Ben in 高雄

2011-08-08T11:51:00.001+08:00

I've been blogging with tumblr for quite some time now, blog has officially moved to:

imaginaryben.tumblr.com

2011-06-21T16:18:00.001+08:00

高雄 MISHKA CUP (Bike Polo)

2010-12-28T00:03:00.001+08:00

Taitung Digital 台東

2010-12-27T23:56:00.002+08:00

More Analog Photographs (Sorry Daniel)

2010-12-01T18:40:00.002+08:00

Instant Pictures of Things

2010-11-28T20:13:00.002+08:00

Tainan Festival

2010-11-25T23:17:00.002+08:00

American Institute Taiwan Thanksgiving Dinner Party

2010-11-25T22:33:00.000+08:00

View From the 13th Floor of the Howard Hotel, Taipei

2010-11-25T10:24:00.000+08:00

Oh So Famous

2010-11-24T21:12:00.000+08:00

Ended up in the papers again for an Koahsiung City International Education press conference.

Dudes Dudes Dudes （帥哥晚上第二次）

2010-11-24T09:00:00.003+08:00

BBQ

2010-11-17T23:19:00.002+08:00

Old Pictures from an Older Camera

2010-11-13T12:18:00.002+08:00

Those were from Philadelphia, the following are from Kaohsiung.

More Birthday

2010-10-26T14:26:00.000+08:00

Back Behind the Bar or The Best Birthday Gift

2010-10-25T14:15:00.002+08:00

Birthday Time（生日快樂）

2010-10-24T21:36:00.004+08:00

National Day Celebration (雙十派對）

2010-10-19T15:06:00.000+08:00

All Fulbright scholars and ETAs were invited to Taipei to attend the official National Day (10/10) celebration. This would be the equivalent to being invited to the 4th of July party at the White House. My pictures barely do it justice, but know that I felt entirely overwhelmed and horribly under-qualified to be at such a gathering.

Main performance stage.

Ice sculptures.

Mark.

Apartment A.

Sam & I.

Ariel.

Paul.

One of many banquet rooms (notice, even more ice sculptures).

Almost all of the Kaohsiung ETAs: Jeff, myself, Liz, Paul, Ayano, Ariel, Mark, Sam, Christine.

Paul & Sam.

Fireworks.

The Suburbs of Taipei

2010-10-18T16:53:00.001+08:00

2010-10-17T16:47:00.000+08:00

Taipei National Arts University

2010-10-17T14:11:00.002+08:00

Paul is ready for action.

Taipei skyline.

The menfolk (Paul, Mark, Alex, Sam, myself).

Cultural performance at TNAU.

Beer garden on the TNAU campus.

Café á la Mode, Taipei, Taiwan

2010-10-16T16:20:00.002+08:00

More Taipei

2010-10-16T10:42:00.000+08:00

ZABU

2010-10-15T23:43:00.000+08:00

Taipei at Night （半夜台北）

2010-10-15T23:36:00.000+08:00

Java Javoo

2010-10-15T11:01:00.001+08:00

獅湖國小

2010-10-14T10:51:00.001+08:00

Pamano Pt. 2 （帕瑪諾咖啡，高雄）

2010-10-14T10:44:00.002+08:00

Mini Fusion 小酒館

2010-10-14T10:40:00.001+08:00

Chef's Pub

2010-10-08T01:25:00.002+08:00

Story Time with Paul

2010-10-08T01:21:00.002+08:00

Hot Pot

2010-10-08T01:18:00.000+08:00

PaMano Café （帕瑪諾咖啡，高雄）

2010-10-07T00:09:00.004+08:00

Mark and Paul Out of the Hospital Celebration Dinner

2010-10-06T23:44:00.002+08:00

Host Family BBQ

2010-10-06T23:38:00.002+08:00

故宮

2010-09-29T22:01:00.002+08:00

After The Gala

2010-09-29T21:44:00.002+08:00

Fulbright Gala

2010-09-29T21:32:00.002+08:00

Taipei Cab Ride

2010-09-29T21:04:00.003+08:00

Fulbright Conference

2010-09-29T21:02:00.001+08:00

Hotel Room in Taipei

2010-09-29T21:01:00.001+08:00

Boys Night Out （帥哥晚上）

2010-09-22T22:44:00.004+08:00

Typhoon on Our Doorstep

2010-09-19T18:28:00.002+08:00

Epic Kenting Post Part II（墾丁）

2010-09-19T18:03:00.005+08:00

Epic Kenting Post Part I（墾丁）

2010-09-19T17:42:00.001+08:00

Apologies for lacking in recent updates, but 2 Fulbrighters have ended up in the hospital over the last few days, one with appendicitis and the other with pneumonia, and I've been spending a good deal of time at the hospital keeping them company.

Adventures in the Dream Mall

2010-09-13T17:00:00.002+08:00

博愛國小 (Bo-Ai Elementary School)

2010-09-13T16:57:00.000+08:00

Going to a Baseball Game, Returning in a Rainstorm

2010-09-05T22:25:00.005+08:00

Buying a Bicycle

2010-09-05T22:20:00.003+08:00

去台南

2010-09-05T21:15:00.002+08:00

KTV

2010-09-05T20:52:00.003+08:00

Jenni Arrives

2010-09-05T20:49:00.001+08:00

Mu-Ping

2010-09-05T20:27:00.002+08:00

To Be Courted by Elementary Schools

2010-09-04T22:53:00.002+08:00

Rainy Daze

2010-09-04T22:33:00.002+08:00

Caffe Bird

2010-08-26T12:24:00.000+08:00

Buildings

2010-08-26T12:19:00.001+08:00

Running Water Park

2010-08-26T12:14:00.002+08:00

Garage Doors

2010-08-23T22:50:00.002+08:00

Tube Amps

2010-08-23T22:46:00.001+08:00

Night Marketing

2010-08-23T16:45:00.001+08:00

Out & About

2010-08-22T23:47:00.005+08:00

Training

2010-08-22T23:22:00.006+08:00

Justin and Dale, my two temporary, randomly assigned teaching partners for the practicum.

All the LETs and us listening to lectures.

Alex Tang, our Fulbright Foundation for Scholarly Exchange supervisor.

Mark (ETA) and Vincent (LET) teaching a practice class.

Famous?

2010-08-15T14:28:00.003+08:00

Loud Times

2010-08-14T20:04:00.024+08:00

Professor Spring during training

An LET (Local English Teacher) giving a teaching techniques demo

More LETs giving presentation on classroom management

Flame Tree

Visiting school #1

Group photo at school #1

Another group photo at school #1

Fonda

Welcoming us at school #5, Ming Yi. The PTA bought each of us a cake, ice tea, and a fruit salad.

Ming Yi's exterior. The school is quite new and in a fairly rural area near the airport on the outskirts of town.

One of Ming Yi's many beautiful mosaic murals and mosaic sculptures at Ming Yi. These are "anti-noise monsters", made up and created for the school by the artist since the school is near the flight paths of the airport.

The main anti-noise monster, you can see the mosaic tiles in this picture.

Group photo at Ming Yi's English Village (a simulated English learning environment).

Another beautiful mosaic mural at Ming Yi.

There was a manga convention this weekend that we were given free tickets to. Apparently there is also a CSI themed traveling show that will be held at this convention center at some point? I really don't know.

The line for tickets, we were only given 8 free tickets but 9 of us wanted to go so we still had to purchase 1 ticket.

What follows is lots of pictures of people dressed up as manga characters.

Manga-themed bike.

No visual record can communicate how crowded it was in that arena.

Quiet Times

2010-08-14T18:07:00.006+08:00

The Beach on Cijin Island

2010-08-14T17:39:00.000+08:00

Untitled from Ben Schweizer on Vimeo.

Kiwi Propaganda at the Dream Mall

2010-08-14T17:37:00.001+08:00

Enter Kiwis from Ben Schweizer on Vimeo.

Song & Dance from Ben Schweizer on Vimeo.

5 Days in 高雄

2010-08-05T21:16:00.007+08:00

滑板

2010-02-04T04:58:00.002+08:00

Saipan

2010-02-03T23:36:00.007+08:00

the times we had

2010-01-08T03:54:00.007+08:00

新年快乐

2010-01-05T23:46:00.002+08:00

I've only just realized how to export what this blog was, ie a document of my time in Nepal, to another site. beningodawari.blogspot.com will continue to serve as an archive of sorts of that time an experience in Nepal and Tibet, which will allow me to reanimate this blog into a living, breathing thing (hopefully).

Happy New Year.

All Good Things

2007-12-03T03:48:00.001+08:00

...Must Come To An End

This is my last post from Nepal

Probably...

2007-11-23T08:40:00.000+08:00

This post is likely to be one of my last from Nepal, hope you enjoy it.

Tibet Postscript

2007-11-16T13:42:00.000+08:00

These pictures of Tibet are posted in chronilogical order, Free Tibet I & II were all taken in Lhasa. The photographs are of the many Tibetans I met in my first couple of days in Tibet. Getting a mohawk before going was the single best haircutting decision I've ever made, almost everyone I encountered greeted me with a smile or outright joyous laugh, people even approached me from out of no where just to give me their ear-to-ear smiles or giggles or thumbs up while gesturing to my hair. I made many friends who could or could not speak English. Most of the women wore dust masks over their mouths and so I had the distinct pleasure of seeing dozens of smiles communicated just through eyes. Every evening that I was in Lhasa, I would walk down to the holiest temple in all of Tibet, and circumambulate around the temple square with hundreds of Tibetans, many of them monks or nuns or nomads come south for the winter. (the temple being the Jokhang, the one pictured 4th from the top in Free Tibet I) The nomads were far and away the most enthusiastic about my hair and the most heart-warmingly loving in their gazes and smiles and attempts at communication with this deeply enamoured foreigner. The Tibetan people are easily the most beautiful people I have ever come across, and I found it a beauty rooted rooted in a humble and compassionate dignity. I would go to the Jokhang every evening at sunset, the holiest time of the day along with sunrise and the time when the Kora circuit was the most bustling and crowded and full of life.

Free Tibet III begins in Lhasa with monks at the Sera monestary debating in the gardens, and then moves to lake views of the Yamdrok-tso in the snow and a dog sniffing my knee, and then to pictures of Gyanste and Shiigatse. There are pictures of both the modern constructions of Chinese imigration and shots of the huddled and low Tibetan houses beneath regal and imposing Dzongs (Tibetan forts).

Free Tibet IV begins with a portrait of a dignified Tibetan man that beckoned me over to sit by him, which and did and enjoyed a conversation in no shared language. The next images are of driving up to and arriving at the north face Everest Base Camp.

Unfortunately, the pictures end here because I got sick with what I believe was a mix of altitude sickness and a lack of proper food. The next couple of days driving down through the Himalayas and back into Nepal are therefore regretably undocumented because I just wasn't feeling up to snuff.

Time here in Nepal is running down, and am looking forward to going home and seeing all of you who have been curious enough to check this blog from time-to-time.

With love,
ben

Free Tibet IV

2007-11-15T14:15:00.003+08:00

Free Tibet III

2007-11-15T13:43:00.000+08:00

Free Tibet II

2007-11-15T13:15:00.000+08:00

Free Tibet I

2007-11-14T14:09:00.000+08:00

I'm back safe and sound from a remarkable and gruelling trip through Tibet. More to come...

Signing off for a few

2007-11-01T23:59:00.000+08:00

In 2 days I'll be leaving for Tibet for 10 days. I'm not taking any electronics, only my old-fashioned Canon SLR, not my Nikon. Pictures posted upon my return, I promise. And yes, that is a mohawk: Happy Halloween :D

New day

2007-10-24T10:42:00.000+08:00

Big news here at Ama Ghar is that we've just bought new land to build a new ama ghar. These pictures were taken on the walk to the new land, which is currently all rice fields. The vertical shot is a picture of the land, it basically extends from that line of people back about 100 yards. The property is bordered by the river (pictured) on the east side. Also, a note about the swing picture a couple of posts ago. The giant swing is a Nepali "ping" constructed purely out of bamboo and rope. The swings are built once a year in celebration of the Dashain festival. Also included in an older post is a picture of the inside of the birthday card made for me by the boys, and myself smeared with red blessings for my birthday. Also, my attempt at titling the various individual pictures seems to never work out correctly (on some browsers), but if you use some ingenuity and imagination, you might be able to match everything up. God bless.

Falling

2007-10-23T18:16:00.000+08:00

group photo

the streets of Bhaktapur

ninja srijana

the mountains make themselves visibile in the sunset

skateboarding can be perilous

double-up why don't you!

2007-10-20T00:01:00.001+08:00

long time no, you know...

2007-10-19T23:34:00.001+08:00

name tags

2007-10-10T09:40:00.000+08:00

subash

changa (kite)

saano sajan (small sajan)

akritit and popo

tommy

ashok

uma

manju and laura

laura

hibiscus

sandesh

boomika and unika

krishna

arunima

manju

i think the beard is getting a little out of control

laura

rose

In Rainbows.

2007-10-01T23:22:00.000+08:00

title credits go to radiohead

face your fears

2007-09-27T15:57:00.000+08:00

it's getting colder here in nepal, sweaters in the mornings and evenings, and rubbing your feet together under the blankets to warm them at night. in case anyone ever wonders about the titles of the blogs, they're mostly non-sequitors that pop into my head either before or during the postings. the government in nepal is moving towards elections on the 22nd of november, things are back on track after the maoists walked out of the government (literally) and the (literally) very next day decided to come back. the political situation here is interesting and confusing to name a couple of adjectives, but it is also fascinating to be living in a country that is trying to transform from an autocratic monarchy into a republic after 10 years of violent communist uprising and royalist retaliation.

Squirley

2007-09-21T10:53:00.000+08:00

And now that i'm back

2007-09-18T23:19:00.000+08:00

Playing catchup

2007-09-18T22:58:00.000+08:00

pictures from before i left that i'm just now getting around to posting

While you were out

2007-09-18T22:04:00.001+08:00

the view from my hotel room

pictures of the lake Phewa in all its hazy glory

my charming new friends caroline and jon. they're volunteering in nepal on a schedule almost identical to mine

me giving caroline a detailed explaination of how to focus the camera

again the view from my room

rowing myself around/across the lake for a few hours

shops

these last few are from the bus ride back

hello again.
i'm back at ama ghar after a lovely trip to Pokhara for 4 days. here are the digitized photos from my old Canon AE analog slr. unfortunately, the place where i took my film to get digitized did a horrible job scanning the film, so the resulting pictures are of a very low quality, but hopefully you get the idea.

going analog

2007-09-10T00:03:00.000+08:00

hello to all who have been checking or stumbling upon the blog.
i hope that you have enjoyed the flurry of posts over the last two days because i will be signing off for a few days. i'm taking a trip to Pokhara, a lake town to the west of Kathmandu. i wont be taking my computer or my digital camera, but i do plan to digitize my film once i get back.
take care
b-$

But footballs aren't like people, they can be replaced...

2007-09-09T19:45:00.000+08:00

Glamour shots by Deb

2007-09-09T13:07:00.000+08:00

Clouds.

2007-09-08T23:43:00.000+08:00

The new football, now flat

2007-09-06T09:25:00.000+08:00

Free to be free on a Saturday

2007-09-02T22:35:00.000+08:00

Bugs, a baby, and the Popo show

2007-09-02T22:01:00.000+08:00

Just to let everyone know, if you've heard of the bombings in Kathmandu, I and everyone here at Ama Ghar is safe and sound. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombs yet, but it should be interesting to see details come to light.
God bless

Two-day holi-day (part duex)

2007-09-01T10:41:00.000+08:00

Two-day Holi-day (Vol. 1)

2007-08-30T11:56:00.000+08:00

The kids had 2 days off from school for festival holidays, the first few pictures are from the little ceremony on the first day. More to come soon...