blog

First things first, thanks again to hat and Vega for contributing to the project. There are some things I would have done differently (and quicker) but despite the hiccups and setbacks I gave it my best effort and tried to show respect to the content! It's a shame so many photos had to be cut, I really would have liked to have been able to add many more ;~; Since a copy hasn't reached everyone's hands yet, I'm going to wait a bit to upload the online version, but please expect it in the coming weeks!

And I already mentioned, I also printed a small batch of instant stress relief medicine. While still not perfect, I'm more satisfied with the quality of these dollfotocards than the larger trading-card size ones I printed back in May. Plus these are proper photocard size so I can fit more in my pockets.

I'm bringing them to Dolpa to give away or trade while I'm there! And hopefully I'll bring some back with me! And if not, I hope I can take enough photos of cute dolls to do another run a little later. I should perhaps just spend some more time shopping around or asking for samples before I commit to a printer but if I'm there anyway I don't want to waste my time!

Haupia helps sort the favorites

And lastly, real life stuff. Before school really gets rolling I decided to arrange a sightseeing day trip so the new cohort coming in could get a chance to familiarize themeselves with the city, since a lot of them aren't from the area. I usually don't volunteer myself for demanding and exhausting leadership roles because I'm just not meant for it, but I figured it might be fun. I posted about it publicly in the school's group chat to guage interest and it got a lot more attention than I expected it to. So I came up with a pretty solid plan that could accomodate all 30 or so people who expressed that they'd want to go. It was an ambitious (but doable!) ~6 mile walking tour that covered a few key tourist spots, but still covered interests like history, photo ops, food, and shopping. I made a detailed map and outline of the itinerary and minimized public transit as much as possible. The timing was also such that no one would have to wake up too early or head home after it got dark. I also got lots of help and feedback from my friends to make sure my expectations weren't crazy, and I posted beforehand asking if walking would be an issue for anyone or if accomodations would need to be made. I shared the plan and any updates well in advance. Everyone seemed very impressed with how thorough it was and excited to go, but the night before I couldn't sleep at all. I kept running through every possible situation that could go wrong in my head, from people missing the train to getting lost to getting attacked by molepeople...

Thankfully, much to my neurotic surprise, nothing went wrong at all. Nothing until the end of our first stop on the tour, maybe not quite even an hour in. I noticed the new cohort members huddling around their phones in a circle a little ahead of me, so I worriedly hurried over and asked if everything was good.

The walk to [a stop at the end of the walk] is going to take an hour, that's too far.
Yeah, so we're getting Ubers. Do you want one?

HUHHHH???? You agree to come to a walking tour of a new city already knowing exactly what the plan was and not only are you astonished that the plan is the plan, you ask me if I want to ditch and do something else instead?! And ALL of you are leaving?! I actually said all of that verbatim lmao no I didn't but I kind of wish I did because now I know I'm never going to get an clear answer as to what that was even about. No, I hardly had time to process it. I was probably just like oh ok and quickly turned away. I hope I didn't look too offended. Well, I ended up completing the walking tour with my friends who helped me make the plans, and two other members of my cohort who I didn't really get a chance to properly talk to before then. It was exhausting but pleasant. And fun and fulfilling! But... if it was just going to be a few of us anyway, there was no need to go through all of the effort. We could have done something else entirely. Much easier to get around with a smaller group!

But I still feel so embarassed and silly about putting myself through all of that stress for nothing. I can only understand my side of the story and I'm wondering if they felt patronized and that's why 20+ people decided they would rather do anything else. But I suppose it doesn't make sense to blame myself for the actions of others and simultaneously be upset that they did something I didn't expect or want them to do. It's not like I was going to force them to stick to the plan anyway, I definitely did not want to play chaperone. Maybe it really was just meant to be a perfect split between old cohort and new cohort. But. BUT. WHY pretend you have any interest it in the first place if you could have just as well done the same thing without my involvement at all?! WHY ARE YOU TAKING UBER??? AT LEAST TAKE THE BUS!!! So weak!!! So lazy!!! Our country is doomed!!!

So I'm not planning anything ever again!! I'm going to leave it to people with more experience who can check their feelings at the door because I certainly can't let it go. I have never felt this insulted by an entire group before in my life!! If they ever try to hit me up on L*nkedIn they will be blocked on sight.