Back in the Steel City

It’s my second day back in Pittsburgh, and though I miss my parents dearly, I’ve already readjusted to what I call east-coast-life as opposed to west-coast-life (as some of us know, there is quite a difference between the two). The weather has been your typical Pittsburgh summer: hot, and humid, with a few light showers now and then; definitely warmer than Seattle. Mother told me that it was already cooling down quite a bit.

I’ve unpacked about 95% of my luggage, cleaned my room, though now I’ve got a problem with placement of things. Nancy had moved in for me while I was back in Seattle a bed frame, and Joey’s old table used for studying. It’s a pretty big table, one of those long office tables, which is perfect for me since I need a lot of space for all my papers and books and Macbook when I’m studying. Naoko had helped me buy some hair accessories from Japan, and I think she made such a nice selection. She really knows my taste! And these clips are very nice, and much cheaper than the prices here in the States with better quality and design. Ching Chia bought me some small Anna Sui hand towels and a Shu Uemura brow pencil refill. I feel bad for not bringing them anything…. For some reason, either because I was lazy or for whatever mysterious reason which escapes me, I failed to buy anything for my roommates…. Sorry my dear roommates! Maybe I should ask my mom or sister to send me something from Seattle…. I’m not too worried about Naoko and Ching Chia, because they will be here next semester, but Nancy will graduate this winter and go back to Taiwan… so I don’t know what I’m going to do.

This semester I’m taking four courses for credit and auditing one. In order: Latin (which I am very nervous about because of its difficulty level and the fact that learning a whole new language takes up a lot of time and energy); Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit; Deleuze’s A Thousand Plateaus; and Plato’s dialogues, Cratylus and Gorgias. Because of the ostensibly immense amount of work, I might not be able to continue my ballroom lessons. On top of the work, CMU (where they offer these classes) is not very convenient to commute by bus to and from home.  So we shall wait and see how my courses go!

Yesterday, Jing and Sha came over to spend the night, and it was also the first time seeing them since coming back here. Jing’s family is from Szechuan, so you can imagine how worried we were when the earthquake hit China. Sha is also from Szechuan, but her family has been residing in Beijing, so she was not immediately effected, though she said she could feel the quake even in Beijing! Some of her relatives were in Chengdu, but they are safe. A relief!! So last night all five of us – Naoko, Ching Chia, Sha, Jing, and I – made dinner together, and sat down for our first “community” meal. Naoko made miso soup and omelette, Ching Chia cooked the rice  and stir-fried some green beans, Jing made a spicy Szechuan sliced potato, and I stir-fried mushrooms in butter, garlic, and soy sauce (Sha helped Jing and did the dishes). By the time we finished making the food and sat down, we were all so exhausted and hungry that we consumed the food mostly in silence. Poor Jing was still in jet-lag, and almost feel asleep a few times throughout dinner. The room was pretty hot, so it didn’t help at all.

Another strange thing: I’ve realized that my skin is so much clearer and smoother here in Pittsburgh. When I went back to Seattle, my face had broken out into many pimples and acne. I’m not sure what the difference is; might be the weather? It is drier in Seattle and more humid in Pittsburgh. Or it might be diet? Here I eat my full, completely clean vegetarian meal since I cook myself. Back home, mom and dad usually cook veggies on the side of meat. Don’t know. Whatever the reason, my skin is definitely nicer here.