Frogtails

That man with that
Hat went to that store
At that time to do just
That

Dave, does that help that frequency problem that you were talking about on that post?

A Meeting with Pat

As some regular readers of this site will know, a friend of mine has been traveling southeast Asia for two and a half years. OK, he has actually been dormant in Taiwan for 8 months but prior to that he was travelling incessantly. Recently he came back to the states for a brief visit. He stopped in New York (where I met up with him and some of our other friends) to interview at Columbia University (Journalism) and the Associated Press. As a note, some of Pat’s stories can in fact be found at http://www.chinapost.com.

It might actually have been a little early for him to interview at Columbia as he is currently planning on going back to Asia for another 2.5 years. Still, it ought to give him a little direction since he admits that right now he is not sure what he wishes to do when his Tramp Abroad days are over. It was interesting listening to him, though, because he was saying how he is able to do whatever he wants right now but is somewhat envious of us who have embarked upon our careers. Strange, some of us envy his travels. His current plans though, are to go back to Taiwan where he teaches English nightly (being paid approx. $60/day and shelling out $5/day to live) and learns Chinese by day. He says a few more months in Taiwan of learning Chinese (including how to write some of the characters) before heading to Hong Kong and then up through China by bike (whether it will be motor or old fashioned is unknown).

He apparently does love Taiwan and his travels have not changed him for the worse. In fact, he seems a lot like the adventuresome guy I knew in college. He had an interesting story regarding how Taiwan gets merchants to keep track of records. In Taiwan, and the U.S. for that matter, a merchant might not enter a sale so they don’t have to pay the tax on it. To circumvent this problem, the Taiwanese government makes merchants add a state lottery number to the bottom of all receipts. Numbers are periodically drawn and winners can get quite a bit of money. Therefore, whenever somebody buys something s/he asks for hte receipt so s/he can possibly win big money.

And of course, another important question we had to ask Pat, how were the women? Apparently quite spectacular - especially if you’re the only westerner in many miles and especially if you’re the only westerner in many miles who can remotely speak the language. He didn’t have any extra pictures - I guess he didn’t want to make us jealous.

—————–

I will be sending a Dave a couple of pictures from the trip. Also, if you’re interested in the rest of the New York Trip you can go to http://russellweisfield.blogspot.com.

- Russell Weisfield

A Meeting with Pat

As some regular readers of this site will know, a friend of mine has been traveling southeast Asia for two and a half years. OK, he has actually been dormant in Taiwan for 8 months but prior to that he was travelling incessantly. Recently he came back to the states for a brief visit. He stopped in New York (where I met up with him and some of our other friends) to interview at Columbia University (Journalism) and the Associated Press. As a note, some of Pat’s stories can in fact be found at http://www.chinapost.com.

It might actually have been a little early for him to interview at Columbia as he is currently planning on going back to Asia for another 2.5 years. Still, it ought to give him a little direction since he admits that right now he is not sure what he wishes to do when his Tramp Abroad days are over. It was interesting listening to him, though, because he was saying how he is able to do whatever he wants right now but is somewhat envious of us who have embarked upon our careers. Strange, some of us envy his travels. His current plans though, are to go back to Taiwan where he teaches English nightly (being paid approx. $60/day and shelling out $5/day to live) and learns Chinese by day. He says a few more months in Taiwan of learning Chinese (including how to write some of the characters) before heading to Hong Kong and then up through China by bike (whether it will be motor or old fashioned is unknown).

He apparently does love Taiwan and his travels have not changed him for the worse. In fact, he seems a lot like the adventuresome guy I knew in college. He had an interesting story regarding how Taiwan gets merchants to keep track of records. In Taiwan, and the U.S. for that matter, a merchant might not enter a sale so they don’t have to pay the tax on it. To circumvent this problem, the Taiwanese government makes merchants add a state lottery number to the bottom of all receipts. Numbers are periodically drawn and winners can get quite a bit of money. Therefore, whenever somebody buys something s/he asks for hte receipt so s/he can possibly win big money.

And of course, another important question we had to ask Pat, how were the women? Apparently quite spectacular - especially if you’re the only westerner in many miles and especially if you’re the only westerner in many miles who can remotely speak the language. He didn’t have any extra pictures - I guess he didn’t want to make us jealous.

—————–

I will be sending a Dave a couple of pictures from the trip. Also, if you’re interested in the rest of the New York Trip you can go to http://russellweisfield.blogspot.com.

- Russell Weisfield

Wanted to wish everyone a happy new year - well that and to post something since few other people have. I will be going to see Patrick this weekend - kind of excited. Will post good stories etc. I have posted some thoughts on Ward Churchill who is inundating local news here, at my blog for those interested.

I am a little sobered thinking that the Browns have a better record in 2005 than the Steelers! From Leno: “What’s the difference between the Grammys and the Super Bowl?” Answer: “The Eagles have won a Grammy”

Russell Weisfield