Happy October Days

October started out just as it should, with Mid-Autumn Festival and a typhoon. Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three most important holidays in Chinese culture, the other two being Chinese New Year and Dragon Boat Festival. It's the most important holiday for family reunions, and people all over the island take trains back to their hometowns to meet with their extended families. Traditionally, little round cakes that resemble a full moon are eaten to symbolize togetherness, and gatherings take place outside so that everyone can admire the moon. In recent years, thanks to a barbecue sauce TV commercial that came out around the time of the holiday, it's become popular to barbecue as well.

I celebrated the holiday with Dajie (literally 'older sister' in Chinese), Peiwen's sister-in-law and family who live in Taipei. The last time I went to stay with Peiwen in Kaohsiung I met Dajie very briefly as we were dropping Yuki off at her grandparents'. They took down my number and called the day before the festival to invite me to celebrate with them. Peiwen and her family were still in Kaohsiung, and although I didn't really know Dajie, I was still super-excited to visit with them.

They picked Noah and me up the next afternoon at the MRT station and drove us to their home which faces a mountain. They had a small grill set up outside where they prepared thick strips of beef and scallops for the kids (I definitely snuck a scallop or two...they were so delicious!). They had also bought a mandarin orange and shrimp salad from Costco, as well as a Japanese seaweed salad with something untasty in it. Noah warned me not to eat whatever this slimy vegetable/fruit thing was, but I thought of my try-everything-once-policy and ate it anyway. It was not pleasant. Dajie prepared a variety of fresh mushrooms, scallions, and garlic, and we made vegetable pockets with aluminum foil that could also be grilled. The kids loved it. I made many a pocket with the youngest one, and I don't think he ate any of them; the fun is all in the making.

Dajie has three young boys, ages 5, 7, and 9. I think I have their Chinese names memorized but I tend to forget who is who. They are all very cute, but quite naughty from the stories she told me. We were playing tag in the back of the apartment patio where there is a pool without water (all year round), but it soon switched to sword fighting. Possibly my favorite part of the night was when the littlest came up to me as I was eating and said in Chinese "in a little while, I will beat you continuously." Dajie is a supermom, always planning activities for the three of them in attempt to keep them semi-quiet. That night's activity was a musical performance involving a few violins, a cello, a xylophone, maracas, and a recorder. My ears were ringing after, but it was precious. The boys also have a "laboratory" zone where they are allowed to keep an assortment of exotic animals (mini turtles, and insect that resemble a dung beetle, other beetles, etc.). As long as they stay in the little enclosed outside bubble that is off the living room, Dajie lets them do what they please with them. She's a very brave woman.

It had begun raining mid-way throughout the evening, and when we got back to the area around my apartment just around 8 pm, it was a cool, misty night. We stopped at McDonald's for Happy Meal dinners, and then at 85 to buy some jasmine green tea to go with the moon cakes Dajie had sent us home with. We watched Milo & Otis, a favorite childhood movie of mine that I bought over this summer for $5 at Target, and had a very lazy evening. Around 2am there was an earthquake that lasted for about 30 seconds or so. It was apparently a 6 or so, but the epicenter was in the ocean, so it didn't feel quite that strong. It was much stronger than the baby one that lasted for about 10 seconds last year when I was in Kaohsiung. I had been asleep and when I realized what was going on, my first thought was "I hope Leo doesn't fall into the floor."

The next day was also a bit dreary, so we got some coffee and headed for the park near Shida. It's a pretty large park for being located in the middle of the city, and it was nice to experience something that reminded me of my time spent near the Cultural Center last year. The winding paths and layout of the trees also reminded me a bit of the Botanical Gardens that Shana and I visited in Sydney. The dress rehearsal of an elderly choir that struggled to dance in unison as they sang traditional Chinese songs and the light drizzle made it a perfect park experience.

I've been in need of a haircut and a retouch of the curls since I came back to Taiwan, and this week I finally found a place. I noticed that the bus stop near my work has quite a few surrounding hair salons, some that look more legit than others. I chose the trendiest looking one with the black marble staircase and different colored lights. I noticed there were TVs attached to each styling mirror, so I figured it was a higher-end salon. The price, however, is exactly the same as what I was paying in Kaohsiung, and although I love New Art near the Cultural Center in Kaohsiung, Mentor, my new find, was quite impressive. They use the latest curling technology which is just so bizarre looking that I had to ask them to take pictures. Well, actually, I mentioned that I wish I had brought my camera and they volunteered to take pictures for me. Taiwan is photograph-happy, so it worked out nicely. The quality of the curls is better, and my hair is overall not so curly as it was before. They suggested that I keep some length (I had always just accepted whatever the stylist wanted to do before, and all of them chose to cute it quite short), and I really like it. I had a really nice time chatting with the stylist and her assistant, and it was a really relaxing experience. I always love getting my hair done!

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Halloween!

It's been a couple of weeks since I first began working on this entry, and Halloween has now passed. We had a costume contest at American Eagle, the school where I teach English, and all the teachers were required to wear costumes as well. I've always loved dressing up, but this year was even better because all of the teachers wanted to rent costumes! Kaohsiung didn't have much in the way of costumes, so I bought blank cat and butterfly masks, and painted them to my liking. I had brought my cat ears from home and made my own tail for the cat costume--it was really cute. In Taipei, however, there is an area called Ximen, often frequented by the teenage crowd, that has tons of costume shops. Connie, Ben, Emily and I drove there one night after work in search of the perfect costumes. Ben already had his heart set on being a Japanese samurai, and found exactly what he was looking for. I though I might be a princess although I wasn't sure which one. I had tried on a peacock dress with a matching headdress that was absolutely awesome, but it looked more suitable for a Halloween ball than an elementary school party. I turned out to be a perfect fit for the Alice in Wonderland costume. Emily was the sexiest Little Red Riding Hood I've ever seen, and Connie was the students' favorite, wearing a long black velvet gown, a black veil, and a lot of scary makeup. She remained silent for the whole night, lurking in corners, and walking around with her thin arms outstretched. The kids loved it! The director of our school wore a beautiful mermaid costume and covered her face and neck in aqua colored gems. I asked her how she had done her makeup, and found out that she used to do couture makeup in Canada! How cool! The kids also had their midterms that week, so when they were finished they went downstairs and watched the Disney movie Haunted Mansion. I took my class down since all of my students finished early, and it was so fun to watch! It reminded me of all the days I spent on my aunt's bed watching Casper and Prancer. Hocus Pocus was also a big favorite of mine--all of my roommate's watched it last year for Gered's birthday which also happens to be on Halloween. I missed Hocus Pocus this year, but it was still a great Halloween nevertheless!

"What do you do in Taiwan?" "I stud..well, I tea...I do both!"

This is the first chance I've had to write since work and classes began three weeks ago. Things have been a little more hectic than I thought, but I finally have a routine down. That routine will need to change, however, because my plans for the next few months have as well.

Where to begin? I was placed in a class that's actually quite perfect for me. The content of the textbook is mostly what I've learned at some other point, so many of the things I already know how to say. I have forgotten how to write a great deal, however, and anything I remembered from before was simplified, so it's great review in terms of writing. I'm also learning more specialized vocabulary and brushing up on those more formal grammar patterns. I am the only American in my class; most of the students are from other Asian countries. There are two boys from Indonesia, a girl from Thailand, two girls and one boy from Japan, a nun from Vietnam (she's probably my best friend in the class), and a married Mormon couple from England. I had no idea they were from England until I heard them speak English...their Chinese accents are pretty good, and any hint of a foreign accent sounded American to me. In addition to discussing the text we talk about our experiences in our own countries, and it makes for a really interesting 2 hours. We all have very different reasons for studying Chinese and goals for what to do with it, and studying together has been quite a good experience so far.

My standard class is from Monday-Friday from 8:10-10am, which is about 10 hours a week. Because I have a student visa, however, I need to take an additional 5 hours of class to be selected from a list of lecture-style classes. These were the supplementary classes that I was so excited about taking, but, unfortunately, the most interesting ones all take place from 2-4pm when I have to be on my way to/at work. I won't be able to take those Taiwanese classes or the singing and cooking classes. The only classes offered in the first two weeks were ridiculously simple and not incredibly well-organized, so I sat through a few of them and then made up the rest of the hours in the library doing individual study. They do show quite a few movies each week, so I'm looking forward to going to those.

When I applied for my visa to Taiwan I applied as a student, which is what I thought you had to do if you wanted to formally be enrolled in a university here. I should have known that they'd be willing to take my money regardless of the type of visa I had, in which case I could have applied for a visitor or working visa and saved myself the extra 5 hours of class per week. There are also some strict requirements about how often I can miss class (not very often), and getting above an 80% on each assignment. All of this seemed doable until I got to the part about extending my student visa. In order to be granted an extension, I have to pay next semester's full tuition a week before the expiration date. This semester doesn't even finish until the end of November, but if I want to get the extension, I have to pay tuition by the second week of October. Not happening. I work Monday-Friday from 4-8 on three days, and 4-6:30 on the other two. It's not too many working hours, but it takes me an hour just to get there (and an hour to get back). My class ends early enough, so sometimes I come home right away, but other times I need to stay to get those 5 hours in. It would be really difficult for me to pick up another job, which is what I'd need to do if I wanted to keep this up. In addition, I have to apply to grad school this term, and I simply won't have time if I continue with my schedule now. It would be incredibly futile to keep attending classes to brush up on my Chinese if I can't even complete my applications on time.

So. All of this has led me to decide that after November, I won't be taking classes. And I feel good about this. Most of my deadlines are between January and March (with a few in early December), and this gives me plenty of time to prepare. It also gives me the chance to pick up more hours at my current teaching job if they are available and hopefully I'll be able to save a little money instead of merely covering my living expenses. If I have the time and finances to go back in the spring, then I certainly have that choice, but for now I think this is what I have to do. I've been sort of dreading the application process just because it's so much more important than anything else I've done, and I think I can better prepare if I treat it like a full-time job.

On to another topic. I moved into my new room a month ago this Saturday. It's a very nice room with a big, comfy bed. I hung little white lights around the wooden bookshelf that Andy left when he moved back to Canada, and I've hung pictures of my trips to Japan and Australia all over the room. The painting I bought last year in Kaohsiung when I was really missing the colors, smells, and sounds of fall made the journey with me, as did all of the gifts I received from friends last year and the engraved ceramic vase given to me by Wenfu. I made an ikea run on Sunday, the day after I moved in, and bought a really cool lamp and new sheets now that my bed is big. This year I also have a whole drying rack to myself! I remembered how the four of us used to fight over it last year (not really fight, but you know...), and decided that it was worth buying one for myself. There are many things that I will do Taiwanese style, but drying my clothes outside in the humidity and pollution is not one of them.

This past weekend Noah and I went back to Kaohsiung to retrieve Leo. We took the bus down on Saturday afternoon and got there around dinner time. We went to all of our favorite places, starting with the department store near my old apartment where we'd go for late lunches and Baskin Robbins. We headed down the street to walk around the Cultural Center, and watched as people set up their stands for the weekly craft fair. Julianna and her family came to pick us up at the Cultural Center and took us to this great restaurant for dinner. We ordered many family-style dishes along with sushi and sashimi, Steven's favorite, and shared them. We sat around enjoying the food and chatting, and then Frank, Julianna's husband, reserved a room for us at a nearby hotel and dropped us off there. We ended up staying very close to the train station in central Kaohsiung, so it was really easy to continue making stops at all of our favorite places. We walked to the MRT and went back to the Cultural Center to have a midnight "snack" at our favorite late-night restaurant. We said hi to all of the workers there, our favorite being a young-middle aged woman who absolutely loves AJ Burnett of the Yankees. If the Yankees are playing, they've always got the game on. After the customers are served, they'll sit down and watch it too. After dinner, we walked back toward the park in the middle of the Cultural Center, stopping at McDonald's for cappuccino and cake (both of which are surprisingly delicious). We said goodbye to the Cultural Center, and walked to Central Park, which is about 20 minutes away. We used to walk there and back on the weekends if we went to get dim sum or wanted to go to the night market. We had discovered a maze there one day, but every time we went back it had always been freshly chopped. We checked this time, too, and were very sad to see that it's still in hedge form. It was quite late by then, and Kaohsiung, is indeed, hotter and more humid than Taipei, so we caught a cab and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning I met Dr. Chiu at the animal clinic to pick up Leo. He was a little spiky from the move, but he seemed to recognize me. The clinic isn't far from Central Park, so we walked back in that direction to have a dim sum lunch. After the usual meal of steamed pork buns, dumplings, spring rolls, and tea, we went to the bus station to head back to Taipei. It was a Sunday and traffic was crazy, so it took us way longer to get back than expected. By the time I got home it was already after 9pm, so I got to work setting up Leo's home. I took him out of his little travel cage and held him for a while, and he didn't seem to mind at all. He didn't try to bite me, which means he absolutely recognized me. I let him wander around on my bed, one of his favorite activities, and introduced him to my three very curious roommates. Yumi got some great pictures of him.

It was great to go back to Kaohsiung, especially with Noah, but I'm looking forward to staying here this weekend. It's always nice to travel, but I feel like I miss out a little on relaxation time. I'd really like to plan another weekend there when I can leave on Friday night instead of Saturday, and do some day activities like going to the beach and the old British Consulate. There's a great Thai restaurant there that we didn't have time for, which is too bad because I have been craving Thai food! Better start planning my next visit...

I should probably wrap this up and get to bed (even though it's only 9:55...see what's become of me?), but there's one thing that's been on my mind lately. I really am enjoying class and I know that just a few weeks of writing practice has already helped me improve, but I miss feeling live I'm living here. That was probably the most valuable part of my experience in Kaohsiung, and between classes, studying, and work, I'm not finding the time to explore and meet friends. Last week I was running late for a meeting so I hopped in a cab and realized that it was the first time in a while that I'd had a great conversation with a stranger. Classroom learning is always valuable, and it's certainly what I need to focus on at this stage, but I'm sad to see that other part slipping away. Maybe I can change that next term after I finish my classes, because I really don't feel like Taipei is my city right now. And I know that I've been biased, but I would hope that with the chance to really get to know the city, I could learn to find the same sort of things that I love about Kaohsiung.

"I'm a traveling man and I've made a lot of stops all over the world..."

So maybe I haven't made a lot of stops all over the world as Ricky Nelson did, but I sure have been all over Taiwan! I'll start with my trip to Kaohsiung, which is where I left off last time.

On Saturday afternoon I headed to Taipei Main Station to catch a bus to Kaohsiung. The HSR gets you from the top of the island to the bottom in an hour and a half, but in my attempt to spend as little money as possible, I decided to take the bus. It's a five-hour ride, but it can actually be quite enjoyable if I make sure to bring my iPod and a book. I'm not a very experienced bus rider, so when I got to the bus station and I heard someone yell "Kaohsiung!", I jumped in the line. She told me I would be on the 12:30 bus and I naturally said that would be fine without stopping to check my watch. I hadn't eaten lunch so I wandered around the station looking for something to take with me, deciding on chicken curry from the Ok-mart since there wasn't much else available. It occurred to me as I was waiting for my curry to be heated that I should check my watch, at which point I discovered it was already 12:34. I ran up to the 4th floor but knew I was already too late, but because I still have my Lawrence student ID with me it was only 40NTD (just a little over 1USD) to reserve a spot on the next bus leaving 20 minutes later. It didn't turn out so bad since I didn't have to pay a huge extra fee and I had time to eat my lunch, but I was a little upset at myself for being so careless with the time. I had paid more for this particular bus than others, which also made me think that I should have shopped around a bit, but as soon as I got on the bus I realized it was worth it. The seats were extra comfy, reclining farther back than most with an extra cushion for your feet, and they even came complete with about 8 different massage settings! There was actually an attendant on the bus who provided us with blankets, snacks, and hot tea and coffee. She also came back to personally notify each passenger when their stop was coming up. Ever since living in Kaohsiung where I took the bus for about a half an hour each way to and from work, I really like taking the bus. I think I like it for the same reason I love driving back home: it gives me time to be alone with my thoughts. I read for a bit, then put on my iPod and drifted off to sleep. When I woke up it seemed that we were fairly close to Kaohsiung, and I kept peeking out the window, eager to see familiar signs that let me know we'd soon be in the city.

As soon as we were downtown, I started to feel an ache. The last time I felt that way was around last October/November when I realized that while all the students had gone back to Lawrence, I would never have another fall there as a student. I suddenly wanted very much to be back in last year, in the same apartment, about to start a new semester of teaching at Wenfu. I wasn't thinking about all the things I'll experience this year in Taipei, only that I was heart-broken to be away from my home in Taiwan.

As soon as I got to the train station, Peiwen and Shenrong were there to pick me up (along with a sleeping Yuki), and they already had a spot picked out for dinner. As I got in the car and we started chatting, it felt like I hadn't been gone that long. We got to the restaurant and ordered noodles, sweet potato rice, and scallop and turnip soup, the specialty. (If you're thinking that the soup sounds disgusting, I would agree, but I must also add that this "turnip" is not at all bitter, and tastes more like a very subtle flavored melon or squash...sound any better?) Yuki had woken up to eat dinner, but she was incredibly shy, just as if she were meeting me again for the first time. She started to talk to me a little more throughout dinner, although she still seemed to be deciding, but by the time we walked next door to have shaved ice for dessert, everything was back to normal.

We were all feeling pretty tired, so we went home after dinner and Peiwen showed me to my room. Yuki came along, climbing onto my bed to show me how comfy it was, and insisted on being the one to hand me the towel that Peiwen had grabbed for me. It was just about 10 o'clock or so, but I was exhausted, and we all went to bed after washing up.

The next morning I got up just as Shengrong and Yuki were bringing breakfast in. After we ate our saobing, a flaky kind of pancake stuffed with egg, tofu, meat, and vegetables, and drank our soybean milk, Peiwen suggested we call Julianna. I hadn't told her I would be coming, hoping to surprise her and avoid making her usually busy weekends even more hectic. She had just woken up right before I called and was shocked to hear from me, especially when I told her I was just down the street at Peiwen's. Steven, her 10-year old son, heard that she was talking to me and rushed over to say hi. He had only a half day of school on Wednesdays and Fridays as a 3rd grade student, so he'd stay in the office with me while Julianna was in class, and we'd play games or talk. Julianna said he had really missed me and was already saying how boring it'd be this year without me there in the office. Julianna and I talked a little bit more and agreed to meet later, after she had helped Steven with his homework. For the rest of the morning Yuki played her MoMo DVD (I believe MoMo is a human-sized caterpillar with 6 human friends who dance and sing with him? her?), showing me all her favorite songs and dances. When she got bored with that, she pulled out books, and Peiwen read to her. Yuki is one of my favorite subjects to photograph and she absolutely loves having her picture taken, so I pulled out my camera and started snapping away. Yuki realized what I was doing and wanted to see them all, so I surprised her by filming her instead. She thought the clip was really cool and asked to watch it again and again.

Shenrong went out to wash the car, and Yuki wandered out after him, giving Peiwen and me a chance to talk--Yuki gets upset when she can't be a part of our conversation, which happens whenever we talk about teaching, even if it's in Chinese. I was really happy to hear that the Fulbright program is going very smoothly this year, and that Peiwen is participating as a co-teacher this year. I was also very happy and equally shocked to hear that the Foundation was using the video of me teaching with Julianna during our mid-year evaluation as a model for co-teaching. There are quite a few logistical changes this year--despite the competitive interviewing process the applicant schools went through, the Bureau decided to have all 20 of them participate in the program. Since there are only 12 ETAs, participant schools have been separated into blocks, with 1 ETA assigned to each block. Therefore, instead of teaching at one school for the entire year, each ETA will work at 1 school for the first semester (or split their time between two schools), and at the partner school for the second semester. This year Wenfu will have an ETA second semester as it is already familiar with the co-teaching program. I also enjoyed hearing a little about each of the ETAs since I will be meeting them next week at the general Fulbright Orientation to be held in Taipei. Last year the Foundation asked ETAs and other grantees who were still in Taiwan to provide any helpful advice they could offer on getting around the island, settling in, and what they could expect in their year teaching in Taiwan. I now have the pleasure of being on the other side this year as a former grantee, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the others from last year.

When we had all finished up our activities for the morning, we got ready to go to dim sum for lunch. Dim sum is becoming really popular in the States, probably because it's always an experience as snack-style dishes originating from Hong Kong whiz by your table in small carts that you flag down if you see something that you'd like. Common dishes include steamed and fried dumplings, many of which are stuffed with shrimp and leeks, shrimp rolls, steamed buns stuffed with sweet barbeque pork, sticky rice cakes stuffed with sesame paste, and larger dishes of vegetables, roasted duck, etc. For dessert you're likely to eat pudding, cold soups made with coconut and tapioca, and cakes made with red bean and green beans (nothing like the vegetable we eat in the States). It's been a while since I tried something that I thought twice about eating, so I figured it was time I gave in and tried chicken feet. I took the easy way out, taking a piece of the ankle instead of the claw. The flavor was good, but I have never really been a huge fan of eating things off the bone, and the chewy skin and lack of meat was hard to get past. At least I can say I've tried it, and I felt a bit better when Shenrong told me that he doesn't really like to eat them either.

After lunch we went back home and all laid down for an afternoon nap. I was still trying to overcome the time difference, and having woken up in the middle of the night, I was exhausted by that afternoon. I slept for a few hours and when I woke up it was time to eat again! Just as we were finshing dinner, Julianna called to say she'd be over soon. I was happy to see that Steven came with her, and he even gave me a hug, something that is unusual for many Taiwanese children. Julianna had brought me a surprise and wanted me to guess what it was, but Steven was too excited, and blurted out that it was eggplant. Julianna often took me to get my lunch in the last few months of school when the weather was extremely hot, and I would always, always get eggplant. She also brought a delicious vanilla cake with white chocolate and strawberries, and the three of us girls sat around talking about the program this year and my summer at home. We only had a couple of hours together before Julianna had to get home, but we arranged for me to go into Wenfu the next morning before I left to pack my things, and made plans for the next time I visit in a week or two to move Leo to his new home in Taipei.

After Julianna left, Peiwen, Shenrong, Yuki, and I took a walk down the street to the park near their house. Yuki had a great time sliding on the large stone slide, and it gave Peiwen and me more time to talk one-on-one. It had been so nice to spend time with her and Julianna again, and I was incredibly happy to know that things were going so well this year, but it all reminded me of what I would be missing this year. I always knew how special last year was, but I feel 10 times more lucky to have been a part of it now that it's ended. I absolutely loved living in Kaohsiung, but I specifically chose not to stay there so that I would learn to do new things on my own. I knew that it would be impossible to keep the exact same life, so why not push myself the extra distance. I was having a hard time dealing with it at the time, and it was nice to be able to talk to Peiwen about it since she is one of my closest friends from last year. I remember one day last year she called me during the school day and I couldn't return her call until later. I had asked if anything was the matter, if anything needed to be done for school, and she said it was just that she had been having a bad day at school and she always felt better after talking to me. Sunday night was kind of like that for me, and I'm so glad she was there.

We did get to talk for a while, but we had to be careful to let Yuki know we hadn't forgotten about her. At the young age of 3, Yuki is already a great performer; she'd stick her arm straight up and wave when she got to the top of the slide as if to signal to us that she was ready to begin. When she got to the bottom she'd run over and shake our hands like we were fans whom she'd never met before and thank us for coming to support her. She always went to Peiwen first, telling her how pretty she was and that she hoped they could become very good friends, and then she'd turn shyly to me. She'd look back and forth between Peiwen and me and finally ask Peiwen who her friend was. Yuki likes to change her name to match the main characters of her favorite TV shows, and she accordingly calls Peiwen and Shenrong by the names of her character's friends. Although I have spent quite a bit of time with their family, I'm not a routine presence, so Yuki struggled to find a name for me all weekend. That night she told me I could be Keke. It's one of the best nicknames I've ever been given.

When we got home that night Yuki asked when I would be back to Kaohsiung. I told her I wasn't sure but it would be very soon, and she asked if I could live with them again. Peiwen was surprised that she was so direct about telling me that she wanted me to stay; Yuki is always very affectionate, but she often gets shy around anyone other than her parents. I went upstairs to use the computer and she came into the room, pretending to write homework and take tests while I wrote emails and did some budgeting. Peiwen told me I would always be welcome to stay in their home, even if I had my own plans for when I came. Again, it's hard to express how touched I was, and very lucky that not only did I have an invitation to stay, but an invitation to be part of the family while I was there.

I went in to school with Peiwen on Monday morning and it was wonderful. I said hello to the directors and even saw some of my students who were there for summer camps. The principal walked by with one of the Bureau of Education board members, who was more stunned tha the rest to see me there. I hope my presence there in the office that morning on the day the school was preparing to welcome the new ETAs spoke to how important the program is for all parties who participate. Very few of the Bureau members got to see us in action at our schools since the Bureau's focus last year was on English Village, and as a result I think they sometimes doubted our commitment to the program. And while it's true that we were less excited about teaching at English Village, it was only because we saw what an impact we could have at our individual schools because we had the time to foster relationships with our students and the other staff (as opposed to having all 5th graders in the city go to EV where they spend a total of maybe 10 minutes with a foreign teacher who they'll never see again). Principal Huang reminded me to give him a call if I ever needed a ride from the HSR station when I came to Kaohsiung and come back whenever I wanted. Many of them asked if I could stay through the afternoon when the ETAS would visit, but I had to meet Nini to finish boxing up the things I had stored at her house to prepare for the move this weekend.

Peiwen dropped me off at the MRT station so I could meet Nini for lunch and packing. Her mom made delicious curry for lunch, and then supervised our packing. I guess it turns out you always need a mom for these things--she reminded us to write numbers on all of the boxes so that none would go missing during the move. Since my things were already organized, they just needed to be placed in boxes, it was a fairly quick process, and Nini and I went to meet her friends at the Chinese doctor in the afternoon. The doctor listened to their pulse on each of their wrists, asked them questions about how any trouble they might have been having lately based on what he heard, and then wrote a prescription with many different dried flowers, roots, vegetables, etc. that would be measured out and wrapped as large paper packages. Each day they would need to boil the entire contents of one until it produced a certain amount of liquid that they could drink. I tried Chinese medicine last year and struggled with the taste and the texture of the powder that I had to dissolve on my tongue, so I don't go often. (I do really like acupuncture, though--no yucky tastes involved). The consultation with the doctor is free, you only pay for the medicine, so Nini and her friends encouraged me to give it a try. I expected he would tell me that I was in shambles since I was still struggling to find a normal sleep pattern, but he said I'm pretty healthy. He did tell me that it would be better for my body not to eat or drink icy/cold things, but there's no way I'm giving that up.

Nini took me to run a few errands afterward, and we headed to the Cultural Center since I'm most familiar with that area and know exactly where to go. I stopped by 7-11 to use the ATM there since I know it works, and said hi to the clerks who I came to know very well there. While I was talking to one of them, a guard from my old apartment building walked past, and stopped in his tracks when he saw me. I jumped up and down and started waving, and I swear his smile was just as big as mine. He was the guard on duty when I left for the airport, so he welcomed me back and brought me next door. Rebekah, one of this years ETAs, was sitting outside in the courtyard and he insisted on introducing me. She recognized me right away from the teaching video they watched (I couldn't believe it!), and I had heard about her as well since she is the most experienced Chinese learner in the group. We discovered that we have a common acquaintance from Lawrence, and I learned that she's living in my old room! She invited me up to check it out and meet the other 3 roommates who were at home. She was on her way out with Grace, another ETA, and Fonda, who assumed Amanda's position from last year as life coordinator/angel, but it was so nice to meet them that I couldn't help but go up to meet the others. As soon as Kevin answered the door he, too, recognized me, as did Carol and Kelly when they came out from their rooms. It was so nice to meet them--it's hard to explain, but it's sort of like meeting someone who you've never met before but somehow how have a lot in common with. I only talked with Carol for a few minutes before she went to go meet some of the others, but she hugged me when she left, and though it may seem silly, it meant a lot. I told them I'd see them in about a week when we all go to Taipei for the orientation, and I really can't wait to meet the rest of them. Kevin told me I was always welcome to stay and I was incredibly touched.

By the time I left the apartment, the guards had changed shifts and I was able to say hello to my absolute favorite guard from last year (he always teased me about Noah). I realized that I didn't have to be sad about not living in Kaohsiung anymore. I'll always have last year's memories, but even if I had stayed in Kaohsiung, it just wouldn't be the same. It's time for this year's group to experience everything that I loved about being in the program. And I get to look forward to the next time when I'm able to go back to visit some of my favorite people and places.

I was so excited from my time with the ETAs that when I ran around the corner to buy dinner at one of my favorite places, I immediately started blabbing to the two foreigners in front of me. They seemed to fit the descriptions I'd heard of a few others and so I was certain they were ETAs. When I said "You must be two of the new ETAs!" they smiled and the girl laughed, so I just assumed they recognized me too and couldn't believe I just appeared out of nowhere. Well, turns out they are not ETAs (although they were from Milwaukee--it really is a small world), which I learned when I blabbered on and they told me they weren't here with a program. I then had to explain why I was acting so spastic, which probably only made me seem more spastic, and although the guy invited me to have dinner with them, I'm pretty sure the girl was at least a little relieved that I said I couldn't stay. I was still too happy to be embarassed, so I wished them a good year (after telling them what to eat, ha), and then jumped on Nini's scooter so we could head back to catch my bus.

The company with a stop around the corner from Nini's house was running some sort of special, and the ticket was ridiculously cheap. I took my seat, Nini helped cram my overnight bag, dinner, and the fall painting I bought last year that I was taking back to Taipei all around me in the little space that I had, and reminded the bus driver where I was to get off (she always worries). I didn't get back to Taipei until 1am, and I had to go to NTNU the next morning at 8 for registration.

There's still more to tell, but my eyes are starting to blur, and I'm already wearing my glasses, so I know I must be really tried. Tomorrow's the last day of training and it ends a bit earlier, so I'll plan on writing more then.

1: Movin' on up!

After a short summer visit to the States I am back in Taiwan. I arrived at 6:30am this past Tuesday, and thankfully Noah was there to lug my significantly overweight 70-lb bag up and down the steps of the train station (I got away with carrying the 30-lb one!). I managed to haul it backward up the stairs of his apartment building and immediately headed for the shower. I had slept pretty well on the plane, and I was a little disappointed to find that despite feeling exhausted, I wasn’t really ready to sleep. I was very excited to be in Taiwan again, but the unfamiliarity of my first trip from the airport to the train station to the apartment left me feeling a little nervous. I tried to remind myself that although “I’m back”, things will be different for me this year. I no longer have 11 awesome people to share in the experience, and the people and places that I’m most familiar with--the main reason why I was so excited to be back again--are mostly in Kaohsiung. Beginnings always excite me more than they scare me, but the in-between stage is always the most difficult. I hate the in between.

I got right to work planning the details of this coming week; I had nothing scheduled until registration for classes on Tuesday, but my plans to spend the weekend with Noah changed when his visa trip was moved up to Thursday. It turned out to be a great thing, because I called Nini, my host sister from last year, and made plans to go to Kaohsiung this weekend. We have some more packing to do before the movers can take everything on Tuesday (Nini was kind enough to help me move all of my things to her house for storage this summer and has been working with the movers to arrange all the details of the move), and I thought a trip back to Kaohsiung might be a good way to reintroduce myself to Taiwan. I called Peiwen, a co-worker from Wenfu and one of my best friends, to let her know that I would be coming this weekend and would love to see her and Yuki, her adorable little girl. It was so good to hear her voice, and when she asked me to stay with her for the weekend I was thrilled!

By the time Noah came home from work I felt better about knowing what I needed to do and when, and I was more relaxed. We went to a little shop around the corner for a late dinner (one thing that hasn’t changed--it’s nice to have those little bits of consistency), and ate three of my Taiwanese "comfort foods". Of course we needed a little adventure, so Noah looked up the way into the city where my training would be and wanted to take me that night on his scooter so I’d know where to go. We made it about halfway and then realized that the highway we needed to take is closed to scooters, so we drove around the city and gave me a little tour of a few of the more scenic spots. Having had a good first day and feeling better about my plans for the weekend, I worked on tackling the question of getting to Taipei for registration.

Just before I left Taiwan in July, I spent a day in Taipei looking for a new apartment. I immediately loved both the room and the roommates of the first apartment I looked at, and I came back that night to take the room. The dates for registration and training preceded my official move-in date, but my roommates all welcomed me to move some of my things in and crash in the living room if I needed a place to stay. Since I had the invitation, I decided that before I left for Kaohsiung I’d take the HSR (High Speed Rail) to Taipei to drop off my biggest/heaviest piece of luggage, and then pack what I’d need for the other days I would be traveling around. I would come back to Taipei for a day after my visit to Kaohsiung so that I could register for my classes, but then I’d have to go back to Hsinchu (the major city outside of which Noah lives) for my three days of teacher training. So with separate piles for Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Hsinchu, I headed off to Taipei.

I first got to Taipei on Thursday night and was welcomed by Andy, Fanfan, and Yumi, my new roommates. Yumi had plans to say goodbye to some friends who were leaving Taiwan this past weekend and invited me along. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while and thought dancing for a few hours might help, so I decided to go. I met a few of her close friends, and even found a good friend in another girl who, like me, was brought along by her friends. The music got better throughout the night and we were having a great time dancing, so we stayed out longer we planned. I thought for sure I would sleep well into the morning, but when I woke up and saw it was only 6am, I realized it would take a few days to shake off the 2-6am sleep schedule. I figured that it was late enough to start the day around 8, so I pulled out a little map of Taipei with a few suggestions of places to see. I found the section located near my neighborhood and decided on an alley with shops selling home goods and decorative pieces that would take me past NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University) where I’ll be studying.

Most of my roommates were at work when I came out from Yumi’s room, but Fanfan’s new teaching position doesn’t start until next week, so we got to know each other a little. She made a great breakfast/early lunch of sautéed beef with onions, carrots, garlic and white rice, and we talked about books and movies that we thought the other might like (she had asked me to bring her back a book by Paulo Coelho who is also one of my favorite authors). After the meal, Fanfan left to accompany her movie-critic friend to a review, and after doing the dishes, I was out of excuses to stay in. I grabbed my little map and headed out to explore my new neighborhood.

The little shortcut Andy showed me to get to the main road is easy enough, and as soon I came out from the ally I saw that there was a MyPhone just across the street. I took it as a good sign since one of the first things on my list to do was pay my phone bill. Having crossed one thing off my list just 5 minutes out the door, I had a little swing in my step and I felt a little more excited. I stopped at the ATM to take out money since I had been unable to do so at another ATM the night before, only to find that my U.S. card still wasn’t working. I’d made sure to let my bank know overseas transactions should be expected, had even called again before I left the apartment that morning, and had never had this problem in Kaohsiung, so I started to get a little nervous. I went to a few more banks with no luck, so I finally went in and asked the very helpful staff about the problem. They all did their very best to refer me to other more international banks, telling me to come back if I still couldn’t manage, and on my way to one of those banks, I found one a few blocks away from my house that can read my card. Relieved that I could pay my tuition and realizing I wasn’t too out of practice, I set out on the wandering part of my day. I passed the Wellcome (yes, with two l's), which Fanfan had told me was the closest grocery store, so I went in to take a look and was very impressed. It has a ton of fresh produce and meat, something that was a little more difficult to find nearby in Kaohsiung. I can also shop for everything else there as well, and it felt so nice to know that I would have a reliable go-to store for the year.

I continued on my way, stopping at the university next to find the building where I’d need to go on Tuesday. I looked for the street I had read about in my map book, but I was having a little trouble finding. I asked for directions a few times, making sure I was heading in the right direction since I seemed to be wandering into neighborhoods, and I stopped to cool off at a small park. It turned out the street wasn’t too far away at all, it just wasn’t the main road that it appeared to be on the map. I found a quaint-looking shop with windows filled with stained-glass lamps, silky-looking pillow covers and other pretty pieces, so I wandered in to have a look. The store owner was very friendly and helped me look through her very interesting collection of teacups and coffee mugs. I decided to buy one each for Yumi and Fanfan since they had been so welcoming and helpful. It was also nice to make my first addition to the apartment’s dinnerware collection.

When I came home, Fanfan came out to ask me about my day and offered to pick up some dinner for us on her way back from an errand. I offered to go with her so that I could see the area for myself and had a couple of hours together to talk about teaching, my time in China, and cultural differences. I had dumplings for dinner, something I was very happy to taste again, and on the walk back she showed me the other Wellcome that’s even closer to home.

When Fanfan and I got back Andy was rocking out to Celine Dion while packing his things, Yumi came back shortly after with her friend who was visiting from Malaysia, and I finally got to meet Danny, the fourth roommate who is coincidentally from Maryland. It was nice to have the kitchen traffic that naturally happens since all rooms branch off from that central room. Andy wanted to go out for a drink, and with half of my things still at Noah’s (including my makeup and most of my going-out outfits), Andy did his best to fix me up. He tried out a Cleopatra look that was a little too much for significantly pale me, and I tried my best to stand still as he attacked me with a mascara wand which he used both to apply my mascara and my “eyeliner”, a very painful process involving scraping the brush against my eyelids and then pulling the mom-move of removing what he didn’t like by licking his thumb and smearing it across my face. When he was satisfied with the final result and I was happy that my eyelids were still intact, we went to Ximen, a favorite outdoor hangout for the city’s young gay population. We chatted with his friends for a while and then headed to Fresh, Andy’s favorite bar. It was pretty empty for a Friday night, but it gave me a chance to talk more with Andy and Vincent, the adorable bartender who happened to be from Kaohsiung! I’m telling you…Kaohsiung is just that great. After my second drink and Andy’s fifth (or something like that), we headed home. On the way to the taxi we stopped at Yoshinoya, the 24-hour fast food Japanese restaurant to get Andy a midnight snack, which he insisted on feeding me in the back of the taxi. Bumpy taxi plus drunken roommate handling chopsticks equals an incredibly fun eating experience!

The long day plus the two-hour chat that followed in Yumi’s room as we settled into our beds helped me sleep a little longer than usual despite the jetlag. As soon as I woke up I got started on this right away, eager to tell you all about what is just the beginning of the second half of my adventures in Taiwan. I was in the middle of writing when I had to leave for Kaohsiung, and since Monday night when I left to go back to Taipei, everything has been a whirlwind. I still have plenty more to tell, but I just finished my first day of teachers' training. I have another long day tomorrow and again on Friday, but now that I am almost completely adjusted to Taiwan time, I am hoping that a good night’s sleep will give me enough energy to finish writing tomorrow. For now I’ll stop here. I’ve added a few of the pictures from my last few days in Taiwan before I left Kaohsiung at the beginning of July until I find my first big photo op!

晚安！Goodnight!

10

It's always startling when someone asks me how long I've been in Taiwan so far and I realize that I have to add another month to my count. Somewhere around 7 months I understood just how long I'd been gone from home. Another month passed and I changed my response to 8, but I seemed to have skipped over nine altogether and just realized today that I'm in my 10th month. In fact, I'm almost done with my 10th month.

On Friday Julianna drove me to get a lunchbox (rice and whatever meat and veggies you choose from the many dishes they have prepared that day) and then treated Yating, another teacher, and me to bubble tea. Yating was napping in our shared office when we got back to school, so Julianna and I went to the English classroom to have lunch and chat. She pushed two desks together so that they were facing each other--it was our own little table for two. Julianna is so much fun to talk to because she's a co-worker, a friend, and a mom all rolled into one. She went to grad school in the States so it's very easy to compare American and Taiwanese culture with her, and we find that we usually have very similar opinions on things. I always look forward to lunch time when I get to chat with her, but I especially look forward to the extra hour after school when we grade together or just chat without the interruption of the many things that happen during school hours. Friday's lunch wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, but I think it was just one of those days after a really long week when I felt really glad to have Julianna/Nicki time. As we were driving to get lunch we were talking about her children and she suddenly said "I really hope I get to see your children!" She added that it would probably be another 10 years or so, but still, she'd really like to know them. I was incredibly touched--it was probably one of the sweetest things I've heard.

Tonight I went on what has become a pretty routine Saturday night stroll around the Cultural Center. Shana's grandma came down from Taipei to visit her before she goes back to the States in a few weeks, and she took us out to the Korean restaurant for dinner. Shana and I along with the rest of the ETAs spent the whole day (9am-5:30pm) filming our year-end project, and it was nice to relax for a while.

On the way to the restaurant we passed the shop where my friend Kinki works, and it happened that she was working tonight! I used to see her all the time when I passed by, but it's been months since we've seen one another. She was really surprised to see me, and it just so happened that our friend Jessi, who studies in Tainan, was back in Kaohsiung for the weekend. Jessi had run out to get dinner and I was afraid I was going to miss her, but it turned out that we had a 20 minute wait at the restaurant, and I was able to chat while we waited. Jessi told me that she has a pet hedgehog now too! Hers was born this February, one year after Leo, so he's just a baby. I gave her some friendly mommy hedgehog advice, and we made plans to have one big get together with everyone after their final exams before I head back to the States.

Dinner was delicious, especially since we hadn't been there since December, but we were so full after! We took a walk around the Cultural Center, stopping to buy gifts to take back home. A nice man selling interestingly oval-shaped flute-like instruments taught me how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I had quite a crowd going. We continued on, stopping to peek at the jewelry, trying on rings, bracelets, and necklaces. We finally stopped and special ordered the bracelet that Shana's been wanting ever since I first showed her the stand. About half-way around, Shana and her grandma headed home, but I continued on to say hello to some friends I've made from my frequent visits. I also just like the atmosphere. White lights fill the sidewalks, families with their babies and mini dogs stroll along the tables, and there's almost always a cool breeze even though I am inevitably sticky by the time I make it back home. Tonight I stopped to say hello to Emma, a girl just a few years older than me, who makes intricate leather bookmarks, bracelets, wallets, etc. with etches of various colors and designs. Last time I stopped by to say hi I met her brother Steven, a little guy of just 8 (almost 9, he told me tonight) years. As I was about to say goodbye tonight, he came over looking kind of down. I could tell right away that he's definitely a personality--a good talker, quick with a sense of humor. He's willing to talk to me a bit in English, but tonight we used mostly Chinese. He's very curious, asking me many insightful questions about what I think of America and Taiwan. He's surprisingly very well-informed about life in America, and knows a lot about religion. We talked about differences in Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism tonight. We also talked about pets, and he told me about a special kind of gray crab that he bought at a store. He was also very interested in my experience as frog and hedgehog owner. We were getting pretty technical, and I found myself struggling for the correct words in Chinese, but he was patient and filled them in for me as I went along. We talked until his sister packed up her table and was ready to go home. I told him I wanted to bring my holiday Snoopy videos and my computer next weekend so we could watch together. Steven stays with Emma from about 4:40-10pm on Saturdays while she sells her crafts, and he tells me the problem is not getting tired, but fighting the boredom. Spending time with him was so much fun--it reminded me a lot of my cousin Jaq, who at the age of 10 (he's now maybe 13), had become one of my absolute favorite people to spend time with. Steven was really disappointed when Emma said that they wouldn't be there next weekend because she has a performance on Sunday to prepare for, but he seemed to perk up a bit when she invited me to come watch. I left her my number so she could tell me when she had a ticket for me.

One of the things Julianna asked me on Friday was whether or not I would write a book to share my experience in Taiwan with others who might not understand it as well. I was a little surprised by the question, but soon remembered that I originally started my now neglected blog for this purpose. As I mentioned before, I started writing much less after I felt that my life had become routine; my day-to-day activities in Taiwan are not that far from what I might do if I were home. I told Julianna I wouldn't really know what to write about anymore--when she asked me what things my American friends and family might find most shocking about Taiwan I had to think for a while. I felt a little disappointed that I could no longer write captivating accounts of my life here. But my encounters over the past few days have made me see how amazing it is that I do live a standard life in Taiwan. As a foreigner it's easy to spot all the things that seem odd or even plain wrong. It's not necessarily easy to find life-long friends or to find that by going back to one home, you're leaving another.

I've decided to come back to Taiwan in the fall, although I will be living in Taipei and not Kaohsiung. It makes me incredibly excited to think about all the reasons I'll have for visiting Kaohsiung--my friends and family away from home, my students who will be graduating 6th graders, having a meal at my favorite restaurant and browsing my favorite stores, the owners of which all know me well. I'll be happy to be back home for a short summer visit, but I'm equally happy to know that I get to come back for another year.

what's goin' on?

It's been a while since I've written and I think it's about time...

I suppose things became more routine after the start of the new semester. Things got crazy busy at school, and I found myself participating in the 50 million competitions that Wenfu is involved in (ok, ok, only 3...but still). I think I also became a little bit more ambitious, and have started to plan more exciting activities that involve a bit more preparation. I have a few new students this semester, one of whom is an American. She happens to be in one of the homeroom classes that I teach, so I've gotten to know her quite well. We usually work on Chinese math together, which is actually incredibly fun since I get to practice Chinese and tutor in a subject other than English. I've also gotten to know her mother since she comes to school often, and a few weeks ago I was invited to their house for dinner. They have a family of 10 counting all kids and parents, and 8 of them are here in Taiwan, so it was a very cozy dinner. It was really nice to be with an American family eating something you could easily eat on any day of the week in the States--bread, salad, veggies, and chicken parmesan. I have also started tutoring a very cute 5 year-old boy who is in kindergarten at the Kaohsiung American School. Last semester I was taking Chinese, but it was really just 2 hours or so of class a week with no homework. I am now meeting once a week for 2-3 hours with a local professor who has her PhD in Chinese literature. I do a lot more work on my own, which is a really good thing. It's almost exactly how I took Chinese tutorials in my last year or so at Lawrence.

The biggest news I have recently is my decision to apply for a Taiwan Ministry of Education scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan for one year. The deadline just passed on March 31 so I will have to wait for a bit before I know. If I do get the scholarship, I will hopefully be studying at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. They have a Mandarin Training Center with a lot of great courses including traditional language classes and cultural classes like tea ceremony, Taiwanese cooking, and maybe the class that I'm most excited to take: Taiwanese. I'd be starting in the fall, and would have about a month and a half or so at home in the States before I had to come back. I'm hoping that if I do stay, I'm able to pack up my things quickly, find a place to keep them for the time that I'm gone, and have an apartment all lined up. That way, I can be home for as long as possible. I have a lot of people to visit in a short period of time!

I've gone on some cool trips recently to southern Taiwan, and I'd like to write about them soon, but for now I'll leave this as word of what I've been up to. Send emails if you need to procrastinate for a few minutes throughout the day! I'd love to hear from you all!

Winter Vacation Part 1: Australia!

I've uploaded pictures from my trip to both Australia and Japan onto Facebook. I've included the links below for your viewing pleasure.

Australia:

Around Sydney
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022710&id=49200032&l=33549

Blue Mountains Tour
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022709&id=49200032&l=6ddd7

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022711&id=49200032&l=0b039

Japan:

Tokyo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022712&id=49200032&l=71958

Imperial Gardens, Nijo Castle, Fushimi-Inari Shrine
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022713&id=49200032&l=fa35d

Ginkakuji Temple and Kiyomizu Temple
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022715&id=49200032&l=201fd

Tenryuji Temple and The Golden Pavilion
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022714&id=49200032&l=3f3e5


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I’m in Australia! I am currently under the covers of my very comfy twin bed in the very cute twin room that Shana and I are sharing. We are in the small town of Cairns, having just arrived late yesterday evening from Sydney. Today was so amazing that I was totally inspired to start on this blog entry, despite the fact that I am weeks (by now about a month) behind
on my usual entries.

Let’s start from Day 1. We left on Tuesday, January 21 around 4 am to make our early morning flight first to Hong Kong and then to Sydney. The flight to Hong Kong was a short hour and a half, but it was 9 hours before we got to Sydney. The first flight wasn’t bad at all, except I was sitting next to a woman with morning breath (understandably so, I suppose, it being 6:30 am and all) who kept hitting me. She was a very petite woman so I didn’t quite understand what the problem was (it clearly wasn’t space), but it was a little frustrating. AND THEN on the long flight I was next to a lanky tall Swedish guy who couldn’t keep his body parts to himself. Not only was his arm on the arm rest, it was also over it and in my space for a great deal of the trip. Once I got an elbow in my armpit. The funny thing is, he never once said anything to me. Huh. I had also woken up that morning with a killer sore throat, one which I feared would turn into a full blown cold, and it did. The sore throat went away in a few days, but I stayed a runny, coughy mess for the rest of our time in Sydney.

I was really frazzled when we got to Australia. We were riding in a car driving on the wrong side of the road, people were speaking English, and there were good-looking guys everywhere. I felt really idiotic, and I would like to blame it on the fact that my ears were clogged (they were, but it wasn’t the only source of the problem), but I was having a hard time understanding people. I had to ask the cute concierges to repeat their questions, and usually I think I ended up with a defeated look on my face, shaking my head, and saying “I’m sorry, I can’t understand you.” Not only is inflection different in Australian English, but many phrases are unique and more British styled. Shana seemed to understand everything, which only made me feel like a bigger idiot. I was happy to hear this week when being interviewed for private tutoring that the employer had talked to a few other people, but found that it was hard to understand them, especially the Australian! Hah! Ok, back to the first night…We found a convenient store right away and stocked up and water and cold medicine for me. We started planning our agenda for our first three days in Sydney, and found ourselves quite hungry, so we ordered midnight room service. We sat on the bench at the end of our beds, our legs dangling in front of the lovely little white-clothed cart complete with a single daisy, watching I Love Lucy and eating our huge plates of pasta.

We decided to get a little bit of a later start on our second day to make sure we were well-rested. We went downstairs to book our tours, walked a few blocks to the Botanical Gardens, and spent a few hours there. It was absolutely beautiful in the gardens, but it was incredibly hot, and we both felt worn out pretty quickly. After we looped around the water edge to take a few pictures with the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge in the background, we went back to the hotel for some air conditioning and a nap. I had fallen asleep before the Inauguration was broadcasted the night before, so we watched the rerun of President Obama’s speech as we dozed off. After we woke up from our 20-minute-turned-2-hour nap we took the bus to Bondi Beach on the other side of town. The weather had started to cool off, but it was only because rain clouds were rolling in, and we had about 20 minutes on the beach before it started to rain. We headed up to the shops and found a cute little pizza place where we ordered Margarita pizzas. We ordered a Fanta and a Coke, and Shana introduced me to Spezi (a mixture of the two sodas), which she drank quite often during her year abroad in Italy. We asked for a third glass and carefully mixed the sodas together until we felt the proportion was just right.

After we polished off our pizzas we browsed the stores, stopping in a sort of hippie beach store to try on sun dresses, and The Sunglass Hut. I had left my cheap, scratched sunglasses in Taiwan, and decided that our special trip to sunny Australia called for my first serious sunglasses purchase (funny that it was raining that afternoon). The store was about to close to so I thought it might be used best as a preview to what I might be looking for, but we asked the saleswoman for her opinion and she picked out a cute pair of dark red Ralph Lauren frames. I tried on a few other pairs that weren’t bad, but they were all boring brown, and it was clear that the red pair was it. Unfortunately, we discovered that everything in and around Sydney closes before 7pm, and so after stopping by the Harbor for some night shots, we returned to the hotel. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Sydney had great TV, something we’ve been missing in Taiwan, and were just in time for a mini House marathon.

On Day 3 we took our official tour. We had to be downstairs at the ungodly hour of 8 am to be picked up for our trip to the Blue Mountains. We started with a small wildlife park, home to many koalas, kangaroos, a very large crocodile, and my new favorite, wombats! All I could think about was getting to “cuddle up to a koala,” the phrase used in just about every brochure that offered a “koala encounter.” The wildlife park was great, but I was a little scared to get too close to the animals. The koalas were incredibly cute, but very sleepy and not as cuddly as you might think. Apparently they sometimes kick with their back legs and/or pee on you, so I tried to keep a bit of a distance when taking my picture with them. As for the kangaroos, we'd been told that we could scratch the kangaroo under the chin and near their armpits while we were feeding them, but be sure not to touch their ears unless we wanted to be punched or kicked into unconsciousness. As you can see from the pictures, I was a little hesitant at first about the whole feeding thing, but it turned out to be quite fun (until the emus came over and started pecking with their ginormous beaks).

After lunch we took took the world's steepest rail car down into the rain forest to get a view of the Blue Mountains. We walked for about an hour or so along the paths, and then took a tram back up the mountain. We drove up the mountain a little further for a closer view of the three stone peaks, and then went on a bush walk. There were a few different path options, but I think we all opted for the one that would not have any snakes--our tour guide assured us that we were quite likely to encounter quite a few on other routes.

On the way down the mountain we stopped at Alleuria, a very quaint town with a Christmas shop, an old-fashioned candy store, and a few cute shops. Shana and I made stops at the first two places, and then wandered into an antique store hidden a bit back on a stone alley. I found a cute tie-dyed dress that I used for a cover-up in Cairns, and a very unique ring that I have been wearing since I bought it. I seldom buy rings because the desire to wear them passes quickly, but this one is different. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it too. The metal seems to be having some sort of reaction, and it's turning my finger green, but I still love it!

Shana and I were pooped when we got back from our tour, and we flopped down on our beds and immediately scoped out the TV situation. We got hooked on Don't Forget the Lyrics, and finally dragged ourselves off our beds when we decided that we were hungry and soon would be too lazy to move at all for the rest of the night. We decided on a fast food dinner of Hungry Jack's (that's Burger King in Australia), and returned for some more quality TV watching. Later that night after I had showered I went into the bathroom to throw something away. I wasn't going to be in there for long, so I didn't bother to turn on the lights. Big mistake. Water always leaked under the shower door, and the marble floor was still quite wet from when I had showered. I walked in with purpose, hit the puddle, and wiped out. I mean totally wiped out. My right foot flew up in the air, followed by my left, and then all of my limbs flailed as I started falling. There was nothing to grab on to and I knew I was going down hard. Luckily, my butt broke my fall. Shana heard a thud, but was kind enough to ask if I wanted her to come in or not. I needed a few seconds to regain myself, so I tried my best to play it off, and brush it off. My pjs were soaked, but I decided to stay on the floor for a bit while I uttered "oww, owww, ohhh, owww." And then I broke into laughter, which didn't help with the bruised tailbone.

I anticipated the Bridge Climb the next day to be more than unbearable given my wipe out, but it wasn't so bad at all. We scheduled our climb for 9:50 am, and as we walked over to the bridge, it seemed like the relatively early morning hour hadn't helped. The wind started blowing just as we began our climb up the pylons, saving us from extreme heat. They had advised us to wear only underwear under our protective suits, and we were each equipped with a hat, bands to hold our sunglasses around our necks, and two wet bandannas worn around our wrists to keep us cool. We ended up having a great climb "family," meeting two very cute older couples from Scotland and the UK. We also met a really sweet girl from Germany who had been working in Australia as an au pair (I love that she said "au pair"--totally reminded me of the ABC Family movie), and was soon on her way to New Zealand for more traveling. Our tour guide Michelle was spunky, fun, sweet, and encouraged posing in all of our pictures. She made the trip super fun, not rushing us, and chatting with us the whole way. It was a really memorable way to end our time in Sydney. After the climb we stopped at a cafe across from the hotel for an amazing lunch (I had a chicken sandwich and the most amazing banana smoothie), and then we went to Pitt Street for some shopping. I was so excited to find sales everywhere, which was even more perfect since clothes for the fall and winter were coming out, and I was able to buy some really great summer outfits for my remaining time in Taiwan. I got some really cute Gladiator sandals, as Shana and I call them, peep-toe flats for teaching, and some really nice skirts and tops. We made a quick stop at the Health Club in the hotel to clean up before we headed to the airport for our flight to Cairns.

Just when I was starting to get over my cold, Shana started coming down with one herself. We were both pretty miserable on the plane to Cairns last night, although we tried to make it better by having some fun in the airport while we waited to begin boarding. We bought banana bread and a chocolate croissant, eager to get our fill of baked goods, and browsed a cute shop called Witchery.

The flight did have its ups, namely watching The Duchess and having Indian food for dinner. Apparently Australian airlines aren’t as cheap as those in the U.S. and are still willing to feed you over normal dining hours. The Butter Chicken was quite delicious, actually. When we reached the taxi queue a very funny thing happened: there were absolutely no taxis in sight. It took a little bit, but one company finally caught on and called its men out to pick up the groups of people waiting. We had a really great cabbie who gave us plenty of tips on things to do in Cairns.

When we arrived at the hotel, we met Ian (note his name isn't really Ian, but I forgot it after the first night, never rediscovered it, and will therefore name him after the character mentioned below), the really sweet concierge who looks stunningly similar to the leading guy who plays Amanda Bynes’ love interest in What a Girl Wants. The hotel has kind of a beachy feel with a great view, not quite as upscale as the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Sydney, but one that is quite nice and feels incredibly cozy at the same time. We got cleaned up and spent some time looking at brochures on snorkeling, rafting, dining, tours, etc. We were both ready to drop off, with the long, hot day of climbing, shopping, and traveling, and decided that today would be a day for sleeping in--we wanted to be well-rested for our snorkeling trip, probably the thing we’ve been looking forward to the most. I woke up at 9 feeling pretty good, but Shana was even worse. I went down and met Michael, the other concierge, and booked our snorkeling tour for our last full day in Australia. I had been more excited to go white-water rafting than Shana, so I booked a half-day afternoon trip for myself, and then headed out to the local grocery store to stock up on drinks and cold medicine for Shana, and rafting gear and lunch for myself.

After lunch I left Shana in bed, watching the Aussie teen surf romance marathon that I discovered that morning browsing through the channels in bed. She was a bit delirious; however, she managed a weak but genuine conversation before I left. It went something like “I hope you meet the love of your life...I have to be out of commission for a purpose.”

The rafting trip was wonderful! The Foaming Fury van came to pick me up a little after 2, and I was greeted by Magnus, an incredibly good-looking guy who informed me he would be my guide for the day (I thought Shana might have actually been on to something). The bus was pretty full, so I got to sit up front near the guides and was able to chat with them a bit. They were all very young and tons of fun, and I knew the trip was going to be great. When we got off the bus and suited up, I noticed that four of the people were speaking very clear Mandarin. I got really excited since I’ve felt that I haven’t spoken Chinese in forever (it’s only been 5 days—quite a short period of time, but one that makes me feel excited given that it shows how comfortable I am with speaking the language), and couldn’t help but ask where they were from. It turns out they were from Taiwan, so I got SUPER excited and told them about the Fulbright. We got caught up in talking, and when the guides told us to split into groups of 5, it was obvious that we were a perfect fit. It’s probably a good thing too, because they only understood a little English, and any 5th person might have felt out of the loop. I sat at the front of the raft both for language and maneuvering purposes. Magnus, the first guide whom I met, took us on as his group, and I was excited to actually raft with him. He was very patient, which was much needed considering I was probably the strongest of the passengers and the only one who could really understand what he was saying.

We went over three or four major Class 3 rapids, all of which were a lot of fun. It was ridiculously hot outside, so I welcomed every patch of white water as it meant I was likely to get soaked. After we got over the major rapids at one point, we steered ourselves toward the side of the river to wait for the other rafts to come down. Magnus asked if I could move to the other side and sit at the front of the raft to keep it against the rocks. I scooted over, sat down, and the next thing I know I was sliding over the side of the raft. I felt my butt go first, then my thighs, and then all of a sudden my feet were over my head and I was falling in. It all happened very quickly and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it except laugh. I’m sure it looked hilarious, but when I came up, all of my new friends were gasping and asking if I was okay. Magnus popped up in the water next to me and didn’t make a big deal out of it, except I couldn’t crawl back into the raft, so he had to pull me in. I knew from the swimming we had done earlier that it was common for people to have to be dragged back in, but I felt like a prize idiot that he had to do it again. He’s incredibly strong, so all he had to do was count to 3—I jumped and he hoisted me up by my life jacket. He pulled me up quite a ways, so that when I tried to bend over to get in, it was kind of awkward and my head ended up in his shorts. I ended up sort of flopping into the boat, and he laughed and said, “well, that’s one way to do it.” I think he said something else about the thing about his method being that it worked but wasn’t so graceful. I couldn’t stop laughing, what I do when I’m nervous and/or embarrassed, and then he added “that’s the first time this has happened, especially sitting in calm water.” Again, I kept on with my hysterical laughter and he asked, “are you embarrassed?” I had no choice but to fess up. It was pretty funny though. I had to stifle the rest of my nervous laughter in my life jacket, and shake it off as fast as I could. I never fell off going over rough water, something that others did, but I don’t know if that’s something that should comfort me or make me feel even more idiotic.

On the last leg of our journey we had to keep a slow, but constant paddle, so there was quite a bit of time for talking. Magnus asked me where I learned to speak Chinese (I had been translating some throughout the trip) and I found out where he was from (originally Sweden). My friends asked me about the Dragon Boat Festival, something a little similar to a crew regatta that happens every May in the memory of a Chinese official who demonstrated his loyalty to his state and king by throwing himself into the river, so I was able to share a little piece of Chinese culture with Magnus. At the end we all took pictures together, and he swept the Taiwanese girls off their feet and turned them half vertical before they could even protest. I was wise being the last girl to go, so I stood 5 feet away from him until he promised to just stand next to me.

When I got back Shana thought she felt well enough to go to dinner, so we walked to the other side of the downtown area to the Green Ant Cantina. The restaurant was half in, half outside, and it was a pretty low-key place with great food and yummy cocktails. We took a detour on the way back to walk along the Esplanade along the water and to go in search of ice cream. We had seen tons of commercials for the Australian equivalent of Cold Stone and were on the hunt. We did find a Baskin Robbins, probably my personal favorite, and I have to admit, it felt kind of glorious to have ice cream melting all over my hands. Of course, it's just as hot in Taiwan and something I could certainly experience there...I suppose the scenery just reminded me a little more of summers at home.

The next day was also pretty laid back. Shana and I decided to take a walk around the downtown area and do some shopping. I got a new swim suit for snorkeling (it was on sale too!), and some gifts for friends. We decided to spend the evening swimming, and walked down to The Lagoon. From the way it was described we thought it was a roped-off section of the ocean to be used for jellyfish-free swimming, but when we got there we found a salt-water public swimming pool. It was really crowded and mostly surrounded by pavement, so we took a little walk by the water, and headed back for the private pool at the hotel. Swimming there turned out to be a lot of fun. We met a Vietnamese family with three little girls, Ann, Vicky, and their baby sister. The girls were born in Australia and had adorable accents. They were also incredibly curious and both asked (and volunteered) a lot of information, including home addresses and hotel room numbers. I was thrilled to play with kids who spoke English as a native language. Ann showed me how she could swim and tried to talk to me as I bobbed around with Vicky on my hip and tried to answer her endless "why" questions--"Why do you have so many earrings?" "Because I like earrings." "Why do you like earrings?" "Because I think earrings are pretty." Their dad thanked me for keeping them entertained, but really, I was quite glad they were around.

That night we had a tasty meal at the Bushfire Grill, well-known for its Aussie barbeque. Our waiter Bruno (yes!) came around with a variety of meats that had been cooked over an open flame on long skewers. We told him the cut of meat we wanted and he provided us with all the beef, chicken, sausage, and lamb (mostly beef--we love our beef) we could eat. The meal included veggies, salad, and potatoes, and at the end we were served grilled cinnamon-sugar glazed pineapple. In need of some ridiculously rich chocolate, I ordered the chocolate trio (white chocolate mousse, chocolate caramel brownie, and fudge cake) for dessert.

The next day we woke up early for our 8 am snorkeling departure to the Great Barrier Reef. It was quite choppy on the way out since the rain was moving out with us, but by the second dive, the sun was out. The water was a bit rough in the first location, no good for Shana who was already seasick from the ridiculously rocky ride out. Still, the reef was stunning and I was in awe of everything I saw. A very large fish circled our group quite a few times, cocking his eye each time to check us out. He was pretty cool, and I couldn't help but swim off a few times to follow him around. Shana scored some amazing shots with a big sea turtle who swam toward the surface after being spotted on the floor. The second dive after lunch was even better. The reef was more shallow, and the sun was out, so everything was clear and sparkeling. I realized that we could let go of our noodles that they gave to keep us afloat if we got too tired, and our really sweet photographer managed to have me dive down for some pretty cool shots with coral. Some areas of the reef were only 4 or 5 feet deep, which made me a little nervous since I didn't want to kill any of the coral. I had learned halfway in to the first dive that I would need to break away from the group of snorkelers to avoid bumping into the others and having enough space to maneuver and explore. I got better at using the flippers and really covered a lot of ground the second time around.

After getting cleaned up we went to Barnacle Bill's, a seafood restaurant, for dinner. I had promised myself that I would get a good seafood meal before I left, and when they were out of crab legs (which, by the way, happens to me a lot), I decided on the lobster. Dinner was delicious. There were people out and about for Australia Day, a very big event, and we stopped at Cold Rock (think Cold Stone Creamery) for cups of our specially mixed ice cream complete with mini Australian flags.

Back at the hotel we packed up our things and decided that we'd sleep in a bit before our noon flight. We were surprised to find about 40 of us on the ginormous plane to Hong Kong. Shana and I thought we had it made, and were prepared to take up a whole row each for some quality sleeping when the nosiest tour group ever moved in behind us. Go figure...no one in first class, over half of the other economy seats open and they had to be right behind us. We still had quite a bit of space, but it wasn't nearly as peaceful as we would have hoped. We did, however, get to watch more House!

Back in Taipei I met up with a friend and we spent the day together walking around the city. We wandered around back alleys near Taipei Normal University, trying to find an Indian restuarant that we had once seen in the area, but settling instead on Thai food. After lunch we went to the zoo, saw the koalas (I was kind of disappointed to discover that you could see them in places other than Australia), and then went shopping. I packed for Japan that night, spent the next day with Shana and her relatives, and then it was off to Japan!

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season. I had what the best holidays I could have asked for considering I'm away from home.

December was packed with tons of activities, some related to the holidays and others just coincidentally in the same month. It sort of felt like a month-long celebration. The first and second weekends of December were filled with my trips to Tainan and Taipei, which I wrote about in my last two entries). The holiday festivities really began with the third weekend in December. Almost all of the ETAs went to the home of AIT's Kaohsiung branch chief for some wonderful holiday baking. As soon as we walked in the door it looked and smelled like Christmas! There was the most beautiful Christmas tree decorated in red and gold, and the house smelled like gingerbread. We headed straight for the kitchen and got to work rolling out the dough for sugar cookies and sneaking balls of chocolate chip cookie dough as we scooped them onto the baking sheets. Chris and Jan had planned a lovely dinner and movie watching for us, so our baking was interrupted by the catering staff who actually made dinner right before our very eyes. We had the most delicious salmon, roast with gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed veggies, pasta salad, and real Caesar salad with real thick strips of bacon for dinner. We all crowded around one of the coffee tables in the living room (there were plenty of other tables, we just wanted to be cozy), squeezing onto loveseats and sitting on the floor. We had a Christmas toast, and a visiting student from Iceland who was also celebrating with us lit the advent candles. After seconds (I think we all went back for more!), Chris's mom split us into pairs so that we were each responsible for singing two of the 12 lines in the song "Twelve Days of Christmas." Shana and I were "5 golden rings," easy to remember but more difficult to sing, and "12 drummers drumming." We all laughed and laughed, forgetting when to come in, what our lines were, etc. I think the funniest part was Chris's dad singing "9 women dancing" instead of "ladies." When we decided that Christmas caroling was not our forte, the ETAs moved in to the family room to watch The Polar Express! Dani, Shana, Vicky, and I immediately headed for the heap of floor pillows and curled up next to each other like little babies. The others sprawled out on the couches. After the movie, which was fabulous and put us all in the Christmas mood, we chatted for a while over cups of deliciously rich Ghirardelli hot (dark) chocolate topped off with whip cream and mini marshmallows. When it was time to go home, Jan sent us on our way with goodie bags filled with the cookies we had baked and the rest of the cookies and brownies that she finished while we were all watching the movie. It was such a perfect night.

Late that evening, Jessi, Kinki, and Angie, the first friends I met when I arrived in Taiwan, took me out to a late-night restaurant for some snacks and brought a cake to begin the series of birthday celebrations that would follow. We didn't have any candles, but Angie was adamant that I blow them out, and when I wasn't positioned close enough to the imaginary candles, corrected me until I was. Unfortunately, we lost the rest of the cake (and our appetites) to a trail of ants that came in from the window and down the wall, but it was a lot of fun to sit and chat, especially since Jessi is studying in Tainan and doesn't make it back to Kaohsiung very often.

The next day all of the ETAs woke up early to meet our host families and some of our co-teachers for a day trip to Pingdong organized by the Kaohsiung City Education Bureau. We learned an aboriginal song and dance ourselves, and then went to watch the professionals perform many of their traditional dances.

And then the holidays! I think I had about four birthday parties (and four separate cakes!), and my family at home wrapped up birthday and Christmas presents (cute froggie wrapping paper for birthday and assorted festive paper for Christmas) and sent them to me so that I received them on the 22nd--perfect timing! Some of the teachers at Wenfu planned a birthday party for me after school, and I went along with it being a surprise even though I had talked to Peiwen and Julianna about it beforehand. Sophia was supposed to keep me after class for as long as possible since I teach with her last on Mondays, and she turned out to be quite effective at her task. She simply said something like, "I'm supposed to delay for as long as possible, so don't leave right away after class." Hah. You'd have to meet Sophia to understand, but it is so her. On the night of my birthday the other ETAs and I met at New House, an Italian restaurant right behind our apartment, for my birthday dinner and I got two bouquets of birthday roses (that's right, two!). It was nice to have everyone together, and after we finished the coffee mousse cake that I sort of bought by luck, we went over to Apt. C to watch White Christmas. After that my roommates and I came home to do our final night of Secret Santa, which wasn't so secret but we was carried on in good humor anyway, and I opened my birthday presents.

I didn't have to work on Christmas morning, so I was able to skype home and have them watch me open my presents here. After work we all went over to one of the other apartments to have a fairly traditional Christmas dinner. We ordered a turkey with stuffing, gravy, and a bottle of wine from a nearby hotel, and then each contributed something else. Gered, one of my roommates, made delicious mashed potatoes, a few of us ran out to get rolls, Billy brought dumplings (what would Christmas in Taiwan be without dumplings?), Rebekah brought hot cocoa and Baileys (yum!), and I brought over the gingerbread man kit that I got from home. We chatted while we ate and watched a movie--it was a simple celebration, the way that felt most like home to us.

The Saturday after Christmas I celebrated my birthday with Julianna's family. Her son Steven had his birthday three days after mine, and her husband Frank's had been two weeks prior. We went to Lotus Lake, not too far from Wenfu, and had a picnic lunch by the lake. There was Domino's and fried dumplings, cake, pudding, and we brewed fresh tea. Her entire extended family came, so we sat under the shade of a sort of Weeping Willow tree, chatting, playing with the babies, and napping. The weather was perfect that day, and it was the most relaxing afternoon.

For New Years Eve, one of my students and her family took me to a nearby mall with thousands of other people and we watched popular singers perform until it was time to ring in the new year. There was 3 minutes of amazing fireworks starting at midnight, and it was a pretty awesome feeling--the first time I've ever been in a crowd like that for New Years (normally I watch the ball drop on TV). We are in the midst of a four-day weekend, so I've made lots of plans to have meals with friends and take care of errands, etc. My roommates are all gone, so Leo and I have the whole apartment to ourselves. My friend Chel joked that I should let him run loose. I'm sure everyone would come back to a little trail of presents around their rooms!

It seems 2009 has started off well, and I think it's going to be a very good year. I wish you all a wonderful new year filled with much opportunity and good memories to look back on when we come to the end of another year.

Love,
Nicki