Friendships... Long-term & Long-distance Ones

It's incredible feeling when you meet some friends of yours again and everything's the same as it was even though you haven't seen each other for year or more. I feel like it was yesterday when we said good bye to each other and here we are today again. I'm really enjoying that and I'm grateful for this kind of friendship. Somehow this can help me forget about time. And about the distance too, because since I'm closer to some friends of mine now I got more far from the others.

This already happened with Ieva and Nils back in these old days. And now... for instance Rosita. I remember the last day when I saw her in May 2005. I went to her place, we were talking for a while, then took a few picture together and -- said good bye. It hit me more then I was expecting, I spent long time afterwards thinking about the fact she just left back to Hong Kong and realizing I already miss her so badly. Then, fast forwarding to January 2007, and we are standing at Wan Chai, Hong Kong island, hugging each other and it's back.

Look up -- there is always someone watching you, treating you well and thinking of you. You might wave, give him a wink or just smile back...

Thanks my friends to you all~

^.^ k.

Back to Your Childhood

Have you ever wanted to be younger? Well, being in foreign country can make you feel that way. Talking about the country with remarkably different culture, for instance Western people living in Far Asia and vice versa. Doing that, you will probably find out yourself facing interesting experience called culture shock. How come you can feel younger? Perhaps you can already guess, I can see several steps. Let's start from the beginning.

Childhood. "In the beginning was the Word...", but what if the word is spoken in the language which you don't understand? That throwing you back to your very first childhood. With different conditions though. You have no comfort to suck in the language little by little from your parents and the others. Your in the middle different language environment right now and you want to understand right away. You wish, but just now it's the start and one can have the same trouble as me not to be able talking even with a kid (happily, not a problem with communication). They are saying you can achieve the same level of Chinese language as 6 six years old children after one year of study. It doesn't sound so bad, does it? :-) (in fact, it freaked me out when I heard that first time)

OK, let's assume you can speak and what else do you like to do? Make some friends, right? Socializing. This is another part. It needs some time to figure out how it works between guys and girls, older people and youngsters, classmates, roommates, teachers and students, ... And what's the concept of society in generally (the Face, importance of Chinese family, ...). What to do and what not to do. I'm not saying you're necessary thinking about all these consciously. Though sometimes you need it consider, to stop and try to make a note, recall, or verify. Dealing with the different culture means that many of your previous experiences and ways how to act in common everyday life situation is useless. However, even though I'm trying to avoid of any misunderstanding and thought actually I've been doing well, this isn't a case. I already made some mistakes, and felt guilty afterwards. Unintentionally of course, but still it happened. My thoughts are also wondering about something else -- I'm a foreigner and it's expected from me to act as a foreigner and perhaps this can excuse something. What happen if I try to adopt to the local environment and act by its standards? First though is fine, everything seems good. Though it can also cause another misinterpretation because of the foreigner not acting as a foreigner. A lot of riddles already :-)

And what does make you feel teenager again? Dating. Need to say, this part is based on the real experience of the others and my observations. Many differences in that topic -- the purpose of the game is the same, unlike its rules though. And how can you play the game if you don't the rules? :-) Badly... First thing -- one of most favorite question is "Do you have a girlfriend?" (it's coming after "Why did you choose Taiwan?" :) ). They're just curious and I was told that many people think you will be more happy if you have a partner, so they won't hesitate to introduce some their single friends. Girls here seems to tend to have always a boyfriend and when they aren't quite satisfy with him, they will change him for another one in the first good opportunity. Among others, girls looks to be always nice to you. They're polite, smiling and you, treating you really nice. That it is so nice that I'm everytime confused. Although I think I'm not so bad with reading body language and guessing girls' thoughts about me back in Europe, I'm definitely lost here. I have no idea what are they actually thinking about me. This whole thing without getting any readable feedback (it means there is some, I just don't see) makes you feel like you're driving fast in the fog, which is really uncomfortable feeling. Better to slow down? It didn't help? Should you stop the car?

And where are we now? Still in your teenage years. You got some other extra "years" to live ahead. Enjoy...


^.^ k. (this time "k." stands for a kid ;-) )


Soundtrack: UNKLE - Back and Forth

...and we talked.

Three or four weeks ago I've been writing about my experience concerning talking with my Chinese friends. Few days afterwards I went out with 韶憶 (Sháo Yì). She read my post before and I already told her not to be worried at all. I think, it helped a bit :-) She's friend and former classmate of 儒鴻 (Rú Hóng), one guy from our lab. When he told her I joined the lab this semester, she wanted to speak English with me. She asked 儒鴻 for my MSN after and told him something which I found out quite a funny -- she's asking for my MSN, but she don't want to nothing but talk :) Well, in many cases if one is asking for someones MSN, what else besides talking it can means? I know why she did that, her purpose was to make sure that everything's clear. Actually, from European point of view it should be like a girl's trying to challenge you though (Hey you, only talking, you have no chance, do you understand?) :-)

And we talked the other day and it was good. We kept talking and talking about many things including Taiwan, Chinese, our impressions from Finland, life, and stuff like that... She can speak fluently and even though she's got some small doubts still, we have no troubles with understanding each other. I knew before she's writing her blog, but I didn't expect I'm going to read her post about our talking. Surprisingly, bilingual post. It is nice to know the thoughts and opinion of the others, thanks 韶憶 ;-)

Should I say something more? Read her post if you like to. Just I can add that I don't feel fearless, traveling and living in different country doesn't require anything special (and one can say, it can be actually easier then living in your country). She told me about her dreams and visions for the future and I have to say she knows pretty well where is she heading. And I'm sure she can make it.

Does it saying something to you others? Sure, you can see that talking and sharing thoughts it isn't so difficult after all as it may seems.

^.^ k.

One Luck in 六福 (Six Luck) Theme Park

On Sunday I went to 六福 (Liù Fú) Theme Park with the others for the trip organised by NTUFSA (Foreign Students Association). Despite the fact I've got three midterm exams and paper review this week, I've decided to go and it definitelly worth it. The park is divided into four parts and there is enough places to go and have fun (moreover, to be a bit freak out as well).

It just happened that we made one group at the beginning and sticked together all day long. And I feel lucky to met there Sawa and her 3 years old kid Koki. I'm sure you know these small kids, who aren't shy at all, they're are full of energy and joy and whole world is for them something completely new full of questions and places to discover. Just to observe them make you ask yourself question where is their energy and happiness coming from...

I tried to talk to him during the day and took care of him after the lunch, he looked so bored just to sit with us and listen to our talking. There were only one problem... though small one. I forget to mentioned that Koki is speaking Japanese and Chinese, but he know just some phrases from English. And what about my Chinese? Sorry... It's a pity I still can't use yet even something really elementary (like short sentences for taking care of a kid can be, such as Where do you wanna go? Don't do that! Listen to your mom! Stop it! Watch your step! ... you can imagine :-) ). I kept speaking English and hoping he can get my meaning by the tone of voice and body language... it worked, after all.

Sawa apologized to me because she though Koki was bothering me after the lunch, but I didn't feel it in that way. It was really nice to be with them, even though I felt really responsible for Koki when we were alone.

Perhaps I did some cultural mistakes (again, ...) when I played with him on public, laughing, pretending to chase him and having fun. I hope it wasn't so bad this time. Anyway, many Chinese people were looking at me (most likely thinking how come Caucasian guy is together with Asian kid) and I though some girls were even more curious about me when he was around :-)

There is a saying "All people are the same" and this is true especially talking about children...

In case you will have chance to visit 六福 Village Park -- best spot to have a fast ride is "Condor nest" in Wild West. I can't estimate the speed of the cabin, but the acceleration is pretty awesome. No need to be afraid that the park is only about 'dangerous', unpleasant stuff, there is a plenty of others which are actually good to calm you down :-) For instance good candidate, "Flying carpet"...

^.^ k.

Soundtrack: Lou Reed - Perfect Day

Let's Talk!

Talk about what? Talk with who? No, the question of these days is... talking in English. Since my Chinese is still pretty nothing, the only way I can speak here is English. At the first, I'm really glad for that a lot of local people can speak English. Many of them are really good, even though they weren't abroad. I'm really impressed by you guys! Thank you...

I've got the impression that most of people which I've met here can understand well, but when it comes to talking abilities, it's much more worst. Perhaps, there is more then one reason for that, for instance the education system focused mainly on the grammar and vocabulary, movies on the TV with the subtitles, or using English text books and slides during the classes. The catch is, many people here are actually thinking that their English isn't good enough to speak so they won't speak just because of that.

From my point of view is really sad that even though people who has got actually really good English are thinking in that way and referring themselves as a person with poor English... What about to encourage you a bit? ;-)

I've experienced that some people, especially girls, are replying me with the scared face the sentence which I don't like to hear: "I'm so nervous to speak English with you!" According them, they've got two reasons. One is me and the other one is talking English. I'm afraid, I can't do anything with myself in order not to make them nervous... Can I? Though I hope we can do something and change their feelings towards speaking English. I mean, I can understand you can feel quite uncomfortable, because you're not sure if you can express yourself clearly. But you know what? The language is just a part of the communication and actually more is going on via non-verbal channels. The body language is very often useful for better understanding and it can help you to guess the meaning in case you're not sure.

Do remember, the person you're talking to won't judge you're English or making jokes about that. And you can asked again in case you didn't understand. There is nothing to be be ashamed of. Forget about Dr. Eye for a while and let's try... Like with many things, it's just about the practice -- practice makes you perfect --you have to do it over and over in order to achieve better level. And you'll see it isn't so difficult after all. The only thing which you need to do is the first step. Like I mentioned above, you know a lot about the grammar and vocabulary, so it won't be a big issue for you.

I was asked what to actually talk about during the conversation. Of course, for the start in the campus environment, you can always use the cliché such as "What's your name? Where do you come from?" "What is you major?", or my personal favorite one "Why did you choose Taiwan?" and nobody won't mind. However if you're wondering what should follow and thinking about that too much, just let the conversation keep going. You'll always find out another topic to talk about. Just think about your talking with your friends. And especially in case you will meet someone who's got the same interests as you or is interesting for you in some way, you'd most likely won't find yourself in the trouble and running out of the ideas for the chat.

And, I'd like to note that even though it's kind of funny that some local people like to say hello to me when I actually already passed them, it's much more better to speak with me and the others foreigners face to face ;-)

Please, my Chinese friends don't be afraid of talking English, I'm sure we can communicate very well, we are human after all :-)

^.^ k.

Soundtrack: Daft Punk - Human After All

Computing in 21st Century

Today, we went to Grand Hotel in Taipei to attend the event, which could be called the conference or seminar. It was hold for the students of three universities -- National Taiwan University, Tsinghua University, and Chiao Tung University, roughly about one thousand people. The style of seminar was in fashion way, videos and slide show before the beginning with fast cuts, music, ... everything in order to attract the attention of young students :-)


Even though its name "Computing in 21st Century" (Challenge in the Quality Software), there were many more general thoughts and opinions then just some IT-focused stuff. No big surprise, there were several brilliant brains including three fellows with awarded with Turing Price -- Andrew Chi-Chic Yao, Jim Gray, and Niklaus Wirth. Again, something about the future, this time not just about the feelings though :-)

Senior Vice President of Microsoft Research, Rick Rashid showed few very interesting technologies on which are they working (or more likely, they were working). It looks they really know what they're doing and like to be always step ahead (of course, he didn't mention things like iPod, to name one ;-) ). His other words were concerning importance of their work for the whole society and the ways how it could influence our lives. And with this, we are actually getting somewhere. Do you remember the previous post about the current environmental issue? Is there is a link between these two? Rick Rashid in the last slide showed several topics where can be computing and similar fields handy, namely:

• Earth's Life-Support System,
• Understanding Biology,
• Global Epidemics,
• Revolutionizing Medicine,
• Understanding the Universe,
• The Origin of Life,
• Future Energy.

It is saying something, isn't it? Let's see what's going to happened...

^.^ k.

An Inconvenient Truth

We've seen the movie An Inconvenient Truth (2006, IMDb) more then one week ago and since that time I've been thinking to post something about this movie (thanks to Felicity for the idea to go to the cinema). A documentary movie about the hot topic in these decades, global warming.

Frankly speaking I was surprised by the movie in many ways. At first, I didn't know how good rhetorician Al Goore is. He did great job in this movie -- highlighted the main issues and made parallels with his own experiences and life. The way of this style and speaking seemed be really American to me. And I kind of like this way, really good show which can make people pay attention. This should be a good way how to explain and describe this problem to as many people as possible. According Gore, he did a lot of presentation all over the world and still thinking he have to do more.

The only way I know how to do this is city by city, person by
person, family by family.

I didn't know how much is Gore involved in this topic. There are additional scenes in the movie which showing us his work and thoughts concerning the global warming. Also a lot of disturbing and surprising facts is included and the creators are at the end providing the possible solutions to prevent incoming disaster, which are obviously focused on the States and the other developed countries (see interesting statistics).

The only question is, who's going to be responsible for the turn over. Do ordinery people have enough power and wisdom to do that? Shouldn't be there clear and loud signal from their politicians? On top of it, there is a catch, as usual. The whole thing will require most likely huge and massive cooperation across the world. Are we really able to do that? Is every contry willing to do that? Who's going to be a leader in that matter? US as a country who haven't sign up for Kyoto Protocol yet? China with their outstanding economic boom and their raising needs for the resources? Anyway, I hope there will be the answers coming soon.

And the last surprise, personal one. I realized that I've been actually staring at the screen how many Caucasian faces there were. Even though, I was here just for one months at that time and I'm not hanging out only with Chinese.

Of course, there is another point of view. One can say something like that everyone on Earth knows about that except Americans and they are exactly the ones who don't care about the environment at all. You might add this is just a movie and it won't convince anyone. You may point out the fact the boiling frog is only an urban legend. And you can also think that has been long time from Al Gore's vice-presidency and he wanted to show off himself a bit. However, in any case, this movie worth to see. Go for it...

k.

See the Future

On Saturday we went to certain event at the Huashan Cultural Park close to the Shandao Temple station.

Afterwards we were sitting in the park and having nice chat. And while talking and talking, I realized that place looks really nice to me. I said a park, actually it's quite small place though. Roughly triangle-shaped spot with several benches made with futuristic design. Because of the twilight, dance music and kind of laser beams coming from sound system, street with a lot of lights, and high buildings around, I found out that this place looked like something from the future. There were a lot of traffic going, but it wasn't disturbing at all. Well, it was my impression from that place. I'm sure for the local people it's just an ordinary place with ordinary stuff and definitely nothing special. This makes me thinking about what could be their vision of the future then?

I didn't take my camera and I've been trying to find some picture which can describe this sort of atmosphere on Flickr. The picture isn't exactly from that place, anyway... Credits goes to Yueh-Hua.