Friday, June 11, 2010

Fast Forward [5]

Super quick week... I can barely remember what all happened.

I've realized that I don't know how to disagree, but maybe in the contexts where certain topics were raised it's been appropriate that I kept my mouth shut? People were being astonished(-) by the state of google's workplace, where people wear shorts and t-shirts to work and only dress up for meetings with the outside (also the way American students dress and lounge in libraries). I've always marvelled(+) at the play at work creative environment that google sets up. "You wouldn't dress like that, right?" "ummm... I guess I'm an American too."

Here are some images from my walk home from the subway station. I've been trying to pinpoint what gives buildings in Taiwan a characteristically Taiwanese feel... Haven't really figured it out; in general their just like any other square building with strip windows/balconies or punctured windows. Am I'm just being tricked into thinking there's a Taiwanese style by all the Chinese writing?

Metal Doors are pretty common.

6/6/2010
11am Decided to go looking for an English speaking church. I've been confused by my own feelings about Christianity but I still feel compelled to find a church. It's almost as if not going would be like giving up on truth or running away from things that I do not understand.

12pm I ran into Will's cousins. They came up to me after service. At first I figured they were part of the congregation and wanted to welcome me to the church, but then, "Hey, you know William Huang right? You were at our house for Christmas." o_o. I recognized them at that point.

1pm Met Wisdom at Shilin to go to the National Palace Museum, but first some delicious fried dumplings and red bean ice.

My aunt was surprised I'd want to go to a museum, but the exhibits were quite good.

Furniture: I found some of the furniture to be very spatial compared to the usual object-like designs that are more common nowadays.

Painting: I'd be interested to knowing the evolution of landscape painting within oriental culture. Rather than attempting realism, nature is portrayed abstractly from the very beginning.

Carvings: I've always been amazed by sculpture of any kind. The limited ability to "erase" mistakes when chiseling away from solid stone always seems daunting.

10pm Tennis! Racquet needs some fresh tape.

11pm I read somewhere online that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite helps to keep down the swelling... it worked!


6/7/2010 Reality
9am Design is hard in the real world. One word, money.

6/8/2010 White or Black
12pm Coworker kept pulling me under her umbrella to keep me out of the sun. I had to explain to her why Americans liked to be tan. She recalled the strange Caucasians from movies basking in summer sunshine on the beach.

6/9/2010

8am This novelty is the rice burger from Mos Burger that I mentioned in a previous post.

3.30pm Waited in line for 2 hours to get my Visa fixed. A German and French guy were sitting in front of me speaking English. It's amazing how English has become a cross-cultural tool for communication even when no english speakers are around. I'm baffled by Taiwanese students needing to score high in English in order to get into better schools. Even if the student is high scoring in every other subject, if their English skills aren't there, they lose. English may be important, but is it essential?

6.00pm Dropped by the Chiang Kaishek Memorial since it was only one stop away.





I was surprised by the paved roadway replacing what i would usually expect to be a grand stairway.





Finally, enjoy this sideways movie... Couldn't figure out a quick way to flip it. Note how the figure walks faster at 7 seconds. It never fails to amuse me.

2 comments:

  1. That is so funny! Why do you get so long to cross the street, too?

    So random that you ran into Will's cousins. Do they live in Taiwan, or were they visiting?

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  2. I think that one starts counting down from around 88. It's how long I have to wait to cross a street too. Feels like forever. More traffic? Wider streets?

    One was just visiting, but the other is doing a brief internship in Taipei.

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