iro iro

My main goal right now is to experience life to the fullest. Even if I do not find someone to do certain things with me, I would go by myself rather than limit myself to someone’s whim and like and schedule.  I feel like I’ve become used to that and it has made me sort of anti-social.

Tonight, to put on the “experiencing life” list, I went to a pole dance class. As a result, I now have much more respect for people who could actually dance on and around a pole. It requires significant upper body strength that I do not have and I need to build up more muscles before I can go back and not hurt myself trying to lift and spin around the pole. 

Last Friday I went to a Fashion’s Night Out thing in Georgetown. More impressive than all the $$$$ clothes that were frankly ugly were the free food and wine flowing around. Sweet! I got to bond a little with two of my co-workers. Saturday I went to the Arts on Foot festival and won a free Newseum ticket (it’s like $24 normally)! Hooray. Also tasted delicious cheap sample food from normally expensive restaurants around downtown. Later I went to watch the OSU game with Anajli and et al in Georgetown, but the night of dancing that followed was even better. As I said before, I really enjoy dancing by myself around people I like. Fuck random guys who try to grab my hands. 

Sunday was a lost cause. I slept, cooked, and ate. I now dread Mondays. 

Tomorrow I will go to the Zumba class at the gym! I’ve also been going to kickboxing and body shop classes. My legs have been sore for like days.  

Overall, I’ve been exercising, cooking and exploring a lot.  I went to a few Meetup groups for hiking/Chinese conversations/random things.  It’s nice to be able to bum rides from people to explore outside of DC.

I’ve been in DC for two months now, but I think this is the first night where it sort of feels like home. I exercised after work, came home, heated up some leftovers, cooked spontaneously, and finally headed out to Starbucks. Maybe it’s a remnant of college habit, but it almost seems like the ritual of going to a coffee shop makes a place more like home for me. I think sitting at a coffee shop with my laptop and reading gives life a sense of settlement. The fact that I can actually enjoy DC without bitching about the weather helps. :)

I’ve been keeping myself busy and it’s been good. 

http://chinaboom.asiasociety.org/period/inheritance/0/101

This is an example of a project I worked on last summer at the Asia Society. I translated, transcribed and picked out “important quotes” by the experts. At the time, it felt like the most time-consuming and tedious project ever, but it’s so good to see some of the final products finally being put up on the website. SEE HERE.  

Chris and Hina visited this weekend and we did many fantastic things. Like going to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, eating dessert at CoCo Sala (a chocolate lounge), going to the fish market where I bought many crabs, and seeing Twelfth NIght at the Harmon Shakespeare Theatre. On Monday, my parents and my brother came down. They looked at my place, walked around the Mall, ate dinner and left.  My brother bought me aloe vera juice and these tasty breakfast congees in a can. Delicious.