Chapter 24

Monday, November 30th

Thanksgiving leftovers…YUMMY! I think this is the fullest our fridge has been yet. I never knew I’d enjoy leftovers so much. Back in America (haha, joke around the house), we’d always have leftovers growing up—I would get so sick of them. It’s amazing how your perspective changes after living in a foreign country. Thanks for all the leftovers mom! All us girls sat around the table munching on creamy mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin pie…the list goes on. I hope this lasts us all week!

Tuesday, December 1st ....is it really the 1st of December, where does the time go?

The Lady Business Tour is making headway….we just splurged on a day adventure to Cambodia…yes, 24 hours to see the great Angkor Wat. It was a tough call deciding whether we should go off course and purchase tickets to Cambodia (especially for such a short time), but we concluded that our decision was ‘all-or-nothing’…we couldn’t leave anyone behind, so we ALL had to be in for the excursion, or it was a no go. TA-DA…we’re in…The LBT is off of its original route, but very pleased with the new purchase. We are fast, and we are furious—we’re going to stretch those 24 hours for all their worth….we set up a tour that will pick us up from the airport, take us to our hotel, tour us around Siem Reap and the surrounding temples, provide us with lunch, and then take us back to the airport the very next day…WAHOO! I’m just hoping none of us get hit with Malaria or Dengue Fever in the meantime—the mission president’s wife got dengue fever when she was in Cambodia and she was ill for three months straight…luckily it didn’t hit her system until a month later…she still loved every minute of her stay in Cambodia!

Scott is no longer coming to Maryland Language School—so sad! None of us even had a chance to give him a real goodbye. He was here laughing with us just yesterday, and now he’s gone…I will miss that little fella’!

Wednesday, December 2nd

Poor Sammy—his bike got stolen this last weekend. Man, we’ve had some bad karma with our bikes lately; first my bike tire went flat…I was walking to school; a few days later, Sarah’s bike tire went flat…she was walking to school; and now, a week later, Sammy’s bike was stolen…he’s also been walking to school. Well, I felt bad for the poor guy, so tonight when we left work, we went home Taiwanese style. I ‘let him’ pump me all the way home while I sat over the back wheel well on my wired seat. It was so funny! I had nowhere to place my feet, so the ride made for a great hip flexor workout. Together, we made a great balancing act.

Thursday, December 3rd

I used to be surprised and disgusted at school, when I’d touch a wet door knob or grab a wet handrail….I never really knew what the mess was, I’m always hoping its water, but considering the fact the kids have a hard time actually washing their hands, with soap, or getting their fingers out of their noses, who really knows. I just try to block out what ‘it’ is I’m actually touching…it’s just water..water…… WATER, I tell myself, over and over, again. Well, over the past couple months, the wetness no longer phases me, or had no longer phased me, until today….there I was, teaching the children…just another average day…we were in gym playing games; I shouted to the children that it was time to go, so they all made a bee-line for the door. We were counting up our points for the day, Tim went through the line, Candy too…it was now Flora’s turn…as she looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes, and started speaking with her sweet, little voice, her nose started to wrinkle, she cupped her hands to her mouth, and let out a big sneeze, A-CHOO! As her hands fell from her face, they were covered in slimy, green snot!!! It wasn’t until Kerry’s lovely description that I almost puked….“Oh Teacher, SPIDERMAN!” Haha, I believe that says it all, YUCKY! Moral of the story, never touch a wet handrail.

Friday, December 4th

Sammy’s birthday is on Sunday, but we decided to celebrate that great day tonight! Sammy’s not much into Karaoke, so we went bowling. As we were leaving work, we were trying to figure out transportation, AKA scooter rides. The bowling alley is a bit far for a bike ride….alright alright, we’re getting a little lazy, but scooters are sooooo fun! My boss overheard us hashing out our dilemma (who’s riding with who)…she piped in, “Tanier, do you know how to drive a scooter?” Heck yes. “I have my scooter here. You can take if you’d like.” What? Awesome! Sherry let Tabbi and I taker her scoot. Before taking off, Sherry had to ‘help’ us start her scooter, who knew the task could be so complicated, haha (I say that facetiously). We had to start our ride using the choke, yet, I couldn’t use my left leg to push down the choke, I had to use my right leg, ha…it was hilarious! Sherry was so nice to let us borrow her scooter—it made for a great evening.

From work, Emily and Penny took us to a great little BBQ place near the train station. It seemed a little sketch at first, but it was definitely yummy! To order at this particular vendor, like many others, we just grabbed a red basket and went to town, grabbing everything and anything we wanted to BBQ—Ala cart style; our options: chicken heart, chicken skin, regular chicken (I think), beef roll, pork roll, bean curd, peppers, mushrooms, corn, etc. etc. I went with the pork roll, bean curd, peppers, and corn…bean curd is delish! After filling up our baskets, the ladies grabbed them from our hands…I never know how they keep my order straight, it’s not as if they gave me a number or anything. The red baskets just lay on the table near the BBQ, stacking up one right after the other….the orders were getting all mixed up in my mind, but I got what I came for, so apparently their ‘lack of system’ to me, is a ‘work of innovation’ to them…if it works, it works.

Bowling was a lot of fun! We met up with some of our expat friends and had a good time. Tabbi and I had to leave a little early, but we still got a good two games in. Tabbi had to make her scrumptious cookies, which I want to eat all the time, and I had to plan my relief society lesson for Sunday, Yea!

Saturday, December 5th

Tabbi and I left the apartment rather early this morning—7:00 am. We met Lisa at the train station, and then took a bus to Puli to visit our friend Shan Fen, who Tabbi met through another mutual friend. This was one of the few trips we’ve done alone (without a Taiwanese friend), so Tabbi had to pull out our helpless card to make sure we got off the bus at the right time….ha, Tabs had Emily write down some important phrases that we could show to our bus driver so we wouldn’t get lost—Can you tell me when to get off this bus? Where’s the bus station? Can you direct me to the KFC? Tabbi has little faith in our abilities to get around on our own, I, on the other hand, think we could suffice just fine without the ‘helpless card’, but I’m glad that Tabbi takes the extra precaution, even if it does step on my ‘Glauser Pride’—the card is much needed, and we’ll definitely have one for China!

We met Shan Fen at the KFC after getting off the bus. We hopped on some scooters and went touring around Puli—I even got my very own scooter to drive, what? Two days in a row? I was loving every minute of it, Shan Fen was so hospitable.

First Stop: Chung Tai Shan Monastery. It is the headquarters monastery and one of the largest in Taiwan. It is a beautiful monastery that is set up on the mountainside in Puli—to build the masterpiece, it took three years of planning and seven years of construction until it was complete in 2001. We were only able to visit one of three floors, but it was amazing. As we walked closer to the stone building, everything kept getting larger and larger…the entrance doors were nearly 25 feet tall, and upon walking into the great hall, there were huge statue columns of different Buddha’s. We were also greeted by a jolly gold Buddha statue with red lipstick, and two red dragons! The outside landscape reminded me of Temple Square with different flowers and trees lining the outskirts of the marvelous building. The monastery houses more than 1,000 Buddhist monks and nuns—we saw many of them wandering around nearby, as well as many tourists from China and Japan. We wanted to take a group photo in front of the monastery, so Shan Fen was nice enough to ask a young fellow for the favor. After exchanging some words in Chinese, there was a long pause. Then Shan Fen spoke up in English, “Do you speak English?” Ha. The man was Japanese and didn’t know a lick of Mandarin. Luckily there’s a ‘universal language’ between us all, English!

Second Stop: Formosan Cultural Center. Tabbi and I have wanted to go see some aborigines for quite some time, so far we’ve been unsuccessful. Well, Shan Fen pulled through for us….ugh, almost! We pulled up to what we thought was an aborigine village, oh wait, we were at an amusement park! Haha, good thing I LOVE amusement parks. We made the best of our time and rode on numerous roller coasters and other fun rides. Oh to be a kid again….I definitely made up for missing out on the Washington County Fair…three years in a row. We even hit up the carousel and Space Mountain….twice…nothing like a good day at a theme park! There were no lines, it was fabulous. We did find our way to an aborigine show up the mountain too! We rode a cable car to get there. The view was amazing! The show was great. We saw traditional dancing, dress, customs, etc.

Sunday, December 6th

I taught my Relief Society lesson today. I had ‘the opportunity’ to choose my own topic, a blessing and a curse. I’d been thinking of my topic forever, but nothing was coming to mind. Well, I found a great talk by President Monson in 2006, Treasured Gifts. If anyone is interested in a great Christmas talk, check it out!

Break the Fast! I love it when we have break the fast…Tabbi brought her yummy cookies, Sister Greene brought pumpkin bars, I was in heaven.

We walked to the train station from church today. On our way down one of the crowded streets in Tai Chung, we stopped off at a smoothie shop (I know, we broke the Sabbath…ey yi yi). Well, we were waiting in line, and all the sudden, we heard a man’s voice behind us…the voice was speaking English…the voice was calling out our names… we turned around to see our good friend, Charles! YAY! He was in town for an interview. Apparently, he was driving down the same street we were walking down, saw us, and just had to turn around to come and visit. We met Charles’ mom and sister too. They are just adorable. Charles’ sister, Christy, speaks English pretty well. His mother, on the other hand, didn’t even have an English name, so Tabbi and I named her….we started out with Ruth, then Janet, but both were a bit difficult to pronounce. We finally found a name that worked, Betty! It was so great to see Charles again—I’m so sad to say it, but that was probably the last time I’ll ever see Charles…I hate goodbyes!