Lisa and Si Zai Taiwan

Arrogant Australians Abroad?

2007-12-09T22:42:00.000-08:00

An interesting article in today's Age by Claire Buckis on arrogant Australian travellers.

"AUSTRALIANS only care what's between the barbecue and the beach!" shouted an Irishman from across the table in Santiago, Chile, after he heard my accent. I wasn't surprised or offended by his opinion, because after travelling around the world for more than six months, it's one of the kinder ones I've heard about Australians overseas.

Among the backpacking crowd, at least, it seems Australian travellers are rapidly gaining a reputation abroad, and not as the friendly easy-going types we would prefer to be known as.

It may be that some of our other national characteristics — which we tend to play up on when we're overseas — are getting us into trouble. We're known for our fond relationship with a cold beer, we're known for our love of sport. But a fond relationship with beer can lead to a reputation for drunkenness, a love of sport leads to a reputation for being over-zealous. For every thoughtful Aussie overseas who learns the language and gets to know the locals, there are plenty more intent on wringing the party time out of every last millisecond of their holiday..." - The Age, December 10

Singapore, Day One

2007-12-08T00:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was, upon reflection, one of the most gruelling days that we've had on the road so far. The loooong trip from KL to Singapore on an uncomfortable train with no food, then being shuffled into immigration (a very undramatic border crossing, with no signage or flags to signify the cross-over) and customs, back onto a testosterone-filled train with some drunken guys, and finally being dumped (and paying hansomly for it) by a mini-bus driver over the wrong side of the city only to have to negotiate our way around the public transport system in a whole new country.. We finally checked into a hostel some twelve hours after we'd departed from KL. Ugghh.

Aside from all the moaning and groaning, we're really chuffed to have made it to Singapore, finally, our last stop on this tour of South-East Asia (+ Taiwan). It's been a fantastic experience, and we've slowly begun the process of reflection and introspection.

On that note, here are some of our stand-out happy memories of this tour:

Having a great conversation with a German urologist about his pseudo-homo-erotic obsession with George Michael, or more specifically, the lyrics, melody and video clip of the Wham classic 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.' - Cat Ba Island, Gulf of Tolkin, Northern Vietnam.

Watching our tuk-tuk driver try to explain what a ping-pong show was (in limited English and awesome body language) - Bangkok, Thailand.

Sim explaining to a Dutchman how to body-surf, which, once he did right, had him squealing "Hooray for the Dutchman!" at the top of his lungs. - Mui Ne, Southern Vietnam.

Getting drunk off countless mojitos to celebrate the beginning of December and the joys of being on a tropical island. - Ko Tao Island, Thailand.

And onwards and upwards. We've done plenty in this past nine months, that's for sure.

So today we're taking it pretty easy, spending the morning and early afternoon at the Asian Civilisations Museum in the Colonial District of Singapore. It's a beautiful, modern setting which integrates so many critical elements of South-East Asian culture (migration, language, agriculture, textiles, religion, climate...) A tough ask, really, to blend each of these elements whilst setting each culture apart. It's a fascinating place, and absolutely achieved its aims. I'd say we enjoyed it as much as we did the Museum of World Religions in Taipei (which is to say, a hell of a lot.)

Singapore itself is a fascinating place, and we've warmed to it much more than its counterpart, KL. We've been speaking Chinese and enjoying that immensely, and eating as much Indian food as we can muster (simple pleasures). It's almost like a sanitized, not quite as intense version of Taipei City, with plenty of greenery and places to sit and watch the world go by. All in all, a really liveable SE Asian city.

We're hoping to head out to Singapore's Zoo later this evening to see its relatively rare collection of animals (you wouldn't think so, for a city-state only 605 square km?) but they hold night tours, so hopefully we'll be up for it. Otherwise, there's plenty to see, do, smell, eat and encounter here, here, the final leg of our journey.

Hello Singapore.. and Happiest Birthday Emms!

2007-12-07T03:36:00.001-08:00

Three minutes left on an internet count-down.. But a brief note.. After a full day on a train, we have left Malaysia and have safely arrived in Singapore. We're staying at a great hostel (though dorm beds!) and are looking forward to dinner in little India tonight and a couple of days of full sight-seeing.

Happiest 22nd Birthday Emms, love you muchly and in our thoughts today! :)

Goodbye Thailand, Hello Malaysia, and a Few Notes on Transport

2007-12-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

Firstly, I better mention that we've successfully arrived in Malaysia's humid capital, Kuala Lumpur. It's perhaps lesser of a a feat than the methods by which we got here, which I should really write about before our trip winds down.

From Ko Tao Island (ohh, blissful island) to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

- Boat (not a catamaran, thank God!) from the island to Chumphon, 2 hours.
- Overnight sleeper train from Chumphon to Bangkok, 10 hours.
- Taxi from city centre to Airport, 45 minutes.
- Flight from Thailand to Malaysia, 2 hours.
- Bus from outskirts of city into KL city centre, 1.5 hours.
- Metro (light rail) from KL city centre into Chinatown area.

.. back to back travelling. All in all, nearly 22 straight hours. Needless to say, Sim and I were absolutely knackered (and not in the best of spirits after fruitless hotel searches) upon our arrival. It had to be some of the most gruelling travelling I've ever done, but wow, what an experience (also one of the best showers ever). :)

In fact, Sim and I counted the modes of transport that we've taken in the past six weeks and couldn't believe how many there were.. For your viewing pleasure (and general interest):

- Taxis (ubiqitous)
- Tuk-tuks (Hanoi, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand)
- Refurbished junk (Halong Bay, Vietnam)
- Back of a motorbike (Dalat, Vietnam)
- Kayaks (Halong Bay, Vietnam)
- Cyclos (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
- Buses (everywhere!)
- Metro and light rail (Bangkok, Thailand and KL, Malaysia)
- Planes (too many)
- Dune buggy (Ko Tao Island, Thailand)
- Utes with benches in the tray (Ko Tao Island, Thailand)
- Catamaran - the infamous catamaran - (Ko Tao Island, Thailand)
- Regular boat (Ko Tao Island, Thailand)
- Snorkelling fins (?) (Ko Tao Island, Thailand)

We have a couple of full days in KL in which we're planning on seeing all the key tourist attractions (the Museum, the gallery, Little India, the markets and more of Chinatown), before finishing up with an Eiffel-Tower-esque smooch under the Petronas Towers. :)

Ko Tao at Sunset

2007-12-02T06:15:00.000-08:00

Ko Tao Foreshore, Leese's 22nd Birthday

2007-12-02T06:14:00.000-08:00

Ko Tao Island, Gulf of Thailand

2007-12-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Ahh, Bangkok. Reading the last post, how long ago it feels!

We are now in a place called Ko Tao Island, off the Gulf of Thailand. To get here, we traveled through the cities of Hua Hin and Chumphon, which were both pretty disappointing towns heading south from Bangkok. So from Chumphon, we decided to take a catamaran into the Gulf.. which seemed like a good idea at the time..

Ive not been on a catamaran before, and figured that they were just like big boats designed to cut through the choppy waters of the open sea. Ha! Literally moments into the trip, the boat heaved 1-2m up.. and then down.. up.. and down again...

Simon didn't last five minutes, and headed out with the other terribly motion sick passengers to the back of the boat, where it was clear from its set-up that this problem happened all the time. I was stuck in the cabin, too unsure of my stomach to move - like everyone else, it seemed - until the scenes of 'Mr Bean's Holiday'(in which he chews on seafood) completely did me in, and sent me packing for the back of the boat too.

Courtesy of a motion sickness tablet I had taken, I kept my stomach down.. Unlike the other thirty passengers. Each of us, sickened by each other's company and the sights and smells, were comforted by the crew who told us that 'it was a perfect day for sailing'.. Making me wonder what a less-than-perfect day may have been like. We later found out that catamarans are designed for flat bays rather than open seas, so no surprises really.

It's definitely one of those stories that now seems funny, but at the time, had all the nuance and atmosphere of a prison camp setting, with no refrain for two whole hours.

Nonetheless, we made it, safe and sound (if a little stumbly and unsure of ouselves), and have since navigated our way into a beach bungalow and days of sweet, idyllic paradise.

Ko Tao is a beautiful island of white sandy beaches, quiet shores, lots of trekking or motor-biking, and a certain rustic appeal (away from the main tourist areas). Sim and I have since lazed the days away drinking cocktails, going for morning and afternoon swims, having bbqs on the beach for dinner, reading, playing Scrabble and mini-golf.. All those hard things. It was in this style that we celebrated my 22nd birthday, too. Thanks to all those that had us in your thoughts!

Today, we added another activity to our lazy days, by hiring a dune buggy and going trekking around the island on its dusty, unpaved paths. Brilliant! Sore bums but had a great time. It was my first driving experience and has definitely incited some motivation for me to get a license. :)

Tomorrow is our final day on the island, before heading back on the 3rd to Bangkok and then flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. New adventures to be had soon!

Bangkok, Thailand - Days 1 & 2

2007-11-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

.. And so Part III of our trip has commenced (Taiwan-Vietnam-Thailand).. Yes, we have reached the sunny, lemon-yellow coloured, green curry, lime and chilli- scented shores of Bangkok, Thailand's illustrious and cosmopolitan capital!

The run-down so far:

We arrived on Saturday morning, pretty tired and a little shell-shocked upon arrival. After taking it relatively easy on the first day, on Sunday we embarked upon a full-blown walking tour (three maps in all) across Bangkok.

We started at the Grand Palace, the pinnacle of any Bangkok visit. In this case, we can only hope that the photos speak volumes of the striking beauty of the Palace. (For my two cents).. In my mind, it absolutely kicks the Forbidden City in Beijing and most any other thing I've seen.

"For just about 150 years, Bangkok's Grand Palace was not only the home of the King and his court, but also the entire administrative seat of government. Within the crenelated walls were the country's war ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace full time around the turn of the twentieth century, but the complex remains the seat of power and spiritual heart of the Thai kingdom... The area totals nearly sixty acres in size." -- ThailandVisitor.com

We then spent much of the afternoon trekking across the city to the Main Train Station, through the streets of Chinatown; if anything, this trip has been incredibly illuminating as to how vast an expanse Chinese culture and language has crossed in Asian history, and its continued relevance today.

On the way, we also visited Wat Tramit, a temple famous for its pure gold, five tonne, two metres high Buddha. Beautiful, although pretty disconcerting- the temple housed a huge array of touristy gear AND a currency exchange booth. (?) Really, immensely odd for an active place of worship. (Also, pretty disrespectful on part of some of the tourists there, some of whom showed no respect of their surrounds..) This IS Thailand, however, a country which sees some 12 million tourists per year; so perhaps its to be (cynically) expected.

Finally, we took a famous "tuk-tuk" back to the backpacker area. A "tuk-tuk" is difficult to describe - like a mini-taxi/billy cart (?) They run off diesel and are notorious for their fumes and roaring engines, so too the drivers for their corrupt commissions.. But all in all, great fun, we loved it. Definitely part of the experience (cheap thrills abound!)

Today we took it pretty easy, spending the morning in and around the Silom area, famous for its huge shopping complexes. We headed to the 'Shabuya'-esque young local designers area, which was great, before splurging on some gold class movie tickets for the afternoon. :)

Tomorrow is our final day in Bangkok, and we're considering how deeply we want to delve into our curiosities about the sex industry areas here. Lady-boys abound!(The "tuk-tuk" driver on the way home offered to take us to a ping-pong show.. promising we'd love it.. Then kindly simulating the act.. Hilarious.) Interestingly, I've read that 95% of the notorious Bangkok sex industry caters for the local Bangkokians, rather than the tourists. It remains to be seen.

Until then, feel free to check out the photos that Sim's posted on his Facebook profile (for any of you Facebook friends out there), and more soon. x

Unassuming Contributions

2007-11-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

This was our final day in the streets of Hanoi. Though the day itself wasn't too much to speak of, I felt it important to write of the one thing that happened today that has imprinted itself in our memories. Without realising it, today we unintentionally made a contribution (albeit somewhat minor) to Vietnam's sex tourism industry.

We'd planned to get massages this afternoon to counter the effects of sleeping in soft, lumpy hostel beds. I suggested we go to a massage place that I saw when we were having coffee in a small department store in the centre of Hanoi - one which was well-lit and advertised a range of beauty treatments. From the surrounds, I figured it was a legitimate operation...

.. While I was being cracked and pummeled, so too climbed upon (?), poor Simon was being propositioned in the next room. In the main, the woman had behaved perfectly naturally and professionally, until the last few minutes of the 'massage' where it became clear that the woman worked for 'tips'. Simon handled the situation very well and before we knew it, we were out the door.

We're both pretty shocked and affronted by the situation, more so because of the attitude of the women. Both with the curves of mothers, no less. It has been clear from the outset we were a couple, and in this situation, the women need not sell their bodies to us - but chose to regardless - and seemed shocked that we'd not reponded in kind.

It's not the perculiarity of it, no, I'm sure this kind of 'misunderstanding' happens all the time. Rather, it's the grit, the muck, the grime of a sex tourism industry of which we'd heard so much but seen so little...

Good Morning.. And Good Bye.. Vietnam

2007-11-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

Just briefly, today marks our final day in Hanoi and in Vietnam. We'll take with us the memories of cyclo tours, French colonial architecture, white sandy beaches, kayaks in Halong Bay, the headiness of tourism and the smiling faces and wonderful hospitality of the Vietnamese.

Tomorrow we're set for Bangkok, Thailand - sure to be an experience! We're planning to find a place to stay before settling in for the afternoon, as the "Australia Network" is showing the election live from the ABC. Hooray!

Halong Bay - The Experience of a Lifetime

2007-11-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a whilewind since I was last here, that's for sure.

Courtesy of the aforementioned floods in the Central Highlands, Sim and I made an executive decision to head back to Saigon and simply fly across the country to Hanoi. Courtesy of some excellently-priced flights, we were able to do so, and flew over the north of the country, arriving late last week.

We spent a day wandering the streets of Hanoi, initially, to find that it's a far more delightful city than Saigon. It's just... bustling et beautiful, French colonial architecture abound, an a certain integrity and grit to the city that's always appealing. We immediately booked our tour of Halong Bay, ready to head straight into it.

For those of you who don't know about Halong Bay, here's a description from its UNESCO World Heritage Site listing:

Situated in the North-East region of Vietnam, Halong Bay is a bay in the Gulf of Tonkin comprised of regions of Halong City, the township of Cam Pha, and a part of the island district of Van Don. Halong Bay borders Cat Ba Island in the southwest, the East Sea in the east, and the mainland, creating a 120 km coastline.

Halong Bay is made up of 1,969 islands of various sizes, 989 of which have been given names. There are two kinds of islands, limestone and schist, which are concentrated in two main zones: the southeast (belonging to Bai Tu Long Bay), and the southwest (belonging to Halong Bay). This densely concentrated zone of stone islands, world famous for its spectacular scenery of grottoes and caves, forms the central zone of Halong Bay, which has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site... an area of 43,400 ha...

Viewed from above, Halong Bay resembles a geographic work of art. While exploring the bay, you feel lost in a legendary world of stone islands. There is Man's Head Island, which resembles a man standing and looking towards the mainland. Dragon Island looks like a dragon hovering above the turquoise water. La Vong Island resembles an old man fishing. There are also the islands of the Sail, the Pair of Roosters, and the Incense Burner, which all astonishingly resemble their namesakes. The forms of the islands change depending on the angle of the light and from where the islands are viewed. At the core of the islands, there are wonderful caves and grottoes, such as Thien Cung (Heavenly Residence Grotto), Dau Go (Driftwood Grotto), Sung Sot (Surprise Grotto), and Tam Cung (Three Palace Grotto).

Halong Bay has many links to the history of Vietnam. For example, there are such famous geographical sites as Van Don (site of an ancient commercial port), Poem Mountain (with engravings of many poems about emperors and other famous historical figures), and Bach Dang River (the location of two fierce naval battles fought against foreign aggressors).
It has been proven by scientists that Halong was one of the first cradles of human existence in the area at such archeological sites as Dong Mang, Xich Tho, Soi Nhu, and Thoi Gieng. It is also a region of highly-concentrated biological diversity with many ecosystems of salt water-flooded forests, coral reefs, and tropical forests featuring thousands of species of animal and plant life.

With all this in mind, the 18th meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Thailand on December 17th, 1994), officially recognized Halong Bay as a natural heritage site of worldwide importance.

Yes... Halong Bay. A sight for tired Australian eyes. We booked a three day tour, and spent the first day travelling out to the bay, then to settle into the refurbished junk (like a pirate ship, really) that we'd spend our first night on. It was great! Sailing away into the distance. We spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and swimming in the bay (mostly by jumping off the roof of the boat, which was great.)

The second day, we spent mostly on two-person kayaks. Our tour guide went through the safety routine before we were able to head out as a group, often kayaking beneath - yes, beneath - some of the limestone cliffs around us. The water was a beautiful emerald green colour, so clean, so precious. Then onto a smaller junk headed out to Cat Ba Island, off the coast of Halong Bay, some forty minutes from where we were anchored.

We spent the evening and the following day mostly in the four-star RESORT that we'd been given as part of the tour, complete with the usual perks (hah!) like a private beach and swimming pool. A definite luxury experience, not too shabby, that's for sure.. Certainly not what we'd expected. But nice, nonetheless.

So we're back in Hanoi today, and spent a lovely day wandering the city, seeing the Temple of Literature and the like. Simon had a great street-side haircut from a local guy, who shaved his head and beard (leaving the moustache!) - much to the amusement of the locals (and foreigners) scattered around us. That was great.

And finally, a late lunch and coffee at KOTO, a famous Australian-Vietnamese restaurant which is based upon giving disadvantaged street kids an opportunity to learn on the job hospitality training skills. The food was delectable and the service excellent, and all for a good cause, too.

Only two more days in Hanoi before heading upwards and onwards, we'll post photos soon (definitely some of Halong Bay!) Until then, all our love. xo

Stranded! Tragic Floods in Central Vietnam

2007-11-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

Sim and I had planned to travel north yesterday, to a city called Hoi An on the central coast of Vietnam. However, the area has been experiencing extreme flooding (it's rainy season here at the moment), and twice, our transport has been canceled. So we've decided to head back to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in the south of Vietnam and take a domestic flight to Hanoi for the rest of our travels, skipping the central coast entirely (at least for this trip). We're fortunate to have avoided the floods (almost) entirely, as if we'd left a day earlier, we'd probably still be stuck on the bus (some three days later).

From: http://www.thanhniennews.com

Heavy rains and floods have once again battered central provinces, leaving at least 26 dead or missing, submerging hundreds of thousands of houses, and forcing the evacuation of over 100,000 residents.

The central meteorological agency reported Monday the floods have forced water levels to 4.1 m in some areas, the highest level since 1999.

Around 2,000 passengers were left stranded in Thua Thien-Hue as the floods cut off the provincial rail system.

In Quang Nam Province's Hoi An 550 tourists in were moved to higher ground, authorities said.

In Hue City, some 3,000 tourists were stuck in local hotels and all Thua Thien-Hue-Da Nang tours were canceled.

Dalat

2007-11-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

Dalat - Some 1457m high and the 'fruitbasket' of Southern Vietnam

Nha Trang, Day Three

2007-11-12T04:31:00.001-08:00

Just a brief note today.. As we spent the day at a place called the "Louisiana Brewhouse". It's a sort of brewhouse-cum-resort, with a swimming pool and big comfy beach lounges under bamboo, gumnut-esque shades... Luxury! Fresh beer and lounging about. We'd expected to get on a bus tonight to Hoi An, on the Central coast of Vietnam. However, there's been heavy storms there, so perhaps tomorrow we'll consider going snorkelling or scuba diving.. If we're not seduced by the Brewhouse once more.

Simple Pleasures

2007-11-12T04:24:00.000-08:00

A local villager sharing her home-grown strawberries with us,

Dalat Village

Roses and Strawberries, Dalat

2007-11-12T04:19:00.000-08:00

A greenhouse full of hybrid-coloured roses.

The greenhouse itself had been provided courtesy of a Dutch foreigner some thirty years prior. This sharing of knowledge led to great things, allowing the locals to harvest year-round, instead of once or twice anually. So too did this allow the hybridisation of the roses - yellow, pink, and orange too.

Leese and Nghiep,

Dalat Village

Coffee in Dalat

2007-11-12T04:14:00.000-08:00

Our 'Easyrider', Mui

Delving into great detail about the nature of coffee in Vietnam. Vietnam is the world's fourth largest coffee exporter, and this particular plantation was undergoing its annual harvest. The fruits (yes, coffee is grown as a fruit!) are plucked from the vine by hand; red if ripe, green if otherwise.

Dalat Village,

Southern Vietnam

Mui Ne

2007-11-12T04:09:00.000-08:00

Sedation and satisfaction,

The seclusion of Mui Ne Beach

South China Sea

Southern Vietnam

2007-11-12T04:01:00.000-08:00

It's a hard knock life... for some

Leese, Mui Ne Beach

Nha Trang - Hot Springs and Mineral Mud

2007-11-11T03:33:00.000-08:00

Onwards and upwards.

Yesterday morning we got on a bus at Dalat, determined to make it to Nha Trang at a relatively reasonable hour. (Perhaps it goes without saying that "Vietnam time" is extremely different to "Australian time"...)

On the bus, we met a lovely Canadian girl who had suffered from some pretty serious abrasions after a motorcycle ride with another 'Easyrider' in Dalat. Apparently, it had been some kind of freak accident (dog runs out onto the road, colliding with the bike), and no fault of the driver. While she was relatively unharmed (all things considered), we were pleased that we'd opted out of a big 5 day trek up into the Highlands with the 'Riders.

This hadn't been the only factor in our decision to trek it via the traditional bus route. It's rainy season here in Vietam (and the low tourist season) and yesterday it didn't just rain... It absolutely poured. The floods were torrential, brief but dramatic (at least through foreign eyes). We watched carefully as the bus driver slowly hearded our tour bus through, stopping briefly to rescue our packs.

This morning we headed out onto the beach, with somewhat high expectations - Nha Trang is supposed to have the "most beautiful beaches" in all of Vietnam. Again, it was okay, but nothing spectacular, unlike the beaches at Mui Ne. And getting hassled by vendors every three minutes - "cigarettes, miss? Sunglasses? I make nice massage for you" - isn't quite as cruisey as we'd imagined.

So this afternoon, Sim organized for us to visit the local Hot Springs Center (very Taiwanese, we thought). It was fantastic! Initially, we shared a private outdoor tub full of green mineral mud (Sim looked like the Grinch, especially with his new Paul Smith-esque shaved head... very amusing!) From there a brief shower to wash off the muck, and into some high-pressure hot mineral water sprays.. And a slosh in a big hot mineral water tub. We finished up with a 45-minute massage. Nice.

Must run, but more later. xo

The Easyriders, Dalat City, Central Highlands, Southern Vietnam

2007-11-09T03:02:00.000-08:00

I'm overwhelmed already, just at the thought at how I'm going to suitably describe the amazing experience that we had today, here in Dalat, Southern Vietnam. No reflections so far, simply travel writing, it seems...

As per our last post, Sim and I organised yesterday to have a full-day tour of Dalat City - "The City of Eternal Spring" - through an organisation who call themselves "the Easyriders." Some 70 riders strong, this group are the "original and the best" tour guides of the city, and have been known to trek tourists across the country on the back of their Hondas. Their success has been phenomenal, as they intend to "give foreigners a taste of the real Vietnam;" so much so that copycat groups have sprung up across the city (and the country, for that matter). So we were quite pleased to be approached by a "real" 'Rider, named Mui, yesterday afternoon, whose sunny personality won us over in a second.

Dalat is a pretty city settled up in the Central Highlands of Southern Vietnam. It's known as the honeymoon escape of foreigners and locals alike, and while its natural surrounds are rather beautiful, the hoo-haa about Dalat kind of escaped us, at least initially. So we were determined to find the beauty of this city for our one-day stay. In which case there's nothing like a tour from the locals.

This morning we were set to depart at 7:30, only to allow Mui an extra hour to have breakfast. At a small cafe, sitting in the sun across from one of the city's famous lakes, Sim and I enjoyed the 'jolt' that is Vietnamese coffee - thick as oil, it's strong even for my tastes! (Vietnam is the world's fourth largest coffee exporter, though their focus is predominantly Robusta beans; that which you find in Nescafe.)

At 8:30, we headed back and apprehensively set ourselves on the back of our bikes. (Sim's first motorbike experience, and nothing like the one-ride I had on one when I was ten.) Our tour guides, the (aforementioned) Mui and Sim's driver, Niehp, are two lovely, jovial men, who set us up with good helmets and a safe ride. It was clear from the outset that they were extremely reliable and professional riders, with some 20 years experience between the two of them.

Thirty seconds into it, cruising along the dusty streets of Southern Vietnam, I couldn't believe it... So exhilirating! A totally liberating feeling. All feelings of apprehension slid off us in minutes; our guides took to the streets in a way that made us feel totally comfortable. The "defensive driving" techniques used in parts of South East Asia made me feel a little unsure of myself, but honestly, this is cruisy compared to Taipei traffic. Joyous!

First stop: the infamous "Crazy House" of Dalat City. The famous daughter of the second Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam (whose name totally escapes me) had studied in Russia as a young woman, and returned to Vietnam to build a "fantasy-land" of sorts. It's difficult to describe (will leave it to the photos?) Kind of Harry-Potter, Alice-in-Wonderland-esque museum-slash-hotel. Strange. But interesting.

Then, a quick stop at the oldest railway station in Vietnam. A French colonial building, which was relatively pretty. Niehp went into a fair bit of detail about it (I think the significance of it escaped me.) Nonetheless, we found out that Dalat had been largely unaffected (comparatively speaking) to other areas of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

From here, we headed out to a local temple-slash-pagoda-slash-bell-tower, predominantly Buddhist in its design. It was beautiful if only for the clearly pain-staking effort that had gone into its design; each element of the temple made up of mosaics of porcelain and coloured glass. Nothing like any of the temples that I've seen in either China or Taiwan, which was interesting, as there was a lot of Chinese iconography in the building; reminding us of the 1,000 year long colonial history that China shares with Vietnam.

This is evident in the language, also; we've already found strong similarities between Chinese and Vietnamese. For example, both are tonal languages and share similar pictograph characters. Common words like "flower" - hua - are pronunced similarly.

When we came down from the bell tower this afternoon, Neihp and Mui were eating some food from a local vendor which I recognised as the hugely popular Taiwanese dish, "dou hua" - soft tofu pudding would perhaps best describe it. Unlike the Taiwanese version, this version was much more delicious, tofu set in a warm sweet-ginger sauce. (A commentary, no doubt, on the marked difference in the deliciousness and quality of Vietnamese food compared to Taiwanese food, generally speaking.)

Then, a brief stop up at a lookout over the mountain ranges of Dalat, before onwards to the farm of some friends of our guides. Into the rural part of the city, this particular farming family had once been neighbours of our guide Mui, only to move out of the city to grow roses, strawberries, and other fruits. They welcomed us warmly into their home and onto the farm, allowing Niehp to take us into the greenhouse full of the budding season harvests... Red, yellow, orange, white and pink roses abound... Beautiful! Niehp mentioned that it had been the contribution of a foreign Dutchman some twenty years prior that had introduced the idea of a "greenhouse" to this part of Southern Vietnam, allowing for year-long harvests, instead of the once/twice yearly seasons.

The owners then stuffed us with some of their homegrown strawberries, fresh of the vine. Delicious!

Following this, we headed up to a coffee plantation, where Mui took pains to explain to us each stage of the coffee harvest process. After all these years in coffee, it was a complete joy to be at the place where it all begins.

Then, onto a famous Dalat waterfall... Where Leese encountered her first snake... (More dangerous than the biking, perhaps?) Beautiful. (Perhaps that goes without saying.)

Finally, a stop at a Zen Buddhist Monastery, set ni the mountains across from the largest lake in Dalat. This allowed Sim and I an opportunity to breathe and take in the course of our huge day in the city.

And so ends our day in Dalat - jam-packed, non-stop travel goodness. It's only 6:30pm but we're pretty stuffed, and somewhat pleased to be back at the beaches tomorrow (it's cold up here in the mountains, which is a bit of a shock to the system!) We've got another 6 hours on the bus tomorrow to Nha Trang, coast of the South China Sea.

All our love, L and S xo

Mui Ne and Dalat Beginnings, Week One, Southern Vietnam

2007-11-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it's clear that Sim's leaving me to carry on the blog flame now that we've hit Vietnam's shores. I can see why he's hesistating - it's a bit of a stretch to describe our surrounds. Nonetheless...

We'd spent the past few days in the little town of Mui Ne on the coast of the South China Sea, some 3-4 hours drive north of Ho Chi Minh City. Mui Ne is essentially a budding village-cum-beach-resort, which was reflected in the large amount of construction around the place. Not to cite too much from the Lonely Planet, but they capture it exactly - "Despite its location... Mui Ne.. retains a rickety charm." We spent three nights staying in our own personal beach hut, only 10 steps from the white sandy beach and the sways of the South China deep. My image of Honolulu/Tahiti/Fiji combined! We've done little but swim, drink beer, read, and soak in the suns sweet rays.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Today we decided to head onto our third Vietnamese town, a place called Dalat - "The City of Eternal Spring." Dalat is the honeymoon capital of the Central Highlands, settled in mountains some 1500m high (so we've rugged up for the first time in months.. its about 17C outside.) Six hours on the bus, so we arrived safely late this afternoon.

We're set for lakes, waterfalls and other sights au naturale tomorrow, upon the motorbikes of the local tour guide bikies - the "Easyriders". Can't wait!

Day Two - Ho Chi Minh City - Southern Vietnam

2007-11-04T04:58:00.001-08:00

We spent our first full day in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon, somewhat unsure of ourselves but ready to dive headlong into it. After consuming a blissful breakfast of banana crepes and tea (courtesy of French colonialism, no less) I was swayed into taking a tour with a local 'xe om' driver whose smile wooed me from the outset. A 'xe om' is a bicycle with a proper seat attached to the front, so that its passenger can enjoy a lolling view of the city around them.

So Sim and I, in individual seats with our drivers, were given a tour of downtown HCMC. First, we were taken to the War Remenants Museum, which focuses predominantly on photography as a means of expressing the inhumanity of the Vietnam War. It reminded me much of the 'Nanjing Massacre Museum' in China, which outlines similar atrocities suffered by the Chinese during the Japanese incursion into Western China. Needless to say, it was a sobering experience, so many photos of bombings, killings, and Agent Orange victims. However, I was pleased with a small section of the exhibition which celebrated the foreign photographers who sought to provide the visual backdrop of the war to the foreign community.

Following this, we were taken to a local factory which produced mosaics and artwork from a variety of materials, including ceramic, mother of pearl, and egg shells. Beautiful stuff, clearly tailored to tourists; a well-executed collaboration between local authorities, the factory owners and the xe om drivers.

From there, we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral, built in 1860. Beautiful.

Then, onto a local temple; which our driver personally escorted us through, explaining each of the gods and their respective premises. I couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm for Simon and I to touch the relevant spiritual elements of the 'fertility' god, which had itself blessed our driver with four healthy children.

Following this, we went to... Where did we go to? It was such a whirlwind tour. Oh, that's right, to the edge of the Saigon River - reminding me of Guangzhou's River (can't remember the name) and pictures of Gaosiang River in Taiwan. By this I mean, a river with sole utilitarian purposes, with little of any real beauty. Nonetheless, our driver spent ten minutes explaining the designs of a number of bonsai plants along the river. Sim felt it a little unneccesary, but I couldn't help but smile - sometimes you need someone to point out the beauty of things for you, otherwise... their significance is meaningless. And I certainly can't remember the last time somebody explained bonsai designs to me. It was great.

We've finished our day with more Tiger beer and book reading. Must run, but more later. x

Our Taiwanese Finale - Musings from Ho Chi Minh City - Southern Vietnam - Day Two

2007-11-04T04:43:00.000-08:00

It's certainly been a long time between drinks in terms of blog entries, online recordings of our musings and the daily grind. I sit here, somewhat guiltily in that regard, as the rain pours outside - in a manner which dutifully confirms our presence in South East Asia - and wonder how I'm to catch up on everything that's happened over the course of the past fortnight.

So, first things first. We spent our final working week cleaning, posting, loitering and generally distancing ourselves from our Taiwan experience. It was stressful, necessarily so. We felt mightily tense until we took the bus trip out to Taoyuan Airport to pick up Simon's parents last Saturday week. The ride allowed us a view of Taipei County previously unbeknowns to us. In that, the shift from resident to traveller flowed more smoothly, preparing us for a week of travel around the island.

The four of us visited the cities of Jiufen, Hualian (Taroko Gorge) and Puli (Sun Moon Lake). I'll surely get to all that eventually, but it must be said that it was a perfect blend of relaxation, spontaneous spending, hotel rooms and being out in the bliss of the natural environment - the perfect antidote to the ebbs of living in a big city. It was also a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the love of my life with the people who know him best.

Writing about Taiwan from the lobby of a cheap hostel in Ho Chi Minh City, Southern Vietnam, seems more incogrious than I'd envisaged. So I might leave it there for the moment, and allow another set of (promised!) postings of photos to narrate this tale on my behalf.

Apologies for the rambling nature of this post. We are thinking and feeling and coming to grips with the joy of travel, and it's quite heady. More on all later, but until then, all our love. x

Danshui River at Sunset

2007-09-25T00:15:00.003-07:00

Where the river meets the ocean,

Danshui,

outskirts of Taipei City

Guan Yin Shan, Danshui, Taipei

2007-09-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

Bali Water Park, Taipei

2007-09-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

2007-09-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Being big kids again... Formosa Water Park, Bali

2007-09-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

This week saw Sim and I figure that we've worked extremely hard over the past few months. In fact, we've found ourselves pretty drained lately, of the ardous, adult (ha!) seriousness that we've had to undertake in order to work in the industry that we do.

To buck the trend, we decided that it was time to reclaim our kid-like selves and have some serious, long overdue, reckless, child-like, unadulterated... fun. And that we did, taking the day off work - reclaiming our long-lost weekends! - as we headed out to Bali, a small fishing county, north of Taipei City.

There we found the 'Formosa Water Fun Park', Taiwan's equivalent of Wet 'n' Wild.Ohh, so much fun... Riding our bums down some seriously awesome water slides, squealing all the while! 12 hectares of water action! (We took a good 5 mins of movie footage...)

With the weather overcast and rainy, we found ourselves among only a small group of a few solitary other slide-lovers; which was an absolute blessing, no queues, no kids... Just us. Ingenious.

Today we'd planned to do some hiking out on the outskirts of Taipei City (up in Yang Min Mountain), however, we found ourselves a little too tired and way too sore to consider any hugely exerting activities. Instead we're saving that for tomorrow, this being the long weekend of Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan.

Din Tai Fong and Ice Monster, lazy September Sundays

2007-09-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Last night we were so fortunate to be introduced to one of Taiwan's most famous restaurants - Din Tai Fong - by some of our lovely Taiwanese friends. As you can see, there was an intimidating line-up, most of whom were Japanese tourists and locals. After a short wait, we were ushered inside..

... past the throng of chefs, all handmaking the dumplings for which Din Tai Fong is famous.

What can I say? The food was utterly delicious, and the vegetarian selection was fantastic. We tried a range of dumplings, from fish, shrimp and mushroom (for me!). We also tried an amazing soy-bean curd dish, with leafy vegetables and a fantastic special fried rice (the best I've ever had.) Finally, we finished off with some red bean dumplings, also hand-made and delectable. In fact, we dipped the dumplings (which were quite sweet) into soy sauce, as the saltiness is said to enhance the sweetness. Delicious!

From there, with full bellies and big smiles, we went around the corner from the restaurant to a local tourist market, which was filled with people - all strolling about during the cool evening. We then went to one of the most famous bing guan (ice stores) in Taiwan, called "Ice Monster". Though we had to line up, soon we were able to enjoy huuuuge, utterly amazing plates of shaved ice covered in fresh chunks of kiwi fruit, strawberries, mango and mango sorbet. Amazing! I don't know how it hasn't taken off in Australia, honestly... :)

All in all, a great night had by all. There's nothing quite like being shown around by our local friends! We'll be having them over for a big Australian Sunday lunch this weekend... What a lovely way to start the working week.

Construction Sundays

2007-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Always something new -

Construction under the gaze of the 101

Taipei City

The Beautiful Life

2007-09-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

"The Beautiful Life" - Taipei City

Sim - The Spot, Taipei

2007-09-02T02:50:00.002-07:00

Leese - The Spot, Taipei

2007-09-02T02:50:00.001-07:00

Red House Theatre, Ximen Ding

2007-09-02T02:49:00.000-07:00

Red House Theatre Toilets, Ximen Ding

2007-09-02T02:48:00.000-07:00

Accordian Seat - Red House Theatre, Ximen Ding

2007-09-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

Soldering Work - Red House Theatre, Ximen Ding

2007-09-02T02:46:00.000-07:00

Stencil Art III - Technology Building, Taipei

2007-09-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

Stencil Art II - Technology Building, Taipei

2007-09-02T02:44:00.000-07:00

Stencils - Technology Building, Taipei

2007-09-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

Roadworks on Xinyi Rd

2007-09-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

Curiosity

2007-08-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

It's extremely difficult to articulate what I've been ruminating over in the course of the past week or so. However, I'll try to sketch it out.

This week, there's been a number of times whereby the ability of my students to answer seemingly straightforward questions has severely diminished. Answers to questions, for example, "why is McDonald's so popular?" and "why do people work overtime?" were drawn from a supposedly innate skill/instinct: the ability to ponder why things are they way that they are. That is... to demonstrate curiosity and to be able to formulate a response which signals a capacity for intuitive reflection - about one's place in the world and the surrounds in which we live.

Generally, the response is: "Teacher, I don't know, I've never thought about it." Whereby its clear to me that my students presume that I expect an immediacy to their response, one which indicates the so-called "right" answer. Clearly a manifestation of the Taiwanese-system of education, no less.

I'm reminded of one of the most confronting conversations I've had, here in Taiwan. Some months ago, one of my students, a mother of an 8 year old girl, said: "My child went to school, full of curiousity, full of questions about the world. She annoyed me each day with her questions. After a few months at school, though... Where the teacher would chide her for asking her questions... I saw her curiosity go away. One year later, I've noticed the difference. She doesn't ask me questions anymore."

It's so utterly confronting - that curiosity, interest, keenness, a desire or a thirst for knowledge - can, in some contexts, be seen as a totally foreign ideal - an ideal with no innat value...

It is Not the Spoon that Bends, It Is You

2007-08-28T20:21:00.001-07:00

Leese's new catchphrase for improving her Chinese. :)

The Working Week

2007-08-28T01:22:00.000-07:00

My name is Lisa, I'm 21 years old, and I confess... I am hapless when it comes to a working week.

Since being stripped of our evenings and weekends (minus solitary Sundays), I've since come to better appreciate something that I'd not before truly understood.

In my family life, people work pretty hard. They do what they need to, working long hours, weekends, all the rest of it. The hectic nature of their schedules has always typified the uncertainty of their so-called "job security."

While I'd always recognized their rights to a more stable circumstance, one thing I'd never before been able to rationalize. "If I worked that hard," I've often thought, "then I would take my Sunday and do something joyous with my little leisure time."

While I still think that's certainly the way to go, I can better understand how ongoing fatigue can, despite best efforts, put you into survival mode... "Onwards, onwards, nearly there, don't think too much, just do it..."

"The human race indulges its (mortality) on Sundays, on which day people all over the world tend to be sleepy and subliminally irritable... noting that man was especially fragmented on Sundays. Not really present... For all his willingness and zeal... Sundays have always been... Call it the Sabbath or whatever you like... (designed to ensure) the previous week was declared null and void."

-- Gunter Grass' 'The Rat'

Yes... It's true. I'm light years away from hankering after a working week.

Bring on student life, come 2008! And bring on social liberalism, too. :)

Soon to Welcome a Long-Awaited Sea-Change

2007-08-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

Phrase: "A sea-change": A radical, and apparently mystical, change.

Origin: Shakespeare's The Tempest, 1610:
ARIEL [sings]:Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

Today marks an important day in the Taiwan phase of Leese and Sim's life...

Most of you know that Sim and I had taken on a bunch of extra hours as part of 'intensive' sessions designed to keep kids busy during their summer vacation. Three hours a day - sometimes six hours - Monday to Friday - it's been incredibly tough on us both. We've been leaving the house most days at about 9am, only to return as late as 10:30pm most days.

The bad news is that I've never been so physically and emotionally burnt out, in all my life. I've never worked so damn hard! It's been gruelling on us physically and emotionally - I've never been so anxious before.

The good news... This morning was my final day of summer classes, some 8 weeks since it all began. We are so woozy from the fatigue of it. The subsequent relief is sure to hit us in the next few days, and when it does... Look out! :) A huge lifestyle shift in order... because life is too damn short.

We've already organized yoga sessions, Chinese tutelage, and sessions at the gym (to help me shed this little belly I've put on since being here. Eating at 11pm each night will do it to you!)

Change is as good (and often as necessary) as a holiday, no? A sea-change is looming and soon we'll be prepared to grasp it tightly - unapologetically - with both hands.

Hope and Trust

2007-08-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Judy Green

Typhoon Sepat

2007-08-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

From Reuters - Photo from Al Jezeera TV

Strong winds and rain lashed Taiwan as Typhoon Sepat made landfall on Saturday, cutting power supplies to more than 70 000 homes and forcing more than 1 000 people to evacuate and airlines to delay flights.

Two cars were crushed by a falling billboard in Taipei, scaffolding collapsed at a building in the outskirts of the city and, in the mountains, workers battled to clear uprooted trees that were blocking roads."We were so busy yesterday because customers were grabbing instant noodles and other things from our shelves to stock up food for the typhoon today," said Alice Wu, a shopkeeper at a convenience store aged in her 20s. "Things are quieter today because everybody is staying indoors. Almost all the shops around here are closed, except for us."

In Taitung, in the south-east of the island, preparations for the onslaught had been under way for days as the storm approached from the sea, swiping the Philippines on the way."In Taitung county, around 10 000 households were out of power, but repairs are already taking place," said an official from Taiwan's disaster centre."We haven't seen reports about landslides. There aren't any casualties so far, except for two people who were injured driving in Taitung in the middle of the bad weather," the official said. Local media said one person had died in the incident, but disaster officials later said the case was considered a road accident and not a storm-related casualty.

Unexpected Indulgences, Courtesy of Typhoon Sephat

2007-08-17T02:07:00.000-07:00

I'd quickly thought I'd mention that we are in fact bracing for our first typhoon here in Taipei this evening. We didn't think it too serious until I saw some CNN footage of the typhoon reaching Manila yesterday - wow, it just looks insane! So the rain has just begun and while I'm a little nervous, our friends and colleagues assure us that there's nothing to be worried about - rather, the opposite. We get an unexpected holiday! The subway is still running which apparently is a key sign as to the seriousness of the typhoon.

Our classes have been canceled this evening and tomorrow which I must say, couldn't come at a better time! Simon and I haven't had anything less than a solid 6-day week for going on three months now. Tomorrow, some blackouts are expected but won't last longer than 24 hours. Plus, I can't think of anything better than some time to snuggle under with a good book. So we've stocked up on Philly, Australian wine and cheese, basil, fresh fruit, water, candles and ice-cream. There's nothing like a bit of unexpected indulgence! :)

We'll take some photos and let you know how it all goes.

The Concept of Face in the Face of Consumerism

2007-08-16T02:36:00.000-07:00

Those earlier posts are extremely difficult to follow up on, I must say...! There's nothing like wearing your heart out on your sleeve (online) ...

It's worth noting that yesterday I was able to share some of my ideas with one of my students. She is not only a Professor of Western Culture/Civilization but an all-round remarkable, independent, thoughful and creative woman whose insights just totally astound me! In framing this whole cultural encounter in historical terms, and across the table from someone so knowledgeable and forthright in this field of study... what can I say? It was just great. We have a one-hour class together each week and its something that I really look forward to.

One thing this week that was particularly interesting was how I've realised that the concept of 'face' that I was taught in university has been completely turned up on its head. This idea that 'Westerners' tend to be overly direct and forthright and thereby create cultural miscommunications with their 'Asian' counterparts is mostly contradictory to my experience here in Taiwan!

I'm conscious of my over-simplified understanding of what 'face' is. However, I'll try to tease this out a little more.

I'd like to follow up with a number of examples as to how to this has been such a contradiction in terms. More interestingly though is how the concept of 'face' shifts as soon as there is a recognition of a student as a consumer and client of education. Indeed, from a teacher's perspective, the balance is tough to master. On the one hand, as the provider and facilitator of knowledge, there's a certain level of authority that comes along with that role. However, in a moment, that can be turned on its head, as one becomes a customer service provider and thereby subject to the grand gesture of "making people happy" above learning. When that happens, I feel almost at the mercy of their demands of getting their monies worth. Rather than whether or not I've actually contributed to their broader knowledge. It's such an unnatural feeling, a strange dynamic, and one that I hope in the future I won't have to undetake.

I'd love to explore more just how traditional concepts of 'face' shift when so conscious of rights and demands as consumers, before all else. A pertinent question for China, no?

I've always felt that, in the genuine liberal tradition, that education should be separate from business principles; as per religion and state. That if jeopardizing this divide, you run the serious risk of losing appreciation for the sheer joy of learning. That we are lesser beings if we cannot separate from what is pertinent to human happiness and what is simply smoke-and-mirrors.

As more time passes, I know exactly which side of the scales this opportunity sits on. I can only hope that in writing and thinking about this more, that we can develop some kind of framework to more effectively balance the two - at least in our own lives.

Dear Taipei - Part II

2007-08-14T06:06:00.001-07:00

Dear Taipei,

Like a true friend, you have encouraged me to reflect and seek a stronger, wiser version of myself. In fact, you've encouraged me to take up my pen again. I feel that so much about my time overseas has come together in recent months; if only through a lack of many things I love, have I come to find a humbler, more introspective appreciation of them.

I've discovered that slowness is hugely underrated; at times I've sought to counter that same slowness with long-stays in populated hypercities, not unlike this one.

So too have I never really appreciated how robotic - how automated - I can become while away from nature and clean air, and all things that I take for granted in my home city.

I've discovered that there should be few apologies for times where universality should step up; yes, I know "it's the culture," but I have also come to develop a sense of what is blanketed hypocrisy and genuine cultural miscommunique. For example, I cannot apologise for being a young woman - one who likes beer - is tattooed - nor one who often sniffs at so-called consumer happiness, so too the oxymoronic "financial success" - all of which is part of one's own multifaceted identity. I cannot and will not apologise for fear that it may justify these continued attempts to have all peoples fit snuggly into a single 'acceptable' mould.

I've discovered that language is an art that should be enjoyed first and foremost, if ever truly mastered; that much of our ability to articulate ourselves in a comprehensive way relies a lot on our intuition for expression. I've realised that I need language and I need to write, just as I have my whole life, particularly in times of growth and change.

In that, should I find another national culture which resonates with my soul, it is only that motivation which would lead me to commit to both the culture and its language in the long term. Whether this is fair, politically-correct or otherwise, it's just who I am and it's rather strange to finally get my head around that.

I've discovered that the Taiwanese education style - much like that of the Chinese mainland - ultimately acts to stifle innovation and expression in favor of rote-learning and specified measurements of intellect. That in measuring character by such means can only promote a soulless search for measuring oneself against others. I see this everyday and I fear for how much it really does ring true.

At times, Taipei, I find myself jarring away from you as though I don't want to get my hands dirty in amongst your 24hr schedule. I don't want to play a part in this hustle-bustle that you so require.

I've discovered that chasing after every possible challenge like a puppy may not indeed lead me down to the right path everytime. Intuition led me to the one I love, China V.1, I.S., Hooked and Carlton lattes. All good things that have made me the person I am today. But in this case, I'm starting to develop the framework - the criteria - for making future decisions and I'm sure that will continue to ferment and shift in the course of the near future; not so puppy-like anymore.

Speaking of puppies, thankyou, Taipei, for reminding me how much of a housecat I truly am.

I've never been one for staying in situations which I find untenable. Taipei, you're not automatically in that category, as you have led me to lots of new ideas that have encased so many ideas that had before simply floated. Unfortunately, your character is just so much all at once - and just if you were a person, I find that I can only deal with so much of you at one time.

That's not all a bad thing; and I have no doubt once we leave, we'll back be someday. In the meantime though, there's so much learning to be done.

Dear Taipei Part I

2007-08-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Taipei,

You are overwhelming and often burdensome; the lifestyle that you demand is a perfect blend of cyclical repetition (e.g. the guaranteed push-and-shove undertaken in each rush-hour MRT carriage) and onerous challenges (actually securing a seat in any of these carriages).

Doubtless, your pace is furious; pushing aside those perhaps more meek of heart, as there is no lack 0f those ready to charge through your city-streets at any given time. Dismayed, I know that few isles of respite exist here - even the soothing effects of coffee and daily news cannot counter the sheer populace seeking to undertake such activities at any given moment. Your density seems to determine just how your peoples interact with one another...

And what of these places? In observational terms, it can be a feast for the eyes - barely a day goes by without an eyebrow-raising moment (both sheer surprise, dismay or otherwise.) None less than the lady sitting opposite me on the MRT this morning, wearing a leopard-print tank top with "shopping makes me feel better" printed across the chest. That said, what of depth and substance? What of narratives which don't factor work into the equation as though it was a prerequisite of all things, animate or otherwise? What of this potentially heartbreaking, life-changing realisation that floats beneath the surface - one which asks, "just why have we set about accomplishing this?"

This scene flashes before me; my Australian eyes too slow to keep up. It's a sorry state of affairs should one consider that a confortable chair in Starbucks provides the closest encounter with respite in a city with so much on offer.

2007-07-27T04:12:00.000-07:00

One of the Cable Cars at Maokong Gondola

2007-07-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

NTNU... Here we come!

2007-07-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

How time flies when you're having fun.

Simon and I had planned to study Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University for months now. The application dates have always seemed so distant; until, of course, they creep up on you in a flash! Realising that the final registration day is only days away, I headed into 'Shi-da' to find the Mandarin Training Center and give over our documentation.

I was a little worried that we would be rejected on the basis that we don't have $US 2,500 in each of our accounts (not anytime soon, me thinks!) which was a stipulation of our approval. Likewise, I was unsure if our joint account would be accepted on the basis that its only under one name. So I headed in, a little nervous - mostly because I just couldn't imagine having this dream snuffed out, one which was strong enough to bring us to the northern hemisphere in the first.

Fortunately, however, it was all so easy! After handing over bank statements, residency documents, passports, visas, photos, transcripts and diplomas... we're set to receive our orientation information in two weeks time! As of September 1, we will officially be students of National Taiwan Normal University! Hooray!

A little drop of Oolong... Maokong, outskirts of Taipei

2007-07-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

Dim Sum... Mmmm... Maokong

2007-07-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

Leese, Tea and Delicious Dim Sum - Maokong Teahouse

2007-07-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

View from the Maokong Cable Car, Sunset View over Taipei City

2007-07-25T22:08:00.001-07:00

Youtubed- Taipei

2007-07-24T06:07:00.001-07:00

Some interesting Youtube videos for some insights into the city in which we live:

http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=EA894358B9B076C5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHa2M9QhCs0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYdak5N8K3Y&mode=related&search=

Maokong: A Little Bit of Paradise on a Lazy Sunday

2007-07-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

At the very simplest, I think as Van Gogh said and St Francis would have said, we must find nature. Just to be in the presence of nature your feelings and 'little seedlings' start to awake. ... More and more we turn nature into a commodity, into eco-tourism. But we must integrate it into the way (we) live every day...

On Sunday, we spent a blissful morning, slipping in and out of consciousness, on the comfy tatami, taking breaks for Japanese cornflakes (not as good, damnit).

Later, in the afternoon, we met with our Taiwanese mates and headed out to the mountains surrounding Taipei City. The day's exercise was to head out to the latest addition to Taipei's public transport system - a cable car up and over the mountain range into the small tea-growing villages of Maokong.

The cable-car has copped an unbelievable amount of flack in its short time; it's had a few minor blips, but mostly, the biggest oversight seems to be the lack of air-conditioning! It's all over the news here, pandering to the large number of locals who shake their head solemnly every time it's mentioned! As it's a French design, used to transport people up the alps during the ski season, the cars have no windows and only tiny vents for air. Not particularly comfortable stuff!

Nonetheless, beautiful. Travelling up and over the city at sunset, far enough away to enjoy a little objectification too. Just gorgeous. After a twenty minute ride (for $2AUD - obscene!) we took a bus to an old teahouse once favored by one of our friends during her time at grad school.

I can't find the camera cord, but I know that even the photos won't do it all justice. We sat outside on a big wooden table, with a small latern providing light for our little alfresco space. Just like an Australian summer space, fairy lights set the scene against a night as black as anything, crickets serenading with their little tune. We didn't talk so much; just snacked on great dim sum. The unofficial priority; drinking both oolong tea and a setting unlike any other, thus far.

Sighs all round.

We once again took the cable car on the way back, which allowed us to enjoy the view once more, this time the nightscape. Again, so immensely beautiful and a great way to enjoy a city from afar, all the little beings far beneath us.

Back in the heart of the city - Taiwan is such a little island - we stopped off at one of Taiwan's greatest inventories, the xiao chi restaurant. After a session at KTV, in Taipei, people don't head to the local Maccas for that obligatory 3am snack. They head to any number of 24-hour buffet/congee restaurants, which are pumping with people at any hour of the day. These restaurants are designed to service big groups, so they provide a big saucepan of congee rice so you can enjoy the little food dishes chosen from the huge buffet downstairs. A real Taiwanese evening, no? Eating at 11pm on a Sunday night. You can see what I mean about these restaurants at one of my favorite blog sites, "A Hungry Girl's Guide to Taipei."

htttp://hungrygirlintaipei.blogspot.com.

It's all about making the time, dui bu dui?

Washing Up and CNN on a lazy afternoon

2007-07-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

There comes a point when your body says.. enough is enough.

This afternoon, on my way to work (after a long morning of apathetic, resentful 16 year olds), my body decided it was the time to behave irrationally and squeal at the ongoing maltreatment I've been bestowing upon it. I found that I just did not have it in me to travel onwards to my next class; the first time since we've arrived, I honestly couldn't do it. The gig was up, and I knew it.

Another sigh; honestly, I'm so awful at knowing when to stop, and calling it a day. God knows that that weakness pushed me through five years of hospitality (I swear, never again). So too did it get us the muhlah to get to this great city. So it's not all bad, that's for sure. That said, I couldn't concentrate for how awful - physically overwhelmed and emotionally overburdened - I felt. The slow trundle home was the worst I've felt in a long while.

It's no surprise, really. You know things are totally unbalanced when you feel physically sick at the thought of the next day's undertaking.

So I'm here now; having cleaned our bathroom and washed our week's worth of shirts, I can feel my body resonate to the sounds of sweet domestic bliss. What's an amazing apartment if you have no time to spend in it?

Thank godness for my other half, honestly. I'm so immensely grateful for the solid foundation that is my relationship with Sim. We often try hard to find the time for each other during the hectic day; we had a lovely (if brief) lunch together today at a local vegetarian buffet. Honestly, these work hours do nothing for maintaining healthy and happy coupledom; thank godness for him, and us.

I just finished watching the Youtube Democratic Party Candidate Debate on CNN. For how utterly pathetic CNN's coverage is of world news: "And in today's news... Civilian deaths... And Tom Cruise steps out in style!" the debate was fascinating stuff. CNN covers a fair bit on what they have label 'citizen journalism' - consistently making calls for people to send in scoops and photos, typifying Murdoch's investment in that area. I've not felt in the past that this has been a legitimate attempt to diversify accountability, but rather, to monopolise on this area that will inevitably develop much further in the future. However, today's debate did seem to convey the passion for genuine change, transparency and accountability on behalf of American citizens towards their public officials. This felt like the greatest reason for optimism I've felt towards American politics over the entire course of my interest in this area; really, since 9/11.

A few qualms, however. Firstly, the focus was clearly on Obama and Hilary, which delinated from the impressive performances of the other candidates; particularly Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson, whose passion and expertise were quite striking. It's an impressive line-up of "diversified leadership in unity," I must say; something all too missing from, say, the ALP frontbench!

Most evident, though, was the total lack of political expertise on part of the CNN host, Anderson Cooper. From what I can tell he's somewhat the 'poster-boy' of CNN coverage (a bit like Andrew whatsis from Channel 7 - the 'Deal or No Deal' guy?) and was clearly chosen for the job of debate host for that reason. Ultimately, I can't believe that there's genuine support for a citizen's right to public accountability on behalf of the media giant when they can't see the worth in providing a mediator with a little more political grit. The guy is so clearly unaware of major areas of contention; such as, for example, how the candidates have actually voted in the Senate/Congress on major issues that they spouting off about. While each candiate was kept to time, and kept on question - as critical to a politician as a musician staying on key - you can't distract from how critical a contribution political commentators make towards genuine public accountability.

Just some thoughts. x L

"She's Only Happy in the Sun"

2007-07-19T05:25:00.000-07:00

As I set here in our little piece of heaven, in Liuzhangli, Da-an District, Taipei City, Taiwan... I think, god I love this city.

Today I experienced the first afternoon off that I've had since beginning full-time at the school, due to a couple of cancellations. I can't say enough how strange it feels to be given a blissful reprieve after the hectic schedules we've undertaken over the course of the past two-three months. (Feels like so much longer.)

In the afternoon sun, a light breeze and little humidity, it was absolutely blissful to travel from northern Taipei City, with the majestic Yang Min Mountains in the backdrop... total serenity. Copy of Slaughterhouse 5 and Chinese books in hand... it's just a priceless, totally unique feeling.

Taipei just harbors this beauty that haven't yet really objectified - something totally unlike my experiences in mainland China, though closest to our time in Dalian, back in 2004. I felt then - and most certainly agree now - that Dalian is one of the most beautiful cities that mainland China has on offer. Perhaps a virtue of its distance from Beijing and other surrounding states, Dalian always felt like it held a beauty in itself, unreplicable, a city formed around its natural geographical features, thereby allowing its people to always maintain a sliver of sanity in their hectic working lives.

So too does Taipei harbor this beauty. A field of cosmopolitanism with a natural backdrop that never fails to render me a little speechless. Just as Carlton's trees, wide streets and overwhelming availability of lazy lattes reminded me to get out and about with my life, so too does Taipei City encourage this, when I head out daily in the direction of the mountain valley, on the way to our Shilin branch.

Perhaps its this closeness to nature that encourages a focus of liveability within the general populace. Without fail, the mountains remind me to live a life that is sustainable, in both the individual and greater sense.

And here, in a south-western corner of the bustling capital of "the beautiful isle," I can't help but smile.

Lay Down Your Arms.. Musings

2007-07-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

Listening to the ABC today, I was fascinated by the interview held with political writer Anthony Dworkin. He has quite famously written about the debate of 'beyond right and left', arguing that "it is a fashionable illusion to suppose that the left/right distinction is obsolete. It remains the key ideological dividing line because it is not dependent on a particular set of social and political circumstances but is rooted in the central question of the purpose of collective public policy." (1)

With that view in mind, I was listening to this interview on Counterpoint (ABC Radio National):

"We (the US) have blundered badly... we need to reconstruct the conditions for world peace... How are we actually going to limit nuclear proliferation?... A great deal of disarmament is necessary, by France, Russia and the United States, and the creation of a controlled international authority that will intervene if any country, including the United States, begins multiplying its nuclear weapons..." (2)

Which made me think, quite briefly... of a lyric from an old song... "Lay down your arms."

I'm taking photos at the moment of what that means for me. I'll be brief but to note:

Armour: a) Armour is protective clothing intended to defend its wearer from intentional harm in combat and military engagements, typically associated with soldiers. Armour has been used throughout recorded history, beginning with hides, leather, and bone, before progressing to bronze, then steel during the middle ages, to modern kevlar and ceramics. (3)

b) Outer covering of organism used for protection. (4)

Armoury: A collection of resources. See also arsenal: all the weapons and equipment that a country has. (5)

(1) http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=8339
(2) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armour
(3) www.reefed.edu.au/glossary/a.html
(4) wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Taiwan's Public Health System...Musings

2007-07-17T05:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, there are those discussions with my private students that make this job an incredibly underrated one. Often, I feel as though I'm allowed to interview different representatives from different parts of Taiwanese society... while getting paid for it. It really is a wonderful experience, teaching, that is - particularly days like today, where we're not too overworked so as to enjoy it.

This afternoon I had a fascinating one hour 'interview' with one of my private students, a Medical History professional who specializes in the development of Taiwan's public health system over the 20th Century. We discussed a range of issues, both problematic and systemic, within Taiwan's public health structure and its development throughout the course of Taiwan's colonial and post-colonial periods. A discussion which began with the simple, "How was work?"

Before I explain, I really should state the 'health' is a subject that I've discussed widely in both my intermediate and advanced level English classes. It seems to me that there is a general consensus that Taiwan's health system is extremely convenient, so too the Health Insurance Program. (A government-subsidized program similar to Medicare, but with a wider range of benefits, including dental.) It goes without saying that Taiwan's public health system far exceeds the quality of anything I saw in China, and in some ways, perhaps rivals Australia.

However, some of my students seem to believe that the doctors in Taiwan (particularly those based in hospitals) have little time to make in-depth diagnoses; and fear that perhaps the quality is diminished in that regard.

My student and I began by discussing an increasingly common practice here in Taiwan; a practice whereby doctors (even medical interns) falsify medical records, ultimately making a diagnosis without the relevant examinations/test results. It's her belief that despite sworn hippocratic oaths, that doctors are so overworked that they result to such methods; essentially guessing what a patient is suffering from.

It's her view that Taiwan's medical professionals in recent decades have sought to replicate, respectively, both the American/English public health systems; notably, their focus on utilizing business/economic principles to motivate its employees. I was absolutely astonished to find out most GPs are on commission-based government salaries. In my mind, commission rates apply to vacuum-cleaner salesmen and call-centres, not public health specialists! My student emphasized that there would be a drastic difference in annual income if a doctor were able to minimize their time with each patient. Ultimately, these are economic principles attached to the most fundamental elements of civil society. How can one expect that doctors would not be swayed into opportunizing their hippocratic duties if there were offered significant economic incentives to do so?

Likewise, I brought up with my student a conversation that I had in recent days with another of my advanced students, who is training to be a nurse. While we were discussing her studies, it came up that she planned to move to the U.S. upon graduating, claiming that not only are nurses paid extremely poorly here in Taiwan, but there positions are far from venerated; a kind of "if you're so clever, then why aren't you a doctor?" approach.

I brought up this up with my student this evening, and her response was fascinating. She completely agreed that this status problem for nurses is widely held in Taiwan. In fact, so too do university entrance examinations reflect this common perception, with medicine, Chinese medicine, pharmaceuticals, and rehabilitation entrance scores far higher than those of nursing.

It's her belief that this status quo is derived from the colonial era under Japan, whereby this perception of public health professionals was carried from Japan into Taiwan. Midwives, in fact, were seen as far more worthy health professionals, and received a high level of certification and training support from the Japanese government. In fact, it wasn't until the late 1950s that the first institute for nursing was opened in Taipei.

According to my student, during the colonial era, public health was seen as an act of colonization, that is, a way to civilise the local Taiwanese people by the Japanese. Education was held in similar steed (though I won't get into that at the moment). By training public health professionals, the Japanese were able to successfully use health as both a practical necessity and a form of social advocacy, sending their message of what civilised good health should be across the face of Taiwan. In this regard, I understand fully how my student sees this to be the most critical period of change in the history of Taiwan's health system.

These trained midwives were able to successfully interact with the local Taiwanese communities to spread their message of "good health" during the colonial period. The health professionals would often work closely with the baojia of Taiwan, that is, local community/village leaders. By doing so, they were able to ensure that the Japanese governments' public health message was effectively communicated across the country.

It's fascinating, isn't it - that drastic change, if delivered through well-established channels, can be made palatable and therefore exeedingly effective...

Sometimes this job is just such an experience.

LG

Music, Youth Culture and Taiwan

2007-07-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, when exploring a new topic with your students, you will be handed an unpolished gem. An idea, an insight, undefined and rough to the touch. These precious cultural moments break the somewhat repetitious cycle of teaching and exhaustion.

In Monday evening's class I was discussing music with my students. These students are at an intermediate level and can be exposed to new vocabulary with a relative degree of comfort and poise. One of the articles we examined discussed the link between violent lyrics and violent behaviour in university students. 500 students were examined the study, half were exposed to music with violent lyrics and the other half to non-violent lyrics. The predictable story goes that listeners of violent lyrics make violent associations with words that can have both non-violent and violent interpretations, whilst the latter group chose the non-violent interpretation of the word. I'm not here to discuss the accuracy of the research and findings, I am more interested in the conversation that followed.

I can only fathom that in Western countries the proliferation of sociomusic-subgroups can be accredited to many things - Ah yes, the obvious lineup of scapegoats and suspects - market fragmentation (divide and conquer), industry incubation, individualism (identity), multicultural/media influences, not to mention the throes of emancipation. Also, a strong culture of critique and experimentalism. Taiwan's sociomusic strata seems less complicated, obviously less mature. I wonder why? I know that Taiwanse film industry was subject to extreme censorship by the nationalist government of Chang Kai-Shek and that the media fulfilled a similar propagandist function to that of the mainland. A film establishment had been created for the sole purposes of the government, content producing the cliche kung-fu films in the Hong Kongnese mold and the kind of kitschy love stories that are now encapsuled in Taiwan's beloved soap operas. Perhaps the music industry is still recoverng from a similar fate?

It's hard to imagine that this hyper-consumer market has not spawned or fostered different species of teenagers, greater differentation, when a few thousand kilometres away diversity and dynamism is the hallmark of a Japanese youth culture so hellbent on individual expression, irregardless of it's depth. Despite what I read, there seems little Western pop in the Taiwanese diet or at least little expression of sociomusical subgroups like that seen on the footsteps of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. I have seen two punks in three months. Nothing that could be classified as a hyper-masculine hip-hop culture (although I did see one such clothing store in the youth district of Ximen Ding). I see plenty of familiar, sexualized pop imagery, both in youth attitudes and in the media. In that regard the cultural landscape is being eskewed towards a familar Western bent.

In some ways Taiwan's identity, politically and socially, is in a state of flux. Learning English and the adoption of pop-culture specifies the means of escape for some Taiwanese kids, their compasses reading only West. I know I'm just scraping the surface here, but whilst Leese and I place our faces the grindstone, these gems will have to remain unpolished.

-SS

The Australian accented, tenor tones of Peter Allen

2007-07-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

I've been to cities that never close down/From New York to Rio and old London town/But no matter how far/Or how wide I roam/I still call Australia home/I'm always travelin'/And I love bein' free/So I keep leavin' the sun and the sea/But my heart lies waiting over the foam/I still call Australia home/All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world/Away from their families and friends/Ah, but as the world gets older and colder/It's good to know where your journey ends/And someday we'll all be together once more/When all the ships come back to the shore/Then I realize something I've always known/I still call Australia home...

2007-07-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

Just a brief note from me tonight, I'm not sure quite how I feel about this summer schedule at the moment.

I decided after teaching quite an interesting class on music to my new summer students, to integrate this topic into some of my other, more advanced classes. I figure that there's nothing quite like having an in-depth discussion about the bridge of music across cultures.

Tommorow night I plan to use 'I Still Call Australia Home' as a listening exercise with my upper-intermediate students. Believe it or not, it's pretty easy to find a copy of the Australian Children's (or Qantas!) Choir's version on the internet, so too the original! And there's nothing else quite like the Aussie tenor tones of Peter Allen; "I love being free/and so I keep leaving the sun and the sea/but my heart lies waiting/over the foam.."

Mmm. We've so succumed to the idea of being away from home for some time yet. But nonetheless... it is a homely feeling.

Australia... women de jia... stay just as you are!

Starting from Zero?

2007-07-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

I find it enchanting that the majority of my Taiwanese students are unaware of the Christian calendar they use to keep time - unaware of the reason why we began counting from the year 'zero' roughly 2007 years ago. Revealing the origins of the modern dating system seems to disturb some students. They seem to retort in this moment of realisation, a gentle rocking of their boats. The majority of Australians will be aware our calendar's origins, but then again I wonder how conscious they are of it's symbolism.

Unlike our modern Christian calendar which enumerates the years from the birth of Jesus Christ, the calendar of the Taiwanese government continues the Chinese imperial tradition of using a sovereign's first year to delineate time - to 'restart the clock', so to speak. In this case, the calendar represents the sovereignty of the Republic of China, beginning with it's reign (民國元年) in 1912. Counting up from 1912 we find ourselves currently in the 96th year of the Republic (民國九十六年, 民國96年). The same counting system was used in mainland China from 1912 until the founding of the PRC in 1949 following the Communist Revolution.

This calendarical system, where time is represented by the ruling sovereign of the time, is, of course, not entirely unique. The Roman calendar counted the years from the founding of the city. For example, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC, hence the beginning of a new 'calendar era'. Furthermore, in the Roman Republic the years were not counted. Instead they were named after the Consule Ordinaris who was in power at the beginning of the year. For example, the year 60 BC was named after Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, the consul of the time. Our modern calendar is closely based on that implemented by Julius Caesar around the time of 46-45BC, and amended by Pope Gregory XIII in AD1582.

Even though Taiwanese culture retains the use of the Chinese lunar calendar for traditional purposes and the 'Minguo Calendar' for all non-governmental purposes, modernity demands that all Globalized (with a capital G) states adopt the Christian calendar for keeping time. It would seem these same forces are perhaps relegating the importance of these calendarical systems to the backwaters of history.

I wonder how important the Minguo calendar is to the Taiwanese identity. The connection is obvious - the calendar recognizes the sovereignty of the ROC. This is symbolism at it's most potent. Time, the magistrate, supports independence in it's current form. Yet is the Minguo calendar a dire attempt by politicians to further the imagining of an independent Taiwan in the minds of it's people? If it were no longer used, what would the consequences be?

And, again, I wonder whether our Christian calendar is any different from those forms that recognize sovereignty in their calendarical system. Subconsciously or otherwise, are we still counting the era of Christ? If yes, will there come a day when we create a new calendar marking the era of a new sovereign? Or, if the obliviousness of my students is our yardstick, has the Christian calendar been 'despiritualized'?

- SS

Leunig's Musings

2007-07-06T03:20:00.000-07:00

"I suppose it dates back to an early childhood feeling that people weren't really saying what they were thinking. I think a lot of children grow up thinking, "Hang on, more is going on here, but people aren't saying it." I wanted to know what they really thought, what they were saying to themselves that they couldn't say out loud. People lie constantly, we all do. I think we suffer from the absence of the personal. When society lapses into the personal it gets all maudlin and inept and clumsy. Because we are not used to incorporating spontaneous, natural, truthful response...

The individual is overwhelmed by the magnitude. We have embraced technology and economic systems that are just unfathomable and massive and all-powerful. I think television is a totally destructive and corrosive medium. People are living lives though television and films and the media rather than through their own lives. They are not living creatively. They are living reactively and passively all the time. We feel we need all this stimulation, but in fact we need very little...

At the very simplest, I think as Van Gogh said and St Francis would have said, we must find nature. Just to be in the presence of nature your feelings and 'little seedlings' start to awake. So if we disassociate ourselves from God we cut nature out, too. More and more we turn nature into a commodity, into eco-tourism. But we must integrate it into the way people live every day...

My work is often therapeutic because I often give expression to this inner voice. For example, I might make a small piece about a person oppressed and ground down by tiredness. This life is actually very exhausting. It doesn't give humans much time to contemplate anything. We are not resting ourselves and there is the feeling we have got to keep working and pushing really hard. So I draw the person running and running and running-for no apparent reason. And suddenly I find that I have touched on something that is perhaps universal...

I made that piece with the total compassion I feel for what I see as a sad drift in the nature of family life in modern society, and that its infants and children who are so vulnerable are being forced onto a kind of production line of life too early. I think play, and tenderness and slowness and safety are being taken away more and more. You see I was just representing the voiceless one, the child, as I understand it. My sympathy is with the mother and child both-I understand all the different reasons for putting babies into care. One of the functions of my work is simply to try and speak for the voiceless ones, and there are many voiceless people.

...You see a society that's provided for by television is a society that says it doesn't need too many parks or natural situations for children to play in because television will look after them. So I think we, we start to construct the shape of our cities and our suburbs is built around this fact that people can be taken care of, they can be plonked in a room and absorbed in this virtual reality and reality itself becomes kind of a little bit degraded. I have a sense that it is mad making somewhere. That the quality of attention we give to each other as humans is degraded and diminished eventually with the sustained cultural usage.

...There is a kind of letting go of the particularities of this time in which I live. You start to relate more to nature. You start to identify with all cultures and all humans. The problems of existence and this whole matter of living you start to see as having been essentially the same for the past 2000 years. You begin to feel for all things from all times and places so you are no longer a creature of these times as much as you used to be: concerned with the novelties of the moment. I have been shedding the technologies, the gadgets. I don't have a television. I cook with things I have always cooked with. I believe if you can move away from the time in which you live and allow yourself to be drawn to the eternal aspects of life, and the simple tools which simplify life, then you can almost move from this life automatically into what follows in another."

- Michael Leunig (C)
www.leunig.com.au

Comment Reactivation

2007-07-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

Upon boarding the MRT this afternoon I was given a wry look by an alternative looking, foreign woman. The woman proceeded to leer, wide-eyed at her daughter sitting opposite whilst motioning towards me with raised eyebrows. I wonder what she was thinking? Perhaps she saw a man dressed completely in black and was signing to her daughter, "It's one of those washboard mormens, with their uncooth demeanour and Reggie Mantle haircuts." I would have preferred a Johnny Cash analogy.

Comments have now been reactivated on our blog (it took us a little while to work out the language configuration for the site.) We'd love to hear from all our visitors.

好久不見

2007-07-02T06:02:00.001-07:00

So it has been a while since Simon's mutterings appeared on this blog. Partly because teaching has left me with little to no (creative) energy. Things, however, have fallen into place in the past week and a half following the securement of a new place for Leese and I. The serenity of our new home has gone a long way to revitalizing our spirits. It could not have been better timed. As of next week our schedules will accelerate to 45hrs p/w with no brakes (pun intended.) So whilst we will be spending precious few hours here in our apartment, they will be worth their weight in gold, vis-a-vis the hours spent in a convenient but dank youth hostel; the creature comforts that hard earned money can buy.

So the teaching machine still retains it's glean, although under the hood a bit of tinkering is needed. I know the car analogy is cliche but I'll keep the stream of consciousness going. One mechanical problem is being able to stop momentum; a proper brake system or better yet gearbox. Many of the classes I currently teach are of an advanced level. With particular private students (mano e mano) I can carry a conversation without the need of material (although I always have it handy.) For example, with one young student I talked about the problems associated with emancipation. We talked about her Bhuddist beliefs and how they provided her with a different centre of gravity to that of to her peers. The student talked about the reconciliation of her vocational goals with those of her spiritual life and the strength that she garnered from her strong sense of self. The conversation flowed freely from topic to topic with the constant injection of new vocabulary into her lexicon. The critical thinking she applied to her experiences and her general ontology was/is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise claustrophobic Taiwanese environment. Don't get me wrong, this kind of student is rare in Taiwan. The ability to speak English at an advanced level, although immensely difficult for the Taiwanese learner and by which I am humbled, is not entirely rare. The ability to converse about one's life without being overly concerned about 'face' (面子) is, however, as the Chinese ESL speaker would say, seldom found. Nor am I being overly caviling of the Taiwanese learner in regards to critical thinking (If anyone wants a greater insight into this issue, you will need to ask Lisa about her conversations with a Taiwanese professor and the difficulties they face, both professionally and conceptually, in teaching critical thinking to their Taiwanese students.) Critical thinking is not a large part of Taiwanese/Chinese culture; from my understanding, the rigid, Confucian teacher-student relationship makes it difficult for Taiwanese students to engage their teachers critically. And again, for some (particularly men), the idea of losing face will further discourage students from speaking publicly (this will be emphasised if their boss or superior is in the same class as them.) Hence even advanced learners of English will be muted by the concept of 面子.

Last week I took a risk with some of my upper-intermediate, corporate students by discussing the issue of 'ethics'. The textbook from which this lesson was taken is fantastic: it incorporates a nice balance of grammatical exercises, listening/reading comprehension, conversational questions, language utilization, and problem solving. The rhetoric or ethical framework used by the authors is, however, somewhat universalistic (or Western-centric.) This becomes particularly clear in regards to ethics, which is, like it or not, culturally bound - a system of moral principles in regards to a particular group. Hence while the material discerned that nepotism, labour exploitation, and intellectual theft was unethical, my students thought quite the opposite. In the hope that my understanding of Taiwanese/Chinese culture increases, perhaps these arbitrary opinions will form part of a larger system: a Taiwanese/Chinese ethical system that has rather profound implications for universalists and international governance. Now I know this previous sentence may sound rather artless or virginial, but experiencing the weight of this difference is very different to the conceptual understanding I received at university - abstract versus experiential.

So once upon a time when this waffle began I was talking about momentum. Now, irregardless of whether students are inhibited or unwilling or to discuss their lives with a degree of humility or openness, or whether the teaching material acts as a cultural anesthetic, at an advanced level, the conversation can continue with relatively few conceptual or methodical speed-bumps. Changing gears in order to compensate for obstacles and speed-bumps, however, can prove to be the most difficult part of a teaching week. It is difficult to slow the momentum, to pump the brakes, so to speak, when oscillating between advanced students and elementary students. Without sounding paternalistic, it's hard changing from fourth to first (not healthy for the teaching engine, God help me with these metaphors!) Part of this is difficulty is selfishness: my inability to conduct little cultural experiments with enough penetration. My mind has a lot of momentum, but in practice I need to slow down and meet the needs of my students. This has positive and negative consequences for both parties.

So the problem of momentum will only accentuate as Lisa and I's schedules accomodate the demands of holidaying students. At least we now have the privilege of learning, reading, cooking and conversing inside our own home, whilst somewhat unknowingly the streets of Taipei bustle around us.

- SS

Mango season, hooray!

2007-07-01T04:23:00.000-07:00

Mango season has well and truly begun!

Source: www.taiwannews.com.tw

101

2007-07-01T04:18:00.000-07:00

A lovely shot from the base of the Taipei 101,

the world's tallest building

Xinyi district

2007-07-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous shot of inner-city Taipei at night

Musings in Liuzhangli, Taipei City

2007-07-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sure some of you may have received emails or text messages from us saying that we'd finally found an apartment in downtown Taipei (it's posted all over our facebook pages too, hee hee.) We've been here since Wednesday, and must say, it's really starting to influence our perspectives on daily life here.

For the first time, we have a sanctuary, a little space in a sprawling chaotic city. We're away from the street so we hear nothing of the city that bustles beneath us. We have space and beauty and comfort and cleanliness and convenience. We live in a little neighborhood which is far enough away from the universities to harbour few other foreigners, and therefore enjoys a genuine community feeling - lots of kids, oldies and little markets, a genuine Taiwanese experience. We walk out our door and buy our mangoes from a little stand whose owner puts own his noodle bowl - though not his cigarette - to charge us for it. (The market is not unlike those at the Queen Vic, though a little more haphazardly placed).

Being in the south-east of the city centre, the world's tallest building - the Taipei 101 - looms large above us as we take the three-minute stroll to the Metro.

Simon had a couple of spare hours on Friday and headed down to the local Ikea. He bought some lovely homey things, both aesthetic and practical. Honestly, the things he bought - like a gorgeous white vase with beautiful white and purple flowers, tall enough to highlight the high ceilings - are such Simon's style. He often reminds me of Robyn in that way - clearly a knack for interior decorating! The way in which he organises his personal space has become something so familiar to me, a real sign of my home-life.

So there's picture frames of us and our favourite books lined up along our shelves... what a dramatic shift. We're certainly in this for the long-haul.

It's a little confronting, actually, seeing the same neighbours on my walk home each night, exchanging smiles and glances of burgeoning recognition. This morning we ate breakfast - a total experience here, totally worth skipping museli for - at a little sandwich and tea house, dining out on egg sandwiches and OJ out on the street. The lady who owned the place could speak English (in fact, she had her Master's degree, so her English-language skills were quite good!). She asked if we lived in the neighbourhood and seemed so pleased that we lived in the area, saying, "oh, that's great, we're neighbours!" It really doesn't get more welcoming than times like that, especially as she offered us a complimentary sandwich afterwards and said that she was looking forward to seeing us again.

Likewise, next door to our building live an elderly couple who run a scooter repair shop (which, courtesy of the sheer number of scooters that dominate the landscape, can be found on every corner.) Our landlord kindly introduced us to them on the first night that we arrived. Since then, it's a great feeling coming home, wandering past the shop and seeing their big smiles as we yell out a hearty "nin hao!". Welcome to the neighbourhood.

In fact, this afternoon we officially signed our one-year lease, which begins tommorrow.

This Thursday begins our summer class schedule. This will be the insane two-month period in which Simon and I work 10-12 hour days, six days a week, in order to deal with the huge intake of students that our school takes on over the summer vacation. (Makes me think of Australian lazy summers down at Carnegie pool, Chadstone shopping centre, lazing about inside watching daytime TV and hanging out with friends... not a common experience here! Instead, students are sent by their parents to intensive English classes until they go back to school for the new semester.)

The summer will allow us to make a ridiculous amount of money by student-standards (a bit like the slog we did in our mutual crummy jobs before we left). It will no doubt render us totally burnt-out by the time it's over. This will mean that we can put the money that we save away for travelling after Taiwan, and be able to pay for our Chinese class-semester at National Taiwan Normal University, which begins on September 1. We're still harbouring dreams of seeing the Lhasa Palace and the Taj Mahal before we come home!

On that note, as I sit here I know that my body is squealing at how inadequate I've been at keep myself healthy in the past month or so. I'm convinced that now we have a fridge and a house that will change! And we're so ready for it.

In fact, we're so ready for this moment. To finally immerse ourselves in Chinese cultural heritage in a beautiful city with a people who are so free-thinking, open-minded, welcoming and overwhelmingly friendly. Taiwan is the Chinese experience I had always hoped for, and as each passes, I feel closer and closer to the little isle of Formosa, the underdog of the Far East.

Ten Years Since the Handover

2007-07-01T03:10:00.000-07:00

A pro-democracy protestor waves the Taiwanese flag in front of local policemen yesterday at a demonstration against the tenth anniversary of China's takeover of Hong Kong.

Source: www.taiwannews.com.tw

In light of today's official ten-year anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to the PRC, the debate surrounding the ever-potent relationship between Taiwan and China seems particularly relevant. Though, I have serious reservations about likening Hong Kong to Taiwan, whose histories diverge at key points throughout the region's recent history.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's English-language editorials!

Taiwan looks askance at Hong Kong's handover formula
By Ralph Jennings June 24, 2007
Source: www.boston.com

TAIPEI (Reuters) - When China's late leader Deng Xiaoping dreamt up the "one country two systems" formula for Hong Kong, he had a bigger prize in mind: Taiwan.

Deng's vision had the former British colony serving as a model of how Taiwan, which Beijing considers a wayward province, would be run if it returned to the fold -- a high degree of autonomy, a separate currency, and even democratic elections. But a decade after Britain handed Hong Kong back to Beijing, most people in Taiwan are unimpressed.

Scholars and island officials say that democratically self-ruled Taiwan would suffer more politically than it would gain economically if it was reunified with Communist-ruled China under Deng's formula.

"For the Taiwan public, there's no market for 'one country, two systems'," said Liu Te-shun, vice chairman of the government's Mainland Affairs Council. Freedom and democracy have suffered in Hong Kong since the return, Liu said, and the use of "China" to label Hong Kong also detracts from its global image as an international city. "From a big-picture point of view over these past 10 years, we're still pretty worried."

Critics say that since the 1997 handover Hong Kong has seen self-censorship by media eager to please Beijing, holes in its legal system and a lack of full democracy. And, although Beijing pledged 50 years of political autonomy and a capitalist economy, the Communist Party has stepped in to interpret Hong Kong's post-handover constitution three times since 1997.

One bright spot some see is that tighter ties with the mainland have helped Hong Kong tap into China's economic boom... But Taiwan's government, run by a party advocating more distance from China and a separate Taiwan identity, is quick to point out political shortcomings in Hong Kong.

China has seen staunchly self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since Mao Zedong's Communists routed the Nationalist Party (KMT) in a civil war that ended in 1949.

After decades of turmoil under authoritarian rule, Taiwan evolved into a multi-party democracy starting in the 1980s. Today every adult on the island of 23 million people can vote, and the mass media have been named the freest in Asia.

Globalisation's Challenges are Multiplying

2007-06-21T21:39:00.001-07:00

"Globalisation has reduced the bargaining power of unskilled workers and pushed up inequality in many Western countries... the OECD said this week.. urging governments to improve their social safety nets...

The prospect of off-shoring was likely to have increased the vulnerability of jobs and wages in developed countries... (However)... Offshoring, where companies reallocate production or services to cheaper places, was not as big a job-killer in OECD countries as believed... (as) it is not the preserve of 'Anglo-Saxon' economies such as the UK and the US...

"Millions are benefiting from globalisation but at the same time, there's a feeling that something's wrong with the process," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria...

The report pointed to a 'remarkable' fall in the share of wages of national income in OECD member countries in the past decade... Also rising wage inequality...

The OECD urges governments to resist protectionist responses and instead adapt employment policies to help people move from one job to another with greater ease and sense of security.

"The job for life is dead... In order to reap the benefits of globalisation, you have to move. People have to move into new areas... The thing now is to protect people, but not protect jobs, because some jobs have no future."

- 'Globalisation's Challenges are Multiplying,' Ashley Seager, The Guardian
Taipei Times, June 22, p.9

Musings

2007-06-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

You feel free in Australia. There is great relief in the atmosphere - a relief from tension, from pressure, an absence of control of will or form. The Skies open above you and the areas open around you.

D.H Lawrence

Duan Wu Jie photos

2007-06-18T04:39:00.000-07:00

Picturesque views down by the Jilong River,

on a beautiful warm Monday in Taipei

More Dragon Boat races on the river

Duan Wu Jie

2007-06-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

Dragon Boats on the water. The person at the front of each boat tries to grab a flag to signal the end of the race, stretching themselves as far forward from the bow as possible.

Dragon Boat Festival

2007-06-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

Apologies to any of you that have been hanging out for another post! We've been a little slack on the blog front lately, so there's a few things to catch up on.

Firstly, Simon has been quite sick over the past week. About a week ago he started complaining of sore throat and a fever. After a few days we realised that it was a little more serious than a cold, so we've since fed him a bunch of antibiotics and its done him a world of good! The difference has been a little startling, to be honest! This definitely confirms what we've heard so far about the quality of the health system here.

Also, we've had much more time for R and R than usual, being a long weekend here in Taipei. (We've also got tommorrow off, hooray!) This is because the Taiwanese are celebrating 'Dragon Boat Festival' ((端午節, Duānwū Jié). It's a traditional festival held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and its said that once the festival begins, so too does summer.

The exact origins of Duan Wu are unclear, but one traditional view holds that the festival memorializes the Chinese poet Chu Yuan (c. 340 BC-278 BC). He committed suicide by drowning himself in a river because he was disgusted by the corruption of the government. (One of our good friends shares in his ancestry!)

The local people, knowing him to be a good man, decided to throw food into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. They also sat on long, narrow paddle boats called 'dragon boats', and tried to scare the fish away by the thundering sound of drums aboard the boat and the fierce looking carved dragon head on the head of the boat. Other thoughts are that after Qu Yaun committed suicide, that because the people loved him so much, they raced out to recover his body, and the races signify the boats skimming across the water to find him.

However, researches have also revealed that the festival is also a celebration that is characteristic of ancient Chinese agrarian society: the celebration of the harvest of winter wheat, because similar celebrations had long existed in many other parts of China where Qu Yuan was not known. As interactions between Chinese residing in different regions increased, these similar festivals were eventually merged.

In the early years of the Chinese Republic, Duan Wu was also celebrated as "Poets' Day," due to Qu Yuan's status as China's first poet of personal renown. Today, people eat bamboo-wrapped steamed rice dumplings called zongzi (the food originally intended to feed the fish) and race dragon boats in memory of Qu Yuan's death. (Delicious!)

So our celebration of Dragon Boat Festival was shared today with some of our fantastic Taiwanese friends, Margaret and Leo. Being life-long Taipeiers, they offered to take us to Jilong River (on the city's outskirts) to see the famous Dragon Boat races. It was fantastic! Lots of teams competed, including local high schools and the Taipei Police. The event had the air of a high school sports day, with lots of people running around and lots of eskies filled with ice-creams and watermelons to combat the heat. I guess the photos really say it all.

From there Margaret and Leo took us for a tour of the area surrounding National Taiwan Normal University ('Shi-da' for short) where we'll be learning Chinese in a few months. Being a student area, it has a really different vibe to other parts of Taipei - heaps of well-priced food (especially Malaysian and Indonesian to cater to the international student community) and funky little stores, just gorgeous. It's definitely the place for us. So we had a lazy afternoon lunch over noodles (also v. delicious!) So we'll be back there over the week or so to look for houses with those guys, which will be great.

So that's the update for the moment. Simon's having a peaceful nana nap beside me, as he's pretty zonked from his first day out and about since he got sick. When he wakes up, it'll be time for some more West Wing (there's a few duds in season six, I must say... not cool!) and perhaps some online Lateline too!

When it rains, it pours...

2007-06-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

The weather here over the past few days has been absolutely incredible... It's just rained and rained, absolutely pouring most of the time, for at least three days now.

The city is still functioning as per normal, thank goodness. It's just strange seeing so much water around the place after coming from drought-stricken Australia.

It's also really strange being in the pouring rain whilst it being so warm - it was a balmy 27 degrees here today and 25 degrees overnight.

Beitou, in northern Taipei - our favourite little hot springs spot, so close to the city! - has experienced some of the heavier floods over the past few days.

We've been told stories about the floods of 2001 in which Taipei City received four months of rain in one day; flooding houses and low-lying areas, soo too was the whole metro (subway) system forced to go down. Sounded like chaos.

The weather is set to continue like this for the next week or so, with most people staying indoors when they can. Hopefully, our little island will be spared from anything more drastic than that.

KTV!

2007-06-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Last night I indulged in one of the most popular Taiwanese night-life activites... KTV! For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's basically Japanese-style karaoke and is one of the most popular things to do in Taiwan.

Some of the teachers here organised for a small group of us to go along - since its quite expensive on weekends, we chose to go last night between the hours of 11pm and 2am.. which felt a little strange. Simon has been working very hard and decided to give it a miss as his Thursdays are quite busy... hard-working lad that he is!

Basically, you're ushered into what looks like a plush little lounge-room with big couches, a large table and a big TV. (There's also a private bathroom.) Then you can choose from a little screen either English or Chinese songs. The English selection is absolutely hilarious, with numbers from Billy Ray Cyrus, the Pussycat Dolls and Britney Spears alike! You could also choose from a couple of Eric Clapton numbers... With Eric Claypton's Chinese name translated as "beautiful old man", it's generally pretty funny.

So then, of course, there's beer to dissipate any nerves on the microphone. Needless to say, I'm a little tired today and my heads a little sore (I think it was the vodka that did it.) Oops, must run, student has arrived... :)

Transcript - Taiwan's Regional Security

2007-06-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

TONY 'Gorgeous' JONES: "If the Chinese leadership regard this missile defence system in the same way that the Russian leadership have regarded the one that the US and Europe want to put into Eastern Europe, you're going to have a serious diplomatic problem on your hands, aren't you?"

BRENDAN NELSON: "Well Tony, it is a concern if it is held... which is not a reality on the facts that are being developed. Australia's relationship with China is such that under no circumstances would we be wishing to be supportive of something which was destabilising to the security of the region..."

TONY: "... Here's the point. Should Australia's defence not look at worst-case scenarios? And the worst-case scenario in our region would be a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan. And the question in the Chinese' minds and in my mind right now is whether that military system could protect Taiwan in those circumstances."

BRENDAN: "..As far as any military capability being developed by Japan and the US, having an extension to any other nation or indeed any other part of the region, such as Taiwan, is not something I'm willing to discuss publicly..."

- Lateline, www.abc.net.au
June 6, 2007
Brendan Nelson with Tony Jones, discussing the Australia/Japan/US trilateral Military Ballistic System

Resident Visas Ahoy!

2007-05-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

An open-ended visa for Formosa

Whoop-de-do! We have finally received our resident's visas. We are officially citizens of one country and residents of another. So they can't officially kick us out. Well, that may be stretching the truth. I'm sure they could very easily kick us out if they were determined to wade through the bureaucratic swamp of Taipei. But having resident visas will make it a touch harder.

Lisa and I are enjoying beer and sunflower seeds on our bed (not tim-tams, as the above photo may suggest). We've become quite the sunflower seed enthusiasts, so much so that our bedroom floor resembles that of a large birdcage. It's been a long day of teaching and we're looking forward to our one day off - the Sabath. Tomorrow we will visit an independent artists festival and perhaps find a local gym for some well needed exercise. The weather is becoming very tropical in Taipei - hot and humid. Thankfully nearly every interior space here has air-conditioning, the catch22 being of course that the power used for air-conditioning will exacerbate global warming. 'Tis the dilemma of our age.

The Social Democratic Tradition in a Hayekisian Australia

2007-05-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

"...Hayek’s polemic against the left was an axiomatic component of his advocacy of a radical, neo-liberal alternative – one which argued the absolute centrality of the market; a role for the state as a protector of that market but little else besides; and apocalyptic warnings that any political interference with the integrity (even ‘sanctity’) of the market would place the entire national project on the “slippery slope” to totalitarianism...

It is important to state clearly the essential elements of the Hayekian orthodoxy. Hayek’s political philosophy is premised on a stark view of human nature that social democrats find confronting. In his Australian lecture, “The Atavism of Social Justice”, Hayek argues
that the altruistic feelings human beings had for one another in small tribes in primal society are rendered redundant by the impersonal demands imposed on human beings in more complex societies through prices determined in the market....

...In other words, social justice, whether it is taken maximally to mean equality of outcome, or more minimalistically to mean equality of opportunity, has absolutely no place in the Hayekian scheme....

...Social democrats have a range of objections to the market fundamentalism of the Hayekian system – a system which represents a radical departure from the schema expounded by Adam Smith two centuries before in the Wealth of Nations... Hayek is in every sense, therefore, a radical... whose philosophical system continues to drive much of the intellectual and policy software of the Howard Government, together with the bureaucracy that serves it...

...Furthermore, Hayek remains oblivious to the fact that social democrats are ultimately shaped by Smith (among others) rather than Marx. Social democrats have always respected and accepted the creativity, the efficiency and the wealth-generating capacity of markets.
But social democrats, unlike Hayek’s neo-liberals, have never been blinded by free market fundamentalism. Social democrats, by contrast, have always recognised a positive role for the state in performing functions the market cannot...

... Social democrats reject Hayek’s a priori assertion that altruism is a primitive value which can and should be purged from human consciousness. Social democrats accept the Smithian view that human beings are equally self-regarding and other-regarding and, as noted above, both should be reflected in a social democratic political economy. To the self-regarding values of liberty, security and prosperity should be added other-regarding values of equity, solidarity and sustainability. Properly constructed, these latter values are also market-enhancing
rather than market-detracting. Furthermore, this spread of values embraces social democratic concepts of both negative and positive liberty – not just the absence of coercion of the individual but equally creating the opportunity for the individual to participate fully in economic, social and political life..."

- The Hon. Kevin Rudd, MP
An Address to the Centre for Independent Studies
As Shadow Foreign Minister
Sydney, November 16 2006

Meanwhile...

2007-05-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, the national debate surrounding the name change from "Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall" to the "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" still rages...

(Photo: Taiwan News) - http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/gallery.php?highlight_id=760680&category=14

Lazy Fridays, Taipei

2007-05-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

Today Leese celebrated her first day off for the week (after 4 days, 10-12 hours each) - exciting stuff! We were finally able to spend some time together, with Sim also enjoying the luxury of an afternoon off. We spent the day lounging about drinking coffee and trying out a bunch of Taiwanese food that we've yet to try.

i. We were hugely chuffed when we found this huuuuge packet of Arnott's Tim Tams sold in a pharmacy here (yes, chemists sell Tim Tams.) Amazing, and discounted, too!

ii. We also went to a noodle house, where we tried some amazingly fresh beef and veggie noodles over Asahis... While watching the chefs throw about the noodle dough, twisting and kneading like nobody's business. Awesome stuff.

Leese poses for the Papa

iii. We also finally decided to try "Beard Papa", the Taiwanese sweet store! Beard Papa is a Japanese concoction, a little stall which sells pastry puffs filled with vanilla and strawberry... Absolutely delicious!

iv. Summer is most definitely on its way - it was 38 degrees here in Taipei today, absolutely steaming. And we're set to experience the humidity which comes with the typhoon season, also set to begin soon. On the upside though, we did enjoy some delicious mango and starfruit today, to celebrate the beginning of the mango (and avo!) season.

v. We also realised that the two-and-a-half year mark just passed us by... Woohoo! (Note: We're still celebrating with Asahis, just like the good old days.) :)

Photos soon! x

Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall name change

2007-05-20T00:57:00.000-07:00

Under-wraps: a plaque that has caused quite a furore.

Yesterday the Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall, a tribute to the infamous dictator who maintained martial law in Taiwan for 38 years, was officially renamed the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (國立台灣民主紀念館). The name change sparked demonstrations at the site as supporters and critics of the name change clashed in minor brawls. Barbed wire fences were erected around the newly christened Democracy Hall and hundreds of police were deployed to quell the unrest. The Sunday edition of the Taipei Times showed the image of an old Taiwanese man with his pants down, apparently proclaiming that President Chen Shui Bian (陳水扁) had no balls. Upon the unveiling of the new plaque President Chen said that the move was a step forward, away from the country's authoritarian past.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/photo/2007/05/20/2005068893

When Lisa and I visited the site today there remained a signficant police presence, with a dozen police guarding the entrance to the Hall. The sweeping grounds that encircle the Hall, however, were surprisingly peaceful. It was a cold, wet afternoon in Taipei. Perhaps the rain extinguished some of the controversy surrounding the name change, albeit temporarily. A lone camera-crew from one of Taiwan's news agencies took footage of the lonely square for the evening news. Apparently they were happy that Lisa and I arrived so that at least they'd have some footage for tonight's bulletin. Lisa was asked a few questions but was conscientious not to put her foot in it. Although she did say that it was a good thing without elaborating on her opinion. As she rightly said, this is a Taiwanese issue, a very sensitive issue, and one that foreigners should refrain from putting their large feet in.

A sole reporter finds reprieve in some foreign faces.

We have been asking our Taiwanese friends about the name change in the past few days. Most have been critical of the move, with the more pragmatic denouncing the move as a waste of taxpayer's money (the name change will require the amendment of tourist information and provincial/MRT signage). Some have said that the name change is an ill-fated attempt to change the nation's psyche and that, in the minds of the people, it will always be Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

The name change is part of a broader campaign by the Democractic People's Party (DPP) to dilute the legacy of Chiang Kai-shek and remove idols of the once-dictator from the Taiwanese landscape. The Chiang Kai-shek International Airport was recently renamed Taoyuan International Airport. In March Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP issued an administrative order to rename the Chiang Kai-shek Culture Center to the Kaohsiung City Culture Center. The Kaohsiung government also removed a large statue of the former dictator from the centre.

As bright as...

2007-05-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Karma Cola Musings

2007-05-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

"To go from the monomania of the West to the multimania of the East is a painful business. Like a sex change. Too many visitors discover that changing their names does not inevitably lead to a change in their vital organs...

The Eastern Master, when asked, "What is the Answer?" has traditionally replied, "Who is Asking?" In that lies a central difference between Eastern and Western thought. The East is not concerned with intellectual aggrandizement, so much so that Jung testily called the Eastern mind childish, a mind that didn't ask questions, but simply perceived them. In a tradition where the question asks itself and the answer replies itself and all that remains is to establish the identity of the asker..."

- "Karma Cola"
Gita Mehta

Teaching - Musings - Week Two

2007-05-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

It's so strange to be getting into the swing of a full-time teaching career. We're both working 20 hours this week, with at least another 10-15 hours preparation time, plus travel time, which all adds up. I have two twelve-hour days in which I have to travel between the branches, which is tiring and a little frustrating. I much prefer being at Shilin, the northern branch, where the majority of my classes are. The vibe there is pleasant and the other teachers are really lovely.

Most of my classes are really fantastic. With my advanced students, I can choose any topic that I feel is relevant/interesting to both the students and I, and prepare material on it. The freedom on not having to work to mostly mediocre English language lessons is great; the more we find out about the students, the more "tailoring" can be done, and the more we enjoy it. Mostly, though, its the freedom to speak in a complex manner, explaining concepts and ideas, that we love. For example, yesterday my topic was 'job fulfillment' - instead, we ended up musing over definitions of "fulfillment" and "contentment" using Maslow's theory of hierarchical needs. Since most of the students are university-level psychology students, it was great!

We also have private students who we see either in small groups, or one-on-one. Twice a week I have a group of three housewives who are absolutely lovely, and we talk about children, child-rearing, parental expectations, and Taiwanese husbands! Fascinating stuff! Likewise, I have a class with a senior lawyer at one of Taiwan's biggest law firms. Talking about his expertise is also really interesting and keeps my brain ticking over.

I'm ranting a little from the fatigue of it tonight. I have one particular class in which I'm not sure how much the students are enjoying it. They seem fine, but really, it's so hard to know! Because they are intermediate English students, its takes more time to explain everything (which is a little tedious) and it generally takes more out of me. At this stage of their language learning, students require far more from their "role-model" and confidence-building exercises. Afterwards, I feel like crumbling into a heap from the sheer energy that it takes to muster these students into a comfortable space with their conversational English.

Also, I feel that the risk that the materials/exercises/games are too difficult for the students is much higher with the intermediate level. I'm told that at this level, students require a set structure of the class above all else. This makes me feel somewhat hesitant about trying new methods of engaging them - something I'll have to work on.

So it takes time. For the minute though, we'll keep taking deep breaths and throwing ourselves in head-first.

Happy Mum's Day

2007-05-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the fantastic, incredible mothers and women in our lives; we love you dearly! In our thoughts today, and all our love. x

Spot of Leunig on a Saturday Afternoon

2007-05-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

Must say, absolutely loved this piece from Leunig courtesy of today's Saturday Age... "Is journey neccessary?"

"...If we are inclined to the view that life itself is a journey, the question of its necessity is also worth answering. If the answer is no, life is not necessary, we can then see beyond its apparent urgency and regard it as a mysterious stroke of amazing good fortune, or amazing grace... a liberating vision that can make it more beautiful and poignantly funny, as well as more bearable when... the owl of despair hoots in the night crying, "What's the point, what's the point?

I recently shared a dinner table with a man who had grown up by the Mediterranean Sea, and we discussed life's bearable and unbearable nature at some length.

"In the town I come from," he said, "when people meet each other in the street, they begin with, 'Shit, what's the point?' Right at the start, they go to the heart of things, and this allows real conversation to happen."

It seemed like a lovely, earthy social convention to me, and a very practical idea, but I know it's not likely to catch on in Australia. And I don't know how a man with a background like that was allowed to immigrate to our shores, where sunny, positive thinking is compulsory and negative capability is regarded as a brain disorder...

Teaching in Transition

2007-05-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

So, aside from everything else, there are some options that we're considering at the moment.

At this point, our lives feel so transitory. This is liberating and a little frightening, though each day we've felt more at ease in this context.

Our first paycheck is tommorrow, and though it won't be much, it'll keep us afloat in the meantime. In the following few weeks, we should be able to settle down a little bit more, as we'll have enough money for a deposit on an apartment, and will no longer be living in this hostel.

Aside from that, though, the question is: What do we want to concentrate our energies on? English teaching is enjoyable, but is it enough to sustain us? Teaching in this style of cram school, where the focus is on the student as a consumer that needs to be "satisfied with a product," is markedly different to any actual education system, we feel. The students consistently need to feel as though they're "getting their money's worth", as ultimately, it's an extra-curricular activity for them. For this very reason, there are no tests, no certifications, no real rules in the class and not much actual authority in the hands of the teachers. It's our job to make these students (clients?) feel as though their English has improved, whether or not this is the case. It's interesting, to say the least, but we can see how it won't be enough for us to be "service providers" full-time.

Teaching, rather, "tutoring" in this way, is immediately "rewarding" in that you can see how some students warm to the opportunity to speak to a native speaker. Gaining their trust, allowing them to feel as though they can make mistakes, is "rewarding" in that sense; but, on the other hand, I'm not sure if a number of "little satisfying moments" actually add up to an honest sense of job satisfaction. By which I mean, we derive so much joy from reading about the state of the world, polarization and globalization, all that boring stuff :) - but that's what we love, and the sense of satisfaction that we derive from that just doesn't compare. Learning Chinese is also in that bracket. We're really really looking forward to having a steady paycheck so that we can pay for lessons during the mornings, and teach in the evenings.

We can see how being good for the "business of supply and demand" will enable us to have other options at hand. But we can also see how you could become so involved with it, that other goals like learning Chinese and taichi and more about Taiwanese local culture could just fade away. Ultimately, we have to stay true to the people that we are and hopefully, this transitory period will allow us to do that. As the lovely George Smith told us... We just have do all we can to "just be happy."

The Power of Less

2007-05-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

"In a letter to the philosopher Sidney Hook, Robert Frost stressed that an essential difference existed between grammatically correct sentences, and a living sentence. He could not define the difference, but suggested that a living sentence could be identified by its undismissable effect... Living sentences allow us to listen with our whole selves and not just the eyebrows up. The words last as written words or speech because the unimitable knows no substitutes. It lets itself be known by the heart, which is the best form of knowledge because it confirms an ongoing presence...

I do not make this statement to denigrate the language of statement, which does serve a neccessary purpose. However, it is not language at its fullest. Once its serves its purpose, it evaporates. This is the language which dominates our public life...

The American poet Henry Carruth once identified poetry as "the great voice within us" - within all of us. Why is this voice missing in our public discourse?... After all, a society exists when human beings live not in isolation but in conjunction with one another and where they individually and collectively face all the trials that "flesh is heir to", while simultaneously striving to perfect those abilities whch distinguish them from all other creatures i.e. speech, imagination, reverence for life, etc...

It would seem that in such circumstances "the best words in the best arrangement" (T.S. Eliot) would help them live in harmony whilst inspiring them to live justly and fully. But as long as people see themselves not living in a society but in an economy, they become more prone to regard themselves simply as consumers, purchasers, assets... In time this language becomes the language of quantity, not quality - the language of abstraction and generality and not the language of felt thought. It becomes the language of inhumanity.

Caminante, no hay camino.
Se hace camino al andar.

"Wayfarer, there is no road.
You make the road as you go."

- Antonio Machado

Reading or hearing words in this way - experiencing these felt thoughts - eases something in us. It reassures us that we had the right to feel the way we do. We live, thereafter, quickened and deepened. It is, what Robert Frost called, "a momentary state against confusion." True language is a momentary intensity, like kisses or tears, they have no past or future tense. Like telegrams, they eschew the superfluous and treasure the vital. They emphasise the power of less."

- "Poetry and Public Speech: The Power of Less"
Samuel Hazo, Director of the International Poetry Forum
Speech delivered to the University of Pittsburg,
February 1, 2007

Some musings on Urban Taiwanese Architecture

2007-05-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

"When the Guomingdang (KMT) first arrived, they believed that they were ultimately going back (to China), so it was a transitory period that probably made Taipei that haphazard place that it is today. Taiwan is still a very transitory country. The mentality is, "we're going to send our kids abroad, then we're going to move out"... There are too many variables that don't allow for a sense of pride of place..."
- Phillip Huang, EG magazine editor

"The traditional Taiwanese home - made of red brick and built around a courtyard in the Northern Chinese style (si he yuan) is deeply inappropriate for the subtropical climate. The Chinese style remained the same because it was a symbol of the power structure - that was more important than comfort. The more you move away from the centre of Chinese culture, the more interesting the architecture becomes..."
- Roan Ching-Yueh
Associate Professor of Architecture at Shih Chien University

Jarring Aesthetics - Expressway, Taipei City

2007-05-09T05:26:00.000-07:00

"If one stays long enough on the island, the jarring aesthetic is gradually tempered by the people one meets, the preoccupation with making a living and the delights of Taiwanese food.. homey feelings which take over from the rational and compensate for you."

- Meldrum, W. Taiwan Review, March 2007.

Taipei City at Night

2007-05-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

The city in which we live

View of Taipei City from the balcony of our hostel