What Blog?

Hi there. If you're reading this then you are undoubtedly confused. Many of you have been gazing at this strange and barren landscape, perhaps wondering why I had abandoned this place like a panda abandons all hope of ever having offspring.

Why Pandas? WHY!?

Of course there's also the possibility that you either haven't bothered to check my blog in two and a half months, or don't even care, and that's all fine and dandy. (Note: you are actually my core demographic.)
Truth is, there hasn't been much to look at. But that doesn't mean there isn't much to say. I stopped writing posts around the same time I started filming/writing articles/growing up/making friends/flying kites/etc. I've kinda gotten behind. You see, I get into this vicious cycle of self loathing where my inadequacies cause me to doubt my abilities, and in an effort to avoid insufficiency, I'm scared away from opportunities, until it has consumed every ounce of happiness from within a twelve block radius.

But now. NOW I'm finally getting somewhere. Granted... it's not much, but I'm hoping that through a little reshaping and some added purpose, I can get a few more updates in without feeling guilty about not writing a 17 page dissertation on international travel, or premature impressions of people I work with and are able to openly view this blog. (Sorry guys).

Anyway, my method to relieving those grief inducing tendencies of mine involves a restructuring of the blog. First of all, I've realized that I hate the name, and will probably be moving things over to a blog that doesn't feel as stupid to type in the address bar. Second, I will be focusing less on fantastical, full-day, enormous and ambitious super-posts, and more on lesser, more fleeting but still whimsical, mini-posts. Less day to day drab, and more once-in-a-while antics. This will allow me to catch you up on some of the more impactful/momentous/amusing stories of my Taiwan experience, without having to worry about petty little things like self consciousness or procrastination! Oh, except I'll be starting this transition sometime later. You know how it is. 

I'm sure I'll get around to it.

The To Do List

 "I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything." 
-Jerry Seinfeld

I assure you, I am still alive! Last week I inundated Bowman's Corner with an onslaught of new and exciting posts, and then dropped off the face of the planet. There's a reason for this. Things have drastically picked up at ORTV. I film six TV articles and record three radio articles this week alone, and I have started going on English activities and cultural encounters at schools, both of which will be written about in due time. The unfortunate truth is, blogging DOES take time, and since I have to finish writing a large article by tomorrow, I'm just about out of time. I promise you, I will do my part to keep you up to date on my whatabouts and whereabouts...

...but all in due time!

Awesome Little Thing #5: Chinglish

I'll admit, it's hard as an English speaker to have a bad day in Taiwan. There are many reasons for this, but it is particularly difficult not to smile when you are enjoying a nice cold "snow corn" or stopping by your friendly neighborhood "Starbutts".

Yes, I have only been here for a couple weeks and already I have found it pretty difficult to miss these little jewels.

So if ever you're feeling down, and could use a little smile, just go out for a walk. I'm sure you'll find something eventually.

…awesome!

"Jason's Church"

Woke up early Sunday morning, which makes sense since I ended up sleeping all day Saturday. 

After making it happen with the captain, I hopped onto Mr. T's wild ride and made my way over to what we call "Jason's Church". (I call it this because I can't remember its real name). Jason's Church is all in Chinese, so I had to fake my way through a lot of the service, especially the interactive part.

"You said: 耶穌愛你，對不對？"

As difficult for me to understand as it was, it was amazing to know that even though we weren't speaking the same language linguistically, we were speaking the same language spiritually. We sang, prayed, and took communion, and after the service, there was a time of fellowship, and free lunch.

Sweet!

It was a pretty awesome experience, and praising God, in no matter what language, is one thing I look forward to doing again. Thanks Jason, you've got a pretty neat church!

Awesome Little Thing #4: Eating an Entire Sleeve of Oreos

The Oreo cookie. A sweet  layer of pure creamy bliss gently caressed between two crumbly, crispy chocolaty wafers. The cure to any failed term paper, loud obnoxious coworker, or a blind date gone wrong. Just one taste of that familiar chocolaty goodness, and you're taken back to better times. When the only thing you had to worry about was eating all of your peas so you could get dessert.

There are some days that are so bad, continuing your diet just adds insult to injury. So I say, take a load off. Put on your favorite movie, curl up on the couch, and eat those things by the sleeve, because tomorrow will be a better day!

Awesome!

Blue Sky Holiday?

So FridayI was all high and mighty saying I was having a wonderful time here and life was just peachy! I spoke a little too soon, and ended up jinxing myself. Saturday was just all around a bad day. Oh it had it's good parts to be sure, but I ended it on a sour note, and I don't think I left a good impression. Allow me to explain…

I guess I haven't been sleeping very well, because I spent most of the day half-awake, and half-dreaming that I was hunting flying squid while riding a giant tyrannosaurus rex with Conan the barbarian.

…doesn't do much for my social life

Anyway, I had made plans to meet a bunch of people for lunch, but being a complete newbie, I had no idea how to get there. I decided to follow Naomi, who I discovered, ALSO had no idea how to get there. Naomi and I grabbed a cab and directed him towards the general area of the restaurant, which we knew wasnear a hospital. We obviously confused the driver because he kindly dropped two completely healthy people off at the emergency room, and left. So we started walking out into the unknown city. 

Long story short, after walking a good mile or two, a couple more cabs, and a tour of what seemed like the entire north Taipei area, we found the restaurant where everyone was waiting for us. Getting lost in a foreign country where you don't know the language and everyone is always watching you = not very much fun. If I was in a better mood I would have laughed it off, but I am normally very good with directions, so this made me more homesick than anything.

For dinner, I had told a bunch of friends that I would show up to their "Thai Tie" party that night. Unfortunately, after lunch I went straight home and fell asleep, only to wake up hours later long after the party had ended. Feeling like a complete failure, I curled up on the couch, turned on an episode of Friends, and sulked over a bowl of fake Cheerios. Not a fun day. Pray for me as I approach my third week, and will surely experience some culture shock sometime soon!

Friday Night Live

So as I've mentioned before, every Friday night, we at ORTV put on a Bible study event called Friday Night Live. It's designed for people to come use their English with the teachers that they've seen on TV and heard on the radio, fellowship, worship, and learn new things from the Bible. I will start teaching at Friday Night Live soon, but for now, I am just sitting in.

There are several students that have been coming to Friday Night Live for years, but there are usually a few new ones each week. For them, we have what is called Bible Basics. Those are classes that introduce the basics of the Bible and Christianity, in an easy to chew format. It's fun to meet new people, and give some of them a little taste of Christianity, which many of them seem completely open to hearing.

After FNL, I found myself surrounded by students who were eager to hear about who I was, where I came from, and just what was I doing in Taiwan anyway? In fact, just about everyone asked me that question. I guess it didn't make sense to them that I would leave California to come here. Either they have a different view of Taiwan or they know something I don't, because I've been having a great time here, and I don't foresee that changing anytime soon!