Is finally going to travel...

Hey all,
So I've been here for 6 months or so. It really feels longer than that. Hm, weird. Anyways, when I first got here the timing was pretty perfect. I had about a month of work and then my first vacation hit (we went to Bali, Indonesia). Since then, I haven't traveled anywhere! Not even around Taiwan itself and and it's not that big. It's maybe half the size of California...maybe! Sad, I know. But my work hours are intense and long! That mixed with my Chinese classes I just haven't had enough to time to get away from the city much -- okay, at all.

But now, I'm getting away for a short trip down to the middle part of the island to Taizhong. It should be fun. Maybe (hopefully) this will jump start my "Taiwan traveling engine".

So, I've kind of exhausted my books...any recommendations???

Classics...

An interesting phenomenon has occurred. Since I've been in Taiwan my appetite for reading has increased. Ever since I graduated from college I've developed a ravenous hunger for literature spanning many genres. But here, that hunger has burgeoned! I think it stems from the amount of hours I work in relation to the amount of free time I have...of the latter, I have very little. Given that, it's easy to just dip into a book when you have a few down minutes during lunch or trying to sleep.

I've always wanted to read some of literary classics and here I found the opportunity. I decided to start with Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Wow! What a great book. I wasn't even done and Dumas was catapulted to the top of my Favorite Authors list. After I finished Count I wanted -- nay, craved -- to read some of his other works, most notably The Three Musketeers. Ah-mazing! I've never read an author that such wonderful prose and action to truly capture the reader into the pages of the story. After reading Musketeers I determined that this book in it's entirety would make an EXCELLENT MOVIE!!! Something to think about...

a Nativity Story

Here in Taipei there isn't much Christmas spirit. Yes, Starbucks has the red holiday cups that are world-wide, and shopping malls here are decked out with decorations. But that's not the spirit of Christmas. I'd say it's more the commercial side of this time of year. Amid all that though, my church put on a Christmas Nativity Pageant. It only runs for one weekend -- this weekend.

The pageant has been put on for almost 7 years now and it's growing strong. When I first heard that we were doing the pageant, my thought was "Really? Who's going to come see that??" Well, tonight was our first two performances and each one was a packed house! Even more impressive since it's all outside at a park in the chilly air and blowing wind!

The Pageant is complete with Christmas carols tied into the narrated story and acted Nativity Story. I thought this would be great fun to sing in the choir...unfortunately that wasn't the case. Somehow the powers-that-be at church found out that I got my degree in Theatre and promptly put me in charge of directing the pageant! Short of a few hitches here and there, oh, and the fact that my Tech Crew doesn't speak English, we all pulled off a great show! Now, one more day...

Jay Chou

Before my computer died on me I left off saying that I was on my way to a concert here in Taipei. I went and it was awesome! The artist was Jay Chou (his English name). This guy was amazing! He's basically pop because that what sells over here, but the guy is incredibly talented. He can play almost any instrument. He was classically trained on the piano and incorporates a lot of that in to his music.

On top of that he acts and directs. He recently directed and starred in a movie called "Secret". Great. Great story, great music, great characters, and there's a twist I didn't see coming and it blew me away! I'm really impressed by this guy.

Only one mark against him. He's horrible to listen to if trying to hear the words...he's a mumbler. Like, the worst mumbler I've ever heard! Still, good show.

Where have you been?!?!

So many Sundays ago I was getting ready for church. I woke up, put on some music via my computer, and left the room to shower. After a short time I came back. Everything was the same as it was before. Except one thing's different. My computer is no longer playing music. Specifically, it's playing music but stopping every three seconds and "thinking" good and hard for another 10 seconds. Oh, and now there's a grinding sound coming from "under the hood".

Long story short, in the length of time it took to shower, my hard-drive died. Totally bit it. So sad. Even more sad...I hadn't backed up some of my latest important works and everything on the old hard-drive...lost. Music, pictures, files, you name it, it's gone.

It took two weeks -- maybe a little longer, I stopped counting -- to get it fixed. Now it's back and I'm obviously here blogging again. There is a blessing to all this. Prior to this moment, my computer was on 24-7, I was constantly connected, checking e-mail, news, music, people all....the....time. Not having a computer for two weeks has been a good opportunity to realize that it's good to disconnect at the end of the day. Just shut things down, read a book, journal, do whatever. That's it for now.

Talk to you all later.

Hi-Ho...QUICKSILVER!!!

I got it. Finally, it's mine. My latest adventure in Taiwan: a scooter. The streets are choc-a-block full of 'em! With all the congestion and other vehicular traffic (buses and cars) scooters are the best way to get from point "Here" to point "There". I've driven a scooter once before in my life and that was in a much less crowded environment -- Bali, Indonesia. Now, many months later I'm sitting on my brand new used scooter and the feeling is something akin to not having road a bike for a long time and starting up again...only this time, the bike is motorized!

I bought her (the scooter) from one of my co-workers as he contract expired and he was on his way back to the States. Can you guess what color she is??? Well, under the years of horrible air pollution there's a cool dark silver. Hence the name, "Quicksilver"...also the parallel image to riding a scooter and riding a horse.

I haven't worked up driving in the teeming streets of Taipei yet, just cruising around Banqiao for now. Gotta jet, I'm going to a concert tonight!

Cold...what?

So in all my packing to come out here for a year I suppose it never occurred to me that it would, at some point, get cold. Well, it has now gotten cold...and rainy! I neither have a rain jacket nor a suitable blanket to keep out the cold when I sleep. I have to look up and ask myself, "Self, where was your head when you were planning this part???"

But, don't fret dear reader, I will find warmth and protection from the elements...some how...some way.

6.0 at least

The other night at around 2:17 am or so, I was awoken to my room being shaken side to side vigorously. Lying in bed, I realized, "Hey! This is an earthquake!"

I've experienced earthquakes in California so no big deal, right? The hit for a few seconds then dissipate. After about 10 seconds this sucker wasn't letting up. And this sucker was big. It ended up lasting almost 30 seconds!!!

The next day I was told it was around a 3.something. I've felt a lot of minor quakes in Los Angeles and this wasn't a minor quake. This one had to be around 6.0. Turns out it was something like 6.7. Yeah.

No damage or anything. Interesting though, I've lived in California for most of my life and I've felt more earthquakes in Taipei in 3 months than I have in both San Francisco and Los Angeles combined for the past 5 years. Yeah, Taiwan has the most fault lines compared to anyplace in the world!

We have it all wrong!

Dear readers, I've reached a conclusion...in US we need to do away with the current form of currency. Sad, I know, but it's true. The system in Taiwan is pretty great. Their lowest coin is $1 NT, and goes up to $5 NT, $10 NT, and $50 NT. Then it jumps to the bills: $100 NT, $500 NT, and $1000 NT. Everything here costs a nice round dollar amount. No cents to deal with!!!

It hit me the other day when I was teaching my G4 kids about long vowel sounds (specifically /i/). The example in the book was "dime".

"Teacher, what is 'dime'?"

I proceeded to explain to them that you have a dollar, THEN you have cents -- less than a dollar. A dime is worth 10 cents. If you have ten dimes, you have a dollar.

The look in their eyes was something along the lines, "That's the stupidest thing we've ever heard. Silly round-eye."

For anyone who's been to another country that has a currency system that the lowest unit is a dollar (not fractions of), you understand what I'm saying.

Worst Invention Ever....EVER!

For those of you that don't know (and I'm sure you all do), I'm in Taiwan teaching English to kids aged preschool up to 5th grade. Periodically, I have to teach the little kids -- the two year-old preschoolers -- art class. As far as I'm concerned, their skill level in art is "here's a crayon, now color." They can't color inside the lines to save their life, but it gives them the semblance of trying to do art.

Then there's the cutting. And here's where the worst invention part comes in...child-proof scissors. UUUuugh!!! I hate -- nay, loathe them. They don't cut. Here, let's teach kids how to cut things with something that DOESN'T EVEN CUT!!! It's so frustrating!

I'd rather have little kids learn with real scissors and loose the tip of a finger. That way they'll have accomplished cutting AND learned a lesson about something.

Real quick!

The coolest thing ever...well, maybe not the coolest, but it's great nonetheless...

They have watermelon here in Taiwan. But not watermelon like we have in the states. It's gold. Like bright yellow instead red. I'm going to venture out on a limb and say that this "gold" watermelon tastes better than red watermelon by virtue of it being "gold"!!!

So good!

Ghost Month

Hello dear readers...What an interesting time this is. This month is Ghost Month. Specifically, the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The Chinese believe very strongly in spirits and ghosts. So much so that their beliefs and fears keep them from going in certain bodies of water for fear of being taken away by evil spirits.

During this month on the 13th day, there's a Ghost Day where the people believe that the gates of Hell open and their dead ancestors are allowed to visit this world for a brief time. To quell any evil spirits and maintain a generally happy ghost population a lot of sacrificing is done in the form of food and burning money. Not real money. They have paper that is supposed to represent money that gets burned in these special cans during the day out front of homes and shops. As far as offerings go, the Taiwanese place sometimes huge tables of food on the street for the Ghosts to just take. It's a very serious tradition.

In my first week here I noticed a table of this nature laden with food on the sidewalk as I was walking to work. I had no idea it was an offering to deceased relatives. I thought that this country was just so nice for leaving free food out for anyone that would want it.... No, I didn't take any, but I was sure tempted.

Open Door Policy

There aren't a lot of huge cultural differences that have really struck me while I've been here so far. It's more the small nuances that make me look up and say, "Huh, that's different." And then it sits with me for the rest of the day bringing about a chuckle as it pops into my head.

The one that has struck me today was the bathroom situation -- both public and private. At the school where I teach each floor has a bathroom. Each bathroom is unisex and has three stalls. The stall at the end is for the Teachers only while the other two stalls are for whoever may need to use them be it boy or girl at anytime. I've heard of unisex bathrooms in the workplace -- albeit was on the show Ally McBeal, but I'm sure they exist in some Fortune 500 companies out there, right? Be that as it may, there's something just a bit awkward for me when I'm having a "movement" and in the stall next to me is a preschooler named Vivian! Maybe it's just me.

Beyond the whole unisex thing at work is the general "open door policy" at most male /female specific bathrooms -- public or private. And it's exactly what you think it is. They leave the doors opens! I saw this in action when the school took kids on a field trip and while we were on a break one of the boys used the single-person bathroom. He left the door wide open and proceeds to do his business..."Matt! Close the door!"

Then there are the Metro bathrooms. Very clean. Maybe the cleanest public bathrooms I've ever seen. Maybe that's because of the old woman that is stationed in there to clean all day long! No one even notices her. I almost thought she was someone's grandma that went in the wrong door for a second.

"Huh, that's interesting."

Dog Culture

This is rather frustrating and upsetting... I refer to the dog culture here in Taiwan. Dogs are seen as family guardians. Protectors of the home. Watchers of children. Something to be discarded freely when the family feels like it no longer wants it. Done many of the side streets in Taipei you'll find at least a couple of dogs -- mixes usually -- just hanging around or wandering from one lingering smell to another. It's so sad to see. These alley dogs are terribly skinny, dehydrated, and sick to some extent or another.

Families just discard them at a whim -- probably when the dog gets too big for the already cramped urban living space that is most of Taipei. It makes sense that everywhere you look there are stray dogs, because there's no curb on breeding. Taiwan hasn't picked up on the whole -- spay and neuter your pets idea. It really breaks my heart and angers me to see these animals treated this way.

Not all dogs are treated this way. Some have wonderful loving families are treated very nicely. But I must say that seems a minority thought around here.

Very sad...

Bali, part the Third

"You have died of dysentery." For those of my generation or there abouts, that marvelous quote is from the old school computer game Oregon Trail. I loved that game! It, the dysentery part, has particular significance in this final adventure in Bali...

Actually, it's in Lombok, another Indonesian island about a twenty minute flight from Bali. It is here that Chad and I would get SCUBA certified. Where better than in the crystal clear waters of Bali and the surrounding islands, right??? Well, as we were contemplating where to get certified over dinner a new proposition came up: What about trekking up the volcano on Lombok? Yeah, that would be cool! Let's do it!

After dinner we set out to compare prices for the this trekking adventure. It would be a two day, one night hike from the base up to the crater rim. Sure, sounds awesome! Except that a few hours after dinner earlier my stomach was screaming in disagreement with me. I figured it was nothing, just ate something that a few hours on the toilet will fix in no time. We set up to meet the guide early the next morning for our trek up the volcano -- 7km up the volcano known as Gunung Rinjani.

The morning came, and I was feeling okay. As okay as one could be after sitting on the toilet all night. But nonetheless, I was ready to rock. Our guide met us and we drove out to the base of Gunung Rinjani (about 1hr 45 min drive). There we met up with our porters and trail guide. Also, nice of them, they served us breakfast: Pineapple and banana pancake (more like a crepe and swimming in butter). As I ate there was a distant voice in the core of my body that said, "No, Chris, for all that is good, don't eat it!!!" I promptly ignored said voice.

The trail was incredibly steep, covered in root systems. There were four rest posts along the trail set about 2-3 hours of hiking apart. About 2 hours in to the hike, something was wrong. My inside were SCREAMING at me. I needed to find a bathroom fast! Funny, there weren't any on this side of Rinjani (or any other side for that matter). I've never had to squat in the woods before...now, I'm a seasoned veteran. There was no relief from whatever "demon hell ride" was going on in my stomach and bowels. All I knew is that I was sweating (a lot) and loosing a lot of water by "other means" as well. Dehydration was a certainty. For as quickly I drank water, it came out of me just as fast.

By four hours into the hike I was begging the guide to let me turn around and go back. I felt so silly having been reduced to such "weak sauce". Trust me, though, this was bad. Very, very bad. Still I pushed on -- crawling at moments -- UP the hill. We rested for the night and set out in the early pre-dawn morning. Things weren't much better. Still, we pushed on and made it to the crater rim of Gunung Rinjani...it was worth the trials and taxation just for the view and the sense of accomplishment.

To hike a volcano in two days is pretty hard. Doing it with dysentery-like symptoms, even harder. Yes, I'm bragging just a bit.


Our porters and guide. These guys are ripped! They do this hike three times a week.


From the top...


Us at the crater rim...

Bali, part the Second

Ubud...I need to thank my friend Meredith for recommending this city to me and my traveling companions. I don't know if we would've considered it with out. Maybe we would have. Still, she gave it a big thumbs up and so do I.

Ubud is set inland about 45 mins or so and is the Bali's culture and art center for the island. For me, this was my favorite part of the trip. We found a nice little home-stay set off the main road down an alley. The caretaker was very nice and eager to set us up with anything we needed -- for additional price of course. Our first day they we walked down the street passing all sorts of artisan shops hawking local tradecraft and wares -- things like Balinese masks, jewelry, drums, etc. At the end of the street was what we were looking for...the Sacred Monkey Forest.

It was awesome. It's an Indonesian Temple set in among the forest/jungle and totally overrun by monkeys! Think the Jungle Book. The locals sell bags of little bananas to give to the monkeys that will crawl into your lap and take them...and take other things like watches and bracelets, or the rest of the bananas if you're not careful!

The next day, we had signed up for a traditional Balinese/Indonesian cooking class. It was hands-down the best food of the entire trip!
We were given a recipe book of think five dishes (including desert) and were taught how to prepare and cook them. We cooked for about four hours until 1 pm. Then we all sat down to lunch and was served this amazing spread of all the food we had just cooked. Delicious!

Later that day, we rented scooters to explore the surrounding country side. Sadly, our high from lunch was thwarted a bit when one of our party hit a parked car with her scooter. I'm not going to name names...

Bali, part the First

We arrived in Bali, Indonesia. Fun Fact: the word "Bali" in Chinese means "Paris". Everyone we told where we were going for vacation gave us these crazy looks until we explained it was Indonesia, not France. Where was I...?

Ah, right. We arrived in Bali just before dinner. The flight was uneventful and not worth mentioning. We gathered our bags, got through customs (yay, for another Visa in my Passport!) and headed outside. We were immediately greeted with an onslaught of men yelling "Transport?", "Where you go? I take you!" The thing about Bali is this: Everyone on the street is willing to drive you anywhere you want to go or sell you anything they might have -- or knows of someone willing to sell you anything -- provided you pay "foreign prices". Obviously, foreign prices are a lot higher than costs for natives. White = Rich in their minds. Ergo, there was a lot of bargaining and haggling that ensued, because, while I'm white, I am certainly not rich.

Another thing in Bali: You can haggle over (almost) anything. Everything from taxi rates, to rooms, to the cost of dinner. Silly and eventually very frustrating, but that's how it goes in Bali.

The taxi driver took us to a quaint little inn slightly removed off the main strip in Kuta -- the Tourist Capital of Bali. It was incredibly westernized with Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, they even had an A&W Burger place...those are hard to find in the states!

After getting our room, we set off down the main strip and encountered some locals that were willing to take us anywhere. We told them we were hungry and they walked with us to show where to get some tasty Balinese food. Post-eating, we made our way out to the beach and relaxed for a bit. The waves were awesome. I wish I was able to spend a day surfing here, but sadly our time was too short.

We did some brief local shopping and called it a day. The next morning after breakfast we made our way to Ubud...

Meet Ethan...

This is Ethan. He's one of my preschoolers. Cute, right? Yeah, don't let it fool you! He drives me up the wall and more often than not I want to tear my hair out over him. But then he'll do something and all the anxiety he causes is tossed out the window.

For instance...I was teaching the T2 class (preschool) PE and having them run through a series of hoops and hurdles. Anything to tire these kids out. Anyways, Ethan (at two years old) gets this burning look of competition in his eyes he runs through this mini-gauntlet and finishes with this triumphant FIST PUMP and howls, "YES!" I should get a video of it. It's hilarious! Just wanted to share...

Even better, is that in two days I will be on my way to Bali. Yeah, be jealous!

Gone Hiking...

Last weekend some of us went up into the mountains northwest of Taipei. In a word it was: AMAZING! It's interesting. Taipei is vast and populated much like Los Angeles is an urban sprawl of humanity. But Taipei butts up to this mountain range that runs from the top of the coast down through the center of the island. We took a bus some distance up the mountain and set off into the forest. Most of the time there was this really cool stone path that was laid by God-knows-who.

We probably hiked a good 7 - 10 kilometers that day. The forest was a vibrant green and lush. I wouldn't call it a jungle, nor a rain forest, but it was pretty close. Off in the distance as we hiked thunder rolled trying to let the rain come down. We wound our way back up the mountain heading for this magnificent waterfall. After a bit of a breather and some pictures of the waterfall that didn't turn out, we were trying to figure out our next path -- up or back down? Thunder rolled again. "It wants to rain," I said.

With that, it started to rain. Then pour. It was awesome. We decided to keep going up and eventually the forest gave way to hills of rolling grassland. It was pretty spectacular. We had gone so high up that there was just mist and clouds around us. The sprawl of Taipei was lost from sight.

Where have you been???

Dear readers, it has been waaaay too long, i know. Let me take a moment to explain my recent absence...Where do I begin? Okay, I'll start with the loss of my internet several weeks ago. A few Saturdays ago, my friends and I went bike riding up the Northern part of Taipei where a river cuts through the city. We had a great morning ride of maybe 20 kilometers. I brought the camera, had some good pictures -- I think, to put up on the blog and after a long bike ride there's nothing better than chillin' in the air conditioned apartment blogging....

Okay there are some better things than that, but I'm trying to play up how frustrating it was to come back and find a total lack of internet! Usually it goes down and I'll just unplug and restart and go through the whole process and it will be fine. No dice. Turns out it has nothing to do with my computer and everything to do with the building's network -- something I have no control over whatsoever! Then the company that's changing the cables and making the repairs tells us (via my translator at school) that they've decided to upgrade the whole system and it's going to be super fast. Cool, whatever, I still don't have internet. When will this super awesomeness be done? Oh, they don't know. They're killing me!

So this goes on for several weeks, then there's the neighbor...One night at around midnight or so, I am awakened by my next door neighbor yelling! He's not yelling words so much as he is letting out howls of rage. He's pounding on the walls (the walls that I share with him!), yelling out the window, throwing things. This goes on for about an hour. I put on my shoes and shirt ready to tell him to put a lid on it -- none of the other tenants have done anything yet.

Just as I'm crossing my apartment, I hear his door open and close and there's HUGE and FEROCIOUS pounding on my door! My door! And he's still yelling and trying to break down the door. That's it. No ONE in the States would be getting away with this. I open the door and shove him back yelling, "GET OUT OF HERE!" Yeah, that always works. Turns out the guy is drunk -- not just drunk, but belligerent. When he stumbles back he brings up his hand to steady himself and I see that he has a knife. A big butcher's knife. Perfect.

I close the door and bolt it and find myself reflecting: Here I am, the farthest from home I've ever been. In a country known for it's pleasant attitude toward foreigners. I don't know the language. My internet doesn't work. I can't make calls to Taipei numbers from my cell. And my neighbor is beating down my door with a large knife. I'm not sure this is exactly what I expected when I set out on this adventure.

In the end, my neighbor passes out in his apartment as drinking copious amounts of alcohol will tend to do. My landlord "asks" him to move out. Doesn't apply any real pressure and tells me everything is okay now. I'm sorry, I don't agree. The internet still doesn't work and now if and when i see my "new best friend" I'm going to put him through a wall! So no, things aren't okay now. I move out. Blessing in disguise....

My new place has faster internet; i can fit three of my old apartments into this new one; it has a kitchen, washer, dryer, and a balcony with one of the best views ever! My old place had a window that looked out on an alley...

So there you are, I'm back!

My Kids...

Finally, I got some pictures of my kids that I'm currently teaching. These aren't all of them. I teach six classes a day ranging in age from pre-school up to about 3rd grade. The school has this fun tradition that if it's someone's birthday that month they entire grade gets to have a party! They cancel one class period and we just play. I wish my school was like that growing up. Anyways, these kids are all adorable and I love 'em to bits and pieces. Not to say that there aren't a few students that definitely drive me up the wall -- or will in the future.

These three are my Grade Basic kids. Essentially, they are old enough to be in grade school but don't speak a word of English. They're definitely some of my favorites. Though they can't really express themselves yet, I can tell they are here to learn and are excited. Right now we're working on greetings: "How are you?" "I'm fine, thank you." So they may actually hate this place and hate my face, but as far as I know -- they're fine! My ignorance is their bliss. Or something to that affect.

Shilin Night Market

Ever since I got here -- nay, before I even left the States -- I've been hearing all about Taipei's Night Markets. For those of you unsure as to what a 'Night Market' is, well, it's exactly what it sounds like: A market at night. But it goes much further than that. By many accounts, the Shilin Night Market is the biggest and best in Taipei. So my thought, why not make that the first one to go to? The Shilin Night Market is as follows:
One Part Carnival complete with games for the adults and kids.
Two Parts Food randing from various meats on skewers to Watermelon Juice Smoothie. (It should be noted that some of the best food to be had in Taipei can be found here)
Equal Parts People and Merchandise Stalls --- and there's many of them! It was veritable sea of humanity. You had vendors shouting out their latest wares, shoppers haggling over prices (always a good time). Much of the merchandise to be bought were of a clothing variety and there was much to choose from.

All in all, I felt pretty drained afterwards, but it was fun to feel the rapid energy of this part of the city.

A bit of Exploring!

By show of hands, who has been to the top of the world's tallest building??? I have, I have! Over the weekend I hit up Taipei 101. It's over 500 meters tall. Physics and the Mother Nature have an interesting friendship here. The whole of Asia is no stranger to typhoons, raging winds, and earthquakes. So it seems like an unlikely place to build the world's tallest building. However, just looking at the design you can get a feeling that a lot of the "natural dangers" have been given their due credit. In the core of the building is a HUGE orb suspended by thick cables and hydraulic pistons. When the the wind blows fiercely or the ground shakes, this orb sways to counter the movement of the Tower keeping it thus upright. Fascinating!

There was an observation deck on the 85 floor. The speed elevator took 8 seconds to get from floor five to 85. That's crazy fast. The speed elevators hold the Guiness World Record for fastest elevator (people, not freight). So, this is Taipei from 85 floors off the ground -- note we weren't even at the top of the building. There's still 16 floors before you reach the top!

In the Land of the Hairless...I am King!

Interesting fact: Probably 90% of all Asians don't have arm hair. Indeed, beyond that I'm fairly certain they don't have much leg hair, back hair (god help them if they do), or chest hair. Given that, my students are fascinated by my light hair and my arm hair! They can't get enough. They come up to me and rub my forearms with their hands feeling my arm hair. I wore shorts the other day and two of my pre-schoolers, Stanley and Jaimie, couldn't stop playing with my leg hair. They just kept stroking my knees giggling. Such sillies they are!

The Joys of Teaching 1

It's been my first week at work -- The Uncle Sam American School. There's some ironies here: the first being, USAS us neither run by nor operated by Americans. On the teaching staff/faculty there are only three Americans. The rest are Chinese (Taiwanese). Regardless of said ironies, it has been an enjoyable week. I spent Monday - Wednesday observing varying classes, teaching styles, and games like Pronoun Pants (by Chad pictured here).

On Thursday I taught my first couple of classes. It wasn't as daunting as I expected. A lot of the kids I knew from observing and they were already warmed-up for me. Friday was a full day of teaching. The time really flies, especially since most of these kids aren't older than say, 3rd Grade. That said, it's the pre-schoolers that really work me over. I'm always the most tired and sweaty after teaching them (okay, it's more like playing).

At this point I need to tell you that pictures of the kids will come soon. So sit tight! For now, enjoy the pictures of some of my co-workers. We're a fun bunch. We're a couple of Americans and two South Africans -- but they don't count because they're heading out after this week.

Finding your way...

It's easy to let fear get the better of you. Here I am in the middle of a city with no clue where anything is. Though there's a lot of enlish or Pinyin (Mandarin written using Roman letters), there aren't a lot people that speak or understand it. What do you do??? Remain sedentary and only move between work and your house? I say nay! That first thing to do, indeed the sooner the better, is to get "lost". Obviously not actually lost. But a sort of "controlled lost"...

The other day, I made it a goal to explore a certain part of the city and I had to use the bus (written entirely in Mandarin!) and then find my way back to my place using only public transportation. It was the perfect time of day too; it was just before dusk and by the time I got home it was dark. I got to experience the city in daylight, dusk, and night. This place really comes alive at dark -- but that's a different entry.

Anyway, it was incredibly useful for me to learn the area by getting out and exploring. I even took a picture -- here's a scooter gang! (not really a gang. actually scooters probably outnumber cars here) This is typical at every stop light.

Days 1 and 2...

I'm here in Taiwan. Specifically I'm in Taipei the capital. What an interesting place! There's definitely a sense of being crowded and at the same time a great use of space that makes everything seem open and non-cramped. I'd say that Taipei is a lot like Boston only BIGGER and covers a larger area, oh yeah, and with a predominant Asian theme. All that aside, Taipei is a lot like Boston and other New England cities: wide streets, lots of apartment buildings, traffic, and some form of a metro.

Anyway, the parents took me to the San Francisco Int'l Airport for a 1:05 am flight out of the bay area to Taiwan. I didn't land until 5:30 am Saturday. What happened to Friday??? It's kind of interesting that I have lost a day. Friday, June 22nd, 2007 did not exist for me. Time's just crazy like that!


I was picked up at the airport by "Unlce" -- the elderly in Taiwan are usually refered to as "Uncle" or "Aunt" (in Mandarin: "Shoo-shoo" and "Shen-dsa" respectively). Anyways, Uncle didn't speak much English -- actually none at all, a bit silly since he works for the Uncle Sam American School......

Which is where he dropped me off! I was immediately thrown into the mix and when through the preliminary training stages. I was, and still am, suffering from some serious jet-lag following a 16 hour flight. It's to be expected right?

Not gonna lie, i was feeling some serious homesickness the first night here. That and I had to sleep on a bamboo mat in my apartment. Not so keen about that. Sunday arrived and I set out to find the LDS Temple in Taipei. It was a great opportunity to explore the city and familiarize myself with the MRT (subway/metro). Anyways, I found the Temple AND there's an English ward! It's awesome. I met some great people and made some great new friends. There were a few ladies that have been teaching in Taipei for more than 4 years! We all had dinner following church and they clued me into some of the ins and outs of Taipei. SO VERY HELPFUL!

Tomorrow, I start observing my classes. Very excited!

Around-The-World Venture

Here it is, I'm going to see the world. Following that, I want to live and work in D.C. in foreign relations/affairs. State Department, anyone? Since I just left D.C. my trip begins NOW...

Here's the itinerary:
-A short stay in North/Southern California to gather provisions and pack...
-Fly to Taiwan...live there for a year working and saving money (maybe buy a scooter)
-Off to the Philippines...
-Hope over to Thailand...
-Jump to Bombay (but I don't think it's called that anymore) -- whatever, some place in India!
-From there to Dubai (UAE)
-Flight to Amman, Jordan (also visit Petra)
-Travel (maybe by land) to Cairo
-Cross the Mediterranean to Athens OR Rome it's a toss up at this point...either way...
-I'm in Europe stop through any number of the EU Member Countries
-Up to London/Scotland
-Jump over to Ireland
-Fly back to DC...

Total time: I'm banking on 1 year and 4-6 months.

Quack, Quack

I had the best Memorial Day Weekend...EVER! I just got back from spending some time in Washington, D.C. and Duck Beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

D.C. I'll get to in a moment. For now, let us turn our attention to Duck Beach. I really had no idea what to expect. I figured a beach house full of good friends, new friends, the house weirdo, some great food, and relaxing on the beach. My expectations were blown out of the water -- in a good way. The house I was staying in had 25 of the most awesome people ever! Even the house weirdo rocked! The food was ahhh-mazing! Kudos to Brittney on her culinary expertise. There were a lot of other houses down there that were part of our "group" but none compared to savory delights. There was a beach volley-ball tournament, crab hunting, and best of all, NO DRAMA....at least not in our house.

As a fun side-note, I learned a new phrase this weekend. "NCMO" (pronounced 'NICMO') meaning Non-Committal Make-Out HILARIOUS! For whatever reason, I think that is just so funny. Have you had your NCMO, today???

Post Week-end I returned to D.C. with my friends and explored the District a bit more. I love that city. Love it, love it, love it. I've been several times since 2004 and really want to make that my home. So here's the latest: Starting at 10:00 am EST Thursday, May 31, 2007 I started my AROUND-THE-WORLD venture...

(for more specifics see the posting "AROUND-THE-WORLD VENTURE"...)

Q-TIPS to block out John Tesh's voice!!!

This happened the other night....

It's late. I'm tired and just all around exhausted. What I need right now is some music. Yes, music to wake me up. Unfortunately there are only two stations that could possibly do the trick. One is riddled with commercials, so I turn to the ever-trusted 101.3....and then I hear that voice.

It's John Tesh. And at that point I immediately fall asleep at the wheel and veer into the other lane wiping out the Christian Van next to me killing the driver and the 8 kids inside....all because of John Tesh's disturbingly calm voice!!! I hate his voice and want him off the radio and in a medium where he can't talk...EVER!

The Last Word

It's finally happened, dear readers. After many years of hard work and relentless efforts...I have finally been likened to a psychological disorder. How does it feel??? That's a tough question. I'm a mix of both joy and humble deserving. It makes me wonder, how did Mr. Mwale Kilamangaro feel when they decided to name a mountain after him? Or what was Conrad E. Boli's reaction to being the founding name of said disease? I would say they were both moved beyond words and expressions of happiness to know that the global community respected them so much as to immortalize they're likeness -- for what are we without our name? -- in something so timeless as a mountain, a deadly disease, or -- in this case -- a psychological disorder.

So again, how do I feel, you ask?

Proud.

The Ups, Downs...and Ups again

This has been a professionally and emotionally wild week. To start, on monday I got a "thanks, but no thanks" letter from my dream job. It wouldn't have affected me so much if I had applied and immediately got the rejection letter. Instead, I had been moved through the first couple of rounds and thought that I was pretty much "in like Flynn." Apparently not. Okay, back to the drawing board...

The very next day, I discover an almost exact dream job, only for another company. Crazy! AND they were actively hiring. Sweet. I send in my cover letter and resume right away. A few hours later I have an informational interview set up for the next day. This is almost too good to be true! So, I meet with the "company" and everything's legit and it's getting better by the second. Oh yeah, did I mention, it's with the Army? Yeah, and there's a required enlistment commitment -- which, let me say right now, I don't have problem with. However, my parents do. So much so, that I fear for their physical health were I to proceed down this path. Thus, after some hard prayer and contemplation, I determined I could not pursue this particular path to my dream job without my parents' blessings and support.

Back to square one.

In a moment of frustration I decide to call my dream job company and try and get some closure on why they turned me down. As luck would have it, I got to speak to someone that was able to answer all my questions. Quite simply, they love me...except for what "unofficial" prerequisite they have for hiring -- foreign experience. That's it?!?!?

So dear readers, as this blog was originally titled, I am on my way to Taiwan. Where I'll go after that? Who knows. I have some time to figure it out. In the meantime, I don't leave for Taiwan until June. A pretty crazy week indeed.

The Sweet with the Sour

I just spent a great weekend in Salt Lake City attending General Conference. I heard some fantastic, spiritual, and inspiring things over the past two days. So much so that it's still all processing. One thing that really hit me was "being grateful". Be grateful for all that your have in your life. This day is not ours, it's a gift. At any moment we can lose this gift. So be stoked and grateful for everything you have right now. Somewhere there is someone that can't tie their own shoes, if you can, be grateful for that. It's all about the small things just as much as it is about the big ones.

There was a lot more to General Conference, but that would be an entirely different blog...perhaps one more reverent than one founded on Q-TIP usage. Moving right along, this weekend was in a word: awe-inspiring. (yeah, I know)

Then there's the flip-side...I returned to California to find out that a job-- THE job -- that I was waiting to hear about has turned me down. It's unfortunate. And I'm not going to lie, it definitely took the wind out of my sails a bit. However, i wasn't angry or depressed. I wanted to be, don't get me wrong. But, I wasn't. Instead, I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude. It kind of freaked me out. I got the letter, read it, had a moment to process and the first thing that popped into my head was, "Okay, what do I need to learn from this?"

So, not really sour at all...it was more like the sorbet you have at the end of course to cleanse your palate. Yeah, I like that.

When the Q-TIPS run out...

It comes with a heavy heart that I post this blog. What was supposed to be a simple forum of enjoyment and happiness has given way to contention. Relationships that span many years have been taxed by my mere presence here. It is apparent to me that to stifle the growing tensions between people I must hence forth be gone.

I wish there were some other way to remedy the situation. It is hard to look from my window and see what has happened because of my meager postings...The skies grow dark. It rains hard and horrible. Families torn apart at the seems. Daughters contending with Mothers -- when really, said daughter(s) should just be happy her mother even READS her blog. Alas, I have no such luxury.

So, with tears welling in my eyes, fingers shaking, I type my last words and bid you all, dear readers, adieu.









Yeah, right, this too much fun! Don't worry Q-TIP fans, I'm not going anywhere.

Bring Q-TIPS

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been officially called out. I have a friend who has her very own blog -- we'll call her Earth Mother. It's a good blog. Very insightful. She adds pictures. Has an interesting color scheme (possible reason for aforementioned nickname).

So, dear readers, do I pick up the gauntlet that has been thrown at my feet??? Or do I nobly let such an attack roll off my hip and write it off as juvenile and sophomoric?

Hmm...time will tell. I shall have to consult the Q-TIPS (good for telling the future when they land on the ground in a certain way...)

The Miss USA Pageant of Q-TIPS

You read that title and it runs over a bit in your mind. You mumble it to yourself as you try to make sense of it, "Miss USA Pageant..." What's he getting at this time???

Well, dear reader, I just spent a whirlwind trip down in Los Angeles to attend the Miss USA Pageant (co-owned by Donald Trump). WHAT?!?!? Yes, I -- a straight and confident male -- went willingly and happily to the Miss USA pageant. Say what you will about it: That these girls are dumb; that they're fake; that it promotes negative body images for women, etc. You are entitled to your misconceived beliefs. I had the opportunity to meet and lead many of the women from the pageant in a week-long leadership & success seminar (Eagle U - it's amazing, I'll have to blog it later!) in the earlier part of the year.

I can tell you that of the girls I met and know they are some of the nicest, intelligent, and outgoing individuals I have ever met. They are passionate and focused. Yes, they're beautiful. Yes, they learn "to walk and turn". Yes, they smile ALL the time. But that's part and parcel of "pageant work". I always feel after these pageants that, sure, you get to see them in a bikini, an evening gown, do silly looking choreographed dances...but you really never get to know how great they are like I do. None of the girls I know made it to the top 5...however, I know that when posed the with the question: "If you could ban anything in the entire world, what would it be?" My girls would not have answered, "Cell phones while driving." This girl did not go to Eagle U.

Which brings me to my use for Q-TIPS...shoving so many in my ears that I don't have to hear stupid answers.

The Opportunities we create with Q-TIPS

Hey all. I find myself in an interesting place in life. I'm on that cusp of being "Oh, you're still young" and "Wow, you better hurry up and figure out life." So we're all clear. I have life figured out. Well, as much as I am able to figure out life. There are many facets of life that I don't even dare to pretend to know anything about -- ie, Love, Women in general, the Federal Budget, etc. But as far as passions are concerned, I got it. At present my life is geared towards my passions and it's going very well.

I've noticed that when you (or I, for that matter) have a clear understanding of what your "greater passion" is the more opportunities you subconsciously create for yourself to achieve what it is you want. Let me go back for a second on the topic of your "greater passion"...

If you could wake up and do anything...ANYTHING for the rest of your life, money wasn't an issue, the only thing you had to worry about is whether you'd have fun doing whatever it is you chose your "anything" to be, what would you being doing? This ends up (most of the time) to be your passion. What makes it your Greater Passion is when you take it and turn it into your profession. There's the adage: "Make your passion your profession and you'll never work a day in your life." SO TRUE! Yes, some days will feel longer than others, but that's Time playing tricks on you. Sometimes the pursuit of the Greater Passion is long and arduous. As well it should be, nothing great and worthwhile was ever achieved in a short amount of time.

Sorry, I went on a bit of a digression there with the "greater passion" thing...But the point is this: I haven't reached my Greater Passion yet. I have a clear view of it and am moving steadily towards. This knowledge and my strong belief in my passion helps me to consciously and subconsciously create opportunities for myself to achieve my goal. Amazing what we can achieve...hello, we invented Q-TIPS, didn't we? Yeah...YEAH.

Bestest Friends...and Q-TIPS

I have a large group friends. I mean, a lot. What can I say? I'm popular. People like me. I'm awesome. Who wouldn't want to be friends with me? Oh, and I'm humble. But really, all the silliness aside, I have a good number of friends. I was reflecting on this the other day -- and by "this", I mean "my friends". Not anyone in particular, just all of them and what they are up to?, what's going on in their lives?, where are they going?, etc. As these thoughts went round-n-round in my head it occurred to me that my friends are AMAZING! I'm not bragging. Don't confuse this for self-gloating of how awesome my friends are. But rather let me expound a bit...

I won't name names or go into specifics, but I have friends that are changing the world for the better. They are teachers (one doesn't wear any underwear, but that's a personal choice -- just kidding!), business owners, artists, speakers, members of the military, government bound, health care (both physically and mentally), video-game designers, the list goes on. Sure, it sounds like an average list of friends' occupations. But these aren't occupations, these are Passions! Their passions! When I talk to them and ask what they're up to, they don't mind talking about work, because it's not work to them! It's amazing. They are changing their lives for the better because they chose to pursue their passion and in doing so will never actually "work" a day in their life!

Once they have changed their lives (as many already have) that greatness and inner desire for the pursuit of passion spreads to those around them. I'm so luck and blessed to have such great and brilliant friends. If I had one wish for anyone in the world, it would be for them to have the same caliber of friends as I have. I love them all so dearly and can't share with them enough without it sounding kinda weird...

If I had a second wish, it would be for everyone to wake up one morning with a box of the Family Size Q-TIPS (500 count). Best gift ever. EVER.

Congestion and Q-TIPS

Hey all, sorry it's been awhile since my last entry. I'm sick at the moment and don't really have much to say...

Q-TIPS could be really useful right now since two days ago I ran out... le sad.

Life's a Beach and then you use Q-TIPS

Hey all! It's Monday and I just spent the best weekend EVER down at Pismo Beach. It was soooo fun, I can't even express to you the funness that was had. First, let me say that I had never been to Pismo Beach before. It's an interesting sub-culture down there based in dune-buggies, 4-wheel drive flatbed monsters, bonfires, and alcohol. The perfect combination, right? For some perhaps. The crew I went down there with needed no alcohol or white-powdery substances for a good time. Just us, the sand, some BBQ, and the Lord. Yeah, that's how I roll, baby!

It was great. There was a grip of us from the Bay Area that caravaned down there and met up with a grip others from Los Angeles. In the end, there were at least thirty of us camped out on the beach. We rented ATVs and cruised the dunes and some wicked speeds. Personally, I got some air off of some sweet jumps!!! Then we trucked it out to this local BBQ place. Nothin' better! Following our fill of Southern Style Food we took a dip and let the tension go in some natural hot springs. I ask you, dear reader, is there anything better than all this?

The weekend was awesome. It was about good people having good times and making good friends with good memories. That's a whole lot of good. You can't beat it. You just can't! And the Q-TIPS were good for putting up your nose when you had to go to the out-house...disgusting!

Wholesale Q-TIPS

I love WHOLESALE. Love it. Yes, I'll cop to being a discount shopper. Who doesn't like buying quality items at wholesale prices??? You show me a person that doesn't like wholesale shopping, and I'll show you a person that's out of touch with the reality of spending money! That's what I say.

But I digress...my friend and I -- I won't say her name because I'm not entirely sure if she's real or just a byproduct of my 'medication' -- my friend and I had to do some weekend event shopping and decided to hit up COSTCO. I love it that you can't enter unless you have a handy-dandy card for members only. Right off the bat, I feel so very elite!

Anyways, I was kind of annoyed, I'll be honest, that I had to buy fruit for 60 people. That's a lot of fruit! So I have my BOXES o' FRUIT and bring 'em up to the cash registers which always remind me of stalls that you rush cattle through, anyway, they ring up the fruit for 60 people and it comes out to be MONDO-CHEAP. I was so pleasantly surprised!!! That's wholesale for you. Really, it makes the world a better place and that much brighter. I sometimes think that the people that work there don't know how much of a positive impact they have on the general consuming public.

Q-Tips can be used as a gift to nice people...like those that work at Costco. Have you given out a Q-Tip today???

Spin class...and Q-TIPS

This is kind of fun and wild. I'm waiting for a job back East. In the meantime, I don't have a job out West (which is where I am at the moment). Actually, that's not entirely true; as of two days ago I do have job (out West). I was at the gym and just finished my workout and I thought to myself, "Self, it would be a good idea to work at a gym. That way you could workout all the time and get in great shape...AND get paid!"

So I ask to talk to the manager and told her my situation and wanted to know if she'd hire me. She replied, "Do you want to teach spin class every Wednesday and Saturday?"

I've never taught a spin class before. In fact I've maybe taken three total spin classes in my life. "Sure!" Next thing you know, I'm hired! The way I see it, my "students" don't know that I've never taught spinning before. With the right enthusiasm and loud music who's to say I haven't!

What's the moral of this little experience? The "professionals" you turn to may not have a flippin' clue what they're doing. But if the music's right and they're confident, why not?

Oh, and you can use Q-TIPS to clean dust off of camera lenses. Genius!

The Secret Life of Q-TIPS...

Okay, so it looks like Taiwan has been pushed back to the back-burner. It's kind of sad. I really wanted to go and was looking forward to it immensely! But Life, as they say, has a way of changing your plans. Maybe they don't say that and that's something I just came up with. If I did just stumble upon a great never-before-said word of wisdom, you can't use it! I need to copyright it and then write it all over bumper-stickers! Okay, you can use it if you want to. Just be sure to quote me.

No doubt, you've noticed my new blog. Here you can turn to for all the wonderful sundries of life has to offer in the world of off-the-cuff thoughts and interpretations . For starters did you know that Q-TIPS aren't used for cleaning out your ears. They actually say that on the box. It's potentially hazardous to put those little cotton swabs in your ears (I also use them to clean out my nose when I get out of the shower). Hey, don't judge me. It works better than picking your nose with some hairy digit from you hand!

I've always used Q-TIPS to clean out my ears. I can't begin to think of any other use for them. What do you, dear reader, use Q-TIPS for???

The Farewell Tour

At the end of this month I go to Taiwan. Daunting. Even more so is that thought of leaving all my friends and family behind for the year. So, I've decided to go coast-to-coast saying goodbye to the people I care about. Sadly, I haven't been able to get to all of them -- so don't feel left out, I still love you and consider you all close and wonderful friends.

My Tour has taken me from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Dallas (to Chicago for a layover) to Manhattan to Washington, D.C. and back to San Francisco. To be honest, it doesn't feel like I'm going. There have been no tears, only good times and well-wishing for an exciting adventure.

In a few days my Farewell Tour will end and new tour will begin...Now it's just a matter of getting on the plane.