Iowa Fact: Iowa is one of only five states where homosexuals may wed. So pigs, corn and that!Jordan and I made it through Kansas and Missouri, and into Iowa as it got truly dark out. It was well past my mom's bedtime when we arrived, but it was my dad who was already in bed. We drank bloody marys in front of the fire ( Read more... )

Oklahoma Fact: Tattooing only became legal in Oklahoma in 2006. So Jordan had to go to Texas to get hers. She must have been determined ( Read more... )

Iowa Fact: At the time of this posting, Iowa is on it's 65th consecutive day of snow cover (5' (13cm) or more on the ground). There is about a foot of snow in my parents yard. The previous record was 54 days and it's expected the snow will not start melting for at least 10 more days, with 4 more inches due this weekend ( Read more... )

Oops, I meant to post this a few days ago!

Taiwan Fact: Haggling is not ubiquitous, like it is in mainland and other eastern Asian countries. But it does exist for certain things. This is not exhaustive, but here are some things you wanna argue over the price of: souvenirs, shoes, and appliances (though only over the extras like delivery, ( Read more... )

Taiwan Fact: Helmet laws: These are almost universally obeyed. However, people wear "helmets" built like plastic cups waaay back on their occipitals, exposing everything forward of their ears. Also, children under 11 don't have to wear one! (Hey, the real word for the part of the head I was talking about is "occiput/s". No way, man ( Read more... )

Taiwan Fact: No birds on the bus!


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Taiwan Fact: At least in English kindergartens, Taiwanese children are made to drink a certain amount of water every day. At 10:30am and 2pm, my kids have to drink half their waterbottle's worth. Yet at lunch time all they get to "drink" is soup ( Read more... )

Taiwan Fact: They burn fake paper money every month to send to their deceased ancestors. This leads me to believe there is terrible inflation in the afterlife because most Taiwanese families don't have a member die every month and I don't believe there is any system of sinks or outlets up there to remove ghost money from the economy ( Read more... )

Taiwan Fact: People take pictures of their food. Look around any restaurant in Taiwan and people will take out their camera phones and take a snapshot of their, and often their freinds' plates. My language exchange partner pulled this one on me a few times. I don't know what brings this phenomenon about ( Read more... )

Taiwan Fact: Taiwanese children score an average 3% greater cuteness than the rest of the world's. I imagine it must have something to do with the unusually high population density. There ain't enough room for the uggos ( Read more... )