Pulling things together

It's been a while since I've posted given that I was posting nearly every other day. I've moved to Taipei and I felt a strange need to organize my computer and myself before I posted again. Plus, nothing seemed important enough to post or I was too tired by the time I would have posted. So here's a brief rundown.

I've changed a lot of my Flickr photos to private, if you want to see them, ask to be my friend and I will invite you or sign yourself up and friend me.

I moved to Taipei, Colin couldn't figure out why I didn't send more things home and my answer, that I might need them, proved unsatisfactory but fair.

I got two tutoring jobs. One I haven't started with 2 really cute little kids and one with a woman who wants to learn hotel English in a month but who I think secretly hopes to master English in a month and be my best friend. I might have to level with her.

We've moved forward on the wedding, but a separate post on that.

We went back to Yilan to pick out 30 of 300 photos for our Taiwanese wedding album. It's a riot, I'll post when I get them.

I decided to be an architect. Oh yes, I suppose that's a big one, I might post my reasoning a little later, or maybe I'll just post my personal statement when I write it because this means that I'll apply this winter and I have to do a lot this summer given the 2 months of travel and weddings.

I've been out and about in Taipei trying to appreciate the range of activities here. My friend Geoff is here on a Luce grant and though he's only been here about a month and an half he's become involved in all sorts of things and met all sorts of people. I went to watch his Capoeira class, which is truly amazing, but I also went because the metromall that they practice in, off of the zhongshan stop, is the gathering spot on Wednesday nights for tons of teens and twenties practicing hiphop. Some of them have teachers, some are just friends sharing moves and practicing routines. Apparently there are some big competitions out there. It was crazy to see kids really working to hone a style in Taiwan. I don't see that much.
The Taipei film festival ends today and like all festivals, I had big plans to go see a bunch of movies, but I ended up seeing just one "My Nikifor," a Polish film about a 'famous' Polish folk artist who was pretty much insane, or at least extremely eccentric. It was beautiful but really didn't delve into any of the stories it presented.
Last night was probably the most fun of all these recent events. We went to see Cloud Gate with Geoff and Melati, another fellow Reedie, plus Geoff's dancer friend and all of his friends. Cloud Gate is a modern dance troupe in Taiwan that Geoff is doing his Luce about. They are huge on the international modern dance scene, but you'd have to know about the international modern dance scene to know that and most of us don't. The show was free and outdoors and the stadium was filled. They showed 3 early pieces from the 70s and one recent piece from this year. I enjoyed about 3/4 of them so I will unwriteoff Modern dance. Apparently it can be good if you see good troupes. It is as if I had only ever seen Kinkades and decided painting was bad.

So that's about it. I promise to keep up now