Phone company

Dear Chunghwa Telecom employee (I think your english name may be Vicky),

We've seen you about 6 times in the last month.  Probably 15 in the last year.  We have had lots of questions about iphones, contracts, bills, wait-lists and repairs.  We've used American credit cards that seem to add 30 minutes and complications to any purchase.  You had to fill out our forms for us because we couldn't write our own address.  We speak no Chinese.  You've translated for issues that I am sure are outside your job description.  We've brought friends with us promising them you would be able to help them too.  We always come in at the end of the work day when you are probably tired and ready to go home.

While you probably curse under your breath when we walk in, you always appear to be happy to help.  Your English is fabulous despite your protests that it isn't.  You always explain our options to us rather than just saying it will be ok.   Sometimes your co-workers try to help - but really you are the best.

Thank you so much.  Xiexie.

Your waiguoren friends,
Allison and Jerry

back and random!

i'm back!  busy with school (not really).  just booked two tickets to bangkok for thanksgiving.  going with a few teachers from school, so we're excited.  any advice?  also, been playing ultimate frisbee on wednesday and fridays and getting ready to get back in to running.  allison has been working out a lot, so she is motivating me.  finally got my 3gs and i love it.  had the same... crappy LG phones for the last five years, so it is nice to have something a little more up to date.  compass is amazing, as is video.  will post videos soon.  off to bed.  oh yeah, been updating flickr off to the right of this blog if you want to take a look.

all over the place (like my cab driver)

whew, don't go see orphan if you're looking for a relaxing movie. i spent half of it with one eye closed and the other eye covered up. every time i looked over, allison was covering her face and wrapping her blanket up over her head. i went in thinking the movie was A) rated PG and B) going to be terrible, so i was pleasantly surprised at the end.

finally found a little park to run at near our apartment, but the humidity followed me over there, so it is just as hot. someone at school told us it cools down quite a bit by november, so we'll be looking forward to that. we've been eating out quite a bit and have had some really good food lately. we just got back from "indian food street" over near sogo with a teacher friend.

driving has been lots of fun too. our car is small enough it feels like we're in a little go cart sometimes and we can weave in and out of traffic pretty well when things get dicey. also, u-turns are crazy here. you can just pull into the scooter lane, wait for some open space, and then flip one and no one cares. every once in a while i'll catch myself getting ready to make a triple right or turn left into a parking lot, but then i'll remember anything goes and we're going the opposite direction in no time. allison has been doing great driving and when i'm in the passanger seat, it is only just a little scarier than watching orphan.

speaking of driving, after the movie on saturday, i went out with a few people from school, and took part in the scariest cab ride ever. and yes, i know it probably is tame compared to some other cab rides, but it was insane. he was cutting off other cabs, going twice the speed limit, running reds, and half the time i felt like he was trying to clip the car he was cutting off. (mid post ps. allison is telling me about her multiple mosquito bites right now. also, she sneezed 8 times this morning and 6 this afternoon. she is going for a record. crazy.) we ended up getting there alright, but, seriously. it was like the car chase in the movie the rock.

last thing... got the time capsule (hard drive/wireless router) mom sent and allison loves her 3g. 3gs is supposed to come out in days (or weeks, who knows), so i'm excited. got paid today... heading to ikea on saturday and a night market friday so i can get some crazy chinese/english shirts. hope all is well wherever you are. if you have questions, just ask!

ps someone smuggle in some ddp or diet pepsi for allison. she is dying over here! i found rogue dead guy (12 oz bottles), so i got that going for me, which is nice.

oh, and our friend had her baby!

oops, been a few days

first off... we went running today and made it about 2 miles before we thought we were going to die. i think i figured out the conversion. take however many miles you ran, multiply it by 10 to account for the humidity, add two miles because of all the stares you're getting for being the only two white people on the track, and you have your total. so yeah, we basically ran 22 miles today (at least it felt like it).

we were going to try and post every other day, but looks like school has gotten in the way. not that we've been to busy, but just so much to do. so yeah, i guess we've been busy. the typhoon came and went and the weather has cooled down quite a bit (compared to the 100F or so it was when we got here). we looked at couches last weekend for a bit. to get a feel for how it felt, imagine walking into an abandoned warehouse on the side of the road and having dozens of different sets of couches, loves seats, and chairs... mixed in with various types of wooden furniture. all this in a two story warehouse that shakes when you walk upstairs and leaks in some places. i don't even think anyone was at the third place we went to. also, we stopped and looked at a few cars last weekend and we're planning on getting one (maybe? not sure how it works) this saturday and hopefully get a couch as well.

let's see... i've been playing wicked games of charades and if there were actual points being handed out, i'd easily be in the top five point getters in taichung (maybe top ten in taipei). i've started to notice the kids will look at you and i found out that most of them speak english, but they're too scared to say anything because all they see is a tall white curly haired ogre staring at them. with that said, i have gotten a few of them to talk to me and today at dinner, i waved at one from across the room and next thing i know, three girls (aged 4-7 years old) were saying/yelling "hello!" pretty loud to me and waving every ten seconds until their moms got mad at them and allison blamed me for getting them in trouble. another thing is the taiwanese adults will stare (and call allison beautiful and cute), which is to be expected and i've started to wave back. haven't gotten to many people to wave at me though, but maybe that is because they're going 45 mph in a scooter with no one following the traffic rules.

alright... allison gets her iphone 3g tomorrow or friday and i'm waiting for the 3gs to come out. they said it was going to come out agust 1st, but pushed it back to august 28thish, but it could still be pushed back even more. we'll get our own internet in the next week or so, hopefully right about the time that my 1tb time capsule shows up (thanks mom!). i know i will never, ever, ever, in my entire life use up all the space, but i couldn't force myself to buy the 500gb one over here, when i could get twice the memory for the same price in the US. also, looking into buying a bike by giant so i can go riding with the pe teacher and also two scooters. wow, we're buying a lot. fortunately, most of it we can resell and it is all stuff that is worth it (so no comments from you stephanie!). ok, more comments to specific people since i never email anyone: drew - i hope your first day back at school is terrible. stephanie - i hope your first day back is amazing. tk - 2.5! see you in december? mom - thanks again for the time capsule. dad - do you read this? want to sub for me? robyn - hope your car is alright (tell jake hi!) megan - don't leave taiwan! engles - allison is doing AMAZING (and i never use caps) virgil and d - will send pics soon! zach - a lot of people go to school for seven years. yeah, they're called doctors (not lawyers). court and mig - get ready to lose. this is fun. it feels like i'm giving an acceptance speech at the oscars. um... i'm sure i'm forgetting people (they always say that) d-mac - drink a liter of beer in germany for me! marie - sorry for not letting you know we were alright sooner! brett - thanks for all the taiwan advice so far. heahter and arron - party at your place soon! ok, this is getting weird. i'm tired and done. bye!

ps don't forget to check out the blonde in taiwan as she winds down her final days in formosa