Adventures with food

Adventures with Spices, Part I

The other day, Mei and I stopped at a restaurant for food. (Keep in mind that Mei is illiterate in Mandarin, but can speak it fluently, thank god!) So we match up the pictures with the menu, and order what we want. I want a wanton soup/noodle meal, and I find it on the menu. Only... that's odd, there are four choices for that type of food. But ah ha! We recognize one symbol that represents the word big (da) in the first choice. Ok, yeah, I am hungry, I want a lot of food! ... only, why would they all be the same price... So I get my food, and there are soooo many spices in it, I nearly cried. My nose was running. It was rough. Lesson learned...


Adventures with Crappy Noodles, Literally...

In Keelung, as we braced the typhoon, we ended up eating a lot of instant noodles because all of the shops and restaurants were closed. The convenience stores (the 7-11 types) remained open, however). One time, I spotted instant noodles that were on sale. Hm, this looks okay, I think to myself. So I get one. How do I put this delicately. The noodles smelled like something that I crap, not something that I eat. (Mission failed, that was very undelicate.) HORRIBLE. So do yourselves a favor if you come to Taiwan: don't skimp on the instant noodles. Spend the extra NT $10, it's roughly 30 cents. It's well worth it.


Adventures with Spices, Part II

Last night I ordered a tofu/rice meal. I decided my rice needed some soy sauce; I got some from a soy sauce/spice sauce. Only... I grabbed a lot of spices, thinking I could handle them. Big mistake.... big, big mistake. I am learning...

Today was not a good day at work. I have to work 7 hours straight on Tuesdays now, thanks to a revised schedule. Can you say Andrew is going to go postal?! Ugh. It makes up for Mondays, though, as I only work two hours on that day (5 hours every other day). I'm still trying to catch up on my emails... slowly but surely I am getting there. But for now I must prepare for my next class. I hope you are all doing great, I miss you all. I am hanging in there.

Mei's Not as Exciting as Andrew's Post

Hello all from Neihu! (It's a suburb of Taipei, that according to a family friend & Mom, was nothing but rice paddies 30 years ago, now a major hubub of activity, food, and shopping!!!)

I spent today mostly settling in some more to our new apartment. It's pretty small, but it's nice and cozy. We don't have a kitchen, but we do have a small fridge, and Andrew and I made the investment in a hot plate that can serve as water heater/rice cooker/food cooker and sits nicely on top of our fridge. Now to figure out where to do dishes.... Hmmmm... It's pretty much just one big space and a bathroom/shower. At least there's a door on the bathroom! yay! And we have free cable and if we ever get a laptop, dsl! And our landlord is super nice, his name is Clark and can speak pretty good English, and he bought us a new tv! WOOO!

I did laundry today, which was interesting. Our floor shares a washer, and it's a nice little Japanese made washer that has a child lock, and that's all I could figure out because that was the only thing in English. I figured out how to make it run, however, anything past a normal cold wash will just have to wait. During my experiments I figured out which red lights to have on to make sure it drains after it finishes rinsing. Very important. I had some issues hanging stuff up in our apt. to dry, mainly the hook popped off the wall and couldn't be found, but I managed to use a chair, broom, Andrew's heavy bag, and the batroom door as a make shift clothes line.

Hopefully I will find a job soon, there is an interview tomorrow and a part time prospect that is a very viable option. Wish me luck in the job hunt! I have a cell phone that doesn't cost me minutes if people call me, so if you would like the number, go ahead and e-mail me and I will be more than happy to send it out! Andrew should be getting his own cell phone too, but in the mean time, we're sharing the line. Hope you are all doing great, thanks for the e-mails and keeping up with the posts!

PS. We do have an address, but the mailbox is slightly shady because we share it with the apartments on the same floor as us, and when we checked it, it was stuffed with mail. We're worried about never receiving anything. Maybe we'll get a PO box? how about after I get a paycheck!!

First day on the job - the sequel

Round two with these cretins went slightly better. I was a little more perpared and knew more what to expect. And I can tell you the key to these kids hearts: PRIZES!!!! Instant gratification, instant gratification, instant gratification. Unfortunately, I likely opened a can of worms by having prizes, as now they'll expect prizes EVERY time we play a game. However, I also told them that I would have a prize for everyone everytime we played; that could also be costly. (I will just buy packaged candy.)

But what success did I usher in with my new found power and great strategy? I was told that I was handsome (by a thirteen(?) year old guy) and a buffoon (also by a thirteen year old guy). Hm. Maybe I didn't have quite the success I was looking for.

No, but the day went a lot better. I did a better job at controlling the crowd and managed the time better. No floundering for me THIS time. Woohoo. My voice is a little hoarse... but I can talk to Mei enough to tell her that I'm hungry and I want to go buy Pearl Tea. (By the way, if you don't know what Pearl Tea is, it's a tapioca/milk drink with balls of gelatin, or SOMETHING, at the bottom. It's an iced, chilled drink. Lots of sugar, but I'll use it as an excuse as they are a way for me to get my milk and calcium).

Miscellaneous note number one: watching the locals write on a keyboard is fascinating. First of all, there are some symbols on the keyboard. But also, you can type in the phonetic pronounciation, and different symbols pop up! The users then scroll down and click the word/symbol that they want. They know where they are, and which they are... so it goes really fast. Incredible. I just watched people play games; the keyboard that I have also has symbols on the keys, so it is possible that different symbols can be combined to form different symols... I am not sure, I will find out. (Update: Yes, the symbols on the keyboard are syllables; they combine to form words, which appear on the screen. The user has a choice of choosing differnt symbols... it's very interesting.

Miscellaneous note number two: I now understand why Asians are considered psycho drivers. They aren't... if they're in the right system. Here, drivers are 'psycho'... rules are only loosely obeyed. However, because EVERYONE loosely obeys the rules, it works! Organized chaos. People in the middle lane turning left, people in the middle lane turning right, scooters going the wrong way, scooters and cars driving inches from each other. It's chaotic... but it works, and I haven't seen one accident yet. However, take that style and transplant it into a super organized system like America, and then you have problems. People aren't expecting random movements, like they do here. Anyway, the point of this is that now the stereotype makes sense. And as Mei says, people here aren't bad drivers; quite the contrary, they have super quick reflexes and reaction times. They are GOOD drivers.

Time to go relax with our brand new TV (landlrd gave it to us). I hope you are all doing well! Thanks for the emails! I'll do my best to keep up with them.

Andrew

First day on the job

Greetings and hello (from Andrew). It's good to be in a little bit of a stable position so that I can actually sit down and write. That is, I don't need to worry about whether or not I'll have a roof over my head for the next typhoon (friday) or whether or not I'll be getting money (I got a job, unless they fire me!)

Hey, did you know that Taiwan has a zoo? Yep, it's pretty small, though. It only houses approximately 50 animals. It's located in Taipei, and interestingly enough, it's licated in a Catholic school. OH WAIT, THAT'S MY CLASS.

So I had my first hour of class today. I have 50 7th graders. Yes, that's right, 50 students. Pretty large number, huh? And within the first minute, the Chinese teacher gets up and walks out, as does my control over the class. It was a pretty interesting first day; 50 minutes is a lot longer than is expected, and my "lesson plan" for day one was over in 30 minutes. Which left me scrambling to fill the last 20 minutes. Good times.

But now I know what to expect, so I should dominate the second hour later today (haha). The good news is that every teacher (all three of us foreigners) gets a computer with internet, so I may come to monopolize this blog. And perhaps I'll be able to write every day or every other day, to have a literal online diary. Plus, I can vent about my class this way, and possibly upload pictures.

So let me tell you about my fellow foreigners. I would say fellow whities, but one of them (Ken) is black, from New Orleans. He's artistic; he has his own band and is a reggae version of Barry White. He's blunt, too; if I am looking to get hooked up with some Mary Jane, he's already offered that he's 'The Guy.'

The other guy (John) seems really, really cool. His story: he was in Koera 5 years, where he taught English and married a Korean woman. They came here last year and he now works two jobs, at this place and at a bushiban. Today is their second anniversary, but, as he put it, they are currently 'having problems.' I am sure just the normal newlywed type stuff. He rides a motorcycle, much to the jealousy of the students here. I am writing a lot about him because he has been really kind to me thus far; he's really helpful and I have been asking him a ton of questions. He had my grade last year, and he is starting his second year here.

My schedule is pretty nice. I teach my class (the seventh graders) two hours a day, for a total of 10 hours a week. I also have 13 'conversational English' classes with the other students, where I work in conjunction with another foreign teacher. The students don't pay for these classes, and don't care about them; so it won't be as stressful. We will just do conversational English with them. We work with all levels in this class, and we only get them once a week. To quote John "Don't worry about the conversational classes, focus on your core class. Just do enough not to get yelled at." Woo.

We get free lunch here, too, which will be good for the old budget. Also, this place is about a fivce minute walk from a store that sells Pearl Tea, something that I will get probably every other day. Maybe twice a day. Maybe I'll get one every break; we have 10 minute breaks, a prefect length of time to run there and back! Haha, no, I'm not hooked on them or anything.

Time to go prepare for the little ruffians' next class. Wish me luck. No, wish THEM luck that my iron fist doesn't crush any of them like bugs!!

Yay for Andrew!

So my last post isn't showing up, but Loren said that there were some issues with the hosting, so hopefully that will get fixed and this will have more flow.

We interviewed in Taipei this morning, and Andrew got a job! Yay for him! I'm sure he'll tell you all the wonderful details, since it's more his story than mine. We leave Taichung tomorrow morning at 8am to look for apts in Taipei, and hopefully I will find a job in Taipei as well. Oh, and we had to leave this morning at 6am, so I'm pretty exhausted. The fun news is we took a walk ( like 40 mins) to an Indian restaurant, which was nice. The food tasted like Indian food at home, but with a very slight subtle Taiwan taste. And the rice was plain white rice, not the fancy spiced basmati rice that I'm used to (spoiled with).

When we are settled in Taipei, I will start individually responding to e-mails, but for now, you will to have to check back here for new posts. Hopefully this one shows up.

We came in with a Bang!

Hello All!

I would have posted sooner, but it has been a crazy week, and no, we still don't have jobs. Hm. But it's not really our fault. Let me tell you a story, a story of frustration, and weather, and well, Taiwan.

Monday morning our flight got in almost an hour early, so Tony, our picker-upper, was a little behind in picking us up. Not really his fault, since we were so early, but walking by the plethora of signs, and not seeing our names was cause for some slight panic. But he showed up a few minutes after we sat down in the waiting area, and was very confused by us wanting a picture, but was a good sport about it. Yay picutre! We were then driven to Keelung, and in the car were given info packets about an elementary school there, where we apparently were going to interview later that morning. Tony keeps asking if we're hungry, we say no, but he's hungry, so we go to McDonalds, b/c this guys is seriously obsessed with McD's. He has a star that when pressed, plays the McD theme song, and on his dashboard is a McD VIP card. I keep trying to ask him when the interview is, and he says it's ok, just relax for a little bit. And I can't even blame a language barrier, because I was talking to him in Mandarin. Ugh. So then he drives us to the school. Where we sit for like 45 minutes, and then all of a sudden, he opens the door and says it's time for our interview. Eek.

This was the interview: They ask us if we want any books, but we have no idea what kind of books we would need, so we say "huh?" Then we get taken to a kindergarten classroom, where the kids are sitting in a semi-circle facing the chalkboard, they ask us who will go first (Andrew graciouly volunteered), and then they told us "Go." So basically we were supposed to teach off the fly for ten minutes, not knowing what these students know, and not really getting much prep, except for a sheet that tells us what we should say and has a section of 5-10 minutes "insert lesson plan here." I wish I had time to make a lesson plan. Sigh. So the school lady calls our comp., tells them we look very tired and like we just got off a plane, and needed more preparation. No SH*T sherlock. So she says relax for a day and then come back for a second try. Which was nice of them.

So we go to our hotel, frustrated, tired, and hungry. We went to a convience store for some instant noodles, slept for like 3 hours, and then created a small lesson plan. (Mine is about different sports.) We got up at 7:30 am, thinking the interview would probably be at 8:30am, like yesterday. We don't hear from anyone, so finally I call Tony at about 8:15am, and he says we'll get called back at 9am. We get called back, to tell us that the schools are closed because a typhoon is about to hit Taiwan, and we'll get called later that night if we are going to have our interview tomorrow, depending on the severity of the typhoon. We didn't know about the typhoon b/c we never turned on the tv and we were in the hotel all night. So we went out, braved the soaking rain and wind that almost blew me into a building to get the Taipei Times (english newspaper) and more instant noodles and some tea soaked eggs. Delicious! Oh, and we turned on the tv to find every local news station broadcrasting about the typhoon. Yay informed! It hit northern Taiwan the worst, and Keelung is the Northern seaport. So needless to say, we didn't go back for the second interview on Wed. either. It was nice to have a day to relax and watch the olympics. And play lots of card games. We tried to explore a little bit, but the weather was way to crazy.

Today was our second interview, except that a couple from Oregon had flown in last night, and ended up getting our jobs, but Tony said that there were better ones for us so we shouldn't be sad about the Keelung jobs. And there's a guy from England (i love his accent, and he says "cheers" to everything, AWESOME!) that interviewed in Keelung with us today as well, who's going to Taipei with us tomorrow to interview again, I think this time at a high school? It's all very up in the air, and I'm still kind of confused with everything going on. We're in Tai Chung tonight, tired and slightly hungry. I hope that tomorrow's interview goes better, I know I'm ready to have a job and not have everything so up in the air.

I know there's a whole lot more I wanted to say, but can't think right now. Oh! We got our health exam today, that was fun, had some blood drawn and chest x-rayed. While driving, we saw a 6-eleven, which was a convience store knock-off of 7-eleven, and a few KLG, which is the fried chicked chain knock-off of KFC. Hilarious!!! Andrew's waiting for me to finish, he wants to make a phone call and look for food.

Hope you are all doing well on the other side of the pacific. Yay Adventure!!!!!!

Last blog in America

Sometimes you think you have life figured out. Then life decides to blindside you worse than the girl in the ending in Scary Movie.

Well, I'm beyond words right now. Our partner in crime is no longer likely to go with us; instead, he is sitting in an Oregon hospital, where I will be shortly, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I obviously wanted to see you all prior to leaving; however, under the circumstances, it's understandable that I won't. I know your thoughts and prayers are all going out to Todd.

But I'm going to miss you guys like crazy. Keep in touch. Or else.

This will be my last post before I head out. And you better believe I am going to take care of Mei; first, for the obvious fact that that is the right and only thing to do. Second, and for the joking reason, is that without her I'd be lost in a sea of Mandarin. Who else do I know that speaks Mandarin that will be over there? Ha.

I hope to bring good news in the next blog. For now, take care everyone, and send your thoughts and prayers Todd's way.

Last Post in the US for Mei

Hey everyone!!!

I think this is the last night I'll have time to sit down and write a full post, so here I am. 3 nights and I will be sitting in SFO doing a crossword puzzle and waiting to board the plane that will take me across the Pacific. *gasp*

My feelings right now? Excitement, trepidation, nervousness, spaziness... I feel like I've been a few steps behind in getting everything wrapped up, my poor mom has to finish my loose financial ends and deal with all of my crap that has completely taken over her house.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the going away party/taken time to come visit me in Davis & SF before I leave. I know you're all busy, it means very much to see you, even for just a few minutes! If there's any cheap knock-off items you would like in Taiwan, let me know! :)

In case you couldn't tell, my thoughts have been incredibly scattered this last week, I have a billion mental check lists that I keep running through and running through and running through...

It's slowly starting to sink in that I'm actually leaving for a really long time. Well, not THAT long, but still, it's more than just a quick romp.

To everyone who knows me: KEEP IN TOUCH!! I have my yahoo e-mail that I will check whenever I can, and I would love to see more comments on our posts here. I'll miss you all, and can't wait to hear from you! I know speak I for Andrew as well as myself when I say that any kind of American food you'd like to send us, we'd be happy to accept. Especially along the lines of tortilla chips and salsa.

If you feel the urge to travel to Asia sometime during the next year, our home in Taiwan is open to any visitors that would like to stop by. We'd love to have you! Just give us a heads up of when you think you're coming, and we'll make a bed for you.

Wish me luck. Actually, wish the students I will be teaching luck. I know this year is going to be the most exciting, thrilling, crazy year I might ever have. What the heck have I gotten myself into?!

Hallelujah!!!!

Thank God.

These are two words that lately I seem to have been uttering incomprehensibly to myself. Just walking around in a stupor, lost and aimless and muttering to myself... why? Because I am DONE WITH THAT GOD-FORSAKEN TEST! Yeeeee-ha! Therefore, I am 'back' and am no longer lost in my world of studying. Which is good for me, but is rather unfortunate in the timing aspect, as I am 'back' for less than a week.

(Hm. Interesting. It is actually clicking in my brain that in less than 1 week, I will be gone for 52+ weeks. Which, of course, springs forth a multitude of NEW worries and trepidation. But that's a subject that I'll leave for the NEXT post!)

Ok, some highlights about this test that I have to get off of my chest:

1) Nick Reeves was there! AKA Mr. Fury!! Classic, classic, classic Mr. Fury. How so? Let's see. During the end of one of the sections, I see a blur of plaid go running out to the bathroom, and a few seconds come running back in. Our pal and ball of anger, Mr. Fury! I was baffled that he didn't say, "If only I had more time, I would have aced it!! It's not FAIR!!!" a la o-chem. Oh, and at the end, he asks, "What are we supposed to do if the test was wrong?" (They answer that he should just remember which problems were wrong, and contact the AAMC, and they can look throgh your book to see what the problem was.) "You mean I have to remember ALL of the problem numbers that were wrong?!?" Classic.

2) As we finished the test, I immediately thought to the Simpsons, where Marge and others are taking the real estate test. They finish, and the proctor says, "Ok, you are now free to undermine each other's confidence." And seaman turns and says to Marge, "Y'arrrr. I NAILED that one about the houseboat, did YOU?" I actually tell that to someone else. He laughs, says he loves the Simpsons, and then immediately says with a straight face, "I didn't think it was too bad." Awesome.

3) Total time there: 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Most of that was spent checking in and making sure people were who they said they were... but the test itself was nothing to sneeze at. 4 sections total, lasting a total of 5 hours and 45 minutes, including 214 multiple choice questions in about 30 passages and 2 written samples, 30 minutes each. Couple this with the fact that I wasn't able to sleep very much in the previous two-three days due to nerves, and I was exhausted at the end of the day!!

BUT WOW, I WAS A HAPPY GUY WHEN THE TEST WAS OVER!!!!!!!! (That is probably a 9 out of 10 on the 'no-shit' meter.) I was doing internal summersaults, internally yelling at the top of my lungs, internally laughing... ok, ok, ok, so maybe I did let out some maniacal laughter... and beer!! I was able to have excessive amounts of beer for the first time in about a month and a half!! Wonderful!!

Ok, and that is that. Rumor has it that I'll get my score back in 6 weeks. Pretty nice turnaround time, if it's true. And with that, the MCAT is off my mind. I'm heading out soon, peeps. Getting simultaneously very nervous and very excited. I've only been allowing myself to focus on the test, not letting myself even think about the T word. But now my mind is off of its leash and is doing some serious wandering. And I'm liking what it has been retrieving; it means that I am alive. Oh, yes, definitely alive... good times. So soon we'll have actual travel blogs instead of these pre-trip anxiety posts, which I'll be sure to post another of in a matter of days!

If you have made it this far, you deserve to be rewarded. Therfore, I offer to you this Bushism:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
- Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

Top 10 Things I'll Miss in the U.S.

As I take a break from studying, I (Andrew) wonder what I'll miss most about the good old U.S. of A...

10. Madden '05
9. The MCAT. Ha!
8. Respect from my students (Aw)
7. The Futurama/Family Guy hour of goodness (Although I have survived since June 30th...)
6. Driving
5. NOT WORKING (sweet sweet not working...)
4. Watching Kerry beat Bush in the November election
3. Mexican food (Helloooo nothing but Chinese food!)
2. The 2005 football season (that includes the pros, college, AND most importantly being an active member of my fantasy football league)

And the number 1 thing that I'll miss most...

1. KNOWING WHAT THE HELL EVERYBODY IS SAYING!!

Mei's Official Countdown has begun!

It's already August 8th! Which means that I have less than 2 weeks left before I leave! Ack! (And if you're counting, it's around 13 days that I have left...) I'm excited, nervous, scared, a little stressed. I am still in Reno visiting family, but will be heading back to Davis tomorrow to: finish packing and start moving stuff down to my Mom's in SF, go to the dr., the dentist, and the orthodontist, wrap up all my finances and change of address issues, decide what to pack for the adventure, spend as much time with family and friends before leaving (and the going away party), oh, and don't forget eating and sleeping, and the occasional shower. Eep.
As for when we get there, the first three days are going to totally frazz me out. Why? Because we won't no where we're working or living until we get there, and they (the comp. we're working for) pay for three nights in the hotel and then you're out on your own. But our contact said that usually within the three days they have everyone settled in to their new home. i.e. Introductions, interview, and apartment finding are all pretty much done in the first three days upon arrival in Taiwan. Again, eep.
But I'm looking forward to the challenge, and I really hope Andrew has lots of patience because I am sure that I am going to be a total nut case when we get on the plane and during our first week there. Once we are settled though, I will be sure to send out the contact info and post about our experiences! For the record, we're staying at Lucky Star Hotel in the city of Taichung for the first three days. (My mom went to high school in Taichung, who cool is that?!)