danshui

people rarely spoke taiwanese in the big city in the past. it was considered rural, low-class compared to mandarin. but now, it is quite commonplace to hear it in taipei. an expression of national solidarity.

my parents moved us from the center of taipei to a condo next to a mangrove forest. right now going to go swimming in the rain.

city boy

we spent time this week with my father's friends from high school, whom he hadn't seen or spoken to in forty years. when i asked him what they did in high school, he said, "nothing much," because he is an unforthcoming man. when i pressed him for details, he said, "we went swimming and played ping-pong."

seafood by the seashore

yesterday at lunch my grandpa/ah-gong was talking about his last year of medical school, when all the universities were shut down and all the students were conscripted. they were stationed at a beach, in case the americans decided to attack the japanese from there. they spent their days digging trenches. in theory, if the americans landed, their vehicles would fall into the trenches.

the students starved - they had no food and raided neighboring farmers for yams. in theory, if the americans arrived, he and his peers were supposed to fight them, even though they were only a bunch of would-be doctors with no guns or other form of weaponry.

north american folklore

It has also been said that the jackalope can convincingly imitate any sound, including the human voice. It uses this ability to elude pursuers, chiefly by using phrases such as "There he goes! That way!" It is said that a jackalope may be caught by putting a flask of whiskey out at night. In some parts of the United States it is said that jackalope meat has a taste similar to lobster. It has also been said that jackalopes will only breed during electrical storms including hail, explaining its rarity.