A birthday in class

One of my classmates here at Tamkang University is having her birthday today. Unlike in the west, here if it's your birthday you buy the cake and pay for all the celebrations yourself. So here I am with my classmates just before we tuck into a tasty cappuchino flavoured cake. The girl in front with the purple top giving the big V(as is the habit here when having your photo taken), is YenDee, an Indonesian Chinese, and it's her celebrating her twentieth birthday today. On her right is our teacher, whom we address as Lao Shi, which is "teacher" in mandarin.

Taiwan Beer Festival

On saturday I went to the Taiwan Beer festival, which was a celebration of Taiwan Beer, a product of the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation, formerly known as the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau. It had a monopoly on tobacco and alcohol products in Taiwan until the country joined the World Trade Organisation in 2002. It is still the most popular beer on the island, with the Chinese Qingdao in second place followed by a mixed bag of mostly Japanese and American beers. The festival was held at the old Jianguo Brewery in Taipei city, which was built in 1919 during the Japanese occupation. One wall of the factory is made from old beer kegs.

There were market stalls, games, music, and lots of Taiwan beer flowing. I planned to just have a couple of quiet ones and head off. I purhcased a cup of the Taiwan Draft beer, a freshly brewed unpasturised beer which is difficult to find outside Taipei, bought a couple of traditional chinese sausages with a few cloves of garlic thrown in the bag for good measure, and sat down with some locals. Within two minutes I had four new friends who kept filling my cup and toasting me, refusing to allow me to buy any beer. Two guys worked at a girly bar in Taipei, and another fellow was a stock trader, there with his prison guard fiancee.

This went on for some time, but finally we parted and I wandered about some more with a new perspective on things. I even had a go at the maze constructed entirely from beer crates.

All in all it was a great afternoon out.

At Street Level

And this is what it looks like from the outside. At the very centre of the shot of the house is my balcony, and you are right Captain Oddsocks it's be a grand spot for a few pots, in fact that could be this afternoons mission. Have just has a test in class which I think went well. This years teacher is very good but she piles on the homework and is fond of giving tests.

The new abode

My bedroom for the next three months or so, as I said, after looking at some real dumps, I stumbled onto this big, breezy place in Qilian district, with air-con and a private balcony, which sets me back $NT 6500 per month + utilities. It's two minutes walk from the Qilian MRT (mass rapid transport) station which gives me access to many of the dark alleyways and green parks of Taipei.

Back in Taiwan

Yes I am back for another blast of megolopis madness, and it only took five minutes for a couple of things to remind me where I was. Firstly, going through customs in Taipei was as effortless as it possibly could be, with nobody in the airport uttering a single word to me. While waiting to collect by bag I was reminded of the Taiwanese peoples love for expensive branded accessories, new hights being reached with one dapper fellow sporting a Louis Vuitton bum bag (that is to say fanny pack)! The bus which delivered me into the guts of the city was sporting a huge effigy of Hello Kitty, I should have known it wouldn't take long for her to track me down. I have been fortunate in finding some agreeable accommodation, living in Qilian area with a couple of Taiwanese people. This was after looking at a couple of real dives, one "studio" apartment which was completely windowless (and NT$9000 per month, extra for aircon use)! Today I began my Chinese language classes. My classmates are a mixed bag as usual, with three Indonesian Chinese, 2 French Chinese, a Belizian and a Mongolian.

Projecting again

My time in New Zealand has allowed my to indulge in a hobby of mine, mucking around with old 16mm prjectors and films. My trusty old Elmo projector finally gave up the ghost so I got hold of an Eiki to run a few old reels through at a couple of friends houses. I'd love to take one of these babys to Taiwan with me but they are heavy old beasts and shipping costs more than they are worth. When I do find one in Taiwan the asking price is inevitably stupidly high. In most countries they are rare but quite cheap as there is no demand for them. In Taiwan they are rare but people think that makes them expensive, especially if a foreigner wants to buy one! The films are still around if you look hard enough, but time takes it's toll on some, some old colour films have faded so that red is the only colour remaining, but it's still great fun finding old newsreels, documentaries and educational films from the 40's to the early 80's.

A day trip to Lake Tekapo

Where it was cold

Toilet Instructions

Thanks to engrish.com for this wee jem. If the writing's too small, click on the picture and it might get bigger.....found in a public toilet in Sichuan Province, China

Xu Xu in New Zealand

I've just realised that my last post was my 100th. I've also been out of internet access of late so here's a wee update of where and what. I'm in Christchurch New Zealand, where it's bitterly cold at the moment. I'm working for a mate on a building site, where I've learnt about joists, purlins, dwangs, and the importance of a warm hat. Fortunately I still have my trusty Czech Zmiovka.

Monument to the eight hour day labour movement in Ballarat, Australia

We spent a couple of days in the historic gold mining town of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. Picking is finished, Jen has returned to Taipei and I fly to Christchurch on monday........

All but over

The fruit picking season here is reaching it's damp conclusion. The leaves are falling - some trees are already fully denuded and the pruners have begun their work on them. Jen and I are the only pickers left on the farm, and we can finish what few bins of Sundowner apples are left in around four days. At least we could if it would stop raining, which it has been doing off and on for the past four days. These apples must be completely dry before they can be picked, otherwise they will bruise. The rain is wonderful for everyone here though, the ground has been dry and dusty far too long for any farmers liking, now winter grain crops can be planted and farmers can happily complain about all the weeds which will now germinate and need to be sprayed. Jen flies back to Taiwan at the end of the month, and I'll head to New Zealand for a few weeks before making the journey to Taiwan myself for another stint at the markets and Chinese language school........

Sunset on the orchard......

China's Goverment and it's people

It's important to differentiate between the chinese government and chinese people, who on the whole are much the same as everybody else save that the chinese "learn by rote" education system has made many of them ignorant and have strong opinions about things which they don't have all the "facts" about, much like americans. They are also loud and love money like americans... but on the whole once you get to know them are really nice, except the ones who think that because you are not a local that it is their duty to try to rip you off, and I'm not just talking about foreigners but also about people from other parts of china!Pollution, it's bad, really bad in China, but the chinese seem to have two main excuses for it 1, lets pollute, get rich and develop technology to fix it later, and 2, the industrialised world has been polluting for 200 years, china does it for 20 and ithe industrialised world gets all indignant while at the same time buying all the stuff that we need to pollute the air to make! I see their point. Human rights - they stink in China, but most Chinese don't know about it because the government censors the internet. They are pretty good at it, so why can't our governments do something about child pornography on the net???Anyway, simply, Chinese people mostly good but a little brainwashed into believing government propaganda, Chinese government mostly a dictatorship good at what it does, still honing it's skills...... Chinese people in Eastern cities subdued by luxury goods and the dream of fantastic wealth (more Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Swiss watches sold in east asia than the rest of world combined), Chinese people in western chinese cities subdued by poverty and propaganda.

The Willy Willy

Driving back to Shepparton from a trip to Dookie with Alex the German yesterday we saw this willy willy, or dust devil, that is to say a mini tornado, swirling across a burnt off paddock. About ten seconds after I took this photo it was gone.

Ruby Pinks

It's the real tail end of things now, this is a new planting of Ruby Pink apples and this is the first year that they've been harvested. At lunchtime there isn't alot of shade here!

The days takings

The old David Brown tractor and a load o' Granny Smiths

Some vitriolic comment

China is big news at the moment, especially with the Olympics looming and the associated contoversies regarding the torch relay and Tibet. My view is that China is actually trying to be very well behaved now, as they are hoping to make the Olympics a showcase for the Chinese nation and people. If people are upset with China now, wait until the Olympics are over, then the Chinese nation will be free to show it's true colours. They will not need to show "restraint" when dealing with meddlesome elements either within China or abroad. Chinese state controlled companies are also investing or trying to invest heavily in foreign enterprises, such as western banking institutions, automobile manufacturers, steel and mineral ore corporations ecetera. They have already manouvered themselves into an unassailable position of power in the world, but thus far have chosen not to flex any of this power, but I feel than once the Olympics are over that this may change.....

Late in the season

The season is slowing up now, the pears, plums and peaches are all picked and in long term cold storage or on their way to cans, supermarket shelves, or in shipping containers heading for distant shores. Most of the pickers have left, either on their own accord or sacked by a philistine of a supervisor. This leaves just the apples to pick, which require fewer workers, so we're now in a world of Granny Smiths, which will be followed by Pink Ladies, Sundowners and a few Lady Williams and Rosy Glows. After an unseasonable March heatwave, the weather has turned cool and autumnal. Jen and I will visit New Zealand for a week at the end of the month, then return to Shepparton to see the season out.

The happy worker

It's not good to have your mobile phone sitting in an empty bin, then filling said bin with pears! It wasn't me, making it much easier to see the funny side of it.

A few picking piccies, peaches and plums

I've just finished 31 days straight, no day off until today. The Williams pears are finished, plums and peaches are ongoing, and Packham pears are due to start tomorrow. The weather has been mercifully cool this year, and it's turned out to be a bumper season, branches are breaking under the weight of all the fruit........ I'll try to get some picking pictures uploaded next time I get into town.......

At the Chinese doctor

Last days in Taiwan, for now

a hot day (celsius)

It's been a while

This is the first time I've made it into the town of Shepparton since my last post. Everytime I venture into "Shepp" I'm struck by the number of obese people living here. There's been more than enough work to keep me away from them out on the Orchard. Last time I wrote we were thinning apricots, these have since been harvested over the Christmas/New Year period, with some rain mid-harvest causing many of them to split their sides, rendering them suitable only for jam rather than canning. Since then I've been thinning apples and helping run out trellis wire on a new orchard. Also done a couple of days picking some early pears called Clapps as well as a bit o work in the packing shed. The real business however is about to begin, with the main crop of pears (biginning with "Williams") and peaches ("204's") about to reach maturity. The backpackers and itinerent workers are aleady arriving in town in search of work.

Back on the farm

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I arrived back in Australia and made my way to the ol' orchards again. I didn't waste any time and got right down to business, which at the moment is the business of thinning plums, peaches and apples. For those who are wondering what this means, the trees produce bunches of fruits, some of which must be removed to allow space for what remains to grow, and to allow the tree to put it's energies into producing fewer but larger fruit. At the moment the fruit is for the most part all green and pinball sized, and after we have been through the ground is littered with discarded fruit. The flies are particularly numerous this year.

Confucius, Big Cities, Countryside

I've not been posting much of late,that's not to say that not much has been happening, quite the opposite. Jen and I have had some great market/festival events, the chinese classes confused and vexed and taught me alot, it's seems that just as one thing begins to make perfect sense I discover some other incomprehensible triple unrelated meaning for some such pictogramic character or other......... however todays news is that this evening I fly to Sydney, will spend the weekend there before heading to Shepparton in regional Victoria, Australia, for a completlely different sort of cosmic mindshift, yep its goodbye to the megopolis Taipei and hello once again to the leafy apple and pear orchards, time for some deafening quiet and clean air, which if the drought gripping that part of the world doesn't foul the cogs, will be my locale for the next six months or so..........

Taiwanese Aboriginies

Some local aboriginal kids clowning around during one of our market events at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.

Fishing at Keelung Harbour

A shot I took of locals fishing amonst the flostam and jetsam at Keelung Harbour, northeastern Taiwan.

Election time in Australia

Here's a link for the Aussies out there, those into old Chinese propaganda films, and fans of a bit o' good ol' Chinglish. I thought this was pure gold, I only found out about it because it made the international news page in the China Post, one of the english language rags here in Taiwan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptccZze7VxQ

At The Market

My partner Jenny and I often attend creative and festival markets here in Taiwan, Jen makes jewellery and I focus on antique items. Here's a shot of us at a market last weekend held at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.

A few more shots from the big military parade in Taipei