communimacation

Tourists are everywhere these days. Even at "home" in Georgia I am a tourist myself, since my family moved here while I was still in high school and I've never really lived here. Something I find quite interesting is how people communicate with one another when there is a language barrier creating a mental challenge for understanding. I think it's kind of funny when one party uses extreme hand gestures and talks ridiculously slowly and loudly to communicate with another party of the same species but different culture. One time I was on the subway I witnessed an American girl trying to give advice to an Asian couple (who obviously did not speak English) about where to go sightseeing in San Francisco. I have to admit it was hilarious to watch because she was giving a histrionic performance as she was describing the many places to see and eat around the city. In some ways it appeared as if she were speaking down to children, but I know she wasn't trying to be disrespectful or anything. (I think). I just find it silly how we believe speaking louder with pauses between words will magically translate to a language more familiar to foreigners. The one universal gesture I've noticed is the hand-to-mouth movement indicating "food" or "hungry". This is a good thing because I know that I'll always be able to get some kind of wanted response when I do this in a foreign country. I'm sure there are a few other gestures that are pretty universal, but this one is obviously the most important of them all.

giggles

Perhaps one of my biggest weaknesses is that I am super ticklish, beyond belief. Just thinking about being tickled evokes uncontrollable sensations of giggling and squirming. So ridiculous. I can even tickle myself with my own fingers. (wtf?!) I feel that this is such an unfortunate characteristic of mine and I hope I am never tickled to death. Whether or not that's even possible, it would be the worst way to die, in my opinion.

Please don't ever intentionally tickle me. Although I may be laughing and making facial expressions of superficial ecstasy, the only thought probably crossing my mind is how much I'd want to punch you the moment you cease to torture me.

I like hugs though.

"see food" diet

Back in the day, I used to be obsessed with Animal Planet and the Discovery channel. No joke. I would get hungry watching all those cows roam around... mMmmm STEAK! Haha, I only kid. But seriously though, I wanted to be a zoologist or an animal trainer when I grew up. I actually still want to take a marine biology course just because I think the ocean is so beautiful and there are so many fascinating creatures that reside in deep waters.
During a commercial break on Man v Food, I flipped to Animal Planet just to see what was on... Dolphins eating fish trying to find mates. It was in slow motion of course, and the music in the background was fun and lively. Obviously this situation was good for the dolphins, but what about the poor fish that were only trying to reproduce?!?! Don't get me wrong, I love to eat fish too. I don't know why this sympathetic thought even crossed my mind, but it did. It was a very short-lived thought though. A couple of minutes later I switched back to my original program and watched massive amounts of meat be devoured. I think I drooled a little.
I usually don't watch much tv, but when I do, I always seem to watch things that tickle my appetite. Screw being an animal trainer. My dream job is to get paid for eating lots of delicious food on tv and become famous for it. Joyce v Food! Just imagine, a little Asian girl devouring copious amounts of food in one sitting... a hit show for sure.

bills, bills, bills!

I miss handwritten letters. Back in elementary school, my best friends and I would write notes (not even full on letters) to each other and send them in stamped envelopes, even though we would be seeing each other in class the next day anyway. It was just that wonderful feeling of receiving mail that kept us doing silly things like that. I remember at one point in time, I couldn't wait to grow up and have bills to pay so I would receive tons of letters via mail. I thought it was an exciting thing to open envelopes with my name clearly addressed on them. To me it meant I'd officially be a grownup. But how things have changed... and I don't want to keep growing up any longer.
Emails and texts are convenient, I understand. But letters feel so much more permanent to me. I actually still have all those letters my friends sent to me throughout my childhood and going through them (as if I were for the first time) makes me just as incredibly happy. Some of them make me chuckle because I can't believe we actually used up a stamp for letters that just said "Mr. Brandenburgh has stinky breath. I hope we don't get him as our teacher again next year!". Kind of ridiculous and hilarious at the same time, but nonetheless memorable little treasures I'll keep to cherish.