A month to go...

If you've managed to get here or are amazingly still following this after my month long hiatus from posting: thank you. They say, in space no one can hear you scream. And I suppose, the internet and blogging can be the same, and there's no excuse if you don't update at all.

I may need to alter the name of this blog for the third time (changes are pending) as I may no longer face impending conscription by the Ministry of Defense here on Taiwan, ROC. Two months ago, following great arguments made by family members, peers and other informed citizens, I decided to apply for Alternate Civil Service (known as 替代役). Using my language speciality (English yipee), I joined 312 other young men who used academic degrees earned outside of Taiwan to apply for this type of civil service in lieu of basic military training.

I was informed just weeks ago that my application was accepted and hopefully within a month, I will be off to training (one month of basic military training and then a few weeks of specialized training). After that, my occupation will be "English teacher for elementary schools students in Taiwan's mountainous/rural/outlying isle regions" (that title does have a ring to it, doesn't it?).

In the end, I've rationalized that any way I can help kids learn before society chaffs away at their good-natured idealism is indeed much better than having the Ministry of Defense waste their energy on training me to be an able member of the Military Police.

More news on this as information arises.