The USA, a nice place to visit, but wouldn't want to live there

Warning, it's a long one!

Day One - Saturday, May 10

I flew out of Taipei at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 and arrived at SFO on Saturday May 10 at 7:00 p.m. - I love that time difference, get there before you leave, ha! My flight was on EVA, economy, for the outrageous price of US$1321. I'd been moaning about the fact that I couldn't afford the very lovely business class and dreading the discomfort of economy, but I was pleasantly surprised! The plane was one of the new Airbuses, and it was extremely comfortable. I was in an aisle seat with no one in the middle seat, just a woman in the window seat. Even though she got up to pee frequently, it wasn't a problem, because the distance between rows was much greater than on the last economy flight I took, actually enough room for a person to squeeze past! The aisles were wider, too, so I didn't feel as if I were bumping into every single person on the way to the loo when I went. The seats were very comfortable, and I was able to sleep almost the whole way. Well, at least after the small child who was kicking and bumping into my chair when we first took off was finally seated next to her mother and asleep. I think her mother was a bit shocked when I turned around and asked her in Chinese to please not let her daughter keep kicking my chair. Especially since I don't think she understood Mandarin, ha. They were apparently from Hong Kong and only spoke Cantonese and English, because the flight attendant had to speak to them in English when serving the meals.

A quite troublesome family, actually, as the father spent the flight coughing up phlegm and polluting our air. My seat mate and I kept exchanging disgusted glances as he did this, and sure enough, I ended up sick during my stay in the US. More on that later. About an hour or two before we landed, the little girl was once again wide awake, and the mother allowed her to stomp up and down the aisle. Yes, stomp. She was wearing wooden shoes and delighted in making as much noise as she could when she walked. I was ready to throttle all three of them!

Got through Immigration fairly quickly and managed to find my rental car desk. My knee was still not very stable, so dragging that suitcase around was tiring. I'd reserved a nice economy car, a Chevy Aveo, as I knew gas prices were through the roof. Imagine my surprise when the clerk told me I'd be getting a PT Cruiser. They acted as if it was a bonus: "We've given you a free upgrade!" I don't want an upgrade, I want the economy car I reserved. "Oh gee, sorry, we're all out of them." Hello? Does not making a reservation ensure that you will receive the model you want? Isn't that the whole point? The time to say, "Sorry, we're fresh out." would be when the reservation is made, so the reserving party can choose to try a different company. Grrrr.

I picked up the car, brand spanking new from the looks of it, and proceeded on my way out of the parking garage to my hotel in Chinatown. Or so I thought. As I left through the security gate, I asked the guy manning the gate how to get to the freeway for San Francisco. In his broken English he said said to go out and turn left, which I did. This brought me to an upper level and a different rental car agency. They wouldn't let me out of their gate because they couldn't be sure that I wasn't stealing the car I was in. The man at that gate told me to turn around, then take the first left, which I did. Ended up at a dead end, went back to the man, and he repeated his directions, this time telling me to go right. I said, "But you said
left last time!" He started over, once again saying "left" then changing it to "right" when I asked him to confirm. I gave up, drove off to the right, ended up in an employee-only parking area, got further directions from one of the guys driving a rental back to its berth, headed back the way I'd come, and finally stopped at a booth and asked a WOMAN to tell me how to get the hell out of this place. Her directions actually worked, bringing me back to the first dolt who told me to turn left. He looked at me in surprise when I pulled up (I'd been driving around for a good 15 minutes), and when I told him his directions were wrong, he said, "Well, I meant after you first drive to the right and down, THEN go left!" Oh, thanks. Anyway, I finally managed to get onto the freeway.

Got to the hotel with no trouble, as I'd stayed there in the past and still remembered how to drive in San Francisco. By this time it was close to 10:00 p.m. and I was dying for a beer. I checked in and then headed out to find a nice 7-11 where I could pick up a cold one. Ha, I forgot that I was back in the US, with nary a 7-11 in sight. After walking around the streets of Chinatown and Little Italy for some time, I stumbled across a Walgreen's that was still open, but alas, no beer. I settled for a bottle of soda and a bottle of water, although the shock at the price (over US$3!) dang near killed me. That's at least twice as much as I'd pay in Taiwan. Went back to the hotel and went to bed.

At 2:00 a.m. the assholes in the room next to me came back in, and they were in the middle of a big-ass fight. They were yelling and screaming at each other, the girl crying, and I pounded on the wall. That earned me a "Shut the fuck up!" from them. I thought about calling the desk to complain, but then I thought, "Hm, this *is* America, and lots of people have guns." Decided to just get up and read for a bit, as I wasn't really that tired anyway. Read until the guy left, slamming the door behind him, and the girl called a friend and cried on the phone for a long time. When it got quiet I went back to sleep, only to be awakened at 4:00 a.m. when the girl decided to play music, loudly. Oh fuck it, I might as well just get up. Later in the morning I went to the desk and asked if those people would be checking out that day, because if they weren't, I wanted a new room. The clerk said they were and asked me why I hadn't complained. I mentioned the whole gun thing and he said, "Oh. Well, we have a security guard." Yeah, right. I'd already seen his fat old self and didn't see as he'd be much use.

Day Two - Sunday

Brandi and Lisa were due to arrive at the hotel at 11:00 a.m., and they were staying for one night in another room. Since I was up so early, I headed out to find something to eat for breakfast. It was about 6:00 a.m. or so, and the streets of Chinatown were mostly deserted, which felt so odd to me, as here in Taiwan the early morning hours are when the old ladies go do their shopping, and all the roadside food stalls are selling yummy breakfast stuff. There were a couple dim sum places open, so I just bought a couple pork buns and went back to the hotel to wait. The music was still playing next door, but it eventually went off, and I took a short nap. Eleven o'clock rolled around with no sign of my buddies, and around 11:30 Brandi called to say they were running late. I sat at the little table to read, and shortly before noon I began hearing a thumping sound coming from next door, then some heaving breathing and a girl panting. Oh swell, first I had to listen to them fighting, and now I had to listen to them having sex! I'm thinking, "Jeez, noon is checkout time, what the hell are they doing screwing at 11:50 a.m.?" Then I heard the maid knock on the door, and the guy yelled, "Just 5 more minutes, we'll be out soon!" and they went back at it. Brandi and Lisa showed up, and I made sure to comment extremely loudly on what assholes my neighbors were and how I'd had to listen
to their sexual escapades while waiting for B and L to show up.

It was great to see my two best friends after two years, and we had a lot to catch up on. I still wasn't walking very well, but we headed out to Little Italy to find some lunch and then spent the rest of the day just wandering around lazily and talking, enjoying each other's company. We bought a ton of snacks in Chinatown and sat in the hotel munching on those, even though none of us needed junk food! Dinner was once again in Little Italy, and the food prices were so high that I was choosing the cheapest thing on the menu. When we were splitting up the bill, I had my phone out to use the calculator, figuring each person's meal, plus tip, plus tax. So much easier in Taiwan, no tax and no tip! And it's way cheaper to boot. But it was nice to eat some real Italian food, even though it was pricey. After dinner we stopped into Z. Cioccolato - "The Sweetest Spot in North Beach" to do some fudge tasting, and I bought a tiny box with two flavors. Boy, it's sure hard to choose when there are 65 flavors! If you're so inclined, you can shop online - you won't be disappointed.

Day Three - Monday

The reason I'd stayed in San Francisco was that I need to go to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Organization (TECO) to have them put the stamp of approval on my high school transcripts and diploma, as well as on the bank statement that showed I had enough money to pay for my university education. I also needed to apply for a new visa, as leaving Taiwan negated the visa I was currently using.

We first had a nice breakfast at the Victoria Pastry Company, an Italian bakery which has been in business since 1914. Absolutely scrumptious, and if you go to San Francisco, you must give it a try. Here's their website. We each ordered something different and 
split it three ways so we could try it all. Yummy!

We checked out of the hotel, and they were nice enough to let us leave our cars parked there in their lot. We walked down to the TECO offices, arriving a little before noon. I didn't have to wait too long before a gentleman was able to help me. The first thing I gave him was the letter my bank had given me with its accompanying notary general acknowledgement. He said that it wouldn't work, because it wasn't all on the same page. I asked him what I should do, and he said to find a local notary and just have him or her stamp the back of the letter. OK, fine.....I left and went to find a notary. After inquiring at several banks, I finally located a Chinese notary and told him what the TECO guy had said. He laughed and said that no notary would ever stamp that document and that it was already fine the way it was, just needed to be stapled together. He did so, gave me his card, and told me to tell TECO that it was fine and legal. I headed back.

By this time the man was gone, and I ended up with a woman, hereinafter referred to as The Bitch From Hell, or TBFH for short. From the first word out of my mouth she was rude to me, incredibly impatient, not taking the time to look at any of the papers I gave her, and telling me that nothing I gave her was right. We stared out with the bank letter. Nope! Won't work, I don't care what the notary says, if it's not on the same piece of paper you're shit out of luck. Fine, forget that, let's move on to the high school stuff.

My high school transcripts are in my stepfather's last name, because that's how Mom registered me, but he never formally adopted me, I just used his name from age 7 until 18. My diploma was issued in my legal last name. I figured this might be a problem, so I'd come prepared with my birth certificate, which had my birth date, place of birth, my mother's name, and the same name as my diploma. My transcripts also had my birth date, place of birth, my mother's name, and a note that the last name was that of my stepfather. To any person with half a brain and the willingness to look at the documentation, this was proof that I was that person. But no, "The last name on your passport is different, we can't approve these documents." "Well, yes, but you see, way back when I was in high school, I wasn't married. The name on my passport is my married name. Surely you realize that American women change their last names upon marriage." "Won't work, it has to match!" "Well now, I just don't think that's possible, since I WASN'T FUCKING MARRIED WHEN I ATTENDED HIGH SCHOOL SO HOW THE HELL CAN I GIVE YOU DOCUMENTS THAT HAVE MY MARRIED NAME?" Of course, I was exceeding polite when I responded to her, and did not use any profanity. That was all in my head. She was shuffling through the copies I'd given her, kept telling me I hadn't given her this or that, then I'd say, yes, it's right there. "I don't see it." Well, fucking stop and look, you bitch. Then she told me I'd have to give her my marriage certificates or I could just forget it. OK, I know when I won't win a battle, forget the high school crap, let's move on to the visa application.

I'd brought every single piece of documentation I'd thought I'd need - school attendance records, evidence of continued enrollment, a letter from my teacher saying I had a scholarship to continue, six months of American bank statements to show I wasn't working and depositing money in that bank, just making withdrawals to deposit in my Taiwan bank, an airline ticket out of Taiwan to Hong Kong in June, and a detailed letter stating that I'd applied for university to begin in September. I gave her the whole packet, and she proceeded to give it a cursory glance, then started tossing papers back at me. "You already gave me this, you already gave me this." Then I'd say, "No, there's only one copy of each, they look the same but they aren't, they have different dates on them." FUCK! This woman just wasn't going to be helpful if her life depended on it. I finally shelled out US$131, handed over my passport, and left.

I'd kept my smile and my composure the whole time, but as soon as I set foot out the door, I lost it. "Bitch! Fucking bitch! ARGH!" Definitely time for a drink. Brandi and Lisa tried to comfort me, but I had a bad feeling. I'd come all this way and spent all that money, and I couldn't get anything accomplished. What the hell was I going to do?

Lisa headed home to Fairfield, and Brandi and I went to her place in Alameda. We stopped off at Trader Joe's, my favorite grocery store, for some fixings for guacamole and some beer, and I picked up some orange juice and some Airborne, as I was feeling pretty lousy and knew I was getting sick. We had a great evening at her house, watched a fabulous movie called Boondock Saints while eating the guac with chips and drinking beer. Right before bed I discovered that Dad had called and left a voicemail, saying that a woman from TECO had called (I'd given his number as my local number, forgetting that I had the temporary cell phone) and that I needed to go to TECO for an interview. I didn't know if that was good or bad, but figured that at least they hadn't rejected my visa out of hand, so maybe it would be OK.

Despite Brandi's couch being one of the most comfortable places I've ever slept, I could not sleep. I just kept trying to work out what I needed to do, the fear of not being able to stay in Taiwan overwhelming me. Man, I'd die if I had to move back to the US. I got up really early and got online, finding the Washoe County Clerk's website, where I ordered a copy of marriage certificate to Mark, then I tracked down the address of the Yuba County Clerk's office, as I could go there when I went up to Chico. My biggest fear was that there was no documentation anywhere that had my stepfather's last name, other than my high school transcripts.

Day Four - Tuesday

Brandi and I went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and had margaritas with our meal, then did a little shopping at the second-hand shops in the area. I'd called the TECO office and left a message, and TBFH finally called me back. She told me I had to have an interview to explain why I wanted to go back to Taiwan, saying I'd already studied for two years and that was long enough. I told her that all the schools in Taiwan tell the students that the government allows three years to study Chinese. I made an appointment for Wednesday afternoon (oh swell, I have to drive back to SF instead of going to Dad's as planned). She called back later in the afternoon and
flat out said they wouldn't give me a visa, but if I wanted to give her US$27, she'd fax a letter to the government offices in Taiwan and ask them if it was really three years or two. Oh, right, I'm going to give you even more money! That $131 application fee is non-refundable, and I'll be damned if I'll pay $27 for a stupid fax as well. After I hung up, I decided I'd just go pick up my passport, return to Taiwan for a 30-day stay just using my passport, since I already had the ticket to Hong Kong in June. I knew that once I had the acceptance letter from the university I'd have no problem getting a new visa in Hong Kong. My big problem was getting the transcripts and diploma approved.

Brandi took me wine tasting in the afternoon, and it was really wasted on me, because they were reds, and I just don't like red wine. Well, unless it's mixed with 7-Up or Sprite and had ice cubes in it, ha.

Day Five - Wednesday

Brandi took off for work, and I headed back to San Francisco, parking my car at the hotel parking garage because the fees were comparatively reasonable and it was only a short walk to TECO. When I got there, TBFH was not in sight, and another woman helped me. She was so nice, she already knew about my situation, and she apologized about having to follow the rules. I told her not to worry, I just wanted to pick up my passport and forget about the visa, since having a visa would do no good if I couldn't get the other stuff authorized. I asked her what I could do to get the high school stuff stamped, and she said if my high school would just type "aka (married name)" on them, that would be good enough. She said I'd have to wait for TBFH to get back from lunch, so I hung around waiting. When I saw her in the back, I told Theresa (the nice lady), and she went to get TBFH. As soon as she came out to the front, she started bitching at me, telling me I wasn't going to get a visa, blah blah blah. Theresa told her, no, she's just picking up her passport, she's not asking for the visa. TBFH continued her harangue, and Theresa, with a little more feeling, once again said, "NO, she's NOT asking for a visa, she's JUST PICKING UP HER PASSPORT." Even she was frustrated with her co-worker's bad attitude. I waited again, over a half an hour, mentally tallying the cost for parking my car, and finally yet another woman, a younger one, came out with my passport. She was also very nice and very apologetic. Damn, they should fire that other one, and I'm going to do my best here in Taiwan to complain about her attitude. I know her name!

Back at the parking garage, I forked over $14 for parking fees and headed off to Dad's. Traffic was light, and I got there quickly. It had been quite cool in SF, but the weather started to warm up on Tuesday, and by Wednesday it was pretty darned hot. I'd checked the weather report for the upcoming days in Chico, and it was going to be over 100F (38C) most of the time, yuck. At least Auburn was a little cooler.

Days Five through Eight - Thursday through Sunday

I don't want to detail every little thing I did while at Dad's and while in Chico. Let's just say that I had an enjoyable visit with Dad and Berti, with them insisting on paying for every meal we had. Dad also gave me $700 to pay for the car rental and gas, and Berti gave me $150 for shopping money. I felt so bad that I hadn't been able to do any shopping to bring them presents from Taiwan, but they insisted they didn't need anything. We went to the movies (What Happens in Vegas - bleah), attended one of Dad's retirement luncheons (salad bar!!!!), ate lots of good stuff, and watched TV.

I left for Chico on Saturday and got to Bob & Weiwei's place mid afternoon, where Weiwei had prepared a lovely salad for lunch. They apologetically told me that they had no air conditioning, as they were doing some remodeling and it had been cold up until the day before, so they hadn't worried about getting the air going. No problem, I took off to do some shopping while Weiwei did homework, and I picked up a fan that I could use at night. It wasn't too bad at all. We had dinner at Casa Ramos, and Weiwei and I watched a bunch of "I Love Lucy" episodes. Sunday she and I went out for breakfast and Bob went hang gliding, then we shopped all afternoon. More "I Love Lucy" that evening, really fun.

I'd thought I'd drive to Marysville on Monday to go to my high school, but then decided I'd just go by on Thursday when I headed back to Dad's. I sent an e-mail to the woman there who had helped send me my transcripts, detailing my troubles and asking for a letter from them and amended transcripts.

Days Nine through Eleven - Monday through Wednesday

On Monday I stopped by the City offices to visit with my ex co-workers, then went to my bank to ask them if they could give me a new statement with the notary on the same page. The gal there said no way, the way they did it was the way they always do it and that it was fine that way. She doesn't realize how pig-headed those people at TECO are.

Then I hooked up with Wendy and spent the night at her place that evening. Tuesday I visited with Mark for awhile during his lunch hour. He took me to our old house and showed me all the remodeling that he and Nancy had done, just gorgeous, and gave me a tour of their motor home. Then Wendy and I just shopped around, and I bought myself a nice Sony Viao laptop on sale at Circuit City, only $419! Of course I had to buy some software, Office 2007 and Kaspersky, and a wireless mouse, total came to $719, still way, way cheaper than I could get it in Taiwan.

All this time I was sick, either with a cold or allergies. I was taking antihistamine and blowing my nose all the time and coughing, and my eyes were itchy. My throat hurt and I just felt icky. The wind was blowing at about 50mph (80kph) at times on Tuesday and Wednesday in Chico, kicking up all sorts of pollen and dust. Not fun for me.

I had lunch with Rose on Wednesday at Burger Hut. Man, it had been a long time since I had a good burger! Stopped by the City offices again to see some people who hadn't been there on Monday, and that evening had a nice dinner at Turandot with May, Krista, Trish, Cindy, and Cris. Cindy gave me the new volume two of My Hometown Chico book to go with volume one that they'd all given me when I left. After dinner I went back to Bob & Weiwei's, and I think I kept them awake with my coughing. Kept myself awake, too, so was pretty tired.

Day Twelve - Thursday

I got an e-mail from my friend who works at Tamkang University, telling me I'd been accepted by the Chinese department. I was ecstatic, and I asked Weiwei to print that for me so I'd have it when I returned to TECO on Friday. I stopped by her office and visited with her for a little bit, then for Dad's. Dad had also called to tell me that the marriage certificate from Reno had arrived, yes!

I stopped in Marysville on the way, first at the high school where I was told I needed to come back at 1:00 to see the head counselor, so I went to pick up my copy of my first marriage certificate at the Clerk's office. Got that, headed back to the school, met with the counselor, who of course said the school couldn't alter official documents by putting my married name on them, but they typed my legal maiden name on the transcripts to match my diploma and birth certificates, and they gave me a letter which clearly said I'd attended school under both names and that the diploma was in the legal name.

When I got to Auburn I decided to make one more stab at the bank letter, so I stopped by the branch there. When I told the gal what I needed, she said, "No problem!" and proceeded to give me a new statement with the notary all on the same page. Huh, and why couldn't the Chico branch do that? Dunno. But, I had it, and I was happy. Now I had everything I needed!

Another nice meal with Dad and Berti at a very nice restaurant, with them once again treating me. Tried a new beer called Duvel Golden Ale, a Belgian ale that is bubbly like champagne. It was fabulous, and I've discovered I can buy it here in Taiwan, so I'll be making a run to Jason's soon for some of that.

Day Thirteen - Friday

Now, my original plan had been to go to Fairfield and spend my last evening with Lisa and Steve there. However, now I needed to go to San Francisco, which is about an hour farther south than Fairfield. Did I really want to drive back to Fairfield on Friday afternoon, the start of the Memorial Day long weekend? Uh uh. So, Lisa called Brandi and asked if the two of us could stay with her in Alameda, and she said sure. Great, I'd get to see both of them one last time before I came home!

I got to TECO around noon, and was happy to see Theresa at the window. She told me TBFH was off that day. Oh gee, too bad I missed her. I gave Theresa everything, the marriage certificates, the birth certificate, the high school stuff, and explained each and every page. She said she wanted to confirm with her boss that all was in order, and of course that meant I had to wait for an hour for her boss to get back from lunch. More parking fees! No problem, I went for a cup of coffee then came back to the TECO office to play with my new laptop while I waited. Eventually Theresa called me over and said that everything was fine and that they'd be able to approve it all, just not on that day. I'd come prepared with a postage-paid Priority Mail envelope so they could mail it all to Dad, and I'd left him money and instructions to send it on to me Global Priority. Man, what a fiasco getting this done! I swear, if this stuff gets lost in the mail, I'm either going to go on a killing spree or just kill myself.

Hung around Chinatown waiting for Brandi to get off work, got back to her place just as Lisa was getting there, and the three of us went our for Mexican food and margaritas. Then we bought a bottle of tequila on the way home and had more margaritas while we watched a hysterically funny movie called "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra", a parody of the old black and white B movies of the 1950s. I highly recommend this one, and Brandi kindly gave me her copy to bring back with me.

Day Fourteen - Saturday

My flight was leaving Sunday at 1:40 a.m., and I needed to get the car back to the rental agency by 8:00 p.m., or I'd be charged for an extra day. Brandi, Lisa, and I went out for breakfast, then we went shopping in Emeryville. I was afraid my suitcases were already over the weight limit, so I couldn't buy anything else, boo hoo. Then we went to Hangar One for some vodka tasting. I didn't like most of them, but they had a marvelous pear liqueur that I loved, and Brandi bought a bottle for me to take home.

We parted at 6:30 p.m., I drove to the airport and dropped the car off (got a tiny discount for early return, too), then spent many boring hours waiting for the EVA check-in window to open at 10:00 p.m. I'd done the online check-in, so I figured it would be quick and easy. At 10:00 I headed over to the check-in counter, and there was an enormous line already. I didn't see the online check-in window, so I asked where it was. "Oh, we don't have one here." Peachy. If I'd known that, I would have gotten in line sooner! Took me over 45 minutes to get checked in.

When I went through security, they pulled my carry-on and said they needed to inspect it. Apparently the fudge from San Francisco looked suspiciously like a bottle in the X-ray, or maybe they thought it was plastic explosive. I had the carry-on packed with chocolate stuff, because I was afraid it would melt in the suitcase, and that earned a strange look from the inspector. Once they were satisfied that it was edible stuff, they sent me on my way.

Day Fifteen - Sunday in the US, Monday in Taiwan

I had an aisle seat against the bulkhead this time, no way for a brat to kick the back, and loads of leg room plus space to stand next to my seat - and right by the bathroom. Sadly, the young man on my left spent the entire 13 hours of flight time snorting snot up his nose instead of blowing it, so I had to keep my earplugs in the whole time to avoid listening to that disgusting sound. He also coughed a lot, and I expect the funny feeling I have in my throat right now means that I caught some germ from him. Sheesh.

I landed at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, breezed right through Immigration (right, I don't have a visa this time, I'm just using my passport, here's my ticket to Hong Kong next month, thank you very much, goodbye.), and got the limo service back home. Yeah, it's pricey, but I still had leftover money from Dad, and being driven home in a nice clean Mercedes beats wrestling two extremely heavy suitcases onto the bus (no, the driver does NOT help), then dragging them to the MRT station, then either getting them on the little bus or taking a taxi for the last leg of the journey. That method requires about two hours, while the limo service is under an hour. Sometimes that's just worth it.

Got home before 8:00 a.m., unpacked all my crap, bought some groceries, took a much-needed shower. The house seemed very empty without DZ, but I wasn't able to pick her up from Selena's until almost 10:00 p.m. Boy, was she happy to see me. She'd spent the entire two weeks hiding behind their couch and only coming out at night. I thought she might enjoy playing with two other cats, but she just wouldn't warm up to them. Selena said she came out once when Mimi was eating and took a swipe at her, then ran back to hide when Mimi hissed at her. Poor DZ, I guess she's just not well adjusted socially. When we got home, she kept meowing and running from room to room, as if to assure herself that she was home and all was well. She used to sleep at my feet at night, but lately she's been sleeping up by my head.

I've spent this week trying to catch up on the lessons I missed, had a test on Wednesday and actually managed to get 91% even though I'd missed the whole thing and just studied it on my own Tuesday evening, and I have to turn in a composition to make up for missing the mid-term test. So, I haven't had any time to write to anyone, just figured updating the blog would have to suffice.

Well, this has gone on for nine pages, and I'm sure it's not been easy for you to read. I guess I'll just stop here, saying that I'm very happy to be back where I belong, and I'm looking forward to my continued studies here in Taiwan. I should be getting my acceptance letter next week, but I probably have to wait until August to apply for a visa. I'll have to go to Hong Kong in June, July, and August, but that's OK, because I'll get to see my Hong Kong friends.

Ta all!

Gone Bye-Bye

I'm outta here tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m., flight to the US is at 11:30 p.m., and I'll be back on May 26. Dad lives in the dark ages and has no computer, so I'll only be online when I'm staying with friends. Don't expect to hear from me! Yeah, like I answer mail anyway, right?

Let's hope the leg holds up for the whole trip. So far, so good, walking fairly well, but still wrapping it in the brace. Today was the first day I didn't drag that stupid crutch along with me. Guess I won't take it to the US, either.

Wish me luck getting a new visa. Back with a report sometime around the end of May.

I Can Walk Again!

My knee seems to be getting better every day, thank goodness. I'm still bringing one crutch with me every day to school, just in case I need it, but I'm mostly walking without it. I'm wearing the knee brace when I go to and from school, but at home and during class it's off. It actually feels better without it, I think, but I'm still a little scared to walk without the support. I felt like I pulled a muscle in my left thigh getting off the bus one day while trying not to put too much weight on the bad right leg, but that cleared up quickly, too. The right calf muscles were really sore for days, but now they feel OK.

So, it looks as if I'll have no trouble making the trip next Saturday, although lugging around those suitcases might not be so fun. I'll take it easy all next week, which sadly means I won't be able to shop for presents to take with me, boo hoo!

The auction business is paying well, my total income for March and April was about US$267, and my boss is confident that June will be even better (May will suck because I'll miss 2 weeks of work, but in June my share goes up to 50% from the current 40%). I still make a lot of mistakes, mostly because I confused with some of the Chinese, but it's getting easier.

Back with more later!

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Bum Leg A Bit Better

Went to another hospital yesterday, saw another doctor, had another X-ray, this time of the right hip, just to be sure there was no problem there.  Nope, no problem there.  The bill this time was even more amazing, only NT$673 total, which is about US$22.  Unfortunately, if I get the MRI the doctor recommends to find out if there is internal damage that needs repair, that's gonna set me back US$330-US$395 - that's rent for one month!  I elected not to have it, for now.

I can walk without crutches, very carefully and slowly.  The doc said to see if the knee gets better on its own, just keep doing the heat therapy and no walking, plus stretching exercises to fully extend it.  I'm feeling a little more optimistic now and think I'll be OK to make the US trip.

My troubles seem so minor compared to my poor friend, Maddy, who slipped in the shower, broke her tibia, and had to have a titanium rod put in it! I can't imagine how much all this is costing her, because like me, she has no insurance, but unlike me, she's in the US and having to pay the outrageous costs there. Ya think maybe the next president can do something about that? Sure hope so.

Bum Leg Blues

Three years ago, about two days after I arrived in Taiwan, I fell down and slammed my right knee into the sidewalk, hard. It's never been quite right since then, but never really, really bad, just always felt like it was bigger than it should be and uncomfortable sometimes. Didn't stop me from being able to walk long distances or anything.

Over the Chinese New Year holiday I sat on my butt almost every day, with my legs extended either propped up on pillows on the coffee table or on the sofa itself, because it was freezing cold outside and rainy, no incentive to get out and move. Toward the end of my two-week vacation, I noticed my right hip joint had a burning pain, hurt to press on it. When I started back to school and began walking every day, I gradually got a pain that was going down the side of my leg and to the knee, and that seemed to worsen every day.

When I reached the point where I couldn't walk without a lot of pain, I finally went to a clinic that Guoxi had taken me to before for some acupuncture on the knee. The first treatment was a chiropractic type, lots of bending and twisting. This was right before the Hong Kong trip. The doctor told me to go back the next day, but I couldn't because I had too much to do. I ended up hobbling around Hong Kong in pain, but after I got back here, I seemed much better, so I thought the walking had actually helped. Spent lots of time walking around with Carol, and still seemed OK.

But then the pain started again, so I went back to the clinic, where they performed an absolutely awful treatment called fire cupping that hurt like hell, left my leg looking as if it had been attacked by a giant octopus, and did no good. The next week I hurt so much I could hardly walk, so I decided to go to the chiropractor Nat had taken me to in March 2005 when my bursitis was so bad. He'd gotten me well in only two visits, so I was hoping he'd be able to fix the leg.

The first day I went he told me a nerve down the side of my leg was pinched and that I'd waited too long before going to see him, almost to the point where I needed an operation. He may have been talking about the knee, too, I didn't understand everything he said because he spoke so quickly (in Chinese, of course). He twisted me and cracked me and make me yelp and cry, but I felt a lot better after that. He told me to stop walking so much and let the leg heal, and I made an appointment to go back a couple days later. That visit was last week on Friday, and it hurt so much! On Saturday my leg really hurt, but I could tell it was more the pain of muscles that had been pushed and stretched into unfamiliar positions, not the same pain as before. By Sunday I was feeling great, walking normally (I'd been doing a very stiff-legged limping along for quite a while), and happy. I noticed a clicking sound coming from my leg when I walked, but since I'm old and already have a bit of arthritis in the left knee, which makes it creak and crack at times, I figured that's what it was.

On Monday I left for school, happy that I was walking without pain. I wisely avoided the stairs, going through the underground parking area and up the elevator to the lobby of the main building instead. I walked out the front door of my building down the small wheelchair ramp, and something snapped behind my right knee, leaving me in severe pain, completely unable to walk because I could put no pressure on the leg at all. There I was, standing outside on one leg, while other people walked by to catch the bus. One woman stopped to offer her arm, but she was a lot smaller than me, and I didn't think she'd be able to support my weight. I got the security guard to bring out a small plastic stool, which I hunched over and scooted across the ground, hobbling back into the lobby, where I sat on the sofa waiting for Nat (I'd called her with a "Help! I can't walk! Help!"). She took me to the hospital, and I spent the whole day there, because we had to wait there for almost three hours to see the doctor in the physical therapy department (the first doctor who looked at me was a surgeon, and he said it wasn't his speciality). Nat had to go back to work, but she'd called Kennie and asked her to stay with me and help with any interpretation necessary.

The X ray doesn't show any bone problem (the doc wanted to be sure there weren't any bone fragments from that old injury that were poking something), but there's some degeneration of the meniscus in the knee. The doctor said it's possible there's a torn ligament, but without an MRI he can't say for sure. I know that it felt like my hamstrings snapped in two, but since I can use the leg, it's not that, just felt like it. He gave two types of painkillers, told me to rest at home for the next two days, and to immediately go back to the hospital if it hadn't gotten any better by then to see a doctor in Orthopedics (doctors are at the hospitals here, they don't have offices like they do in the US).

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at home. Monday evening was bad, because I couldn't put the tiniest bit of pressure on the leg, and any small bit of twisting to the side also brought tears to my eyes. I managed to use crutches to get around, but it wasn't easy. I slept badly because I was afraid I'd twist my leg in my sleep. Tuesday I used the heating packets a lot, and there was less pain if I moved the knee. On Wednesday I was actually able to put pressure on the leg and could stand as long as I still propped myself up with the crutches and kept most of my weight on the left leg. I could walk slowly, step by step, using the crutches, instead of hopping on one leg and dangling the other.

I went to school yesterday, but I had to take a taxi from home to the MRT station in Danshui and then take another one from the station by the school. After class I had to go to my bank, which is only about two blocks away, to pick up my proof of sufficient funds letter for my university app and to pay my rent (which was already overdue). It took me forever to walk there, and my armpits and palms were so sore from the crutches. Took a taxi to the station, MRT back to Danshui, then taxi home, where I collapsed, exhausted. My knee is huge, looks like it's totally whacked out of place, quite ugly. That might be because I can't quite straighten the leg completely, I don't know, I just know it looks awful.

I wanted to go to school today, but I just can't do it. I'm afraid if I do I'll end up hurting the other leg, and then where will I be? As it is, and I have no idea if I'll be able to make the trip back to the US on May 10 like I'm supposed to, or if I'm going to need surgery, or what. My landlord is so nice, he's taking me to a different hospital this afternoon (they are famous for their orthopedic department), and I hope they have good news for me. I may end up having to delay the trip, but one way or another, I have to go get my documents stamped and approved for my university application.

On the bright side, I have wonderful friends here to come running to help when I need them. Nat and Kennie really went all out on Monday, Carrie came by on Wednesday evening, did a little shopping for me, and kept me company, and then Nat, Charlene, and Betty came over last night with some dinner and companionship. I know I can call on the landlord's mom if I need something, and he and his wife are taking me to the hospital today. Also, on Monday the hospital visit, the X ray, and the medicine only cost US$37 (I don't have insurance, either)! Isn't that amazing? Sure can't go to the hospital in America for that, not even *with* insurance. Funny, though, the crutches and the 2 heating/cooling packs were about US$20.

Wish me luck, everyone. I hope I'll be seeing some of you in May, but if not, then likely June or July. I already have my plane ticket, so I'll be back, just a question of when.

You CAN Go Home Again, But You'll Pay For It

Holy crap, I just booked my flight to the US - $1321! Now you know why I don't go back to visit you all more often, hm? That's more than three months' rent, for pete's sake.  Thank goodness for the scholarship, that's all I can say.

I'm sure sorry I won't be able to meet up with good friends like Romita, Carol, and Alice, because they live so far away from where I'll be staying. Ah well, Carol already came to visit me, and I know Romita and Alice will make it eventually, Romita after visiting Korea, and Alice after getting that son of hers married off on the 4th of July!

Boycott the Olympics in Bejing!

Why? China doesn't play nicely with the rest of the world.

From today's Taipei Times:

The number of tactical ballistic missiles deployed by China against Taiwan reached more than 1,400 at the end of last year, said the National Security Council (NSC), which said in May 2006 that the figure would rise to more than 800 by the end of that year.

An NSC report released on March 26 said that China had more than 190 cruise missiles targeting Taiwan at the end of last year, rising from more than 100 a year before.

The council said the deployment “allows the People's Liberation Army [PLA] to launch a nine-wave, 12-hour saturation missile attack on Taiwan and conduct precision strikes on more than 100 key targets in Taiwan.”

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER, The Taipei Times
Friday, Apr 04, 2008

March Blew Away

OK, I've put off updating my blog for far too long! Let's see if I can actually remember what the month of March was like.

First big news is that I got not one, but two scholarships! The school gave me the monthly one (for 4 months only) that they give to students with high grades. That's NT$12,000 x 4 = NT$48,000 (approx. US$1576). I've already gotten the money for that one. The second one is offered by the government to American students only, and it's a refund of tuition after completing a semester and attending class like I'm supposed to. I'll get at least NT$16,000 (approx. US$525) for that, but I may get it twice (I hope!).

Second is that I'm tickled to have made NT$3228 (US$106) during my first month of business with the landlord. It's easy work, and so far in April I've already made almost half that, so by the end of the month I'm expecting at least NT$5000.

Carol visited from March 16 through March 25, and we had a lot of fun. First we met up in Hong Kong March 13 and attended two Wu Bai & China Blue concerts on the 14th and 15th (I don't need to write about the shows, they were the same as the ones in Taiwan, basically). That was a blast, despite some after-concert stuff that still has me a bit angry with certain people and still in need of some confrontation with one to air it all out. We spent a little time hanging out with Terry and Cheryl, who took us to Sai Kung for the afternoon, and then just shopped around a bit at the jade market and the handicrafts store. It's not easy finding vegetarian food in Hong Kong, so Carol was delighted to find such an abundance and variety here in Taiwan. She said it's a vegetarian's paradise! I took her to Jiu Fen and to Ying Ge, and she graciously paid my way up into the observation deck at Taipei 101 so I finally got to see the city from way up high. We went up just as it was getting dark, and it was fun watching the city lights slowly come on all over.

On February 29 we went to see ABS play, and at dinner before the show I was eating some simple penne pasta with pesto sauce, bit down on a miniscule hard something or other, and broke a piece off my already cracked molar. That was fun. I haven't been to the dentist yet, because the tooth doesn't hurt, and I'm chewing on the opposite side for now. But, I have to go, can't ignore it forever. At the show that night, Nat and Charlene gave me a birthday cake (oh yeah, I had a birthday on March 4, nothing much to say, got older and feel it), which was unexpected. Dino got one, too, but I don't think he appreciated it as much as he liked the bottle of alcohol someone else gave him. I didn't want to spend money on a cab home, so I asked Xiao Zhu if I could catch a ride home with him and his wife, since they live in Danshui, and he said sure, but I'd have to wait a long time. So, Charlene and I ended up going with the guys to some other tiny little bar so they could continue drinking (since Du Du was driving, she abstained, thank goodness), and once Xiao Zhu had his fill, we took off, me in the back seat with Da Mao, who also lives in Danshui. By the way, his little daughter is simply adorable! His phone was full of photos that he proudly showed us. I got home around 4:00 a.m. and only slept for about four hours. I'm too old for this!

On my actual birthday I went out for pizza with Shannon, to the all-you-can-eat place. We stuffed ourselves, and it was great. Other than that, it was a pretty average day.

March 22 was election day in Taiwan, and the KMT party won. Phooey. I hope it's not the death knell for democracy here, we'll have to see what happens. I don't trust the new prez, Ma Ying Jiu, one tiny bit. He takes office in May.

I'm on a semester break this week, and damned if the weather hasn't been sucky since day one! Why is it that every time I have a vacation, it's rainy and cold? I hate being stuck inside. And the weather report says that it will clear up on Sunday and be stinking hot. So far today doesn't look so bad, so maybe I'll get out for a walk. I took a walk on Wednesday and ended up buying a new computer desk, so maybe staying home isn't such a bad idea. :) Yesterday my landlord and his wife took me to Costco, where I loaded up on cat litter (3 30-pound containers) and cheese (5-pound block of cheddar, 2-pound block of pepper jack - it freezes well!). Couldn't resist a box of Act II microwave popcorn, but I managed to NOT buy all sorts of other tempting treats.

I'll be making a trip back to the US in May, as I have to take my transcripts and diploma to TECO in San Fran to get them stamped. Leaving Taiwan will probably mean that I once again will have no visa, but I can just do the monthly trip to HK until I get my acceptance letter from the university and then apply for a new one.

Well, heck, I can't think of anything else right now, and the tummy is saying it's time for food, so I'm outta here.

The Boneless Woman

A friend sent me this link, and I was so amazed by this woman's flexibility that I had to share it with you.

University, Here I Come!

Boy, it was nice to get back to school after all those boring days at home. I can't believe how cold and miserable it's been here, absolutely no desire to go outside if I don't have to. It warmed up briefly and then got back to chilling cold, bleah.

I went to Tamkang University on Wednesday and talked with the head of the Chinese department. He loves me! Looks as if there will be no problem getting in, which was a great relief to me. I'll be going back on Monday to discuss how to get my transcripts and high school diploma approved by the Taiwan high mucky-mucks. Normal procedure is to have them stamped in your own country, because most folks apply for uni from there, but I'm already here, so it's not so easy.

I've been spending time getting training from my landlord, Mr. Zhang, on how to do the eBay and Yahoo business, and I'm hoping I'll start seeing a small income from that. Still waiting to hear if I actually get the scholarship at the language school this time, and of course I'll apply for the university one, too.

Eagerly anticipating my trip to Hong Kong on the 13th and meeting up with Carol. Tonight we're going to see ABS at Riverside Pub and will have a cake to celebrate Dino's birthday, which isn't until March 6, but this is our only chance.

Gotta run, stuff to do. Had yesterday off and today, too, yippee.

Dear Diary: Day 5 on the Island....

I've been on vacation from school since Friday the 1st. And since Saturday the 2nd, I've been spending hours and hours a day watching the most faboo TV series, Lost. It all started when Shannon arrived on Saturday afternoon. She spent the night Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, leaving Tuesday morning, and except for a couple runs to the store for victuals and food prep time in the kitchen, we had our asses plunked down on the couch, working our way through all of season 1 and part of season 2 before she had to leave. I've continued the grueling ritual and am now into season 3. Hopefully, Shannon managed to find the series for rent at Blockbuster, because my set is region 1 coded, and she's unable to play it on her DVD player. Hoo boy, she was so pissed off Tuesday morning, because the student she left my place at 9:30 a.m. to meet stood her up, and she could have stayed here and watched at least two more episodes before her afternoon student!

My ass hurts. My legs hurt. I'm really tired of sitting. However, it is rainy and freezing-ass cold outside, so I have no incentive to vacate the premises and get some exercise. I walked to the store yesterday afternoon and got soaked, because one shoe seems to have sprung a hole that caused my left sock to become a soggy lump and the wind was so bad that my umbrella did a "kai hua" - that's Chinese for "blossoming flower" and I think you get the idea. It's not raining right now, so there's a good chance I'll get out and about today, before I lose all feeling in my nether regions.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, around 2:00 a.m., I was awakened by wailing and moaning. I figured it was the kids next door crying, tried to fall back asleep, but it kept up. Finally, I took my earplugs out and walked over to the wall, thinking maybe I'd bang on it, but then I heard the sound again, coming from outside. It was the wind, sounding just like it does during a typhoon! I guess the way these buildings are set up it sort of makes a wind tunnel that gives the wind a lot more force, and it just wailed and wailed for over an hour, keeping me awake. Can't imagine what it will be like during an actual typhoon, but guess I'll find out.

So, hey, it's now The Year of the Rat! Happy Lunar New Year to everyone! I'd dithered a bit about whether to make the trek into Taipei and pick up some yummies from Shanghai Dumpling to bring back here to eat or to fend for myself, and the sorry state of the weather pretty much decided me on staying here. I already had some stuff to make hotpot, so I bought a little more and sat here with DZ eating fish balls and mushrooms and sliced beef boiled in broth and dunked in hot & spicy sha cha jiang. Trust me, it tastes a whole lot better than it sounds. There were lots of fireworks and firecrackers last night, but not all night long, thank goodness. I went to bed around 1:30 a.m., I think. No wailing winds kept me up.

It's perfect baking weather, and last week on Friday I made chocolate chip cookies and some muffins, which Shannon and I made quite a nice dent in. Today I'm going to make a cheesecake, just because I feel like it. Having the little oven on for hours sure makes it warmer in here. If you remember, Taiwan apartments don't come equipped with central heat (or air), so all I have for warmth is a standing space heater that actually does quite a good job. Taking a shower ain't fun, though, as the bathroom is really cold. Best I can do is set the heater up outside the door and try to get the tub/toilet room warmed up before I get in, and get dressed as fast as possible when I'm done.

OK, so I'm gonna get myself outside before the rain starts again, and then when I come back I can continue my immersion into fantasy island life with the cast of Lost, trying to figure out all these mysteries.

My Beautiful Island

For those of you who still don't understand why I left the US behind and came to Taiwan, please spend 10 minutes or so watching this little introduction, and I think you'll see the light. :)



I hope this inspires some of you to make a trip here and see for yourself why the Portugese named Taiwan "The Beautiful Island."

The Honeymoon is Over

I committed some heinous crime in a previous life. I'm not sure what it was, but it must have been particularly awful. That's the only explanation I can think of for why I'm unable to find a quiet place to live.

The first couple of weeks here at the new apartment were so nice, very quiet at night, no problem sleeping at a decent hour. Then the noise from upstairs gradually became worse and worse. When it first began, it was only a couple of nights a week, beginning at 10:00 p.m. when the kid took his shower and got ready for bed, continuing until 11:30 p.m. Well, OK, just a couple of nights, I can handle that. Then at the beginning of January, it was every night. Every single friggin' night, and every three to five minutes (yes, I'm keeping a written record) a bedroom door slamming, a cupboard slamming, drawers slamming, things dropped on the floor, dragging furniture across the floor. So, I talked to the security guys, and they said that noise after 10:00 p.m. was a no-no in this community, and if it continued I should call them.

Finally, I did call them one evening and asked them to call the upstairs folks. Didn't have any effect, the noise still continued until 11:30 p.m. After a few days, I'd had enough again, and once again asked them to tell the 10th floor folks to knock it off. I heard the guy upstairs on the intercom phone, saying "OK, OK, sure." then talking loudly to his wife as the noise continued. Obviously this is not working.

Fine, I decided I'd make a change in my own lifestyle. Most people here shower at night before bed and not in the morning like I'm used to, so I've been doing that. This allows me to sleep in a bit longer, but it also cuts down on my morning "drink-loads-of-coffee-while-fiddling-around-online-to-wake-up" time. I still don't feel I'm getting enough sleep, and I usually get shocked awake by some loud bang at least once after I hit the sack.

Last Sunday I wrote a very nice letter, which Shannon had helped me compose, really polite and all, asking the upstairs neighbors to be more considerate after 10, close doors, drawers, and cupboards gently, etc. I gave it to the security guy to give to them, because he said that was the best way. Attached to security's copy was a two-page record of the time and type of loud sound I'd been experiencing. After about a half hour, my doorbell rang, and it was one of the security guys. He said the upstairs folks had refused to take the letter and maintained that it wasn't them making the noise. Needless to say, I was incredulous, mouth agape as I listened to this hogwash. The guy said the next time the noise started, I should call the desk, and they'd send someone to my place to listen to see where it was coming from.

Strangely enough, Sunday night was very peaceful, no slams and thunks, and I heard the first shower running much earlier than usual. I had a meeting with my landlord on Monday evening, and I talked to him about all this. He told me that in Taiwan buildings sometimes the sound is actually coming from three or four floors up, that the people right below don't hear it, but the folks two floors down do. I'm sorry, but I don't buy this. Granted, the origin of some noises seems difficult to pin down, but those slamming doors and dragging furniture are quite obviously right over my head! No way in hell that sound is coming from two floors up.

Monday and Tuesday were also quite peaceful, and I was able to sleep early. To me, having it suddenly become quiet after security talked with the 10th floor people just seems to reinforce the fact that it was them making the noise. I mean, why else would the noise cease like that, after being a nightly ritual for over two weeks? However...... Wednesday it was business as usual with lots of noise. I tried to listen carefully to see where exactly it was coming from, putting my ear against the ice-cold concrete walls on both sides. I thought maybe some sound was coming from next door, and since I'd already met that woman and she was very nice, I went to ask them if they were possibly closing doors and cupboards quite loudly. She and her husband talked to me for a long time, both maintaining that their living room, which is right next to my bedroom, has no cabinets or anything that would make that sound, and that since she babysits infants she has always taught her family to be very quiet, so as not to disturb the babies. OK, so not them. Didn't seem that the noise was coming from the apartment on the other side, either. After the loud noises continued until 10:40, I called the desk and asked them to send someone up. Of course, just as when you take your car to the mechanic it will NOT make that funny noise, so it was that as soon as the guy arrived (bringing with him a disgusting miasma of cigarette smoke that polluted my entire apartment), the upstairs was silent. And as soon as he left, the noise began again, but thankfully ended at 11:00 p.m.

On Thursday they started early, around 8:00 and continued until at least 10:40, this time someone using power tools, dragging furniture around and rolling something heavy across the floor. I tried to ignore it best I could, certain that if I once again asked the guys to come listen, it would be quiet. Last night we had more power tools and hammering, and when someone fired up that drill at 10:20, I lost it and called the desk. But then I heard the drill sound twice more, and once it really did seem to come from the babysitter's side. It's hard to tell, is it upstairs and making the wall vibrate and the sound is traveling down it? I truly did believe the neighbor when she said they try to be extra quiet all the time, because she has that honest sort of look. I tried listening at their front door to see if the drill sound was coming from in there, but I couldn't hear anything. And there was clearly some sound that was coming from upstairs, because in the small bedroom, there are no other apartments on either side, just two balconies, so the sound is definitely originating from upstairs.

So here I am, once again dealing with inconsiderate neighbors (somewhere) who don't seem to sleep much themselves. It's still much better here than in Zhuwei, and I don't have the added burden of tons of noise from outside 24-7 to deal with. I will try to adapt and just stay up later than I want, since I don't think anything is going to make them stop. I sure wish I were the sort of person who could roll out of bed, wash my face, get dressed, and be out the door, because then I could sleep until 7:45 a.m.! Alas, that's not me. The latest I can sleep is 6:45 a.m., I need that hour of wake-up time in order to be fully functional. I don't know how the Taiwanese do it, getting only 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night - or less.

Now that I've gotten that particular rant over, on to a new one. My teacher this semester is incredibly boring. We're third-year students and we're being treated as first-years. The first test she gave was so laughable, two pages, handwritten (badly, my writing is much nicer), of simple "fill in the blanks" and make some easy sentences. For the last three semesters, each time I've had a test it has taken me almost the full two hours of class to complete it. Most required writing some small essays, and most were four pages of typewritten questions. It took me less than half an hour to complete the test last week. And so far this teacher has not asked for any homework! OK, so that's sort of nice, except that it doesn't really push me to make progress. Another thing that bugs me is that she loves to hear herself talk and doesn't give us much chance to say anything. This may be helping me improve my listening skills, but I need to talk, too! We're all frustrated and not looking forward to dealing with this every day until March 28 when the semester ends. Argh.

Despite all of the above, I must say that I'm still incredibly happy here in Taiwan and have no desire to leave it. Anyone who knows me knows that I will always have a complaint about something, no matter where I live. It's the way I am, I'm a griper for sure, and too old to change my ways.

A Strange Sense of Deja Vu

The day after the presidential election in 2004, I read with incredulity the news that Bush had been re-elected. I couldn't understand how that happened, couldn't understand that the American people could be so blind that they would re-elect such a war-mongering idiot, but they did.

I have much the same feeling today as I read the Taiwan election news and see that the Kuo Ming Tang (KMT) party kicked the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) collective ass in the legislative elections. With the presidential election upcoming in March, this does not bode well for Taiwan. Since I suck at discussing politics, I'd like to refer you to an excellent letter in today's Taipei Times, written by Lee Long-hwa in New York. I truly fear that if Ma Ying Jeou wins the presidential seat in March, Taiwan will soon be hanging "Welcome to Communist Taiwan" signs in the airport.

In other articles in today's Times (worth a read if you have the time), writers point out the low voter turn-out. I do understand the voters' frustration, with neither party being worth much, but this is a case of choosing the lesser evil, and they should have gone to vote green (DPP) just to keep the country from turning blue (KMT)! I used to half-jokingly say that in 2004 I would have voted for a serial killer just to keep Bush out of office, and the slogan "ANYONE but Bush!" appealed to many people. I wish Taiwan would wake up and see that if the KMT gains power once again, they're likely to lose their freedom. Surely many folks recall the days of martial law (which only ceased in 1991) and the "White Terror" they endured after the massacres in 1947. The Wikipedia article will give readers more information on the party, and please do pay close attention to the "Current issues and challenges" to see what a great guy Ma Ying Jeou is (also note heavy sarcasm).

I was recently contacted by a fellow I knew in the US, who had moved back to Beijing before I came to Taiwan. We were chatting a bit on MSN, and I wanted to show him photos of my place here. He couldn't access the website. Then I wanted to let him read my Chinese blog. He couldn't access the website. He asked me why I didn't go to mainland China to study Chinese, and I replied, "You have no freedom there. You're not even allowed to visit simple photo and blog websites because your government blocks them. Why would I want to live like that?" I don't want to see Taiwan end up like this.

'Tis the Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! It's almost 7:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. I spent my afternoon making a huge pot of minestrone soup, which I'll freeze in batches to provide quick and healthy meals for myself in January (that's when I am determined to get back on the diet wagon, which I fell off of last month). I think I'm going to kick back and watch my favorite Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story" later on. I've seen it a million times, but it's always so much fun.

DZ and I have settled in nicely to our new home. She's still opening drawers, sometimes pulling all my socks out in the middle of the night. Don't know why, she never did that before. I now close my bedroom door when I leave in the mornings so she can't get in. And one night I heard her chewing on the tape that holds the plastic piece that closes off the open side of the end table where I keep my autographed Wu Bai stuff. She knows that's a huge no-no. I ran out of the bedroom yelling at her. She knew if I caught her she was in for a spanking, so she ran into the kitchen.
She jumped up on the stove, then up on the chrome rack, then on top of the bookcase - then she jumped up into the recessed lighting area! She started running around the whole room like she was on was a race track, meowing loudly. I swear, it was so damned funny, and I tried so hard not to laugh, because I was pissed at her! Oh jeez, I wish I'd been able to get video of it. I finally had to climb on the sofa and grab her when she went by to get her down. And yeah, she got her spanking. My Wu Bai stuff is sacred, thou shalt not touch it!

I have class tomorrow as usual, no Christmas holiday here. I'll go have lunch with Nat and Charlene after school, then I'll just come home and hang out with DZ. Wednesday a bunch of us are going to the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for lunch, and that will be my Christmas celebration.

Next weekend I have four days off, but I'll need to spend a lot of that time preparing for my semester final, a written exam on Wednesday and an oral exam on Thursday. This happened last semester, had time off for Mid-Autumn Festival and spent the whole time studying! Grrr. And no week off after the semester ends on January 4, either. Because we get two weeks in February, we have to make up one of the weeks now, so it's back to class on Monday the 7th.

It's looking like Carol will definitely be coming for a visit in March! We'll meet up in Hong Kong for Wu Bai & China Blue's two concerts then she'll come back with me, maybe for a week (or longer?). I thought I'd be off that week, but I was wrong, the semester ends March 28, so I'll still have to go to school in the mornings and play in the afternoons.

I went to the final round of concerts for Taiwan (making my total five this year, yeah!) on December 15, sat in the front row, really close to the stage. It was the same basic show as the other three I attended, so I didn't see the need to write much about it. The special thing about this time was that friends came from all over - David, Lee Ying, and Lee Yang from Singapore; Ah Wing from Hong Kong; Elsa from Macau; Yasuyo from Japan; Johnny from Malaysia. It was great to see them all, and of course there was a lot of good food involved. After the show, Charlene, Ah Wing, Yasuyo, and I went out for dim sum, and we called Nat to come join us. She is truly a great friend - she gave me a ride home afterwards so I didn't have to pay for a cab! That was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise.

Well, OK, now it's 7:30, and if I want to get that movie watched, I'd better go. Happy holidays to everyone!

無聲的所在

My blog entry title is from a Wu Bai & China Blue song, and it means A Place of Silence. I'm still incredibly amazed at the peace and quiet I've found at my place in Danshui, and I do feel at times that I'm living in a place of silence. It's so quiet that I can now hear the weird noises the refrigerator makes, and I never could before! Once in awhile I hear the people upstairs, but it's rare and never late, late at night. Since my apartment isn't on the street side, there's very little outside noise that filters in. I finally got photos posted today, so please drop in and take a look at my home sweet home. Another thing that worked out absolutely perfectly was that the gas tank at the old place was just about empty, so I was going to have to buy more, but I made it without having to, and the tank at the new place is a full one, so I'm set for another three months.

DZ has been a bad girl lately. I don't know how she manages it, but she gets the dresser drawer opened - it's full of heavy stuff! Determined little bugger, that cat. She also jumped up on the Wu Bai showcase by getting on the small dresser, and then onto the wardrobe, knocked one of the stuffed sharks to the floor, and chewed up the tag. She jumped on top of the entertainment center by first jumping onto the chrome rack in the kitchen, and knocked over the Kirin beer stein Kayun gave me. I know she walked around up there, because I saw her footprints on the center shelves. She might find herself locked up in the spare bedroom during the day when I'm at school if she keeps this up! I'm being very careful where I put posters this time, hoping they are all out of her reach.

OK, so in America when you moved out of an apartment, the landlord expects you to leave it spic and span, and if it's in less than perfect condition, you're going to lose a lot of your deposit, maybe even all of it. I moved out of my place where I'd been for eight years, and I'd even paid to have carpet installed and some other upgrades, and I didn't get a penny back! So, when I saw the horrible condition my apartment walls were in after I took down the posters (who knew that sticky stuff would be THAT strong?), I assumed I'd need to paint the place before getting my deposit back. I even asked a friend if he'd like a job doing just that and was prepared to pay him for his bus ticket here and the labor. It shocked the hell out of me when the landlady told me not to worry about it, she was going to have it painted anyway, and she didn't care about the walls. On top of that, I didn't even have to clean! I'd already swept the place, with help from Shannon last week, but I figured I'd have to mop thoroughly and clean up the kitchen a bit, so I went back yesterday. I had just started, and the landlady came by, told me she didn't want me to bother with it, that she thought it was already very clean and that after the painters left, she'd do it herself. Whoa. She handed me back 100% of my deposit, about $930US, so I felt as if I'd won the lottery. I'd already kissed that money goodbye!

My new landlords are so very nice. They have an air conditioner that they traded to me for two of my little window ones, and a friend has another one he said I could use for free. I'm not going to get them installed until March or April, though, don't need them right now. I was shocked that no one was willing to buy used air conditioners for the low price of only $46US. I paid almost $200 apiece for those things, dammit! So, I gave the old landlady one of them, couldn't bear to just throw it out.

I ended up paying $8000NT for moving (around $248US), and it was worth it. Funck and Carrie helped me one evening, and we moved quite a few large boxes and some small furniture, and it was a royal pain. From old apartment into elevator then into van (a close distance), then from van to new apartment (long distance). Poor Funck, he probably didn't know what he was in for when I asked him if he was free to help. It was great that Carrie had a big van from her work, because we were able to haul a lot. I'm sure if we hadn't gotten that load here, I'd have had to pay the movers about $3000NT more for one more truck. We had two trucks, one small and one large, and they were packed until you couldn't get one more thing in. We started at 2:00 p.m. and had it all into the new place and them gone by about 7:30 p.m. I immediately started unpacking, then Carrie dropped by a little after 8:00 and stayed until about 11:00 or so. After she left, I started again and stopped at 1:30 a.m. Then I got up at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday and worked basically non-stop until 6:00 p.m. Talk about exhausted! After an hour or so, I did a bit more, but then gave up. So, I've been doing it bit by bit this last week, and now it's all in order, at least as far as I can go without another cabinet. I hope whatever the landlord has to loan me will be able to fit, need to get him here to look and see my setup.

Charlene and Natari have been working their asses off lately, sometimes stuck at the office until midnight or later, because their boss has been opening a lot of new restaurants. I'm telling you, Taiwan people work harder than anyone else, and they don't get overtime pay for it, either. You just try to get Americans to work 80 hours per week for $800 to $1860 a month (that's the average salary, office worker to manager)! Ain't gonna happen. I sure hope both of them get a really nice, fat Chinese New Year bonus in February, because they deserve it. So far neither one has had any time to come see the new place, so hopefully next weekend they'll be able to.

Hopefully I'll be able to go to Hong Kong mid March for Wu Bai & China Blue's concert. Unfortunately, the shows are on a Thursday and Friday, and that Friday is the last day of the semester, which means the final exam will likely be on one of those days. I may not make it to the Thursday show, but maybe I can get to the Friday one, if I can find an afternoon flight. I'd need to go in April anyway in order to extend my multiple-entry six-month visa, so going a month early won't be too bad, and at least I'll have a purpose for going. Plus, I'm off that whole next week between semesters, and Carol just maybe will be able to come for the Hong Kong show and then here to hang out with me! Another nice things about living here is that the landlord's mom also lives in this complex, and she'll come feed DZ for me when I'm gone. I met her yesterday when she came by to show me how to turn on the gas stove (not the same at the other one, didn't know about the safety lighting feature that keeps kids from getting burned), and she's really sweet.

I've walked to the MRT station a couple of times in the mornings, takes about 30 minutes. I think I'll continue to do that when the weather is nice, get a bit of exercise. I've not been good with the diet lately, eating too much junk and not walking much, so I need to cut that out. I want to start using the exercise room here in the afternoons, too. No one else uses it, so I'll have it all to myself. It's very bad that right outside the front entrance of the building is a little stand that sells deep-fried chicken nuggets, extremely tasty. And the grocery store is right there as well, making it far too easy to buy beer and potato chips. Must not allow self to indulge too much! Must not, must not, must not. Concert coming up in two weeks, must try hard to shave off a couple more pounds before then.

Well, OK, I think that's enough for now, and I really need to get cracking on homework. Toodles!

Moving is a Pain in the ASS!

Brief update to let you know I'm still alive. Am all moved in to the new place, and I totally love it. Have managed to get most of my things put away, but still have three large suitcases of crap and no place to put it. Leaving it in the suitcases is OK for now, since it's all stuff I don't use much, but I gotta move it eventually. Landlord has some extra cupboards he can loan me, so need to find out what size and see if they'll fit. Will have photos posted soon, waiting until it looks nice - and also for the Wu Bai & China Blue posters to be re-hung. It ain't the same without them.

This place is so friggin' quiet compared to the old apartment, what a difference. No more waiting until hellacious brats upstairs go to bed at 11:00 p.m. or later, no more suffering all evening listening to them screaming and running and dropping steel bowling balls. I LOVE MY NEW APARTMENT!

Crazy busy due to move and homework and still need to go clean old place on Saturday, yuck.

Moving to California in Two Weeks

Isn't life strange? In March 2005 my friend Nat signed the contract for my apartment on March 6, and I moved in on March 22, coming from California to Taiwan. Yesterday, on November 6, I signed the contract for my new apartment, and I'll be moving in on November 22! And isn't it funny, the name of the new apartment complex is California Community. This whole thing just tickled me, still here in Taiwan but I'll be living in California again.

It was pouring rain and incredibly windy yesterday when Shannon and I got to Danshui to go look at the apartment. The ad said it was only a 12-minute walk from the station, but judging by the map, we knew that was impossible. After a half an hour walk, mostly uphill, we arrived at the building, completely drenched. The complex is huge, four large buildings around a central area that has a big swimming pool and children's play areas. The apartment is on the 9th floor (I can't recall how many floors in all, maybe 16), and it has a very nice view. It's smaller than my current place, only two bedrooms and no actual dining area, plus only two small balconies instead of the two very large and one small one I have now. But the lighting is awesome, with loads of indirect lighting as well as direct lighting, and the kitchen is nice and big.


The bathroom is miniscule, a tub and a toilet crammed together, with the sink in a separate area outside, rather like many hotels have. Not a problem for me, less to clean, is how I look at it.





I'm not really sure all my furniture will fit, and there's not one closet in the whole place. That's one thing I find incredibly odd about Taiwan apartments, most of them don't have built-in closets. People buy cabinets and wardrobes, or sometimes they have closets built in when they buy a place (like my current pad has two large ones with overhead storage space as well), but you don't get any sort of storage space at all in the apartment! Also, there are no air conditioners in this apartment, which is fine now because it's winter, but come summer I'll have to shell out more money for air con, because the ones I bought for this apartment won't work in the new one. The windows are not the same, so I'll have to buy the kind that half of it is wall mounted on the inside and half is mounted on the outside.

The photo below will be my bedroom, it's the largest. The second room will have the computer and the extra bed, unless I decide to put the computer in my bedroom and a lot of my bedroom furniture in the extra room. We'll see. I'll sure miss the huge built-in desk with shelves and drawers that the current apartment has. I won't be able to display all my cool Wu Bai & China Blue stuff!
The complex has, in addition to the pool, an exercise room with treadmills and weight machines (no more excuses why I'm not exercising!), a squash court, a dance studio (costs extra for a teacher and classes), a reading room, a basketball court, pool and ping pong tables, a movie room, and a meeting room. There's a 24-hour security guard, and I will no longer have to chase the garbage truck, as there is a central trash collection area in the basement, and I can throw it away when it's convenient for me. There's also a generator, so if the power goes out, we'll still have it. Doesn't happen too often, but I do recall the day I was stuck in the elevator for 10 minutes in the middle of summer and thought I'd die. There are also numerous shops and food stands within a few minutes walk, a bus stop right outside the main door with 10 different lines, a bus every three minutes, meaning a quick ride to Danshui MRT station. The landlord is going to draw me a map showing me the shorter way to walk, which really is about 12-15 minutes, piece of cake. More exercise for me, that's a good thing. The apartment is also within walking distance of Tamkang University, where I hope to be enrolled next year (keep those fingers crossed).

The best two things: the rent is $3500NT per month less than what I pay now, so I'll save about $100US per month (can you imagine renting a nice apartment in California USA for $370 per month? I can't.) And we went upstairs to inquire if the apartment above was infested with noisy children, and I can cheerfully report that there is a family with one 7-year-old boy, and their next door neighbor (of whom we made the inquiry) said they are quiet. But if they aren't, I can call the managers, and they will go talk to them, an option I do not have where I am now. Gosh, maybe I'll be able to get a good night's sleep! Also, according to the ad, this house has absolutely fabulous feng shui, so I'm assured of a prosperous future and a happy life - yeah!

I have a lot of packing to do, and I'm not looking forward to shelling out big bucks for a mover, but it's impossible to move it myself. Hopefully I can enlist the help of friends to move the smaller stuff and just pay to move the big things, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm sure hoping I won't be required to paint the place I'm leaving, just clean it up nicely. I suppose if she wants me to paint, I'll tell her to take it out of the deposit, I don't have time for that.

So, anyone wanna buy an air conditioner? Make you a hell of a deal.....

Round One: Tainan Concert

Note: Original post was written on 10/28/07 in Chinese, just now getting around to writing the English version (sorry!). So, the "yesterday" was actually 10/27. :)

For the past few months I've been eagerly awaiting the Wu Bai & China Blue concert, and yesterday the day finally arrived. Charlene and I met up at 1:00 p.m., had a quick bite to eat, then boarded the bus for Tainan. I love the buses in Taiwan, with the big comfy seats, almost as good as first-class airline seats (although this bus didn't have the "flight attendant" offering snacks and drinks like the Aloha Bus does). There's a small TV which gives you the choice of watching a TV station or a movie. When we started out, I was watching "Charlotte's Web" but halfway through I got creeped out by Charlotte and decided to sleep. When I was a kid, I loved that book (still do, actually), but I never pictured Charlotte as quite that "spidery" looking! I loathe spiders, ugh.

It was already dark when we got to Tainan, a little before 7:00 p.m. Another one of our friends, Lonely Bird, had driven over from Chiayi with another fan, a girl named Ah Ga (I think), so he swung by and picked us up from the bus stop. We drove directly to the concert locale, where we miraculously found a parking spot right across the street, ran into a little noodle shop where we sucked down some dinner within the space of ten minutes, then headed for the concert.

Charlene is absolutely amazing. The seats she bought for us were in the second row, not only extremely close to the stage but also close to the center. When the concert began, first Da Mao, Xiao Zhu, and Dino came onstage. Xiao Zhu was directly in front of us, Da Mao way off to our left, and Dino center stage on a raised platform in the back. The music began, and Wu Bai entered from our right, carrying a big black umbrella, singing "I want, I want, I want...." as he walked to the mike in the center, the beginning of the song "Innocent Years." He sang the first bit, where he doesn't play the guitar, while holding the umbrella, then it was snatched into the air and he grabbed the guitar for his opening chord.

Every time Wu Bai plans a concert, he spends a long time wracking his brains for new ideas, because he always wants to give the fans a new surprise. This time he threw off his cool rocker look for glam rock look. I'd already seen a photo of him all dolled up in the newspaper, so I knew what to expect. It was a little weird, because the blue eyeshadow he was wearing wasn't on his eyelid, but under the eye. He was wearing a little pair of diamond-studded horns, and his shirt and jacket were Vivienne Westwood designs. It was as if he'd suddenly changed identities and become an adorable, handsome little devil. Ah, Wu Bai, in my book, you don't need to gild the lily, you're already perfect and flawless without any adornment! My preference is Wu Bai drenched with sweat and hair in disarray, and thankfully that came later in the show. :)

As I fully expected, the concert was fantastic from beginning to end, and for over three hours we had a great time. When Wu Bai came and stood directly in front of us, with his face wreathed in smiles, and played that guitar while smiling right at me, my own face was also one big grin. This is one of the things I truly appreciate about him, he will always acknowledge the fans he knows, letting us know he appreciates our presence. Sometimes it's winks and grins, sometimes it's guitar solos in front of us, sometimes it's just a finger pointing our way with a nod, but he will always do it. Since Dino, Xiao Zhu, and Da Mao are always wearing sunglasses on stage, it's difficult to know if they're really smiling at us particularly, but Dino also takes pains to let us know he sees us. I was bobbing my head side-to-side
during one song, and when I turned to look at Dino, he bobbed right back at me, so cute.

Lately Wu Bai has been on a dancing kick, and we once again got a few songs where he danced with four scantily clad young things. I just can't help laughing when Wu Bai dances, because he truly can't dance (I think he's too nervous, and that makes him stiffen up), but I admire him for his courage to try, and he gives it his best shot. The dance they did to "Crush on You" was really cute, though, hope that gets into a concert video for all to see.

The seats in the whole first row had not been available for sale, apparently
reserved for VIPs. Well, it was a total waste, because none of those people
exhibited any sort of energy at all! They barely moved, and even though some of them stood up for a few songs, it was totally without enthusiasm. The woman in front of me was blatantly using her cell phone to video the show, and one of the security folks came over and told her to stop. She just kept on doing it, prompting a second, sterner visit from security, after which she finally stopped. Jeez, if those people don't appreciate the primo seats, then don't let them have them, give them to us instead! Not fair, truly.

Sigh....times passes all too quickly, and eventually the last encore was over (I love the routine of Wu Bai yelling "Hurry and go home!" and all of us yelling back "We don't wanna go home!"). Three of us piled into Lonely Bird's car and took off to the south, to Gaoxiong to see Sharrie. She and her husband now have a little food stand at the night market, where she works until 1:30 a.m. on Saturday nights, so she wasn't able to come to the show. We were there in a little under an hour, then had to find the night market. Sharrie was surprised and happy to see us, and we hung out there for a little while before heading back to Tainan. Charlene and I
boarded the 2:00 a.m. bus back to Taipei, arriving around 5:30 a.m. The MRT doesn't start until 6:00 a.m., so I had to wait a bit before I could get home. It was close to 7:00 a.m. by the time I tumbled into bed, and then I only slept for three hours. I'd slept on the bus back, and also in the car, but it wasn't a good, deep sleep. However, I had too much to do Sunday (like homework!), and in any case, the noise from the builders outside and the brats upstairs ensured that I wouldn't get any rest even if I'd stayed in bed. Next week is the concert in Taizhong, and I know next Sunday I'll once again be exhausted!

And now it's November 3, and in a couple of hours I'll be taking off for the Taizhong show. I'm sure it will be the same as the Tainan one, so I'll likely not write about it, unless there are surprises or something cool happens on the journey. At least I'll be getting home sooner this time, as Taizhong is only about two and a half hours away by bus, not four, and we won't be making any unexpected road trips to other places.

You all remember my former friend, Hiyoshi, the one who got married last September, went back to Japan, and since then has never once gotten in touch with me? Well, as we were on the road to Gaoxiong, I received a message on my phone: "It's Hiyoshi, the wife and I have brought our kid back to Taiwan, can we meet tomorrow? I really miss you!" I was spluttering with indignation as I wrote back: "Bullshit. If you missed me, you would have stayed in touch. That's what friends do. I'm in Gaoxiong and won't be home until morning, and I have things to do tomorrow." Jeez, talk about having nerve! How the hell can he expect that I'd just welcome him with open arms after more than a year of silence? He's been off the "Friends" list for a long, long time, and I have no interest in re-writing his name there. Hmph.

In other news, I've been spending a lot of time looking for a new apartment and finding that rent has risen considerably in this area. Tuesday I'll be checking out a place in Danshui, not nearly as convenient as where I am now, but about $100US per month less than my current rent. Wish I could stay in Zhuwei, but everything I've looked at so far that meets the price is pretty crappy, and the nicer places are just over my budget. I'll keep looking, though, just in case something new shows up.

I like my new teacher, Lin Laoshi, although she's a little on the low-key side in class, and sometimes it's difficult to hear her over the sound of the air conditioner. She has an interesting method of teaching which gets us interacting with each other, giving little performances in class, etc. My first test is next Wednesday, no clue what it will be like, but I don't think it will be really easy. She requires homework three times a week, but she lets us decide what to write. My plan is to continue writing one composition a week and the other two assignments will be practicing making sentences with the new words and idioms we study (and that's not easy!).