Wow…it’s almost time to leave Taiwan already… I certainly don’t feel like I’m leaving, but I guess I am. I have this sense that I both can’t wait and don’t want to go back to Waterloo. It’s a new adventure when I return, but at the same time it’s pretty scary. Oh well, keep on praying, I guess.

I felt like I wasted a lot of time when in Taiwan, since I really don’t remember much of what I did here. But then I could probably list off a bunch of events, so it wasn’t all a waste. Perhaps it’s because these are not significantly memorable ones… In any case, there were trips to Tainan, Tokyo, and the non-longer-elusive Maokong gondola. Lots of shopping and wandering around. I guess the main part is to be relaxed before it gets crazy, and I think that’s partially accomplished…

So how crazy is it going to be after I arrive in Waterloo? Well, I arrive early in the morning of Sept 1, Labour Day. Then I would pack up and move! The next day, I need to go to school, move my office, meet a prof who taught my course previously, and finalize my course outline! Ok, maybe it doesn’t sound so crazy…but I have to do these things under jetlag! Ok, bye.

Yay…another new country to blog from! Tokyo’s nice, but I don’t like going with a tour group… I will try to come back here again, though. So many things I didn’t get to do.

Highlight of the trip (with two more days to go): buying 11 puzzle books on the first day!

Everything here is so expensive…

This teaching thing is probably going to kill me…

I barely break even playing the 2-7 triple draw games…

Off to Tokyo…

There was a small trip to a place called Sansia, which literally means “three gorges,” which I didn’t see.

Apartment buildings here often borrow place names from foreign places to name themselves. Paris is pretty popular, I’ve also seen Prague, but this intrigued me the most: New Jersey. Huh? Living in New Jersey?

I lost a lot of appetite for playing poker, and so far in Taiwan I’ve only played two games. Both are 6-person 2-7 triple draw lowball games, and both I’ve won…

It seems that I always do very well in adjusting for jetlagging the first day I’m here. Second day, not so much.

I’m getting a logistic nightmare from the course I’m teaching next month. I have no idea what to do…

Somehow I won the first 2-7 triple draw lowball tournament I’ve ever played…even though it has only 6 players and paid very little… Beginner’s luck, I guess.

Two pretty smooth flights, both having window seats, which isn’t all that good, I guess. Both are on 777s, and I liked that.

First thing I felt after coming out of the airport is the hot temperature and the muggy air, which I had trouble breathing.

First day here, and I bought a wireless router, set it up, then went to Costco… Not bad for a first day, before night’s sleep…

Wooo…there’s free wireless internet at Vancouver’s airport…nice. Toronto can certainly learn a lot from this…

Haven’t typed anything here in a long long time now… I guess I’m just being too lazy. That’s not to say nothing happened, when in fact lots of things happened, but I’m just too lazy to write them all down.

Flight to Taipei coming up in about 2.5 hours… It’s going to be a long and tiring flight, as always.