feeling a little disoreiented jumping from houston to taipei, but here it goes:
right after getting off the plane in LAX who’s the first guy i meet? a real, fire breathing wiseguy! he tried to steer me away from choosing any other hotel but the one he was pushing. when i said no thanks he called me shithead.then i pulled a DeNiro on him. i listened to what he had to say, then politely said, i understand what it is you do, but i’d be a finnochio if i just wimped out and followed what you tell me to do. but i wish you the best of luck and bon’ sera. it worked! and i’m not even a real gangster!
LA is the easiest city in the world to drive in, contrary to what you hear. i went to hollywood no problem and malibu beach. rained all day.
i got to houston and met my son and daughter in our usual “mom and dad are divorced” drop off spot and had them for two whole days (how generous she is). we had two weekends together and i went to my son’s jump rope workshop.
in louisiana i did two big cookoffs for the family. first one was spaghetti and the other was chinese. we went to baton rouge and the most beautiful place in louisiana, St. Francisville. lots of plantations and ghost stories!
this is the first time i actually miss the US. things i don’t miss are the “support our troops” stickers, walmart culture, oversized portions at restaurants, mass obesity, and the general give-up-ed-ness of people waiting for the end of the world (that’s why i’m a preterist). america makes me feel old. taiwan makes me feel like i have a future.
well, stories are all i have cause my American Express went flat with 6 days to go! luckily my wife has four cards.
i found out something about houston: 69 dollar hotel equals 30 dollar hotel 10 years ago. i totally misjudged the price to value scale. the best i found was 79 dollars (90 after hotel tax- a houston exclusive!). it’s called marriot residence inn. you have a kitchen and they don’t care how many kids you bring. free breakfast. indoor pool. family thing to the max. my kids loved it. i found out you just can’t corners. i’d pay 3000NT for a hotel here so why not that much in the US?
days inn, comfort inn, no way. never again.
it was all pretty uneventful except for my one little argument with grandma. that happens cause our opinions grind big time. i didn’t really argue but it was a conflict of opinions nevertheless. i mean how many times can i hear oversimplified viewpoints of everything? when i say" i don’ t think so", she says just shut up and don’t start with me. but i think we understand each other now. the world terrorizes her, coming from the polite society of the 40s. it certainly LOOKS like we are heading for the end of the world. if the evangelical/ dispensationalists are right, then i guess all the world events would tie into that. but there are so many facts left out of the argument, namely that not all denominations have historically held the book of Revelation to have anything to do with modern times whatsoever ( as i said before i take the preterist viewpoint on this… maybe i’m wrong).
the “support our troops thing” is even more entrenched in america than one might guess from the news here. i realize a lot of people have sons there, but i believe the movie “ANTS”. i think some of the wars in the last century were a form of social engineering. i heard one guy tell me that vietnam was engineered to “kill off the niggers”, unquote. there definitely were a lot of afro-americans killed there. poor and under educated whites too. i forgot that Clinton aide who got fired for saying that the best and the brightests didn’t die in vietnam. the best( at least moneywise) and the brighhtest were in college and never went. who sends einstein to war if you know he’s einstein?
off the topic. anyway, i picked TV newstories apart for her piece by piece. i tried to understand her fears and also tried to get her to examine things in another way. i’ve always believed americans live in the “Ameri CAN”. they are living in a can and can only see out the top, which is controlled by the media there.
newsflash: the US flag has now obtained holy status. it’s impossible for the US to do anything wrong enough to make someone want to burn it’s image. in fact the US is holy. it’s triune- uncle sam, the US, and the flag are now our trinity. they are blameless and inseparatable from the God we claim we worship. america is the new religion. maybe the end is near.
that was great! love it. you know my super trendy artiste younger brother always said america was gross. now i see it. for the first time in my life i really see it for what it is: a cultural wasteland, with shitkicker music on every station (yes you’re listening to shitkicker KSHIT. we play all those songs you get drunk to. support our troops!). and that damn lee greenwood song playing in walmart.
of course there are those who are intent on carving their own little piece of reality there, bucking the status quo, not moving into yucky all white artificial suburbs far from downtown, paying 4000 a year in property taxes and then bitvhing(is that the hebrew spelling of bitching?) about their lack of tax law savy.
i realized that the middle class working-man adult world is full of crap. they’re so busy paying for their bad money habits that they have zero spiritual life except for soundbite Christianity on Sunday(“we’ll know when we get to heaven. dismissed!”)
if and when i go back it’s off the grid all the way. look at it this way, would you rather pay 1200US a year in electricity for the rest of your days or pay 1200 one time for a solar generator ? i know the limitations of the things, but there are ways of living with those limitations. off the fucking grid for me. even property taxes: i’ll find every LEGAL loophole i can to make sure i don’t pay any. the only blip i’ll make on the radar is on the net and that will be with encrypted email. credit cards will be shredded. no more middle class mentality. i’m teaching my kids how to be smart. there’s the stupid way to live and the smart way. almost all problems are money problems .ecclesiates said rhetorically that money is the answer to everything. well just about like that. if i had lots of cash, i could "solve’ most of my troubles in one fell sweep and consolidate my power as loving leader of my whole clan.
dear brother AWOL,
i already am. it’s the cult of simple living in a modern world. i mean how much do we REALLY need? 7 pairs of underwear and socks, 5 T shirts, 2 blue jeans, 3 pairs of shoes (casual, running, formal) a couple of dress up jackets and slacks with a few shirts to mix and match like you’ve got ten suits, cold weather jackets, motorcycle, computer, i pod. some books, a mat on the floor. that’s about it. simple living. i buck the" keeping up with the jones’" mentality. it’s the cult of finding your own way.YOUR “jeet kune do”, so to speak. taking what is useful. realizing your limitations and capitalizing on them even. making limitation become a unique advantage. finding your own voice. no preachers, only a Bible, God, and common sense.it’s the freedom to read all the great literature, listen to good music, and develop oneself to one’s potential. it’s outside the system, observing it apart from cultural coloration.
does that sound philosophical?^^
Well welcome back and good to see you haven’t lost your touch. But neither have I…
----edited after seeing the ‘rules’ again----
Ran, your message is purturbing. Give grandma a break, give the US a break. Not everyone can have the opportunties you have or nor do they choose to. That’s the great thing about the stinkin ole USA, you got choice, and if you wanna do it from a Hummer while gulping down a 350 oz of diet coke while eating your low carb no carb without carb hamburger, then so be it. But don’t wave your finger at ‘us’ who are sooo culturally unsound… Unless you are prepared to do something about it…Talk is cheap you know…
Well welcome back and good to see you haven’t lost your touch. But neither have I…
----edited after seeing the ‘rules’ again----
Ran, your message is purturbing. Give grandma a break, give the US a break. Not everyone can have the opportunties you have or nor do they choose to. That’s the great thing about the stinkin ole USA, you got choice, and if you wanna do it from a Hummer while gulping down a 350 oz of diet coke while eating your low carb no carb without carb hamburger, then so be it. But don’t wave your finger at ‘us’ who are sooo culturally unsound… Unless you are prepared to do something about it…Talk is cheap you know…[/quote]
Amen - I was really disturbed by the post, not a very nice generaliztion there. I have lived in Asia half of my life, and the US the other half of my life and love the fact that I can claim both as home. I miss some aspects of the Eastern culture, but I am grateful that I have more opportunities in the U.S. as a woman than I would in Asia. You are projecting a very narrow view based on the small number of people in the area you vsited.
Well welcome back and good to see you haven’t lost your touch. But neither have I…
----edited after seeing the ‘rules’ again----
Ran, your message is purturbing. Give grandma a break, give the US a break. Not everyone can have the opportunties you have or nor do they choose to. That’s the great thing about the stinkin ole USA, you got choice, and if you wanna do it from a Hummer while gulping down a 350 oz of diet coke while eating your low carb no carb without carb hamburger, then so be it. But don’t wave your finger at ‘us’ who are sooo culturally unsound… Unless you are prepared to do something about it…Talk is cheap you know…[/quote]
Amen - I was really disturbed by the post, not a very nice generaliztion there. I have lived in Asia half of my life, and the US the other half of my life and love the fact that I can claim both as home. I miss some aspects of the Eastern culture, but I am grateful that I have more opportunities in the U.S. as a woman than I would in Asia. You are projecting a very narrow view based on the small number of people in the area you vsited.[/quote]
As someone who has lived 80% of her life in the States, I feel the urge to correct you. Namahottie is spot on with her generalizations for a large part of the US. I used to think it was silly for other countries to get their ideas about Americans from movies, but the more I think about the people back home, the more I am beginning to see the truth in some of those stereotypes. Especially when I travel back to the States - land of the Supersize and frivolous lawsuits. America really has a “Gimme! Gimme now!” element to its culture.
thank you all for your comments. those of you who disagree might not have read Kyosaki’s book rich dad poor dad. not that i follow real estate gurus, but he made some points, the main one being that the middle class are stronzos.
this is their habit:
work to earn money
buy luxuries with the money you earned
establish credit so you can run up a debt
buy a home and be stuck in payments AND taxes for 30 years (wake up! a home IS NOT an investment anymore)
when they could be:
working to earn money
buy something that will make them money THEN buy luxuries with cash from that and forget the rest. just one added step is all it takes. plus knowing THE LAW can help you protect your money.
look, our Creator gave us the sun and the wind for free! why pay for what i can get for free? it rains in louisiana like it does here. i can collect enough water and filter it for my family. and there’s enough sunshine to charge batteries. the rest is wind power.
i don’t judge them, except that a lot of people in louisiana wear fear and ignorance like a badge of honor:" oh i’d never get on a plane" wake up! how many people have been killed at PPG petrochem just trying to make a living?. how many people have been mac trucked on highway 27 going to PPG? we have lots of millionaire settlement widows in louisiana. and people can’t get on a plane?
safety is a facade. those damn airport securities are bullshit and they know it, unless they wanna have 10 checkpoints like israel does with body/fondle search. how do they know my bar of soap is not C4? they don’t! you put your life into God’s hands everyday. He’s the only one taking care of you and don’t ever forget it.
on a good note, the wife of my friend who died two years ago just went parasailing behind a ski boat. she’s 77!!! now that’s a leap of faith!
So America is about having choice, as long as as an American you don’t choose to hate America? Is that what you’re saying?[/quote]
If you claim to be an American but you want to live in Taiwan and spend most of your time bitching about the US and Americans, all you have to do is go to AIT and renounce your citizenship. It will do wonders for your blood pressure and improve both America’s gene pool and average IQ.
So America is about having choice, as long as as an American you don’t choose to hate America? Is that what you’re saying?[/quote]
If you claim to be an American but you want to live in Taiwan and spend most of your time bitching about the US and Americans, all you have to do is go to AIT and renounce your citizenship. It will do wonders for your blood pressure and improve both America’s gene pool and average IQ.[/quote]
Nice to see the “love it or leave it” crowd followed us over to Taiwan. Shall I counter with the usual “If it’s so good then why don’t you go back” and let c_s flame to his widdle heart’s content?
america has become a religion. Jesus , the Father, and the Holy Spirit were only prophets in this paradigm. they led us to the real truth, which is uncle sam and the cult of democratizing/ Americaning/McDonaldizing the world into his image.
america is the new israel. it’s the promised land. and walmart is it’s conquering vanguard, swallowing culture in it’s mass purchasing wake.
i like walmart cause i can do my whole house for under 400 bucks. but that’s about it. sam walton was a creep in my book.
bush says " they hate us because we are free"… wake up! japan is free, france is free, they didn’t have a 911. why didn’t they hit the tower in toronto? why didn’t they hit the eiffel tower? cause france, canada, and japan haven’t done anything to piss them off. america has. we need to face it and fix it. america’s denial is the worst kind of sickness.
[quote=“rantheman”]
Bush says " they hate us because we are free"… wake up! Japan is free, France is free, they didn’t have a 911. why didn’t they hit the tower in toronto? why didn’t they hit the eiffel tower? cause France, canada, and Japan haven’t done anything to piss them off. America has. we need to face it and fix it. America’s denial is the worst kind of sickness.[/quote]
If you don’t like it, go back and do something about it or stay here, shut up and teach English. Sheesh!
Unless you are prepared to do something about it…Talk is cheap you know…
You can get a jumpstart: 
