Doris In Wonderland

One of the benefits of living abroad is this idea that reality is suspended and all of a sudden we find ourselves living in this world where who we were and what we would have done no longer matters but we are now somewhere where we can create who we are and what we will become.

John and I are both very independent and head-strong individuals before we got married and we were very clear about what we liked, what we would do and what we would not. However, since moving to Taipei, we found ourselves doing certain things that are a little...how do you say, out of the ordinary.




1. ME-I am a Stella chugging, red wine from the bottle drinking gal who never really like over priced bars with red velvet ropes or covers. But since coming to Taiwan, I've allowed myself to pay $15 for a Makers Mark and go to Bars like this one....where they light your drinks on fire and then you chug it. And it's not even the fact that they are lighting a wooden bar on fire, it's more of a principle that I paid $15 for this concoction and here you go burning all the alcohol content out of it....total drinking faux pas if you ask me.







2. JOHN-If there is one thing you should know about John it's his passionate hatred of all things costumes. I've known him for 12 Halloween's and I have but only seen him dress up once. Usually, the idea of having to spend time, energy and thought to put together a costumes drives him bananas. In fact, I've been begging him to be the John Lennon to my Yoko Ono for years and he has graciously declined every Halloween. However, since we've been to Taiwan he's already attended an Alice in Wonderland party where we went as the Caterpillar and he also just recently attend a Dapper party where he dress as Don Drapper from Mad Men (details from that night to follow) the party was great. We made such a grand entrance that we received a standing ovation from fellow party goers!







3. ME- Linsanity. Most of you that know me know that I am not very athletic nor am I very "into" sports. One of John's requests of me is that I "try" to "learn" just "one" sport so that we might watch it together and have it be a "thing" One of the bonuses of moving to Taiwan was the fact that I may not have to watch so much sports as Taiwan isn't exactly known for it's athletes. However, since moving here and the rise of Jeremey Lin and his linsanely good bball skills I have found myself talking, watching and even listening to all things Basketball for months now. However, on the flip side as there aren't that many sports bars in Taiwan I at least get to combine my forced sports interest with my real interest which is food. Here is a burger joint playing the Knicks on TV with a burger called Burger Lin! Which makes it all the more bearable.


4. JOHN-John is deathly afraid of heights and unless he is riding the ski lift to snowboard he rarely likes going above 5 floors. Well, 2 months after we moved in our elevator was torn out and a new one is being put in. Every day we'd come home from work and see this in our lobby. Yes that would be boxes of nuts, bolts, tools and parts for our new elevator. It made us nervous that this chaotic mess would someone be put together into an elevator that would actually be able to lift us to our 5th floor apartment. John kept saying to me, "we will NOT be the first to test this elevator out" or "we will wait a few days for other people to ride it first" well, after 3 days of taking the stairs we saw a huge spider just chilling on the wall between floors 4 and 3. I had never heard such a high scream come from such a large man. Needless to say night the elevator was completed and being tested out John immediately told us to get in and get moving.

Good news is the elevator is now working and apparently all those boxes filled with parts found it's correct place!

Amazeballs

So as most of you know I am currently just interviewing and looking for work, so in between job sites, interviews and writing cover letters I spend a lot of time watching YouTube and seeing all the amazing videos and some not so amazing videos people post online. One of the ones I saw was this group of dancers from Japan. They are amazing and even though this doesn't count as adventures from Taiwan, it felt like an adventures watching it. The first 30 seconds is just black with music. You can forward it to the 30 second mark to start watching the Amazeballs that ensues!
Enjoy!

Wrecking Crew Orchestra

And These Are The Moments...I'll Remember All My Life

We have a great girlfriend whose on the same life path as John and I since she got engaged a few months before John and I, she then got married a few months before John and I, then she quit her job a few months before I did, and her and her husband moved to Germany a few months before John and I moved to Taiwan.

We've been emailing back and forth as support for one another since many of the same emotions and adjustments are the same with the only difference being one of us is in Berlin and the other in Taiwan.

Whenever I feel homesick or wonder what we're doing here living a life like we're 20 years old when we are both in our mid-30's I go back to an email my friend sent me. She said, "I am considering my time here making me an interesting old lady as she looks back on her years"

When I read this I couldn't help but laugh, because it's true. We'll have an arsenal of stories and experiences few can say they have and these include the bad along with the good. So, today will be filled with snippets of funny, weird, and wtf moments that we've encountered since our move to Taiwan.


1. "Seriously-Moment" - We went to a housewarming party of a new friend we met in Taiwan. When we showed up at her apartment it was this grand entrance with double winding staircases and an enormous glass handicap elevator in the middle. John and I took the stairs up and started dying of laughter, because the genius engineers that built the elevator built it right to the mezzanine whereupon there were 4 more steps that leads to the door.

It lead us to think..."seriously, people, seriously?" why even bother.






2. "Thanks But No Thanks Moment" So the other day John and I were at SoGO (Taiwan's premiere shopping center) when we came across this purse.

I get that the designer was trying for something different, edgy perhaps, but seriously, try taking this cute little red tote on a flight into LGA or Kennedy they'd have you pulled out of line and man handled for carrying a purse like this.

Thanks but no thanks!




3. "Sad But True Moment" John and I finally got our ARC Number (Aliens Resident Card) so we went to the bank to open up a local bank account. Before we were allowed to open the account we had to fill out a form which at the top said "Profiling Questionnaire." It's sad but true...as "aliens" we are definitely profiled here :)





4. "WTF Moment" I think this photo speaks for itself. On our way to grab lunch last Sunday we ran into this group of......(insert noun of choice)
we couldn't figure out if this was a club, if they were promoting something or if this was some Taiwanese fetish group that we had stumbled upon in the subway station, and the truth is even after we asked and took a photo with them we were unable to get a clear and concise answer as to what was happening.


5. "Parks for Adults Moment" Here we are moving onto more pleasant moments. One of the things I love most about parks in Taiwan is that we rarely see children playing outside. I have no idea where it is that they actually play. Most of the parks are filled with adults dancing, exercising or doing what you see here...Tai Chi. Although John and I don't participate, per se, it is relaxing just sitting and watching others do it.



6. "Sunday Family Dinner Moment" I think I could write a book after this trip of all the food we've eaten since we moved here and it's only been a few months. Taiwan has always been known for it's 小吃 (Little Eats) and street food. So it's not to say that there isn't amazing food to eat everyday. But in the 12 years since we left Taiwan the grocery stores have imported so much more Western food that we can pretty much make our favorite meals we did back home but here. The only difference is Brussels Sprouts are hard to find and canned sauces like pesto, horseradish or hummus is best made from scratch rather then buying it pre-made. So now we know what to bring back with us during our next trip back to the states...our food processor, a blender and maybe 20 lbs of brussels sprouts.

7. "Loved Moment" I saved the best for last, because it truly was the best moment so far in Taiwan. As I was sitting at my desk searching for jobs and feeling a little down and out about the prospects of finding a job that I will enjoy the doorbell rang and it was the "not so friendly" post man asking me to go downstairs to sign for a package. I went downstairs and a care package from my girlfriends all the way from Wisconsin. It was stuffed with goodies galore from makeup to a framed photo to Velveeta (my FAVE) to a People Magazine. That night John and I sat in front of the box and looked through all the items and sorted it out with the same love and care that the senders took in packing it. We've decided that next months "date night" will include the boxed Velveeta along with that Pillsbury chocolate fudge cake mix. Le Sigh...I can't wait.