration office. At that moment, the university gig cleared up and I immediately told the high school teachers that they had to find someone else or they had to deal with more of my absense. We finally came to the agreement of me making some music recording for their rehearsals. Other than that, I played one of the semi dress rehearsal from 1 to 10pm, and one promoting event they had. For the entire time, I was only cooperative to the school teachers because I knew they were desperate and I always love to help if I can. After all my service, I asked the school teachers how to get my payment. The male teacher told me that the office has all my document for the new agreement ready, all I had to do is to get into the office and sign the new document. I walked into the office, but none of the administrative people knew anything about my new agreement. The lady from the principle's office kept telling me that it was all because of the lack of my first paperwork and contact to them. No matter how many times I told her that the music teachers and I had to terminate the first agreement because of my new situation happening at that time. And nobody had a sure answer of what they wanted me to do for quite a while. That was why I couldn't tell them anything neither give them any document. When I told her that after I write an email to inform the two teachers to be in contact with her asap and I will be on my way, she said, "this is a confidential area. I can't leave you alone unattended". Oh Dear, I walked in that room without getting stopped from anyone. When I was in that room, nobody else was in. All of a sudden, this is confidential? Chill out! My mind is full of crap all the time and I become mean to nice people. The Lord of Flies came to my mind and I couldn't sleep well. There was this plot in my mind going over and over again. All I did was to make people's life easier by being a good musician. Why would they keep making my life more and more difficult. It also seems to be a fashion in the local school district to make hiring a musician extremely complicated. The stress of not getting paid, having to rely on my boyfriend for the whole time, I feel that I may end up doing something horrible to people in order to fulfill my own justice. I don't know for how long I can hold myself together. The situation of a new VISA application definitely doesn't help ease things out. I miss Manhattan, and I miss being surrounded by majority of intellectuals.

感恩

終於從無限延伸的電動地獄稍為驚醒，發現自己過得太幸福，得要打篇感謝文章。要是文章有遺漏人名，純屬意外，請不要放在心上！

天啊！謝謝你讓我苟延殘喘到今天，沒噶屁還能打字是幸福。謝謝爹娘一直想把我攆死但是沒有的辛勞。謝謝阿律(和Weili)借我依靠因此常常被以為是姐姐。感謝Jared對我像寵物般的溺愛，也感謝你家人們對我的關心。

謝謝曾老師這麼多年以來對我在歌劇之途的栽培。感謝巫白老師工作兼吃喝玩樂還有生活經驗談。感謝裘老師，蔡院長，以及許多師長對於我未來的期許與規畫。感謝台藝大樂團和呂老師的賣力領導。感謝維足姐分享生意經以及有吃有玩還有零用錢可以借的豪氣。謝謝世閒，咏璇以及年輕生力軍們的專業與歡笑。感謝蔡大魚沒事陪我閒晃兼憤世嫉俗。感謝國北師給我機會開大師班荼毒聲樂主修。感謝郁菁，還有叔嬸表妹們的招待。感謝張睿軒借我把兒子嚇哭。感謝詠筑婚禮讓我意外得到捧花。感謝黃金金以及黃蟲蟲還有李星星的陪伴。感謝舅舅借我廁所。感謝舅舅家隔壁的九十幾爺爺還好在中飯昏厥後醒來。感謝贊助人介紹認識宋小姐，進而有機會能在許董事長家表演還拿了個紅包以及好幾盒鳳梨酥。

And thanks to all the friends who have been asking how I am in the virtual world as always.

I thank you all and wish you a belated beautiful dragon year.

A lesson learned!

Oh dear! It was a rather scary day and it might have been caused by me. How so?

I decided to spend the weekend in Kaohsiung with my parents and took our Sun to visit my grandpa in Tainan. The intention was not only for a nice family visit but also to solve the population problem in my sister's apt. There were gonna be 2 couch surfers by the weekend but there was no couch at all, hmm!?

My Sat started nicely by a phone call asking me whether I want a ticket to the concert or not. After my negative answer, my sister and I went out for breakfast. Following the breakfast was my peaceful 5.5 hours of bus ride to Kaohsiung. On the bus, I watched a cute Bollywood movie, 3 idiots.

Lees didn't do much on Sat night after my arrival. We planned our visit on Sun and went to bed early. Yes, it was a lovely sunny day today. We drove to Tainan and met up with my uncle and grandpa. When we were about to leave, my parents invited the old man my grandpa was having a conversation outside of the house to lunch as well. The poor old man couldn't resist my parents' unbelievable nagging skill and joined us.

We went out of town to a restaurant next to a stream. On the way, we realized that the old guy(neighbor of my uncle's) is 92 years old. All of us were so impressed and some of us may start to freak out a little bit. He told us about his son having a Golf related factory in China and his amazing life adventure with Japanese and Chinese people during the war. He was so sharp that none of us could believe his age.

Mr. Lee picked a sunny table although I told him it may turn unbearable after some exposure under the sun. He insisted and we did it. Dishes after dishes, everything went well. All of a sudden, my parents made a sound and turned to the old guy. He closed his eyes and fell on the ground from his chair. They all panicked.

I told the restaurant to call an ambulance. None knew what to do at all. I thought he may have been over toasted by the sun behind him and asked for a bigger chair to lay down. He started to yawn and just looked asleep. After about 5 min under the shade, he woke up and we told him about the ambulance. He kept saying that he didn't want to go. I held his hands and told him that he should, even though, he should be just fine. He should just go check because he landed with his head after all.

The ambulance came and I took the passenger's seat. That was the first time I had the privilege going through all the red lights legally. We went to Chimei hospital. On the way, I called my dad and asked him to go to this old guy's house to get his insurance card. The hospital was wonderful. We got a spot right away and the nurses came to check him up instantly. My mom was with me but she definitely had no idea of what to do whatsoever. The doctor asked us a lot of questions and I answered them all. Because of the fear or uncertainty, my mom repeated every word I said like she was actually answering to the doctor.

The old guy was conscious, and I finally figured out his name and phone number. I sat there with him for about an hour. His wife, definitely around 90 years old as well, came with worries. She thanked us for bringing and staying there with her husband. At that moment, I knew all of us felt bad and guilty. We invited this old man for lunch without knowing any potential risk we were bringing him into. We were lucky that he only had some scratches on his head.

My grandpa, as usual, lectured us about not to fear of anything. It was clearly a speech after he realized that none's life is in danger anymore. He uses talking for security. I couldn't stand his words for too long and suggested my uncle to bring the grandpa home first. After 15 min, my uncle and grandpa were still there, I suggested us taking grandpa home and left my uncle there waiting for the final results.

Two hours later, I took my parents to a coffee shop around our house in Kaohsiung. We were happy by the end of the day, especially, after calling my uncle and hearing about Mr. Lin had been back home with his wife. I hope we all learn a lesson not to just pick up anyone anywhere because it's a huge responsibility whatever we do wherever we go.