Sandy Snakenberg in Taiwan

This is Sandy Snakenberg coming to you from Taipei,Taiwan. I am here for three to six months, to inspire the growing skate scene. Below are some excerpts of messages that I have written to some of my other skating buds / budgets in the USA. I thought I would share them with you. The names may have been changed to protect the guilty. Enjoy and I look forward to some correspondence [email: sdy@expressmail.com]. Thanks to Howard and anyone else for making this possible. Also check out the C.O.R.A. web page at http://web.cora.org/, it has the total of what I have sent so far. With the spelling corrected.

Pictures:

Well I made it ok with no ill effects. There is a skate scene here, though not much. The only people they have to learn from here are the ice figure skaters. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but as you know there is more to be had. Like getting down... then getting back up again and boogieing. The other skate shop owners have already came by Jack's(my sponsor) shop to check out the new sheriff in town. I was honored by a visit from Team Rollerblade Taiwan. Jack said that they want me to teach them some moves. Thats what I am here for. I have e-mail of course but no web access yet. There are some cyber caves here but I have yet to find them.

I found a hermit crab in my bag of Gu(Gu is a sports carbohydrate gell and comes in little 1.1oz packets). I heard the plastic bag rustling and thought it was another cockroach, but to my surprise it was a hermit crab about the size of a silver dollar. I left it there to retrieve later and keep as a pet for a while, but when I returned a couple of hours later it had vanished. I looked every where for it to no avail. I don't know how it got in or how it left(mysterious). Jack said that they come out during the rainy times. I have been eating stokers for breakfast almost every morning since I had arrived. Though I have not had to much use for the Gu...yet.

Today was Childrens' day, a national holiday for the advancement of the children. At least thats how it was explained to me. Maybe something lost in the translation, but you get the jist. Anyway Team Rollerblade Taiwan came by and we all went to the park and did a performance, and it was quite a hit. I'd say over 600 spectators( that is to say about 1 to 200 at each show, and we did 4 shows) in all came by to watch us do the high jump, slalom, and launch ramp bits. I did most of the slolum and high jump with the others doing about 10%. But they took off on the launch ramp with me at the side lines. I'm to old for that stuff, or at least too injured from doing to much of that stuff in the past. They(the crowd) seemed to like the slolum the best though.

This morning about 10am I heard air raid sirens then silence. This was the first time I heard silence, especially in the mid morning traffic hum. It was nice at the same time disturbing. I wasn't sure if it was a drill or not. Turned out to be an exercise though.

Eric(my student/assistant) and I went to an indoor skating rink tonight. I took some pictures of course. I rode on the back of his motor cycle. That was quite an experience, it wasn't so bad after I got used to him weaving in between the cars to get to the front of traffic, kind of the same way I street skate. That is how everyone rides here, and I felt safer than riding with Jack in his car. The rink was small, on the 6th floor with a bowling ally on the 4th floor. It was about 50 meters square and had 7 foot ceiling, so I didn't do any high jumps. The reaction was mostly awe. They have never seen freestyle skating like that before. I gave out the shop card and told them I was a teacher. I hope some of them come to my classes.

Today we got one lesson in before it started raining again. They won't let us use the community center anymore because we are a business, so we just re-schedule the other lessons. We had three kids. Jack took the youngest I took the next youngest, and Eric took the girl whom I had already given a lesson to. At first I tried to give instruction to the child, but when I found that was not working to well,so I just skated behind him and caught him every time he fell. And show him how to do thing properly. That was probably the best thing to do though. By the end of the lesson he was skating pretty good.

There is normally a lot of foot traffic in the park, but especially so on holidays. The park is a new one. Only one year old. It's about of one and a half blocks wide by one km long. Not very big. Nothing like Golden Gate park that I have seen so far.

We did a record day on Sunday(Easter). We sold 18 pair of skates. The pre existing record was 5. I told Jack that it was possible to sell twenty pairs of skates on a weekend day and ten on the week days before I came, but he thought I was exaggerating. He didn't think it was possible or that it would take longer to reach this goal. Well I went to the school of Adlei Karim in guerrila marketing and well I think that I'm doing a pretty good job so far. Jack was sure impressed. During that day I received about a half a dozen hard boiled eggs wrapped in colored paper from some of the local children in the park while I was giving a lesson. Today I had about 25 students.

Next monday I'm going to take a train to the country, just to see country, land, trees. I don't know how people can choose to live like this. There is so far no place to speedskate or ride a bike at a fitness level. I can't do intervals. Which kind of sucks from a training stand point.

This Sunday I gave two classes with 13 students in all and several one hour free lessons which is given with every pair of skates sold. Then we passed out about 1,000 flyers. The classes are done at the park where the public can watch and receive a flyer. Good tactics. Then I go to a public market place and throw down a short routine where quite a crowd builds, then also pass out flyers. People see what there are getting and like it.

So are they all private lessons? Where do you teach them? No they are not private lessons, and I teach them at the crowded park. It turned out that I ended up teaching almost 30 students on Sunday. I need some help. If you know or see someone who has a comparable ability level as my own in freestyle/slolum/dance, give them my e-mail address and tell them that I would need a 10 minute video tape of there abilities as well as a resume and a reference or two would not hurt. Have it sent to

Hardcore Skate club
no. 7, Alley 19, Lane 151, Sec. 2
Chien-Kuo South Road, 
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. 

Jack's    Fax 886-2-658 1788
        phone 886-2-797-6089

Jack and I went to the 200meter banked track. It was pretty cool. I skated for about an hour before it started raining. I did some 200meter springs with my best time being 22.26 seconds My starts suck, I really need to practice more on them and probably cut 2 seconds off my time. I was pretty fried afterwards having done weights before doing the sprints, but I was happy just to be doing them.

Thats OK. The races are 200meter 500meter and 3000meter sprints. They are not allowing any outside competition :-( so I am just going to watch and take pictures. Also I am still searching for places to skate other than the streets. You don't want to speedskate on the streets, so bring your four wheelers if you have them. I did find two 200meter banked tracks though and have heard a rumor of a stretch of smooth pavement/wide sidewalk that goes along the river by the zoo. Un confirmed though.

It is getting really hot right now. Just a taste of what is to come. The air gets kind of thick when it doesn't rain for a few of days. I had to cut my track workout short because of this.

I got my name cards today, I also have a Chinese name, it's Sa Sandy, Head Coach. They put your family name first here so Snakenberg has been changed to Sa. I was told that the Sa family is a very good one and they are also tall.

I have been skating on those good thoughts when I can. April is the rainy season, so it rains about 5 days a week. So far the longest since I've been here has been 3 days straight. I have been going to the gym about 4 days a week to try and keep my fitness level up there, but I hate doing all of my workouts indoors.

I have heard of (so far) 5 indoor skating rinks of various sizes, but no larger than 50 meters square, but I've only been to two of them. They are like discoteques for skaters, only they don't stay open late enough for my taste. Just till 9:30PM

Well it didn't rain this week end, so it turned out to be quite busy for me. I forgot to put sun-block on my legs for most of the day and so they got kind of sun-burned, but not to bad. I think I caught it just in time. One of my classes has finished its first cycle, which is four 1.5 hour lessons. At the conclusion of it we went the length of the park with me leading the way with 8 other kids boogieing with the boom box. It was quite a site. I got some pictures this time.

It's raining again today though, and it's my day off. Bummer. It is supposed to rain for the next three days. But I got a lot done. I rode the equivalent of Bart today. It rides on rubber tires, not a rail. Strange huh. I am going to the Cyber cafe this evening. Maybe I can e-mail you again from there. I will be checking out all the new skating stuff that I have been missing, such as the Roller Diva's web page. And my little thing as well as other things. If I have not mentioned it, congratulations on the article and great photos.

I went to the Wangloo Cyber cafe last night. It is a pretty cool place. I saw the Roller Diva's page as well as a multitude of others. That French dude (Fabrice) thats skating around the world was cool. I had a killer chicken curry with lots of rice for a very reasonable sum too. After that I went on a night skate. I must have done at least 15 miles. Found some really cool free-style skate areas that have a ceiling, so when it rains I know where to go for some boogieing. the closest one happens to be in another shops territory though, so I can not instruct there. Skating at night was so much better that in the daytime. There is less traffic and the air quality is subsequently better. I get a lot of attention as you might imagine this 6 foot 9 inch(with skates) skater would get.

I had my heavy day at the weight room today. I did 220lb one leggers 10 reps. My butt feels really big, and sore. I wish I had some races to look forward to. I guess the Napa to Calistoga will have to do. A hungry lion hunts best. This lion will be very hungry.

Today Jack and myself went to a sports trade show to see what kind of skates the Taiwan industries are turning out. there was one company that had some things that were interesting concepts. It kind of reminded me of some of the Roces models. They still have some catching up to do. the name of the company was Lotuskate. Chuck the president was interested in me doing some R&D for him. I am not offering free-bees anymore though. I will cost them for my services. Otherwise it was the usual thing, passing out flyers the such. I will try to make it to the running track to see if I can skate in there.

To day was full of lessons. I got a pair of Fattys and am expecting a pair of Vo2 maxes from K2. I will come home with more skates than I left with. The Fatty is cool. I sit really low to the ground and can accommodate no larger than a 67mm wheel. I can skate on them as well as my quads. Retail about $300 U.S.

In some ways better because the Fatty is made for grinding and stunts. Don't worry I won't be coming home with baggy pants worn at the waist to show off my boxers. I don't even like boxers. Jack and I have a meeting with the Taiwan K2 reps and the president of the Taiwan skate manufacture that I mentioned this evening at 9PM and the latter at 10PM. What a day.

I got about 5 hours sleep last night. I was up late with the meetings. I called you at about 1 AM. I met with Kimberly Ames this morning and she treated me to the best breakfast since I have been here. I may have gained back my missing 4lbs. It was a buffet style at the Ritz. Kim had a free complimentary breakfast ticket. It would have cost me 20US $ otherwise. Boy did I pack it. We skated the streets to the shop. Kim thought the streets were very skat-able though she couldn't really speed skate. She finally saw the Inline America thing on her and Jonathan. She hung out for most of the day and watched me give a couple of lessons while taking pictures with her disposable camera and my own. I didn't have any complimentary lessons in-between so we got to hang out for some good quality time. I also got some great pictures of her skating the streets here. She also called Jonathan Sutter and surprised him with my voice. It was really great to have a visitor even if it was was for part of the day. She might stop by on her way back but that is a big maybe.

Now the Rollerblade distributor wants me to start a freestyle clinic that would last a month each. I don't think they want me to leave now. But I will have to. There is a whole world to save you know.

Verily I say unto ye, as I place my hands on your head. You are heeeealed, now go skate.

Flash... Elvis has been seen here in Taipei! He is teaching English at Joy Children English school.

Well it happened and I think "D" would have been proud. fifteen people showed up for the first ever Taipei Midnight Rollers. We started from the shop (Fung Shu), where the club members meat, and went to the Dah Ahn (forest) park direct directly west where other skaters were. Then we continued west to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial where we hung out and regrouped. We continued from there east back to and through forest park again and picked up some late comers, then kept going to the Sun Yet-Sen memorial. We kicked it there for a while I boogied around to the beat of the boom box that I carried the whole while listening to the tunes that Lisa made for me, of course I had the volume cranked so everyone was enjoying it too. Some of the others went to do the stairs and stuff. We then gathered back together and went back to the shop. Most of us then went to Shih Ta Rd. to the Roxy Plus for some beers to celebrate the action. We started at 10 P.M. and it lasted until just after midnight with a total distance of about 9 or 10 miles. I got pictures too. This was the best social evening I've had since I have been here. The reaction from the spectators was mostly disbeleif with periods of applause and hollers form pedestrians and motorcyclists. No problems with the traffic, we were given our space. No one believes in wearing a helmet, though I wore mine.

Hey - I am featured in an article in The China Post today. To see the article, click HERE.

Well we did the Friday night skate last night and had a good time. One problem occurred when a drunk driver turned right onto one of the skaters and he was hit. He was not hurt but was visibly shaken. This was the first street roll the skater went on and was not to good at maneuvering or stopping. Even though it was the drivers fault not to mention the fact that he was drunk nobody wanted to do anything about it. I of course was very pissed and wanted to call the police but the culture here seems to think that it is ok to drive drunk. Their feeling is that everyone does it so it is ok, besides the fact that the driver wasn't even really sorry, he just wanted to see us leave. It was as if they wanted to ignore the problem and save face. I wanted to see the guy arrested and his license or car taken away, but after a few minutes of almost getting into a fight with the bonehead we left and continued on what turned out to be a pretty good time.

Well I made it for the first three months, whew! Now I go home to spend some quality time with Kelly and my other friends then return for the final three months. I am leaving on the 19th this Wednesday. This last three months will be the most challenging. Not just of the added work load (school gets out so there will be more kids to train and teach), but also because of the intense heat and humidity that I will be exposed to on a daily basis. I also have plans to do a promotional skate tour of Taiwan towards the end of August. You have my e-mail at home where I will be until the 9th of July. There is a possibility that I will be changing my e-mail server when I return. I will be sure to let you know if that happens. This has been quite an experience and is the end of this chapter of my tour. I hope to see you all when I am back. Take care and thanks for the visit Kim, and Zack.

Well this has been it for my first three month tour. I am returning to San Francisco for a little over two weeks for a vacation then will be returning for my final three month tour around the 11th of July.

Well I have gotten together with Kent and we will be forming TISA, which will require the help of all the major skate shops, an extensive phone tree, and mailing list of there customer base . It seems that they have an indoor rollerskating federation here that has yet to recognize inline skating (sound familiar?). We are working on changing that. I now have three teachers that I am teaching (Jack being one of them). Jack has come a long way have to give lessons himself he also learned in the process. Jack is working on getting me a spot on a radio and television programs. And of course the thing I want to do the most of course is the cross Taiwan tour. As things are going now skating is just a fad, or a thing that kids are doing, and adults think of them as just toys to use on the week ends. No one really sees the potential of this being transportation, or a serious sport like bike racing. The fact that there are these street vendors that sell cheap skates is not going to help either. Because they are thought or as just toys people here don't see any reason to buy a good (more expensive) pair of skates. Needless to say we know what their first impressions will be like, and the possibility for future impressions are low.

Well I must say that we had quite a ride from typhoon Herb last night. I went over to Kents place and Olwen was there too (a skater). We all played games and watched five movies. Yes five. The Usual Suspects, Sudden Death, Ace Ventura (third time on that one for me), Vertuosity, and I can't remember the last one. I think it was something called Judgment Day or Judgment something. The best out of all of them was The Usual Suspects. Reeeeal good, and Sudden Death was the worst. There was a lot of damage that I have seen on my way home. A lot of motorcycles crushed by fallen trees, downed signs, and broken windows. Most of the stores have these sliding metal doors (like the kind at my shop), and there are bars on most windows. Of course most is not all. Kent says that was the strongest storm in the seven years he has been here. Every once in a while my ears would pop, followed by a super strong gust, I'd say they were at least 100 mile per hour plus gusts, with sustained 50 to 70 for almost six hours.

Other than the excitement of the storm it was a matter of trying to stay entertained for the eight hours we had to stay indoors. It was fun in a way. Kent lives on the roof of a six floor apartment building (which puts him at the 7th floor) which made all the more exciting. There were times that we thought that the whole place was going to blow away... But of course it didn't.

Well it's my day off again tomorrow, and I will be going to Chien Tchu again this evening. This past Friday night skate was the best so far with a record of 36 participants, wooo hooo. Eric came up from Chien Tchu and brought two speed skaters with him, one of whom I had already met. I seems that my reputation is spreading. They want me to coach their team of ten, both male and female. I will be doing a 20km road skate from Erics house to his shop in the morning, then eat, then nap, then get the local speed skaters together for a two hour work out/clinic. Each workout will involve something different.

I will be going to Chien Tchu to do the dance performance this Sunday. This will be a semi-final thing. The final is on the last Sunday of the month. I am so excited to be doing a REAL performance for a change.

There is another typhoon headed our way, and another one building after this one. It will be awhile before we feel another one like Herb. They say that Herb was the strongest typhoon in 22 years.

Thats it for now but there's more to come... at least for six months. Let me know what you think, as I'm sure you all will. Skate away thats all.
Sandyberg