busy

hi,

just a quick one to say i'm still alive, i have my own (cheap) computer now, xmas was relatively uneventfull, and i hope to have some more time to post something this weekend.

naming rights

one of the things that you occasionally get to do as an english teacher in taiwan is to give a kid an english name. i started a new class last night, and as i prepared i noticed that several of the kids had no western names listed. i thought about all of the good names - i have thought about using names from the nba here in basketball crazy taiwan, but my boss told me to make the names normal. i love the idea of having a student named Lebron (i could call him 'bron 'bron!) but it would be a little weird. besides, at some point i may be given a chinese name so i don't want to create bad name karma. i really like my grandfather's name - Marshall. It's a good southern name, it sounds very American to me, and it's possibly coming back into vogue thanks to eminem. but when it came down to it, these kids didn't look like Marshalls. Ultimately, I had two boys to name, and i named them Mark and Kevin after my good friends from college. I now feel kind of protective of these two - as i teach them ABC i really want them to do well. So far, mark is doing fine, but kevin is a little bit slow. there was also a girl with no name, and the moment she walked in i knew that she should be called Sarah. As it turned out, she had already been named Sarah. i guess someone else agreed with me.

christmas

oh, a little bit about xmas here. people keep asking me if i'm doing anything to celebrate, so i guess i'm supposed to care. but with limited $ and no interest in the holiday, it doesn't mean too much to me. kojen is going to force me to teach the students some ridiculously simplified versions of carols (and their choices are bizarre for little kids - little drummer boy but no frosty the snowman), and apparently i have to go caroling in the night market on xmas eve. as part of a freakish band of foriegn dumbasses i expect some odd looks. on the plus side, i have been asked to dress up as santa claus which gives me an excuse to work on my billy bob thornton impression. i need to make sure i have the hip flask filled with whiskey handy - isn't it funny how drunken santa has become a cliche? anyway, at least i don't have to deal with the xmas shopping season in the us.

busy

working and going to chinese class have reduced the free hours that i can devote to this blog. also, sleep is extremely important because i work around children who are, let's face it, festering disease carriers. my coworkers are all sick, and if my first experience of taiwan flu is any indication, they are all suffering terribly. smokers seem to have a continuous flu from october to may. anyway, i'm taking multivitamins and trying to sleep 7 hours minimum (not always possible). getting run down is a very bad idea.

in addition to my chinese class, i have started a language exchange with a taiwanese teaching assistant from work. at the moment, because my chinese is limited, most of our time is spent on english grammar and conversation. i go over my textbook and homework with her and she helps me with my tones. she is very nice - i told her i was interested in tea and she bought me her favorite convenience store jasmine tea. we meet in mcdonalds.

today after class richard and i went out with our teacher and one other student for shui jiao (fried dumplings). she knew a good place, and we had wonderful shui jiao, steamed dumplings, and hot and sour soup. yum. now i'm exhausted and about to drink a lot of tea - i seem to have developed a mild caffeine dependence. today is my day off (for now - it seems likely that it will change soon) so i will study chinese this afternoon, cook myself some dinner, and get to bed early. did i mention that i'm tired?

rip dirt mcgirt

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

http://www.thestranger.com/current/feature.html

blah

i'm relatively ok now, just a nagging cough that won't go away. i have been very busy trying to teach (it takes forever for me to prepare), and studying my chinese (i'm not used to being the slowest member of the class, but here i am - i seem to have been cast in the role of guy who asks stupid questions and feels like an idiot - most of the class has lived here for a while and knows the basics already). postings may continue to be about weekly until i get myself a computer. homesickness has become an issue (especially when i was ill), but i'm excited to get my first real paycheck from work. and soon, i will be insured. i have cable set up now, which helps me waste what free time i have.

my complaining for the day will relate to the system of garbage pick up in taiwan. there is no dumpster or garbage can outside of the apartment that a truck picks up here - instead, there is a set time when a truck drives by on a major road (i live in a back alley), playing a loud song like an ice cream truck (beethoven's fifth seems to be popular), and people throw the garbage and recycling in the back of the truck. it's very inconvenient if you happen to be busy when the truck comes by (our garbage seems to pile up quite a bit), and even if you do happen to be free, you have to waste your time waiting by the side of the road. adding to this, the recycling is only picked up on certain nights, and these don't exactly seem to be fixed. basically, the whole thing is a pain in the ass. add in the fact that there are very few (and very small) public garbage cans, and it is no wonder that there is a fair amount of litter here. it also helps to explain the burning of waste on the sidewalks that helps to make the air so challenging here.

sick

so now i'm very sick. i have missed my first two days of scheduled work (i worked last saturday as a substitute for another teacher) and i continue to cough with gusto. let me describe my week.

monday - i sleep in short bursts, but i am in bed unconscious or semi-conscious for 20 of 24 hours. i have a fever, i sweat, i'm cold, i feel weak and tired, time moves extremely slowly. i eat nothing but i drink over a gallon of water and a half gallon of juice. and some tea. and some other drinks. i was supposed to work today, but i tell them i can't. in a remarkable case of bad planning, i have no phone number for my work so i walk there. i am covered in sweat when i get there, i get a number, then i have to go home.

tuesday - my fever has gone down, but my cold symptoms are worse. my cough is awful, i go through tissues like mad, i have sinus problems, headache, etc. i'm starting to get a bit lonely stir crazy - i rent some stupid dvd's from a nearby store (challenging) and hope for the best for tomorrow. by the end of the night, i'm coughing up a little bit of blood.

wednesday - i feel a bit better! i've missed 2 days of chinese class, time to get in there. i survive the bus ride, make it to class, and my brain is still not working. it refuses to remember what i learned last week. and my cough is loud and nasty. still, i am a bit better, so i make it through class and go to work afterwards (training only). while there i get very tired and my cough is powerful. a nice woman makes me soup with pork and shitakes and noodles, actually just what i needed. still i can't stay long enough to plan for my class tomorrow. feeling like crap doesn't make it any easier to swallow the fact that my stupid country just re elected our moron president. i'm so ashamed.

thursday - i wake up and have a major coughing fit before i even make it out of bed. thinking i pushed myself too hard yesterday, i decide to skip chinese class. no matter - i still feel like crap right now and i just called in sick for my second day of teaching. which brings me to saturday, when i'm teaching again. i need the money and the experience and this doesn't look good in the first week of the job, but my body is really falling apart right now. i hope this doesn't screw me up here.

typhoon

there is a big storm here today - very heavy rain, its very pretty, but our cable is out. looks like i'm going to costco later today - there are lots of things i need but a water filter is definitely coming home wiht me. r hooked up the washing machine today so i will be doing some cleaning. this cafe is very noisy - packed with video game players and they aren't shy about yelling and turning up the volume. my keyboard is filthy and uncomfortable - i really need a laptop at home for so many reasons. made tea in my new teapot today - cheap tea but i enjoyed it. ok, bye.

job

we are currently moving into a new place so i'm stuck in an internet cafe. the sound of video game fighting is loud in here and there is goo on the keyboard. yuck. hopefully, we will have internet access at the house on tue. we are currently without water, and r is at this moment trying to get it back on and resolve any past due bills that were left at the apt. fun! i spent yesterday in taipei, and it looks like i have a job at kojen (http://www.kojenenglish.com/). i had a medical exam (which the school paid for) including an eye exam, a chest xray, and some blood work (i was informed that it was to make sure i dont have any vd's!) tonight i will be watching classes and my first class will be a week from monday. i'm a little nervous, but it will be good to make some money. i need to take a trip to hong kong to get the resident visa here and i'm excited to see one of the best food cities in the world. someone is really kicking video game ass right now and i'm getting a little bit distracted. anyway, i have bought sheets and a comforter in the last few days and now i have a job. it feels like things are kind of coming together. kojen offers partially subsidized mandarin classes, so once i get somewhat comfortable with teaching i think i will try to start working on that. then i need to figure out what kind of exercize i can do here - maybe i will start working on my tai chi.

asst

in addition to everything else, people will drive their scooters on the sidewalk. you always kind of need to be on the lookout.

when you have a crosswalk, or even when you have the green light, you need to be aware of cars turning. there is no assumption that pedestrians have the right of way - quite the opposite. and you need to look both ways on a one way street, because scooters don't care.

you can eat a filling, good meal for under $1 us. very filling and delicious cabbage dumplings are about 20 cents us, grilled bite size sausages are about 15 cents.

there is a system of hand gestures for numbers here that i dont understand. since it's all done with one hand, 1-5 make sense. 7 looks like a 7. and 10 is an x with 2 hands (the only one to use both). the others, i don't know. and when representing larger numbers, there is a syntax that i don't understand. i'm sure it's easy and it helps. maybe i'll get it later.

children, when they aren't pointing and laughing, often say "HUH-low" to me as i pass them on the street.

the average doorway here is just high enough to slam the top of my head. this is exacerbated by the little step that you see as you pass through the doorways. i have taken to bowing as i enter a room, as a show of respect to the pain that the door can cause me. my new religion will be devoted to avoiding the pain of banging your head.

you can get a cheap (under a dollar) sushi like thing in the 7eleven/circle k stores here. it is a triangle of sushi rice with a little smear of something (i like the crab and the tuna) wrapped in nori. it's pretty easy and good.

i made myself congee for breakfast this morning. it's recommended for invalids, and my stomach problems may qualify me. i just put last night's left over rice in a pot with some water and a slice of ginger and cooked until it was a good soup consistancy. i added green onion, salt, a little pepper and a little bit of soy. yum. and my stomach felt ok. today i bought brown rice - we'll see how that works.

i get to listen to late night seattle radio on the internet during the day here. i like it a lot.

fri

so, we make sure to take off our shoes before walking in the apartment.

just had my first earthquake here. not as big as what we had in seattle, but i felt it more because we're up higher. made me feel a little bit dizzy as my equilibrium got screwed up. still an odd experience for me.

sidewalks

the sidewalks in keelung are colorful tile dealies unlike sidewalks in most places. they receive heavy use beyond the average us sidewalk. everyone here has a scooter, and they all park on the sidewalk, so space that could accomidate 5 people side by side becomes too small for two people to pass each other. this is especially noticeable when you are behind someone moving very slowly, or children who run all over the place. believe me when i say that i'm very aware of how wide my shoulders are. there also doesn't seem to be any expectation that people will move out of your way. people just squeeze by when they can. at first i felt bad that i didn't know how to say "excuse me," but no one seems to say or expect it. i just try not to step on kids or knock little old ladies down, and feel ok about it.

the other aspect to parking scooters on the sidewalk is that the sidewalks are filthy. accumulated road dirt, combined with a lack of pet curbing, combined with the habit of spitting betel nut (the juice and the finished nut - it ends up looking like old tobacco), combined with the work that people do on the sidewalk (on my block alone people are welding (!) every day, food stands are washing dishes and pouring the water down the sewer grates in the street, and scooter mechanics do work in the middle of the sidewalk) changes the once colorful tiles to varying shades of gray. the betel nut is especially nasty, leaving bright red stains everywhere. i haven't noticed anyone chewing it yet, but i understand it looks like they have been punched in the mouth and are spitting blood. i understand that during the rainy season the sidewalks get very slippery and dangerous. i suspect i won't have to worry about passing people as i carefully pick my way down the street, trying to avoid breaking my neck. in addition to everything else, people burn papers on the sidewalks, filling the (already black with scooter exhaust, welding fumes, unknown chemical smells, and cigarette smoke) air with more thick smoke and adding ash to the mix of dirt on the road. breathing can be very challenging, especially when the air is humid and stagnant. it really makes you appreciate a breeze. all that said, the sidewalks do feel vibrant if chaotic. and if they can make it work here, seattle, with its' wide sidewalks and small scooter population, should change their sidewalk scooter parking policy. yeah.

debate

watched the debate on nytimes.com. kerry is infuriating. he is debating a (admittedly, well trained) talking monkey and he can barely frustrate him. he acts overly cautious when he should attack and sometimes seems outwitted by a moron. i stand by my assertion that i would vote for a septic tank before i would vote for bush, but kerry hardly seems up to the challenge. it feels like he's going to lose, and then bush will have 4 more years to terrify people and just generally make the world a worse place to live. and then mccain will come in and finish the job. dammit kerry, you better *#@!*&!!! win. taiwan is (apparently) pretty corrupt, and will probably be taken over by china (!) in the near future, but at least taiwan is too small to do major damage. it makes me ill to consider the leaders now in place in russia, china, and the u.s. i want to hide in some obscure corner of the world and stick my head in the sand.

thinking. 

richard and zoe bowling. 

shiny, and wearing a baseball cap because i need a haircut. i have seen better days. 

this is me with zoe, riding a wierd panda thing in a bowling alley. mechanical pandas. in bowling alleys. 

this is my street. i was told by a local girl that this is the "hood." 

our front door. note the painted window - my bedroom is behind that 

crane