Random Stuff

First of all, for all you who may be interested, I am now employed.  I will be working for the Kang Chiao International School.  I'll be teaching English.  Mostly I'll be teaching TOEIC and TOEFL stuff, but the school offers a lot of English literature classes as well as social studies classes which I may also get the opportunity to teach. I'm thinking this is going to turn out to be a really good job.  The only thing I'm not thrilled with is that I'll have a two hour commute each way which will make for a long day.  That said, I'm actually really excited to get started.  I'll begin July 25th.  In the interim I'm going to have to find some things to do to keep me from going cock-eyed with boredom.  I figure taking a Chinese class will be part of it, but I don't know what else yet.

The other thing that happened to me is that I discovered my sciatic nerve. Now those of you who have had experience with this wonder of the human anatomy know very well that it is literally a pain in the ass. Anyway, Rebecca sent me off to the National Taiwan University Hospital to get myself checked out.  This was an adventure in and of itself.  Following the signs that supposedly lead you to the Family Health Care clinic, I walked through a door which led me too a hallway that had a ceiling only an inch over my head.  Not only that, but as I'm walking around I'm noticing that there's not much in the way of hospital type stuff going on, but that it's mostly small restaurants and convenience stores. So here I am, crouched over because I can't stand up straight due to the ceiling height, staring at people slurping up nodles and wondering what in the Hell have I got myself into.  I finally find another sign that has an arrow pointing up some stairs and says Family Health Care.  I follow and wind up in what seems to be the oncology lab.  The first person who looked like they worked there that I talked to sort of looked at me and ran.  So I did the next logical thing and called Rebecca, so that she could talk to someone and get me headed in the right direction.  I finally get sent to the hospital lobby.  Now when I got to the lobby, I was immediate reminded of a really crowded night market.  There were five different sets of windows all labeled cashier and five million people milling around in what has to be some sort of organized fashion but at first glance was simply chaos.  I stood in the middle of this, staring around in all directions and just laughing to myself thinking, "What the fuck do I do now?"  Finally, Rebecca sent me a text with what I was looking for written in Chinese, and nice little helper woman got me pointed in the right direction.  I got to the doctor, she told me I was suffering from a pinch sciatic nerve and prescribed some mild painkillers.   This led to my next adventure.

The painkillers weren't doing much good, so Rebecca suggested that I should try acupuncture. I've never tried it before but had always heard positive things. Given that my hip was bothering me in a big way, I said, "What the Hell."  I got to the clinic this morning and in short order was talking to the doctor who spoke excellent English and explained the process to me.  It was all very civilized.  The only kink in the works came when I had a fit of giggles thinking of the picture I must have presented laying there on my side with needles sticking out of my butt. Laughing makes your body move. Moving makes you able to feel the needles, which is a tad uncomfortable.  So far, the pain is gone, but we'll see how long it lasts.  The Doc said to go back Monday if the pain persists, so I will do that.

That is all for now...

Vacation Photos

Here they are:

Rebecca and I getting married for the second time.

The Del Norte County Clerk reading the wedding service.

The deed is done! Everyone...laugh?

In front of the Flynn Administration Center where we got married.

Rebecca, my sister Shelle, and I on the road to Sonoma.

Rebecca's Latte bowl!

The Marina District and Fort Mason, SF.

Heading out on a Bay Cruise. The weather was nice when we left the dock.

Saw some sea lions.

Then it started to rain.

Got some good photos and had a good time despite the rain that, of course, stopped the minute we got back to the dock.

Being tourists in Chinatown.

You have to take the cable cars!

Taiwanese (?) tea franchise in SF.

Fisherman's Wharf

Thus tells the tale of our time in California for what amounted to the most expensive visa run in history.  had a great time with my family and my fabulous wife!

Post Post Vacation Post Post

The other thing you do when you go home is shop.  When you live in Asia and are a man of my...ahem...stature, a trip back to the land of the large every couple of years is necessary. That and the fact that I have big-ass feet means that I can't find shoes that fit in Asia. So, I got to California and hit all the hot spots: Walmart, Target, Sears and stocked up on enough of the necessities to last me until my next adventure to, as my buddy Ian calls it, "The Land of the Great PX." It really is shocking to shop in America.  I'm in awe every time I go back to visit a supermarket, wandering down the cereal aisle or staring, mouth agape and drooling, at the ridiculous number of choices in the cheese section. I simply can't imagine how someone from a country not known for its abundance feels when they first step into these hallowed halls of excess.  It must be mind boggling.

Now, personally, I don't like to shop.  I go shopping, especially for clothes, out of necessity and try to get it over with as quickly as possible.  Rebecca, on the other hand, LOVES to shop.  During our stay I think we hit just about every mall between San Francisco and Oregon border. Fortunately for me, Rebecca understands my aversion to shopping and, rather than listen to me sigh heavily every time she wants to try something on or wants to venture into just one more store, usually parks me and a book in a nearby coffee shop or pub while she peruses the merchandise. Our greatest adventure was in the search for everything Coach.  Coach products seem to be very popular among Rebecca's circle of friends but are much more expensive in Taiwan than they are in the States. Thus, Rebecca and I hit every Macy's, Coach store and outlet we could find looking for deals on bags and wallets requested by friends and family.  I somehow came out of this the proud owner of a Macy's card which I will probably never use again. I'm not sure how many bags we came back with, but it was a lot.

All in all, it was a great trip.  I got to spend some quality time with my mom, and with my sister, I ate a ton of great food - I made my pilgrimage to Los Hermanos; the home of the world's best burrito, and got a lot of new clothes.  Good times!

Photos to follow.

Post Vacation Post

There are two truths that are undeniable about traveling to the US. One, the only thing that loses weight is your wallet, and, two, your sleep cycle is going to hell.  I went to bed at midnight last night after 18-19 hours of traveling only to wake up at 5:00 am this morning.  Only it wasn't 5:00. It was 4:00 because I forgot to set my watch to Taiwan time after our layover in Tokyo.  It was even worse when Rebecca and I got to California at the beginning of the trip.  I think it took almost a week before we started sleeping less than about 14 hours a day.

As far as the diet is concerned, you pretty much know that you are going to put on an extra 10-15 lbs when you are greeted at your mother's house by a 22 lb turkey with all the trimmings and only four people to eat it. There is also the thing about portion size.  I am always amazed how much food you get when you go to a restaurant.  I wonder if I thought the portions at restaurants were unusually big before I went to Korea or if they felt normal?  Now I go home, and I'm thinking, "Holy crap!  How the hell am I supposed to eat all that?"  I usually manage to find a way to shovel all that food in because you know... you don't want to waste anything...starving children in Africa and all that. Anyway, I got to eat a ton - maybe literally - of great food while I was home, and it was awesome!

To be continued...