I stopped in by way or Oriented. Congratulations on creating such a vibrant web community! It reminds me of the BBS communities that existed in the pre-internet days.

By way of introduction, I'm currently a Berkeley compsci student, but that doesn't stop me from occasionally getting over to another country to study foreign languages. I went to Taipei in 1998 for summer and had a blast. Eventually, I'd like to work in Taiwan. In the meantime, I'll live vicariously through the web

Pleased to meet you all (y'all? I'm a California kid, it just doesn't seem right!)

For some reason my latest posting is not making its way onto the site. Let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

Albert

I've known Jenny Lee and Ray Go since 1994 and feel like I "know" you or should have met you by now- I've heard so much about you from Jenny over the years. Your latest forum topic is so relevant to me since I'm planning on moving to Taiwan from New York at the end of May. It's very encouraging to read about all of the positive experiences that people have had in Taiwan. I had planned to make your acquaintance sooner, but now I see that you might not even be in Taiwan by the time I get there. Good luck with your decision making- about your future.

Funny observation, though. That writer needs to take some writing lessons because there is one sentence that doesn't make sense. The article says "'The power of the media is terrible,' Ma said yesterday. He said there was no question of the city government discriminating against foreigners and vowed to write a letter to the British newspaper asking for a correction." Did the writer mean that Ma means that he does not dispute that the city government is discriminatory (meaning that it is) and will clarify to the newspaper that there is no question that the city government does indeed discriminate against foreigners? I hardly think that Mayor Ma meant this. This is just plain bad writing.

Anyway, kudos to Oriented, but I will keep reading the Taipei Times.

Wow, I'm impressed! well, I expected to be. Aren't you afraid people will start stalking you? I mean you life is completely exposed to all the phychos in Taipei. Haha, hope I didn't give anyone any ideas =P Well, see you around!

--Andy

One other thing to note---the economy here is in its worst shape in around 10 years. Startups here are shunned. Conservatism is in. If want dynamism, risk-taking, and financial resources, this place ain't it for now.

All my best,

------------------
Raymond
http://alumni.eecs.berkeley.edu/~rayning

Stay cool and stay wonderful. And if you need something from my end then I'm just a browser away. =)

________________
http://www.thosebrowneyes.com
http://www.absolutemarvin.com

By the way Vegas is very fun. And if you have time and energy, you should venture out with friends to nearby national park like death valley or valley of fire....

This websit is so "YOU": clever, good sense of humor, and popular....

Controversial? Perhaps. But I'm all about Controversy.

Dear Christine,

I apologize for using your e-mail address for this, but I'm not sure where on your web page I would put it. Also I'm getting a bit gun shy. That isn't hard to do, because I'm a very private person. (So why don't I use a pseudonym? duhhh)

Per your kind invitation, I have been lurking around your Hey Christine web site, especially the Crouching Jimmy Hidden Christine forum. The levels of civility, intelligence and sophistication there are much, much higher than the other ORIENTED forums, especially Rants and Raves.

When things get a bit grim around here (daily), it's nice to be able to click on to Hey Christine and "listen in" (lurk?) on some intelligent and witty conversation.

I have to be careful, though. If I fail to close my office door before going to HC, I tend to freak out the very serious professors and not-at-all-serious students with my guffaws at some of the comments.

Christine, I add my voice to all those in your guestbook who tell you what a great thing you have here. But as a much older person who is also an interculturalist, maybe my perspective on your site is a bit different.

You said in your intro that "...what I really wanted to do had nothing to do with money. I wanted to build my very own, permanent mark on the world wide web, whatever that might be, and I wanted it to have meaning."

I think you are succeeding admirably. First, you are giving expression to some of your many talents. But you are also providing an opportunity and motivation for other young International Chinese to express their thoughts about things that are important to them in their lives. And do they ever! Impressive. Very impressive.

As I said above, the civility and the depth of the comments are outstanding characteristics of this group of people. In addition, there is the wit that accompanies many of these comments.

What I see in your site, among other things, is a window opening onto thinking, personalities and character of young International Chinese.

Why do I set these people apart as the "young International Chinese?" Just set the forum in Hey Christine along side the forums in ORIENTED, especially R&R. Then ask me that question.

Now, what I would like to understand better is just what it is that causes the YIC's to be so special in the ways that I have described above. Many of you are ABC's, but you seem to lack the roughness, harshness, in-your-face character all too common among the Caucasian US Americans.

I heard about your site through a friend and then saw a link to it from Oriented. Great site. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life with those of us sharing Taipei with you.

take care, and keep on keepin' on...

-a

Adella

Thank you for signing my guestbook. Now, I am signing yours. I feel like I'm back in high school again.

But seriously, It was very nice of you to introduce me to your friends. Hopefully we'll get to meet each other in person one of these days.