Remembering 2/28

On this February 28th, as all others, we, as part of the Taiwanese community in some form or another, commemorate those Taiwanese who were brutally murdered under the command of Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT for speaking up for their rights and against the oppressive acts of said dictator.

For more information, please read the below summary (not written by me) and take some time to explore the following website: http://www.uta.edu/accounting/faculty/tsay/feb28hd.htm.

On February 28, 1947, the arrest of a cigarette vendor in Taipei led to large-scale protests by the native Taiwanese against the corruption and repression of Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist government, which had come over from China (to Taiwan) after Japan’s defeat by the Allied forces in 1945. Following the protests, troops that Chiang’s government secretly sent from mainland China rounded up and executed an entire generation of leading figures, including students, lawyers, and doctors. Scholars estimate that up to 28,000 people lost their lives in the turmoil. During the “White Terror” of the subsequent years, the Nationalists ruled Taiwan under martial law, which ended only when democratization set in during the mid-1980s. The “228 Incident” remains a defining event in the political divide that exists in Taiwan today.

oh, yeah?

5:30 am: alarm goes off, wakes up...goes back to sleep
6:00 am: alarm goes off, wakes up...goes back to sleep
6:13 am: wakes up two minutes before the third alarm

7:01 am: arrives at school
7:01 am: takes off headphones
7:02 am: "Maybe you should take those [headphones] off when in the building, you don't want to set a bad example."

7:04 am: Questioning life.

Seriously, why is listening to music 1) before more than five students are at the school and 2) at all...considered a "bad thing?" How can it be that I am setting a "bad example" by listening to music?

There are, honestly, more pertinent matters to attend to that have nothing to do with censoring art. Yes, art. Every form of music is art...something that schools often try to stifle.

...anyway, guess I won't be a bad example from now on.

Reprise des négaciations

Il voudrait tre un méchant de James Bond!

Thanks to one Emilie Cordon, I am now in the possession of Bénabar's "Reprise des négaciations."

Très magnifique!

If you've spoken to me in the past, oh, three days or so, you've probably been introduced in some capacity to my new musical affiliation. If not, allow me to describe his music to the best of my non-French-speaking ability.

First, as I understand it, he belongs to the genre of chanson française, which would more or less be an ambiguous term to describe music ranging from French music in the 1950s until present. Currently, the debate rages over the actual moniker and its usage, but look under the term on Last.fm and you'll find Bénabar and Camille there amongst other artists.

Anyway, my own interpretation of his music, without being able to speak much French, is a series of days and the emotions resulting from the interactions throughout those periods of time. Be it the sad story of a boy sitting on a sidewalk or the sound of le souffle du vent (psithurism), the feeling is transmitted through his more simplistic approach to emoting. The brass instruments used in this album add a certain flavor that brings the music alive...and his seemingly tongue-in-cheek and unconventional delivery of his words really makes you take note of his abilities as a communicator.

For songs like "Le Dîner," it is just like you are walking down a sidewalk in the early morning filled with tables and people. It is just an invigorating song, one that really brings out a...refreshing feeling. Meanwhile, songs like "Triste Compagne" (which means "Sad Company") just initate an immediate sense of longing and pain.

(A ira mieux demain, du moins je lespre, parce que cest dj ce que je me suis dit hier .)

So, do I have any favorite songs?
Mes chansons préférées sont "Bruxelles", "Le Méchant de James Bond", et "Qu'est-ce que tu voulais que je lui dise" .

But, really, I like them all.
Now, the question is, do I understand them?
Je ne comprends pas .

Well, I understand a tiny, tiny bit. I tried reading the liner notes with little success. Then, I turned to Google Translator to try and shed some light on the topics of his discussion.

"Bruxelles" is, first, the place we know as Brussels. From what I can understand by translation and looking everything up...it is about giving a kind of gift, the first one was crazily the gift of Brussels, to (maybe) a woman.

By far, my favorite line (maybe because I understand it) is: "Moi qui suis roturier - c'est mon seul titre de noblesse" . (I am a commoner, this is my noble title.)

"Qu'est-ce que tu voulais que je lui dise" asks the questions "What do you want me to say?" multiple times. It is a sad song for two reasons: 1) the subject matters and 2) I cannot fully understand the aforementioned, so I don't truly know the sadness.

"Le Méchant de James Bond" has become the favorite of anyone I have forced to listen to it in America because of the French pronunciation of "James Bond." Love it. So, what is happening? Does James Bond have some sort of company? Well, it has to, as far as I am concerned, at least metaphorically deal with Mr. Bond as it talks about volcanoes (un volcan) and submarine bases (une base sous-marine), but I'm not entirely sure why it talks about his dog a lot.

I suppose, then, I will bring these inquiries to the attention of any number of people and, hopefully, come up with some answers...this is the kind of stuff that keeps me awake at night.

But, for real, je n'avais pas de cadeau pour t'offrir à Noël, j'en voulais un très beau, j'ai pensé à Bruxelles .

Taiwan, you'd better watch, they'll cut you.

What gets me is how Taiwan can constantly give and give and then question whether or not China will come through with whatever their side should be coming through with. Was that confusing? Let me state is more simply: Taiwan gives, China takes, China doesn't give back.

You'd think that with "warming relations" across the Strait that China would be looking to decrease, if not eliminate, the stock of missiles pointed at Taiwan. Last time I checked, there werever 1,300 missiles pointed at Taiwan. The USA Today reports:

"China keeps at least 1,300 missiles pointed at Taiwan as a constant threat if it seeks formal independence.

"Cross-strait relations are better than they ever have been, but there are still huge amounts of suspicion on both sides," says J. Bruce Jacobs, a professor of China-Taiwan relations at Australia's Monash University."

Suspicion? Why should there be suspicion? I thought that Ma Ying-jeou had announced that relations were a "region-to-region" relationship and not a "state-to-state" one; I thought there was a new age in travel and trade betwixt the two countries; I was under the impression that China and Taiwan had become best friends and that all of our fears invested in this conflict were null and void. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that the USA Today announced that "China-Taiwan relations [had] become tolerable?"

Well, the Taipei Times have just come out saying that China does not have 1,300 missiles pointed at Taiwan...it has since added over 200 more, making the total 1,500+. Way to go, China! Way to show that you are willing to compromise and give back a bit.

In light of this, I wonder how anyone can still question whether or not China can be trusted to borrow artifacts from Taiwan. Taiwanese legal expert Lee Shih-lo at least recognizes the looming threat and, basically, called the Chinese government a bunch of liars for the sake of getting what they want. He pointed out that China could sign an agreement that "guaranteed" the return of the artifacts, and then make an about-face because, well, "Taiwan belongs to China," as we all well know.

“Since China does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty, even if Beijing signs the Law of Guaranteed Return, there is no guarantee that Beijing will return the treasures to Taipei after their exhibition in China,” he said. “If Taiwan knows the risks involved, it should not send the treasures to China now as the cross-strait relationship is still unstable.”

But, as always, for some reason they cannot understand that China does not care about them. The Kuomintang, blue-leaners, and everyone else who holds some vestige of hope that China will honor agreements are dreaming. Well, it is time for Taiwan to stop dreaming, wake up, and actually move away from China's sphere of influence...it isn't helping Taiwan in the least, which seems to be the common theme in Taiwan-China policy.

As a final glimpse into how China deals with Taiwan, the Taipei Times had this to say:

"Dong Feng 11 and Dong Feng 15 short-range ballistic missiles are believed to be based in southeast China, about 160km away.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has cut annual live-fire military drills to once every two years and reduced its defense budget for this year.

China's defense budget for this year has not been released. Last year, the government said it would spend 418 billion yuan (US$61 billion) on defense, up 17.6 percent from the previous year."

Goings on lately

啊，你好！好久不見！

Well, I suppose since I have a minute or two that I can write about what has been going on lately.

First and foremost, I could not have asked for better students. End of discussion. Every one of my classes is amazing and the students [seem to] genuinely care about what is going on. With that said, I supposed my lacking in discipline ability has become quite evident. Though, I have noticed that, on the whole, students pay attention when I speak, even if I don't yell at them quite often enough for talking amongst themselves.

Second, never use "whilst" instead of "while" in an American classroom full of eleventh graders, they don't much care for it. That in mind, I hate the word "ginormous" and cannot believe that my auto-corrector on Firefox 3 didn't pick that up as wrong, but picked up "didn't" as wrong.

My life has become one full of projects that are never-ending. Well, the project pile is never-ending, but they themselves are getting done. In fact, I finished my biggest one of all, that I won't really discuss here, just today. Others on my plate are solidifying my Oedipus Rex unit plan (starts Monday) and reaching my goal physique via exercise/weight lifting (at the moment, I'm at 71.5kg).

What else? I'm officially in love with Kanno Yoko's Ghost in the Shell OST 3 soundtrack...has such a jazzy, laid-back feel...especially for this season, it is a pleasure to listen to and very relaxing.

There are other things...but here and now is neither the place nor the time for such matters. As the cases arise and warrant exploring, I shall do so.

Until then...j'espère que vous avez une belle nuit. À plus tard, au revoir!

Posting on this Blog

Well, if you can't tell, my posts have been...lacking. Indeed, as my teaching duties expand, my ability to write anything meaningful here dwindles. Until I get time, I bid thee adieu.

Picksburgh Stillers

Yeah! Next time you, my friends, visit me...you'll be coming to Sixburgh! That's right, now we're six-time Super Bowl champions, the most of any team in the NFL.

For my international friends, the two most amazing plays from the Steelers were:

Linebacker James Harrison intercepts the Cardinals' ball at their goal line and runs the ball all the way, 100 yards, to score a touchdown for the Steelers.

The second, and game winning, amazing play was on the part of wide receiver Santonio Holmes. With 43 seconds left in the game, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger struggled to find a person to throw the ball to. However, he eventually eyed Holmes and the ball met his [Holmes'] hands. This was the game changer and winning play by the Steelers.

I think it is funny the comments on these YouTube videos, because people are already complaining about the Cardinals being cheated out of the Super Bowl. This happens with every team that wins, I guess, but especially the Steelers. It is sickening the amount of flack that my team gets for just being, well, the Steelers. It is never, "The Steelers made a good play." Instead, you always hear commentators say something like, "Well, the Steelers did all right, but it seems something was wrong with the Cardinals' Fitzgerald," or something that basically means the Steelers aren't good and the other team is just having a bad play/day. Ridiculous. I'm not quite certain why everyone hates the Steelers, but I guess I'd be envious too if I weren't from Pittsburgh.

Get over it, people...this is our sixth win and we earned it!