Tees | Taiwaneers

Its the Simple Things

Michael's Posts, Our Taipei Life, University 4 Responses »

May 172009

Big & exciting news people: In PE class a few weeks ago we all had to take a test. There were several parts to this test:
1. Do as many sit-ups as you can in a minute
2. Do a flat-footed long-jump from a stand-still
3. Reach forward as far as you can sitting on your bottom with your legs out-stretched in front of you
4. Measure your heart-rate after 1 minute of stairs with 1 minute to rest
The results were written on a little paper with my name on it along with my age, weight, height, and BMI, calculated from height and weight. Everyone’s results were then fed into a computer program which calculated the bottom fifty-percent of my class and the top fifty-percent in terms of “physical fitness.” Those in the bottom will have to take a third year of physical education but I won’t BECAUSE I’M IN THE TOP HALF AND WILL BE DONE WITH PE IN A FEW SHORT WEEKS!!!!!! It truly is the simple things in life.

Everyone here in Taiwan boils their water (we do too) or has a water filtration machine. I always assumed it was because the water was not safe. However, this week in Environmental Dynamics class I learned that this is done because of historical habit and for better taste due to the water’s high chlorination. We’ve been living in Taiwan for over twenty months now and I just learned its safe to drink the tap water.

Its been a while since I posted about the cab-driver who pee’d on the side of the road outside our apartment while traffic zoomed by so how about a little culture shock for all of you. I just learned it is a common practice at Taiwanese weddings (not Chinese so this is common in the south of Taiwan but not here in Taipei) to hire strippers as entertainment for weddings. Not the night-before party or anything like that but for the actual wedding party dinner. CULTURE SHOCK!

And finally the Nonsense Shirts Store is still a blast. 2 months after opening we’ve had our first, non-friend (as in stranger to us) customer, schwing! Additionally with the help of friends here I’ve expanded the business to also include custom t-shirt printing service and bulk ordering of our own products.

Paragraphs of This & That

Michael's Posts, Our Taipei Life No Responses »

Apr 152009

Back in the throes of midterms already. Its unbelievable! I just started the new semester and we’re already half way through?

This year Emily and I filed our taxes online. It was sort of funny because last year we filed having worked for a half-a-year before leaving for Taiwan. This year has been completely work-free except for a few months in the summer and it showed on line 37. It was weird/cool to look at last year’s return compared to this year’s and realize anew just how sweet God has been to give us these scholarships. His provision is there even though it looks different and can’t be seen in our AGI.

Speaking of working, this summer we are faced with a dilemma. We figured jobs would be scarce so we opted to find airfare money in rows and rows of seed-corn while we are home this summer. My dad was gracious enough to sign us up with a detassling crew but we are still unsure if we’ve been hired because so many people have asked for the same honor, even though its a hot, sticky, dirty, and tiring honor. Hopefully we’ll be selected. If not I don’t know what we’ll do to replenish what we’ve given Malayasia Airline for the chance to ride in their airplane to the USA and back. On the other hand, maybe its just a case of His provision being there but just looking different? So different that I don’t recognize it yet.

Here at Taiwaneers.com we’ve added advertising to our website. You’ll notice in the right-sidebar there are now two ads from Google. They are part of Google’s AdSense program. I really like AdSense’s business model and while having ads isn’t what this website is about I think the way Google places ads that are geared for their audience is a great advancement in advertising. Wouldn’t it be nice if all advertisers would stick to telling us about things that we actually show some interest in? Everytime somone clicks on one of the Google ads on our site we get a little cha-ching. Pretty cool huh? With that in mind please feel free to click away.

Last Sunday Jerry, one of my Taiwanese classmates, came to church with me. He had never been to church before and it was really fun to hear his impressions. You can pray for him. He’s been raised Buddhist but doesn’t really feel like that was his choice and is trying to figure out what is his choice. Tough stuff to deal with while trying to ace exams. He’s a really, really cool guy and definitely a thinker. I’m looking forward to this opportunity to help each other grow.

My computer has been sick. It goes incredibly slow to do any task but when I check the CPU usage its at normal levels. AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Its getting to the point where I’ve backed everything up and am preparing for drastic measures.

The Nonsense Shirts Store is still lots of fun. We’ve sold five shirts so far and I have to say each sale is exhilerating. Right now we’re adding new inventory and I’ve been talking to folks in the manufacturing process. If things work out we might be able to offer custom shirts and multiple quantities and sizes of each design! Needless to say these developments do not hamper my enthusiasm.