7 Years - All Done

The Clutterbuck's of Taiwan have pretty much come to an end. We're packing up and moving back to New Zealand. One last Chinese New Year, the year of the dog, and we'll be home.

I guess that won't be the end of the Clutterbuck's of Taiwan story. My two boys are still Taiwanese, they will always carry that heritage with them. It may mean the death of another one of my blogs though, living in Taiwan. However, you never know, it may serve other purposes, especially a great link to my Chinese blog that I've just started. Expect to see a new blog on the horizon though, perhaps "Taiwanese Clutterbuck's in New Zealand" may be an apt title for a blog.

It's tough leaving Taiwan, especially after seven years. I have a career that I just love, but to be with my family and give them the kind of life and environment that they deserve, I will return to NZ. I've enough memories to last a lifetime, and I will alway treasure my time in Taiwan, especially my students. It's a hard thing to say goodbye to all those kids. Some of them I've known since they were born. I've taught whole families, even their mothers and fathers. Sad to say it, it will mean that a large number of students will stop coming to the language school. That's a really pity.

HEY, I just had a brainstorm, I am going to call a new blog, "Seven Years In Taiwan", sounds just like a movie, doesn't it.

Clutterbuck Men of Taiwan

Timothy Clutterbuck

Timothy Clutterbuck came into the world in Taiwan on May 12th, 2005. Weighing in at 3000 grams and 54cm long. Lean and long.



Peace.

Baby Names that go well with Clutterbuck

We are expecting a another son next month and I still haven't picked out a name yet. I know that picking out a name is a very personal thing, and I am not going to let a stranger name my child. But, I am interested in how people feel about the difficulty of matching names with a name like "Clutterbuck".

I'm down to a few possibles at the moment. Thomas and Timothy.

Thomas feels right with Clutterbuck, but Timothy just feels a little difficult off the toungue. Even Tim doesn't have the right feel. I like the meaning of Timothy though.

Anyway, I started with these few names...
1. Jordan
2. Paul
3. Timothy
4. Thomas

The question is this...

Which names do you feel go best with "Clutterbuck", have a good meaning, and sound "sexy" to the ear?

Drop me a line.

Happy New Year

Happy Year of the Chicken from the Clutterbuck's of Taiwan 

Does that make us "Cluckerbuck's"? (You've probably heard that one before).

Note: In Western translations it is called the "Year of the Cock" or "Rooster". However, here in Taiwan the translation into English sometimes remains sexless to make it a little softer and neutral. Chinese = Ji Nian (Chicken Year) - Rooster Gong Ji - Hen Mu Ji. So, I have maintained a nice Chicken Year approach to the naming of things.

Taiwan - Strange Place For A Clutterbuck

Clutterbuck's find themselves in many places accross the globe, most of them however in former colonies. One Clutterbuck finds himself as a new generation of pioneering Clutterbuck, Dale Clutterbuck (me) in Taiwan. Here's a picture of the said pioneer in his working clothes.

Taiwan, just to avoid confusion, is not Thailand. It is a little island off the coast of Mainland China (no, not Hong Kong). Many people actually wouldn't know where Taiwan is, so let me show you a bigger picture of the island that I now call home.



Now if you are looking on the map, it's somewhere below Japan and above the Phillipines. Look closely though because if you blink you may just miss it.

Are we still Clutterbuck's in Taiwan?

My family and I, as far as Taiwan is concerned, now have "Chinese" names, and as such do not exist as Clutterbuck's. We are known by the family name 柯 (Ke) pronounced like the "cur" in curtain. (Here's a picture of the Chinese character for our name.)


Who are "we"?

Dale, Jennifer (Jing Fang), and Joshua - child no.2 arriving May 2005


Jennifer and Dale


Joshua

Just who is Dale Clutterbuck?

I am a New Zealander, born and raised in Christchurch. Son of Frank Victor and Yvonne Margaret (nee Cooper) Clutterbuck. Born in 1975.

So, tell us about the Taiwan adventure.

I began my Taiwan adventure back in March 1999, when I came for a planned 6 month trip. That trip extended to one year, and that one year has been extended to going on 6 years.

I touched down in Taiwan barely with any survival Chinese at all, besides a few basic greetings, the ability to read pinyin, and a Chinese dictionary; I was completely unprepared for what awaited me. The air trip was a long one, 19 hours to Gaoxiong city in southern Taiwan, where I was to be met by friends of a Taiwanese family that I knew from Christchurch. I have to admit that the hot climate and humidity was a real shock to the system, imagine if you will the reverse of the weather from the airport scene in “Cool Runnings” and that is about what it was like for me.

The next day I found myself in the town were I would spend my days up until the present day. Tachia (Da Jia), a little town in Taichung county, Central Taiwan. Not a bad little town at all. Home of the famous Mazhu festival. It was there that I began my teaching career, almost immediately as it happened.

I have taught everything from kindergarten to adults and corporate English for one of the biggest bike companies in the world. I’ve taught in Junior High, with classes up to 50 students all wanting conversation classes. Sometimes what the Taiwanese want and what is realistic is so unbelievable, but that’s another story.

Finally, I have ended up as Director of a language school and English director for a network of schools.

It was here that I met my wife, and here where our son, Joshua, was born. August 2001 saw the arrival of Joshua into the world, as far as I know, the first Taiwanese born Clutterbuck, although he goes by his Chinese name here.

If you have any questions about Taiwan or Clutterbuck's in Taiwan, please contact us. If you know of any other Clutterbuck's in Taiwan or that have been here, please let us know too.