January 12, 2015 I’m sitting at the airport in Taipei right now. I made the traverse up the length of the island from Tainan, and I’m finally heading back to the States. It’s been a long three weeks. Another… oh, 11 hours and 45 minutes, and it’ll be (almost) over. My dad still has a long… Read More Homeward

January 11, 2015 My morning routine these days is that I drop my mom off at the front entrance to the hospital, then go and find parking and meet her up in the room. (And yes, I’ve been driving in Tainan. I think that might be worth its own blog post….) Just now, as I’m… Read More Good Deed for the Day

January 10, 2015 Did I mention that my dad is kind of a social butterfly? I know I did, but I’ll mention it again: My dad is kind of a social butterfly. Things haven’t been too different despite him being in the hospital. Now that he’s out of the ICU and people can come visit him… Read More Noise Complaint

January 9, 2015 We’re hanging out in my dad’s hospital room right now. The TV is on, and a familiar tune started playing. Turns out, it was a random Taiwanese commercial using the track below, which just happens to be the last thing I wrote about before my Taiwanese adventure: This track is one of my… Read More Convergence

January 8, 2015 Because life likes to kick us when we’re down, I’ve been fighting a nasty sinus infection for over a week now. It got so bad that my mom insisted that I go see a doctor. Well, as it just so happens, we are literally surrounded by doctors. Woo hoo for small victories, right?… Read More My Life as a Gopher

January 7, 2015 Taiwanese hospitals are kind of like hostels. Well, the crappy kind of hostels…. My dad got transferred out of intensive care and into the regular ward today. In the recovery progression, it’s a pretty big step, though he still has a long ways to go. The minimal requirement for transfer out of… Read More Self-Service Hospital Care

January 7, 2015 Dealing with a family member in intensive care is hard enough as it is. It’s even harder when you’re absolutely unprepared for it. And the story of why we’re so unprepared is just sad…. In general, Taiwanese people are kind of superstitious. 30 years in the United States has curbed some of… Read More Why You Shouldn’t Let Superstition Guide You

January 5, 2015 My dad had a big breakthrough today. For the first time in two weeks, he’s fully conscious and cognizant of us. When we talk to him, he can nod and shake his head now, and more importantly, he does so at the right times, so we know that he can definitely understand… Read More Breakthrough….

January 5, 2015 It’s about 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) here in Tainan today, and sunny. Apparently, this is cold for Tainan, because I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the entire city wearing shorts and flip flops. I barely even see any short-sleeved shirts. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked over… Read More Am I Practically Naked?

January 3, 2015 It’s Saturday night, which means we’ve been back in Taichung for almost four days now. There’s a 7-11 around the corner from my parents’ condo here in Taichung. (Actually, for clarification, there’s a 7-11 pretty much on every other corner in Taiwan.) I went in there to grab a drink the other… Read More A Shiny (8.4-Ounce) Beacon

Wednesday, December 31, 2014 There’s a Tom Petty song I’ve been humming to myself quite a bit over the past week…. The waiting is the hardest part Every day you see one more card You take it on faith, you take it to the heart The waaaaiting is the hardest part Okay, so the song… Read More The Waiting

Tuesday, December 30, 2014 There was an old man in the room next to us. He had to be in his 80s. At least. He kind of reminded me a real-life version of those two grouchy old men who sat in the balcony and heckled everyone on the Muppet Show. If you ever watched the… Read More Our Neighbor

Monday, December 29, 2014 Last night was a kind of a rough night. My dad was somewhat responsive Saturday morning. He opened his eyes when we called him, and when my mom pointed to me standing at the foot of the bed, he even looked towards me. It only lasted about a minute, but it seemed like… Read More Callous Irony

Monday, December 29, 2014 Twice a day, for four days now, we’ve been in the SICU to see my dad. During the first three days, his lucidity wavered from completely unconscious to opening his eyes when we called him and even looking in our direction, though with no reaction whatsoever. The fourth and fifth days, however,… Read More Love or Duty?

Sunday, December 28, 2014 My dad is a brilliant man. I don’t know why I’m using this as an example of his brilliance, when just the sheer volume of research he’s published says it all, but when we bought home our first Rubik’s cube when I was a little kid, he sat down on his… Read More A Brilliant Mind

Saturday, December 27, 2014 The Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Cheng Kung University Teaching Hospital has a strange ritual…. Twice a day, for half an hour each time, the SICU has open visiting hours. The entrance to the SICU is marked by a pair of sliding metal doors, at the end of a wide hallway.… Read More Cattle Call

Thursday, January 1, 2015 Aside from a few Australian friends, I think I win the race to 2015. I didn’t think Taiwan celebrated the western new year, but lo and behold, when midnight rolled around, Taichung went off in an explosion of fireworks. This was shot from my eighth-story window at around 12:08 AM National… Read More Happy New Year… from the Future