tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78330731241558582282012-02-16T00:10:35.227-08:00Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.comBlogger741100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-82972297398788088352010-06-28T23:30:00.000-07:002010-06-28T23:35:09.726-07:00Hey mates! I just posted some pictures of Byron Bay. Kelly and I went there about a week ago. It was great to see a bunch of hippies, and to be honest, it felt exactly like Boulder. Anyway, I have some more slang for everyone:<div><br /></div><div>Worn out/used - Cactus</div><div><br /></div><div>Tired - Buggered / Knackered</div><div><br /></div><div>Diaper - Nappy</div><div><br /></div><div>Gummy Bear - Jelly Baby</div><div><br /></div><div>Assume - pronounced "a-shume"</div><div><br /></div><div>Persuade - pronounced "per-shwade"</div><div><br /></div><div>Schedule - pronounced "shed-ule"</div><div><br /></div><div>Basil - pronounced "bazz-il"</div><div><br /></div><div>Schedule - Diary</div><div><br /></div><div>Throw a fit - Chuck a wobbly</div><div><br /></div><div>Speedo - Budgie smugglers / DT's</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8297229739878808835?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-89198013726117382142010-06-07T21:55:00.000-07:002010-06-07T21:59:23.986-07:00I just put up a bunch of pictures of Australia and my visit to the US for my sis's graduation. Check them out! And now, more slang:<div><br /></div><div>Food - Tucker</div><div><br /></div><div>Living room - Good room</div><div><br /></div><div>Corn dog - Battered sav</div><div><br /></div><div>Bills (money) - Notes</div><div><br /></div><div>Math (class) - Maths</div><div><br /></div><div>Hot dog - Saveloy</div><div><br /></div><div>Morning tea - Smoke-o</div><div><br /></div><div>Poets - Piss off early, tomorrow's Saturday</div><div><br /></div><div>Raining - Pissing off</div><div><br /></div><div>Alcoholic - Piss head</div><div><br /></div><div>Middle of nowhere - Woop woop</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8919801372611738214?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-55784186405570524572010-05-31T19:45:00.000-07:002010-05-31T19:51:45.343-07:00The stars of the movie "Twilight" are visiting Sydney right now and it has caused pandemonium throughout the nation. On the main news channel in Brisbane, they were interviewing fans who had seen the celebrities and how they reacted to this rare opportunity. Very, very goofy. And yes, that's pretty much the biggest news headline here. Ok, back to slang...<div><br /></div><div>Corn dog - Dagwood dog</div><div><br /></div><div>Sunglasses - Sunnies</div><div><br /></div><div>Jersey - Guernsey</div><div><br /></div><div>Airplane - Aeroplane</div><div><br /></div><div>Pickle - Gherkin</div><div><br /></div><div>To score (a parking spot) - Jag</div><div><br /></div><div>Rumor - Furphy</div><div><br /></div><div>Browse - Squizz</div><div><br /></div><div>Finish your food - Roll it over</div><div><br /></div><div>Big fair - Ekka</div><div><br /></div><div>Cute - Shame (in South Africa)</div><div><br /></div><div>Woman - Sheila</div><div><br /></div><div>Man - Bloke</div><div><br /></div><div>Idiot - Drongo</div><div><br /></div><div>Rice Krispies - Rice Bubbles</div><div><br /></div><div>Flashlight - Torch</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-5578418640557052457?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-90732032182329006402010-05-13T23:27:00.000-07:002010-05-13T23:31:17.777-07:00Bathroom - Dunny<div><br /></div><div>Chicken - Chook</div><div><br /></div><div>Disposable wash cloth - Chux</div><div><br /></div><div>Angry - Spittin' chips / spewin'</div><div><br /></div><div>Something easy - Too easy Campesi / piece of piss</div><div><br /></div><div>If you're not happy - Not happy Jan</div><div><br /></div><div>Sleazy act - Lower than shark s#*$</div><div><br /></div><div>Suitcase - Port</div><div><br /></div><div>Cocktail sausage - Little boy / cheerio</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-9073203218232900640?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-23215865541511277172010-05-06T19:35:00.000-07:002010-05-06T19:40:46.007-07:00More slang coming at ya:<div><br /></div><div>Kangaroo meat - Skippy</div><div><br /></div><div>Freshman - Year 1</div><div>Sophomore - Year 2...and so on</div><div><br /></div><div>Middle School - Primary School</div><div><br /></div><div>High School - Secondary School</div><div><br /></div><div>Z - pronounced "zed"</div><div><br /></div><div>Zs are usually Ss when spelling something, like authorized is spelled authorised here.</div><div><br /></div><div>Duct Tape - Gaffer Tape</div><div><br /></div><div>H - pronounced with an "sh" sound instead of a "ch"</div><div><br /></div><div>Cooler - Eskie</div><div><br /></div><div>Two weeks - Fortnight</div><div><br /></div><div>Check - Cheque</div><div><br /></div><div>Friend - Mate / Cobber / Digger</div><div><br /></div><div>Redneck - Bogan</div><div><br /></div><div>More Expensive - Dearer</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2321586554151127717?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-55056647732040481902010-04-26T20:58:00.001-07:002010-04-26T21:04:01.808-07:00Free, public television in Australia is uncensored, except when bad language is subtitled. As far as I can tell, profanity, nudity, and anything else is completely acceptable when you're flipping through the main channels that show the news and kids' shows and what not. The radio is also uncensored. Something that's a little different. Anyway, got more slang. Learning new ones everyday!<div><br /></div><div>Drug store - Chemist</div><div><br /></div><div>Mom - Mum</div><div><br /></div><div>Liquor store - Bottle shop</div><div><br /></div><div>Candy - Lollies</div><div><br /></div><div>Scotch tape - Sticky tape</div><div><br /></div><div>Sharpie - Nico</div><div><br /></div><div>Counter - Bench</div><div><br /></div><div>Antique shop - Salvo</div><div><br /></div><div>College - Uni (or University)</div><div><br /></div><div>Kindergarten - Kindie</div><div><br /></div><div>They also have "late night shopping" every Thursday. Typically, most stores close at about 5 everyday, but on Thursdays, stores stay open to as late as 9 or 10 PM. Crazy huh? It's just so tame to the hardcore shopping scene in America.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-5505664773204048190?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-90407353985665052852010-04-12T23:47:00.001-07:002010-04-26T21:01:08.612-07:00Here I am again to share some more slang I've picked up along the way. I learn/embarrass myself at least once each day with a language I thought I knew pretty well.<div><br /></div><div>Lunch/Dinner - Tea</div><div><br /></div><div>Color - spelled Colour here</div><div><br /></div><div>Tire - spelled Tyre</div><div><br /></div><div>Dress - Frock</div><div><br /></div><div>Favorite - spelled Favourite</div><div><br /></div><div>Breakfast - Brekkie</div><div><br /></div><div>McDonald's - Macca's</div><div><br /></div><div>Mushroom - Mushie</div><div><br /></div><div>Running Shoes - Runners or Sand Shoes</div><div><br /></div><div>Line - Queue</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-9040735398566505285?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-81452758863181854422010-04-03T04:35:00.000-07:002010-04-03T04:41:01.738-07:00More slang:<div><br /></div><div>Silverware - Cutlery</div><div><br /></div><div>Windshield - Windscreen</div><div><br /></div><div>Napkin - Serviette</div><div><br /></div><div>Shopping Cart - Trolley</div><div><br /></div><div>Flip Flops - Thongs</div><div><br /></div><div>Parking Lot/Garage - Car Park</div><div><br /></div><div>Sidewalk - Footpath</div><div><br /></div><div>Appetizer - Entree</div><div><br /></div><div>Entree - Main</div><div><br /></div><div>Cup of coffee/tea - Cuppa</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, you don't eat meals here with just a fork. Every meal is always eaten with two utensils. Kelly has adapted very well but I just shovel with one hand.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8145275886318185442?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-28511929898073694222010-04-02T04:03:00.000-07:002010-04-02T04:10:49.316-07:00I just uploaded about 40 pics onto flickr so check those out! They are from when Lee (Kelly's brother) visited and from last weekend when Kelly and I went to the Sunshine Coast to work at a triathlon. Good stuff! While I'm here, I have some more slang to share.<div><br /></div><div>Sandwich - Sanger</div><div><br /></div><div>Meat Pie - Dog's eye</div><div><br /></div><div>Ketchup - Tomato Sauce</div><div><br /></div><div>They pronounce shallots "shaw-lots" and inventory "in-ven-tree" and scallops "skull-ups"</div><div><br /></div><div>I agree - Beauty Nuke</div><div><br /></div><div>Bathroom - Loo or Ensuite</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2851192989807369422?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-35675677087675473532010-03-25T21:41:00.000-07:002010-03-25T21:54:11.411-07:00Thank you - In Aussie: Ta<div><br /></div><div>You're welcome - No worries</div><div><br /></div><div>An expression for being busy:  I'm busier than a dog trying to bury a bone in a marble floor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another for being busy:  I'm flat out like a lizard drinking.</div><div><br /></div><div>One more for busy:  I'm flat strap.</div><div><br /></div><div>If something is easy:  Easy as, mate.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whine - Winge</div><div><br /></div><div>Whiner - Winger</div><div><br /></div><div>English person - Pommie</div><div><br /></div><div>American - Yankee</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3567567708767547353?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-75854927404476343942010-03-24T19:52:00.000-07:002010-03-24T19:55:20.961-07:00Running shoes - In Aussie: Sand shoes<div><br /></div><div>Swimsuit - Togs</div><div><br /></div><div>Hood (of a car) - Bonnet</div><div><br /></div><div>Trunk (of a car) - Boot</div><div><br /></div><div>Slob - Dag</div><div><br /></div><div>Bill (of a hat) - Peak</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-7585492740447634394?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-64781556854999074002010-03-22T04:24:00.000-07:002010-03-22T04:28:13.311-07:00After some thinking, I've realized that blog posts about Australia aren't going to be nearly as entertaining or as strange as those from Taiwan so I'm gonna start posting a word every day or two that is different than what I'm used to in American English. We'll give it a shot!<div><br /></div><div> Raisin - In Aussie...Sultana</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-6478155685499907400?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-74329944334525657022010-03-20T19:25:00.000-07:002010-03-20T19:45:27.839-07:00It's been about 6 weeks since I left Taiwan and it's getting harder and harder to believe that I was actually there. I've spent some time looking at photos from there, of ones I'd taken as well as friends' photos. Taiwan looks familiar, but it feels like a distant memory. I will say that I am SO glad that I don't have to eat the food there again. I have had a few funny moments though in Australia related to Taiwan. I had a mother and son come in to the running store I'm working at and they were speaking in Chinese and I understood some of it, so I decided to strike up a conversation in Chinese with them. It went pretty well. I was talking to a guy yesterday who is living and working in Hong Kong, and he said he'd just been in Taiwan a few months ago for New Year's. I said "oh really, how was that?" after completely spacing the fact that I had been there for New Year's.<div><br /></div><div>Anyway, life has been good in Australia. I am unfortunately getting taxed 45% on my paychecks because I failed to obtain a tax file number before I arrived here, mainly because I didn't know I needed one. The running store I'm working at is good, although I know I don't want to work retail that much longer. Living with Kelly has been great, and much better than some people had warned living with someone would be. She's enjoying her job as well, although she's in the same boat as me in thinking that retail will only be of interest for so much longer.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's a lot of Australian slang here. I'll give you a few examples of slang words and of different pronunciations of words:</div><div><br /></div><div>asphalt - spoken 'ashfelt'</div><div>controversy - 'contrawversy'</div><div>88 - 'double 8' (any number is said like this, letters too)</div><div>777 - 'triple 7'</div><div>debut - 'dayboo'</div><div><div><br /></div><div>how are you? - how you going?</div></div><div>stroller - pram</div><div>parking cone - witch's hat</div><div>trash - rubbish</div><div>total - all up</div><div><br /></div><div>Hmm, I'll have to think of more later. Feeling a bit brain dead right now. I went to a punk show last night with Kelly, where we saw The Flatliners. I had seen them a few years ago in Denver with Jess and I'd met the singer there, where I told him to pick out one of the band's shirts for me to buy. So last night, I went up to him after the show, and told him about the last concert, and he remembered all the details. Even the name of the venue in Denver. He helped me pick out another shirt. He told me he couldn't believe how expensive everything in Australia is.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other than that, Australia feels basically like home, minus knowing any people. The weather has been great, although we've gotten more rain in Brisbane than they've had in like 6 years or something. The running has been good. Our new apartment is working out really well. We're right across the street from the train station so we can both get to our jobs easily.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did add about 100 pictures to my flickr page and that will give you a better idea of what has been happening down here in Oz! Check 'em out! Off to a race!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-7432994433452565702?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-27715680353126808212010-02-03T07:27:00.000-08:002010-02-03T07:33:46.588-08:00This past weekend, I hopped on the ol' high-speed train to meet up with my friend James. We used to work together at the Millennium. It's hard to believe that it actually took me 51 of my 52 weeks here to meet up with him but we made it happen. When I first arrived, we went out to eat. I had curry, which of course had plenty of bones in it. Then he said he had relatives staying in his house so he bought me a hotel room. Nice guy huh? The hotel was alright, but it had a terrible view. See the flickr picture. Anyway, the next day we cruised around town with his friend Norman. We saw a bunch of historic places, and dined at a German restaurant, and saw some fishermen not catch any fish. It was good to get some sun though, and experience more of Taiwan!<div><br /></div><div>Tonight was a going-away party for me hosted by the Chinese teachers at school. We went to KTV, which is their equivalent of karaoke. It was a lot of fun. We played a good mix of English and Chinese songs, meaning one half of the room would be completely bored while the other half sang, and vice versa. They also gave me a giant card with lots of Chinese written on it so that'll be a good keepsake. Other than that, I've got two days of school left and I couldn't be happier and more relieved knowing that it's almost over! It's been a great year but I can't wait to go to Australia. Very exciting! Kelly found a house for us and I have a job interview next week to work at a running store. I'll be keeping my blog running I hope when in Oz although I'm predicting the stuff I do won't be nearly as strange or interesting as what I've experienced here. But, who knows...</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2771568035312680821?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-82283505250940538892010-01-24T05:26:00.000-08:002010-01-24T05:40:53.919-08:00On Saturday, I headed into Taipei with Josh to seek out Snake Alley. We found it. It was weird. I had read about it in one of my guide books as a recommended place to go. There were only 2 things that I saw that were snake related but they were gross and weird nonetheless. One of the places was a restaurant that I'm assuming you could eat snake at. In the lobby, they had at least 3 huge pythons that were each over 8 feet long. Two of them were in the same cage together that was WAY too small for them. There was a live chicken just hanging out inside, but unfortunately we didn't get to see a gruesome killing. The next stop was the snake charmer/killer a few storefronts down. He had a cobra hanging out in front of him, constantly hissing and striking at him. Then there were 3 dead snakes hanging on ropes that had their bellies slit and their blood was being drained. It was then made available to drink. No one I saw watching was brave enough to try it. He also had a lovely video playing in the background of him skinning a snake alive. Lovely. Earlier in the day, we went to Nut Street, which was basically a farmer's market, but with a lot of nut varieties. They also were selling shark fins everywhere. This was crazy to see, especially considering how much stuff I've seen related to how horrible the killing is. My roommate did make the point though that if we think that shark killing is terrible, then what do Buddhists think of us killing cows? And there's a lot of Buddhists. Oh well, there's a deep thought to ponder for the day.<div><br /></div><div>Today, I hung out with little Brian's family. We started the day with the usual tutoring/playing games in a slippery room in which the kids fall in and cry a lot. Brian was whiny for a good half hour after he fell, which was the first time I'd seen him like this. Then we hopped in the car and headed to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ilan</span>, which is east of Taipei on the coast. We went out to eat at a famous restaurant, known for its chickens, which are cooked in wood-burning cauldrons. After they're cooked, the whole chicken is brought to you on a platter, minus its heartbeat, organs, and feathers. Brian's grandma proceeded to grab its neck and body and then pull the two apart, removing the chicken's head, neck and entire spine in the process. It was gruesome but entertaining because she's pretty elderly. Anyway, the meal was actually pretty good because the chicken was hot, and usually chicken is served cold. During the meal, Brian's mom made the comment, "This is very Taiwanese" and I said in my head, "I know." Ha ha.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then we drove to downtown <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ilan</span> where we put our feet in the public hot springs they have there. This was a lot of fun. Then we walked around an outdoor market where we sampled various fruits and teas. Then we drove to a large park along the main river in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ilan</span> county. This was a nice peaceful place, but the fun was ended abruptly when I ran a race against little Brian and he proceeded to slip and fall on some wet concrete, so he was crying and threw another fit. He was way more mopey than usual today. Later that night, I did have this sort of strange conversation with him telling him I was leaving in two weeks and probably not ever coming back to Taiwan. It was actually kind of sad to have this conversation, and I also couldn't quite tell if he realized the meaning of what I was saying or not, potentially because he didn't actually understand the English. Oh well, he didn't cry then at least so that was a plus.</div><div><br /></div><div>At night, we went to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Luo</span>-Dong night market which was massive and crazy. I didn't see a single foreigner there, because this place is outside of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Ilan</span> and getting deeper into the heart of Taiwan. That's one thing though that's been so cool about hanging out with their family, is that I've been able to go to places like that many times. Lots of stares is all I can say. Ha ha. Anyway, this was probably my last big weekend with little Brian's family and I will definitely miss them when I leave. Hopefully, I'll be able to see them in the future though!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8228350525094053889?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-13130016033764122342010-01-21T08:23:00.000-08:002010-01-21T08:29:16.147-08:00So, if you recall from my last blog, I discussed how our floor in the apartment is being fixed. The "detail" work that was promised the other day was this: They filled all of the cracks with some greenish putty and left all of the tape on the broken tiles. Tomorrow, at 9 AM they're supposedly coming to finish the job once and for all. If they finish tomorrow, it'll be a miracle. And even if it is finished, they fixed the white tiles with greenish putty. It's going to look horrible when it's done, but the landlord's parents have been here supervising everything so I guess it's good enough. The walls are still dirty from when the trim was removed. And the whole floor is not nearly as smooth as it used to be. Smooth, that's note the right word. Flat. That's better. Let's just say that where the new tiles join, it's not quite as seamless as it used to be. I think the best way to describe this whole ordeal is with two words: "hack job." More later!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1313001603376412234?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-73721129262627589962010-01-18T06:03:00.000-08:002010-01-18T06:19:03.358-08:00On Saturday, I went to the Taipei Hash, perhaps for the last time. I guess this is like the 4th time or so that I've gone to it. It was a lot of fun! One of the hares was a fellow white guy, so about 12 white guys showed up to support him. We went to Pingsi, an area about a half an hour southeast of Taipei. The run wound in and out of many tea fields, along a drainage canal in the jungle, through a farm, and of course, through someone's house. One of the hashers was whooping loudly like a howler monkey the entire run. It was pretty cold and rainy. The weather has definitely come full circle for me. I'm quickly nearing the end of my year, and the weather is making me more eager to leave. Anyway, the run was great. It was about 75 minutes long, and I would guess about 60 hashers were there. It was actually a pretty small turnout for that particular group. Some new names that were pretty funny that I noticed: Sea Turtle, Point, and Two-Head.<br /><br />Yesterday, I went biking in Taipei with Dan, Lauren, Sam, and Jade. We rode along the Keelung and Danshui river. We were out biking for at least 4 hours. There were a ton of people out biking. The bike path was great and only crossed one road. The thing that was weird was how often the bike path changed its width. Sometimes, it was wide enough for like 10 bikes, while other times, barely 2 bikes could fit. It was definitely not all built at the same time. The highlight came when we got to the far end of our ride and we called the bike rental place because we were curious what time we needed to return the bikes. They said 4:30. We had called them at about 4:15. They grudgingly accepted our offer to return them by 6. After we hung up, the whole group got worked up in a biking frenzy as we tried to race back to return the bikes in time. Relaxed became manic in a matter of minutes. We made it back just in the nick of time, right as the sun was setting. It was pretty stupid that first of all, they didn't tell us what time they were gonna close, but also, that they closed at 4:30 when it didn't get dark until 6. Oh well. Only in Taiwan. Afterwards, we went to a great "western" restaurant in Taipei. It was good. Strangely, both cab drivers we used spoke English really well. We felt pretty bad after riding with one because we were making fun of his taxi that had funny water seat pad things. When we were getting close to our destination, I told him where to go in Chinese and he responded "I know where to go" with perfect pronunciation. I asked him if he had been listening to us, and he said a little.<br /><br />Anyway, I posted a bunch of pics on-line from the last few weeks. The construction on our apartment was sort of finished today, but about 8 of the tiles are cracked in half and they have red-tape on them, meaning to fix. I'm not sure if they broke because the workers were clumsy, or if they were extremely fragile following the earthquake. Regardless, they're coming back tomorrow to do "detail work," so I'm eager to find out what that means and how they're planning on fixing these shattered tiles after they've fully installed them with grout and everything. Check the pics!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-7372112926262758996?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-36060088841881314762010-01-14T05:19:00.000-08:002010-01-14T05:28:31.096-08:00I had the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">privilege</span> of heading into Taipei today to get a chest x-ray for my work visa application for Australia. I woke up about an hour later than I wanted to which is typical for me. I got to the hospital about an hour later than I wanted to, so I got there at a pretty busy time. I went to the front desk, where they instructed me to go down a hall and turn right. I followed their directions and ended up at the same place I started. Another woman helped me and got me into a line, where they proceeded to tell me to go to a different place in another building. Finally, I was in the right line. They took a photo of me and then weighed me. Then the x-ray was painless but I also had a get a physical exam which was unexpected. The exam itself took about a minute, but what was funny was waiting to see the doctor. I was in a waiting room with maybe 15 other people, and while we were sitting, a doctor came out and set up shop in front of all of us with big posters and a giant toy cigarette. She was giving a speech about how smoking is bad. She was very into it and speaking very quickly in Chinese of course. She <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">must've</span> thought I understood her because she came over to me at one point during her speech and asked me a question, which I responded to by staring back blankly and saying "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">wo</span> ting bu dong" meaning I don't understand. She was talking to what initially seemed like an audience just for her, but about 2 minutes into her speech, most of the people left to go see their respective doctors. She kept on talking though, and of course into a microphone that was plugged into a speaker that wasn't turned on. She didn't notice it. No one in the audience said anything about it. And her assistant standing by her also didn't say anything. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hmm</span>, kinda funny.<br /><br />Tonight, when I got home I expected to find the repairs on our floor complete. Wrong. When I got out of the elevator, there was a pile of tiles sitting there, as well as our couch and dinner table. Inside, our entire apartment living area is bare. The walls are now dirty in a lot of spots and some of the concrete beneath the tiling they ripped up is chipped. So now, what was supposed to take a day or two, could now take weeks. Who knows. I'm ready for whatever, because it's Taiwan and nothing is ever quite what you'd expect! I'll keep everyone posted. I have a feeling it's going to be quite the little saga.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3606008884188131476?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-15721420624778549452010-01-13T06:18:00.000-08:002010-01-13T07:35:47.224-08:00Well, the thrill of the hash has definitely faded somewhat since my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">initial</span> experience but this last weekend was still a lot of fun. What was funny was that there were a lot of new people this time. I'm sure this is how it is every year though, as the new teachers and what not arrive for their contracts. I did meet 3 guys who live in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Linkou</span> just a few blocks from me. One is from Texas, one from Singapore, and one from Italy. They all spoke perfect English and I'm sure I'll see them again in the future. I did ask the Italian what he thought of the food in Taiwan. I consider Italian food like basically the best in the world, so I thought his opinion of the food would be something along the lines of disgusting, but he actually said he liked it for the most part. Kind of interesting. I also met 2 guys from Australia, and one from Brisbane. They're here studying Chinese for 3 months on a full-ride scholarship. Anyway, the hash was funny but I think my funny feeling was just from the fact that there were so many new people and it felt like a new group I didn't really belong to. I'm planning on going to the Taiwanese hash on Saturday though so that will be a whole different experience altogether. Should be interesting.<br /><br />As for the run itself on Sunday, it was great! <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wildman</span> was the hare, who supposedly does it once a year, and every time, it's not to be missed! He's a Taiwanese guy with flowing, wild hair, aviator shades, and really short shorts. And he drives a big, creepy van. The run was about an hour, winding through rice paddies, people's houses, and went right by what I think was a pig slaughterhouse. Pretty gross. The sounds coming out of there were not pleasant at all!<br /><br />As for school, things are going well. The final exams for the older kids start on Friday and go through next Monday. Then we have 2 weeks of class with them where we practice more English although they've already taken their final exams. What boggles my mind is the fact that they have their final exams at their main elementary schools this week also, so it made me wonder why they don't move the English exams to next week if we're just going to be playing games anyway? <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hmm</span>, there must be a reason. After those two weeks of games, I have one week of games with the younger kids and then I'm done! I am so very excited and counting down the days big time. It's been very cold here and only adding to my excitement about leaving. The temperatures here have been below 10 C but because there is no central heating in buildings here, it's that cold all the time, so as you can imagine, it gets a little old after awhile. Australia is in the 30s right now, but it is their summer.<br /><br />Oh well. It's getting kind of hard to believe that this year is almost over although it still seems like a long way off and not real yet. I do know I've been here for awhile though, based on the fact that I feel my blogs are becoming less interesting in the sense that day to day life here is no longer as strange as it initially seemed. That's bound to happen anywhere though. I'm eager to start my next journey, though the culture shock in Australia won't be nearly as jarring. Jarring, I think that's a word.<br /><br />Today, we had the floor repaired in our apartment. I think I had mentioned previously in a blog that we had had an earthquake here a few weeks back and it messed up the tile flooring in our apartment. Anyway, I got home tonight expecting a nice new floor, but instead what I got was a floor covered in dust, all of the furniture piled in the corner, and no grout between all of the tiles. Oh, and 2 freshly cracked tiles. Apparently the job was too big to handle in one day so hopefully everything will be fixed tomorrow. But it's Taiwan so I'm not holding my breath. That's all I've got for now!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1572142062477854945?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-53082794905336875122010-01-06T08:16:00.000-08:002010-01-06T08:22:05.255-08:00This last weekend, I visited Brisbane to celebrate the ol' one year anniversary with Kelly. It was a blast, although it went by way too fast and now feels like it never happened. We ate a lot of great food, saw Avatar in 3D (awesome!), went to the Gallery of Modern Art, went on a run and got a sunburn (my first in months), and had the privelege of meeting all of the great people she has in her life down there. Australia was definitely looking pretty nice, especially considering that it's been consistently cold, gray, and rainy for the last few weeks here. Central heating does not exist in this country, so when it's 40 degrees outside, it's the same inside. It's supposed to get into the 30s this weekend so I'm looking forward to that, let me tell you. And yes, it's a damp cold. No other big news other than that. I'm putting up some pictures on flick so check those out. I've been a little behind!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-5308279490533687512?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-50744951267705740572009-12-27T08:08:00.000-08:002009-12-27T08:27:30.688-08:00The past few days have been filled with so many different and funny things that a blog post is feeling fairly daunting right now. But that's <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">ok</span>, because I'm gonna write anyway. This was my first Christmas away from home, and the fact that it was in a foreign country made it that much more strange. Christmas is sort of celebrated in Taiwan but it's not a big deal. On Christmas day, the school was open all day and we had to work over 10 hours that day. That was pretty sweet. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hmm</span>, well, at least we got paid. Leading up to Christmas, they had two different assemblies for all of the older students at school. Well, they all of the classes divided up into two large groups and then they competed in 6 competitions. At the end of it, I had the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">privilege</span> of dressing up as Santa Claus and parading around on stage, handing out presents to all of the students. Everyone in the audience knew it was me playing Santa immediately thanks to my fairly bright and noticeable green shoes. The competitions were a great time to watch though and very entertaining. My favorite was the arm wrestling competition in which two of the students were in a battle to the death kind of match (I'm sure that's supposed to be punctuated somehow) and one of the kids' noses started to run and they were both sweating. The match was called a draw after about a minute. Bear in mind, they were both about 10 years old. Very funny. The competitor who was my student just happened to be wearing this very tight and awkward looking white, long-sleeve shirt that day too. It was really funny.<br /><br />Christmas night, we hosted a white elephant gift exchange in which I ended up with a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">mouse pad</span> with the words "Bad <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Batz</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Maru</span>." I'm not sure what that means at all, but my old <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">mouse pad</span> was starting to get moldy from some wine I had spilled on it so it was a badly needed gift. We opened the rest of our gifts from family and such the day after Christmas and that was great. My <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">roommates</span> were very nice and got me gifts and I made sure to kindly not get anyone anything return. They told me not to feel guilty but now the dozens of people who read this know that I do. However, Christmas is over so I'm making no attempt to make amends.<br /><br />Today, I spent the day with little Brian's family. It started off with our usual tutoring, but at the end of the session, Brian felt compelled to start making a list of verbs, a list that eventually grew to 70 if you can believe that. It was pretty impressive and he knew how to spell of the words, except "throw up." After tutoring, we hit the road. Our first stop was a strawberry farm. Apparently, strawberry season is in the winter here so dozens of families were out in search of the perfect berry. Then we went out to eat where I again faked saying that I enjoyed everything I ate. I've never really enjoyed the Taiwanese food here but I don't want to say I don't like it so I just try to be as nice as possible. I heard in a movie once that lying about food is not a bad lie. Anyway...<br /><br />After lunch, we went to a little amusement park. We rode the go-carts, during which Brian and I totally smoked his dad and sister in the race created in our minds. Then we took turns operating miniature tractors they had set-up to move sand around in a sand box. It was an extremely dangerous set-up though because it was directly adjacent to another ride and if you extended the arm of the tractor fully, you could easily hit nearby people. I didn't see any accidents but they were for sure waiting to happen. Then we did the bungee-jump sort of thing with the trampoline and the harness and ropes on either side that let you do <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">back flips</span> and such. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was my first time on that, but since then my head has not felt right. That pretty much sums up the day with them.<br /><br />Once I got home, I discovered that my roommate Sam had been out riding his scooter for a few hours in the pouring, cold rain and he returned home drenched and borderline <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">hypothermic</span>. He's gonna make a full recovery though so don't worry. Other than that, I head for Australia on Thursday night so I am eagerly awaiting that little trip.<br /><br />It's almost hard to believe how soon my Taiwan experience ends. I'm still trying to put all of the pieces together from this whole experience but I think it will become more clear in the months following my departure. More on that later! Check F<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">lickr</span> for new pictures!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-5074495126770574057?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-40366916822009055652009-12-19T20:49:00.000-08:002009-12-19T21:03:17.977-08:00This morning, I ran the Fubon Taipei Marathon. Well, the half marathon part of it. It was a lot of fun! After I woke up at 5:15 cursing my alarm, I hopped in a cab and headed to Taipei City Hall. The start was quite the scene. It was dark and basically all of the signs were in Chinese. Luckily, I was able to navigate to the bag check somehow. I checked my bag at about 6:45 and the race started at 7. There were still hundreds of people waiting behind me to check their bags. Once I got to the start however, I was WAY back in the pack. The race started on time, with the elite runners going first. They had athletes from Ethiopia and Kenya brought in so it was the real deal. The grand prize was $1.3 million NT, which is about $40,000 USD. Not too bad if you ask me.<br /><br />Anyway, the race began like any other race in Taiwan: 8 guys standing in a line with some corny music playing and then simultaneously firing 8 guns at once. It took me about 4 minutes to cross the finish line though. Then, once I did, I had to pass thousands of people. I spent more than half of the race passing large groups of people. I'll know next time to arrive a little earlier. Ha ha. The race itself was nothing too interesting. It was basically a big square around Taipei, sticking to all of the major roads. Before I knew it, it was over! I'm guessing I ran between 1:25 and 1:30 but not sure yet because it was chip-timed so I'll be curious to see what they say. The reason why it went well was because race officials were holding motivational signs such as "Insist!", "Fighting", and "Bravo." I made sure to do all three of those things.<br /><br />Afterwards, I hung out by the finish line waiting for the elites to finish the marathon. I ran into 2 different hashers that I knew. The finish line was quite the scene. Announcers on multiple stages were constantly chattering in Chinese, with a little English sprinkled in. They kept on talking about Christmas too. I'll put pictures up shortly.<br /><br />Yesterday was Principal's Christmas party for the kindergarten students. It was a 6 hour work day in which no one got paid and I only had one task to do that took an hour. The rest of the time, I took a ton of pictures of the kids in their costumes. Very cute. It was a very over-the-top spectacle that I'll remember forever. 'Nuff said.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-4036691682200905565?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-69447813168684901422009-12-13T19:40:00.001-08:002009-12-13T19:48:05.409-08:00Yesterday, I had the privilege of co-haring at the China Hash. It was a lot of fun and a real rush. The lead hare was Sheep <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Shagger</span>, and fortunately, I did not get to see why he's named that. He's actually a guy from New Zealand who I found out used to live in Aspen, CO. Small world. Anyway, when 2:45 came around, we were off to set the course for all of the hash's brave participants. I basically just followed him for the first 30 minutes or so and carried the flour because he knew where the course was. At one point, I could see and hear people about 100 meters away from us but they were on the other side of the valley so we weren't in real danger of being caught, although that would've been pretty funny. After about 40 minutes, then it was my turn to do the haring by myself. This was a lot of fun, and luckily I remembered where to go. The only issue was at the end when I was running through a bamboo farm and the owner was out there harvesting and he got very mad at me. I just disregarded his comments, mainly because I had no idea what he was saying, but it sounded angry. The issue was after, when the other runners followed my trail, and the farmer got more and more frustrated. He actually swung at a guy with a big scythe! Then the police came and luckily the whole matter got sorted out within 15 minutes or so. It was pretty crazy! The other funny thing was that the initial checkpoints we set up at the beginning of the run were so close together that people were getting very confused and roughly half of the people turned back because they couldn't figure out where to go. Oh, the hash.<br /><br />It was the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">GM's</span> last day so the down downs and bash afterwards were going to be especially raucous, but I ducked out early because I amazingly found 2 other <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">hashers</span> that live in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Linkou</span>. We hopped in a cab for about 45 minutes and how much would you guess that cost? Less than $30 US for a cab ride that long. Pretty cheap huh? And that cost was split 4 ways. Anyway, I think that pretty much sums up the day pretty well. Haring was something I'd wanted to do since I joined the hash so I'm SO glad I got the opportunity finally!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-6944781316868490142?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-60700220718867223032009-11-30T07:52:00.000-08:002009-11-30T07:58:35.904-08:00It was break time at Principal today when all of a sudden, about 30 pick-up trucks drove by with pots and pans clanging and men shooting off fireworks and chanting. There were flags everywhere, loud honking, more chanting, and singing/ranting over a mega-phone. "What is that?" you think. Could it be a major holiday parade? Or a strike? No, it's just the local townspeople campaigning for their favorite political candidate. It's somewhat of a spectacle and way more over the top than it seems like it should be but it's Taiwan and nothing is quite what it seems. Or at least, what you'd expect. There are political ads all over town right now, all of men holding one fist in the air, as if to convey the message of perfect leadership. If only I had some photos or a video of what happened today...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-6070022071886722303?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-7044714582563464442009-11-29T04:03:00.000-08:002009-11-29T04:21:18.762-08:00Today, my roommates Dan and Lauren coordinated a scavenger hunt through the streets of Taipei. It was a "photo scavenger hunt" meaning each team was given a list of things to photograph. Some of these items included: a goat, a pack of stray dogs, sleeping people, kissing people, dancing people, hugging people, someone taller than you, and a group of at least 7 people all wearing glasses. There were probably about 30 items in total. Our groups were divided into boys and girls. My brash and confident "man group" was convinced that we had won the event but we still lost, even though the girls group got a large point deduction for being late.<br /><br />We asked 3 different cab drivers to dance with us, all of whom declined. We stood in front of various people to get photos of them inconspicuously. We had to walk like ducks as a group in the middle of a very crowded and prominent crosswalk. And the proof of all these deeds was captured on film. Some choice shots will be posted on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Flickr</span> shortly. It was quite a day and a very interesting way to experience Taipei!<br /><br />This morning, I once again had the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">privilege</span> of tutoring little Brian and it was fun, as always. This time, we did play about five games in a row of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Jenga</span> and it was really cute. He kept on saying "it's not so easy" and "scary" if I was moving a precarious piece. Nicole, his sister, tried to play also but she's two, so sadly each game she participated ended disastrously after a few moves.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-704471458256346444?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-92036808823456278532009-11-28T09:40:00.001-08:002009-11-28T09:40:57.076-08:00I just posted about 100 pictures from the last few weeks so check 'em out...more to come soon!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-9203680882345627853?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-3991514439218929972009-11-27T23:53:00.000-08:002009-11-28T00:02:09.756-08:00I'm alive! I realize it's been quite awhile since I wrote something on here but I've been busy. Most importantly, my parents just came and visited Taiwan for 10 days. It was a lot of fun! They enjoyed all the different smells, tastes, and sights that Taiwan has to offer. The most memorable part for me was visiting Taroko Gorge. This is a national park on the east side of Taiwan and it was amazing! It's a massive gorge made entirely out of marble, meaning that when the river created the gorge, it didn't slowly erode it into a V-shape, but rather it's straight down. So the gap between the two sides of the gorge is the same at the top and bottom. The pictures we'll make it easier to understand! It was a great time though and I am SO glad that they came to see everything.<br /><br />School this last week was a nightmare. We have Christmas presentations coming up and our bosses have given us absolutely no direction for what we're supposed to be doing, but they've been able to get mad at us for doing what we're doing. The whole thing is just a mess but it will be a huge relief when it is over. Afterward is the kindergarten Christmas performance which I'm very excited about and I'm sure it will be a very surreal experience.<br /><br />Now my mind is blank. I'm going to post a ton of pictures so those will do the talking for me. Enjoy!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-399151443921892997?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-65934537961043660712009-11-07T19:00:00.000-08:002009-11-07T20:29:09.430-08:00It's only noon on Sunday but it has already been a marathon weekend. I just got home from Taipei after doing a 10k. Let me start from the beginning of the weekend though. Yesterday, at 5:20 AM, my stupid alarm clock went off and I sluggishly began to pack my bags and head for the door, ultimately bound for Taipei. I hopped in a cab and gave the driver directions written in Chinese to the starting line of a local 5k. He acted like he knew where to go, but on the way, he made about 5 different phone calls, clearly asking for the same address over and over again. However, we did eventually find the starting line. It was located right along one of the two main rivers that run through Taipei. I arrived at about 6:15 and started jogging around. At roughly 6:35, every race participant was asked to take part in a warm-up routine which was led by a little <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Jazzercise</span>- type lady. Surprisingly, everyone in the crowd was really into it. It was pretty fun to watch, but also really really goofy. The race was supposed to start at 7, but at about 6:45 after the dance routine ended, everyone went to the line and suddenly the starters fired their guns. I was about 100 meters away from the starting line stretching. I freaked out a little and then sprinted into the middle of the pack and the race was off! It was an out and back course on a narrow one-way road which the officials made sure not to close so it was bustling with cars, scooters, and pedestrians.<br /><br />I was stuck near the back at the beginning but I slowly moved my way up, and then suddenly at about the mile mark, I was in the lead! Then the lead grew, and grew. After another 15 minutes or so of agony, the race was over! I had won! Pretty crazy! I clocked myself at a little over 20 minutes, which <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">could've</span> been accurate, but if it was, that's my slowest 5k time since freshman year of high school. I think it was a little long, but then again, I've been training pretty poorly so I wouldn't be surprised if that was an accurate time. My closest competitor was about 20 seconds behind me. As a reward, I was given the same thing as everyone else in the race: two hand towels, an assortment of decorative soaps, and an XL shirt that was yellow and had a little man on it with LOVE written in big letters.<br /><br />After the race, I started chatting with the only other foreigner present, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dragan</span>. He was Serbian and he'd been living in Taipei for 10 years. He was an interesting character who told me I needed to improve my form but he complemented my Chinese. After this, I lazily roamed through the streets of Taipei and eventually made my way back home.<br /><br />In the afternoon, I was bound for Taipei once again to go with my friends to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Daan</span> Park, which is Taipei's equivalent of Central Park, but it pales in comparison (Kelly, that Central Park reference is for you). However, on the way I had to pick up my race packet for the race I did today. The man I spoke with told me their office was located beside Taipei 101. I thought this would be a fairly easy task, considering that Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world (or close to, you get the point). He also told me it was in the World Trade Center. When I arrived in that general vicinity, I found that there were 3 World Trade Centers. After roaming back on forth on the same streets and asking multiple cops where to go, I finally found the building I was looking for. The first door I tried was locked, and it was dark inside. I went to the other side of the building and found a usable entrance. Once inside, the elevators weren't working so I took an escalator to the 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span> floor. Then the escalator didn't work but the elevator did so I took that up from the 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span> to the 3rd floor. I noticed that there was a large expo going on on the 1st floor but nothing going on above that. The building was a giant convention/expo place, so each floor contains dozens of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">rentable</span> store fronts, so I knew the "address" I needed to find. There was no one around however and most of the lights were off. I walked down a long dark corridor, took a right and walked down another long, dark and abandoned corridor to suddenly find an office bustling with 5 guys inside, working tirelessly on preparing for the race. It was strange.<br /><br />Which leads to this morning...another race. I woke up yet again at 5:20, this time, hitting the snooze button an extra time and being more annoyed than I was the day before. I hopped into a cab again, but this time the cab driver did not have to make any calls. That's a good thing. I arrived at the start line about 45 minutes early, and this time the race started on time. Of course, there was a 10 minute <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">pre</span>-race dance routine. They didn't supply us with any pins for our bibs for some stupid reason, so a fellow racer lent me one, so I had my bib just sort of hanging on my shirt flopping around. A cop also tried to help me staple my bib on to my shirt but that didn't work. It was the effort that counted. The race itself was pretty boring. Just out and back on a highway. I felt so-so but sadly, I think I ran my slowest 10k since like middle school. If that's not a wake-up call to get in shape, I don't know what is. My time was roughly 42 minutes. Nonetheless, I was roughly 30<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> out of at least 1000 people, so needless to say, the race scene isn't quite like it is in Boulder.<br /><br />After the race, there was a 5 minute drum show which was pretty cool. Then I roamed around the Sun <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Yat</span> Sen Memorial Hall and adjoining garden and pond. I saw a laughing club there. I'll post a video later so look for that.<br /><br />Well, I think that was about it. I'm tired from typing now, and doing everything I just described. I hope you liked it!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-6593453796104366071?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-1641813313932881422009-10-31T06:13:00.001-07:002009-10-31T06:25:03.732-07:00I just posted about 150 pictures from when Kelly visited last week. Check them out!<br /><br />About a week ago, I noticed a sign posted in our elevator that looked like a "wanted" sign for a man. Of course, it was in Chinese so I didn't really know what it was for. It had a picture of him that looked like a mugshot as well as his height, weight, and birthdate. In my apartment, every time our door opens, there's a chime that sounds. However, our neighbors door chimes all the time randomnly and is clearly audible from my room. So after I saw this sign in the elevator, I started to get very paranoid at night when I was in bed, and I repeatedly heard this door chime. I was thinking "oh geeze, this criminal is in my apartment right now and this is not good." After being freaked out for like a week, I walked into the building one day and saw this "wanted" man standing in the lobby with a doorman's uniform on. He's a new doorman in the building and they posted his profile in the elevator. Yep, that's it. I was pretty freaked out for nothing, but it's pretty funny.<br /><br />Anyway, yesterday was the day that Principal celebrated Halloween. It was a pretty insane and surreal day. The kids were really, really cute. I'll be posting pictures shortly. The highlight was when we took to the streets with the kids to go trick-or-treating. They don't really celebrate Halloween in Taiwan. Just sort of. We toured a hair salon, as well as a Blockbuster, Mos Burger (Taiwan's McD's), and bakery. At each stop, we sang two halloween songs in English. I don't think any of the workers at the places knew what was happening but they gave kids candy anyway. At all of these stops, that's when I had some surreal moments in my head. It was pretty crazy!<br /><br />Later in the day, we were supposed to play halloween-themed games with the older kids. However, we were given a list of games to play and nothing to play them with. This was a bit of a disaster but luckily the kids had a lot of candy to eat to fill the time. There was also a moment yesterday where I was hanging out with one class, admiring each other's costumes and what not when I got a call from my boss and she told me to go to another classroom. I walked in with my costume on and everything and all of the kids were sitting quietly in their chairs, ready for their science class. I walked in completely unprepared and annoyed that no one warned me about this. Luckily, I was teaching the colors "blue" and "purple" to 3 year old kids so it was pretty easy to whip together a lesson plan. In other words, the day was a whirlwind and it was chaotic and poorly organized and cute and hyped out, but overall, it was a great day and I had a lot of fun!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-164181331393288142?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-3088051795072209662009-10-26T08:04:00.000-07:002009-10-26T08:20:47.317-07:00Yesterday, I was a proud participant of a real humdinger of a Hash in Maokong, right near the Taipei Zoo. The hash was supposed to have a "bonus" race at the beginning from an MRT stop up to the beginning of the hash itself. The organizers promised cash prizes as well as other great gifts for the participants. They promised also that it would start at 1 PM sharp and of course I arrived late, as I often do. But at 1:01, when I did arrive, the lone organizer there told me I was the first one. Then a few minutes later, another guy showed up the race was born. However, no one else after dared to show their face so it was a head to head battle between me and Robert from Germany. His hash name is escaping me right now, but it's really inappropriate so use your imagination. Anyway, we started the "race" off together but a very steep staircase we had to climb for what felt like about 5 minutes proved difficult for my opponent so I took the lead from there. I was able to complete this race in 35 minutes, one minute faster than the guy who had set the course up. Anyway, this race did have a pretty fun route. It ran along a river for the first 10 minutes or so, then ascended a massive staircase, before getting to a stone trail that wound through the jungle until reaching the beginning of the hash. We hung out there before the run began roughly 90 minutes later.<br /><br />The run started late because two of the hares had gone on their scooter to fix part of the race course and proceeded to crash into a car during this. The owner of the car happened to be a lawyer, so I'm sure they'll be paying for ALL of the damages. Anyway, this delayed the run for like 15 or 20 minutes. Then the madness began. The run was hared by 3 guys who had never hared before. They had co-hared previously with an expert but never by themselves, so that's where things got iffy. The first half of the run went straight through the jungle. The trail was completely bushwacked. Most of the runs we do utilize existing trails and roads but this one, not the case. But yeah, we went through some very cool terrain and did plenty of river tracing. It felt like dusk the whole time we were in the jungle because it was that thick that not much light got in. At the second to last check, things got interesting. About 15 or 20 hashers gathered on a ridge after finding a check, but after searching desperately for 15 or 20 minutes, no one could find the next part of the trail anywhere. This search involved everyone running back and forth on the same trail, but going a little farther at each end each time. I ended up following a guy who said he knew how to get back without flour marking the way. After running about a half mile from the check, we found the next flour marking. In other words, the mark that was supposed to be around 100 meters from the check ended up being 800 meters away, explaining why no one found it. Then, we followed this way down before somehow joining the beginning of the hash again and we started re-tracing our steps. After making a U-turn and cursing, we made our way back to the beginning. The run in all was over 90 minutes long.<br /><br />It was an amazing experience though. Although the organization and marking could've been better, it was a great day overall. The weather was perfect and it was great to be so secluded in the jungle. There were about 90 people who showed up to the run. Oh, I almost forgot. During Down-Downs, the hares brought up me and Robert to collect our awards for the "race" we did at the beginning. They gave me $1000 NT which was nice, as well as a pretty cool photo of a big bridge in Danshui. Robert, being the biggest loser as the hares so kindly put it, gave him a bottle of vodka to ease his sorrows. We also got certificates proving our participation in this massive race.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-308805179507220966?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-9384402614269712102009-10-24T02:52:00.000-07:002009-10-24T03:09:14.607-07:00It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything but I've been busy. Kelly was in Taiwan visiting me for the last week or so. She left last night and now I'm definitely experiencing some post-trip blues. But I'm not here to tell you about that. I'm here to tell you that our trip started with Kelly coming to Principal for the day to meet some kids. They had a lot of fun with her there, even though they mostly just stared and were confused by her presence. The highlight was when she sat to Catherine, a 5 year old girl, who spoke Chinese to her the whole class. That was pretty funny and cute. She had food on her face and everything. That night, we went out to sushi with all the other teachers from my school. Good eats!<br /><br />The next day, we went to yoga which happened to start that day with like 30 minutes of dancing which was pretty fun and goofy. After, we got lunch with little Brian and his family. Afterwards, they took us to Taipei 101 and we went to the top. We also went to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Chiang</span> Kai <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Shek</span> Memorial Hall in Taipei which was pretty striking. There was a large festival of some sort going on there with a huge parade which was a lot of fun to see! <br /><br />That night, we hopped on a turbo-prop plane and headed for the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Peng</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hu</span> islands, which is an archipelago off the west coast of Taiwan. The flight was only about 50 minutes long. Once we arrived, we stood out front of the airport waiting for out pick-up from the "Dream <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Homestay</span>". After about 15 minutes of wondering if anyone was actually showing up, a van pulled up and a woman ran out with the name Ryan scrawled on a lid from lunch box. We nodded that we were indeed the only foreigners on the whole island and they rushed us off to their home. I had been expecting to go to a big hotel, but that's the moment that I found out what "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">homestay</span>" means. The owners names were Ken and May and they were really nice and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">accommodating</span>. We stayed in their house that had 5 guest rooms total, although no one else was staying there when we were. We went to a little restaurant nearby that night where we had fried rice and a whole fish that was cut into pieces and floating around in soup.<br /><br />The next morning, we were driven to the local pier, where we hopped on a boat for an all-day boat tour of the surrounding islands. This was a lot of fun although we were definitely ready to get off the boat by the end of it. We toured <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Chimei</span> island, and we were supposed to rent a scooter and cruise around. However, we thought we'd be able to handle the challenge of driving a scooter, but after failing to make it out of the parking lot, we were told to get on the tour bus with everyone else. We also toured <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Wangan</span> island, and two others I can't remember the name of. One thing that was strange that both Kelly and I noticed was how mellow the islands were. We hardly saw anyone the entire time. Not sure what everyone does there...<br /><br />The next day, we spent lounging around on the beach basically all day, as well as biking around for a few hours. This was a lot of fun. Check the pics! The next phase of our Taiwanese adventure was going to Tainan, which is on the southwest coast of Taiwan. The plan had originally been to go to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Haulien</span> and visit <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Taroko</span> Gorge, which is one of Taiwan's premier travel destinations, but an impending typhoon changed our plans. We had the pleasure of taking the high-speed train to Tainan which was a lot of fun. We were actually both a little nauseous initially because of how fast it went. It covers the entire length of the island in about 90 minutes. In Tainan, we stayed in a really nice hotel and checked out some of the local temples and what-not. I feel like that pretty much sums up that last week. It was a whirlwind but we had a great time and got to see a lot of Taiwan. I'll post pics soon. Ta ta for now!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-938440261426971210?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-84197161358199674432009-10-06T07:25:00.000-07:002009-10-06T07:43:27.606-07:00I spent this whole last weekend with Brian and his family celebrating Taiwan's Moon Festival. It's basically equivalent to our July 4th. One thing that's really popular to eat are moon cakes, which are apparently what fortune cookies are based on. I've been told that fortune cookies are an American invention. Moon cakes are similar in the sense that they're sweet, but they don't have paper inside. They usually have a bean paste or rice filling. They're pretty good. Anyway, the Taiwanese people celebrate the Moon Festival by barbecuing a lot and shooting off a lot of fireworks. So on Saturday, very very early, Brian and his family picked me up to head toward Frank's parents' house. Frank is Brian's dad. On our drive down, we stopped by Sun Moon Lake. It was gorgeous! It's the most well-known lake in Northern Taiwan and a very popular destination for tourists as well as the locals. I couldn't quite figure out what you're supposed to do there exactly, like if you spend a few days there, but it was at least fun for the few hours we spent there. I posted a bunch of pictures of it so check those out to get a better idea of what it's like. We had breakfast there, and then did a short hike. Then we drove to the other side of the lake where we did a half-hour long hike to a really cool temple/pagoda on top of a mountain overlooking the lake. This was very cool! Again, check the pics!<br /><br />After Sun Moon Lake, we drove through some various Taiwanese towns I had never heard of. On our drive, we went by a large river where the big typhoon last month did some serious damage. A quarter-mile long section of road had completely collapsed into the river. That was pretty crazy to see. After that, we drove through the city of Jiji which was struck very hard by a large earthquake in Taiwan about 10 years ago. We saw a temple that had completely collapsed during that earthquake and it has yet to be re-built. There's a picture of that too on Flickr. Anyway, after a bunch of driving, we finally arrived in Changhua, where Frank's parents live. His parents were really nice and lived in a pretty cool 4-story house, one floor of which I had to myself for our night's stay. We had a nice dinner consisting of traditional Taiwanese foods. After, we sang some KTV as a family, which was really family. They are all obsessed with Michael Jackson here. It's really funny. After that, we went to a night market and played little arcade games which the kids really enjoyed. I did too! The go-carts were the highlight. They had part of a parking lot blocked off with little go-carts inside that you put a 10NT coin in and they drove around for about 90 seconds. It was pretty unsafe, especially for little kids, but oh well. Our group made it out unscathed. That night, after we got back, I was sitting and watching TV when the mother came in and said "ok, here's your towel and soap for your shower." I was thinking, "um, ok, I didn't ask to take one but what the heck..."...so I learned another thing about Taiwanese culture at that moment...they bathe right before they go to bed every night. When I do that, I wake up and have a huge afro.<br /><br />The next morning, we went on 12-km bike ride which was a lot of fun. We went to a little farmer's market where they clearly hadn't seen a foreigner in a long time and I had all the salesman coming up to me and giving me free fruit. Now that I think about it, I only saw 3 foreigners the whole weekend. We went to some pretty remote places farther South where English teaching is not nearly as common and thus, foreigners aren't really necessary in those parts. Anyway, the bike ride was a lot of fun. We went back and had another big meal before hitting the road to Lugang. This is a famous town in Central Taiwan that plays hosts to a massive temple that's at least 100 years old. It was the most ornate and detailed temple I've seen so far in Taiwan. There were a ton of people there worshipping away and this was a real joy to see. See pics! Then we drove back to Linkou via frontage roads that took a long, long time but we made it back safe. The main highway was completely backed up, probably for the entire length of Taiwan, due to the Moon Festival. It was quite the weekend!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8419716135819967443?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-22243425508192747542009-09-27T03:38:00.000-07:002009-09-27T05:10:41.436-07:00Today, I completed a full marathon in Miaoli. My plan had originally been to do the half-marathon but through some peer-pressure, I agreed to do what I thought would be impossible considering my current fitness level. It actually turned out to be a great day! We woke up at 4:30 AM to get our free breakfast, which we had been told would be a grand spread, but instead was a pastry and a sandwich with some whole milk, all in a little plastic bag. I ate the pastry. We wandered down to the finish line by 5:30 or so where our contingent of a dozen foreigners were paraded in front of the locals like monkeys. The race was considered "international" because Carrier, a fellow hasher, recruited about 12 other hashers to pretend that they'd just come to Taiwan for the race. It was a little goofy but the whole thing was free too so that was nice. We had a great hotel and free meals and the works. Anyway, at the start line, the only thing I could see in English was "Man-Q" which is apparently some sort of shampoo. I had been told it was an energy gel but I found out the hard way that it most certainly was not.<br /><br />There were about 7,000 people who competed in the 10k, half-marathon, and marathon. I'm not sure how many people were in the marathon but Jacob and I finished in about 260th place in a time of roughly 3:57. Our goal had been to break 4 hours. Since I hadn't planned on running the marathon, I decided to be Jacob's pacer, although I think if I had taken off on my own, I probably wouldn't have run much faster. The race itself was out and back on a highway. So it was not the most interesting course, but the race went by surprisingly quickly. The weather was perfect: about 55 degrees and drizzling. Had it been a hot day, the outcome of the race would've been a lot different. Jacob and I were able to chat until about the 30K mark. We both started and stayed as relaxed as possible because both of us were not quite sure of how fit we were. Jacob started to hit the wall pretty badly the last 1oK or so but other than that, the race went smoothly. Apparently, we got the biggest cheer of all the participants when we crossed the finish line! We had a ton of people throughout the race saying "Go Go" and "Ja Yo" which is the same thing, but Chinese.<br /><br />The winning time of the half-marathon was about 1:27, which really is not that impressive, but the winning time for the full was 2:29 which is very respectable. Apparently, the winner won $100,000 NT which is roughly $3,000 US. Well, I hope that's a pretty good summary of the race. I'm feeling very tired right now and my body is very achy. I'm really dreading waking up in the morning because that will be much more painful! I'll blog about the pain if it's significant enough. Ha ha.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2224342550819274754?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-6424374117908910062009-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:002009-09-23T08:16:57.396-07:00This past Sunday, I had the privilege of going to a water park in Bali, which is a town just northeast of Linkou on the coast. I went with all of the teachers from school and we were there celebrating Jade's b-day, a former Principal teacher. The pictures I'll post will give you a better description of what it looked like, but it was awesome. It had relatively short lines, fun rides, and it wasn't too crowded. The highlight of the water park itself was the fact that all the lifeguards were male and they all wore tiny pink Speedos, which was pretty comical. And no, they weren't what you're thinking they are perhaps. That's just the uniform for some reason. They had a very prominent wall in the water park covered with photos of the lifeguards posing...very strange. It was a little Chippendale-esque. So yeah, that was all good and fun, but the cab ride home was the best part of the day. We got a ride back from Mr. Hwong, who had so kindly driven us there as well. In the cab, we tried to have a conversation with him and then I made the mistake of asking him if he liked music. He had a DVD and TV built into the car and he turned it on to the Taiwanese equivalent of MTV and it was all these teen girls dancing to techno music with strobe lights and everything and then Mr. Hwong started dancing. Bear in mind he's probably about 55. Then he kept saying "nice to watch" and "dance dance" in Chinese. It was really funny. It was also sad though during the conversation because we kept asking him if he did certain things or what he liked and he said he worked from 6 AM to 1 AM everyday driving his cab so he didn't have time for anything. He's never even left the main island of Taiwan. It didn't seem to bother him though. He was a jolly guy and we may enlist his services again shortly.<br /><br />The other funny thing that happened was today! I was going to go get a blood test from Frank, little Brian's dad at a nearby hospital. He told me where to get the bus and he said it would be about a 10 minute drive. After being on the bus for about 20 minutes, I started to get concerned. Once we got to "the end of the line" after 30 minutes, there was definitely not a hospital in sight. I had no idea where I was. I asked the bus driver where we were and how to get to the hospital. He said something in Chinese and I had no idea what he said, but he said he was going back to the same place he started, so I stayed on the bus. In other words, I rode on the bus for an hour for no reason. Once I got back to the starting point, I found where I was supposed to be waiting about 100 meters away. Apparently, there's a spot where all of the buses stop but one, and that 'one' was the one I needed. Not sure why they separate them like that but oh well. I'm going to try again next week. Believe it or not, I was able to do all this during my lunch break and I wasn't late going back to work. The reason why I'm going to get a blood test is because I'm curious to see what it says and I suspect I may be anemic, but it could just be in my head. I feel more tired and fatigued than I think I should, considering that I'm sleeping pretty well and eating well too. Oh well, more on that later.<br /><br />The other big news is seeing the dust storms in Australia. Kelly said she was coughing all day today and that was from staying inside. She said in Brisbane, she can't see more than two houses away. The pictures in Sydney looked really bad too. It's something like the worst dust storm they've had in 70 years. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm going to post some pictures! Oh and by the way, the subject line of this blog is taken from a pair of sandals I saw at the water park.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-642437411790891006?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-68902665621298508832009-09-17T07:52:00.000-07:002009-09-17T08:08:03.874-07:00Two orders of business for the day. The first: tonight I went to buy some iron pills because I'm feeling a little depleted. I went to Cosmed a few blocks from my house. I went inside and luckily the first person I talked to knew English. I told her I needed liquid iron. The first thing she showed me was some flowery box that I was guessing was some sort of tea so that didn't really look like the right thing. Then she said she had one more thing. She showed me a product called "Iron Tasty" and it had the outline of a woman drawn on it. The box was pink and clearly for women. However, I bought it because I guess that was my only option. I'm going to show the box to my Taiwanese friend Tony to have him tell me what's in it before I start taking it. The box is completely in Chinese and I don't want to start taking estrogen by mistake.<br /><br />The other thing: the Hash last Sunday. I'll give a quick rundown. It was at Fulong Beach again on the Northeast side of the island. It's our last beach run of the year because it's getting colder and rainier. The run started up a steep staircase and then we got on a road which we ran on for about 5 minutes. Then the first check came and a guy found the right way and plunged into some thick jungle. After running down this for about 2 minutes, we ran into the hare putting down the flour. There was some arguing in Chinese and then we turned back and had to basically start the run over again. Apparently, the trail had been marked incorrectly and we missed a 30 minute loop we were supposed to do first before we got to the part where we saw the hare. This was kind of funny and has never happened on a hash I've been on. Anyway, the rest of the run was pretty fun but very muddy and not that runnable because much of the jungle we ran through was just too thick. The highlight of the run came after at Down Downs. They brought me and my friend Andrew up to the front and started making fun of me, saying how I'm always bringing young guys along with me. Mark, the GM, asked us who was Martha and who was Arthur? I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this so at that moment, a fellow hasher behind Andrew de-pantsed him completely in front of the whole crowd. I was quick enough to dive into a cat pose and avoid humiliation. Andrew wasn't too concerned about it because he leaves on Monday and will probably never see any of these people again. But yeah, that was pretty funny. My friends Dan, Lauren, and Jade from school came along to the hash too. It was their first one and I think they had fun. They were definitely a little confused by the whole thing but they might go again so that's what's important.<br /><br />We did skip the bash at the hash because Dan, Lauren, and Jade didn't want to drink so we went to a dive of a restaurant a few blocks from the bash. I ordered "fish" which was a whole fish, completely blackened, and brought out on a plate of juices and odd vegetables. But, I was hungry and managed to eat the entire thing by myself. At the end of the meal, Andrew posed the question "could you have pictured yourself eating something like this one year ago?" I said no way, and then laughed and realized just a simple thing like that was a fairly significant experience. Now that I think about it, I've been a very very picky eater my whole life and now that's clearly changing. I'll try and post a picture of that shortly. I had a moment at the restaurant that again, made me realize this has been a pretty unique experience! More to come...stay tuned!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-6890266562129850883?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-73220877382946269542009-09-11T08:49:00.000-07:002009-09-11T09:14:07.961-07:00It has been a hectic week and I wanted to write a blog sooner but had I done that, the hecticness would've been reflected in my blog and thus, made my hundreds of readers crazy as well. Last Sunday, I went on an amazing hike with little Brian and his family (pictures will be posted shortly). We climbed Seven Star Mountain on the outskirts of Taipei. The hike started at the base of a large, natural sulfur spring which was pretty cool to see, and it smelled terrible of course. The hike began at an elevation of about 800 meters and climbed to about 1,120 meters total. It's the tallest mountain in Taipei County. The hike itself was composed mainly of steep stone steps, with of course very, very few switchbacks. For some reason here, hiking trails are constructed straight up mountains, so I guess the hike is shorter but it's much more intense. Then again, I was hiking with Brian who is 6 years old so it wasn't that difficult. I was able to hang, just barely. At the peak of the mountain, it was extremely foggy so we didn't have a good view of anything but it was fun being at the top nonetheless. There were a ton of Taiwanese people just laying around. The most peculiar thing I discovered on the hike was on the descent. While we were going down, I saw a little side trail that cut into the tall grass that was on either side of the trail. I walked down the trail with Brian for about 20 feet, and then we got to a clearing with a bunch of, hmm shall we say, remnants of human occupation in the area. So yeah, instead of having bathrooms along the hiking trail, they just had these clearings that you could duck down in the grass and completely concealed, but no attempt was made to conceal the "business" being done there. That was a first for me. After seeing this one, I noticed trails just like these every few hundred meters.<br /><br />After the hike, I went out to dinner with his family. Our appetizer was tofu and pig intestine. I picked at this dish and ate one bite of each thing. Then Brian's mom said "foreigners usually don't like this food" so I guess I made it pretty obvious that I didn't like it when I only took one piece of each and then moved on to another dish as fast as I could. I got a bottle of what I thought was apple juice to drink for dinner. It actually was apple juice, but at the bottom, it had Jello-like chunks of apple flavored gelatin or something so that was a new one for me too.<br /><br />I could've sworn there were some other highlights from the week but they're escaping me right now. Last night I moved out of my apartment and into a new place with Dan and Lauren, two other teachers from school. The rent is a lot less now and it's a really nice place, plus I think it will be good for me to live with other people. Sometimes in a tiny little studio apartment, the walls felt like they were starting to close in. Anyway, the name of the building is Venice and it's pretty swanky. I'll put up pictures of that too. The funny thing about moving last night was when my landlord got there, we couldn't really communicate at all so I called my neighbor Tony and had him come translate and moderate the exchange. I tried cleaning the apartment but not that much because it wasn't that clean when I moved in, but I was worried the landlord would say I had failed the cleaning test, but that was not the case. She did burp loudly about 6 times in half an hour while surveying the apartment, so that was funny. Thanks to the help of Brian's mom, I was able to get back over half of my security deposit for breaking my contract.<br /><br />Ok, well I'm out of stories right now but this weekend promises to be a big one. I'll post pictures shortly and another blog in the next couple of days. Oh last thing I just remembered...because of the H1N1 epidemic or whatever you want to call it, all of the students have their temperatures taken at school a few times a day, of course using the same thermometer in all of their ears without ever cleaning it. Then after they're done, the teachers are expected to use the same dirty thermometer to take their temperatures. Even when I go to my Chinese class in Taipei, the doorman of the building stops me and takes my temperature. I've heard that about 50,000 people in Taiwan have the swine flu, so they're doing their best to prevent it from spreading more. At our school, if 2 or more kids have a fever and are sent home and later develop swine flu, then their whole class is cancelled for 5 days. So, it's not bad at our school but I guess it has the potential of getting there. I've been washing my hands after every class just in case. It is pretty crazy though that if any kid has a fever, they're sent home immediately. But at the same time, I've heard that H1N1 is transmitted through mucus, and ear wax is a mucus, so why is it that they test all the kids at school...like 200 kids, with the same thermometer and never clean it? I'll leave that to you guys to ponder.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-7322087738294626954?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-33819871186615267172009-09-05T19:05:00.000-07:002009-09-05T19:16:27.764-07:00Yesterday was quite a day! It started with a run through Linkou and as I ran by a few blocks of restaurants, I couldn't help but notice that I was associating all of the scents emanating from the restaurants with scents from a landfill or a hot spring. After showering and cleaning off the ridiculous amounts of sweat your body produces in sweltering humidity, I went to the neighborhood photo shop where on of the salesman speaks English. While he was ringing me up, he asked if I was married. I said that I was not. Then he said, "why not? You are so handsome." I chuckled and told him I was very young. He said he was 32. Then I asked him if he was married. He said, paraphrasing, "I like Taiwanese girls but they don't like me. I am too fat, I have no money, no car, and no house." So in other words, he was not married. It was pretty sad actually but awkward too because I didn't really know what to say to him. I told him to be patient and something good would happen eventually.<br /><br />A little later on, I hopped on the bus with Josh to go into Taipei. The bus was basically full so we had to sit separately. I sat next to a little lady that was mumbling to herself during the entire bus ride and she kept putting her hands together and praying. The only thing she was carrying was a little clicker, like the ones they use to count people in a bar. If she hadn't been about 4 feet tall, I would've thought she was a terrorist. Anyway, that was pretty funny to see. Josh and I went to a movie theater near Taipei 101 and saw the new flick "Inglourious Basterds." This was fun to watch and very entertaining, and violent. Very violent. The funniest part of the movie was when we first arrived and there was no one in line for the movie. We got there about 10 minutes before the movie started and there was not a soul in sight. We sat down inside and we were the only ones in there about 5 minutes before the movie was supposed to start. Then, about 3 minutes before, people just started flooding in like ants. They all sat down in about 5 minutes and the movie began with a packed theater. That's about all I can think of right now from yesterday.<br /><br />I am off to the Hash. There will be an update from that later!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3381987118661526717?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-51476604209974996492009-09-03T04:00:00.000-07:002009-09-03T04:35:08.604-07:00Well, school is finally in full swing, and boy has it been a trip already. Each day, it feels like there are enough stories to write a book. I remember a 7 year old student dancing like Michael Jackson, complete with very suggestive hip thrusts. One student leaves his chair about every 3 minutes when he decides to fall out of his seat and face plant and then start crying hysterically. His name is Merlin, but in his class they say it "Mer-leen" which is really funny. I'll post a picture of him. One student likes to get out of his seat, lay on the ground, and kick his arms and legs in the air. My boss calls the trouble children "popcorns". I'll try and post pictures in the next few weeks of all the new kids.<br /><br />On Sunday, I went to the Hash in Muzha. It was a really hard run that began with a long, steep descent which of course we had to ascend on the way back. It was brutally hot that day but it was still a lot of fun. I got the new teacher Sam to go with me. He said he wanted to go again so that was a relief. One girl did get lost on the Hash and about 4 search parties were sent out after Down-Downs to track her down. Apparently, she thought the run was too hard so she just went home and decided not to tell anyone she had gone and she also left her bag at the beginning of the run. That was quite dramatic. However, on Saturday a fellow hasher died during the Taipei Hash. I heard that he had gotten lost and he fell somewhere and broke his neck. His body was not actually found until the next day. The Taiwanese "Ghost Month" is going on right now so a lot of bad things happen. So yeah, this weekend was a bit of a sad weekend.<br /><br />The cutest thing that happened this week was a few days ago when my ring broke accidentally in class. I showed the broken pieces to the class and Lucien (a boy) came up to me and said "it's ok" and he patted me on the back. On Tuesday, I taught a P8 class which has like 14 year old students and when I walked in the classroom, they all started laughing at me and snickering to each other. That was a pleasant welcome. What was funny was that their material was hard enough that I was second guessing myself about if their answers were right or not. There are a ton of rules about English that I've long since forgotten and it's funny to compare conversational English to proper English.<br /><br />It rained last night and while I was walking to and from the store, I slipped at least 6 times on the 10 minute walk. The sidewalk materials here are just horrible. What were they thinking when they built them? It rains here all the time, so why do they paint the concrete on exposed entryways to buildings, or why do they use marble tiling on major sidewalks? Also, at lunch today at the all-you-can-eat buffet, they were serving what looked like pigs' tails but I can't be sure because I definitely did not taste them.<br /><br />My running has been going well. I've been into the routine of going to bed early and getting up early. I'm supposed to be doing a marathon in a few weeks but I'm still not sure about it. I've been running between 30 minutes a day up to an hour and 40 minutes a day. I am feeling better but still not in the shape I want to be. Much like the guitar I borrow from school. It says it's the "Finest Guitar in the World" (and the is spelled "th") but it most certainly is not. Maybe that's why I like the guitar so much. We have something in common.<br /><br />Oh, last story and then I need to end this rant. Last night, I went to sushi with the new teachers, Sam and Josh. When we first sat down the waiter came up to us and said something in Chinese and I didn't understand him at all. Because Josh and Sam don't really know any Chinese, I became the official spokesperson for the group so when the waiter spoke, Josh and Sam just looked at me. I told the waiter "wait a moment" in Chinese and he just shook his head. It became very awkward and silent. Then he chatted with his fellow waiters and then he said in English, "what do you want?" Later in the meal, I ordered dessert and I wanted the pudding dish with the red fruit sauce. I tried to explain this by saying what I thought was "red" in Chinese but again, they just stared back at me blankly. Clearly, my Chinese classes are paying off. Ha ha. At the end of the meal, I wanted to tell the cashier that our group was paying separately and again, I was met with completely blank stares. The whole ordeal was pretty awkward but I asked my teacher today how to say some new things so hopefully this situation will be avoided in the future.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-5147660420997499649?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-38066746031299018922009-08-24T02:33:00.000-07:002009-08-24T02:44:22.288-07:00Today was the first day back at school. There are two new teachers starting this semester. Josh, who is from Saskatchewan and Sam, who is from Maryland. Sam actually went to Bowdoin College and majored in Economics, just like someone in my family. I only taught two classes today. They were fairly difficult though because it was the kids' first day of class in an English school, period. So they don't know any English. I haven't taught a class like this before so it should be interesting. The best part so far was having to teach the kids their own English names. My favorites were Bong, Ting, and Merlin. When they got out of class, the kids lined up in a single file line and walked while holding the backpack of the kid in front of them. It was like a cute little train.<br /><br />I'm about to go on a run with Sam so I think depending on how serious of a runner he is, I may have found a new training partner so that's exciting. Oh, one other thing. At school, during break they decided to do some landscaping. All of the trees that were completely full and mature, they cut the branches off basically back to the trunk. It's really ugly and I'll post some pictures later. I don't understand why they did it, but now there's an ant infestation in the school and the administrators are saying cutting the trees is the cause. Oh, Principal. <br /><br />I went to bed last night at about 11, and then proceeded to wake up at 1,2,4,5, and finally got out of bed at around 6. Adjusting to the time change is about what I expected it to be: difficult. Anyway, I'm feeling more upbeat about things in general now so get ready for some more positive posts in the future!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3806674603129901892?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-1526039870876805452009-08-21T22:44:00.001-07:002009-08-21T22:58:27.165-07:00I got back to my apartment about an hour ago and the reality of being in Taiwan is hitting me all over again. I'm feeling fairly negative right now but that's due to lots of jet-lag, as well as missing everyone back home after spending three great weeks with everyone. This next week will get me back into the swing of things. New classes, new students, re-adjusting to the food again, and re-adjusting to the new time zone again. It's all part of the experience. Nothing else to say now...expect a fascinating blog soon though!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-152603987087680545?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-89494328708777416342009-07-28T08:36:00.000-07:002009-07-28T08:48:56.876-07:00Today at school, we had a dodgeball competition with 4 different classes. Going into it, I thought it'd be pretty funny to watch a bunch of little kids pelting balls at each other. I was wrong though. When the game started, one ball was brought out. All of the kids were told to stay inside of the square as 6 teachers surrounded them. Then we threw balls one by one at the scared kids huddled in the corner of the square. One kid did cry because he got hit in the face, but overall it was quite an underwhelming game. I'm not sure if this was the school's first time playing dodgeball or if this is how they always play it but it was strange.<br /><br />Tonight, I went to Brian's house and had dinner with his parents and three doctors from the Chang Gung hospital. Frank, Brian's Dad, heads up a unit at the hospital and apparently has his disciples eat at his house often. They invited me because their guests spoke English. It was a little awkward the whole night because the main reason we were all there together was because we spoke English even though I was the only native speaker. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, ha ha. The three women were from the Phillippines. They've been in Taiwan for 11 months and are leaving next month. After a delicious dinner, we played Wii Tennis and Bowling. This was pretty funny. Brian's parents were very excited about getting us all to play a kids game. It was a fun night overall.<br /><br />Other than that, I'm getting very very anxious about going back to the US and that's pretty much all I'm thinking about. I'm honestly getting a little bummed that I'll have to come back here. I've definitely been enjoying my time here but I feel like I've gotten comfortable enough with everything that the whole experience isn't quite as exciting anymore. Maybe it's my problem and I need to diversify more to spice things up or something. The doctors tonight did tell me that their second half of the year has gone a lot faster so that was good to hear. In a way, it is kind of silly to live life like that, just hoping that it goes faster so you can be somewhere else. So I am trying to live it to the fullest while I'm here. I'm doing my best to supress any negative thoughts and instead I'm trying to make the best of it. I was told that the 6-month mark is one of the hardest periods of being away so that could be what I'm feeling. I'm getting too whiny. I better stop this blog, ha ha. I promise good posts in the future so don't give up on the blog yet. Ta ta!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8949432870877741634?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-31261043426833576692009-07-27T02:56:00.000-07:002009-07-27T03:12:28.972-07:00Well, I'm here to update everyone on my life and write another fascinating blog! Yesterday, I went to the Hash in Pinglin. It was a great run! It took about 80 minutes and there was actually a ton of actual running involved. It was a "runners' " run. We had to cut through like 8 rivers and run over a TON of rocks. Of course, it was raining so everything was really really slippery. I only fell once though so that was impressive. When I got to the end, I thought I was going to be the first man in but one guy was already there. Cam had been there for 20 minutes. Apparently, he had gotten straight through all of the checks while the rest of us were bushwhacking in circles. It was still an amazing run, probably one of the best I've done. It was also the last hash for 5 hashers, two of which are from Colorado and one is a CU alumni. It's a small world. And, on the run I met a girl who is roommates with a friend from Boulder way back when. That was a real shocker!<br /><br />On Saturday, I spent the day with Brian and his whole family. I drove with him, sis, Mom, and Dad to meet up with his grandparents in Hsinchu. It's a city about 1 hour south of Linkou. We went to the harbor in town and rented bikes. We rode along the coast for about an hour which was a ton of fun. The highlight was when we first arrived at the harbor and there was smoke billowing from the water. A boat was on fire! There were about 30 firefighters surrounding it who put it out in about 15 minutes, but it was still very entertaining nonetheless. Afterwards, we went out to eat at the Hsinchu night market, which is over 100 years old. The food was pretty typical. There was also a temple adjoining the market and I went inside and made a wish in the Buddhist manner. You hold two halves of a wooden egg together, and drop them on the ground. If they land on opposite sides, then your wish will come true. But, I can't tell anyone my wish...but it's coming true so get ready!<br /><br />Other than that, this is the last week of school for the semester so I can't wait for it to be over. I did add about 20 pictures to flickr so check those out too!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3126104342683357669?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-41643464723618969372009-07-20T05:31:00.000-07:002009-07-20T05:49:45.828-07:00It's been a whirlwind last few days. Yesterday, I took two teachers from my school, Chris and Kelly, to the hash. They really liked it! It was a pretty awesome run that ended on Fulong Beach on the east coast of Taiwan. At the end of the run, everyone took off their shoes and jumped into the ocean for a swim. Very refreshing! Before the run, I guy came up to me and said "hey, I heard you're the new fast guy." He was an ex-hasher back in town for a few days so he was reliving his times of glory. Apparently, another hasher had been talking me up to him for the last few months. Unfortunately, during the run I had some "intestinal" problems that hindered my performance greatly and thus, put out quite the lackluster showing. Oh well. It's only a hash. Still, I felt disappointed I hadn't put on a bigger show for this guy. I was clearly over-hyped, much like a lot of big-budget movies. The point of the story is that Chris and Kelly said they wanted to do another Hash, so it was a successful Hash overall!<br /><br />This past Saturday was my K3B class graduation. This was pretty cute/comical, and I'll post some pictures and videos to give you a better idea of what it was like! The highlight of the show was definitely when they started playing "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne. I am not sure where they found ANY of the music that they did for the show, but that was part of the fun. The ceremony itself took almost 3 hours. Remember this is for kids graduating from kindergarten at like the age of 8. The earliest graduation I can remember was from high school and even that wasn't 3 hours long. It was a little over the top in that sense. Each class performed a 15-minute long skit, followed by a group song. Then they handed out awards to each student. Then all of the teachers at the school said a few words about the students, followed by another group song. The picture taking/gift exchanging after was the highlight. Each class participating came up and gave their teachers bouquets and gifts. I ended up with about 6 bouquets of flowers and multiple stuffed teddy bears. I proceeded to pawn most of my gifts off, realizing that most of the gifts would go to waste inside my bachelor pad.<br /><br />Other than that, no real big news. I saw Indiana Jones 4 on Saturday and was fairly entertained. It was not quite as good as the original ones but still pretty entertaining. I watched it with two other teachers from school, Dan and Lauren. I'm potentially going to be changing apartments in the next month or two. More on that later. I'm getting excited about my return home to the US in less than two weeks. It's gonna be great!<br /><br />Oh, last thing...the title of my blog refers to a funny incident on Saturday. After running on the treadmill, I went into the courtyard of my building and my doorman Mr. Sen was talking to a woman who is apparently my neighbor. While I attempted to have a conversation with her in Chinese, another woman came down who looked like her mother or aunt or something, and she was carrying a clear bag with a clear liquid inside and a straw sticking out. I asked Mr. Sen what it was and he said "whiskey". Then the woman handed me the bag and said "for you." I was thinking "oh great, this should be interesting." I took the bag from her and took a sip through the straw. It turned out to be warm soup broth, not whiskey at all. Then I tried to hand the bag back to the woman and she insisted that I drink the whole thing. I didn't particularly enjoy the soup but I had to oblige because it was a gift. So there I was, sitting in the courtyard in my tiny running shorts attempting to speak Chinese to 3 Taiwanese people while drinking soup out of a bag with a straw. It was just one of those moments....<br /><br />Now that I've been here for almost 6 months, a lot of the culture shock has worn off, but there are still moments like this that make you realize that you're living in a foreign country.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-4164346472361896937?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-14494837720671552212009-07-13T07:14:00.000-07:002009-07-13T07:34:14.928-07:00It's hard to believe it's really been a whole week since I last posted. Time actually feels like it's going really slow right now but in terms of blogging, it's flying by. The last few weeks of school have been a bit like pulling teeth and the whole school just sort of feels tired and ready to be done. The older kids at school just finished their final tests last week but they still have 2 weeks of school left, so we basically play games and review with them for no real reason other than to sharpen their English more I guess. I have 13 actual school days left this semester so that's pretty cool. Also, hard to believe the first semester is actually over. In a way, it feels like I arrived in Taiwan only yesterday. I'm also glad the 6 months are already over. During the first few weeks here, I met a lot of people that talked about how they'd come here to teach for a year and they ended up staying for like 3o years. I was definitely not sure what was going on during that period of time so I got worried and thought to myself that there would be a remote possibility that I'd want to stay longer. However, as I near the 6 month mark, I can safely say that 1 year will definitely be enough for me! Actually, I had made up my mind a few months ago. It's been an amazing experience so far and I don't regret any of it one bit, but one year will be enough. Anyway, enough deep thinking for the day...<br /><br />On Saturday, I went to a pool party with Andrew and his friends. This was pretty fun but also kind of lame. It was at the Taipei Country Club, a few miles away from Taipei 101. It was basically a foreigner hang out, but with a lot of drinking and Taiwanese kids mixed in. It was really nice to swim though and escape the oppressive humidity! I did run into 2 fellow hashers, and I met a guy who was interested in doing the hash so hopefully my words of wisdom persuaded him to try it out. After hanging out there for a few hours, we walked back into Taipei, which took about an hour and a half but none of us were in a hurry to get back for anything. They were gonna head to a club later but I learned that they have a dress code at all of the clubs: pants and shoes required. I had neither so I went home. One of Andrew's friends was a guy from LA visiting for a month. Apparently, he got a 1580 on his SAT when he was 13 and he graduated from Berkeley at age 16. Pretty impressive. He was a bit eccentric too though. But yeah, he was like an "ABC" Doogie Howser. Overall, it was a pretty good day.<br /><br />Yesterday, I hung out once again with Brian and his family! I tutored him for an hour and then we drove into Taipei and hiked a mountain overlooking 101. This was a great hike, and it wasn't too long so the kids handled it well. At the top, there were at least 20 photographers hanging out waiting for the sunset to capture the perfect skyline picture. It was pretty picturesque. The only thing that seemed funny was that they were all taking the exact same picture. The sunset didn't actually turn out to be that good because there were hardly any clouds in the sky so it was missing that dramatic effect. After the hike, we drove to Maokong. This is a little mountain village that can usually be reached by a really cool gondola ride, but that operation is closed down temporarily because one of the steel supports was sliding down the mountain! Not too safe. We ate dinner at an open air restaurant overlooking all of Taipei. It was pretty stunning! My picture of it on flickr isn't that good though because I had my little camera and it's hard to hold it steady for night shots. It was another great day out with an authentic Taiwanese family! All part of the experience! More later...<br /><br />I added about 25 more pictures/videos from the weekend's events so check them out!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1449483772067155221?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-24755408765041619572009-07-06T06:34:00.000-07:002009-07-06T06:48:26.429-07:00Yesterday, I went to the hash with my friend Andrew. This was no ordinary hash though. It was the July 5th "America Day" spectacular! There were patriotic costumes galore, as well as like 30 new runners, and over 100 runners total in attendance. It was quite the run! The trail itself actually would've taken about 40 minutes, but because our whole group got lost at numerous checks, it ended up taking more like an hour. But this hash had something that I had never experienced before on a hash...swimming! That's right. We had to swim three different times through a river. Actually, you really only HAD to swim one time, but swimming was easier in the other sections because the rocks were so incredibly slippery to walk on, it wasn't even worth it. But yeah, the first water section began with a jump off of a 4-foot tall ledge straight into the river. I had no idea how difficult it really is to swim with shoes. We had to swim probably about 20 meters. Then we ran along the river bank which was covered in rocks, and then back into the rivers, where it was probably only three feet deep, but most people just got on all fours and sort of slithered through the river over the rocks like salamanders. It was pretty comical to watch I'm sure! Then we ran in the jungle again for 5 minutes or so, before getting lost in a tea field for about 15 minutes. After finally finding the right way, we had to once again swim across another river! Yep, it was quite the day!<br /><br />The down downs went really well and were a lot of fun. The GM is English and he proceeded to make fun of America a lot. This was pretty entertaining, and he pointed out some pretty ridiculous things about the US. Then again, things like that can be said about pretty much anywhere I think. There was a moonwalk competition between Michael Jackson and John Dillinger which was pretty entertaining. Unfortunately, there was a lot of drama during the bash that kind of made the rest of the night kind of sour. Luckily, there was a great fireworks show at the end that the hare coordinated, as well as lanterns we wrote wishes on. We then lit them and they sailed into the sky at least 1,000 feet up. This was pretty striking to watch. However, my point and shoot camera was not good at all at capturing this moment. Overall though, it was a great hash! The swimming was very unique and I thought to myself "only in Taiwan!" On on!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2475540876504161957?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-84040051956494422982009-07-04T08:47:00.000-07:002009-07-04T09:02:12.190-07:00I spent this Saturday in the same fashion as last: touring Taiwan with a real Taiwanese family! I had the pleasure of tutoring my student Brian again, and then spent the whole day with his family. Brian and I first read books for an hour and then we had a family lunch that his mom made. Then we played a drumming game on Playstation 2 that was a lot of fun even though none of us really knew how to play it. After screwing around on that for about an hour, we drove into Taipei where Brian took a math class for an hour. While he was there, I went with Frank (the dad) and Nicole (the sister) to the Core Pacific City "Living Mall." This building was truly an architectural marvel located just a few blocks away from Taipei 101. It's difficult to describe it and do the building justice but it's basically a giant ball set into an L-shaped building. I'll post pictures of it shortly for you to be able to see it better. It has a fairly grandiose atrium inside as well as glass elevators, and tons of escalators to allow for many different, interesting vantage points throughout. We wandered around there for an hour or so before heading back to pick up Brian from class. On our way back, we did buy another authentic Taiwanese dish whose name escapes me right now, but it was another icy soup dessert like I had last week, only this time it had noodles in it too.<br /><br />Then the family and I went to Bali, a little town right on the Danshui river just a few miles from Linkou. We rented bikes and rode along the river for about an hour. This was a lot of fun, although it was very very busy and I'm amazed none of us got into any crashes. It was a relief to be by a river and near the ocean to escape the sometimes insufferable heat Taiwan has in the summer. The highlight of the day bike riding was watching Brian ride with training wheels. Whenever we got to a quiet part of the trail, all you could hear was his training wheels scraping on the ground on one side until he tipped back and started scraping on the other side. Training wheels are just kinda funny. Ha ha.<br /><br />After Bali, we went to a "western" restaurant in Linkou which was actually pretty good. I knew all of the names of the dishes which was refreshing. The only thing that was strange about my meal was the sauce on the Fettucini Alfredo. I'm about 99% positive there was not any actual cheese in the sauce, but oh well. The whole meal, 5 courses in all, cost about $7 US so that's tough to beat!<br /><br />When I got back home, I went over to Dan, Lauren, and Jade's house where we proceeded to try out KTV (Taiwanese karaoke) to see what it was like. It is EXTREMELY popular here. It was actually a lot of fun! We got to try it on the top floor of their 15-story building, and we had our own private movie theater basically, as well as a balcony with a lawn and real grass. I don't think I've walked barefoot in grass since I've been in Taiwan so that was cool. Also, come to think of it, today was the first time I've ridden a bike since coming to Taiwan. Anyway, KTV was a lot of fun. We sang some Disney classics, some '80s classics, and other songs of that nature. I definitely wanna try it again in the future. So in all, this was a pretty eventful day and I'm feeling a little tired. I'll put up some pictures soon of the day's events. 'Til next time...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8404005195649442298?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-19968413513022099072009-06-30T08:45:00.000-07:002009-06-30T08:46:54.521-07:00I had some spare time tonight so I uploaded about 70 pictures to my flickr account. There's more of Australia and then a bunch more from Taiwan. I hope you like them!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1996841351302209907?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-12615268501949087372009-06-29T08:40:00.000-07:002009-06-29T08:42:39.659-07:00I just added 60 pics or so to my flickr from Australia so check 'em out! More on the way from Taiwan!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1261526850194908737?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-22958284445607605862009-06-27T09:33:00.000-07:002009-06-27T10:14:52.735-07:00It's been almost one month since I wrote a blog so get ready! It's been a pretty crazy month. I think the last time I blogged, it was a few days after I got back from Australia. Since then, my sister and friend Dylan came and visited me for one week. It was awesome! I am so glad they came and got to see what it's actually like out here. For me, one of the hardest things about being out here has been trying to convey to people with words what it's like in Taiwan so it was great that they came and got to see it for themselves. They had a lot of fun and will potentially visit again in the future. The first day they arrived, we did some sight-seeing around Linkou which was fun. Although it is really dirty here, it's pretty interesting too and having them see it all for the first time sort of made me realize how unique it is here. After cruising around town, we met up with my cook from school and she took us on a hike in Yang Ming Shan national park. Unfortunately, it rained pretty hard so our plans were changed slightly. We ended up running/hiking on a road in the pouring rain. We did see a ton of little frogs and a green snake, which my friend thought was probably a pit viper. Apparently, they bite a lot but they're not poisonous. We also went out to eat after with a group of about 10 Taiwanese and that was a pretty cool experience.<br /><br />The second day they were here, we went to Wanli to a Hash run. This was the usual for me, a crazy Sunday. But for Emily and Dylan, I think it was the highlight of their trip. I remember my first hash, and it completely blew my mind. The hash run was actually a little disappointing compared to some of the other ones, but it was still fun and the bash afterwards was awesome! The whole group was in a good spirits because Emily and Dylan were there and the Hash always likes when new people are there. And we convinced Dylan to eat part of a chicken's foot. Afterwards, we went and sampled betel nut where Dylan proceeded to pass out for about a minute. Drama ensued when one of the hashers broke a light by accident on a storefront and the shopkeeper came out and demanded we pay him 7000 NT (about $230 US) to replace the light. After a lot of arguing, we gave him 1500 NT and then he called us his brothers and said we could come back anytime. Yeah right! It was crazy but...only in Taiwan.<br /><br />The next 5 days they were here, I had to teach so they did a lot of sight-seeing on their own. They saw a lot of temples and other touristy things like that. We did check out the Shilin night market which was very cool, for the second time. We also had the privilege of going to the top of Taipei 101. It's a very striking building and it had a great view at the top. One thing that was a little strange was feeling the building move occasionally. It was a little unnerving. There was a cool informational video talking about the construction of the building that played in the observation area. We did go at night though so all we really saw was the glow of the city. Going up there during the day would be more interesting, but unfortunately the air is hazy here often so it's tough to go up on a clear day. We were lucky enough to have the cook from my school host us that night as well. We really lucked out!<br /><br />Dylan and Emily also came and observed me at school. That was a lot of fun and the kids really liked them. The highlight of the day was probably when they helped me make clay airplanes for the kids in two of my classes. It was adorable, ha ha. So I'm not sure exactly what they thought of Taiwan in general, but I can safely say that I am SO glad that they came and I had a great time with them.<br /><br />On to more current stuff...today was my first day tutoring Brian from my K3B class. I am going to tutor him once a week for the rest of my time here in Taiwan. He's the cutest kid in my K3B class and he's really funny too. We read books for about an hour today, and then his family took me out on an adventure for the day. We went to Keelung on the northeast tip of Taiwan. This was a gorgeous area and I'll post pictures soon to better describe everything. We ate at a restaurant first, where I made sure to crack open a prawn and have the inner juices explode all over my arm and shirt. Then we went on an hour long-ish hike along the coast. This was very scenic! I felt like I was in Hawaii! Unfortunately, it did sort of drizzle the whole time, but it wasn't that hot as a result so that was good. (At this point in the blog, carpal tunnel is setting in, ha ha). Then we went to Jiufen, a small town on a hillside close to Keelung. This was a very unique town with narrow streets and shops stuffed in every imaginable crevice of the city. This was very cool and a very authentic experience. I ate a Taiwanese dessert that consisted of ice cubes floating in a soup, accompanied by sweet chunks of vegetables and beans. It was pretty good, but kind of odd at the same time. Apparently, it's a very popular dish though...when in Rome. We did see a fair amount of tourists though, but not white people. They looked Chinese but they were speaking English, so they were probably ABCs (American-born Chinese) on vacation. Come to think of it, I think I only saw two white people today total, and we were in some very touristy places. Oh well. There were a lot of cool shops and scents and scenery so that was great to see! Afterwards, we headed to the Keelung night market....crazy! I thought Shilin was crazy but this was crazier for sure! There were so many people. It was ridiculous. You could barely walk. Again, I'll add pictures to better describe it. I did eat two more dishes that Keelung is famous for...when in Rome. I had "pow pow bin" or something like that, which is basically Italian water ice. I also had some fried sandwich filled with mayonnaise, tomatoes, cucumbers, sausage, and eggs. It was pretty good at the time but I felt sick after (and me typing about it now is not bringing back fond memories). I got home at about 10 PM. So yeah, that was the first day of tutoring...11 hours with Brian's whole family, 3 popular authentic Taiwanese dishes, 2 popular tourist destinations, and a partridge in a pear tree. Also, Brian's sister is 3 I think and she was so adorable. She kept calling me "Mister Ryan" all day, but that's practically the only English she knows. It was quite a day, to say the least. And the plan is to do something like this every week, but more on that later. I'm tired now and not sure what else to ramble on about. I hope this makes up for the last few weeks of time off, but hey, it's been busy. Yeah yeah, we're all busy.<br /><br />Last thing, in the running world...Galen Rupp is amazing and Dathan Ritzenhein is back in the game. Perhaps Alan Webb too. It's very exciting stuff! I did attempt to sign up for my first race in Taiwan, but unfortunately registration is closed because they gave out all the entries already. Now the next race in Taiwan isn't until October. Oh well. Now I'm actually going. Goodbye!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2295828444560760586?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-73175994617696796052009-06-03T06:29:00.000-07:002009-06-03T06:52:35.336-07:00Well, school was pretty entertaining today. My boss wanted me to help her choose a song for the upcoming K3 graduation ceremony. She said she wanted the song to sound joyful but also have meaningful lyrics related to graduating. She had narrowed it down to 2 songs for me to choose from. I listened to the first and it was some passionate love song with lyrics like "if you fall, I will catch you" and "you're the only beauty in this world" so I didn't think that was too fitting. Then the next song was about someone dying. I'm not sure how my boss carefully chose these two songs but she did. My co-teacher Dan and I are thinking we're going to play "Good Riddance" by Green Day on our guitars while the students sing. That's a pretty common song for occasions such as this. <br /><br />Later in the day was rehearsal time for the upcoming Drama Night we have next week. This was very entertaining to watch because many of the kids are like 15 years old and they have to sing these really slow love ballads and dance on stage like ballerinas. My class is singing "YMCA" which is pretty funny to watch. That song is like 5 minutes long! Oh well, I'll put up videos of the final performances next week. Get excited...<br /><br />I did put up about 70 pictures so far from Australia if you want to check those out! I'm probably gonna end up putting like 200 more pictures up so get ready. Then again, the pictures are of an amazing place so maybe you won't mind. Oh and the last thing...in my K3B class today, while I was talking to the class, one of the kids got out of their chair and came up and started sniffing my arm for about 15 seconds and then he said it smelled good. It was very odd and funny to think about. Oh and one more last thing...I've finally decided that the bathroom at school smells like a zoo stall. And there are a lot of random bugs in it. And the funny thing is that the cleaning lady cleans the bathroom like 3 times a day. She must be using dirty water. After having been in Australia for a week where the air was clean, now I notice even more how horrible the air is here. It just smells bad pretty much everywhere. Emily and Dylan, get ready to experience that!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-7317599461769679605?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-2739034229035381822009-06-02T04:24:00.000-07:002009-06-02T04:53:59.490-07:00I'm back in Taiwan...already. First of all, I can't believe how amazing Australia was, and second, I can't believe that the trip is already over! But hey, at least I got to go so I shouldn't really be complaining after all. So yeah, Australia was awesome! I'm not sure what I expected to see, but I was pleasantly surprised. The fam and Kelly and I spent the first few days in Brisbane. We got to see Emily's school campus, which was huge and very beautiful. We made sure to have Emily take us to all of her classes to make sure that she was actually going to school. We also saw a few different art museums and ate a lot of great food. That was one of the highlights for me: the food. It was all very, very good, but also very expensive. A lady at the airport told me that wages in Australia are typically pretty high though to help offset the high price of food. She said a job that might pay around $8 an hour (like a retail job) in the US would actually pay about $15 USD per hour in Australia. It seemed like every meal we had cost like $100. It was a nice break from the Taiwanese food though.<br /><br />The weather was pretty much perfect the whole time we were in Brisbane, except for a few rain showers. The city of Brisbane was very nice. It was very clean, modern, and filled with lots of friendly people with very entertaining accents. The roads in Brisbane are a lot like San Francisco because of all the hills. The next part of the trip was definitely the biggest treat of the vacation: North Stradbroke Island, or Straddie to the locals. This is an island just a few miles off the coast of Brisbane. It almost felt like I was in Hawaii, but it's far less developed which I really liked. There were no high-rise buildings. And not many people for that matter. Because it's winter in Australia, it's kind of their slow season (what a rough winter huh? 75 degrees as the high). We stayed in a very funky hotel that was set back into the woods off the main road. It took about 2 minutes to walk to the beach. We did a lot of lounging on the beach, some hiking, and again, lots of eating. One thing that was pretty crazy to see was the bats, aka Flying Foxes. One night, we witnessed a mass migration of at least 1,000 bats flying down the coast. I would say these bats have at least a 2 foot wingspan...they were big. I had never seen bats this big before, and definitely not this many at once. My mom and I were also lucky enough to see 2 kangaroos in the wild. Needless to say, the rest of our party was quite jealous. I'll be posting some pictures shortly because they're gonna do a much better job showing you what Australia was all about. All I'm trying to say is that I'd highly recommend a visit!<br /><br />Today was my second day back to school and I'm definitely having a hard time adjusting and getting back into the groove. I'm missing everyone now but luckily the kids keep you busy enough that you can't think about it too much. I have one highlight from today that was pretty memorable. It was the third field trip of the year today. We drove south into Taoyuan to the National Taiwan Sports University campus. We attended some sort of Firefighters' Benefit or something. It started with 8 guys dressed as women in bikinis, lifeguards, and people who looked like they belonged to a bomb squad. They were wearing one piece, white plastic suits. They must've been very hot. It was around 80 degrees today and very humid. They did some sort of dance combined with a life-saving demonstration. It was very odd. Again, a video or picture would better describe it. Once they did this, more guys came out with sheets to make ocean waves and the guys in the plastic suits put on monster masks. Then another life-saving demonstration ensued, followed by a 3 song dance sequence which included "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Then the monster people ran around a chased and scared all the kids.<br /><br />After this were the boat races. They had 3 boats with 4 firefighters in each racing across a pond. This was fairly anti-climactic because one team won convincingly. The capper for the day was when all of the kids were allowed to catch baby catfish out of a baby pool. There must've been at least 500 catfish in this pool. It was pretty gross but a lot of fun too. I caught 5 and now I have them in a bowl in my room. Of course the next challenge will be trying to find fish food somewhere near my house. Luckily, I have that little "language barrier" I have to contend with. After we got back to school, I had two science classes in a row where we experimented with different kinds of paper and how they reacted to water. One of the students thought it'd be a good idea to put the pieces of paper on their face and of course, their fellow students followed suit. Before I knew it, I had 15 kids roaming around the classroom with 6 pieces of paper stuck to their faces. They all looked like Uncle Sam.<br /><br />To sum this rambling up, I'd like to thank my parents for an awesome trip to Australia, thank Emily for being our great tour guide, and thank Kelly for being there with me to experience it all. Now my mind is spinning trying to gather my thoughts and also try and sort through the hundreds of pictures I took so I can post them on flickr for the many blog fans I have to enjoy. 'Nuff said!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-273903422903538182?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-22766688712229831022009-05-19T09:02:00.000-07:002009-05-19T09:24:37.072-07:00Tonight at school I had the pleasure of doing phone-testing for two classes. My boss promised me it would take about two hours to call 30 kids. After being on the phone for three, I was able to get a hold of 21 kids. They said I can make up the other nine when I call for "two" more hours on Thursday night. Some of the questions which I found interesting were as follows:<br /><br />Who is as kind as a deer in your class?<br />What do you use to dry your body?<br />How do you put out flames?<br />How did Warthog like his meat?<br />Make a sentence with the word "creep"<br /><br />Bear in mind that I was asking all of these questions to kids I called at home late at night. It did seem a little awkward and strange to me but it's part of the experience. My favorite response of the night was when I asked a kid what his Mom looked like. He responded "My Mom looks like a dog." He was dead serious. I had another kid take about 2 minutes to find his textbook, and then while he was reading to me, he put me on hold for a minute while he did something. I gave him a bad score as payback so there!<br /><br />On Sunday, I participated in yet another hash. It took place in Pinglin, which is a large tea-producing area in the mountains outside of Taipei. It was a gorgeous run, cutting through tea fields at the tops of lush mountains and scampering through thick jungle vegetation. Unfortunately, the bus I went on arrived around 30 minutes late so our group was WAY behind everyone. We did have to deal with a torrential downpour that lasted for at least 45 minutes. It was pretty crazy but a lot of fun too. It was definitely another one of those "this'll be a story" moments. Unfortunately, you really had to be there for the full effect. I did find out that earlier that day, the Taipei 101 stair climb was held and I'm pretty bummed I missed it. That would've been pretty cool to try, but probably absolutely horrible during it.<br /><br />On Saturday, I went to the Baishawan beach again with Andrew and a few of his friends from Honduras and El Salvador. It was pretty fun having the opportunity to practice my Spanish for a day. In a way, I wish I was learning Spanish instead of Chinese because it's a lot easier, and then I wouldn't be wasting all the Spanish I studied in high school and college. Oh well, there's always the future I guess. Anyway, it's Tuesday night and I'm leaving for Australia on Saturday to see Kelly and the fam so I'm very excited, anxious, and agonizing over how slow time seems to move when a big trip approaches. Isn't it funny how that happens? <br /><br />I have two more facts about Taiwan I'd like to share:<br /><br />#1: Every cop car here always has its blinking lights on. Always! They do turn the siren on when there's actually a problem, just so you know the difference. Luckily, ha ha.<br /><br />#2: At the beach on Saturday, it was totally packed. But then I was puzzled by the fact that first of all, you can't really swim in the ocean because of strong rip tides that surround the ocean. And second, Taiwanese do not like getting tan so they practically avoid getting sun exposure at all costs. This of course prompted the question: why are the Taiwanese flocking to the beach? Perhaps for the same reason we all go to the beach...to do absolutely nothing but feel like we're doing something. But ain't it fun? I'm looking forward to it in Australia. G'day mates!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2276668871222983102?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-81795238318680700722009-05-12T04:53:00.000-07:002009-05-12T05:08:01.072-07:00I went paint balling for the first time in my life with my fellow foreign teachers on Sunday. It was a lot of fun but I don't see why I would do it again. The first game, we played 4-on-4, guys against girls. We played inside of a square field with about 16 little fence walls on each side. The second game, we played inside of a more rugged course. This one had berms with trees planted on them as cover. There was also a flag in the middle that one team had to race to grab. The third game, we played against a group of 12 Taiwanese that were there also. We lost pretty badly but it was still fun. After paint balling, we also had a barbecue. During this, one of the Taiwanese came over and he wanted to meet us. While I was attempting to talk to him, one of my friends said "he wants to arm wrestle you." I was thinking, yeah this is just what I need. So he beat me soundly in arm wrestling, as well as the drinking competition that ensued. <br /><br />We also played a lot of the miniature basketball game, and they had a rock wall which I horsed around on too. That was fun but I'm definitely not a natural like someone in my family...Dad. After that, we went a rode some go-carts. For me this was definitely the highlight of the day. These go-carts seemed like something that'd be illegal in the US but I'm in Taiwan so that's convenient. They had 250 CC engines which were very fast and loud, but it was awesome. I had an epic showdown with my friend Chris but he took me down in the last few laps. We're no longer friends. Well, I'm just joking but I am indeed bitter about the loss. It was a cut-throat competition.<br /><br />We did have a driver from the paintball place that drove about an hour to pick us up in Linkou, then he drove us to paintball. After paintball, he drove us to the go-carts about 15 minutes away. And then he drove us back after that, another one hour drive. Apparently, because it was Mother's Day, they weren't as busy as usual so he had the time for us. He did make sure to run every red light he could while driving. Oh, Taiwan. One cop did stop him and he made a joke or something and then the cop let us go. It must've been a good joke!<br /><br />Other than that, no real significant highlights. Well, at school today, a student got his head stuck in a railing for about a minute. That was pretty funny. I'll potentially have a big weekend this weekend so perhaps some good stories are on the way. In less than two weeks though, I leave for Australia so there'll be good stories after that for sure. In the meantime, try a round of paintball or climb a rock wall...<br /><br />I did post a bunch of pictures from paint balling so check those out!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8179523831868070072?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-28565234136746728022009-05-07T04:04:00.000-07:002009-05-07T04:18:17.624-07:00Today, I got lost. I got new directions on how to get to my Chinese class in Taipei that are much quicker than the route I'm used to taking. I was happy on the way there because it saved time. On my way back, however, I assumed that the bus would take the same way back to Linkou but that was a bad assumption to make. I walked to where I thought the stop would be and I didn't see anything. I walked down the street for about a minute before realizing I wasn't going to see another stop for awhile. I walked to the nearest bank, and luckily the security guard spoke English. He got together with three bank tellers and they drew a map for me explaining where the stop would be. I thanked them, and then went on an 8 minute walk down the street. When I got there, again I didn't see a bus stop. I walked up to a cop and asked him if he spoke English. He shook his head, so I started pointing at buses and said "Linkou" repeatedly. He told me directions I thought I understood, but while he was talking, a Taiwanese woman came up and said "do you need any help?" Then she started telling me new directions. While she was talking, another Taiwanese woman driving on her scooter stopped, got off, and also asked me if I needed help. The first woman then walked off as this new lady was trying to help me. She said the bus stop the others were referring to was there like 6 years ago so she wasn't sure if it'd still be there. She told me to go the nearest MRT station and ask them where the bus stop was. She even wrote down in Chinese what I needed to know, and she gave me her phone number in case I needed help. I thanked her and walked to the MRT station. The information desk lady didn't really speak much English and she told me to go to a bridge and the stop would be there. I had just come from a bridge so I went back to where I had been. I went back there and wandered around for a few minutes before finding a bus stop....but it was the wrong one. I had been out of class for about an hour at this point. I was hot, confused, and frustrated, although mildly entertained at the same time. I waved a cab town and he drove me home. The cab cost me $470 NT. The bus would've cost me about $45 NT. Oh well, these things happen. Now that I look back on it, I cannot believe how nice all of the people were. Too bad, their work was for naught. Maybe something was lost in translation...<br /><br />The title refers to a page in my textbook for teaching. I added a picture of it. It's really funny, but strange too. Why are they teaching this?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2856523413674672802?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-71828576437371146792009-05-06T07:23:00.000-07:002009-05-06T07:44:12.092-07:00I just finished eating a piece of candy that my doorman Mr. Hur gave me. It tasted sweet but it also tasted like a bullion cube at the same time. It was strange to say the least. So I've been out of the loop the last few weeks. I've acquired some sort of sickness that's been fairly debilitating. I've had it for about 3 weeks now but luckily it feels like it's getting better. When I first arrived, my co-workers told me that everyone gets sick about 3 months into their arrival in Taiwan. It's my 13th week here so that pretty much is right on time. I thought my iron-clad immune system would be able to stave off the infection but I was sorely mistaken. I have a funny story with going to the doctor though. I went last Friday to a clinic to ask about my cold. I was in and out in about 10 minutes after telling them my symptoms. They gave me a medicine that they said should cure my ailment in 3 days. It did not. So I went back to the same clinic on Monday, telling them that my cough had moved into my lungs. The doctor told me, "Well, I'm an OBGYN so I'm not really qualified to recommend a treatment for you..." Wait, wait, an OBGYN? Yup that's right. Why they didn't tell me that's what they were the first time is beyond me. It would explain why there were posters of the female anatomy everywhere and why there were only women in the waiting area. It was one of those "only in Taiwan" moments. They sent me next door to another clinic. This new clinic told me that I have developed some sort of asthma. I don't think asthma is contagious but perhaps I had something else and it developed into asthma. Whatever the reason, I suspect it's from the air here. It's pretty sad that the air is so bad here, especially on such a beautiful island. What's weird is I don't feel asthmatic at all, but I do have congestion in my lungs. My health feels like it's on the upswing since I began taking the medication they gave me so I guess that's a good sign.<br /><br />Oh well...hmmm other highlights. I'll admit after reading my sister's posts, my life now seems a lot more boring. But I'll scrape what little material I have from the bottom of the barrel and keep typing. On Tuesday, we had the police come and inspect the school. At 9 AM, my boss came into the office and said to the teachers and me "excuse me teachers, please go to the kitchen. The government is here!" This was a classic moment. So we hid out in the kitchen in exile for a good 20 minutes while the police scoured the school for suspicious activity or something like that. Luckily, the reason why I'm still typing this blog in Taiwan is because they did not find the "white people" hiding inside the school.<br /><br />We had our school fair last Saturday which was a lot of fun. I had the pleasure of being the MC for the occasion. That was pretty cool. The class cheer I performed with my class went really well too. I played the tune to "Louie Louie" while the kids sang about their class. It was cute. Then the kids went and played about 6 different games that the teachers at the school set up for them. One of the highlights was the game that involved sliding beer mugs across a table without going off the edge. They decorated their room with Heineken bottles. That was a classy move, especially at an elementary school. The foreign teachers had a game called "Principal Pitching" which involved throwing balls at pictures of teachers and knocking them over. Our first attempt at making these pictures was thwarted when our boss, Christine, decided to take about a dozen pictures of herself making ridiculous faces which she then printed out and gave to us. We promptly corrected this mistake and updated the pictures with different pictures of all the teachers.<br /><br />Other than that, no other fascinating news from this side of the world. Hopefully this upcoming weekend will be more eventful than the last and provide more juicy material for the blog. Maybe some good pics too. I'm getting pumped for going to see my sis in Australia...about two weeks away!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-7182857643737114679?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-90609771522388466422009-04-27T08:04:00.000-07:002009-04-27T08:31:56.111-07:00I'm trying to gather my thoughts after a whirlwind weekend. On Friday night, I met up with Nicole DeBoom, Kelly's boss. Nicole was in Taipei for the week on business. We had the pleasure of visiting the Shilin Night Market. This is one of the bigger night markets in Taipei. It felt a lot like the boardwalk in Atlantic City. They sold everything you could possibly imagine for under like $3. Well maybe not that cheap, but it had the feeling of being cheap. Nicole had to buy a bag and she decided to go to the place that had the motto "The Best Place to Buy Trendy Bags." How could you beat that? I saw one T-shirt that I found extremely strange but I really regret not buying it. On it was a cartoon baby with multiple piercings and tattoos, and a bunch of graffiti in the background. Oh, and it also had a mohawk. There was a funny part in the night where the vendors who had blankets out in the middle of street suddenly packed up all of their belongings and ran off. I think the police were on the way because something seemed fishy. Speaking of fishy, there were plenty of stalls where you could fish for crawfish and little guppies. It looked cute. You could also buy puppies, kittens, piglets, and bunnies. This was by far the most inhumane pet store I'd ever seen. All of the animals looked very unhappy. I guess it's legal but it seemed sketchy. Apparently the reason why there are so many stray dogs in Taiwan is because lots of people like to buy puppies but once they get too big, they let the dogs go. Since most people live in apartments, they can't fit them. Food-wise, I saw much more of the usual but Nicole was quite impressed because she's not quite the Taiwan-native like I am. This was actually the first time I saw fried squid on a stick for sale. Needless to say, we did not order that.<br /><br />On Saturday, I woke up at 1 PM trying to recover from my week and late Friday night. I went into Taipei with my friend Chris at around 3 and we went and played drums at a studio for 3 hours. It was a lot of fun! We only had one kit to share between us so we started messing around with sharing the drums at the same time. I played the bass drum, snare, high hat, and crash cymbal while he played the other drums. This was awesome and something I'd never done before. Unfortunately, as I type now I notice the 4 blisters that formed on my hand. One started bleeding. I have to post a picture because I'm very proud of myself and how hard we were rockin'. After that, we met Kelly (Chris' GF) and Jade (co-worker) at a concert venue nearby. We saw a guy named Bob Log III. This guy was quite the character. He came out on stage wearing a fighter pilot's helmet and a suit. The helmet had a phone glued onto the front of it that worked as a microphone for him. After the first song or two, he stripped off the suit, revealing a one piece, shiny gold jumpsuit beneath. He played blues guitar, combined with a drum and cymbal that he played with his feet. He really was a one-man band. The highlight of the night was probably when he got into a life raft and the crowd carried him around as he played guitar and sang in his one-piece jumpsuit.<br /><br />Yesterday, I went on another hash run in Guanxi. This was a gorgeous run that unfortunately took about 2.5 hours each way to drive to. The day turned out to be much longer than I wanted it to be but that's ok. The run was gorgeous! It was a very remote area south of Taiwan, and we hardly saw any houses or people. I brought my friend Tony. He is a guy I met in my building last week who's a doctor at Chang Gung hospital in Linkou. He's a really nice guy and his significant other is in Australia for one year so we're both going to share each other's pain together. He was a little nervous about the whole hash run so I ended up staying with him most of the time. Perhaps he was nervous because I told him about how people get lost and taken to the hospital after the run. Oh well, he said he wanted to go again. He said he might even bring his friends. But yeah, the run was awesome. We did some river tracing through the most pristine jungle rivers I've seen yet. I saw large shrubs with huge white flowers on them, like orchids. The hillsides were also covered with trees with what looked like large white, cherry blossoms on them. We also ran through an aqueduct that crossed a river.<br /><br />It was a long weekend and I am feeling it now. This week is already off to a big start though...I'm going golfing with my doorman Mr. Pong on Wednesday so that should be interesting. It's his second time ever playing golf. And I learned some more names at school today...Spark (boy), Hanson (boy), and Waynnie (boy). At this point, if a kid named Wildcat walked into class one day, I would not be surprised at all.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-9060977152238846642?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-67328405816486531882009-04-23T09:23:00.000-07:002009-04-23T09:42:06.769-07:00Yesterday I went to the Taipei Zoo with my K3B class. It was a lot of fun even though it did rain basically the entire time we were there. The kids were adorable because they all wore practically identical raincoats. They were all adult-size plastic bag ponchos so they dragged on the ground all the time and a kid tripped on one every five minutes or so. We were able to see about five exhibits in the five hours we were there. It was difficult coordinating 90 kindergarteners. The biggest miracle of the day was that we didn't lose any children. For some reason the zoo was packed even though the weather was horrible, and there were tons of other school kids there wearing the exact same raincoats. So all the kids looked the same when they wore their hoods. It was pretty funny to see. I put pictures up of that so that'll give you a better idea. My co-teachers also bought me a panda visor. They are absolutely obsessed with pandas in Taiwan. At the zoo, that was the main attraction. The gift shop was FULL of pandas. Even the food court at the train station in downtown Taipei has a store devoted entirely to pandas.<br /><br />Tonight, two funny things happened. The first being what happened to my guitar. So as I previously posted, I inherited an old guitar from one of my teachers at school. The bridge was peeling off of it so I bought some wood glue in an attempt to fix it. This morning, I bought a set of nylon guitar strings. I put them on tonight, and as I was tuning and tightening the strings, I started to hear a creak and then BAM! The bridge ripped right off the guitar! It was a little scary but I re-glued it in a last ditch effort to save the guitar. I feel weird about just throwing a guitar away so I'm doing what I can to salvage it. It's like trying to revive a dead horse by beating it with a stick.<br /><br />The other highlight was my grocery shopping experience tonight. On the walk there, I saw a pile of rubble where a building used to be. In this building had been the bank that my school had told me to get a bank account at and it's where the school has an account too. So not sure what happened there, but it's a pile of rubble and that was pretty funny to see, considering just three days ago it was still operating. Once I got to the store, I picked up my eggs and Froot Loops, the usual health foods I procure. Then I needed some new deodorant. I went to the aisle where I thought it would be and scoured the shelves with no luck. I went up and down every aisle of the store. All the while I was thinking "man, this is going to be embarrassing to ask where deodorant is, plus I don't know the Chinese for it anyway." After taking another whiff of my shirt, I decided I would not leave the store without deodorant. I went to one of the workers and said "excuse me, do you have (in perfect Chinese of course)..." and then I paused. I wasn't really sure what to say, so I lifted up my arm and pretended to put deodorant on. The man gave me a puzzled look. Then I used my other hand and motioned that something smelled bad. He was an excellent charades player and took me back to the same section I was originally looking at. He motioned to a shelf of spray bottles. Initially, I had thought "maybe they just don't use deodorant here" but oh wait, they do, it's just a spray. Tomorrow morning I'll let you know what I thought of my first spray-on deodorant experience.<br /><br />Check the pictures too! I added about 30.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-6732840581648653188?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-19644062591306975922009-04-19T07:59:00.000-07:002009-04-19T08:58:33.471-07:00Yesterday I participated in the Taiwan AIR Hash, which means the "All Island Run." I think there were eight hashing groups in total there. It was epic. There were about 300 people running. It started in Kaohsiung at the southern end of the island. The climate there was much drier and warmer. I think it was about 85 degrees and fairly humid at the start of the run. The hare's name was Crocodile Dundee, a 62 year old Englishman who has climbed K2 and done other things of that nature. His skin was like a crocodile's and evidence of how much time he had spent outside adventuring. In other words, I figured this was going to be an intense run.<br /><br />About three minutes into the run, we got to the first check. It turned into a real traffic jam because no one could find the next trail for at least 20 minutes. During that time, I did wander through a huge banana grove which was pretty cool because I had never seen one. Banana trees are big! Someone finally yelled ON ON and I could see my fellow hashers in the distance on the other side of a fairly large river. I had to bushwhack through a meadow with grass seven feet tall, with tons of spikey vines intertwined within it. Those vines made sure to cut the front of my legs about 100 times. After a few river crossings, we started winding around the bases of "Moon World." This is a region in Kaohsiung that is composed of very dry, steep hills of clay. The tallest ones were probably around 100 feet tall. We had to go through lots of wet clay that must've taken some peoples shoes right off. Then we had to climb two walls that had to be scaled with a running start. After that, we went straight up one of these hills. This was a sight to behold, and hopefully pictures of it are posted online. The scene looked like a bunch of ants scurrying around on the moon. The climb up the hill took about 2 minutes because it was basically like rock climbing and very slippery. At the top was a quarter-mile long stretch of barren desert. Then we started winding through the jungle again and crossed a few rivers before getting to a quarter-mile long "lake" of wet clay. That was pretty funny to cross. It was as slippery as ice. Then we had to cross another river before winding through the jungle once more. The run ended with a few large descents and ascents of staircases that traversed four hills. In all, the run took about one hour and 45 minutes, as well as many peoples desires to return to the hash.<br /><br />This hash was by far the most extreme one I've done yet. Crocodile Dundee definitely lived up to his reputation. Apparently he lives in a house five miles away from anything and you have to walk to it to get there. He was pretty out there, and after the run he was wearing a leopard-print vest and a funny hat. See the pictures for a better description. The run ended by a large noodle-making factory that was pretty interesting to see. Overall though, this hash was very exciting and unique. A grand time indeed!<br /><br />Our group was kicked out of the bash at the end. One of the hashers thought it would be a good idea to light his shoes on fire, and then other hashers starting dragging limbs out of the brush and adding them to the fire. The fire got going pretty well for about 10 minutes before it was extinguished and we were asked to leave the premises of the restaurant. We had a five hour ride back, during which a hasher's parents met the bus on the highway and brought us three cases of beer. It was a long day. I left my apartment at 6:45 AM and got back at 1:15 AM. One highlight of the morning when I left was that I rushed to get to Taipei by 8 AM, only to get the bus and have it drive back straight through where I live. Oh well. I actually almost missed the bus. It was literally pulling away but the back door was still open so I had to catch the bus and jump on. I was only four minutes late too. The hashers are a more punctual group than you might think.<br /><br />Today, I got my first authentic Taiwanese foot massage. It was pretty fun but I'm not sure why I'd do it again. I went with two other teachers from school. My big toe was very sensitive and they told me it had something to do with my nose. I'm not sure what that meant. I also had the lady next to me ask if I could teach her English and she kept asking how much but I didn't know how to answer in Chinese. She couldn't even ask me if "can you teach me English?" She just said "English?" while pointing at me and saying "how much?" It was another classic language barrier moment. She left me alone after realizing I had no idea what was going on. The other great part of the massage is that my masseuse was talking to her friends nearby and they kept looking at me and laughing. She asked me about ten things in Chinese, all of which I responded to with a blank stare. My Chinese classes are going well but not that well. I did overcome a language barrier today when I walked to the nearby hardware store where I was able to procure a new fluorescent light for my bathroom, as well as some wood glue to try and fix a guitar my friend gave me. With a lot of pointing and a lot of money, you can go a long way in Taiwan with not a lot of knowledge. Remember that kids!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1964406259130697592?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-47944016082493837312009-04-13T08:51:00.000-07:002009-04-13T09:25:10.404-07:00While washing the one cooking pot I own, I made a mental observation that I found so witty that I figured this would be a good time for a blog post. I went to the Xinbeitou hot springs on Saturday with Andrew and my new friend Jesus (pronounced "Hey Zeus!") from Madrid. After thinking about this experience, I realized I felt like I was trapped in a zoo exhibit. The hot springs had a tall fence around them, and there were a bunch of tired-looking and slow-moving people laying around, occasionally going into the water just because there's not much else to do. Don't get me wrong, it was very nice and relaxing but sort of funny to think about too. It only cost 4o NT (slightly more than $1) to go for two and a half hours. After our good soak, we went to a night market. This was my first visit to a night market, an attraction very popular in Taiwan. It was very crowded and loud. It basically felt like being at the Boardwalk in New Jersey. We did get some pretty good teppanyaki though. The food at these night markets is definitely the main attraction, but they also offer a lot of random merchandise and carnival-esque games.<br /><br />On Sunday morning, I met with Brooke, a lady in my building who is either retired or really rich because she does not work. She is going to teach me Chinese while I help her with English. We spoke for almost two hours at a little cafe right near our building. It was a very productive session and hopefully we'll meet at least once a week. When we met at 10 AM, I told her I only had until 11:30 before I had to leave. At around 11, she asked me if I was hungry so she ordered me some soup. The kitchen was just getting ready so they told me it would be a few minutes. At about 11:32, they brought the soup out to me and the waitress made a point of saying "please eat the soup very slowly." So I get this soup late, I need to leave but I just received a gift, and I can't communicate very well to who I'm with anyway. It was a pretty comical experience. And to add to it, Kelly called me in the middle of it and I answered the phone like a nervous wreck. I'd also had a latte so that didn't help matters...when I have caffeine, I tend to get a bit hyped out. I made it to my next destination on time so the cafe fiasco wasn't really that bad.<br /><br />That next destination was Beitou where I met Andrew and his roommate Dan for another Hash run. It was 28 C during the run, which is roughly 82 F so it was a fairly toasty day, but not too humid. The hash itself was ok. It did have an Easter theme so there were about 15 eggs hidden on the course. I got one and received 50 NT off my dinner so that was cool. I could have had a ten minute conversation with a man named Sheepshagger also, so I was faced with a tough choice, hence why I took the money. On the run, there was a vicious dog we had to squeak by which was a little scary, as well as a woman farming some vegetables that angrily yelled at every person that went by. Ryan, a fellow hasher also from Colorado, was bitten on the run by another dog and had to be taken to the hospital for some shots. The bash afterwards was a lot of fun. The highlight was on the way home though. At around 10, roughly 20 hashers got on the MRT and started singing very loudly and acting obnoxiously. A few observers were amused, especially one random Taiwanese guy that joined in the fun but for the most part people looked annoyed. Security was called and we got off the train, and then got back on the next one. Once I got back to the main station, I bought a package of peanut M&amp;Ms to get change for the bus back to Linkou. Only in Taiwan...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-4794401608249383731?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-7582515421685546752009-04-06T08:34:00.000-07:002009-04-06T09:09:12.869-07:00Could you take out the garbage?<br /><br />"Your wish is my command!"<br /><br />This is the new sentence I'm supposed to be teaching my students this week. I don't think I've heard anyone say this, at least not seriously.<br /><br />Well, a lot has happened since my last post so here it goes...I just posted about 25 new pictures of the beach I went to on Saturday. I went with Andrew and two of his El Salvadoran friends to Beishawan beach, which is probably 30 or 40 miles north of where I live. It was pretty much the perfect day. I'm guessing it was about 70 degrees with bright blue skies. We went to a "surfing" beach with 1-foot tall waves. After laying on the beach for about two hours, we went to eat at a restaurant overlooking the beach. We ate cheeseburgers and drank Heineken. It felt like I was in Hawaii basically and I'm already ready for the weekend again, and it's only Monday. I'm sure you all feel really bad for me.<br /><br />Yesterday, I went on the China Hash run in Pingsi. This is a town southeast of Taipei where they hold a massive lantern festival annually that I've heard is a must see! It was a very beautiful and mountainous city, covered in lush foliage. It did rain the whole time during the run but that made it more interesting. The bus I took to the hash actually arrived late so our group of about 15 had to play catch-up the whole time. The run was kind of a mess but it was quite the experience. We had to cross at least a dozen rivers, scale a wall of mud six feet tall...I had a half-dozen moments where I looked around and thought to myself "what am I doing here and where am I anyway?" It was a very memorable experience overall, much like every hash run. Two of the guys in the group got lost and we're gone for over 3 hours in the pouring rain. Luckily, they made it back just before dark.<br /><br />One thing I brought back from the hash that I was not aware of at the time was a little leech that was hiding in my sock. When I did my laundry today, it wandered out of the sock and onto my hand. I freaked out and shook it off. It landed on the floor and I took a picture of it. Then I threw it into the trash can. An hour later, to my surprise I saw the same leech by my front door after it had squirmed all the way across my apartment. I threw it out the window so I probably won't see it again.<br /><br />The other highlight of the hash was what occurred on the way to the Bash. Our bus had to go through a VERY narrow street and a tail light on our bus hit a truck parked on the side of the road. We got out and surveyed the damage and decided to press on. About two minutes later, a guy had his car parked across the road, blocking all the traffic in both directions. He was apparently the owner of the truck we hit. He was also extremely intoxicated. A fairly lengthy argument ensued with about 15 locals. The man threatened to call the cops on us even though he had driven drunk to block us. He got back in his car and drove for about 30 seconds before stopping again and blocking the road once more. The second argument was much shorter and then we were finally on our way. It was pretty comical.<br /><br />After the Bash, I bummed a ride from a Taiwanese guy in his Volvo. He also gave me two betel nuts, which were interesting. They tasted kind of funny but I can see how they are all the rage here. After trying to wrap my mind around the day, the driver put Akon on the radio as we drove 90 minutes home...it's amazing that in the most unfamiliar places, you can still find familiar things. Enough you say? Your wish is my command.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-758251542168554675?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-90382217032282650552009-03-29T04:18:00.000-07:002009-03-29T04:54:45.934-07:00I just finished reviewing over 1,000 photos from the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan this past weekend. Man I wish I could've been there! It looked very exciting and I saw some familiar faces. German Fernandez, the great white hope, did pretty well by placing 11th. He was hoping for a medal, but then again so is everyone in the race. Everyone at that race is so incredibly fast. One of the Americans who competed in the senior men's race is a 27:40 10k runner and he finished 60th. Really puts things into perspective...wow!<br /><br />So it's been a very interesting last few days...not sure where to begin. I can start with my blog title. It was my friend Chris' birthday on Friday so all of the foreign teachers and some of the Chinese teachers went out to a Taiwanese market and celebrated. The menu: chicken's feet, chicken rectum (no joke), duck head complete with brain and tongue, duck neck, duck liver, duck blood, and that's about it for the odd items. We also had something that's like Chicken Lo-mein but it also included octopus, squid, and oysters. And of course rice. I did sample the brain, neck, tongue, feet, and rectum. Although they all sound quite gross, they really weren't that bad. They weren't that good either. It was all deep fried and very greasy so all the different parts just tasted like over-cooked, greasy rubber. But it sounds exotic so it's fascinating to talk about :) Then four of us proceeded to play a basketball arcade game together and we almost broke the record that ONE person had done by themself. We were very proud of our accomplishment.<br /><br />Yesterday, I went on a day-trip to Ilan, on the east side of Taiwan. And what a trip it was! The drive there took about three hours, and on the way we went through one of the longest tunnels in the world. It took at least 5 minutes to drive through it. Needless to say, I was not able to hold my breath through it the whole way. Once we hit the ocean, we went South for at least a half hour, winding along the side of cliffs that plunged straight into the ocean. It was as scenic as Hawaii, so I was as excited as a kid in a candy shop. The run started about halfway up a mountain at a highway pull-off. We ran up a fire road for the first 20 minutes or so of the run. There was a part of it where the course had been marked with an arrow to go straight off of a cliff and I came up to it thinking "no way" but it turned out to be a joke. On these Hash runs I never know what to expect so I sort of thought they'd be crazy enough to do that. Anyway, once we got to the top of the mountain, we started winding through the jungle, rolling up and down many hills with steep staircases. Then began a long descent of what felt like thousands of stairs. It took at least 20 minutes. It got pretty tiring but it was pretty crazy. We reached a flat section in a small town where we wound through farm land, ditches, streams, and landfills. It was at this point in the run that I thought we were almost done. Not quite...<br /><br />The trail started climbing a mountain once more. I found that my stair-climbing ability had declined greatly after the first mountain. These stairs led through the jungle again, following a very nice, quiet, and peaceful nature trail. The temperature was perfect all day. It was around 65 degrees with a light breeze, perfect for running. This trail seemed to go on forever but the end was worth it. It led to a viewpoint about 300 feet straight above the ocean. In both directions you looked, you could see the island diving into the ocean. Hearing the roar of the waves was the best part. That was the first time I've heard that since I've arrived. The trail then descended a labyrinth of very steep staircases, finally ending at a little fishing harbor in Nan Ao. The Down-Downs took place in this harbor, with all 200 Hashers that participated. It was great! See the pictures for a 1,000 word description of the scene.<br /><br />The Bash afterwards took place at a temple a few minutes walk from the harbor. They served rice, crab, lobster, pork, tuna sashimi, some other fish, vegetable stew, vegetable tempura, and a dessert that was some sort of fruit soup. The names of the people I can remember at my table were Recycle, Cash, Hamilton, and Math. These are of course not their real names but their Hasher names. After the meal, the other white guy at the run (yes one finally showed up) asked me if I had eaten the fish. I told him I had and he said in the future, never eat the fish at an outdoor restaurant. He said it has parasites that foreigners are not used to and we can get very sick. And of course, I found this out after I'd eaten the fish. Oh well, it's been almost 24 hours since I ate that and I'm feeling fine. We hopped on the bus after the meal, and I slept the whole way back. Another amazing Hash run! They gave me a bandana, watch, and badge too so those are some pretty sweet souvenirs. In all, the run was about 15 kilometers long, but with how much I was bonking the last half hour, it felt like a lot longer than that.<br /><br />I was supposed to go on a tour today with my doorman Mr. Sen but the weather was not very good today so he bailed. I did have a funny experience this morning trying to figure things out with Mr. Sen. At 9:15 this morning, I got a phone call from Mr. Hur, the doorman on duty. He spoke to me only in Chinese for about one minute, while I just laughed because I had no idea what was going on. He kept repeating the same phrase over and over and I had no idea what he meant. I hung the phone up and got back in bed. He called back about five minutes later, seemingly repeating the same conversation again. I kept on saying "Wo ting bu dong" which means that I don't understand. Frustrated, I hung up the phone again. I figured this was related to Mr. Sen somehow so I called him on my cell phone and he told me was wanted to cancel. A few minutes later, my bird-chirping doorbell rang, and it was Mr. Hur. He motioned for me to follow him while he kept rambling in Chinese. He took me to the doorman stand and picked up the phone and dialed a number. He handed me the phone and it was Mr. Sen. He proceeded to tell me he was cancelling as if we hadn't spoken five minutes prior. Then Mr. Hur rambled some more and kept saying "goodbye, goodbye." What a morning that was! So today was simply a personal day, laying around the apartment and being lazy but getting some much needed rest. I talked to Andrew and we may be going camping next weekend in Fulong so hopefully that will make for a good story or two. Thanks for reading my rambling.<br /><br />Oh one other thing I just remembered with Mr. Hur. My landlord had told me that you can take your trash out after 5 pm. I took mine out at 5:10 and Mr. Hur came up to me and started yelling at me in Chinese. I kept saying "wu" which means five and he shook his head a lot and kept saying "liu" which means six. I hung my head in shame and carried my trash bags back up to my apartment.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-9038221703228265055?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-29769394703596682192009-03-24T04:36:00.000-07:002009-03-24T04:53:49.708-07:00As I type this blog, I notice a distinct smell in my room: cigarette smoke...allow me to start from the beginning. After work, I was pretty stressed so what did I do to relax? Shop of course. I was actually extremely proud of myself because I bought a water bottle and found a place to buy running shoes and shorts, so that will definitely come in handy in the coming months. Anyway, I proceeded to Mos Burger where I woofed down three teriyaki chicken burgers, and yes my eyes were bigger than my stomach so now I feel pretty disgusting. I tried doing some schoolwork in the restaurant but my ADD kicked in pretty seriously so I decided I needed to go home. <br /><br />A new doorman started working at my building a few weeks ago. His name is Mr. Hur, pronounced just like "her." I think he's a little crazy because he always waves at me a lot and starts speaking Chinese to me as if I'm a native of Taiwan. I just smile and keep walking. Anyway, when I got back today, he was wearing one of those hip snowboard-type hats that's like a beanie, but it has a little bill too. His lips were also blood-red, and he had a sick mask down around his neck and chin. His lips were red because he was eating betel nut, which is a very popular thing to eat here. I haven't done it yet but it's supposed to give you a little buzz. It's legal too. They sell it everywhere. The way to find where they sell it is to find a bright, obnoxious blinking red light. They're displayed in front of every betel nut store. So it was pretty comical to just look at Mr. Hur, but then he started rambling in Chinese and English, repeatedly saying "hello" and "thank you." Once I got inside the gate, he stuck his hand out his window with a pack of cigarettes. I motioned with my hand "no thanks" and I could tell he was going to be pretty persistent. I said "no, no thanks" and he took one out of the pack and handed it to me. I was just standing there holding it, laughing. Then he motioned for me to put it in my mouth. I could tell he was not going to give up so I put the cig to my lips, and then he lit it. Then he said "thank you bye bye thank you thank you" and he waved for me to go. I have no idea if I'm supposed to smoke in the building but I had no way of communicating with this crazy man, so I went into my apartment and half-smoked the cigarette in my sunroom. Then I put it out when I started coughing too much.<br /><br />So there it is...my explanation for the smell in my apartment. I hope you believe me. Ha ha. And my plan is to go down to see this man again in an hour to get the keys for the treadmill. Something else strange may happen again...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2976939470359668219?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-40385793055103457602009-03-21T02:07:00.000-07:002009-03-21T02:21:15.085-07:00Yesterday, I was supposed to discuss "eyes" with my K1B Science class. Because they don't really understand any English, you typically have to make a lot of funny sounds, gestures, or bring in funny toys. I decided to have them all try on a pair of sunglasses, although I did not explain the purpose of sunglasses. I mainly just wanted to take pictures of the cute little kids. I posted them on Flickr so check 'em out. They're adorable!<br /><br />I also documented some of the mystery foods that are common in Taiwan. Check out those pictures too and you decide for yourself what they are and if you would eat them or not. I personally have not been brave enough to order one of these goods. I have had some pig's blood dishes and that's a big deal for me. It actually did not taste nearly as bad as it sounds like it would.<br /><br />Last topic for the day...I just tutored a girl for about 3 hours and earned $70. She is interviewing at a university next week and her parents wanted her to talk to a foreigner to practice her English. She wants to major in English literature. The whole thing was fairly awkward because we were sitting at a table in uncomfortable chairs and had to talk for 3 hours straight. I basically had no material to work with so I asked her about hobbies, sports, movies, music, and when that ran out, I looked up online sample interview questions. It was a fairly laborious 3 hour conversation but it's over now and it's another experience I can put under my belt I suppose. One interesting fact I learned during our conversation...there are over 1 billion Chinese speakers in the world and roughly 500 million English speakers. The third largest language in the world is sort of a tie between Hindustani and Spanish. However, the order of these languages changed on every site I looked at but Chinese was always the largest. <br /><br />Other than that, I'm feeling a bit sick and quite lazy, so no more fascinating news for now. I'm trying desperately to get better so I can keep feeding you guys interesting news.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-4038579305510345760?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-2917381568203953122009-03-19T04:03:00.000-07:002009-03-19T04:30:19.212-07:00Yesterday, I went on a hike with my doorman, Mr. Pong. Where to begin...well at the beginning I suppose. I met him in front of McDonald's at 6:45, after he got off his graveyard shift at my building. He picked me up in a Nissan SUV, playing music by Dion and the Belmonts. There is a strange fascination here with American music. You can hear it playing pretty much everywhere even though no one knows the words. The best moments are when you're in a store and they're playing rap music with a lot of swear words and there are kids everywhere tapping their toes, completely oblivious to the lyrics. Anyway, Mr. Pong proceeded to drive us to his friend's house...Mr. Wang. Then we drove to the Guanyin Mountain trailhead. Apparently there are like five Guanyin mountains around Taipei, so we went to the one in Linkou I think but I'm not really sure where we were. We walked down a road for about 5 minutes and then the climbing started. I knew it was going to be an interesting hike when about 10 minutes in or so, Mr. Pong told me that his lungs hurt because he smokes too much. I told him that maybe he should stop and he said he wouldn't.<br />The hiking trails here are generally straight up. There are no such things as switchbacks. It's typically pretty difficult but my company made things a little more leisurely. Throughout the hike, I kept on hearing yelps in the distance. Like every five minutes I'd hear someone make a loud cat call or something. I assumed it was part of some meditation or something but I have no idea. When we got to the top, we could see the ocean! I was so excited because this was my first time to see the ocean since I've arrived, so that was definitely a highlight. At the top, there were probably about 20 people already there at 8 AM, so they must've gotten up very early. There were a bunch of old men in workout pants doing different exercises, like swinging their arms in circles or hitting their backs with their hands. Also, they were swinging their hips around in circles. I didn't read into it too much, it's part of the culture.<br />On the descent, Mr. Pong kept saying that his arms hurt so he fell farther and farther behind (or is it further? I'm only an English teacher...). On the way back, Mr. Wang really hit his stride. On the way up, he was not doing too well and sweating and breathing a lot, but downhill he was a force. He went way ahead and Mr. Pong's arms hurt so I was stuck in the middle taking pictures. Check Flickr for those!<br />After the hike, I told Mr. Pong I wanted an authentic Chinese breakfast. I didn't think about that too much when I said it so the first thing we got...noodle soup with mystery meat and a tea egg in it. It was pretty gnarly stuff that I'd had before at school and I didn't like it then. Luckily, it was boiling hot so I ate slowly and somehow Pong and Wang devoured theirs in no time. After picking around the "meat" and egg, I told them I wasn't hungry and I'd take the rest home. Then we went to another restaurant. Suddenly I was hungry again! This time we ate dumplings and drank Chinese milk, which Mr. Pong said is made out of a yellow bean. It didn't quite taste like soymilk but something similar. It was actually pretty good.<br />Just when I thought the festivities were done, Mr. Pong asked me if I wanted to go to a spa. I was hesitant at first because my first encounter was during a hash run when we ran through a spa full of older, completely naked men. But I thought to myself "I'm here to try new things" so I complied. Lucky for me, it was a co-ed spa so clothing was required. The spa had a large outdoor lap pool, as well as an indoor bath house full of a bunch of different showers and jets and tubs and such. The funniest things they had were the high-powered jets that felt like being sprayed with a fire hose. They were very powerful. They had one version of it that I did not get to try because a lady was hogging it. It had a spigot about two feet wide, just pouring water out. You were supposed to lay underneath the downpour as it pummeled you. I think all of the water was fresh too. I didn't notice any chlorine. The catch with that, which I may be noticing the effects now, is that it was probably infested with bacteria. I started feeling sick yesterday a few hours after the spa and haven't felt right since.<br />So that pretty much sums everything up. Mr. Pong paid for everything which was very nice of him! I'm sure we'll do something like this again. Hopefully his arms don't hurt as much during round two.<br /><br />Two quick "fun facts" for you about Taiwan. Number one: there are basically no trash cans on the street anywhere. It is generally a pain in the neck throwing something away. Even at school, there are hardly any trash cans. Number two: I have not seen a speed limit sign on any road anywhere.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-291738156820395312?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-46390302724650409322009-03-17T09:03:00.000-07:002009-03-17T09:13:39.317-07:00I found out today at school that the PE teacher's name is Mr. Hamburger. He wears athletic pants, a sweatband on his head, blows a whistle, and I believe he has a stopwatch as well. He's a pretty intense guy, but that's what you need when you're trying to wrangle up a bunch of four year old kids on the playground. In school we also discussed chicken pox in one of my classes, and my kids kindly pointed out that I had some red spots on my face and asked me if I had chicken pox. It was not my most flattering moment, but it made me realize that I don't think they have chicken pox over here. None of my students knew what I was talking about when I described the chicken pox symptoms. Maybe they get them when they're adults or something...<br /><br />I am going on a hike tomorrow morning at 6:45 with my doorman and needless to say, I'm quite excited. It will be a very Taiwanese experience. He said it was a half hour hike each way but the word "sixty" could have been lost in translation. Heck, for all I know we could be hiking 60 km tomorrow. I'll be sure to post about that! <br /><br />It's been getting warmer here, but it's been beautiful. The best is when I get off school at night and there's a light breeze in the air and the temperature is probably around 65 degrees. One other thing...I still have not seen the ocean and I'm only about 4 miles as the crow flies from it. It's a mission of mine to make it there sometime in the next week. I'll be sure to post about that as well. Other than that, no other real exciting news for now. I may be going to Tainan in a week or two so that's a fairly big happening coming up. Zaijian for now!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-4639030272465040932?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-35909236812948001982009-03-12T09:02:00.000-07:002009-03-12T09:30:51.249-07:00So I just got back from roaming the streets of Linkou at 11:30 at night in search of dumplings. I failed. I asked one lady and she shook her head. There weren't many places open so my choices were limited. I headed into one of the night markets that all the locals go to and practically nothing looked appetizing. Hmm...what did I see? Well, um liver, frogs, uncooked goose neck, chicken's feet again, and a bunch of very very odd looking things. I'm going to take a picture of some of these foods sometime in the near future to better explain the "food." On my walk home, I passed a stray dog that I thought was about to start barking at me but instead it started wretching in the street. I went to a bakery too and bought something that I actually liked so I might go there again, especially considering that there's one every block. Lots of the pastries have meat and vegetables in them. I could really just go for an apple pie at this point. Well let's put it this way: when I do get to have an apple pie for real, it'll probably be the best one I've had in my life.<br /><br />At school today, I had one of my student's come up with a girl. I asked who the girl was and she said "I'm Ruby, Kerry's sister." Then I asked her if she liked her brother Kerry and she said "No, but if I say it he'll hit me." She said this right in front of her brother. Nothing really happened though because I don't think Kerry knew what his sister said. Or they didn't understand what the words meant. Then again, the grasp these 6 year olds have on English is much better than my Chinese. I wasn't even able to eat tonight. I'm boiling water for pasta right now, and I have Prego pasta sauce in the fridge ready to go. I know, very Taiwanese. The other highlight at school was from the test I had to give in two of my classes. There was a question on the test that read "Are you happy/sad today and why?" This struck me as a very odd question. Luckily I got no terrifying answers like "I'm sad because I got attacked by a dog" or something along those lines. One kid said he was sad because he had to go to school. The rest of the kids said they were happy because they were at school and because they had a test. The scoring is pretty funny on the tests too. Because they are kids, you can't give them a bad grade. So if a kid gives a perfect answer he gets a 10 out of 10. If he gives a bad answer or cannot answer the question he gets a 9 out of 10.<br /><br />Well, that's all the fascinating news I can think of right now. Oh one more thing...the other night I was jogging on the treadmill watching "The Shawshank Redemption" and there's a scene where a guy gets mad while taking a test and he says it may as well have been in Chinese because he got all the answers wrong. I had to laugh as I jogged on a Chinese-brand treadmill in the middle of a Chinese speaking country while watching Chinese TV with Chinese subtitles. Til next time from Taoyuan County...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3590923681294800198?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-20474566188312819432009-03-05T04:09:00.000-08:002009-03-05T04:20:00.506-08:00As the title suggests, new pictures are up! I added about 30 or so around Linkou and from the Hash runs I've done. As I type right now, it is pouring rain outside. This is my first rain storm of potentially many, many more. Also, my stupid alarm clock went off again. It inexplicably goes off at noon, 1 PM, and 8 PM everyday but I can't operate the clock because it has 4 buttons on the back labeled 1-4, and the instruction manual is Chinese. I should get it translated perhaps. The alarm is kind of humorous though so I don't let it bother me that much.<br /><br />School is going well. It's been a stressful week but it's almost Friday and I cannot believe another week has already gone by. More hashing this weekend so that will be a lot of fun. Plus I'm going to eat breakfast with my doorman on Sunday so that should be fun, and interesting. I'm going to be going on a hike with my other doorman one of these days. The doormen are really funny and they like practicing their English with me, plus they teach me some Chinese here and there.<br /><br />Speaking of Chinese, I finished my first week of Chinese classes at the Taipei Language Institute. It's very difficult and all we're working on right now is tones. Then again, Chinese is based on tones so that's definitely important to know. I can't wait to start learning some words and sentence though so I can put them to use on the streets...did I mention it's 99% Chinese here? So any Chinese I learn will come in handy. I'm taking the class with one of my fellow teachers at the school so we commute together. It eats a lot of time up in the day that I'd normally waste in my apartment watching Rambo 4.<br /><br />One more thing I may be doing in the next week or two...tutoring. One of my co-teachers doesn't want to do it anymore so I might take over the job of tutoring one kid 2 hours a week. More on that later...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2047456618831281943?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-88236268864351305982009-02-28T07:46:00.001-08:002009-02-28T07:53:49.409-08:00I may not have understood this correctly but a man at the run told me that all Taiwanese men are required to go into the Army at age 20. I think he may have said they go for at least 3 years, but then he also said that the war is over so now it's only for 3 months or so. I was a bit confused and not quite sure what war he was referring to. It was scary to think about though and I am so incredibly grateful that I will never be forced into a position like that. I shouldn't be writing deep thoughts like this so late at night :)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8823626886435130598?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-89129456594159560942009-02-28T07:25:00.000-08:002009-02-28T07:43:55.373-08:00I just got back from my second Hasher run a few hours ago. It was very cool again. This time, it was raining the whole time so it made the run a bit more intense. This time around, there was much more bushwhacking involved so very little of the run was actually on any established trails. This meant that there wasn't as much running involved but it was still incredible nonetheless. Near the end, we crossed a river with some very slippery rocks that I didn't really pay attention to and I totally ate it! It hurt pretty badly at the time and now I have a bruise on my leg but it was worth it anyway. Following the run, I participated in the Down Downs and Bash once more, but this time, it was ALL in Mandarin, or something like it. I was talking to a Taiwanese guy who knew English pretty well and was fluent in Mandarin and he told me that he could only understand about 30% of the people at the run. There are about 5 main languages in Taiwan and they were all derived from Chinese but they're different enough that you probably won't understand them too well if you know Chinese.<br /> The run today was called the Taipei Hash, which is an all-male hash that started about 35 years ago and usually has 150-200 people that participate each week. I was the only white guy there. I wasn't sure about eating with them but I was pretty hungry at that point. However, I didn't think about the fact that we were eating in a secluded, mountain restaurant and the food was probably going to be pretty authentic. That fear immediately set in when they brought out the first dish: pork. It was actually pretty tasty but sort of gruesome to look at. There's always a part that looks like a pig's nose. Then they brought whole fish with bones and all, something that looked very odd and I think it might've been a pig's liver in pigs' blood, shrimp, chicken that was cooked I guess but the bones had blood oozing out of them, and a few other mystery dishes. The guys at the table were trying to explain all of the foods to me but that little "language barrier" was getting in the way. <br /> One of the highlights of the day was during the Down Downs when they brought me up to the front and started giving some speech about me in Chinese. People were pointing at me and laughing occasionally and all the while, I had no idea what was happening. I just smiled and stared in amazement at the crowd thinking "I don't know what's going on right now but this is pretty cool anyway!" To sum things up, this run wasn't not quite as enjoyable as the first because it was wet and not nearly as much running was involved, but it was a much more Taiwanese experience and still nothing like I've done before. Thanks Emilie and Kevin and KELLY again for suggesting this group in the first place!<br /> Other than that, another week of teaching down! It was a good week and each day I feel a little more confident with everything. I also became friends with one of the doormen in my building and I've been learning some Chinese from him. I found out that at the end of the term, my main class has to perform some sort of dance/skit, so I'm thinking of doing West Side Story or Grease. Choreographing a dance with 20 third graders could be interesting and frustrating, but when else in my life am I going to have an opportunity like that?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-8912945659415956094?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-37300057622651369152009-02-23T08:48:00.000-08:002009-02-23T09:15:40.137-08:00Yesterday, I embarked on the most unique, scenic, and adventurous run I've ever done! Well, to date anyway. I ran with the China Hash House Harriers...my first hash ever. We met in downtown Taipei near a subway station, and we were picked up by two large buses and taken to Da Xi, which I believe is east of Taipei, but I don't really have any idea. The bus took over an hour to get there but the traffic was horrendous. There were about 100 people at the run and I'd say a little more than half of the people actually ran. The basics of a hasher run: a hare starts before everyone else and creates a route by dropping little piles of flour every 50 meters or so. The whole run usually takes around an hour and during that hour, there are multiple check points. A check point is an X on the path. It means that the next trail mark is within 100 meters of the X, so everyone scatters at that point to try and find the next mark. However, false trails can also be created so victims can run on the new trail for a few minutes before finding 3 lines, meaning its a false trail and they have to back track. Once the correct trail is found, the leader yells "on on" and the run resumes. <br />It's a little hard to explain and do the run justice, but this course/experience was the most unique run I've done in my life. First of all, the way the hash works was so cool! The course itself was awesome, running through bamboo forests, along rivers, through farm plots, up extremely steep terrain, through rock fields, and along the ridges of some fairly tall mountains in Taiwan. Apparently, others in the group were saying that this run was not even the prettiest or most rugged. I'll describe those in detail later when they happen. The run took place mostly on established trails but that's not always the case. Bushwhacking is pretty fun! One thing I thought about after the run is that it's going to be like 90 degrees in the next month or two and that should make future runs a little more interesting. The run yesterday was probably in the 70s. I did not take any pictures because the run was a little too intense but check out <a href="http://www.chinahash.org/">www.chinahash.org</a>. That website has some pictures of hash runs in the past.<br /><br />After the run, there is a lot of drinking and socializing. I met some very interesting people. It made me realize that the US is not the center of the world. More than half of the group was composed of expatriates, but I would say that less than half of them have ever lived in the US or even considered it. In my mind, the US feels like the home base, and that everyone is out visiting somewhere else, but that's definitely not the case in the real world. I did grow up in Boulder so my view of the world is fairly skewed anyway. One funny thing I found out: one of the main coordinators of the hash went to CU, and another guy there, lived in Nederland for 6 years. A few other people had visited Boulder. It's a small world.<br /><br />Until the next hash...or some other significant happening! The moral of the story, try a hash in your town. You won't regret it!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-3730005762265136915?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-27857358243535666142009-02-18T06:54:00.000-08:002009-02-18T07:03:07.809-08:00I just uploaded some photos of Taipei so check them out if you want to. Well, I've been sick-feeling since Sunday. This food is wreaking havoc on my digestive system. Maybe it's jet lag, or the polluted air, or stress, or not knowing any Chinese but I'm feeling a little off. The hot dog they fed us from 7-11 at school today is not going to help matters I'm sure. I'm still trying to decide what to say if someone asks "why did you eat a hot dog from 7-11?" It was a first. I also ate a Snickers bar that was made in Russia, but I think they're usually made in New Jersey. It seems like everything is made in New Jersey.<br /><br />It's been frustrating on and off this week. I had a little freak-out earlier but I feel good now, hence why I'm writing at this opportune moment. The teaching is coming more naturally to me now so that's a relief. I inherited a new cell phone from one of the teacher's at school and, well, it's a dinosaur. It's new to me, but it was new to the earth probably 5 years ago. It's massive, but the price was right so I shouldn't complain. I'm also getting closer to getting a scooter. It sounds very dangerous and it will be scary initially, but that's the thing to do around here so I need to get used to living a real Taiwanese life.<br /><br />A lot of my frustration is of course being caused by not knowing Chinese. However, I'm hatching a scheme to help combat this problem. I've heard that you can get personal Chinese tutoring for about $12 an hour so I'm potentially going to be starting classes next week. I'll keep everyone posted on that. Ta ta for now.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2785735824353566614?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-12168149041960631362009-02-12T04:43:00.000-08:002009-02-12T05:01:57.841-08:00As I attempt to write this fascinating blog, I hear some ridiculous digitized chime going off outside my window...it's probably the trash truck. I don't understand the music here yet. I had to go to the medical clinic and on the way we were listening to some sort of flute music with a girl singing. The guy who put it on was the bus driver, a pretty big tough looking guy. In the bookstore today, they were playing this ridiculous teeny bopper music the whole time. It was like a blend of Hanson and Avril Lavigne. Anyway, the first week of teaching is almost over. I've taught three classes so far and it's gone pretty well. The kids are so cute! However, I have no idea what I'm doing. It's going to take some time to get the hang of it. <br /><br />I just had to check...it is the trash truck. The sounds are so annoying and funny. Maybe I can post them on here somehow. It sounds like a Nintendo GameBoy game. The bell at my school is the same kind of sound. It's a popular thing out here.<br /><br />I went on my second run today. I ran down the main road in town and needless to say, I did not see any other runners. I did run by the Quanta Computer headquarters. Apparently they are the largest laptop manufacturer in the world. I ran through a massive Technology Park in Linkou. Manufacturing is a major industry here. I'll post some pictures of that later. My co-workers told me that no one runs outside because of how bad the air pollution is. They also told me that every new teacher gets sick soon after they first arrive and their sickness lingers for a few months. That's something to look forward to! <br /><br />Good god, I can still hear that bell! The truck must be driving in circles. It is so annoying. The chime has completely derailed my train of thought. Once I get a sound clip of that up, you'll understand why it would have such an effect. Check out the new pictures!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-1216814904196063136?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-50675977498168903862009-02-09T14:23:00.000-08:002009-02-09T14:26:24.914-08:00Yingwen is Mandarin for English....and Mister Ryan is my name at school.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-5067597749816890386?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7833073124155858228.post-25271491995632491592009-02-09T14:10:00.000-08:002009-02-09T14:23:17.852-08:00So hello to the thousands who will eventually be reading this blog! I'm in my new apartment in Linkou, Taiwan and it's 6:20 AM. I've been up since 1:30 AM. There's a 15 hour time difference between here and Colorado so the biological adjustment is going to take some time. My body thinks it's 3:20 in the afternoon. Oh well. Everything has been very exciting, different, and Chinese so the future will be interesting. I sit it on all of the classes to see how other teachers teach, then I'm on my own starting Friday. The kids are going to be so much fun. I teach 3-6 year olds during the day, and 7-14 year old kids at night. More to come...if I try to kill an hour right now on this blog, you'll only get bored.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7833073124155858228-2527149199563249159?l=mister-ryan.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mister Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10451854989706937657noreply@blogger.com2