Travel & Exploring | Taiwaneers

Home on the Range

Michael's Posts, Travel & Exploring, USA 1 Response »

Jul 212011

Being home is pretty nice. For a few solid weeks there, right after getting back, I was reacting hardcore negative to how big and new and how wastefulness of space everything here in the states is. Buildings that are all less than 30 years old and have gargantuan parking lots and roads that have huge shoulders and…actually the list could get really long. But for the last few days I’ve started to get back into the groove of the states and have enjoyed tooling around in the family car and going to Taco Bell and Qdoba and drinking IPAs…this list could go on too.

Of course seeing family and friends is the best part. Emily and I have been able to spend time with all of the immediate family members now and visit with several friends. There are still a ton more to hang with too. Seeing friends and chilling out after a long absence is one of the sweetest things about being home in the summer.

A big highlight so far has been the opportunity to make a presentation at my mom and dad’s church this past Sunday about the Our Friends Orphanage organization in Cambodia and our experience there. It felt great to share about Samnang and all our friends there in the small villages around Takeo. After the service we talked to a lot of people and shared stories with other people who had traveled to various parts of the world to help with at-risk-children, most notably folks who had helped organizations in Uganda and China. It was a great day and we are really looking forward to more opportunities to share Our Friends with others.

Another big highlight has been seeing how wonderfully amazing my family members are. I was able to visit my sister at the coffee shop she and my parent’s bought earlier this year and seeing her killing it with her customers. My brother also let me sit in on the staff meeting of his company the past Monday and dang, he’s killing it too. I also got to stop by my father-in-law’s organization and visit with all my old friends there. I’ve got to get on the ball and make something of myself.

I’d like to end this post with an FYI. Bell’s beer is no longer my favorite Michigan microbrew…in case anyone cares. I’d venture to say that Bell’s beer isn’t even worth the microbrew price anymore and should only be consumed when someone else buys, or if the company lowers the price. I used to love Oberon and Two Hearted, but honestly they taste kind of gross now. My new favorite Michigan microbrewery is Short’s because of their Huma Lupa Licious, not to mention the tastiness of their Bellaire Brown. Me and the guy behind the counter at Oades Big Ten chatted for a while about this subject. It was fantastic to realize I was in a store and could speak the same language as the folks behind the counter. We could chat for as long as either of us cared to without running out of vocabulary words. Being home is great!

Whirlwind Travel

Michael's Posts, Travel & Exploring, USA 2 Responses »

Jul 022011

We are officially back in the USA for summer break now. Its been a crazy couple of days.

This time around we found cheap tickets (at least cheaper than the rest of them) with China Southern Airlines. However, the flight took us from Taipei to Guangzhou. Then four hours later from Guangzhou to Los Angeles. During the layover in Guangzhou we overheard some other foreigners at our gate talking about Michigan. After a few minutes of chitchat we realized that we grew up about two hours from each other and here we are meeting in an airport on the other side of the world…this globalization thing sure is crazy!

As far as airlines go China Southern was okay. The food was not spectacular, but edible. As far as entertainment goes they had personal tv screens, but only about 9 channels of content and it wasn’t on-demand. My earphones jack didn’t work so I couldn’t watch it anyways. While the service was fine, our favorite method of travel between Taiwan and the US remains Malaysia airlines…If only they would lower their prices to where they used to be…

In LA, our very good friends picked us up and took us to crash at their house. And they are very good friends indeed. They had to play “In Grandpa’s Store” for two hours waiting for our flight, which was late.

Everybody says that SoCal has horrible public transportation, but people, it could be worse. I found public transportation to take us from about six blocks from our friends house in Pasadena to about three blocks from our other friend’s house in San Diego. Granted it required use of several transportation systems, but nevertheless, it could have been done. Fortunately, our SD friend cut it short and met our Metrolink train in Oceanside…yes indeed, another very, very good friend!

After twenty-four hours with him we boarded our flight to western Kentucky so that we could visit Emily’s relatives before making the drive up to Michigan.

In the past five days we’ve been in six airports and four cities. It feels extremely satisfying to now be with family as jet-lag recedes into memory.

Islands, Triathlons, and Product Endorsements

Taiwan 2 Responses »

Jun 242011

Well, much has happened since the previous post, following the trend of late. We are now preparing to leave for the United States for summer break. A few weeks ago our roommate Lisa moved back to the US to pursue a grad degree and she was replaced in the house by a dude from the US that is here to learn Chinese. Rob is a cool guy and a great addition to the house. At least for the present our little abode remains all-American, except for the cat. One thing has changed however: now I am officially the only member of the house that speaks next to no Chinese. Speaking of languages I've decided that Chinese is way too useful and therefore ineligible to qualify as something I should learn. Instead I've decided to focus on a language that is only spoken by about 12.1 million people and is increasingly illogical to learn because speakers of it are speaking more and more English. Join me and enjoy lesson 1 below:

Pretty cool huh? Shout out to SadSushi for his great video!

About a week ago I ran in my first Triathlon with friends. We had trained for about a month (well they did, I barely got out at all) and it was great to finish something that we were all looking forward to. How did I do? 1.5K swim, 40k bike, and 10k run in the town of Luodong, near Yilan, with a total time of 3 hours 14 minutes…yes I know, improvement is needed. Actually my crappy time is motivating and the feeling of accomplishment makes me want to do another one soon. I thought I would like the Triathlon format of multiple events and I did. All the transitions gave me boosts of energy knowing that I'd completed another leg of the race. One of the biggest changes in my life since the day of the Tri is that now, when I introduce myself to people I say: “Hi my name is Michael and I am a Triathlete.” Seriously though, the desire to do a Triathlon first got into me around the age of sixteen when my Aunt Mary Ellen took me to one and told me that I could do it if I wanted to. You are inspiring Aunt Mary Ellen!

Okay so this next section is dedicated to our friend Ginger and her new business Penghu Breeze. Penghu is a collection of islands owned by Taiwan in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. “The Taiwanese Hawaii” is one of the ways that we mainlanders (Taiwan mainland that is) refer to Penghu because it is an island paradise…and I say that with conviction. Em and I decided to have a long weekend trip to visit Ginger and experience another amazing part of Taiwan. For those of you who have never been to Penghu, go. For those of you who have, help me convince everyone else. Penghu is so relaxed. My sister, who lives on one of Taiwan's other islands, was awesome enough to join Emily and I, which, made it all the more fun. During our stay in Penghu we camped on the beach, snorkeled, bbq'd, drove around to see the sights, watched the gov't sponsored fireworks, met really cool folks, and took advantage of the sun to get started on our summer tans. Ginger is a great host! Penghu Breeze is a business she started to help foreigners with little or no Chinese book their accommodations and activities when in Penghu. And let me tell you she does a great job. Sorry for the shameless advertising but dang she is good. She knows the best places to surf, snorkel, rent scooters, eat, and stay. Plus, she's fun to hang out with. One of the coolest things she's got going is her western bbq package. For those of you who live here in Taiwan, you know that when people suggest bbq'ing it means different food stuffs than what we Americans normally associate with bbq. Well Ginger has fixed that and serves up burgers, beer, and all the great stuff that we waiguoren crave! And it is all enjoyed on the roof of her guesthouse overlooking the ocean, across the street from the beach. WON…DER…FUL…!!!!

Okay so now you know we fully endorse Ginger, Penghu Breeze, trips to Penghu, and Triathlons…and learning languages that are more obscure than mullets.