Taiwan Sunsets

Taiwan sunsets are brief, but powerful. Right around four o'clock, everything becomes so much more vibrant. It brightens, yet contrasts. Today I decided to take a short scooter ride around the neighborhood by my school and I saw cranes and an heron floating above rice patties, elderly chatting and strolling, a hidden temple, and a mansion.

The weather was beautiful today. Too bad it will probably rain tonight.

before a couple gets married, it's popular in china and taiwan for them to take fancy pictures together--to show they are happy and they are beautiful.

i see these pictures every now and again. on the bus train from yilan to taipei, there is a television advertisement for them. the pictures are nicely composed and the settings, costumes, and make-up are fantastic. there are scenes of the man leading the woman in a waltz, the couple riding in a hot air balloon, the couple holding hands in a park.

but it's just a fantasy. it's just make-belief. these pictures are made so that they can show others what a "perfect" relationship they have. underneath the surface, it's all a facade of adulthood--that the couple knows how to love and how to live and how to think for their families. i see these pictures, and i feel a cloud of disappointment because this is exactly the kind of facade my parents want from me. it's a fairy tale that cannot come true.

cool breeze 涼爽的風

i woke up a tad late this morning. forgot to change my alarm from yesterday's jiaxi hike. skipped breakfast 'cause time was running out...and headed out to my glorious, scenic route to hu shan elementary school. i got there at 8am sharp.

immediately after exiting my apartment doors, i noticed something different. it was colder, yes--quite noticeably cooler than the previous two days (which, by the way, have been a pretty dramatic shift from scorching pre-mid-autumn)... but not only that, something in the air smelled...familiar.

the cool air brought with it a nuanced smell of moist dirt, asphalt roads still under construction, rust, and fresh grass. it smelled like an earlier southern california morning; kids totting their backpacks dutifully heading to school. i was reminded of my elementary school days, and the mornings where my mother made me 粥 and where i enthusiastically headed to school fifteen minutes before the school bell to chat with my friends--about whatever.

rain and thunder

rain and thunder in yilan right now.

mid-autumn festival has just passed so the temperature has dropped significantly from scorching hot to cool.

it's a drastic and rapid shift.

the little hairs on my arms have been raised all day.

and the mosquitoes are multiplying.

i am glad i decided to stay home tonight.

目前在宜蘭下超大雨，閃電霹靂聲音非常地吵。

中秋節剛過了，而溫度聰火辣變成很涼爽。

是個很國際，突然的轉折。

--

what a great day.

spoke with the special education teacher at Da Hu, one of my elementary schools and learned about the countryside/city disparity in special ed.

spoke to the farmer at Er Hu, a famous pineapple plantation by Da Hu. we talked about everything--taiwanese vs american women, attitudes towards the mainland, attitudes towards america, my family, their family, school gossip, farming pineapples

rainbow at turtle island

I live and teach in Yilan County, a one-hour bus ride south of Taipei. I live in Yilan City and work in Yuanshan Township. This is Turtle Island. It can be seen pretty much anywhere off the coast of Yilan and it is open only a few months out of the year due to environmental protection efforts. By the way, Yilan County is known for it's beautiful scenery, clean water, and environmental protection efforts. While it may be close to Taipei City, this scenic county offers a stark contrast to the hustle, bustle, and smog of Taipei.

a common sighting: people sleeping on train rides.

my first post in taiwan

i've been here for a month and this is just my first post. very successful updating indeed.

i haven't had much time, really.

today was the first day of work. it far exceeded my expectations. i <3 taiwan.

i made 64 english name tags and assigned about 20 new english names.

Uh. Oh.

I GUESS I'M GOING TO HAVE TO BRUSH UP ON MY CHINESE ON THE PLANE...

los angeles, not for me, not now.

June second, Wednesday

Little Tokyo. I am eating dinner at Curry House. I seem to be the only one who came alone. I poured myself tea just now, just like I did several times in my dorm room while I was in College (except, I paid 2 dollars for the entire box of tea, not just a single tea bag). I think about how great it would be to be able to pour tea for more good company in Taiwan.

Sitting across to my right are a group of twenty-somethings. They’re hard to miss. They are the largest group here and are making quiet a ruckus. I bet they’re already drunk. They are probably co-workers, or good friends.

Surprisingly, accidentally, serendipitously, today was a good day. Los Angeles is a beautiful city. I ate lunch at home. I watched some more T-dramas.

The tea is not too hot, not too cold.

Aaron messaged me. He had the day off and asked if I wanted to hang out , I hadn’t seen him in a while, thought that it would be nice to accompany him; drove all the way (in traffic) to the West side and had shaved ice with him. Mediocre shaved ice, but exceptional company.

Then came a candid, scenic, trafficky drive to the East side, where I visited Christian to pick up my beloved camera. I had left it in her car the night before—filled with drunken partying.

While Angelino drivers braked, yielded, signaled, and accelerated like ants, mechanical, I pondered. Los Angeles is my home. I find a special sense of comfort here. There is something magnificent about the monolithic skyscrapers that is manifested as the symbol of LA, especially during the magic hour. The sky was clear. The air felt soft and cool against my skin. Pop music.

However, I cannot settle for a nice cubicle-office-reserved parking-elevator-morning espresso-air conditioned—type job. Not yet. Part of me feels like these skyscrapers, as blindingly lustrous as they are, were not built for me. Part of me, feels like for the time being, I am meant to be a vagabond of the world, a searcher, a student, a dancer in the dark.

On the way to the East side, I also imagined, that if my father were wiser, what kind of words he would tell me. It had something to do with traffic. He would say, “You cannot beat traffic, no matter how many times you swerve in and out of lanes. Someone will always be ahead of you and someone will always be behind you. Either way, you are on your way to your destination. We all are.”

Curry House. To the right of me is a couple (or siblings) talking about life’s mundane tasks. Errands they have to run. The couple is “grown up”- looking. I wonder if I will end up in restaurants when I’m “grown up” talking about mundane things.

Taiwan, I'm ready.

Ethan Ruan

I think Ethan Ruan, a Taiwanese actor, is one of the sexiest men alive. Everything about him is fine, fine, FINE. Also, he does a great job of playing really excellent boyfriends in such dramas as "Wayward Kenting." Today I went to the park for another jog and I got to thinking. I love film for many reasons and as a media theorist, I understand film as an oversimplification, often an idealization of reality. This is precisely why I believe film has the power to shift the world as it is, to a world as it should be; and, it is an excellent predictor of where popular culture is progressing to. Hollywood and Asian dramas spend so much money on media works that send the message that love it worth the pain; that one day you (and me) too can find the love of our lives...and actors like ETHAN RUAN do a great job of convincing us that these messages are true and apply to our real lives!

But I am very eager to ask these questions to Ethan Ruan (or other romantic comedy actors, or folks who have been in successful long-term relationships): Does true romance exist? How do you make it happen? How does it happen?

Being involved in the gay community for quite some time (not only being in friend circles but also, of course, DATING), it's rare to find couples who have been together for a very long time. Further, often times when you see long-term relationships, partner commitment levels... well... waver. And I have to say THIS: no matter how much I think SEX is great, no matter how many sexual partners I may enjoy screwing around with, I absolutely, whole-heartedly, want to find this thing called ROMANCE and this thing called LOVE.

So how do I do it? And do it exist?

The Park in my Hood, only in my Hood

I went to Almansor Park today to do a feel laps. I got to thinking--how there is really no place else like this: the folks playing baseball are Chinese, but are native Spanish speakers; a man sitting underneath the gazebo plays an ancient Chinese instrument I forgot the name of; guys playing basketball, jacked ABC's, old folks, and a woman wearing sandals, jog around the track. The weather was perfect today. If only I had my camera.

粱

Taiwan Sky