The Vietnam Report

So, yesterday I was talking with one of my students who recently returned from Vietnam who had some really interesting things to tell me. I knew already that Vietnam is very hot, and that outside the city it's still a pretty backward place (and a little dirty, I'm told), but that the food is good and the people are very friendly. (These traits are pretty common in Southeast Asian countries.)

But, what I didn't know is that apparently after the war Vietnam had a serious population imbalance because many of the men were dead or injured. The result being that women had to take on most of the important jobs, from raising families to running businesses. Now, going forward thirty years, apparently Vietnam is a virtual matriarchy! (A society run by women.) He told me that for example at his company's branch office 80% of the sales staff are women, mostly because they couldn't find men qualified to do the job! Women in Vietnam, he told me, are confident and well educated, while men tend to lack motivation and aim for lower and middle level jobs. I found this interesting because I can see this happening in Taipei too, and I suspect similar things are happening across Asia. Asian societies are becoming increasingly dominated by aggressive and capable women, while the men muddle about unsure of what to do.

Then again, maybe the same thing is happening in North America, I have seen a definite shift in our own society by women taking increasingly higher paid and higher educated positions while men are slowly dropping out of the race. In North America, I blamed a lot of it on the whole cultural push that was about empowering girls, but left boys in the dust (because they didn't need empowering, right?) to fend for themselves. But, seeing this happening here in other countries which don't have a "girl power" culture, I have to wonder what else might be going on. Why are men falling behind and women moving ahead in some societies? What's keeping them from racing neck and neck like it should be?

The other interesting thing he told me was that Vietnam doesn't allow foreign trading companies to operate in their country. They are more than happy to support factories (they get tax free status for 5+ years) but aren't interested in businesses which might take money out of the country. (As it should be, I think.) Oh, and he also told me that he was pleasantly surprised by how un-corrupt the Vietnamese he dealt with were. He's dealt with people in many Asian countries, but he said he was surprised they didn't want any bribe money to do things there, which is normal in most of Southeast asia.

An interesting conversation!
Rob

Status Report

So, having finally caught up on all my picture posting, I thought I'd mentioned a little bit about my current situation in Taiwan. Today I renewed my Alien Resident Card, which means I'm good for another year. I have a great new apartment (which I'm slowly discovering is more noisy than expected, but I can deal with it) and in general life is pretty good. I've gotten back into my old routines and am even working out again.

Right now I am teaching 5 corporate classes and they're all going pretty well, but I do have a lot of extra time at the moment so I hope I can get more classes soon. (My new apartment is more expensive than my old one, so I'd like 7 classes or more, optimally.) I'm also teaching a new session of the ShiLin Writing Class I posted pictures of from before I left for Canada, several of my old students came back (David, Jenny, Vivian and Elaine) and a bunch of really interesing new ones joined, so we're having a really good time studying writing.

Actually, the week before last a new student joined that class whose name I won't mention, but his first question to me was "Can I go take a piss?" Which surprised me a lot, both with how good and natural his English was, and how he knew such vulgar slang. I tried to let him know that such language wasn't appreciated in this class and hoped he wouldn't be a problem. Luckily he dropped out the next week, his mother said my class had "too much grammar practice" for him. Funny that, a writing class with grammar practice. Who would have believed it!

Double Trouble!

The weekend before last, Connie and I had dinner on Sunday night with Connie's best friend in the whole world, Anita! Anita has recently returned from 6 months of studying English at a school in England, where she had many romantic adventures that included her becoming the star of the show for a Korean male fashion model who was also studying there. Anita shared with us her adventures, and her plans to return to England shortly where her lover awaits her visit for another month. Anita is a silly and cheerful girl, the kind who lives at her own pace and has her own unique style, not unlike Connie. No wonder they're best friends. 

Rob and Connie : Happy Couple 26, the Revenge!

You know, I think Connie and I are getting really good at these couple shots. Of course it helps that Connie is getting more beautiful with age. Loveya babe! 

Cheers!

Rob, Anita and Connie raise a glass to corporate capitalism and Anita's coming return to England to love and conquer! Good luck Ani! We're cheering for you! 

Moving Day! Back in Taiwan!

So, once I returned to Taiwan I had to hit the ground running. Despite massive amounts of jetlag I had to quickly get my application for my new visa in order and equally important: find a new place to live! As of March 1st I was homeless, so I had to race around to find for two weeks and find my new accomodations. At first I was planning to live with another teacher because her roommate was moving out, but in the end the teacher and I both decided that our lifestyles wouldn't be compatible so we decided to look elsewhere.

The day was saved with only a week to go by my fellow teacher Terrance Mercer, a great guy I work with at ESP who, when called up by a worried Rob, said in his usual laid-back East-coast manner "no problem". It turned out his landlord specialized in renting to foreigners, and had a few places available, fully furnished modern apartments that were a little more expensive that my old place, but very close to my office (which I wanted). In the end I took the first apartment I saw and began getting ready to move right away since I had to clean up the old place before I turned it back over to the landlord.

Pictured above is the old apartment on the day I left it behind. It was a nice 1-room apartment that served me well, but was a really to small to do anything but sleeping in. When Connie visited we were tripping over each other because it was just too small to be comfortable for two people. I don't know how one of my neighbours managed who actually had two people living their apartment full time!

Now I have a nice newer and larger studio apartment with a bigger bed, sofa, kitchen and a lot more moving and clost space! If only we weren't next to a Kindergarten with 100+ kids who have a habit of singing the same songs every morning...I often find myself singing along as I wake up..."Shake Shake Shake...Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" O_o! 

Rob arrives in Canada!

So, January 30th, I arrived in Canada with Connie for a two week visit with family, friends and relatives. Both Connie and I were severely jetlagged after a long flight that included a visit to George Bush International Airport (hightech, cold, and secure) and eventually ended in a 2 hour bus ride to London from Toronto. When we got to London we greeted my parents, and then crashed into our beds to enjoy them.

On Monday we visited with my friends Lisa To, Janet and Arthur, but I forgot to take my camera and it was just a short visit because Connie and I were still pretty tried.

On Tuesday Connie and I finally had a real visit with two of my old friends, Graham and Lisa Mo (pictured above), and spent time chatting at a local restaurant. I'm afraid we were still too tired to be good conversationalists, and poor Graham and Lisa had to do their best to keep things going! Sorry guys! Graham is one of the best read people I know, and an old friend whom I often chat about many things with. He's a graduate student at the University of Western Ontario who's studying to be a librarian. Lisa Mo is hoping to be a graduate student soon (I'm keeping my fingers crossed), and is an international business student from Hong Zhou, China who I met through another friend at school. She's a cheerful lady who is always smiling and while she seems soft, there is a tiger inside her, so guys better watch out!

The Dowswells

The Friday after we arrived Connie and I went to visit some old friends of mine, Charles and Cindy Dowswell. A couple from Northern Ontario who I have played games with to pass the time for many years, the Dowswells are blessed with two beautiful daughters, Amber (in red with her mother) and Jade (the baby on Connie's lap). They are my good friends, and I miss them a lot while I am in Taiwan. Charles is a manager at a technical support company in London, and is one of the most talented computer programmers I know. He's also fond of bragging about his steel leg, which is in fact steel, and very dangerous! 

Charlotte!

Saturday afternoon I met at my home with my friend Christina Chan, who unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of, a brilliant future dentist. Chris and I chatted about dentistry and caught up while Connie and my mother prepared things for the coming of...Charlotte! On this afternoon I was able to hold my niece for the very first time. She was born while I was in Taiwan, and this was my first chance to hold her. (I'd seen pictures and seen her over the webcam many times.) She was heavier than I expected, but a very beautiful baby girl! 

Connie looking beautiful

 

James and Sheena

The guy doing his best Popeye impression here is James Wegg, with his lovely girlfriend Sheena just behind him. Saturday night James, Sheena and my other friends threw a dinner party for Connie and I at a Taiwanese restaurant called The Rickshaw which is popular with all of us. It was a chance to get together my friends who I have played games with for over ten years in London. James is an extremely talkative and gregarious guy who can tell stories about his gaming exploits for hours, and talk about many different subjects. Sheena is a scholar when it comes to movies and televsion shows. 

The Mikes

To the left of the picture in the grey shirt you will see "Little" Mike Horsepool, the organizer of this reunion party and an all around cool guy. Horsepool and I have known each other since I came back from Japan, and now gamed together for many years. He's smart, clever (sometimes too clever for his own good), opinionated, and never boring. His long-range goal is to get into the army and get shipped off to someplace to get shot at, I don't know why, he just seems to like punishment.

In the middle of this picture, the man doing the cartoon face is Mike Armstrong, aka "Big" Mike. Mike and I have known each other for a while, and worked together to run Anime London for many years, a local Anime Club to promote Japanese animation in London. I started the club back before Anime was popular, and after a few meetings Mike showed up, and the rest, as they say, is history. Mike is a really clever and good hearted guy who cares a lot about people and is always trying to help out good causes. (When not chasing Cosplay girls with a camera....)

Big Steve

Steve Malloy is a guy I've known and gamed with for about 10 years now, he is one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to Fantasy and Science Fiction literature, and has read practically everything the London library system has, twice. (Which is a LOT of books!) If you have questions about Sci-Fi, "Big" Steve is the man. 

Rob and Connie

All in all, it was a wonderful time with good friends. Thanks guys, it was great to see you all and really touched our hearts! I can't wait to see you all again next year! 

Charlotte's Christening

Part of the reason I went home when I did was to attend the Christening of my Niece, Charlotte Irene Jacklin. Sunday morning we all bundled up and went to the church for the big event, and while we were waiting for the ceremony to start I snapped this Father-Daughter moment for the history books. 

Families United

A Christening ceremony marks the entry of a young person into the Christian church, and basically consists of the people of the church promising to raise the child well and then the minister blessing the child and drawing a cross on her forehead with holy water. It is a special day for both families as well, and here you can see all of us (Kirk's side on the left and mine on the right) posing at the front of the church. The woman in white holding the baby is the church Minister, and next to her is Kirk's Grandmother. 

Smile for the Camera!

Rob was officially in charge of videotaping the ceremony, so I spent most of the service trying to be as inconspicious as possible as I snuck around taping things related to the Christening. Here the minister is having the kids get ready for the ceremony itself, which I'm sorry but I don't have any pictures of because I was too busy taping it. *^_^* 

Something Old

Charlotte was wearing my Grandmother's Christening gown, which means that it's the same gown her 95 year old great-grandmother wore when she was a baby for the same ceremony. As you can see it's quite long, I'm not sure why except that it was the style then, I'm not sure if new Christening gowns are also so long. The lovely woman sharing a moment with Charlotte is Kirk's sister-in-law Karin. 

Wow! Really?

Charlotte finds out that there's a party after the Christening. 

Christened Out

"Alright, enough of this Christening stuff. Can we just go home now, Mom?"