Refraction

10 marks for a perfect report (earned by at least one student!)
9 visits to my old haunt at the university
8 dragonboat competitions
7 capoeira classes
6 countries visited
5 kilometers in my first OC6 race
4 places of employment
3 Couchsurfing experiences
2 paddles purchased
1 gold champion medal

I’ve enjoyed 2013. It wasn’t always an easy year – from troubles with employment to pushing through training with my team – but I find myself in a nice place entering 2014, and I couldn’t ask for more.

It’s been a really long time since I last wrote here. How much things have changed since then. 2013 has brought me even more upheaval than 2012; but in subtler, gentler ways.

Now that I’m back all I can think about is how to leave again.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

— John Masefeld, “Sea Fever”

Today on the tram someone actually talked to me. Usually these things don’t last long because I don’t give them much in return (it’s quite easy to ignore people when you have no idea what they’re saying to you.)

After some halting small talk in German (did you make that cake? where are you from? why did you come to this city?) we started talking about polylactide, of all things. Anyway, we then started talking about our consumerist society, and he directed me to a German documentary called Kaufen für die Müllhalde.

Ah, but you understand some German, ja?
Uh, a little…

Luckily, since it was originally a Spanish-French production, a French version (Prêt-à-jeter) is also available! I might actually get around to watching this, unlike the pile of movies I have sitting on my bookshelf at home.

Happy 2013. Some unstructured thoughts kicking around in my head:

1. Four New Year’s Eves in four different cities. I think it’s become a tradition. Should plan for December 31, 2013 now.
2. Planning for that should include finding a guy to go with to a party whom I can’t drink under the table. ¹And it’s not always Asian guys, either, okay? At this point it’s kind of getting embarrassing.
3. I wish I could have stayed a little longer in that city. I wish I’d met that guy earlier. I wish we could’ve gone for Chinese together.
4. I also need to work on this tendency of mine to patronize people. I shock myself with how petty I can be.
5. The world does not owe me anything. This does not mean that I do not owe the world something.
6. The next adventure begins in two weeks, and lasts about that long. I can’t wait to see some old friends and make new ones, too.
7. I don’t want to go home. Yet how could I do anything else?

“Not Getting Closer”

Walking in the dark streets of Seoul
under the almost full moon.
Lost for the last two hours.
Finishing a loaf of bread
and worried about the curfew.
I have not spoken for three days
and I am thinking, “Why not just
settle for love? Why not just
settle for love instead?”

-Jack Gilbert

Er hat rechts, oder? Why this Fernweh?

If you want to volunteer to eat any of these, please let me know.

Green Tea Layer Cake (seconded)
Matcha Shortbread
Matcha Cookies
Tres Leches Cake (as a base for a matcha tres leches cake?)
Matcha Tiramisu
Matcha Lemon Loaf
Matcha Red Bean Loaf (I’ve never baked bread before…)
More ideas here!

Yes, I have a bag of matcha I bought online which I’m kind of dying to use. I also acquired a handmixer recently. 😀

So many things to bake, so little time.

Work birthday cake: Four-layer EXTREME CHOCOLATE CAKE
Co-worker’s going away: Matcha something. Probably cake.
Random how could this go wrong project: Domo-kun cake pops
Summer’s here cake: Strawberry coffee cake
I owe Mom big time treats: Almond cookies

Due to an injury I had suffered the previous day ¹I slipped on the ice while curling, hurting my head and my hip. I sat in the coach boat watching my team paddle.

It was kind of painful. It was a tough practice, that’s for sure–but our timing was absolutely awful. Blades not synchronised at all. The back blades leading, rather than the front. I don’t know how many times I called them on their timing. I felt bad about it, too, since I know we can do better.

I wasn’t expecting the coach boat to be so cold, but that thing moves fast, and on top of that you can’t keep warm since you’re not paddling. My teammates were probably jealous, though 😛 One of them said that since my hair was blowing in the wind, I looked like a model on the boat.

A very, very cold model. 😛

I really hope I recover enough to paddle tomorrow night. My hip is fine now, but I’m a little lightheaded still, and my neck’s a little stiff. Probably some ibuprofen and rest will do the trick 🙂

Would you rather be blind or deaf? It’s one of those trite “would you rather” questions that comes up once in a while, but I think I’ve got my answer: I’d rather be blind.

I’ve got two main reasons for this. The first is conversation. A blind person can still converse somewhat normally (although obviously missing visual cues like facial expressions and hand gestures), but a deaf person depends on sign language. It’s much more difficult to just strike up a conversation with a deaf person.

Second, there’s music. I get pretty emotional sometimes when it comes to music, and I can’t imagine losing that. It’s much more rare for a visual to affect me as much; I’m not really sure why. My world, if I were deaf, would feel much more muffled and muted – as if I were an arm’s length from everything. Sound has an immediacy that visuals lack.

There’s more to it, I’m sure, but that’s what’s off the top of my head. I hope I never have to find out.