Week of June 6th, 2014

Hey there...school ended this week and we are hitting the road for the summer next week, so this is likely the last post for a couple of months.  Have been doing this faithfully for two years and am wondering if I should keep going.  Started out trying to convey our Taiwan experiences, but now that we are familiar, there aren't many new things to share.  I mean, how many different ways can I bitch about the drivers?  Obviously a lot, and could/should probably have a daily whine, but I know that bores a bunch of you.  I have started writing my book...not going to share what it's about yet, but some of the topics shared in this diary will be seen in it (hopefully anyway), so I will be spending much of my free writing time in the fall on that.  What I'm getting at is whether there is any interest in continuing this weekly diatribe, debate, dialogue, duologue, declamation, distention and double talk going.  If you read this over the summer and will commit to continue reading it, let me know and I will continue along with you.

Paul was studying for his final exam in mandarin and asked if I could help him.  He wanted me to tell him a word in Chinese and he was supposed to write the character.  Some words sound the same but have different characters.  I asked him to write the character for the word "fa".  Not knowing which "fa" to write, he asked that I use it in a phrase.  I said, "I think Mandarin is a "fa" kin stupid language." 

The family got a chance to see the White Tuxedo concept in action the other day.  We were coming home from the airport late on Friday after having picked up our niece (on Betty's side) who came for a visit.  We were taking the back way home and came upon a sobriety check point.  Rolled the window down as we approached the policeman, and he took one look at me and waved us on.  I wouldn't dare drive buzzed here for several reasons, but it's nice to know that we have a bit of Teflon coating.

Was relating this experience at Carolyn's final soccer game and BBQ the next morning to a couple of the other White Tuxedo dads and was given another valuable tip.  Was told that if you ever get into a fight with a local, never hit them in the face as the visible damage will surely get you thrown in jail.  Apparently, you can work the body as much as you want, but that saving face is not just metaphorical. 

That's all I got...hope you all have a bitchin' summer.