I'm Moving to Taiwan

Howdy gang. I know it’s been a while since I’ve written to you. I apologize. Life has been a mess. I’ve decided to move to Taiwan to learn Tai Chi and teach English.

First I’ll get down to business. My last Robbie and the Robots show scheduled in America is December 21^st at the Triple Crown. We’re headlining. For those of you who like to freak out, that’s supposed to be the day the world is fated to end according to the Mayan calendar. Spilt Milk and Sp_aces open the show. I’ve written some new songs and this is the best band I’ve ever had the privilege to play with. I know it’s close to Xmas, but if you can make it out I’d really love to see some friendly faces before I go to the other side of the world.

As a going away present I am giving away a demo recording of the song “Waltz in G Major” that James, CJ, Junior and I recorded last year at the Firestation studio in San Marcos. The final mix was done by Maria Boyrie. It is available to download for anyone who signs up for the Robbie and the Robots mailing list on Reverb Nation or anyone who is already on the mailing list. I know a lot of people have wanted a recording of this song for a while, so if you know of anyone who’s been wanting to own this song, please let them know to sign up with Robbie and the Robots on Reverbnation.www.reverbnation.com/robbieandtherobots

Now… why I’m leaving.

When the economy crunched in Texas I lost almost all of my regular music performance and sound engineering shifts when bars started cancelling live music. That’s how I was making my living, so suddenly I was scrambling every week and traveling a lot just to earn rent.

Then Sarah and I split up in July. Without getting into any of the he said/she said, I’ll just say life was too hard for too long and we finally became too broken to heal together. She’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, and the best friend I’ve ever had. I hope she has a great life.

In that same week our landlord sold our house. The new landlord asked us to move out in a week. So I had to move in with my brother’s family. My family has been amazing to me. Thank you all so much.

Then very recently I lost my grandfather. I had to drive to my brother’s new house in the middle of the night to tell my father that his dad had passed away. It was a surreal coming of age moment that I will never forget.

I also finally came to the realization that I have lived a very selfish life. I’ve been in denial of that. I want to learn to be more selfless. I want to learn how to put others first. I want to learn to be a better person.

Basically everything has changed for me in a very short period of time. Five years ago a wave of tragedy flooded my world. Then about five months ago the water finally receded far enough to reveal that my old life had washed away. So it’s time for a fresh start.

Pretty much all I’ve been able to hang onto in the last five months is my Martial Arts practice. I’m training about 1-6 hours per day now. I’d say Tai Chi Chuan saved me from losing my head in a bottle. I am so thankful for all of my Tai Chi instructors. Thank you George, Terri, Sean and Alex for introducing me to Tai Chi at Shaolin Do. Thank you Sean Carney at Soft Answer Tai Chi for becoming something like my version of Mister Miyagi. For the last two years he’s been my guide into the world of Tai Chi fanatics. He’s an amazing role model for patience, kindness and hard work. I’ve turned down jobs to stay in his class in Buda on Tuesdays. And the Cheng Manching style of Tai Chi I’m learning with him is my inspiration for going to Taiwan. I plan to train in Taipei at Shr Jung, the original school for Cheng Manching style Tai Chi Chuan. Thank you to Kade Green of North Austin Tai Chi for being so patient with me when I first came to his class after I moved in with my brother. For the first two months all I wanted to do was stand in the corner and meditate. He’s a wonderful teacher who practices Tai Chi all day, and he’s taught me a ton about the Tai Chi principles that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. And thank you to Francie Shimaya of AOMA for being a role model of serenity in the face of adversity. After four months of qigong and meditation in her Sunday class I finally stopped hearing screaming when she said, “Open your heart”. Thank you very much to Joye Petty, the owner of Lightning Tykes, for bringing me on to work for her even though she knew I was moving to Taiwan in January. She is a total martial arts and sci-fi enthusiast who has taught me gobs about discipline and working with children as well as some awesome life skills and nunchaku swings. And I’m super appreciative of Derrick, Walter, Guy, Mark and all of the other push hands players at Pease Park who have taught me so much every Sunday come rain or shine. I look forward to returning and showing everyone what I have learned in Taiwan.

I plan to keep a blog while I am in Taiwan. It is called Robbie Robot. You can view it here. http://robbiedoyen.blogspot.com/  I haven't posted on it since February 6th 2009. Be aware that the blog will be my relatively unfiltered thoughts. Not always for the meek or easily offended. Anyone interested can check out what I'm up to in the Taiwanese world of martial arts, tea, English teaching, and music.

Thankfully I’ve also been able to play a little bit of music, though I haven’t been able to put as much energy into it as I’ve always liked to. My band right now is my group of best friends. It’s probably been 15 years since I could say that. I will miss them very much. But thanks to the world of modern technology we are going to try to record an album together while I am in Taiwan. As you can imagine I have written a few songs lately.

So, please come out on the 21^st if you can. This going away party will be my last chance to see most of you for quite a while. I’m going to miss San Marcos and all of my friends and family very much. I’m not sure how long I will be gone or what the world will be like when I return. I’m sad for how much I have lost. But I’m excited to embark on this new beginning.

I love you all very much. I will truly miss everyone. Wo ai ni men. Tsai jian!

-rob