一點點

In Taiwan you see a lot of funny clothing. Specifically clothing with hilarious wording on it. Now it's not as bad as China, but it has it's fair share. From hats that say "This is my Luck cap" to "What a fuck" to quite simply "Grope!", you get to see some true gems while you're here. Why, when I first got here I saw a shirt that said "Free hot dog, you just bring the buns." with an arrow pointing down. It also had a cartoon depiction of a hot dog on the shirt (I kid you not). Yesterday, while on a one-day road trip along Taiwan's northern coast I saw a small child wearing a green and white sweater that said: "I dig soccer moms". I am not making that up, despite what some people's reaction when they first hear that.

I think I'm going to try to make mini-posts regarding these eclectic clothing gems, and I will start with what I saw today: One blue and white wind-breaker which on the back read: "America: love it or leave it" and a hat which said "No fat chicks". Solid gold.

Side-note
If you're looking for a ridiculous movie with lots of blood, a bad plot, and hilariousness all around go see Ninja Assassin. I do have to say however that movie I suppose should get some kudos for using an Asian cast where appropriate. Now I know it could be seen as a stereotype that all Asians do martial arts or some such thing, but at least it's not something like in the "Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise. Meaning the main character in these movies that are about ninjas, samurai, etc. usually ends up being some white dude who comes in and learns the ways of the (insert something Asian) and then kicks ass. Or finds himself, usually both. In this movie the main character is Rain (Korean pop star), and magically he doesn't somehow get put into some sort of side-kick position. Just saying.

"Don't get complacent, purple!"

The overcast skies of the Taiwanese winter have broken. Finally. After what feels like a month straight of drizzling. To celebrate, Taiwan has had two days so far of clear skies and temperatures in the upper-70s. In November. My brain is constantly thinking it's spring. Shorts and a t-shirt on Thanksgiving.

It began yesterday when my friend Megan and I were walking by an elementary school which, according to her, was having it's weekly super long relay race. It seems just about every kid gets on a team and races. Perhaps by grade? Who knows. Unfortunately I didn't have my Flip camera with me so no not-that-interesting-videos for you. My apologies. The sun had just come out that day and so sitting on a bench with the sun shining while watching coaches and little siblings yelling at these kids while they ran seemed like the thing to do. I have to say now that I should go into athletic talent scouting because lets face it, I always picked the winners of the race. While nothing of note really happened there were some gems of enthusiastic exclamations from Megan like that in the title and "Run periwinkle, they're coming!"

I realize I don't post very often, sorry about that. I'd say I'll try to post more but I'm pretty sure I always write that. I'll have a video up from the Taipei LGBT Pride Parade up later, but I'm warning you there's not much to look at. Right now I'm on a week long vacation in between quarters so I'm doing my fair share of sleeping in too much.

In other news, I am not a millionaire. In Taiwan at the top of every receipt there is a lotto number. So every two months they announce winning numbers and you can win up to NT$2,000,000 (~US$62,500). Basically you end up collecting a ton of your receipts (and your friends receipts who don't want to play) and then don't win anything. Although apparently it's not too uncommon to win NT$200 or NT$1000, which isn't shabby.

This is a good enough update for now, it's too nice out to sit here on the internet. Next time I'll get the pride parade video up and talk about how I went paintballing.