We had our annual Secret Santa gift exchange today at Cornel and I'm dying to know who my secret santa was. I opened my beautiful golden Christmas box to find a leash, a note and...another box.
The note read:
WOO I got you a pet and here's a leash so you can walk it,
pets need exercise you know
otherwise they go loco!
I opened the next box. Inside was a collar, a note and....another box. The note read:
Can't have a pet without a collar.
Denotes ownership, is alarmingly fetching
and attaching a leash to their ear is just so
so... medieval. I mean who DOES that?
Open the next box to say hello to your new friend!
Inside the next box were bones (from a model dinosaur set)...and a note. The note read:
Ahh...hmmmm... I knew I forgot something...
AIR HOLES!
Most excellent Secret Santa present! Hilarious!
Bridget
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Beautiful weekend in Lushan
On the spur of the moment, Olivier and I decided to run off to a hot springs resort for Saturday and Sunday (it was also kind of a one-year anniversary celebration). We liked it so much, we're going to take a day off and book a place again for December! Here are some pics;
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Dark Village
This was on the BBC News website today. I went to an aboriginal festival in Hualien a couple of years ago, but I didn't know there was a group that didn't have electricity. I think it's interesting that it's the younger crowd that doesn't want power.
Taiwan's dark village sees the light
By Caroline Gluck
BBC News, Hualien county
The Amis tribe is one of 13 official aboriginal groups in Taiwan
High-tech Taiwan is one of the world's most wired societies and one of the globe's largest economies.
So it is something of a surprise to discover that there is still one place where people live - along Taiwan's sparsely-populated east coast - which is not connected to the electricity grid and has no access to power.
It is an aboriginal settlement, known locally as the Dark Village, nestled in a valley in Hualien county.
Legal disputes over the land are the main reason the site never got connected to the mains grid.
Decades ago, the area was taken by the government and developed for forestry.
But today the local people - members of the Amis tribe, one of Taiwan's 13 officially-recognised aboriginal groups - are trying to reassert their ancestral land claims.
Mixed views
As the sun sets, we drive to the Dark Village - about half an hour away down a narrow, dirt road, which was built just one year ago and is often cut off by falling rocks during heavy rains and typhoons.
It is dark - very dark - when we arrive.
The community live in about a dozen basic, corrugated iron houses in the Dark Village for about half a year, during the main planting and harvest season.
The rest of the time they live in another nearby village, Talanpo, which is connected to electricity.
The tribe uses wood fires for cooking and baking their locally-harvested crop, the daylily, an edible flower traditionally used in Chinese cooking.
Oil lanterns provide some light. They have lived like this for decades.
But just a few months ago, the government installed electricity poles near the settlement to pump water from nearby streams to Liushidan Mountain - an increasingly popular tourist spot with stunning views of the island's Central Mountain Range, where restaurants and hotels are springing up.
It has opened up a divisive debate among the tribe about their own future, particularly between the young and old.
The tribe live in the Dark Village during the daylily harvest season
Community elders, like 66-year-old Potal, are keen to see electricity installed.
"I really, really want power in the village," he said. "I've been living there for so long, but now I want to enjoy some modern facilities.
"I'd like to put fresh food in the refrigerator. I don't want to have to heat up wood for fires to cook every time I want to eat. I've been waiting for this for such a long time."
Kiko, a 63-year-old grandmother, agreed. "Not having electricity is like being blind," she said.
I ask her what is the first thing she will do if the village gets electricity. She reels off a list of goods - a refrigerator, a washing machine, a television set and a mobile phone.
Without electricity, people get together after work; they share things with each other, tell stories - Masawo, 28
But while village elders are excited by the prospect of electricity, younger tribal members are less keen.
Masawo, 28, used to work in the city but returned to the village when his parents died.
He talks of a special community spirit, which he fears may disappear forever.
"Without electricity, people get together after work; they share things with each other, tell stories. I think it's a better life.
"It's not necessary to have electricity. You can wash clothes by hand. With no TV, we have more time to chat and discuss together."
And even though the women spend much of the time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning by hand, mother-of-four Okoc is also reluctant to see change.
"I like things the way they are. Here we use oil lanterns, like in the old times. It seems better like that. If you had power, you wouldn't be able to see all the stars, and all the natural living things, like frogs and other animals, would run away."
Christian faith
At day break, I join the tribe, who are Christian, as they head to the fields to pick daylilies - shortly before they set off for Sunday service in church.
Electricity pylons are now making their way onto the landscape.
The daylilies need to be harvested and dried just before they bloom. And everyone pitches in, turning to a traditional Amis work exchange system called Malapaliw, in which farmers help out every family in rotation.
Their Christian faith and a strong community spirit is why younger tribal members now say they do not want to see any more arguments and will respect the views of elders who are so keen to have electricity.
But one compromise could be solar power, which would fit with the tribe's desire to develop projects such as eco-tourism and trekking and retain the character of the local environment.
Presbyterian church leader Rev Chang Ying-mei - who has been instrumental in helping the village think about how it wants to develop in the future - hopes the advent of electricity will bring only superficial changes.
"Power won't change their lives..." she began to say, "but who knows? People's desires are endless.
"I'm positive about the future because the village spirit is strong," she added.
"But one thing will change. The name, the Dark Village, will have to go."
Taiwan's dark village sees the light
By Caroline Gluck
BBC News, Hualien county
The Amis tribe is one of 13 official aboriginal groups in Taiwan
High-tech Taiwan is one of the world's most wired societies and one of the globe's largest economies.
So it is something of a surprise to discover that there is still one place where people live - along Taiwan's sparsely-populated east coast - which is not connected to the electricity grid and has no access to power.
It is an aboriginal settlement, known locally as the Dark Village, nestled in a valley in Hualien county.
Legal disputes over the land are the main reason the site never got connected to the mains grid.
Decades ago, the area was taken by the government and developed for forestry.
But today the local people - members of the Amis tribe, one of Taiwan's 13 officially-recognised aboriginal groups - are trying to reassert their ancestral land claims.
Mixed views
As the sun sets, we drive to the Dark Village - about half an hour away down a narrow, dirt road, which was built just one year ago and is often cut off by falling rocks during heavy rains and typhoons.
It is dark - very dark - when we arrive.
The community live in about a dozen basic, corrugated iron houses in the Dark Village for about half a year, during the main planting and harvest season.
The rest of the time they live in another nearby village, Talanpo, which is connected to electricity.
The tribe uses wood fires for cooking and baking their locally-harvested crop, the daylily, an edible flower traditionally used in Chinese cooking.
Oil lanterns provide some light. They have lived like this for decades.
But just a few months ago, the government installed electricity poles near the settlement to pump water from nearby streams to Liushidan Mountain - an increasingly popular tourist spot with stunning views of the island's Central Mountain Range, where restaurants and hotels are springing up.
It has opened up a divisive debate among the tribe about their own future, particularly between the young and old.
The tribe live in the Dark Village during the daylily harvest season
Community elders, like 66-year-old Potal, are keen to see electricity installed.
"I really, really want power in the village," he said. "I've been living there for so long, but now I want to enjoy some modern facilities.
"I'd like to put fresh food in the refrigerator. I don't want to have to heat up wood for fires to cook every time I want to eat. I've been waiting for this for such a long time."
Kiko, a 63-year-old grandmother, agreed. "Not having electricity is like being blind," she said.
I ask her what is the first thing she will do if the village gets electricity. She reels off a list of goods - a refrigerator, a washing machine, a television set and a mobile phone.
Without electricity, people get together after work; they share things with each other, tell stories - Masawo, 28
But while village elders are excited by the prospect of electricity, younger tribal members are less keen.
Masawo, 28, used to work in the city but returned to the village when his parents died.
He talks of a special community spirit, which he fears may disappear forever.
"Without electricity, people get together after work; they share things with each other, tell stories. I think it's a better life.
"It's not necessary to have electricity. You can wash clothes by hand. With no TV, we have more time to chat and discuss together."
And even though the women spend much of the time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning by hand, mother-of-four Okoc is also reluctant to see change.
"I like things the way they are. Here we use oil lanterns, like in the old times. It seems better like that. If you had power, you wouldn't be able to see all the stars, and all the natural living things, like frogs and other animals, would run away."
Christian faith
At day break, I join the tribe, who are Christian, as they head to the fields to pick daylilies - shortly before they set off for Sunday service in church.
Electricity pylons are now making their way onto the landscape.
The daylilies need to be harvested and dried just before they bloom. And everyone pitches in, turning to a traditional Amis work exchange system called Malapaliw, in which farmers help out every family in rotation.
Their Christian faith and a strong community spirit is why younger tribal members now say they do not want to see any more arguments and will respect the views of elders who are so keen to have electricity.
But one compromise could be solar power, which would fit with the tribe's desire to develop projects such as eco-tourism and trekking and retain the character of the local environment.
Presbyterian church leader Rev Chang Ying-mei - who has been instrumental in helping the village think about how it wants to develop in the future - hopes the advent of electricity will bring only superficial changes.
"Power won't change their lives..." she began to say, "but who knows? People's desires are endless.
"I'm positive about the future because the village spirit is strong," she added.
"But one thing will change. The name, the Dark Village, will have to go."
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
I'm back..............
.....in the Taiwan. I got back into Taichung late Saturday night (actually 12:30 Sunday morning) and had a wonderful Taiwanese welcome, brought to me by Freego Buslines. After 20+ hours of traveling, we finally pulled up in front of the Sogo Department store close to my apartment. The bus was full - I actually didn't have a seat, but one man put his tiny daughter on this lap and let me sit next to him - hence, there was lots of luggage in the cargo hold under the bus.
The driver didn't bother coming out, he just let me and another girl off and only opened one of the hatches. The girl crawled in and dragged her suitcase out. I reached in and grabbed one of mine (I had 2), put it down beside the bus and saw my other one was out of reach. So I put followed suit and crawled in to get the second one....and then the door closed and the bus started pulling away!
So I yelled "hey!", but the bus didn't stop. And I yelled "hey" again. And the bus didn't stop. So I started yelling and screaming and kicking the door - there was no room to stand in the cargo, I was lying across someone's suitcase. And it stopped and the door opened. I jumped out, put my second suitcase down, looked down the road and saw my first suitcase standing by itself on the side of the road, walked up to the front door of the bus, and Lost. My. Shit. I won't go into details. There was a girl sitting by the driver (actually, she had sat next to me on the plane out of Detroit) and she just kept saying "I'm sorry." I guess it was her job to press the button for the cargo door.
Most of the passengers stood up and gawked out the windows at me. Even if they didn't speak English, they have probably seen enough American movies to get the gist of what I was saying! So, I stuffed my bags in a taxi and went home and stopped shaking about a half hour later. Wheee!
Anyway, back at work, slowly getting over the jet-lag and wonky sleeping patterns (passing out at 9:00pm, waking up 4:30am) and will hopefully be right as rain and a lot less pissed at Freego Bus by next week!
Bridget
The driver didn't bother coming out, he just let me and another girl off and only opened one of the hatches. The girl crawled in and dragged her suitcase out. I reached in and grabbed one of mine (I had 2), put it down beside the bus and saw my other one was out of reach. So I put followed suit and crawled in to get the second one....and then the door closed and the bus started pulling away!
So I yelled "hey!", but the bus didn't stop. And I yelled "hey" again. And the bus didn't stop. So I started yelling and screaming and kicking the door - there was no room to stand in the cargo, I was lying across someone's suitcase. And it stopped and the door opened. I jumped out, put my second suitcase down, looked down the road and saw my first suitcase standing by itself on the side of the road, walked up to the front door of the bus, and Lost. My. Shit. I won't go into details. There was a girl sitting by the driver (actually, she had sat next to me on the plane out of Detroit) and she just kept saying "I'm sorry." I guess it was her job to press the button for the cargo door.
Most of the passengers stood up and gawked out the windows at me. Even if they didn't speak English, they have probably seen enough American movies to get the gist of what I was saying! So, I stuffed my bags in a taxi and went home and stopped shaking about a half hour later. Wheee!
Anyway, back at work, slowly getting over the jet-lag and wonky sleeping patterns (passing out at 9:00pm, waking up 4:30am) and will hopefully be right as rain and a lot less pissed at Freego Bus by next week!
Bridget
Sunday, July 15, 2007
In the final stretch!
Home in 6 days! I keep telling myself I don't have much to do, then I think about it for a few minutes and start twitching nervously! I just got my computer fixed up (it was slow and contrary) and decided to start on one of my biggest, most procrastinated projects - importing my cds on to my computer. Why did I think this would be an easy task? I have a disgusting amount of cds. It's been 2 days and I'm still on the "c's". At the same time, it's so much fun. I have music that I haven't listened to and forgotten about and it's great to relive it. I have 8 Johnny Cash albums!
I have recently moved down to the other branch of my school, the Nan Men Road campus which is where I started out and so far it's been great. More of a commute now, but it's not too bad. I'm sure I'll be whining about it in 4 months though!
Here is some recent oddness for your amusement;
About 2 weeks ago, I was leaving Grooveyard (local live music bar) and was stopped by a Taiwanese man and woman who asked me if I wanted to be in a commerical. Turned out the commerical was for diet pills and they wanted me to be the "before" picture. "You so beautiful, we take picture of you, then use computer to make you slim. We pay you 2000NT up front!" I told them I was not interested, then dragged my deflated ego home.
Last Sunday night I was woken up at 2:15AM by the security guard who knows no English, but frantically managed to communicate I should get out of my apartment. It turned out there was a girl on the floor above me who was threatening to jump out the window and they were scared she would land on my patio. I threw on some clothes and came out to find the cops, an ambulance with stretchers ready to go and the fire department with the trampoline/net thingy set up on the street below. Anyway, I didn't see her jump, but apparently she did and is fine. It's been difficult getting information about it seeing as my Chinese sucks.
Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to get my "A through J" box of cds done before next Saturday! Can't wait for Canada!
Bridget
I have recently moved down to the other branch of my school, the Nan Men Road campus which is where I started out and so far it's been great. More of a commute now, but it's not too bad. I'm sure I'll be whining about it in 4 months though!
Here is some recent oddness for your amusement;
About 2 weeks ago, I was leaving Grooveyard (local live music bar) and was stopped by a Taiwanese man and woman who asked me if I wanted to be in a commerical. Turned out the commerical was for diet pills and they wanted me to be the "before" picture. "You so beautiful, we take picture of you, then use computer to make you slim. We pay you 2000NT up front!" I told them I was not interested, then dragged my deflated ego home.
Last Sunday night I was woken up at 2:15AM by the security guard who knows no English, but frantically managed to communicate I should get out of my apartment. It turned out there was a girl on the floor above me who was threatening to jump out the window and they were scared she would land on my patio. I threw on some clothes and came out to find the cops, an ambulance with stretchers ready to go and the fire department with the trampoline/net thingy set up on the street below. Anyway, I didn't see her jump, but apparently she did and is fine. It's been difficult getting information about it seeing as my Chinese sucks.
Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to get my "A through J" box of cds done before next Saturday! Can't wait for Canada!
Bridget
Monday, June 18, 2007
Hiking pics
It's the long Dragonboat Festival weekend! And stinking hot! Yesterday we went to Dakeng and Shinshe for hiking. It has just finished raining so it was pretty clear and there were lots of butterflies and bugs around which seemed to have just hatched. Here's a few photos. From my new camera! Ahhh, new toys....
We went for supper at this mountain top restaurant in Shinshe and got to watch the sunset in it's opening act.
We went for supper at this mountain top restaurant in Shinshe and got to watch the sunset in it's opening act.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
A Gloomy Day in Taichung
It's full on rainy season now and today was one of the first pauses in the downfall. Olivier and I went out and walked around for about 3 hours. I played with my new camera a lot. Here's a few shots. We walked around one of the many canals downtown, took some pretty pictures of balloons and pinwheels and saw some scary razor wire.
A swank dinner and a new Camera
Yes, I have finally got on my lazy arse, bit the bullet and bought a new camera! It's another Canon, just like my old one. I kept looking at cameras and thinking, "oh, this one's not as ice as my old one, sniff."
On Thursday, Bih Hua took a bunch of us out to supper at a fancy French restaurant on the 46th floor of a building downtown. Here's me trying to be artsy with my new toy.
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