I finally accepted that whatever I'm allergic to in my apartment is not going away and I bought an air filter yesterday. The effect was immediate. As soon as I turned it on, I didn't absolutely need to wear a mask over my face. More than 12 hours later without a mask, I'm still doing OK. Just a little minor itchiness in my eyes. Bearable, considering the allergies at worst were laying me flat and unfunctional.
I used to have these allergies in the Bay Area. I had an air filter then, too. I'm under the impression that there is a psychological basis to my allergies. The allergic reaction is real, but it's something psychological that triggers the sensitivity. This time, they only started up after I returned to Taiwan from the U.S. in October. For now, my air filter is my best friend.
Hong Kong:
I had to make an unplanned visa run to Hong Kong this past week because
It doesn't matter that I have documentation of continuous study and of the clean transition from Shida to Taida. It doesn't matter that it isn't even a "student" visa, per se, Taiwan doesn't have student visas. Taiwan, not legally a country, doesn't have visas. It just pretends to!
In Hong Kong, the travel agency which is the front for what would be a consulate for any legal country, can't issue visas. It gives you a slip of paper that you return to Taiwan with, and once you're in the country, you exchange it for the "official" visa that gets put into the passport. Which makes leaving the country for such a small technicality even more ridiculous.
I'm here on a visitor visa, so why it matters what school I'm studying at is a mystery. I had to leave the country and get a new visa.
Conclusion: Taiwan is stupid and has just crossed the red line of my patience and I leave at the next set-back.
Hong Kong was gorgeous. Beautiful weather feeling like a warm late-Spring morning in New Jersey before the humidity kicks in. Hong Kong manages to combine Chinese bureaucracy with British efficiency, and somehow makes it work. Very impressive.
Drama:
Not even the transfer to Taida has kept the drama out of my life. On Friday, one of my Japanese classmates was arrested and is either being deported to Japan, or his parents are here to escort him back.
I don't have the fully story, just a suggestion that he has mental problems. There were suggestions in what I witnessed (I missed the bulk of it because I was in the bathroom) that he was considered by the school to be dangerous. In fact, when he was being apprehended, I did witness him trying to kick one of the police officers, so I can't say Taida was overreacting in paranoia.
I was saddened by that. I had a sense the poor guy had problems, anger issues, delusional. He thought his Mandarin and Mandarin pronunciation were better than they are (I could barely understand a word he was trying to say), and he kept getting angry at the teacher for trying to correct his pronunciation.
I've been having the distinct feeling that my life is getting shorter now with each drink I have. One can only hope.
