here’s an interesting NYTimes article about the “Love Boat”. i went way, way back in ’92 and it was exactly that – a total hookup fest. it was great. such exhilarating flirtation. i won’t name names, but i’d say that 99% of the people that had SO’s back home when they arrived had some sort of a fling out there. i mean, how can you help it. you’re plucked from your whitebread (or diverse, what have you) social circle and thrust into a foreign land with lots of attractive chinese kids your own age for a whole summer. and the whole goal is to skip class and sneak out at night to party at the clubs. everyone breaks down.
the 4 lovely ladies who adopted me and made the trip worth my while.
[From Field Notes - Matchmaking, the Ultimate Government Service - NYTimes.com]
NEXT month, Justin Mei, 20, will be on his way to the Love Boat.
That’s the nickname for a monthlong cultural tour of Taiwan sponsored and partly subsidized by the Taiwanese government. The program — officially called the Expatriate Youth Summer Formosa Study Tour to Taiwan — has nothing to do with boats and it isn’t supposed to be about love. It is designed to expose young people with Taiwanese roots like Mr. Mei to the motherland through courses in Mandarin, sightseeing and traditional arts.
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i picked up tennis again this past spring, after a good decade or so off, and this time i’m really into it. found a good instructor who gives cheap group lessons nearby, so i generally get to play at least once a week.
i never used to be able to tell the difference between racquets, but this time i decided to partake in a demo program from a local tennis shop. Tennis Station in Burlingame has a $50 demo program where you can try as many racquets as you want for 2 months, and then they apply the $50 to whichever racquet you end up buying. i tried about 10 different ones, and by far my favorite, which i ended up buying, was the Prince EXO3 Red 105 (unfortunately it was also the most expensive, around $230). a close second runner up was the Babolat Drive Z 105.
anyways, i swear this racquet is magic because it feels so perfect in my hands and i think it makes me a good 20% better than normal.
here’s 2 examples of potentially expensive items that we decided we wanted, then checked craigslist and found exactly what we wanted really quickly and cheaply.
#1: california king-sized memory foam mattress, $250 (+$50 delivery)
with the little one sharing our bed, it was getting cramped. and we loved our memory foam topper on the old bed, so now we’ve upgraded to a much bigger mattress that’s entirely memory foam! it’s awesome. the owner paid $2000+ for it 4 yrs ago.
#2: an ergonomic height-adjustable computer desk, $250
i love my height-adjustable desk at work – push a button, and it lifts up so i can work while standing for a while. it’s healthier and good for keeping energy levels up. unfortunately, these things are crazy expensive (about $1500) and not really affordable for home use. but a quick check on CL turned up a great deal!
