I had a little bit of a scare a couple of days ago when I went to the ATM. I like getting the print-out of the transaction so I can check my account status and whatnot. In any case, my receipt said that I had a full 1000 pounds (that's nearly $2000 US) less than what I should have and I nearly freaked out. I went into the bank the next day ready to open up a can of whoop-ass and it turns out that I didn't need to (whew, thank God, I'm no good at being mean). For some reason or another, they transferred that extra grand from my checking account to my savings account. Crisis averted. If I had ANOTHER banking-related problem, I would not have been a very happy camper.
Anyway, I have a few photos for my (three? four?) faithful readers. Last weekend, I went to Wales with a bunch of people from my dorm. Summary of my trip: Wales is very pretty. There are lots of sheep here. I saw my first castle!
Conwy Castle in Wales.
Me and JP (aka The OTHER Transformers Dude) in the streets of Conwy.
Snowdonia National Park. It was very pretty. A nice change from the concrete and smog of a big city.
Oh my god, do you guys remember Triangle Man at Berkeley? He has a long-lost Chinese-English brother! He works in the lab next door to mine. Too bad I can't really take a photo of him to post here (I think that would be awkward, "Hey, I don't actually know you, but can I take a photo of you so that I can post in on the internet?"). Somehow, I don't think he'd cooperate.
For those of you who never went to Berkeley or whose time there didn't overlap with the infamous Triangle Man, let me help you out. Picture what would be a tall, skinny Chinese guy, but one who has done WAY too many push ups and bicep curls, resulting in a physique that resembles an upside-down triangle (large bulky upper half, scrawny chicken legs). Wrap the whole thing up in a tight black spandex shirt, black jeans, and a Mr. T-esque gold chain and voila! Berkeley's Triangle Man. While Triangle Man and his English counterpart share a unique shape, the British one lacks the style to pull of the true essence of "Triangle Man." Thank god, otherwise I might be too distracted to get any actual work done.
When I left Japan, I thought I had finally removed myself from the land of eternal fobbiness. I could not have been more wrong. Who would have thought that Opal Gardens would house some of the fobbiest people that Asia had to offer? And who could have known that my very own roommates would take the cake on uber-fobbiness? Certainly not me.
Fobby Conversation #1:Grace: Hello [Fobby Asain Roommate #1]. How are you doing?
FAR #1: I'm fine thank you. And you?
Fobby Conversation #2:FAR #2: What are you doing?
Grace: I am making a sandwich.
FAR #2: I am going to watch you.
Grace: Why on earth would you do that?
FAR #2: I have never seen anyone make a sandwich before. What is that?
Grace: It's hummus.
FAR #2: Is it a sandwich sauce?
Grace: Um, kinda...
FAR #2: What is that?
Grace: Chicken.
FAR #2: So you put chicken and sandwich sauce together?
[It goes on like this for a while. Yes, bread + hummus (or whatever "sandwich sauce" you choose) + cucumbers + chicken slices = my lunch for tomorrow. But you can use WHATEVER floats your boat...]
Fobby Conversation #3:FAR #2: Are hot dogs made of dogs?
Grace: No, I'm pretty sure that they're not.
Fobby Conversation #4:[I come into the kitchen with a grocery bag]
FAR #1: Oh, you went shopping! [She is really excited]
Grace: Just some groceries. Nothing special.
FAR #1: We go shopping in my country, too!
Fobby Conversation #5:FAR #2: You have a runny nose. Are you sick?
Grace: Just a little cold. Nothing serious.
FAR #2: You look tired, too.
Grace: Well, I had to go into lab early today.
FAR #2: And you a pimple on your face. Do you have a lot of stress?
Grace: I think I'll go eat dinner in my room now. Away from you.
[Asian people love to point out obvious physical ailments. I don't know what purpose this is supposed to serve. I'm sure it's not meant to be malicious, but FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, and Taiwanese people all do this. You look exceptionally fat today, you have zits, you look tired/pale, you look like shit... etc etc]
Ah, no matter where I go, a little piece of Asia tags along.
Grace's Top 10 Needs.
I stole this from
Eva's blog, who stole it from
Adrianne's blog. Using Google, type in your name plus "needs" and see what comes up. What do YOU need? Who knows, but I'll tell you what I need.
1. Grace needs no help to persevere. (Booyah. I am climbing all the way to the top!)
2. Grace needs a shrink. (Oh well, can't have brains, beauty, AND sanity.)
3. Grace needs a lodger in the wonderful but dilapidated house she has inherited. (Dilapidated is NOT wonderful in my book.)
4. Grace needs to be reading from books and doing worksheets more. (I've been caught. No more procrastinating for me.)
5. Grace needs a new home. (I'm homeless now, apparently.)
6. Grace needs to learn how to be a little more graceful. (So I'm not that coordinated. No need to shoot me down.)
7. Grace needs to get out of debt. (Yes, that would be nice.)
8. Grace needs more one on one time to be properly house trained and placed into an indoor home. (Dude, I have no comments about this one.)
9. Grace needs no such help. She has, in fact, checked herself out of the hospital, refused all pain medication and returned to her small rural cottage because she “wants to be awake to meet death.” (So morbid.)
10. Grace needs tender loving care aplenty to mend her broken heart. (Awwwww, doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?)
I had to weed through a lot of church-related ones, and apparently there's some computer program named "grace." You learn something new everyday.
I can't believe that I've been here a month! I've finally settled into my life in Manchester and I'm beginning to enjoy myself here. Lab is going well and my coworkers are super friendly and very helpful. I'm getting along with my roomies. I have friends with whom I can share the miseries of failed experiments, but also have a drink with after work. I know which buses take me downtown and which ones get me back to my dorm. I can buy tortillas from the local grocery store (the UK has one up on Japan!), so I can forgive them for the lack of refried beans (my arteries forgive them, too). There is a Korean grocery store within spitting distance from my dorm (score!) so if I ever feel the need for kimchi, I'm good to go. I think that it's safe to say that despite early misgivings and pitfalls, I'm glad that I chose to come to Manchester.
It's been a long time since I've made a straight-up happy post. Very uncharacteristic of me. Maybe it's the fact that it's Friday. Or maybe it's because my experiement finally worked (and it wasn't my fault that it failed the previous three times!). Or maybe it's because it's not raining today. Who knows? I'll just enjoy the feeling while it lasts.
I've done something to my blog and the text color is all wrong. Bear with me a moment while I fix it...
ali: oh god, you're replacing me!ali: i knew it was gonna happengrace: you have nothing to worry aboutgrace: you will ALWAYS be #1ali: . . .its gonna start out like thatali: your casual transformers buddyali: . . ."we just watch a couple episodes a week together"ali: before you know it, its everydayali: . . you'll go to conventions with himali: how could you!!!!!grace: actually, i haven't watched transformers with himali: okaygrace: i will only watch with yougrace: when i get backali: thank youali: be goodali: you know how i worrygrace: i knowgrace: i'll be goodali: don't cheat on meali: with transformers dudegrace: i won'tgrace: i promisegrace: absolutely no transformersali: sweet!ali: aite lategrace: laterIf you guys don't already know, I have met someone in my dorm who shares my love for cartoons and bio. Ali, you know I wouldn't go to SD Comic-Con with anyone else! Now that I've shared my promise to Ali with all of you, you all need to help keep me accountable! hehe. Not like you have anything to worry about; I tend to keep promises that I make.I've been working in a lab for the last couple of days now and there is a post-doc with whom I share a lab bench who is from Orange County but has lived in the UK for the last 7 years or so. It's so funny because sometimes, he sounds so totally Californian and at other times, completely British. It took me a while to figure out that he was actually from the States. I hope I don't come home with a psuedo-British accent. That would just be way weird.Currently Playing: Descendents - Silly Girl
I am no longer a social leper. I now own what could quite possibly be the most obnoxiously bubblegum pink phone out there. My life is finally complete.
And my computer is working again. Hooray! All is good with the world.
Currently Playing: Fearless - The Bravery
