Welcome to Taipei, Mom and Dad!

They came. They saw. They conquered.

My parents traveled to Taiwan and had a wonderful time. I was completely taken a back about a month ago when my Mom, after not having talked to her in a couple days, asked me for hotel and flight recommendations. My parents came to Australia last summer for nearly three weeks, and we had discussed the possibility of them returning this year but thought it was unlikely. With that being said, I figured Taiwan was even more unlikely because I would only be here for a couple months before heading back to Australia and my parents had several ski trips planned for the month of February. Nevertheless, my parents arrived in Taipei and stayed for 10 days.

My parents arrived late on a Thursday night. They were delayed out of Minneapolis and this was going to jeopardize whether they made their connecting flight in Tokyo. I checked on the Delta website to see the status of their flights and saw that their plane had landed approximately a half hour after their connecting flight to Taipei took off. The information for the Taipei leg of their trip showed that flight being on schedule – thus I figured they missed their flight and would be spending the night in Tokyo. I called them a couple hours later to see if they were situated or if they had any information regarding their flight for the next morning. To my surprise they answered and said they were checking into the hotel down the road.

The first weekend we had games in Taipei at the Taipei Gymnasium, where to that point we had played all of our games. We faced off against the Dacin’ Tigers and Yulon. Both teams sit ahead of us in the standings at the #3 and #4 spots respectively. At that point we were 5-9 (3-3 since I joined) and sitting in sixth place. Wins against either or both teams would help us tremendously. Unfortunately we played quite poorly over the weekend and we were unable to deliver a win in either game.

I was excited to have my parents in the stands and this may have resulted in me trying to do too much on the court. I pride myself in that I always play hard; sometimes I play too hard.

The players, coaches and management of the team were all excited to see and meet my parents. When they walked into the arena everyone, even those not associated with the team, knew who my parents were. The only other white people! The players’ initial comments were, as flattering as it was to my parents:

“Wow, your parents look so young.”
“Your father looks like Richard Geere.”
“Your mother is so beautiful.”
“That’s not your father, that’s your brother.”
And finally, my favorite: “Your father is so handsome, but you…”

During the second game the sportscasters from one of the Taipei stations interviewed my Dad at halftime. They asked him a couple questions about traveling to Taipei, had he ever been before, what he thought of the game, etc. He figured he could just ramble on and that they would edit the interview. He was just “giving them material.” Unfortunately or fortunately (since I have a copy of the interview) they did not cut or edit the material. Sorry Dad, they needed to fill those 15 minutes of halftime. It will be voiced over in Chinese anyway!

Saturday night after the game we attended the Pingxi Lantern Festival for the Chinese New Year. Pingxi is a town outside of Taipei in the mountains and it is the site of one of the three lantern releases during the CNY. People release these gigantic lanterns with a wish for the upcoming year written on them. Over a three hour period there are 10 separate releases that consist of hundreds of these lanterns. It is truly a beautiful site as these glowing lanterns rise in unison into the dark sky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEAIdbBwQGM

Fortunately, for my body and to spend some quality time with my parents, we had Sunday off – kind of. We started the morning by heading to the Taipei Zoo before taking the Maokong Gondola that afternoon. What was kind of a surprise for my parents was that we had some guests joining us for the day. It was a TV crew that was going to be following us as we walked around and then they were going to interview my parents and myself for a story they were doing on the imports in the league. It was “their moment” in the spotlight. The TV people asked if I would mind, respecting that I might want the privacy with my family, but I figured how many opportunities in life do you have where a television crew follows you around. Leave it to my parents to start planning to stage a physical fight or a fake argument. At least that was left in the planning phase, but my mom did not fail to disappoint as she took it upon herself during the interview to answer the question, “what other talents does John have?” with, “he’s a great singer.” Completely straight faced. This answer could not be further from the truth as I am tone deaf and monotone. Later I was asked to sing in front of the camera. My Mom never relinquished her answer.

During the week I was very busy with basketball practices and such so my parents took it upon themselves to venture out and see the north part of Taiwan. The subway system here is fantastic and my parents were able to get out each day to different spots and not have to worry about driving or trying to arrange transportation. After their days of adventure and my days in the gym we would get together and head out to a late dinner either at a restaurant or the night markets. The night markets provide the widest assortment of foods and often the most entertaining sightseeing. The night markets, scattered throughout the city, are long streets filled with shops, vendors and restaurants. You can find anything you want or don’t want at one of these markets.

Dinner at a night market

Shiling Night Market

The last weekend with my parents we traveled to Kaohsiung, a city in southern Taiwan. We played 3 games in 3 nights and needed to play well. We faced Kinman Liquor, Taiwan Mobile and Yulon for the second time in as many weeks. Fortunately, I was able to send my parents off having watched us win all three games. The first was a comfortable win, where the other two were down to the wire. In the three victories I had 3 double-doubles (23-13, 15-13, 23-12), but more importantly we got the wins and I know my Dad appreciated that more than anything. With the three wins we moved ourselves into 5th place and a game and a half out of the playoff picture.

My Mom holding a sign that says, "Dear John, Good Shot!"

During the time in Kaohsiung my parents were treated very well by the team. It was almost like they were on the team. They were set up at the hotel, rode on the team bus and came to the team meals. It was a really fun experience to share with them.

In my time here, I have eaten a lot of things that I have never seen before or even would have considered eating had they not been presented to me. I’ll try anything once, and thus 1,000 year old eggs, pig intestine, tofu etc. have all been tasted. Now, it is not like these are the only food options. There is plenty of fried rice, fish, chicken, pork, etc. to feast on. When eating with the players and not at the fast food restaurants, these traditional foods tend to appear.

The dining experience is quite different from the US style where food is paced around the table and you serve yourself the helpings you desire. The format of dining in Taiwan is that everyone sits around a large, round table and the food is placed in the center. Each table setting consists of a pair of chopsticks, a small plate (about the size that you would set a coffee mug on) and a small bowl (the size that a serving of salad dressing or dipping sauce would come in at a restaurant).

After each person is seated the first plate of food comes out and is set in the middle of the table. At this point it is every person for themselves. With the chopsticks you eat with, you reach to the food and grab what you want. Usually you take a bite or two and place it in your bowl – maybe on top of white or fried rice. There are several vegetable dishes that are served, an assortment of meats and seafood and to conclude a big pot of soup. Throughout the entire meal you use the same bowl and the dishes of food come out as the previous is finished.

Most of the time I know what the food is, but there are many times when I ask, “What is that?” Sometimes I get the actual answer right away – chicken, duck etc. Other times the guys will talk amongst each other and if no one knows the translation they will get on their iPhone (which everyone has) and translate it. If the previous is too much work, they will give me the general answer – vegetable, seafood etc. My favorite is when something, usually meat, comes out and I ask them what it is. If there is already something similar on the table, for instance clams served prior to oyster soup, they will point between the two and say, “brothers” or “cousins.”

Time continues to blow by. I am having a fantastic time here and am very thankful for the opportunity. The players on the team are great guys and we have a lot of fun. They have started to teach me some not so choice phrases in Chinese, but I am picking up some appropriate things too. Sometimes I feel like they are taking advantage of me when they teach me a phrase, don’t tell me what it means and then point me in the direction of someone to say it to. I usually refrain, but there have been times where it has been fun.

I am also very thankful for having the parents that I have. I am truly blessed. I love you both!

Happy New Year!

Xīnnián kuàilè! Happy New Year!

I think that is the correct translation… It may be different based on the dialects of the region you are in, but that is the traditional wording. This past week concluded the Chinese New Year, or CNY as many abbreviate it. Due to the holiday, I had last week free of any formal basketball practice and games. I was anticipating getting out into the city to sight see and tour around, but quickly adjusted my plans as there were not many places that were open. The only stores we could truly depend on were McDonald’s and 7 eleven, which occupies at least one street corner every block.

The street I live on is usually bustling and busy shops line both sides of the road. The sidewalks are usually filled with people walking and mopeds parked with very little space between them, but this week the roads and sidewalks were desolate.

The city was very quiet; in regards to traffic, people walking and general noise. This was the case the majority of the time until the firecrackers began shooting off at all hours of the day and night. Apparently this is a pretty big tradition, despite the fact that some people might be startled when awoken to machine gun-esque noise at 4 am.

Over the holiday I had to get around town without the assistance of my buddy, 200, giving me a lift on the back of his moped. I took to the MRT, or the Taipei subway system. As a foreign individual that towers over the majority of the people in this country, you can imagine the looks that are generated. Kids stare, parents stare and older people point. There is no awkwardness, apparently, in staring at someone (me) and having that person (me) catch that person. They continue to stare. Children are the most fun; some kids will walk up next to me and measure their feet against mine or when walking down the street a child walking towards me will notice how big I am at the last minute and then wait until I pass to turn and watch me. When this is about to take place, I take a step or two and turn to watch them. It usually results in a smile, a quick turn back or both.

Jason, the other foreigner, and I play a game when we are out in public. He and I stand out considerably, but most foreign people do. At first I wasn’t seeing too many other foreigners around where we live and then one day I came across a white girl on the sidewalk. I didn’t notice until the last second and I didn’t know what to say. I was speechless; stuck looking for the simple greeting, “hello.” I was surprised to finally see someone who I thought was from the states and my reaction and delayed “hello” showed that. Now anytime I see a white person, and Jason a black person, we have to say go out of our way to say hello to them; even if it doesn’t appear to be desirable. It usually results in a conversation that goes something like this:
“Hey, what are you doing here? Playing basketball?”
“No, I play mini golf. Are you teaching English?”
“Yea.”
“Ok, have a nice day.”

Throughout the holiday I was in and out of the gym to shoot and lift, but also got away from basketball to enjoy Taipei. I went out to dinner a couple nights for traditional Taiwanese food, my favorite being hot pot. Hot pot is a process of cooking all your food in a pot of boiling water that is placed in front of you. After selecting meat, seafood, vegetables or whatever else you would like to include (not sure what tofu is categorized as) you place the food in the boiling water and wait. It is great for large groups. In addition to dining out I found myself checking out the night life as well. There were a couple of nice lounge bars and a couple of clubs that although jam packed, were a lot of fun.

The last night of our break I spent at a teammate’s family’s home. There were dozens of people over to celebrate and the dinner of choice was hot pot! They had a normal pot and a spicy pot going, and I like’em spicy (la). After dinner I was exhausted; from eating. I sat on the couch and we began watching basketball. I was about to doze off when Jui-Kun yelled at me to get outside for the fireworks. After several minutes of fountains and bottle rockets, they were ready for the big stuff. Well, the big stuff evidently was a little too big and knocked the launching device to its side. The firework shot out, hit something, was redirected at me, spun downwards toward the ground with a trail of sparks, bounced back up and exploded about 10 feet from back of my head as I had turned, covered up and ran away. This was enough for me. I was now awake and had my firework fix!

That is all for now. My Parents arrived to Taipei to watch 5 games over the next 10 days. Updates to come!

God Bless!

Week 2

Wow, time really flies by. I have struggled to find time to write, but sitting here thinking about all the things that have happened since last posting I am not surprised.

I have now been in Taipei for two and a half weeks. The first week was a constant battle of adjusting to the differences (time, language and food) of the culture, getting over the jet lag and getting situated on the basketball court with my team and my own play.

I mentioned in the first post that we went 2-2 in the first week, but did not go into much detail about the league or games. The game is heavily centered on the transition from defense to offense and vice versa. A large majority of the points scored or prevented come in this transition. The teams love to push the ball and to get a quick shot. The game is played using the International rules as they pertain to basketball, and the major differences from college basketball are a 24-second shot clock, 8-second back court clock and the ball can be played on the rim. Two differences I am experiencing since I took the floor in Australia are that the 3-point line is another foot further back (21’9”) but it squares off on the sidelines as there is not enough room and that the lane is extended a foot wider on each side producing a larger rectangle, identical to the NBA lane, rather than the trapezoid lane commonly used. Do these make a big difference? Not really, the objective of putting the ball in the hole remains the same!

In the first week we lost to KKL by three points. This was the game I played immediately after arriving. I finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Although I contributed to the team’s play, I think I may have also been a bit of a distraction to the guys as we did not run their normal sets and they were trying to figure out how to play with me, like I was trying to figure out how to play with them.

We rebounded on Wednesday with an 88-74 win against Yulon, the defending champions. I did not play spectacular, but filled out the stat line with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. In the game I was constantly double-teamed and had trouble getting open looks at the basket. I also was taken out of much of the game due to an injury to my face. I took my second elbow to the cheek this year that busted me open nicely. The first required six stitches while this one required a couple steri-strips and tape. The nice thing is that the scars will be symmetrical.

Our next game was scheduled for Saturday against Taiwan Mobile. I think the jet lag and all the basketball had caught up with me. I played limited minutes due to foul trouble and embarrassingly put up 3 points and 3 rebounds. This is far below what they expect of me, but luckily I played very well defensively and neutralized their import. We escaped with an 80-76 win. We followed up on Sunday in a losing effort to the Dancin’ Tigers 76-64. I put up decent numbers, but the one that was most important – a win – evaded me. I finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

This past week we only had two games as the New Year was approaching. I say New Year in reference to the Chinese New Year. It is the year of the Rabbit- this will be referenced below. We played the top team in the league, Taiwan Beer, on Wednesday. Taiwan Beer was 11-1 at the time. We started strong and played them tough to the end. I personally had my best game to date. Entering the game I felt like I had my legs and was ready to play. We took a 5 point lead into the break, but played from behind the majority of the second half. In the end it was not our game to win. We shot 9 FTs as a team compared to their 27 attempts and committed 22 fouls compared to their 12. Some might say that the little Bank team was not going to win that game from the start. We lost 94-90 and I produced 28 points on 13-16 shooting and contributed 14 rebounds. I also put my second opponent in the hospital. The first player was taken off after a pick set at half court that he had no idea was coming and the second was taken out when I went for a layup and he came to block it but ended up bouncing off me and landing on the ground. As a result, I was at the free throw line to try and convert the three point play. This can be found at the 1 hour mark on the video.

Video footage can be found at:www.vimeo.com/19307308

Saturday we finished the round by playing the second ranked Pure Youth Construction. We came out playing hard and playing well. We lead the entire game and finished ahead 91-83. I contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds. At this point in the season we are sitting in 5th place at 5-8, (3-3 since I joined)

Now that the basketball is all up to date, I’ll let you in on life in Taiwan. I live above one of the bank branches with the entire team. The bank has the top 4 floors as apartments and our team occupies one of the floors. I live with 2 other players and we each have our own rooms, share a common area and 2 bathrooms. Our practice facility is located above a different branch of the bank about 10 minutes from our apartment. The 5th floor has a gym, weight area and showers.

Taipei has a great subway system that allows us to get to any part of the city relatively easily. If the subway is not your thing, a cab can get you around to most places for less than $6. Personally, I prefer using my driver. I have an individual that takes me to and from all team activities. His name is 200. He has that name because he stands 200 cm tall. He is a teammate of mine, and I ride on the back of his moped. Mopeds are the most popular form of transportation around town and it is always eventful as they weave in and out of traffic.

This is the street outside my residence in Zhengzhong

The food has been a bit different as traditional Chinese or Taiwanese food is nothing like what we eat in the US. The food is quite bland and rice, noodles, dumplings and soup are the most common. I always ask for things to be “la” or spicy/hot. La is also used to describe “hot” women. It is a pretty funny direct translation. The guys asked me if I like “spicy girls.” I was like, Gloria Beckham or Geri Halliwell? They were like, “no, hot girls.” I laughed.

Monday night, to kick off the New Year Holiday, our team had a formal dinner with the bank executives. The Chinese New Year is very similar to our Christmas-New Years week. The players all return home to be with their families and to celebrate the upcoming year. The first day is spent with the Father’s side of the family and two days later everyone gathers with the Mother’s side of the family. I thought this was a nice way to avoid marital conflict back home. There is no arguing about whose family you would be spending the holidays with. It’s all set in tradition.

The dinner included a bottle of whiskey at each table and an assortment of foods. We were served lamb, crab, fish, ribs, beef fillets and pig intestines. Yes, you read that correctly. I gave it a try, a very little try, and my reaction was that it tasted exactly like what the intestines produce.

The drinking culture is much different than at home. You do not drink by yourself, and by that I mean you do not sip your drink without acknowledging someone else and raising your glass to them before you both take a drink. This has its advantage as no one is drinking excessively by themselves, but may result in many drinking to excess. At least no one is drinking alone!

Last night I went to the Playboy Mansion of Taipei, or at least that is what I initially thought. Jason and I met up with a friend from Taipei and we went to club with her group of friends. Walking into the club we saw all the women wearing rabbit ears. I was wondering where they had taken us, but later was informed that it was the year of the Rabbit and that was why everyone had them on. I may or may not have been a bit disappointed to learn this.

I have had this week off and have enjoyed sleeping in and letting my body recover. Just as I thought I was getting over the jet lag last week, I came down with a flu like cold before the game on Saturday. I still played, but was a bit average. The paper had reported that I was ill during the game with flu-like symptoms, but the English translation Google provided showed the paper as citing that I had “cold diarrhea.” Interesting, I know.

Just like my second run in with busting my cheek open, I had my second run in with an earthquake. I was taking a nap yesterday afternoon and all of a sudden my bed started moving and I looked around to see the curtains swaying. Turns out we had a minor earthquake – nothing uncommon over here. No damage anywhere and nothing more exciting to report.

We continue games next week, and I am excited to say that my parents will be arriving to watch 5 games over a 10 day stretch. It will be great having them here, but I don’t think they have anticipated what they are actually in for!

Until next week, God Bless!

Video footage can be found at:www.vimeo.com/19307308