JYSim for jobless-yokel Sim

For a long, long time I resisted the temptation of setting up another
blog space other than my previous one in friendster. The first
generation friendster blog has more than 110 posts now and it’s always
a comfort to review them whenever I feel reminiscent of the old days.
The other great (and sometimes annoying) feature about friendster is
whenever you update your blog they’ll send messages to everyone in your
friend list blasting about the update. It’s always a pleasure to get
noticed.
Nevertheless, the time has come to move forward. I was
complaining on how few the comments on friendster had been, and that’s
when my roommate commented "who’d post comments on your blog? They’ll
have to sign up for friendster first and wind their way to your blog."
All
right, I blog for comments and glory, I’d like to see my blog burst
with comments and CNN reports on ‘JYSim for Jobless-Yokel Sim’ or now
‘Randomly JYSim’. I’m an attention-seeker in the virtual world. So,
it’s time to switch.
Switch: http://jysim.blogspot.com/

My English, which is usually more fluent than the average Taiwan medical student here, gets me into lots of trouble. First, it’s being selected as the Leading Exchange Officer (or LEO) of the Standing Committee of Professional Exchange (or SCOPE). Then, it’s having to accompany dozens of incoming exchange students to their first dinner, welcoming party, hospital registration and farewell party. What I least expected is to become a correspondent for a German choir performing for the weekend at school.
Of course, I’m the president of the choir, and yes, I have a little responsibility in promoting the beauty of chorus in the school, but I have never expected a contemporary a cappella (modern no-accompaniment choral singing) band will see any audience in a remote town like Hualien, and in a Buddhist university like TCU.
I honestly like my job. I get along well with people I meet for not longer than 2 months, and I get to claim expenses from the school for every single penny spent with the guest(s).
The Stouxingers is a German choir currently with 5 CDs under their belt. 5 men and 1 woman - MIchael, Gregorio, Konrad, Karsten, Thomas and Katharina. With just 6 microphones, they can produce sounds beyond your imagination - trumpets, drums, horse stamping on the floor, cats, eagles, wind billowing and strolls bellowing. Their songs are really groundbreaking with the complexity of their voices interwoven with different elements of music - all using only their mouth and throat.
If you imagine chorus as 3 rows of men and women wearing airline-like uniforms singing and lulling you to sleep, then the Stouxingers will thunder you wide awake. They repackaged chorus with groovy jazz, rap (the only rap that I actually like, and being meaningful), and church pop it’s impossible not to stand up and dance along with the music.
The choir arrived at Hualien at 11am last Thursday. After settling them in their rented apartments, I went to pick them up for lunch at 12.15. The whole lunch hay-ho lasted till 2pm, in which they questioned every single item on the menu and have the fancy Chinese names translated to English. They were a joyous crowd nonetheless. Gregorio (the black guy) have so much Jieyang in him it took me great persistence not to call him ‘hey Jieyang!’ While Thomas (the guy with wet, curly hair) played around with his chopsticks (and dropping 3 pairs in the process), Michael (bald guy) and Katharina were speaking to me in animated motions it’s hard not to laugh out loud.

That night they performed at the Hualien Cultural Center. One hour prior the crowd was really little, and they were really worried about singing to the dogs instead of people. However, soon their musicality attracted approximately a hundred passers-by.
The next day, after a long delay due to the rain and their morning hangover, we went according to 1/4 of the plan of the day - to visit the Hualien beach front. Similarly, after very much hay-ho about the glass-colored waves and beautiful stones on the shore and airplanes taking off from the runway just behind the beach, we went for lunch. It was pure fun to see 6 adults acting like schoolchildren during mealtimes.
The scheduled second concert in the school was on 7.30pm. However, by 6.45 the line spans from the hall entrance down the steps, across the walkway and a 90 degree turn into a corridor. Everybody knew it was a sellout by 7 sharp.
The crowd danced, whooped, and was completely mesmerized by divine voices of the Stouxingers for the following 2 hours. It was a great pity we had a class meeting and none of my classmates is able to attend. However, it’s also a little of my pleasure to see many people I knew turned up.
The successful concert marks Stouxingers’ final night in Taiwan. Due to an orientation camp the following day, I wasn’t able to celebrate with them. I promised I’ll visit them one day in Germany (the same promise was also made to my host family in Italy, my Dad’s students in Japan, Germany, America, and also my aunt in New Zealand). With heavy hearts, I left with their CD and autograph, together with a signed poster wishing our choir ‘great harmony and all the best’.

Traffic lights shudder,
trees bend, razor-leaves zoomed past.
"This is the end of the world if there’s one"
I thought.
Lights flicker, and my monitor
went off. Beyond the window,
a grayish blur.
Bushes, trash, rain, leaves,
a killing velocity; frighteningly
melancholic.
The air thunders with anger;
The city shuts down, abiding
the forces of nature.
Huddling, we watched Spielberg.
Peter laughs at me
because I cried
when Celie and Nettie meets;
after 40 years of exile.
"Only death will part me from her!"
Strings. Let It Be. Beatles.
The murderous leaves found its way indoors.
The floor was littered with dust
and sad displaced victims of the typhoon.
Water droplets flew by horizontally.

8.58am - calm skies dotted
with gray clouds
tender but sad
tired and unmotivated.
Lust. (Love). Caution.
Unforgettable images; love
comes with insecurity.
Insecure.
no more.
Because I found
friendship.
Undisturbed.

Holidays. Weekends. Typhoon(s).
"Your medical school seems relaxed"
Soon Khen says.
Not anymore.
Caring those who doesn’t bother;
Bothering those who doesn’t care.
Mentally tired.
I wear no mask.
This is the genuine me.
Anger no more.
Tired, as the skies are.

I’ve lost too much nerve and brain cells recently I cannot truly recall many incidences that happened last week. The following week will seem as insane to you as it is to me, but though much of me is degenerated over the past week, they still leave imprints inside my hollow shell.
9/26 (Wednesday) - it was the first schooling day after mid-autumn festival, which I spent happily and relaxingly in my friend’s place at Kaoshiung. The day was fine with typical Hualien weather and lessons were boring as usual. Humid, stifling air filled the classrooms as my German teacher pronounced ‘r’ which sounds like spitting from the deepest area of your throat. I had dinner and went back to the dorm praying for a peaceful night of Biochemistry and maybe a report or two to be completed. I was too good-natured. I went to meet my Italian exchange student at 10.30pm, and the first thing he told me after the holiday was that his passport, along with his backpack, was lost.
I pretended to stay calm even though my insides were screaming ‘WHAT THE HECK YOU STUPID BABOON! LOSING YOUR PASSPORT IS AS WELL AS LOSING YOUR LIFE ESPECIALLY IN A NON-UN COUNTRY LIKE TAIWAN!’ The human mind is a strange creature. When it accepts truth far beyond its acceptance limits it will deny it, and slowly you yourself thinks it’s a lie. So, being a responsible exchange officer I said I’ll report this matter to the Office of International Affairs (OIA) and bid goodnight, escaping before he can say ‘but-’
The next day I slowly came to realize that he will be in grave danger should he got involve in any littlest trouble - littering, or paying 2 dollars less for his Coke. Grudgingly I went to the hospital and played Inspector for 30 minutes. Then I red-alerted the officers in the OIA.
After several adrenalin-filled moments they reported his passport is found, along with is backpack at the Tzu Chi Monestary. I thanked every God in the world and sang prayers in languages ranging from Italian to Afrikaans. If the passport is really lost he’ll be deported back as a refugee, and Tzu Chi will be marked as a center of passport thieving.
9/28 (Friday) - after the emotional episode of the lost passport, my Italian exchange student thought it will be a good idea to challenge Jun Yi’s cardiovascular abilities by telling him that his Italian girlfriend is pregnant and he is required to fly home as soon as possible. (take deep breath) You see, when you go on an exchange you sign a Rule Form which binds you to certain rules, namely, possibly no early return. And as you can see, the Exchange Officer is extremely busy these few days looking for your passport as well as drafting the business turnaround plan for the school choir. If you think it’s great to add on to the workload you’re extremely welcome to request an early return and I will have to empty an entire afternoon to complete the early-return procedures for Mr. Dad-to-be (exhale deep breath).
Nevertheless, being Mr. Nice Guy of course I said ‘congratulations! that’s wonderful!’ After hopping over several casual topics I firmly said I will not be able to process his early return stuff till (maybe) end of this week. Amen.
9/30 (Sunday) - I woke up at 8.30, drank some tea, and spent my idle Sunday morning munching toast and flipping Biochemistry. This illusion is soon over when my phone rang, displaying a caller ID with weird number sequences. ‘Hi, it’s Marc!’ Another exchange student. I went to the train station at 10.30, settled him in his dorm at 11.30, and went back munching my toast till 12.30. At 2.00, after having lunch with Marc and some of my classmates, I did a catch-up of local news at the school library. We started our Biochemistry group discussion at 3.30, ending a little after 4.30. My chorus welcoming party preceded from 5.30 to 8.30 soon, and at 9 I was discussing about the exchange conditions for future outgoing students with my partner on SCOPE. At 10 we were briefed by our seniors about the IFMSA stuff before realizing we have another load of paperwork to be completed. I frequented between my computer, the study table and the bathroom over the next 3 hours, finally collapsing at 1am. This is the last living day of Sim Jun Yi.