In My Wonder World (or "Wonderworld") 2

Wonder World refers to the textbook series I teach at work, while Wonderworld refers to a Uriah Heep song that probably only I remember.

1. Do you like cola?

Sometimes yes, but I don't drink it nearly as much as I used to.  I like to drink cola when I'm watching a movie in a movie theater.  I also like to drink it if I have a hangover.  I find that sugary drinks help a lot with hangovers.

I do try to limit my intake of high fructose corn syrup, however.  I don't think it's good for people's bodies.  I drink a fair amount of 咖啡廣場 ("Coffee Plaza") as it is, and adding cola to my diet on top of that is like adding fuel to a fire.

2. How many apples do you need?

I don't like apples.  I grew up in Washington State, where our staple fruits are apples, bananas and grapes.  I still like cider but I rarely drink it.  Beer is SO much better.

3. What day is today?

Today is any day from Sunday to Saturday, most likely in the month of June.  We've been through all the major holidays.  According to my phone the next holiday is Armed Forces Day, on September 3.  We'll all have to work that day, so most of us won't even know it's going on.

4. What's your favorite subject?

Back in elementary school my favorite subject was either English or History, I'm not sure which.  In junior high school I don't think I had a favorite subject, I was too busy being a moody, somewhat misanthropic 12-14 year old.  In high school my favorite subject was definitely English, though I studied porn a great deal at home.  In college my favorite subject - and for a while my major - was Medieval History, which I would now have a degree in if I'd taken one extra class.

5. Where are you going?

In an hour I'll be driving from the school where I work to the Taimali Train Station to pick up my wife.  She'll be riding her scooter from her school in Jinfeng Township to the train station to meet me, so that I can drive both of us home in the car.  Before we go home we'll be having dinner at a restaurant in Central Taimali.  After that, and before we go home, there's an outside chance we'll drive into downtown Taitung City to see the Lilo & Stitch movie (her idea), but I doubt the movie schedule will work in our favor.

I'll be glad if it doesn't work in our favor.  I'd rather go directly home after dinner and start drinking the Hobgoblin IPA I have in my fridge.

6. How can we get to the park?

Of which park do you speak?  The nearest park is that little park just before the bridge spanning the Zhiben (Jerben) River.  It's raining, not a good time to go to the park.

7. How much is the dress?

I couldn't say with any certainty.  I'm guessing an amount greater than zero.

8. Whose jacket is it?

There is no jacket in this room.  Are you speaking of a metaphorical jacket?  A straitjacket, perhaps?  Or a life jacket?  I'd have to first know what the metaphor was, and who or what it was being applied to.

Or maybe some type of simile or analogy is involved?  Again, more information is required.

9. Where are you from?

I'm from Seattle, Washington, in the USA.  More specifically I'm from West Seattle, where I was born, though I later moved to the Greenwood/Phinney Ridge area west of Green Lake.  

The house where I spent most of my childhood is on the street which serves as the southern boundary of Greenwood and the northern boundary of Phinney Ridge.  Given that my parents' house was on the south side of this street it's more proper to say that I grew up in Phinney Ridge, though I did attend Greenwood Elementary School for the entirety of my elementary school career.  In addition, most of the people, places and things I cared about growing up were north of us, in Greenwood, though I did attend junior high and high school outside the neighborhood.

Not that any of that matters now.  Several years ago my parents moved to Port Angeles, on the Olympic Peninsula, four hours away from Seattle.  Since their move northwest I don't have much to do with Seattle.  My brother lives in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland, Oregon, and my sister lives in Las Vegas, so these days the only reason for me to hang out in Seattle is nostalgia.  I'll transit through there to and from the airport, but spending the night there is expensive so I generally try to avoid that.  My family and I strolled around the Seattle Waterfront last summer, but we haven't really visited Seattle since pre-COVID times, when my parents were still living in Phinney Ridge.

You'll still see me wearing a Seahawks T-shirt, but I also have an Olympic National Park T-shirt that I bought in Port Angeles, and a Las Vegas T-shirt that I bought when I was visiting my sister.  Sorry if that's confusing!

10. What's wrong?

Nothing at the moment.  I seem to be fine.  Over the 3-day weekend my stomach was bothering me, the reason probably being too much heavy (Western) food and beer.  I drank a lot of alcohol on the Friday and Saturday nights of that weekend, so my mild stomachache wasn't that surprising.

Oh, and I've had several sunburns recently, but I seem to be fine now.  In Taitung I can only avoid the sun so much.  I've been bicycling up the coast more, and even though I leave early I'm still in the sun a lot on the way back.

Aside from that there are recent field trips.  The Prehistory Museum.  The "mountain school" in Guanshan.  It's hard not to get A LOT of sun in or around such places.

11. What would you like to eat?

I would usually answer this question with "pizza" or "a hamburger," but I'm actually tired of both right now.  I hit up Burger King a couple times last week, and I ate WAY too much pizza during a recent trip to Hualien City.  If you're in Hualien City, by the way, the pizza at Salt Lick is amazing.  Best pizza I've had in a long time.

Given the hot weather I'd probably pick sushi.  There is a higher than average chance that I'll have sushi for dinner today, primarily due to the fact that RT Mart is on our way home, RT Mart has a sushi restaurant, and we also need to buy groceries.

12. What time do you get up?

I usually get up at six.  On Saturdays and Sundays I sometimes get up earlier.

13. What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to drink beer, go cycling, go running, watch movies, take naps with my cats, read books, hang with friends, eat meals in overpriced restaurants and drive my scooter down intriguing roads.

Most recently I was watching a great deal of Vanderpump Rules, which is a Netflix reality show centered around a restaurant in West Hollywood.  I now know much more than I need to know about the doings of Jax, Stassi and the two Toms.

14. What do you want to be?

I want to be at home.  It's hot in the English classroom.  I'd like to be at home with the air conditioning on.

15. Where were you last night?

Last night I was in my apartment.  My older daughter was visiting from Kaohsiung and we were watching La Bamba, a movie about Ritchie Valens from the 1980s.  About midway through the film we walked over to Family Mart, where I bought a microwaveable burger and a Coke.

16. Where was she yesterday?

She?  That kindergarten girl who just puked into the sink outside her classroom?  I assume that she was at home.  I could ask her, but I'm worried she'll make me sick.

Related Entries:

In My Wonder World (or "Wonderworld") 1

Christmas Before Tomb-Sweeping

Things I'll Probably Do During Winter Vacation

Those Others on the Other Side of the Other Strait

In My Wonder World (or "Wonderworld") 1

Wonder World refers to the textbook series I teach at work, while Wonderworld refers to a Uriah Heep song that probably only I remember.

Anyway, here goes...

1. What's your name?

My first name in English is one of the Bible characters who's not Jesus.  Let's just say that this character is near the beginning?

My middle name in English is one of the apostles.  Google lists 12 apostles, so you have a 1 in 12 chance of guessing what my middle name is.

My last name in English can be traced back to Prussia.  It's one of the many forms (or pet names) of "Matthaus" or "Matthias," of which there are many.  Both Matthaus and Matthias are, in turn, forms of the name Matthew.

My last name in Chinese is a mythological animal.  I chose this part of my Chinese name because I thought it looked and sounded cool in 1999.  From the perspective offered by 2025 it's not a family name I would choose to self-apply now, but at this point in time it's part of my legal Chinese name and I've already passed it on to my daughters.

My first name in Chinese translates into something like "strong mind flying."  When Taiwanese people see it in written form the first thing they usually say is: "Wow, that's difficult to write.  Why didn't you choose an easier name?"

2. Are you hungry?

At the moment no.  I didn't have breakfast today, but I wasn't hungry when I woke up.  The hot weather tends to suppress my appetite, especially with regard to breakfast.

Our school lunch, by the way, is better this semester.  Last semester was a rough four months, but this semester I find myself enjoying the school lunch almost half the time.

The school lunches in my previous school, Hengchun Junior High School, were terrible.  So much squash in everything.  So many days when they added shrimp to something, which immediately made it off-limits to me.  Then again, the plus side to working in Hengchun JHS was that there were plenty of restaurants near the school where I worked.  In my present school it's 7-11, a tiny restaurant with uncertain hours, or nothing.

3. What's this?

This is my cat Mango.  He's sitting and purring on the floor while I'm typing this blog entry.  I think he's purring because he gets to be alone with me in the back room of our apartment.  I'm Mango's favorite hooman because I was the one who rescued him and his sister from the cemetery where we found them.

4. What color is it?

Mango is white and orange.  His sister Milky is black and white.  Mango and Milky like to fight a lot, but in the end they always forget about their quarrels and decide to be friendly.

Mango is named Mango because he's orange, and because many people in Jiadong and surrounding townships grow mangoes.  Milky is named Milky because we were thinking "mango milk" or something like that.  Or maybe it's just that she's mostly white.  I can't remember.

5. Is it a frog?

Mango is certainly not a frog and he's insulted that you would make such an insinuation.

One thing I always remember about our two years living and working between Jiadong and Fangliao townships, the area where we found Mango and Milky, was the empty field across from the house we were renting there.  This field was full of dried, desiccated, seemingly deceased frogs that would magically come to life when it rained enough to flood the field.  During such times our neighborhood would become loud with the croaking of these frogs.

6. Can you dance?

I'm not a dancer, sorry.  When I think of times that I "danced" in college I burn inwardly with shame.  It's amazing what two or three long island iced teas will make people do.

7. Who's he?

I'm at work again.  Do you mean that guy who passes by the doorway every few minutes?  He's one of the two kindergarten teachers.  Besides him there's a lady who teaches/manages most of that kindergarten class.  I don't talk to the kindergarten teachers that much (they're busy), but they're both very nice and they sometimes offer me food.

The kindergarteners across the hall are the older class.  They're super cute.  Many of them like to call out to me while they're washing their hands, cleaning their utensils or headed to the bathroom.  Their favorite thing is the weird sound I make after they give me a high five or a fist bump.  Many of the kids I teach in the elementary grades are their older brothers and sisters.

8. Is he a teacher?

Yes, he is.  I can't remember what his name is at the moment, but I know he's a teacher.

9. How's the weather?

Today it's very cloudy.  It rained a bit this morning, but since then it's gone back to being cloudy and humid.  The weather will probably be like this for a while.

Yesterday, in Kaohsiung, I woke up to a thunderstorm.  I'd originally planned on riding my bike around the city, but with the rain and lightning I was only able to put on my too-hot raincoat and walk down to the local convenience store for a coffee.

Later the same day, as we took the train back to Taitung, the weather seemed to follow us back over the mountains, a dark front of clouds turning a sunny day rainy.  By the time evening fell the rain was coming down hard, and by the time I'd finished walking to a nearby Family Mart my clothes were soaked through.

10. What time is it?

At the present time it's 2:05 in the afternoon.  I took a nap not long ago and I feel very awake now.

11. Is this your pencil?

All of the pencils in that wooden box are, in a sense, my pencils.  Most of the students who left those pencils in the English classroom did so a long time ago, and I'm sure they'd be unable to remember, much less reclaim, their lost pencils now.

12. Where's the eraser?

There's a tiny nub of an eraser at the bottom of the wooden box.  As for any other erasers I cannot say with any certainty.

Or were you referring to the whiteboard erasers?  There are several on the big whiteboard, one on the tray underneath the smaller whiteboard in the corner, and many more inside the plastic jack o' lanterns on the bookshelf near the rear windows.

13. Where are you?

It depends.  I wrote this entry during several different times, so I could be in any number of places.  Near the beginning and end of this entry I was in my school in Beinan Township, Taitung County.  Near the middle of this entry I was in an apartment in Gushan District, Kaohsiung City.  Between my school and the apartment in Kaohsiung I was in my apartment in Taitung City, the Taitung Train Station, two express trains, various restaurants, convenience stores and coffee shops in Taitung City, a beef noodle restaurant in Central Taimali, Highway 9 and then Highway 11 between Taimali and Taitung City, the Carrefour in Taitung City, Baosang Junior High School, the Fengshan Train Station, the RT Mart in Fengshan District, a taxi, the Kaohsiung Hospitality University, downtown Xiaogang, the Xiaogang MRT Station, the Kaohsiung LRT, Dream Mall, the Neiwei Train Station, the "New Taiwan Original Flavor Nostalgia Restaurant," various convenience stores in Kaohsiung, the Good Rolling hamburger restaurant, the FE21 in Kaohsiung, the Kaohsiung Train Station, or the night market on Ssewei Road in Taitung City.

14. What are you doing?

At the moment I'm typing.  Later on I'll be doing something else.

Or did you mean "what am I doing" in a larger sense, as in: what am I doing with my life?  These days I'm teaching English in a public elementary school, hanging with my wife, having beers with friends when it's convenient, and attempting to maintain relationships with friends and family members through texts, phone conversations and moments when we can be together.

How about you?  What are you doing?

15. What do you want for lunch?

If we're talking school lunch then I'd have to say that the pig's feet/pork knuckle is the best.  If we're talking about eating out I'd have to state, a second time, that there's not much around here, and what is around here might not be open right now.  Dinner is a much easier proposition.  There's a restaurant just over the hill, on the other side of the Family Mart, that's pretty good.  I like their minced pork rice.

16. Do you like bears?

Not especially.  They're alright I guess.  Whenever I hear "bears" the first thing that pops into my head is this lyric, from a Lou Reed song on his Transformer album.

"Cause you know what they say about honey bears

"When you shave off all their baby hair

"You have a hairy-minded pink bare bear."

17. Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

Same to you.  Three-day weekend, and then it's June.  I'll be in Hualien for two days, then I'll be back in Taitung.  Here's to another school year almost finished!

Related Entries:

Taitung in the News 台東的新聞 (North 北) 2

Jinlun 金崙 (Taitung 台東)

梓官彌陀漁樂線 Portside Fun in Dzeguan and Mituo

Christmas Before Tomb-Sweeping

Taitung in the News 台東的新聞 (North 北) 2

1. Changbin Township 長濱鄉

1a. The Taitung County Election Committee fined the Kuomintang (KMT) 1.15 million NT in accordance with regulations after the mayor of Changbin Township was convicted of vote buying. 劉世鴻選台東長濱鄉長賄選判刑  國民黨連坐挨罰115萬

1b. A yoga/stretching activity was held in Changbin's Exercise Park.  This activity is part of a larger "Awakening to Nature Slow Living Festival" held throughout the County. 台東 "自然醒慢活祭" 將於長濱登場  山海療癒之旅

2. Chenggong Municipality 成功鎮

2a. Representatives for the Chenggong Municipality Farmer's Association held an election for supervisory positions in the association.  Before the election local prosecutors and police held a symposium on measures taken against bribery and coercion.  The Farmer's Association was previously involved in a bribery scandal. 台東成功鎮農會理監事選舉落幕  曾品峰派席次占優勢

3. Haiduan Township 海端鄉

3a. Traffic was disrupted along the Southern Cross-Island Highway after heavy rains caused a rockslide that obstructed the roadway near Lidao. 山區下雨坍方落石  南橫公路台東利稻路段交通中斷

4. Chrshang Township 池上鄉

4a. Chrshang recently received "slow city" certification, and is hosting a variety of tourist activities as a result.  A slow food market, guided tours and a "flower sea" were among the activities. "吃在地 , 食當季" 台東農村推動食農慢旅新生活 ! (1)

5. Guanshan Municipality 關山鎮

5a. The Guanshan Municipality Health Center set up a booth to educate the public on the dangers of smoking at a religious festival held at the local Tianhou ("Queen of Heaven") Temple. 關山天后宮浴佛節推廣健康生活  台東縣關山鎮衛生所吸菸有礙健康宣導受好評

5b. An artificial wetland/wastewater treatment pond in Guanshan is attracting a lot of birds.  The Environmental Protection Bureau is encouraging the public to visit the pond and see it for themselves. 關山人工濕地水鳥成群  污水場變成生態公園

5c. An off-road rally led to the death of one driver after he crashed into an electric pole. 台東關山拉力賽生憾事  1選手自撞電桿慘死 (2)

6. Donghe Township 東河鄉

6a. This "article" (which includes many pictures) introduces surfing, sunrises and other travel options around Dulan. 台東都蘭小旅行  "復古紅色車廂喝咖啡 , 衝浪聖地看日出" 6處療癒感景點私藏

6b. The principal of Fugang Elementary School fell into the ocean near Dulan and drowned.  He was fishing around the time of his accident. 慟 !  台東富岡國小校長  意外落海溺斃  享年62歲

7. Luye Township 鹿野鄉

7a. The yearly hot air balloon festival starts in July on Luye's High Terrace.  This year's festivities include a Doraemon-themed hot air balloon, a drone-powered fireworks show and a concert. 2025 "台東熱氣球嘉年華" 這天搶票 !  必衝 ""多啦A夢" 無人機煙火光雕音樂會

7b. Six students from Ruiyuan Elementary School won spots in an archery competition to be held in Singapore.  Most of these students are from lower income families, and the school is doing what it can to raise funds for their trip. 獲國際賽邀請  台東瑞源國小急籌旅費  議員建議專案補助

8. Yanping Township 延平鄉

8a. No recent news out of Yanping.

Related Entries 相關的文章:

Jinlun 金崙 (Taitung 台東)

Tainan in the News 台南的新聞 (South 南) 7

Kaohsiung in the News 高雄的新聞 (West 西) 7

Taitung in the News 台東的新聞 (South 南) 2

1. A lot of rural townships and municipalities have already acquired or are moving toward this "slow city certification."  It is often in the news in Pingtung, too.  I don't know what the application process involves, but once certified, participating townships, municipalities and districts (?) can participate in a global network promoting "slow travel."

2. All these stories about horrific traffic accidents in the news, and they have the audacity to hold THIS kind of event?  Seems pretty tone deaf if you ask me.