Immersing Myself in the Word, Every Day

Grateful for the subsection of the UDNPapers, that’s brought us so many knowledge, shared memories, and a ton, of wonderful things, to enrich our daily lives, translated…

I loved reading the subsections of the paper like a book, especially the D2 sections of the UDNPapers, there are the writers from all walks of life that were printed on here, and, an assortment of contents, naturally.  I’d recalled that one time, the editor’s office asked the medical staff members to write the stories of the giant white towers, it’d captivated the readers’ attentions, making us want to read, reread, and reread over, over, and over again.  The “Secret Headquarters of the Car Wash” that got started this year is also, attention-catching, the writer can tell how the owners of the cars he’d washed and repaired lived from the cars that were dropped off, this was totally, magical to me.

something to do, EVERY, day…

The other four columns that were also my favorite aside from this one: in “Animals on Stage”, I’d felt the strong emotional connections the writers felt toward the animals they have.  In “A Treasure Map of Memories”, I’d noted the different ways of life the various age groups of people have, and, they’d offered a fun comparison to my own life experiences.  And I’d loved the seasonal writers who’d written for the Youth Column, they’d used their words, recorded down the lives in their own separate professions, although these are smaller in sizes, but, covering a wide spectrum of topics, eye opening, truly.  And for the “Topics of Discussion” columns, although these came in smaller passages, they are all, eye-catching.  The same things that’s happened in the lives of various people, produced, different stories, with the different enlightenments from their separate, stories.

That’s how this subsection of the paper works, like a professor with a wide spectrum of knowledge, fulfilling my curiosities every single day, enriching my life, adding more fun to my ordinary days.

I’m grateful for the editor of the subsection of the papers, to allow the readers, to read in their, separate corners, to know what’s going on all around us, to get soaked up in the wonders, of interactions of words of exchange.

And so, this, is a sort of a thank you note this writer wrote to the subsection of the papers, and, surely, this subsection of the papers, offered a wide variety of reading materials for those who are interested in finding out new things they want to find out, it has the experiences of others we can borrow from, and, it’s just, an amazing section of the UDN papers here.

The Ordinary Citizens’ Economic Hopeless, as the Higher Up Officials Operated on a Parallel Universe

How those, higher up government officials are still, with their HEADS up in the clouds, and not enough of a TIGHT GRASP on the reality of things here!!!  Commentary, observations off of the Front Page Sections, translated…

As the legislators questioned the head of the Census Records’ Office, that the hikes in costs of everything, hurting the people’s livelihoods, asked him how much a bowl of oyster noodle cost, he’d replied “$20”, which shocked everybody who was there at the press conference.  It seemed, that the higher up officials are, too far, from the ordinary people’s lives, that they’d, operated on a, parallel universe, untouched by how the cost of things are causing the people to have a difficult time, making our ends meet, and they’re, numbed out too.

Early morning yesterday, close to my house, at the intersection, an elderly woman rode her bicycle, with the recycling materials, the plastic bottles, the bundled up cardboard boxes, in a moment, she’d lost her concentration, and everything fell off her bicycle, I’d helped her collect her items, bundled them up for her tighter, she’d told me thanks, then left.

In actuality, during the outbreaks, in metro Taichung, you could see the middle aged, the elderly individuals, who are, picking up the recycling materials that people had, thrown out on the streets, the Taiwan Avenue before the train station, the underground passages, along with the lobby of the train stations, you can see the homeless, camping out all over the places, this was, a rare sighting for these past few years.

and, here’s, what THOSE IDIOTS, running THIS country looked like…

photo from online

I’d gone to Taipei last month, on the way, I’d, tried finding the restaurants between the Taipei Main Station and the Transitory bus stations on my way back, I saw even more homeless people, sitting on lying down on the sidewalks, it’s like this, in the capital city of the country, and, as I’d visited cities like Tainan, Kaohsiung, that, is what I saw too, the shops are either with the locks, or that they’re opened, but not enough customers, and if the bigger cities of this country are like so, imagine how much harder it must be, for the even, more distant-region places.  There’s, the bipolar Taiwanese economy now, the bigger companies, with their order slips piled up higher than the ceilings, the smaller shops, and the economy of ordinary citizens, are worsening, and, they’re all, in need of, help, it makes me hopeless, and I’d, felt, helpless of the situation.

The rate of economic growth of Taiwan is performing quite well, but, the prices of everything keeps on getting hiked up higher and higher, widening the gap between the rich and the poor, the wages earned, and the retired, especially for those who didn’t have enough retirement insurances, their measly wages, already spent up by inflation, the smaller shops too, are having a hard time; and even AS the government handed out the five-times vouchers, may I ask, how much help, can five-thousand MEASLY dollars, get for the ordinary citizens who are, having it hard, making, their, ends, meet up?

We are on the verge of celebrating National Day, and, people are, faced with the pressures from inflation, as well as the hikes in prices of everything we need, and, this would have more of an impact, compared to Communist China’s fighter planes, flying over our borders in the skies; if the government run by Tsai though that the Taiwanese economy will improve, by lowering the alert levels, that people are traveling through the country on this weekend holiday, then, she’s, DEAD WRONG!  The head of the major departments of the governments, should NOT assume that by handing out the vouchers, that would solve the economy crises.

The head of statistic’s “$20N.T.s for a bowl of oyster noodles”, only showed, how the officials of Tsai’s government are still, high up in their, ivory towers, living on a parallel plane compared to ordinary citizens such as you and I, it’s so regrettable, and making us so helpless.

The former American President, Clinton won over Bush stated the issues so clearly, “You fool, the problem is in the economy!”  Faced with the impacts from in and out of the country, the changes of the living environments, what’s the whole of our country’s economy like, these heads of the government offices knew the best.  And, those in power, if they can’t help the people in their economic wellbeing, they will, lose their, positions as heads of government.

Celebrating National Day, I hope, that for the upcoming years, Taiwan will, have a new air, the lives of ordinary citizens can get better, that, is the right way, and the hard facts.

And so, this government is still, using the five-times vouchers, to BULLSHIT all of us, because the government is too impotent in solving the crises here, and we the people, are still in our states of comatose, and we’re, allowing those running the country, to lead us.

As Children Get Bullied, the Parents Rushing in, Stepping on the Mines

It’s only natural, that when the kids are being, bullied, you parents would want to, rush in, to BEAT the CRAP out of that other kid, but, hold your horses first…on education of the next generations, off of the Front Page Sections, translated…

If the children are bullied, the psychologist at the Student Counseling Center, Chen reminded, that there are, a few, “landmines”, that the parents can easily step on, to make things worse.  The following is a first-person interview summary with the counselor:

As we hear that our children got picked on, it doesn’t mean that the parents needed to rush in immediately, demand the other child to apologize.  As a child gets yelled at abruptly, s/he may feel scared, then, to avoid further scolding, apologize, but, then, the bullies may get harder on the child afterwards, believing, “You tattle told to your parents, making me get yelled at”, and, an originally small argument may get turned into, a long-term bullying.

Another scenario: get pass the teachers, and go to the parents to confront them for what their child did to yours.  And normally, there are, two scenarios that might happen: first, the parents apologize to other parents first, then, turn around, and discipline their own young.  Another, the parents disbelieving that their kid is capable, and the two parents get into it, to the point of the representatives getting called to mediate.

The two end results, neither teach the children anything, if the other kid is the abuser, but hovered over by her/his parents, how would s/he know, what s/he needed to adjust, in interaction shared with another.  And if, forces outside of the school got involved, the homeroom instructor, even as s/he wanted to intervene, s/he can’t, because the school will not allow the instructor to, and in the end, things are still, left, unresolved.

If the adults weren’t present as the bullying occurred, it would be hard to determine who’s right or who’s wrong, and hard for the parents to determine, if their young was a target of bullying.  As the child tattled, s/he will evade on the details, for instance, being the one to hit first, but didn’t tell the parents, and if the parents went straight away to “get even”, and long-term, this child learned, “so long as I told mom and dad, they will, get even with me!”, which is bad for the developments of their personality characters in the future.

The most important thing that parents should do is to try to understand what happened exactly, and report back to the homeroom instructors, if it’s serious to the point to have a mediator to stop the bullying, then, you take, legal actions.

So, this is on telling the parents to listen, to watch your own young, because if your kid is bullied, it shows, in their, behaviors, and, you, as parents, must not lose it, as your kid comes home crying and told you, that so-and-so punched my nose or whatever, you, as adults, must be the rational ones, because IF you lost it, then, your kid will learn, hey, I can tell mommy and daddy that I got hit, and, they will go after that kid who’d gotten on my bad side, and that’s not good!

Afternoon Tea

Let’s have a tea party then, shall we???  We shall!  Translated…

One night, I called up my mother, chatted over the MERS-CoV situation, how it’d not, gotten better, and we can only, video chat, I really want to head back home, to have afternoon tea with her then.

The following day, my four-year-old ran over to me at increments of minutes, and inquired, “mom, what time is it?  Is it the afternoon now?”, and, as noon approached, I’d answered him, “after lunch, it will be afternoon.”  And on that day, he ate faster than he usually had.  After meal, he’d taken my hand enthusiastically, pointed to the tea pot with water in it, said, “Mom, didn’t you want some afternoon tea?  It’s afternoon now, let’s, have some tea!”

like this??? Photo from online

spending some quality time with her sons…

Being naïve, he thought that the tea poured out of the pot in the afternoon is, afternoon tea!  Being tentative, he’d, remembered my random conversation with my mother to mind.  And so, I’d smiled, and, washed up two delicate cups, poured in the water, and, sat down with him, and, drank that, extra sweetened tasting, “afternoon tea”.

And so, this, is the interactions with a young child, sometimes, they can, surprise you, like how this young boy took his mom’s conversation with her grandmother to heart, and, offered the gentleness to his own, mom!

Apollo 11

The missions to space, a tiny step for a man, a huge leap, for mankind!  The intrigues of what lies beyond…translated…

Recently, I’d watched a very special documentary, “Apollo 11”.  This film was screened in 2019, but it’s a story that’s been filmed completely, back in 1969: the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.  The film completely collected the precious footage from back then, with the editing, through the remastering by the digital process, the images came in full-color, like it was, yesterday, and you can’t tell, that the original footage was from fifty years ago.  And those who didn’t know it, would think, that this was, a new astronaut film by Hollywood.  The film was a little over an hour and a half long, like the viewers were, walking into, NASA headquarters, sitting at the Houston Space Center, and, are all involved, in this mission to the moon, it’s, such, an amazing film!

After watching the documentary, my space soul seemed to have, been, awakened.  I’m a bit embarrassed to say, that becoming an astronaut, was my childhood dream at age seven, back then, I’d, taken the liberty, to remember all the stars in the Solar System, the galaxies, the harder to remember names, and at my science fair, I’d made a Harley’s Comet model, and, pulled along my younger brothers, to carry that star chart, onto the add-on asbestos rooftop, to find the constellations with me, and we all got, bitten all over our bodies by the mosquitoes.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, the words of, Armstrong, was also, among those who were on Apollo 11^th to outer space, also, the very first man who’d, set foot on the moon.  But in the documentary, as I saw him set foot out, and blurted out this memorable classic line, I’d, chuckled……………

these are the brave men of the mission

the Apollo 11 to the moon, from online

“This is way too serious emotion, the voices, way too, matter-of-fact, this isn’t, from improvisations, or thought of at the moment, but from what he’d rehearsed of what he would say when he was not yet up in space!”, I’d, guessed.

Armstrong and his companions rode to the moon successfully on Apollo 11^th to the moon, and, made America win in the space race with Russia, and so, the conspiracy theory that were disputed on how the Americans had, cheated had, never ceased.  The doubters firmly believed, that all the scenes were the from NASA having Kubric, the director, to film in the studios.  Similar political conspiracy theory in the film, “Wag the Dog” in 1997 was portrayed to perfection, the American president was involved in a sex scandal, the crises management team leader, portrayed by Robert DeNiro found the Hollywood producer portrayed by Dustin Hoffman to help, used the special effects of the movies, made a film on the war in Albania, and successfully, diverted the public’s attention, dissolved the crises, and, allowed the president’s popularity to hike up higher than ever before.

But, the same point of creation, used in the movie, “Interstellar” by Chris Nolan, became how the U.S. government used the Apollo spaceship going to the moon, as an untruth, a conspiracy theory, to destroy the credibility of NASA, to keep people on earth, to fight the matter of world hunger.

Truth in fiction, fiction, in truth, it’s, all in the eyes of, the beholders, of course, and all of this, was, riding off of Apollo 11’s fame.  And, everybody only remembers the very first man who’d, succeeded, as for those that failed, like Apollo first, second to the tenth that kept trying, or those that came after, the 12^th, the 14^th, to the end, Apollo 17^th, they never got, the attention.  (the journey of Apollo 13, was a disaster, that ended up, will little damages, and it’d also been made, into film).

The Apollo missions that won worldwide fame, and cost a lot, finally came to an end by the end of 1972, until this very day, there’s no humans, setting foot onto the moon again.  I’d heard, that NASA announced its brand new plan to send the astronauts to the moon in 2024, while the Asian woman, Kjell Lindgren might be on it, it’s really, exciting!

Oh, and it’s July 20^th today, the fifty-second anniversary of the first man, setting foot on the moon!

And so, these are, the space missions, with the purpose of???  Oh yeah, see WHO gets there first, Russians, Chinese, Americans, etc., etc., etc., and, there are, just, too many, fantasies we all have of, outer space, of what’s, out in the, unknowns of other parts of the solar systems that’s still, unexplored yet, that’s why, people are still, mildly, intrigued, just not as much as people had been, back, fifty, sixty, seventy years ago though, but we are still, somewhat, intrigued by, what’s, “out there”, in outer space…

The Underage Committed a Crime the Parents Need to Pay for it

The cases where the parents are, made to take responsibilities, over their children’s, behaviors, ruled by the court!  Off of the Newspapers, translated…

The adage, “Parental debts are paid by the offspring”, but based off of the laws right now, the parents’ debts, don’t necessarily fall under the offspring’s responsibilities, but as the underage children were out, and done something bad, the parents may be made to pay collaterally, two young children in a preschool fought over a watch and started arguing, and one child scratched the other, injuring her/him the judge mandated the parents of the child who’d scratched to pay the injured child over $16,000N.T.s, the high school student, Chen, was running on the roads, and, bumped into a woman who was riding on an electric motorcycle, and he and his father were made to pay the woman $250,000N.T.s, the legal realm stated, the underage whether it be intentional or negligent, had hurt another, the legal guardians may have to pay for it by collateral, the parents must be really careful over this.

Based off of civil law, the children’s age limit was seven, before seven, the child have no control in restricting one’s own behaviors, those children older than seven have, and if children in these two age groups had impacted someone’s rights, and if the behaviors were determined as “under the awareness”, then the child will be paying for the wrongdoing legally with the parents, if not, it would be the legal guardians who must pay.  But if the legal guardians can produce proofs that they’d not been loose on their rules of raising their young, or that there were already, reasonable rules established, then, the legal guardians don’t have to pay for their children’s behaviors.

Two young boys, Hwa and Ming (both false names) are students of a famous kindergarten in Taipei, two years ago, on an afternoon, Ming handed his new watch to other students to look at, and after the students looked at the new watch, they’d, handed it over to Hwa to see, as Ming tried to get the watch back from Hwa, Hwa refused, they started arguing, Ming scratched Hwa’s face twice, injuring him.

Later on, Hwa’s parents sued Ming’s parents in civil court, asking to pay for the damages to their young son in amount of over $1.4 million N.T.s, while Ming’s parents mentioned, how the preschool they’d selected for their son was a famous chain kindergarten in Taipei, that they’d, already, given the best forms of education to their own young; while the judge believed, that the parents hadn’t, because the child couldn’t know what he did was right or wrong, the parents of the child have to pay for the damages, in the end the courts found Ming’s parents to pay over $16,000N.T. to the other parents.

The fifteen-year-old high school student Chen two years ago, was running across the intersections, and rammed the woman on an electric bicycle, Yeh over, injuring her, Yeh sued the high school student and his parents for the damages; the courts reviewed the street surveillance, found that Chen wasn’t following the lights, because Chen was not yet twenty, he was categorized as “couldn’t restrict his own behaviors”, his father also couldn’t produce the proofs of his watching over his son’s behaviors, that he was collaterally, responsible, the courts found that Chen and his father must pay Yeh a total of over $250,000N.T.s.

And so, this still showed, how under a certain age, when a kid misbehaved, the parents are responsible, unless you the parents, can prove, that you had, given the rules to your children to follow, and this would be, interpreted by the courts, which means, that the judge can see it, either way, and, there’s, no way of you, the parents knowing, if you’ll get sued, so, the best way to prevent this, is by, teaching your young the right rules and, keep your fingers crossed, that they don’t, get into, too much troubles…

Elders Whom Everybody Likes Being Close to

How these two elderly women are role models for us all, not just in their abilities to stay health, but on the positive attitude they take, toward growing older, and living, their lives, to the fullest…translated…

With the advancements of medicine, becoming an elderly person, is the future for us all, but, it’s a lesson, to learn how, to be, a cute elderly person.

There were two role models, of what elderly persons should be like.  Grandma Wang, I’d met through the volunteer program at school, at age seventy-six, she’s, graceful, and, dressed in a way, that’s, visually, appeasing.  After her move from her old home in Chiayi to Taipei, she’d gone to the local elementary school, to inquire if there’s a need for volunteer, and she’d started working, as a “story grandma”.

Some of the stories that Grandma Wang told the students are from the illustrated books, children’s books, and, some stories, were from her own travels, that she’d, changed the parts to.  With the lessons, Grandma Wang would bring her own homemade props, for instance, on the story of the Pygmalion, she’d started, playing the role of the female lead, handed the flowers one by one to the children, with the rise and falls of her voice, it’d, captured the children’s, attention.  Every time she’d walked down the streets, the children would greet her eagerly, “Grandma Wang!”

She also volunteers as the morning homework helper, four days a week, she’d, tutored two children who needed the extra help time.  Other than volunteering, she’s also, actively involved in the community choir too, doing yoga at the gym, to train her muscles, she’d managed to keep her body fit.

staying active in the elderly years…

photo from online

Another Grandma Lee, was an elder I’d met when I volunteered to the home visits, Grandma Lee was with a straight back, and you can’t see that she’s, already, ninety.  Her son lives out of country, her daughter lives in Kaohsiung, and often comes up north to visit her.  Grandma Lee had been volunteering at the hospital for thirty years on end, and recently, she’d, stepped down.  She’d gone to the parks early in the morn every day for tai-chi, and had brunches with her fellow martial artists, and, once a week, she’d gone to volunteer at the local borough’s office, and would arrange her time once a year, to go to the hospitals or the nursing homes with the Tai-Chi instructor to teach everybody some simple moves the residents can do to keep up with their physical wellbeing.

And, these two beautiful elderly women had a couple of things in common: first, they’re very physically healthy, with the regular routines for their workouts.  Secondly, both are involved in volunteer work, the embodiments of happy in helping others.  Thirdly, they’re, actively, interactive with their external social environments, not fallen off the connections with society.  I want to take after them, to become, a warm, an elder whom everybody wants to be close to.

And so, these two elderly women are, amazing role models indeed, they are very active, they kept up with their health, exercised regularly, and, found the time, to give back to the community, which is what probably helped them stay youthful, and they’re, role models for all of us indeed!

As Death, Approached…

He’d started, noticing death, wandering around and about, outside of, his doors, at first, he wasn’t, alerted one bit, he’s still, quite young, death couldn’t, come for him, not yet anyways!

As death, approached, he’d, shockingly realized, that it’s, coming, for me!!!  And he’d, flown, into, that frenzy, started off in panic mode: how can this be?  I’d been, very careful of my own health, no, that’s not it, it can’t be here, for me, I must be, mistaken…

hear his footsteps, getting closer, and closer, and closer yet…

photo from online

As death, approached, he’d grown, weaker, as death became, stronger by the day, lurking over his head, and now, he lay, in that, white-washed walled, hospital room, with every cell in his body, tuned in to, the fears that death made him feel.

As death, approached, he knew that there’s, NO escaping it, for, NOBODY lives, forever, and, he’d, started, slowly, accepting, that this could be, his own, end.  As death, approached, it’d, grazed him, left but, a scorch mark on his soul, but he’s still, breathing, so that’s, a sort of a blessing, isn’t it???

As death, approached, all of us, held our breaths in, hoping, praying, with our fingers crossed, that it wasn’t, here, for us, not just yet, but, death comes, to EVERY life, there’s, NO way of, escaping it!

Not as Easy as We’d, Imagined

A D.I.Y. fail!  Should’ve called in, the experts that’s for sure!!!  Translated…

That year, the new wash basin that I’d just had installed not a few days ago, due to my mistake, got three cracks on it, but it’s still, usable, and so, I’d not planned to, change it out.  Many years afterwards, I saw my five and two-and-a-half year-old grandsons, tipped their toes, reaching up to the basin to clean their hands, then suddenly, the news of the wash basin exploding that was on the news came to mind, and I’d, suddenly, decided to, get a new one installed.

To make work easier, I’d first gone to the depot, selected a basin that’s similar to the one I had originally in shape, color, style, made of plastic, and, thought to myself, I’d installed the tiles on my own floors, redid my own lanai, how hard can installing a wash basin be?  After I had breakfast, I’d immediately, gotten to it, but, I’d, HIT a DEAD wall then; the screw that originally attached my wash basin to the walls was rusted, and I can’t twist it off, the two of us started, using all our strengths, to try to pry it open, and, after forty minutes, still not budged one bit; it seems, there’s only the way, to SMASH the old basin up.

should’ve just, called in, a professional to do it!

photo from online

After we’d, swept up the floor’s worth of, debris, we’d started, tackling that rusty screw, and yet, as we’d, asked all our pliers out to help us, none can make the single screw budge, and so, we’d, started, sawing it off.  My husband found the saw first, then, the two of us took turns, bending our backs over, sawed at it with all our mights, we’d even, taken two rests, then, we finally, unscrewed, these, two screws, loose.

The hole that remained from the screws that were loose, can’t be used anymore, we needed to, drill, other holes.  There’s no drill at home that we can use, my wife went out to buy one.  The hole got made yeah, but I can’t, tighten the screws in completely, turned out, the whole on the right was drilled too deep, and so, we’d, made another new hole next to it, decided, to install that basin in.  And yet, as the screws are about to be placed in, we were shocked, to realizing, that the sizes and types that we bought wasn’t, unified, and so, my wife can only, run out, to get the right screw.

And finally, as all is about to get done, the basin was, too far from the wall, because of how that hole on the left was, deep enough, and we’d had to, pull out the plastic plugs again, then, drilled, deeper in.  But, no matter how my wife pulled at it, the plug simply, wouldn’t, budge, I’d gone closer to look, “You need to whack it, hitting around it a bit, and, it should, loosen up?”, and surely enough, as I’d, whacked at it a couple of times, the plastic plug came out, but, it’s, broken, and so, my wife went out again.

And finally, everything’s set, now, the step by step clean up.  The pipe’s ruptured, I’d needed to, replace the new one, but, I’d, fumbled through FIVE tool boxes that I owned, not a single one that can be used.  Waited until my wife bought the replacement parts, the two of us, with glee, started on, the final step: reattaching the pipe back on, and yet, at this time, I’d found, that there were FOUR holes on the pipe, totally needed to be, replaced, so, my wife went out, again, and bought back a set of shiny brass, P-pipe.

And, as all of this is done, I’d looked at the clock, five o’clock, sharp.  Can’t believe, that this, “simple” changing a wash basin took the two of us, an entire, day!

A lot of things in life, are way HARDER, than you can, ever imagined, like this gig that these two people got into, they should’ve just, called in the professional plumbers, but they didn’t want to waste all that cash, and so, they did it themselves, and, they got it done finally all right, but it took them, a WHOLE, workday, and to think, that had they called in the professionals, it may have been done, in, no more than, thirty minutes, but they wanted to save the money, and they ended up, squandering away the time!

So totally, NOT worth it, is what I say!

The Air, My Friend

The column by Jimmi Liao, translated, by me, again………

Even in the Jurassic Age,

Bringing a Bouquet of Flowers to a Date is a Must.

illustration by Jimmi Liao, off of UDN.com

Some things, don’t change, the common courtesies, that first impression that you’d made on someone, and this is still all from, socialization.