Wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving and giving a quick update on the progress of Hoosier in Taiwan. Below are the links to the petition mentioned as well as the Facebook Group and articles about the event!
As the weather is getting cooler and I’m picking up a cold,
I’ve been forced to stay indoors instead of running around filming everything
that moves. Unfortunately for me, it means I can’t go out an chronicle other
amazing stuff.I've gotten to go to a local church, been to the zoo, got film of a sports events, interviewed a lead singer in a band and taken pictures of things you've got to see to believe! Fortunately for you, being sick means I have a lot more time to edit the
gratuitous amounts of hours of footage into cohesive bits.
Nevertheless, here is the first street walk, featuring Old
Street. Old street is the oldest street in Taiwan as Danshui, where I currently
live, was the original start of civilization in Taiwan. Since then people have
moved and developed a little more southwest, but Danshui remains one of the
historic capitals of Taiwan, boasting some of its oldest structures, historical
sites, and of course streets
Exam times have come to Tamkang and between chasing down students for their homework and trying to convince the administration that my scores are correct...and correcting the ones that weren't, I have finally completed exams and can be prepared to post some more cool stuff!
I finally have the links to my pictures and can now begin to readily update you with photographs of my adventures! I used photobucket so now everyone can see then, regardless of whether or not you have a facebook or anything like that. Just click the links below!
Quick update so that you all know that I am alive.
I am in fact alive.
The end….
But really, I got pretty sick this last week so I wasn’t
able to do everything that I wanted to. I think I am going to officially make
Saturdays the official update days so look for things to come out on your
Saturday.
Two cool things happened since I’ve talked to you all last.
Moon festival and Teacher’s day.
Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, is the time of year
where the moon is the largest in the sky. It is a great time for families and
friends to get together and would be more of an equivalent to Thanksgiving or
Christmas than what we consider a “festival”. It made me miss my family quite a
bit, but I was able to hang out with some friends here.
Teacher’s day was meaningful and very much so needed.
National Teacher’s day is a holiday where students honor their teachers for
teaching them. It’s an amazing holiday and I will soon post pics of the awesome
cards and gifts my students gave me.
Speaking of which, I have decided that the next full episode
of Hoosier in Taiwan will be about Tamkang High school, the place where I
currently work. I will be interviewing some administrators here, to talk about
my job and the benefits of being at such a historic site. If I can get the
clearance, I will also be recording some of the student’s habits as well.
School is a LOOOOOOOOOOOTTT different here and it may be a
bit controversial at times, but it is nonetheless an amazing thing to be a part
of. I would have posted it today, but the Moon Festival, teacher’s day, and
some sort of flu thing I probably got from my students and the rapidly shifting
temperature, prevented me from doing the shooting that I wanted to. I did
complete my street walk of Old street and will be posting that this Saturday.
Again, thanks for sticking with me and I hope to hear from
you all soon. !
THE FIRST
EVER, HOOSIER IN TAIWAN PILOT
EPISODE!!!!!!!!!
I’m am so
happy to finally give you all what you’ve been so patiently waiting for. I hope
it lives up to your expectations. Thanks to your support I’ve been able to get
some fantastic equipment that made this movie possible. Please send me feedback
so I know what you think of it, either in a letter a comment, a facebook post,
any and all the ways you can send me your good wishes.
I read
ALL your comments and I will comment back to each one once they arrive! Please
like, Thumbs up, share, blog about, and generally yell it on top of a building
to everyone you know.
The
website is still under renovation and while I’ve been trying to figure it out,
I think its time I called in my tech support so that its up and running sooner.
I told you all that I would have a fancy area for supported links and food and
scenery and streetwalk tabs, but the internets are hard to finagle alone.
Finally,
the short blog entry for this post is underneath the embedded video. Please go to the
full website at hoosierintaiwan.blogspot.com to read that as well.
Thank you
everybody! This is just the beginning! Please make sure to subscribe to the blog
and Youtube channels for more exciting videos as I show you what it’s like to
be a Hoosier in Taiwan!
Thanks for your support!!!! Hopefully this project will continue to be a ton of fun! I look forward to hearing from you all! For those who didn't look closely, REAL launch date is this Saturday!
Friday, August 23, 2013
That’s Right! I have arrived safely in Taiwan! September 11 is the
official Date for things to go LIVE!
09/11/13
The date for the release of the First Pilot episode is set.
That will also be the date where the website’s updates will be completed, DVDs
will begin to be sent out to backers, Youtube playlists finished, and Facebook
Album’s filled! It is going to be an EXCITING September and thereafter. So
thanks to your support! Below are some great samples of what’s to come!
The delay of content is due to some interesting prospects
that have occurred since my arrival. First, I realized that I would love to add Street Walks, Landscapes,
Food , and Chinese Character learning to the blog...
I am excited to see people coming out to check the blog and supporting me in my trip overseas. It is nice to hear people rooting me on from work, school, church, and otherwise. It is quite the motivation and I look forward to keeping you all informed as I travel to Taiwan.
The blog is developing swimmingly, I even have a Facebook Page but the Video Journal is definitely lacking in support. I have made a Facebook Event for it as well. There are only 7 more days left. It needs $1,750 in order for it to be fantastic, but the Kickstarter says $500...
Time is going on, with me or without me. The date of
departure is still August 12th, and I’m getting closer and closer to
it. My nerves are now starting to settle down though, since I have successfully paid
for nearly all the direct traveling expenses, so now I can reflect on what has
happened. The financial stress was enough for me to make this Kickstarter for Hoosier in Taiwan, but even if I arrive
with nothing but my shirt and shorts, I’ll be there…
It feels like a mist has seeped in through my ears and sullied my brain. I hazily move from day to day, savoring the familiar. My motivation to excel wanes in and out, while daily activities seem to take on an anxious energy both invigorating and defeating. Such is the mind of a man who is leaving his homeland.
August 12th, I will be traveling to Tamang University, a high school in Danshui, Taiwan. I will be teaching English literature, writing, speaking/listening, and drama. All of my classes will be held in English and there is no requirement for me to know Mandarin. In fact, I am the only one of my group that has studied it more than a semester...