Meme!

[tacit]

Eight Truths and Two Lies meme gakked from dodificus, but there is no way my life is as batshit crazy as hers

1)   I've been to six of the seven continents, and spent at least two months on each one - true

2)   I once hallucinated I was trapped inside a giant potato - true

3)   I once moved in with a guy the week  after I dumped him  - true

4)   I got a full academic scholarship to a competitive school... and turned it down - true

5)   My mother once asked if I was in a threeway relationship with my housemates - true, god, the horror

6)   I once gave myself alkali burns by getting plaster in my eye, and was half-blinded for a month - false, that was JJ

7)   My brother and I only communicate between the 24th and 26th of December each year - true

8)   As a teenager, I was allergic to fruit, yeast and alcohol - true

9)  I once didn't earn a penny for a full year and lived off my credit card  - A fib, guessed by dodificus

10) I earn less than the Minimum Wage - true


The lies are harder to come up with than the truths!

Comments

[dodificus.livejournal.com]

but there is no way my life is as batshit crazy as hers

That is seriously the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me:D

I kind of really want #2 to be true so I'm not guessing that one. I think #1 and #10 are the lies.

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

That is seriously the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me:D

Ha! I meant it in a positive way. Freak.

1 and 10 are both true. Although they do seem to contradict each other a little...

I do in fact earn less than the minimum wage - because I'm the boss I'm not bound by such trivialities as ensuring my wage is enough to live off. The weirdest thing is that I've actually survived that way for the last couple of years. My business had better make me a millionaire some day!

I used to be very into travelling, it's where the long university summers and all my student loans went. But I haven't been to Antartica. Yet.

And the potato? I had a fever. It was disconcerting.

[dodificus.livejournal.com]

Well, Australia is a continent, right? Where did you spend your 2 months here?

Well, at least the potato was giant, it just would have been weird if it was normal sized. *nods*

Also I'm very curious as to what kind of business a potato hallucinating freak girl like you would run.

I'm going with #4 and #7 this time.

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

Australasia'a the continent - I spent 5 weeks driving down from Cairns to Sydney, living on beaches in an illegally parked VW combi. You're in Sydney, right? I actually didn't see a lot of it beyond an underground car market in Kensington, which is where I was at the time my flight to New Zealand left without me - I needed to sell the van before I could leave. After Australia, I spent almost a month in New Zealand doing the Kiwi Experience bus trip with a lot of other drunk 19 year old English kids - sounds like hell now, but when I actualy was a drunken 19 year old it was great fun. That was all part of my gap year between school and uni; I was away for about 5 months that trip.

Four and seven are also true. I went to a school that I loved, was free, and better than the poncy private school anyway. So ya-boo-sucks to the scholarship. My brother is... actually even weirder than me, if you can believe such a thing.

I'm a property developer! It's great, I love it. I don't play well with others prefer being my own boss, even if it means I am occasionally destitute.

[dodificus.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not in Sydney, I live in South Australia, like a 20 hour drive away:) So, you weren't even a little close:P

That's a really small window of opportunity to talk to your brother but maybe that's a good thing?

God, I have no business telling other people they suck at this game. I really hope #9 is a lie, I think credit cards are Evil..capital E and everything. How about #3 as well?

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

Oooh, one right! The credit card one is a lie. I have had years where I've earned very little, and used my credit card more than I'd like, but never to quite such extremes.

A 20 hour drive, eh? Ok, that's longer than any possible drive in a straight line in my country. ::boggles:: I'm guessing you don't visit Sydney too often, huh?

I did move in with a guy the week after I dumped him. We met through his housemate, my now-business-partner C. I went out with him for 5 months, dumped him, fell out with my own housemates (when one of them turned out to be a psychopath) and went and moved in with them instead. I did ask him if it was ok, but it's not the kind of question you can say no to, is it?! He was pretty cool about it, really. We all lived together until graduation, and he and I kind of got into a fraternal kind of mockery-based relationship which worked way better than the Relationship!

[naye]

Not looking at other answers, I'm guessing 1 & 7 are the lies? *guesses wildly*

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

Nope, both true! I travelled a lot in the years bracketing my degree, and also the long university summers. But, now I like my life in England enough to not keep wanting to abscond! Plus, it's an expensive habit. I'm really glad I did it all, it was pretty formative and a lot of fun.

And, my brother's even less social than I am. I've pretty much given up trying to corral him into participating in family things; he's just not interested. He still shows up at my place for Christmas... so far...

[naye]

...2 months on ALL six continents? AWESOME! I'm so jealous. *g* (I've still got three continents to go!) I read your answer about Australia, but where were you in Asia and Africa and the Americas? Very curious, now!

Aaah. Too bad about your brother. Though at least you're not at odds over anything? Family in-fighting is a sad thing...

I'm very different from my brother, but he's way more social than me, so that works out well. We communicate a fair bit by mail, and when I was in the middle of my huge RL mess, he was one of the few people I told about it. Actually, the day I left, he came over to ride the cab with me all the way to our parents.

(And HEE at mirroring icons!)

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

WELL, since you asked...

I've been to Asia twice; once for 2 weeks to China with my school (which I totally blame for the subsequent travel bug!), and then again as part of my big gap year trip - two more weeks in Beijing and then 6 weeks in Thailand, hiking in the hills and mooching around on the beaches.

Africa I've been to 3 times. First was in 2002 - my first solo trip - when I spent 6 weeks going overland up from Cape Town to Malawi via Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe (for half a day, it scared the crap out of me!) and Zambia. Then I went on holiday with some uni friends to Morocco in 2005, and to Egypt by myself in 2006, both for a fortnight.

South America - I went to Peru for 2 months in 2004 with C, after we finished uni. There was lots of mooching about in the sun in the jungle, being awed at how beautiful it all was, interpersed with high altitude, snow, and throwing up. Mountains and I are not friends.

North America - I spent 2 weeks in Mexico on my gap year, and I've been to the USA numerous times. I've got family there so I've been to Pittsburgh a bunch of times, and have also been to most of the major cities on the two coasts, as well as 2 weeks in Hawaii in 2001. I also went to Canada once with my parents in the mid 90s, but I don't remember it all that well - I'll clearly have to go back one day!

I'm pretty much the person my friends all come to when they're planning a holiday! But I've never lived anywhere other the England - I want to rectify that some day. I spent a couple of weeks last summer studying Spanish in Barcelona; I think a Spanish-speaking country would be the most likely culprit for that, some day.

How was Japan? I've never been! What was it like living somewhere so different to home?

I adore travelling. For some reason, I find myself transforming when I'm away - I get really sociable and up for anything. I just like to spend my days meeting new people and hanging out with them, even if it's just sitting in a cafe or on a beach somewhere with a good book. I always come home really energised and ready to break out of whatever rut I've got myself into, but before long I'm always back to avoiding eye contact with strangers - because people think you're weird if you talk to them! - and staying home almost every night indulging in hobbies that do not involve people in any way. But hey. Both lifestyles are good. It's just that one is cool as well.

[naye]

Um. Really late reply?

Basically I just wanted to flail at you and say OMG SO AWESOME! :D I'm jealous as anything, but - so cool!

I think I would actually have guessed this one as true if I'd figured out you didn't mean two consecutive months. Because I did, for some reason.

Anyway - oh, man. I spent 5 weeks in South Africa ten years ago, and it was a spectacular experience. But going all the way to Malawi, and actually getting to see Botswana and Namibia... oh, wow. What an experience! And Zimbabwe - you're braver than I am. I would have been to terrified to spend even half a day there. (And what's happening there now is just - so tragic.) And you did all of this solo? I really have no idea how you can be nervous about meeting a guy from TV now that I know you did that! *is in awe*

South America I've never been to, but - Peru! Jungle! Mountains! *flail*

Haven't been to Mexico either, but I've probably spent a good... six months or so in the US? Spread out over a dozen years, but I've still only been to the east coast! And never to Hawaii! And never to Canada! Oh, talking about this is giving me such wanderlust...

I adore travelling. For some reason, I find myself transforming when I'm away - I get really sociable and up for anything.

That's so cool. I've never really traveled much on my own... nine years ago me and x-Boy went on a wonderful Interrail trip around the UK and Ireland, and to my great surprise, I was the one of us who was ready to stop and ask for help or chat or make reservations at hostels. And I'm usually... I can find social situations like that quite daunting. But when we were on the road, I felt a little of that transformation you talk about. Then I've mostly traveled around to places I've gotten to stay with friends or family, so it's not at all the same thing that you describe, but... mmm. Traveling. I want to do more of it, and I want to do it now! *g*

How was Japan? I've never been! What was it like living somewhere so different to home?

Japan was AWESOME. I have some regrets now that I know it probably contributed to breaking up my relationship, but - oh. You only get one chance like that in a lifetime, and I'm so glad I took it when it came my way! Not just that I could study in Japan, but I actually got a ridiculously cheap place to live, and a scholarship that covered all my basic expenses, and - I miss Japan so much. I miss the whole life I had there - what it was like was... every day came with some new adventure or revelation. Even if it was just trying to buy detergent, it was different, and it was challenging, and I loved being challenged like that. I didn't know that about myself - didn't know I could thrive in a situation like that, but I did. I wasn't much more social than I am now, and I do regret not making any Japanese friends, but... I have so many wonderful, wonderful memories.

I had intermittent internet through it all, and a lot of what I wrote about the experience was in Swedish, but - if you're curious, I had an "official" blog that I kept here, which has a couple of entries about some memorable moments.

[deltacephei.livejournal.com]

I *would* guess but in a fit of not-thinking, I started reading the comments. So, it's not completely unbiased when I say I'd probably have guessed #2 (because it's totally crazy?) and #8 (because it's the kind of thing to think about when trying to come up with a believable lie, and I couldn't quite decide on any of the others. *g*)
So, I already know #2 is true. Maybe I've hit pay dirt with #8?

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

Nope, 8 is true! I used to get terrible joint pains whenever I ate any of those things. Among other things, I didn't eat bread or fruit for over two years. It sucked! But I grew out of it, fortunately.

[deltacephei.livejournal.com]

Very fortunately! There's not much left you *could* eat...

With a 50/50 chance, I'm guessing #6 is true, because a) that's just too gruesome to make up, and b) mothers don't usually think, let alone ask things like #5. Right?

*is off to post stolen meme at own journal*

[tacittype.livejournal.com]

My mother actually did ask me that once... To be fair, she had just come into the hotel room I was sharing with C and J and found us all post-showers in dressing gowns sitting in the same bed. But it was cold! That bed had the better view of the TV! She got this stuffed look on her face and hurried away, and then made querying allusions all day the following day.

The plaster thing happened to J - I've been to eye casualty four times in the past year, but not for that!