Fried on 'shrooms

I've been scanning the skies all day, but I still haven't seen any flying pigs. The weather forecast on TV says nothing about snowstorms in Hell. And yet something is different in this world. The China Post newspaper ran an editorial in today's edition that is, dare it be said, "even handed", "levelheaded", "insightful", nay even "rational". The piece in question, Makiyo case gives us no right to waiver in xenophobia fight, hasn't been posted on the newspaper's website yet (Update: click here), but here are some of its salient points:

(in reference to the group of taxi drivers who protested in front of the Japan Interchange Association 財団法人交流協会 demanding an apology for a "Japanese national beating up a Taiwanese person in his country")

What grounds did these drivers think they had for picketing the JIA? The next time a Taiwanese person commits a crime in Japan, should the Taiwanese authorities apologize? When a government commits an illegal or offensive act, governments and civic groups have the right to protest. But individual actions by individual citizens are just that. Protesting the Japanese government's handling of claims by former "comfort women" 慰安婦 is valid; connecting the Japanese representative office to the alleged assault perpetrator Takateru Tomoyori is not.

It's hard not to view the protest in front of the JIA as an expression of xenophobia. There were also hints of anti-Japanese sentiment on news sites, blogs or on social media sites where people made statements that strayed perilously close to racism; some comments crossed the line completely.

It should be remembered that hardly a week goes by in Taiwan without a news story about some alcohol-fueled dispute that turns violent. Our nation has plenty of thugs and gangsters as well as plenty of ignorant or even evil people. This is true across the world, in every country on the planet.

The editorial then notes that about 200 Japanese expatriates living in Taiwan have raised around NT100,000 ($3380) in a fundraising campaign for the taxi driver who was assaulted:

These Japanese people living in Taiwan are not connected to the offender in any way, and are not by virtue of being Japanese collectively guilty. But their generous actions should help demonstrate that there are kind individuals in every society, just as the alleged attacker's senseless violence demonstrates that there are uncivilized people in every society.

Whenever racism or xenophobia rears its ugly head it must be confronted and denounced. The fact cannot be overstated: the actions of Takateru Tomoyori have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is Japanese.

Wow. What is happening at The China Post? Has its editorial board finally realized that we are in the 21st century, that the Sino-Japanese War 中國抗日戰爭 has been over for 77 years and that Taiwan is part of a worldwide community and not merely an extension of Greater China 大中華地區? Or is the editorial an aberration, with the paper returning to business as usual in future editions? We'll have to wait and see.

This commentary should, in theory, persuade my female fan club (consisting of exactly one member) that xenophobia in Taiwan is not the sole possession of a group of Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨 supporters living in the southern part of the island (of whom she labels as "hicks" in a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word in its American context). I doubt it will have much of an effect, however.

Which brings to us to mushrooms. This afternoon, as usual, I headed to the hills of Dà​kēng 大坑 to do some walking. This time, though, I took a different way from my usual routes. Approaching the area from the rear (via Zhōng​xīng 中興), I parked my scooter at the No. 5 trailhead. However, instead of taking that path, I walked up an access road that eventually joined the staircase that runs along the top of the ridge. The sky wasn't as clear as it was yesterday, but the Central Mountain Range 中央山脈 could still be seen in the distance:

I walked along the ridgetop until the path reached the junction where it meets the No. 3 Trail. However, instead of taking a right and descending the No. 3, I took a left, which led to a paved road that wound its way downhill in the direction of Xīn​shè 新社. After a few minutes, the path passed by the Celestial Holy Mother 天上聖母 Temple, which offered more views of the mountains on the other side:

In all the years I've been tramping around these hills, the main hall of the temple has remained the only part of the complex with any ornamentation. The rest of the temple buildings continue on in a rough concrete state of limbo, hinting perhaps of difficulties in raising funds to complete construction. In any event, the lighting for taking pictures was much better from the rear than it was from the front:

Continuing down the lane, I passed by a number of buildings covered in black wrappings. Xīn​shè is noted locally its mushrooms, and the dark conditions are ideal for their cultivation:

Eventually, the lane came to the main road, with the choice of turning right for the hot spring town of Gǔguān 谷關, or going left and heading back in the direction of Taichung 台中, Fēng​yuán 豐原 and Dōng​shì 東勢. As if there were any choice in the matter. Before turning I passed by some cherry trees in early bloom 櫻花:

The road leading back toward Taichung was surprisingly busy for a non-holiday Tuesday afternoon...surprising, that is, until I remembered that today is Valentine's Day. Sure enough, there were a lot of young couples out for a drive (as well as other things that shall be left unmentioned). The road was lined with mushroom vendors selling their, ahem, suggestive food items:

In the end, I gave in to temptation, and bought a packet of fried mushrooms for NT50 ($1.70) from a small roadside eatery to munch on during the walk back to my parked scooter:

And that was how I spent my Valentine's Day - alone in the mountains. But don't feel sorry for me - my daughter this evening presented me with a lovely handmade card that read "For Amber's favorite Daddy", which is definitely the best gift any father could want on Feb. 14.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Going down to Hicksville

Hicks.

That what she called them. Hicks. Apparently, if you live south of the Jhuoshuei River 濁水溪 and support the opposition Democratic Progressive Party 民進黨, that makes you "an unsophisticated provincial person", as Merriam-Webster defines the word "hick". "She" is the anonymous commenter who's been peppering a recent post of mine with contradictory messages that appear to reveal a proud Běn​shěng​rén 本省人 (one whose family was living in Taiwan prior to the end of the Chinese Civil War 國共內戰 in 1949) who nonetheless seems to be a supporter of the Kuomintang 國民黨, a political party the roots of which lie in China and not Taiwan. The KMT favors the eventual "reunification" of Taiwan with the "Mainland", and during its long oppressive rule following its defeat at the hands of Mao Zedong's Communists, was responsible for the imprisonment, torture and deaths of tens of thousands of Anon's fellow countrymen (and women). In this respect, she is far from alone. Many residents of this island are proud of their distinct identity, as well as their economic and political achievements, yet continue to support the KMT, thus putting those accomplishments in possible jeopardy. I'd always assumed the KMT's support came from the maxim that all politics are local, and that if your local KMT pol continually brought the bacon home to your constituency, you would keep voting for him or her in every election, regardless of what that might mean to Taiwan's future status. But in Anon's case, she actually seems to believe in the goodness of the KMT's heart, that all on this island are treated as equals under the banner of Chinese Nationalism.

Even Caucasians. Though she still hasn't clarified what role a white boy like myself has to play in the conception that is Greater China.

Her choice of the put-down "hicks" in describing southern voters who support the DPP is a curious one, for I'm under the impression that Běn​shěng​rén such as Anon have been called as much by those who consider themselves to be Superior Mainlanders. It seems there is some kind of identity crisis going on here, but I won't proceed any further. Despite Anon's belief that Taiwan is a peaceful, harmonious society under the KMT, ethnicity issues are a dangerous minefield that a non-citizen such as myself should think twice about stepping in.

But that word "hick" still bothers me. I suppose that's because my wife's family lives south of the Jhuoshuei River, in the town of Siluo 西螺 in Yún​lín County 雲林縣. The area is a strong bastion of support for the DPP, but to best of my knowledge (for I've learned the hard way not to discuss Taiwanese politics with my wife) my in-laws side with the KMT. The reasons have to do with the family's complex background, which I won't go into here, but which I assume isn't at all unusual in Taiwan. Yet I'm probably correct in thinking that most of their friends and neighbors vote Green (meaning for the DPP), which would make them "hicks" in Anon's eyes. I guess we can go further, then, and draw the conclusion that a township such as Siluo must be a "Hicksville".

So tonight I'd like to tell you that we drove down to Hicksville this afternoon to visit my wife's sisters, and to pick up our two cats, Happy and Momo, who had been left in the care of my older sister-in-law while we were in the U.S. last month. We were able to get Momo in the pet carrier for the drive back to Fēng​yuán 豐原, but the semi-feral Happy was a different matter. Try as everyone might, it proved impossible to catch him, and when we left around 5pm he was still hiding under an old cabinet on the first floor. Knowing Happy, he'll probably stay there for a couple of days (if not longer), only venturing out when the coast is clear to eat some food and go to the bathroom.

Downtown Hicksville on a very hazy day. This Sunday was apparently an important one in the local religious calendar, for all day long we could hear the sounds of gongs and drums, as well as firecrackers and fireworks going off, as the "hicks" celebrated. Driving around central Siluo, it seemed as if every corner we turned we would run into a procession of Taoist "hicks". Amber spent much of the time with her fingers plugged into her ears. 

Ghosts are not supernatural beings. They are, in fact, the result of what happens when you attempt to take photographs through the windshield of a moving car.

Negative Nancy

Recent news events have me wondering if, someday, my daughter is foolish enough to drink too much and assault a local, will a crowd of angry Taiwanese gather in front of the AIT 美國在台協會 and demand "dignity", "truth" and an apology from the US government?

There I go being negative again. It's obvious I'm burning with hatred about this island and its people. That's why I've been here for so long, have married a local woman and am the proud father of a beautiful bi-cultural daughter. My feelings regarding Taiwan are complex and unsettled, which seems to be too difficult a concept for some readers to grasp. Every country and society has its good points and bad, its strengths and weaknesses, its pluses and minuses, its merits and faults. There are numerous Taiwan-related blogs out there celebrating how great Taiwan is, and how swell it is to be living here. This blog isn't one of them. I like to see A Curmudgeon Abroad (like it's predecessor, Sponge Bear) as a necessary counterweight to earnest, wide-eyed odes to life on the Beautiful Island. Apparently there are some out there who don't see it the same way, for on occasion something I've posted will generate comments criticizing me for daring to criticize some aspect of Taiwan. Judgements are passed, ill-informed observations on my situation are handed down and efforts are made to get me to see the blessed Formosan light. All to no avail, for as I get older, I'm getting better at blending together stubbornness with observations based on personal experiences, with a touch of jadedness thrown in. As it says on the sidebar, I'm bound to annoy you sooner or later. Thank you for reading, and don't be afraid to dip your toes into the water. Just remember the world (of which Taiwan is a part) is painted in shades of grey, and not in black and white.

It may be difficult for some people to believe, but my daughter and I actually had a nice afternoon today. For the first time in quite a while, Amber and I went walking in the hills overlooking Zhōngzhèng Park 中正公園, spending about 90 minutes or so making our way up and down the trails. No cynicism nor hatred - just enjoying the time spent with my child on a warm winter afternoon.

Amber looks forward to the snacking of her first Granola Bar. She pronounced it to be "delicious"

On a gorgeous afternoon such as today's, the power lines seemed to go on forever

A Malayan Night Heron perhaps?

Amber got into the spirit of the Lantern Festival 元宵節 as we went out for dinner this evening

For Greater China

This is dedicated to the anonymous commenter on my previous post, Mental forecast: cloudy, with a chance of resignation:

From today's edition of the Taipei Times newspaper (Makiyo, friend charged with assaulting driver):

Earlier in the day, a group of about 20 members of the National Taxi Drivers Union submitted a protest letter to the Interchange Association, Japan 財団法人交流協会, in Taipei, asking the association, which serves as the de facto embassy in the absence of official diplomatic ties, to apologize to the nation “for the tensions” caused by the dispute.

Union chief of staff Kuo Ya-hsiung (郭雅雄) said the incident had dragged on for so long and that none of the alleged perpetrators were telling the truth.

“We want dignity! We want the truth!” the protesters shouted, holding banners that said: “Find the truth” and “Violent Japanese drinkers not welcome in Taiwan.”

Although Lin’s case was an isolated incident, Japan’s representative association should say something about a Japanese national beating up a Taiwanese in his own country, said Cheng Chuan-yi (鄭釧義), an executive committee member of the taxi drivers’ association.

“They [the association] should apologize to Taiwanese and Mr Lin to help ease tensions between the two countries [caused by the incident],” Kuo said.

If this isn't xenophobia, then I don't know what is. This reminds of the incident last year in which my scooter was hit by a female scooter rider speeding through a red light, who then sued me for damages! In front of an arbitrator she demanded an apology from me on the grounds that my losing my temper with her after she struck me (I yelled at her, and sprinkled my remarks with a few "F-Bombs") was somehow an "insult to all Taiwanese women". The arbitrator wouldn't have any of that, however, and lectured her for trying to turn a routine traffic accident into an international incident. Perhaps he should have a word or two with the National Taxi Drivers Union.

If the above still doesn't convince you, Anon, that there's an ugly undercurrent running through the Makiyo case, there's also this from the same article:

Several well-known people, including former leader of the Bamboo Union gang “White Wolf” Chang An-lo (張安樂) — who has made public statements about the affair — and Yulon Motor (裕隆汽車) chairman Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰), have indicated their intent to donate money to Lin (the injured taxi driver).

Chang, a wanted fugitive who has fled to China, is the founder of the China Unification Promotion Party. One taxi association, the Grand Chinese Taxi Association, is affiliated with the party.

His involvement in the matter in Taipei appears to have been made to please China and spark anti-Japanese sentiment.

Welcome to reality, my anonymous commenter. It ain't so pretty, eh?

Mental forecast: cloudy, with a chance of resignation

Like the photographs below, my mood hasn't cleared much since returning to Taiwan last Monday.

It certainly didn't take long for the rut to set in again, now that I'm back to the daily routine of teaching mornings, afternoons and some evenings. My students are as friendly and interesting as ever, but I've been at this for far, far too long. Unfortunately, the ennui of life on Formosa hasn't been alleviated by any good news from back home. Worries over the health of one parent remain an ongoing concern, and I feel a strong sense of guilt for being so far from home when I could/should be making myself useful in some capacity back in the States. However, suddenly uprooting a family from one country and plopping them down in another without sufficient time to prepare for the uncertainties regarding income, education and cultural readjustment doesn't seem like the right thing to do just this moment.

I do prattle on...

Speaking of money, we've been relieved of NT30,000 ($1018) to fix an oil leak in our Nissan Cefiro 日産・セフィーロ. I've never been very good with matters of engineering and mechanics, which is another way of saying I'm hopeless when it comes to cars, and especially, the workings of their engines. Add to my general ignorance the fact that all the repair matters were handled in Mandarin Chinese by my wife, and I'm almost completely out of the loop here. All I know is this was the wrong time (as if there were ever a right one), financially speaking, for our automobile to fail on us. Having missed half the month of January in order to go back to the U.S. for our annual visit, our revenue stream for the next pay period is about to shrink considerably. The forecast for the next four weekends or so calls for lots of domesticity.

Finally, there's Amber. Not to worry, she's in good health and still her usual energetic self. However, this morning she asked if she could change kindergartens because "the other kids don't want to play with me". I'm sure this is only one of life's minor episodes, and just a normal part of growing up, but I'm understandably sensitive to my daughter's situation. She is, after all, the only bi-cultural child in her entire kindergarten - there may be other students whose mothers might be Vietnamese, for example, but they wouldn't be so obviously "different" as my little girl. As one of my Facebook friends pointed out, Amber will never be considered as "one of us" by her Taiwanese friends and classmates (though probably not in a hostile way), and as long as we stay here, she's just going to have to learn how to handle that. Or we could move back to the U.S. where people like my daughter are more commonplace and therefore more likely to be accepted for who they are. 

Bi-cultural offspring have been having a hard time of it lately in Taiwan, as this AP article in Wednesday's Japan Today pointed out:

Prosecutors say Taiwanese-Japanese starlet Makiyo 川島茉樹代 has been barred from leaving Taiwan pending a probe into her alleged involvement in the beating of a taxi driver in Taipei.

  

The Taipei Prosecutors Office said Tuesday the 27-year-old singer is accused of kicking a taxi door after her companion, who allegedly was drunk, dragged the driver out and beat him.

  

Makiyo has apologized and pledged to stop drinking in the wake of the Thursday night incident.

  

Takateru Tomoyori of Japan was released on bail pending formal charges, possibly attempted homicide, according to prosecutors.

  

The driver suffered a brain hemorrhage and two fractured ribs.

  

News reports said the taxi driver asked Tomoyori and Makiyo to get out after they refused to wear seat belts. 

This story has dominated the headlines here, which isn't surprising as celebrity-related scandals grab the attention of Taiwanese just as much as they do the citizens of other countries. For those of you who don't know, Makiyo is what the Japanese call a tarento タレント, an entertainer of minimal talent who nonetheless becomes a celebrity, and is constantly seen on vapid talk and variety shows. The product of a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother, she became famous here because of a combination of having a nice body paired with a Japanese background (though she speaks Mandarin fluently). As to whether she has any actual singing abilities, you can do a YouTube search to listen and decide for yourself (or just watch this). What's disturbing here is the undercurrent of xenophobia that appears to be fueling the hype over this "scandal". Sure, entertainers in Asia do seem to have an exaggerated sense of themselves, and as a result, are constantly getting into scrapes with the common people, but the outrage in this case might well be amplified by the fact that Makiyo isn't "one of us" (her companion most certainly isn't). It's a strange situation when a reactionary rag like the China Post actually comes to her defense, sort of.

At least the weather cleared up enough earlier this week to allow for a bit of hiking. I'm getting flabby again after a long period of relative inactivity combined with a poor diet (plus my Taiwan-related insomnia has returned in the post-jet lag period), so it was with some sense of relief to be walking again along the trails in the  Dàkēng 大坑 area. The photos below didn't turn out very well, but I really didn't want to post any pictures of Makiyo, so here you go:

Looking down from Trail 7 towards the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium 臺中市洲際棒球場

Trails 1-5 are shrouded in mist

Don't even get me started on how I missed what, by all appearances, was a very exciting Super Bowl XLVI. The last couple of years our trips back to the States coincided with the biggest sporting event on the American stage, but the calendar wasn't working in my favor this time. The Giants-Patriots clash was televised in a number of other countries, but Taiwan wasn't one of them. I certainly couldn't find the game on my local cable provider. Unlike in Japan, where the American game of football アメフト is popular at the university level (there's even a Rice Bowl to decide a champion!), the gridiron game is virtually unknown here. In fact, the only NFL game I've ever attended was a preseason clash between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams (before they moved to St. Louis) at the Tōkyō Dome 東京ドーム in August of 1989 (the American Bowl, which the Rams won 16-13 - thanks for the getting the tickets Jun!), while my Australian friend Josh and I once attended a college all-star game at the Yokkaichi Dome 四日市ドーム circa 2005. Yet here in Taiwan...

Enough whingeing already. I'm back, and I'm just going to have to deal with it.

Trapped!

In between rice crops, the fields behind our apartment complex come alive with the unfortunately-named rapeseed plants.

It's been almost a week since we returned from Washington state in the USA, and I'm still in the throes of my post-trip depression. The usual culprits for my annual funk - the ugly architecture, the discourteous-bordering-on-dangerous motorists and scooter riders, the ensuing month of relative poverty from having missed work during half of the previous month - have been reinforced by ongoing worries combined with guilt over health problems in the family back home and the inevitably of aging while seemingly stuck in a foreign land that long ago lost its allure. Today's sky isn't the only thing that's blue around here.

Add to this downer cocktail a shot of auto trouble. Yesterday, our Nissan Cefiro sprung a massive oil leak that has the car out of action until at least Tuesday. The repair bill is likely to be in the area of NT30,000-40,000 ($1017-1356), which makes for extremely poor timing, financially speaking. The next thirty days or so are going to be a lot more quieter and uninteresting than usual, which is what happens when you can't afford to go out.

So what does one do with oneself on a pleasant sunny Sunday when one is sans automobile? We still have a 100cc scooter for getting around, but there's no way I'd let my daughter ride on one. Thus, the only option for getting out of the home and doing something is to hoof it. Unfortunately, Taiwanese cities and towns are not designed with foot traffic in mind. For example, the local Carrefour and an adjacent park are theoretically within easy walking distance of our apartment building. However, to get there on foot would involve having to negotiate a couple of narrow roads without the benefit of sidewalks, all the while brushing elbows with speeding cars and scooters passing by just inches away.

Which left us with one, and only one, option - the nearest elementary school, a 10-minute walk away on (thankfully) quiet neighborhood streets. In Taiwan's densely-packed urban areas, where greenery and park space are at a premium, school grounds often serve as substitute parks for the local residents, especially on the weekends. My daughter had a good time this afternoon playing with a couple of boys on the school playground, while all around us other kids were shooting hoops on the basketball courts, middle-aged men and women were walking laps around the school's track and families were engaged in, well, family activities.  Had the school not been so close to us, this would have been a pretty boring afternoon. Still, Taiwanese suburbia (like it's American counterpart) lives and dies by the automobile (and scooter), and I'm looking forward to getting our vehicle back as soon as possible.

Sporting her new, pink Seattle Mariners hoodie, which we picked up from the Seattle Team Shop in Silverdale, WA's Kitsap Mall, Amber clambers up the jungle gym. At six years of age, Amber isn't that much younger than the average age of the Mariners' projected starting lineup for Opening Day this year.

The elementary school apparently has some history to it. Here Amber is standing in the gǔbēi​tíng 古碑亭, the characters of which mean "old pavilion housing a stele (or steles, in this case)". The significance was lost on me, however.

Virtually every burg in Taiwan has a Zhōng​zhèng Road 中正路, and ours is no exception. Named in honor of the brutal and corrupt dictator Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正, in this area the road is a busy thoroughfare connecting Fēng​yuán (railway) Station 豐原車站 with the No. 1 Freeway 中山高速公路.

Amber pauses outside a shop selling Buddhist and Taoist artifacts. The masks she's pointing to are frequently seen in Taoist temple festivals.

Not the best of times

My daughter tucks into a hot dog at Narita International Airport 成田国際空港 as we kill time waiting for our flight to Seattle

Back to the grind. Our once-a-year visit to see my family in the Pacific Northwest came to an end yesterday as we returned to Taiwan from the U.S. I wish I could say it was a great visit, but I can't this time. My mother is not in the best of health these days, and she has been staying in hospital rooms and nursing homes since the start of the new year. My father is coping well under the circumstances, but he understandably feels the strain at times. My sister has been doing her best to help out, but it isn't easy for her considering the distance between her home and my parents' house. I wish I could be there to do what I can, but I feel helpless being so far away. 

It didn't help matters that I arrived in Washington with a raging case of the flu, which combined with the jet lag to knock me out for the first 20 hours or so I was back at my parents' place (I went to bed shortly after noon on a Friday, and didn't wake up until 8am the following morning). Being sick prevented me from seeing my mother at the nursing home for the first few days I was back in Bremerton, and then, just as I was recovering, we got snowed in for a couple of days. It was a full week before I finally got a chance to see how Mom was doing.

The end of our visit wasn't much better than the beginning. My mother had a setback that necessitated her being moved out of the nursing care facility and back into the hospital, while Amber spent most of the long flight back to Taiwan throwing up in the airsickness bags...and on her father. Still, despite the circumstances, it was wonderful being back home and with family again. My dad appreciated having his granddaughter around the house, and Amber's presence also cheered my mother up a lot. Pamela was a great help with the household chores, which also did a lot to lift Dad's spirits. Hopefully, my mother can return home soon and bring a sense of normalcy back to everyday life. I only wish I could've been able to stay at least a few more days longer.

Some scenes from our two-week visit:

The Pacific Northwest was hit by a large snowstorm during the latter half of our first week back. Our area received six inches (15 centimeters), and we were housebound for a couple of days. The temperature outside when these photos were taken was 27°F (-2.8°C).

Mother and (especially) daughter enjoy the white stuff. They probably saw more snow on this trip than most Taiwanese will ever see in their entire lifetimes.

While some people had fun making snowmen and snow angels, and throwing snowballs, others had to work. This was the first time in my life that I ever had to shovel snow from the driveway (I grew up in Southern California and Sacramento).

The scene in the backyard...

...and down the road.

Amber explores the backyard in the evening.

We also went out into the snow at night, when the temperature had risen to a balmy 30°F (-1.1°C).

It wasn't all snow on this trip. On January 21, Amber turned six years old. We had a small party for her at home, which included cake and presents. Here Amber shows off her new Ken doll to her grandad:

The green-icing white cake in the shape of a pig was personally selected by my daughter at the local Safeway:

Amber did pretty well on this visit home. The day after her birthday was the eve of the Lunar New Year, and she received a red envelope filled with cash. Note the satisfied smile:

The weather improved significantly during the second week of our trip back, and we were finally able to get out and do some things. Here's Amber by the waterfront in Poulsbo:

Amber also asked to be taken to the Kids Discovery Museum on Bainbridge Island. Her favorite part was getting to be the cashier at the grocery store, but she also had fun being a dentist:

Mother and daughter pose on the streets of downtown Bainbridge:

I was hoping to get outside and do a lot of walking on this visit, but the weather and my mother's condition precluded much of that. Still, I did take Amber out for a short stroll along the Cedar Creek Trail in Silverdale:

Some family shots:

My sister Karen, Pamela, Amber, my nephew James and my father

Dad has been a pillar of strength during these trying times.

Being back in the States also means being able to (over)indulge in the comfort foods. For me, these include Cap'n Crunch cereal, maple bars, Hostess cupcakes and fruit pies, Reese's peanut butter cups, two tacos for 99¢ from Jack-in-the-Box...and craft beer. My daughter, however, was insistent that I only drink amber ales:

I could use a Fat Tire Amber Ale now, for as I write this, I'm in the throes of the post-visit blues. Only the depression has been made much worse by my mother's situation. Why the hell am I still here in Taiwan? I don't belong here, I've never felt comfortable in this society and I'm just wasting my time and talents going nowhere fast in an ugly part of the center of an ugly island (the urban areas, anyway), yet I can't seem to break free and get out. I'm most definitely not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow and falling back into the same stifling rut. 

My belated New Year's resolution is to avoid reading those "golly gee whiz, this sure is a beautiful, swell place with lots of friendly folks. I'm so happy to be here" blogs for fear of aggravating my already sensitive stomach.