I'm back in Taiwan - a WONDERFUL week with Sarah in Florida last week. Perfect weather all week with lots of sun and time on the beach. Pictures and more coming soon. I've been trying to catch up as much as possible with work but I'll get the pictures updated soon.
Update on Sarah's dad... he is now out of the hospital!!! Everything is going well again. He has his tubes out and they are staying in Iowa City this week for a few more daily checkups. If all is well, there's a chance that he and Sarah may be able to return to their real home later this week.
Thanks to everyone for their prayers and concerns. We're hoping he's out of the tough stuff finally after some discoveries last week. All is much better now.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Leaving On A Jet Plane
I'm about 13 hours from getting on a plane to come back to the US of A!!! This calls for a special celebration.... Ozzy? Can you help me out??
So by the time you put the dishes away for dinner on Friday night, I should be safe and sound to Florida with my one-and-only Sarah for the week. I'll be checking out Tokyo and Atlanta as temporary stops in my journey. And yes, I'm flying on Northworst Airlines in Coach.... this will NOT be fun. Maybe I can tell them I'm off to see my woman and they'll upgrade me feeling sorry for me.
Our plans for those 8 days together?? Enjoy each other's company and the sunny weather while playing in the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully see some more dolphins like last time.... eat some good food while we're there. I already checked and there is unfortunately no Jimmy Johns nor is there a Chipotle where we'll be.
I can watch American Idol on a REAL TV, and of course witness some Red Wings domination in the first round of the hockey playoffs, something besides Yankees baseball, hear the ocean roar with people speaking ENGLISH around us!!!! Nothing written in Chinese for once... I guess I'm a little worried about culture shock believe it or not:)
I posted some pictures from our gathering last Friday at a traditional hot pot in Taipei. They have coals on the bottom that use the chimney to heat up the water above. You drop your food in and let it boil before taking out and eating. It was AWESOME! Hot pot is both a favorite of Sarah and I.... wonder if we can find hot pot in Florida....
So by the time you put the dishes away for dinner on Friday night, I should be safe and sound to Florida with my one-and-only Sarah for the week. I'll be checking out Tokyo and Atlanta as temporary stops in my journey. And yes, I'm flying on Northworst Airlines in Coach.... this will NOT be fun. Maybe I can tell them I'm off to see my woman and they'll upgrade me feeling sorry for me.
Our plans for those 8 days together?? Enjoy each other's company and the sunny weather while playing in the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully see some more dolphins like last time.... eat some good food while we're there. I already checked and there is unfortunately no Jimmy Johns nor is there a Chipotle where we'll be.
I can watch American Idol on a REAL TV, and of course witness some Red Wings domination in the first round of the hockey playoffs, something besides Yankees baseball, hear the ocean roar with people speaking ENGLISH around us!!!! Nothing written in Chinese for once... I guess I'm a little worried about culture shock believe it or not:)
I posted some pictures from our gathering last Friday at a traditional hot pot in Taipei. They have coals on the bottom that use the chimney to heat up the water above. You drop your food in and let it boil before taking out and eating. It was AWESOME! Hot pot is both a favorite of Sarah and I.... wonder if we can find hot pot in Florida....
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Coming Home.... Soon!
Less than 48 hours before I get on a plane to head to Florida. I'm excited to see Sarah again - can't remember what she looks like! Not looking forward to the 14 hour plane flight from Tokyo to Atlanta, but it'll be worth it.
American Idol continues to feel crunched into the 60-ish minute time slot. They bring in Quintin Tarantino who is always fun to watch, but exhausting. Feel like I ran a marathon after watching him - same feeling after watching Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. He's actually pretty good at this coaching stuff - too bad the contestants didn't step up! Never a good idea to break out Brian Adams, two contestants did it and may find themselves in trouble because of it.
Keeping with the Movie Theme..... I present my evaluation Wayne and Garth style:
We're Not Worthy!! We're Not Worthy!!
Adam - that was cool yet again. He's better than some live acts that are currently touring!
Shwing!
Danny - Pretty good, worth another week
Allison - I agree, the last girl to hang in to the competition
Ex-squeeze me???
Kris Allen - not bad - what movie was that from??
Sphincter Says What??
Lil Rounds - what the hell was that? She's bringing sass talking back to Simon, but not bringing into her singing.
NOT or Cha... As If
Annop - The classic senior prom song that everyone hates won't win any votes.
Piano Matt - Again, stay away from songs that make people cringe when they hear.... I think your time has run out here.
On a seperate note - I think 1/2 of my coworkers freaked when the Star Trek movie preview came on.
Hockey Playoffs begin tonight!!!! GO RED WINGS!!!!
American Idol continues to feel crunched into the 60-ish minute time slot. They bring in Quintin Tarantino who is always fun to watch, but exhausting. Feel like I ran a marathon after watching him - same feeling after watching Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. He's actually pretty good at this coaching stuff - too bad the contestants didn't step up! Never a good idea to break out Brian Adams, two contestants did it and may find themselves in trouble because of it.
Keeping with the Movie Theme..... I present my evaluation Wayne and Garth style:
We're Not Worthy!! We're Not Worthy!!
Adam - that was cool yet again. He's better than some live acts that are currently touring!
Shwing!
Danny - Pretty good, worth another week
Allison - I agree, the last girl to hang in to the competition
Ex-squeeze me???
Kris Allen - not bad - what movie was that from??
Sphincter Says What??
Lil Rounds - what the hell was that? She's bringing sass talking back to Simon, but not bringing into her singing.
NOT or Cha... As If
Annop - The classic senior prom song that everyone hates won't win any votes.
Piano Matt - Again, stay away from songs that make people cringe when they hear.... I think your time has run out here.
On a seperate note - I think 1/2 of my coworkers freaked when the Star Trek movie preview came on.
Hockey Playoffs begin tonight!!!! GO RED WINGS!!!!
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Top 8
Happy Birthday Wheeler....
Another thought - I see Kumar has "retired" from TV to help the Obama Administration. So the official fast food will now become White Castle Burgers:) Or maybe they rename The White House to "The White Castle"?? Smoke some pot before making government trips!! I need to rewatch that movie tonight....
American Idol top 8... squeezed into an hour... ish! So the results show is now the same length as the performances? That's called "Advertising". At least Megan is gone, she wasn't up to par with the rest of them.
Best of the Best
Adam - Cool name, cool performance again. And who would have thought of doing Tears for Fears???? Nice.
Matt - I did like the performance yet again (hated the JT hat), but he's had a hard time getting fan support lately. I think he has more talent than some of the other ones and I hope he's around for the next few weeks to see what he can do.
Around for a while yet
Allison - Good but not great.
Anoop - Much better... less frat boy and more talent (few pitch issues)
Danny - not the best arrangement but he's proving to have a good fan base despite being the "old" guy in the competition.... at age 29
Kris - I just don't like the song, no matter who sings it. Pretty good though.
Bottom 2
Lil Rounds - she was good, but yeah - very much a Tina Turner cover band. She's one of the more polite and realistic candidates this year though.
Scott - hmmm... guitar playing not so good. My pick to go home if I had my way.
It's interesting from here out as most everyone can win week to week, and everyone can go home week to week. Could see a judge's save unless it's Kris or Lil.
Another thought - I see Kumar has "retired" from TV to help the Obama Administration. So the official fast food will now become White Castle Burgers:) Or maybe they rename The White House to "The White Castle"?? Smoke some pot before making government trips!! I need to rewatch that movie tonight....
American Idol top 8... squeezed into an hour... ish! So the results show is now the same length as the performances? That's called "Advertising". At least Megan is gone, she wasn't up to par with the rest of them.
Best of the Best
Adam - Cool name, cool performance again. And who would have thought of doing Tears for Fears???? Nice.
Matt - I did like the performance yet again (hated the JT hat), but he's had a hard time getting fan support lately. I think he has more talent than some of the other ones and I hope he's around for the next few weeks to see what he can do.
Around for a while yet
Allison - Good but not great.
Anoop - Much better... less frat boy and more talent (few pitch issues)
Danny - not the best arrangement but he's proving to have a good fan base despite being the "old" guy in the competition.... at age 29
Kris - I just don't like the song, no matter who sings it. Pretty good though.
Bottom 2
Lil Rounds - she was good, but yeah - very much a Tina Turner cover band. She's one of the more polite and realistic candidates this year though.
Scott - hmmm... guitar playing not so good. My pick to go home if I had my way.
It's interesting from here out as most everyone can win week to week, and everyone can go home week to week. Could see a judge's save unless it's Kris or Lil.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Another Monday, This Time It's April
The Braves are in 1st Place with only 161 more games to play - Granted they're 1-0 while everyone else has yet to begin, but hey - it's a start! Yeah, Major League Baseball has begun their season while it snows across the midwest. So instead of rain delays, you'll see snow delays. And they thought it was a good idea to build the new Twins Stadium without a roof... that'll make play interesting when they get back to the post season.
This week marks my 1 full year of living in Taiwan. So 12 months down. About 5 or 6 months left (to be determined). I came to the conclusion that after 12 months, the "thrill" of living in a foreign country is gone. Part of that has to do with being halfway around the world from Sarah, but I now feel like this is "home" and realize that when I do go back after this summer, it'll feel entirely new again despite being back in the US. I also find myself defensive of my "home" if anyone talks bad against Taiwan (mainly due to their ignorance). Similar to my growing up in Iowa. I can make fun of it because I grew up there, but nobody else better rip on it!
It's Easter Week. I did walk by a Christian Church on Sunday morning (with Chai) that was celebrating Palm Sunday. There were 7 or 8 people up front singing with microphones to a CD of music, and about 2 people in the congregation to listen. But they were singing for all to hear the good news that comes with Easter. But Taiwan does not have a fixation on chocolate, and marshmellow bunnies like we do back in the US. No worries, thanks to Jill I did get my fix of sugar coated marshmellows in the shape of chicks.... they were good but after my successful attempt at the Peeps Challenge a few years ago, I have to stop myself at 10 peeps.
But as Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, it was Tomb Sweeping Day this weekend. Today was actually a national holiday in China (optional holiday in Taiwan). Pretty low key in Taipei, but the traffic in and out of town was HORRIBLE (similar to traffic around 4th of July for people heading North to the cabin).
No chance of winning my Basketball pool - well the one that has a trophy at least. If MSU wins, I win the other league, but do we really want that to happen? I'd sacrifice my pride to make sure the cheating Spartans don't win it all. No, it's been 9 years and I still haven't forgotten.
Anyway -have a good week! I head back to USA in about 10 days!!
This week marks my 1 full year of living in Taiwan. So 12 months down. About 5 or 6 months left (to be determined). I came to the conclusion that after 12 months, the "thrill" of living in a foreign country is gone. Part of that has to do with being halfway around the world from Sarah, but I now feel like this is "home" and realize that when I do go back after this summer, it'll feel entirely new again despite being back in the US. I also find myself defensive of my "home" if anyone talks bad against Taiwan (mainly due to their ignorance). Similar to my growing up in Iowa. I can make fun of it because I grew up there, but nobody else better rip on it!
It's Easter Week. I did walk by a Christian Church on Sunday morning (with Chai) that was celebrating Palm Sunday. There were 7 or 8 people up front singing with microphones to a CD of music, and about 2 people in the congregation to listen. But they were singing for all to hear the good news that comes with Easter. But Taiwan does not have a fixation on chocolate, and marshmellow bunnies like we do back in the US. No worries, thanks to Jill I did get my fix of sugar coated marshmellows in the shape of chicks.... they were good but after my successful attempt at the Peeps Challenge a few years ago, I have to stop myself at 10 peeps.
But as Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, it was Tomb Sweeping Day this weekend. Today was actually a national holiday in China (optional holiday in Taiwan). Pretty low key in Taipei, but the traffic in and out of town was HORRIBLE (similar to traffic around 4th of July for people heading North to the cabin).
No chance of winning my Basketball pool - well the one that has a trophy at least. If MSU wins, I win the other league, but do we really want that to happen? I'd sacrifice my pride to make sure the cheating Spartans don't win it all. No, it's been 9 years and I still haven't forgotten.
Anyway -have a good week! I head back to USA in about 10 days!!
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