This Isn't Literally About Food...
Long story short: It's about me sharing wisdom to help enrich my readers' lives. But the "tl;dr" section isn't nearly as edifying as what's next...
HA! Clickbait phrases DO work!
I once saw a Facebook page called "Philosophical Takeout", and subscribed to it for a while. It was a decent page, right up until it began doing nothing but post its political agenda--so later on I just left the page. It was a shame, too, because I liked the name and a lot of its prior content before it degraded into the mindless political machine everything seems to be these days. Nonetheless, when the time came to name my blog I decided to... shall we say, liberate the name and make it my own?
So why the "Taiwanese" portion? Well, I should start by introducing myself. I am Jake Harris, a white dude who is obviously not remotely Taiwanese. My wife, however, is, and we both currently live in Taiwan with our dog Luma. I love it here. My life has improved tenfold since moving to this wonderful country. Taiwan has been very hospitable to me and I love it back.
So, here I am. Living it up in a tiny village called Qidu (pronounced "Chee-Doo"), which can only be lovingly described as a retirement home without walls, and a giant elementary school smack-dab in the middle. I'm the only Westerner for miles, so I get lots of stares, waves, and the infamous single one-liner that everyone knows and nothing else in English: "Hello, how are you?" Despite this, the locals have been very good to me. I enjoy binge-watching TV shows with Denise, playing video/board/card games (I am the self-proclaimed King of Games in my social groups), and being a minor foodie. I can't say that I'm an expert restaurateur or a Master Chef, but I will say that I do love food and have learned a thing or two over the last 25 years of my life. Lastly, every Sunday I go to an English-speaking ward of the LDS church, where I teach Sunday School to teenagers in the second hour.
On social media such as Facebook, I write in the comments section. I'm not talking about some quirky "i am a luzer hu rites leik dis" comment. I write novels to state my position and back it up with what some might call a Ph.D thesis; I'm 93% certain mental health professionals would consider it a sickness the way I write. So over the last month or so, I've been considering starting a blog to share some of that knowledge in an appropriate atmosphere instead of a long-winded comment that gets slapped with hundreds of "tl;dr"s. I had a million questions to answer before I could even start. "What should I write about?" "What should I call it?" "Where should I post my blogs?" "Am I putting too much mayonnaise on this sandwich?" "Will people really think what I write is any good?"
Finally, after deciding that not all my questions would be answered (and scraping off that extra mayo I just didn't need), I have decided that I am in fact good enough for the internet, and it's getting my wisdom whether it likes it or not--warts and all. So I have decided to make this a hodge-podge of topics I run into as I live my daily life: insights from church or scripture study, commentary on Facebook, and perhaps my two cents on current-world events. I considered including video games in this blog, but I have decided that I will be writing another one for that. I want my core audience here to be people looking for wisdom to help them in their lives.
Before I end today, I just want to say that I know there are a billion other blogs out there for you to read, and I am honored you're taking the time to read through my thoughts. Most of you will probably be people who personally know me, and that's okay. Nevertheless, it's an honor anyway.
Thank you for choosing Taiwanese Takeout!
HA! Clickbait phrases DO work!
I once saw a Facebook page called "Philosophical Takeout", and subscribed to it for a while. It was a decent page, right up until it began doing nothing but post its political agenda--so later on I just left the page. It was a shame, too, because I liked the name and a lot of its prior content before it degraded into the mindless political machine everything seems to be these days. Nonetheless, when the time came to name my blog I decided to... shall we say, liberate the name and make it my own?
So why the "Taiwanese" portion? Well, I should start by introducing myself. I am Jake Harris, a white dude who is obviously not remotely Taiwanese. My wife, however, is, and we both currently live in Taiwan with our dog Luma. I love it here. My life has improved tenfold since moving to this wonderful country. Taiwan has been very hospitable to me and I love it back.So, here I am. Living it up in a tiny village called Qidu (pronounced "Chee-Doo"), which can only be lovingly described as a retirement home without walls, and a giant elementary school smack-dab in the middle. I'm the only Westerner for miles, so I get lots of stares, waves, and the infamous single one-liner that everyone knows and nothing else in English: "Hello, how are you?" Despite this, the locals have been very good to me. I enjoy binge-watching TV shows with Denise, playing video/board/card games (I am the self-proclaimed King of Games in my social groups), and being a minor foodie. I can't say that I'm an expert restaurateur or a Master Chef, but I will say that I do love food and have learned a thing or two over the last 25 years of my life. Lastly, every Sunday I go to an English-speaking ward of the LDS church, where I teach Sunday School to teenagers in the second hour.
On social media such as Facebook, I write in the comments section. I'm not talking about some quirky "i am a luzer hu rites leik dis" comment. I write novels to state my position and back it up with what some might call a Ph.D thesis; I'm 93% certain mental health professionals would consider it a sickness the way I write. So over the last month or so, I've been considering starting a blog to share some of that knowledge in an appropriate atmosphere instead of a long-winded comment that gets slapped with hundreds of "tl;dr"s. I had a million questions to answer before I could even start. "What should I write about?" "What should I call it?" "Where should I post my blogs?" "Am I putting too much mayonnaise on this sandwich?" "Will people really think what I write is any good?"
Finally, after deciding that not all my questions would be answered (and scraping off that extra mayo I just didn't need), I have decided that I am in fact good enough for the internet, and it's getting my wisdom whether it likes it or not--warts and all. So I have decided to make this a hodge-podge of topics I run into as I live my daily life: insights from church or scripture study, commentary on Facebook, and perhaps my two cents on current-world events. I considered including video games in this blog, but I have decided that I will be writing another one for that. I want my core audience here to be people looking for wisdom to help them in their lives.
Before I end today, I just want to say that I know there are a billion other blogs out there for you to read, and I am honored you're taking the time to read through my thoughts. Most of you will probably be people who personally know me, and that's okay. Nevertheless, it's an honor anyway.
Thank you for choosing Taiwanese Takeout!
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