Alright, I'm somewhat back on track. Here's Chapter 9, pics will come soon! Forgive the mistakes, I didn't have much time to go back through my writing. Once again, new readers....sorry about the novels, but that's how its done here in Taiwan....you can check out the pics.
Monday, August 17th
Happy birthday baby brother! I can’t believe you are no longer a teenager….you are just growing up too fast! I had all my students write letters to Buck for his birthday. They loved it….the most popular question, ‘do you have a girlfriend.’ My kids are all expecting personalized letters in return and are hoping for some pictures as well…..Buck, don’t let ‘em down!
I woke up to an earthquake this morning….around 8am my bed started shaking, when I came to I realized it wasn’t a dream and that I was witnessing a real life earthquake. No worries, no harm or damage was done; apparently, we have earthquakes all the time, just this one, I could actually feel. I was talking to one of my student’s parents and she said Taiwan hasn’t had a big earthquake in quite soon time, just like they hadn’t had a big typhoon in quite some time…eek, that’s not good....hopefully this doesn’t mean I’ll experience a ‘big’ earthquake while I’m here. On the Richter scale, the earthquake that just hit was about a 6.7 off the coast of Japan, but what I felt in my bed was something less than a 3—not too bad!
Sarah and I have made a goal to eat healthier and exercise a little more. We go running after work…we both have to motivate each other, because after a long day of work, neither of us feel up to much of anything. We are planning on running a 5k in November in Toroko Gorge…maybe I’ll bump it up to a half-marathon, we shall see.
Tuesday, August 18th
It’s newsletter time again….although it takes me forever to write the kids’ newsletters, I’m finished for September, so now I have a bit more free time, YAY!
Funniest story, this didn’t happen to me, but it happened to Teacher Sarah in class today. One of her 3rd graders said ‘shit.’ Sarah heard the forbidden word, and swung around from her chair, and with that motherly tone (the one we all know), she said “What did you just say?” The little boy, with a quiver in his lip and sulky eyes, just looked at Sarah and said, “Teacher, I didn’t say Chinese, I just said shit.” Haha, oh the innocence of the little ones.
As I was going through the new spelling words with my second graders, I showed them some of my new kickboxing moves to liven up the group a bit; they got a real kick out of teacher flying across the room throwing fists. As we continued to go through their spelling, Hank let out a big sneeze….snot everywhere! As he reached his hand across his face to wipe the snot across his shirt, I yelled, “Hank, go wash your hands…” As he dashed to the door, I realized I should have grabbed the door for him, but it was too late….snotty hands, on my door knob, gross! Two seconds later, Hank walked back into class….he couldn’t have washed his hands that quickly. “Hank, you need to wash your hands!” I told him. “I did teacher,” he exclaimed. “Go wash them again….” I had to take every precaution. You know, sometimes I’m not quite sure whether I’m a mother, entertainer, or teacher….
Tonight we had language exchange. I worked with Vicky’s dad, James. Man oh man, trying to teach the English language is so difficult. James and I were going through some common phrases…Hi, what’s your name? …where are you from? …the usual stuff. Well, James got caught up on one phrase…If you say, ‘I’m Tawianese,’ then how come you can’t say, ‘I’m Americanese’? Jeez James….I have no idea how to answer that, that’s just the way it is. I wish I could have given him a logical explanation, but I couldn’t think of any. English can be so complicated sometimes. Well, I did learn some new phrases, so I tried them out at the smoothie shop. Sarah and Sam were laughing at me….I have my drink order down perfect, but anything else, out comes my scribbled paper and a lot of gibberish!
Wednesday, August 19th
Today we read a story in drama that had a ‘bee’ in it….Wow, one demonstration of a bee and my kids went wild. They kept pretending like they were bees, trying to sting me….I would jerk my body every which way and they loved it. I think I found the new hit game with my little SPE’s.
I went to the noodle lady for dinner tonight. I haven’t quite got her price list down yet—I think she just charges me what she feels like. I took $60NT because last time my meal was about $55….so, I picked out the usual, my noodles, some bean curd, a green pepper, and some mushrooms. She boiled it right up and as she was handing me my food, she said $65….ut oh, I was totally short $5. I was so embarrassed, but last time it was only $55…eek! Luckily, an Asian, English teacher came to my rescue once again. He translated my dilemma and the noodle lady just said, “No problem, you can pay me next time.” I’m not sure, but I think those are the words for a frequent diner. The Taiwanese people are so nice and generous—I can’t believe it.
Thursday, August 20th
Well, I think I am really learning to let go and just play with the kids….all my structure and organization is turning into spontaneous play—I’m really enjoying it. All I have to do is forget I have any dignity, act completely silly, and the kids love it. In drama, the little SPE’s were getting a bit restless, so I got up and just started dancing…the kids acted as my music box. They were giggling so hard…my dance turned into Thriller, and we had a great time.
Tonight one of my best student’s, Kitty, and her parents, George and Grace, took all of us teachers to the nicest restaurants in Changhua. It’s called Tasty, and for good reason. The mood and atmosphere was so ritzy and elegant, and the food was exquisite (well, from what I’ve been used to the past two months). We received excellent service and a seven course meal for about $15US. First, we were given our appetizers of shrimp and asparagus. Second, we got some yummy French bread breaded with cheeses, meat, and mushrooms. Third, seafood chowder soup with more bread sticks. Fourth, potato salad with shrimp decorated on top (yes, the shrimp came with its head, legs, and all). Fifth, the main course of pork ribs and vegetables. Sixth, a tasty mango smoothie. Seventh, delicious desserts….Crème Brule and ice cream topped with the chocolate bag—the chocolate bag is to die for….its deep fried dough filled with melted chocolate on the inside, you puncture the bag, and warm chocolate oozes from the pastry on to your freshly scooped vanilla ice cream, I was in heaven.
The meal was exceptional, but the company was also great. George and Grace both completed their graduate work in the states, so their English is top notch, and their senses of humors are too. George is a professor of information systems, and Grace is an electrical engineer. She also teaches at the university. We had a fun conversation; George asked us whether our ‘English’ was good enough to survive in Taiwan. A little confused, we all asked, how so? He went on to explain that when the Chinese translate words straight from English, often times you don’t get the right word or phrase you’re looking for. Lets see…..anyone know what a ‘submarine fortress’ is? Ya, me either. After taking some wild guesses, George filled us in, it’s a hamburger. Let me explain, you have the submarine sandwich bread (the bun), and a hambao, which in Chinese is a burger, but translated to English it’s a fortress, so yes ladies and gentlemen, a ‘submarine fortress’ is indeed a hamburger. There are so many funny phrases like this one around town…Hogan dogs (Hagen daz), gotta love it! There are more, but I can’t seem to remember ‘em off the top of my head.
Friday, August 21st
Thank goodness it’s Friday! Today in gym we were supposed to play Marco Polo. I was teaching the kids, when Hank decided to join us. He wasn’t really into playing ‘Marco Polo,’ but ‘Michael Jackson’ was sure on his list….oh what the heck, so we played Michael Jackson. When I say Michael, you say Jackson….Michael…….Jackson! (Hanna was making fun of me for being such a ‘cheerleader’….i guess it’s just in my nature). After switching out Marco Polo for MJ, Hank busted out singing, ‘Beat It’….the kids are all obsessed singing this song. YoYo’s the MJ ring leader and now all the kids have caught on. They start singing ‘Beat It,’ anyplace, anytime…with actions too. It’s quite entertaining.
Sarah and I took off to the train station right after work tonight. We headed to Tai Chung to stay with one of our new good friends, Torry. I mentioned before that I met her at the YSA conference—she’s amazing! I cannot believe how thoughtful and helpful she is. Because she’s lived in the states, away from home, she really knows how to make someone feel welcome. She keeps telling me, whenever you need anything, you just let me know. My home is your home….whether your sick, tired, hungry, whatever….I’m there for ya girl. She’s gonna teach me Chinese too! I’m so excited, but right now we’re just having scheduling conflicts cause she lives in Tai Chung (about an hour commute) and we are both extremely busy.
Anyhow, back to a fun Friday night with Torry. Sarah and I arrived in Tai Chung with Arwyn, she teaches at the other ILP school. Torry picked us up and took us back to her place where she had pancakes and pb&j waiting for us for dinner….like I said, she is so sweet! Torry knows what it’s like to miss home, so we made COOKIES, not just any cookies, but American style cookies, and not just any American style cookies, but mom’s secret recipe, American style cookies! Oh, they tasted sooooo YUMMY! After devouring the cookie dough and cookies, us girls had a real old school pj party. We got into our pajamas, had girl talk, and gave ourselves facials and pedicures….how nice! Torry’s nephew, Leongan, also joined us. He is just nine, and such a sweetheart—he loved this girl’s night!
Saturday, August 22nd
Home visits, wahoo! Torry rushed Sara and I to the train station early this morning, so I could make it back to Changhua in time for my first home visit. Home visits are when we teachers get to visit the home of our students and their families. If we’re lucky, the family may take us somewhere exciting!
Today, Evence’s family took Sammy and me to the ancient city of LuKang. LuKang’s name means ‘deer harbor’ and it received this name during the Dutch colonial period when the city’s sea port was used to trade deerskins.
Our first stop was the Wunwu Temple with its civil and military shrines, which were both built in 1811. The Wenkai Academy also rests next to the temple and it was built in 1824. The academy was the most famous for its time, and many scholars went there to learn of the Taiwanese culture and to receive an education. Verona (Evence’s mom) told us that many of the intellectuals who studied there would pray everyday to do well in school so they could receive government positions after their studies; if a student was able to hold a government position they wouldn’t have to pay taxes, so it was highly sought after.
The Chinese culture is full of symbols. Verona filled us in on a few as we visited the Wunwu temple. The lion represents good luck. Vases represent safety. The dragon is represented as the emperor of China or, often times, the son of the emperor. Although the dragon is used mostly as decoration today, if portrayed incorrectly, it is still considered taboo to the Chinese people. In Taiwan, if there is a temple or shrine built without the emblem of the dragon, then the building was most likely constructed by the Japanese when they controlled the island.
Our second stop was the Museum of Taiwanese Folkways. The home that houses this museum once belonged to the Koo family in the early 1900’s (the home was built in 1919). Chen Fu Koo, the son of father Koo, is infamous for his service to Taiwan. He was a successful business man who had influence in economical and foreign affairs. Although he never served in any government position, he sat on many committees and boards. Many Taiwanese do not appreciate Koo’s work because he enabled the Japanese to take over Taiwan; however, the Taiwanese are grateful that Koo built rapport with the Japanese so they came in peace.
Inside the museum there are many traditional Taiwanese clothes and accessories. I saw the tiny shoes that women used to wear in order to become more attractive—yes, the Taiwanese did bind the feet of the little girls so they would look more beautiful to the men. The museum also had some replicas of different architectural buildings and some models of Taiwanese homes and rooms. I did see a depiction of a honeymoon sweet. I asked Verona why a bowl of rice was placed on the bed and she said it was symbolic for how many sons the new bride would bear—more rice, more sons. Sons have always been more important to the Chinese because they carry on the family name.
Lunch time….oyster omelets anyone? You know, I’ve been pretty good about at least, ‘trying,’ things, but when I have to eat a WHOLE plate a slimy, gelatin, lard looking junk….I don’t do so well. Verona and Evence were so excited to introduce me to some ‘traditional’ food that I couldn’t say no when they wanted to order oyster omelets—I decided to go for it. I was just thankful for a little egg. Man oh man, I had to consciously think to myself that I was eating something tasteful, but even then…I couldn’t stop cringing…it wasn’t the oysters that were all that bad (I mean, the smell, yes), but the gelatin lard stuff was just too much! I did it though…I chowed down!
After we were done eating we visited some more ancient temples and strolled down a historic street that was filled with Asian nic-nacs: Chinese lanterns, fans, umbrellas…you name it, they had it! I got a few small lanterns for about $25 cents and a fun mini umbrella. On our stroll we also took a ‘rest’—we had some almond milk and sesame—it was tasty, I slurped it right up.
Our last stop in LuKang before going home was the Long-Shan Temple. It was built in the Ming Dynasty around 1653, and it was the first Buddhist temple ever built in Taiwan. The style is much like the imperial palace in the Northern Sung Dynasty. The wood work is amazing and so intricate—you can tell this temple was important because if it wasn’t, there’s no way a person would spend so much time doing that kind of detailed wood work. The paint is now nearly gone and everything is completely worn, but the main shrine is still very nice and used for worship in Bai Bai.
Hanging out with Evence and her family was so fun! Verona speaks really well, her husband, Ty, not as much, but they were both so very generous. It was so hot today and when Verona saw that I didn’t have a hat, she made Ty go back to the car to grab me a visor, not any visor….a ginormous visor, so thoughtful,….and so funny at the same time. Verona insisted I stay covered up from the sun. Evence’s little sister Claire is also adorable. Even though she clung to her mom in the beginning of our trip, she willing held my hand by the end….her and Evence both, it was so precious. Throughout the day, Evence kept tugging on my shirt to show me toys, food, beetles…haha, oh yes, anything in sight, she made sure I knew about it, she was so cute! I loved it.
Sunday, August 23rd
Today I had the chance to give my talk in church. I was supposed to give it a few weeks ago, but because of the typhoon, church was cancelled. Wow, I don’t know how I’ve gotten away with only speaking two times in church so far, now attending this small English branch, I’m sure my number of talks given will shoot up. I talked on Building up the Kingdom of God. I had a friend refer me to some great talks: Elder Ballard, Building a Gospel Sharing Home, 2006, and President Utchdorf, Lift Where You Stand, 2008. I recommend both talks, they’re great!
After church I went on another home visit with JoAnna and Martin’s family, the Ko’s. JoAnna and Martin are in my older class, they speak fluently, and so does their father, Frank. Helen, their mother, is still learning but she’s not afraid to speak either. The Ko’s took me to a really nice restaurant at the Tempus Hotel in Taichung. We even had bell boys get the door for us as we got out of the car, I felt so luxurious. In America, I’m sure the meal we ate would have been around $30US/person. Our tea time, a buffet, was set for 2 ½ hours. I practically gorged myself, as many American’s do, while the Ko’s ate small portions, rested, and then went back for more…I’m thinking I could learn a little something from the Asian way. The food was amazing and I was in heaven…the restaurant even had American Hagen Daz ice cream, YUMMY!
I really like the Ko family. As I said earlier, Frank is a business man, so it’s always fun to talk to him about the economy, business ideas, and philosophies. I told him how most westerners are amazed by the Asian’s math skills, he just laughed…I didn’t know what he was laughing at until I asked. He told me it’s funny that Westerners believe the Asians to be so ‘bright’; however, how many Asian philosophers do you know? How many Asian theorists have you heard of? Wow, I thought. I haven’t heard of any….how interesting. I asked Frank why, he never got to an answer, but it’s a worthy question to ponder.
Well, it’s been another great; yet, quite exhausting. I’ve had a lot of fun, but not much time to myself! Yes, many of you thought I would have a chance to slow down here in Taiwan, but it just isn’t in my cards. Stay tuned for more T:Time adventures in Taiwan! Love you all.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
The deadliest typhoon recorded in Taiwan history. Reconstruction in the south and southeast may take up to three years. Luckily, Changhua just had a little flooding. We were so blessed.
Weathering the storm!
Flooding in Changhua....my town.
GoGo for Her anyone? One of my students' mom's, Verona, introduced us to this fitness club. We took a kickboxing class combined with a little Tai Chi...gotta love it!
Group dinner with the secretaries. So authentic, we had our own room and got to sit on the floor, fun!
Molly taking a 'rest' after dinner!
Our secretary Penny, amazed by American money!
New shoes....I know, these shoes really provide no use for me here in Taiwan, but they sure are cute and only cost $6.US
wEeKeNd fUn! YSA Activity...Good times, good friends!
Making lunch....Brady's on the left...he was my first date at the conference.
Ruth and I...
Sarah and I with Wayneo! He gets my jokes....SWEETNESS! Wayne just happened to be my second date at the conference.
New Besties! Torry and Joseph. Torry's got spunk, I love it!
Hair....or no hair? Betty seems to think, 'No Hair.' Yes, it's true...the proper goggles and swim caps mus be worn in all swimming pools!
Weathering the storm!
Flooding in Changhua....my town.
GoGo for Her anyone? One of my students' mom's, Verona, introduced us to this fitness club. We took a kickboxing class combined with a little Tai Chi...gotta love it!
Group dinner with the secretaries. So authentic, we had our own room and got to sit on the floor, fun!
Molly taking a 'rest' after dinner!
Our secretary Penny, amazed by American money!
New shoes....I know, these shoes really provide no use for me here in Taiwan, but they sure are cute and only cost $6.US
wEeKeNd fUn! YSA Activity...Good times, good friends!
Making lunch....Brady's on the left...he was my first date at the conference.
Ruth and I...
Sarah and I with Wayneo! He gets my jokes....SWEETNESS! Wayne just happened to be my second date at the conference.
New Besties! Torry and Joseph. Torry's got spunk, I love it!
Hair....or no hair? Betty seems to think, 'No Hair.' Yes, it's true...the proper goggles and swim caps mus be worn in all swimming pools!
Chapter 8
Chapter 8 is here....just few late, sorry! ...and yes, I should have posted Chapter 9 yesterday, I will do my best to get it up this week, so you're all up to date! Enjoy!
August 10th – 16th
Monday, August 10th
Rest assured, I am safe and well after being somewhat quarantined to my apartment due to the recent typhoon, Morakot—the deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in recorded history. I had no idea the impact of this typhoon. All of us roomies were hoping for another day off work, and then we realized just how much damage Morakot had caused in the south and southeast. Now I’m thinking what a blessing to be back to work because it means I’m safe in Changhua.
Typhoon Morakot was pronounced as a Category 2 Hurricane. Morakot had winds reaching up to 100 mph and torrential rain pouring for a week straight. Pingtung County received over 100 inches of rain, causing severe flooding and mudslides, one of which covered a whole village. It is estimated that 153 people have died and about 600 people are still missing, most presumed dead. The estimated cost of damage to Taiwan is $3.3 billion US. Animals drown causing disease and the cost of meat will dramatically increase. Homes, businesses, roads, and bridges have been completely washed away. Some villages are practically islands and reconstruction alone, just to get a train up and running to the small cities, will take up to three years to rebuild. ….And for me, life is back to normal in Changhua, nothing but a tropical storm. I feel very blessed. Pray for those who lost loved ones and livelihoods.
Tuesday, August 11th
We finally had a clear day….it’s nice, but with no rain, the pollution is much more noticeable.
Us teachers started language exchange today. So gooda! Sherry set it up for us. Every Tuesday after class, all the English teachers and some of Sherry’s friends, or the kids’ parents, come for one hour of language. The first half hour is English, and the second half hour is Chinese. I really liked the exchange because we were able to study and work together one on one. I worked with Mimi’s dad, Nick.
Nick speaks a little English so it was nice that he could at least understand me. However, me trying to understand him was a different story. I asked Nick what he wanted to learn and basically, he just wants to be able to hold a conversation, especially in a work setting. He began by telling me his line of work. He’s a quality control specialist for a certain product, ‘bidets.’ Never heard of ‘em huh? Well, I hadn’t either….Nick went on in full detail describing to me the product his company sold. I was so confused because I had never heard of a ‘bidet’, but he assured me his company exported its products to the United States. After a somewhat graphic explanation, and becoming quite acquainted with the game gestures, it finally clicked. Nick was right with the bidet, but in English….this would be called a ‘be day.’ Haha, you gotta love the English language. A word that is pronounced like ‘be day’ is spelled like ‘bidet.’ Interesting.
After crossing that bridge, Nick and I were able to have a great conversation. He taught me how the number system works in Chinese, as well as say some of my favorite phrases, “Wa’ shan yao eiga dun gua nio ni, nio ni shao edien, dun gua doe, jaw jen ju” Haha, no worries if you can’t understand that, I don’t know pinyin so that’s my own gibberish, but at least it gets me my new favorite drink—winter melon milk with the bubbles, light on the milk, heavy on the winter melon. I love when I take a phrase like this to the smoothie shop….all I have to do is ramble off my phrase in a rather fast manner and the people think I’m fluent in Chinese. Alright, I wouldn’t go that far, but really, just knowing one phrase gets you a lot of Chinese back in your face. The Chinese will always respond in Chinese, of course right, yet they continue to try and hold a conversation with me. ‘Ting bu dong, ting bu dong,” I reply, meaning….’I can hear you, but I don’t understand.’ ….and then we all go back to the game of gestures, it’s a great cycle.
Wednesday, August 12th
Not too much happened today. The kids are definitely starting to warm up to me. They wouldn’t stop hugging me. They just kept hanging all over me, “Teacha’ Teacha,’” they all say. It may have taken them a little while to actually pierce my bubble, but now that they’re in, they definitely don’t hold back….all personal space, gone!
In kitchen today we were supposed to make caramel apples, but due to our lack of resources we improvised with a little maple syrup. Maple syrup on apples?
Interesting. The kids were complaining, but I made them try it…yet, I wasn’t so sure of it myself. I found some peanut butter in the cupboard, which I thought to be a much better snack. Nonetheless, I still made them try the maple syrup, haha, they hated it. They kept saying, “Too sweet, too sweet…it tastes like medicine.” They wouldn’t touch it, and then there was me who kept licking maple syrup off my fingers because I’m dying for anything sweet. The Asians don’t care for much of anything sweet—dessert often consists of fruit.
Tonight after work, I stopped by the Noodle Lady to grab some dinner. Oh the Noodle Lady, she is soooo sweet. I saw her the night before at the track, but I didn’t say hi because I couldn’t put my finger on how I knew her…well, it both clicked for us when I strolled up to her cart tonight. We both started playing gestures…I know you, I saw you at the track last night, but it was dark I wasn’t sure who you were. As we were somewhat communicating, I said something in Chinese, and once again, as it always happens….she started speaking really, really fast…’ting bu dong’…then a man (Chris) spoke up helping me translate. My word, so many people know English here, I am amazed, the Asians are just afraid to speak up (they all learn English in junior high or high school).
After I got my yummy noodles, I was walking home when I was stopped by one of the regular street kids, Gena; she was with one of her friends, Steven. Steven was so cute….he came right up to me, gave me a firm handshake, and with his best English he introduced himself with his name, age, school he attends, and city in which he lives. Ha, he asked me what my ‘English’ name was. I thought that was funny. I told him Tanier, and he just thought it was the most beautiful name he’s ever heard. He went on to ask me if I had a boyfriend and the like…I kept thinking, my goodness boy, for a 13 year-old, you are quite curious. Every little kid, even my students, ask me whether I have a boyfriend….ALL THE TIME! I just tell them yes and start making up stories about all the boyfriends I have in America.
Thursday, August 13th
My students have learned that I speak a little bit of Chinese so they always want me to show off my skills. “No Chinese in school,” I tell them. They literally drag me outside of the school just so they can hear me count to 10, they love it! I laugh, they laugh, and it makes for a great time. Sometimes I mutter off a phrase and one of my students will say, “Ah, I know what she just said!”
I taught my SPE’s (the little ones), the nose game. You know, the one where you tuck your thumb under your index finger and say, I got your nose! The kids just giggle and get all excited….oh, they are so easily amused. Now Evence always tries to ‘take my nose’, it’s cute.
Sarah and I went to ‘GoGo for Her’ tonight. It’s a fitness club for women. I told Evence’s mom, Verona, I enjoyed working out, so she invited me to go kickboxing—Sarah came with me and we had a great time! I absolutely loved it. I was a little worried at first, thinking the class would kick my trash, but it wasn’t that bad at all. I learned some new great moves. In addition to kick boxing, we even did a little Tai Chi…oh I wish I could show you my new moves (that will have to wait till I’m home). Our instructor was jumping all over the stage. By the end of the class, we were all pretty sweaty—I kept slipping as I was trying to do my push-ups, I know, kinda gross. During our cool down we all had to slap our bellies, the Asians love to slap, I dunno what it is, but they love it. Just slap it off, we say…
On our way home, Sarah and I stopped at CarreFour to get some snacks. We met another Foreigner, Becky. She’s from Washington State and she’s been here for a little over a year working at another cram school. I love the ‘foreigner way’….whenever we see one another, we always stop each other to talk, it’s like an unspoken code. We get the usual information, “How long have you been here?” “Where do you teach?” “Why did you decide on Taiwan?” …and then we’re on our way—we foreigners gotta stick together.
After CarreFour, I convinced Sarah to stop at the night market with me…finishing an intense work out calls for a nice glass of coconut milk. We also got some dumplings for dinner and walked around looking at cheap goods.
Friday, August 14th
All of us teachers went to dinner with the secretaries (Emilie and Penny) after work tonight; they took us to the coolest restaurant, it was so authentic. When we first arrived to the restaurant the hostess showed us to our room, yes, we had our own room. The room looked like it was designed for little people, like hobbits! It was truly Asian style. The table was about two feet off the ground and there were cushions surrounding the table for us to sit on. It was so much fun! We had to take off our shoes before entering the room, and then we sat on the floor and ate with our chopsticks! The food was amazing. I got gratin—the Asian style casserole….meat, mushrooms, cheese, and noodles all baked together.
When we were finished eating we just sat around and chatted. Tabbi pulled out some American money; Penny and Emilie were in awe. They were so intrigued that they just kept holding the green dollar bills up to the light, feeling it, …and holding it……and feeling it…and folding it.
The roomies and I hit up Clothes Street after dinner. Sarah and I found a great shoe sale! I got the cutest new shoes for just $6.00 US. They are tall, black and turquoise stilettos, very strappy with a zipper at the back of the heel. I’m not quite sure where I’ll be wearing them here in Taiwan, but they sure are cute.
Saturday, August 15th
What a FUN weekend! Sarah and I went to a young single adult conference. Hanna and Tabbi felt a little sketch about the whole thing, thinking there would only be matchmaking going on, but I was in for the experience. Of course, there was a lot of matchmaking, but I met the coolest people!
So, Manti picked Sarah and me up from our apartment around 7:30 this morning. We drove for maybe 45 minutes until we reached our destination and checked into the conference. We’re staying at an old American air force base. The air force left about 10 years ago, and the base has since been turned into a conference/convention center. We are staying (sleeping) in our own little houses, which actually aren’t that little because they’re totally American style. They are equipped with a full kitchen, family room, master bedroom, guest bedroom, and bath. Besides the size of the homes, the first thing I noticed was the soft beds! YAY….one night in a soft bed, so glorious.
Alright, back to the conference. After checking in, all of the ‘participants’ met up in a huge conference room. Everyone was segregated, boys on one side, girls on the other. How odd, I thought, and then I realized this would be the first matchmaking activity. Before the conference, all the guys and girls ranked certain preferences they have in the opposite sex. Our preferences were then put into the computer for us to receive a computer generated date for the day! Haha, I couldn’t stop laughing, this was hilarious. As we were sitting in our seats, the boys would come up in groups to announce their ‘date’ for the day. My date was Brady, he is SWEET! He speaks enough English that we can communicate, but not quite enough that we can conversate. However, he made sure I was taken care of.
For lunch, we were put into groups with our dates, sent to a home with certain materials, and were told to prepare our own meals. Manti and his group were in my group, YAY…English. When we were told that we had to make our own lunch, I turned to Manti and asked, “Do you know how to cook?” he looked at me and replied, “I know how to eat!” Ha, so typical. Thank goodness we had Benny in our group—she is a great cook and saved us from having a disaster in the kitchen. We made rice, dumplings, sweet potato leaves, spicy tofu, and white carrot and meatball soup. The food tasted great, but my chopstick skills seemed to fail me at the most inopportune time. I went for a meatball, and it shot out from my chopsticks, luckily it landed safely on my lap, but everyone saw, and everyone giggled….so did I, it was funny!
When lunch was over we played some great dating games! Many of the activities were, “tell me about the qualities you want in a future spouse,” as I’m standing in front of a mirror with my partner, Brady. I guess it doesn’t matter where you live, America or Taiwan….the church is still doing its best to get all us singles married!
We also had family home evening tonight. Manti and Stephanie translated for us—so nice. The topic for the night was about realizing our strengths and weaknesses and, once again, the qualities we want in a spouse. We even talked about how to divide up household chores between the husband and wife. The bishop kept asking Sarah and I questions about these topics because we’re the Americans, born and raised in the church. I think he was looking for ‘perfect Mormon’ answers or something, but I kept thinking, Really, I’m from an atypical Mormon family…I’m not the right person to ask if your looking for the perfect, Mormon family answers. Sarah thought the same thing.
After family home evening, we had some ‘exercise.’ We could choose from a variety of activities, Sarah and I decided to go swimming! We were so excited to swim because we came all prepared with our goggles and swim caps—we went and bought them last night! Haha, as I was swimming and chatting with some new friends, one girl, Betty, came up to me, “Tanier, change subject. You look more beautiful with no hair!” HAHAHA, what? The Asian compliments just keep getting better and better. I mean, I know I looked hot in my hot pink swim cap, but I don’t know if I’d go as far to say that I look better with no hair! It was funny!
So we had a Southeast Asian BBQ for dinner tonight. To get into the BBQ, we had to fill out a slip of paper that rank ordered the guys at the conference from 1-10 (1 being our first choice date and 10 being our last)….oh wow…the Asians aren’t beating around the bush anymore. Sarah and I couldn’t believe it. Not only did we have to select the boys of our choice, but also, we had to find out which ones spoke English! Finding their names on the ballet was hard enough considering they were all in Chinese. No worries, my new friend Torry came to the rescue. She speaks really good English and actually went to BYU-I. I told her she has ‘American’ attitude and she just laughed—love her already.
The BBQ was fun. We ate lots of food….maybe too much. Sean came up to me after dinner and asked in his chinglish, “you full?” Trying to figure out what he meant, I replied, “Am I full?”….”No, no, no,” he responded, “you look full. You fat…you have baby?” Hahahahaha, really, can it get any worse? I’m hoping it was the dress. So, I have a big nose, I look better with no hair, and I look full (as to having a baby)! At least I have pretty eyelashes and nice eyebrows (I got that compliment twice today).
Anyhow, at the BBQ we had a lil’ karaoke, some hula dancing, and other fun BBQ festivities. I met a guy named Wayne….he’s sweet and his English is amazing. He lived in the states for just a few months, but picked it up fast—he’s studied a lot. I really liked talking to him because he actually has American humor…so many new friends!
Sunday, August 16th
6:30 am, RISE AND SHINE!!! Our group came over this morning for a little scripture study…we chatted about being frugal and how to enjoy the simple things. Manti translated, thank goodness. At 7:30 we had our mystery dates come and pick us up for breakfast (mystery dates, as in our #1’s on the ballet sheet)….guess who mine was??? Wayne. He’s cool….too bad he lives so far away, about 2 ½ hours. We plan to get together once in awhile at least.
After breakfast we went to sacrament, and then we had a panel of people who shared their experiences with marriage, of course! We had a really nice lunch….I ate squid and abalone—quite tasty! We played some more partner/dating games, watched a slide show of the weekend and called it a day.
Overall, I’d say the conference was a success, despite the fact that this ‘Mormon’ event had NO DESSERT, I was still pleased. I met some rad peeps, and we all plan to get together and hang out often. I’m excited to have some new friends, it’s GREAT!
August 10th – 16th
Monday, August 10th
Rest assured, I am safe and well after being somewhat quarantined to my apartment due to the recent typhoon, Morakot—the deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in recorded history. I had no idea the impact of this typhoon. All of us roomies were hoping for another day off work, and then we realized just how much damage Morakot had caused in the south and southeast. Now I’m thinking what a blessing to be back to work because it means I’m safe in Changhua.
Typhoon Morakot was pronounced as a Category 2 Hurricane. Morakot had winds reaching up to 100 mph and torrential rain pouring for a week straight. Pingtung County received over 100 inches of rain, causing severe flooding and mudslides, one of which covered a whole village. It is estimated that 153 people have died and about 600 people are still missing, most presumed dead. The estimated cost of damage to Taiwan is $3.3 billion US. Animals drown causing disease and the cost of meat will dramatically increase. Homes, businesses, roads, and bridges have been completely washed away. Some villages are practically islands and reconstruction alone, just to get a train up and running to the small cities, will take up to three years to rebuild. ….And for me, life is back to normal in Changhua, nothing but a tropical storm. I feel very blessed. Pray for those who lost loved ones and livelihoods.
Tuesday, August 11th
We finally had a clear day….it’s nice, but with no rain, the pollution is much more noticeable.
Us teachers started language exchange today. So gooda! Sherry set it up for us. Every Tuesday after class, all the English teachers and some of Sherry’s friends, or the kids’ parents, come for one hour of language. The first half hour is English, and the second half hour is Chinese. I really liked the exchange because we were able to study and work together one on one. I worked with Mimi’s dad, Nick.
Nick speaks a little English so it was nice that he could at least understand me. However, me trying to understand him was a different story. I asked Nick what he wanted to learn and basically, he just wants to be able to hold a conversation, especially in a work setting. He began by telling me his line of work. He’s a quality control specialist for a certain product, ‘bidets.’ Never heard of ‘em huh? Well, I hadn’t either….Nick went on in full detail describing to me the product his company sold. I was so confused because I had never heard of a ‘bidet’, but he assured me his company exported its products to the United States. After a somewhat graphic explanation, and becoming quite acquainted with the game gestures, it finally clicked. Nick was right with the bidet, but in English….this would be called a ‘be day.’ Haha, you gotta love the English language. A word that is pronounced like ‘be day’ is spelled like ‘bidet.’ Interesting.
After crossing that bridge, Nick and I were able to have a great conversation. He taught me how the number system works in Chinese, as well as say some of my favorite phrases, “Wa’ shan yao eiga dun gua nio ni, nio ni shao edien, dun gua doe, jaw jen ju” Haha, no worries if you can’t understand that, I don’t know pinyin so that’s my own gibberish, but at least it gets me my new favorite drink—winter melon milk with the bubbles, light on the milk, heavy on the winter melon. I love when I take a phrase like this to the smoothie shop….all I have to do is ramble off my phrase in a rather fast manner and the people think I’m fluent in Chinese. Alright, I wouldn’t go that far, but really, just knowing one phrase gets you a lot of Chinese back in your face. The Chinese will always respond in Chinese, of course right, yet they continue to try and hold a conversation with me. ‘Ting bu dong, ting bu dong,” I reply, meaning….’I can hear you, but I don’t understand.’ ….and then we all go back to the game of gestures, it’s a great cycle.
Wednesday, August 12th
Not too much happened today. The kids are definitely starting to warm up to me. They wouldn’t stop hugging me. They just kept hanging all over me, “Teacha’ Teacha,’” they all say. It may have taken them a little while to actually pierce my bubble, but now that they’re in, they definitely don’t hold back….all personal space, gone!
In kitchen today we were supposed to make caramel apples, but due to our lack of resources we improvised with a little maple syrup. Maple syrup on apples?
Interesting. The kids were complaining, but I made them try it…yet, I wasn’t so sure of it myself. I found some peanut butter in the cupboard, which I thought to be a much better snack. Nonetheless, I still made them try the maple syrup, haha, they hated it. They kept saying, “Too sweet, too sweet…it tastes like medicine.” They wouldn’t touch it, and then there was me who kept licking maple syrup off my fingers because I’m dying for anything sweet. The Asians don’t care for much of anything sweet—dessert often consists of fruit.
Tonight after work, I stopped by the Noodle Lady to grab some dinner. Oh the Noodle Lady, she is soooo sweet. I saw her the night before at the track, but I didn’t say hi because I couldn’t put my finger on how I knew her…well, it both clicked for us when I strolled up to her cart tonight. We both started playing gestures…I know you, I saw you at the track last night, but it was dark I wasn’t sure who you were. As we were somewhat communicating, I said something in Chinese, and once again, as it always happens….she started speaking really, really fast…’ting bu dong’…then a man (Chris) spoke up helping me translate. My word, so many people know English here, I am amazed, the Asians are just afraid to speak up (they all learn English in junior high or high school).
After I got my yummy noodles, I was walking home when I was stopped by one of the regular street kids, Gena; she was with one of her friends, Steven. Steven was so cute….he came right up to me, gave me a firm handshake, and with his best English he introduced himself with his name, age, school he attends, and city in which he lives. Ha, he asked me what my ‘English’ name was. I thought that was funny. I told him Tanier, and he just thought it was the most beautiful name he’s ever heard. He went on to ask me if I had a boyfriend and the like…I kept thinking, my goodness boy, for a 13 year-old, you are quite curious. Every little kid, even my students, ask me whether I have a boyfriend….ALL THE TIME! I just tell them yes and start making up stories about all the boyfriends I have in America.
Thursday, August 13th
My students have learned that I speak a little bit of Chinese so they always want me to show off my skills. “No Chinese in school,” I tell them. They literally drag me outside of the school just so they can hear me count to 10, they love it! I laugh, they laugh, and it makes for a great time. Sometimes I mutter off a phrase and one of my students will say, “Ah, I know what she just said!”
I taught my SPE’s (the little ones), the nose game. You know, the one where you tuck your thumb under your index finger and say, I got your nose! The kids just giggle and get all excited….oh, they are so easily amused. Now Evence always tries to ‘take my nose’, it’s cute.
Sarah and I went to ‘GoGo for Her’ tonight. It’s a fitness club for women. I told Evence’s mom, Verona, I enjoyed working out, so she invited me to go kickboxing—Sarah came with me and we had a great time! I absolutely loved it. I was a little worried at first, thinking the class would kick my trash, but it wasn’t that bad at all. I learned some new great moves. In addition to kick boxing, we even did a little Tai Chi…oh I wish I could show you my new moves (that will have to wait till I’m home). Our instructor was jumping all over the stage. By the end of the class, we were all pretty sweaty—I kept slipping as I was trying to do my push-ups, I know, kinda gross. During our cool down we all had to slap our bellies, the Asians love to slap, I dunno what it is, but they love it. Just slap it off, we say…
On our way home, Sarah and I stopped at CarreFour to get some snacks. We met another Foreigner, Becky. She’s from Washington State and she’s been here for a little over a year working at another cram school. I love the ‘foreigner way’….whenever we see one another, we always stop each other to talk, it’s like an unspoken code. We get the usual information, “How long have you been here?” “Where do you teach?” “Why did you decide on Taiwan?” …and then we’re on our way—we foreigners gotta stick together.
After CarreFour, I convinced Sarah to stop at the night market with me…finishing an intense work out calls for a nice glass of coconut milk. We also got some dumplings for dinner and walked around looking at cheap goods.
Friday, August 14th
All of us teachers went to dinner with the secretaries (Emilie and Penny) after work tonight; they took us to the coolest restaurant, it was so authentic. When we first arrived to the restaurant the hostess showed us to our room, yes, we had our own room. The room looked like it was designed for little people, like hobbits! It was truly Asian style. The table was about two feet off the ground and there were cushions surrounding the table for us to sit on. It was so much fun! We had to take off our shoes before entering the room, and then we sat on the floor and ate with our chopsticks! The food was amazing. I got gratin—the Asian style casserole….meat, mushrooms, cheese, and noodles all baked together.
When we were finished eating we just sat around and chatted. Tabbi pulled out some American money; Penny and Emilie were in awe. They were so intrigued that they just kept holding the green dollar bills up to the light, feeling it, …and holding it……and feeling it…and folding it.
The roomies and I hit up Clothes Street after dinner. Sarah and I found a great shoe sale! I got the cutest new shoes for just $6.00 US. They are tall, black and turquoise stilettos, very strappy with a zipper at the back of the heel. I’m not quite sure where I’ll be wearing them here in Taiwan, but they sure are cute.
Saturday, August 15th
What a FUN weekend! Sarah and I went to a young single adult conference. Hanna and Tabbi felt a little sketch about the whole thing, thinking there would only be matchmaking going on, but I was in for the experience. Of course, there was a lot of matchmaking, but I met the coolest people!
So, Manti picked Sarah and me up from our apartment around 7:30 this morning. We drove for maybe 45 minutes until we reached our destination and checked into the conference. We’re staying at an old American air force base. The air force left about 10 years ago, and the base has since been turned into a conference/convention center. We are staying (sleeping) in our own little houses, which actually aren’t that little because they’re totally American style. They are equipped with a full kitchen, family room, master bedroom, guest bedroom, and bath. Besides the size of the homes, the first thing I noticed was the soft beds! YAY….one night in a soft bed, so glorious.
Alright, back to the conference. After checking in, all of the ‘participants’ met up in a huge conference room. Everyone was segregated, boys on one side, girls on the other. How odd, I thought, and then I realized this would be the first matchmaking activity. Before the conference, all the guys and girls ranked certain preferences they have in the opposite sex. Our preferences were then put into the computer for us to receive a computer generated date for the day! Haha, I couldn’t stop laughing, this was hilarious. As we were sitting in our seats, the boys would come up in groups to announce their ‘date’ for the day. My date was Brady, he is SWEET! He speaks enough English that we can communicate, but not quite enough that we can conversate. However, he made sure I was taken care of.
For lunch, we were put into groups with our dates, sent to a home with certain materials, and were told to prepare our own meals. Manti and his group were in my group, YAY…English. When we were told that we had to make our own lunch, I turned to Manti and asked, “Do you know how to cook?” he looked at me and replied, “I know how to eat!” Ha, so typical. Thank goodness we had Benny in our group—she is a great cook and saved us from having a disaster in the kitchen. We made rice, dumplings, sweet potato leaves, spicy tofu, and white carrot and meatball soup. The food tasted great, but my chopstick skills seemed to fail me at the most inopportune time. I went for a meatball, and it shot out from my chopsticks, luckily it landed safely on my lap, but everyone saw, and everyone giggled….so did I, it was funny!
When lunch was over we played some great dating games! Many of the activities were, “tell me about the qualities you want in a future spouse,” as I’m standing in front of a mirror with my partner, Brady. I guess it doesn’t matter where you live, America or Taiwan….the church is still doing its best to get all us singles married!
We also had family home evening tonight. Manti and Stephanie translated for us—so nice. The topic for the night was about realizing our strengths and weaknesses and, once again, the qualities we want in a spouse. We even talked about how to divide up household chores between the husband and wife. The bishop kept asking Sarah and I questions about these topics because we’re the Americans, born and raised in the church. I think he was looking for ‘perfect Mormon’ answers or something, but I kept thinking, Really, I’m from an atypical Mormon family…I’m not the right person to ask if your looking for the perfect, Mormon family answers. Sarah thought the same thing.
After family home evening, we had some ‘exercise.’ We could choose from a variety of activities, Sarah and I decided to go swimming! We were so excited to swim because we came all prepared with our goggles and swim caps—we went and bought them last night! Haha, as I was swimming and chatting with some new friends, one girl, Betty, came up to me, “Tanier, change subject. You look more beautiful with no hair!” HAHAHA, what? The Asian compliments just keep getting better and better. I mean, I know I looked hot in my hot pink swim cap, but I don’t know if I’d go as far to say that I look better with no hair! It was funny!
So we had a Southeast Asian BBQ for dinner tonight. To get into the BBQ, we had to fill out a slip of paper that rank ordered the guys at the conference from 1-10 (1 being our first choice date and 10 being our last)….oh wow…the Asians aren’t beating around the bush anymore. Sarah and I couldn’t believe it. Not only did we have to select the boys of our choice, but also, we had to find out which ones spoke English! Finding their names on the ballet was hard enough considering they were all in Chinese. No worries, my new friend Torry came to the rescue. She speaks really good English and actually went to BYU-I. I told her she has ‘American’ attitude and she just laughed—love her already.
The BBQ was fun. We ate lots of food….maybe too much. Sean came up to me after dinner and asked in his chinglish, “you full?” Trying to figure out what he meant, I replied, “Am I full?”….”No, no, no,” he responded, “you look full. You fat…you have baby?” Hahahahaha, really, can it get any worse? I’m hoping it was the dress. So, I have a big nose, I look better with no hair, and I look full (as to having a baby)! At least I have pretty eyelashes and nice eyebrows (I got that compliment twice today).
Anyhow, at the BBQ we had a lil’ karaoke, some hula dancing, and other fun BBQ festivities. I met a guy named Wayne….he’s sweet and his English is amazing. He lived in the states for just a few months, but picked it up fast—he’s studied a lot. I really liked talking to him because he actually has American humor…so many new friends!
Sunday, August 16th
6:30 am, RISE AND SHINE!!! Our group came over this morning for a little scripture study…we chatted about being frugal and how to enjoy the simple things. Manti translated, thank goodness. At 7:30 we had our mystery dates come and pick us up for breakfast (mystery dates, as in our #1’s on the ballet sheet)….guess who mine was??? Wayne. He’s cool….too bad he lives so far away, about 2 ½ hours. We plan to get together once in awhile at least.
After breakfast we went to sacrament, and then we had a panel of people who shared their experiences with marriage, of course! We had a really nice lunch….I ate squid and abalone—quite tasty! We played some more partner/dating games, watched a slide show of the weekend and called it a day.
Overall, I’d say the conference was a success, despite the fact that this ‘Mormon’ event had NO DESSERT, I was still pleased. I met some rad peeps, and we all plan to get together and hang out often. I’m excited to have some new friends, it’s GREAT!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Chapter 8
Fair Warning! Tanier's weekly newsletter, 'Chapter 8,' is under construction and will be posted as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Rest assured, all is well in T-Country!
Rest assured, all is well in T-Country!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
I'm actually catching up!
Braving the storm! Our first Typhoon....not knowing whether we'd be quarantined to our house for the next few days we decided to hit up the corner market before the typhoon hit...ah, scary. My first typhoon! Everyone was at the market, we grabbed the essentials: toilet paper, water, and of course, ramen noodles.
Typhoon Holiday! The rain and wind let up for a moment on Saturday so I went out with Sean and Manti....we went 'swimming' (you'll have to read the saturday post on that excursion) and then to the movie 'GI Joe: The rise of Cobra. This picture was taken right after I walked into the boys restroom...stupid American! ha.
I had a big break on Wednesday so I took a tour around this monastery near our apartment; it's huge. Sometimes I can hear the monks singing when I leave for school in the morning, pretty sweet!
Typhoon Holiday! The rain and wind let up for a moment on Saturday so I went out with Sean and Manti....we went 'swimming' (you'll have to read the saturday post on that excursion) and then to the movie 'GI Joe: The rise of Cobra. This picture was taken right after I walked into the boys restroom...stupid American! ha.
I had a big break on Wednesday so I took a tour around this monastery near our apartment; it's huge. Sometimes I can hear the monks singing when I leave for school in the morning, pretty sweet!
Sunday Afternoon in Tai Chung
Charles was in Tai Chung for the weekend. We met up after church and strolled around the city! So fun.
Sarah and I in the gift shop!
Charles took us to the science museum...we saw this cool tree and just had to take a picture!
Dinosaurs oh my! Charles was obviously too cool to play along.
All of us in the theater...3D Chinese movies are so fun....thank goodness for animation.
Giant butterfly!
Metropolitan Park in Tai Chung...the bottle game! The goal was to set the bottle upright by putting the ring at the end of the string around the bottleneck. A bit more difficult than it sounds, but nothings impossible!
I won! My prize...a build-it-yourself cardboard piggy bank!
Charles in charge! It was so fun to see him and hang out! We had a lot of fun...even got a kiss on the forehead! oooh la la!
Sarah and I in the gift shop!
Charles took us to the science museum...we saw this cool tree and just had to take a picture!
Dinosaurs oh my! Charles was obviously too cool to play along.
All of us in the theater...3D Chinese movies are so fun....thank goodness for animation.
Giant butterfly!
Metropolitan Park in Tai Chung...the bottle game! The goal was to set the bottle upright by putting the ring at the end of the string around the bottleneck. A bit more difficult than it sounds, but nothings impossible!
I won! My prize...a build-it-yourself cardboard piggy bank!
Charles in charge! It was so fun to see him and hang out! We had a lot of fun...even got a kiss on the forehead! oooh la la!
Amway meets Night Club/Cruise Spectacular
Molly and I on our way to Tao Yuan! Amway party here we come...I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
The finger game....Molly can hold up her right finger, and see it through the corner of her left eye. I, on the other hand, was not as fortunate...the American nose just won't allow it, ha!
A cultural shot.
The group: Ada, me, Molly, Brenda, and NiNi. We all got tattoos for our ticket into the party! Fun!
Am I at an Amway party or a night club?
Crazy fun.
Me, Molly, and NiNi dancing it up.
...and it's only three in the afternoon.
The finger game....Molly can hold up her right finger, and see it through the corner of her left eye. I, on the other hand, was not as fortunate...the American nose just won't allow it, ha!
A cultural shot.
The group: Ada, me, Molly, Brenda, and NiNi. We all got tattoos for our ticket into the party! Fun!
Am I at an Amway party or a night club?
Crazy fun.
Me, Molly, and NiNi dancing it up.
...and it's only three in the afternoon.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Chapter 7
Monday, August 3rd
Because it’s the first of August we got some new SPE’s in school today. Now I’m starting to get more of a set schedule, it’s nice. I don’t have to work the afternoon SPE’s because I teach a lot of the older kids. We got a new Kevin in class, so ‘big’ Kevin’s parents changed his name to Max, so funny how that works. I keep forgetting to call Kevin, Max. He always gets after me about it. In kitchen one day we were washing our dishes and I called him Kevin, he just looked at me and said, “Try again.” Ha, it was so funny….at the same time, I was thinking, who’s the boss here, come on now!
Jamie and Alex are also new students, probably the cutest brother and sister ever! Jamie is the littlest five-year-old I’ve ever met. They hardly speak any English; in fact, Sarah actually named Alex….he’s still getting used to his new name. When he doesn’t realize I’m talking to him I’ll start to clap or snap to get his attention, he’ll look up and start copying me….he has no idea what’s going on.
It’s crazy how much the kids who have been here for just one month have advanced, I didn’t notice their improvement until Jamie and Alex came to school knowing nothing. The older kids are always so helpful. Kiki and Max especially….one day Jamie couldn’t understand, so Kiki just kept saying, “Say this….say this….” In frustration, Kiki looked at me and asked, “Teacher, can I just tell her in Chinese?” The kids can’t speak Chinese in school—it gets interesting when we try to teach them freeze tag or soccer, they just run around wild…patience!
We also got a new cook. Sue had to quit due to health problems. Linda is our new cook—she made us meatballs today. They were actually pretty good….some of the meat is sketch, but I had to try the meatballs because Changhua is supposedly famous for them. YUMMY!
Tuesday, August 4th
Nothing much new today, just still trying to teach Jamie and Alex a little English…they keep speaking Chinese in class. Every time one of them says anything that’s not in English, all the other kids yell at the top of their lungs, “NO CHINESE!” I think Max and Kiki are starting to get a little irritated in Gym….they don’t ever want Alex on their team, because he keeps using his hands in soccer. Pour little guy, he’ll get it, it just takes time.
We got another new student, Tim. He is a smart little devil. He already has the system down! He repeats everything I say, and he won’t stop until I recognize him. He’s a cutie!
It started pouring rain today—it does that a lot here in the afternoon. Sarah and I had to borrow an umbrella from school. I’m becoming pro at the one hand on the bike, one hand on the umbrella technique….that hold actually isn’t too bad, it’s when I need both hands on the bike and have to use my neck to hold my umbrella, now that’s were it gets tricky!
Wednesday, August 5th
Well, all of us teachers have been talking about what we can do with Joe….bless his heart; he just has some behavior problems. We decided to lay down the law, every time he acts out, Sherry’s office it is! When I arrived at school today Sam was escorting Joe out of class….then when I was teaching Joe, I found myself escorting him out of class. He was like Spiderman clinging to the walls, trying to latch onto anything within reach. When we got to Sherry’s office, she just looked at Joe and said, “Not again…” Poor kid, hopefully he will learn. Hanna walked by Sherry’s office and saw him sweating bullets, dang wall sits!
For my afternoon off, I decided to come home and get organized with some things, before dong so though, I stopped off at this large monastery that is near our apartment. It is huge. On my way there, this man pulled up to me on his scooter. He had a big thing of beetle nut lodged in his cheek—it’s just like tobacco, but red. All the old guys chew it, and then spit it out on the streets. You will see red crap on the ground everywhere. It very much stains, and not only the ground, but your mouth as well, teeth and all…so GROSS! Anyhow, this beetle nut guy came right close to me on his scooter, asked if I was American, then proceeded to tell me that I was ‘sexy’ and ‘beautiful’….all with a great big smile of beetle nut. Ugh, thanks, I thought…and the Taiwanese are known for their passive behavior.
Thursday, August 6th
We played Simon Says in games today….I was Simon, “Simon says wiggle your ears…” All my SPE’s started wiggling their ears with their little hands, then Jimmy, the cutest of all, comes up to me shoving his hands into my face, “Teacher, look…” Oh yes, he can wiggle his ears with no hands. Probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. He is adorable (I took a video of him so you can capture the goodness…hopefully I can get it up soon). We then played Jimmy Says…”Jimmy says touch teacher…” All the kids came and latched onto my legs…caressing them as many of the kids do. The kids love smooth legs because Asians don’t shave, they must have gotten that from the Europeans. I thought I was low maintenance before, and I’ve even gotten more low maintenance since I’ve been here, but I just don’t think I can go that far….no shaved legs…icky! They also don’t wear deodorant! Smelly. I brought deodorant into my oldest class to show them what it looks like and how you use it, they were amazed. I also brought them some small samples of perfume that they could have….they were lovin’ it. Even Martin wanted a sample of perfume!
Oh my goodness, there were two flying bugs in my 2A class today, the kids were freaking out…..and I was right there with them. All of us were screaming….I kept thinking, pull it together T, pull it together! I had to stay calm, so my kids would stay calm. The bugs weren’t even that big, but for some reason, the fact that they could fly got to me. I went and grabbed a broom from the bathroom and tried to swing at them….obviously missing! Killing bugs is not in my job description—it is now! One minute the girls were freaking out, then I couldn’t hear a thing….I turned around and they had all booked it outta class, no bugs for them. Hankie pinkie came to our rescue…he got his grammar book, grabbed a chair for a little lift, and slammed that book down with all his might, that bug didn’t see it comin! “That bug was so stupid,” Hank said. Then Engine piped in, “That bug wasn’t stupid, he was just tired from us chasing him.” My classroom is now bug free.
It started pouring rain again this afternoon….luckily this time I had my umbrella, unfortunately, I didn’t have my poncho. Umbrellas don’t do much for ya here, their real purpose is to block the wind, because in all reality, the rain comes from every direction and there’s no getting away from it. Emily, our school secretary, lent me and Sam a poncho, so nice. As Tabbi and I were getting ready to jump on our bikes we realized our shoes were going to get all ruined. I was wearing my hot pink rattlesnake shoes….I couldn’t stand to see them ruined, so Tabbi and I rode home barefoot, yes….in the acid rain!
An hour or so after arriving home we received a phone call from Sherry….Typhoon coming! No school tomorrow. Yes, no school, we all thought! Then we realized we weren’t at all prepared for the Typhoon, so we got all geared up to brave the storm and headed to the corner market to stock up on some supplies. Tons of people were at the market….I couldn’t believe how fast supplies were going. We got the essentials: toilet paper, water, and ramen (who would have thought).
Friday, August 7th
You would think no school would be nice, but then you’re quarantined to your house because of a typhoon and everything changes, ha! It didn’t rain much today, but the wind was howling! It was pounding against our windows all day. Tabbi, not really thinking, opened up the laundry room door, which is on our balcony, mistake! She could barely hold on to get that door shut again…she is just a little thing, only 5’2”. She had to use all her strength to get the door shut. We read an article that said winds in most of Taiwan were around 90 mph, but south of Taipei, were we live, they were getting up to 120 mph.
My first typhoon…kind of exciting! Because none of us dared to leave the house, I was able to talk to mom and catch up with some other friends. I also worked on my talk and finished watching ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic.’ After we were all going crazy from a day inside, Hanna, Sarah, Sam, and I decided to do a 7-11 run, 7-11 is always open. We walked outside and were pleasantly surprised, no rain, and the wind wasn’t too bad. We got some dinner on Food Street and then grabbed some junk food in case we got the munchies!
Saturday, August 8th
Manti called, our fun trip to the theme park for the day had been canceled due to the typhoon, bummer! Good new though, he asked whether I wanted to hang out with him and Sean in Tai Chung. Never wanting a dull moment, of course I was up for it…but I still wasn’t sure how the weather was with the typhoon. Manti said it should be fine. Well, come to find out, because of poor service and lack of power, we couldn’t get a hold of friends in Tai Chung, but we still made a day of it.
Manti and Sean took me swimming! Wow, when an Asian says, “Lets go swimming,” It’s not as if you splash around and play in the pool, it’s actually, the real deal, oh yes….we swam laps! No worries, I had my cap and goggles. You aren’t allowed into the pool area without your cap or goggles. Something about hair clogging the drain and um….water contamination irritating your eyes, haha! We had a good time. Manti tried to teach Sean and me some technique with the breast stroke and butterfly—I was all over the place. Manti told me I needed to be, one with the water, apparently I wasn’t too graceful! He gave me some drills to practice.
Alright, now let me back up a bit….this swimming experience was great! First, before getting into the pool we had to drink some water, and then we sat in the sauna to release the toxins from our bodies. This is were I realized that Speedos are in…all the men were wearing Speedos, and if they weren’t, they were wearing knee-length shorts, but not the ones you are thinking of….the Speedo brand, which happens to be a little too tight!
After the sauna, we did some lap swimming. From the laps, we went over and had ourselves a little water massage fest! Wow, what is with these Asians and pain, they love it! In the pool there were all sorts of massaging machines, kind of like the massaging Jacuzzi’s, but much bigger, and much more extreme. Water spews out from the nozzles like a fire hydrant and it’s supposed to feel good? At one machine, Manti told me to lye down on my stomach…I did as I was told, Manti flipped a switch and the water came pouring down on me as if I was under a waterfall. It hurt so badly! At first, I thought it was a joke, so I rolled out of the water to see if I was the victim of a nasty trick, nope…it was definitely for real. I rolled back under the waterfall and tried to take it like a man, but it wasn’t happening. Manti said that where it hurts is where you aren’t as healthy….so, all over, I’m not healthy at all? Haha, alright, slight exaggeration, the Asian water spa was pretty sweet, but nonetheless, still a little painful.
The water massage didn’t end after that. We went to another machine (in waist deep water) that pounded out water onto your back and neck. Everyone made it look so relaxing….then I took a turn…or a hit, whatever you wanna call it. I could literally lean against the water and it would hold me straight up. Manti kept telling me to relax, but I couldn’t stop tensing up—it hurt! Our last water massage must have been the cool down because it was really nice. There were massage beds that we lied down in, luke warm water, with a gentle massage—the ones I am more accustomed to, it was nice!
After the massages, Manti and Sean took me over to a pool that looked like it was filled with pee….yep, pee water! Ugh. Manti said we must immerse ourselves for 30 seconds…it was an herbal pool, filled with tea or something of the sort. Doing as the Asians do, I immersed myself in the warm herbal bath before jumping into a pool of ice cold water to wash off, freezing. We ended our day at the “spa” by entering the steam room where I once again, released any toxins from my body! It was a sweet time….and I would definitely do it again! Oh…and yes, I convinced the boys to go down the water slide with all the little kids a few times…it was fun!
After swimming it was still pretty rainy outside so we decided to grab a bite to eat and head to the movies! We went and got some dumplings, so good, and some noodles, not so good. The noodles were covered in a peanut sesame sauce that tasted much like dirt; I couldn’t bring myself to finish them. So we went and saw ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.’ It was a really good movie. I hadn’t even heard about it, but I mean, I’ll see anything with Channing Tatum, so good looking. It was action packed, and suspenseful….a bit sci-fi, which I’m usually not into, but good nonetheless…even had a love story. I recommend this flick!
As we were making our way into the theater, I could smell something sweet, I looked over and saw…..POPCORN! I knew my senses wouldn’t lead me a stray. I told Manti and Sean to hold up, so I could see how much the popcorn was….Manti turned to me and said, “Oh yeah, I forgot you’re an American!” Haha, we like our popcorn, especially when it’s only 75 cents US.
The movie theater was huge—the biggest I’ve ever seen. Before the movie started, Manti got up to go to the restroom. At that moment, I thought, I should go too. I turned to Sean and pointed to the bathroom, trying to ask if that’s where I go…he nodded his head. I got up after Manti and trotted right over to the bathroom, which is just a door off of the theater. I swung open the door, and to my dismay…it was a room full of guys. They were all in shock, haha! First words out of my mouth, “This is the boys’ bathroom isn’t it?” “Uh huh,” they all said in unison with their jaws dropped. I turned right around, to a crowd full of Asians snickering at the silly American. I couldn’t stop laughing; I thought it was sooo funny. I gave Sean the ‘look,’ he was just laughing and pointing to another door on the other side of the theater…the girls’ restroom. When I got back from the bathroom, Manti and Sean were still laughing….I was too! I couldn’t believe Sean didn’t warn me…well, I could actually…he doesn’t really speak that much English and I walked away so fast he couldn’t catch me to say anything. No worries, I still have my innocence.
After a day with the boys I came home and Sarah and I watched ‘House Bunny’. Then I worked on my talk and called it a day!
Sunday, August 9th
I woke up around seven this morning so I could go over my talk and get ready for church. Ten minutes before stepping out of the door we received a call that church had been cancelled because of typhoon, Morakot. I didn’t realize that the typhoon was that bad, but after chatting with my friend Julia for a moment, she said the East side was hit pretty hard, more so than it has been hit in 50 years. Her friend down in the southeast had water in her apartment up to her knees. Six people are missing or dead and another dozen have been injured. Changhua is on the west side of the island, and luckily we are blessed with the mountains….Julia said that has helped us a lot. All I’ve seen here is a tropical storm, nothing too scary! It’s crazy that just two hours away from me all of this is happening…no worries, I am safe, but it’ll be another day inside!
Love you all! T
Because it’s the first of August we got some new SPE’s in school today. Now I’m starting to get more of a set schedule, it’s nice. I don’t have to work the afternoon SPE’s because I teach a lot of the older kids. We got a new Kevin in class, so ‘big’ Kevin’s parents changed his name to Max, so funny how that works. I keep forgetting to call Kevin, Max. He always gets after me about it. In kitchen one day we were washing our dishes and I called him Kevin, he just looked at me and said, “Try again.” Ha, it was so funny….at the same time, I was thinking, who’s the boss here, come on now!
Jamie and Alex are also new students, probably the cutest brother and sister ever! Jamie is the littlest five-year-old I’ve ever met. They hardly speak any English; in fact, Sarah actually named Alex….he’s still getting used to his new name. When he doesn’t realize I’m talking to him I’ll start to clap or snap to get his attention, he’ll look up and start copying me….he has no idea what’s going on.
It’s crazy how much the kids who have been here for just one month have advanced, I didn’t notice their improvement until Jamie and Alex came to school knowing nothing. The older kids are always so helpful. Kiki and Max especially….one day Jamie couldn’t understand, so Kiki just kept saying, “Say this….say this….” In frustration, Kiki looked at me and asked, “Teacher, can I just tell her in Chinese?” The kids can’t speak Chinese in school—it gets interesting when we try to teach them freeze tag or soccer, they just run around wild…patience!
We also got a new cook. Sue had to quit due to health problems. Linda is our new cook—she made us meatballs today. They were actually pretty good….some of the meat is sketch, but I had to try the meatballs because Changhua is supposedly famous for them. YUMMY!
Tuesday, August 4th
Nothing much new today, just still trying to teach Jamie and Alex a little English…they keep speaking Chinese in class. Every time one of them says anything that’s not in English, all the other kids yell at the top of their lungs, “NO CHINESE!” I think Max and Kiki are starting to get a little irritated in Gym….they don’t ever want Alex on their team, because he keeps using his hands in soccer. Pour little guy, he’ll get it, it just takes time.
We got another new student, Tim. He is a smart little devil. He already has the system down! He repeats everything I say, and he won’t stop until I recognize him. He’s a cutie!
It started pouring rain today—it does that a lot here in the afternoon. Sarah and I had to borrow an umbrella from school. I’m becoming pro at the one hand on the bike, one hand on the umbrella technique….that hold actually isn’t too bad, it’s when I need both hands on the bike and have to use my neck to hold my umbrella, now that’s were it gets tricky!
Wednesday, August 5th
Well, all of us teachers have been talking about what we can do with Joe….bless his heart; he just has some behavior problems. We decided to lay down the law, every time he acts out, Sherry’s office it is! When I arrived at school today Sam was escorting Joe out of class….then when I was teaching Joe, I found myself escorting him out of class. He was like Spiderman clinging to the walls, trying to latch onto anything within reach. When we got to Sherry’s office, she just looked at Joe and said, “Not again…” Poor kid, hopefully he will learn. Hanna walked by Sherry’s office and saw him sweating bullets, dang wall sits!
For my afternoon off, I decided to come home and get organized with some things, before dong so though, I stopped off at this large monastery that is near our apartment. It is huge. On my way there, this man pulled up to me on his scooter. He had a big thing of beetle nut lodged in his cheek—it’s just like tobacco, but red. All the old guys chew it, and then spit it out on the streets. You will see red crap on the ground everywhere. It very much stains, and not only the ground, but your mouth as well, teeth and all…so GROSS! Anyhow, this beetle nut guy came right close to me on his scooter, asked if I was American, then proceeded to tell me that I was ‘sexy’ and ‘beautiful’….all with a great big smile of beetle nut. Ugh, thanks, I thought…and the Taiwanese are known for their passive behavior.
Thursday, August 6th
We played Simon Says in games today….I was Simon, “Simon says wiggle your ears…” All my SPE’s started wiggling their ears with their little hands, then Jimmy, the cutest of all, comes up to me shoving his hands into my face, “Teacher, look…” Oh yes, he can wiggle his ears with no hands. Probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. He is adorable (I took a video of him so you can capture the goodness…hopefully I can get it up soon). We then played Jimmy Says…”Jimmy says touch teacher…” All the kids came and latched onto my legs…caressing them as many of the kids do. The kids love smooth legs because Asians don’t shave, they must have gotten that from the Europeans. I thought I was low maintenance before, and I’ve even gotten more low maintenance since I’ve been here, but I just don’t think I can go that far….no shaved legs…icky! They also don’t wear deodorant! Smelly. I brought deodorant into my oldest class to show them what it looks like and how you use it, they were amazed. I also brought them some small samples of perfume that they could have….they were lovin’ it. Even Martin wanted a sample of perfume!
Oh my goodness, there were two flying bugs in my 2A class today, the kids were freaking out…..and I was right there with them. All of us were screaming….I kept thinking, pull it together T, pull it together! I had to stay calm, so my kids would stay calm. The bugs weren’t even that big, but for some reason, the fact that they could fly got to me. I went and grabbed a broom from the bathroom and tried to swing at them….obviously missing! Killing bugs is not in my job description—it is now! One minute the girls were freaking out, then I couldn’t hear a thing….I turned around and they had all booked it outta class, no bugs for them. Hankie pinkie came to our rescue…he got his grammar book, grabbed a chair for a little lift, and slammed that book down with all his might, that bug didn’t see it comin! “That bug was so stupid,” Hank said. Then Engine piped in, “That bug wasn’t stupid, he was just tired from us chasing him.” My classroom is now bug free.
It started pouring rain again this afternoon….luckily this time I had my umbrella, unfortunately, I didn’t have my poncho. Umbrellas don’t do much for ya here, their real purpose is to block the wind, because in all reality, the rain comes from every direction and there’s no getting away from it. Emily, our school secretary, lent me and Sam a poncho, so nice. As Tabbi and I were getting ready to jump on our bikes we realized our shoes were going to get all ruined. I was wearing my hot pink rattlesnake shoes….I couldn’t stand to see them ruined, so Tabbi and I rode home barefoot, yes….in the acid rain!
An hour or so after arriving home we received a phone call from Sherry….Typhoon coming! No school tomorrow. Yes, no school, we all thought! Then we realized we weren’t at all prepared for the Typhoon, so we got all geared up to brave the storm and headed to the corner market to stock up on some supplies. Tons of people were at the market….I couldn’t believe how fast supplies were going. We got the essentials: toilet paper, water, and ramen (who would have thought).
Friday, August 7th
You would think no school would be nice, but then you’re quarantined to your house because of a typhoon and everything changes, ha! It didn’t rain much today, but the wind was howling! It was pounding against our windows all day. Tabbi, not really thinking, opened up the laundry room door, which is on our balcony, mistake! She could barely hold on to get that door shut again…she is just a little thing, only 5’2”. She had to use all her strength to get the door shut. We read an article that said winds in most of Taiwan were around 90 mph, but south of Taipei, were we live, they were getting up to 120 mph.
My first typhoon…kind of exciting! Because none of us dared to leave the house, I was able to talk to mom and catch up with some other friends. I also worked on my talk and finished watching ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic.’ After we were all going crazy from a day inside, Hanna, Sarah, Sam, and I decided to do a 7-11 run, 7-11 is always open. We walked outside and were pleasantly surprised, no rain, and the wind wasn’t too bad. We got some dinner on Food Street and then grabbed some junk food in case we got the munchies!
Saturday, August 8th
Manti called, our fun trip to the theme park for the day had been canceled due to the typhoon, bummer! Good new though, he asked whether I wanted to hang out with him and Sean in Tai Chung. Never wanting a dull moment, of course I was up for it…but I still wasn’t sure how the weather was with the typhoon. Manti said it should be fine. Well, come to find out, because of poor service and lack of power, we couldn’t get a hold of friends in Tai Chung, but we still made a day of it.
Manti and Sean took me swimming! Wow, when an Asian says, “Lets go swimming,” It’s not as if you splash around and play in the pool, it’s actually, the real deal, oh yes….we swam laps! No worries, I had my cap and goggles. You aren’t allowed into the pool area without your cap or goggles. Something about hair clogging the drain and um….water contamination irritating your eyes, haha! We had a good time. Manti tried to teach Sean and me some technique with the breast stroke and butterfly—I was all over the place. Manti told me I needed to be, one with the water, apparently I wasn’t too graceful! He gave me some drills to practice.
Alright, now let me back up a bit….this swimming experience was great! First, before getting into the pool we had to drink some water, and then we sat in the sauna to release the toxins from our bodies. This is were I realized that Speedos are in…all the men were wearing Speedos, and if they weren’t, they were wearing knee-length shorts, but not the ones you are thinking of….the Speedo brand, which happens to be a little too tight!
After the sauna, we did some lap swimming. From the laps, we went over and had ourselves a little water massage fest! Wow, what is with these Asians and pain, they love it! In the pool there were all sorts of massaging machines, kind of like the massaging Jacuzzi’s, but much bigger, and much more extreme. Water spews out from the nozzles like a fire hydrant and it’s supposed to feel good? At one machine, Manti told me to lye down on my stomach…I did as I was told, Manti flipped a switch and the water came pouring down on me as if I was under a waterfall. It hurt so badly! At first, I thought it was a joke, so I rolled out of the water to see if I was the victim of a nasty trick, nope…it was definitely for real. I rolled back under the waterfall and tried to take it like a man, but it wasn’t happening. Manti said that where it hurts is where you aren’t as healthy….so, all over, I’m not healthy at all? Haha, alright, slight exaggeration, the Asian water spa was pretty sweet, but nonetheless, still a little painful.
The water massage didn’t end after that. We went to another machine (in waist deep water) that pounded out water onto your back and neck. Everyone made it look so relaxing….then I took a turn…or a hit, whatever you wanna call it. I could literally lean against the water and it would hold me straight up. Manti kept telling me to relax, but I couldn’t stop tensing up—it hurt! Our last water massage must have been the cool down because it was really nice. There were massage beds that we lied down in, luke warm water, with a gentle massage—the ones I am more accustomed to, it was nice!
After the massages, Manti and Sean took me over to a pool that looked like it was filled with pee….yep, pee water! Ugh. Manti said we must immerse ourselves for 30 seconds…it was an herbal pool, filled with tea or something of the sort. Doing as the Asians do, I immersed myself in the warm herbal bath before jumping into a pool of ice cold water to wash off, freezing. We ended our day at the “spa” by entering the steam room where I once again, released any toxins from my body! It was a sweet time….and I would definitely do it again! Oh…and yes, I convinced the boys to go down the water slide with all the little kids a few times…it was fun!
After swimming it was still pretty rainy outside so we decided to grab a bite to eat and head to the movies! We went and got some dumplings, so good, and some noodles, not so good. The noodles were covered in a peanut sesame sauce that tasted much like dirt; I couldn’t bring myself to finish them. So we went and saw ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.’ It was a really good movie. I hadn’t even heard about it, but I mean, I’ll see anything with Channing Tatum, so good looking. It was action packed, and suspenseful….a bit sci-fi, which I’m usually not into, but good nonetheless…even had a love story. I recommend this flick!
As we were making our way into the theater, I could smell something sweet, I looked over and saw…..POPCORN! I knew my senses wouldn’t lead me a stray. I told Manti and Sean to hold up, so I could see how much the popcorn was….Manti turned to me and said, “Oh yeah, I forgot you’re an American!” Haha, we like our popcorn, especially when it’s only 75 cents US.
The movie theater was huge—the biggest I’ve ever seen. Before the movie started, Manti got up to go to the restroom. At that moment, I thought, I should go too. I turned to Sean and pointed to the bathroom, trying to ask if that’s where I go…he nodded his head. I got up after Manti and trotted right over to the bathroom, which is just a door off of the theater. I swung open the door, and to my dismay…it was a room full of guys. They were all in shock, haha! First words out of my mouth, “This is the boys’ bathroom isn’t it?” “Uh huh,” they all said in unison with their jaws dropped. I turned right around, to a crowd full of Asians snickering at the silly American. I couldn’t stop laughing; I thought it was sooo funny. I gave Sean the ‘look,’ he was just laughing and pointing to another door on the other side of the theater…the girls’ restroom. When I got back from the bathroom, Manti and Sean were still laughing….I was too! I couldn’t believe Sean didn’t warn me…well, I could actually…he doesn’t really speak that much English and I walked away so fast he couldn’t catch me to say anything. No worries, I still have my innocence.
After a day with the boys I came home and Sarah and I watched ‘House Bunny’. Then I worked on my talk and called it a day!
Sunday, August 9th
I woke up around seven this morning so I could go over my talk and get ready for church. Ten minutes before stepping out of the door we received a call that church had been cancelled because of typhoon, Morakot. I didn’t realize that the typhoon was that bad, but after chatting with my friend Julia for a moment, she said the East side was hit pretty hard, more so than it has been hit in 50 years. Her friend down in the southeast had water in her apartment up to her knees. Six people are missing or dead and another dozen have been injured. Changhua is on the west side of the island, and luckily we are blessed with the mountains….Julia said that has helped us a lot. All I’ve seen here is a tropical storm, nothing too scary! It’s crazy that just two hours away from me all of this is happening…no worries, I am safe, but it’ll be another day inside!
Love you all! T
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Temple Trip to Taipei!
The English branch had a Temple Day a few weeks ago. We took a 2.5 hour bus ride to Taipei to go to the temple. We wanted to visit some other sites, but the 'typhoon' didn't call for it! At least the rain let up for a small moment so we could go see Taipei 101! Good times!
When we finished up in the temple, we came outside to find a typhoon waiting for us! We ran across the street to this tiny little shop, Bountiful Living, to duck for cover!
Taipei Temple!
Umbrellas in a typhoon...please. You might as well have no cover at all...we were soaked from head to toe by the end of the day!
With our agenda shot for the day, a group of us decided to find a place to eat to stay out of the rain. After sloshing around in ankle deep acid rain, we found this restaurant. The food was so gross, but we were soaking wet...a dry place was comfort enough. Our group from L-R: Jenae, Lindsay, Sarah, Joseph, me, Lisa, and Fenny (most of these peeps are the Feng Yuan teachers).
Taipei 101 - The 2nd tallest building in the world!!! This building is 101 stories high, imagine that! I'm in the bottom left corner!
101 at night!
NY? Taipei is much different from Changhua...for a moment, I forgot I was in a foreign country!
Near 101....quite like the Gateway shopping experience...Lots of outdoor shops, restaurants, and music! Lisa and I sat and chilled for awhile as we listened to one of the Taiwanese bands--it's funny to hear them play American music--everyone loves it!
Walking to church with the Feng Yuan teachers! We crossed 'Love Bridge'....Can you see the locks attached to the fence? This bridge is covered with locks....couples will come to this bridge, lock their hearts, and throw the keys on the passing trains!
When we finished up in the temple, we came outside to find a typhoon waiting for us! We ran across the street to this tiny little shop, Bountiful Living, to duck for cover!
Taipei Temple!
Umbrellas in a typhoon...please. You might as well have no cover at all...we were soaked from head to toe by the end of the day!
With our agenda shot for the day, a group of us decided to find a place to eat to stay out of the rain. After sloshing around in ankle deep acid rain, we found this restaurant. The food was so gross, but we were soaking wet...a dry place was comfort enough. Our group from L-R: Jenae, Lindsay, Sarah, Joseph, me, Lisa, and Fenny (most of these peeps are the Feng Yuan teachers).
Taipei 101 - The 2nd tallest building in the world!!! This building is 101 stories high, imagine that! I'm in the bottom left corner!
101 at night!
NY? Taipei is much different from Changhua...for a moment, I forgot I was in a foreign country!
Near 101....quite like the Gateway shopping experience...Lots of outdoor shops, restaurants, and music! Lisa and I sat and chilled for awhile as we listened to one of the Taiwanese bands--it's funny to hear them play American music--everyone loves it!
Walking to church with the Feng Yuan teachers! We crossed 'Love Bridge'....Can you see the locks attached to the fence? This bridge is covered with locks....couples will come to this bridge, lock their hearts, and throw the keys on the passing trains!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Chapter Six
Monday, July 27th
I had to send Joe to Sherry’s office today. That darn kid—us teachers just don’t know what we will ever do with him. He’s getting pretty good at sitting in timeout…he’s there just about every day. He can’t seem to keep his hands to himself. He’s fighting, pinching, or off in Joe world. He is a distraction to the other students and he never listens. He just needs a little lovin’!
Once again, during gym Joe wasn’t paying much attention, so I had to call him out of soccer….I gave him a big bear hug just so I wouldn’t hit him…ha…also so he wouldn’t run around and ruin the game for the other kids. It was cute; when I was hugging him he looked up at me and just started pushing me forward. I had no idea what he was doing until he got behind me, wrapped his little arms around my legs, and was now giving me the biggest bear hug he could manage. That little fart….you can’t help but smile. At least he makes a good referee in an intense game of soccer.
After my 7A class this evening I was able to go downstairs and visit with JoAnna and Martin’s father, Frank. He’s actually a business man, has his MBA, and owns his own trading company. It was really fun talking to him considering I like business and am considering my MBA. Lucky for him, in Taiwan you don’t have to take the GMAT (the entrance exam to get your MBA….not a fun test)! As we were talking, JoAnna looked bored out of her mind, but I really enjoyed it. We skipped around from subject to subject, but I liked what he said about having the softer skills with the harder skills. The harder skills are all the technical stuff, the books and junk. The softer skills are personality, social sills, and the good stuff. You can’t survive without the softer skills! It’s so true. Even though you don’t necessarily have a class in school to learn the softer skills, they are much more important than the harder skills in the long run. Anyone can learn harder skills, but softer skills don’t come as naturally to everyone.
After work I went running at the track. Sarah and I waited until about 10 at night to run; that’s when the track lights turn off and the temperature drops a bit—yes, I said a bit…I still can’t believe how much I sweat with the humidity. After running, I literally had sweat dripping off of my body….I’ve never been swimming in my own sweat but I might as well have been. There’s a first time for everything!
Tuesday, July 28th
Oh my goodness! You know you’re getting older when you have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom, MULTIPLE TIMES! I hate it. For some reason my bladder has shrunk ever since I’ve gotten here. I guess it’s all that water I’m drinking to replenish myself from sweating all the time, sick! Anyhow, it was about 5:30 in the morning and I had to get up to go to the bathroom….I went to kick my feet over the side of the bed and I totally fell out of bed! The whole right side of my body had fallen asleep. Haha, I couldn’t believe it. Even at 5:30 in the morning I was laughing. No worries, it was no stroke; I’m not that old…I contribute my ‘fallen asleep’ body to the hard beds we sleep on. Oh yeah, there is no ‘give’ in these beds. I added a couple sleeping bags underneath me to give a little cushion, but even then….my bed is still as hard as a brick. I may have to resort to sleeping on my back. Watch, I’ll be like one of those missionaries who comes back home to the states and can’t stand to sleep on a soft, nice mattress….I’ll want to sleep on the floor.
This morning I didn’t have to go to work until noon, YAY! I was able to talk to mom and dad. I showed them all our family history online. It was so fun learning more about my heritage—I absolutely love it. So, it turns out I am more than a quarter Swiss…that must explain my very intense personality? Ha. I love coming from a pioneer family. I’m so grateful. I had one great, great…..great grandmother who was born in Switzerland, came to America, and died in St. George. Wow! Dad was laughing, our first family home evening together, EVER! Ha…another first, it just took me getting to Taiwan to get it done.
In class today my 2A kids were telling me jokes, here it goes: What’s a deer called that has no eyes? ……do you know? I have ‘no eye deer.’ Haha. I know right, just great! Here’s another one, where do sheep go to get their hair cut? ….any ideas? The ‘baaaaa beeeer.’ That’s code for ‘barber.’ Samuel told me those jokes. He is just adorable. He was born in England and lived there for awhile before his family moved back to Taiwan. He has a Chinese/English accent. Whenever we talk about clothing (shorts, shirts, and such) he always points out that he is wearing ‘trousers.’ I love it!
Wednesday, July 29th
I don’t have much to write today. Surprising? Haha. My classes went well—I am definitely learning more and more patience everyday. I just don’t know how some mom’s do it. Thank you to all MOM’s out there who have ever raised any children! You’re the best!
Once funny thing happened today—it was during drama. I was reading a story to Gary and Mimi (the SPE’s). The story was about a beautiful princess who was covered in glitzy jewelry. I started to point out the jewelry I was wearing for the day, but I had forgotten my earrings. Gary looked at my ears and said, “Teacher, your ears are broken!” It was so funny—because I have holes in my ears, my ears just must be broken, ha! It was funny. There aren’t too many women in little Changhua with their ears pierced, it must be a ‘big city’ thing.
Thursday, July 30th
I didn’t teach any SPE’s today….it was a nice break! Engine walked into 2A’s with his genie pants on, that’s what I like to call them. He takes Kung Fu….those pants are soooo big on him, like MC Hammer, parachute pants! Anyhow, during break he busted out some Kung Fu in class. I’m amazed, that kid can kick high! I wanted to take a video of it so I could post it, but he got all shy on me. When he warms up a little more, I’ll try to snatch a clip for ya’ll.
After work Hanna and I went exploring around town on the scooter. I got some massage coupons so we were trying to find the spa. We didn’t have much luck following Chinese directions, but we did find a little night market—we got our favorite night market treat—coconut milk! Yummy. Hanna also took me to this small department store that sells the cutest swimming suits. I’m gonna have to go back and buy one, only $30! They have some great styles here.
Friday, July 31st
Pay day! I love pay day, I mean…who doesn’t. I feel so rich after getting paid in THOUSANDS! We’ll see how much I can actually save.
Dad, Gary gave you a nice compliment in drama today. We were reading our story and I was teaching the kids the difference between a moustache, beard, and goatee. I asked him if he had a moustache or goatee, he just started to laugh. I then asked him if his dad had a moustache or goatee….he just kept laughing and shaking his head no…”Those are only for old people,” he said! Sorry, dad! Don’t worry, in all the years I’ve known you with a beard, mustache, or goatee, I’ve never thought you were old!
For dinner we went out to Thai Food again. Julia and Molly came with us. We tried a different place since last time we weren’t too satisfied. This restaurant was great! Sarah and I shared shrimp and pineapple fried rice, which was accompanied by some dried out, shredded pork. We also shared the coconut curry with chicken. This time it was real spicy, and delicious!
After dinner, Molly and Julia came over to our house. We watched a Taiwanese Drama on TV. Molly loves it and never misses an episode. It’s super famous because it’s filmed right in Kaohsiung…not too far away. She always asks me whether I think any of the characters are cute….”do you prefer big eyes or small eyes,” she says. You think we’d do more on a Friday night, but I just crashed I was soooo tired from the week!
Saturday, August 1st
Today I went to Tao Yuan with Molly and three other Asian friends. Try riding in a car for nearly three hours, just one way, listening to Chinese the WHOLE time….I tried to pick up on some of the conversation, but after so long, I just zonked out. Every once in awhile, I’d hear my name (that always got me interested), the word what, this, that, yes, no…that’s about all I could understand!
On our ride down to Tao Yuan, Molly asked me how I felt, as in, was I tired? Before I could respond, she kept talking …”because you know, whenever Tabbi comes she is always so tired…” This is true, Tabbi is always tired. I responded, “No, not at all.” I didn’t tell her I went to bed the night before at four in the morning—I just couldn’t sleep. I did my best on staying awake, but when I couldn’t contribute to the convo, and when I saw ADA sleeping in the corner, I figured it was alright to rest.
Before arriving in Tao Yuan, we stopped in Shing Ju for lunch. I tried duck and squid. Duck was interesting…it kind of tasted like turkey, with a little twist. ….and the squid, well….chewy! It’s always nice going to a Chinese restaurant. You hardly ever get a beverage, and the food is set on a lazy susan for everyone to share; it’s great! The restaurant is in a little hole in the wall, but there is always a nice T.V. The set up is the same in Taiwanese homes as well. Someone could have a poor looking home, but there’s always room and money for a giant flat screen hanging on the wall.
Well, well, well…what’s in Tao Yuan, you may be thinking! Amway party! I know right, I must be crazy for going? Come on now….it’s all about the experience. A lot of the Asians are into multi-level marketing here, and I think a lot of them are church members as well. Anyhow, an Amway party was going down, and I just couldn’t miss it. Picture this, Amway meets night club/cruise spectacular—hilarious. To get into the party you had to wear some type of flower in your hair or on your clothes…then, as your ticket in, they gave us all fake tattoos! Oooh, so exciting already! The party was in a warehouse. When we first entered we were greeted and given some peach punch. We then went and had our pictures taken in a photo booth…FUN! Oh, the fun hadn’t even begun yet. The funniest thing—in the warehouse they had backdrops perched up high on beams. They also had show girls standing on the beams in front of the backdrops. At first they were just sitting there as people took pictures of them, but once the music started, they stood up and started dancing all around; there were neon lights too…can you say RAVE! Haha. It was so funny.
At the party, the DJ played American and Chinese music….a lot of rap. Amway was introducing its new product for Artistry. They had some models come out and present the product—some who happen to be very famous in Taiwan. Molly was star struck! The MC hosted some cruise ship games, a band came out and performed, and Molly and I got up and stage and started dancing….surprising, no….we had a blast! I was the only foreigner in that warehouse. It was great to watch as people turned to look at me. I could see them tap their friend’s shoulder, whisper something in their ear, then I would watch as the friend turned to looked at me.
Molly and I had a great time at the party. Afterward we went to McDonald’s and got some ice cream. Later that night when we got back into Changhua, Molly took me to get dumplings for dinner. Then we came home and watched Freedom Writers with the group.
Sunday, August 2nd
Molly picked us girls up for church today. It was nice to take a car to church instead of the train for a change! Alright, so like I said, the English branch is super small. There are less than 50 members; therefore, everyone has a calling! Yay, right? Ha, you are now looking at the new 2nd counselor in the Relief Society, ahhhhh….any pointers? Everything is really disorganized because the turnover rate it really high, and there aren’t many resources. In fact, I’ve never met the 1st counselor in the RS because she hasn’t been to church since I arrived in Taiwan. The RS president is another teacher from the other school, so together, hopefully we can get some things done. Another great thing about a small branch…I get to speak in Sacrament next Sunday, great huh? My topic is ‘Building the Kingdom of God in our homes and communities’….any advice? I’ve only spoken in church twice in my lifetime, yes…TWICE, I need all the help I can get.
After church Charles, our friend from Kaohsiung, came up for the weekend. He met us after church and we hung out in Tai Chung for the day. First, Charles took us to a nice little pasta restaurant! It was delicious—American delicious. I had penne noodles with chicken pesto sauce, so yummy, garlic bread too! After lunch Charles took us to a science museum. We toured around, looked at some cool stuff, you know…dinosaurs, constellations, the good stuff. Then we watched two movies in 3D: one about Africa, the other about creatures under the sea. Too bad we couldn’t understand a thing, it was all in Chinese. Even the African men in the Safari video were speaking Chinese!
From the museum we went to the metropolitan park. There were a ton of people there; they were feeding the ducks or flying kites. It was a nice park, but I was surprised by how ‘not green’ the grass was, especially for such a tropical place. At the park, some people were playing the stick-bottle game. You hold a thin stick in one hand with a string attached to the stick, and a ring on the end of the string. Then there is a glass coke bottle lying on the ground. Holding the stick with one hand, you have to put the ring around the bottle, and try to stand the bottle up on its own. We all tried it out…it was actually more difficult than it looked. Charles got it the first time, so lucky. It took me a couple tries, but I got it! We even got prizes too—little boxes we could keep coins in.
When we finished up at the park we headed to the night market; the one where you’re herded like cattle. I am still amazed by the number of people there, every night too! I found some really cute shows, but I held off on buying them, even though they were just $6.00. Man, as if I wasn’t tight before, I sure will be when I get back to the states. Anyway, I think that’s enough for the week! Love you all! T
I had to send Joe to Sherry’s office today. That darn kid—us teachers just don’t know what we will ever do with him. He’s getting pretty good at sitting in timeout…he’s there just about every day. He can’t seem to keep his hands to himself. He’s fighting, pinching, or off in Joe world. He is a distraction to the other students and he never listens. He just needs a little lovin’!
Once again, during gym Joe wasn’t paying much attention, so I had to call him out of soccer….I gave him a big bear hug just so I wouldn’t hit him…ha…also so he wouldn’t run around and ruin the game for the other kids. It was cute; when I was hugging him he looked up at me and just started pushing me forward. I had no idea what he was doing until he got behind me, wrapped his little arms around my legs, and was now giving me the biggest bear hug he could manage. That little fart….you can’t help but smile. At least he makes a good referee in an intense game of soccer.
After my 7A class this evening I was able to go downstairs and visit with JoAnna and Martin’s father, Frank. He’s actually a business man, has his MBA, and owns his own trading company. It was really fun talking to him considering I like business and am considering my MBA. Lucky for him, in Taiwan you don’t have to take the GMAT (the entrance exam to get your MBA….not a fun test)! As we were talking, JoAnna looked bored out of her mind, but I really enjoyed it. We skipped around from subject to subject, but I liked what he said about having the softer skills with the harder skills. The harder skills are all the technical stuff, the books and junk. The softer skills are personality, social sills, and the good stuff. You can’t survive without the softer skills! It’s so true. Even though you don’t necessarily have a class in school to learn the softer skills, they are much more important than the harder skills in the long run. Anyone can learn harder skills, but softer skills don’t come as naturally to everyone.
After work I went running at the track. Sarah and I waited until about 10 at night to run; that’s when the track lights turn off and the temperature drops a bit—yes, I said a bit…I still can’t believe how much I sweat with the humidity. After running, I literally had sweat dripping off of my body….I’ve never been swimming in my own sweat but I might as well have been. There’s a first time for everything!
Tuesday, July 28th
Oh my goodness! You know you’re getting older when you have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom, MULTIPLE TIMES! I hate it. For some reason my bladder has shrunk ever since I’ve gotten here. I guess it’s all that water I’m drinking to replenish myself from sweating all the time, sick! Anyhow, it was about 5:30 in the morning and I had to get up to go to the bathroom….I went to kick my feet over the side of the bed and I totally fell out of bed! The whole right side of my body had fallen asleep. Haha, I couldn’t believe it. Even at 5:30 in the morning I was laughing. No worries, it was no stroke; I’m not that old…I contribute my ‘fallen asleep’ body to the hard beds we sleep on. Oh yeah, there is no ‘give’ in these beds. I added a couple sleeping bags underneath me to give a little cushion, but even then….my bed is still as hard as a brick. I may have to resort to sleeping on my back. Watch, I’ll be like one of those missionaries who comes back home to the states and can’t stand to sleep on a soft, nice mattress….I’ll want to sleep on the floor.
This morning I didn’t have to go to work until noon, YAY! I was able to talk to mom and dad. I showed them all our family history online. It was so fun learning more about my heritage—I absolutely love it. So, it turns out I am more than a quarter Swiss…that must explain my very intense personality? Ha. I love coming from a pioneer family. I’m so grateful. I had one great, great…..great grandmother who was born in Switzerland, came to America, and died in St. George. Wow! Dad was laughing, our first family home evening together, EVER! Ha…another first, it just took me getting to Taiwan to get it done.
In class today my 2A kids were telling me jokes, here it goes: What’s a deer called that has no eyes? ……do you know? I have ‘no eye deer.’ Haha. I know right, just great! Here’s another one, where do sheep go to get their hair cut? ….any ideas? The ‘baaaaa beeeer.’ That’s code for ‘barber.’ Samuel told me those jokes. He is just adorable. He was born in England and lived there for awhile before his family moved back to Taiwan. He has a Chinese/English accent. Whenever we talk about clothing (shorts, shirts, and such) he always points out that he is wearing ‘trousers.’ I love it!
Wednesday, July 29th
I don’t have much to write today. Surprising? Haha. My classes went well—I am definitely learning more and more patience everyday. I just don’t know how some mom’s do it. Thank you to all MOM’s out there who have ever raised any children! You’re the best!
Once funny thing happened today—it was during drama. I was reading a story to Gary and Mimi (the SPE’s). The story was about a beautiful princess who was covered in glitzy jewelry. I started to point out the jewelry I was wearing for the day, but I had forgotten my earrings. Gary looked at my ears and said, “Teacher, your ears are broken!” It was so funny—because I have holes in my ears, my ears just must be broken, ha! It was funny. There aren’t too many women in little Changhua with their ears pierced, it must be a ‘big city’ thing.
Thursday, July 30th
I didn’t teach any SPE’s today….it was a nice break! Engine walked into 2A’s with his genie pants on, that’s what I like to call them. He takes Kung Fu….those pants are soooo big on him, like MC Hammer, parachute pants! Anyhow, during break he busted out some Kung Fu in class. I’m amazed, that kid can kick high! I wanted to take a video of it so I could post it, but he got all shy on me. When he warms up a little more, I’ll try to snatch a clip for ya’ll.
After work Hanna and I went exploring around town on the scooter. I got some massage coupons so we were trying to find the spa. We didn’t have much luck following Chinese directions, but we did find a little night market—we got our favorite night market treat—coconut milk! Yummy. Hanna also took me to this small department store that sells the cutest swimming suits. I’m gonna have to go back and buy one, only $30! They have some great styles here.
Friday, July 31st
Pay day! I love pay day, I mean…who doesn’t. I feel so rich after getting paid in THOUSANDS! We’ll see how much I can actually save.
Dad, Gary gave you a nice compliment in drama today. We were reading our story and I was teaching the kids the difference between a moustache, beard, and goatee. I asked him if he had a moustache or goatee, he just started to laugh. I then asked him if his dad had a moustache or goatee….he just kept laughing and shaking his head no…”Those are only for old people,” he said! Sorry, dad! Don’t worry, in all the years I’ve known you with a beard, mustache, or goatee, I’ve never thought you were old!
For dinner we went out to Thai Food again. Julia and Molly came with us. We tried a different place since last time we weren’t too satisfied. This restaurant was great! Sarah and I shared shrimp and pineapple fried rice, which was accompanied by some dried out, shredded pork. We also shared the coconut curry with chicken. This time it was real spicy, and delicious!
After dinner, Molly and Julia came over to our house. We watched a Taiwanese Drama on TV. Molly loves it and never misses an episode. It’s super famous because it’s filmed right in Kaohsiung…not too far away. She always asks me whether I think any of the characters are cute….”do you prefer big eyes or small eyes,” she says. You think we’d do more on a Friday night, but I just crashed I was soooo tired from the week!
Saturday, August 1st
Today I went to Tao Yuan with Molly and three other Asian friends. Try riding in a car for nearly three hours, just one way, listening to Chinese the WHOLE time….I tried to pick up on some of the conversation, but after so long, I just zonked out. Every once in awhile, I’d hear my name (that always got me interested), the word what, this, that, yes, no…that’s about all I could understand!
On our ride down to Tao Yuan, Molly asked me how I felt, as in, was I tired? Before I could respond, she kept talking …”because you know, whenever Tabbi comes she is always so tired…” This is true, Tabbi is always tired. I responded, “No, not at all.” I didn’t tell her I went to bed the night before at four in the morning—I just couldn’t sleep. I did my best on staying awake, but when I couldn’t contribute to the convo, and when I saw ADA sleeping in the corner, I figured it was alright to rest.
Before arriving in Tao Yuan, we stopped in Shing Ju for lunch. I tried duck and squid. Duck was interesting…it kind of tasted like turkey, with a little twist. ….and the squid, well….chewy! It’s always nice going to a Chinese restaurant. You hardly ever get a beverage, and the food is set on a lazy susan for everyone to share; it’s great! The restaurant is in a little hole in the wall, but there is always a nice T.V. The set up is the same in Taiwanese homes as well. Someone could have a poor looking home, but there’s always room and money for a giant flat screen hanging on the wall.
Well, well, well…what’s in Tao Yuan, you may be thinking! Amway party! I know right, I must be crazy for going? Come on now….it’s all about the experience. A lot of the Asians are into multi-level marketing here, and I think a lot of them are church members as well. Anyhow, an Amway party was going down, and I just couldn’t miss it. Picture this, Amway meets night club/cruise spectacular—hilarious. To get into the party you had to wear some type of flower in your hair or on your clothes…then, as your ticket in, they gave us all fake tattoos! Oooh, so exciting already! The party was in a warehouse. When we first entered we were greeted and given some peach punch. We then went and had our pictures taken in a photo booth…FUN! Oh, the fun hadn’t even begun yet. The funniest thing—in the warehouse they had backdrops perched up high on beams. They also had show girls standing on the beams in front of the backdrops. At first they were just sitting there as people took pictures of them, but once the music started, they stood up and started dancing all around; there were neon lights too…can you say RAVE! Haha. It was so funny.
At the party, the DJ played American and Chinese music….a lot of rap. Amway was introducing its new product for Artistry. They had some models come out and present the product—some who happen to be very famous in Taiwan. Molly was star struck! The MC hosted some cruise ship games, a band came out and performed, and Molly and I got up and stage and started dancing….surprising, no….we had a blast! I was the only foreigner in that warehouse. It was great to watch as people turned to look at me. I could see them tap their friend’s shoulder, whisper something in their ear, then I would watch as the friend turned to looked at me.
Molly and I had a great time at the party. Afterward we went to McDonald’s and got some ice cream. Later that night when we got back into Changhua, Molly took me to get dumplings for dinner. Then we came home and watched Freedom Writers with the group.
Sunday, August 2nd
Molly picked us girls up for church today. It was nice to take a car to church instead of the train for a change! Alright, so like I said, the English branch is super small. There are less than 50 members; therefore, everyone has a calling! Yay, right? Ha, you are now looking at the new 2nd counselor in the Relief Society, ahhhhh….any pointers? Everything is really disorganized because the turnover rate it really high, and there aren’t many resources. In fact, I’ve never met the 1st counselor in the RS because she hasn’t been to church since I arrived in Taiwan. The RS president is another teacher from the other school, so together, hopefully we can get some things done. Another great thing about a small branch…I get to speak in Sacrament next Sunday, great huh? My topic is ‘Building the Kingdom of God in our homes and communities’….any advice? I’ve only spoken in church twice in my lifetime, yes…TWICE, I need all the help I can get.
After church Charles, our friend from Kaohsiung, came up for the weekend. He met us after church and we hung out in Tai Chung for the day. First, Charles took us to a nice little pasta restaurant! It was delicious—American delicious. I had penne noodles with chicken pesto sauce, so yummy, garlic bread too! After lunch Charles took us to a science museum. We toured around, looked at some cool stuff, you know…dinosaurs, constellations, the good stuff. Then we watched two movies in 3D: one about Africa, the other about creatures under the sea. Too bad we couldn’t understand a thing, it was all in Chinese. Even the African men in the Safari video were speaking Chinese!
From the museum we went to the metropolitan park. There were a ton of people there; they were feeding the ducks or flying kites. It was a nice park, but I was surprised by how ‘not green’ the grass was, especially for such a tropical place. At the park, some people were playing the stick-bottle game. You hold a thin stick in one hand with a string attached to the stick, and a ring on the end of the string. Then there is a glass coke bottle lying on the ground. Holding the stick with one hand, you have to put the ring around the bottle, and try to stand the bottle up on its own. We all tried it out…it was actually more difficult than it looked. Charles got it the first time, so lucky. It took me a couple tries, but I got it! We even got prizes too—little boxes we could keep coins in.
When we finished up at the park we headed to the night market; the one where you’re herded like cattle. I am still amazed by the number of people there, every night too! I found some really cute shows, but I held off on buying them, even though they were just $6.00. Man, as if I wasn’t tight before, I sure will be when I get back to the states. Anyway, I think that’s enough for the week! Love you all! T
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