Bonus language post!

A few people have asked me about the language stuff in my first post. So here's a quick how-to, for all of you who care to know:

If the Chinese characters are just showing up as question marks...
If you're using Windows XP, go to the Control Panel (classic view preferable), and go to "Regional and Language Options." Go to the "Languages" tab, and check the box next to "Install files for East Asian languages." If you do this and it still doesn't show up, tell me! There might be another step involved.

If you, too, would like to use the hover-over feature in your blog...
Try out the following html. Except replace the []'s with <>'s.

[span title="Xing bu xing = Does this work? (sorta)"] 行不行?[/span]

Here's what it looks like: 行不行?

If you're hovering and the translation isn't appearing...
Try hovering over some other Chinese first. Odds are, I was just too absent-minded (read: lazy) to code that word. If it still doesn't work, huh. Let me know, and I'll figure it out.


A final note on 中文
I'll be using 繁體字 on this blog, or at least trying to. My 中文 education is as follows: 1 year of just 拼音 at Conestoga, then 1 year of 繁體字 to start at 哈佛, followed by 2 years of 簡體字, and ending college with another year of 繁體字 when I studied 古文 and 廣東話. FYI, 簡體字 are used in 中國大陸 and 繁體子 are used in 台灣. Because I'm going to 台灣, I'm trying to focus on 繁體子 here.

Goodbye to friends, clothes, and stuff

I've spent today doing more packing and packing-list-writing than I've ever had to do before. Let's review my serious packing experience via the three times I've ever left the country. (In reverse chronological order, of course!)

1. March 2008, I went to South Korea for spring break with HCAP. All I had to bring was clothes. Ewha University had everything down to the bedsheets and toothpaste provided for us.
2. March 2007, I went to Jiangyin, China, for spring break with HCAP. All I remember bringing was clothes, a deck of cards, and malaria medication.
3. Summer 1994, I traveled through Europe with my mom, brothers, and cousins. Needless to say, I don't remember much. Odds are that my mom did my packing for me anyway.

So now I'm packing. Not only because I'm leaving home Sunday, but also to get my mind off other, more miserable things. I said goodbye to two of the most important people in my life this weekend. Shilpa, one of my best friends since the 10th grade, began her job working for a hunger coalition in New York. And Jonathan, also known as "cute boyfriend," returned to Boston to finish his summer at a Harvard physics lab. The rest of the week will only bring more goodbyes.

Hence the packing. What do I bring? What do I leave behind? What can't I live without? So far I've come up with: ibuprofen, contact lenses, t-shirts, and a Chinese dictionary. And cable TV, but my Slingbox deserves a post all for itself later.

What's your "must-bring"? Former Fulbrightees have been most unhelpful in answering this question, so I pose it to you.

Now I leave you with a picture. First, to show off my magenta-on-the-outside, orange-on-the-inside luggage; second, to show off my new haircut; and third, to show off the fact that I really have no idea how to pack.

First Post!

朋友,

Twelve days until I leave with all my earthly belongings (that fit in two suitcases and one carry-on) for a long flight to... Seattle. Right. Visiting my brother John for a few days before I really leave. But in fifteen days, off I go from Seattle to Taipei 台北, and Taipei 台北 to Kaohsiung 高雄, all in just fourteen hours spent on a few planes. Technology these days, huh?

I'll be trying to keep up this blog throughout my year in Taiwan, and maybe beyond. Just as I have no idea what to expect once I arrive at 9am August 1st (that's 9pm July 31st to you in the Eastern Time Zone), I have no idea what this blog will become. Your suggestions are welcome.

For now, that's all I have. I just bought some very magenta luggage (intensity of magenta inversely corresponds to price, apparently), so I should probably get back to filling that instead of posting on this blog. What's there to say about Berwyn, anyway?

再見!

Author's Note: I will be occasionally writing some Chinese on this blog. I realize that most of you won't have a clue what it says. Try hovering over the characters with your mouse... hope it works!