Happy New Year

Great news. I am so lucky that the New Year falls on a Tuesday, and I usually have no class on Tuesdays. Hee...

Now it's only six degrees Celsius in Hsin-Chu at night. Happy New Year guys. I wish you all the best in the days to come. For those who are in between jobs, keep searching for a good one next year. For those who are still working, rake in as much cash as you can. For those who are students, don't forget what you responsibilities are, and work your butt off in your school studies. 

Speaking of my New Year's resolution, hmm... I just wish to live a little (to do something fun or not boring.) That's it.

Taking a day-off

I am free today, meaning my having no classes the whole day. Planning on now taking the free shuttle bus to Zhu-Dong for the connecting train to Nei-Wan. Looking forward to this one-day trip now.

A small world.

The world is so small.

First I ran into a young man who I hadn't seen in such a long time. We used to work at the same cram school. Before he quit the cram school part-time work, he was only a college graduate waiting for the military draft. I met him this time at an automobile factory in Sanyi, a small town in Maio Li because I had to teach a class that evening. It just so happened that as I was entering the training room, he just came out of it. At first I didn't recognize him until he called my name and all of a sudden I knew who he was. But he looked so different than before, not a young guy anymore, but a little bit mature and somehow overweight. After a short talk with him, I realized that this was his new job, and he was getting some training courses there and would get back to his office in Taoyuan soon.

And another coincidence just happened right after that in the classroom. During my instruction, I told the students that I had had much experience helping people get good scores on the TOEIC tests. I named some companies I had ever taught lessons at. Then, after the class ended, a young man came to me. He told me that he had worked for one of the companies that I mentioned that I had ever taught before in the Science Park. To make sure if he had really worked there in the past, I asked him some questions about the company, and he all got them right. Cool.

A small world, isn't it? That's why I love so much what I am doing.

Taiwanese is better than Koreans in terms of English learning

First go ahead and read the article below. But, don't believe every shit they say. I just happened to meet a new white teacher at ELITE school last Sunday. He used to teach English in Korea for two years. He said to me that Taiwanese English ability is definitely much better than Koreans. This EF (Education First) agency is trying to talk you into shelling out more money for English learning so that money will go into its pocket.

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E6%88%90%E4%BA%BA%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B-%E5%8F%B0%E8%BC%B8%E6%B8%AF%E6%97%A5%E9%9F%93-090610261.html

The second World Series title. That quick?

When was the last time that Giants won the World Series Champ? Was it two years ago? Wouldn't that be too close to get another one again? I just can't believe that for goodness' sake.

Three's Company on Youtube

Oh holy moly, I just couldn't believe that I had found this video on Youtube. This is one of my favorite TV sitcoms I watched when I was a teenager. This program is still being replayed on American TV channels now. You should watch it because it will help you a lot with learning American culture and sense of humor. Bookmark them on Youtube now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embk_z2YsxQ

Weekend Travel Plan

I have made a two-day itinerary which is to take a long trip to the southern Taiwan this weekend by car. We'll be hitting the road on Saturday morning from Hsinchu, and hopefully everything along the trip is going to be fine and smooth. We are scheduled to arrive there by three o'clock in the afternoon, just right in the nick of time for the hotel check-in. We will be staying in Kenting for one night, and the next day we'll be going to some unknown towns in Pingtung such as Wan-Luan and Nei-Pu, where I used to serve in the military more than twenty years ago. Wow, I very much expect the tour to be one of the exciting ones I have ever made for the past ten years, during when I only focused on making money and no playing at all. Do I sound like a dull boy? At least my name is not Jack, haha!

Note for students

I left a message on one of the FB groups I created for my students. They are taking a test tomorrow.

Hello class. How was your weekend? I bet that you all had a great time, didn't you? Here I just want to remind you all that tomorrow night (Monday) will be the last class of the session. So there will be several things to run through before the end of the class. 

First, I'll give you a new phrase-of-the-week handout as usual, but we may not be going over it because of time restraint. 

Next, a paper test will be given. Don't worry so much, they are just multiple choice questions in regard of the phrases we have learned since the beginning of the session. And, it's an "OPEN BOOK" test, so bring your handouts to class if you can.

Finally, you will have to conduct an oral presentation. You decide the topic yourself, and it can be somewhere between three to five minutes long. I hope to see the content of your work with many things we learned before. Have you got it? Have you seen the light? OK. See you in class and good luck.

Shame on American Players

Every year, the young kids from all over the world play baseball together fun and clean in Williamsport USA. They believe that is the way baseball games must be like. However, later in Seoul Korea where the IBAF games are on, known as the World High School Baseball Championship, I see American players play a totally different way, extremely dirty just for winning each game. I wonder if we have seen double standards applied?

http://www.ibaf.org/en/news/2012/09/08/usa-wins-xxv-ibaf-18u-baseball-world-championship/169430de-ffcb-4ff7-99d3-2b8b1389da10

Little League Baseball

Be sure to get up early at 7 am tomorrow morning if you are a baseball fan. Chinese Taipei Little League players will be fighting against Japan then. Let's cheer for them! Of course you can cheer for the other team if you want. Have fun watching the game!

Walking on a flooded street.

My apartment is in the low-lying area at the seaside of Hsinchu. When a typhoon or torrential rain struck the city, I was always concerned that my car parked in the second basement might get flooded. 

In order not to be worried anymore this time, I decided to drive my car out of the apartment garage and park it outside the building. However, as the winds and the rain kept picking up, I found the street where I parked my car began to flood. Then I rushed to my car and move it to another higher place that was about half a mile from my apartment. I was really in luck this time because it was just a few inches away before water got into my car by the time I opened the car door. 

On my way back home, I waded in the water which was about as high as my knee. Frankly speaking, I had lived in lots of different places in my life before I moved to Hsinchu, this is my first time walking along flooded streets, and I also had to do it in a very careful manner to watch out if there was a big hole or something in front of me.

2G phone

Dear my student,
Using a 2G cellphone is not a shame, nor a crime; it just tells you that how frugal this user is, just like me. Maybe I will be jumping to 4G one day, for 3G isn't appealing to me anymore. You'll see.
Your teacher

Lousy Grammar Book

I was handed from ELITE school a correction list for the new Grammar I textbook. Gee, I was so flabbergasted that the writer had made so many mistakes (four pages). On top of that, however, students from two classes of mine have already finished the lessons, and now I have no idea how to make up for them who have received some wrong grammar clips from me. I think I already commented on this doggone grammar book in the first place, and the school shouldn't have changed to this book. The die is cast, what can I say?

Insane Weather Report

We don't really need to pay too much attention to the weather reports on TV news. All they are doing is just scare the heck out of us. Turing off Channel 50 to 56 will make us peaceful. I mean it.

What a pity.

Student: Hi Albert. What does the phrase "What a pity!" mean? Can you give a sample sentence?


Albert: Sure. Mmm.. You know I live near the beach. Last night there was a huge downpour striking my area. The street was flooded and many cars immersed in water. If the garage in my apartment had been flooded, I would have been able to buy a new car. "What a pity!"

Come to take my class folks.

Hi guys. I would like to promote one of my classes at ELITE. This class is called E2 A/B, also known as English Conversation 2A/ 2B. There may be more than one reason why fewer and fewer people who wish to come to take this class for now. It can be the time which doesn't fit most of your schedule, for you will need to arrive at the class every Monday morning at 10:30 am. The second reason can be the weather. Recently the city has experienced more rainy days than before, so that also may have stopped you from showing up. Last but not least, I think that I had earlier made some changes to the class so that you might not like the way the class was run. That is OK anyway. From now on, I am here to welcome you to visit my class again and I guarantee you that you will get more chance to learn more vocabulary and practices, interact with me, and improve your oral English by presenting your ideas at the front of the class. See ya.

An Interesting Comment

Someone left a comment about me on ELITE's Web site: おもしろいの先生。I googled it and found out its meaning: Interesting Teacher.
Whoever you are, thanks for your comment and I will keep at it. ありがとう!

An easier language to learn is Japanese

Chen, the new Oriel pitcher from Taiwan, was interviewed by Japanese media. He speaks fluent Japanese, for he used to play baseball in the professional league in Japan. In my sights, learning Japanese for other Asian players is much easier than learning English due to the fact they are all Asian languages. 
Another case in point is that the European basketball players can speak English well after they spend years playing at NBA because Western languages don't make too much difference among one another.
Therefore, I wonder if Chen can also speak English as well as Japanese in the future. Take a look at other Taiwanese MLB players who are still struggling for a chance to show up in the ball park, their English language skills doesn't impress me at all. That is not their fault; namely, Asian languages like Japanese or Korean may be easier for Taiwanese to learn.

Peacenik

When people ask me what my political standpoint is, I always tell them I am a peacenik. I hate politicians telling lies at all times, pan-green and pan-blue alike.

Keep working hard

Recently I've seen many people complaining about their lives which are getting tougher and tougher. Some say it's not fair to them because there are so many rich people living in a much more luxurious life. Here is my two cents: no one was born a rich person unless they have been raised in a rich family. I believe those who became rich at some point in their lives must have worked hard and struggled to make money. An old saying that goes, "God help those who help themselves." If you keeping on working hard for more money, one day your efforts will pay off.

I got fooled.

As I walked into the teacher's lounge this morning, Jon the American teacher asked me if I had heard the news about Jeremy Lin.

"Jeremy Lin? No. What's up with him?" I asked.

"He was traded, Albert." Jon told me this in a calm fashion.

"What? Where is he going?" I asked him anxiously.

"Miami."

"To Miami? Wow! So he is gonna be a teammate with James, huh?" It seemed that I accepted reality in the matter of minutes.

"Well, yeah Albert, but also there is another thing I wanna tell you." he spoke again.

"What is that?" I was wondering what he would like to tell me more about.

"Today is April 4th Fool's Day. Gottya Albert." he burst into laughter.

... Damn it! He really scared the heck out of me this time.

Monthly Update

I am pleased to keep you all posted that I will be getting busy again for the months to come. At present I've only got nothing but plenty of free time at home every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening. And the good news is that a company in Zhu-Nan will offer me a chance to teach their employees language lessons possibly on Monday evening and Wednesday alike. And for the friends to Gjun School, let me make an early announcement here that I will make a come-back to you in early May. Therefore, I will be engaged again with so many new teaching jobs. It all sounds good to me, huh?

Getting old.

Tonight I learned from a student that I look much older than I was two years ago after she viewed the pictures of me here on this site. What she said is very true because as your children are growing up fast, you will find yourself aging in the twinkling of an eye. I am a father to a junior high school student after all.

An online fraud occurred to me.

Just got a phone call from a woman speaking with a strong Mainland accent in Mandarin. She claimed that she was one of the customer service representatives calling from Kingstone Bookstore. Then she asked me to confirm some information with me on the purchase I made weeks ago on their online bookstore. I soon realized this had to be some kind of Internet fraud. Next she asked me if I had ever ordered a book on their site and picked it up at Family Mart on a certain day. I didn't say yes but instead I just hung up on her because I didn't see the point of keeping the conversation going. However, I just wonder how and where she got my purchasing info. Was that the computer system at Kingstone's that got hacked or just the Family Mart? Hmm... that was weird ....

Gas Prices in Bay Area

Look at the prices of gasoline in California now. Back in summer 1992 when I was studying at University in Texas, the regular (87) gas was 99 cents per gallon. What a big difference between now and then!


Actually after the calculation, the price in California now is just the same as Taiwan ( 4.49 USD/ Gallon= 33.7 NTD/ Liter) What does that mean? We are paying the same price as Americans do, but their average  income is three times more than us. And CPC is claiming they are having deficits selling gasoline in Taiwan. What the heck!

DOCK

I just heard a new technology coming out called "DOCK", which means that your can turn your smart phone into a notebook. How it functions is that when you put your cell onto a cradle/dock that connects to a monitor, the operating system that is already built in your cellphone will be activated. How smart and amazing it is. Maybe we can talk more about that later.

J-Lin's Impact

After reading this article, a question came out of my mind. People both in Taiwan and China all claim that J-Lin is their pride. However, I wonder how Lin thinks for himself? If he thinks he is 100% American, why we bother doing some stupid thing like this? Let's have a vote! 


http://www.nba.com/2012/news/02/16/lin-taiwan.ap/index.html?ls=iref%3Anbahpt2

Look out!

Here is another joke about "look out". A Taiwanese went abroad to the US to further his study. As soon as he got there, he moved into an apartment living on the second floor. On the third floor lived an old American woman, who had a habit of putting her feet in a basin with warm water. One day after she did the same thing again, she opened the window and shouted "Look out!" because she was to pour the water out of the window. Hearing someone saying the phrase which he understood, without hesitation this poor Taiwanese guy popped his head out of the window and ...

Happy Lunar New Year

As most of you know, our great American teacher Jon took a nice trip to Green Island over the Lunar New Year vacation. One thing that amazed me was the video clip he made about this trip. Now I would like to share that with you and also remind you that there is such a wonderful place in country. Yes, the beautiful scenery is in Taiwan, not in other countries.

Where to get your car fixed?

F.I.Y. (For Your Reference)

If you live in Hsin-Chu city and don't know where to find a good mechanic to get your car fixed, here is good news for you. I recently found a nice mechanic near the train station. Mr. Yang has been running his garage for decades. He is a very in the know of all different car makers and models, new or old alike. I feel so secure when I turn my car to him becasue he can always find my car's problems and get it well done. His charges for the car repair are also reasonable. Since we have become friends, he sometimes imparts to me information and ideas about car maintenance . Through his recommendation, I've also known what kind of car I will be going to buy in the future. The key to his success in business is that he always treats his customers' cars as his own cars. Don't miss out on the chance to let him serve you as well as your car. Give him a call first for making an appointment for your car, you will believe what I said is all true. Below is the information of his garage:

Mr. Yang's (楊先生) address: 新竹市東大路一段89號。(Next to 東大overpass, across from the Hsinchu Girls' High)

Phone #: 03-522-3833 

Check his location on Google Map: 

http://ji.zhupiter.com/dw/cht-141393/%E8%90%AC%E5%85%A8%E8%A1%8C/

Taiwan Election

Nothing Changed. After months of politically fighting against each other, the outcome of the election doesn't surprise me as much. The Pan-Blue and Pan-Green parties still remain 55-45 proportion. It seems that though tremendous time and money have poured into this political war but that doesn't mean it works out well on each side. What a waste.

Presidential Election 2012

In year 2000, when someone asked me how I thought about the presidential election and who was going to win the election, I said, "Two dogs strive for a bone, the third runs away with it." This year, is the same shit happening again? We will see.