What's the soup du jour?

"It's the 'Soup of the Day'"

"Mmmmm. That sounds good. I'll have that."

* * *

As some of you may remember, awhile back I had a post displaying some of the unique names I've encountered here in Taiwan. Fortunately, the fun didn't stop there. Here are a few more:

Soup and Haha from the ticket counter at the movies. Perhaps they are acquaintances of Destroy and Icey from the previous names posting.

Smark is a new student of mine. Why not just drop the "s"? How does someone even come up with a name like that?

Smark's classmates also have some interesting, yet surprisingly more acceptable because they're Asian-sounding, names: Yuki, Momoko, Lulu, and Waylen.

Meanwhile, I've become "Jong" to many (mostly older people) who can't seem to get their tongue off their bottom teeth and behind their upper teeth to get that crisp "n" sound. And my class calls me "Teacher...Superman, Spiderman, Optimus Prime, Michael Jackson, Handsome Man, Roller Coaster, Send E-mails, Eyes, Hair, Koo-Koo Head, Crazy, (insert first word that pops into a child's mind)."

Oh well, it's like I always used to say... you can call me anything you want, just don't call me "Late For Dinner." Har har har...

Where did August go?

Better yet- where did the past 6 months go?

August is waning and my 6-month milestone is approaching. While it is technically a few weeks away, time continues to be an interesting phenomena in Taiwan. Weeks pass with barely the blink of an eye.

All apologies for being basically MIA during this whole month. For me, and maybe others, this site has become a sort of pulse, just something I need to check every now and then to make sure I'm alive. Writing here keeps me grounded and somewhat connected to the world of my past. Unfortunately, I haven't been putting in the computer time to hatch a solid post.

August, in a nutshell, has been a month of re-adjusting. Our school began a new semester this month, making my class officially a "big" class (they will graduate from our kindergarten next year). With that, I also have a new classroom, a new co-teacher, 3 new students, and 1 student who came back after a month of vacation. The Squirrel class, which once boasted a 15:3 boys to girls ratio, is now 16:5 (larger class + more boys= chaos).

On the domestic front, Mike and I are holding down the fort by ourselves. A Michigan native was supposed to be joining us in late July, but he bailed last minute. Yesterday, we were supposed to get a new South African roommate, but he missed his flight and is apparently going to show up tomorrow. Mike, who has had 4 roommates in his short tenure here, is not holding his breath.

Next week, I am picking up a brand new class of students who don't speak a word of English, so you can expect some adventures and mishaps in the coming weeks. As for now, I leave you with this quote from Leo Tolstoy, which is referenced in the book "Into the Wild":

"I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life."

(feast your eyes on these new pictures)

Brace Yourself!

Early last week over the choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean, the weather conditions aligned perfectly to form a tropical depression for the eleventh time this year. Although still hundreds of miles off the shores of Taiwan, a frenzy had already stricken its residents. Weather websites starting compiling hit after hit as viewers constantly refreshed their browsers to see the latest animations of the projected path.

Every colleague and every passing friend became an amateur meteorologist, each with their own speculation on top wind speeds and anticipated landfall dates.

Only one thing was certain: This swelling, rotary cloud mass was headed straight for Taiwan.

Most news channels and weather experts showed the eye of the approaching storm, that has earned the rank of a Category 2 Typhoon (which, to clear things up, is only another word for "hurricane"), passing over Taipei City at some point on Friday August 7th.

Would it be enough to close schools? The only thing we could do is wait, as the tempest known as "Morakot" surged onward with northern Taiwan in its cross-hairs.

We got the call Thursday evening; Our school was included in the list of government mandated school closings. The anticipation was building, and although I was sporting sunglasses and a sweat-bead mustache on my walk to school that morning, my walk home was wet with foreboding rain.

Taking the necessary precautionary measures for typhoon survival, Mike and I headed out to stock up for what we were expecting to be 2 days of weather induced house-arrest. We returned home in mild, rain-filled winds with 24 Taiwan Beers, 4 DVDs, and just enough Doritos and ramen noodles to keep starvation at bay for the duration of the treacherous storm.

As Thursday night quickly ticked its way to early Friday morning, the wind speed increased, sending the rain in what seemed like every direction but straight down. The wind, which seemed to be amplified being 23 floors from the ground, howled through the night.

Friday continued with the same routine, although it was nothing too crazy. Mike and I braved the elements and went out for lunch. Then, during the brunt of the storm, I, in my mesh shorts, and Mike in his board shorts, went out for pizza.

With the pizza, beer, and chips, we yawned our way through the rest of the Morakot. I woke up Saturday morning to chirping birds and blue skies. Life in Taipei County returned to normal as if nothing had ever happened.

Apparently some people died and places got flooded other places in Taiwan. For me, it was a nice day off from school, but otherwise an unimpressive excuse for a typhoon.

Q & A: Part 3

Q: Do people dress differently?

A: Eh, not really. But flamboyant trucker hats are very big over here.

For girls- your shorts are going to be shorter and tighter, but you are more likely to have the stems to pull it off.
For boys- it's not uncommon for you to be on the subway fixing your hair in a pocket mirror.
For couples- you might find yourself wearing matching t-shirts when you go out.
For children- there are some very, very cruel parents dressing you in the morning (there is a 7-year-old boy in one class that I refer to as Daisy Duke).
For women- "Back home I'd think the women are prostitutes. But here I think it's just women in their Sunday best." -Mike
For men- either business attire or a stained white tee.

Overall, there isn't anything that really that shocking. Just like back home, you've got your oddballs that march to the beat of some intergalactic transmission they are picking up.

As for me, I keep it low-key with a red polo and mouse ears:

About that hard drive...

This is kind of depressing. Two days after I said my good-byes to everyone knowing that my next vacation will be in about 1 year, my hard drive crashed and took with it many memories. After 5 years of wishy-washy service, my computer flat-lined without any warning (unless you consider having a 5-year-old computer warning enough).

Being a "writer," it would have made sense for me to have all my files backed up. You know, everything I've ever written over the past 5 years. Pictures I've accumulated. (This seems like a good situation to use the word "alas.") Alas, my files dissipated into digital hell, with only a nanobyte of hope of being recovered.

But hey, it was really awesome to see everyone again! Thanks for making my vacation fun!


Here is an article showing that my coming here was a good example of "striking while the iron is hot."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/work/overseas-teaching-jobs-a-lesson-in-supply-and-demand/article1232903/