Back Among the Living

My iBook is sick, and that's why I haven't blogged. I guess not having a computer doesn't work for an excuse anymore, does it?

My iBook really is sick and needs a brain transplant. Honest! I think the logicboard wigged out again. I love my iBook, but I've had such bad luck with it.

Here's a brief recap of what's been happening:
work work a little bit of sleep work work a little bit of sleep work work

That about sums it up. I was complaining that I was totally bored at work, even though I am really busy throwing the show together with the other producers all day long. But like they say, be careful of what you ask for. Out of the blue pops several people with translations and narrations that need to be done for the Asian TV Awards, tomorrow. Everyday, they would come with something that needs to be done tomorrow, and tomorrow was the submission deadline. But there were so many tomorrows. Isn't tomorrow today by the next day?

The translations take hours for each piece that's about 15 minutes long. Then the narrations take at least an hour for each piece. My editor and I split the work--he took most of it and I got to do the narration and got stuck doing the application forms for almost everybody. Yesterday, I was looking at my calendar and realized that I had just three days off in July. All those translating and narrating nights were so very long. I didn't know if I was going to survive and I was starting to lose my voice by the end of it all. It was a lot of work, but great fun as well. I loved the narrations.

In those tough two weeks, I discovered something about myself. I love telling stories. I love telling stories that I write, and I love telling stories that other people write just as much. There's another piece of my puzzle. All that hard work was well worth the finding. My half has again been half-filled. I feel much stronger now.

I have been in a deep rut lately. I've been feeling completely bored at work, though it's busy all day long. I come home at night, totally unsatisfied and just itching to talk to someone, but of course there is no one. Even the fish are sleeping. I end up crawling into bed and watching TV until I fall asleep. I haven't been able to report since we're so short on producers, either.

With the GIO contract ending, I've been very uneasy as well. I have been anxious about what will happen, where I will be sent, and whether I should start looking for another job in another country. I've gotten over it somewhat. If the show ends and there will be no more English news in Taiwan, then I will probably be sent to be a daily news reporter doing silly infotainment news. That's not a bad deal. Everyone starts somewhere. The people I feel sorry for are my editors who have to fix my Chinese that I never learned how to write. I can speak it, but honestly, I can write better in Japanese than in Chinese, since I've actually learned Japanese. Oh boy.

If the show goes to another station, I will probably go as well. If the show continues at Formosa TV, I will give up chocolate.

My producer again tried to get me on the anchor desk this week. The managing director said she was worried that people would say things, since I've only been at the station and in the industry for such a short period of time. They said if I reported more and thereby proved to everyone that I do know what I'm doing, then she has nothing to say. Fair enough. But I can't report if there aren't any other associate producers to cover my position. Earlier this year, the MD said to me, "don't worry, you've already broken the station record. No one has gotten to anchor after being here for just two months. No one but you. Don't worry." All I can keep telling myself is: patience is a virtue.

In the meantime, I wish to learn how to tell stories.

I have three hours left to pack. I am going back to Tokyo! I wish to hide away and sleep in my tiny tiny bedroom for three days straight. I wish to play with Princess Paolo and take a nap with her on my stomach. I wish to take walks around the Imperial Palace in the evenings. I wish to visit the Ueno museums that I have been meaning to but never did. I wish to practice sketching, all morning and all afternoon in Mejiro. I wish to go to dinner with my godmother in our yukata. I wish to see my old friends.

Here is my schedule. If anyone who's reading is free, please let me know.

4 August: arrive in Tokyo around noon, get hair cut in afternoon
5 August:
6-8 August: Nebuta matsuri in Aomori
9 August: tea with my zemi professor in afternoon, We Will Rock You musical in evening
10 August:
11 August:
12 August: returning to Taipei on 09h00 flight

My body hasn't been all that well lately, so I will be resting quite a bit. Let's try to get together nevertheless.