not too hot, not too cold

But whether it’s just right, I haven’t quite decided.

Probably none of you watch/have ever watched/could imagine watching Spongebob Squarepants, but there’s this episode in which Squidward moves to this magical place where everything is just perfect – Squidward-perfect. His food, his house, his bike, his people. And he’s happy every day. At first. Then it all gets a bit average because the stuff he loves doing just becomes stuff he does every day, and we all know that stuff you do every day just becomes…. average. Monotonous. Too much of a good thing, etc etc.

Or some such nonsense.

This isn’t a post about how I’m suddenly having too much of a good thing. Hopefully that post is still a long way off.

Lots of things here are pretty darn good. Pretty darn Katie-perfect. Tofu is cheap and plentiful. Beer is cheap and plentiful.  Fruit, vegetables, dau hu nong (an incredibly delicious hot sweet tofu pudding that’s just ohmygoodness aMAZEballs). It’s all there, in arm’s reach, all day every day. Just for moi.

The chocolate sucks. Chocolate here is a waxy substance vaguely resembling the texture of bicycle tyres. (Please send me chocolate).

I’ve moved from the hotel to a flat with a bunch of Russians and various other occupants I’m yet to meet, where I have an ensuite room and access to a (filthy) shared kitchen, a laundry (well, washing machine) and a huge (empty) lounge. It costs $NZ200 a month.

In the morning I run around the aforementioned Dalat lake (feat. swan boats and rotting catfish) and wander around in wonderfully tolerable weather, and eat things at the mad Saturday night markets. And, on occasion, drink wine. Red. Cheap. Plentiful.

So it’s all pretty darn sweet.

It’s all pretty darn lonely too.

Maybe it’s the digital age that’s made everyone less sociable. Maybe it’s my age that’s made me less sociable. Maybe it’s my hinted-at Aspergers/autistic/borderline personality traits that have crept in from the periphery and suddenly, rudely, imploded.
And maybe I’m just bored, because everyone I know is half a world and half a day away, and conversations on Facebook never go well.

And there it is. I’m complaining.

I’ll shut up now, and finish here with a delightful image of what I had for lunch today. Which, if nothing else, is evidence that I am indeed enjoying myself. Weird antisocial-spinster-freakishness and all.