. . .In class today, the teacher was discussing some well-known Chinese authors and poets whose works are still studied and quoted today. And it really got me thinking.
. . .My maternal grandmother was a very accomplied Chinese calligraphist and painter, who also enjoyed the acquaintence of the Taiwanese hero Chiang Kai Shek for well over two decades.
. . .My maternal grandfather, as well as being a first-class rank-immediately-below-general, was also a very skilled poet in Tang/Sung dynasty-styled poems.
. . .My eldest maternal aunt's husband, although not blood-family, has also exerted great influence in my family. As well as being a second-class general, he was also quite the accomplished author and novelist, whose book on logic/critical thinking became the popular/standard textbook used in many Taiwanese highschools and Universities.
. . .My second-eldest maternal aunt, although not in the profession of literature, was equally well-educated in the classics, and a great fan of novels and literature from past dynasties. Even her 'common speech' is easily recognisable as the words of the well-educated and linguistically adept.
. . .Finally, my mother, who on top of studying linguistics in University, also owns a very impressive collection of classical Chinese literature as well as more interesting volumes, such as a Sung-dynasty dictionary, and a copy of the original writings of the book on Confucius (which is to say, a copy in which the words are written in that archaic font instead of the modern Chinese written language).
. . .And then there's me, who can barely express my desired thoughts. With such a strong literary 'lineage', I cannot help but feel the utmost of shame for my inability to even read a sentence in a Chinese novel. So while most of you may commend me on my current fluency "for a CBC", I firmly believe that someone whose family is saturated with such Chinese literary influence as mine should be at a significantly higher proficiency than my current Mandarin standing.
. . .Today, however, I was lent two modern Chinese novels by my teacher at my request. Hopefully, by next week, my Chinese proficiency will take another giant leap forwards.
2003/10/31
2003/10/30
Happy Happy?
. . .Yay! I finally got a job teaching English here! Not much; an estimated $32 a week. But all I want is pocket money anyways, right? And hopefully, if I do a good job, she'll tell her friends, who'll tell their friends, etc.
. . .My student seems to be quite curious about the world, but rather silent... the signs of a thinker! haha. And I get along with the mother great; we talked a lot about things not relating to my duties as a tutor. ^^
. . .So I'm feeling pretty happy. Or at least, that's what I would have been saying had it not been for earlier today. Whatever good feelings I had from last night were quickly obliterated from the events of this morning.
. . .Woke up at 6:15am, at the click of the alarm clock I forgot to set. Luckily, I was already somewhat semi-conscious at the time that my alarm clock was supposed to go off. Remembering the events from yesterday, coupled with the anticipation of catching a cartoon show at 6:30am, I quickly got out of bed and went to the washroom to brush my teeth. But as I passed the living room couch on my way to the bathroom, I noticed that the normally empty couch was occupied by the slumbering figures of my uncle-in-law and the 9-month old family dog.
. . .Drat! I thought to myself, now I'll never get to watch TV. But apparently, my bustling in the washroom made enough noise to wake my uncle-in-law and the dog. By the time I had come out of the washroom, both parties had retreated to the master bedroom.
. . .Yay! I thought to myself, I get to watch TV now! But no sooner had I sat down and turned on the TV when my aunt waked by and tersely and sharply ordered me to turn of the television because she'd be walking back and forth in front of the TV and didn't want to suffer any radioactive injury. Mentally scoffing at this stereotypically Chinese attitude, I reluctantly turn off the TV, thinking to catch at least the ending of that episode after my aunt would finish with her morning routine of watering the plants.
. . .After her third trip back from the plants, I figured she must have finished by then, and decided to turn the TV back on. She came out again and started yelling, "Joey! I already told you not to turn on the TV! I'm almost finished anyways!"
To which I replied, "Well, my show's almost over too!"
. . ."Joey! I've already told you many times! The radiation emissions of this TV is especially high!"
. . ."Well, a little radiation won't kill you!"
. . ."How dare you say something like that!!"
. . .And then there was a little battle of stares to determine who's will was stronger. I then remembered that I was staying at her house as a guest, and should this be allowed to continue, it would get back to my mother, who would be sure to be unhappy with the situation. So I rudely clicked the TV off, and storm back into my room to sulk and wonder how in the world I was planning on resolving this mess.
. . ."And he's always talking about how other people breech etiquette," my aunt yelled down the hallway as she raged toward the master bedroom.
. . .So yah. Things are better now; sorta talked out stuff... sorta.. I mean, with the whole Chinese 'older is superior' thing, I kinda lost out on the deal. And I'm not even sure if I'm happy that everything's settled cuz now she just maintains the idea that I'm just a kid. (What the gay.)
. . .Class went by in a blur, so nothing remarkable to mention there. Though hopefully tomorrow, teacher'll lend me some novels to read for Chinese practice. ^__^
. . .My student seems to be quite curious about the world, but rather silent... the signs of a thinker! haha. And I get along with the mother great; we talked a lot about things not relating to my duties as a tutor. ^^
. . .So I'm feeling pretty happy. Or at least, that's what I would have been saying had it not been for earlier today. Whatever good feelings I had from last night were quickly obliterated from the events of this morning.
. . .Woke up at 6:15am, at the click of the alarm clock I forgot to set. Luckily, I was already somewhat semi-conscious at the time that my alarm clock was supposed to go off. Remembering the events from yesterday, coupled with the anticipation of catching a cartoon show at 6:30am, I quickly got out of bed and went to the washroom to brush my teeth. But as I passed the living room couch on my way to the bathroom, I noticed that the normally empty couch was occupied by the slumbering figures of my uncle-in-law and the 9-month old family dog.
. . .Drat! I thought to myself, now I'll never get to watch TV. But apparently, my bustling in the washroom made enough noise to wake my uncle-in-law and the dog. By the time I had come out of the washroom, both parties had retreated to the master bedroom.
. . .Yay! I thought to myself, I get to watch TV now! But no sooner had I sat down and turned on the TV when my aunt waked by and tersely and sharply ordered me to turn of the television because she'd be walking back and forth in front of the TV and didn't want to suffer any radioactive injury. Mentally scoffing at this stereotypically Chinese attitude, I reluctantly turn off the TV, thinking to catch at least the ending of that episode after my aunt would finish with her morning routine of watering the plants.
. . .After her third trip back from the plants, I figured she must have finished by then, and decided to turn the TV back on. She came out again and started yelling, "Joey! I already told you not to turn on the TV! I'm almost finished anyways!"
To which I replied, "Well, my show's almost over too!"
. . ."Joey! I've already told you many times! The radiation emissions of this TV is especially high!"
. . ."Well, a little radiation won't kill you!"
. . ."How dare you say something like that!!"
. . .And then there was a little battle of stares to determine who's will was stronger. I then remembered that I was staying at her house as a guest, and should this be allowed to continue, it would get back to my mother, who would be sure to be unhappy with the situation. So I rudely clicked the TV off, and storm back into my room to sulk and wonder how in the world I was planning on resolving this mess.
. . ."And he's always talking about how other people breech etiquette," my aunt yelled down the hallway as she raged toward the master bedroom.
. . .So yah. Things are better now; sorta talked out stuff... sorta.. I mean, with the whole Chinese 'older is superior' thing, I kinda lost out on the deal. And I'm not even sure if I'm happy that everything's settled cuz now she just maintains the idea that I'm just a kid. (What the gay.)
. . .Class went by in a blur, so nothing remarkable to mention there. Though hopefully tomorrow, teacher'll lend me some novels to read for Chinese practice. ^__^
2003/10/29
Droop
. . .I need someone to frisk me or something cuz apparently the 'mind over matter' theory isn't working too well right now for me. I REALLY want/need to continue working on my essay, but my lack of sentience isn't really helping...
2003/10/27
The Postmaster
. . .Class was strange. Apparently, since people caught a glimpse of my sketchbook yesterday, the class president wanted me to sign her uhh... 'memories book' or something. So I did... ... and then somehow, the topic of playing piano came up. "Can you play piano, Joseph?"
. . ."Err.. yah, I can play a bit..."
. . .After I ran away from the scary women, I decided to mail some letters on my way to my uncle-in-law's office, since there was a post office just outside the subway station. I walk around, reading the various counter names, got lost, asked information, "excuse me but ehh... do you sell Umm... *mimes envelope*"
. . .The woman looked at me strangely, and pointed to counter 7. "Any counter beyond 7 should be able to help you."
. . ."Thank you," said I as I made my merry way to counter 11. "I need to ehh... sent two letters to Canada. But ehh.. I don't have the umm... 'surrounding paper'." The man laughs. "You mean 'envelope'?"
. . ."Yah..."
. . ."Do you have postage?"
. . ."Nope."
. . ."That'll be $57NT in total."
. . .I take my sweet time writing down the addresses, then ask where the water sponges are for sealing the envelopes and attaching the stamps.
. . ."Just over there on the counter," he says. But I don't really see anything... So back to information I go. The lady was nice enough to walk with me right to the counter and pointed to this tin box with some sort of white paste inside with a brush handle protruding upwards.
. . ."Eww...." I think to myself, "a large brush for glue? How... barbaric..." But I finally get everything done, bring it back to the counter and ask if everything's fine.
. . ."Yup, that's all."
. . ."Err... how long will it take before it reaches there?"
. . ."About a week."
. . ."k, thanks!"
. . .But I have no idea if by a week they mean 7 days, or 5 business days, or 7 business days... @_@
. . ."Err.. yah, I can play a bit..."
. . .After I ran away from the scary women, I decided to mail some letters on my way to my uncle-in-law's office, since there was a post office just outside the subway station. I walk around, reading the various counter names, got lost, asked information, "excuse me but ehh... do you sell Umm... *mimes envelope*"
. . .The woman looked at me strangely, and pointed to counter 7. "Any counter beyond 7 should be able to help you."
. . ."Thank you," said I as I made my merry way to counter 11. "I need to ehh... sent two letters to Canada. But ehh.. I don't have the umm... 'surrounding paper'." The man laughs. "You mean 'envelope'?"
. . ."Yah..."
. . ."Do you have postage?"
. . ."Nope."
. . ."That'll be $57NT in total."
. . .I take my sweet time writing down the addresses, then ask where the water sponges are for sealing the envelopes and attaching the stamps.
. . ."Just over there on the counter," he says. But I don't really see anything... So back to information I go. The lady was nice enough to walk with me right to the counter and pointed to this tin box with some sort of white paste inside with a brush handle protruding upwards.
. . ."Eww...." I think to myself, "a large brush for glue? How... barbaric..." But I finally get everything done, bring it back to the counter and ask if everything's fine.
. . ."Yup, that's all."
. . ."Err... how long will it take before it reaches there?"
. . ."About a week."
. . ."k, thanks!"
. . .But I have no idea if by a week they mean 7 days, or 5 business days, or 7 business days... @_@
Blazing Ashes
. . .Discussions about one's personality - fun, insightful and informative.
. . .Discussions about one's personality in Chinese - slow and painful.
. . .Having said that, I hope to either master Chinese in a night, or leave Taiwan as soon as possible.
. . .Discussions about one's personality in Chinese - slow and painful.
. . .Having said that, I hope to either master Chinese in a night, or leave Taiwan as soon as possible.
hotmail in taiwan
. . .What the hey's wrong with hotmail???!? I try to download my attachment (which is shown to contain no virus. Then, instead of giving me the window to select which directory I'd like to save it under, it loads a "please re-enter password" screen. K, so I re-enter password. I'm now back at the 'home' page of my hotmail account. I go to inbox. then my e-mail. then attachments. "No virus found!". "download". "please re-enter password". What the F***!!!! Grr... and this cycle repeats no matter how many times I do it, under whichever language encoding. (so it can't be because the language setting is confusing how the code is being read. but it's not only this computer; the exact same thing happened to me at Tao Bai Ren's house on their family computer. GRR!!!
Terra Firma
. . .I hope I spelled that right. But yah. today's rant is about society. Well, it would be, but I just ate and now all the blood is devoted to digesting my food rather than helping me think.
. . .So the weekend. Yah. No internet over the weekend. Well, I did for a sparce few moments on Friday evening, but that was about it. E-mailed my Chinese essay(if you can call it that; it was about 239 words) to my teacher.
. . .Saturday involved sleeping in 'til around 9:30am or so. That was pretty sweet. Especially since I normally have to wake up at 6:30am in order to get to school on time. ($1 NT per minute late! NB: $25NT=$1Can.)
. . .Had some cold soy bean milk and an egg-with-bread thing for breakfast. Mmm... they call it 3-in-1, but I have no idea how to call two of the three ingredients in English. But that's basically what I've been having whenver I have breakfast. (Need more fruit...)
. . .Lazed in front of the TV the rest of the morning with sketchbook in hand. I've yet to buy normal, lose-leafed, lined paper -- it doesn't seem to be terribly popular around here. Everything's about notebooks. (So annoying. No wonder the students are always stressed.) Which means, I've yet to be able to start scribbling my ideas for my stories/novels.
. . .After a disinteresting lunch, I bussed over to Tao Bai Ren's house to lounge around. First the most part, I was surfing the 'net, researching archaic names and researching about Norse myth. Now I know what the "Fenrir Wolf" really means, and why it sounds 'cool'. Along with the three names Skuld, Urd and "Belldandy"(Veldandi), Yggdrasil, Freya, Ragnarok, etc. And yes, becoming frightfully hooked on é”探å�µãƒã‚(Mythical Detective Loki). Haha. I'm sure that hints at my sudden revived interest in Norse myth. The second half was devoted to writing a letter to Alison -- a letter of which I should send really soon... Especially since it already takes so long for letters to be delivered.
. . .Sunday... ... ehh... ... ... church started an hour early; they had a meeting after service to discuss the new year (finances, plans, etc.) Didn't really involve me so *poof* I went. Afternoon/evening also resulted in being in front of the tele. Saw Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone! haha. Mmmmm... British magic...
. . .Wanting to see several movies right now... "Underworld", "The Matrix Revolution" and "�左走��走", which stars Gigi(of HK) and Takeshi(of Taiwan/Japan). *sniff* nobody'll either let me, or go with me to see any movies in theatres; they all say it's too expensive... ... though it's about the same as in Toronto... everybody's a stinge here.
. . .I've made a goal for myself to write an essay a week in Chinese in the effort of improving my writing skills. (both penmanship and composition.) So this week, I shall write about ... uhh... something I know a lot about... first impressions of Taiwan, perhaps.
. . .K, food is making me feel too tired... ...
. . .So the weekend. Yah. No internet over the weekend. Well, I did for a sparce few moments on Friday evening, but that was about it. E-mailed my Chinese essay(if you can call it that; it was about 239 words) to my teacher.
. . .Saturday involved sleeping in 'til around 9:30am or so. That was pretty sweet. Especially since I normally have to wake up at 6:30am in order to get to school on time. ($1 NT per minute late! NB: $25NT=$1Can.)
. . .Had some cold soy bean milk and an egg-with-bread thing for breakfast. Mmm... they call it 3-in-1, but I have no idea how to call two of the three ingredients in English. But that's basically what I've been having whenver I have breakfast. (Need more fruit...)
. . .Lazed in front of the TV the rest of the morning with sketchbook in hand. I've yet to buy normal, lose-leafed, lined paper -- it doesn't seem to be terribly popular around here. Everything's about notebooks. (So annoying. No wonder the students are always stressed.) Which means, I've yet to be able to start scribbling my ideas for my stories/novels.
. . .After a disinteresting lunch, I bussed over to Tao Bai Ren's house to lounge around. First the most part, I was surfing the 'net, researching archaic names and researching about Norse myth. Now I know what the "Fenrir Wolf" really means, and why it sounds 'cool'. Along with the three names Skuld, Urd and "Belldandy"(Veldandi), Yggdrasil, Freya, Ragnarok, etc. And yes, becoming frightfully hooked on é”探å�µãƒã‚(Mythical Detective Loki). Haha. I'm sure that hints at my sudden revived interest in Norse myth. The second half was devoted to writing a letter to Alison -- a letter of which I should send really soon... Especially since it already takes so long for letters to be delivered.
. . .Sunday... ... ehh... ... ... church started an hour early; they had a meeting after service to discuss the new year (finances, plans, etc.) Didn't really involve me so *poof* I went. Afternoon/evening also resulted in being in front of the tele. Saw Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone! haha. Mmmmm... British magic...
. . .Wanting to see several movies right now... "Underworld", "The Matrix Revolution" and "�左走��走", which stars Gigi(of HK) and Takeshi(of Taiwan/Japan). *sniff* nobody'll either let me, or go with me to see any movies in theatres; they all say it's too expensive... ... though it's about the same as in Toronto... everybody's a stinge here.
. . .I've made a goal for myself to write an essay a week in Chinese in the effort of improving my writing skills. (both penmanship and composition.) So this week, I shall write about ... uhh... something I know a lot about... first impressions of Taiwan, perhaps.
. . .K, food is making me feel too tired... ...
2003/10/25
2003/10/23
Tempus Fugit
. . .Time is indeed of the essence, wouldn't one say? Ah, where's my Latin textbook when I need it. Then again, I should be working harder at Chinese, shouldn't I. I have such a great idea for how I might improve my Chinse essay (which is to be presented tomorrow), but the problem is, I sorta lack the proper vocabulary and literary exposure that a normal Chinese person would have in order to implement the idea that I have. In short, I wanted to write in the style of which I'm critizising. The idea is that people will think that my ideas are less valid because I'm imitating someone else's work, until they realize that that's exactly what I'm speaking against -- making them almost instantly agree. Ah, the joy of writing. But alas, I don't think a satire is entirely possible at this point in time. I need to know too many more words in order to be able to write with the freedom and agility that I do with the English language. (not that I'm a sequipedalianist or anything...)
. . .For the first time in my life, I finished a homework while in front of the computer -- meaning I get more play time when I get home tonight. ^_^
. . .I think I'll talk about the etiquette of expression one's opinions today.
. . .What is the difference between "I hate jazz" and "Jazz is the worst"? The former is a mere subjective statement of one's opinion -- the speaker is expressing his taste (or lack of taste, to some people) in music.
. . .But what of "Jazz is the worst"? This, I find, to be a most foul, offensive and unjust statement that should be shot. (Similar to Alison's attitude towards Confucius.) I think it's quite unforgivable when someone back-handedly dismisses an entire genre of music (in this case), or movies, TV programming, animation, novels, etc., simply one cannot or does not comprehend or appreciate its artistic value. Admittedly, each genre has its greater pieces of work which push the limits and challenge the norms of itself and pre-existing genres, as well as less-than-remarkable examples of why other genres might be prefered.
. . .I find this typically to be a careless form of speech (found in most youths in English-speaking North America -- Canada and USA), in which the speaker seems to somehow have convinced that his or her opinion is God-given fact, and is as thus stated.
. . ."Romance novels are nothing more than pornographic literature!" is something that is totally inaccurate, as well as being offensive to any young lady with dreams and imagination. If the speaker really felt that way about romance novels, one would be forced to question what kind of dull life has the speaker been leading.
. . .However strongly one feels for or against a certain genre, one should always be most careful to never state these opinions if possible, and at the very least, state them in such a manner that is in the least, unoffensive to enthusiasts of said genre. After all, were I to say "I think romance films are the best!" cannot offend anybody, since I have not said as if it were fact that romance films are in any way superior to any other genre. At the worst, someone might think less of me for not liking another 'better' genre. But nobody's truely offended by such statements that are expressed personal opinion. After all, tacit expressions of personal desires and tastes are firstly hard to distinguish, and secondly incomplete, as far as communicational etiquette is concerned. Whose etiquette? Mine, so to speak, but really, it's more of a quantified acumulation of my years of observation of human interaction. (another reason why I find etiquette so important -- my sensitivity picks up on pretty much everything.)
. . .Not to say that I'm the most sensitive there is when it comes to these matters, but apparently, I'm more easily offended and injured than most people. And perhaps, if everybody were a little more attentive and a little less careless, we might all end up living in a better world, because (and I realize this is a bit of a stretch) war might just be avoided. ^___^
. . .To such individuals beyond saving (Chen, for example), I can only pray that God gives them the mental agility and intellectual malleability that only the youth possess for the ability to change and adapt oneself to any particular or prefered situation.
. . .For the first time in my life, I finished a homework while in front of the computer -- meaning I get more play time when I get home tonight. ^_^
. . .I think I'll talk about the etiquette of expression one's opinions today.
. . .What is the difference between "I hate jazz" and "Jazz is the worst"? The former is a mere subjective statement of one's opinion -- the speaker is expressing his taste (or lack of taste, to some people) in music.
. . .But what of "Jazz is the worst"? This, I find, to be a most foul, offensive and unjust statement that should be shot. (Similar to Alison's attitude towards Confucius.) I think it's quite unforgivable when someone back-handedly dismisses an entire genre of music (in this case), or movies, TV programming, animation, novels, etc., simply one cannot or does not comprehend or appreciate its artistic value. Admittedly, each genre has its greater pieces of work which push the limits and challenge the norms of itself and pre-existing genres, as well as less-than-remarkable examples of why other genres might be prefered.
. . .I find this typically to be a careless form of speech (found in most youths in English-speaking North America -- Canada and USA), in which the speaker seems to somehow have convinced that his or her opinion is God-given fact, and is as thus stated.
. . ."Romance novels are nothing more than pornographic literature!" is something that is totally inaccurate, as well as being offensive to any young lady with dreams and imagination. If the speaker really felt that way about romance novels, one would be forced to question what kind of dull life has the speaker been leading.
. . .However strongly one feels for or against a certain genre, one should always be most careful to never state these opinions if possible, and at the very least, state them in such a manner that is in the least, unoffensive to enthusiasts of said genre. After all, were I to say "I think romance films are the best!" cannot offend anybody, since I have not said as if it were fact that romance films are in any way superior to any other genre. At the worst, someone might think less of me for not liking another 'better' genre. But nobody's truely offended by such statements that are expressed personal opinion. After all, tacit expressions of personal desires and tastes are firstly hard to distinguish, and secondly incomplete, as far as communicational etiquette is concerned. Whose etiquette? Mine, so to speak, but really, it's more of a quantified acumulation of my years of observation of human interaction. (another reason why I find etiquette so important -- my sensitivity picks up on pretty much everything.)
. . .Not to say that I'm the most sensitive there is when it comes to these matters, but apparently, I'm more easily offended and injured than most people. And perhaps, if everybody were a little more attentive and a little less careless, we might all end up living in a better world, because (and I realize this is a bit of a stretch) war might just be avoided. ^___^
. . .To such individuals beyond saving (Chen, for example), I can only pray that God gives them the mental agility and intellectual malleability that only the youth possess for the ability to change and adapt oneself to any particular or prefered situation.
2003/10/22
Maternal Alliance
. . .Did I ever mention the fact that my uncle-in-law was an architect? I'm seeing the office printer in action for the first time!! It's sooo cool!!! Whee... Go CMYK! (well, no, I'm a RBG guy myself, but ehh... I'd like to see YOU print that pure RBG green on a CMYK printer!)
. . .ehehe... It prints on that cool nifty architecture paper thingy. (the kind that my sworn-sister hand-drew for that project she had to hand in in Toronto) hehe.. and it cuts the paper itself too! (since blueprints don't necessarily have their own default size of paper -- unlike normal essay paper (e.g. legal, letter, A3, A4, A5, &c.)
. . .Must... master... Chinese.
. . .ehehe... It prints on that cool nifty architecture paper thingy. (the kind that my sworn-sister hand-drew for that project she had to hand in in Toronto) hehe.. and it cuts the paper itself too! (since blueprints don't necessarily have their own default size of paper -- unlike normal essay paper (e.g. legal, letter, A3, A4, A5, &c.)
. . .Must... master... Chinese.
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