TCM Turnaround

I remember the first time I saw the effect of ba guan (拔罐), cupping, I was horrified. Dark red circular bruises on a person's skin. I've since learned that ba guan, literally "pulling cups", are part of traditional Chinese medicine. A form of acupuncture, the idea is encourage blood flow. Cups are applied to the affected points in the body, and a partial vacuum is created to draw up underlying tissue and thus, the "bad blood" to the surface. There, the body then naturally disperses this bad blood. It's a kind of deep tissue massage that relieves blockages in the body.

Anyways, I've been feeling tightness around my shoulder blades for the past few weeks. Due to poor ergonomics at work, and not enough exercise, is my guess. Sunday Neil and I went to get traditional Chinese massage. Even after intense massage, I could still feel the knot deep in my shoulders. The masseuse asked if she had my permission to try cupping. Ow, ow, ow!

Afterwards, I had deep purple splotches all over my back. The masseuse pronounced my condition to be very serious. Apparently, the greater the blockage in one's body, the darker the bruise. Neil called me his yakuza girl. The color is supposed to fade in a few days. I'll see then whether I think it is effective or not.

I told Bonnie today I almost feel like an abused woman, keeping my hair down to cover my neck and shoulders. She pointed out that no one would find the circular marks unusual here, since many people go for cupping treatment. So I hope to make it to the pool tonight, to get the circulation going in my shoulders.

Hurricanes, typhoons, and America at her worst

I spent much of my typhoon day last Thursday glued to various Internet news sites, reading about Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath. While Taiwan overall safely weathered its latest typhoon, with many that trudged back to work on Friday stepping among downed trees, I was struck by the difference in situations back in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

The tragedy arouses many emotions in me: shame, from the government's glaring incompetence, particurlarly in light of its promotion of the American model abroad; horror at the looting, shooting, and overal ugliness of human nature; and urgency, as I myself don't really stock up for typhoons. Mostly, though, it makes an uncomfortable gumbo of questions and thoughts: about why, as an American, I choose to live abroad. Of disgust with a government I did not vote for. Of believing in the system of democracy, but also wondering why I seem to think so differently from the majority of the American population. Is the U.S. becoming a place I would not want my own children to grow up in, with values that I myself do not hold?

Richard Haass, writes in Slate, "In the end, American power is a reflection of the strength of the American economy and the cohesion of American society."

What does Hurricane Katrina reveal about American society?

When I am boss, I will never...

A piece of advice I read in a recent issue of Real Simple magazine was to record workplace frustrations in a journal. Not only would this provide relief, but presumably some day when I am boss, it will remind me of employee perspecties.

So. In that vein, when I am boss, I will remember that my employees don't always make arbitrary deadlines because they are too busy playing catch up and putting out fires in the normal course of business to actually have time to develop a long-term vision. That might me than as boss, I should think of new ways of organization and labor division so that my employees can work more efficiently. Or, of all the tasks I throw out at them, prioritize.

What will you never do when you become the boss?

Unbelievable! This is not butter!

...actually, if you've ever had marigold margarine in Taiwan, it's completely believable.

Just another example of how the Taiwanese copy a good idea, but don't get it quite right.

to Turtle Island and back

The waters around Daxi have been flat, flat, flat this weekend. So yesterday Neil decided it was perfect weather to take the jet ski out to show me Turtle Island. Turtle Island is a few miles off the coast of I-lan County that is off-limits to regular folk as there is a military installation there. The cool thing about Turtle Island, besides just getting to see it up close instead of from afar, is that it was formed by sulfurous vents in the ocean. So many of the rocks are mustard yellow, and part of the ocean that surrounds it is a Peptol-Bismol aquamarine. Apparently there are large sea snakes that live below, but we just went around and back.

Cheesy Chinese Pop

Hmm...now that's a title that might appeal to over-sugared kids. Sweet soda pop? Salty and cheesy snacks? Unclear but intriguing...alas nothing so interesting. I'm actually listing to the cheesy Chinese pop music that is on my iTunes, deleting stuff I will never willingly listen to again so I can free up space on my hard drive. Now that I've joined the many who are proud iPod owners, the possibilities seem endless. I can listen to salsa! pop hits of the '80s! rock! classical concertos! books on tape! How wonderful it would be to have recordings of dialogues and vocabulary words from my Chinese lessons...although I then realize aeven better would be to be out there, in the midst of real-life dialogues.

another typhoon swept by

Alas another typhoon has come and gone since my last post. Became dreadfully sick after the last typhoon—the worst sore throat ever—but all was not lost as I had the latest Harry Potter to see me through the weekend. And a good installment, too. I was a bit worried that Harry's teenage diatribes would continue in Book Six, but thankfully he's matured and there were no more tirades. The trademark Rowling humor was out, but the series has definitely matured and has bits of sadness, like the last season of Sex and the City, when you realize that these four crazy women have grown and are no longer as silly and carefree as they once were.

The following weekend was family weekend at the beach house, with plenty of cute kids, and mommies and nannies to look after them, too. Lots of yummy grilled food. Too much, but oh so good!

Then this typhoon came upon us rather suddenly. I had not expected a typhoon day last Friday, and it definitely realized how much I've let work take over my life. I couldn't properly enjoy the surprise holiday until I had checked our daily revenus in the morning. I definitely need to put work far, far away after I've left. All in all, a good, quiet, restorative weekend.

Oh, and another delicious-as-always dinner at Din Tai Fung, thanks to Matt and Tina's visit. 'twas a good reason to get a few people out last Thursday to show our foreign guests the best of Taiwan's dining scene, which they (like almost all visitors to Taiwan), get plenty of exposure to while here!