#14: Judging Books By Covers
12/18–12/31
Where Are All The Translators? Emboldened by my determination to develop proof of concept, I decided to take a step forward and start visiting local businesses. Hitting the limits of Google translate, it has become necessary to find a translator for the occasional meeting. I decided to first ask my intensive Mandarin teacher who is excellent. Unfortunately, while she does have colleagues who are fluent in Chinese and English they are busy primarily translating for UN delegations. While most people I’ve encountered in Taipei speak English and Chinese, translating for business purposes is truly a different task, which started to make me wonder, how is it that +1 billion people speak Chinese, 1.5 billion speak English, and yet good translation businesses are hard to find. There must be more UN delegates out there than I thought.
Book Covers: I did the opposite of the old sage advice and judged a book by its cover during a trip to a specialty books market. I was unable to read what the cover said, but was attracted to the beautiful bookbinding and texture of the cover. I asked the salesperson what the topic was and mistakenly thought It was about teenage romance. Later, I found out that it’s actually a book about gender fluidity and published by an independent house attempting to change Asian expectations of gender. A reminder that when you judge books by covers — you misunderstand the actual body of work.
When The Big Man Lives Downstairs: I’m not personally religious, but I do appreciate certain aspects of the Christian spirit and have several good relationships with friends who consider themselves Christian. I also like the idea of personal accountability, supported by respect for some omnipotence, irrespective of the religion, philosophy, or subject. One of my Mandarin classmates told me that she is currently renting an apartment above a church. I’m not sure about her religious affiliation, but somehow the knowledge that she lives above a church makes me think (even if I’m wrong) that it is slightly less likely she is up to any serious funny business before and after intensive Mandarin.
How Much Social Ostracization Can You Take? I went to a small holiday lunch hosted by a friend, and the other guests were expats and/or Taiwanese citizens who spend significant time living abroad. The conversation took place in Mandarin and was primarily about crypto. Since my language abilities aren’t quick enough to meaningfully participate, I mostly toyed with my food and beer slowly while listening carefully. This was fine until I had a little bit of trouble picking up seafood with my chopsticks. I sat there wondering for a few seconds if I should ask for a fork, before deciding that it would be social suicide to not be able to participate in Mandarin, not talk about crypto AND not be able to pick up my food with chopsticks. Only two strikes out of three are allowed. Thus the quiet poking of food continued until I was finally successful in picking up a cold piece of shrimp.
