Amazed

So, Taiwan is pretty damn cool, actually. Even if there are typhoons and millions and millions of scooters everywhere that spit out pollution and give me a sore throat. I can get over the counter oral contraceptives, I can take the bus for 50 cents, I can ride on the world's most efficient subway system for 50 cents to a dollar per ride, I can have cell phone service for US $12 a month, I can eat a decent meal for less than a dollar, and a great meal for $5, I can get almost every amenity that I enjoyed at home (sometimes at a price). Also, Taipei has some pretty cool little areas. I love wandering down alleys and side streets, where the noise of the traffic is blocked by the tall buildings and there are concrete walls and fences for me to imagine the other side of. There are some surprisingly peaceful spots just a block off of the main thoroughfares in this city. It's pretty great.
Lately I've been doing research on some other cities for a project at work, which has inspired me to get out more...
The first one was Kaohsiung, which is one of the southernmost cities. It's famous for its port, and industry, but it's trying to revamp and become an eco-city (sustainability is HUGE here). They also have a Container Arts Festival, where artists are given a shipping container with which they can do what they wish:



Thought that was pretty cool, but then again, I'm a trade geek so of course it's cool.

And then I started looking at Taichung (Central Taiwan) and discovered that they're building the coolest opera house EVER:



Scheduled completion is 2oo9. I can't wait. Yay for modernism!

Update

I thought I should post something, since it's been a while, although there's not too much to report. Devin and I have been working hard. Working and commuting seem to occupy most of our time. I even have a class on Saturday mornings, and he's got one Sundays. We're pining to get out of Taipei, but we never seem to have the time. We're also cat-sitting, so going away for a weekend is out of the question until the kitty is gone.

I've had a lot of ups and downs lately. I lost confidence in myself and my job for a good while. I feel that my company doesn't trust me as a teacher yet. Although I know I have a lot to learn and they're trying to help me, I feel that it's not being done in a constructive way (they have a pretty skewed ideas on constructive criticism and professionalism in general). But I have to remember that most of my students really like me and feel that they've learned a lot from me. I just had a couple of bad experiences, which I suppose is normal for most new teachers.

To add to my frustration (or maybe as a result of it), I became really homesick. I am sad that I missed my old roommates Jereme and Amy get hitched, and I may miss my dear friend Carisa's wedding in October (although I'm looking at ticket prices taking donations).  At the same time as I started to get frustrated with my job and got terribly homesick, I happened to come across an amazing job opportunity in Portland at a company that I've been drooling over for years. They seemed really interested in me and my experience, and I corresponded with the HR person for about to weeks. In the end, the company decided to hold off on hiring for a few months. So I'm not moving home quite yet, but talking to this company (which deals in import/apparel production/all the things I like), made me realize that the apparel trade world is really where I want to be. It will be harder than I previously thought to pursue that avenue here, so if I want to carry on with that, I'll have to move back to the States. But I'll be saving that for later.

So for now, I want to see this whole teaching thing through. I signed a year contract, and I want to reach the end of it. I have turned my attitude around and am improving my teaching skills by leaps and bounds. I am once again happy to be doing this and appreciate the experience. I also have a lot more to see here in East Asia. I haven't been to Southern Taiwan yet! or Japan! or Korea! or the million other places that are just a short plane or boat ride away.

PS: Check my photo page for new additions.....

Engrish names

So, most people here, for the convenience of foreigners, choose an English name. I have to admit, it helps a lot in class, seeing as I have something like 42 different students now. There are various methods used for choosing a name. Some hear a name that they like and use it as their own, while others choose to honor a hero (usually an athlete or celebrity), and a few people take their Chinese name and choose the closest sounding Anglo name. All can have interesting results.
Some of them are what you'd call run-of-the-mill (in an old fashioned way): Esther, Joyce, Eileen, Carol...
Others are a little more more modern: Aliyah, Katrina, Jessica.
And then there are the unforgettable ones: Moss, Kia, Apple, Cherry...
But for me, one stands out above the rest. I have a student who has hands-down one of the best self-given names I've heard so far: Champion. Champion Chu. Could it be one of the best names ever?

Jingmei Girl's High School

So I did it. I hopped off the bus in front of the old high school I'm obsessed with and worked up the guts (and an excuse as to why I was there) to walk onto the grounds. I don't know what I was worried about, because the "security guard" didn't even look up when I walked by. The place was awesome. I didn't venture past the front of the huge grounds, because I got nervous that someone would stop me and ask what the hell I was doing there, but I took a stroll around the perimeter and got a glimpse of some of the other buildings on the campus.
Here are the main structures that I see from the street every day:







Click here for more... Oh I also added a photo album of retro window cages, gates, tiles, etc that I keep seeing around town. You can see it here.
Next photo adventure topic: It's always Christmas in Taiwan.

retro cool

So I'm constantly on the hunt for a hint of retro in Taipei. It's not easy. The buildings here are not striking, and if fact they're usually kind of drab. The exterior is often just concrete, brick or tile (oh, they looove the tile here) and I'd say that 60% of the windows in this city have a cage on them. Most of them, like the exterior of the buildings are drab, but as I've traveled from one end of the city to the other, I've noticed some very groovy cages.

It all started with this one in northern Taipei:

Whoa! This one's craaazy.

A discarded one in our favorite neighborhood:

As far as retro buildings, I have my eye on one place in particular: It's an all girl's high school near our place. There are several buildings that are all super cool. They have a slight Saarinen feel but they're definitely knock offs. When I get brave enough to sneak onto the premises, I will certainly post the photos....

Sad!

So, from our balcony, we don't have the most spectacular views of our beautiful town. But if you do happen to take a look, you can see a pretty rad temple and and old-school neighborhood. I have grown attached to the old, pieced-together buildings, with their illegal rooftop structures. There is (was) one place in particular that I enjoyed peeping out at: a rooftop apartment where a man housed dozens of doves and other birds in cages. I've seen him outside, tending to his birds, showing them off to friends, etc. But tonight his apartment caught on fire and the whole neighborhood watched it burn. It took the fire department about a half hour to respond, but the streets were so narrow that they couldn't bring their trucks close by. So the response time was delayed even further, as they tried to figure out how to get to the place. The firemen did contain the fire, but only after it had spread to two other apartments. So now the guy (who we realized escaped from the fire in nothing but his boxers) lost his apartment and probably all of his beautiful birds.
On that note, before I fell asleep last night, I was flooded with memories of Frank Strong. For those of you who don't know, he's a friend who passed away earlier this year. I have had many vivid memories of him since he left us, but this time it was different. It was all so positive. Dozens of images of him flooded my consciousness all at once. Images of how I remember him. Happy, always smiling and radiant. It made me smile, as it's one of the first times that I haven't felt pain and sadness in his memory. It was almost like he was coming to say hi.
By the way, this town is apparently known for the ghosts who like to hang around. Coincidence?

night market fun

Last night we decided to hit up the Jingmei night market for dinner. These markets are a great place to get really cheap local food and cheap knock off goods. We had been there once before and had the best fried rice ever at one particular food cart, so we decided to have it again. It was a slow night, since it was Monday and rainy, and the lady running the place had more time to talk to us. By 'us' I mean Devin, as the ol' Mandarin is still new to me. The woman was the sweetest lady I've met here so far. She praised Devin for his Chinese proficiency and told him that she cared for us and felt that she had to take care of us because we had come from so far away. So she gave us some free soup alongside our rice, which we couldn't have turned down. It was obviously a small gesture, but it was one of the kindest things that anyone has done for us here. It also made up for the fact that a rat ran practically under my feet during the meal...