Sunday, October 29, 2006

Swimming 泳いでいる

Today was beautiful weather-wise - sunny, warm but not hot. A good day to head to the swimming pool, which is what we did. Our body of water of choice is the Diore (帝亞 Tiya/Diya) Spa, in Fengyuan on the big road going towards Tungshih (Dongshih 東勢). Diore is in a large, airplane hangar-like building that has all the charm of a Costco, but the water is clean, and there is a nice onsen 温泉 area in the back that is barred to children (Pamela and I took turns using the spa section). I had the pleasure of running into a student of mine there today, a very nice man named Vito. The best part about going swimming today was that, this being almost Halloween and therefore autumn (though you wouldn't know it by the warm temperatures outside), the pool wasn't crowded at all, in contrast to summer, when swimming spots in Taiwan are overrun with screaming children who should be attached to leashes. Our well-behaved little angel enjoyed herself immensely today.
今日の天気はよかったので豊原に「帝亞」とういうプールで泳いで行った。Amberはとても泳ぐことを楽しんだ。ぼくとパメラは温泉が好きだった。今は秋だからプールにほんのわずかな人が来た。よかったですね:)

Swimming pools most certainly need a protective god to keep watch over things プールの神

Change in schedule スケジュールの変更

Next week I'll be starting a new morning class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While the additional income will be appreciated, it means I won't be able to take my morning walks on those days in the Chung-cheng Park area, and thus will have to concentrate all my walks and hikes on weekends from now on. Today, I went for short walk in the hills around lunchtime, and had the whole area practically to myself.
新しい朝のクラスが来週始まるので、火曜日と木曜日に散歩することができない。今度から週末にしよう。今日の昼中正公園に行ってそこにだれもいなかった。幸せを感じた。

The Cardinals may have won the Series (I was rooting for Detroit), but I'm glad for So Taguchi 田口壮, my favorite Japanese player in the majors. And while the Tigers didn't do so well, Nippon Ham won the Japan Series, so at least one of my favorites succeeded.
田口さん、ファイターズ、おめでとう。

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Images of Fengyuan 豊原のいろいろな写真

Here are some pictures I took this morning while walking and riding around Fengyuan (Fongyuan 豊原). 

Two things I didn't take pictures of: 1) the guy I came across sunning his private parts on top of a hill overlooking the city; and 2) the woman who gave me a derisory laugh (not the embarrassed giggles that some Asians get when faced with the uncertainty of dealing with a foreign customer) at the tea stand when I ordered a milk tea without ice, then walked away to make the drink before I could give her the second part of my order (a green tea without sugar for Pamela). I wish I could've seen the look on her face when she turned around to give me my tea only to find out that I had ridden off in anger to go a less-contemptuous tea stand. I don't want to abuse the power of the Internet by naming names, but I certainly won't be buying anymore teas from the Balance stand on the corner of Hsian (Sian 四安) and Juihsing (Rueising 瑞興) Roads.

A stand of betel palm trees:


I don't think anyone will be picking this fruit anytime soon:


Many foreign bloggers here in Taiwan have commented on the beauty of Taoist temples 醜い寺:


Ornamental carp コイ:


A love hotel nearing completion. I guess you can never have enough sleaze in even the smaller cities:
建築工事中のラブホテル: 


I once dated an attractive Japanese woman for a year-and-a-half who, unfortunately, was a dedicated follower of Soka Gakkai 創価学会. She tried to get me to join, and gave me a lot of English-language materials on the group and its leader, Daisaku Ikeda 池田大作. What I read was enough to turn me off very quickly. For those of you who don't know, Soka Gakkai is a lay Buddhist organization that has been around long enough, and has enough members (not to mention its own political party, Komeito 公明党) that it no longer is referred to as a cult, though it remains widely distrusted by most Japanese. SG is very aggressive when it comes to recruiting, and is very active outside Japan, with the result being that many of the Westerners you may come across in life who claim to be Buddhists actually belong to Soka Gakkai International. 

With Soka Gakkai, it's salvation the easy way! Centuries of Buddhist theological debate is stripped away, so that all a member has to do is chant "Namu myoho renge kyo 南無妙法蓮華経" everyday, and everything will be A-OK. Soka Gakkai preys on those in Japanese society who don't belong to any social groups, so that a high percentage of the membership is made up of housewives, the self-employed, vocational school students and workers in the night-time entertainment industry 水商売. I recently discovered a Soka Gakkai flag flying from the roof of a house near the cram school where I work afternoons. Time to break out the Gohonzon 御本尊 and start chanting - Nam myoho renge kyo, nam myoho renge kyo, nam myoho renge kyo... 
創価学会の旗: 

Monday, October 23, 2006

Lost weekend

No, not because of a night lost to heavy drinking. Periodically I suffer from bouts of depression 憂うつ about life here in Taiwan, and the last thing I want to do then is to go out and be among hundreds of people (and even in small towns in Taiwan, you are often among hundreds, if not thousands of people - "Ren shan ren hai" 人山人海 as they say in Chinese). So I end up doing mostly nothing, as I did this weekend. 

This weekend's blues were no doubt brought on by the letdown that always happens following a visit back home. The mood is further darkened by memories of what Octobers were like back in Setagaya 世田谷区, Komae 狛江市 and Yokkaichi 四日市 (I wasn't in Okazaki 岡崎市 long enough to experience autumn there) - the weather becoming cooler and crisper, and the leaves beginning to change colors. Here it's still hot, the air is smoggy and there are no fall colors to alleviate the general ugliness all around. And it didn't help things either on Saturday morning when I turned on one of the Japanese channels on TV, and saw a program about winter in the north of Hokkaido. Seeing all that snow just drove home the fact that as long as I live in Taiwan I will probably never experience snow again, and Amber will never have the opportunity. Hehuanshan just doesn't cut it!

If there's any silver lining to all this, it's that I can watch not one, but two baseball championships - the World Series on ESPN and the Japan Series 日本シリーズ on NHK. This year I'm rooting for Detroit, and for Nippon Ham 日本ハム.

Here's a picture of Pamela in Japan, taken in November of 2004:

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Amber in the USA

We're back, jet lagged after a long flight back from Seattle to Taipei via Narita. 12 days back home with Mom and Dad, a time that was regretfully too short. Amber loved her Nana and Granddad, and they loved their new granddaughter. Here are some pictures from our time in the States:

Amber at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, waiting to board the United Airlines plane in the background for the flight to Narita.


Here's Amber enjoying herself at her grandparents' house. For the first several days after arriving, she suffered from a bad cold, which necessitated a trip to a pediatrician. Fortunately, she recovered quickly, and really enjoyed herself during our stay.


My parents house in Bremerton, Washington


Amber at the Silverdale Mall...


...at a restaurant


...with her granddad


...and getting ready to visit her first American supermarket.


My parents' cat Digby eyeing some of the local wildlife


Some family portraits


Pamela and I went down to the waterfront in Silverdale on the only rainy day of our visit, while my parents looked after Amber


Pamela took this great picture of Digby. We didn't get any photos of the other cat, Cleo


We weren't able to go on any trips this time, unlike in the past when we visited places such as Mount St. Helens, Mt. Rainier and Portland. We did go into Seattle one day, however, to visit the International District (aka Chinatown), where there is a great Japanese supermarket, Ujimaya (Pamela bought some Taiwanese instant noodles, while I picked up a bottle of Orion beer), and bookstore, Kinokuniya (alas, all the books I wanted to buy would've been too big to bring back to Taiwan). We took the ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle...


...and had lunch at Ivar's, a well-known seafood restaurant (and tourist trap) noted for its clams. Afterwards, Pamela tried to feed the seagulls, while Amber spent some quality time with Uncle Ivar


Pamela was very interested in the architecture of downtown Seattle, and took a lot of pictures


We had a good view of Mt. Rainier on the ferry back to Bainbridge Island


Back in Bainbridge, we had pizza and beer (Moose Drool - brewed in Missoula, Montana. Great label!), and checked out the fall foliage and Halloween preparations


On another nice day, we took Amber for a stroll along the Clear Creek Trail, which started at the waterfront. She always enjoys these outings


My parents have a nice view of the Olympic Mountains from their front yard, and the sunsets can be spectacular

 

My mother took Pamela shopping, so I had the pleasure of taking Amber out on my own for the first time. We had a nice father-daughter stroll along a paved trail that wound its way through some wetlands. I'm looking forward to many more of these outings as she grows up


On our last full day, Pamela, Amber and I drove over to Port Orchard. On the way back, Pamela took some pictures of aircraft carriers at the naval shipyard in Bremerton - don't tell anyone at Homeland Security about this! It was yet another great day weather wise, with clear views of Mt. Rainier


Amber held up surprisingly well on the long flight back to Taiwan - 10 hours on Northwest from Seattle to Narita, a 2-hour layover there followed by a 3.5 hour flight on Japan Asia Airways to Taoyuan. JAA is Japan Airlines - they change their name for flights to Taiwan so as not to "offend" China. Whichever name they use, JAL is a great airline if you're flying with a child. The cabin attendants are attentive and very friendly, and Amber got a free model of a JAA plane as a gift. That's more than we got from Northwest or United. Here are two pictures of Amber, one at SeaTac, the other at Narita


It's back to work tomorrow, and I definitely am not looking forward to it. It's always depressing to have to come back to Taiwan after visiting my family (or taking a trip to Japan), but that's my situation for the time being. しょうがない。