If anyone incredibly wealthy stumbles upon my blog, please consider buying me one. I'll monitor the comments section for serious offers. Thanks a million! Well, thanks $139,000 USD + CPI increase, actually.
Like a missing 4th floor. It's not an accident - all hospitals in Taiwan do this. It's because "four" and "death" share the same sound with different tones.
four: sì (4th tone - falling) death: sǐ (3rd tone - falling then rising)
Nope, that stripe was not intentional. Rule number one of DIY haircuts: always check the guard.
My friend was quick to comment:
"Rule number two of DIY haircuts: when a mistake is made, it can often be fixed with the addition of a lightning bolt."
I think this speaks volumes as to how awesome my friends are. Matt, I wish you were here to lend a hand because I'm definitely not up to task. One time I attempted some steps for another buddy. His lip started to quiver when he inspected my work in the mirror. I suspect if the room wasn't full of dudes he would have let those tears flow...
Either way, ummm, I'm just gonna stop-loss on this one.
By wildly popular, I mean there is a KTV (karaoke bar) on almost every corner. Think of every bar and gas station in your city. Now imagine those are KTV's. That's how ubiquitous they are.
Also, it's not karaoke like we think of it in the states - get smashed and and scream into the microphone - a contest of outrageous. Here, vocal performance is taken very seriously. Think apples to oranges, the WWF to PGA, Conrad to cliff notes... you get the idea.
Anyhow, it has never really been my cup of tea, but now I'm in a position of beat 'em or join 'em. This weekend I'll take a trip into the mountains with my school and everyone will be singing karaoke during the bus ride (departing at 6:30 in the morning). Sleep is not an option, and it will be more fun being part of the action.
I'm determined to learn one song. I just want one song in my back pocket for all future karaoke endeavors. I think I made a good pick. The song is by a Taiwanese rock singer and songwriter, probably one of the biggest stars in Asia. Here it is:
Wu Bai - Maple Leaf
( 伍佰-楓葉 )
Of course, I can't read the Chinese subtitles so I used google translate to get the pinyin:
Dāng qiūtiān sǎ xià zuìhòu yī bǎ fēngyè shí zhèng shì wǒ yào líkāi de shíhou kàn zhe shōushí hǎo de xínglǐ xiǎngqǐ yuǎnfāng de nǐ xīnlǐ jìngrán yǒuyī gǔ xìngfú de gǎnjué jiù zài zhège shíhou dìshàng de fēngyè chànà jiān fēi qǐlái fēi guòlái fēi jìn wǒ shēn shēn xīnhuái yuèguò nà níngjìng hǎi chōngmǎn zhe huíyì dì hǎi nà yángguāng sǎ xià le ài cuīcù zhe wànwù zhànkāi nà cǎihóng xiàng gè xiǎohái yǒnggǎn de jiāndìng de zhàn qǐlái fēi guò nà ǎi zhú lí cāguò nà bānbó qiángbì fā huáng de zhàopiàn li tòngkuài zhe nàme shúxī bùjīngyì hé nǐ xiāng yù zài tiānkōng piāo zhe xiǎoyǔ luòxià lái qīngchè de xī tiánměi de měi yīdiǎn měi yīdī *Fēngyè a zài mǎn zhe wǒ de gǎndòng fēngyè a qīngtīng zhe wǒ xīnqíng zhōng shēnqiū li bànsuí zhe liànglì de mèng chōng xiàng wǒ #huàchéng le mǎn shān hé mǎn gǔ de duì nǐ sīniàn xiě mǎn le mǎn dì hé mǎn tiān de ài de shīpiān yǒngtàn zhe shēngmìng dì měilì hé shìjiè de wúxiàn fēiwǔ zài yǐhòu hé cóngqián tā lián chéng yīpiàn suí zhe xīliú le qù suí zhe hé yòu liú le lái lí qù shí xīn gǎnjī huílái shí mǎnxīn qídài yīnwèi ài suǒyǐ cúnzài lù shī de lǜsè qīngtái chénxī zhōng yíngfēng ér lái fēi jìn le wǒ xīnzhōng de dàhǎi
I've been listening to it on loop for a couple of hours. Still much more work to be done tomorrow and Friday. (Sidenote, this is a great way to practice pronunciation and intonation.) Wish me luck!
I got to see a snapshot of socialization today - what a gem.
First, the background story: every day my class has a break-time used exclusively for drinking water. The kids all get their water bottles, sit on the blue line and drink water. Yes, simple enough, but during this brief time I usually say, "[Student's name], drink water," about ten to fifteen times.
Not today.
Today, one of the students said, "ganbei," and it was contagious. It was a loop: ganbei, tap water bottles, laugh incessantly, drink, repeat. I didn't have to remind anyone to drink more water.
Ganbei means cheers and it's mostly used for taking shots. Already, these kids, under five years old, have learned the procedure and consumption standards for drinking booze.
I hope that whomever propagated candy cigarettes got a fat bonus if they worked for big tobacco; fantastic insight.
