With Friends Like These Guys...

Bush chumming it up with Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.Photo courtesy of americanprogress.org

Saudi Arabia are allies in the War on Terror?

This week, it was revealed that a 19 year old victim of a gang rape in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 200 lashes. I should mention that she was initially sentenced to 90 lashes but she took her story to the media and the Saudi courts weren't pleased with her actions; so they tacked on the additional penalty.

She was found guilty of being in the company of an unrelated male in public...hmmm. Is the Saudi judicial system in some sort of time warp? This is barbaric, to say the least. This kind of misogyny has no place in the 21st century.

Apparently, the Bush administration is not so appalled. The Associated Press, via Yahoo reported the reaction of State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. He stated that the verdict "causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment."

Wow, what a harsh indictment...huh? What the hell do the Saudis have on the Bushies? They just can't do anything wrong, I guess. 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals. Makes me wonder how much of the Bush/Cheney mid-east policy is done at the behest of the Saudi ruling family?

I've Been Tagged...Here's My 7 Things

Carrie over at My Several Worlds targeted me for a tagging. Being tagged means you have to list 7 random and/or weird things about yourself. Here they are:

1. I have spent a good bit of my life blaming religion for the world's problems. My exposure to Buddhism while in Taiwan gives me hope.

2. Until a couple of years ago, I wore two pairs of socks every day. I told people it was because it was more comfortable...honestly, it was just a bizarre compulsion.

3. I enjoy eating peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches.

4. I think the greatest movie ever made is The Big Lebowski.

5. I am 37 years old and I still speak before I think far too often.

6. I once went a week, while in summer camp, without changing my underwear. That was about 25 years ago, not recently!...lol.

7. I am proud to say I have never stepped foot in a Wal-Mart.

There ya have it. I know the underpants thing is going to come back to haunt me...lol.

My victims:

Anyesha at One Fleeting Moment
MJ at The NH Bushman
Todd at The Daily Bubble Tea

Sorry, it's not 7, but I don't have the energy or nerve to list any more.

Rules:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random [?] people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting on comment on their blog.

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.

A Two, Three, Four and Five Year Old

About 2 months ago, I started teaching a kindergarten class. I had never taught a K class before, so I was skeptical. The Dunhua Rd. branch, where I am currently working, is pretty small. We have about 200 students compared to about 1000 at the Shulin branch so I was wondering if we could get any kids to sign up. My question was answered when one little girl showed up for the first day of class...lol. Monica, my only student, is great. She is a very receptive 4 year old.

Everything was hunky-dory until about 5 weeks into the class, that's when the boys showed up. Ethan and his brother Evan signed up for the class. They are 5 and 3 years old, respectively. So I had an interesting mix of levels. I was a bit freaked out, but thought I could manage because Evan, although being only 3 years old, seemed to have a pretty good level of knowledge.

The next few weeks were hectic, but I found a way to integrate the boys into the existing class plan. After just a few classes I came to the conclusion that boys are about a million times more difficult to handle at this level than girls. It was everything I could do to keep the boys from bouncing off the walls while Monica sat nicely in her seat and was the perfect little student. I love the silliness the boys possess, but man it's tiring trying to harness their energy.

While the class wasn't perfect, I did have them all marching to the same drum. We work at a brisk pace and the 3 of them seem to be able to grasp the material pretty well.

Last week, that all came to a screeching halt! Just before class started I was informed that I had a new student. Adding students mid-stream is never easy but it's part of my job. Not all kids are able to join the class from day-one. It frustrates me but I have done it a million times and after a few speed bumps, the kid is usually up to speed in no time. This particular situation is a wee bit different...

My new student is 2 years old...ugh. Two freaking years old! I understand that it's great to get your kid started early learning languages, but this is ridiculous. Sakura, the new student, is tiny. She spent the entire first class clinging to her mother's leg and crying whenever I tried to get her to participate.

Just to clarify the situation, that makes a 2, 3, 4 and 5 year old in the class. The comprehension levels of each one of them is profoundly different...do ya get the idea that I am a bit frustrated by this scene?

I have decided to talk to Carol this week about this. I can't get any rhythm in the class if I have to on one hand, keep a 2 year from bursting into tears, and on the other, keep a 5 year old from burning the school down...arg!

I am going to ask Carol to suggest the 2 year olds mother find a more suitable class. The curriculum is not appropriate for a 2 year old. Also, I seriously doubt that she could keep up with the program.

This situation is one of the primary reasons I haven't had much time to blog in the past couple of weeks. Work has been very challenging lately and I look forward to getting this crap under control so I can go back to making myself look silly on this here blog...

A Lull in the Action

Hello all. I am still here, just been super busy at work. This past week has been filled with work-related stuff...not anything blog-worthy. I have been frantically trying to clean up some messes that I have created. Nothing terribly serious, just lots of paperwork.

I have a busy weekend planned with Catherine, so stay tuned.

Deadly Toxic Snowflakes

The hits just keep coming. Yesterday, The Washington Post obtained several internal memo's from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office. The memo's were known as "snowflakes". The memo's were directives to his staff. Many of them contained his thoughts on how to manipulate the media in order to scare the public into supporting the misguided war strategy.

A reminder...This guy was the main architect of the invasion of Iraq.

When things started falling apart a few years back, he made some comments that are pretty scary:

"Talk about Somalia, The Philippines, etc. Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists."

"Keep elevating the threat."

"Link Iraq to Iran."

There you have it! The administration has been planning to link Iraq to Iran for a loooooong time.

Don't believe the hype people. This was planned long ago. Rumsfeld, Cheney and crew are orchestrating an endless conflict that will make them VERY rich.

Here is a news clip covering the topic. Olbermann's show is the best source of news on TV.

Gnarley Genius

OK, these guys were hit the scene a year or two ago, but I am still into them. Their creativity is great. They seem to really have fun making music.

Check out the following videos:

I love how they inject themselves into music history. Kudos to Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell.


You all know this song, but have ya seen this fantastic live performance...The force is with them...lol.


Had to include the official "Crazy" video. I dig the Rorschach test. What do you see in the inkspot?


Great music and fun videos.

Queenie & Jerry's Big Day

Saturday night my friends Queenie and Jerry got married. Catherine and I were so happy to get a chance to celebrate with them. The party was a lot of fun. It also gave me a chance to see some folks from my old school...I miss them terribly. Queenie looked incredible, she is a beautiful woman. It was my first wedding here, so it was an opportunity to experience a wedding Taiwanese-style.

Jerry is my bosses brother and Queenie is a teacher at the Shulin school. Queenie has been teaching for Carol for quite a few years.

Unlike in the west, weddings are not formal occasions. Some folks were dressed to the hilt, others not so much.

The reception is, essentially, a dinner party. There isn't a DJ, band or dancing, just dinner music playing in the background. It is not the raucous affair that many western wedding receptions tend to be. There was alcohol, but not consumed at the level that I have seen folks drink at weddings in the U.S.

One aspect I found curious is the parade of dresses. The bride changes into different gowns 3 or 4 times throughout the evening. I guess it's an opportunity to take more photos.

My boss Carol and her cute-as-a-button daughter. I believe her daughter's name is Jeannie, but I'm not sure...I'm a guy, I forget those kinds of things!

The food was top-notch. Sadly, most of it was seafood. I don't eat fish so I was left twiddling my chopsticks for a good portion of the dinner. I did really enjoy the Haagen Dazs ice cream for dessert!

I managed to spend some time with a bunch of the teachers from Shulin, they are a great group. It was awesome to see them. The women in the Shulin school helped me become the teacher I am, really boosted my self-confidence.

Carrie & Catherine after the big affair. These two ladies can light up a room. We were mulling around waiting for everyone to finish up so we could head over to the KTV joint (more on KTV in a future post).

Big John and Gavin. Gavin is one of the coolest guys on the planet. He is Carol's husband.

The bride and groom with their parents. This is the part of the celebration where they make the marriage official. The parents make the pact official and sign the relevant documents...I guess this description doesn't exactly reek of romance...sorry, I am tired...lol.

Here they are playing one of the silly games that's part of a typical wedding here. The groom is blindfolded and he must find his bride by only touching the hands of all the folks on the stage...Jerry didn't do so well, he thought my friend Sandy was Queenie...oops!

Another silly game. This one involved the groom slinging his "hammer" into the brides "tambourine". Pretty saucy!

Finally, I couldn't resist added this photo to the group. Check out the guy on the left dashing for the bouquet! I'm certain he is destined to make a lovely bride in the near future...

The wedding proved to be another great cultural experience for me. It's really fun to get a chance to witness this stuff. I am a lucky guy...I love my work, have wonderful friends, live in a fascinating part of the world and have an extraordinary woman in my life. I am thankful every day for these things.

Kiva.org - Baby Steps Towards Making a Difference

I recently started giving to a micro-finance/micro-loan organization known as Kiva.org. Essentially what it is is a non-profit group that facilitates small loans to entrepreneurs in the 3rd World. The loans are to folks that don't have any collateral to ensure a traditional bank loan. Also, the loan amounts are too small to attract legitimate financiers. Kiva makes it possible for people all over the world to provide some leverage to small business owners in struggling regions.

The default amount that sponsors give is $25 American. You have the choice of giving more but the system is setup to bring together several lenders in order to minimize the risk to the individual. As far as risk is concerned, Kiva has an impeccable record of repayment. The latest figures show a default rate of just 0.3% for $1,700,00 in loans...thats impressive!

Please visit the site at Kiva.org for more info and see how you can get involved.

My first loan went to Sok Ry, in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. Sok Ry sells traditional medicines and her husband is a farmer. Below is a picture of her and her husband along with the loan use description from the website.

Mrs. Sok Ry, aged 50, sells traditional Cambodian medicine to earn about $12 per day in revenue. Profits vary according to the type of medicines her clients request. Her husband grows vegetables to feed the family. They have one child who is a high school student. Mrs. Sok is requesting this loan of $1200 in order to increase her inventory of medicines to meet growing client demands. Part of the loan will also be used to purchase an electric water pump to irrigate the family’s farm and increase crop yield.

Sok Ry's loan was fully funded on October 23rd. She will be making monthly repayments for the next 18 months. I will monitor her progress and keep you all informed.

I am really excited about this and hope some of you out there will be too.

There is a widget on the sidebar of this blog to track the progress of various loans waiting to be fully funded.

Taiwan Blogger's Shindig in Hukou

On Saturday night, a bunch of the prominent Taiwan bloggers got together at MJ's place in Hukou. It was an excellent opportunity to get to know some the folks that have a knack for capturing life here on the island. MJ, (check out his blog here) was gracious enough to host this get-together of characters. His home is just a stones throw from an excellent Thai restaurant, where most of the action took place. The party was a lot of fun and went off without a hitch. The conversation and food were top-notch. Despite coming from all parts of the planet, it's remarkable how much the group has in common.

I will attempt to tell the story of the evening through the following photos:

Early in the evening the drinks were going fast. It was great to get a chance to pick the brains of my fellow bloggers.

Carrie (check out her blog: My Several Worlds) and MJ. I believe MJ was espousing the virtues of the Taiwanese rum that was the preferred drink of the evening.

The much anticipated barbecue. It didn't disappoint.

My cutie pie enjoyed the Thai-style barbecue. Shao-hui's cooking nearly brought tears to my eyes...great stuff.

A close-up of the various dishes that were served. The food didn't stand a chance in this group...we did some serious eating.

Carrie and Micheal (Michael's blog can be found here: The Taiwan Chronicles). Michael & I spent a good bit of time comparing war stories. He is also a former Peace Corps Volunteer and was born in Cleveland...small world. He gave me some excellent advice regarding higher education here in Taiwan. Essentially, he said I would be crazy not to get my Master's degree from one of the universities in Taipei...more on that in future posts.

That's Andres, of the one-and-only Andres in Taiwan blog, on the left. In the foreground, with his back to the camera, is David. David has a great blog, check it out at David on Formosa.

John, Carrie's future husband and good buddy of mine. He is damn near 7 feet tall so you can imagine what kinda of looks he gets here in the land of short people.

Later in the evening we made our way inside to take part in some karaoke.

Todd, sitting to the left of Catherine, also has an excellent blog...his photos are killer. Check his blog out at The Daily Bubble Tea.



Michael was making the moves on my girl!...lol I had to step in and put an end to that! After we got home, Catherine told me that Michael was a very interesting guy and his Chinese was impeccable...what a lady killer!...lol.

What a great time. Again, thank you MJ. I certainly hope we can do this again in the near future. I know that Catherine and I will be heading back that way to visit MJ. It would be worth the trip just to dine at Shao-hui's.