Day 98 - Princess Yuzu Departs

The best photo I could sneak

July 14th, 2015

BRRRRRRT, BRRRRRRRT goes my phone as unexpected alarm clock. It’s Yuzu; the landlord was here and woke her up. She's looking for a place to hide herself and her stuff while the landlord shows the potential renter around. We hide together in darkness.

Fun fact about Yuzu: she’s a heavy sleeper. Yuzu mentioned that she was afraid that she didn’t hear the landlord for the first bit, but Landlord Jenny later told me that she had to try several times before literally shaking her back to life. Hilarious, though I apologize and offer to pay for Yuzu's night. No charge, luckily. There are so many empty beds, and Yuzu is super clean. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem.

After venturing into the light once again, we begin breakfast. Yuzu makes some Japanese chicken soup with big, chewy mushrooms. They’re actually kind of like the texture of meat, which I don’t mind as much as the squishy ones that remind me of what I imagine eating eyeballs to be like. Side note: eyeballs are said to be crunchy. I add guacamole because I have avocados that need to be eaten. So.. Guacamole and chicken soup are for breakfast. Breakfast is a little more difficult without high-GI foods, so I’ve been finding myself to eat weird combinations.

On our way!

I try out some harder concepts with Yuzu, as I’ve been thinking about them lately and her verbal comprehension skills in English have gone up significantly. Before, I would have to speak very slowly, but now I can go about 80% normal speed and she’ll generally be able to understand. Let's try 'body language'. I tell her how I’m lucky with my area of interest because it’s something that most people are interested in and have opinions on it. Who doesn’t think about how people work and think? A tip I used to give for small talk was to not censor yourself. Simply talk about whatever you’ve been learning or thinking about lately. This doesn’t generally work so well if you’re obsessed with Math, though it could.

I reveal to her that a lot of the guys in her life seem like they might be into her, romantically. She is flabbergasted. I said they would probably try something, but she seems so innocent that they assume she either won’t be interested, or will react negatively and ruin the friendship. That’s my best guess as to why no one tries. Well, it could also be that they have no balls. Who knows. In either case, I explain my theory to her. It continues:

Most people are insecure in some way. This isn't any real revelation. We all put our walls up and hiding our “real” selves behind them. Some people don’t have such defences, putting themselves out there all the time. Sure they get hurt, but that doesn’t seem to stop them from continuing to act with real authenticity. It’s this bravery to be genuine (though they may not see it that way, “brave”) takes a lot of strength to resist cynicism or becoming jaded. I think that’s what attracts people - they wish they could be equally free, and they sense that they can implicitly trust that person. I explain to her that I think she is one of those genuine people.

The stupid face that Yuzu associates with me.
Yes, this is the angle I would usually do it at her.

Off to the gym! “The Tim Ferriss Show” podcast is awesome, by the way. So many interesting ideas and people on there. Massive names sometimes, too, that I find hyper-interesting to hear the opinions of. Back from the gym; post workout beans and vegetables. So many vegetables. We both work on our respective projects, hers being making enough bracelets for the people back at her share house before she leaves. More Basking in the collective warmth.

Yang Suni suggests that we grab a bite before sending Yuzu off. He meets us on our way to her place. Yuzu says her final goodbyes and gives bracelets to the people who are important to her. We need to find somewhere to eat that will be quick, and cheap enough, but this is a bad area for that. We just pick somewhere and buy sliders for $8, though they are about the diameter of a standard water bottle. Pathetic. We cross the street to a kebab place and get more food for the same price. Goddamn Gentrification.

The last time I saw her

The bus was running before we ate, but no longer. We take turns carting Yuzu’s massive backpack, me and Yang Suni. All the way across town, we arrive at the bus stop and take stupid pictures while some strange guy is trying to pawn off a hat on random people. His first attempt is to walk up to a girl and try to place a skullcap on her. She ducks and backs away. Smooth. He tries to give it to Yang, but he doesn’t want to try it on and the guy won’t give it to him unless he puts it on his head now. We ignore him after he starts making stupid claims. A younger me might have engaged him on his dumb ideas, but I’ve learned not to bother over the years. Worst case of this: I argued with a fortune teller at the Chatham, Ontario fair because she said that “doctors don’t cure the main cause of illnesses: stress.” How can you treat all forms of stress!

We have a rushed goodbye as the bus shows up, holding it up slightly. It might be better that it was so quick; lingering goodbyes are so much more difficult. Yang Suni and I walk back to Northbridge, wishing each other luck as we part ways.

Back home, I hang out in the back with Sandra, Thomas, Bobo, and Assia while they drink. If you’re wondering about the name Bobo, she chose it as her english name because it was a mascot for her home town. “Monkey Bobo” is the translation and she liked it. I agreed that Bobo makes me think of a monkey, offering “Bubbles” as an alternative. She didn’t like it as much.

I excuse myself to fry some chicken, make some tea, and work inside. Fun Fact: the other day, someone tried breaking into the house, only stealing the back door key. Assia tells me that he also stole some food from Ricardo. Turns out, I was the one who stole Ricardo’s food because I thought it was forfeited food from when Phon moved out. My bad. I tell Ricardo this, and gave him back everything I still have, which he laughed off.