Kim Peterson

Pingxi and the Skylanterns

2012-02-02T11:16:00.004-07:00

This year for Chinese New Year my two friends and I went to Taipei to see the Skylantern festival. In years past, it was ridiculously crowded and huge (so it's been said), but this year they split it up into 4 days. Well, the only disappointing thing was that to be part of the ceremony, you had to get there really, really early to get tickets. BUT. and I do mean BUT, you could still buy your own and light them. So that's exactly what we did--outside on the train tracks with everyone else. Just beware that the train still comes eh.
To make your wildest dreams and deepest desires come true, you simply need to write them with a marker on the lantern, light the fire within and let them fly away. It doesn't hurt if you're a pokemaster too.

Aquarium

2011-11-07T00:13:00.003-07:00

In Kenting, located in southern Taiwan, there's a pretty neat aquarium with one of those cool walk through tunnel systems.
I'm pretty rusty at photo taking, so I only have a couple non-posed friend photos.
In the one of the little girl, the first photo her parents took hurt her eyes so she decided to close them in preparation for the next.

Old stuff from Kenting

2011-09-18T04:19:00.004-06:00

a merging of a few shots of a fire dancer on the beach

one firework too many ;)and I just realized how fake it looks haha. oops.

At the Taroko gorge all the Chinese tourists wore hard hats to protect themselves from potential falling rocks.

the Lagar or maybe Lagr

2011-08-19T10:49:00.004-06:00

Or maybe it's just Lag, but anyway that means camp in Mongolian. These are a few photos from a camp about 30 minutes from the capitol city of Ulaan Baatar. In the summer especially, as soon as work gets off, the population migrates to these cityside coutries to spend their precious moments relaxing.

These places don't have running water so you have to buy drinking water from the local water stand.

Naadam in a small city

2011-08-13T01:54:00.015-06:00

Here are a few pictures from Erdenet, my best friend's home town. It's about a five hour drive from the capitol of UB and really does have a bit more of a country feel. But maybe that country feel comes from how much cleaner it is than UB. Well, I spent about a week or so there, enjoying my time with Haku's wonderful family and checking out the local Naadam. Although naadam's biggest celebration is held in the capitol, every city also has its own celebration. Even wee little cities with only a few people still have their own celebrations. In Erdenet, the event is held in a small stadium on the the edge of town. The area surrounding the stadium has statues that seem like a tribute to bizzaro disney. Like, if I tried to make a statue of Mickey blindfolded with one hand, and really hated mickey and maybe had never seen mickey. That's maybe a good description of how the statues looked.

On the (mongolian) farm

2011-07-30T01:56:00.010-06:00

Fresh air, clean water and diarrhea. The three things that come to mind when I think of camping in Mongolia. Ok well, diarrhea was actually a seperate issue I'd been having that whole trip. :)During the last stint of my stay in Erdenet, Mongolia, I went to my friend's family's camp. In Mongolia, most families own some sort of small camp ground a bit away from the city. There are some other camps even farther from the city. This is an example of one of those.
This particular camp was situated next to a foresty hill with a small stream running along side it. It's extremely au natural and one family there actually lives permanently in the ger at the camp. The water comes from a nearby stream and if you want to go to the bathroom, you can choose the make shift outhouse or just pick a distant spot in the field.
The food was super fresh. The goat you're eating may just be the goat you were petting that morning.

Mongolia...what??

2011-07-28T11:37:00.006-06:00

For those of you that didn't know. I went to Mongolia for just over two weeks. Surprise! Well, for one of the classes I teach at Joy school, I got some photos together to show the kids. So, as a token of ... well, I'm not sure of what but I'll show you some pictures that I'm actually in. Now that I'm on summer break, I hope I can get on the ball and put up some more photojournalismy photos of the past few months. For now, enjoy my adventures.

If you'll notice, this horse took advantage of the photo-op to relieve himself.

This falcon or eagle or feagle maybe was so heavy. I mean the guy kept telling me to shake him so his wings would spread but I could barely hold it up.

My house, boy friend and children. Fun fact, that horse statue is the tallest horse statue in the world.
I'm riding a two humped camel. The two hump ones are really hard to find.Well, not in mongolia, because they're all two humped there. But, you know.
Do you remember that sally the camel song?

Get outcha seat and jump around

2011-05-29T19:57:00.002-06:00

I did this over spring break.

Home sweet Ger (Yurt)

2011-05-19T01:17:00.007-06:00

Actually, I forgot to post these photos last year... but this year I also participated in the Mongolian cultural day celebration. In fact this year I was the MC. The mcizzle. The hostess with the mostess. The speaker with the... beaker, or maybe squeaker. It was pretty exciting, except that the sound kept cutting out at the most inconvenient times.

Actually this hunting picture is from this year.

Tats

2011-05-04T09:16:00.003-06:00

He hid his pain in front of the iphone, but there were tears in those eyes.

A tattoo! Well, it's not mine but it's still cool.

Shrimping

2011-03-29T12:19:00.006-07:00

Late at night in Taiwan, you can often find the bored and hungry fishing. Well, I guess more like shrimping since they're fishing for shrimp. They go to 24 places, some have KTV and all have pachinko (a sort of computer game/gambling). The other night was my first time going, and it really wasn't what I expected. I envisioned something similar to nightmarket shrimping where the shrimp are just inches from you and you use a short stick, string and hook to pull the little guys out of the water by their tails.
What I found was a large wearhouse with a dark murky pool in the middle. The gambling machines crammed into half of the building weren't exactly in my vision of this adventure either. Well, the shrimp were as big as coke bottles, and not the easiest to lure onto the.... lure.
The highlight of the adventure was the cat sized rat that swam across the pool and scuttled into some unseen hole.
After assessing our catch and feeling satisfied, out came the scewers. First, the boys washed the shrimp in a huge bucket and salted them in mass. Then, they pulled them out one by one and stabbed them through the head and body. I think in total we had about 20 or more shrimp or scewers with three other plates our friends ordered.
Talk about shrimp fest 2011.

Singapore

2011-03-07T11:00:00.003-07:00

...but without my super camera. :) So here are some regular photos of my adventure.

A picture of me at an Australian Steak place, courtesy of Haku. This steak place is across the street from one of my life goals. Well, a portion of one of my life goals. See, I have this book that my Moms gave me from the bargain book section of Barnes and Noble. It's a hardback book with the 100 most important architectural places in the world. To be honest, most of the places aren't that super (neither was the Raffles hotel... haha), but it's still a goal of mine. At the moment, I can't find the notebook where I wrote the list but I've seen a pretty good number of them now.
Some of you may be wondering, "Kim, why would you suddenly go to Singapore for 3 days? And why would you buy plane tickets just two days before, and make no sort of plan?" Or maybe you weren't wondering that but now you are cause I just mentioned it. Well, in either case, I overstayed my visa (because I'm careless and irresponsible) and had to leave Taiwan for a short period of time. Fortunately, one of my good friends from the Chinese Language Center is currently studying his medical degree in Singapore. He's really a nice guy. For those of you single ladies out there, I just said two key words "nice" "doctor." Get on it.
As far as what we did in Singapore...
My trusty roommate/best friend accompanied me and we spent the first day at the zoo. This zoo is not just any kind of zoo, it's an expensive zoo. Just kidding. It's actually set in a nature reserve along side a lake. They have white tigers, 87 or more baboons,orangutans, elephants, giraffes, all the good stuff. The cool thing is, for 5 dollars, you can feed the elephants, giraffes and kangaroos. I think I can feed the baboons too, but that just means hurling a banana 25 feet away while a monkey does back flips to get your attention.
One of the special features of the zoo is that there's a separate zoo that's called night safari. On the safari they take you in the tram and you can see a bunch of the animals at night. You can take a stroll around for yourself too, but after 6 hours of zoo, let's not kid ourselves that I had enough of the animals. The sexy fire-dancers entertaining in the restaurant area were more captivating at the time.

The second day we spent a bit fogged over, until we journeyed over to Sentosa island. It's an overpriced, rich vacationers dream. But, there were still a few gems, like the safety-luge (I call it safety-luge because actual luge would give it a dangerous sort of air, as opposed to the slow alpine slide thing it had going)and their fake beach. The sand from the beach was imported from some other country. Cool, eh? There was also supposed to be a cool super-robot-crane water show, but we missed it partly due to some creepy guy watching us near 7-11. When we mentioned the creepy guy to our indian friend, his first question was, "Was he an Indian guy? Man, it's always an Indian guy." But never fear, there was also one way creepy Chinese dude. Pretty much, that's how we spent the trip. We had some nice fresh tacos at Clark's Quay and left the next morning. (After Raffles dream-making hotel that is).

The right time of day

2011-03-01T07:53:00.004-07:00

Well, since I haven't been toting my camera around much lately, I haven't posted in ages. I apologize. On one outing recently, I did get off my lazy bum-bum and take a picture. So, here's our local beach at sunset.

Birthday fire...works.

2010-12-08T08:34:00.002-07:00

Malaysia, truly Asia

2010-12-04T06:51:00.004-07:00

A visa run, a few cheap plane tickets and a nice hostel later, we were in Kota Kinabulu. The town itself was pretty underwhelming. But, the beach and island hopping on our chartered boat was pretty amazing.

Sometimes I cook

2010-10-25T12:02:00.004-06:00

Sometimes my friends cook.

Sometimes Taiwan looks like the world's going to end.

Food

2010-09-27T10:03:00.011-06:00

I was hungry and I realized I have a lot of photos of food.

These first ones are of some food my Mongolian friends have made in Taiwan. The first three are a traditional food called buuz. They are steamed buns made from scratch. The other two are of a food my roommate made for me one morning at 6 am, after an impromptu super late night movie.

St. Patrick's day at Elise's.

I tend to think this is the best cafe in the world, but maybe that's just me. Either way, the soup is definitely one of the world's best.

Natalie's delicious salsa fresca.

Tarina's .... something something salad.

John's fresh-out-of-the-bag/ prepared-before-our-very-eyes salad.

Shadi's non-Iranian, but-still-delicious corn salsa.

Brushcetta for a Russian party.

Breakfasts of chamions.

'merican food.

Erika's creamy chicken delight.

How many candles can one put on a doughnut? 23 to be exact.

Plum Snorkeled out

2010-08-17T12:56:00.002-06:00

After arriving at 2 am, our group couldn't find a hotel that wasn't full or tooooooo expensive. So instead, we stayed up sitting at 7-11 with a nice drink until the sunrise. The warm waters were welcoming and the morning dip was serene to say the least. It felt like freedom. The day adventures including some quick water play (jetski's and the like, with only one go), a romp in a giant mouse ball down a hill, and all you could snorkel snorkeling. Well, with no sleep, all you can snorkel really isn't that much. haha. We finished the day around 4 and headed back to Tainan. Exhausted, but happy.

Sun Moon Lake

2010-08-17T12:21:00.006-06:00

The past few weeks have been like one long vacation. I've been to Taipei thrice to compete in a Taiwanese Idol singing competition, which I eventually lost (though I did make it to tv), Taizhong for a night, Sun Moon Lake for an adventure on electric scooters, another circus stint, and just yesterday a day trip to Kenting. Beautiful beaches and sunny skies.

The first view during an evening wander and a chance fog. Breathtaking.

Sun Moon lake from the temple

The lake by boat

However, I'm not the photo journalist I maybe should be, but instead I enjoyed the experience not the photos. Many photographs have really mastered taking it all in and taking great photos, but I have not. I always get too wrapped up in photos to enjoy the moment. And, since I have to choose one, I choose the moment. Maybe in the future I will be able to do both simultaneously. Until then, bear with the current me, which is the "enjoy life" me.

Naadam, in Taiwan

2010-08-14T08:39:00.004-06:00

Naadam is a traditional Mongolian holiday. It's a huge celebration with horse racing, wrestling, archery, parades and everything tradition... including foods. Well, Taiwan is not Mongolia, but if you go to the circus near Kaoshuing, maybe it can feel a little, little bit like it.

As a twist on the traditional Naadam celebration, the boys also played soccer as we watched. The foods included hushuur and a cooked sheep (maybe goat). So delicious. A really rich salty flavor. Before all the celebrating, we watched a performance by the circus. No rest for the talented, even on national holidays.

Hong Kong

2010-07-27T15:05:00.005-06:00

Hordes of people going about their day, walking, riding the metro, riding the bus or the tram and me alone, no hurry. I went to Hong Kong to extend my visa awhile ago, and I went by myself. I had no plans, nothing to see really and two days to accomplish my nothing task. I started with a breakfast of delicious porridge near my hostel. It was surprisingly difficult to order-- neither English nor Chinese worked at this restaurant. After eating, I fell asleep in my hostel for a few hours. I had traveled through the night and celebrated at the circus the night before so I was exhausted. I woke up in the evening and wandered downtown by metro. I went central station and wound up seeing something I had wanted to see in Hong Kong, the HSCB building. A famous bank that I've seen pictures of since I was in high school. But to my surprise, sitting under the bank were hundreds of women with only a scattering of men. They seemed like they were maybe Philippino, or Malay or I couldn't tell, but definitely not Chinese. The sat on floors made out of cardboard, some had even fashioned walls out of cardboard. They were everywhere. By every bank, on every road, it was incredible. And what were they doing? Playing card games, chatting or just hanging out, nothing more. That night I grabbed McDonalds (I had a limited budget) and saw the pier. At the pier, two older ladies took my picture for me and I wandered around looking at the ships and lovers along the warf. I headed back to my hostel a bit later, and started my day early the next day. I didn't really need to start it early though hahah. I rode the tram for two hours, and saw almost all of downtown Hong Kong that way. I went to the museum and had a nasty salmon Caesar salad for lunch.
I had a lot of time to myself, talking to myself, thinking to myself. I wonder if I am happy, if I am lonely, if I am great, if I am satisfied. And I'm not sure, but I know there are many things in my life that make everything worth it. And those things are wonderful.

blue hair

2010-06-24T15:55:00.002-06:00

a circus

2010-06-22T22:28:00.004-06:00

There's a Mongolian Circus about 45 minutes from Tainan. I'm lucky enough to know them now. Although they are just a small act, they put on a pretty awesome show. For Mongolians it all seems pretty normal, but for me it seems incredible.

What God taketh away, he may return in a few minutes

2010-06-02T13:00:00.001-06:00

So I'm addicted to a game. Some of you may think, it must be facebook Bejeweled because I'm constantly playing that. While that may also be the case, the game I'm actually speaking of is a Mongolian card game. It's called and it's for money, but maybe 9.5 times more fun and more intelligent than poker.

So, the other night we played this game (it takes hours to play) and decided that we would go to the beach to watch the sunrise. Where while we were sitting on the tide wall, my beloved friend lost her shoe. It just fell right off into the ocean. After searching far and wide on the rocks, her boyfriend and our other friend gave up the search. And, my one-shoed friend threw her other shoe into the waves. Perhaps, she was just meant to be shoeless or perhaps this particular pair was bad luck. The sun rose and along came a fisherman. A small floating black object caught the boyfriends eye while he was talking with the fisherman. Using his net, he retrieved the previously thrown shoe. I guess the ocean didn't want it. With renewed vigor, he searched for the second sandal, only to find it had been spit out of the rocks a few feet away.
Taadaa! The moral of the story, "If God takes your shoes, maybe they wont fit and he'll give them back."

And there was a freak fire in my neighborhood on the way to class.

a lucky foreigner

2010-05-08T12:16:00.005-06:00

It was at this dinner that a Mongolian friend of mine said that I was really lucky to be able to eat homemade Mongolian food. She's right. In Taiwan, I've experienced homemade Taiwanese food (of course), Indian food, Indonesian food, Vietnamese and most notably Mongolian food. The kids I know can make this stuff from scratch. Starting with just flour, water, vegetables and meat, they can create freaky delicious things. I think that I am more and more lucky everyday. Not just when it comes to food mind you. In general the things that I am exposed to are special and even the mundane is enjoyable for me. Although my life isn't glamorous, I wouldn't want to be living any other.

the guys with face paint

2010-05-01T16:35:00.003-06:00

quit hittin' yourself

2010-04-28T23:10:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago, I went to a temple in Madou to experience a weekly ritual of self-mutilation/ God worship. We really lucked out that day when it turned out to be a Buddhist holiday of sorts. A parade of chariots holding various God idols worked its way to the temple for an hour or more when at last the people we came to see arrived. These men are in a trance and believe that a God is within them. As a show of this godliness, then beat themselves with blessed swords, axes and things with nails glued to them.

I AM the monkey king

2010-04-13T10:52:00.004-06:00

Well, despite trekking to the top of the mountain, I'm sad to say I did not meet the monkey king. I did meet some very greedy, and slightly cheeky monkeys though. When the monkeys realize you have food, they will hound you until they are sure you have nothing to give them. That being said, they still don't realize when you are pulling peanuts from your pocket, though your hands are empty your pocket may not be. My friend had been to the mountain a few times and imparted on me this bit of knowledge, so imagine how surprised I was when a few of the monkeys circled us even after we'd done all the hand signs for "mei you peanuts." We were trying o rout when they were still following us, when an especially bold monkey grabbed something off of my friends bag. aah. He had attached the leftover peanuts to his backpack. That little monkey grabbed that bag, made the happiest howl and scurried up the nearest tree to horde his loot, three monkeys on his trail.

If you close your hand and offer a monkey food, they will use their tiny leather hands to open yours and get their treasures.

When the moutain monkeys took their afternoon nap, we went to see the more greedy parking lot monkeys. Well, maybe they're not greedy, but I tend to think so, since they spent mot of their day stealing from local shops or begging from humans.
When my friend gave the pictured monkey a peanut, he wouldn't let go. The monkey wasn't to pleased about that. Parking lot monkeys are scary.

along the river with the ballers

2010-04-05T11:42:00.003-06:00

See you in a awhile

2010-03-23T01:48:00.006-07:00

Well, this is the last blog post I'll make from the U.S.A for awhile. I'm flying back to Taiwan tomorrow. Today I nearly cried twice just thinking of leaving my parents. I stopped by my dad's office to say goodbye to his boss and pops and I had a quick impromptu photo shoot. We took some self portraits together and I had Dad take a couple of pictures of me being the boss at his desk. He pulled out his little disposable camera and took a couple more of big boss Kim. After I got into my car, my dad clicked off one more photo and I drove off.
My mom and I had some quality time together at D.I. and the bank before we all met up for Los Hermanos Mexican deliciousness.

The other day, I woke up to my mom coming into my room giving me a hug. She was crying a bit, but trying to be very positive about the whole thing. I'm going to miss going to the BYU library with her and having her point to a shelf saying five times, "And these, these are books," before she begins specifying what type of book.
I think the whole time she really meant to say something like, "And these, these are history books."
Though, we don't always get along, or agree in the slightest, I love my parents and I will miss them very much.

It's been a glorious month plus a week. I didn't go on any road trips, or have any ridiculous adventures, but I did enjoy myself tremendously. My friends here are some of the nicest, funniest, most incredible people in the world. I'm not exaggerating, we're talking world baby. They can turn a perhaps boring sit around a kitchen table, to an hour of hilarity and laughing 'til your side aches. Even shopping with them is possibly the most entertaining thing on Earth.
And, mostly they are such good people. Really, genuinely good people. Sometimes I feel like I may not even be good enough for them.
Miley Cyrus sure knows what she's talking about. It IS a party in the USA.

To any of you who happen to read this, thank you for making me laugh until my throat hurt. I love you and I miss you. Come to Taiwan and visit me!

the Bells

2010-03-21T19:05:00.003-07:00

It's strange when you go to your friend's house and it's actually their house. As in, they bought it. Well, my fine friend Elise and her husband Jacob purchased a huge and pretty sweet house in Provo this past year. They've already built a deck, and started some nice landscaping projects. They also promised me a small house in their expansive backyard I can live in.

Our scrabble game and Elise's reaction to her word.

Long goodbye

2010-03-18T23:36:00.004-07:00

He's never spent more than a couple weeks away from home. His little sister and family are his best friends. On Wednesday, the family said goodbye to their only boy. Now, at 19, he'll have his first solo adventure. Well, not counting the man he'll be with 24 hours a day or the spirit.

Madison will be going on his mission to another state in the U.S.A. For two years, he will only be able to converse with his family and friends via e-mail and snail mail once a week. Twice a year, he will be able to call home : Mother's day and Christmas. The rest of the time he will be following where the Lord God leads him, and spreading his message of the LDS church to those willing to hear it. Hopefully, his successes and the Holy Spirit will help get him through those sure to come hard and lonely times. Godspeed furball. I'm sure he'll be fine.

the second fam

2010-03-16T23:33:00.008-07:00

The view inside the Daniels house and the view outside.

Everything on this table is always delicious. I wonder if I could taste the tears in this especially heartfelt meal. The family liked to call this Madison's "last supper." It was his last dinner at home before going to the MTC.

There is no Provo quite as beautiful as a snow covered Provo.

Erika decided that Britni's hair needed a change, so she bought dye and dyed her hair. Britni didn't really have much say in the matter, although I don't think she minded.

Erika's figure didn't quite fill out the dress and oranges were too large to shove down there so Mom settled for lemons. You know what they say, "If the world gives you lemons, shove them into your bra." (and into your grandma's wedding dress.)

Donnie is a funny aunt. She's the wild one in the family.

My mom likes mysteries

2010-03-15T22:51:00.003-07:00

My mom has read mystery novels since I can remember. In fact, I think she's read most of the mysteries in the Provo library. Stacks of cat mysteries, Rumpolts, Hercule Peroits, and everything Agatha Christie has been read in that bed. That delightful woman loves to read.

I, on the other hand, love to go out and shoot lemonade with my old friend from college. (a well timed timer photo :D)

if you call it a party

2010-03-10T15:56:00.002-07:00

If you call it a party, then it is a party.
FAQS
That doughnut has 24 candles on it.
Those chocolates were lost for a year.
Marble sodas are entertaining.
So are hookahs.

I'm down

2010-03-10T15:08:00.003-07:00

I went to a hip-hop show in Provo, Utah. I'd never been to a live hip-hop show, and it was quite exciting. The 20 people there (I'm being generous) and my friends danced like mad fools.
The photo is of a b-boy dance off that in fact I think, with my limited skills, I still could have won.

let's get together

2010-03-06T18:23:00.003-07:00

Well, whilst here at home, I'm finding every opportunity I can to see my friends. Contrasting the following two photos. The first was an ice cream social that Carrie was throwing, at which I knew only my companion Becky and the aforementioned Carrie. But, it was still a good time.
The second photo is of a dinner at Rachel's. I've known all three girls since my Sophomore year of high school. There was delicious home-made sushi and jamming for all.

welcome to P-town

2010-03-02T16:59:00.004-07:00

Provo, UT. It's like coming home to a different home.

Unisex bathroom

2010-01-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

The soothing sounds of getting ready.

One more wedding

2010-01-04T06:48:00.001-07:00

One of the Chinese English Teachers at my school.

mmm, mm, good.

2010-01-03T10:35:00.001-07:00

My roommate makes delicious food. This curry is a fine example.

Mongol pride

2009-12-07T10:55:00.003-07:00

NCKU had a parade of nations (maybe two nations) during their sport day. So, I took some photos of my Mongolian friends during the festivities.

Sport day

2009-11-29T12:38:00.003-07:00

I know, you know, I know, but she didn't

2009-10-10T02:08:00.002-06:00

I waited for him to come. I knew he was going to do it, and I knew she didn't want to get in the water, but we all knew it would be hilarious. In the end, we all got in and romped around in the crashing waves of the Golden Beach.

Side note** I hadn't updated for awhile because a friend of mine in the last post recently killed himself. The boy looking at the praying mantis. And I couldn't bring myself to put in a new entry.

Chicken Hill Academy and the Mantis

2009-09-05T14:23:00.003-06:00

My polish friend had never seen a praying mantis until this day at the beach. We watched the thing get attacked and carried away by ants...

The oldest bar in Tainan is called Chicken Hill Academy. It was comfortable, but I was expecting more pizaz based on its name.

No water since Sunday

2009-08-13T21:06:00.004-06:00

Since the day after the Typhoon, most of Tainan has had no water. Buildings here are equipt with reserve tanks for just such an emergency, but even those places began to run out after the first day. My house had no water from the very beginning. Th buckets we prepared in our house lasted us a sparse two days. After which we had not a drop. Luckily for us, our water came on on Wednesday. My other friends got water yesterday. Matt, my american friend, still doesn't have water. He had one five minute interval in wihch to take a shower yestrerday. The neglected pipes deliverered five minutes of brown spray before turning off again.
During the water stoppage, firetrucks came around to neighborhoods delivering water.
They are the only reason we could flush the toilets on Wednesday night.

Typhooooooon

2009-08-10T11:54:00.007-06:00

Some of you may have heard that a Typhoon hit Taiwan. Well, here's some pictures of the day after in my neighborhood.

just another day in the sand

2009-08-01T02:51:00.003-06:00

I live 20 minutes from a beach. It's dirty sometimes, but it's the ocean. I've never lived so close to a beach in my life. It's amazing. The water never ends. The waves nevr stop. Looking out into the water feels like looking into eternity.
Or maybe that speck I see is China, who knows?

Pizza at supper time

2009-07-26T11:58:00.001-06:00

When pizza's in a super schwank Japanese tea house, you can eat pizza anytime.
This place has the best pizza I've had in Tainan, and you would never think it was a pizza place by looking at it. The place even has this amazing room with teered seating. When I eat there again and sit in those seats, I will provide pictures for you.

the Sun also rises

2009-07-26T09:07:00.000-06:00

I saw the sunrise this morning. A top a 14 story building, no fence, just a ledge and us. From up there Tainan is beautiful. Truly beautiful. All the garbage that litters the sidewalks, and the cigarette butts crowding even the most green of trees is invisible from up there. (Thanks to Geff for lending me his iphone in a photo crisis)

don't go chasing waterfalls

2009-07-20T21:02:00.006-06:00

Sunday was a wonderous day. A scooter adventure to Chiayi to hike to a magnificent waterfall.

Cola Advertisment

2009-07-06T06:55:00.003-06:00

I feel like this photo could be a coke advertisement. Coke is fun, free and refreshing. That sort of thing.

Sleep

2009-07-01T08:53:00.002-06:00

Lately, I haven't been able to sleep well. I'm not sure why think it's the heat but I really can't put my finger on it. I've actually been sleep-deprived for a couple months, but that was self-inflicted. Having fun and being with friends is a lot more important to me than a few zzz's.
These pictures are dedicated to those who really know how to sleep.

Lately, I've been realizing how hard a goodnight's sleep is to come by. I've only experienced the amazingness of true comfort a few times, but those few times man, nothing's better. What makes a goodnight sleep? Can anyone tell me? Survey: When do you sleep best?

lost on a scooter

2009-06-27T22:50:00.004-06:00

There are some nights when my lovely best friend Haku and I would go on adventures. Usually, these adventures were to get some tea or a nice trip to the beach or something like that. But, this night, our other friends had gone out dancing so we decided to get lost.

We took a rode near our house we'd never taken and drove. We drove for at least half an hour before we decided to get a hot dog and tea at 7-11. After that, my scooter desperately needed gas, so we asked for directions to the nearest gas station. We went back and forth, back and forth each convenience store giving us different directions...back from where we just came. Wandering the dimly lit deserted strrets for an hour before finally happening upon a morning market just opening and getting directions one more time; we found a gas station.
Somehow after all an excursion down a lightless country road, and one more stop at 7-11 we ended up on Hai An lu, and quickly found our way home. We stopped at Dong men Road's gate of the city to eat our hotdogs, drink our tea and take some pictures. At 5:30 am, about 5 hours later, we came home; our friend curled up in Haku's bed sleeping soundly. I really miss those kids. ^__^

the streets were filled with smoke

2009-06-25T09:29:00.004-06:00

It wasn't a war zone, but it sure sounded like one.
I've never seen so many firecrackers in my life. Truly. The sound was deafening and the smoke was so thick, one could barely see one's hand. The smoke cleared and the harsh, shrill sound of reed instruments could be heard in th distance. Then came the parade honoring a god or two. Parades like this happen constantly, though I've never seen one with quite as loud an entrance.

it's been awhile

2009-06-19T00:07:00.011-06:00

And this is how it is these days.

twice the fun

2009-03-25T09:02:00.007-07:00

My camera's still broken, but I neglected to post several pictures I took in the before time. It's been awhile I know. Whenever I start to really enjoy myself somewhere, my posts get fewer and further between. Sorry about that. These few "gems" if you will, are from a trip I took to Chiayi with Bryan a couple months ago.

As for my personal news, I got a job as an English teacher to small children. I teach them about pilots and clerks etc... Over the last school vacation I worked 37 or more hours a week. We just started our new semester and I'm on scholarship. WOOH! But, I'm really going to have to try to cut back these hours. I don't want a boring no fun life. Oh, did I mention I moved in with two Mongolians? How are things for you?

edit* Erin Tanner is too funny. And in retrospect, this post is boring as all get out, so I'm going to try to pzaz it up a bit. So here are some stories from my adventures in teaching:
My first day really (solo teaching) a class of 6-year-olds I couldn't remember what time class got over and I let them out (much to their excitement and confusion) 10 minutes early. They ran downstairs only to have their dreams crushed by my co-teacher who herded them back into my classroom for a quick ten minute game. I could help but laugh as almost every student scolded me with the one word they knew "Teacher...!?!"
There's a very shy girl in one of my classes. I think she's perhaps 12 years old and quiet. I don't know much about her, except that she really enjoys taking extended bathroom breaks from class. Anyway, one day, I was standing by her desk while waiting for students to finish handing in homework and she tugged on my arm. "teacher." She pointed to her wrist. She had a new white nike band like the red one I wear on my wrist everyday.
I played a game with my older students the other day. We were practicing their -ed past tense verbs and playing a game with a sticky ball. I wrote their vocabulary from the last chapter on the board, plus a verb or two of my own. They had to throw the sticky ball at the board and could move their game piece based on the value of the verb. I made one verb worth twice as much as all the others...."Kiss Teacher Weber" Weber being the other co-teacher. I couldn't help but laugh as the class chanted "kiss Teacher Weber" for the 10 minute duration of the game.

blustery day

2009-02-15T07:53:00.007-07:00

My uncle's favorite things to see in Taiwan are power plants and passenger ports. As a consequence, when he takes us sightseeing these are the things we see. On this occasion (after a full mornign of two power plants and a sprawling industrial park area), we snuck into a building and ascended to the 4th floor to get a better view of a closed passenger port. The wind was wet and fierce--we only stayed up there for a couple of minutes. I'm not sure the empty wharf and lone ferry were worth it, but this photo of my grandmother sure was.

As of late, I've been enjoying my lack of curfew and new found freedom. As a result, I haven't been posting as much. Moreover, my camera broke a few weeks ago and I don't have the money to fix it. But, all in all, I'm really enjoying my life right now. Most recently my company is either Mongolian or French. It's pretty sweet to practice my French and the French ids are very nice. I don't speak a word (well, I speak like 5 words) of Mongolian, so being with the Mongolian kids is difficult sometime, but I really like them.
It's amazing how good of friends you can be with someone, while not being able to speak the same language. I mean, we're all learning Chinese, but none of our Chinese is that good yet. Yet, we're all good friends. Relationships and love for fellow human beings never cease to amaze me.

Cheers and goodbyes

2009-01-28T20:16:00.002-07:00

the tea ceremony

2009-01-19T06:52:00.008-07:00

Members of the family pace about the room, chatting anxiously until the bride's arrival is announced. A flowing pink dress glides down the stares as the eyes of her family watch for her eagerly. Cheering bubbles slowly from the seated aunties, uncles as they begin to clap.
The bride's special bau-ling jie (let's call her a master of ceremonies) begins the event. Head bowed with respect and thanks, the bride carries her trey full of tea around the circle until every one seated has a cup. She pauses at each person to look up, smile and say a few words as they take the offering. After the tea is drunk, she returns with the empty trey and each emptied cup has a small red envelope tucked in it. Each family member gives his congratulations and well wishes as they smile and replace the cup.

Taiwanese weddings have two separate day long events, one for the groom and one for the bride. The bride's day is a sort of engagement/wedding melange. It was explained to me that after the bride's engagement ceremony the bride's family can say that the bride is married.

The groom places a ring on his fiancee's finger and various jewelry is given to the bride to wear. The groom is also given a special gold necklace and a small fortune is given to the couple.

the bushing bride

2009-01-13T10:16:00.006-07:00

In Taiwan, the paler you are, the more beautiful. The light from the window fell on 廖老師's face, making her features glow gently。

One of my teachers last semester found out I was a photographer and bought me a train ticket to come to her wedding in Yi lan (a city about 7 hours away from where I live). The make-up process was fascinating, so took a few too many pics, but these are my favorites.

Opera at it's noisiest

2008-12-28T07:49:00.006-07:00

The banging of the small gong drummed willy nilly in my mind, as I searched for light. Backstage light is so fascinating that I can't seem to bring myself to relax or take a break. My teacher and friends have all gone for food, but I'm fixated on collumns of light falling towards the figures waiting in the eaves. The high pitched, toe-curling melodies of those on stage pierce my thoughts. Is this really opera? The large, bellied, full-breasted assault of melodious, rich music I'm accustomed to. No, this is Chinese Opera, I remind myself.

I like being exposed to the arts and I like being exposed to different cultures. I tried to appreciate Chinese Opera and to some extent, I can. But the melodies did not really speak to me. Nor did I manage to decifer the plot, even with the help of subtitles, although my teacher did explain it all to us in the end. Though it's not the kind of music I'd listen to unless greatly enticed, I'll admit it was different and I enjoyed the overall experience greatly.

the "breast" wedding moment ever

2008-12-25T02:43:00.004-07:00

And with that cheesy joke, this is perhaps one of my favorite wedding moments that I’ve managed to capture. I just enjoy it, truly. For weddings or other important public occasions, brides or ladies in general will often use type of bra that enhances one’s cup size dramatically. These particular breast aids, helped one to achieve a D size. Attachable enhancers are especially popular in Asia (and Taiwan more specifically), where women tend to have smaller breasts but love the idea of big breasts.
The future sister-in-law of the bride is very curious of the texture of these “breasts.” The authenticity, if you will. When her mother arrived, she also made her give it a poke. I have a few photos of this situation, but I still like this one the best.

A teacher of mine got wind that I, at one point in my life, was a photographer. She was getting married in a couple weeks so she asked me to come take pictures of her wedding in Yilan. I hesitantly said yes and she paid for me and another teacher to train 7 hours to the far reaches of Taiwan. Weddings make me more nervous than any other assignment. To me, a wedding is much more stressful than covering something for a newspaper. If you miss a shot for the paper, it’s a shame, but it’s not the end of the world (usually**), but if you miss a couple coming out of a church or have a group family photo corrupt….gah! I know a lot of photojournalists would beg to differ, but when I take wedding photos I feel like if I miss something, then I could possibly be missing one of the most important moments of this person’s life. The thought that this person will look at their wedding photos 50 years from now, and these photos will be the key to their nostalgia, makes me feel that much more pressure. I’m probably overestimating the importance of wedding photos (although I really think I’m not), but people really care about things like this. For instance, when I worked at Tech, there were always some very small projects that made me nervous. If you didn’t get the photo right or get what the client wanted, they would be incredibly disappointed. Much more so than if I didn’t come back with the best photos from the big Tech/Duke football game.
I know I always sound worried when I talk about wedding photos. Thank you for bearing with my neuroticism.
Now, in Chinese:
上個月我很喜歡的老師結婚了。他聽說我是攝影師，所以他請我來他家皮照片。我說了ok可是我很緊張。因為我覺得結婚的照片很重要，而且五十年以后，她會看我照得片讓她記起來那天。壓力好都！可能只我自己覺得這樣子。
That's as much as I can do in chinese. Chinese actually physically gives me a headache. haha. Sad, but true. 中文常常讓我困擾。我的頭痛。

Poo monster

2008-12-17T20:54:00.005-07:00

The last two weeks have been a mess of goodbyes, studying and teaching. I'm on semester break now, but am studying like a crazy beast so I wont be so behind next semester. Life in Taiwan is still alright, and I'm still enjoying learning Chinese. It can be pretty frustrating at times though. 中文難學，可是我真喜歡我們的學校。When the people you live with seem like they understand what you're saying, but they don't and when you think you understand what they're saying, but you don't, it creates quite the mess. Oh well. Anyway, this here picture is of a cake we tried to buy my friend maria. It's actually a poo monster, but to poo monster's misfortune even in the winter time frosting melts like crazy in taiwan. So, he ended up a little more monster than poo, but it's alright I think. If you look closely, he has small frosting flies on him. We ate him and our class get together at the end of the semester. It was so delicious. I'm going to miss my classmates. But hopefully, this new school year will be just as fun.
Also, this photo is courtesy of bryan. I didn't bring my camera.

And here's a picture of the classmates.

they say it's your birthday

2008-12-03T07:57:00.005-07:00

Today, my birthday consisted of cake. Cakes of all sorts. Chocolate, strawberry..Sponge Bob. Michael welcomed me to class with a lovely piece of chocalate cake with a large red candle ready to be wished upon. My wonderful Estonian clasmate bought me a delightful 85degree C cake which the whole class feasted on; I wished on some different candles. Finally, Bryan, Udayan and my two Japanese misses all pitched in to buy me a super fancy sponge bob cake.
The japanese girls also gave me a cool kafeia and a badmitton set and bryan wrote me caligraphy. My teacher gave me a long, inflatable, stick lion-- very unique. Last but not least my grandma treated us all to old neighbor lady's delicious gou sao yi mian. A fantastic day to say the least! Really! Besides my two tests (which turned out ok in the end), it was easily among my favorite birthdays eva! Two bad I still have one more test tomorrow.
And as this is a photo blog, here is a much belated photo (or two) of my dear friend Rachel's wedding.

Lucky ass dragon

2008-12-01T07:05:00.004-07:00

At a waterless lake in Kaohsiung, I walked into a dragon and out of it's hind quarters. It's lucky, they say. I hope you will be pleased to know, that this dragon-ass luck may have really worked. My teachers asked me to skip a semester and jump ahead to the next level of Chinese courses. Also, so far, I've scored 100 on all my finals. Although my chinese is still pretty bad, at least in my badness I'm progressing. How is everyone out there?

Check out these sausages at the local night market while you answer my query.

Ponderings of a less futile time

2008-11-24T03:59:00.006-07:00

What's life all about? In my semi-alone time here in Taiwan, I find myself wondering that all the time. I feel like I know so many not happy people here. By not happy, I don't mean unhappy, I mean content in a lacking sort of way. It's not that I judge them to be that either, it's that they tell me it is so. A content existence, is that all life needs be? I don't know. I don't really think I could handle such a life, at least not for an extended period of time. My life in VA for the first few months was a content existence, but it eventually became a happy and fun one. In taiwan, I am happy. I know I could be happier if my most loved ones were a bit closer, but I still at least feel like most days are good not just tolerable. An everyday existance that I simply tolerate...what a scary thought. Is "content" all our golden years will hold?

Panama time

2008-11-18T19:03:00.004-07:00

During our NCKU sports day holiday, some of the international kids studying at NCKY presented their culture during the "street festival." A few of my classmates were in the group from Panama. They're rowdy band brought joy and dancin' to the crowd.

Chinese dictionaries have small font

2008-11-18T04:04:00.007-07:00

One time, my friend Bryan had this ridiculous magnifying glass. It measures an impressive 5 inches across. It cost him 300 NT and he uses it eveyday. Words in Chinese dictionaries are just too damn small.

Also, I feel like I'm putting too many pictures of Bryan on my blog and sending mixed singles. We're not dating, nor in love, for those of you who were wondering. Also, which photo do you think is the most interesting? I'm deciding whether or not I even like any of them. hmm.

University Sports Day

2008-11-11T19:57:00.004-07:00

I love these monks. I have one class with them and they is nice peeps.
Taiwanese kids love to get their picture taken. They LOVE it.
We woke up at 7:00 am to get to school at 7:50 am so we could walk around this track once and wave to these people. Then we left and ate breakfast. But, we did get a free t-shirt out of it.

Playgrounds for big kids

2008-11-11T19:52:00.003-07:00

When we couldn't figure out what else to do at Chaiyi farm, we played on this playground for hours.

some characters

2008-11-03T05:21:00.008-07:00

For the benefit of you not in Taiwan, here are some of the characters from my stories. The photos are a little strange because of the sizing....sorry.

My two Japanese Ladies and my homeroom teacher (in the middle).

Michael Jordan. His real name is Michael Jordan Rawlings, but his Chinese teacher in America made his name Chiao Dan cause they thought it was funny.

Bryan's arm feeding stinky birds.

Bryan's face doing a crazy dance

Misa's cake cuttage. Udayan dropped it so it looks a little janky, but it was stil delicious.

The photogenic estonian couple I know.
These photos are all from our school field trip to Chiayi. WOOH! It was fun and delicious. Barbeque photos are soon to come.

Sports action and a little gay marriage on the side

2008-10-30T08:30:00.005-07:00

Sometimes you see someone, and you just know something's going to happen. I watched this girl for about fifteen minutes just knowing she was special. She's cute, eh?
Now onto my serous and long-winded rant.

Why does everyone insist the US Government must uphold the “will of God?”

It’s been bothering me lately. This whole, Protect Marriage act thing. What exactly are we protecting marriage from? The unbridled onslaught and vehement attacks (of tolerance and humanism) that providing homosexuals with rights has welcomed. Maybe I’m more naïve to conservative ideals than I think, but I don’t see how granting State marriage right to homosexuals nullifies the value of marriage for Heterosexuals. I hear this whole concept of “now everyone can get married.” Even “sinners!” Well shoot, if I can get married in prison after having killed someone, wouldn’t that make me a sinner still allowed the right of marriage? I know that’s a bit extreme and it’s actually beside the point of my upcoming argument.
What right does the government have to tell people whether they’re married or not? Now, this isn’t really an original idea of mine, it was posed to me by a professor in one of my classes (my favorite comm issues class). It really opened my lines of thought. What right does the government have to tell us who we truly love and deserve to share commitments with, period? Does the government see us together and know we’re a good fit? Do we double date with the government? Do they even really care, save for a few tax forms? No. The answer is no. If you say people can’t commit without this state marriage thing, I challenge you that I have met many couples (abroad and in the US, gay and mostly straight) who have committed to one another without the use of a piece of paper. They are happy. They have families. They are productive members of society and many even go to church.
But let’s say you think the government does have the right to condone or disapprove of a couples’ commitment to one another, does it have the right to say who can rightfully love who based on morals? Now, I’m not that liberal. I don’t condone people+animal love, I’m not a fan of incest and I don’t condone underage relations at all. Really. I know there are probably circumstances and things I don’t understand, but I’m sorry I don’t understand it. But, when two consenting adults want to love one another, who are we to say it’s wrong? There was a time, if you recall, when we said interracial marriage was wrong and ugly. Look at all the egg smeared over our faces. If you said that today, you would be a bigot. We recognize now that not allowing interracial marriage was making those wanting these marriage second class citizens and degrading their perceived value as human beings. You can argue with me that homosexuality is different because it isn’t natural. It’s not god’s will. And I can site many instances of homosexuality in nature, or throw back at you that nothing we do is natural. When you get in your CAR and DRIVE to your OFFICE where you use TELEPHONES and WATERCOOLERS and TOILETS and indoor PLUMBING, you’re not exactly being natural, are you?
However, these flawed and easily defeated arguments are not what frustrates me the most. The idea that our government should play God to such an extent is unbelievable. The audacity that we think we have God’s right to judge and that we use it on one another rather than ourselves. To some extent, me saying this is hypocritical, I can see some necessity in enforcing what we think is morally right and wrong. Killing for example, is wrong and I condone incarceration for killing. But, homosexuality doesn’t hurt anyone. People may hurt each other with homosexuality (positive or negative) as their banner, but the act itself does not do the offending. Moreover, homosexual marriage does not hurt anyone. Taxes will not be raised, no one will lose anything, but those who gain these deserved rights will greatly benefit. Our government is not God. Our government should not be able to say to a man, “you’re love is not enough or the right kind of love. I’m sorry, you can’t visit your life partner in the hospital. You can wait in the sitting room while he dies alone.“ There is no reason to deny gay marriage, other than this religious argument that homosexuality is wrong. So, don’t let homosexuals get married in your churches if you choose to play God’s advocate. But, the State should not play God in such a way. Is Iraq our Jihad, or crusade? Are taxes our tithing?

You might say, “I pay taxes too, I have a right to stop this sort of thing n my country.” Do you judge every accused convict? Yes, you may sit on a jury of your peers and condemn a man to death, but like God, the government can overturn your ruling if it sees fit. We can pray to George Bush all we like, but he’s still going to do what he wants in the end.

What flabbergasts me even more is the super spiritual Christians who are elevating themselves to a level where they feel it feasible and perhaps even second nature to judge their fellow human beings. What gives them the right? Is it because they go to Church? Is God nowhere but in Church? Is it because they believe in God? So does he not love you if you don’t believe? Of course not.
Maybe my God is different from theirs. Maybe my God’s supreme compassion and knowledge is beyond the realms of where they keep their God. The realm of words.
Those of you familiar constructionism know that it’s the idea that words create our society and our reality. Without words, things don’t really exist to us. I find this theory very fascinating and true. Time for instance. If we didn’t say it was 3:45, would it still be 3:45? If there were no hours, would we need hours? If we didn’t call them hours, then, to us, they wouldn’t exists as hours, right? It’s a hard notion to really think through, especially when you think of all the things that are biological/physical fact. You must think in terms of language though. Another example, gravity. Gravity was always there, even before it was named. However, for humans before the word “gravity” existed, “gravity” did not exist. There was a force. Something that was just part of life that kept us grounded. In fact, maybe you didn’t even wonder why we were grounded, we just were. So as a 900 AD gentlemen, gravity was not a part of your reality. You didn’t need it and you didn’t know it. Though technically, the force we now call gravity did exists, it wasn’t really gravity until we said it was. Did that make any sense at all?
Even if these more radical ideas of social constructionism are hard to consider, at least take into consideration the weight of language. Like synonyms for example. They all “mean the same” things, but most words have separate deeper connotations because of the way they are viewed in society. Like calling someone pretty. Pretty is alright. Beautiful is better, elegant even. Gorgeous is even better, but snootier and makes me think of flashier too. Good looking makes me think of refined things. Comely makes me think of people who look like they’re from the 1800s. Or, take the word Cow. I say cow and you’re cow is different from my cow. They are not the exact same cow though they may have similar traits. When I say red, you’re idea of red and my idea of red are completely different. The power and problem with words is that they have possibility.
I do carry on. Let’s stop here before I explode. Have a wonderful night or day!

Do you want some famous noodles?

2008-10-28T04:39:00.004-07:00

"No? But they have small eels? Still no? You're not hungry? Ok, I'll treat you anyway." This is much the Taiwanese (especially my family) philosophy. It's pretty nice. Everyone fights over who will pay the check. People always buy each other delightful tea. Delicious delightful tea.
Anyway, this is called a "Xiao Chi" or small eat. Tainan is famous for this really cheap/really delicious places all over the city. You can get a pretty big meal with a free drink for about $2 US or less. Not bad I'd say. And they're prettty freaking delicious.

Kaohsiung holds strange wonders

2008-10-28T04:29:00.005-07:00

My day out adventure in Kaohsiung a couple weeks ago included many stops along the Love River and other water places. Pictured are the warf and the Honorable part of the love river.

Sometimes, she's pretty awesome

2008-10-22T08:37:00.003-06:00

One of the many characters found in my taiwanese stories: My big aunt. The excercise machine she's on (at HOLA furniture store) is supposed to simulate riding a horse. She wore the hat because she's just like that.

Go fly a kite

2008-10-19T09:53:00.002-06:00

It's fun and refreshing. I think I will in a couple weeks.

Gorilla ethics OR Figure-Rollerskate or die

2008-10-14T09:29:00.006-06:00

I was thinking of calling this post either Gorilla Ethics or Figure-roller-skate or die…and ribbons, so I called it both-ish.
I was only able to spend a minute or two watching these girls practice this sweetness in the parkbefore I had to leave with my tired grammy and auntie. I think they’re amazing. I really do. She pretty much looked like a figure skater with wheels. I’d be scared to death I’d run over those ribbons and biff it. She just took the danger in graceful stride. On to the gorillas and they lengthy words below...

Last night, I couldn’t sleep. I was reminiscing some strange reminiscences. Some of you may or may not know that I thoroughly enjoy a good debate. Arguing is too emotional, and I’m not particularly good at it (who likes things they’re not good at?) because in an argument you could create the most logical, and infallible case or point and still lose the argument. In an argument the winner is inevitably the one who cares least about being logical and most about being right. I know some of you are thinking, “but Kim, you love to be right. You think you’re always right,” which is probably pretty true. But, I generally wont argue a point unless I’ve thought extensively about it, or unless I think it will be particularly fun to do so [the latter sometimes ends in trouble so I try to avoid it (unless I’m just way too tempted)]. So that pompous seg-way leads me to the moral dilemma posed in my memory. During a Ethics bowl debate in Middle school, we were given this scenario:

You are a journalist covering a story in Africa (insert remote tropical location). While in a small town, you see a man selling a baby gorilla. Poachers often kill Gorillas in order to take their hide, hands and feet (leaving the rest behind) and to take baby Gorillas who are then resold. The baby gorilla is pitiful in it’s cage. Tourists mill around the area. You feel the desperate urge to buy this baby gorilla, and save it.
Should you buy the Gorilla?

Luckily, at an ethics bowl the format is pretty willy nilly (who can debate with all those rules really? I give you the utmost respect if you can) so you can kind of wing it if you can think on the fly. The opposing team, said yes. It would be ethically wrong to let the animal suffer their in captivity and who knows what kind of person would buy it. They gave a lot of statistics about how animals get poached and stuff and said something like “it’s a horrible thing that needs to be stopped.“ It was something like that, but I can’t remember exactly what except that their answer was “yes, buy the thing.“ So, being unprepared as I generally was, I wung this response.

“A poacher doesn’t recognize you as a concerned human being rescuing an endangered species from unlawful captivity. A poacher sees you as capital. You are demand., and he is a supply. The more demand, the more he will supply. By that reasoning, if you buy the Gorilla, you are part of the problem. In fact, you are the problem. You are the reason he can make money off of his endeavors, whatever you’re real motive may be. It may be likely that someone else will buy this baby gorilla, but maybe not. At least, maybe not right away. If he only sells one baby gorilla a month, you buying that gorilla could increase his perceived demand to two Gorillas a month. Increased demand, means increased sales, increased profit and therefore, increased motive. Of course, this isn’t the only reason you shouldn’t buy the baby Gorilla. You are a journalist. You can effect the entire poaching industry through writing, or at least effect the view points of local tourists. If you can enlighten the public to these goings on, perhaps authorities will take more action, and maybe lack of demand can even end these activities all together. Poachers are business men. They hunt these animals to make money, if the costs and risks outway the profits, then maybe they’ll change businesses. They may still be poachers, but the effect of spreading information , contacting authorities and swaying public opinion would do far more than buying the merchandise the offender is offering.”

I know it’s in quotes, but I’m sure it wasn’t exactly that. In the end, I won the debate because they’re argument really wasn’t very good. Mine wasn’t spectacular, but at least it had a little something.
It’s strange what memories really stand out to us, right?
I don’t know,
Would YOU buy the Gorilla? (this is a really choose your own adventure type blog)

All you can eat Scooterfest

2008-10-12T05:52:00.004-06:00

One day I ate an amazingly large amount of food. That day was Wednesday. I went to a buffet with my Aunt's friend and his wife. They treated my aunt, grandmother and I to the World buffett at some hotel near the Tainan culture center. Delicious. I gorged myself on Sashimi and one of everything else. Plus I tried to make fruit juice. But that ended up being very disgusting.

I feel like I'm speeding out of control into a blurr of white light when I ride on scooters sometimes.

my 500 NT love affair

2008-10-06T09:15:00.003-06:00

This bike was 500NT. I bought it used from my GBC (german born chinese) friend. New brakes and a sweet ass basket cost me 250 NT total. Not too shabby. Plus, it's cute right? It guides my sweaty butt wherever I need it to go.

this ain't no temple of Doom.

2008-10-06T09:07:00.004-06:00

Many monks live at this particular Temple/Hospital compound. When my very german (tourist!) friend and I were leaving the compound, we saw a monk picking up red beans from the ground. There were a lot to pick up and I had time, so I stopped to help her. She gave me a large pod full of beans as thanks. I asked her if I was supposed to eat them, but she said they were just for pretty sake.

delicious yet disgusting

2008-10-02T06:23:00.005-06:00

Papaya is a strange fruit. At first bite, it's delicious. Smooth, cool, tasty. Then, proressively it becomes medicinal in taste. Until finally, utter disgust fills my mouth. Much like papaya milk. When it's cold and fresh, it's really fantastic. But, when it gets older it turns into fowl mush.
Anyway, during the typhoon I couldn't go anywhere so I took pictures of the dismantaling of this fruit. It's a photo package if you will.

Za Beach vit das Germans

2008-09-20T22:59:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I went to the beach and a historical site with some germans. Originally we were going to go to this huge museum. So we took a taxi a ways out there and it turned out the museum hadn't been built yet. The girl had a brochure for 2009. It was funny, but a little sad at the same time because she's leaving tomorrow.

But anyway, these definitely aren't the germans, but they are some random taiwanese boys I photographed at the beach.

And apparently people surf in Taiwan! What? Yeah!

the Daily grind

2008-09-20T08:01:00.003-06:00

I ride the train from Da Ciao to Tainan station everyday. Tainan station is over 90 years old.

And on occasion, laundry is done.

this just couldn't wait

2008-09-18T08:45:00.002-06:00

Tonight in succession my grandmother said, "I am number one. I am, number one. I am special. I am Super. I am good." She is AMAZING. If you think this made more sense in context, you are only a little correct. On TV the word champion was used in Chinese, so it was explained to me. This explanation far exceeded my expectations. Fantastic!

No photo, what sort of photo blog is this?

2008-09-17T07:30:00.003-06:00

I haven't been taking many photos lately (and by many I mean none), but I have a good story to share so thus the photoless post. The other day I was struggling to find the book store. Someone told me it was by the swimming pool, and I somehow convinced myself I knew where said swimming pool was. Well, in the concrete sea that is Tainan, finding one solitary swimming pool that I, in all actuallity, haven't ever seen is a daunting task. So, in broken chinese I asked a young lady if she spoke english and tried to explain in Chenglish what I needed. She was very helpful, but I don't know that I listened too well. I passed the street with the book store (I learned this later of course) and wandered down a semi busy street. A woman approached me speaking Taiwanese and I responded in Mandarin. She was saying she knew my father. Judging by the drinking motions and her repetition of my "foreigner father" being somewhere, I think she was saying my drunk foreigner father was somewhere. She asked what I was looking for, but I don't know how to stay book store in Chinese. So I just kept looking around and then she remarked on my shrunken right eye. In the end, I think I accidently told her I was blind and walked back towards the university, despite her wanting to call me (the poor blind girl with the drunk foreigner father) a cab. I think she was crazy, but she probably thinks I was crazy.

Couped up

2008-09-13T23:44:00.003-06:00

Well, I've been in Taiwan for almost a week now, and I've yet to post Taiwan photos. So, I thought that should change.
Last night, I heard firecrackers going off next door despite the Typhoon rains, so I picked up my camera and walked downstairs. To my dismay, my grandmother and aunt had already shut the main door of the house. The main entrance has a metal pull down door that locks at the middle and bottom. There have been several stores down stairs, but now my grandmother chooses not to rent out the bottom floor. Well, camera in hand I sat down to eat the dinner I had slept through an hour before.

Today it's raining. You don't know rain until you've lived somewhere tropical. A typhoon has hit northern Taiwan and is effecting the entire country. Rain, rain, rain. Pouring down. All Day. It's strange to me that people can still function in this weather. Strange, but impressive. Generallly during Typhoons most businesses will close or at least close early and school is usually canceled, but you still see the occassional traveler.

Alazka-ban

2008-09-11T06:01:00.003-06:00

My alaska has a first name, it's econo. My alaska has a second name it's lodge.
I was sick for my 14 hour lay over.

Sometimes, you should just stop walking

2008-09-11T05:24:00.004-06:00

So one time, I had this catering temp job. I like catering. The time passes quickly and you get a free, and delicious, meal. The required attire makes me laugh-- I like bow ties. However, my lack of suitable black shoes is more sad than funny. Luckily, I have marching band shoes from my freshman year of highshool. 8 years old perhaps, but worth a shot. They do the trick. A little tight, but fine really. The new adidas shoes I wear on a thirty minute power walk rub against the same tight areas. My toes hurt, but it's nothing really. Only when I take my shoes off do I I realize what nothing looks like.

Look at this thing, it's huge!

2008-08-19T19:55:00.003-06:00

At 6 am, there's no one to tell you what to do at good ol' General Sherman. So I loved him.

Portrait on the GGB

2008-08-06T19:08:00.001-06:00

I'm a little lonely these days.

Exotic animals and fireworks

2008-07-29T20:00:00.004-06:00

Shawn's grandpa has an exotic animal farm in Springville. It didn't used to be in Springvile, but over the past few years the city has enveloped the once isolated farm and claimed it its own. What party poopers. The city tried to make the farm give up its animals and obey city ordinences. Listen Springville, Shawn's grandpa was there twenty years before you were. Luckily, springville compromised and let his grandpa at least keep the old animals, though he isn't allowed to get new ones. Lame rule, but whatever. At least we still get to pet Kangaroos in Springville.
Lydia and I went to Shawn's family barbeque in Springville and enjoyed sloppy joes and fireworks. Spectacular, illegal fireworks. They have been a family tradition for about 15 years. Long before art city was anywhere near the farm. Well, this year was probably the last year they'll ever do it, because some douche wad neighbor called the cops on this family reunion and cost Grandpa a $1000 dollar ticket. A thousand freaking dollars! Douche wad neighbor, I hope you scalded your fingers on your lame sparklers and cried yourself to sleep.

Grandpa tells the kids they can touch this wild turkey. He was soft and slightly agitated.

Black swans are on the endangered species list.

The kangaroo above was lent to an old folks home to cheer up the place. The one rule was not to feed it cow milk. The geezers ignored this rule and the kangaroo ended up blind. That's what cow dairy does to Kangaroos.

the United States

2008-07-28T17:38:00.007-06:00

Now, let's play guess where this places are. Some will be very simple. Some, not so much. I know I haven't posted in awhile. I haven't exactly had internet, or time, but now I'm at a lull in Utah, so hopefully I'll be a little better. Our couchsurfing adventure was fantastic. We met a lot of interesting people and had great adventures. And, I saw the biggest tree in the world! And a grand canyon. And a waterfall. And, people's faces carved into a mountain. Pretty amazing. My traveling companion was my favorite person in the world. I'm sorry if you thought you were it, but unless you are her, you probably aren't.

My best photo from the boat. The mist was everywhere.

In the end, I realized that the USA is pretty freaking awesome. We have so many different things to see. And, even though everyone thought I was crazy because gas prices were so high, I only spent about $275 dollars on gas (tops!Probably a lot closer to $200) and still drove through 15 states. I saw wonders of the world (Niagara falls, the biggest living thing in the world, and the Grand Canyon). And through Couchsurfing, I learned that you can trust strangers. Kids shouldn't trust straners, but when you're older it seems to work out alright. Just kidding, but couchsurfing.com is still the best idea hippies have ever had.
The majority of other travelers we met were either European, or college students, or European college students. Everyone was so nice. For all you kids who want to go abroad, see your won dang country first. But, I can't really say that because I didn't do that. Whatever. America is cool. I do carry on.

Guess where I am?

2008-07-05T17:46:00.003-06:00

I'm in South Dakota! For those of you who were worried about our Couchsurfing adventure, no need to fear! No one's been crazy, everyone's been nice or extremely nice. We've even been fed a few times.
I'll blog better when I get the chance, but we've been driving all day everyday so yeah.
Alright, my internet excursion is over. Have a wonderful day.

Wood....

2008-06-05T20:22:00.002-06:00

I've been working on this job for far too long and for far too little money.

Barrell a' molasses an' chewin' tobaca

2008-05-12T21:36:00.002-06:00

I really worked the angles on this assignment I got awhile ago because I was struggling to find substance in the situation and the students were comfortable enough with me that I could. It was fun. I loved the warehouse setting and the natural light coming into the barn building. I actually think I got a lot of nice shots, though none really tell a very fascinating story. I was happy with myself though, and I'm told that's pretty much what I should be shooting for. The guy in the picture is part of the Ag class I was assigned to shoot. It was for the inside of a spotlight and the class is looking at household items trying to determine which ones have specific chemicals in them.
My favorite thing about this shot is the cigarettes in the left pocket and the chew in the right. Yay tobacco.

Other people graduating?

2008-05-11T22:24:00.005-06:00

What? It's been a year! Holy cow. I can't believe it's been a year since I graduated from the U. Time really flies. It was almost surreal taking photos of the students here walking the walk in their robes. Virginia Tech's large graduation ceremony was much more well planned than the U's. First, it was at night and NOT at 8 am. They had it in the stadium so it wouldn't be too crowded. And, they didn't have it on the same day as EVERY other graduation on campus. (University of Utah, what were you thinking!) Plus, the Hokie Graduation speaker was hilarious. Hoda Kotb was the most memorable speaker I've heard to date. The football field was covered in students. I can't believe that was me a year ago. I mean, I still feel so young. But, I guess I am still young. I'm only 21. At the same time, I'm 21! Wow.

Well, since then I've done a lot. I backpacked Europe for a month. I moved to Virginia and worked as a photographer. I've made new friends and met a lot of fantastic people. I turned the big 2 1. I think (and hope) I've gotten a lot better as a photographer. And, for those of you who don't know. I'm planning on road tripping back to Utah in July, then heading to Taiwan in August. My plans entail learning Mandarin for 6 months or longer. Hopefully having some work. Then who knows!

Tutorage

2008-05-09T14:45:00.005-06:00

French for Madame is a project taken on by the students of the French Professor killed on April 16th. The students, their friends and a couple others have a French club every Wednesday at Harding Elementry in an attempt to teach these youngsters French. Though cute, the kids are pretty much crazy. The older ones are rebelious with out cause and the younger children have attention spans shorter than they are.
But, though I doubt how much the kids really learned, the main thing is that everyone had fun with, and appreciated, French. I think that's all Jocelyne Couture-Nowak would have really wanted.

M. Couture-Nowak was also mentioned in a previous blog. Her husband and daughter are pictured in this blog about the memorial dedication.

Spring has sprung

2008-05-06T08:54:00.005-06:00

I have less than a week of work left. Sometimes, it's great being an intern. Although I have definitely enjoyed my time here and have certainly learned a lot, a nice long break will be wonderful.

Relay for Life with variations on light

2008-04-25T13:24:00.005-06:00

I really worked this assignment. I was there for hours and it was pretty dang fun shooting an assignment that I chose to do and getting to go whenever I wanted. The full slideshow is viewable here at the Tech website.