Same Old Stuff

I have been really bad about keeping this thing up to date. I've been a little busy but it has more or less been me being lazy and not having anything too exciting happen. So here are some highlights from the past few weeks:

I went to a classical music concert with my boss and and a business partner. There was a 20 year old violinist who was just unreal (even though I was fighting off sleep until intermission when I could grab a coffee).

Hanging out with some friends after work.

Halloween. I was supposed to grab a dinner with an old friend of mine at her restaurant and then come back home early for a rest. Instead, I ended up staying long and talking with my friend in Chinese (as she doesn't speak English). Then out of nowhere I suddenly became the most popular person in the world and everyone started texting me with parties to go to. I ended up going to two different parties and got home at 4am. At some point, I may try and sort out the events from both parties but not in this post.

The October Oriented (an organization that organizes events for professionals in Asia related fields) Happy Hour. The routine is go to classy bar, meet people, talk for 3 minutes, give them your card, and move on. That is the usual routine. Instead, I talked for a long long time with a diplomat who happened to be an alumni of ND. It's really amazing that I run into people from ND over here. So it was great to talk football with someone who actually understands football. Before he left he said something along the lines of, "Man, you are one of the first normal (foreigners) people that I have met over here." I take that as a great compliment (if only that sucker really knew me!).

Being called "Clint San" in meetings with Japanese people.

Going to a launch party of some new Scottish malt whiskey (57% alcohol!) with a friend. The Scottish guy who was there was unintentionally funny. He was describing the aroma (the aroma was pretty good) and taste (alcohol mixed with cinnamon and more alcohol) to the gathered audience. Imagine any flavor you can think of and he said it was in the whiskey. Road tar? Yup, he said it was in the whiskey. Seaweed? Yup, he said it was in the whiskey. What is the experience like drinking the whiskey? Like being pulled into the largest whirlpool in the world he said. He was a nice guy to talk to though.

There were several earthquakes yesterday. For one I was in the office (it was about 6.0 but more centered in the southern part of Taiwan) and for the aftershock I was on the subway. As I told my mom, as far as I know my house was built to stand them. But in case the worst comes to pass there is only one floor above me, hence less rubble on top of me.

Looking ahead, I may take a trip to Kaohsiung (in the South of Taiwan) during the next 2 weeks. On the 20th the DJ Armin Van Buuren (thinking of you Colin) will be playing at a nightclub I normally try to avoid. I'll go there to see him though.

Funny thing is, when I look back at this post there were some interesting things that happened. But I still feel like they are pretty run of the mill for me--which is pretty damn sweet when earthquakes, concerts, trips, parties, and happy hours are becoming run of the mill.