Chinese New Year

Christmas is arriving soon, and most of us are getting quite antsy. Of course by Christmas I mean Chinese New Years, a two week vacation for almost every Chinese and Taiwanese person. Everything shuts down except the essentials, I've been told even a large city such as Taipei is desolate. Looking forward to that, as there are people everywhere, all the time. Many a time coming home late from wherever, I am continually shocked by the number of people out and about. A nice long weekend awaits us next week, then bright and early Monday morning three Anglos and a Taiwanese girl are cramming ourselves into a small Toyota Altis (think Corolla but even smaller) for eight days. Should make for an interesting week.
Not too much otherwise. The weather has been downright balmy the past few days.As I read about sub zero temps in some parts of the US, I wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt in the heat. Was 83 yesterday, only instills even more fear for the summer. A few guys I work with and I have been getting active lately, lots of basketball and soccer. Of course I dominate in basketball due to sheer size, though many Taiwanese are shocked when I put the ball on the ground and take them to the hole, Ni how! (He's good)
After reading my Uncle's blog about his travels to and fro America/Netherlands, I couldn't agree more with his comment about plane travel. I flew to Hong Kong a couple of months ago and I made an attempt to speak halting Chinese,and what a difference it made. As most people in and out of Hong Kong are Western businessmen and their ilk, English is lingua Franca. However when a Westerner makes an attempt to speak Chinese they bend over backwards to the tune of The Economist, extra wine, and a free pair of headphones. Though to be forthright I think the headphones were due to a lack of communication, as headphones are not high on my Chinese priority list.
Speaking of Chinese, my Mandarin is progressing, albeit slowly. I have the basics down, I can order food, drinks, and understand basic questions or statements. The language is quite easy to learn orally, it's just gaining a mastery of the tones. Obviously it will take time and practice to gain any kind of fluency, though it can be done within two years. That being said, the notions of another year in the East are promising and the attainment of Chinese is enticing. Another year is merely speculative at best, but there is a lot of traveling, and things I want to learn and experience on this side of the world. The living is easy, cheap, and in many ways refreshing coming from the States.
Some odd's and end's:
-Basketball, especially the NBA, is huge here.
-Football, on the other hand, is not.
-Learning to play cricket, a weird quasi-baseball game.
-Not a smoker, but a friend had a real Cuban (not contraband here) and I smoked some of it this past weekend. A real treat.
-Went to Mass a few weeks ago, though it was entirely in Chinese. Organized religion, for it's sake, is not common in Taiwan.
-With the arrival of a Brit in the past week we now offically have a polyglot of nationalities at work. Americans, Aussies, a South African, a Brit, and a New Zealander.
-Still no camera, but all my friends have one, and I promise a slew of pictures within a fortnight.