Hullo I’m Ryan. I currently live in Taiwan and teach Engalish. I’ve been here for about two and half years now. I would say I enjoy it about 90% of the time but of course I gripe about the ten percent. I hope to cut down on the griping, it’s not healthy productive or interesting.

I came here because I was bored in my job at Wells Fargo in Portland, Oregon and because I wanted to live in a country where Tai chi chuan was part of the national culture. I came with a few goals in mind. The first being to improve my tai chi, the second learning to teach, the third learning Chinese and the fourth getting myself out of the rut I was in.

I’ve had varying degrees of success with those goals but have generally enjoyed myself and become a more financially stable entity at the same time. More important than financial stability is the fact that I met Liou Yi Fang (Ann). We’ve been together for about two years and it’s really been a great, confusing, amusing and wonderful adventure. She’s smarter than me but I’m funnier (looking) so it kind of evens out.

Before coming here I lived in Portland, Oregon where I studied tai chi chuan, read, watched basketball and occasionally did some actual work. I don’t know what the hierarchy of “homes” is for me but Portland is one of my homes.

Prior to that I attended school at Humboldt State University. I was also a member of the HSU Forensics team and represented the school at the National Parlimentary Debate Association championships in both 1999 and 2000. While my record doesn’t indicate much in the way of luck or talent my time with the debate team and learning from Greg and Ron Young (son and father) is something I will always treasure.

I also took up Taoism and tai chi at HSU and made friends who helped shape my life immensely. Do not underrate the value of a college education.

Prior to 1997 I spent two years at the University of Alaska Southeast. They were a good two years spent writing movie reviews for the Whalesong, having my sports writing butchered at the Juneau Empire and eating like a king at the Sica household.

To go back further than that is to degenerate into vanity (if I haven’t already). So I will end things there.