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!