Radio Taiwan International Chatroom

This is a resource link for anyone looking for English news sources in Taiwan. Radio Taiwan International has resources that are often only found in Chinese, and this blog has links to listening to RTI's Chatroom program, as well as major happenings around Taiwan.

For example, be sure to check out the RTI Chatroom Art Taipei 2008 post for information on the exhibit at the Taipei World Trade Center this weekend.

Thanks to the crew over at RTI for their efforts on this useful resource!

Taoist Dance

I have lots of photographs from Taoist dance performances from the troupe at the temple (松山慈惠堂) we attend regularly. The group of women perform all over Taiwan (and internationally), and so we often have karaoke bus rides down South with stops at large vegetarian mess halls and host temples on the weekends.

There should be a real post to do it justice, but here's a shot from a recent performance.

Hover Tool

I'm testing out a tool (stolen from an incoming Kaohsiung Fulbright English teacher's blog) that allows you to hover over certain text for a more in depth explanation. This is useful for Chinese characters or editorial comments without footnotes.

Let's try it: 試試看


So the above should read: 試試看, and then you hover over it to see "give it a try it".

Does it work?

Brilliant! All the computer whizzes out there will never know the joys of the computer un-savvy discovering primitive tools like "hover". I suppose I'm a far cry ahead of the must be daft about the average American's lifestyle Republican nominee, only just now starting to read staff-provided emails.

“We’re not asking for a president to answer his own e-mail,” said Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley futurist who teaches at Stanford. “We’re asking for a president who understands the context of what e-mail means.”

The “user experience,” Mr. Saffo said, brings with it an implicit understanding of how the country lives, and where it might be heading. As Mr. McCain would lack this, he would also be deficient in this broader appreciation for how technology affects lives.

And this is the defense:

“You don’t actually have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country,” said Mark Soohoo, a McCain aide for online matters, at a conference on politics and technology. “You actually do,” interrupted Tracy Russo, a former blogger for John Edwards.

Stormy Weather

At least in Northeastern Taiwan, most mornings are hot, sweaty and sticky by 8am, and run so until just after lunch, where a breeze tends to kick in and the static in the air feels like storm. If it doesn't rain for a few hours (or at all that evening), there tend to at least be heavy clouds, and hopefully an accompanied cool-down.

Here are two shots of some weather.
****Taipei Gongguan MRT stop, 3pm 下午三點台北捷運公館站****
****View of Turtle Island and Yilan while getting on Provincial Highway 9, the mountain road to Taipei 從往台北九號省道看龜山島****

Ain't Shy

These first graders from Dong-Ao Elementary are all about the camera. That's Ricky flexing up front; he was toothless little monster who did a great "H-huh-Horse" impression, jumping up for a full-fledged "neeeeeeeigh"

That's Brian, my wonderful co-teacher from the two aboriginal schools (Dong-Ao and Ao-Hua). He really knew how to get these active kids to at least direct some attention; everything was done in sing-song, with chanting and rhythmic sentence patterns, and there were frequent breaks for chasing kids around the room, eventually corralling them into a London Bridge's circle, collapse, and "5,4,3,2,1 back to your seats!" Needless to say, it was tiring. Brian's energy: endless.

Cherry Blossoms