Far away but closer then ever.

So moving far away from home hasn't weakened my contact. What I am finding is that I have more time to reconnect with people I haven't spoken with in a long time. That's cool. I'm having new experiences and remembering many from my past.

I've recently been informed that a friend of a friend lives here in Taiwan and has for quite some time. My potentially new friend has a Taiwanese wife and family and I'm excited to meet them and gain some much needed insight about our new home. More to come...

I found that ordering food from pictures is "more then meets the eye". I've gambled more on food then I have even gabled in a casino. Really i wouldn't mind if I ordered roulette style. I put my money on the chicken soup, but where the ball lands and what actually comes out of the kitchen are up to fate. Think to your self chicken soup....yummy. Wait, don't let your drool pool yet, because whats in the bowl is a little different that what you are thinking of. Most of the chicken is on the bone, so often you will receive a drumstick that is soggy from sitting in soup, and personally I'm not big on soggy chicken. Ohh, but wait, then you see what seems to be a cherry, and when you bite in you find a surprise, a seed, and it wasn't a cherry it tasted more like a fig. We'll the broth was good and its just lunch right. What better way to finish off lunch, but with a tasty pastry....right. Many of the "tasty" pastries are filled with mushy beans....not a fan. So of course the next time you go out...you roll the dice, spin the wheel, take a hit on 16, and hope you don't get snake eyes, land on red, or bust. With all this said, everything is label and the people are happy to explain what is in the soup...in Chinese. So as another stupid American who speaks no Chinese, I say as Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber, "Whats the soup de jour?", assuredly FLO replies, "The soup of the day." and I happily say, "Emm, that sounds good, I'll have that".
I'm speaking of the times were you don't get what you want, but mostly you get more then your expect. I keep an open mind, and I have had some really good food and some really embarrassing moments asking what something is on a menu.

Another minor blunder is when your pre-paid cell phone cuts out and you have to find a cell phone store to recharge your card. A re-charge is like $10 for 100 minutes. No big deal, but the re-charge card needs to be entered...and guess what, the recording is in Mandarin. Again, my lack of language attempts to stop me from chatting on the phone, but another really nice and helpful Taiwanese person swoops down from the sky, changes into the tights and cape and saves me by calling the number and following the steps to re-charge me phone. Seriously, we couldn't find our way and we stopped at a Patagonia store and this lady called 411 and helped us, then a guy a 7-11 helped us figure out how to buy a calling card, and many other people are stop and ask us if we need help when we are standing on the side walk looking like we need help. Thank you to the Taiwanese people and the culture of acceptance and helpfulness.

I found a sigh that has a girl and a guy in a basketball gym and looks like a league. I'm pumped about taking my skills across the ocean. I'll be happy to rebound, pass, and be a token for any team. I'm sure my JCC scoring average of about 5 pts a game will translate into stardom here. I can't order soup so I hope they don't expect me to understand the coach telling me not to shoot or to play better defense. Maybe if I bring gator aid bottles and watermelon slices after the game they will forgive me.

The huge dork in me finally found a comic book store with American stuff. Voice of comic Simpson's comic book man, "Finally I am understood and appreciated". I think they are into war craft here, which is not for me, but it is still cool to see geeky stuff from home.

NO SPORTSCENTER IS STARTING TO HURT. I wake up at night in cold sweats hugging my pillow and praying for just one, "back back back back back" that I shunned as old and out of date. I miss all my friends at ESPN, and I wish I could be like Stuart Scott, "as cool as the other side of the pillow" about the lack of American sports, but I can't and I miss it! ESPN.com is great, but I need my 30 minutes of love. So if anyone wants to tape sports center and send me the file I will promise to download it and watch it everyday. Does anyone know how i can watch the current sports center online? Maybe a lil PTI, i don't wanna get greedy, but i need to know before the NBA playoffs start.

Please stay tuned as Bayly and I are really becoming more adjusted to the time schedule and will surely explore more cool and exciting places, but for now Taipei is a must see. If you need a vacation, Taiwan has it all.

Much love to my peeps.