China Doll

More Cute Kids

2006-09-10T19:33:00.000-07:00

Sanji

2006-09-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Dan Shuay

2006-08-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

MRT=Taipei's Subway system

2006-08-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

My Second Trip to Taipei (Taibei)

2006-08-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

So on Saturday we woke up at 5:30 and caught a bus to Taipei. Our first stop was the temple. Then after our endowment session we went to Chang Kai Chek- a memorial to the late president of Taiwan. It was an amazing memorial; I have never seen anything like it. Imagine the Lincoln Memorial times 20. Here are some pictures so you can see what I mean. One is of the the changing of the guards. The other is of a huge hallway near the memorial; I was awe struck by uts beautiful architecture. Also near the memorial were beautiful buildings with periwinkle rooftops. I love those rooftops- my dream home will have a periwinkle rooftop too!

2006-08-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I was walking in the undergrounds of Taichung I encountered this girl wearing a cake! She was advertising for a home shopping network; I guess they sell cakes. But- she is the cutest thing I have ever seen undeneath the city!

2006-08-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

K-TV = Karaoke!

Alright so a few of you out there know my deep dark secret- that's right I love karaoke! And so does Taiwan! K-TV's are everywhere here; Occasionally, as I innocently bike down the streets of Feng Yuan, I hear old men at little shops singing their heart away to Chinese karaoke. It is great. And since I have been here I have had the privilege of joining the Taiwanese at a K-TV on two differnt occasions. My first time, I went with some Berhan teachers and some Taiwanese families (one of which was the family one of my students). I don't have any pictures from that one, but I did take some from this past weekend. This certain place we went to had a whole buffet for us to choose from- it was goooood. And then we sang our hearts away together in our own private room. "You're so vain" was by far our best number.

2006-08-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of my kuh-ai (cute) second graders. This particular class is a little rambunctious (yeah- I know I am an English teacher, but I have no clue how to spell that word- forgive me). And the favorite word in this class is 'crazy' and it drives me crazy! So- I taught them a new and better word to replace crazy- ludicrous. They caught on pretty quickly and they make fun of all the other kids who say crazy, because I told them that that is a word for the less intelligent. :) Yeah- isn't it great how I can teach these kids whatever I like! I love it and I love my second graders!

2006-08-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

Guguan!

After the buffet we went to an amazing little town about an hour away from Feng Yuan. The town is nestled closely to some mountains and is famous for their beautiful hot springs. We went to one of the resorts that had some hot springs and paid six American dollars for five star spa treatment. Not only were the spas so relaxing, but we also enjoyed an incredible view of the mountains. We just soaked up the spa until the stars came out and then we caught our bus to Feng Yuan. The pictures from Guguan show us on a suspension bridge going for a little hike, then at the hot springs.

2006-08-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

Yummy Buffet!

So- last weekend I went to this amazing buffet; it was actually a staff luncheon. I didn't take a picture of the foods, but I will tell you a little. There are two large lines of food: one is salads, breads, and soups, the other is full of hun how (very good) desserts. Then there is a whole table set up with various types of fruit juices. Also- they had buckets and buckets of ice cream to choose from with such flavors as: mango, tea, taro (purple stuff). But it doesn't end there. At the table waiting for us was a built-in oven on the table top with a display of meat to cook on the ovens. The meat was amazing and as a result we ate and ate until our buttons popped!

2006-08-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

2006-08-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after my adventure in Lugang we went to a nearby town Zhang Hua for the 50th anniversary celebration of the church in Taiwan. They had dancing and singing and then for the grand finale all the missionaries and Taiwan return missionaries sang "Called to Serve". It was really neat. Although, I have no missionary ties to Taiwan, it really touched my heart. And it was so neat to look out over this huge stadium and see a sea of black hair. Then, today at church, some of the return missionaries attended our sacrament meeting and shared some things with us. I really wish that I could be a better missionary here; I am frustrated that I can't communicate very well to these people. Hopefully- I can learn some conversational phrases. I have made two Taiwanese friends who have signed up to be my language and cultural tutors. One of them- Daphne is meeting with me and one other teacher, Sergio three times a week and then my other friend, Efon is meeting with me weekly. I am excited to learn. Well- everything is going well. I am going to throw on some pictures of Taipei and the Taipei Temple.

2006-08-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

These pictures are of this weekend. I went to a place close to Feng Yuan called Lugang with three other teachers. It is a neat little town with an active downtown- there was a huge Buddhist temple, many fan and lantern shops, and lots of street venders who sell good and not so good food. It was fun to just be in the city and talk to the people. A few of these pictures show some of my friends that I met. The one man in the lantern picture took several pictures with me; he was not camera shy by any means. Then- the picture of the old man reminded me of the emperor on Mulan- he fulfills all of my Asian expectations of old men.

2006-08-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have lots of pictures that I want to show you. The first one is of Daisy- one of my second graders that likes to put on drama shows with and without costumes. This picture depicts her with a nice white and black striped wig. She is a funny girl!

This picture is of more of my kids in second grade- that day we were playing tug of war with another class outside. This bunch of kids is among my favorites. They like to tease me and occasionally call me "jelly bean".

2006-07-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of me in Tai Zhong on a bridge. There isn't anything really special about this picture, I just liked the rows of light posts for some strange reason. But- Tai Zhong is the closest big city to me and it is where we meet for church, so I am there quite a bit.

2006-07-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

2006-07-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2006

Today- I woke up fairly late and hurried to the computer to talk to mom and dad. Then I went to do lesson plans with my friend Heather. Afterwards I took a shower and then went to a pizza place called "Napoli" for lunch. So, my life here sounds pretty ordinary, but in everything I do there is always a little Taiwanese spice that makes a typical thing very different. For example, I had Japanese pork on my pizza. And instead of talking to my family on the phone, I talked to them from my computer to theirs. Yeah- and at home I was fairly comfortable in a room with the temperture set at 74 degrees but now I shiver in a room set at 80 degrees (26 degrees C). I am also becoming accustomed to riding my bike everywhere, although I do miss my car Nelly. But- bike riding is the best way to experience Taiwan's delicious tofu smells. :) Just kidding, I haven't gotten to the point of loving stinky tofu, but maybe I will at the end of my 6 months here.

Above this post is a picture from the Fourth of July and it gives you an idea of what I am talking about. You will notice that I am eating my "American" potato salad with chopsticks!