Coming here hasn't felt like traveling and getting to know a different place in the way you do when you're just visiting. I expected to approach it like I did Asia or any other place I've gone. And other teachers I've talked to have felt like they're just visiting.
It has been a series of slightly odd events escalating to my sitting in my apartment watching a Chilean music video channel playing Asian pop music from the late '90s- early 2000s. I wonder if Alyssa or Kayla ever saw this etcTV and had this same, "Wait, WHAT?" reaction. Now don't get me wrong: most of the world loves the same songs we in the US do and can't understand English, and I've never had a problem with liking a song regardless of my ability to understand the lyrics. But this is a "classic favorites" show. So these videos are old favorites here in Chile. And just when I wondered if there was a random Asian music video channel broadcast here, the vj came on, a 20-something-year old girl wearing (oddly retro) black & red flannel, speaking in Spanish. Right now a boy band from Korea is doing a more talented take on the Backstreet Boys. That is what I've liked about music from other countries: the singers tend to be able to sing first and foremost. This was a trend I found particularly refreshing in Hispanic music.
A Korea boy duo is singing in English ("Something"). Maybe it's all Korean videos, except for that "Clown" video by Will Chan out of China.
So to sum up, I'm watching Korean boys singing a song in English on a Spanish music video channel.
In other news... well there's a bit of other news. I found heavy cream yesterday! Not in the milk aisle. Oh no-- it was in the canned fruit aisle. Because why not? And honestly it's a bit thicker than the heavy cream in the US. But the important part is, I've had 2 real cups of tea this morning. The first since I've had since I've been here.
My electric teakettle stopped working yesterday morning. That was an unpleasant surprise. That'll mean another trip to the always-super-crowded Hitite or Fallabella department stores.
At 1 AM this morning my tablet found a weak yet still usable wifi signal that doesn't require a password. Wasn't there earlier this week. It comes and goes if the tablet goes to sleep, but I'm still hitching a connected ride on it for the time being. My iPhone can't find it, but I've gotten facebook, which is the proof in the pudding of it actually working.
The great news this morning was that my toilet's flusher isn't working. Which is AWESOME because today is day 1 of a holiday weekend. This being Chile (or honestly, I think anyplace outside of the US), my so-far-untested theory is that there won't be anyone available to fix it until Monday morning. In a testimony to the adaptability I'm capable of in spite of my masterful whining, I thought, eh, I'll live. I'll figure something out if it stays this way. I'll eventually go downstairs to what's app my landlord Fernanda, but honestly, I wouldn't want to disrupt her or anyone else's holiday plans for something so small. I was glad to find I just have to lift the valve in the tank by hand, so yeah, should be fine.
Ok, well the Asian music video show is over, and it's time for the resident fat guy & his 2 nerd friends to host some video game show (in Spanish). Which is my cue to find something else to watch on tv. Over & out.
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