I don't think the rule that your surname must sound like your real name is always followed. The new director of the American Institute in Taiwan (de facto American Embassy) is called William Brent Christensen, and his Chinese name is 酈英傑. I have no idea why he picked 酈; it's extremely uncommon and doesn't sound like his surname at all.

I think for a lot of non-Americans, how the country’s regions are defined can be very confusing. Most people think it’s defined geographically, which is a perfectly reasonable assumption. But if you look at a map of the Midwest states in relation to the whole US, it’s actually in the mid-northern part, even slightly leaning east. That’s because how the regions are defined is very New England-centric. The states from Virginia to Texas are commonly known as the Southern states, which can be bizarre if you look at the geographic location of Virginia. <o:p></o:p>

I can't imagine living without screen doors/windows here in Taiwan; we'd be eaten alive by mosquitoes in the summer. We also have those electrified tennis racquet things you saw. Very handy for killing mosquitoes. 

Traditionally, people use incense to keep away mosquitoes, but now there are a lot of high-tech electronic devices. Some people still use incense though. 

I attended UT Austin from 2007-2010 so you have to take into account inflation, but I think the housing cost in Susan's list is a little high. The first year I lived in a 750 sqft one bedroom in the Far West area for about $750. It's about a 15 minute bus ride from campus on the Far West route of the UT bus system. The second and third year, I almost rented a one bedroom within walking distance from campus for around $600. The building was older but I didn't mind. I ended up sharing a $950 two bedroom with a roommate (my share was $450 because I chose the smaller bedroom), about a 5 minute bus ride on the UT Red River route. All UT buses are free for students and runs pretty frequently. Every apartment I looked at was unfurnished.

I knew a few foreign students who were able to live without a car by renting near a supermarket and taking the bus to school. If you're on a tight budget, I suggest visiting a thrift store for furniture and living supplies. 

The OP’s situation is probably totally different, but just to add to Irena’s last point with my personal experience: like a lot of Taiwanese, my dad’s English reading is pretty good; he can understand most English newspapers and magazines. His spoken English is awful though, and he’ll be the first to admit it. As a joke, he sometimes likes to speak English with me. There are times when I can’t understand what he’s saying. After repeating a word a few times and I still can’t understand it, he’ll spell it out for me. Almost always, I’ll go, “Ohhh! You mean [insert random word].” And because he’s my dad so I don’t have to mince words with him I’ll add, “No wonder I couldn’t understand; you were pronouncing it totally wrong.” <o:p></o:p>

Phil,

I'm glad you're getting your fill of homophone fun.