我在台北走走

Today I went on about a four hour walk around Taipei. I didn't aspire to new destinations, but instead went on a greatest hits tour to some of the places I like the most, including: 建國假日花市, 大安公園, 中正紀念堂. 中正紀念堂 often has great art exhibits, which is why I like going there, but it seemed that it is currently between exhibits. As I was walking, I had some thoughts going on in my head about this and that. To that end...

A week before I left for Taiwan I was able to go on a hiking trip with my two best friends, Kris and Daniel. A few years back we had a good run of four years in a row where we went on these hikes, but then life happens and it's been four years since our last hike, and we were once again embarking on a new adventure in the wilderness area around Glacier Peak. We did the Spider Gap loop and it was the most amazing hike I have ever done (I'd post pictures, but Kris was the only one with a camera, I should get those from him).

One moment in particular was sticking in my mind. On the second night of our trip, Daniel and I did a scramble to the top of a what looked like a pass of sorts where Daniel was sure we'd have a great view. Back up, before we even began the scramble I should clarify that before we started I had some wool socks and flip flops on and was hesitant to even begin climbing up the hill as I would have to at the very least take off my wool socks (I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it's how things went down). Daniel called me on my bullshit, I took off the wool socks, and up the hill we went. We made it through phase one, and were rewarded with a really great view. I was happy with this, but Daniel saw that we could actually keep going up to what looked like the top of the hill. Once again I was hesitant as there was only the merest outline of a trail that looked infrequently used and probably wasn't a real trail. On top of that, it was steep and we both only had flip flops, and the going back down is always the harder part, and holy shit, I am full of excuses. Daniel insisted, and our scramble became more of a goat scramble. It was really just a matter of minutes and were at the top of the hill.

Neither of us had a camera, so there is no picture to document this moment. The sun was setting behind jagged peaks, glacier peak was to the north (I think) and we had a 360 degree view of the Washington Cascades in all their majestic glory. I wish I could describe it better than that, as it was one of the greatest views I have ever experienced. I could really only stare in awe at the scene around me and then I waited for all of the amazing feelings to kick in...and waited...

This is what brings me to what I was actually thinking about while walking around today. As I stared out into the vast expanse of mountains all around me, I felt like I should feel more. Fuck that, I wanted to feel more: Why wasn't I feeling more? What's wrong with me? Doesn't my body sense how amazing this is? Why can't it catch up with what my eyes are seeing? Give me some immediate gratification here; stupid body.

Instead of enjoying the view for what it was, and that I was there with a great friend, I was instead feeling perturbed that my body wasn't kicking in some mad endorphins so that I could get high off nature. I was turning myself in circles trying to absorb the whole view and wanted to really feel something powerful...

I do that a lot. I have a great experience and instead of allowing myself to let it be what it is, I get wrapped up in my head about how I think I should be feeling about something instead of letting things happen naturally. The same thing happened the first time I came to Taiwan to teach abroad. I got here and wanted my mind to be totally blown on an hourly basis. I wanted to write home about all of the amazing things I was feeling and how my life had completely been changed. Instead, I used a blog (this blog) to write sterilized documentations of a handful of events and experiences. I was having a great time living in a new city and country, teaching, learning a new language, and checking out a small part of Taiwan. Shouldn't that be enough? I enjoyed myself the most when I stopped putting pressure on myself about what the experience should be, and just let it be what it was. An experience is the some of it's parts. It wasn't until I was heading home that I could see in greater detail how I grew and changed as a person and just how important the experience was for me.

A year later puts me back in Taiwan, and I have the above life lesson to guide my way. I'm so happy to be back, and I'm letting that be enough.

...it was getting darker so Daniel and I realized that we'd better start our trek back down the hill. I took one last look around and kept my subtle disappointment at not feeling more than what I was feeling to myself; at first that is. We began heading back down and a couple mintues later the floodgates opened and the rush kicked in; delayed gratification seems to be my modus operandi. I immediately thought: Yes! This is what I wanted to feel. What took so damn long? I certainly can't keep this to myself.

Thus, Daniel became the recipient of what had mostly been an inner monologue for the first couple days of our hike, and I proceeded to blab about all my feelings down an approximately 800 foot decline in elevation back to Image Lake.

Moral of the story: Always listen to Daniel. Or something like that. Here are some pictures.

 

Until next time.

新開始

I wrote this in a notepad at about 5am on the bus ride from 桃園國際機場 to 台北車站. I am throwing it on here without any changes.

8/19
Just got on the bus to head to Main Station. There was so much build up both internally and externally to being here that it was hard to know what I would actually feel to be back. I feel great! I usually don't do well with build up. I feel it usually leads to unrealistic expectations and I've always preferred to just experience things as I go.

In regards to experiences, I feel so lucky to have a second opportunity to teach in Taiwan. The first time around was not without its hiccups and missed opportunities. I was so sure the first time around that I would be in Taiwan a second year that I frequently allowed myself to put things off or venture into uncharted (for me) territories on my own.

I'm going to be here for 5 months on my own, so it is up to me to take chances on new experiences and be more willing to make mistakes with my Chinese and be happy with my efforts.

The first time in Taiwan I felt unsure of what I wanted the experience to be, I just knew I wanted to have it. Having a year to reflect on my experience before coming back has given me a sense of appreciation, motivation, and excitement that may not have been there otherwise.

To Andrea I can only give my sincerest thanks for supporting me in the decision to come back. Our time apart is not going to be easy, but I am so grateful to have a wife that encourages me to follow my dreams, and I just love you so much!!

And with that, the blog is resurrected. I still haven't figured out exactly how I want to use it, or what I want it to be, but I imagine I will figure it out as a go along. Disclaimer: I will sometimes use bad language. To quote one of my favorite authors: so it goes.

Cheers.

On trying to learn Chinese...part 2...

What a difference a few months can make. I was just looking at my original post about learning Chinese and I feel like my relationship with the language has completely changed. To that end, I would like to extend credit to the two people who have made the biggest difference. The first would be my Chinese tutor Patrick (his English name, of course, come to think of it, I don't actually know his Chinese name, dammit), and the other would be my wonderfully ambitious wife. The first wouldn't exist as a part of our lives without the prodding enthusiasm of the other, so to that, I say "謝謝, Andrea!"

Back in November, Andrea had barely made it back from her trip to Chengdu, and pretty much the first point of order was how we needed to find a tutor and really begin working on learning Chinese. By this point, I had already been in Taiwan for three months, and my DIY learning ambitions had yielded little in the way of results.  So after a "Tutor Wanted" post on the very useful Tealit website and a couple emails later, we were off to a nearby coffee shop to begin the first real step towards learning Chinese.

The last time I began learning a new language was middle school, and it's funny to think how my goals with learning a language have changed between now and then. When a mere 13 years old, figuring out how to swear in another language brings all sorts of excitement; indeed the joy of learning how to be proficiently profane in a non-English vernacular carried well into my European adventure oh so long ago. These days, however, I'm more concerned with learning key phrases for classroom management and how to ask where the nearest Thai restaurant is.

Though I am happy with the progress I am making, I feel like every new door I open into an understanding of the language drops me off into a hallway with ten more doors that I have yet to explore. It feels like an enormous task, and I am lucky to have Andrea preventing me from slipping into my often procrastinating habits. I have also discovered that I really love writing Chinese characters. I am pretty sure that character writing is going to be the motivating factor in pushing myself to learn Chinese. There have already been several days where I've found myself content to spend a morning writing the same characters over and over again, trying to make sure I get the stroke order correct (yes, each character has a recommended stroke order to maximize writing efficiency), and making it look as close to the book example as possible. I am not an artist in any sense of the word, so practicing character writing is a good exercise in feeling like I can draw something that actually looks interesting. Here is the end result of one of my practice sessions:

 

Any sort of real comfort listening to and speaking Chinese is still a ways off, but with our current multi-tiered approach to learning, I feel really good about the direction our language acquisition is heading.

Train rides and cycling paths...

I think I will come to terms with the fact Andrea is destined to be the blogger of the household. Seeing the time and effort she puts into each of her stories is a sight to behold, and one that I'm just not capable of duplicating. I hypothesize that I probably treat my blog like I did pretty much every paper I've ever written during my years in school. I wait until a night or two before the deadline and then write my first and final draft and call it a day. Herein of course lies the problem. It's a blog, there is no deadline, and can then be put off indefinitely. Perhaps this is the irony of the title of my blog. The goal is to escape old habits, maybe document the progress, yet perhaps my procrastination is destined to be the last to go. I've had some thoughts rolling around in my head though, so I would never call the blog dead, just a little lame and probably needing to be shot. Before I do that though...

Danny Ohlsen recently became our first visitor to Taiwan. It was great to see a familiar face, and have the chance to be a tour guide around this city that we are starting to know so well. I also had two weeks of vacation for Chinese New Year, so his visit was also a chance to finally escape Taipei and take in a whole new Taiwan experience away from the crowded, bustling city.

Due to Andrea's school obligations (taking Mandarin full-time for those not in the know) it was just going to be the two of us for a few days, and so we decided to take a three hour train ride down the east coast to the coastal town of Hualian. I have loved taking trains ever since my European adventure over 10 years ago (I actually can't believe it's been that long), and so I was definitely excited to take a train ride that would showcase some of Taiwan's more natural beauty.

The train ride definitely didn't disappoint:

The biggest reason to go to Hualian is its proximity to Taroko Gorge, which is one of Taiwan's most spectacular natural destinations. We checked it out, and it was incredible, but it ended up playing second fiddle to what ended up being my favorite part of our three day jaunt to the south. Before I get to that though, I must back track for just a moment.

In Portland, a bicycle had been my primary mode of transportation. When I got to Taipei, I assumed it wouldn't be too long before I picked one up and started using it as my main means of transport to and from work. Then I saw that I would be competing with thousands of scooters, erratic taxi drivers, and plenty of people that view changes in traffic lights more as suggestions than obligations. There are certainly ways to circumvent Taipei's busy streets, and if I was really motivated I could have begun a daily bike commute. However, then I'd also be competing with humid 90+ degree weather and torrential downpours in the summer, and chilly saturation in the winter. The bottom line is that Taipei's MRT system proved to be a suitable alternative, and thoughts of bike ownership and commuting eventually faded.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I hadn't so much as sat on a bike for almost six months. I think the last time I went that long without riding a bike was when I was a teenager with a newly acquired '85 Ford LTD. So Danny and I are trying to figure what to do for our second full day in Hualian, and we eventually settled on renting bikes and seeing where the day and our bikes would take us. I picked out the biggest bike they had, which was still way to small, jacked the seat up, and we were on our merry way.

It wasn't too long before we found a bike path that followed a little stream through the city:

  

The goal was to make it the short ways from this path a different one we had seen that followed the ocean for awhile. That all happened pretty quickly:

Ah, having some good times:

We had the wind at our backs and were cruising so we decided to keep following the coast to see where it would take us. At one point in time we thought we were heading towards the highway that would take us further along the coast, but that proved to be a dead end, as the path had not reached its ultimate stage of completion. After turning around we decided to follow a different bike route that took us inland for a bit. A few turn here and there and we found ourselves looking at a map that showed the extent of our biking options. Liyu Lake...sounds nice. With an idea of our general direction plotted, we kept going...and going...and going. Every once in a while pausing for a photo here and there:

 

When I first arrived in Taipei, I was constantly thinking about how much certain aspects of the city reminded me of the big cities in Central America. I think it was a mix of the humidity, sooty buildings, constant activity, and power lines any and everywhere. The longer I was here the less I ended up feeling that way, but being out in more rural Taiwan, all those feelings came flooding back. The people looked more indigenous and weather worn. Old couples tended to their rows of vegetables, and kids rode around on their old bikes with rusty wheels and chains. At certain points if someone had told me I was back in Central America, I would have had little reason to think otherwise. 

I think the biggest similarity though was the dogs. Old, ragged dogs; the females obviously having nursed countless puppies, with nipples that practically dragged along the ground. I had seen them in every town in Central America, and Danny and I passed plenty lying lazily along the bike path that took us ever further away from our Hualian starting point. After about three hours we finally decided it was time to take a break and have some water and snacks:

 

After a twenty minute break we decided to press on, thinking that the stream passing under the bridge must surely have a lake source nearby. We continued on for another thirty minutes or so and then took another water break and did a time check. It was already past four! Our proximity to the equator means pretty short days, and we were already looking at a pretty good ride home in the dark; something neither of us was very excited about. Our hopes of actually making it to the lake had finally dimmed, and so we decided to call it a day, our destination unreached. It was not a great moment, and our faces showed the agony of a dream deferred festering like a sore:

 

After riding a few minutes away from the direction of the lake we passed a sign that said "2 km." While heading towards the lake the km markers had grown into the low 20s. Could it be that the lake was really only 2 km away? We decided to turn back around and make the final push towards the lake. It proved to be a wise decision. Another ten minutes and we found the lake spreading out before us. We made it! Hopefully it won't be another six months before I hop back on a bike.

A mathematical equation concerning bladder capacity...

equals frequent trips to this:

Taiwan has so much awesome tea. I can't help but spend my whole morning drinking it, and have been averaging about six cups per morning (see above breakdown). If I have to visit the bathroom every thirty minutes or so, that is just the price I have to pay. 

My favorite (see first picture) would be:

東方美人茶 (oriental beauty)

and is the tea I most frequently drink. It is a highly fermented oolong tea that gets its special flavor from little insects that live on the tea leaves and leave their egg sacks in a paste that is actually brewed with the tea leaves. It may sound a little gross, but the lovely flavors of honey and chocolate that can accompany the tea make for fine drinking. 

Second in line is:

高山烏龍茶 (high mountain oolong)

and is lighter in nature but also incredibly enjoyable to drink. I would almost say that it has a sweet grassy flavor, and I rarely go a day without having a couple cups.

There is definitely an abundance of amazing loose leaf teas, but you can also find great teas in bag form as well. One of the first that I found after arriving in Taipei was a chrysanthemum pu'er tea (last picture), and I have been drinking it with some regularity ever since. Anyone familiar with pu'er teas, knows that they are very dark and rich in flavor, and can definitely pack a large caffeinated punch. The process in making pu'er tea is quite interesting and I'd recommend checking out the wikipedia page about it. 

My coworker Dan and I went to a tea shop today that is filled with enormous bins of different kinds of tea, so I have a feeling that my Taiwan tea experience is only beginning...