The Final Chapter 11

As of Friday, Borders liquidates its remaining 400 stores. The entire company will be completely shut down by September. I can't really look at this from any sort of business perspective, but from a personal standpoint, I see this as a tragedy.

I've been going to Borders since I was in 3rd grade. It has always been a part of my life, and it is now becoming just a childhood memory. I went to the local borders frequently when I was in middle school to find books on my large collection of interests. This Borders was next to an ice cream store, and had a coffee shop on the top floor. My dad would leave us with a $10 dollar per child budget to buy a book and me and my sister would negotiate money for certain books. I rarely read any of the novels I bought, because they were always above my reading level. I often bought "how-to" books and Star Wars Encyclopedia. If you track the books I bought from Borders, you can see my changing interests. Borders was there for me from my obsession with Star Wars to Airplanes to History to Writing to Music to Film to Acting and back. I would spend hours searching for a reasonably priced book that had everything I wanted. After we bought our books, we would either get hot chocolate or ice cream depending on the season.


I hated and still hate, shopping for books online. I never really went to Borders for the books, I went their for the environment; for the ambiance. Going to the bookstore was something I would always look forward to, because of what it represented. Whether I enjoyed myself while there or not, I would always remember going to Borders as a happy memory. I never really thought that it would become a memory, but now it is. It now represents an end to my childhood; a new chapter in my life, so to speak. I still find myself wanting to go to Borders before realizing that my local store has been torn down. I always thought I would have that store as an adult, as a place of peace. Still, every story has an ending. For me, this is just the ending of another chapter in my life, and it's time for me to turn that final page.

Spain - Final Day

During my last night in Spain, I found a certain dark, wistful, nostalgic feeling in everything I did. I decided to go to the roof one last time to look across the oceans and houses with a pair of binoculars as I had done so much for the past three weeks, knowing it would be my last chance to do so in a long time. Earlier, I had read an article written by someone who works with people who know they are headed towards their death. It described their regrets and their wishes throughout life, and kept an overall moral of carpe diem, or seize the day. I found myself treating my last day in Malaga as if it were my last day alive. In my head I kept repeating the old cliche of "you always think there's more time." I couldnt exactly figure out what it was that I would do if I had more time. I guess I wish I had more time to live in Spain; to take it in. I felt like I wasn't taking enough away with me. While in Torremolino, I had felt homesick for my home in Malaga; moreso than my home in Georgia. When I arrived back in Malaga, I felt a certain feeling of reward returning to what felt like a home. In many ways I had come to call this house on a mountain by the coast a sort of home. There was a certain routine that I had followed for the past three weeks that had involved returning to this house every night, and in my mind, I had started identifying it as "home."

Looking out across the sea from the roof, I was left with what can only be described as pure clarity. Everything in my mind seemed to be in order. There may have been a hurricane of emotion swirling in my head, but they all made sense. For once, my thoughts felt uncluttered and straight. Still, there was a feeling I couldnt quite explain, nor felt the need to explain. A certain satisfaction at finding what you had gone out to seek. Even though I felt my visit to Spain had been cut short- unfinished- I felt that I had found what I had been looking for when I came to Spain. I knew I had come to Spain in search of something, and I knew I wouldn't know what that was, but I know I found it. And as much as I hate to leave Malaga, I know that I would not find this feeling unless my trip came to an end.

Spain - Torremolinos

I spent most of my last week in Spain in Torremolinos for my exchange students basketball tournament. I had spent a good amount of time trying to avoid this trip throughout the week, and I had ultimately failed. Nearly all my fears were realized at this camp, but that's not to say it was bad. I found a number of pleasent surprises throughout the trip that made it worth my while. The first was that it was not a basketball camp, but a sports championship, and it was not the sausagefest I had expected. I was given the freedom to roam a good amount of the hotel, and I spent time at the hotel bar, where there were many english-speaking tourists. During the games, which were in the morning, I slept a lot. Sleeping, I must say, is more enjoyable than I had expected.

Although the first two days had been rather boring, I began to start enjoying myself after the third day, when I started being recognized for a number of reasons. Singing and dancing greatly contributed to this "fame." Since the rooms were close together, it was possible for teams to talk to eachother from the balconies. I did a lot of singing on the balcony, and the teams from the other balconies would watch, and sometime ask me to sing songs. I think that was more popular among the girls :). Each night, there were dance parties that all the teams would go to, so they could socialize. On the third night, I decided to entertain. I pretended to know how to dance, and they seemed to believe that I could. I gave very theatrical lip-syncs to the songs they played, and actually managed to get large circles to watch me. I enjoyed the attention a great deal. People also knew me as the America/Chinese guy who sleeps during the games (I had a uniform so I looked like I was actually a player). After this, I had a certain fame throughout the teams. They all knew my name, all gave me enthusiastic greetings, and all wanted to take my picture. On one of the nights I bout a fedora, and the next day, all the guys had fedoras. Whether or not this was a pop-star fame or a mocking fame I don't know, but I sure felt like I was the man.

On the last day, I had to give a lot of goodbye's, by this time I really wanted to get back to Malaga, I really missed it there. There ceremony for awards was really intense. They had dramatic well-time music, a team of dancers, and a complete light-show. Before we left, someone tried to take my hat, and I had to spend fifteen minutes trying to convince them that I truly need it. In the end, I had to sing her a song. I felt pretty slick. ;)

Spain - Last Week of School

During the last week of school, not many people actually went to school. I went for the first two days of the week only. On tuesday, they fire department came to the school to give a presentation, which they appearently do every year. After the presentation, they filled the basketball court with foam, and the entire school had a foam fight. It was pretty awesome. If only I had my camera at the time.

On Wednesday, I didn't go to school, and a group of friends and I went to the beach... again. Afterwards, we all went to a swimming pool. Nothing eventful happened that I can remember other than a Simpsons board game.

The next day was San Juan, a festival which celebrates the beginning of summer vacation, and forgetting all the hardships during the year. Recently liberated students, all set up bonfires and burn all their school work over the year. Unfortunately for me, most of my work is on the computer. There's also, swimming, drinking, and other mildly reckless behavior. Still didn't quite compare with Atlanta. I went bike riding with three other people in the morning, and found that I absolutely suck at bike riding. In the afternoon, I got dragged into collecting firewood for the bonfire. San Juan was alright, but not what people had made it out to seem. I enjoyed it, though, and hopefully I'll have goodluck for swimming in the water as the tradition goes.

The next day, everyone went to there last day of school to pick up their grades. Most of them suck at math. Shame. Several people were going to new schools the next year, and took their time to say goodbye. I followed them around the school as they said their goodbyes. At the chapel, I noticed that one person was crying. I could only imagine how it must feel. Leaving a place that you had routinely cime to for years and years, and then getting just a few minutes to say goodbye to it all. There must be so many memories in the school. I choked up thinking about it, but did my best to comfort my friend. After we left, it was time to go to the basketball championship that I had been dreading.

Spain - Week 2

My second week of Spain was also possibly my nerdiest. There were not that many isolated events throughout the week. Generally, my routine would go something like this. After waking up, I go to school. Since I can't understand the lesson, I generally sleep during the first class. Most teachers are fine letting me sleep since they probably know I don't know what they're teaching. There is one teacher who teaches a sort of presentation class where they have to give powerpoint presentations on whatever subject they want. I rather appreciate the teacher, actually. I don't know why though. She makes me stay awake and won't let me use the bathroom :).

After the first class, I generally don't sleep. I generally take one of their math textbooks and try to learn more for when my school starts up again. And that's no joke, I actually learned a lot of math and science from this. It was surprisingly easy to read wikipedia in Spanish. I read up on Alfred Waegner, which they were studying in Geology. I'd get really intense with the math and would really lose my apetite before their first lunch thing. I'm not exactly sure what to call it. It's more of a Mid-day Snack. I generally eat anyway.

After school, we return to the house, and then eat a second lunch. After lunch, I either play call of duty while my exchange student studies, watch How I Met Your Mother, play the guitar on the roof, or look at the ocean with a pair of binoculars. The first 3-4 days while my exchange student was studying, I either went to the beach with someone who wasn't studying or went to the main plaza to shop with my exchange mother. I didn't buy anything, but I like to get out. In the second half of the week, when he didn't have to study, I went with him to the beach with some friends. I REALLY like the beach. On Friday, afterschool, my friend group went straight to the beach and had lunch there. The hamburgers were pretty good, but I miss American hamburgers. Saturday morning moved slowly and I watched Cars and the Simpsons in Spanish for a while. The commercial breaks here are epically long. I don't know how people sit through them.

Afterwards, my exchange student and I go with our friend group to see a movie. The movie theatre is in the mall, or commercial center. Pirates of the Carribean 4. I've already seen it, so I end up half asleep for most of the movie. After the movie we go to the arcade and then we eat. At some point, while socializing, I realize I've actually been holding a conversation in Spanish. Before I came here, I would never have thought I'd be able to that. Now, I'm doing it almost without thinking. My Spanish teacher would be proud.

On Sunday, we go to the Alhambra. I actually hate sight-seeing unless I'm meant to be studying something. Maybe, I just don't have the intellectual capacity to know how to look at something and enjoy it, but I just really dislike sight seeing. So, at the Alhambra, I did everything I could to gain inspiration with little success. It all improved after passing the gardens and seeing the court of the lions. There was a impressive amount of detail in the design and architecture, and the design of the fountain was particularly intriguing. Still, there wasn't enough information available, and I had to put more research into it later. I wish I could go back to the Alhambra again with a new set of eyes. That way I could actually take in what I saw, and learn something from it.

Spain - Week One

June 6-7

I don't like to have flights in the afternoon, it's way to hot, and parking is impossible to find. My mom was very stressed, and I wasn't that surprised. I was a bit stressed, but not because of the trip. I was more afraid of how I was feeling. It didn't feel like a normal plane ride. Normally, I love flying, but this time I didn't. I felt sick and bored. The plane ride to New York was very rough. There was a lot of turbulence, and I got air sick.

I don't remember much about the lay over time. It was very short. I wasn't seated near anyone I knew, so, of course, I talked to someone I didn't know. There was a woman next to me named June. She was a professor of Cinematography at a University in New York (that wasn't NYU). This, I must say, was exciting. I never get to talk to anyone who knows that much about film, and I actually learned some very important things (such as three-point lighting). I talked to her about my personal project and hip-hop, also, which see seemed to listen to with interest. However, once we were allowed to move, I moved next to Sammi to watch X-Men on my laptop. The rest of the flight, I was asleep, and I found that I enjoyed the flight much more when it is night time. When I woke up, my eyes were bloodshot and it looked like I hadn't slept in days.

I love that feeling; that groggy feeling where you have to limp because your legs won't work. I'm not being sarcastic at all, I like to pretend I've been shot or something. It was one of those things I related to in Catcher in the Rye.

When we arrived in Málaga, it was the morning, and although I was tired, I did everything I could to avoid jet lag. It worked, and I slept very easily. At the airport, we were all greeted by our exchange students. I was actually fairly surprised at how quickly I picked up on Spanish. Even if I couldn't speak well. I could communicate nearly everything. I couldn't explain what Melatonin or circadian rhythms are though. I can't even do that in English.

Speaking of English, after we replaced my ancient European transformer, we went to an English class. I will say that it was a very strange experience. The teacher, didn't seem to be able to speak English, or understand how to teach it. She swore a lot in both languages, and then the students asked me to teach them English swear words, and teacher encouraged it. So I did... and I enjoyed it. After this, I spent two hours at my exchange students basketball practice, I was, admittedly, fairly bored. For the rest of my time, I tried getting Skype to work, which didn't work until right before I went to sleep.

June 8 - 9

This was my first day of school in Spain. I enjoyed all the attention I got, and I never got bored. The school uniforms are atrocious, and their PE kits look like the yellow jumpsuits from X-Men First Class. The English class, once again, was not very good, and the students were always very loud and disruptive, but seeing as it's not my school, I couldn't really object. Math and Science were fairly easy actually, and I found that physics was easier to understand in Spanish than in English.

After school, I went to the beach with the rest of the exchange students. Málaga is a beautiful place, and its beaches are no exception. I think many of the people in Málaga take it for granted. Then again, they've lived with it all their lives. It must be like someone freaking out over grass. When I'm at the beach, I wish I could be alone. If we had a beach in Atlanta, it would be the best place to think, but I felt like it would be rude to ignore everyone (I told you I have manners). I enjoy the view from the roof of the house a lot. I spend a lot of time looking out across Málaga with a pair of binoculars.

The moon is especially beautiful, I can see individual craters with the binoculars. At the beach, I began to socialize for the first time since I had arrived. I say pretty much the same things I say in America. I say a lot of weird things like, "I AM GOING TO KILL A PIGEON." The kind of thing that seems normal to me until I say it out loud. I was happy to find that people treat it just the same.

The next day, I went to school again, and it was basically the same. All the boys here fight, and they are nowhere near as strict with behavior as in America. If there were fights like this in our school, they would be punished very quickly.

After school, to avoid going to another basketball practice, I went with Helen and her exchange student to the shopping center in Málaga. I don't think I need to say much more about me shopping. ;)

June 10

On Friday, we went to Isla Mágica in Seville. It's a theme park of medium size, and I was actually surprised at some of the rides. I was expecting it to be like the theme park I went to in Shang Hai, where all the rides are HUGE. The rides here were actually pretty small, but none of the students thought so. Amusement parks were never really my thing.

I really enjoyed the bus ride. I showed them my music, and they loved it. There was much talk about it. On my Tuenti, which is kind of like a Spanish Facebook, I got a lot of posts about my music, which was both flattering and a bit uncomfortable, as always. I'm still not completely sure what to say when someone says they like my music.

June 11-12

On Saturday, I didn't do anything during the day, but in the evening I went to the graduation party for the school I'm attending here in Spain. After the formal dinner, there was a much less formal dance. I used to enjoy this kind of party; dance parties. Now, not so much. I've found that, for me, you need a certain amount of talent to function at dance parties. For me, it's mostly that I can't dance normally. Also I didn't enjoy the kind of attention I had. It was a bit over-expectant. Anyway, this one wasn't the most exciting party, because I fell asleep on someone.

Notes on Spain - First Impressions

-The culture here seems to be very similar to the US. I had a cheese burger with fries yesterday.

-The students have to decide what they want to do as a career from a young age and they can't change from there.

-The boys in my class all call each other gay. I thought this was an American thing.

-I get the feeling the Nuns in the catholic school practice a secret martial art.

-THERE ARE SO MANY BIRDS D-:<

-I thought people in America were obsessed with there appearance. Here, it's crazy. No matter what I do, they do not like the pictures of themselves. It's like "I'm-so-fat" to the max.

-Finally, a place where people eat as slowly as I do... almost.

Dad's seafood soup

These are some pictures of what I had for dinner. No I know it looks disgusting, in many ways it is. That is an octopus inside there. I did not eat this octopus, because I love octopi to much to eat them. The rest of the soup tasted pretty good, though. Not sure how my stomach is about to react, though. It sounds like America before Black Friday... I totally just say the Rebecca Black irony in that.