A different direction...

2007-05-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sold ole steely today. She is really ready to go out to pasture but found a good home for her so its cool. Got a good amount of money for the thing on account of the guy who wanted to buy it couldn't speak english and his chinese is pretty bad too so when we were talking price I said NT$1,000 and he said ok, NT$1,500. I talked to some people and, Yes I do feel a little bad...only a little!, but I figure she deserves the feeling of being worth somehting more than the measly NT$800 I was expecting to start the price at only to get something like NT$500.

I threw in the Umbrella and the two locks for free which maybe got him thinking this is a better deal than a free pot of "Lucky Charms"...for life!

He was excited and so was I, he has a bike, my bike has a home, and I have money to spend!!

Who needs to say for the record that this bike is the worst one I have ever owned and I think has attempted to take my life several times!!

Walking it is for me! Take it easy!

2007-05-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day! I have moved from the big 10 to 9 days left in Taiwan. I see it like a child waiting for their birthday, only i am going in reverse of course. Gone into the single digets and going into the last full weekend I have left.

Keeping you guys in my thoughts while I am enjoying what I have left of my stay in Taiwan.

keep it easy!

2007-05-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Got my tatoo's fixed. I know to most they didn't look like much or they didn't seem to have any real issues but to those who can read chinese, the original tatoo was much like a child wrote them. There is a place really close to my dorm where this one guy does tatooing and I have been talking with him for a while about getting it done. he definately laughed before saying sure he could do it for me. Macany wanted to go with me that day so the pictures are what he took. Macany said the guy definately can do calligraphy. I just take my tatoos as evidence.

2007-05-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, I do still have the last receipt from my last visit to El Cabritos before I came to Taiwan! Guess I know where I am eating my first week back! Make it too beers with that combo!

Aiyaiya! its not beef, its not bean, its taco mix!

2007-05-09T06:45:00.001-07:00

My test is over!

Yea, the best part is the test is over which should probably say a lot for the lack of approval in my grade. I did pretty decent but would prefer to have seen a higher overall score. I will not tell you guys, however, since you will all role your eyes and think I am a big dork!

Simply speaking my speaking is the best of all the three catagories: listening, vocabulary, reading comprehension. Thanks to my friends for not just being good to me as friends but also as teachers. They definately have the patients it takes to listen to a guy who speaks very slowly as if I am mentally disabled!

Random question, do you chew yogurt or do you simply swallow?...

2007-05-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

My Taiwanese roomate (the guy on the left) moved out today. A bit sad since he was a pretty cool guy and we would chat it up about whatever. He decided to head home and not finish studying his master's degree at Shida saying he didn't really enjoy the city atmosphere of Taipei and the school that he studied. I can appreciate his feelings. He is from a small town in the southern part of Taiwan and he is more a slow moving kind of guy, I don't mean stupid though! Anyway, he is going to start his obligitory service as a soldier sometime this month he thinks so I wish him the best.

That last night we went to an all you can eat hot pot restaurant and it was some of the best food ever plus I was really hungry! I definately think I want everyone to go their when I am getting ready to leave!

The guy on the right is my other roomate from Korea. He is pretty cool, have a girlfriend still in Korea, but often talks about staying in Taiwan longer. I am sure his girl likes that! We still hang out and talk so atleast the room isn't completely quiet!

take it easy!

2007-05-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is the last month!

It is definately marked with a disturbing feeling of sadness mixed with happiness. My Taiwanese friends all continually ask me why I seem not to be phazed by the fact of my leaving. They always joke that my heart has already returned home and all that is left is the body to spend the last of these days in auto pilot.

I have told them several times this one thing: I wish to enjoy the time I have, not crying, though if you know me then you know that would be a special event, also not constantly dwelling on the inevitable. I have said repeatedly that my wish is to make these last days more than just a feeling like the one you get waiting in the doctor's office wating area. That time in the waiting area we all can consider a waste of time always thinking of the thousand other things you could be doing, even brushing your teeth might come on that list before just waiting. Instead, I would rather appreciate the time I have as if I wasn't leaving at all but obviously making those days special as times spent with friends.

Anyway, off the chatty wagon, before I go party it up I do have a test on May 5th to determine my abilities in chinese. Yea, this is the same day on Mom and Dad's anniversary and Matt is heading to an OAR concert too. I would rather be doing those things, celebrating or listening to music, but instead my face is stuck in a book!

Take her easy, slow of the throttle, and ease back the clutch! Lata!

2007-05-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yea, its been a little while since I wrote and I promised to write about my trip to YuShan (Jade Mountain). To make a long story short, it was amazing and I might be addicted to peak climbing! It was definately an adventure that I completely owe Macany for helping to organize. I must also thank him for being brave enough to venture out with me since I do realize he would never, never have done this if I didn't bother the hell out of him!

If you want something of a run down of the climb you can check that out on my webshots page where I have pictures in story board form and you can slowly look and read. More than anything I would like to try and capture how I feel about the peak with words but fear, and I think rightly so, that my english ability has degressed!!

The mountain is 3,952 meters tall which is 12,966 feet so when we first arrived to the peak that morning the clouds where folling by us with the winds. At times I thought with a smirk on my face that I might be wisked away by a gust that would suddenly come up. It was an amazing feeling to have the wind blowing, the clouds flowing, and once the clouds cleared, a view worth my weight in flesh. I could never express how speachless I was then. I am sure Macany thought I was crazy and he definately left the mountain first ahead of me heading back to the lodge below. I considered it possible to spend hours up there as if I could sit and listen to the conversation between the peaks and the sky.

I know wish I did stay, if only I could, but instead I was the last off the mountain peak that morning. I have this tradition I have kept since I was a kid climbing to the peaks of moutains back home of picking a small rock from the base of the moutain and carrying it with me. I rub it and rub it as if, like a worry stone that you pick up by the sea but instead, this stone is 'filled' with the wishes I hope for this world. Ofcourse, world peace was in there, just about every wish was, but the most important will remain unsaid. In the end, once I reach the peak I simply place the rock and leave it in hopes that if it could speak those well wishes it might speak them to the heavens. Its a habit none the less that I did this day.

I took a short video of the clouds as they sailed by over the peaks beside us and down into the valley from which we came. It is nice and closer to bringing something of that feeling alive but I think the being there is definately intertwined with the feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment that came with the trips summit. Though the trip as I see it is fairly easy, the hike not as ominous as I first assumed, it was at least a trial of the body, a test of the wits, and a determined mind that everyone must face themselves.

Anyway, it was beautiful. Take a look at my pictures to find out!

2007-04-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

Back from Traveling!

I have been busy the past almost two weeks with my travels to the south, an island off in the Pacific, and to the top of Taiwan. I am trying to fit in more and more within the limited amount of time I have left here in Taiwan. Macany said there are a lot of places I need to go before I head home and after looking at a map I really wonder how such a small place can have so many places I need to visit.

GREEN ISLAND

The first adventure I sat out on was the trip to Taidong where Macany and I departed for Green Island. The weather as we left the port from Taiwan was pretty bad with a strong wind and high waves. I was more than excited since, for some deep seated reason, I love to ride of boats. This time was no exception and I lead the way to the front of the boat by the window and instructed Macany, who has never been on a boat, that he should sit by the window. This is a big mistake that Macany payed for in the form of a plastic bag wrapped around his face for the forty minutes it took to get from Taiwan to Green Island. In order to serve him justice, I should really not be writing this but I told him I couldn't help myself.

We got to the island and picked up the rented skooter that we would use for the next day and a half. Really, the island is so small you can ride around the whole thing in about 20 minutes but it is the most convenient thing to use the skooter to jet around.

While Macany decided he had enough excitement for the day I decided to spend my afternoon avoiding the rain by walking around checking out the shops. This lead to me talking to one shop owner for almost an hour and a half about everything from the island to how I would mail the postcards I bought...which I have not yet mailed!! Good times where had and then dinner was found by the road in the form of what in Taiwan is called 'lu3wei4' which is just where food is spread out in front of you, you take up a basket and pick out what you would like to eat. They take that food and heat it up, usually in some kind of flavored hot oil and there you have it; its really good and today is no exception!

Of food delicacy of the island and a sudo mascot is the flying fish 'feiyu3'. The one I ordered was very good and didn't have a strong fish flavor. Yea, the firsh is half eaten!

Anyway, it was a good dinner!

Macany and I decided that we would go to Green Island's famous hot spring the next morning...very early in the morning, since the locals say the best time is in the early morning when people aren't busting down the doors to go. We eneded up getting out of bed around 5 and heading down to the spring which is one of only three in the entire world. The reason for this distiction is the close vesinity of the spring to the ocean side and the spring's water is all salt water. Japan and Italy are the only other countries that may boast this destintion. To be honest though, this is the first time I have hung out in a hot spring and I think its a bit boring. If you can sport a woman...or two, for a date of a girlfriend to treat her for nice trip then I think hot springs can become a lot of fun!! However, when you are heading out with another friend, a guy, and its only the two of you with a bunch of strangers, I think I have better things I could do. Chillin in the water was a lot like hanging out in the bathtub for a while.

After the hot spring, Macany and I heading around the island for a little sightseeing and then headed for breakfast. Our hotel deal came with a chance to go snorkling. I wasn't sure what to expect although I have been before, and have hung out in one of the most beautiful places along the Florida Keys. I was definately thinking this time might not compare to my previous expereince but I must say Taiwan has some beautiful coast once you get below the surface. It was amazing how we simply walked out from the beach, put on the mask and once in the water immediately came across a world completely different from what the top deceavingly proposes. The coral, the fish, and the contour of the sea flood amazingly interesting and just awesome which immediately makes one forget how cold the water really was. It was sad, however, to see the effects of so many people coming to that area to scuba dive and snorkle was very humbling. You can ask me more later if you so desire to know.

The rest of the day was getting ready to head out, cleaning up, and hanging out in the little town we stayed in before heading back to Taidong on the main island of Taiwan. The waters heading back were much calmer than coming to Green Island. What a beautiful Island! Definatley check out the pictures.

ZHI BEN

From Taidong a friend took us to Zhi Ben, which is a small place best known for its natural beauty and its hot springs. To be honest, this place isn't very interesting, though beautiful, so I am sure not to write as much.

I did learn the proper tequnique to use a hot spring since they have the very cold water, the hot water, and then boil your skin off hot water. These three are ment to help give a shocking effect. You are expecially suppose to run from the most hot to the most cold and I must admit, except for the fear of a heart attack's onset, I really enjoyed the strange feeling and in ability to feel very cold or very hot when I immediately switched. It definately made what was pretty boring and a lot like taking a bath into a real experience though don't think I can go beyond these words of praise!

Once again, I think the pictures on my webshots page speak for themselves to show the romantic atmosphere that they have created. If only I had a date! Such is life when Zhi Ben doesn't have any clubs or bars to find a girl.

Other than that, Zhi Ben was a relaxing place to hang out, eat some good food, and hang out with Macany. It was cool but definatly not a place I would put at the top of my list of places to go back as my second visit.

The only other thing of importance is the supposed Taiwan's best beef noodle soup which I think was lacking the real zest of holding the number one title. This was the topic of conversation for quite a while between Macany, myself, and at times the service desk of the hotel. This place was seriously famous around here. Eat it up! It wasn't bad though either!

2007-04-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Headed to the South of Taiwan and then to another smaller island in the Pacific for some R&R traveling before coming back to Taipei for a day only to leave again the next day to climb southern Asia's tallest mountain!

My meaning is...It will be a while before I write again! And this time its for a good reason!

Take it easy.

PS...coming home soon!!!

2007-04-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Snake Alley!

This past Saturday went to Longshan night market which is named after LongShan temple close by the market. This place isn't very famous among the locals but it is a fun place for foriengers who want to see some more athentic eastern style antiques, games, but of course the most outstanding point of Longshan is the part called Snake alley which is simply a lane of stores that sell snake foods and a special drink that consists of the fluids from a snake.

I know this doesn't seem so exciting and instead is rather gross but I had to try it. It was a little scary in the beginning to watch them kill the thing in front of you. Its pretty violent by taking the snake and smacking it against anything hard to knock it dead and then cut it up and what not to get to certain parts. I conveniently didn't take pictures of that part!

The guy did work like a suergion and cut in all the right places in something like 30 seconds flat. He was searching for three things. The first was already collected; a batch of the snake's veniom. The second was the chemicals from the snakes pancreas which is florescent green. The thrid is the blood. All of these fluids are mixed into their respective containers with a batch of liquor then served as a set (See below!).

So this is the before picture. You can see the glasses there which are according to their colors. You are suppose to drink the white one frist, the green one next, and finally the blood last. Honestly, it wasn't bad at all. It went down with a all too comfortable taste. It isn't something I would drink on a regular basis but it was worth the try.

Contrary to the picture, I didn't throw this up after swallowing!!

2007-03-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

Really quickly, I want to say hug those you care about, call those you can, and think about those you love. You can't turn back time, you can't change those things for which are destined, but you can sure as hell spread the love that makes the senselessness minimal. You aren't alone because we are all with you.

Get better soon...

2007-03-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

I HAVE GREAT NEWS!

I finally caught up with my old restaurant friends!

They moved about an hour north of where I live in a place called TianMu. Its an upper class joint but their business is going really well. I am sure that is due to the good food and they are really good to everyone. Macany and I took the bus up there and had breakfast while chatting with them. I know it seems a bit odd to travel so far for some breakfast but it was there treat, A LOT of food, and it really is worth it so you will have to take my word as golden!

They are really nice, which I have mentioned already, but it needs saying again. They invited Macany and I to come back one night and have dinner with all of them and their family. This is definately a Taiwanese thing and I am not one to complain!

The woman on the left has four daughters that she was trying to pawn off on me. I say pawn with a deliberate slight of word since they are all over or almost thirty and not married yet. This is apparently a deadly sin when it comes to Taiwan women and life. I don't think she has seen "Sex and the City"! Anyway, I said I would love to meet them...I am really just curious what they look like; and that is all I will say about that!

Anyway, good times where had by all and I can't wait to go back for some good ole breakfast!

2007-03-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

This is me and one of my Taichi teachers. He is the founder of this group but he has many talented people who help train this western brute. I must also admit they all have a great deal of patience since they can't speak English and my chinese is that of a 6 year old! It's a great way to practice listening to a bunch of chinese I don't understand and also a wonderful art.

Anyway, I took this picture with him because he left this week for Mainland China for about two months to train with a master there who invited him. Apparently, as I can understand, this master is one who only invites people and it is only a few times a year that you may train with him. My teacher will be training a particular part of taichi which is called 'tuishou'. I don't really want to attempt explaining it in depth but that the basic aspect that my teacher emphasizes seems a lot like the drunken master; "relaxed relaxed like a spring" he always tells me...in chinese of course.

I feared I may not be able to take a picture with him before he left so I caught him this last weekend we all got together at the park for our saturday ritual exercise and taichi. I will miss this part of my Taiwanese life a great deal!

2007-03-27T23:19:00.000-07:00

My class, teacher, and I all went out for dinner today, Tuesday, at the Veggie restaurant. It was raining really hard but no one complained about the ten minute walk and once they got there everyone got lost in how nice the place looks, the food, and the conversation. We are all from different countries, except for three Japanese, there is one from Indonisia, France, Panama, Vietnam, and of course our teacher who is Taiwanese.
It was really nice since Uncle Pang, as the owner of the restaurant has been lovingly named(more on that later!), said that they are welcomed to many many free and nice things to eat. They definately enjoied themselves and at to their full. I tried to order the things that I thought the restaurant really makes well. The table was filled but the picture doesn't do it justice with only tea! I was too busy talking and eating to take pictures once the food came!

2007-03-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been another interesting one. Last weekend I spent about three hours helping Macany's Uncle deliver some flowers to a funeral hall. That was very different as I found out a lot about Taiwanese traditions that go along with people's passing. This was a particularly busy day for those in the funeral business since the "suan4 ming4" or fortune tellers all reported that that saturday was a good day for funeral affairs.

If there is anything I have learned from my stay here it is most definately that Taiwan has an amazing amount of ghosts, stories, traditions, and collective customs. At times, they seem to be so many that one would spend more time worrying about the customs than about the people they are remembering.

That day we went to the funeral Hall I learned that it was the only one in the Taibei area and that because of the line up of the day with people's birthdays, the day of their death and so on that day everybody and their brother was being buried. The interesting part is that there is a business that works completely around thirty minute intervals for each ceremony. Thus, because there were so many people trying to keep with the fortune of the day, the hall was filled with everyone from those that build the temporary alters, which go up in about ten munites, to the banners, displays, and of course flowers. It was a mass of chaos but interesting to say the least.

We ended up delivering 30 bouguets for a teacher who definately knew some people. Maybe she was good at teaching!

Anyway, this past weekend I spent my sunday, about two and a half hours delivering flowers to a hotel for a wedding and setting up our part. It was really fun to see how they had the whole shindig (SP?!) set up. I also enjoyed the more up beat and excited atmosphere that lacked the funeral cries and loud drums... (another story).

One thing that makes for a big difference is the pictures of the bride and groom at the ceremony. They took the pics before as a way to make gifts for everyone to take home with them. Guess it isn't bad luck to see the bride before you get hitched!

2007-03-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

Ok, so yesterday I found out that Macany and Coco's Grandpa died. First, I am sorry to hear that since death is a tragic thing although he has been sick for three years and showed no signs of improvement. Also, he was not a great man who was very nice and respectful toward his grand kids, particularly Macany and Coco. In any case they must go to pay their respects. What I find intersting is that to pay one's respects in this case means to spend upwards of a month depending on the fortune teller's guidance and interpretation of the dates. This is so intersting to me since even for a person you really care about, in the US we don't spend that long in organized prayer and worship. Its even said that in ancient times one must spend almost three years in worship morning the lose, though it depends on the person. Macany and his family spent about two months when his father died.

Good luck Macany and Coco. Unfortunately for Coco, since he is the first born and the first grandchild. As they both said, Coco must "cry harder, paw at the casket, and weap longer for his grandfather" though both are content to say there good byes and come back the same day.

Anyway, this is short. Just wanted to make a note of the cultural difference and another example of the fact that Taiwanese culture is innondated with obligatory traditions that if not carried out make one the outsider of the family and friends. Seriously! Even if you don't like them you are required through piety to do what is expected of you. Good luck with that in the US. I just hope they get back soon so we can all go out drinking with Jiu Jiu, Macany's Uncle who happens to like hanging out and drinking.

2007-03-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Lets see, this past week has been pretty uneventful except for the classes thing which is cool. I do have a funny story to tell. Was hanging out in the restaurant, Macany's Uncle's Restaurant where Macany's Brother, Coco, works as the manager hince forth just known as the restaurant. Anyway, was hanging out behind the counter talking with one of the waitresses that works there and I hear Macany make this loud screaming sound which was on the verge of hitting the woman's cry of fear when I saw this huge black thing dark around the corner of the restaurant. I immediately notice that it is a rat when I see Macany and Coco trying to catch it with their feet/hopping in the air out of fear of it!

I ran to the Kitchen door and there found the rat coming towards me. Slamming the door before he could get away I put my foot on his tail and trapped him until reserves, in the form of Hong-A Macany's cousin who also works at the restaurant, came to hold it down. The Restaurant is really nice but, like many restaurants, it has a slight rat problem until this day! They had these sticky boards on hand which they usually use at night to guard against the rat attacks in the kitchen. We took the rat and turned him on one board and then another sandwiching him in. Honestly, this is all a bit foreign to my feelings to wild animals. Unless I am about to eat it I think it a waist to treat it like this, however, this is a rat that brings a great deal of dirtyness to the kitchen and infact is a heath hazard. Feeling better about telling myself this we consider what to do with it and though I recognize the rational behind killing it I disagree with everyone's consensus to just leave it outside to starve to death.

Bringing up the desire to drown it, I realize I am alone in having to kill it since they all call my actions in humanine. 'I would rather not starve to death' I think to myself. Although I am also not sure I would like to drown either, it seems quicker. I filled the big sink up and place it inside then putting one of the large stone pots used for cooking on top of it to weight it down for five minutes. I did consider the though of rats being able to hold their breath for something like 30 minutes under water and was not sure if that was true. I considered the stone pot to aide in proving this case different.

Sorry for the vivid detail but in the end everyone called me the country boy! Of course my 'inhumaine' attitude toward this rat did not help the image that just about everyone has of American's through our movies. Most believe and ask me if it is true that the US has a lot of murderers because of the gross amount of movies that come out with this topic. I try to play it off as a craze that has snatched this generation up and will soon fade along with the spice girls, though the girls have left already!

Anyway, all in all the restaurant is free of rats for the time being. I also have the title the rat hunter though I think it is a bit bombastic for my taste! Also, a note that I must make after talking with my parents, NO, at no time did anyone ever consider eating it. I told Macany about this coming up and he wanted me to add this as an adendum to that last statement: "Mainlanders (Communist China) will eat anything, we are more modern than that!" Thanks Macany for that last thought of the day! Lata.

2007-03-06T01:28:00.000-08:00

I know, it has been much too long since the last time I wrote on this page so I have a great deal to write about. I will start in order and run through it!

HONK KONG:

Went to Hong Kong for a long weekend from February 3-6th. We arrived in the evening and made our way to our hotel in Kowloon. I don't know how to describe this feeling but it really hit me in the taxi from the train station to the hotel that we were in Hong Kong and not in Taipei. Maybe it was the music on the radio which was all in Cantonese or something else but it was nice to head that way for some R&R. That first night we made our way to Kowloon's side of Victoria harbor. From there we could see Hong Kong Island and all its lite glory. Pictures might be worth a thousand words but I think mine are worth about two sentences since it was so dark. All I can say is it was beautiful. That night we just hung out and then went to bed early since we were getting up early for a long day out.

Next day went to Hong Kong Island. This ended up being a long but very fun day of sightseeing, hanging out, and eating some really good food starting out with a Hong Kong specialty breakfast of rice porage, soybean milk, and some kind of bread which happened to be the worst of the three. It was actually really good other than the bread thing! You can definately tell that this island is where the money was since the cars, the hotels, the streets, and even the trash cans were high class! The banking area is around here too...so I think is the case. While we hung out in front of Hong Kong City Hall we ran into a woman who happened to be from the states and was headed to The Peak, a place from where people can see Hong Kong island's view and Victoria harbor in the background. This Was An Amazing View! And the view of the city was nice too! JK. Seriously, we saw the view of the late afternoon Hong Kong sky line and then got to watch the city light up for the night audience which has a very magical feel. Also, while hanging out up there I got to talk with Tess, a graduate from Princeton who moved out to Thailand to work for ING Inc. She is now looking for a new job so if anyone knows of something for a very intelligent woman please let me know so I have a reason to talk to her!

Next day we headed to Macau for a half day of hanging out and wasting our money on usless gambling! I understand that it has surpassed Las Vegas as the world's biggests gambling destination but it definately doesn't seem as fun as LasVegas sounds! The only other thing that Macau has other than the casinos is this huge face of a church from the 18th century. Its not much I must admit.

The last day was an extrememly long one since our flight was not until the 9:30 that night. since this was the case we made our way to a local Temple in the area to check out everyone's preparations for the new year. This temple was definately hopping with people. You can check out the pictures on my webshots page. We then made our way to "The Big Buddha" statue before our trip back to the airport. It was awesome to see the approach of the sky train to the summit of the big Buddha as it sat on the edge of the third island where the airport is located. It's back is turned inland and it sits peacefully with six goddesses making offerings to him. Its pretty awesome to see and so is claimed, this buddha inside houses a piece of the last remains left of Buddha. I don't know if its real or not but its pretty interesting at any rate.

One last thing about this trip is the moment we hit Taipei city. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of excitement to finally get back to the place I have called my home for the past 6 or so months. It was a feeling of familiarity that Hong Kong simply didn't have. Nice to leave but it was nicer to come back!

SECOND SEMESTER ENDS:

The semester came to an end with a final project that I happened to fall behind on since I took a long weekend in Hong Kong. All was ok as I worked with a French classmate on our final project. Her and I chose to use the chapters on presidetial stuff through acting out a canidate debate for president. Afterward we had a vote for who best represented themselves. I need not say who won!

HEADING SOUTH:

For the Chinese New Year Holiday I went to Pingdong in the south of Taiwan to hang out with Macany, his Mom, his friends and family. It was a good time and a great expereince to see how a Taiwan family celebrates the New Year, which is the most important of all the holidays in a year. In sum, just about everyday can be said to be a gorge fest with tons of food and hanging out with family and friends. I think it is much the same as Thanksgiving and Christmas put together! We went to Macany's Mom's Grandparent's house several times and also other family members but the most fun was with Macany's friends who are our age and able to speak more than the Taiwanese that most of the elders can speak and only speak. Pingdong is definately more in the country and the south so more of the population is aborigianal in decent or atleast have some tie to Taiwan that stretches longer than the past 50 years thus Taiwanese is spoken much more down there. It is nice to listen to but much harder to speak. Its coming along though...slowly/very slowly! It's funny that Macany's Grandfather heard I was coming he prepaired alcohol that they made at home to drink. He treated him and I twice to a drink fest which was very nice and he was amazingly friendly. Even without being able to speak Taiwanese it was a great time hanging out with him and talking what little I could with him in Chinese.

Other than that, the two weeks I spent in Pingdong and other areas was a nice break from the classes I have been taking and the stresses of remembering words and instead I continued to work on simply talking everyday language which I heard and spoke with an intense regularity. All in all, it was a nice trip but it was once again nice to come back to the city and to my own place.

I think this is enough for now. This past week will be updated later. But please take a look at the pictures that are up on webshots @ http://community.webshots.com/user/Niccolaso

2007-01-25T01:22:00.000-08:00

Bomb's bursting in air?!!

Been reading the news lately and have seen where Bush has given the State of the Union address, Iraq affairs are still top on the list of issues (especially in US News), and China has decided to up the world's stress by blowing things up over our heads. Keep a look out for falling debree.

Seriously, I have a unique perspective in Taiwan. Right to the point, I get to read news that doesn't have to be 'filtered' through U.S. eyes. This has been an interest for quite a while as I see how everyone else thinks of us Americans. In lieu of that topic I would like to mention that right now there are almost one thousand missiles aimed directly at Taiwan. I wondered how close one could be aimed in relation to where I sleep, eat, and study and then realized I am in this countries capital and then also remembered the Large "SECRET" military instillation up the road two blocks.

Anybody who can tell me why Mainland "Communist" China has, last I read 980 missiles, aimed at the little island no bigger than Massachusetts and Connecticut combined can be treated to a lovely dinner at El Cabritos when I get back. Seriously now who thinks that China is this sleeping Dragon. Please, dragons have a graceful spirit about them, they have a mystique that demands an air of respect, and their actions always speak with the utmost care. The China we are seeing of late is none of these and much less. I think we can safely say China is bidding for the next Bully on the corner. What kind of message does it send to blow up rockets as opposed to launching the world's greatest space system, creating a domestic policy that strengthens the spirit and economy of the country, or surprising the world with something less than the status quo; might will show who is right I suppose.

What a world. I think Sam, my three...now four I think-- year old nephew can imagine more avenues of possibility than China is apparently taking. China is not the sleeping dragon we have all been hearing about. Once again the hype has surpassed the reality. There is no mysteriousness in those leaders of the PRC's Communist Chinese Party. They are ambitious human beings who, seem one way or the other, to wish havoc by spreading the terror they have used upon their own people to reach the rest of us. I think the bully has been let out for recess.

Who can find the teacher?

2007-01-17T01:25:00.000-08:00

I had my first oral report in Chinese today. It went pretty well for not using my notes. I used the ole destract them with bad drawings on the board trick! It works for me everytime which kept them laughing. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to the class though originally my topic was as dry as the Mohobie.

I changed the way I was going to report at the last minute when I noticed how...ridgid everyone else was speaking. It was scary to see the Japanese students are I assume are use to memorizing passages and then just giving us the regergitated mess. The German girl was alright with her report and I have to agree with her, Taiwan's beauracracy, I am happy to report, is worse than the US...i think which means I would not like emails arguing either side. The French girl was so nervous her body was turning shades of red. This would concern me except I noticed she was still breathing with little obstruction so I didn't worry too much! The Canadian guy was like listening to...hard static on the radio, you can listen hard for the meaning and then realize its just noise broadcast in a rythmic way. I will leave it at that and say everyone did their best and it was quite fun to hear everyone speak.

Afterwards, I found myself busy talking with all kinds of people and then getting work done so I can start the whole thing over again tomorrow. Such is life, and then man read the newspaper!!

Vote Obama for 2008!

Night.

2007-01-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

So Tired!

Sometimes I think studying languages does not come naturally for me. It hurts!!! My brain is straining soooo hard to know what people are saying but my mind is just telling it STOP!

Its all fun and games until someone strains a brain muscle and then who is crying? Anyway, I am studying up for the mid-term tomorrow which is the first verbal report I will give in front of people. I am excited to talk in class for ten minutes...everyone has to listen/ pretend!

Other than that, I am also saving up for the trip coming up in February to Hong Kong. I have only ever been to the airport, which I am not sure if it counts or not as "being" in a country. I am excited to so though it is just another city. I hear everything is cheap there so if you want anything start sending me your wish list now and I just might look at it and start to laugh outloud!

Just wanted to throw something up here for now. Off to bed since it 1 am now. Night all!

2007-01-06T00:58:00.000-08:00

It has been almost ten days since my last post but like I said before, this page takes on the life I lead and the lack of posts goes to show I have been spending time with friends, working on speaking Chinese, and learning a lot about people from all walks of life.

Christmas came and went, my birthday also came and went, then New years brought fireworks and time to reflect on the new year's potential. Most of my time has been spent in school since I, unlike most of you, still was obligated to attend class! It was a first, though I did not go on Christmas!

My birthday was spent in the classroom and then I went for dinner with a big group of people afterwards followed by hanging out and waiting for my birthday to end. It was nice and very subtly celebrated. New Years almost passed as if only a blurp on the radar. That evening we went out to watch Taipei 101 light up with fireworks. I like the idea but I think the money would have been better spent if they simply gave it out to all of us and then gave us sparklers!! Welcome 2007!!!

The first day of the New year was then spent from the early morning till the late light of the afternoon doing taichi which has become something of a curiosity in my life since living in Taiwan. Their belief is to spend the first day of the new year the way you wish to spend the whole year; this expression can simply be said through the idiom 'start off on the right foot.' I got up at 5 in the morning after going to bed at 3, and headed to the local mountain area to do taichi. The view was beautiful though especially highlighted by a clear blue sky; a rarity during their rainy winter.

The days that followed were all spent catching up on Chinese language study and preparation for the coming midterm along with two very large tests that I must take soon which will judge what kind of progress has been made in regard to my Chinese study. It is only practice and am not worried in the least about my performance.

I will put some new pictures up soon but I just wanted to write about this now as an update. I have a few topics I want to talk about in the coming days and will try and get those done soon!

2006-12-26T01:08:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas has come and gone. It is December 26th at 12:58 in the morning. It has been a different one and not all sad and bad. I enjoyed celebrating with my friends here. It was definately not the same as back in the states and I miss that but it was new and nice to hang out with everyone.

With my Taiwanese friends, we all went to dinner a couple times and exchanged small things along with cards. Some international peeps and I decided we should stay up and see Christmas day come...which we did. And Christmas day I had lunch with some great people and skipped class so I can say I still have never gone to class on Christmas day. I think be with good people is more important anyway especially when we have so little time to enjoy eachother's company! I hope everyone has enjoyed Christmas 2006 and has remembered to thank those people you are with not for the gifts they have bought and wrapped but for the ones that you can't wrap; by far, they are more important in the long run and in the short dash.

The first picture is of me with one Christmas tree of many around the Taipei 101 area on Christmas Eve. This last one is of my friend's uncle's restaurant with the tree he made out of plants. It looks very nice at night with blue lights shinning all around; quite crafty!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2006-12-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

It's 3 am and I am getting some last minute Christmas things done since it is Christmas Eve now. I have prepaired a hole slew of cards for people around Taiwan. I know they mostly don't celebrate Christmas but its more of a season's greeting card and a new year wish...though I write Merry Christmas in there.

I must admit I miss the Christmas spirit and home right now! I think about you guys can't wait to give everyone a call even though I have to get up at three and four in the morning.

I have, with friends here, been celebrating sortof with parties and little celebrations. We are getting together on Christmas day for lunch while I skip class! I can't go to class on Christmas! We are going for lunch and then who knows. Trying to do it up right Taiwan style I guess. I like the fact that the spirit or Christmas has sparked here. It is nice and makes it feel a bit like home though it is never the same!

Anyway, I love you guys. Hang those stockings and I will let you know what cool things Santa is bringing since I am half a day ahead of everyone!

2006-12-21T01:07:00.000-08:00

Today we started the second book. I know this doesn't seem like much to you guys but to me it is a mile stone like the next gas station on a desert highway. I have realized how hard 'really studying' a language is for me personally. I have to say 'really study' since I consider the way I approached my previous study of Chinese and Spanish in the States as a half messaged attempt at grasping any ability to communicate. I more clearly mean that I worked to study the language for two competing reasons; to speak the language but also to make the grade. Often making the grade resulted in forgetting or deminishing the amount of time spent actually working on my communication skills and rather working toward completing tasks that were handed down from my teachers.

Since coming to Taiwan I have learned the flaw in my strategy. Reducing my previous study to simple assignments or tasks does not carry degrading connotations. Most likly, and what I will accept with greater vigor is my innoscent immature understanding that studying a language beyond your mother language takes a great deal of effort and consentration. Everyday one must wrestle with a piece or part that then becomes another tool once it is mastered. Language is a tool that, similar to a knife must be sharpened and maintained with care otherwise the dullness will render it inaccurate or useless.

What is even more shocking for me, which says more about my character than about the study of languages themselves, is that one can never finish this job. I will never have the satisfaction of completion in the traditional since of being done. I will make the note that as I was also immature when I was younger studying languages, I too now recognize this conclusion's prematurity. My meaning, however, proves troubling to a person who originally considered there to be a final goal within language study. I certainly have the goal to reach a ceratin level of proficiency with Chinese and I consider a level of fluency and competency most important but I can't really judge that I have "finally arrived" at my destination.

I think this more reveals the kind of thoughts I have about things when I consider there to be some 'destination' to which everything is moving. In the end I have resolved that possibly I am right about this fact of language. I consider the fact that one does not learn their own language with any goal in mind other than the ability to communicate clearly with others on some level, though some seek greater clarity and skill through education which is the work of sharpening these skills. No, in the end, 'the end' is not a definate goal established by the teacher who tells you to arrive at a conclusion, Language is much more abstract in personal need to establish an individual drive. Toward What? That is what I am working toward and much like life, I do not expect to arrive at any conclusive details until the time of my death!

O'de to life and its exentricity; without it all would be clearly defined, with it, I might think things instead divine, a touch of mystery in the ordinary and a feeling of commonality in the ineffable.

2006-12-15T00:44:00.000-08:00

A quick update is in order. I am really busy lately with a number of projects though I am still primarily working on Chinese like a good student! I am trying to get Christmas cards out and on their way along with a gift or two though it is hard as anything to get gifts out of this country sometimes (more on that later!).

Anyway, This week hasn't been very exciting other than another trip to the ice skating rink for a little R&R. I am planning on a little trip to the east coast in the not to far future but think it is best to let Christmas pass by first. I am especially busy since they are holding big tests next week so I am a little busy trying to study for that mess. Who knew the world was so similar, tests are equally dreaded everywhere!

Its been raining here lately. I love the atmosphere rain creates especially in the early morning which drives you deeper into bed but like everything a wonderful thing also makes it that much harder to drag my self out of bed. I finally decided to throw my umbrella away today. One of the spokes has finally given out allowing the sheet to fold up around the center. If that wasn't enough to drive one out of the rain, for some reason I can't see it also leaks. It is a terrible feeling to be right under the umbrella and yet you are still getting wet. I guess everything has its last day.

Anyway, I am off to bed. I will work on a more regular schedule soon. Until then I am sleeping off another long day of confusion and misunderstanding.

2006-12-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

So, how was your trip to Yan ming Shan and Sun Moon Lake Nick?

Well, the answer is "Not half bad." The best part about my trip to the central part of Taiwan was meeting some awesome people and hanging out with them. The students who went happened to come from all over the world literally and since there were forty of us we definately fit the diversity ratio.

The whole trip was conducted in Chinese which seems like it would make sense since we are all chinese language students but think again, we are all 'students' who have not at all mastered the language. This simply ment there was a lot of confussion on my part but atleast I was not alone! I did have a few people who threw some help my way. The great thing about other foreign language students is their williness to help. The tough things is that they tend not to come with has much patience as others which seems to be a contradiction of sorts; a topic for another day!

The trip was for three days with a great deal of the time being spent on a bus going from one place to another. If it wasn't a bus it was a train and if it wasn't a train then we were on a boat in the middle of the lake. You might think this is complaining but who can complain since I am on vacation from school, traveling around, and have a good time with other cool people while studying so I can tell my teacher I am not a complete slacker!

I know the picture is not very good but imagine we are in the central part of Taiwan called Nantou. There the mountains reach high and the fogs lay low.

The first day we arrived at Alishan it was evening but with enough time before dinner that we were able to take a hike around the park for about a couple hours. We later checked-in to this beautiful hostel that sits on the side of the mountain tucked away. It was beautiful the first night to see the clear sky and to smell the fresh crisp air that burned my nostrels because of the chill of the mountains. Everyone agreed it was absolutely wonderful to leave the city life and lights of Taipei to find our way to the country side. We all ended up taking a night hike and then heading to bed early since we had been forewarned of the eminent early wake-up call the next day.

Four o'clock rolled around and we were woken and ready to go by 4:30 for our venture to the top of the mountain on a small scale train. There is some special spot that is great for watching the sunset. If you take a look at my webshot pics or of the first pic of this blog and you can see it isn't too bad!

The rest of the day we headed around the area seeing the sights of AliShan. we spent a good part of the day on the bus traveling to the next place. It was nice to get some time to get some of that lost sleep back! We went to see a show at a cultural park which ended up being an amusement park with rides and what not. Pretty weird since it all seemed to miss the whole point of showcasing Taiwan's native past but I guess effort is only complemented for its completion and not for how well it is done.

I did ride some of the rides which was nice and definatley a lot of fun since there was practically no one there; no lines...ride twice!

We headed to the lake after this and got there late in the evening with only some time to settle in and check out the immediate area before and after dinner. A few of us sat around after dinner and a some group game stuff and talked about our countries of origin and what we thought of Taiwan. It was nice to hear what people thought and it was very relaxed. Oh, we all spoke English mostly too so I understood what they were saying! I have mixed feelings about the universalization of English ability around the world. It is amazing that we all can go just about anywhere and meet someone with an ability to speak english. This makes people much more capable to communicate and thus we can hope for better resolutions to world delimmas but I must say it is hard to study a language when everyone wants to practice there english with you!!

Anyway, back to the task at hand. Our last was broken into two halves, the morning we spent on a boat traveling around Sun Moon Lake. It was amaxing to see this place and I thought no wonder the natives thought this lake was so spiritually filled. The later part of the day we spent once again on the bus travelling back to Taipei since we started the new semester in another day. Ofcourse returning to Taipei ment it was raining because it always rains in Taipei!!

All-in-all, this was a nice trip and well worth the time and money though it really didn't cost that much. The people were amazing and the places we saw were very cool. Take a look at my webshots if you want to see more pictures.

2006-12-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

Yea its ten days later and I have been a slacker by not writing on this thing. I will work on that one! Of course, not writing means I have a great deal I want to write about but havn't yet.

Excuse time!!::

I have started my new quarter here and have changed my class time from the old 2 in the afternoon schedule to the one that gets me up around 9 with my classes going from 10 to 1:30. Its makes for a better schedule really but it means that I am up and at them much quicker than I was before. Hello freshman year; it reminds me of trying to get up for Pappas some days, minus the chilliness of Radford's winters.

Anyway, the schedule has been keeping me guessing along with the natural pace of learning about 20 new words of chinese a day and then susoquently forgeting 15 for the fun of it. Last week was nice as a holiday from school business. My next blog with definately let you guys know what I thought of the central part of Taiwan since its scenery and scapes were very beautiful. I also met some really cool people and hung out which was nice since they literally came from every continent.

I will tell more later but now I must go to class since it takes about 15 minutes by bike if traffic is nice to me, 25 minutes walking, or at times 30 minutes by bus, all to get to campus before 10 for class.

Take care!

2006-11-25T00:33:00.000-08:00

Wanted to throw some pics up tonight of a few happenin' events and mile stones that I hit this past week.

First, this is a pic of the Breakfast shop that I was going to on a regular basis until it decided to burst into flames. It isn't much to see so I will only show the sign and how the flames came up and out. This is a few days after the fire so there are political ads hanging in the place of what would be a pretty good place for breakfast. 'Such is life' as Megan would say!

The second couple of pics are of my class right before we peaced out for quarter break. The last day we had a little food party and Zhemei brought a Japanese dish so I had to take a shot of it and her to give her the credit! Looking at the group picture I will let you pick out who is from what country. There are two Japanese, one Korean, one German, two French, two Americans, one Canadian, and our teacher who would happen to be Taiwanese by necessity. That should equal ten people, five men and five woman.

Anyway, other than that it has been nice to hang out and not do too much the last two days. Like a dork I went to the National Museum on Thursday. I really did go because I got a free ticket that I had to use before December so don't be too critical!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It was nice to talk to the family and I hope everyone enjoyed the good food and company.

2006-11-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

The weekend has flown by!

I do want to mention a sad fact that I will share with you guys. I just learned that my favorite breakfast place burned down this past weekend. No more eggs and rice or noodles with fake tomatoe sauce. No one was hurt but the place was a total lose. When I went by to take a look it was devistated and they were scrapping up the remains and tossing them in a truck.

I know you dont care but I had a moment of silence for the place. It had some good food and the people were nice!

Good news is they are re-building. Its only a matter of time before I get to eat there again... the only thing is I might have to fly back to do so!

Yesterday was a study day for me. I worked on school work and other random things. Not feeling so hot yesterday and then again today has kept me slow as I try and take it easy. It is only a nasal infection that is trying to make its way to my chest but its still a pain.

I did end up going out with Macany, his uncle who owns the restaurant we go to, the restaurant manager, and a couple of other people last night. It was a good time!

Macany's uncle and I often talked about going out and getting some beers, well last night was planned just for that. We all got together and hung out. It was a great opportunity for me to talk with them and watch how they hang out. It is very different from the way I am use to in the US.

First Macany and his cousin were the only two who could speak english so I got a lot of practice in too. I can tell my teacher I studied all day and into the night!!

Anyway, they order a ton of food and then break open 22oz beers and start pouring rounds into small glasses which seem to hold maybe three or so shots of beer. The trick is not drink alone! If you end up drinking alone you pick up the tab! You always invite another person or group to drink with you.

Part of me going I know was because they wanted to find out how much I could drink. Its a good thing I minored in drinking while in school and learned a few tricks while hanging out with my parents! I say that becuase by the end of the night they were drunk...seriously, they were talking crazy and acting drunk and I know it wasn't a show. Macany's cousin's face turned bright red and his uncle was laying on the car!

They have this saying "li hai" which means 'you have an amazing ability that I dont have' in a rought interpretation! They were all excited becuase I definately was not feeling anything.

Long story short, we sat around for two hours, ate some awesome foods that I had never tried before, made good conversation, and drank some Taiwan Beer.

Good times in the neighborhood. And just to clear it up...I am not sick becuase I drank last night and I really dont drink that much around here. This story is really why since I can't find anyone who can drink with me!

Take it easy.

2006-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Friday was like any other Friday, a gift from heaven bestowed upon a hard working student who is ready to take a break from breathing the musty air from his war torn Chinese book!

I, along with several of my friends, had a trip to Taipei's music hall planned. We watched Taipei's music group, composed of percussion instruments and the xylophone, meshed together into a unique experience of sound. I really liked the different tone this presentation took on as the sounds blended at times and then others they clashed. It is like nothing I had really ever heard which made for an unsettled feeling sometimes when I would hear a tone that was slightly off and other times when it seemed everyone was looking at different sheet music!

In the end I was very excited to have seen their presentation. Though I might never hear that sort of music again as my first choice it was still nice to listen to such a different kind of sound. I am also excited to see the xylophone play such a major role in professional music which completely destroyed my previous assumptions of it being a child's instrument or a background accompaniment to another instruments benefit.

Afterwards, we walked around Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall which is a large square that often has displays, festivals, and acts as the unofficial center of Taipei's world. This particular evening we ran into a six year old who acted and talked with the maturity of an adult. Of course, it would be impossible to know this if you only saw him since he was sporting his scooter doing circles around his mom.

Owen and the kid talked first and later the whole group was gathered around this kid talking away. Everyone took turns testing out the new scooter and talking about the kids new bike he also has back home. He was a cool kid!

2006-11-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

Today, Saturday, I spent most of the day with my taichi group learning and killing my legs. As I have found out by first being told and then feeling the burn, taichi is not about the hands moving and the slow motion but the leg movments and the motion of the hips or 'kwua' (not sure how to write it but it sounds like this).

It is not as easy at it looks and is very deceiving for its strengthening abilities and focus training. I still go every Saturday first at 8 am and then again at 2:30 pm for another form of taichi. Today, I skipped, however, to write these blogs and to hang out with my German classmate since he is heading back to Germany next week.

Since I just mentioned it, next week is the last week of this quarter's classes. We will be studying until Wednesday and then I am off for 10 days of rest, relaxation, and hanging out. I have a trip headed to the middle of Taiwan planned and then some smaller trips here and around.

Chun hui, the Germany reminds me of a walking encyclopedia. This guy knows a little about everything though sometimes he can't tell you where he learned it from. It is funny to talk to him and he is very open about just about everything. In class, he is the one who asks how to say 'to hang a person' as we learn to word for 'to hang.' I can't help but laugh at the factual notion of a German asking how to say 'to hang a person' but I know there are some who think I am crazy...and yes I am!

Anyway, him and I got close in class talking about the Japanese girls, the one Korean and the one French girl. We cracked some crazy jokes and I don't know what our class will do for comic relief when he is gone!

2006-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy week and I am not sure where to start. Instead of starting at the beginning I will start now and work backwards. It will make it utterly confusing at times but that is how I have felt these past few days so I think it will fit the mood!

2006-11-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Like any adventure, it never comes without its struggles. Thursday is no exception!

After getting out of class some foreigner friends invited me to meet them at Taipei's only ice skating rink. Usually, I think Taipei is a pretty small city. In comparison, I am right since it's spread out but not very big.

I eat those words since it doesn't take much area in order to get lost! I learned where the place was which I thought wasn't very far...little did I know, so I decided to ride my bike that direction. Forty minutes later and after asking directions twice I arrive at the rink with a little sweat! I consider the fact that I can skip running for the evening.

I get to skate for about two hours, we have a lot of fun and goof off. I fell once trying to work on my backward movement. It doesn't work so well to move backwards when you are sitting down! I have video that shows I can skate backwards, though not well.

Anyway, we grab dinner at Pizza hut like good foreigners and decimate two piazza's which doesn't seem like much but its a lot since only two of us really ate anything. I hadn't eaten all day and I also knew I had a hike back home!

We all peaced out and I grabbed my bike and started to head off. What I didn't account for and which I now realize as my mistake was that I didn't really know from which direction I should go since getting turned around. At first I thought one direction was correct but then realize another is better.

When I started to see particularly noticeable landmarks standing in the wrong place I decided to ask directions...in Chinese! Finally, after tracking back once, asking directions twice, and almost one hour and a half later I ask a kind taxi driver to take me home! I am glad for it since, as he is driving I notice how truly far I had come off track from the direction I needed to go.

How does one cross a river without knowing it?!!

Thank goodness for the nice taxi driver who helped me strap my bike to his car. He couldn't speak any English but it was ok since I could count our conversation in the car as studying and call it a night!

2006-11-15T22:53:00.000-08:00

I would like to talk only briefly about a trend I have noticed. I do not want to say this trend is an ‘Asian cultural trend’ but I will make the statement that both circumstances that express the same trend are between those who come from Asian culture.

I have been placed in two tough situations as the person expected to ‘fix’ the situation or I am asked to aid in the resolution, if there is one to be reached. The first involves two people who have arrived at conclusions about the other through information they have received from a third party; they heard from someone else that this person said something kind of sixth grade stuff from Master’s degree seeking young adults. What is the world coming to!!? They both, however, are not able to talk with each other about this affair.

Through separate conversations I have learned that neither can directly speak to the other about this and instead they are relegated to being cordial about the whole situation. They then asking me to mediate as the go-between for their eventual common understanding. Doesn’t seem odd that they actually came to this problem through a separate third person but here they ask for such a circumstance again as a source of resolution?

The second instance is just as strange but if I remember correctly I have heard stories that are similar to this one I am about to tell. There is a restaurant in town that I frequent a great deal since I teach the shop owner English while I learn some Chinese. I happen to know the Owner of the restaurant through another acquaintance. In the end it is another strange relationship network I will admit but all networks are strange.

One day I was asked by the owner if I could change the time of meeting between the store manager and me. My friend described how the Owner felt the time we met was inappropriate but did not want to speak directly to the manager in order to save face; I am not really sure how bringing such a case up would cause one to lose face. Just to clear it up, our meeting was during the evening dinner time so we would sit outside and hang out while the people inside worked. I will be the first to admit that this is not a great time to meet but it is not my business so I did not mention it to the manager.

I think this is a great reason to talk directly to your employee, however, if you have issues with a meeting time. This seems especially pertinent since the manager is meeting during shop hours while customers are inside.

Apparently I assume wrong and the Owner felt it necessary to go through me to communicate this issue. Earlier this week the Owner came up to me in person and asked if I had mentioned the need to change the time and all I could say was I am working on a solution.

In the end, my two friends are still not friends with each other. Now I feel that the store manager thinks something is afoot since I told her I do not have time to meet right now since I have a great deal of work to finish though this is a slight fabrication. I feel our relationship is strained now to save another.

This kind of situation has happened to me in the past where I must almost choose what direction to go but it is when two friends break up in a relationship and you must ‘choose’ who to keep friends with or something similar.

This, on the other hand makes me feel like I am left with no options. Although there are always options I wish to keep my friends and not create estrangement. However, I also need to help where I can unless I wish to create a similar kind of estrangement again. This is the proverbial “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”; really I just don’t want to play the game all together. Go tell them yourself I want to say, but instead I told her I can’t meet because I am busy….

2006-11-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

My visit with the mayor of Taipei.

So the long awaited ‘meeting’ with Taipei’s Mayor came and went. Before going, I assumed I was actually meeting with the Mayor. Instead of talking face to face with him I got something completely different.

Instead of sitting down and chatting with the man, whom some say will be Taiwan’s next President –you know how people will talk- I was used on stage as a promotional tool for this new service some Taiwan taxis are now providing.

Apparently Owen, one of my Taiwanese friends has a buddy who owns his own company that organizes promotional events for people willing to pay. The taxi company, in connection with Taipei’s transportation office and the Mayor’s office, enlisted the services of this promotions company to put together an event that showcases the new Taxi service. This new taxi service boasts the ability to enhance foreigner’s visits to Taipei by providing English speaking drivers. Here is where I come in along with another foreigner, Sandra from Panama.

Sandra and I were asked to participate in this unveiling if you will, of the new fleet of drivers to the city of Taipei and the world I suppose! If you can picture it; there is a stage in front of City Hall and we are only blocks away in the shadow of the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101. We are expected to come on stage when cued and introduce ourselves. Sandra goes first and I follow behind with my short introduction; both of us speak English. The host and the two of us are then joined by one lucky driver who gets to represent the new taxi fleet in a ‘test’ of their English speaking ability.

William is the name of the driver chosen and I should add that he speaks very well and his Asian accent is almost non-existent; a definite surprise when I hear him speak for the first time on stage!

Sandra and I are expected to ask William to ‘take’ us to a particular spot in Taipei. The host chooses me to go first. Before I go any further, let me say that I am not really shy when it comes to getting on stage. I do not mind speaking in front of people. I have not always been this way but have learned not to get too worked up. This event, for example, did not get me flustered until I asked William to take me to Miramar Entertainment Mall. Since we could ask him to take us anywhere we wanted to go I said a very famous place that is on all the English/Chinese maps of Taipei. Imagine my surprise when he looked at me as if I just kicked his dog. He did not have a clue what I was talking about. I took a moment to think if I said something wrong. I was speaking English so that could not be the problem.

The host then realized the place I had mentioned and said that the name was in English and that he probably did not know it by that name. STOP, is that not the point of this whole mess, to promote the ability of Taipei’s drivers to know English destinations and speak with the English speaking tourist about the sights of Taipei using English? At first I felt bad but then I realized there is nothing I can do if, in all their planning and study they forgot to actually look at a map of Taipei and learn the names of these destinations in English!

William answered Sandra’s question with a “ok, I can take you there” with enthusiasm and then we moved on to the ceremonial ‘stamp of approval.’ They had huge boards with stamp places that said “English is ok” and “车好” which just means the car’s are good literally.

In the end, I only shook the Mayor’s hand and said hello to him and some other people. I gave stamp of approval with a few pictures taken and the cameras rolling before I exited off stage. It was really strange and definitely not what I was expecting at all. I would feel bad about messing up the promotion but I can’t really since I got paid to do it! Politics is Politics no matter where you live. The mayor got his check for promoting tourism to help the economy while Owen, Sandra, and I got a good meal paid for by the city!

I won’t complain anymore!

2006-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Good week but the time is flying by!!

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival is coming this coming week so I am definately trying to see a few of the shows. I also have a meeting with the Mayor this coming Sunday. I would profess great excitment for this event since he is in the running to be the next president of Taiwan but I will admit I am not as excited as I once was after realizing this is a political stunt. At least I get paid...but I am getting paid!

Guess it helps to be known as international minded especially in the political world. I would have to say it is disappointing that he has to try so hard and throw money out rather than just be interested. Guess I don't have to worry about disappointing him when we talk and he finds out we have differing views as to whether Taiwan should be a country or a providence of China. (He wants to unite with China/wait until China boats over and knocks at the door with sensors, machine guns, and ductape.)

I am off to hang out tomorrow night, which is Friday night for those on the other side. Day light savings time messes me up sometimes when I wonder when best to call or wonder what you are doing while I am awake/asleep. Instead of the 12 hours which we are actually appart. Your clocks are now set to make the time 13 hours difference. Its so troublesome!

Finally, I am planning a trip to Thialand, Cambodia, and other countries to be decided later. We (some friends and I) are planning this trip forFebruary when we get a month off for the Chinese New Year. Can't wait since school has been consumming some of my travel time!

Anyway, I am off to get some sleep so I can hang out tomorrow. Have a good night/Day!

2006-11-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you having fun!

Seriously, I have just entered the last four weeks of my first quarter here. This past week felt like only a few days. I was talking with a friend about it and concluded that we never had a Thursday and we couldn't really decide if Wednesday came and went either!

I didn't do anything too extremely exciting which must be a disappointment to everyone. I have a nice life here that always leaves the evenings open to hanging out with friends.

Last night we went to XiMenTing which is a very large predestrian area with tons of shops, fun places to hang out, expensive tea shops, and of course a lot of food. We got out of class yesterday evening and caught the MRT (Subway) to the area and stayed there till around 11:30. I didn't buy anything but we tried a few things on only to realize we can get most of them cheaper elsewhere.

I have learned a lot about my friends too. The past couple days I have been talking to Macany, my friend from Taiwan national Unversity, arguably the best in Taiwan. We have been discussing the political atmosphere that surrounds the island. It is nice to get his perspective though our conversations recently have been spark by his learning of the visit I have with Taipei's mayor coming up in a few weeks.

Macany would love for me to "hit him or throw something at him" were his words which were accompanied by mime actions dimonstrating a perfect way to carry out the act. I informed him that he could feel this way but that my intentions were to talk with the mayor not kill him! I would like to stay in Taiwan longer than one quarter!

Apparently Taiwan is devided as whether to break away from China or to merge once again with the large giant to the north. The Taipei mayor comes from a part that believes Taiwan should keep its course with the eventual intention of merging with "China, who is Taiwan's mother" as Amy informed me of their intentions.

I must say the thought of Taiwan turning into another notch in PRC China's belt is scary. I see the conversations Macany and I having or the thoughts that Amy and I sharing becomes something of the past as sensorship becomes the forefront of everyone's thoughts.

I can't take for granted the ability to speak to people! In one language versus another, with a freedom to say what comes to 'my mind' rather than what I am suppose to think and feel. Maybe it seems dramatic but then again how many of us live with the fear of people. Everyone becomes your enemy with the ability to hear your treasonous thoughts and turn you in. The worst enemy of them all is, however, your own thoughts which must first be taimed, hairnessed, and then quieted so they might never speak without first having permission like a child beaten down and sad.

Alright, enough of that. If I go much further I might just feel the way Macany does with the need to change the Mayor's mind!

Anyway, Keep you updated. Hope everyone is well and keeping it fun.

2006-10-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

I know its been a long time without a posting. I have been fairly busy. It hasn't been bad here and don't think I am innundated with work! Most of my time has been spent studying but in a less traditional sense!

Spending time with friends is definately the greatest of past times as it not only gives me a chance to hang out and relax but I also am studying since my friends all speak Chinese. Can't complain since I can eat some great foods, see some interesting markets, and hang out all while studying! "I know its terrible" as all the teachers cringe with a subtle disatisfaction!

The night markets here are a great place too since they have so much to do and such variety between one market and another. Their atmosphere is extremely similar to a circus or carnival with the sounds, smells, and tastes that make one wonder when the next tiger show is or where you can find the talking mice display...I still havn't found that one either!

I have been busy also with my studies of course! I have been busy so much so that I havn't had the time to call Mom and Dad until this morning (Monday Morning to clarify!). Sorry guys, I still love you really!

I bought a bike last week which gives me some resemblance of traveling freedom. I don't always have to wait for the bus which reminds me of my pre-driving years waiting for Wanda to fly down the hill!

I did have a funny thing happen today. I have a friend that I teach english with every week. She also works at a restaurant as the manager who works some crazy long hours. Beside the point, we often hang out there and today she asked me to draw some pictures on the outdoor menu display board to give it some character!

In a past conversation I had mentioned how my Mom is an awesome artist and apparently I did not express in Chinese with the greatest of emphasis that Mom's ability is awesome but her pictoral abilities did not pass my way! I think Amy gets my meaning now!! Let me just say that the board now has character but to speak of what kind would be rude and I really shouldn't!!

I thought it was funny and it is ok to laugh at me! Everything is good I must admit. I am really enjoying myself. I miss everyone a great deal though! I you are well.

Take care!

2006-10-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today was a nice chill day I must admit! I didn't do much more than study, hang out with friends, eat (which comes natural to me!!), and go to class.

One thing that was pretty interesting happened while I was in this one dinner joint. One thing I love sometimes and hate the next is the lively atmosphere that always surrounds me in Taipei. The city is always bussling and the sounds of people making conversation and living is always abundant.

Anyway! My story starts with me going to Shida Night Market to catch a small dinner. I decide to head to a good noodle place cause I know they have a few good dishes that I can get for pretty cheap. They are also good people. I head upstair becuase the place is packed. When I say packed and I am in Taiwan, I mean the place is literally filled with people sitting on small stools stooped over their bowl of food with elbows tucked in so not to distrub the hungry people on each side.

On my up stairs I pass a girl and a guy who are asking, in English, if there are pictures that go along with the meal menu. The girl is obviously a foreigner with cacasian skin and a large build. The guy looks foreign but not far from the Asian continent...maybe Japanese but I still am not good at recognizing the differences.

The upstairs proved to be a little less crowded but still just as noisy with people talking and eating (the Chinese are loud eaters, but more on that later!). As I head to a small table I hear the two talking about not knowing what the menu says. I smile and ask if they need any help since I have been in the same awe scared position of guessing what to eat without knowing what I would be eating. I motioned for them to come over to my table and join me where I introduced the menu to them and asked what they would like after sharing a few favorites.

The girl, I later learn, comes from Canada where she graduated with a social work degree I think. She was a bit abrasive in her speach and her manarisims suggested that she was tired of the 'figuring out' one must always do while living abroad if you don't understand what is going on! She didn't learn any Chinese before she came, which I thought was brave of her, and she had already been here two weeks looking for a teaching position and doing the tourist stuff.

He was an apple picker from Okinaowa. He was only visiting for something less than six days to a week I believe. It was a strange conversation we entered into that went from introductions about my life, her life, and his working in Australia as a farm picker to going home to Okinaowa. We talked about the weather in Australia, how she had picked something somewhere and got her foot run over, and his wanting to pick cotten next season since it brought the most buck for the pick, if I can say that and it make sense!

All in all, it was randomness all around. It was nice to chat with some different people. I also appreciated the feeling I had of being needed and able to help instead of constantly being the one asking for help. It was nice to have some idea of what I was ordering for them. Ordering went well since he went for the safe choice of some beef fried rice and I went for a small bowl of beef dumplings which were really good!! She insisted on the beef noodles which I remembering liking but failed to mention they were a little spicy! She ate them but not without the occational cough of somone chocking on fire or something similar!! Sorry for that one if she ever reads this which she wont unless the world likes to play funny jokes!

All in all, I passed her my cell number if she ever needs help and went on my way. It was an intersting and humorous conclusion to a nice day.

I am off to bed! Have a great night/day and take care!

2006-10-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

This is a short one for real cause it has been a fun but long weekend and I would love to get in bed around 12!

I just wanted to share something funny about Asian culture especially the young college crowd. When I first got here I started to notice that everyone has a business card. Everyone I meet and chat with gives me a card sometimes with english on one side and chinese on the other. Students from all programs and any field carry a set of cards with them and when they meet someone they give out their card. Most look pretty professional while some look like they were printed on the back of cut out cereal boxes. Maybe that is an effect they are going for!

I have no room to talk. I am completely embarased at times when they give me their information on this, most of the time, very nice card maybe even with a picture. I, in return give them a well hand written and torn piece of scrap paper in exchange.

If you really think about it though. I am getting the better deal cause I didn't spend anything and I still get the information while they go out and spend all that money on something they are just going to give away!!!

Seriously, I think its apart of their culture to use the card as a small gift also and a symbol of a network extention. Radford University's Career Center would be proud of their networking abilities through these little peices of paper!

I think I will stick to my economical torn paper routine. Really I figure I always have the back pages of my notebook. Who ever gets to those last few pages anyway! They were ment as the networking section! Ever since middle school when you would write down your number or screen name on those peices of paper and pass them around during class the last few pages have been unofficially known as the networking pages.

I think I will keep with tradition/ being cheap and lazy!

Night all!

2006-10-21T04:07:00.000-07:00

It's nice to know an American Company treats its American employees with such respect.

Read the short article here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/13/business/main2088901.shtml

2006-10-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

Part One:

This week for no particular reason I have had numerous occasions to talk about Taiwan’s international position and China’s looming shadow over this little island democracy. If you know anything about me, then you know these discussions have been a wonderful opportunity for me to gain invaluable insight into the mentality of the people who stand up against China. These talks got me thinking about international. It’s not hard to think beyond the small island world that Taiwan inhabits. I have been told on multiple occasions that Taiwan must do so in order to survive.

The community here has developed a ‘Foreigner Friendly’ environment as I have observed. Taiwan has signs, public transportation, and a population that is by all relative terms ‘international’ in personality. The signs are in both Chinese characters and English; the MRT or Taiwan’s subway system announces stations in Chinese, English, and various other languages. The people are a complex mix of history that dates back to native aborigines, then the influx of Chinese immigrants from the Mainland. World War II brought the Japanese; their language and culture still linger here most predominant in the Taiwanese Dialectic expressed in speech and in the Comic books that almost solely is a Japanese industry here.

Now, Taiwan seems to be poised as the peep hole into China. Unabridged by censorship and not marred by past cultural revolutions to ‘change,’ Taiwan is a picture of China as it thrives with the opportunities of capitalism and democracy along side the iniquities that make Chinese culture so dramatically different from the western world.

All this is threatened, however, by the Asian giant. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the large swath of land under the elicit control of the ideologically communist country most well known in the region as the Mainland. This difference is necessary since Taiwan goes by a similar name as The Republic of China.

Subtle differences in language carry vast differences in what is exactly being insinuated. This lesson which I am still learning carries with it grave warnings that any and all actions in this region and the world mean more than surface meets the eye.

2006-10-21T03:56:00.000-07:00

Part Two: The questions.

This is a series of questions that I only intend you to think about since the reality is so close to home now and always.

Fear is not something to dread but something to cope with; see it, internalize it, and learn how best to react with reason, heart, and feeling. These are the lessons past generations have faced in the heart of the Cold War. It seems so easy to forget the recent past and the heartfelt pains that shocked our hearts and drank from our souls the spirit of solidarity.

Please read along and ask yourself these questions. By doing so, do you prompt yourself to learn more or do you wish to leave these matters to our government trusting that they have created and will continue to create a safe and peaceful world for us, our children, and the world’s children to come?

1) Q: Do you know where PRC China and ROC Taiwan is located in relation to the United States? Are you aware of the geographical area known as Asia?

A: If so, then go look at a map again just to make sure you aren’t fooling yourself. If not, then go look at a map since it is ok not to know everything!

2) Q: Are you aware of recent nuclear tests done by North Korea and the subsequent UN sanctions that have been approved by the Security council (of which the US and PRC China both have votes in this elite group)?

A: If so, keep up the new reading and read more. Read different sources on the same news. It isn’t only the papers that might sensor news but the readers who fail to demand multiple reports on the topic to gain perspectives and insights.

If you have not read, seen, or otherwise learned about the current state of the world then you have already stopped reading or contemplated leaving.

3) Q: If you know that North Korea has nuclear weapons then did you also know that PRC China does too?

A: Yep, check it out on the web. Various allies such as Russia have supplied the actual material but it is US publicly traded companies that have provided commercial software and hardware that have been manipulated in such a way to create the support systems to develop their nuclear program.

4) Q: Would it scare you to learn that PRC China has been building its armed forces up in the past decade?

A: China has increased its military spending by 13% to about $30 billion dollars and shows no signs of slowing the move to increase its military might. The build up does not only resemble the million strong rushes of human soldiers during the Korean and Vietnam Wars of the ‘50s and ‘60’s. As the world’s biggest army, the ‘new’ PRC military is being equipped with amphibious assault vehicles, jets, a new navy force, and submarines outfitted with missile launch capabilities. These submarines are capable of carrying nuclear missiles. Need I say more here?

5) Q: Did you know in 2005 a PRC General made a statement concerning US involvement in any conflict between the PRC and the ROC saying, “If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunitions onto the target zone on China’s territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons.”? From a CNN report titled “Report Describes China’s arms buildup” 2005, July 18 which quotes Gen. Zhu ChengHu, China’s National Defense University.

A: There is no need to believe me or them go out and read the information yourself. Also look up the Anti-Cessation bill that has been endorsed by the PRC which calls for action, militaristic if necessary, if there is any attempt by the ROC Taiwanese government to declare independence.

6) Q: Finally, out of all of this did you know that ROC Taiwan has a democratically elected president? That the US has a law passed by congress that states if the ROC Taiwan comes under attack that the US will come to its defense?

2006-10-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

Part Three:

I will stop here realizing this is enough to either intrigue your desire to know more or to light the flames of boredom that so often consume our time and resources in attempts to quail their thirst for constant distraction. You might think there is little you can do to make a difference. After all, PRC China is the world’s largest country and what does it matter if you know what is going on since there is someone out there who you have voted for that makes it there job to know. Though this might appear to make the most sense and even reduce stress as we ‘pass the buck’ it in fact detracts from what the United States was about and still is even though the trend has moved away.

An informed people are the heart of a democracy. If this does not insight a desire to know what is going on in the world and what the US is doing to influence and change that world then I offer this last thought.

Taiwan (ROC) is not some far flung place that you do not have a connection with. I live here; I wake up, eat breakfast, do laundry, and talk with these people every day. These are my friends as you are my friends.

Taiwan is being threatened and bullied and I ask will the United States come to Taiwan’s rescue; will you come to Taiwan’s rescue and support their efforts to keep the ability to talk freely, to believe as they wish, and to enter into peaceful discussion about the world they would like to create together rather than to be handed the latest ideological slogan which they are demanded to live by?

Be informed and you empower yourself to act; maybe not now but someday you will have the most dangerous tool known to man…KNOWLEDGE.

Sorry for the soap box blog!!!!! Take it easy and I love you guys!

2006-10-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone has had this similar random thought but think back to Castaway, the movie where Tom Hanks is trapped on the island after his plane goes down. One think I can't remember is if he was headed to Russia again when his plane went down.

If he was, in fact, on his way in that direction then where did the tropical climate come from? Believe it or not, this has not been bothering me until very recently (AKA, since I got back from my run). If anyone can find this out for me I would love to know. If he was headed to Russia and his plane crashes "conveniently" in the tropics I am going to chalk that one up to Hollywood theatrics. I might still since the jury is still out!

Off to bed after chilling with my chill roommate (I have two and the other one is a Physics Masters student...AKA no life and is way too stress). We went with Palm to get a famous Taiwanese snack of Chou Doufu which I have mentioned before as stinky toufu. It kills me to admit that its not too bad.

Take it easy since the weekend is quickly approaching!

2006-10-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

This will be a short one since it is 12:30 and I am tired!

I don’t really have much to talk about since there has been little going on. I have been hanging out with good friends spending time eating a lot of different foods. Taiwan is the best place, in my opinion, to try all the foods of the Asian world. This is unless you have the unlimited funds to go to the actual country and try these foods out in the country. There are tons of Thai, Korean (my favorite), South Asian, China, and of course the Taiwanese foods. They all have their differences though some are more subtle than others.

Ate at an awesome Korean Restaurant on Monday and it is so famous that a line forms out into the street. We got there at the right time and they took care of us very well. Today I ate on-campus in their cafeteria-like restaurants with my host student and two friends of mine. It was a little cheaper but it is not worth the maltreatment I must put my palate through in order to enjoy a good meal!

Also been working with my language exchange friend and everyday we go to this one restaurant to hang out, study, and talk with the shop keeper. Really, we go because its Macany’s family friends and we get a lot of small things for free. I like a cup of coffee, I love a free cup of coffee and its thick like mom makes it at home!

I am trying to find a good place to buy a bike but I don’t want to buy a new one. My experience with having mine stolen does not prompt me to spend a great deal of money on something someone else will later enjoy at my expense! This is not to say Taiwan is not safe. I actually feel Taiwan/Taipei is one of the safest places I have ever been to in my entire life and that is not an exaggeration!

Oh, one cool piece of information is I just learned/been asked to visit with the Mayor of Taipei who is expected, in 2008, to become the president of Taiwan! He is having a few students come to his office and talk with him about Taipei and our impressions. You should be impressed to learn that he has graduated from Harvard Law and is a very well spoken individual…so I hear and I can later be the final judge!
I will let you know about this later since I don’t go until November 11th I think…if I can remember. I have too many dates in my head tonight. That’s about it. Off to bed and the coffee shop in the morning!

2006-10-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked me “so what does a regular day consist of in Taiwan?” At first I want to laugh at the question thinking everyone must have an idea of Taiwan that comes straight out of David Caridean(sp?) Kung Fu movies. I have thought about it some and realize that such a conception is ok and warranted since most have not been here and they are very curious.

To be honest, the more I live here and get to know the people the more I realize I am living in a very western city! For example, today is Sunday and compared to others has turned out fairly normal or at least consistent with how my Sundays have gone. I woke up around nine this morning so I could catch Mom and Dad awake when I called. I talked with them for about an hour; I love you guys!!! After that I made my way to Gong guan. I know I have talked about this place a lot or at least mentioned its streets and markets a great deal. It’s very close to my dorm. Yes, I said it, dorm and not Residential building! Sorry Megan and Kevin but that PC lingo of the residential life community in the States has not made it here!

It was about 11 when I made it to Gong guan and what I have noticed is Taiwan doesn’t really get moving very early on the weekends. There were only a few places open other than the 24 hour stores, including the ubiquitous 7-11! I found this cool little food stand that I have wanted to try for some time now and ate a small lunch then I went to the coffee shop for some studying.

I have fallen in love with the coffee shop, especially two in particular for their views and sounds as I study. I think I enjoy the loud energetic sounds of that others call distraction as I work. Probably a symptom of my American ADHD but that has not yet been confirmed!

I know Boui will cringe at the sound of this and he can ring me for it when I return to the States but the two coffee shops are Starbucks! It isn’t that I choose Starbucks over other coffee shops out of some feeling of being at home in them even though they are US owned. I in fact only went to a few when I was in the states almost out of protest for the chain corprotacracy that seemed to be strangling our choices in everything. I don’t want to say I have given up the crusade but I think my energies can be better put to use that by attempting to be the one man who resists Starbucks cause I want to be cool trying to resist being ‘Starbucks cool’!

I digress! I am sitting in Starbucks now writing this article now looking from the third floor view over Roosevelt Rd traffic. This road, named after our 35th president ( I think if I remember correctly) F D Roosevelt. Taiwan appreciated the US lead war effort that freed Taiwan from the clutches of Japanese imperial rule and later China’s communist rebellion that they named a major road after the figure head of the US at the time. More importantly they also adopted a great deal of American habits right down to the right side of the road driving.

I walk this street everyday usually taking the bus to main campus, about a ten minute bus ride, and then walking back in the evening strolling through the night life that begins to liven up around 5:30 or 6 in the evening.

The week is pretty unpredictable other than the three hours a day I spend in class Monday through Friday. It seems like a lot but really the rest of the day is free for my personal scheduling. I have found a language exchange partner from another local university who I meet with on a pretty regular basis almost every day. We keep it pretty informal by talking about everything from how the weekend was to the political atmosphere in Taiwan and the looming giant that lives beside Taiwan under the title of “The People Republic of China.”

I do work out everyday by going swimming three days a week at the schools pool. It is free for students to swim for a certain time in the day so I take advantage of that since I think water would be my medium for which to live if I had the choice. I also run almost every day or every other day. I still find my way to the park I have picture of up on Webshots but because I am lazier than anything and stay up too late I run at night! I am not alone since just about everyone in Taiwan is very active; if it is not playing basketball, badminton (which is very popular!), tennis, or biking then it is walking and talking about the parks until the early morning hours. All ages keep late hours hanging out with friends and family. It’s very fun to see and hear such a vibrant night life much like college except they aren’t all making fools of themselves hanging from trees and drinking copious amounts of beverages.

The rest of my time here and there is spent with friends going out to local markets, hanging out and talking, or whatever we can get into around and in Taipei. I also try and spend time writing in its various forms both within the pages of ‘journal like’ books, this blog, and also a few short stories and maybe a book. I am not writing to be published but only because its fun. I know I am a dork so keep it to yourself!

If you want to know more just leave me a message and let me know what’s up. This is how I spend my days and without boring you to death with the ultra mundane aspects of its every detail these are the things that occupy those hours between up-and-at-them and shut-eye. In all honesty I think time appears to go faster here for me than it ever did in the states. I never have felt anxiety here about getting something done in a day but I definitely have looked at the clock and wondered where two and a half hours went like I just did now!

I love and miss the States and all of you but I love it here too!

2006-10-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Fall vacation.

I am surprised people are actually checking this page out but am happy that people want to read some, I repeat some, of this stuff!!

This past five days has been fun. I have spent some time chilling and some time traveling around seeing the sights.

For 中秋季 or Chinese moon festival, I hung out with some friends and headed out to Shilin where we got to see a lot of people party it up with some grillin and family time. It was nice to see how much everyone enjoyed the time with friends and family but it definitely made me miss home! All in good time I know.

Shilin is a nice night market where you can get just about anything from clothes, to DVDs, and tons of food. It stretches between MRT (subway) stations. It’s an awesome place for the kids to hang out and the pretty much…stay out of trouble because you can’t do too much wrong when there are 10,000 people looking at you do it. I wish the US/ Lynchburg would get a night market but I don’t think it’s one of those things you can just order on EBay.

On Saturday, I went to this one spot in a local park where I practice taichi chuan with a group of old guys. It is a picturesque place with old growth trees, rock gardens, and public benches. It is amazing how quiet it really can get though we are in the middle of the city. I know everyone is thinking taichi is for old guys and they are right. That is the group that predominately comes to work out. In fact I am sure the next youngest guy to me is almost double my age. It doesn’t make much difference and I think they like a young lad to kick around so they don’t feel so bad; kick the American kid!

Sunday a group of us went to YangMing Shan. It’s a group of mountains that lie north of the city. It also is home to the tallest mountain north of Taipei but if you really think about what I just said you realize how dumb that sounds when Palm told me this little fact! Its cool Palm is from Thailand! Joke! The pics are on my webshots page so you can get a feel for the breath of fresh air that comes with the scenery. It’s a beautiful place that makes you disbelieve you are only north of Taipei. I don’t want to say it isn’t far from Taipei though because it took us about an hour by public bus after we got off of a 35 minute train ride.

The travel was well worth the transportation which is a life lesson in patience. We did also have the chance to see a farm which made me very happy to talk with some of the farmers who worked the land. Their farm was a cooperative facility that was tucked in the valley between three peaks. It was highly commercialized and even carried a coffee shop that greeted you before entering the valleys farmed land.

We caught another bus back down the mountain which was interesting to say the least. Standing at the edge of the road we watch this small ‘bus,’ which I use lightly, pull up in front of us. Seriously, this ‘bus’ was no longer than an eight passenger van and it was defiantly not wider. Imagine that and now imagine the doors to the once-upon-a-time white ‘bus’ open to reveal almost thirty people “PACKED” in this thing. Twelve people are seated, mostly they are the elderly and the rest were a mix of young and old Taiwanese who came on their holiday vacation to see the mountains. What a joy!!

Andy, Palm, and I pack into the ‘bus’ which is now telling its true nature you can only imagine as I was, the bolts dropping away. As if this was not bad enough we must have had Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnheart jr. (sp??) driving on these mountains country roads cause he was defiantly trying to bank this mini van. At any moment I saw how I was going to die as we took the quick route off the mountain.

Obviously we didn’t and I had nothing to worry about! Dinner was wonderful as if it was the first meal I had ever eaten after I was re-born!

Monday can be summed up with coffee shop since that is where four and a half hours was spent hard at work studying. I was very productive and also happy to rest my feet after hiking for so long the day before.

Tuesday was an adventure in being random. Andy, Palm, and I decide, after I suggested, that we should find a way to the beach. We took the train/MRT/Subway to the last stop north which is Danshui. We hung around there for about two hours getting lunch and stopping at the shops to talk to people. Everyone was very friendly and as Palm said “happy to talk to the Mei guo ren (American).” Whatever, but I did get asked to have my picture taken with a few girls. They must have thought I was some star or something!

We had no idea how to get to the beach but decided to look at the bus routes and figure it out. We finally found one bus that was at least headed away from Danshui and along the farthest along the north coast. It was amazing to really get out of everything and even get away from the Taipei population and get close to the country. This of course meant I was going to be stared at more for my blonde hair and blue eyes but it made no difference.

Andy got into some conversation with some girls and found out that there was a pretty famous place before the last stop which we were destined. We decide to all follow the girls since they would show us the way to the spot. Shi men, which means stone gate literally was the only thing in this town. When we got off we could see the ocean, which made my day since that is all I wanted to do since about a month ago. The girls took us up to the natural stone formation for which this town is known. This structure resembles Virginia’s natural bridge a great deal in the way in looks from underneath the bridge but it just sticks out from the beach as a rock formation carved out by the flows of the ocean waves.

It was cool to check it out. You can look at the pictures of it on my webshots too. Here: http://community.webshots.com/user/Niccolaso. The girls then invite us to their friend’s birthday party which is not far from here. So I am told, this is Taiwanese culture which I thought was very nice so we went along.

The three of us along with the girls went to the track bleachers of the town’s elementary school where their friends were all around hanging out. This was defiantly something off of the movies like breakfast club, or that one with the little girls that hang out all the time and then grow up and reunite. Not “My Girl” is it?? Neither here nor their, this was funny cause it was defiantly a group of girls sitting around eating pizza. I then realized that was how we met the girls on the bus and the packages they were carrying. They traveled to the city to buy pizza! I also realized these are defiantly young girls.

We hang out, I practice my Chinese, they laugh at how bad all our speaking is and we eat pizza. We also played some Chinese games and I taught them hot hands and thumb war though they wanted something more American…do we have any other “American kid games??” We finally left the fourteen year olds. I blame that completely on Andy though they were extremely nice!

The end of the day brought about the great end to a good five day vacation. Back to school on Wednesday!

2006-10-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Moon Festival.

It was pretty cool to be around for the Moon Festival this week. I have five days off from school which I have loved thus far. The biggest thing I have noticed about the moon festival is the need to BBQ. I guess that is the verb usage for the resulting BBQ that you can eat!

I am serious that every single person BBQs which in itself doesn’t seem that interesting. I don’t think I would even notice ten to fifteen people gathering around a small Hibachi make-shift grill if they weren’t doing it in the middle of the sidewalk. Seriously they camp out on the sidewalk and if they have to work then they wait till after work and then BBQ in front of their work. Their friends all bring just about anything and grill it. If you can cook it they can grill it; Pork, beef, goat, mushrooms, clams, any kind of seafood, and corn. You have to have corn!

Anyway, it was pretty cool to see everyone out and together. It made me miss the good times at home grilling. Guess we will have a BBQ party when I get back.

Off to Yanming Mountain for the day. Guess I will have pictures for that one when I get back.

2006-10-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

American Beauty. // Seeing the Ugly Side.

Before I came to Taiwan in August I was a strong critic of America. I stayed informed about the United States, both domestically and internationally. I questioned both parties for their motives and found myself on the side of the critical in most politically oriented discussions opposite those who defended the United States in its reasoning and action.

Once I arrived in Taiwan, almost immediately, I was inundated with questions from other people about American policy. Many people wanted to know about America mostly as it pertained to their region of the world but others wanted to know about the United States’ overall plan. The general question has continued to be, do you think what the president does is wrong?

As Palm, my friend from Thailand often tells me, “America is the greatest power in the world.” Ever time he utters this statement I squirm at the sound! I am a little uncomfortable with it and I would hope you are too! With that statement comes a great deal of responsibility. The pressure is not something I want to think about. I would prefer to live a simple life away from the responsibility of being the worlds model, for better or worse, as how ‘best’ to live.

In these conversations I have found myself playing the opposite role that I was so familiar with in the States. I am not criticizing the United States but defending it against people who question me about being an American. I must clarify this statement by clearly saying I at no time defended or will defend particular actions. I instead defend the United States as a nation and my being an American.

The difference is crucial between defending the United States and defending the actions of the United States. It is what earlier left me uncomfortable while I was trying to explain why I am a proud American. I appreciate, am thankful for, and truly humbled by past efforts and those few current ones that have made the United States a place for open potential for freedom and an effort to create something of a just society within the boarders of our world.

That said I also have a contradicting shame that looms over my patriotic soul. This cloud affects my feelings and my ability to talk with non-Americans about the United States. They often ask me why I am defending that “Nation turned Empire.” Another asked “why defend a nation that is led by the devil,” of course quoting Venezuela’s Presidential address to the UN.

To answer this question I direct you to a book that I, by fate, chance, or however you wish to think of it, was reading as I arrived in Taiwan. The book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. I do not expect you to read it. If you do, I do not expect you to believe it. I too questioned his story. I am not sure if I believe such an elaborate and well written confession of a twenty year career involving extortion, bribery, falsifying research, and backing up everything with a well established cloak named The World Bank. I am not sure of this fictions truth; the efforts to make countries indebted to the United States so much so that we might then control them for our own exploitation but at the same time I also can not say it does not happen. More than anything this book did two things: 1) fueled an already burning fire that drives me to ask direct, strong, and dangerous questions of the United States, & 2) makes me consider with an open heart the impact one nation can have on the world.

This book helped me realize, in conjunction with a great deal of personal introspection, what my real struggle was as I tried to defend the country I love without supporting the devastating effects that it is believed to be of blame.

What I really love about the United States is the belief that we don’t know what to expect in the future but this is not something we fear instead we embrace it within the pages of our constitution. A government for the people is not a stagnant set of rules but a living organism. I will not say that those men who set up our country those short 230 years ago were heroes for their work. They were people like you or I who, also like us, had their opinions and their stubborn passions. It was what they offered within the structure of our government that was so great. They gave future generations the same opportunity they endured; to create a government they were proud of, safe with, and could support because it continued to adapt to the world along side them.

Therefore, I do not defend the United States as a stagnant ideal of democracy where we only involve ourselves when we break away from the everyday distractions of our lives to vote. I do not support a government that establishes these distractions within institutions that keep the people uninformed and ignorant. I do not support a government that wants to ‘use’ the world rather than establish a way to live in the world. The tough questions have not only been asked of the world but also about my own involvement in the way the United States acts. Could it be possible that the United States that I take part in is something grossly abnormal from what we all ‘believe’ we see when we live within its borders?

The United States we all see from within is not the same United States the world sees outside. Ask yourself as I have asked myself what the United States means. Safety, security, power, organization but also consider that from my perspective outside and that of billions who live out here with me that the United States is a world cut off from the rest of us.

Consider for a moment that the story you know to be the United States action abroad is nothing more than a continued effort to keep the desire for growth up, an effort to always supply cheap products for a hungry consumer base, and to accomplish these objectives at any cost necessary to stay re-elected. Sounds negative I know but imagine for another moment that you are not benefiting from this string of wealth. See from another perspective how strange it seems that the United States supports China as a nation and fails to support Taiwan’s directly elected government as legitimate. Consider that they are internationally not recognized as a government. This hits home for me because I sit with these people everyday and they ask me why your government would not support a fellow democracy, a fledgling freedom force. From the inside it would make since not to piss China off as the number one producer of all this cool ‘stuff.’ The cost for this stuff is only a little International Credibility!

Check the history books for how many times the United States has support dictators, particularly in Latin American countries, where we can utilize the strongest international grip. Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. are all still writhing in pain from the United States international influence. Chavez’s outrageous remarks can be brushed off as comments of a crazy semi dictator. It is not so easy to see international figures as absolutely crazy if we learn something beyond the history books that “WE” write.

I will conclude with a very sobering point. In Chinese the word for America is 美国 mei3guo2 which literally means ‘beautiful country. I can’t argue with them about that one! In Chinese the word for the English language is 英文 ying1wen2. Ying literally means a person of outstanding talent or wisdom. I would say this is a throwback to the colonial days!

My point is summed up in this; Palm, my friend from Thailand treats his skin daily with a bleaching cream. “Why” you should be thinking but for no other reason than to be ‘like American.’ “America is the greatest country in the world” because we have so much but yet what do we do with it? Maybe this is just one crazy young man who believes ‘looking American’ makes you American. Maybe we should also consider this young man might be something of an indication of what it means to the rest of the world to be American. Some are willing to harm themselves to be American while others are willing to harm themselves to destroy America.
Instead of looking at a China made mirror maybe we should all step outside of our comfort zone and ask some tough questions. Before we judge everyone who hates us to be crazy let’s ask what kind of responsibility we have to the world. Are we using the gift of our fore fathers or have we made it so that Democracy is nothing but a shelved ideal. We only break it out on holidays so we can remember what it once was like to be as happy with others as we are with ourselves.

2006-10-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

It’s a small world!

So Monday morning starts out as any other as I go to a local breakfast joint behind my university. They have a variety of foods but the one I order today is an egg sandwich with veggies and dried fish on it. Don’t go knocking it because you think it sounds nasty!!

I don’t really order, another woman who is trying to translate for me orders which I, at first, find annoying because I would prefer to struggle. Stubborn American coming out I suppose. I extend the courteous “thank you” and in reply receive a “so where are you from.” I think to myself, thank goodness she is speaking Chinese cause I would love to practice. I tell her “From the United States.” “Oh, my sister lives in the United States” she says.

I am thinking to myself, ‘Wow, that’s great everyone knows someone that lives somewhere” but I didn’t think this in a rude way…you know! Anyway, she asks me “what state are you from” still in Chinese. I inform her that I am from Virginia which to my surprise she responds, “My Sister also lives in Virginia, in some small town called Lynchburg.”

Now, at this point the conversation is nothing like the thousand other Taiwanese who want to tell me they have a family member in the United States. No this is just crazy since, of all the places in the world this woman’s sister would be from the same home town as I am. She is from Lynchburg, of all places!

The woman goes on to say “she works for Ericsson but they have changed their name now.” Now it is just creepy! I respond with a shocked look on my face that tells the woman I am no longer interested in anything other than this conversation. I respond “My dad works for the same company!”

We talk more and find out her sister lived in Florida for 8 years and now works in Lynchburg. I make the comment that she definitely downgraded in the move from Florida’s metropolitan to Lynchburg’s Amish pace in life. She agreed telling me her sister thought Lynchburg was boring and that she herself has never visited her sister because there would be nothing to do. I laughed knowing full and well she is right!

Today, Tuesday I had the opportunity to call my parents because I got a new phone (phone number: country code 886- city code 2- cell number 0937724605) and I wanted to say Hi. I love those guys! They are truly amazing. I digress.

In my conversations with my mom I tell her about my chance encounter with the woman knowing mom would take the same stance I did and think it a great story about how small the world really is. I was excited to tell my dad, though because I knew he would appreciate the fact that it is his company but I didn’t expect him to know the woman. He works for a big company that stretches further than the rooms and laboratory he works within.

I told him the same story but I could not drop a name since that was not something I asked my breakfast friend. Dad, learning that I did not know the woman or who her sister was in Lynchburg, went on to tell me how he asks all the Asian looking people if they are Chinese that he meets at work. He particularly asked one woman if she was Chinese and her reply was “NO, I am Taiwanese!!”

Thanks dad for stereotyping a fifth of the world’s population! Just Kidding! Anyway, he started telling me that Susie Chen is Taiwanese and travels to Florida a lot. I think we have found our American Sister!

I will have to go back to the breakfast joint and find out if that is in fact Susie Chen’s sister. Anyway, it truly is a very small world. I will definitely remember that!

2006-09-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

Mosquitoes, my new hobby, and the coming holiday!!!

In classic Taiwanese style the mosquitoes are an everlasting pest. One would think you could get use to them stalking you at night but I can’t imagine why I would really want that! I don’t know how they keep getting in but they find us! My roommate, Richard, has several bites on his arms every morning. I laugh since I wised up and put the mosquito net up (see pictures). THANK YOU MOM! It’s a god send to have it!

I have a new hobby now. Well, it’s not really a hobby and I don’t go out of my way to collect these dumb things but its more of a joke that they keep giving them to me. 7-11 is literally on at least one corner of every city block in Taipei. It is a corner stone if you will, of the convenience mart chains around here. This is not to say that 7-11 is anything like those shabby, unwell lit, convenience marts in the United States, though Radford’s was nicely kept probably because as the #1 selling 7-11 for alcohol within the company must get a little extra to keep the place cleaner!

Anyway, the items I am collecting are little magnets that look like a cat, I would guess the same cat, in different countries around the world (see picture). I have only ten but there are something like 40 I think. There is also a game that goes with it but I think that might be too much!! Maybe when I come back to the US we could all pay it! I will think about that one. You have to spend a certain amount and the magnet will come free, but no, I have not gone to 7-11 that much! They don’t sell tacitos (sp?) there so I don’t have much of a reason to go. Instead, there are boiled soy sauce eggs, seaweed tofu, and some prepackaged roles. Sounds appetizing and just the thing Radford students need after a long night…of studying.

October 6th is the Moon Festival!!!! It’s a big deal around here and I get the day off from school (a five day weekend with the weekend and their founding date all falling around the same time!!). My language exchange friend, Macany, and I meet on a regular basis to work on his English and to fix my wreck of an attempt at Chinese. This past Saturday while we were meeting, his uncle invited me to his families celebration on Friday, the 6th, to come for a BBQ and drinks. They told me drinks specifically because apparently Macany’s uncle likes to drink and knows that I am an American…whatever that means!

I am excited because I have worked before on putting a Moon Festival program together for Radford’s community and now I get the opportunity to actually participate and see how close we come in the US. Because the whole group has been very kind and helpful as Macany and I have been working together I thought it a good idea to bring a gift so I went out and bought a bottle of alcohol. It’s a gift set so it comes with a glass that has the liquors name on it and a fancy box. It’s the first time I have ever been in a situation where I have bought a gift for strangers as I go to a party they are hosting. It is a new experience and I am excited. I also know I am going to need to drink some of this mess so I did not go too cheap!!

2006-09-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

I am meant to make mistakes while I am here!!

There are some things that, no matter how much attention you pay to them, you are bound to mess them up. In the grocery store I bought this fruit which, I thought, was one of the local fruits I had heard a great deal about. It was black, big, and kind of mushy. I brought it back and kept it for about a day. I decide to cut it open one morning for breakfast and what do I find but that it looks just like an avocado. Strangely enough, it tastes just like an avocado. Sesame Street taught me that if it tastes like it and looks like it, it just might be it. Of course I bought an avocado for breakfast cause that would be delicious by itself. The only thing I could find to help with the taste of the avocado was this bag of tofu chips that are compressed and supposedly flavored!! Yea, that didn’t help and I could only eat about three bites before I decided I would rather throw away and waste, something I find sacrilegious, than eat that mess.

Sorry for the waste!

Similar incidents have occur at restaurants where I would order what I thought was one thing and end up with a small bowl of something completely different. For instance, a bowl of rice with dried fish pieces smothers in beef sauce. Sounds interesting, does it not?!! It wasn’t bad and luckily my taste buds grew up in a house where eating sauerkraut was a regular event and moldy bread was just broken off!!

The rice diet, I must admit, has lead to a tremendous weight lose though I am sure the almost two workouts a day do not hurt either. I think I have found what I will do when I get back to the states; the rice diet. I think it will be a better hit than that eat all the meat you want diet and at this point it will beat out the spinach pit that has hit a rock bottom low. And Mom feared Bird Flu over here!!!

I am sure there will be more on the food situation later.

On a short note before I go, I have determined that when you speak or hear Chinese you must always sound angry and frustrated. It is truly the only way it sounds or is spoken correctly. The happiest of people sound as if they are going to do a flying Matrix kick at their friends laying them all out on the park sidewalk. It is an interesting sensation when, as an obvious foreigner, I glance over in curious fear expecting to find them in the fight for their lives only to find them yelling happy words of joy!
I am off to work on my angry face!

2006-09-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Culture Shock:
I have been thinking about culture shock lately. It has been about a month exactly since I arrived in Taipei. I was thinking about this the other day and it occurred to me that I have not been hit by any bout with culture shock.
An example of what I mean by culture shock comes from a personal experience I had three years ago. In my first China travel experience I spent three weeks in a tour around mainland china with a group of almost thirty people. It was rather insane to have that many people in a group to begin with but the worst part is you are still, for all intensive purposes, isolated from the real experience of China. Any tour group honestly sucks. Think about the fact that you often have someone mediating between you and the culture you are visiting. Tours are more about saying you got to see this place. My point being, I get to say I saw the Great Wall of China, I get to say I went to Shanghai, or I saw Qing Dao’s beer Factory which is all amazing and every one of you should go see them all.
Honestly, however, you never get that ‘in your face’ exposure. Anyway, back to my story. I spent those three weeks with the group until the end of our tour. They all returned to the United States and I then left for Taiwan for another 10 days staying in Taipei.
It was there that I had my first real experience, so I think, with culture shock. I say I think cause no one really knows what culture shock is they just have similar feelings when they travel abroad and we all say its culture shock!
Anyway, I found myself alone in Taipei for 10 days. Not a long period of time but it was enough for me to feel, after a few days, the depressed since of estrangement. That sums it up really. I felt depressed; I could rarely talk with anyone since most people didn’t know how to talk to me nor me to them. I knew somewhere deep inside me that I did not belong in this picture. It reminds me of that Russian artist who paints all the pink and purple bears in field and forest scenery with the beautiful fluffy clouds. The bears stand out because we know they don’t belong. They look strange.
These feelings tore into me the last few days I was in Taipei. For another thing, I new I was leaving soon. I new I was only a visitor, a by standard who was not apart of the flowing tides, ebbs and flows of the everyday life around me. More so, I was a stone in the way of the river. It only took time before I knew I would slip under the running currents.
Now, in Taipei once again, three years later I find myself in the same environment that left me feeling strange and out of place. This time, however, I don’t have that same feeling. This is about the time it would be in full swing. The mind would start playing tricks on me. I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling sad, alone, bored, lost, weird, and just plane exhausted.
What has changed? Well, first of I have traveled to China once again a year before now. I spent another three weeks there and I have grown accustom to the culture, the people, and the language. This time is also drastically different in the fact of my living in Taiwan. I don’t call Taiwan a touring destination but for the next year I live here. I even have an alien residence card that gives me a citizen number. I have an everyday routine that keeps me busy and a familiarity with my environment. Though these things seem trivial they make a difference.
More importantly, and a feeling I had as I first got here, was the thoughts that went through my head about where I was at in the world. As a kid, even as an adult, I thought about ‘how far’ China was and how cartoons depicted it on the other side of the planet and it is but that doesn’t mean it on a different world!
I have come to realize that the estrangement felt when culture shock sets in is not so much the environment the surrounds but the way one sees the environment. I saw everything as extremely foreign and strange when, in reality, it was not as strange as my mind wanted it to be. I will illustrate this in a revelatory moment; I guess you could call it that, while I sat on the bus the other day. I sat in the back of the city bus which is something I never did in the United States for the simple fact that I am a country boy who road a tractor more than a city bus. I sat there in the back next to the window. The sun beamed down through the window and as I looked out at the passing mopeds zooming along the road the huge smudge comes into focus. This is no ordinary smudge, it is more like some one was trying to like at the window like they were trying to get at the center of a tootsie pop.
My point is, at that moment I came to know this smudge, not as some strange ‘new’ thing but as the same kind of smudge I have seen a thousand times after taking the dogs to the vet or leaving Matt, my little brother in the back seat too long.
The Conclusions: Yes, this world is big, yes, I live on the other side of the planet, yes they do things quite a bit differently at times (they eat different things, they do different things for fun…ping pong like crazy), and yes they talk a different language. However, with all these differences there are a great deal more things that make Taiwan, China, or anywhere else as much home as my backyard. Not to get too philosophical or humanistic but they really are just people here as there are in the United States.
I love it when I am asked the question: so what do you do everyday, what is your daily schedule and I often respond that it is pretty much like a day anywhere else. Nothing really changes when you go somewhere you just can say you are somewhere else doing the same thing you did when you were living in the last place. This is the reality behind culture shock. In some way, it is dealing with the reality that things aren’t as stagnant as they appear and there isn’t only one way to do things. There are many and we can find that to be true as we watch many different people do them all around the world. In the end, though, they are all beautiful people finding a way to live, to be happy, to prosper and share their world with others.
Well that is quit the Gandhi ending! A long thought! Have a good one!

2006-09-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what form this blog page will take. I know I have no desire to tell you about my every waking moment life story. More so, because I do not wish to relive it as I type than cause I don’t want to tell you. This isn’t going to be a daily journal that reads like a day old day planner.
I mostly am just going to share thoughts about living abroad and what it means for me. Much like a living entity, this page will most likely take a life of its own and be lead as I lead; without great aim.
To keep everyone on the same page first, I live in Taiwan. For those who know me very well, you already know this stuff but for those that don’t even know the basics that’s a pretty big one I guess. I will be here for a year so I can imagine that might be a good source of some material; then again, maybe not.

Anyway, have a good one!