First, let me apologize for the long time between updates. I am sure you all understand, and if your obscene and angry emails indicate anything, it is that you don’t. Just kidding… savages!
I am going to try and do a better job from here on out.
Alright, I am going to give you a sweeping update…
Things are going very well, so far. We have moved three times already, but we have finally found a place that we like. Our first place was an apartment that our company owns, they actually own about three of them. We were allowed to live there rent free for a week (which seemed reasonable… it is not like we were in a different country where we spoke very little of the language… of course we can find a good place to live by then.) We found a place on a website called TEALIT (teaching English and living in Taiwan) actually this website is a life saver and a mainline for anything an expat might need in Taiwan. We found a place in a great location, next to two universities and two night markets. Night markets are exactly what you might think they are, great places to shop and get good, cheap and quick street-food. However the street-food here is a little different than back home, more on that later. Night markets get packed, and you end up walking shoulder to shoulder sometimes.
Our place was in a great location, but it was old and pretty dirty. We lived with three other people in a four bedroom flat, a married couple and a very sweet Thai girl named Grace. We lived there for about 3 months until everyone moved out and this new dude came in. I will spare you all the stories… well, until a later date, but I have never, in my life, seen a guy like this. I want to meet his father. I don’t understand how you would allow your son to turn into this kind of looser. He had no social skills, and I have never seen anyone suck at sports so badly, and I use to be a camp counselor for mentally and physically challenged kids. I kid you not!!! So, we found a new place in an era called Yong Hua. It is out of the main Taipei city, but it is really nice.
Work…. Work is going well. We work for the largest and most well respected school in Taiwan. I have eight classes ranging in ages from four to fifteen. The kids are really cute, well most of them. I actually really enjoy teaching, but I can’t say the same thing for the grading of homework. Talbot is a pre-school teacher, and the running joke about him is that he is not a teacher, but a toy. His kids love him, and he is doing a really good job with them. We have conversations sometimes about our days, and they could not be more different. Me: “So, I taught gerunds and superlative adjectives today to one class, and I worked on plural and singular with another. They did a pretty good job.” Talbot: “I played in the ball-pool three times, and I taught them that water is clear and wet.”
Travel… I have made a few trips sense I have been here. I have been all over the Island, and even went to a place called Green Island. Green island is a small (17 kilometer circumference) island of the south-east of Taiwan. This trip was a blast. We went down there with Grace, the Thai girl we were living with, and her friend Loew who was visiting from Japan. This place was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We hung-out in one of the only three natural hot-springs in the world that are found on the beach and not further out in the ocean. We dove in what is considered one of the top five diving locations in the world, plus Grace and I got chased by a crazy dog. This thing came out of nowhere and was trying to bite us as we were driving away, as fast as we could, on our scooter. That’s right, I have a scooter.
Made a weeklong trip to Thailand, and met a friend there. We went to Bangkok and Phukett. Grace and Loew were both living back in Thailand at this time, so it was great to see them again, and they did a great job showing us around. We sat first-row ringside at a Muay Thai fight. That was awesome! We rode an elephant through the Jungles of Thailand, fed monkeys, swam with sharks, had a rat run over our feet in Bangkok, went to a club that had a live band in the girls bathroom and computers with internet access (you know.. for any quick web-surfing you might need to do when you are out drinking) and got about fifteen Thai massages (the legitimate kind, you scumbags).
Life… Life is good, my stress level is so far down compared to life as a sales-rep. I no longer grind my teeth in my sleep, so that’s a good sign. I have scooter, and so does Talbot. Driving here is terrifying, these people have no idea what they are doing. No one stays in the lanes and you do whatever you want whenever you want. Taxis are a-holes and busses are no better. I think they hire ex-taxi drivers to be bus drivers. I have seen a fourteen ton bus make a right hand turn from the left lane and cross four lanes of traffic without ever braking. It is not uncommon to see anywhere from three to five people on one scooter.
The food is good, but different. I love some of it, but some of it tastes like feet. I will write a whole entry about the food later, it would take too long to describe it all, so be looking for that in about four months (I kid..I kid…maybe).
My Chinese is getting pretty respectable. Talbot has learned a lot, and is doing really well with it. I am nowhere near ready to say I am fluent, but I can get around day to day, usually.
Speaking of food, I am going to get some now…
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Japan... The Middle
Alright... So we get off the plane and head for our hotel. We only plan on being in Tokyo for one night before we head to Kyoto for a few days. Don’t worry we will make it back to Tokyo before we leave. Our hotel rooms are tiny, and I mean tiny. How tiny are they, you ask. They are so small that Talbot cannot stretch his arms out to the side without hitting the walls. However, we ate our first meal in Japan and it was bought at a 7-11, class, class, class.
We wake up the next day and head for the train station. We had to take the subway to catch the high-speed rail, and this was a learning experience in and of itself. I have never seen anything like this before. We were on a packed subway car (and I mean packed) and there was not a single sound, it was eerie. We were surrounded by people, one on top of the other, but no one spoke or made a sound, no cell phones (you can’t talk on your cell phone on the subway in Japan), no “good mornings”, no friends talking… nothing! However, Talbot and I wondered if that was because we were in the car with them (everyone stares at us). We thought our car was deathly silent, but maybe there were ruckus parties going on in the other cars… probably not. Another thing that is cool is when they wait for their trains to arrive they all stand in single file lines to be filtered into the train. It looks really cool, you can look across the platform and see massive gaps between packed lines of people.
We jump the train to Kyoto and on our way we get a really good view of Mt. Fuji. We noticed that the mountain must not get taken for granted by the locals because even they were climbing all over each other to take pictures of it. The most striking thing about Japan, and I write this looking back at the whole trip, is that every single person attacks their job with a ferocity that I have never seen. I bring this up now, because I am reminded by the girl serving snacks on the high-speed train to Kyoto. When they enter the train car they take a deep bow, and then proceed (in their immaculately clean uniform to perform a mundane task to perfection, a task that someone in the states would look down on. There is none of that here! People respect anyone doing a job, and especially when you do the job with a professional attitude… they are the most disciplined people I have ever seen.
We pull into Kyoto and decide to walk around the station for a bit, there are a few things worth seeing by the station anyway. We continue to be stared at by 98% of the population (having lived in Asia for about 2 months now it does not bother me anymore, but at this time it still felt kind of weird). We go check out this huge Temple, they are everywhere around here, and we get to see some monks doing their thing. I know they are all over the place here, but I still find them very cool to look at and watch.
Deciding to grab a cab to go to our hotel turned out to be harder than we anticipated. Ok, I am not some huge ethnocentric guy that thinks everyone should know English, but come on, if you are a cab driver that picks up at the train station you should at least know the basics. Well, we went through 3 failed attempts at finding a guy that could get us to our hotel, one dude could barely speak Japanese, but the fourth one got us close enough. After being lost, again, we found our hotel about an hour after we got dropped off… this place was incredible. The location and the woman that ran our hotel were awesome. The hotel is located about a 5 min walk to the most popular temple in all of Japan, it gets 3x the number of visitors that any other temple in Japan gets.
Kyoto was a blast, and very informative. We saw a boy band perform on the street for petty change, they had choreographed dance moves and everything, I see great things for them. We saw a lot of temples, went to one of the worst bars/clubs I have ever seen and I destroyed my feet in my new shoes… that was especially awesome. On a side note, I would like to thank Walt Brewer for getting me sick right before we left. You have no idea how much fun it is to mime your symptoms to a Japanese pharmacist as he laughs at you and then hands you some medicine that you have no idea what the package says, but hey he gave me free halls lozenges because of my acting prowess.
Some random observations: Guys carry purses, Some of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen call Japan home, They spell Bass Pale ale… Buss ale, guys just walk up on the street and get in a girl’s way to try and pick them up (plus, it works, we saw two androgynous guys pull it off), They love cartoons and cartoon characters, did I say how hot the woman are… even if I did they deserve me repeating it.
Next time Tokyo.
Hope all is well…
Mark
We wake up the next day and head for the train station. We had to take the subway to catch the high-speed rail, and this was a learning experience in and of itself. I have never seen anything like this before. We were on a packed subway car (and I mean packed) and there was not a single sound, it was eerie. We were surrounded by people, one on top of the other, but no one spoke or made a sound, no cell phones (you can’t talk on your cell phone on the subway in Japan), no “good mornings”, no friends talking… nothing! However, Talbot and I wondered if that was because we were in the car with them (everyone stares at us). We thought our car was deathly silent, but maybe there were ruckus parties going on in the other cars… probably not. Another thing that is cool is when they wait for their trains to arrive they all stand in single file lines to be filtered into the train. It looks really cool, you can look across the platform and see massive gaps between packed lines of people.
We jump the train to Kyoto and on our way we get a really good view of Mt. Fuji. We noticed that the mountain must not get taken for granted by the locals because even they were climbing all over each other to take pictures of it. The most striking thing about Japan, and I write this looking back at the whole trip, is that every single person attacks their job with a ferocity that I have never seen. I bring this up now, because I am reminded by the girl serving snacks on the high-speed train to Kyoto. When they enter the train car they take a deep bow, and then proceed (in their immaculately clean uniform to perform a mundane task to perfection, a task that someone in the states would look down on. There is none of that here! People respect anyone doing a job, and especially when you do the job with a professional attitude… they are the most disciplined people I have ever seen.
We pull into Kyoto and decide to walk around the station for a bit, there are a few things worth seeing by the station anyway. We continue to be stared at by 98% of the population (having lived in Asia for about 2 months now it does not bother me anymore, but at this time it still felt kind of weird). We go check out this huge Temple, they are everywhere around here, and we get to see some monks doing their thing. I know they are all over the place here, but I still find them very cool to look at and watch.
Deciding to grab a cab to go to our hotel turned out to be harder than we anticipated. Ok, I am not some huge ethnocentric guy that thinks everyone should know English, but come on, if you are a cab driver that picks up at the train station you should at least know the basics. Well, we went through 3 failed attempts at finding a guy that could get us to our hotel, one dude could barely speak Japanese, but the fourth one got us close enough. After being lost, again, we found our hotel about an hour after we got dropped off… this place was incredible. The location and the woman that ran our hotel were awesome. The hotel is located about a 5 min walk to the most popular temple in all of Japan, it gets 3x the number of visitors that any other temple in Japan gets.
Kyoto was a blast, and very informative. We saw a boy band perform on the street for petty change, they had choreographed dance moves and everything, I see great things for them. We saw a lot of temples, went to one of the worst bars/clubs I have ever seen and I destroyed my feet in my new shoes… that was especially awesome. On a side note, I would like to thank Walt Brewer for getting me sick right before we left. You have no idea how much fun it is to mime your symptoms to a Japanese pharmacist as he laughs at you and then hands you some medicine that you have no idea what the package says, but hey he gave me free halls lozenges because of my acting prowess.
Some random observations: Guys carry purses, Some of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen call Japan home, They spell Bass Pale ale… Buss ale, guys just walk up on the street and get in a girl’s way to try and pick them up (plus, it works, we saw two androgynous guys pull it off), They love cartoons and cartoon characters, did I say how hot the woman are… even if I did they deserve me repeating it.
Next time Tokyo.
Hope all is well…
Mark
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sorry
Okay...Okay, I know i have dropped the ball here... I will write one in the next few days, I promise.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Japan… The Beginning.
Sorry for the long delay in posts, I am sure some of you were desperately looking for an update, okay… maybe not. I am going to break the Japan trip into three parts. If I was to write it all together I would not be able to elaborate and be hilarious like I normally am, and let’s be honest, that’s why you read these things. Hope ya’ll (yes, I am an English teacher, and I believe that “ya’ll” is a legitimate conjunction) enjoy.
The trip started off great, I got drilled with a $150.00 charge from Delta due to the weight of my bag, thanks for that! I thought I would be smart and pull an all-nighter so that I could sleep on the plane, bad idea. I do this every time I fly internationally, and every time I immediately regret the decision. I was a mixture of nervous, sad and anxious, but mainly excited.
I made into first class without a problem (thank you Kelly), but Talbot was a different story. There was one available seat left in first class and Talbot was second on the list. However, the other person had not shown up to the gate yet, and the plane was leaving (we thought) in ten minutes. Talbot took it upon himself to go to the counter and lobby his position. He asked if she could find him a seat with plenty of leg room, she took one look at him and started searching the plane for available seats. In the long run, he was able to talk himself into first class and jump the other lady in line, and she did finally show up….sucks to be her.
So I'm sitting in my seat, and dinner time rolls around. I thought “hey, I am starting a new adventure…I’ll try the traditional Japanese meal”. Well, the sushi appetizer was awesome, but the main course was all-over-the-place. I liked the “beef”, but the cooked snail with a stick through its protruding head was not my cup of tea. I realized then that Asian cuisine would be hit or miss for me. However, I did feel very authentic with my little bowl of white rice and chop-sticks. Plus, they like to eat certain things cold, but make it appear to be warm so you get a nice little surprise when you bite into it… weird.
The flight over was painless, but LONG! I started to watch the “Bourne Ultimatum” twice and fell asleep both times, this is not to say it is a boring film, far from it… but I was tried, remember? I woke up from my naps and thought “awesome, I have been out for a while, we may not have that long left”. Well actually, I had slept on and off for about four hours and including meal time we had been in the air for about six hours. I quickly did the math and realized… “oh supper, only eight more hours to go! I guess I’ll watch some more movies…Beowulf(sucks), Supper bad(funny), Rush Hour 3(marginal)” This of course is after an hour delay sitting in the plane on the tarmac. Plus, the guy next to me reeked of smoke, and was having a nicotine educed bout of rocking and cursing… it was most entertaining.
There was a little excitement on the plane towards the end of the flight. It was something out of a movie. We were about two hours out of Tokyo and this voice comes over the intercom “is there a doctor or anyone with medical training on board, one of your fellow passengers is having a problem.” I like how she used “fellow passengers” like we are in some club because we are on the same plane, that’s just foolish… So, I immediately start rooting for my teammate to pull through. All in all, turns out to be pretty uneventful, a heavy-set man from first class, of course, goes into the rear of the plane…does whatever it is he does… and the team leaves the plane intact and victorious.
Next time… my first few days in Japan.
Hope all is well.
The trip started off great, I got drilled with a $150.00 charge from Delta due to the weight of my bag, thanks for that! I thought I would be smart and pull an all-nighter so that I could sleep on the plane, bad idea. I do this every time I fly internationally, and every time I immediately regret the decision. I was a mixture of nervous, sad and anxious, but mainly excited.
I made into first class without a problem (thank you Kelly), but Talbot was a different story. There was one available seat left in first class and Talbot was second on the list. However, the other person had not shown up to the gate yet, and the plane was leaving (we thought) in ten minutes. Talbot took it upon himself to go to the counter and lobby his position. He asked if she could find him a seat with plenty of leg room, she took one look at him and started searching the plane for available seats. In the long run, he was able to talk himself into first class and jump the other lady in line, and she did finally show up….sucks to be her.
So I'm sitting in my seat, and dinner time rolls around. I thought “hey, I am starting a new adventure…I’ll try the traditional Japanese meal”. Well, the sushi appetizer was awesome, but the main course was all-over-the-place. I liked the “beef”, but the cooked snail with a stick through its protruding head was not my cup of tea. I realized then that Asian cuisine would be hit or miss for me. However, I did feel very authentic with my little bowl of white rice and chop-sticks. Plus, they like to eat certain things cold, but make it appear to be warm so you get a nice little surprise when you bite into it… weird.
The flight over was painless, but LONG! I started to watch the “Bourne Ultimatum” twice and fell asleep both times, this is not to say it is a boring film, far from it… but I was tried, remember? I woke up from my naps and thought “awesome, I have been out for a while, we may not have that long left”. Well actually, I had slept on and off for about four hours and including meal time we had been in the air for about six hours. I quickly did the math and realized… “oh supper, only eight more hours to go! I guess I’ll watch some more movies…Beowulf(sucks), Supper bad(funny), Rush Hour 3(marginal)” This of course is after an hour delay sitting in the plane on the tarmac. Plus, the guy next to me reeked of smoke, and was having a nicotine educed bout of rocking and cursing… it was most entertaining.
There was a little excitement on the plane towards the end of the flight. It was something out of a movie. We were about two hours out of Tokyo and this voice comes over the intercom “is there a doctor or anyone with medical training on board, one of your fellow passengers is having a problem.” I like how she used “fellow passengers” like we are in some club because we are on the same plane, that’s just foolish… So, I immediately start rooting for my teammate to pull through. All in all, turns out to be pretty uneventful, a heavy-set man from first class, of course, goes into the rear of the plane…does whatever it is he does… and the team leaves the plane intact and victorious.
Next time… my first few days in Japan.
Hope all is well.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A Quick Update...
Don't have much time right now, sitting in an Internet cafe in Taiwan. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am safe and everything is okay. Japan was incredible! I will write more about it when I get the chance to wrap my head around my journal. We are in Taipei and just signed our contracts. When we get set-up and have our own Internet hook-up I will write all about our adventures, trust me, there are some good ones.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Visas, Going Away Parties and a Little Place Called Japan
So, I know everyone is waiting with bated breath but do not fret, my visa showed up and it is for 60 days. I will go into the particulars as to why it must be 60 days at a later date (you see what I did there? Now you have to keep coming back). The visa is actually pretty cool. It is emblazoned with the “Republic of China” across the top and Chinese characters all over the place. I now feel very official with such a legitimate piece of paper supper-glued onto one of the pages in my passport.
I want to extended a hardy “well done” and “thank you” to all those that made an appearance at our going away party. When I say “our” I am referring to Talbot and myself, I am not speaking in the royal. The night started with a great dinner with the family and then the night continued… For those of you that were there I need not recount my drunken buffoonery. However, I must say the ten shots of The German Hunter (Jagermiester) were completely and totally unnecessary. For those of you that were not able to make it, let me just say that I was found passed out and naked on my bathroom floor at 2am, Classy!!! This was not my proudest moment by far (is it me, or in the two postings of this newly formed Blog have I had two “not very proud moments”? this thing might be a bad idea).
I am now 48 hours from boarding a plane to Japan. The plans are coming together nicely, and I am very excited to spend a week there before heading to Taiwan. We are going to spend our first day in Tokyo, and then head to Kyoto for the weekend. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for seventeen centuries and I have read that it rivals Paris and Rome in culture and in beauty, I will let you know. We are staying in this cool, I hope, bed and breakfast run by a Japanese couple and their two children. This bed and breakfast is supposedly a five minute walk from a temple that is the begging of the “Lonely Planet” walking tour of Kyoto. So, I figure even if the B&B leaves something to be desired for we should still be in a great location to explore the city. After Kyoto we head back to Tokyo, after a quick stop at Mount Fuji. (Did you know that Mt. Fuji is completely smooth on all sides and looks the same from every angle? I learned that yesterday from a talking globe I bought my one year old Niece for her birthday.) Once we get back to Tokyo we are, get this, staying at a Buddhist temple with the monks. I am really excited about this! We are allowed to take part in their meditation and we can grab breakfast with them in the morning. Maybe I will come back a much more centered and relaxed person… well, until I have to drive in Miami again… no, I am not bitter at all!
If all goes well… Next entry will be from the other side of the world!
Hope all is well
I want to extended a hardy “well done” and “thank you” to all those that made an appearance at our going away party. When I say “our” I am referring to Talbot and myself, I am not speaking in the royal. The night started with a great dinner with the family and then the night continued… For those of you that were there I need not recount my drunken buffoonery. However, I must say the ten shots of The German Hunter (Jagermiester) were completely and totally unnecessary. For those of you that were not able to make it, let me just say that I was found passed out and naked on my bathroom floor at 2am, Classy!!! This was not my proudest moment by far (is it me, or in the two postings of this newly formed Blog have I had two “not very proud moments”? this thing might be a bad idea).
I am now 48 hours from boarding a plane to Japan. The plans are coming together nicely, and I am very excited to spend a week there before heading to Taiwan. We are going to spend our first day in Tokyo, and then head to Kyoto for the weekend. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for seventeen centuries and I have read that it rivals Paris and Rome in culture and in beauty, I will let you know. We are staying in this cool, I hope, bed and breakfast run by a Japanese couple and their two children. This bed and breakfast is supposedly a five minute walk from a temple that is the begging of the “Lonely Planet” walking tour of Kyoto. So, I figure even if the B&B leaves something to be desired for we should still be in a great location to explore the city. After Kyoto we head back to Tokyo, after a quick stop at Mount Fuji. (Did you know that Mt. Fuji is completely smooth on all sides and looks the same from every angle? I learned that yesterday from a talking globe I bought my one year old Niece for her birthday.) Once we get back to Tokyo we are, get this, staying at a Buddhist temple with the monks. I am really excited about this! We are allowed to take part in their meditation and we can grab breakfast with them in the morning. Maybe I will come back a much more centered and relaxed person… well, until I have to drive in Miami again… no, I am not bitter at all!
If all goes well… Next entry will be from the other side of the world!
Hope all is well
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Miami & The Visa Experience
Ok first things first, I am sorry if I offend anyone, but I hate Miami. That place is awful! If someone came to me and said "move to Miami or we will cut one of your fingers off" I would gladly give them my pinkie. Just when I thought I was getting my road-rage under control, I drove in Miami. However, I got to see and stay with some friends and it was great to see them and catch-up. Thanks again Chris and Kristine!
The visa experience was very interesting. Talbot and I drove (by that I mean, I drove and toolbox slept) down to Miami on Sunday night. Thinking we will get to the Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Office (they cannot have an embassy due to the political climate regarding them and China) on Monday. However, we are dumb-asses sometimes and forgot that Monday was Presidents day. So, we found ourselves stuck in that city for another day, not my proudest moment, but hey you learn to deal. I got up early and roused the troops so that we could get to the Office early, however Miami traffic had other things in mind. It took us an hour and a half to go the 16miles from where we were staying to the Office, awesome! I love Miami!
The T.E.C.O. experience was actually quite painless... until they left it quite vague as to whether we were going to get a 60day visa, which is what we need. They had no problem taking our cash (cash it was, they don't except any other form of payment). however, the best I got was "I will try to make sure it is for 60 days". I won't know anything until the express envelope I paid for gets here on Friday. I met a very sweet Taiwanese woman who has lived in the States for about 20 years and she was asking me questions about colleges for her son. I of course told her about the greatest institute of higher learning in the universe, The University of Florida. She helped me with some Chinese and she was impressed with my skills with the language, hopefully they will all be as nice over there. It was cool to be in a place with Chinese all around me, I think I am going to be able to pick-up the language faster then I thought... Hopefully.
I'll keep everyone posted regarding the visa.
Hope everyone is doing well,
The visa experience was very interesting. Talbot and I drove (by that I mean, I drove and toolbox slept) down to Miami on Sunday night. Thinking we will get to the Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Office (they cannot have an embassy due to the political climate regarding them and China) on Monday. However, we are dumb-asses sometimes and forgot that Monday was Presidents day. So, we found ourselves stuck in that city for another day, not my proudest moment, but hey you learn to deal. I got up early and roused the troops so that we could get to the Office early, however Miami traffic had other things in mind. It took us an hour and a half to go the 16miles from where we were staying to the Office, awesome! I love Miami!
The T.E.C.O. experience was actually quite painless... until they left it quite vague as to whether we were going to get a 60day visa, which is what we need. They had no problem taking our cash (cash it was, they don't except any other form of payment). however, the best I got was "I will try to make sure it is for 60 days". I won't know anything until the express envelope I paid for gets here on Friday. I met a very sweet Taiwanese woman who has lived in the States for about 20 years and she was asking me questions about colleges for her son. I of course told her about the greatest institute of higher learning in the universe, The University of Florida. She helped me with some Chinese and she was impressed with my skills with the language, hopefully they will all be as nice over there. It was cool to be in a place with Chinese all around me, I think I am going to be able to pick-up the language faster then I thought... Hopefully.
I'll keep everyone posted regarding the visa.
Hope everyone is doing well,
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