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The Friday before Sepat hit, I awoke to find blue skies and reasonable temperatures (i.e., not in the 90s and humid). I thought to myself - yes! It's the calm before the storm - I can squeeze in my walk along the riverfront before being holed up in my apartment for god-knows how long until the storm passes. So, on with the sneakers and out the door I went. As I headed out, I noticed some clouds beginning to swirl over Taipei, but they didn't look like they were threatening rain, so I continued on. However, as I approached my turn-around point, the skies grew more threatening. I turned back a touch early and picked up the pace. Fairly soon after I started heading back, a light drizzle began to fall. I thought, well, I can handle this. I was still about an hour out and knew that if the rain really began to fall, I was just plain up shit's creek. The drizzle dissipated, leading me to believe I would make it back in time after all. However, the drizzle soon started up again, and this time rather than fizzling out it only grew stronger. And when rain falls in Taiwan, it really falls. It's like the heavens unleashing a watery wrath upon the island. I was still at least a 30-minute walk from home. So at this point, with the rain pouring down and quickly soaking through my clothes, what else could I do... but sing! (Yes, I really am this cheesy - especially when I'm completely by myself on a lonely bike path being drenched by an outer rain band of a typhoon.)
Unfortunately, my lonely walk was not to remain lonely forever. As I neared the top of a short hill which ran underneath a bridge, I came upon a man. Now, it's not unusual to see people hanging out under the bridge, especially if it's raining. They wait there for the rain to subside. However, this man was unusual in that he was wearing no pants. That's right. So it was me, the rain, and the pantless man. I hurried on, careful not to look at him too closely as to give him any ideas and also careful to glance over my shoulder after I passed to make sure he wasn't following me. Luckily, he turned out to be just a harmless man standing under a bridge in the rain without his pants.
Needless to say, I was just a little wet by the time I reached home. 
After a work-filled semester and summer, it looked I was finally going to get a break - relaxing on the beach, admiring the stars while bathing in hot springs, snorkeling, scootering and hiking around Green Island, a local popular vacation destination. Unfortunately, Typhoon Sepat brewing in the Pacific off the coast of the Philippines had other plans. After carefully watching the weather report for a few days (since typhoons often switch courses unexpectedly), my friends Andrew, Nick and I were forced to face the reality that Typhoon Sepat (category 4) was indeed heading for the eastern coast of Taiwan. So, our island paradise getaway got shortened to just over 24 hours in the idyllic environs of Hualien, where Andrew lives (and near where the eye of the storm is currently predicted to hit). We had fun tooling around the coastline for a couple of days. Day one took us south of Hualien to Cow Mountain, where Andrew and I dipped our feet in the Pacific. Nick kept a good distance from the water, what with this being ghost month and all. (Taiwanese believe that ghosts roam the earth during this time, the spirits lingering in water, lying in wait to pull unsuspecting swimmers under.) The beach was part of an aboriginal tourist attraction which also boasted unique and odd wood carvings boasting exaggerated gentilia - think large phalluses and hanging breasts, so it seemed only appropriate that our visit included witnessing two dogs going at it. Although I don't know if getting stuck from doing it factored into the aboriginal sense of sensuality, but that proved to be the case for these two unfortunate canines.
Day two took us up to Qi Xing beach, just north of Hualien, on a pristine, sunny summer day. 
Despite all the talk about the typhoon, it was hard to believe that such a colossal storm lay it wait off the coast judging from the pure azure skies. The waves, however, did provide some indication as we could see them growing bigger and the ocean growing rougher as the afternoon progressed, not that you can tell from the picture, though.
Come evening time, though, it was time for Nick and I to retreat back to Taipei and to leave Andrew to face the full effects of the typhoon on his own. So much for our special island paradise getaway.
Finally! The summer session has drawn to a close, which means no more teaching for me for the next 6 weeks. While I'm certainly overdue and eager for some good r&r, I would also like to say that working with these students has been a true pleasure. Once again, I managed to be blessed with a vibrant, energetic, creative and witty group of students. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them and getting to watch them get to know and bond with each other over the course of the summer.
For anyone who might be curious to see some of what I did with the students and to see what they're capable of, you can check out the website I set up for our class at myspace.com/room712. (If you're curious to see the article I wrote for the blog, you'll have to go through the older blog archives - I believe mine was the very first post.) There are also some class pics on there, as well as a rather embarrassing video of me.
This is Cannon, my star swing student. He originally came to swing class because his roommate, who was supposed to come but didn't really want to, sent Cannon in his place. Well, Cannon picked up the steps quickly and really took to the dance in general, blossoming into a good, clear lead. In addition to being a good dancer, Cannon proved to be a priceless member of my little swing group, often helping explain the moves to others in class, staying after class to continue to practice with people and even meeting up with people outside of class to help them work on steps. Before I knew it, I found myself reaching for him whenever I needed a demonstration partner in class.
However, Cannon was a senior this past year, which meant that he'd be graduating and therefore would likely be unable to continue with swing. So, you can imagine my delight when he told me he'd been accepted into a master's program at NTUST - that meant two more years of dancing with Cannon! I was thrilled at the prospect of him sticking around, thinking I could cultivate him into a real dance partner. So, you can perhaps also imagine my extreme disappointment when he recently informed me he'd be doing his military service before starting his graduate studies (all males are required to do a year's military service here in Taiwan). Even though I know he'll be back after a year, he will be greatly missed in the interim :-( So, here's a big salute to Cannon for all of his help and enthusiasm - we'll miss you, Cannon!
Seems I just can't stop these feet from dancing! This summer I stayed true to my mission of bringing swing dance to the peoples of Asia and ran some beginner classes during the summer session. The downfall was that I had different students coming each week, so it was difficult to build on anything and had to stick to single step the whole time. But the upside is each week I had a decent turnout and may have found a handful of kids who'll keep coming back for more once the semester starts up again. Plus, those who did come had fun!
Exactly a week from the day of my previous excursion to Yangming Shan, I found myself on the bus heading back to the mountain - this time in the company of my long-time friend, Andrew, and my student-turned-friend, Nick. This time Nick took us to the path heading up to the highest peak at Yangming Shan, and reaching it was no easy feat. The path was pretty much a straight set of stairs all the way up. Though the path itself was shaded and the day itself was cloudy, I sweat about 5 times more than I had on my previous trip to the mountain. The top was truly other-worldly, though. With the heavy cloud cover, it felt like we had reached another plane. However, after all those stairs, I've found myself much more partial to elevators than I ever could've imagined...
In the spirit of being more socially active and getting out to explore the city and its environs, the day after lunching from a bathtub, I decided to take to the mountains with my friend, Sharon, and her best friend since junior high school. Yangming Shan is a popular destination for Taipei residents looking to get a bit of fresh air, and now I know why. Sharon and her friend took us up to the grasslands at the top of one of the mountain ridges, which afforded us not only plenty of fresh air, but also plenty of midday Taiwan sun and an expansive view of the city. Despite the Chinese penchant for covering their hiking trails with stairs, it was great to get out and get some good summer activity exercise. Plus, I think I managed to sweat out every last drop of any toxin that may have entered my body in the past 20 or so years.
Okay, so it's taken me until the throes of the humid Taipei summer to get this going, but finally here it is! My time here in Taipei has gone by rather quickly, most likely due to the constant demands on my time from my job. But now that summer is here, I've finally had a chance to get out and about a bit more.
For starters, a couple of weeks ago I went out on a class outing with my summer students. Our fantastic entertainment coordinator, Ariel, arranged for us to lunch at a place called Modern Toilet - a fun restaurant in which the decor and even the serving plates all revolve around a bathroom theme. We then went on to the National Palace Museum where I was eager to see Taiwan's version of the crown jewels - a cabbage. That's right, Taiwan's prized possession in their national museum is a piece of green and white jade carved into the shape of a bok choy cabbage. While cute, I can't say the cabbage was nearly as impressive as the excessively intricate ivory carvings. Though in the end, I think I may have been the only one truly interested in any of the exhibits at the museum, as the students were all eager to head out for a night of dancing on the sofas at a karaoke joint.
