Bill's Musings 9/9/2006

9/9/2006
Hello, it has been a long time since I wrote about the life and times of two older bears in Taiwan.
Carol is doing a good job Not Not feeding the cats outside the door, if you get my meaning. Their names are Hu (the male tiger kitten) Haokan,(the female kitten), and Tia Tia Mao, the mommy cat. But of course she never calls them that. RIGHT!
• School. What can I say? It is as they say a pressure place BUT what they do not seem to realize is that the school community seems to thrive and need and generate the pressure. Emails, paper trails, procedures, departmental politics, interdepartmental politics, Asian vs. American culture all combine to make it more pressure than is needed. What is true about pressure is that the kids are greatly under the gun. While I have had several VERY minor discipline moments, there is no even one bit of the problems and attitudes like in the US. The problem is that they are very shy and so quiet it is hard to get a response from them and one has to be so very careful if you try to get them to laugh that the joke is not on them. And sleep is a big issue for them. One little 6th grade boy and I have a “deal” that he will not use his folder for a head rest so he can sleep during choir. I came home from the gym last night around 9:30 pm and the little elementary kids were getting picked up from their private English language tutoring schools. And this would be after they have had violin or piano lessons, a sports practice, and before dinner and before homework. They get to bed around midnight and sometimes 2 or 3 in the morning. And this is a regular practice.
• I have had fun teasing a cute little, very little 6th grader named Iris. She is about as cute a little person with a lively personality and an intense stare that is melting. I asked her how Rose was thinking that I was making a funny on her name. She answered that Rose was just fine. But you I thought your name was Iris and she said, yes but my sister is Rose and she is still fine. Dang it did not work. So I know call her Petunia or Pennywort.
• My new best fruit…cherimoya aka custard apple, Buddha’s crown etc. Since I do not have any food type allergies, I am free to look and decide if I want to try anything on the fruit stand. There are lots of really weird fruits to say nothing of the rest of the food chain, but the cherimoya looks like a pyramid shaped bumpily fat pine cone about 5 inches tall with green knobs all over it. When ripe and soft to the touch, one pulls the knobs off and underneath is a pudding like soft white flesh surrounding big black seeds. It has a flavor that is so sweet and like combing passion fruit guava, banana, sour sop, pear and kiwi all at once. Oh my are they good and they take a long time to eat because you have to roll the seeds around in the mouth to get lots of flesh off. We glory in being able to have fresh passion fruit, guava, pineapple, and melons of all shape and size every day. How healthy is that.
• CALIFORNIA FITNESS is an Asian fitness group including Jackie Chan who have a club about 5 minutes walk from us. One bargains for the best membership rates and waits until balloon days (obviously when they put out balloons in front) so one can get the best deal. We are signed up for 24 months plus 6 free months for about $1800 so it is about like the Y. BUT, I also signed up to be beaten up by my personal trainer Daniel, a 23 year old nice guy with a warm smile, good English and a killer physique. Daniel gets about $50+ an hour to cause me pain. Three of us in the music office have the services of Daniel who tells each of us how the other is doing and what we like to do or do not like to do. When it comes time to sign up for more sessions, it is my understanding that gifts come the way of the enrollee in the form of bikes or shoes or? Anyway, Daniel is helping me with my Chinese because I asked him to count in Chinese for reps rather than English. So on the 3rd set the “BA!!!!” comes out a little strong like an expletive since he is usually physically helping me to complete 10 of whatever torture he has found. I have lost about 4 kg. in 2 weeks and Daniel insists I must lose 14 kg before he will be happy. He is going to be sad for a while longer. BUT for all you UP folks, I get to have at least one sauna every day. The temp is 80+C so it is really cooking. Carol has been using the place for spinning classes, Latin dance classes, Ballywood classes and using the outdoor swimming pool. It really is a great experience and will become more of a factor in our daily lives.
• Carol is now a full fledged substitute teacher at TAS. She taught a couple classes earlier but last Friday, she taught classes for 7/8 PE, IB dance and 10th grade health class on the last hour of the day. That takes guts. She survived well but was really pooped. Oh she went on the TAS coach bus trip to Costco to buy racks and drawer units and had to drag them home so she had a reason to be whipped.
• Carol had a wild time with the local primates this week. She and a friend from the building went up the Yangmingshan trail up the mountain. Now this trek is 1500+ steps up to the level where the trail begins but it is a great view over Taipei and the north part of Taiwan. All of a sudden, a Chinese lady came yelling down the trail yelling “Monkeys, Monkeys” Another group of local ladies yelled to Carol and her friend to get going because the friend had on red shorts so the monkeys might attack because they love red. Sure enough Carol looked down the trail and charging down the railing were two monkeys yelling and screaming. Having no stick , bumbershoot or other weapon, Mrs Peabody Carol whips out her camera and fires the flash at the leaping monkey who does a quick about face and disappears into the trees with his other brother Daryl. I guess Monkey love is not a good thing despite the Bobs (a singing group) to the contrary.
• Please be aware that Taiwan is in a huge and important political struggle. As we keep finding out, the democracy is very new. They just had their first democratic elections after generations of martial law. Mainland china would LOVE to bring down the current government so they can say “See, democracy does not work.” There are huge demonstrations and they are threatened to last until the President resigns and the VP takes over. Also, please note how often Taiwan does not get mentioned in Asia even though it has the 24th largest economy in the world. This is an active Mainland plan to isolate Taiwan and rob her of contact with those who might sustain the democracy. That good old democratic champion GW Bush just nixed selling jets to Taiwan and has done more to harm the island than anyone in recent memory. There are patriot missile batteries just down from us south of the national palace museum so this is NOT a stable place. It is an important government that could go down and if RPC gets this place back, WOW! Do not worry. I do not think this will happen soon. However, we are told that less than 10 years ago our location was rice fields.
• We have been so well treated by our colleagues. There have been parties almost every weekend. Last weekend we were with people who had been out of the USA for 10 years, back for 2 and then out for 15. They sold their Iowa house. Our up stairs neighbor my music teaching fellow has taught in Egypt, Iran, Zaire, Germany, England, Brazil, Malaysia and TAS. These are not white bread people but gentle souls who have learned how to get along take wonder from life. Last nite we were at a couples’ house. She also teaches music and her Taiwanese husband is a scuba instructor. She came from Saskatchewan Canada and taught for ½ a year in public schools before going to Curacao for ½ a year then Korea and then TAS. Talk about adaptable. We are learning many life lessons here.
• The telephone poles in our area have speakers on them. When I asked why I was told so the local chairman could berate us if we did not do the recycling well, or warn us of a typhoon or an air raid drill. This last bit got my attention so I asked what to do in an air raid. Get inside and stay inside! Ok if you are outside, then what? Get off the island! Oh goody!
• I can not believe GWB has not been impeached for his actions. How many more revelations must come out about lies and manipulations and anti US constitutional actions before he gets axed? We have our request for absentee ballots in before we left so we can do our part. It is wonderful not to have that jerk’s face in the paper or on TV everyday.

There is so much more to write about but I am afraid that with the pictures and this long letter, you all will turn us off. Keep responding to the blog so we know you are getting the info. Respond to it and include your name so we know who anonymous is. No one else sees the responses. You all know our email so keep them coming. With the talk of fall, 50 degree temps and picnics by the fire, we are a little bit not homesick but just aware that we are not home and in a season we love.

Peace
Bill