NTN Trivia, Snyder, Jill and Damon's

After some goading, from who I suspect is Chris Snyder, I suppose I could relate to you the details of an evening out while I was in Ohio.

Before I go any further I should preface the following story with some details. My sister Jill and I have always claimed the trivia crown. For many years we have gone head-to-head in numerous contests in order to one-up the other...it's intense! Neither one of us is willing to concede the title of trivia master.

We found ourselves in a position to once again do battle. A chain of restaurants throughout the U.S. known as Damon's has for years had a nation-wide trivia game that you can play while you eat and drink in one of their restaurants. It's called NTN Trivia and it's cool because you compete against the entire country, not just the restaurant you happen to be in.

Jill called up my good friend Chris Snyder to see if he wanted to join us. He obliged and we headed out to the local eatery. Also, Jill's two oldest boys joined us for a good dinner prior to the showdown. After noshing and enjoying hearing about the craziness of the lives of the boys, we said goodbye to them and headed over to the bar to show off our incredible grasps on the world of worthless trivia.

I had just had a good meal and was feeling pretty confident so I decided to take on Chris and Jill in a 2 against 1 challenge...perhaps not my best decision of the night. To make a long story a wee bit shorter, I think I did pretty well, I held my own. Considering I was playing against two folks that are considerably older than me (yikes, I am gonna pay for that remark), I think my performance was strong. If you ask my opponents, they might gloat in their victory...don't be fooled. The final score doesn't always reflect the quality of the competition. I had those two squirming and on the run throughout the evening!! My spirit has not been quashed regardless of the fact that the scoreboard didn't favor me. I accept the silver medal/loss in this battle but I certainly haven't lost the war!

One aspect of the challenge that I didn't see coming was Chris' wide knowledge-base. He was a worthy opponent. Don't get to comfy at the top Chris and Jill, I will return stronger and more committed than ever!...lol

In all seriousness, I had a lot of fun. Chris and Jill are two of the best people walking this planet. I am truly blessed to have these two folks in my life. The evening at Damon's was big fun despite the damage to my ego!

Hanging Out In Ohio (Trip Report Part 3)

After the craziness of Las Vegas, I headed to my hometown, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The Falls is a suburb of Akron, Ohio. Not exactly the most exciting place in the world, but my home. I had about two weeks to hang with the family and spend some quality time with my mom. I spent a lot of my time doing odd jobs around my mom's house. The basement and the yard needed a good spring cleaning and I love to do that kind of stuff in small doses...lol.

The following are some photos of the goings on in the Buckeye State.

My mom hanging out in the front yard with my sister Jill and her kids. You can see the winter was pretty rough on the yard. I needed at least two more weeks to really get the place up to shape.

My niece Grace. She is a cutie. Not terribly happy that Uncle David was pointing the camera at her.

A shot of 19th Street while standing in front of my mom's place. It was mid-April and the leaves still weren't on all of the trees...not a fun winter!

The family threw a little shindig for me. It was a fun time with lots of good eats. My sister Shelley made a few of her favorite dishes, they were delish.

My nephew Adam mugging for the camera. He is growing up so fast. Seems like he was just in kindergarten.

Jami, my niece, brought over the video game "Rock Band". It's a pretty crazy game where you follow the cues from the TV and actually play the music on the various instruments. The selection of music was cool. The game included stuff from all kinds of good rock bands, quite a variety. Jami is the crazy chick in the middle jamming the guitar. Lauren, another niece, is doing her best to bang out on the drums.

The back yard. As you can see, lots of work to do. This was after a few days of work. There are several huge trees in the yard so it's in constant need of upkeep.

Standing in the driveway trying to capture some images for posterity. Mom is probably going to sell the house in the next year or two and I may not make it back to the States by then.

Adam playing Wii. He needs to be surgically removed from the game...lol. You know Uncle David is home because the room is cluttered with junk food!

Shelley, Mom and Jill. Shell & Jill are half of the sister contingent in my family.

I miss my car! My niece Jami took ownership of it when I moved to Taiwan. It was great to see it again. I really miss road trips in the Maxima.

Last but not least, Bubba. This guy is my buddy. Mom has done a wonderful job of taking care of him in my absence. He is a remarkable animal and I'd love to have him here with me but it's just not possible. He is experiencing some health problems and I trust mom to do the right thing for him. He is a monster!

A Great Day (Vegas Trip Report Part 2)

A few days after I arrived in Vegas, Perry allowed me to come to work with him for the day. He is a second grade teacher in the public school system in Las Vegas. I spent the day with a remarkable group of students at Hollingsworth Elementary. Hollingsworth is located in one of the rougher areas of the city and the most of the kids come from less-than-ideal home environments. Perry told me that quite a few of them live in the weekly-pay hotels in the neighborhood.

It takes a special kind of person to manage a group of kids with such challenges. The students are lucky to have Perry. I have known him for about 12 years now and I have never seen him happier than when he is leading this group. He has a great system set up in the classroom and the children seem to enjoy and thrive in it. It was tons of fun going through the steps that constitute a day in the life of a grade-school teacher in the U.S.

Below are some of the photos I managed to take that day.

A good view of the kids from Perry's desk.

Perry leading the charge. The children respond well to him. I think the classroom is the perfect environment for him.


I was especially impressed by how well disciplined the kids are. They have a set schedule throughout the day and follow it to a "T".

They never missed a chance to mug for the camera. Kids throughout the world love to be silly when the camera is pointed at them.

Towards the end of the day, they get a few minutes of play time.

Thank you Perry for allowing me to attend school with you. It has given me a lot to think about regarding my future. I took away nothing but positive thoughts regarding teaching in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas (Trip Report Part 1)

After a grueling day in the air, about 14 hours, I finally arrived at McCarran airport in Las Vegas. Waiting for me there was my best buddy on the planet, Perry. We quickly retrieved my bags and headed out to see the wonderful house that he and his wife Andrea bought this past year. The fact that they are homeowners is mind-boggling considering it seems like yesterday when we were struggling college students living in crappy old apartments.

I was pretty wired by the time we got to the house. He showed me around the place and we hung out for a little bit while waiting for Andrea to arrive. After she came home we headed out to the micro-brewery at the Main St. Station casino. This is one of my favorite places to nosh in Vegas because they have a killer meatloaf and tasty beer. After dinner, we strolled down Freemont Street, otherwise known as "old" Vegas or downtown. As far as I am concerned, this is the best part of Vegas. The strip is waaaaaaay over-developed and unfriendly. Downtown Vegas is much kinder to the $5 gambler, like me. After gambling and losing money for a few hours, we headed home.

The following are some photos I took while in Vegas. This trip wasn't so much about sight-seeing and taking photos as it was a chance for me to visit with my friends and talk about a possible future in Vegas. I did manage to snap a few. I hope you enjoy them.

Speeding around the city on the freeways is a whole lot more enjoyable with this view.

My best friend's house. It's a great place, very comfortable. They live on the outskirts of the city. This fact may not hold true for long because Vegas is growing like a weed.

Perry and his new truck. He has been so successful these past few years which should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows him. He is one of the brightest, kindest and hard-working people I know...only outdone by his wife!...lol

Running errands with Perry. I just can't help but snap photos of the mountains, they are amazing.

I really enjoyed this trip because I got a chance to just hang out with Perry & Andrea. Not do anything all that special, just the day-to-day stuff.

Back in the Swing, Sorta

I've been back in Taipei for a few days now. As much as I love to do this blog thing, my priority this weekend was to spend time with my girl. I have some good photos and a few decent stories to tell from my trip. Five weeks away from Catherine was not easy and telling the story of my time in the States takes a back seat to spending time with my sweetie pie.

I plan on posting about the trip this week as soon as I catch up on some sleep!

On My Way

I will be boarding the plane to the U.S. in about 6 hours. I am currently going a little crazy trying to make sure I have packed everything I need and am ready to go.

I plan on posting about my adventures while back home. I will do my best to chronicle my trip.

L.A., Las Vegas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, here I come....lol.

Airfare Victory

I knew that if I was persistent I would score a reasonable price for non-stop round-trip tickets to L.A. I have spent the past month or so scanning the various sites and can now claim mission accomplished. Despite the rising fuel costs and the across-the-board fare increases, I managed to get two tickets on Malaysia Air for only NT$45,000 (about $1400 American).

That is substantially less than their competitor's rates. I really wanted to take Singapore Airlines, but they wanted NT$70,000 for the same flight. Actually, the Malaysia Air ticket is better because it gets us into LAX an hour earlier. This is crucial because we have to go through immigration purgatory. The tickets I purchased give us about 3 and a half hours in L.A. before we connect that evening to Vegas. I think that should be enough time to collect our bags and convince the immigration officer that we are not hardened criminals trying to pull a fast one of "the man". I have had miserable experiences at LAX before and that was traveling alone as a U.S. citizen. I gotta be prepared for absolute insanity this time...ugh.

It's time to start putting together an agenda for the trip. We are going for a long time, about 30 days. I plan on taking her to many of the places that are important to me and introducing her to the people that I love. I think it is gonna be great.

Starting the Visa Process

Today, Catherine and I completed the first step towards getting her a Visitor's Visa to the U.S., the application.

The paperwork itself is pretty simple, just a couple pages. The standard passport info along with her relevant activities while here in Taiwan. They also require a brief explanation of your reasons for wanting to visit the States...nothing terribly perplexing.

We completed the entire application online in about 20 minutes and scheduled an appointment at the consulate immediately after submitting the form.

Ya just can't beat doing this kind of thing electronically. No racing mindlessly around the city to find the office only to wait in line for half a day. A half an hour of clicking and typing was all it took.

The American Institute in Taiwan's website is an easy one to navigate.

Our next step is to pay for the Visa, it's not cheap. Taiwan residents pay NT$4,300(130 U.S.). Catherine is not Taiwanese so she has to pay an additional NT$1,000(33 U.S.) to cover the costs of processing her paperwork and mailing it from Burma/Myanmar. I am going to the post office tomorrow morning to pay. You have to bring the receipt of payment with you to your interview.

Before getting a Visa, you have to have a face-to-face interview with an official at the American Institute in Taiwan. I don't anticipate having any problems in the interview. Perhaps being a Burmese citizen is not ideal? Also, he/she may inquire about our relationship. These are questions that Cath and I will discuss prior to the meeting. If all goes well, we will get a stamp of approval from the officer and eagerly await the arrival of her Visa.

One aspect of this that I find astonishing is the amount of time you have to wait for an interview. We submitted the application today and the earliest date we could set for an interview is February 15!! This is a bit unsettling because her Visa is probably going to take about a month to process. The website states that citizens of countries other than Taiwan should expect 3 or 4 weeks processing time because they have to retrieve some certifications from their home country. Normally the Visa is processed in a matter of a few days. If the Visa takes 4 weeks to process, it will be awfully close to our scheduled departure, March 26th.

Wish us luck!

The Airfare Hunt

I am on a mission to find reasonable plane tickets to the US. Catherine and I are talking about taking a trip across the pond. It will be a great chance for Catherine to see America and meet my family and friends at the same time. I can't imagine a better traveling partner. Also, I am itching to visit so I can iron out some details about transitioning back to the States. The opportunity to teach in Vegas is enticing.

We are thinking about making the trip in mid to late February, right after the Chinese New Year.

So far, it looks like the best deal is with Singapore Air. They are currently offering 2 round-trip tickets from Taipei to L.A. for about $1300 American. I have flown with them before and was very happy with the flights. They aren't necessarily the cheapest but they offer daily non-stop service and their seats and service are top-notch. The cost difference in the fares I have found is negligible...not enough to sacrifice the comfort that Singapore Air offers. When you are flying to the other side of the planet, comfort is a BIG deal.

I will continue to search but I think it's gonna be tough to top the Singapore deal.