Well - getting down to the last week. And after the 117 degree heat index day today, I'M READY!!! It's been an interesting week trying to ship some of my stuff home. The rate is higher than I had hoped so Plan B was to take them onto the plane as extra luggage. After looking into that route, there is no guarantee of rate or that my stuff will even get there on the same flight. It's actually not a bad option if you only have a direct flight, but since I have a connection flight, I can't wait for my luggage to carry through Customs. SO..... back to plan A of shipping my stuff through UPS. I moved some of the heavy stuff (books, shoes) out of Box #3 in hopes of saving some money. If all goes well, most of my stuff will be safely in Rochester by the end of the week waiting for me to arrive next week with two suitcases full (but still under weight!) of stuff.
As for customs... I added an extra category to the invoice that lists "country of purchase" so I can show the US Customs folks that most of what I'm bringing home I actually purchased in the US. SO DON'T TAX ME TWICE!!!
Ah, the stresses of moving home! But in 8 days, I'll be back in Rochester with my one and only Sarah. Then back to fighting jetlag and culture shock! Can't believe this moment is finally here!
This past week has included a lot of going away parties. I'm working on the pictures to upload now but of course no going away party is right unless it includes KTV!!! We went out as a large group from work for some food, beer, karaoke, and I even brought a couple of bottles of Captain Morgan for everyone's enjoyment. We also headed out for an all-you-can-eat BBQ for lunch on Friday which turned into all-you-can-drink for the afternoon.
Then some more festivities as we had "guys night" Friday night to an interesting restaurant called DS Music where everything has a hospital theme. They serve beer like it's an IV, they give shots of alcohol in shot containers, the servers are dressed as nurses of course. It's about as PG-13 as Hooters would be and there were a lot of people of both genders at the restaurant, including some high school kids at the table next to us. The food was actually very good and most of it came out with flames or on fire for additional affects. You'll see pictures on the right! Our waitress could not speak much English and we spoke little Chinese so it made for an interesting conversation every time she came by the table. It was actually pretty comical.
As for the weekend? Too hot to do anything outdoors. Further wrapping up of packing and going through the house to get ready for moving out on Monday.
Favre is officially Minnesotan..... get your Purple #4 Jerseys now!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Ticket Booked For Home
Lots of people are asking about the flooding and mudslides here in Taiwan. It's definitely worth asking, but it's all in the South of Taiwan. I'm in the North which didn't see much damage from the Typhoon other than some trees down, etc. In the Mountains, a lot of times there is only one road to get through there so when a Typhoon dumps 80 inches of rain in 2 days, you expect the ground to react in a negative way. So people are stranded up there and clearing the roads isn't necessarily the easiest thing to do. But that's what is going on in Taiwan right now. Pretty neat to see the recovery efforts by helecopter, etc. I'm seeing them on TV just like you are there, but mine isn't in English;)
It's starting to set in that I'm headed home. Mainly after going through all my stuff and boxing things up. I have three big boxes that are full, taped, recorded (for customs) and ready to send. I'm afraid to ask how much this is going to cost me! I'm pretty sure that everything that isn't boxed up will make it into my two luggage, everything after that is getting donated to neighbors and friends here in Taiwan. It's at this point that I'm glad I bought the $10 toaster, not the $15 one.
I have purchased my 1-way ticket back home. That's a weird feeling yet again.
It was a strange weekend - normal hot weather BUT on Sunday I heard someone knocking at the door of my next door neighbor. Then I heard my door bell ring. When I answered, there was a Taipei Police Officer (with gun and all) asking me (in Chinese but I understood the point) if I had seen my neighbor. I told him that I hadn't. I closed my door but for the next 20 minutes I could hear him ringing the doorbell and knocking trying to get a hold of my neighbor. I heard "Sir, I am police, let me in" and "Sir, I need you to help me". Then it died off for about 15 minutes, BUT then he returned with ANOTHER police officer. They were trying to get the door open for another 30 minutes after that. For some reason they were convinced he was inside but never did get him to open the door. A very strange affair to be sure, and of course I have no idea how it ended. Nothing more happened on Sunday.
Back in the US - football preseason has started and an impressive showing by my boy Sage for the Vikings. Here's hoping for a successful season with 2 wins over the Vikings! As for my Cyclones - I'm just wanting to start with a win over NDSU (there are a lot of NDSU graduates in Rochester with IBM), then a win over Iowa (of course the most important game of the year), a road win of some sorts (break our losing streak) and a Big 12 win! Anything more than that would be SWEET! We shall see how the Clones do this year with a new coach and a seemingly unknown team.
It's starting to set in that I'm headed home. Mainly after going through all my stuff and boxing things up. I have three big boxes that are full, taped, recorded (for customs) and ready to send. I'm afraid to ask how much this is going to cost me! I'm pretty sure that everything that isn't boxed up will make it into my two luggage, everything after that is getting donated to neighbors and friends here in Taiwan. It's at this point that I'm glad I bought the $10 toaster, not the $15 one.
I have purchased my 1-way ticket back home. That's a weird feeling yet again.
It was a strange weekend - normal hot weather BUT on Sunday I heard someone knocking at the door of my next door neighbor. Then I heard my door bell ring. When I answered, there was a Taipei Police Officer (with gun and all) asking me (in Chinese but I understood the point) if I had seen my neighbor. I told him that I hadn't. I closed my door but for the next 20 minutes I could hear him ringing the doorbell and knocking trying to get a hold of my neighbor. I heard "Sir, I am police, let me in" and "Sir, I need you to help me". Then it died off for about 15 minutes, BUT then he returned with ANOTHER police officer. They were trying to get the door open for another 30 minutes after that. For some reason they were convinced he was inside but never did get him to open the door. A very strange affair to be sure, and of course I have no idea how it ended. Nothing more happened on Sunday.
Back in the US - football preseason has started and an impressive showing by my boy Sage for the Vikings. Here's hoping for a successful season with 2 wins over the Vikings! As for my Cyclones - I'm just wanting to start with a win over NDSU (there are a lot of NDSU graduates in Rochester with IBM), then a win over Iowa (of course the most important game of the year), a road win of some sorts (break our losing streak) and a Big 12 win! Anything more than that would be SWEET! We shall see how the Clones do this year with a new coach and a seemingly unknown team.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Post-Typhoon Monday
The "Typhoon" hit us over the weekend including a Typhoon Day on Monday. But as is the case often in Minnesota with Snow Days - the actual event was far less spectacular than the prediction. Don't get me wrong, there was over 80 inches of rain dumped in southern Taiwan - but in Taipei (northern part), it rained heavily with some wind blowing, but far from the severity they were predicting. It's most likely my last Typhoon Day so we spent it watching movies with friends. Actually, the whole weekend was pretty much only good for watching movies with friends with all the rain (and now extreme humidity) that does come with the Typhoon Season.
We did go see G.I. Joe last night. I was thrilled of course since I was the GI Joe kid in the family. Jeremy was the Star Wars kid. You can tell he was the favorite child since my parents held onto his Star Wars toys (which are being enjoyed by the next generation of kids in his family) while they shipped off my GI Joes to Goodwill many many years ago so I no longer have that portion of my childhood. I know I know, my parents were SO mean for doing this. I do have the memories still and 4 seasons of GI Joe cartoons downloaded to remind me of my days of youth starting at 3:30pm for 30 minutes.
The movie was pretty well done. The only thing that bothered me was that the voice of Cobra Commander sounded WAY too close to Don LaFontaine who became popular for doing voiceovers for movie previews and the phrase "In a World". LaFontaine actually just died last year by the way:( Anyway - other than that, the plot was good for introducing the GI Joe concept as well as some character background. Baroness was WAY hotter in the movie than in the cartoon plus she lost the cheezy accent from the cartoon days. And of course I still stand by my childhood crush on Scarlett;) Lots of action, ok plot (actually very typical of most cartoons) and they did a nice job "modernizing" the cartoon version to look like it's 2009 standards. Go see it if you haven't already.
Eat to Die Hotpot tonight for a going away celebration for a coworker (not me). I guess we should start planning my going away celebration at some point this week. Only 3 weeks to go! Can you believe it?
Gearing up for another season of Iowa State Football. The few words that are dedicated to the Cyclones from the "experts" state that basically it can't get worse than last season and ISU could surprise a few folks. Isn't that basically the statement every year? The life of cheering for ISU - hope for surprises but ultimately get your hopes and dreams squished by an interception after having 1st and goal from the 3 yard line. If you have to ask, you weren't there.
Enjoy the week - summer weather finally to the MidWest, hopefully short lived as I'm sick of the 100+ degree days here. Better be back to fall weather by Labor Day!
We did go see G.I. Joe last night. I was thrilled of course since I was the GI Joe kid in the family. Jeremy was the Star Wars kid. You can tell he was the favorite child since my parents held onto his Star Wars toys (which are being enjoyed by the next generation of kids in his family) while they shipped off my GI Joes to Goodwill many many years ago so I no longer have that portion of my childhood. I know I know, my parents were SO mean for doing this. I do have the memories still and 4 seasons of GI Joe cartoons downloaded to remind me of my days of youth starting at 3:30pm for 30 minutes.
The movie was pretty well done. The only thing that bothered me was that the voice of Cobra Commander sounded WAY too close to Don LaFontaine who became popular for doing voiceovers for movie previews and the phrase "In a World". LaFontaine actually just died last year by the way:( Anyway - other than that, the plot was good for introducing the GI Joe concept as well as some character background. Baroness was WAY hotter in the movie than in the cartoon plus she lost the cheezy accent from the cartoon days. And of course I still stand by my childhood crush on Scarlett;) Lots of action, ok plot (actually very typical of most cartoons) and they did a nice job "modernizing" the cartoon version to look like it's 2009 standards. Go see it if you haven't already.
Eat to Die Hotpot tonight for a going away celebration for a coworker (not me). I guess we should start planning my going away celebration at some point this week. Only 3 weeks to go! Can you believe it?
Gearing up for another season of Iowa State Football. The few words that are dedicated to the Cyclones from the "experts" state that basically it can't get worse than last season and ISU could surprise a few folks. Isn't that basically the statement every year? The life of cheering for ISU - hope for surprises but ultimately get your hopes and dreams squished by an interception after having 1st and goal from the 3 yard line. If you have to ask, you weren't there.
Enjoy the week - summer weather finally to the MidWest, hopefully short lived as I'm sick of the 100+ degree days here. Better be back to fall weather by Labor Day!
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
What's In The Daily News
I'll tell you what's in the daily news.....
$5 for anyone that knows what that's from without Googling it. Do you drop the "e" in Google when you make it into a verb since it is a "Proper Verb"? Deep subjects today.
So what is in today's news? Clinton leaves North Korea with two journalists... interesting, but not necessarily what I'm interested in. I do enjoy seeing Slick Willy in the news though. Mainly because he makes all the Republicans out there shudder.
What else - Ahmadinejad sworn in. Iran is interesting read but hopefully never really a threat. Only time will tell. It is good to see Iranians taking to the streets to have their voice heard!
Pussycat Cabaret club in Zumbro Falls is reopening..... interesting....
Paula Abdul won't rejoin Idol.... Typhoon on its way to Taipei on Frid..... WHA!?!??!?!?! The ditzy-non-relevant-line-memorizing-has-been Paula Abdul won't come back to American Idol next season? Who's going to annoy audiences with her comments that don't make sense, or never make a "tough" decision, or fight with Simon which got old in Season 2? Who's going to spark rumors with her affairs with past contestants? Who's going to comment about how good or bad the dancing was in a Singing Competition? Who's going to stand up and clap every time she likes a contestant yet still tell a contestant they "look great" when they sucked it up? To all this I say: Paula - Good Riddance. No, I am not a huge fan of Kara either, but at least she is an improvement in proper skill to be a judge of a 2009 Singing Competition. I'm sure the show will "be different" but I guarantee that it will still dominate the ratings as it always does.
As for what's next for Paula? What else can she do? American Idol really made HER a household name, so I'm surprised she's leaving the show. If she's holding out for more money - HA. Don't think there are any other opportunities for her that could pay as well (and honestly be as easy to do) as AI. Maybe a book deal. I've said it before, life is all about finding your 15 seconds of fame then immediately doing the book deal. I'm actually serious about that. It'll be interesting to see what the details come out of it all though.
As for the Typhoon - yeah... this one looks to be going straight over Taipei too! We'll see what actually happens. If we have a Typhoon Day on Friday, I already have plans to go out and get it on camera!!!
Meredith is feeling better but still far from over. Thanks for the continued prayers!
$5 for anyone that knows what that's from without Googling it. Do you drop the "e" in Google when you make it into a verb since it is a "Proper Verb"? Deep subjects today.
So what is in today's news? Clinton leaves North Korea with two journalists... interesting, but not necessarily what I'm interested in. I do enjoy seeing Slick Willy in the news though. Mainly because he makes all the Republicans out there shudder.
What else - Ahmadinejad sworn in. Iran is interesting read but hopefully never really a threat. Only time will tell. It is good to see Iranians taking to the streets to have their voice heard!
Pussycat Cabaret club in Zumbro Falls is reopening..... interesting....
Paula Abdul won't rejoin Idol.... Typhoon on its way to Taipei on Frid..... WHA!?!??!?!?! The ditzy-non-relevant-line-memorizing-has-been Paula Abdul won't come back to American Idol next season? Who's going to annoy audiences with her comments that don't make sense, or never make a "tough" decision, or fight with Simon which got old in Season 2? Who's going to spark rumors with her affairs with past contestants? Who's going to comment about how good or bad the dancing was in a Singing Competition? Who's going to stand up and clap every time she likes a contestant yet still tell a contestant they "look great" when they sucked it up? To all this I say: Paula - Good Riddance. No, I am not a huge fan of Kara either, but at least she is an improvement in proper skill to be a judge of a 2009 Singing Competition. I'm sure the show will "be different" but I guarantee that it will still dominate the ratings as it always does.
As for what's next for Paula? What else can she do? American Idol really made HER a household name, so I'm surprised she's leaving the show. If she's holding out for more money - HA. Don't think there are any other opportunities for her that could pay as well (and honestly be as easy to do) as AI. Maybe a book deal. I've said it before, life is all about finding your 15 seconds of fame then immediately doing the book deal. I'm actually serious about that. It'll be interesting to see what the details come out of it all though.
As for the Typhoon - yeah... this one looks to be going straight over Taipei too! We'll see what actually happens. If we have a Typhoon Day on Friday, I already have plans to go out and get it on camera!!!
Meredith is feeling better but still far from over. Thanks for the continued prayers!
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Notes and Neurons
First off, prayers and get well wishes to my FSIL Meredith who's still trying to fight off this illness. She's back in good hands of smart doctors and hopefully she can get back to normal VERY SOON!
I found something that amazed me - it's musically related, but I think everyone will appreciate how human nature music can be. Of course it takes someone very gifted such as Bobby McFerrin to point out how we as humans can quickly pick up a concept such as the pentatonic scale. A simple example of the pentatonic scale is the black keys on a piano. They split (unevenly split) the octave into 5 notes, and only the notes that really matter. Ancient civilizations built their music on the pentatonic scale. It wasn't till the human race evolved in mid-evil times that we got the 8 note scale most commonly used and taught today. What I love is how he harmonizes with the crowd while he's jumping around on the stage. I'm trying to find a full copy of the lecture but so far I'm unsuccessful.
It's pretty impressive to me for some reason. I will have to look into that some more.
I found something that amazed me - it's musically related, but I think everyone will appreciate how human nature music can be. Of course it takes someone very gifted such as Bobby McFerrin to point out how we as humans can quickly pick up a concept such as the pentatonic scale. A simple example of the pentatonic scale is the black keys on a piano. They split (unevenly split) the octave into 5 notes, and only the notes that really matter. Ancient civilizations built their music on the pentatonic scale. It wasn't till the human race evolved in mid-evil times that we got the 8 note scale most commonly used and taught today. What I love is how he harmonizes with the crowd while he's jumping around on the stage. I'm trying to find a full copy of the lecture but so far I'm unsuccessful.
It's pretty impressive to me for some reason. I will have to look into that some more.
Monday, August 03, 2009
No Earthquakes Today
Another scorching hot weekend in Taipei - just when you think it can't get any hotter, it does. August is here which means sub-85 degrees at night is only 2 months away! I'll be home before we get to that point. That's right, the packing has begun to ship stuff home. I already have the Wii packed away along with my unread books. I do have a lot of things I'm giving away too since they're not worth shipping home. Toaster, glasses, ironing board, etc - things I had to get to get by that weren't part of the furnishings.
I was invited to Danshui yesterday by Alisa and her extended family. I was the only one there not Russian or married to a Russian. The three nieces of Alisa were super fun to be around. We hit up the Mexican restaurant that I've heard lots about from others and it lived up to the hype for my Taiwan standards of Mexican food. I had the burrito that was far from Chipotle, but it got the job done. I posted some pictures from the evening up north - we just missed sunset, but you'll see where the river that runs through Taipei, connects to the Taiwan Straight.... if you keep going straight, you'll eventually hit Shanghai area or so. You're looking North West for the most part. It's a beautiful area with a nice breeze in the evening that keeps us cool. Wish we had that breeze in Taipei!
You'll see a bunch of pictures from the Turkish Ice Cream guy. He's kind of an odd ball, but he's pretty popular. The icecream itself is ok, really sticky ice cream, but the show he puts on is the reason to go. He plays with the buyer and spins the icecream or pulls it out just when you think you have a grasp of the cone. I sent Zack up there to get 2 of them so I could take pictures. Let everyone laugh at him so I can get it on film!
I'm down to 4 weeks before I come home. Pretty amazing isn't it? I'm excited to do some tailgating and reserving my spot on the couch every Sunday afternoon for NASCAR/NFL watching. I have to train Sarah how to watch that on Sundays. I'm also excited to be able to communicate with people in a normal fashion. Getting tired of relying only on my computer for all my communication needs.
I was invited to Danshui yesterday by Alisa and her extended family. I was the only one there not Russian or married to a Russian. The three nieces of Alisa were super fun to be around. We hit up the Mexican restaurant that I've heard lots about from others and it lived up to the hype for my Taiwan standards of Mexican food. I had the burrito that was far from Chipotle, but it got the job done. I posted some pictures from the evening up north - we just missed sunset, but you'll see where the river that runs through Taipei, connects to the Taiwan Straight.... if you keep going straight, you'll eventually hit Shanghai area or so. You're looking North West for the most part. It's a beautiful area with a nice breeze in the evening that keeps us cool. Wish we had that breeze in Taipei!
You'll see a bunch of pictures from the Turkish Ice Cream guy. He's kind of an odd ball, but he's pretty popular. The icecream itself is ok, really sticky ice cream, but the show he puts on is the reason to go. He plays with the buyer and spins the icecream or pulls it out just when you think you have a grasp of the cone. I sent Zack up there to get 2 of them so I could take pictures. Let everyone laugh at him so I can get it on film!
I'm down to 4 weeks before I come home. Pretty amazing isn't it? I'm excited to do some tailgating and reserving my spot on the couch every Sunday afternoon for NASCAR/NFL watching. I have to train Sarah how to watch that on Sundays. I'm also excited to be able to communicate with people in a normal fashion. Getting tired of relying only on my computer for all my communication needs.
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