For those of you who have never used Google Translator here is your big chance. You should keep in mind that 鄭明哲 is my Chinese name. Once you have figured out this post’s title you can write me a comment about how great Chinese is and how much you enjoy learning it.

Before reading on, press the play button of this video and listen to it as you read. It will be a scrumptrulescent experience, I promise.

Last week I finished my last final, turned in my last term paper and started winter break! Last Thursday Emily and I hosted a “No More School” party here at our house with truly fantastic people joining us in our celebration. This week I’ve lazed about, began using Pimsleur in my quest to become a real speaker of 普通話 (Mandarin), hiked with Emily in the hills just south of 台北市 (Taipei City), spent an evening at the club with foreign exchange classmates for one last whoopla before they bid Taiwan adieu, and said goodbye forever to being a twenty-five year old. What a wonderful world we have been given.

After checking my grades and speaking with classmates it seems that there is consensus in my class that many of our professors felt that they were too kind to us during the midterms and have tried to make up for it in grading our final exams. It seems like all of us have 5-10 points less on our finals than were on our midterms….maybe the administration gave one of their crack-down decrees or something. Maybe we all just slacked off. Whatev’, we should all become Montessori advocates anyways.

Our party was great. A ton of people had told Emily and I that they would be coming but as it turned out there were not too many but plenty enough to have fun! I estimate thirty to forty but Emily insists there were at least fifty people. We had an awesome mix of my classmates, Emily’s classmates, and friends of friends creating an atmosphere of diversity, conversation, beer-pong, Soul Caliber II (Playstation for the rest of you), and Texas Hold’em. Phil, one of our roommates headed up the beer-pong effort and it was a true hit. While the fact that the Asians did not know the game wasn’t surprising, I was flabbergasted in learning that the Europeans hadn’t played. Just think, because of our party beer-pong will be spreading the world over. Can a man leave a better legacy is the question that now haunts my moments of cogitation. Last year we had our party at the end of Spring semester in June and it was way too hot. Now, having done both I can say with authority that having the party at the end of Fall semester is a much better way to go.

The lazing about has been great for me but a little nerve-racking for Emily. I think that might be a reflection of our upbringing. What do you think?

Pimsleur’s Mandarin learning curriculum has been recommended to me a few times now. It was apparently developed by Dr. Pimsleur to simulate the way a baby learns language. So far I’ve really enjoyed it and I’m hopeful that I will soon be speaking pǔ tōng huà like a zhōng guó rén. Right now, though, I need to remain hopeful and consistently exercise my nǎo. Diligence is my Achilles’ heel but this time…this time will be different.

The lazing about came to a head this past Wednesday with Emily suggesting we go hiking. We chose a trail out of our Taipei Day Trips book that started just south of Xindian and went up over a mountain (or big hill if you prefer) and ended down the other side in Muzha. On the way up we stopped in to see a little temple cut into the side of the mountain behind a waterfall. It was pretty rad. If I were going to be a monk that place would be a contender. Upon reaching the top of the hill Emily and I came upon a few criss-crosses in the paths that we weren’t too sure about and ended up a little off-track. No matter though as we decided we had had enough hiking for the day. Finding ourselves in the Tea House area of the mountains surrounding Muzha we popped into one, bought some tea, enjoyed the view, talked, and sipped to our hearts content. I should teach you all how to properly drink tea; it is quite a procedure. Once we’d had our fill we hopped on the bus for the winding ride back down into the city.

Emily and I joined some of my classmates, who were only here for this past semester as exchange students, at 9 percent, a club that is luckily within walking distance from our house. Emily and I had never been there before and the evening was a nice bit of Long Island ice-teas, dancing, and saying goodbye to Julia and Fendi who are leaving to head back to Germany.

As I write this I am celebrating my first day as a twenty-six year old. I knew it was coming up but since break began I’ve completely lost track of dates. Consequently I didn’t realize until yesterday that my birthday was looming so near. I’m not even thirty and I’ve already become that guy who forgets about his own birthday. This very moment Emily is preparing a wonderful birthday dinner for me so I had better go.

A friend from church, Sophie, called on New Year’s Eve wondering if I had any plans. She had bought 2 tickets to see the traveling show www.fuerzabrutanyc.com, which is staying in Taiwan for a bit. I’m so glad she asked me! It was a crazy show, set up in a huge tent with no central stage and no seats. The center of attention traveled around the room, which was genius and a lot of fun. Every one of the five senses was used! They really involved the crowd in everything. I was really impressed and had a great time.

I found this short news clip online about the show, be impressed yourself and go to see one of their shows!

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video.

I got this idea from fellow Americans-in-Taiwan Ben and Stephanie Francis: www.stephbenkinmen.blogspot.com

Looking back on the year, it feels like SO MUCH has happened! Which, in reality, is true. Here’s a brief summation.

January: 3-day bike trip with our friend Sandy and about 50 orphans in central Taiwan

February: A crazy journey in Korea. We saw the bustle of Seoul, heard Buddhist monks chanting in mountain temples, and spent a few days skiing at a world-class resort.

March: Lots of hiking. Here we are with our Aussie friend Hannah, taking a rest on the Caoling Trail.

April: Road trip with Sandy to Taiwan’s east coast and Taroko Gorge. We stayed with an aboriginal family and experienced a lot of eye-opening cultural encounters. We’re itching to get back during Chinese New Year break!

May: More hiking. Megan and Jenna lived close by, so we took advantage of it and went to find some hidden waterfalls in northern Taiwan. This is just before we could be found sitting on the rocks, getting pummeled by the water, belting out “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight…” and laughing until it hurt. Good times

June: Camping on Taiwan’s northern Fulong beach (for free!) with friends. School ended and we went camping again, this time by ourselves, in Taiwan’s southernmost Kenting national park. It was HOT and beautiful!

July: Home in the States, enjoying best friends, family and the sometimes breathtaking Midwest. We also worked with a largely Amish crew in the cornfields, which was…something we may not do again.

August: Road trips! Emily went to Chicago with friends, then we both took a long journey first to Florida, then to Tennessee, and finally to Kentucky.

September: A visit to Emily’s best friend in LA is possible every time we fly back and forth to Taiwan. This is a good thing. Here we are with our hosts and a bunch of friends we made in Taiwan! Go figure. School starts again, and we do things like ride the bus and take the scooter to class.

November: We get treated to a traditional Taiwanese engagement meal. It’s as big a deal as the wedding day! And, MEGAN came for Thanksgiving weekend!

December: Schoolwork, parties, goodbyes to friends and a roommate, and celebrating Christ’s birth. We spent Christmas eve at a church nearby, listening to first a sermon and then beautiful music until the wee hours.

Happy New Year!

*Emily

For the last few years I’ve rediscovered a love for reading books. During the campaign of ‘06 I became a news junkie and it took me a while to  I realize that the news is just the same thing day after day after day. I think 2009 was my first full year of enjoying books on a consistent basis instead of just news. To mark this historic fact I give you a list of the books I read throughout this past year with a few comments about them. If any of you have read these books and want to add your two cents I’d love to hear it. If you have any suggestions for books that should be on my 2010 list let me know!

Prison To Praise by Merlin Carothers is how I began 2009. I found it in the MCU library and remembered that I’d seen the book on my parents’ bookshelf growing up. It was really small so I figured why not give it a try. I liked it and it made me think about praising God in new ways.

Playing For Pizza by John Grisham had been borrowed from my dad and brought from Michigan the previous summer to read during the year. You’ve got to love Grisham, at least I do, and I read the book in like 2 or 3 days because it was so fun. I liked how lighthearted it was and I loved reading the story of an expat while living as an expat myself.

The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams was given to me for Christmas by my uncle back in 2006. That, as you will recall, was when I just read news so I never read it. I should have though because this is seriously a great book. I can remember reading it and laughing over and over no matter if I was in my bedroom or in Mos Burger and just loving how spot on Scott Adams got the whole office scene. If you’ve ever worked in an office and haven’t read this book then stop waiting and borrow my copy! Thanks again uncle Jimmy!

Descending From Duty by J. Ryan Fenzel was another book I picked up in ‘06 and hadn’t read. The author is from Michigan and on a campaign staff retreat they had him give us a little talk and copies of his book. I liked how the book was set in Michigan and how I had been to places he uses in the setting of his book. It smacked of a Clancy novel to me and while it isn’t going to be a bestseller or anything it was fun to read it. During the time period when I was reading it I posted here on Taiwaneers and mentioned the book. The author found the post on the internet and messaged me about it asking how a dude in Taiwan picked up a copy of his book. It’s amazing this internet thang isn’t it?

On The Boundaries Of American Evangelicalism, The Postwar Evangelical Coalition by Jon R. Stone is another book I found in the MCU library. If I remember right it was the author’s doctoral dissertation. While I skimmed parts of it I did learn a lot. I gained a lot more big-picture understanding of the whole twentieth century for American christianity. I had no idea before reading this all of the intricacies of how fundamentalists and main-stream modernist denominations split in the first part of the 1900s and how evangelicalism sprang up out of the middle of it all. I liked it and it has made me interested to learn more about the history of Christianity.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is one of Ken’s (our housemate) books and was just sitting on the bookshelf here. The little quotes on the front about how great the book is and the fact that I kept hearing about Gladwell finally prevailed on me and I read the book. I was thoroughly entertained by it but the book definitely did not change my life as the hype around it told me it would. It’s just a bunch of entertaining stories and practical sense observations about how products and stuff take off and become popular. I guess all the hype about the book is what let me down. It was entertaining and enjoyable to read…just not life-changing.

River Town by Peter Hessler was my lucky snag from the white elephant gift exchange during our Christmas party last year. I liked the book and found several similarities to culture here in Taiwan that the author observed in mainland China. Also, I saw some pretty big differences and it made me want to take a trip and explore the mainland. For anyone who wants to read an account of an American living in China pick this one up.

Improving Your Serve by Charles R. Swindoll came next. I guess I don’t really have much to say about it. If anyone else has read it and can share with me what I should feel let me know. Otherwise I’m tempted to feel like Swindoll just needed to publish something so he slapped it together. There just doesn’t seem to be much to it.

Operation SOLO by John Barron was an awesome read! The true story of FBI spies to the Soviet Union totally made me realize how much goes on that we don’t know about. This husband and wife looked like the complete, subversive, anti-American, communist, couple and we find out years later that they were giving the American government some of the best clandestine information ever gathered. Shazam! A very good book.

Blindsight by Robin Cook was and, unless the book was rewritten, still is crap! I saw it at my parents’ house and brought it to Taiwan to read during the year just to have more fiction to choose from. Talk about drivel.

Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw unlike The Tipping Point was a life-changing book for me. At the beginning of the book I was turned off by the confrontational statements but as I read on I became more and more challenged and more and more turned on by the message of total surrender to Jesus. I really liked the book and still haven’t gotten over the questions it raises. I encourage everyone to read it. Definitely one of the best books I read in 2009 and on my list of books to recommend. If you haven’t read it then put it on your list.

The Act of Marriage by Tim & Beverly LaHaye was recommended to Emily and I to read when we got married. We started it on our honeymoon in the spring of 2007 and finally finished up in 2009. This is not a reflection of the book though. Actually we finished the book quickly after starting it but I didn’t put it on my list until now because we were still reading through the Q&A section at the back. It is a great book and one we recommend to others when they ask us for marriage advice. It makes a great wedding gift but definitely not something for single people to read.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner came next. I was a little apprehensive that it would just be another entertaining book that had lots of hype around it. I think because my expectations were tempered actually contributed to how much I enjoyed the book. It did completely entertain me and at the same time I thought it was fascinating. Levitt definitely seems to be asking interesting questions and using data in new ways. I liked the book a lot!

Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard was recommended to me by my mom while I was home during summer break. It’s a quick and easy read and she hit on a good one. An interesting socio-economic experiment as a middle-class kid tries to start at the bottom of the economic ladder with $30 bucks, the clothes on his back, in a brand new city and work his way out of the homeless shelter into middle class America without using any of his past-life credentials or connections. A very interesting topic and a nice read.

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by W.H.D. Rouse I will admit was a bit hard for me to get through. I was excited to read it after taking a mythology course in the previous year of school and after the two easy reads directly before I was ready to take it on. Now I can say I’ve read it.

The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne was on my dad’s bookshelf and after Jesus for President I was eager to see what else Shane had to say. This is his first book and contains a lot of the same stuff that he talks about in Jesus for President. This one focuses in more on him and his experiences. I think I would have preferred reading it later on and not so close to Jesus for President though because it did seem a bit repetitious even though it does have a place on its own. I would recommend others not to read both books in close proximity to each other but I do recommend both books.

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis is another fantastic book by one of my favorite authors. Lewis does such a great job with imagery doesn’t he?

Man of the House by Speaker Tip O’Neill with William Novak was my grandpa’s book. My uncle suggested I read it back when I was first getting interested in politics as a high schooler. Sadly, it took me seven years to decide to read it. Once I started it though I loved it and basically scarfed down the pages. I felt like I was getting to know my grandpa better even though he’s dead because Tip, like my grandpa, was an Irish Catholic and the whole story-telling qualities seemed so similar. I really enjoyed the book and hope I can find others like it. Anybody who enjoys stories and has an interest in legislative goings-on would enjoy this book!

PYONGYANG A Journey In North Korea by Guy Delisle was lent to me by my brother. It is written in comic-book form but not humorous or about something “larger than life” or anything typically depicted in comics. It’s written by an animator who spent some time at an animating company in North Korea about his experiences there. I really enjoyed it. It’s short and just gives quick glances into living an expat life in the one country no one knows anything about.

The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy is the first Clancy book I’ve read. I’ve listened to one or two on tape and watched most of the movies but that’s not the same is it? I can see why people buy his books. He does a really good job at developing a whole bunch of characters and bringing them together for a cataclysmic finale. Not quite as amazing as Dickens does in A Tale of Two Cities but hey, not half bad either. I liked the book even though it took me a while to get through it. Clancy writes long novels doesn’t he?

Jim & Casper Go To Church by Jim Henderson & Matt Casper is another book I found on my dad’s bookshelf. It’s about a Christian and an Atheist who visit a bunch of churches in America and talk about what they observe. I thought it was an interesting read although I think there is a ton more that they could have done with the premise. I found myself wishing they would take the conversation farther than they did and felt in a lot of ways like they were saying things I already knew.

And that folks is the end of 2009. I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say about these bad boys. A penny for your thoughts as they say.