Hey Kids, Look At This

No, it's not the fall of the world's own optimist, just a new posting. Not really a thrilling one, but what can you say? Inertia is a property of matter? Yes, it is, but it's not an interesting one.

The new roommates have settled in. Ellie is the Belgian. She's nice, not really chatty. She wears an Amy Winehouse-esque amount and style of makeup, but that can only last for so long. I am personally thankful that it only took two weeks for the whole apartment to stop reeking of coconut lotion. Katrina is the other new teacher. She seems pleasant enough and she's taken her smoking outdoors. Either that or I just don't notice it anymore. Neither is particularly interested in cleaning (that is to say, more than Paul or Li or myself), so the level of overall cleanliness in the apartment has tanked, but eh. As long as there are no bugs, none of us can really muster the caring.

Speaking of a distinct lack of caring, apparently the foggy-like air that has been hanging around for the last few weeks isn't actual fog, but pollution-filled smog. It's pretty bad. Visibility is noticably decreased just looking down the street. The paper reported the air quality stations in all regions had reported levels exceeding 250 micrograms per cubic meter, followed by a note saying that international levels consider air quality to be "poor" at 100 micrograms per cubic meter. I found this concerning. If 100 is "poor," what is 250? "Very poor?" "Unhealthy?" "Your lungs are dying every second?" Taiwan's own standards consider 200 to be "unhealthy" and 300 to be "hazardous." It's kind of funny, there's a cartoon rabbit that accompanies the numbers. He looks very ill at 200 and is clearly dead at 300. Its tongue is sticking out and its turned brown and everything. Anyway, all of this has made me thinking about getting a pollution mask like everyone else, but I don't think they actually do anything, since they are just pieces of cotton with a little batting inside. So in conclusion, my lungs will probably turn black and die soon.

On the upside, the weather has warmed back up.