Clams V1.0

Uhhh, so if you have been following this at all you will have noticed that I love stir-fried clams. Given that they are about 150-225NT per plate here in Taiwan, I decided that I needed to learn how to do it myself.

1. Buy clams. My morning market has a ton of clam vendors so finding clams is easy. However, deciding on WHICH type of clam to buy is a challenge because there are so many options. In the U.S. you primarily see Manila and razor clams but Taiwan has a bounty of bivalves. I basically settled on the first clams I saw squirting water and the vendor with the widest smile.  100NT for a large bag of clams...maybe about a pound of clams.  The other cool thing is that when you buy groceries here in Taiwan, vendors will often throw in some freebies like cilantro, green onions or, in this case, some basil leaves.  Wonderfully thoughtful.  She also gave me her advice on how to cook the clams: basil, chili, a touch of soy, water but no garlic.  Yes ma'am!

2. How to cook the clams? Well, this was easy, stir-fry. How do I flavor them? I used a combination of what I had on hand (Chinese celery) and what I have seen at local restaurants (chili, basil and Chinese BBQ sauce) along with the seafood vendor's recommendation.

3. Cook clams.  Easy.  Clams have little built in timers.  When they pop open, they are done!

Anyhow, some pictures:

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June and (most of) July

I will get some words up when I have the time.

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"American" Food

My buddy asked me if there is an imported food section at the local grocery store. It's an interesting question: What do Taiwanese people think are typically "American" foods? Watch the video for the answer!



As an aside, I am still alive and well here in Taichung.  I am starting to make some headway on my list of goals:  I am reading a chapter a night, am spending more time studying poker (and, consequently, less time playing), am sticking to my food budget and will start doing push-ups tomorrow.  Always tomorrow, those push-ups.  :p

Brief Rant

Not a real update because I haven't done much of note.  Teaching, grading, lesson planning, eating, sleeping, and pokering have kept me plenty busy.  I really need to get out and experience Taiwan because I am nearly 1/6 of the way through my contract.

Two things.  I finally got my hair cut.  Get this: I spent 1,000 NT (about 30 USD) but ended up going to a fancy-shmancy Aveda salon (on advice of a co-worker) and received a pretty freaking nice experience. Neck/shoulder massage, hand massage, nice ambiance, a fine haircut, I will definitely be going back.  I still can't believe it was only 30 USD.  What a bargain.

The other thing, my mini rant.  Before getting my haircut, I went to the local electronics emporium.  I am shopping around for a cell phone (any advice?) and wanted to see what was available.  I was at the HTC vendor and a few black people were also there.  While I was fiddling around with some phones, the black folk concluded their business and left.  Soon afterwards, I heard one of the salespeople refer to the black customers as "n*****s."  In the moment, I was shocked because, in the US, you just don't hear that word bandied about. I was even a little angry.  Was there any malicious intent?  I dunno.  If not, I don't think I can hold it against the Taiwanese person:

1. Taiwan is (understandably) ignorant as to what the word means because black slavery isn't a part of its cultural history/identity.  They lack historical knowledge.  I highly doubt many of them know about cotton plantations, the Civil War, segregation, MLK etc.
2. Second, Western (read: American) culture influences Taiwanese culture to a large degree and hip-hop music's use of the "N" word has probably played a role.  Taiwanese people hear hip-hop's incessant use of the word and probably assume that it is a part of American everyday vernacular but don't understand that it is actually incredibly rare to hear the word.  Furthermore, Taiwanese people wrongly assume that hip-hop culture represents ALL of black, American culture.  They might be shocked to learn that many Black Americans want the "N" word banned from any sort of use.  In other words, they see the slice of American culture which habitually (over?)uses the word but lack the understanding that black people (and black people alone) possess the cultural currency to use the word and, even then, it is contentiously used.  

I feel sorta weird about this because the "N" word is so loaded back home in America.  People die over the word.  Is it okay for Taiwanese people to use the word given their ignorance and lack of black history?  If so, how should I feel about it?  Should I try to exercise some degree of understanding and flexibility or should I remain rigidly indignant about its use?  Given how hateful the word is, I am sorta coming down on the side that I don't think it is appropriate.

End rant.

I will post some pics and vids when I have something of interest.