An American In Taiwan

Posted By 美國人 on August 20, 2009

Started thinking about how to create interesting, relatively frequent updates that are actually useful. So, I decided that doing an on-going number of posts about how to say certain things in Chinese, along with little bits of information regarding the words, would be handy. Let’s begin!

今天早上我一起床就煮了一壺咖啡

jīntiān zǎo shàng wǒ yīqǐ chuáng jiù zhǔ le yī hú kāfēi

When I woke up this morning, I made a pot of coffee.

• 早上 is used to mean “early morning”
• 就 means “at once, right away”, in this case it’s really closer to “immediately”
• 煮 is a verb meaning to boil or cook, in this case to boil the 咖啡
• 壺 is a counter used for bottled liquid (the pot of coffee), hence “一壺咖啡” means “a pot of coffee” (literally “one pot coffee”)

Category: Chinese Language | 1 Comment »
Tags: Chinese Language, phrasebook, pinyin, 中文

Posted By 美國人 on August 18, 2009

Phase one was getting to phase two. So… phase one, complete.

Phase two includes getting married, beginning an 8-5 administrative job, and getting my Ph.D. So far, I’m two for three. I know I’ve been ignoring the blog. I’ve just been busy. Getting everything squared away with the old job and getting geared up to start the new one. Takes its toll on you, you know?

Anyway, the new job seems like it rocks. Got a big desk, dual-screen monitors, looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. The people there are just as nutty as at my old place, which is, strangely, a relief. Still trying to think of items that make an office feel like more than just an office. I’ve got a picture of my wife, a picture of my parents when they were both 8 years old, my electric kettle, a little glass statue of Taipei 101, my swiss ball to sit on, a bunch of snacks, a Chinese clock and a picture on the wall.

There’s a lot of things wrong with the current project I’m working on, stuff that was wrong before I got there, stuff that I’m going back through and fixing. I just hope the other people who work on the project are attentive and get their work back to me in a timely fashion. Crossing fingers, here.

I’m not necessarily looking forward to the students coming back. Parking gets much more difficult. Still, it’ll be a nice change of pace. At least I’ll be taking classes again and get actual weekends to work on things.

Now if I can only get my thesis back so I can finish it…

Category: Blog related, Daily Life, Non-Taiwan Related, Thoughts | No Comments »
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Posted By 美國人 on July 4, 2009

Seems that the most popular blog posts are actually lists, so I figured I’d try my hand at it.

This is a short list of the top ten things I want to know before I move to Taiwan, two years before I actually do it. It will be interesting to see how this list changes as the time gets closer.

10. I’m a stinky American. Will I be able to easily find a deodorant/antiperspirant that is built for my dairy-infused bulk?

9. I want to be able to get around easily, but don’t necessarily want to ride a scooter. How long will I survive on a motorcycle before I’m smeared across the front of a bus?

8. I’ve heard, depending on where you are, foreigners are a bit of a novelty (not in Taipei, obviously). Is there an appropriate way to ask people to stop staring, or should I just put on my sunglasses and pretend to ignore them?

7. Bathrooms are different in a number of ways. If private bathrooms’ showers are all open (without curtains), doesn’t that get kind of cold?

6. My speaking is not nearly as good as my listening. How long will I last simply grunting and pointing to get what I want in stores and markets?

5. As much as I hate to say it, I am a typical young, White, American male in that I’ve got a number of tattoos. What exactly will they think of my tattoos when we go to the beach?

4. My sense of direction is akin to that of a dead cow. How many days before I get completely and utterly lost in the city? (Bets can be taken on this one.)

3. I love to take pictures. Can I carry around my camera without looking like a tourist?

2. Chinese food makes me happy and I can eat a lot of it. Still, such a drastic change in one’s diet can have strange effects. How much weight will I gain/lose when I get there?

1. Will her family like and/or accept me? Either is fine. Both would be great. Neither is expected.

I suppose there’s a bigger question: how many of these will be completely meaningless? I’m going to say… nine of them. Feel free to respond with your take on these questions!

Category: Daily Life, Differences, Taiwanese Culture, Thoughts | 4 Comments »
Tags: life, list, moving, questions