Things that are Hao, Part 2

A ten minute walk from my house there are some rice paddies-- like a secret garden in the middle of a dirty, industrial suburb, I can run there in the morning and see bamboo trees, gardens, green, and little men working in the fields wearing saucer-shaped banana-leaf hats... like nothing has changed in the past 500 years. It might seem like nothing to you... but you have to realize that I never see green. So this place is a mini-paradise to me!

Things that are Hao ("Good"), Part 1

Things here have been really good lately--great, actually. I'm loving everything, and accepting the things I previously didn't love. My students are precious (see video from November 10th)--just today one of them brought me a bag of apples she picked, and another brought me a birthday gift, a purse. I like my schedule, or what I've done with it to make the most of my time. I can write my name in Chinese, which I'm very proud of. It's getting cooler--I'd complain about being freezing cold except I know that all of you Iowans will get mad at me, because it's in the 60's here. My best friend, Jenni, will be here in about 10 days and I get to take a week off to show her around my life here, and I can't wait.

Here are a few other simple things that have been good lately...


At Ikea (a 20 minute bus ride away) I found a big mural about Smaland, a part of Sweden where my ancestors are from...




I found a new and better place to take yoga classes in Taipei, a little hidden-away haven where they also have a lovely kitchen where they serve some delicious food and hold cooking seminars. The kitchen...

"Ahimsa" = non-violence = something in Chinese; I don't know the word...



One of the studios...

DEAR MARIA...

(and on a lighter note)

I got this text message from a Taiwanese friend today:

"do u like your new prisden? obama obama obama. no war. peace. save taiwan."

hehehe...

confessions of a somewhat politically apathetic (but not un-patriotic) ex-pat

I didn't vote.

(Go ahead, yell at me now)

I didn't intend NOT to... I looked into how to do it from the opposite side of the world, but it was sort of complicated and would have taken several weeks, so I was too late. Yes, I appreciate the right to vote and regret that I didn't this year. End of story.

I feel pretty distant from whatever's going on in the US right now. I can't really picture it--all I have to go on are some clips from the news and everyone's Facebook statuses. So in my head, Americans are all out in the streets, 52% of them cheering like they've just been rescued from a lifetime in Guantanamo, and 46% of them are wearing sackcloth and rubbing ashes on their heads and threatening to move to Mexico. (And the remaining 2% are maybe just hangin' out with Ralph Nader at some cabin in Connecticut?) Is that about right?

Anyway... in my classes, whenever one team wins a game, the whole class screams, "WINNERS, WINNERS, YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! LOSERS, LOSERS, (Insert a variety of different punishments, like making the losers stand up and "cha-cha-cha" or sing a song or act like a monkey or something), except if the winners are feeling particularly gracious they all finish the chant with "THAT'S OKAY!" After which the "losers" yell "THANK YOU! YOU ARE SO NICE!" and the winners reply "YOU ARE WELCOME!"

So... let's be good winners and losers. Enough of the complaining and mud-slinging. Be united, keep your chins up, and, as Gandhi said, "be the change you want to see in the world." Be careful not to place unrealistic expectations on one person. Your happiness doesn't depend on who sits in the elliptically-shaped office. I like this old story about a farmer who shows equanimity in the face of both fortune and misfortune. It illustrates that we can't be sure about tomorrow, and definitely not about the next four years. Who knows? We shall see.

One day in late summer, an old farmer was working in his field with his old sick horse. The farmer felt compassion for the horse and desired to lift its burden. So he left his horse loose to go the mountains and live out the rest of its life.

Soon after, neighbors from the nearby village visited, offering their condolences and said, "What a shame. Now your only horse is gone. How unfortunate you are!. You must be very sad. How will you live, work the land, and prosper?" The farmer replied: "Who knows? We shall see".

Two days later the old horse came back now rejuvenated after meandering in the mountainsides while eating the wild grasses. He came back with twelve new younger and healthy horses which followed the old horse into the corral.

Word got out in the village of the old farmer's good fortune and it wasn't long before people stopped by to congratulate the farmer on his good luck. "How fortunate you are!" they exclaimed. You must be very happy!" Again, the farmer softly said, "Who knows? We shall see."

At daybreak on the next morning, the farmer's only son set off to attempt to train the new wild horses, but the farmer's son was thrown to the ground and broke his leg. One by one villagers arrived during the day to bemoan the farmer's latest misfortune. "Oh, what a tragedy! Your son won't be able to help you farm with a broken leg. You'll have to do all the work yourself, How will you survive? You must be very sad". they said. Calmly going about his usual business the farmer answered, "Who knows? We shall see"

Several days later a war broke out. The Emperor's men arrived in the village demanding that young men come with them to be conscripted into the Emperor's army. As it happened the farmer's son was deemed unfit because of his broken leg. "What very good fortune you have!!" the villagers exclaimed as their own young sons were marched away. "You must be very happy." "Who knows? We shall see!", replied the old farmer as he headed off to work his field alone.

As time went on the broken leg healed but the son was left with a slight limp. Again the neighbors came to pay their condolences. "Oh what bad luck. Too bad for you"! But the old farmer simply replied; "Who knows? We shall see."

As it turned out the other young village boys had died in the war and the old farmer and his son were the only able bodied men capable of working the village lands. The old farmer became wealthy and was very generous to the villagers. They said: "Oh how fortunate we are, you must be very happy", to which the old farmer replied, "Who knows? We shall see!"

Election Day

Why are all the Canadians here way more into this election than I am? They've all been glued to CNN all day!

"can i have your phone number?" he asked, hopefully...

...I laughed out loud at this. The few times that I've been asked for my number here, I've just said I didn't have a phone, but unfortunately my phone was sitting on my lap, in plain view.

"I'm much too old for you!" I laughed. The group of boys that had shyly surrounded me tonight on the bus, politely inquiring in shaky English about my nationality, occupation, and whether or not I could play basketball, wilted at my refusal. I pretended not to notice the ones who were furtively sneaking pictures with their cell phones.

"How old are you?" I asked them.

They thought for a second, translating in their head. "Sixteen!" one finally exclaimed, triumphant at being faster than his pals with his English.

"I'm TWENTY-SEVEN, okay?" (or I will be in two weeks, but I am using it to my advantage in this situation)

"No! But you are so beautiful!" One said in disbelief. (As if 27 is far too old to be pretty!)

They asked me what my name was, and I replied in Chinese. They gasped, delighted that I attempted to speak Chinese to them. One of them told me his name was Michael Jordan. Then we were at their stop. They shook my hand and said "Nice-to-meet-you" and "Good-night," very formally, not at all dampened by the fact that I wouldn't give them my number.

When the bus rolled away, I could see them on the curb, laughing and waving their arms at me enthusiastically, yelling "BYE-BYE!"

Sometimes I don't like being stared at for being a foreigner.

But I have to admit, if I'm in the right mood, it's kind of fun to feel like a rock star...