Posts
Where in the World is D Today?
Being his typical reflective self. Because that’s what Panda’s do.
It’s been almost a full year in Taiwan. Some of it has been really great. Some of it….. not so much. Let’s take a look back.
January 5, I get an email from Jack, not motorcycle Jack, Dewey Education Services Jack. Dewey services the contract for the Taiwan government. BTW Jack is a very common English name for Taiwan men. The short version…
“Do you still want to teach in Taiwan?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Can you be here February 1?”
“?!?!?!..... Ummmm… Let me see what I can work out.
Yes, I will come.” *gulp!*
A lease is signed to rent my house. (This is a subject I have said absolutely nothing about on my blog. But those close to me know it was easily my worse decision of 2009. It led to the collapse of a friendship, the pre-mature selling of my house and HUGE, we’re talking 5 digits, financial loss for me. Not to mention the shear emotional and mental stress to deal with some 7700 miles and weird time zones. What can I say, it seemed like a good idea at the time.)
My first 24 hours in Taiwan, is a series of comical miscommunications. Some of which I have yet to figure out “why” things happened the way they did. And I end up with Josh as my roommate. Josh and I are totally incompatible as roommates. And I end up getting my own apartment. I will say that I am very happy to report, that now that I don’t live with Josh, we get along quite well. I’ve watched him grow this year. He’s a decent fellow with a good sense of humor. And from what I can tell, he’s a good teacher. I’ve watched his rapport with the kindergarten kids and it’s pretty cool! I would have never guessed at the beginning of the year. Two thumbs up Josh!!
Met my first friends in Starbucks. I call it Ground Zero for the beginning of “life” in Taiwan. Coke was the first, then Timmy. Followed quickly by Shaq, Pie and Cindy. Who would eventually me the greatest Chinese name EVER, 戴格智 Then I got to know the staff and they got to know me. Winnie, Sylvie, Bryan, Elma, Dolphin, Rain, Eddie were my life-savers. These folks were my first up close experiences with Taiwan culture and Chinese language. For a long time I was as come to Starbucks as coffee. This is also when I first begin referring to myself as a Panda.
Discovered the sheer joy of KTV in April. Laughing, eating, drinking and singing. It doesn’t get better than that! KTV is a 24 hour a day deal. Going to KTV at 3 am is normal.
I experience my first Earth Quake ever at 2:00AM in June. This is a very bad way to wake up! Tears and vomit ensue. It was probably one of the most insecure moments of my life. My body and nerves where thrown completely out of whack. I’ve been through other earthquakes since. I still HATE them, but I don’t freak out either. There was a “big one”, by Taiwan standards, the week before Christmas. I was having dinner with friends. It would have extremely serious for if I would have been in my 14th floor apt.
Experienced my first Typhoon in August. I’d have to say it was a bit anti-climactic for me. Here in Jhongli, it was pretty calm. But unfortunately in the south many people died. It was quite horrible down there. And news reports had friends and family on high alert in the U.S. It’s nice to know people care if you live or die.
The food in Taiwan is simply delicious. Unfounded worries of me losing weight because of the food. If anything I’ve gained weight.
I began seriously with Chinese lesson in the summer, July. My Chinese is well, not very good in my opinion. 我覺得中文很困難. But the things I can say, I say very well with a decent Taiwan accent. I, like everything else in my life, have taken a more difficult path in learning Chinese. I am learning Chinese in a way that children in Taiwan learn Chinese. I am learningㄅㄆㄇㄈ , a phonetic system for learning sounds in Chinese. If I don’t understand a word when people say it, they can write it this way and I will understand better. Or at the very least add a new word to my vocabulary.
I joined a gym in March. Love the showers. Hate the number of men that walk around naked. The staff is cool, but not as cool as Starbucks. I do a body combat class twice a week to mix up my workout. I tried a step class… twice. I sucked both times. Step class is Taiwan is WAY different from the U.S. The routine just builds and builds. It seems you start with step one. By the end of class you are on step 37. It’s one long continuous routine. That’s fine. I am good through the first 5-6 consecutive steps, then I get very confused. The steps are much more difficult AND the instructions are in Chinese. I don’t feel too bad, because there are Taiwan people who can’t figure it out either..and they speak Chinese!
Found a church in the summer. It was definitely an answer to prayer at the time. I don’t attend as regularly as I did before. The language barrier is to great. 2010 will have a search for an English speaking church.
The fall led to the discovery of Thai Massage. Please resist the temptation to attach something sexual to it. It isn’t. Trust me when I say I there were, I sure as heck wouldn’t tell the whole world on my blog. It’s just a great massage. And by U.S. standards is super cheap. $1000NT for 2 hours, that’s about $34 US.
My latest adventure is riding Brutus, my motorbike. My friend Randy Rook once said God protects drunks and idiots. I’m not a drunk, so that only leaves idiot. I have felt that protection from time to time. I am beginning to ride more like a Taiwan person. I don’t know if that is necessarily a good thing, but it is certainly critical for survival on the streets of Jhongli.
All in all, it’s been a good year of growth. I still feel very much like a man in transition. There is much I haven't written about, but I think you get the point of my life. I re-signed my contract, so I will be in Taiwan another year. I am hopeful at the possibilities. I am hoping to become a better teacher, a better speaker of Chinese and maybe…. just maybe, I can find a girl friend. Wish me Luck.
Peace.
戴格智
Showing posts with label Brutus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brutus. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thoughts at 45KPM
Where in the World is D Today?
Cruisin', Thinking, talking to Brutus.
Here are some recent thoughts I've had on while traveling from here to there.
"This is kinda FUN."
"Are you serious?!"
"Lean"
"Dude! Why did you buy me if you're going to walk?" "Shut up, sometimes I like to walk, OK?"
"I'm really glad I have a full face visor!"
"Shit, the visor fogged up I can't see!"
"How did my hands get so dirty? Now I see while Will washes his hands every morning when he comes in."
"Darryl, don't be so nice. You're gonna cause an accident. Just Go!"
"Hmm, never been in a traffic jam on the sidewalk before. Oh Crap! Sorry!"
"Woah! Where did that come from?!"
"Mad props to women in a skirt and pumps! This is difficult enough in jeans and sneakers."
"Jack, there's a problem with my motorbike." (Jack showed up 20 minutes later. The speedometer cable broke and was hanging off. He couldn't fix it then. So we went and had a beer. I walked home for the record. I DO NOT drink and drive. Not even 1!)
"When did he come fix it?!" (I opened up my motorbike seat to discover a note on my helmet. Jack came to my school. Picked up my bike, took it to his shop, fixed it, and brought it back. JACK IS MY BOY!!!!)
"OMG, it's so freakin' cold! My hands are frozen!"
"I'm glad Jack put new tires on this thing"
"I should have walked. Brutus you're to fat for me to park in this space."
"OUCH!! Son of a .....!" (My foot slipped when I was putting Brutus up on the kick stand. My left foot ended up Under the kick stand with the full weight the bike on my toes.)
"OK, crashing into the 7-11 would be bad!"
"A parking space by the gate of my apartment. SWEET!"
"Rode to work, the Supermarket, a restaurant for dinner and back home without dying. I think I can do this!"
Peace
戴格智
Cruisin', Thinking, talking to Brutus.
Here are some recent thoughts I've had on while traveling from here to there.
"This is kinda FUN."
"Are you serious?!"
"Lean"
"Dude! Why did you buy me if you're going to walk?" "Shut up, sometimes I like to walk, OK?"
"I'm really glad I have a full face visor!"
"Shit, the visor fogged up I can't see!"
"How did my hands get so dirty? Now I see while Will washes his hands every morning when he comes in."
"Darryl, don't be so nice. You're gonna cause an accident. Just Go!"
"Hmm, never been in a traffic jam on the sidewalk before. Oh Crap! Sorry!"
"Woah! Where did that come from?!"
"Mad props to women in a skirt and pumps! This is difficult enough in jeans and sneakers."
"Jack, there's a problem with my motorbike." (Jack showed up 20 minutes later. The speedometer cable broke and was hanging off. He couldn't fix it then. So we went and had a beer. I walked home for the record. I DO NOT drink and drive. Not even 1!)
"When did he come fix it?!" (I opened up my motorbike seat to discover a note on my helmet. Jack came to my school. Picked up my bike, took it to his shop, fixed it, and brought it back. JACK IS MY BOY!!!!)
"OMG, it's so freakin' cold! My hands are frozen!"
"I'm glad Jack put new tires on this thing"
"I should have walked. Brutus you're to fat for me to park in this space."
"OUCH!! Son of a .....!" (My foot slipped when I was putting Brutus up on the kick stand. My left foot ended up Under the kick stand with the full weight the bike on my toes.)
"OK, crashing into the 7-11 would be bad!"
"A parking space by the gate of my apartment. SWEET!"
"Rode to work, the Supermarket, a restaurant for dinner and back home without dying. I think I can do this!"
Peace
戴格智
Seeing The World Faster Is Kinda Cool
Where in the World is D Today?
Contemplating the extinction of Dinosaurs and Survival of the fittest.
Let me first begin with, I believe completely and without reservation, that God created the heavens and the earth. No doubt in my mind at all. So let's take that off the table. But I also know there is some scientific evidence that some species have indeed developed, adapted, changed, dare I even say "evolved" over time. I don't know enough about the science of it to speak as an authority. I'm clearly NOT. If I were to combine the two ideas of creation and the idea of survival of the fittest, I would have to quote the comedian Katt Williams when he spoke about the guy who got killed in a tigers cage at the zoo. "If you are an adult, and If you get killed by a Tiger, And you get killed by a tiger in a zoo, AND you get killed inside the tigers cage at the zoo, Then I think God's will has been done for your life." (Think about that for a minute or two before you read on.)
Some things are naturally easy for me; for example dancing. Some things are naturally difficult; for example swimming, and mathematics. And some things I can learn to be competent at inspite of the difficulty; for example learning Chinese. Note I didn't say I was the best dancer or fluent in Chinese. I said it came naturally or I could be competent. The difficult things, well if I had to swim farther than 30 meters or do Calculus to save my life, start making the funeral arrangements. I physically can not manage swimming well. I've tried to learn to swim and I'm just really, really bad at it.
Now I find myself on the streets of Taiwan on a motorscooter. I am not culturally suited for it. We love our cars in the U.S.A. BUT I do have enough eye hand coordination and sense of balance that I am becoming more and more competent at it. Will I ever drive like a Taiwan person who probably quite literally grew up on a scooter? Not likely. I am less nervous today than I was 2 weeks ago. My senses, especially visual, have gotten sharper. I see things more clearly now and my reaction to them is quicker. A good way to describe it is when I first began to ride, everything seemed a little out of focus because there was so much new information being processed. Now, it's the same in formation, but now, it is all in focus. I am in essense becoming more fit for survival. I'm adapting.
So what does this have to do with the extinction of dinosaurs? Well, there is a body of evidence that supports a huge event, such as a large meteor crashing into the earth, that in essence caused the dinosaurs to die. In short, adaptation had nothing to do with it. The dinosaurs were doing just fine. They were minding there own business, when this huge thing falls out of the sky and wreaks havoc in the dinosaur world. Talk about having a bad day. Try having a meteor fall on you while you're eating a tree for lunch.
My ultimate point here is that none us are entirely insulated from the winds of chance. I can learn to drive my motorbike safely and effeciently. But you never know when an idiot is going into a tigers cage. Bad drivers don't only exist in Taiwan. Where ever there's a motor vehicle and a person in the world, there's going to be "those" drivers.
I still believe in the basic goodness of people, but I trust more in the hedge of protection that so many pray for on my behave. In either case, I'm gonna be OK on my scooter, and my feet don't hurt as much!
Good Luck
戴格智
Contemplating the extinction of Dinosaurs and Survival of the fittest.
Let me first begin with, I believe completely and without reservation, that God created the heavens and the earth. No doubt in my mind at all. So let's take that off the table. But I also know there is some scientific evidence that some species have indeed developed, adapted, changed, dare I even say "evolved" over time. I don't know enough about the science of it to speak as an authority. I'm clearly NOT. If I were to combine the two ideas of creation and the idea of survival of the fittest, I would have to quote the comedian Katt Williams when he spoke about the guy who got killed in a tigers cage at the zoo. "If you are an adult, and If you get killed by a Tiger, And you get killed by a tiger in a zoo, AND you get killed inside the tigers cage at the zoo, Then I think God's will has been done for your life." (Think about that for a minute or two before you read on.)
Some things are naturally easy for me; for example dancing. Some things are naturally difficult; for example swimming, and mathematics. And some things I can learn to be competent at inspite of the difficulty; for example learning Chinese. Note I didn't say I was the best dancer or fluent in Chinese. I said it came naturally or I could be competent. The difficult things, well if I had to swim farther than 30 meters or do Calculus to save my life, start making the funeral arrangements. I physically can not manage swimming well. I've tried to learn to swim and I'm just really, really bad at it.
Now I find myself on the streets of Taiwan on a motorscooter. I am not culturally suited for it. We love our cars in the U.S.A. BUT I do have enough eye hand coordination and sense of balance that I am becoming more and more competent at it. Will I ever drive like a Taiwan person who probably quite literally grew up on a scooter? Not likely. I am less nervous today than I was 2 weeks ago. My senses, especially visual, have gotten sharper. I see things more clearly now and my reaction to them is quicker. A good way to describe it is when I first began to ride, everything seemed a little out of focus because there was so much new information being processed. Now, it's the same in formation, but now, it is all in focus. I am in essense becoming more fit for survival. I'm adapting.
So what does this have to do with the extinction of dinosaurs? Well, there is a body of evidence that supports a huge event, such as a large meteor crashing into the earth, that in essence caused the dinosaurs to die. In short, adaptation had nothing to do with it. The dinosaurs were doing just fine. They were minding there own business, when this huge thing falls out of the sky and wreaks havoc in the dinosaur world. Talk about having a bad day. Try having a meteor fall on you while you're eating a tree for lunch.
My ultimate point here is that none us are entirely insulated from the winds of chance. I can learn to drive my motorbike safely and effeciently. But you never know when an idiot is going into a tigers cage. Bad drivers don't only exist in Taiwan. Where ever there's a motor vehicle and a person in the world, there's going to be "those" drivers.
I still believe in the basic goodness of people, but I trust more in the hedge of protection that so many pray for on my behave. In either case, I'm gonna be OK on my scooter, and my feet don't hurt as much!
Good Luck
戴格智
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Meet Brutus
Where in The World is D Today?
Building what I hope is Safe and Healthy Relationship.
Say Hello to Brutus, my motorbike. Brutus is the latest part of my transition to life in Taiwan. Brutus was brought to me by Jack. Jack is a motorcycle repairman and works for Suzuki, and probably one of my deepest friends in Taiwan. More about Jack later. This posting is about this beast.
Why the name Brutus?! Like always with me, it's a metaphor and a geeky historical reference. Brutus, also known as Julius Caesar, was an Emperor in Rome. When he crossed the Rubicon and returned to Rome, it changed the course of history in Rome. If you want the whole story you have to look it up. The point here is getting a motorbike can change my life in pretty dramatically. Hopefully I won't have the same ending as Julius Ceasar. As you've read before traffic in Taiwan is no joke. But, I am a big boy. My personal safety and not dying are HIGH PRIORITIES for me. Yes, I will be careful. I promise.
Another reason I named my bike Brutus is just because the thing is BIG. Yeah, I know it doesn't look that big is the pictures. Trust me, in comparison to other motorbikes, it IS. Especially the front. It's really FAT!
Good Luck
戴格智
Building what I hope is Safe and Healthy Relationship.
Say Hello to Brutus, my motorbike. Brutus is the latest part of my transition to life in Taiwan. Brutus was brought to me by Jack. Jack is a motorcycle repairman and works for Suzuki, and probably one of my deepest friends in Taiwan. More about Jack later. This posting is about this beast.
Why the name Brutus?! Like always with me, it's a metaphor and a geeky historical reference. Brutus, also known as Julius Caesar, was an Emperor in Rome. When he crossed the Rubicon and returned to Rome, it changed the course of history in Rome. If you want the whole story you have to look it up. The point here is getting a motorbike can change my life in pretty dramatically. Hopefully I won't have the same ending as Julius Ceasar. As you've read before traffic in Taiwan is no joke. But, I am a big boy. My personal safety and not dying are HIGH PRIORITIES for me. Yes, I will be careful. I promise.
Another reason I named my bike Brutus is just because the thing is BIG. Yeah, I know it doesn't look that big is the pictures. Trust me, in comparison to other motorbikes, it IS. Especially the front. It's really FAT!
Good Luck
戴格智
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)