Today I was asked the following two questions by two 3nensei students:
-How do you spell "hello?"
-What is the difference between "what" and "why?"
Um, these kids have been studying English for THREE years!!!!! Not a good sign......
Friday, October 27, 2006
Sex and AIDS Education in Japan
The Japan Times has an interesting article about the lack of AIDS and sex education in Japan. It is really disturbing that lots of Japanese men don't use condoms....yet another one of those "We are Japanese, so we are invincible" cases that I still don't understand whatsoever.
Sex and AIDS Education in Japan
The Japan Times has an interesting article about the lack of AIDS and sex education in Japan. It is really disturbing that lots of Japanese men don't use condoms....yet another one of those "We are Japanese, so we are invincible" cases that I still don't understand whatsoever.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Random thoughts on Taiwan
K, so I already babbled like a mofo about what I did in Taiwan, but many people (including myself before I went) don’t know much about Taiwan, so sit down and let me tell you the tale of a land called Taiwan! Or something. Anyway, here are random thoughts I had about the place, people, etc.:
-Because of geographical reasons, there are NOT many whities in Taiwan whatsoever, and most of the tourists were Japanese. Because of this I got TONS of stares for being a big tall honky. However, I didn’t notice as much as Cindy did, I guess because I am used to it from Japan! But they were innocent stares, not like “Get out of here, big –nosed demon!” stares. I did scare some children, though, which was sad.
-Poor Cindy! It sucks to be Asian in Asia, as everyone assumed she was either Chinese or Japanese or something. Because of this, and due to our height differences, I looked like a big weirdo talking to myself in English on the streets, sad! Then again, it probably looks like that in Japan!
-Taiwanese people LOVE TO EAT! Like, they are never not eating. Japanese people never walk and eat, but Taiwanese people ALWAYS do! I dunno how they are not the size of their country!
-There are conbinis and banks EVERYWHERE in Taiwan! I think there is one for every person, at least!
-I have decided that Taiwan is half Japan and half China. I expected it to be all China, and was pleasantly surprised that the people were nice and weren’t yelling at us all the time or anything. It is dirtier than Japan and obviously has more Chinese-related food, but the people are more Japanese in that they aren’t scary. Haha. They were really nice, friendly, helpful and relaxed. I sound like the Taipei Chamber of Commerce, but it’s true! They had a bit of an island-people feel about them, in that they didn’t seem to really care or worry too much about anything. It was nice!
-The weather was great! It was hot during the day but not too hot, and the nights were just perfect. Me rikey (tho summer is probably scary hot).
-They enjoy their coffee more than Japanese people! Japan doesn’t have nearly enough coffee shops, and Taiwan has lots…I miss sitting in coffee shops, bah!
-Taiwan is way family-oriented. People would always be out with their families, and it was really cute/nice to see that. In Japan most kids (like Jr. high school and higher) are always out with their friends, but we didn’t see much of that in Taiwan. In fact, we didn’t see that many teenagers, I think they are hidden somewhere!
-Chinese in Taiwan isn’t scary and ugly like I expected it to be! I am not ready for mainland China Chinese!
-Um, I think every person and pet owns a fucking scooter in Taipei. It was CRAZY. You have no idea!!!! Unfortunately they assume they are safe on them and like have their babies and shit on them?! I saw one parent with a baby on the back and a baby in the front while scooter-ing! NOT SAFE!
-Taiwanese people apparently love carnivals, as there are like carnival booths and games everywhere?! I don’t get it.
-I don’t know how people in Taiwan produce, as they all appear to be gay or lesbian! Haha, well not really, but there are lots of lesbian-y girls and lots of gay-ish guys, yo! Way moreso than here, and I didn’t think that was possible!
-Cindy said this on her blog, too, but both Taipei and Taiwanese people don’t have a definable image. We spent four days ALL over the city and we couldn’t find a skyline or certain image that seemed to define Taipei. Likewise, Taiwanese people all look way different and don’t look like they are from the same genepool or whatever like Japanese, etc. people do! It was weird, I couldn’t tell who was Taiwanese and who was a tourist!
And yes, those are my random-ass thoughts on Taiwan! GO THERE!
-Because of geographical reasons, there are NOT many whities in Taiwan whatsoever, and most of the tourists were Japanese. Because of this I got TONS of stares for being a big tall honky. However, I didn’t notice as much as Cindy did, I guess because I am used to it from Japan! But they were innocent stares, not like “Get out of here, big –nosed demon!” stares. I did scare some children, though, which was sad.
-Poor Cindy! It sucks to be Asian in Asia, as everyone assumed she was either Chinese or Japanese or something. Because of this, and due to our height differences, I looked like a big weirdo talking to myself in English on the streets, sad! Then again, it probably looks like that in Japan!
-Taiwanese people LOVE TO EAT! Like, they are never not eating. Japanese people never walk and eat, but Taiwanese people ALWAYS do! I dunno how they are not the size of their country!
-There are conbinis and banks EVERYWHERE in Taiwan! I think there is one for every person, at least!
-I have decided that Taiwan is half Japan and half China. I expected it to be all China, and was pleasantly surprised that the people were nice and weren’t yelling at us all the time or anything. It is dirtier than Japan and obviously has more Chinese-related food, but the people are more Japanese in that they aren’t scary. Haha. They were really nice, friendly, helpful and relaxed. I sound like the Taipei Chamber of Commerce, but it’s true! They had a bit of an island-people feel about them, in that they didn’t seem to really care or worry too much about anything. It was nice!
-The weather was great! It was hot during the day but not too hot, and the nights were just perfect. Me rikey (tho summer is probably scary hot).
-They enjoy their coffee more than Japanese people! Japan doesn’t have nearly enough coffee shops, and Taiwan has lots…I miss sitting in coffee shops, bah!
-Taiwan is way family-oriented. People would always be out with their families, and it was really cute/nice to see that. In Japan most kids (like Jr. high school and higher) are always out with their friends, but we didn’t see much of that in Taiwan. In fact, we didn’t see that many teenagers, I think they are hidden somewhere!
-Chinese in Taiwan isn’t scary and ugly like I expected it to be! I am not ready for mainland China Chinese!
-Um, I think every person and pet owns a fucking scooter in Taipei. It was CRAZY. You have no idea!!!! Unfortunately they assume they are safe on them and like have their babies and shit on them?! I saw one parent with a baby on the back and a baby in the front while scooter-ing! NOT SAFE!
-Taiwanese people apparently love carnivals, as there are like carnival booths and games everywhere?! I don’t get it.
-I don’t know how people in Taiwan produce, as they all appear to be gay or lesbian! Haha, well not really, but there are lots of lesbian-y girls and lots of gay-ish guys, yo! Way moreso than here, and I didn’t think that was possible!
-Cindy said this on her blog, too, but both Taipei and Taiwanese people don’t have a definable image. We spent four days ALL over the city and we couldn’t find a skyline or certain image that seemed to define Taipei. Likewise, Taiwanese people all look way different and don’t look like they are from the same genepool or whatever like Japanese, etc. people do! It was weird, I couldn’t tell who was Taiwanese and who was a tourist!
And yes, those are my random-ass thoughts on Taiwan! GO THERE!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Shopping and eating in another country! (Last part, I swear)
Our last full day in Taipei was pretty similar to our first day, so I will just go through it quickly! Well, as quickly as wordy Jeff can!
We started off the day with more Din Tai Feng...MMMMMMM! IT WAS SO GOOD! I don’t think they liked us much, though, as we took our time eating, and they are all about the speed there. They sort of kicked us out in the end, but I still love them! We then realized we were poor as fuck and needed to get more money exchanged...an easy enough thing, when there are like HUNDREDS of banks on one block in Taipei. However, we were retarded and left our passports in our hotel room. Thankfully the bank lady liked us and was able to take our gaijin cards, since they have our passport numbers on them. Yay racist Japanese people needing to identify us wide-eyed criminals!
After that we went to a temple (good tourists!), and it was actually interesting, even tho I am SICK of temples. They are different than Japanese and Korean ones, and have really amazing detailed work in their carvings/sculptures, etc. It was purty. We then went to another mall and saw The Departed, since it wont come to Japan for a million years. It was good! Infernal Affairs was better, but it was a good movie, and I actually thought Leonardo DiCaprio was good in it, even tho I hate him? Hmm, weird. We then were bigger losers and spent like 45 minutes in a Taiwanese grocery store getting food to bring back home! It was really quite sad, but at least we have foreign food now. Sad, we are LOSERS.
After that we did some more shopping, including a GHETTO Kiehl’s experience (sad, Kiehl’s cant be ghetto, I love it too much!!!), got some more late-night dim sum, then went back to the Shi Lin market for some wandering and dessert. We had the MOST amazing kakigori (shaved ice) EVER!!!!!! It was mango shaved ice, but the ice was actually made of mango milk rather than just water. SO GOOD!!!!!!! Sigh, I want more.
The next day we got harassed some more by the scary Japanese-speaking tour guide, bought some last-minute shit, and left Taipei to go back to boring Japan and boring school! SAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
And yeah, that is our food-filled trip! Hmm, this summary was really boring, sorry! I actually have thoughts on the people/culture/etc, so I will post those later, as maybe they will actually be more interesting. Maybe ;)
We started off the day with more Din Tai Feng...MMMMMMM! IT WAS SO GOOD! I don’t think they liked us much, though, as we took our time eating, and they are all about the speed there. They sort of kicked us out in the end, but I still love them! We then realized we were poor as fuck and needed to get more money exchanged...an easy enough thing, when there are like HUNDREDS of banks on one block in Taipei. However, we were retarded and left our passports in our hotel room. Thankfully the bank lady liked us and was able to take our gaijin cards, since they have our passport numbers on them. Yay racist Japanese people needing to identify us wide-eyed criminals!
After that we went to a temple (good tourists!), and it was actually interesting, even tho I am SICK of temples. They are different than Japanese and Korean ones, and have really amazing detailed work in their carvings/sculptures, etc. It was purty. We then went to another mall and saw The Departed, since it wont come to Japan for a million years. It was good! Infernal Affairs was better, but it was a good movie, and I actually thought Leonardo DiCaprio was good in it, even tho I hate him? Hmm, weird. We then were bigger losers and spent like 45 minutes in a Taiwanese grocery store getting food to bring back home! It was really quite sad, but at least we have foreign food now. Sad, we are LOSERS.
After that we did some more shopping, including a GHETTO Kiehl’s experience (sad, Kiehl’s cant be ghetto, I love it too much!!!), got some more late-night dim sum, then went back to the Shi Lin market for some wandering and dessert. We had the MOST amazing kakigori (shaved ice) EVER!!!!!! It was mango shaved ice, but the ice was actually made of mango milk rather than just water. SO GOOD!!!!!!! Sigh, I want more.
The next day we got harassed some more by the scary Japanese-speaking tour guide, bought some last-minute shit, and left Taipei to go back to boring Japan and boring school! SAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
And yeah, that is our food-filled trip! Hmm, this summary was really boring, sorry! I actually have thoughts on the people/culture/etc, so I will post those later, as maybe they will actually be more interesting. Maybe ;)
Shopping and eating in another country! (Part Two)
So Sunday was our first full day in Taiwan, and we seriously went ALL OVER Taipei. Cindy and I are now the causes of global warming, as we took cabs everywhere! Taipei is really really big and spread out, so no matter where you go you are never near the next place? I don’t really get how that works, but yeah, every cab ride was really long. Sigh. Oh, well, we have ridden bikes for the last year, we can add some pollution once in a while (the excuse for driving for the rest of my life)!
So yeah, in the morning we went to Din Tai Fung, a famous restaurant chain in Taipei that is known for their steamed dumplings. Um, let me say that this place is AMAZING and you all need to go RIGHT NOW! It was sooooooooooooooo good. Everything they make is just fucking amazing. We were smart and went right when they opened, as when we left there was a HUGE mob waiting to get in (I am not even exaggerating!). God, it was good. I of course took pictures of the food (loser), so I will upload them eventually, but you can check out their website here if you want to.
After that we decided to be good tourists and went to the famous National Palace Museum. It was a really nice-looking museum and everything, but all of the stuff IN the museum was the same! Like, you can only see so many dishes and vases and stuff. I like museums just fine, but I prefer paintings and stuff, and the museum just didn’t have enough varied stuff for my taste. But oh, well, at least it was something other than shopping and eating! After that we went to Wufenpu, a garment market, that was far too trashy for both of us, so we quickly got the hell outta there. We are NOT market people!
We then cabbed it to Ximenting, a real shopping area, that looked EXACTLY like a shopping area we went to in Seoul! Like, seriously, it felt like we were in Korea. It was nice, though, and I got a Puma bag, yay. And we had a yummy kakigori dessert and AMAZING noodles! We were being all local-y, as a buncha Taiwanese people were waiting in line for them, so we decided we had to, too. Mmm, they were good.
That evening we made our way over to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. It is seriously the tallest building in the world for no reason whatsoever. Like, I highly doubt Taipei NEEDS a building that tall...ut at least it is well-designed! And it has THE FASTEST ELEVATOR EVER!!!!! We went up 80 stories in 30 seconds! It was CRAZY!!!!!
We did a bit more shopping after Taipei 101, then made our way to a restaurant for Jeff’s first dim sum experience! It was yummy, but the restaurant was like EMPTY except for three tables, and it was eerily quiet, yo. Like, way too quiet. But it was good! Yay, dim sum! Looking back, it might not have been a good idea to have a huge-ass dinner at 10 PM, but oh well. It was a good day! To be continued...
So yeah, in the morning we went to Din Tai Fung, a famous restaurant chain in Taipei that is known for their steamed dumplings. Um, let me say that this place is AMAZING and you all need to go RIGHT NOW! It was sooooooooooooooo good. Everything they make is just fucking amazing. We were smart and went right when they opened, as when we left there was a HUGE mob waiting to get in (I am not even exaggerating!). God, it was good. I of course took pictures of the food (loser), so I will upload them eventually, but you can check out their website here if you want to.
After that we decided to be good tourists and went to the famous National Palace Museum. It was a really nice-looking museum and everything, but all of the stuff IN the museum was the same! Like, you can only see so many dishes and vases and stuff. I like museums just fine, but I prefer paintings and stuff, and the museum just didn’t have enough varied stuff for my taste. But oh, well, at least it was something other than shopping and eating! After that we went to Wufenpu, a garment market, that was far too trashy for both of us, so we quickly got the hell outta there. We are NOT market people!
We then cabbed it to Ximenting, a real shopping area, that looked EXACTLY like a shopping area we went to in Seoul! Like, seriously, it felt like we were in Korea. It was nice, though, and I got a Puma bag, yay. And we had a yummy kakigori dessert and AMAZING noodles! We were being all local-y, as a buncha Taiwanese people were waiting in line for them, so we decided we had to, too. Mmm, they were good.
That evening we made our way over to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. It is seriously the tallest building in the world for no reason whatsoever. Like, I highly doubt Taipei NEEDS a building that tall...ut at least it is well-designed! And it has THE FASTEST ELEVATOR EVER!!!!! We went up 80 stories in 30 seconds! It was CRAZY!!!!!
We did a bit more shopping after Taipei 101, then made our way to a restaurant for Jeff’s first dim sum experience! It was yummy, but the restaurant was like EMPTY except for three tables, and it was eerily quiet, yo. Like, way too quiet. But it was good! Yay, dim sum! Looking back, it might not have been a good idea to have a huge-ass dinner at 10 PM, but oh well. It was a good day! To be continued...
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