Vignettes
Elliott wrote me an endorsement on LinkedIn. 10 months after I quit my last gig. Dude takes forever to do these sorts of things, but he's a good kid, a good friend, and puts in effort. He had shown me earlier drafts nearly a year ago and they were rough. I am seriously impressed with the endorsement he put together for me and touched at the things he wrote. I'll write one for him when I get back to Chicago.
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Zheng Zhong and I stopping still on the mountain path we're hiking. We hear a rustling overhead. A band of monkeys are hopping through the canopy above us. We pause, step back, and I aim my camera phone up to snatch a picture. I can't find a good angle, they are too far up and the canopy is a bit too thick. The monkeys pass by pretty quick, only pausing briefly. They are wary of us.
I manage to catch two of them briefly, but they are not great pictures. Still impressive for how far away they are.
---
Zheng Zhong and I walking down the country road, at the base of the mountain path we had just descended, taking pictures of the farm plots and misty mountains in the back. Zheng Zhong over my shoulder pointing out cranes and ducks in the distance, in the wet farm plots, as I aim my phone camera at them.
Dude is impressed as hell with the range and detail of the camera phone. He verbally considers if he should upgrade his Pixel 3, then decides out loud that it's too expensive and he doesn't need to.
My sister, hearing about this, comments in a message to me that "Dad says [uncle] refuses nice things for himself."
---
Zheng Zhong and I stop in at a small shack restaurant on the walk back to the seaside parking lot after hiking the mountain. We get some fried rice, some fern fronds covered in mayonnaise and crunchy bits, and a light fish soup. As we eat the good morning weather turns dark and heavy rain starts pouring outside.
After our meal we sit a spell, waiting for the rain. An old, roughed up cat with one eye, comes into the dining area where we are the only customers and rubs up against my leg. He stays with me when I reach out to pet him and climbs up on my leg.
When the rain doesn't stop Zheng Zhong borrows an umbrella from the proprietor to walk to the parking lot where his car is parked. He comes back to pick me up and drop off the umbrella. I take the time to lean against the doorway and enjoy the storm over the countryside with the mountains as backdrop. The old cat follows me out to the front and busies himself grooming.
---
Everyone in Taiwan is telling me to get married. This seems about par for the course for my age. Well, from college graduation and then gradually increasing in urgency each passing year. They will likely stop telling me to get married and start chastising me for never getting married if it doesn't happen by the time I'm 55 or so, if my uncles are any indication.
Yoyo tells me this is the time to start looking for a girlfriend. Momma jokes that I should find a girl in Taiwan - Yoyo suggests he might be able to introduce me to some girls. I comment "You should introduce my uncle to some girls." Momma busts out laughing. Yoyo tells me that's not going to be possible, asking me how old my uncle is.
My aunts on my dad's side urge me to get married.
Grandma on my momma's side tells me to find a nice, obedient girl to marry. Stay away from the bad bitches. Indeed, granny.
Uncle Zheng Zhong, retired and unmarried doesn't say anything about it, other than my parents are concerned that I am not getting married. He's not one to tow the traditional line either, though. Aunt Jing Shang, a single mom, only says about it "I think it's fine, everyone finds their own happiness."
---
Uncle Ah Shin on pop's side doesn't say much to begin with.
Aunt Jing Shang, and Uncle Zheng Zhong, momma's siblings, are talking about Ah Shin. Jing Shang has lived with momma and them for a stretch, saying Ah Shin never spoke. She recalls once making dinner and telling Ah Shin, who was watching TV, that dinner would be ready soon. When he didn't answer, she told him again. And once more minutes later. When she finally looked over at him she saw that he had heard and had given her an acknowledging glance she had never caught.
Jing Shang knows Ah Shin lived with my family in the states for about a decade, working at pop's restaurant. She asks me if we ever talked. I tell her yes, I've talked to Ah Shin. She says she can't ever imagine him holding conversation.
"Well, no... we've talked. He doesn't hold conversation, though. I've never had a conversation with him. He's a quiet guy. With the exception of dad, it seems most of his side of the family are less talkative. Quieter. Reserved." Poppa's a loud, anxious, gregarious guy. "I kind of like that, though. I get it. I prefer it sometimes," I say about Ah Shin's reserved personality.
The distinction I'm making here is that I've spoken to Ah Shin a lot by that guy's standards - coordinating delivery routes, exchanging information, and the shortest of pleasantries: Did you sleep well? Have you eaten? Are you tired? That sort of shit. In a way I respect that that's all it takes to establish a meaningful relationship with the guy.
It can drive some people in the family nuts, though, momma in particular.
---
I feel like I am eating nonstop out here. Everyone keeps urging me to eat. There is so much food. They all seem so surprised at how little I seem to eat during the day. Grandma is one of the worst offenders.
Yet, I am down a notch on my belt. I am pretty sure I am losing weight. My jeans are definitely sitting looser. It must be all of this travel. Constant daily activity.
Idly I wonder what it is about this lifestyle I can take back with me. In Chicago I feel like I eat less during the day, more at night, but I seem to gain and maintain weight at a heavier level. Maybe my diet is more calorie rich, or my lifestyle is more activity poor out there. I will have to fuck around with my routines.
---
Zheng Zhong and I stopping still on the mountain path we're hiking. We hear a rustling overhead. A band of monkeys are hopping through the canopy above us. We pause, step back, and I aim my camera phone up to snatch a picture. I can't find a good angle, they are too far up and the canopy is a bit too thick. The monkeys pass by pretty quick, only pausing briefly. They are wary of us.
I manage to catch two of them briefly, but they are not great pictures. Still impressive for how far away they are.
---
Zheng Zhong and I walking down the country road, at the base of the mountain path we had just descended, taking pictures of the farm plots and misty mountains in the back. Zheng Zhong over my shoulder pointing out cranes and ducks in the distance, in the wet farm plots, as I aim my phone camera at them.
Dude is impressed as hell with the range and detail of the camera phone. He verbally considers if he should upgrade his Pixel 3, then decides out loud that it's too expensive and he doesn't need to.
My sister, hearing about this, comments in a message to me that "Dad says [uncle] refuses nice things for himself."
---
Zheng Zhong and I stop in at a small shack restaurant on the walk back to the seaside parking lot after hiking the mountain. We get some fried rice, some fern fronds covered in mayonnaise and crunchy bits, and a light fish soup. As we eat the good morning weather turns dark and heavy rain starts pouring outside.
After our meal we sit a spell, waiting for the rain. An old, roughed up cat with one eye, comes into the dining area where we are the only customers and rubs up against my leg. He stays with me when I reach out to pet him and climbs up on my leg.
When the rain doesn't stop Zheng Zhong borrows an umbrella from the proprietor to walk to the parking lot where his car is parked. He comes back to pick me up and drop off the umbrella. I take the time to lean against the doorway and enjoy the storm over the countryside with the mountains as backdrop. The old cat follows me out to the front and busies himself grooming.
---
Everyone in Taiwan is telling me to get married. This seems about par for the course for my age. Well, from college graduation and then gradually increasing in urgency each passing year. They will likely stop telling me to get married and start chastising me for never getting married if it doesn't happen by the time I'm 55 or so, if my uncles are any indication.
Yoyo tells me this is the time to start looking for a girlfriend. Momma jokes that I should find a girl in Taiwan - Yoyo suggests he might be able to introduce me to some girls. I comment "You should introduce my uncle to some girls." Momma busts out laughing. Yoyo tells me that's not going to be possible, asking me how old my uncle is.
My aunts on my dad's side urge me to get married.
Grandma on my momma's side tells me to find a nice, obedient girl to marry. Stay away from the bad bitches. Indeed, granny.
Uncle Zheng Zhong, retired and unmarried doesn't say anything about it, other than my parents are concerned that I am not getting married. He's not one to tow the traditional line either, though. Aunt Jing Shang, a single mom, only says about it "I think it's fine, everyone finds their own happiness."
---
Uncle Ah Shin on pop's side doesn't say much to begin with.
Aunt Jing Shang, and Uncle Zheng Zhong, momma's siblings, are talking about Ah Shin. Jing Shang has lived with momma and them for a stretch, saying Ah Shin never spoke. She recalls once making dinner and telling Ah Shin, who was watching TV, that dinner would be ready soon. When he didn't answer, she told him again. And once more minutes later. When she finally looked over at him she saw that he had heard and had given her an acknowledging glance she had never caught.
Jing Shang knows Ah Shin lived with my family in the states for about a decade, working at pop's restaurant. She asks me if we ever talked. I tell her yes, I've talked to Ah Shin. She says she can't ever imagine him holding conversation.
"Well, no... we've talked. He doesn't hold conversation, though. I've never had a conversation with him. He's a quiet guy. With the exception of dad, it seems most of his side of the family are less talkative. Quieter. Reserved." Poppa's a loud, anxious, gregarious guy. "I kind of like that, though. I get it. I prefer it sometimes," I say about Ah Shin's reserved personality.
The distinction I'm making here is that I've spoken to Ah Shin a lot by that guy's standards - coordinating delivery routes, exchanging information, and the shortest of pleasantries: Did you sleep well? Have you eaten? Are you tired? That sort of shit. In a way I respect that that's all it takes to establish a meaningful relationship with the guy.
It can drive some people in the family nuts, though, momma in particular.
---
I feel like I am eating nonstop out here. Everyone keeps urging me to eat. There is so much food. They all seem so surprised at how little I seem to eat during the day. Grandma is one of the worst offenders.
Yet, I am down a notch on my belt. I am pretty sure I am losing weight. My jeans are definitely sitting looser. It must be all of this travel. Constant daily activity.
Idly I wonder what it is about this lifestyle I can take back with me. In Chicago I feel like I eat less during the day, more at night, but I seem to gain and maintain weight at a heavier level. Maybe my diet is more calorie rich, or my lifestyle is more activity poor out there. I will have to fuck around with my routines.