[Misadventures in Taiwan]

(watch using YouTube if you don't want to download the quicktime file below. you'll need the Flash Player for this.) click to download video - (or right-click and "save link as") -- 3.5 Quicktime .mov (encoded with h2.64) file please download the latest version of Quicktime if you can't play the video (Get Quicktime: ) screenshots:

right click the icon and "save link as" to download the mp3, or click it to listen right away (9.7mb audio) topics: 1. a Kaohsiung high school/ vocational school principal who checks Yahoo! Knowledge (Y! Taiwan's equivalent of Yahoo! Answers)and other websites for negative mentions of his chool. he'll then summon teachers to hunt for which student posted those offending (to him) items to punish (lower grades, etc). 2. teachers at that school have to eat at the same table in the cafeteria with students during lunch time. they're also not allowed to bring their own food from home or buy from outside. 3. sunburned badly for the love of art-- photographing sand crabs at the beach. 4. notebooks with funny Engrish blurbs on the cover-- more photos 5. Masons inviting people to tour their lodges to drum up publicity-- NYTimes article link (since this is an archive article, you'll have to pay to read the article in full. luckily, the NY Masons reproduced this article here ← click to read.) 6. taiwanese split over identity as "chinese" or "taiwanese". big news a few weeks ago when people discovered that many major government offices changed all instances of "china" or "chinese" in their english names to "taiwan" or other words (like "Overseas Chinese Affairs Council renamed to overseas Compatriot Affairs Council) original chinese names were retained, though. other news links for this topic in Chinese: 慶雙十僑委會去中國化 華僑深感被棄-Yahoo!奇摩新聞 and 機關英文名　悄悄改「Taiwan」 OCAC renamed Overseas Compatriot Affairs Council 2006/10/9 The China Post staff Few may have noticed this, but the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council (OCAC), Taiwan's highest authority serving citizens living abroad, has been renamed as the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Council. While officials with the council said the name change was meant to make a clearer distinction between Chinese and Taiwanese, opponents said the move was yet another indication that the government wants to "de-sinicize," or get rid of all words of phrases associated with China. ........ This time the council only changed its English name -- its Chinese name remains the same. The move was criticized as a way to bypass review of the Legislature. "What we want to do is to achieve the biggest denominator for all overseas Taiwanese compatriots," said Cheng Tung-hsing, OCAC vice chairman and spokesperson. "There are Taiwanese independence groups who simply can't stand the word Chinese, and there are others who can't accept the name Overseas Taiwanese Affairs Council." In fact, the government has already changed the English names of various overseas offices as part of its de-sinicization campaign. What used to be the Chinese Cultural Center in places throughout the United States are now the Cultural Center of TECO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office). Here in Taiwan, the government has also changed names of agencies in which it has a stake, without telling the public about it. Chinese Television System, for example, is now part of the Taiwan Broadcasting System group. "The Legislature didn't even know about the name change," said Kuomintang lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu, member of the Legislature's Education Committee. "We'll ask for a clear explanation from these people when we review their budget next time."

right click the icon and "save link as" to download the mp3, or click it to listen right away (7mb size) Topics: 1. Firefox t-shirt for joining Firefox Flicks months ago! (my 30 second Flicks ad) (i'm not complaining, but just want to point out that it says size 'S' though it makes me look like i'm trying out for a nerdcore hiphop group if i wear this. in other words, it's too big and baggy for a size S. perhaps it's a factory printing error, or it's men-sized.) 2. The Motion Sick t-shirt (and other great stuff)-- super belated thank you since i haven't had time to update. 3. Moon Festival (15th day of 8th month of the lunar calendar, happened to be Oct. 6 this year)-- it's all about burning meat I happened to be in the area to buy bbq supplies for our class's own Moon Festival cook-out when .. (read no.4) ← stuff bought from Carre Four (btw, no one dared drink the Vanilla Coke i chose in the class's moon festival bbq party. they also said that it's scary, blah blah. vanilla coke is really delicious! i can't believe people don't want to try vanilla coke.) 4. red-shirted protesters reach Tainan County-- I was able to shoot some photos of cops rerouting traffic and barricading roads in full riot gear but none of the protesters themselves. (NYTimes article if you don't know what this is all about.) been hearing accounts of red-shirted people (or red car-driving people) being assaulted by people against the protests, so i haven't been wearing my red Motion Sick shirt (see #2) in public. click link to see more photos from this non-event 5. Thank you Daryl T., Ger R., Eliot J., Joe #2, Andy S., and Jim for writing. =)

click to listen to mp3 (or right-click and "save link as" to download) sorry this podcast is crappier than usual-- i'm down with a cold and i don't have time to edit out all my "uhhms", "aahs", "you knows", and "likes" (i have to get back to finishing a project before its deadline). topics: 1. famous Taiwanese NY Yankees pitcher- Wang Chien Ming 2. street protests to topple Taiwan's president- NY Times article link 3. found mail 4. engrish signs The bottom of the first photo says "Ensure mutual respect between the two sexes". 5. moon festival- barbecues and bonfires (there's a topless drunk onstage in the first photo. click on "All Sizes" in the flickr page to enlarge. priceless shot.) 6. okonomiyaki- a very special egg omelette

(watch using YouTube if you don't want to download the quicktime file below. you'll need the Flash Player for this.) -- 5mb Quicktime .mov (encoded with h2.64) file click to download video - (or right-click and "save link as") please download the latest version of Quicktime if you can't play the video (Get Quicktime: ) screenshots:

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