I've... we've relocated to a new place here in Taipei, and it's one worth talking about, and dedicating a blog entry to. The new roommates: Albina, Charles, Gleb, Irene, Val and myself all met coincidentally this year and quickly grew close. So, here we are, at our rocking new residence - The Malina Mansion!
The holidays are here! Well, they were here. When this episode was taped. In this installment of my video blog, I take and show you what Taiwan is like during the holiday season. What’s cool is, here we get to enjoy longer holidays (sort of) than back home. We get two consecutive New Years – Western and Chinese – and a Christmas somewhere in there. This, I guess, sort of makes up for the lack of Christmas spirit around these parts. Although the shops are open, the decorations are up, and the Jingle Bells is being played on every corner, ironically, the Christmas spirit is absent. First and foremost, because the Taiwanese WORK on Christmas. Yes, that means the white folks work, too.
For New Years Eve and Day, we usually get these days off. Even if they fall in the middle of the week, which is nice. The Chinese New Year is the best time though. A lot of people get a whole month off, and most get around two weeks. They are pretty generous with vacation time here. This is no America for you. And not to mention the LOADS of national holidays and other random times that gives you days off. For my Chinese New Year trip (as most take one), I traveled back to Moscow with Val. I haven’t been back in over a decade and it was insanely great to see all my family and friends again. However, I left this part for the next episode.
On a technical note, the past two episodes have been rather lengthy, so I decided to cut back and return to my initial set timing of ten minutes per episode. I also shortened the transitions and lengthened the content itself. This way, it should be more enjoyable to watch. I just personally enjoy mixing the music and videos for these transitions and sometimes get carried away.
The idea for the title came from childhood memories. I used to watch many of Audrey Hepburn movies with the family and one of them (the more famous one) is Roman Holiday, so I thought it’d be appropriate to do a little play on. Some of the highlights include our Chinese class presentations, teaching jobs and Christmas shopping with my Chinese Christian friend, Paul Gao. Oh yeah, and of course more partying – Russian style!
I was walkin back home from dinner a few weeks ago, when I came across this flyer. A short film festival here in Taiwan? Moreover, a cell phone shot short film? That sounds like something right up my alley. Right away I was pretty excited to kick things into gear. Given that I've been playing around with editing and shooting this whole year, and really developing this hobby of mine, the mobile short film competition will be a good way to see what the "experts" in the field think of my work.
I am pretty excited about what we have conjured up. Music. Singing. Some laughs. Taiwan. Even some Lady Gaga. All that is going to be included in my one minute short film debut. It took a little while to put the idea together in a comprehensible and rational manner, but I think we've managed pretty well. We commenced shooting today, July 26, and have until August 5 to submit the material. Top prize winner takes home NT$20,000. Not too shabby. It could sure go a long way in helping pay off some bills and debt.
The first day of shooting was pretty successful and fun. Even thought today Taiwan's weather decided to bring us heavy rain, we worked around it and I am remaining optimistic that tomorrow we can sneak in at least a few hours of sunshine in the morning. That's how it works here - it shines in the morning and it pours in the afternoon and evening. For more info, go here.
I am still only half way through editing the fourth episode, but I've finished the trailer. This one is taking a bit of time since I am pretty busy with job search and planning my life out for the next year. It looks like I might stick around here for another year. Even apply to do my MBA degree, as well.
The fourth episode shows a bit of what's it like to teach English in Taiwan. Anything from college students all they way down to those little, adorable, and yet VERY crazy kindergarteners. Also, throughout the year I've caught on tape some pretty funny moments, both of random Taiwanese people as well as my friends. People's whack work out routines at the gym, to dancing on the MRT, to acting a fool in class. That's all here. Finally, my first trip to Russian in over ten years, is going to be shown here. It was a pretty special time for me since I haven't seen most of my family in the past decade. But that's all to come when I finish putting it together. For now, here's the trailer!
Situation 101 gets its own website - 101.khandurin.com - now up and running.
The other day I had an idea to organize all the episodes in a neat and creative way, so voila, the 101 website! Wix.com offers some cool flash templates, with which you can quickly make a clean looking, modern, and professional website. There are many free templates options as well, which is great!
Also, for quickness, I made a another subdomain off my website - blog.khandurin.com - which takes you directly to this blog. It beats the actual web address, I think. Plus, I like doing these tech things.
While waiting on more from Taiwan, I'd recommend checking this show out. Yeah, I know, it's about vampires, but its cleverly done. I, myself, was never into the whole "Twilight" saga, but this is quite different. Well thought out. Interestingly shot. Good actors. Enthusing story line.
Speaking of blood, I was recently cast in a music video for an up and coming Taiwanese rap star. He's really new, and his style isn't exactly what you'd expect from a rapper, but hey, when in Taiwan... I played the part of some army general, interrogating and torturing this kid. It was a pretty low budget shoot, but turned out pretty well. My part was shot in a span of about an hour on some dorm roof top of a university here in Taipei. You can check out the behind the scenes action in one of the upcoming episodes. For now, check out the the final product below.
The other day I discovered that Blogspot now supports mobile browsing. I enabled the option and it now works a lot better on my iPhone than the cumbersome full webpage. I think it works well on most Smart Phones. Try it out!
That pretty much sums up this episode. I've had some pretty cool experiences during the filming of this episode, including being in a lingerie commercial (Mode Marie) with a Taiwanese soap opera star - their version of Susan Lucci. Just younger. A LOT younger. We spent fifteen hours on set, made bank, and found out that Cheryl Yang (the Susan Lucci) is a real bitch. She wouldn't even respond when spoken to directly. She'd glance up at one of her dozen assistants and signal her to answer me. Playing a Hello Kitty game on her iPad was more important. Naturally.
Halloween was pretty wild this year. We had a big group get together and go to one of the events happening around the city. I ended up at my friend Paul's house without any recollection of how I got there. But I was good enough to communicate with the taxi driver - in Chinese! All in all, a pretty good night.
And finally, you'll see a bit of what the MTC (Mandarin Training Center) is all about. I will actually take you inside the classroom - WOW! Yeah I know. It's pretty cool. And you'll see how the teacher confiscated my phone. Although, this happened pretty regularly. What did she expect when the school had WiFi?
Oh yeah, and check out the new intro and song. Just to freshen things up a bit. Enjoy.
...not really, but that's what this song is about. Our school had a karaoke or a singing contest, if you will, and the Mongols owned the show. They (he) took home the first prize for this sick rendition of a 90's Taiwanese pop song, which is about loosing your virginity. For real. It's a catchy tune and easily got the crowed going. Most other students chose Taiwanese ballads. And it's not their fault. There's not much variety when it comes to the pop here, or any genre for that matter. Actually, there's really only one genre when you come to think of it - what EVERYBODY else listens to. I guess that's the best way to explain it. They like to conform here. Everyone does the popular thing. Deviation from the norm is sort of weird.
Anyways, this dude really brought it home. He chose an upbeat track, added some fly dance moves and got the crowed into it. I really enjoyed it myself. And I can't say that for most of the other contestants. So I decided to put together this video. Something to watch while you wait (I hope) for the following episode! You can see more of the contestants and the competition in this upcoming installment of Situation 101, which is almost finished! I'm working faster this time around.
Also, you can google the lyrics and check out the original song/video on YouTube. I think this Taiwanese tune is definitely worth the download. And I won't say that about a lot of tracks put out by the Taiwanese music industry. Enjoy!
Song: 愛的初體驗 (Literally, first love experience)
Artist: 張震嶽 (Zhang Zhen Yue)
Finally, after months of silence, I’ve completed the second episode. Various ideas were flowing in and out of my mind during these months – what to do, how to edit, what to omit. In the end, the total running time is roughly 15 minutes, so I hope you don’t get bored (scroll down to watch).
In the episode my friends, classmates and I attempt to describe this city in only three words. Given the cultural diversity of Taipei; I decided to do this in various languages. In addition to foreign languages, three different languages are spoken in Taiwan – Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hakka – the former two of which you will hear in this video. I tried finding a Hakka speaker, but to no avail. Also, you will hear some other unique Asian ones as well, such as Japanese and Thai.
Later in the episode, my good friend Alison Perry comes all the way from Long Island, New York to visit this crazy place. Val, Ali and I head down south to Kenting. And this time around we do things a little bit differently. With the motivating help of Ali, we endeavor to hike in the Kenting National Park instead of just wasting away at the beach. I must say it was a great idea. We also made some new friends atop the mountain, as you’ll see. At night, we decided to partake in the favorite Taiwanese past time – karaoke! It isn’t our forte, let’s just say. Although, Ali didn't fare too badly.
Now, I am in the process of editing the third episode in which you’ll see what it’s like to study Chinese at a Taiwanese university and how to make an extra buck while doing so. So, once again, stay tuned!
I've finally completed the second installment of my video blog. Below you can watch the preview video. Although the preview doesn't present the entire idea of the synopsis of the episode. The full thing should be completed in the next coming week, as I add the final touches. Stay tuned (or not) until then to find out the what the second one is all about.
The preview contains clips from our trip to Kenting, the southmost point of the Taiwan. A friend of mine, Alison Perry, came all the way from NYC to visit, so my buddy Val and I decided to take her to one of the most renown and picturesque parts of the island. I'll go ahead and speak for all three of us and say that we thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially when we got down and dirty and did some serious hiking in the Kenting National Park. There were some kick-ass views from atop the mountains. Highly recommended for those of you who will make it out there one day. It is also a nice change to the usual itinerary for Kenting, which usually encompasses getting wasted and partying. I've done my fair share of that down there.
Life in Taipei can get slightly monotonous from time to time (as you will see in the full episode), so these mini trips around the island is our way to ensure we never get too bored with the quotidian routine. Enjoy and stay tuned!
