My Crushes (IV)

I think this is my last post of My Crush series. Seriously, it does not even count, because I just viewed her as a dream girl, but not really in a sexual way. Let me call her Cercil.

She was in the modern dance group I was in a couple of years ago. To be honest, the people in the group was one major reason why I joined the group. That year, she was one of the group leaders. In my mind, she was the one who really put the group together. She could radiate the energy that cheers everyone up. No doubt about it, she is one of the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. But you know what, personality and look usually work together in my judgment about beauty, so calling her beautiful may just be doing some injustice here.

The first time I met Cercil was three years ago, when we were redoing a big dance piece together. Because some dancers have graduated, she was one of the new girls who joined in. She is not as a good dancer as the one she replaced, but the piece is better off with her. She was very serious in learning the piece, but I like her the most in lighter moments. For example, she and another girl were the first to appear on the stage. For a while, they were always one or two steps behind the music. Cercil would take it easy, sometimes making a face, sometimes just starting to laugh. I think everyone likes her, including me of course.

Once we were preparing for another people right before performance. We were all stretching in the backstage. I took out my camera. She saw it, and began to goof around. For a moment, she got down to the floor, crawling like a cat, a scene you can only see from strip club or something. Seconds later, she realized that she got carried away and was too silly in front of me. She brushed a little then. For me, that image was still in my mind. I am sure that was quite sexy, but every time I think about it, I was laughing while shaking my head, "such a free spirit".

To be sure, I haven't got too much chance talking to Cercil. However, when I talked to her, I realized how intelligent she is. While seemingly spontaneous as the dance group leader, she indicated that she actually thought through it quite carefully. She paid attention to every individual and tried to make everyone feel included. I am sure that my conversation with her was her way to make me part of the group. I really appreciated that. Without her, I do not think I would stayed in that group for three quarters.

She graduated one year ago and now back in Texas. I heard she had a surgery on her eyes, because something was detached or something like that. I thought that it was too stupid to call her for that. Luckily, once I was walking with a mutual friend, and Cercil called her. She handed me the phone. On the other side of the phone was again the familiar and cheerful voice. We promised to keep touch. Of course, we haven't since.

Once I Googled her name and found her portfolio online (she majored in architecture, urban design or engineer). It is full of sketches and paintings. Very beautiful. I never knew that she was such a good painter! Maybe in all our conversations I was always talking about me me me.

Anyway, as you can see, this one really does not count. I just feel that she is so perfect that it almost belittles me. I admire her more than I like her. In my widest dream, I should have a wife like Cercil. But in reality, I know I have been lucky enough to have danced with her.

Austria

 

That is the view from my hotel room. Isn't that amazing?

The first week is over. Overall, I think I am doing quite well. There are some moments when I feel like an idiot. For example, being very stiff when other people in the party mood, not able to get an interesting conversation going, too serious when other people are joking, or too light-hearted when other people are serious, etc. However, it is really due to my lack of exposure to this kind of situation in graduate school. One week later, I have found myself much better, as if I am going to give myself a higher grade each day.

Yesterday I was in Salzberg. I finally visited Mozart's birthplace. What a crap! I really think Mozart deserve a better museum than they had in Salzberg. Mozart's name has become a big selling point in Salzberg. Of course, I got a orange Mozart T-shirt too, just try to be cheesy. Ironically, some street musicians were play Vivaldi's Four Season, my favorite classical music piece.

Today I was hiking with two friends in the training program. It took us 4 hours to get all the way to the top. It was very exhausting, but I think I am doing okey. Afetr I came back, I swam a little and then enjoyed some sauna. Not a bad day, isn't it?

Europe (II)

I have been in this small town of Austria for three days. To be sure, small European town looks exactly like the one we see on the post card. Beautiful but fake. Right outside my balcony I can see mountains. Because of the high altitude, sometimes I see clouds flying by like the mountain is smoking cigarette.

Busy. I barely have time to do the readings and write the blogs. Right now I am delaying my dinner to write this entry. If I go to dinner right now, I will stick around until later tonight. Too many interesting people to have conversation with. However, I have set up a very good schedule for the past three days. Getting up at 6pm, go to the gym for half an hour and then swim for 20 minutes. Come back and have breakfast until 8am, that's when classes start. I will try to keep that up, even on weekends.

I think I really have made a good choice in taking this new job. I like most of the people around me. It seems that I would be expected to contribute more in my work than in my previous work. To be honest, I am a lazy person, but if the expectation is high, I tend to perform better. After three days here, I have a good sense of the people around me, and I feel that I can be at least above average in the new environment.

Maybe it is just me, but it only took me one or two days to sort through all the people in this training programs. Some are good talkers, some are deep thinkers, some are solid, some are showy, some are strong-willed, some go with flows. It is amazing how my judgmental abilities work through the crowd. For me, I am never a person who leaves a strong first impression, but I am damn sure that everything is going uphills ever since.

This weekend I might go to Salzberg. It is important to pay Mozart some respect to see his birth place. It was quite incredible to think that such a genies has lived on the land that we normal people can share. I hope that is not too much insult to Mozart.

Europe

I am in Europe now. The driver who picked me up does not speak any English, so the two hours and a half grand transportation was very boring. Plus the jet lag, I almost fell asleep. After arriving the place, I was quite impressed. It turned out that my company owned this place. It feels like a gated private resort.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. The company wants to impress the employees for two reasons. First, the employees will feel being in good hand. Second, the experiences will make employees to be comfortable if future clients offer such luxurious setting. For me, it is perfect. I just had a nice swimming and sauna. Tomorrow, I might take a run about this nice European town. On my back, it is a mountain, where we might be hiking as a weekend activity.

To be continued...

How I made up all the code names for friends?

For my new readers only:

(I had a series of "friends" blogs in the past. I basically went from A to Z, and made up names on the fly. For example, Amsol, Brey, Chestina, ....Zexum. Then I have this spreadsheet which keeps track of who is who. Now every time I refer to my friends, the names come handy.)

Last day in CA

I have arrived in Boston safe and sound. And tired.

Yesterday was my last day in CA. I ran some last-minute errands using my old car, and also met some friends too. My last destination is Amsol's home. Surprisingly, Elpen is there too (For my new readers: I use code names for my friends, but you probably can guess who they are).

These days Amsol is also preparing to move. His home was very untidy yesterday, with packing boxes everywhere. The stuff will probably fit in a whole U-Haul. Elpen just came back from home, and will stay in the bay area for a little bit. We had BBQ. We talked about bottled water for the most of time (weird, isn't it?)

Finally it is my time to go. I walked out of the door, and Amsol's wife gave me a hug, and said, "You can always visit us in Christmas." I was about to cry. I got on the front seat, and Amsol's son was standing on the door step. I extended my hand, "high five." He gave me a loud one, and said to his mom, "Mom, I am now strong." He had no idea that he would be able to see me for a while. On the car, Amsol asked me how I felt, I was saying something similar to what I have already described in the previous blog entries, but I tried my best to control my voice. I arrived. Amsol got off his car, giving me a big hug (I think that is the first hug between us), and said, "Isn't it weird that we wouldn't see each other for a while?" Yes, Amsol, it is weird, especially considering that we saw each other all the time, wasting countless minutes walking to the bookstores and back, debating some nonsense, or just gossiping about the department people. For that matter, Chestina likes to joke that we are as close as a married couple. I had three suitcases. Elpen jumped out of the car, and helped me check in my luggage, while Amsol circled his car around the airport.

While waiting for my flight, I called my home and talked to my parents. Then I felt that I had a hard time to concentrating on my reading of a magazine. The reality of leaving began to sink in, and I realize that I do not want the time to pass. What if everything is a dream? Will I be happy or sad when I wake up?