I read a lot. 
Thatās a killer alliteration that I must steal one day.
And to you! 
Thatās my #1 reason as well for eventually moving back toā¦uggghhhā¦Cali (I can hear LL Cool J in the background).
Damn liberals 
I was an so pleased to have a few brew with J.D. at Patio 28 in Sanshia. He is a person that I call my friend. He may disagree. However, J.D., you are always welcome in my home. I hope that you find what you are looking for. Maybe you should glance over your shoulder.
Not get reverse culture shock, let us know how you get on with that! Plus places have that bad habit of changing while you have been away. Good luck with your move back and even though I donāt know you donāt do like a lot of people and forget your old Taiwan friends when you leave.
[quote=āPigBloodCakeā][quote=ājdsmithā]
Number 1 is the number 1 reason weāre going back.
[/quote]
Thatās my #1 reason as well for eventually moving back toā¦uggghhhā¦Cali (I can hear LL Cool J in the background).
Damn liberals [/quote]
Where in Cali? We quite enjoyed the seaside amusement park in Santa Cruz and the farmland east of there, and SF is lovely, but for the most part, we thought CA was a bust. Dry, brown, flat and Yosemite was so crowded it was the only place that reminded us of Taiwan. 
I donāt think the educational system here is bad, per se. My wife and her family went through it, some through the University system and others through the 5 year vocational high schools. All of them are quite intelligent and worldy and vastly more financially successful than we are. But, for my kid, I want to see how he does on his own, motivating himself, taking what he can from that enormous American buffet of opportunity. The only real competition heās had here has been educational, tests, contests and the like. My friendsā children, who grew up here and then went back have ALL done extraordinarily well in the States.
Ah, the cryptic musings of the 3AM posters. :bravo: I have no reasons to disagree with you. I enjoyed meeting your wife and daughter and preparing some fine food for you all. I recall quite clearing sitting on the patio with you drinking some good beers and then moseying on over to chat with Kate Lin and Kage.
I have everything I need and Iām looking forward to doing certain things, but Iām not looking for anything in particular. Iām the happiest guy I know. 
Thatās true. Places do change, and so do people. I love my friends in NY, but damn, they have āsettled downā if you get me. We did a lot of looking around and talking about where we wanted to live. We drove from LA to NY then back to LA 2 years ago, running into a few former flobbers on the way. We loved Tennessee, but the schools seemed weak. We loved Wyoming and Montana and eastern South Dakota, but damn, they are like WAY out there. 
We settled on upstate NY. My Gran is there and sheās 98. My friends, several of my closest friends from high school that Iāve kept in touch with live around Albany, where I went to grad school, but I didnāt grow up there. We choose that area, because they are there and the schools are very good. Close to NYC (Yankees fans) and the Atlantic Ocean and mountains and rivers and lakes. If anything, Iāll be bringing back Taiwan in me. Iāve lived with little, when I first got here, and now I live with somewhat more. Ive traveled around Asia and seen people who live on next to nothing. I think I have my head on straight, but my friends in NY might think Iām nuts, when I want to say, make a dining room table from a barn door, or have a black soldier fly composting bucket or an aquaponic system in my living room.
As for my friends here, I use FB now and will probably expand membership. I havenāt been skypeing anyone yet, but I should start soon so I can figure it out. That way, I can yell at Tom Hillās greasy mop in real time. :aiyo:
JD,
You are in for a wild rideā¦thatās for sure. I still think Farmer White is the only real color of choice for your pick-up.
Any chance of stopping by on your way to NY? I could say a chant over the runes of the mystical āBlue Tub of Everlasting Refreshmentsā and get it filled up. :discodance:
[quote=āDurins Baneā]JD,
You are in for a wild rideā¦thatās for sure. I still think Farmer White is the only real color of choice for your pick-up.
Any chance of stopping by on your way to NY? I could say a chant over the runes of the mystical āBlue Tub of Everlasting Refreshmentsā and get it filled up. :discodance:[/quote]
Motorcycle comes first, then the pick up. Whatever color it is, it will surely have a gun rack. 
No can do on the stop over; will be flying direct from TPE into JFK.
[quote=ājdsmithā]For fairnessās sake, shouldnāt there be a JDSlagging Thread?
I can only think of the poor bastard who was suspended yesterday for telling me to go hang myself. What voice, now silenced? 
[/quote]
J.D., I :discodance: :discodance: :discodance: :discodance: :discodance:
I am struck today with nostalgia for some reason and I know when Iām gone, you all will just keep keeping on and Iāll mercifully fade away, but in the meantime, an anecdote:
Aboot two months ago I had the opportunity to run into a young Canadian fella on a commercial shoot. Heād been in Taiwan about ten seconds and landed, out of sheer luck I imagine, the lead in the commercial. Nice enough guy. We talked for a while, and I realized that talking to a 26 year old when you are 44 is really quite weird and can he please stop going, like, like like, you know? 
What struck me about his situation was how normal he felt this was, landing in Taiwan, living in Taoyuan of all places, and getting such a sweet gig (several days of shooting, about 4-5KNT per).
It reminded me of when I got here, back yonder in 1994. The ad agencies used to phone Global Village looking for vanilla gorillas to work through their sets, point at a few papers, smile and shake hands. I walked by the counter at the right time and landed a gig myself. I went out and bought a button down shirt and a pair a slacks, half my pay for the gig, and showed up on time. I was VG #2 and VG#1 was late. He showed up, scruffy as hell, unshaven, in a wrinkled shirt and jeans. They got one of the actual office guys to lend him his blazer. His saving grace was that he spoke Mandarin. He told jokes to the crew and the staff. So the gig went on and finished. I was terrible and never did another gig until last month, and that one only because they needed someone who could drive a stick shift delivery van. VROOM!
Scruf and I went to lunch afterwards. Heād been in Taiwan and Asia going on 15 years. I was a n00b but not really naive at all, so I asked him what heād learned in his 15 years. He said Taiwan was like a nightmarket alley. You could spend your whole time just poking around in one and get by fine, or you could walk right through and miss everything. Aside from his language ability, he never struck me as a successful guy in the western sense of the word. Showing up so disheveled for a job, and he did lots of āactingā gigs, it surprised me that he would keep getting them. But, Taiwan can be weird that way. He seemed to be having fun, but he was pretty much broke, so he said. 15 years and broke. That was a good lesson for me then. Donāt become that guy.
17 years later, I see that he was wrong in the sense that he really was limiting himself. There are more choices than the two he named. A lot more. Balancing fun and adventure with personal growth and responsibility is not impossible. In fact, in my experience, the more you practice both sides of the equation, the better you get at both and the rewards are far greater.
Iām not much for Life Experience as a calling, and traveling about is fine and all, but sooner or later, if you donāt settle down your mind and DO something, the risk of your rubber band snapping you in the ass becomes larger. I donāt wonder where that guy is. To paraphrase Leonard Cohen, I donāt think of him that often.
Peace
JD, if you ever venture out west again, let me know. I also plan on an RV trip back east with the little Tramp next year. Have some folks to see in WV and PA, but I havenāt been back since 90. Upstate is nice and would make a good stop.
Donāt worry, if you can be successful here, you will be successful anywhere, New York,New York.
5K for the lead? :roflmao:
[quote=āsaddletrampā]JD, if you ever venture out west again, let me know. I also plan on an RV trip back east with the little Tramp next year. Have some folks to see in WV and PA, but I havenāt been back since 90. Upstate is nice and would make a good stop.
Donāt worry, if you can be successful here, you will be successful anywhere, New York,New York.[/quote]
Iām expanding my facebook friends list, and I plan on getting you back on, cowboy. Would love to see you up yonder.
Thanks for reminding me about your smurf.
I just checked with NYSED, the NY State Education Department about getting my teaching certification and discovered that when they reviewed my transcripts last year they gave it to me. I already have certification to teach in NY.
F*CK YEAH! 
Be a rebelā¦teach 'em chinglishā¦ :roflmao:
If I ever get the chance to sub a Chinese class, I will teach them to speak very loudly and to state the blatantly obvious.
TEACHER! YOUāRE EATING A SAMMICH!
Funny you say ārebel.ā I may buy a Honda Rebel to help cut the pain at the pump.
Thatās fantastic! Really good news! :discodance:
Driving around the hills in San Xia today and Tuesday reminded me of the great stupid fun Taiwan can be.
I drove up the mountain to where my son attended Kindergarten. Had to drive him up there daily on the big red and white Kymco Xing. Loads of fun. Seven years have past since we did that. 
My wife had to take over when I broke a bone in my foot cracking my toes.
I bought some freshly made snausages, regular, black pepper and spicy. The woman asked me if I wanted Kou-liang sausages. Mmm, next time. :lick:
Rode around a bit and found some hiking trails Iāve always wanted to try. They are packed with people on weekends, but during the week, dead as dead. Fucking stray dogs chased me up and down the hill on the scooter. Iāve forgotten the terror. Iād stop. Theyād stop. Iād go. Theyād chase. We went back today and hiked one path, but it was straight up, 200 meters up in about 250M of trail. We bailed and went to Man Yue Yuan instead and saw, I believe, trout in the pools below the waterfall. I will will be catching some of their kin shortly.
Toothless farmers walking down the road with hand scythes, more dogs, old crappy red brick houses next to brand new concrete block houses, butterflies everywhere, roadside veggie stalls, corn, bitter gourd, bamboo tips, just beautiful. 
Funny how you know youāll still miss stuff you didnāt take for granted.
Closing in on ropeās end.
Oh, and I was wrong about the NYS certification. Same as before. 
This is lame. We need a roast thread. Iāve nothing appreciative to say about this jerk.