About Me

I'm the thing that's not like the others.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

PICTURES!!!

New Pics of my first field trip! We went to the zoo!!! As always, comments are welcome and encouraged. Also, there is a real post just before this one, so check the archive.

Bronchitis? What bronchitis?

Wed. Dec. 10th
So.... It’s been a while. I’ve been pretty sick with a chest cold. The doctor says it’s bronchitis, but she didn’t even take my temperature (or a chest x-ray), so I am skeptical of her diagnosis. I am, however, taking all 4 of the meds that she prescribed (after checking them out on the internet).
Since I’ve been sick, not much has been going on. I haven’t missed work and the monsters have been pretty good for me. My CT needed today off, so I took my half day on Monday and that’s when I went to see the doctor.
I’ve read The Maltese Falcon and a Michael Chrichton book called Prey. I’ve spent the rest of the week watching some of the bazillion movies that Katherine gave us. She’s clearing out all of her old roommates cheap VCDs in prep for going home. She gave me the first batch last week and she could not have timed the succession any better.
We’ve started doing Christmas stuff at school. My kids are so cute. One of my little girls thinks that the word to Jingle Bells are "Jingle tree, jingle tree, jingle jingle tree" Sing those words to the tune of Jingle Bells. It’s really cute. Di bought a little tree for the apartment. It’s fake of course, and it sits on the living room table, but it makes the place feel a little more Christmas-y. I bought some tinsel for it today. It looks really nice. Sorry for the scarcity of detail, but I haven’t exactly been interacting with my world in top form lately.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

So many different emotions.... and a dance-off

Thurs. Nov. 22
Tuesday was the big zoo trip. It was really nice. I think the kids were a little afraid of all the people there, so they were really well behaved. For the first bit, we had to stay in the section with all of the domestic animals, including an entire habitat for rabbits and guinea pigs behind glass. Seriously. But then we got to go see more "exotic" animals, like the monkeys and the cutest vegetarian bear.
Yesterday was the half day. All of us preschool teachers went to lunch at the Thai place that I really like. And Ty came too, cuz Jackie’s subbing for Adrienne for a while. Then I spent the afternoon at CKS with Katy and went to the library with Emily in the evening.
School was ok today. One more kid came back, so I’m up to 14 again. I’m still missing one, but it’s nice of them to come back one at a time so I can readjust slowly. The kids were really crazy, though. None of them wanted to listen and they were all very silly. I think Thursday is surpassing Tuesday as the worst day of the week for me. It’s weird, but I’m pretty sure it’s just a Taiwan thing. My theory still holds true for Canada, I’m sure.

Sat Nov 24th
Yesterday school sucked. We were supposed to go to the park, but the Chinese teachers decided that it was raining too hard to go (which it SO wasn’t). So I had to prep something last minute for the entire afternoon. Not to mention dealing with 13 kids who were all expecting to play outside and then couldn’t. They went crazy, which in turn made me act like a harpy.
After work I went for tea with K and Corrie, until Corrie had to go back to school to teach. Then K and I went to the Rice Café in Taipei for supper. After food, we kinda wandered around and I tried to find Christmas presents (which would be much easier if my family contained fewer males). Eventually I gave up and we ended up at 0204. Jason met us there and we played some pool and had a couple of drinks. It was good times.
This morning I was supposed to meet K and Corrie and her boyfriend Andy for a hike. But I’m still fighting this virus and couldn’t make myself leave my bed. I actually woke up at 8:30, talked to K at 10, to tell her I wasn’t coming, and then went back to sleep.
During my day at home I watched Heroes (so good, even if there was no Peter) and Bones (also good). I also read a book that I got out of the library the other night. It was really interesting. I’ve never seen anything with quite that writing style. The author is Jonathan Safran Foer and the book is called Everything is Illuminated. Elijah Wood stars in the movie based on it.
Speaking of movies, after meeting up with Jackie, Ty and Diana for dinner and randomly running into Katy, we all went to the movies. We saw Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. It was really cute. A little sad, but still cute and magical.

Tues Nov. 27th
It is raining like mad outside right now. And it has been since Sunday. Luckily, it wasn’t raining too hard on Sunday, cuz I met T, Michelle, and Michelle’s friend Brent (also Canadian) for a late lunch and then we went shopping. It was actually a pretty fun day. I also bought some new non-smudgy eyeliner from MAC (which is made in Canada). It’s actually really cool, cuz it’s a gel. It looks like a lipgloss jar, but it’s eyeliner. And it’s easier to apply than a pencil or liquid. (Sorry to bore you all with this, but I found it really exciting).
Yesterday was good. My girl who has been away for 3 weeks finally came back. She’s still a little subdued, but it’s so good to see her. And I was in a really great mood, so nothing phased me the whole day. After work, I had dinner here and then met Katy to go grocery shopping (where I bought only bread, because what good are groceries when the stove is broken?). After shopping, I came home and read for a bit, then met the whole crew at 0204 for a couple of drinks and some pool. It was a really good time.
Today my special phrase of the day was "Justifiable homicide". The kids were awful. There’s one especially that I thought was just horrible for me because he didn’t understand me, but he’s just as bad for the CTs. We did finally finish watching Snow White and the kids were mercifully quiet for a whole 45 minutes.
Because of the downpour, I stayed at school during my break, reading in the office. I finished my book (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, which is really good) and I got some paperwork done ahead of time (only because I finished my book). I wished out loud that I hadn’t finished my book and Sam offered me his, cuz he was going to nap. So I also read the first 20 or so pages of Space by James(?) Mitchner.
After work I went to the library and grabbed dinner before coming home. Once I got here, I nested on the couch and barely moved. From the library I got The Life of Pi and the movies "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Mary Poppins", both of which I watched tonight. I really didn’t like The Postman, although Lana Turner is beautiful. Diana came home from class in time to watch the end of Mary Poppins with me. Tomorrow’s the half day and K and I are going to the Thai place that I love for lunch.

Thurs. Nov 29th
I successfully accomplished almost all of my goals for today. I didn’t have to go harpy in school. At lunch I read a little more of Space, even though I started The Life of Pi yesterday. We also had a teachers’ meeting, which killed the last hour of class and I found out that the golden prince, one of my students, has moved so I’m down to 14 in my class. Yay!!
This afternoon I bought a new blanket (nights here get chilly and the apartments aren’t insulated) and I picked up some more Christmas presents. I’m almost completely finished Christmas shopping and it’s not even December yet. This is unprecedented for me.
It helps that I spent all afternoon yesterday shopping. I dragged poor Katherine all over the place looking for presents. And I was partially successful. I managed to get Jamie’s present, although there are still some others that are eluding me. I had been hoping to ship the package tomorrow, but it looks like that won’t be happening. Hopefully Monday, then.
Tonight has been even better than the rest of the day. I had my favourite cheap chicken curry for dinner, watched an episode of Heroes (so freakin’ good) and won $200 in the lottery. Of course, the money was in NT so it’s about the equivalent of $7 CAD. But still, it’s money for nothing.

Sat. Dec.1st
I can officially start celebrating Christmas now. And I have with my mixed CDs. Of course today I’m just listening to them and writing down what songs are actually on them. I had a big rush of homesickness while I was in the grocery store. First, I can’t find any advent calenders. Then I looked down the baking aisle and there were all the ingredients for Christmas goodies, and I don’t have an oven in which to bake.
Yesterday at school the secretaries were putting up all the decorations. There’s a tree and everything, so at least I’ll be in the festive spirit at work. Although, it seemed to elude me yesterday. For some reason my inner harpy had emerged and refused to be locked away. It may have had something to do with the sinus headache I had all day, and the kids were horrible. I didn’t even get to relax after work, cuz I had agreed to sub for one of the kids’ teachers. That class was ok, though. It was just that it went from 7-9. But after, I played some pool with Katherine then I came home, talked to the roomies for a bit and went to bed.
I feel much better today. And tonight we’re going out! Actually out! Not to 0204 for a drink, but into Taipei to a club. It’s been ages since I’ve gone dancing. I’m so excited. And we’re having a nice dinner first, so we can still hang out with the people who don’t want to go to the club.

Sun Dec 2nd
So, the nice dinner ended up being only 4 of us and it was at Swensons. We tried to go to a different place, but it closed at 9. Katy, Jackie, Ty and I enjoyed our meal. T was waiting for Michelle (who is always late) so they didn’t get there until we were finished. Then T, Michelle and I went to a club.
I had wanted to go to a club called Ocean Blue, which has a shark tank inside, but in spite of everything I read to the contrary, Michelle insisted that there was no dancefloor there, so we ended up at Wax instead. Everyone says that it’s really scuzzy, but it wasn’t that bad. It was way less creepy than Classics, although there was a whole group of kids who were at the absolute most 15. Most of them looked about 12. We spent most of the night laughing at boys trying to seduce girls with their "mad dancing skills". And Michelle and I almost got into a dance off with a bitchy 12 year old blond girl (she was with the middle school crowd). It was really fun.
Today has been really laid back. I talked to Mom, watched a couple of movies, played around on the internet. All in all, a nice relaxing day. Hopefully I’ll be well rested to deal with the monsters tomorrow.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Photos

Okay, I've added more photos. You'll probably notice the Baseball World Cup album. I've also added a few to Random Fun and 1 to Random Things. As always, comments are highly encouraged.

The love of my life - Baseball

Fri Nov 9th
Well, yesterday was great. I’m still me (no random mood swings), the kids were good, I had superb hazelnut tea for lunch and Canada completely destroyed Thailand. Since the game was at 12pm, I couldn’t go. But that’s ok. We won! My evening, although not terribly exciting, was productive so that’s good too. I caught up on Bones, did some laundry and went grocery shopping.
I keep doing this thing, though, where I can’t tell time. I keep thinking it’s an hour later than it really is. I did it last night at the laundromat and this morning. I’m actually writing right now because I got up an hour early and didn’t realize it until after my shower.
Tonight’s parent/teacher night, so I’ll be getting that out of the way. I’m trying to make it rain super hard in Taipei, so that the Canada/Cuba game has to be postponed until Monday when I can go. Is that weird and obsessive? Katy says that baseball is like crack for me. She said she’s never seen me as keyed up as I was before the game... and I guess it’s true. When everything is new and exciting, maybe you get most excited for the familiar and comfortable things.
****
Well, I’m officially torn. I can’t decide if I love "Hairspray" (the musical, not the product) or baseball more. I guess it’s lucky that I don’t have to decide. The musical was freakin’ fabulous. Like, seriously. And if I weighed a little more and had a beehive, the lead girl could be me (personality-wise). I even don’t mind that I had to miss the game (which we lost, anyway) for stupid PTA, cuz I got to see the movie.
PTA was fine. Most of the parents wanted to know how to teach their kids English at home. And I only had to talk to 3/7 which means that I was out the door by 8:30 instead of 9, even though we didn’t actually start until 7:30.
All in all, I had a great night and there’s a baseball game looming on the horizon for tomorrow. We’re playing.... dammit! I don’t know who we’re playing, cuz my program’s all in Chinese! Either Germany or the Netherlands. Either way it’s a whole 'nother team of Western boys to oggle. Not that there isn’t plenty to oggle on the Canadian bench....mmm... ballplayers.... anyway, sweet dreams to me.

Tues Nov 13th
In spite of a brief tango with the virus that’s been going around, my week thus far has been fantastic. I’ve seen 3 more ball games (all wins), met a set of parents from the team and unleashed my inner cheerleader/coach. Daddy would be proud. So Saturday’s game was against Germany and Sunday was the Netherlands. Tonight we beat Venezuela. I’ve had baseball on the brain since last week. And I’m converting Katy too. On Sunday she was actually cheering out loud. And Michelle may come to the game tomorrow. This is very exciting, cuz she’s never seen a baseball game before.
Saturday after the game, Katy and I went to Le Rouge for dinner. Then we went into Taipei for a long walk and somehow wound up at the bookstore. I bought a book called Amanda’s Wedding, which I read when I got home.
Sunday was pretty much like being at home in Canada. I saw a ball game. Ate at a new Western style restaurant (which was full of foreigners) and went to Costco with the roommies. I even found cupcakes that are real cake, not the sponge that they call cake here.
School has been fine. Yesterday went smoothly. We read some stories, sang some songs, and I taught them math without wanting to kill someone. Today was even better, cuz we got to go to the park. Some of my sick kids are back, so I was up to 13/15 today. It’s amazing what a difference 1 kid makes to the atmosphere in class. But they all love the farm unit, so the evaluations should go well.
After work yesterday, I came straight home and spent the night watching movies. Jason bought a DVD player when he was sick, so we can watch region 3 dvds now. He also bought the complete set of Indiana Jones. I watched "Raiders" with him on Sunday and then "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade" last night. They’re so much fun. Then I watched "Happy Feet". It was not at all what I was expecting.
Tonight before the game, I went to dinner with Sam. Everyone else was working, so I tried to convince him to come to the game, but it was a no go. Instead, he asked me to play on his slow pitch team this weekend. To which I promptly agreed.
Tomorrow is my half day. Also, it’s the last game of the round robin part of the tournament. Canada is playing Australia, who have only lost 1 game. They’re second to Cuba in our pool. We are currently tied for 3 with the Netherlands and the top 4 teams go on to the finals. If we win tomorrow we are guaranteed a place. If we lose, it could be iffy, but only if Korea wins, which they probably will, because they’re playing Germany (with a record of 1 and 5). I’m not sure what happens if there’s a tie. Because position in the standings determines who you play in the quarter finals. I’m going to miss the finals because of playing for Sam’s team. I hope I don’t suck. It’s literally been years since I’ve played.

Sun Nov 18th
First, baseball news. Canada lost to Australia by 1 run thanks to a horrible call in the bottom of the ninth to end the game, when the correct call would have had the game tied with 2 outs. Even the Australian papers called it "questionable". This knocked us into a tie with Korea for the last playoff spot, which went to Korea, because they won the game that we played against them. I was Super Pissed. But until then, it was a really great, exciting game.
School has been fine. I’m still missing 2 kids due to illness. And because the weather was so fantastic (and will be turning crappy soon) we got to go to the park on Friday, too. I taught 2 of my girls to climb on the jungle gym, because that’s my favourite thing. They did really well, too. One of them is absolutely fearless. She’s my little princess and I love her (mostly because for some reason that I can’t determine, my boss hates her and I like to be spiteful).
This weekend has been pretty busy, although last night sucked. Yesterday, I met K in Taipei. I was looking for a cell phone and had no luck. So then we came back to see what everyone else was up to and they all had plans. Jason invited us to come with him to Ximen, so we did and that was ok. I bought a new pair of black dress shoes. They’re very grown up and nice. And I got them for just over $10 Can. But I felt like going out out and I couldn’t find anyone to go with me. K decided to go to bed early and Jason wanted to practice his Chinese with the juice guy, so I was left by myself before 10pm. On a Saturday! So I watched Kickin it Old Skool, which was pretty funny.
Today, I played slowpitch with Sam’s team. It was so much fun and I didn’t completely suck. I got to play catcher (which is a nothing job, but still fun). It was a double header. In the first game, I batted twice and both times popped out on the first pitch (I just can’t resist a high pitch and in slowpitch, they’re all high). For the second game, I made myself lay off. I actually took a walk! I also got a hit my next at bat.
After the ball game, Ben, one of the guys on the team, wanted to go to this blues festival. I had no plans so I agreed to go. Sam decided to come too, so the three of us went. Once we got there, we ran into Corrie, who was there with Andy and their friends, Erica, Isaac and Paul. It was actually pretty fun. But Sam and I left early, cuz I had a long way to go to get home, and he had other plans.

Mon. Nov 19th
School was the same as always. Nothing of note has happened since last night, except that I finally got a cell phone. I’m so excited. Things will be much more convenient now.
Apparently, after Sam and I left the Blues Festival, the cops came and told them that they had to break it up, because the neighbours were complaining about the noise. So the entire festival moved into a restaurant called Capones. Corrie said that it was much warmer and drier, but that the drinks were way more expensive. So it looks like we left just in time.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

My mood swings are becoming legendary

Tues Oct 30th
KTV was super fun. Not everyone dressed up, but that’s ok. One of the guys bought a glowing light saber that made sound effects when you moved it. It’s my new favourite thing. I played with it for ages and I’m not the only one. The pics are really cool (Hallowe’en...). Since it was a Sunday night, I didn’t drink, but other’s did. And I had to pour Jason into his room at the end of the night. And he’s a big guy.
Yesterday was fine. School was practically empty. There’s some sort of virus going around. Tons of the kids are sick and Sam and Corrie both called in.
It was also a little weird not to have to prep after school. So I killed time at home before meeting Katy at 7 to go to the library. Of course, when we got there, the library was closed, which sucked a lot.
Today was too dreary to be a park day, but I do have dvd time scheduled for the afternoon. So instead of reading a story and watching a short video, I let my kids watch the first hour of Snow White. I forgot how freaky old Disney could be. One of my kids was terrified of the movie. Sam’s class joined us (none of them were scared) and Sandy yelled at him for always watching videos. For a different class, we played around with Red Riding Hood finger puppets. It was a good day for fairy tales. And one of my kids said "Wo ai ni", which means "I love you" when I left at the end of the day.
I have no idea what I’m going to do with my evening, since I don’t have to teach. I suppose I should eat something, but what?

Fri Nov 2nd
So, after all of the buildup, Hallowe’en itself was a bust. I went for Thai food at lunch with Katherine. I spent the afternoon at home on the internet. While I downloaded the new Bones episode, I watched the only Hallowe’en ep of Buffy that I possess. That was the only thing that was even remotely traditional. Kids here don’t trick or treat, so it was a super quiet night.
Work sucked yesterday. I felt like a harpy during the math lesson. We have to use this math program that’s designed for one on one or small group (i.e. 3 kids max) tutoring. And I teach a class of 15, where I can’t let the kids make mistakes in their books, because the books go home to the parents. Any mistakes mean I’m not teaching properly. (I’m rolling my eyes, right now). I think I will sum up the rest of the day with a little game of Fortunately/ Unfortunately:
Fortunately, I didn’t have to teach the last hour because of a meeting to discuss the new topic.
Unfortunately, the meetings are an exercise in futility and make my head hurt.
Fortunately, our next field trip is to the zoo and my class gets to go.
Unfortunately, my class has to stay in the petting zoo all day.
Fortunately, school (like everything else in life) did eventually end.
The evening was much better. Katy and I went into Taipei for dinner. Then we walked from the restaurant to the bookstore and I bought 2 new books (which together cost about $6). I’ve finished one already and wasn’t impressed. I thought it would be a cute love story, but it turned out to actually be a Romance (complete with capital R). The other one promises to be better. But I think it’s going to be freaky, so I don’t want to read it right before bed. I read a couple of pages in the bookstore and there have already been 2 ghost sightings.
Today work was better. I finished my evals (of the kids who were there) and we had birthday party. My kids are always the cutest. Everyone commented on how adorable they are. They also mauled me, which makes me remember why I love my job. It’s sad, though. Most of my kids have been off sick for at least a day or two over the last week. They’re just passing the same virus around among them. Luckily I haven’t caught it yet *knock on wood*.
After work, all 5 preschool teachers went for tea at the 24 hour place. It was really interesting. Adrienne told us about some of the Maori customs that she grew up with.
After tea Katy and I went for a walk around CKS. We ended up grabbing fries and dessert near Taipei 101 and then came home, where I watched the most recent ep of Heroes. It’s still so good. I love the way they’re introducing the new characters and reintroducing old ones!!! Otherwise, it’s been a pretty uneventful evening.

Sat Nov 3rd
Spoke to the mothership today. Things at home are pretty much the same old, same old. I forgot to ask about Aunt Susie’s cruise. I think she’s still gone, but she may be home by now. I don’t know.
Some weird things were going on with the bathroom light today. In the middle of my shower the room went dark. At first I thought my roommates were messing with me (the switch is on the outside) but none of them were home. When I accidentally tapped the ceiling (it’s really low) the light came back on. But it didn’t stay on. It went off and on a few more times, until I just finished my shower by the light coming in through the vent in the door. What is it with me and electricity related issues?
I spent the afternoon downloading and watching Zodiac and reading Ariel. The movie was really good, but not quite what I expected. I also went grocery shopping. Then this evening, Jason and I just hung out around the apartment. We went to the media store and I bought a movie called Voo Doo with Corey Feldman in it. It was SO boring. Even the Corey entertainment factor didn’t make it worth watching. When it was over I secluded myself in my room to finish my book. It was amazing. Just the right mix of creepyness and character development. Lawrence Block sure can write.

Tues Nov 6th
Yesterday at work sucked beyond sucking. I felt like crap and had very little sleep. And most of my kids seemed to feel the same way. But today I was much more me. Perkiness levels were back just slightly below normal range. But for some reason, by the time I got home, I was exhausted. Like head pounding, barely keeping my eyes open exhausted. I think I’m either getting sick, or with the overcast weather, my allergies are picking up. I’ve taken a Benadryl, so I guess we’ll see.
And sadly enough, I’m about to do my dishes and go to bed... at 8:48pm. Man, I suck.

Wed Nov 7th
Baseball World Cup!!! The three words which have put my perkiness levels at 110%. I’m so glad that I slept well (and long) last night. I had tons of energy to go watch Canada’s first game in the World Cup. We lost to Korea, but I don’t even care. I haven’t seen baseball, or so many Western boys in one place in SO long. It was a veritable feast for the eyes (like watching the Blue Jays). And on the way home, the team bus passed us while we were waiting for our bus.
Also, K really enjoyed the game, so we’re going again. I’m going to see as many games as I can. Saturday they’re playing Germany and Sunday it’s the Netherlands. I have to miss the Cuba game on Friday thanks to the stupid Parent’s Night.
The rest of my day was pretty routine. School, Thai for lunch, home to read. The kids were pretty good. And I’m just rereading one of the books that I brought with me, which I still enjoy.
Now I’m just finishing up my speech for parent’s night, because my poor CT is so nervous about translating. I’m trying to get it to her early, so she has time. This stupid event is ruining my life! (How’s that for overly dramatic?)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

New Photos!!!

So I have finally gotten around to updating my photos. Sorry for the wait. There are 2 new albums and a couple new shots in Random Things. The albums are "Ceramics Fun" which contains my pics from Yingge, and "Hallowe'en at work and play", which is pretty self explanitory. Hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment, I miss hearing from you guys.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Build up to Hallowe'en

Sun. Oct 21
This weekend has been really good. Fun and productive. Friday was another day at school. It’s all getting to be pretty routine, now. After school I spent 3 hours in the office trying to write my evals for my adult class. I didn’t quite finish, but I’m close. Then Katy and I went into Taipei for dinner at a Thai restaurant. Then we wandered the bookstore, where I bought nothing, before coming home.
Yesterday I got my regular call from home before meeting K in Taipei for lunch. After lunch we took a long walk across the city to get to a street with lots of seasonal stores. I was looking for my hallowe’en costume. On our walk, we stopped at this place that has amazing ice cream. I had a waffle with mocha-chocolate ice cream on top. I was also successful in my search for costume pieces.
We wandered around a bit more before meeting Corrie and some of her friends for dinner. We ate at a little Italian place. The food was good, and cheap, but the service was ridiculously bad. It took us 3 hours. After dinner we went to a bar called Oldies Goodies. That was super fun. The house band played a lot of old American music. And during Proud Mary, the singer put the mic in front of me, so the whole bar heard me sing a little. We met some other foreigners and had a really good time. Around 2 the rest of the girls went to meet their boyfriends, and I came home.
We were supposed to go para-gliding today, but I don’t know what happened. I had a productive day anyway. I finished my book and did all of my laundry. The last of it is drying on the line as I type. That’s all I did, but it was a beautiful day.

Tues Oct. 23
Today was fantastic, which was nice because yesterday was not. Yesterday, my allergies were so bad that my head was swoopy and my throat was sore all day. But thanks to Benadryl I woke up today in a perky mood and my day was great.
At school, I didn’t quite get everything prepped before class, so I was finishing at play time. I was colouring in something that I wanted to use for a display and found myself surrounded by about 5 or 6 different girls, from 3 different classes. And they all sat very nicely, and never said a word except to name the colour of my new marker when I switched. It was eerie, because they just sat there for about 15 minutes straight. None of them are that well behaved in class and I was just colouring.
Today was another park day. I love seeing the kids get a chance to really be kids. The little princess in my class loves Sam. She was trying to run with him and his kids, but she was wearing heels (literally, 1.5 inch heels, with no straps around the ankles - cute as hell, but on a 3 year old to go to school?) and couldn’t keep up.
After school, Emily took me to the library and I got my Library card. I found myself watched there, too. While I sat at the desk, filling out the paper work, this little girl stood right at my elbow and watched the whole time. Every once in a while she asked Emily questions in Chinese, including if I spoke Chinese. She was really cute. At one point a boy stood beside her, but he got shy and left when I said hi.
The trip to the library was my first ride on a scooter. There’s a spare helmet in my apartment, which I used and Emily’s a good driver. It was a little scary. But I just kept telling myself to relax, because I know that being overly tense is just as likely to cause an accident as anything else. And I did relax and I didn’t die. The library has a great kids section. In both Chinese and English. I got out a book of old nursery rhymes and a giant copy of Chicken Licken (which is exactly the same story as chicken little) with pictures that my kids will love. There’s also an entire floor of English books, which I didn’t have time to check out, because I had to get back to school to teach.
And I taught my second last adult class tonight. Only 7 of 12 students showed up. And they’re all the ones who are already strong. They’re the fun ones, though, so it wasn’t too bad. Plus they’re planning a party for our last class and remembered that I only eat chicken. So I think we’re going to end up with some sort of chicken pizza, which could be delicious.

Fri Oct. 26th
I teach the cutest kids in the world. Our Hallowe’en party was today and the kids were all dressed up. I had 8 different princesses, 2 dinosaurs, a panda, a pumpkin and half of a ladybug (he wouldn’t wear the wings). The rest of the kids were cute too, and I have pics of them all. Interestingly enough, I didn’t get any pics of the teachers’ costumes, including my own. But the kids were astounded by my black lipstick.
The party was super-fun, if a little stressful. 10 minutes is not enough time to do an activity with small children. By the time you’ve explained what they’re supposed to do, they have to leave. But everything went fine, and the kids were great. It was a decided step up from yesterday and wasn't nearly as weird as Wed.
On Wed I bought and read a new book. It was one of my cute, funny romances and it was really good. But while K and I were in the bookstore, the weirdest thing happened. Some kids came up and asked to take a pic of me, which is actually not as unusual as it seems (I’m white and blond, which is rare here). So I say yes, they take their pic and I go back to browsing. Next thing I know, another kid comes up to me in the same uniform and asks for a pic. So I say yes, same deal. Next thing I know, K and I are surrounded by about 20 kids, all in the same uniform, staring at us and whispering. I was really uncomfortable. Finally someone else got up the nerve to ask me for a pic and I was like "fine" but I grabbed K and made her be in too. That time I counted 6 cameras. When that one was finished I took off for the shelves of books where I could hide. I have a whole new sympathy for celebrities.
After the bookstore, I met Jackie and took her to Hallowe’en Street to help her find a costume and get the finishing touches for my own. I decided to go vamp, so I bought teeth. But when I got home and put them in, they looked awful and I realized that I couldn’t talk at all. So I went without teeth today. Jackie’s costume is really cute, though. She’s gonna be a hula girl.
The full moon yesterday wreaked havoc on my mood and my allergies were killing me. I was a harpy. And the kids were all crazy (I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t just my class). I literally spent the last half hour of the day walking my kids from the classroom to the bathroom and back to the lineup in silence, because they had disturbed Sam’s class in the library the first time, in spite of me telling them repeatedly to be quiet.
My adult class went very well, though. Probably because it was the last one. So I did 2 activities with them and then we played a game. We had to go downstairs for the official Kojen "Thanks for giving us your money, please come back for another session" spiel, which lasted about half an hour. Then the last hour was a party in our classroom. The class had ordered pizza and chicken, which was really good. And they taught me a card game called Big or 2, which is very similar to "Donkey". They were amazed when I picked it up quickly.
After work today I went for drinks with Sam and Corrie. We played rummy 500 (which Corrie thought was called Gin Rummy until I set her straight). I ended up losing by 15 points, but the game wasn’t actually over, Corrie just had to leave. Sam and I stayed for another drink, which pushed the limit of my tolerance, so we left after that.
I was already completely sober by the time I met Diana, Jackie and Ty at the 24 hour place. We just grabbed a bite to eat when they finished work at 10. Robert met us there and hung out for a bit. I was actually there twice today. The girls from work and I have been going there on our lunch breaks. We’ll each order a pot of tea (and if school lunch was meat, I grab food too) and then sit and read our own books, with occasional chit chat. It’s so great to spend time with people who don’t expect me to be "social" and actually prefer to read, as I do.

Sun Oct 28th
Yesterday I went shopping. I got a new zippered hoody and a long sleeved shirt. I was hoping to get shoes, but the one pair that I liked didn’t come in a size big enough. So I comforted myself when I got home by buying an e-book that I’ve been waiting for. It’s the third in a series and it was SO good!! I finished it last night, even though Katy and Di and I went into Taipei for dinner.
We ate at this place called Rice Café. It was pretty good. And I had the best tea. It had some spice in it, I think maybe cloves, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I’d go back to the restaurant just for the tea. Then we walked for a bit and came home.
Today we’re going to KTV dressed up for Hallowe’en. It should be super fun. I mean, I love dressing up and karaoke. I figure there’s no bad here. First I think I’m going for lunch and grocery shopping with Katy.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Voted this week's "Most Boring Person Ever"

Sat Oct 13th
Haven’t done much today. Talked to Mom and Dad on the phone. Watched the end of Kingdom Hospital. Tried to find a place in the neighbourhood where I could run. I did find a stadium, but it was in use. So I ended up taking an hour and a half long walk. Not quite as good as a run, but still something. When I got home I watched Tristan and Isolde (so sad, but James Franco is so yummy). Hoping we’ll go into Taipei for dinner. Everyone else should be done work soon.

Sun Oct 14th
Went into Taipei with K for dinner last night at a Singapore restaurant and then we had ice cream sundays at Swenson’s. We also hit the bookstore, where I may have made a purchase. It’s so pretty, I couldn’t resist.
Today I have been absolutely lazy. I barely left my room all day. It’s really funny though, last week I was going crazy being cooped up, but this week I chose it. And I’ve actually been inside longer today. It’s totally because I knew I could leave if I wanted to but last week I was trapped, thanks to the typhoon.

Tues Oct 16th
Hmm.... Today was pretty full. The kids were good and we went to the park. I had a full class today, so it was a handful. But it’s so much fun just to get out of the school for a bit. Watched the new Grey’s at lunch. It’s sad that tv is big news to me, but this episode was really good. I also started my new book. It's hurting my head, but in a good way. So far I really like it.
All but 3 of my students were late for my adult class, so I ran out of time and had to cut a lot of activities. And a couple students were driving me crazy. It’s so weird. My kids weren’t that great today, but I didn’t lose my temper with them at all. I had unlimited patience. But in my adult class, 2 students were whispering while they were supposed to be working on something and it drove me nuts. The girl kept giggling and I finally snapped at them. It’s the first time I’ve done that with that class, and I think they were surprised. But they did finally get to work.
After work, we all went to 0204 for a drink, because one of Di’s friends from England is visiting. It was a nice little drink and chat situation, but I left early because I teach tomorrow. So now I’m just watching The War at Home before bed.

Wed. Oct 17th
Half day, thank god. Went into Junghua with Katy. We went to a store that was very much like home depot. It was awesome. We also looked at every hallowe’en display possible. I think I’m probably just going to end up being a witch or something.
When we got back, I had a nap. I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, thanks to my allergies. So what I had intended as a short little nap actually lasted 2 hours. I missed doing things with everyone else, because by the time I woke up, they were gone.
I did get my room cleaned, and ran some errands that needed doing. All in all it was a productive day, if not completely entertaining. I am currently in the process of downloading episode 4 of heroes, which will be followed by the watching of said episode and then going to bed. What an exciting life I lead.
I think there was just another earthquake. I’m sitting here typing and suddenly I’m wobbling. And so is the fan and everything else in the room. But gently. Like when you’re on a waterbed and someone sits down. The music from 0204 didn’t even pause.

Thurs Oct 18th
School today went really well on all fronts. My kids were lovin’ me up. I was getting hugs all over the place. And they’re so cute. In my adult class, one of the girls told me that she loved me and then taught me how to say "I love you" in Chinese. There were only 8 students in my adult class which makes it so much easier to teach.
I got a lot more of my new book read. It’s.... making my head "hurt so good". I still have no idea what’s going on and I’m about halfway through, now. But threads are starting to come together, so hopefully it’ll start to gain cohesion soon.
Sadly that’s all that’s going on in my life right now.

Friday, October 12, 2007

It's not Pottery Barn

Sat Oct 6th
Yesterday was fantastic, in spite of exhaustion and a massive sinus headache. At school we had birthday party. So all of the classes performed the songs that we had prepared. My kids were the cutest doing Skinamarink-y-dinky-dink. They even blew the kiss at the end. All the kids were great, though. My kids even behaved pretty well, but I was a harpy because I was so tired.
After school I had plans with Katy to play some pool and we convinced Sam to come along. We tried to get Corrie too, but she had to teach. So K and Sam and I played a few games. I lost every game I played. At one point I was down to just the 8 ball and Sam still had 4 balls on the table. I scratched 4 times (technically losing the game each time) but Sam wouldn't let me quit and finally he caught up and won. It was ridiculous.
Pool evolved into dinner at 0204. I tried Calamari and liked it. It helped that it was deep fried and served with sweet and sour sauce. I was surprised that it didn’t taste like an old tire. By this point in the evening we were all a little tipsy and Sam and Katherine were having some deep discussions. They both like to hear themselves talk (more so if they’ve been drinking) so it can be quite entertaining. Of course, after a while it can also be quite boring.
Sam had to go home to meet a friend for dinner, so we split up. K and I went to the grocery store to stock up for the typhoon. Then we went for a donutty snack and back to the school to meet the others as they finished teaching. Then, with Richard and Jason in tow, we went back to 0204 for another round of drinks. I was so exhausted by this point (memo: benadryl + alcohol = comatose Val) that I just had a Sprite. I played one game of pool (which I managed to win) and then came home to bed.
The typhoon hit this morning. It’s a big one. Not a whole lot of wind, but tons of rain. And enough wind to make the rain unpleasant. I have been in my room all day watching things on my computer. I saw the first episode and a half of Heroes (Season 2). If possible I might love it even more than season 1. But it’s early yet. Plus I watched the newest episodes of Grey’s and Bones. I also just finished re-watching Empire Records for the millionth time. I do love that movie.
If the weather settles down, I might go into Taipei tonight. Probably not to a club, but we’re running out of things to do in Banqiao. I’m super bored right now. I’ve only seen one other person all day. That was Di and she was venturing out into the storm to go to Costco. I’m kinda wishing now that I’d gone with her, in spite of the weather.
I’ve been trying to read "The Dubliners" by James Joyce. It’s really stupid and boring. None of the stories have any point. And just when you think one might get good, it ends. I really don’t understand why everyone thinks this guy is so great.

Sun Oct 7th
So I did eventually get out last night. We went for dinner in taipei and then met up with Corrie and some of her friends for drinks. The first bar we went to was called Saints and Sinners and it was really fun. We played darts and pool and foosball. Di and I had a really good time. We’re the only ones that stayed that long. Pretty much everyone else went home after dinner.
Today was pretty productive. I did laundry. Then we went to see 3:10 to Yuma. Mmmm Christian Bale. And Ben Foster. Also, Wash from Firefly was in it. And AJ from Empire Records. And Russell Crowe was really good. It was actually a good movie, too. And there was minimal Indian killing. After the movie I picked up some groceries and then took my last load of laundry to the laundromat to dry. At the laundromat I finished most of my evaluations for this last unit at school. My biggest problem with them is how to say "Your kid is dumb as a post. Stop wasting my time and your money," in a nice way.
Now I’m just unwinding before bed. We have a holiday on Wed. Apparently there’s something special about 10:10 so we get Wed. off. It’s pretty sweet. We get a whole day off and only lose 2 hours of pay cuz Wed is the half day.

Thurs Oct 11th
Hmm... Been a while since I wrote. Well, Monday was fine. I finished all my evals for preschool. Nothing spectacular or horrible happened at school. We’ve started a new unit on the Zoo. So I get to teach my kids about all the animals. Although mostly they’re just learning the
names and "big" or "small". After work I prepped my adult class lessons for this week and he went home.
My adult class was fine on Tues and tonight. Again, nothing of note to discuss. After class on Tues we went to the night market, which I find pretty boring. I mean there’s tons of stuff to look at, but if you don’t want to buy, and you don’t eat meat (or grease if I can help it) there’s not much to do there.
Anyway, I was bored and with Wed off I convinced Katy to come to 0204 with me for a couple of drinks. So we order and we’re chatting, and we’re onto our second drink when this Taiwanese guy comes up to us and asks if we like basketball. We said no and he went back to his table. Then he comes back and asks if he can buy us drinks, because he wants to practice his English. I’ve never had that happen before so I look at K (keeping in mind that I’d been lamenting my lack of a male for the last hour or so) and I’m like, what do we do? She shrugs, so I say "thanks, that’d be great." And he buys us each a drink. Then apparently, while I was in the washroom, he asked K if we wanted to accompany them to KTV, which we didn’t. So they left, and we played some pool. K beat me twice in a row. And then the bar closed, so we came home to bed.
Wed morning, I met Emily at the train station and we went into Yingge, a pottery town. They’re having a ceramics festival there right now. It was such a great day. I really like hanging out with Emily and we didn't talk about school at all. We went to a gallery and the ceramics museum (Ceramics Fun). We ate local food on the street, but we missed the cool old fashioned ice cream thingy. I even got to throw my own pottery. On the wheel and everything. It was so much fun! I also got a great head start on my Christmas shopping. And I bought a bracelet for myself. It was about $1.50 CAD and it’s really pretty. It’s made of this multi-coloured thread that’s supposed to bring good luck and protect you from the evil spirits. And it’s pretty.
Back at school today. The kids were really high spirited, which makes it hard to teach. They weren’t doing anything naughty, but they were all really boisterous and loud.. So Katy, Di, Corrie and I went for tea at lunch, because Diana was subbing for Sam. When we got to the 24 hour place we ran into Jason and joined him. He came back to school with us to observe, because he’s subbing Sam’s class tomorrow.

Fri Oct 12th
This afternoon I get to take my kids to the park for the first time. It should be fun, but I’m not sure about the bus ride there. For my kids or for me. I haven’t been sleeping well, so I’ve been dizzy spelling for no reason lately. I guess I’ll take a gravol and wakefulness be damned.
I survived the bus ride, thanks to the gravol. And my kids loved the park. It was so much fun to see them get the chance to run around and play. It did make me realize how absolutely out of shape I’ve gotten. There’s a set of bars and I couldn’t even get my feet up. Ugh! So, tomorrow I plan to do something physical. Maybe the beach, or the track for a run, or something.
After work I went to dinner with Corrie and Katy. We tried 3 places before we finally found one that was open. They do a thing here where the restaurants will be open from,say, 12-3 for lunch and then re-open at 6 for dinner. Which sucks when you’re looking for food at 4:30 and Corrie has to teach at 7. From dinner Katy and I went into Taipei and wandered Ximen before having some dessert.
I got home about the time everyone else finished teaching. Jason and Di started watching Heroes last night and continued tonight. So after a really horrible 80s movie (called Teen Witch) I watched episode 4 with them. I just never get sick of that show.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

PHOTOS!!!

Hey, all. I've posted new photos in the Random Fun album. There are a few from the Xindian trip and a few from Room 18. There's also one new one in the Random stuff album, so take a look.

Plus, I love hearing all of your comments, so keep 'em comin'.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Clubbing and the rest of it.

Mon Oct 1
Saturday night was awesome in spite of a horrible start. First, Michelle was late, as always. And then when we had just gotten into the club, Di decided that she wanted food, and everyone else agreed, so we left right away. I was pissed cuz they were playing "Hips Don’t Lie" and I love that song. So we went for food. I had an utterly disappointing strawberry crepe and everyone else had French Fries. There was a really good jazz saxophonist playing in the square, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could because I wanted to be in the club. But T did dance with me, in the square to the saxophone. That was fun.
Once we finally made it into the club I was dancing alone for a while, cuz Di and Katy went for drinks right away and Michelle had made T take a walk with her before they came down. Eventually everyone found me. (It wasn’t hard. Look for the blond girl right at the front.) Even Sam and Corrie popped up eventually. All in all the club was a ton of fun. And as much as I don’t like to listen to hip hop, I LOVE to dance to it. Almost everyone showed up, except Richard, who had to help someone study. But he sent a text and apologized.
After the club T, Michelle and I went for breakfast at NY bagel. I had yummy pancakes, which I made T finish because I was full. From breakfast we caught a cab home and I was in bed by a perfectly respectable 5:30am. I thought about calling home, but I was too tired.

Thurs Oct. 4
So, I had to leave for work in the middle of talking about my weekend. To continue, Sunday I just went to the beach. By myself. I caught the train (later than I had hoped to, thanks to my early morning bed time) and went to Fulong. I really needed some time to myself. And it was so much fun. The waves were amazing. They were literally breaking over my head I wish I had brought my camera, but if I had, I probably would’ve ruined it by dropping it in the ocean. When I got home, I watched a couple of eps of Heroes, then Jason came in and we traded stories about our days. He went to Fulong too, but at a different beach than me. He also went much earlier, since he had skipped the clubbing the night before.
Monday at school was interesting. A bunch of my kids were sick, so I was down to 10 from 15. It made my day so much easier. The rest of the day was completely uneventful. I was very refreshed from my day to myself. The only thing of note that happened was that the power on my computer went down again. That’s why I haven’t updated anything in ages.
Tuesday, I realized I missed Tracy’s birthday and I feel really bad about it. I meant to call, but the ideal time slipped away and with no computer, I couldn’t even send an e-mail. I’m SO sorry Trace!!!! I’ll make it up to you next year at our supreme birthdays bash. Tuesday night was also my first of 3 in a row adult classes. It was fine. I made my entire class sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star because no one did their homework. That was pretty fun.
Yesterday was day 2 in my adult class (the level is I2) marathon. It’s becoming pretty routine. But before that, I had a half day at preschool. Almost all of my kids were back, but they were still draggy from being sick, so they were easy to deal with. I’ve started teaching them "Skinnamarink-a-dinky-dink" and they love it. It’s so cute to see them doing the actions. After school, I went for lunch with Katy, Corrie, and Sam. Then Sam headed home and us girls headed into Taipei for a walk around the Chang Kai Shek (CKS) memorial. From there we moved into a café where we had cake and drinks and gossiped about work and the people there. It was a truly girly afternoon.
I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday. I was so relieved to be through my I2 class and only have preschool between me and my weekend. Then I realized that it was only Thursday. That’s how I started my day and it got worse from there. I’m so draggy and tired. I finished Heroes and my book last night, which really left with we no reason to get out of bed. And it was raining. I got to school and I think the kids caught my mood because they were terrible. I actually had to send 2 out of the classroom for misbehaving. And I still had my I2 class to look forward to.
Between classes I went for dinner with Katy at a vegetarian restaurant. I actually ate a 4 course meal. Salad, soup, entree and dessert (which was a plate of fruit, so not really dessert, but that’s what they called it). It was really good. I’m learning that I quite enjoy curry. And I’m building up a tolerance for spicy things. Yay me!
Once again, my I2 class was nothing to write home about (although I guess I just did). And now I’m at home, listening to Avril and The Weekend, unwinding. I've discovered that one of the books I've been waiting for is available to download right now and another is in stores very soon. My weekend is less than 17 hours away and I can’t wait. And tomorrow afternoon is the Oct Birthday Party at school, which means I don’t need to plan afternoon lessons. So, thanks to a little foresight I have all of my lessons planned and I just need to do last minute prep in the morning. Things are definitely looking up.

Friday, September 28, 2007

My Birthday, the national holiday

Thurs Sept 20th
I ate so much free food today, it was ridiculous. Lunch at school was my favourite. And then after school was the Kojen Moon Festival party in the office. There was all sorts of foods laid out. I tried mooncake for the first time, as well as pomelo (which tastes like a cross between grapefruit and guava) and dragonfruit (which doesn’t have much taste at all). There was also some weird fish chip thing that was nasty. Then in my adult class, some of the girls brought in candy from Japan to share with everyone. I’ve now eaten a strawberry cream and an orange chocolate from Tokyo Disneyland.
The kids were horrible today, but I soothed my nerves with ice cream at lunch and they were better in the afternoon. I went with Sam. It turns out that both he and Corrie will be around this weekend. So maybe I'll have someone to hang out with while everyone else is working.

Fri Sept 21
I am a giant loser. It’s 6pm on a Friday night and I am sitting alone in my room, writing in my journal, listening to children’s music and waiting for an episode of the X-Files to download. I don’t think I could be more pathetic if I tried.
The kids were awful today. Like, seriously. And the older kids got to go to the astronomy museum, while my class was stuck in school. We did manage to play dodge ball though. How is it that they can get that, but they can’t figure out tag? I just don’t know what to expect from these kids at all. The activities I expect them to get really easily end up being like rocket science. And the ones that I expect to be very difficult are like nothin’.
I exchanged numbers with Corrie and got Sam’s number. If we go to the beach on Sunday they’re both in. My beach plans are being diverted by Robert’s cousin, though. They want to go to a park where there are all of these rock formations. I saw some pictures and it looks interesting, but it’s an hour away and they want to spend the day there. There’s nothing to do but look at rocks. I’d much rather be learning how to surf.

Tues Sept 25th
Happy Birthday ME!!!!!! It’s been a super fantastic weekend. And I’ve got the rest of today for fantasticness. After all it is my 25th on the 25th. Isn’t that supposed to be special? Here’s the breakdown of the weekend thus far.
Sat was like any other day. Listened to the game while I talked to mom. And for another 2 hours after I got off the phone. 14 innings, seriously. When they had a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Anyway, I spent my afternoon doing laundry and tidying then I met the others at the school and we went for dinner at the Thai restaurant nearby.
After dinner we went to a bar called Bravo for what was supposed to be a James Brown party. It was really just a bunch of foreigners watching rugby while a James Brown CD played in the background. We still had fun, though. There were board games, as well as darts and foosball. T and I were partners and we won at the board game and got our @$$es kicked at foosball.
Sunday the group split up. A bunch of them went to see the rock formations. I really didn’t want to go, so I stayed home and slept in. Then I found out that Di hadn’t been feeling well, so she’d stayed home too. In the afternoon, she and I went to the Lin Family Gardens and Mansion (Lin Family Gardens) because it’s close to where we live. It’s really just a big complex of buildings. It’s not one big building like you’d expect from a mansion at home. The grounds have all of this fabulous detail work. Most of it in stone. There are very few straight paths, too. Everything meanders and curves. Even the bridges zig zag. I think it has to do with feng shui and the flow of chi. We got a little bit lost on our way there and the way home, so we had a nice little wander (Random Things). We found a bunch of shops and stalls, selling some really great things. I picked up 3 shirts that all together cost about 400NT (or $13).
For dinner we went into Taipei and met the others to go to an Indian restaurant. It was ok. There was an all you can eat buffet and I liked some stuff. Some of it was really spicy though. Like too spicy for Di who grew up on Indian food. After dinner, we meandered back to the MRT and most of us came straight home.
Yesterday started like any other day. I had the day off from preschool, but the others in the kids department had to work. I actually agreed to sub someone’s classes for them, so that they could go away, so I had to teach last night too. Both of the classes were fine but Bushiban is really different than the kindergarten that I’m used to.
While I was at school, my care packages from home arrived there. I brought them straight home and opened them right away. I love COOKIES!!! Also, it was nice to see some miniwheats. But the best things were the presents. My mommy made me piggies. Also, she sent me Heroes, season 1. I’m so excited. And the pictures that came from London made me cry and miss everyone like crazy. I’ve been looking at them all day. One of my roommates thought Mike was my brother. So I said not really, and pointed out the pic of Jamie that I have on my wall.
After birthday presents, we went to the night market. We just wandered, but I’d never been there before, so it was cool. There was one stall with bunnies and hamsters and mice. They were so cute. There were Betas there too and I almost bought one, but I restrained myself. From the night market we went to Jackie and Ty’s for a bit, but I was going stir crazy, so I dragged everyone else to 0204. We arrived in time to have tequila shots at midnight to start my birthday in style. That bar makes a killer tequila sunrise. I’ll admit, I got a little tipsy. I even managed to help my team win a game of pool by sinking the 8 ball. (It was the first of our balls that I sunk all game.) I feel my inebriation is excusable, given that I have to teach tomorrow and can’t drink tonight on my actual birthday. After last call, I was still buzzing with energy, so I made Jason wander the area with me. Nothing was open except the 24 hour place and neither one of us wanted to spend more money, so we just came home.
Today’s been pretty mellow. Everyone’s been really sweet and saying Happy Birthday. Di even bought me a present. It’s a necklace that I had seen and loved while we were wandering around on Sunday. It’s a jade heart on a black cord that sits right in the hollow of my neck.
As for today’s plans, I want to go to the zoo, but Robert wants to go down to Xindian. Apparently it’s beautiful, with a river and mountains. But there’s not anything to do there. It’s just a nice walk. And I’ve been feeling way too unfocused for a walk. I need something to DO. Hence my desire to see the zoo (well, that and the animals).
There’s also apparently a really cool moon festival thing happening by the river this evening, which I’d like to check out. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Fri Sept 28th
So on Tues we ended up at Xindian. Woo hoo. (In case you couldn’t tell, that was sarcastic.) There is very little to do there. I was not impressed. We walked across a suspension bridge that was long enough to make me feel sick. Then most of the group paddle-boated up the river, which I didn’t want to do. T didn’t want to boat either, so the two of us wandered around on the shore. When they finished with the boats, we rejoined the group and went for "dinner". That part was ok, and then we had fireworks. They were on sale for Moon Festival. All in all, the day would’ve been fine if it were any other day, but for a birthday it was a little disappointing. I’ve also decided that a birthday without a tiara is scarcely a birthday at all.
Wed was back to the same old, same old. Class was fine. Lunch with Katy and Sam was nice. Then K and I went into Taipei for hot chocolate at Amadeus. We tried to convince Sam to come with us, but he bailed. We also stopped by the bookstore, where all English books were at least 30% off. I bought 3. I’ve read 1 and a half and so far, well worth every penny. Then I taught my adult class. It was ok, but I was really tired by the time it ended.
Yesterday was SO long. I taught a full day of preschool and then my adult class. Nothing of note happened in either, but I think my adult students don’t respect me. It may have something to do with the fact that I’m like Skipper, Barbie’s little sister. Or it may just be that I suck at teaching adults. I spent so much of my time prepping various lessons yesterday that I barely got a second to myself.
Today wasn’t much better, even if it was "teacher’s day". I did get a really sweet card from one of my kids. Homemade and everything. The kids were in high spirits today. And my energy came and went, but I got through it. Went shopping after work to pick up some odds and ends (or bits and bobs, as Di would say) that I need for around the house. I also got Lucas’ birthday present. Of course I did forget to buy bread, which was my main reason for going. But I’m not missing it as much now that I can have cereal for breakfast.
And an update on the birthday present love, I sleep with the piggies, one on each side of my pillow. I have the pictures prominently displayed on my table. And since Tuesday, I have watched 12 episodes of Heroes. That’s even with all the time I’ve been spending prepping and teaching. So you all did very well, and I appreciate it SO MUCH!!!!
I’m off to bed. Another long day ahead of me. School from 9-4 and then my birthday party at night. It’s my first trip to a Taiwanese club. I’m really excited!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

New Photos

I've added photos to "Random Fun - Summer 2007". They cover the Kojen Summer Party, bowling, and KTV. I've also added an entire new album called "Beitou Cape," which is a sightseeing place.

I'm sick, but I've got good Karma

Sat Sept. 16th
Wow. I haven’t written in ages. Hm... where to start? I guess with a quick rundown of the week since last I wrote.
On Wed. Katherine and I went into Taipei. We had lunch at NY Bagel, where I had hoped to see the Jays game (they’re playing the Yankees) but ESPN was showing WNBA instead. From NY Bagel we went to the bookstore in Taipei 101 (a big building and mall). Right across from the bookstore we discovered the sweetest little bakery/café, called Amadeus. So we had dessert and then spent 2 hours in the bookstore. Neither of us bought anything; it was a little weird. Back in Banchiao we went to the grocery store and had dinner and then came home.
Thursday I went into work early to prep my adult class. At lunch Sam helped me with my Chinese and in the evening I taught my adult class. I also received the most ironic e-mail I have ever seen in my life. The worst student in my adult class asked me to make things more difficult because she is finding it too easy. She did this in an e-mail that only barely made sense. Her word choice was ridiculous. The grammar was atrocious and the syntax was all wrong. After class I came home to bed.
Yesterday I was exhausted. But I got through the day with my kids. We played duck duck goose and patty-cake for a total of 40 minutes in the afternoon, but it was Friday, what do they expect from me? After work K and I went into Taipei and had hot chocolate at Amadeus before seeing a movie. The hot chocolate was literally a glass of hot milk, served on a silver platter with a stick of pure chocolate (which you mix in yourself before the milk cools). I got mine with a shot of mint liqueur and K had hers with orange. The movie we went to see was Rogue Assassin (which was spelled Rouge Assassin at the box office). Jet Li and Jason Statham. So Good!!
Today I met Katherine at 8am for a nature walk. We went to Fulong, but stopped for a bit in Beitou Cape. It was enjoyable. The scenery was literally breathtaking(Beitou Cape). There were amazing waves all along the rocky coast. We even got to see a traditional parade in Beitou Cape. It was to honour the spirits, because it’s still ghost month. There was really loud music and firecrackers to scare away the ghosts and sexy girls dancing in the back of a wagon to entertain them. And, yes, I do have pictures and video of some of the cooler waves (Beitou Cape). But I can’t figure out how to post the videos, so it may be a while before they can be seen.
After the hike I had time for a quick shower and clothing change before going to meet everyone for Callum’s going away party. I walked over with my new roomie, Jason, and T’s girlfriend, Patrice.
The going away party consisted of dinner at Casa Della Pasta and KTV (Random Fun - Summer 2007). I could not have planned a better night. It was a little expensive, but private karaoke dance party? How could I resist? There were about 20 people for the dinner, but only 9 of us there for KTV. It was SUPER fun!! Because it caters mainly to Asian people there were some English standards missing (like Bohemian Rhapsody) but there was plenty there to fill up 3 hours. And there’s no stage, so everyone just passes the mic around while you sit on these lush couches. I have some hilarious video of Total Eclipse of the Heart.
The plan for tomorrow is sleep in (maybe until 8:30 *gasp with excitement) and then call Mom and Dad, who don’t check their e-mail often enough. Then I have to study my Chinese and find a present for Yvonne, because tomorrow night will probably be our last lesson. I should probably also start looking for a new Chinese tutor.

Mon Sept 17th
Being sick sucks. Especially when you’re a teacher and have no voice. Even tea’s not helping. Hopefully I’ll feel a little better tomorrow, cuz I have my adult class. 3 hours of talking is going to suck if my voice hasn’t come back. 5 hours of talking to kids with a co-teacher helping was bad enough.
I will say, though, that my kids were pretty good. They were much quieter than usual, because they knew I couldn’t talk. And one keeps asking me to go to his house to play Wii with him. It’s so cute. I’ll ask the class a question and he’ll put up his hand to answer. When I choose him, he babbles away in Chinese about me going to his house. My CT thinks it’s so funny, she can’t even translate it without laughing. Other than that it’s the same old, same old.
I must have done something seriously good in a past life. I lose my voice and a typhoon hits, just in time to cancel my longest day of classes. I just got phone calls from both of my bosses cancelling all of my classes for tomorrow. Now I have an entire extra day to sleep and recuperate. Of course, I’ll have to make up the classes eventually... Normally it would be on a Saturday, but this coming weekend is Moon Festival, so I don’t know what they’ll do.

Tues Sept 18th
Today was fantastic in it’s non-eventfulness. With the exception of a brief excursion to the 24 hour restaurant for lunch with Jason, I have not left the apartment all day. This is mostly due to the fact that it has been raining steadily since last night. And the wind is crazy strong. It’s actually blowing in through my air conditioner (which isn’t on) and cooling my room down.
So for today I’ve watched Chocolat. Then I watched The Covenant with Jason after watching him play the X-box for a while. In the evening, there was talk of getting a group together to hang out, so I suggested pool. But everyone else wanted to go see some Pierce Brosnan movie and I wasn’t into it. I’ve had my fill of iffy movies between Death Sentence and No Reservations. So I stayed home and reread Bachelorette Party. A much more enjoyable (and inexpensive) way to pass the time.
I am also feeling much better. It’s amazing what 10 hours of sleep will do for you when you’re sick. I also managed to go until 1pm without speaking a word, which helped my throat. It’s almost 100% better, although it’s still a little sore if I talk too much at once. I’m going to call it an early night again, in the hopes that good sleep will continue to increase my good health.

Wed. Sept 19th
Today, school was magnificent. The kids were fantastic. Everyone was in a great mood (in particular, I was very well rested). And even Sam was in high spirits. At lunch I went to the bank and got my bank account. I‘ve also finally sent home the letter for Jamie. I sent it by airmail, so it should be there within a couple of weeks. Otherwise, I’ve watched a couple of Buffy eps, done some laundry and walked to the grocery store. What a life of mystery and wonder I lead.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

An Earthquake and the "Summer" Party

Sat Sept 8th
I have finally managed to catch up on some sleep. I feel much better than I have for the last couple of days. This adult class is taking up more of my energy than I expected. I think it’s losing what would normally be relaxing time that’s messing up my system. It also didn’t help that Thursday night (technically early Friday morning) there was an earthquake. It’s so weird to be sleeping and then suddenly be moving. It wasn’t that big, though. One of my roommates even managed to sleep through it.
Because I was so tired yesterday, I didn’t have any patience for my kids in the morning. I was ready to throttle them all. Even my normally good ones were acting up. Or maybe they weren’t and I was just too tired to deal with their regular behavior. Anyway, I had a nice relaxing lunch and watched some violent video games (our new roommate has an x-box) and I felt much better for the afternoon. Which was fine because it was birthday party. So I didn’t have to do any actual teaching. And the kids were much better behaved.
Because I was so obviously having a crummy day, Katherine suggested we go for drinks after work. I was game and Sam and Corrie came too. It was really nice and a little weird. I’ve hung out with both Sam and K outside of work, but I’ve never seen them hang out together. They got along fine, it was just weird to see.
I was feeling much better about my life after a couple of screwdrivers, which Sam taught me how to say in Chinese. He also agreed to teach me the Chinese characters for some of the words that I’m learning in my lessons with Yvonne. After Corrie went back to school and Sam left for his roommate’s birthday party, K and I went to a movie.
The movie we went to see was Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon. It was disappointing. And, yet again, there were huge chunks that I couldn’t watch because they used a handy cam. Stupid chase scenes with the camera shaking all over the place. There were a couple of bright spots, though. The kid who plays his youngest son was amazing. And there were some really touching family moments that (yes I am this much of a girl) made me cry.
Today has been pretty much listen to the ball game, chat with mom, nap, tidy the room, rearrange some things and watch an ep of Roswell. Hopefully it will also include a trip to the laundromat so that I can have clean clothes without having to walk through them for days.

Sun Sept 9th
Today was jam packed with people and events. There was the Kojen summer party (postponed from the actual summer because of the typhoon), then we went bowling and to the Shilin night market. We were supposed to go to a baseball game this evening, but bowling took so long we missed it.
The summer party was actually pretty fun. Almost all of preschool was there.
Jackie came with K and I, but Di, Thaddaeus and Patrice all showed up late. I also got to meet some of the teachers from other schools and stuff. The MC was awful. And there were so many people, that everyone talked through the speeches so they weren’t as boring as expected. The performances were good. And the dancing at the end was so fun. I even got the non-dancers dancing. To the point where Katy even agreed to go to a club with me. We were talking later, though and cover for clubs is super expensive, so we probably won’t go. Maybe I’ll get them to go for my birthday.
After summer party we went bowling. K decided to go home but Ty and Robert met us at the alley. Brian, one of the other guys from the Kojen party came with us too. It was 10 pin and my wrist lasted for 1 game. For the other 2 I had to bowl left handed. By the end I was actually getting decent though. I bowled a 90 in the last game. Jackie is super good. And Di hadn’t bowled in a million years, which was evidenced when she dropped a ball on Jackie’s foot. Nothing’s broken and it didn’t even swell that much, but Di felt really guilty. But between Jackie and myself we taught her to bowl well enough to get 77 in the last game.
Since we missed the ball game, we went into Shilin night market for some food. It was really neat. It’s like a carnival. There are booths for anything you could possibly want and some things I don’t believe anyone would ever want. There are also entire sections of carnival games, too. I got some amazing strawberries at one of the fruit vendors and a small gift for Jamie, which I haggled for. I got her to drop the price from 290NT to 250NT. I know it’s not much, but I figure it’s pretty good for my first time.
And now to bed. I have to start the new semester for my class tomorrow, so I actually have to plan lessons. I’m also hoping to go in early to plan my Tues. night adult class, so that I don’t have to worry about it on Tues.

Tues Sept 11th
So it was 9/11 today and it came and went without a word being said. It was actually a nice break from all of the hooplah that surrounds this day at home now. I didn’t even realize what day it was until I had to write it down.
My kids were angels yesterday and they were ok today. We’ve started working on their math program. And we had DVD time today. Bear in the Big Blue House is so cute. I actually like watching that one.
My adult class is getting better every time. I think it has something to do with how well prepared I feel going in. One of my students told me that she thinks the class is too easy, and maybe her comprehension is beyond what we’re doing, but her speaking sure isn’t. I’m not sure what to do, but I’m going to talk to some other teachers for suggestions. Also, the adult director is stressing me out. She’s very nervous and intense. And she’s always hovering. I can’t walk into the office without her asking me a million questions. All of which are intended to help, but if she would just leave me alone, I would have my prep done in half of the time.
The Jays are playing the Yankees right now, so maybe I’ll get to catch some of the games. *Crossing my fingers*

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Photos

I've finally got the link up for the Alishan album. Sorry it took so long. I will return with my regular post tomorrow. No other new pics yet, though.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Ali Shan, and a New Class

Sat & Sun Sept 1 & 2
This weekend was the trip to Ali Shan that teacher Emily planned. It was so much fun. I agreed to go a couple of weeks ago, and forgot about it until Friday when Emily reminded me at school. So Friday was laundry and packing day.
In addition to Emily and myself, there were Sam and Candy from school and some other of Emily’s friends. We met at Emily’s house at 4:15am Saturday. From there we cabbed to the bus station. The bus was amazing. The seats were better than lazy-boys. Each one reclined fully and had an attached tv set. We found out on the way home that there was also a game system built in. On the way there, though, we all just slept. It was a 3 hour trip to Chiayi, where we had breakfast at McD’s and caught another bus to the train station in another city.
Two hours on the train and one Gravol later, we arrived at Fen Chi Hu, which is a really cute little village. We wandered around the village for a while. Our guide was apparently telling the group things about the local produce and what life is like in the area. I understood nothing. We had lunch there and saw a bunch of shops and things. I successfully bought nothing, except for lunch, which I didn’t particularly like.
While we were in town, we stopped at a Nature Preserve type of place. There were pretty trees and a big wooden deck thingy. There was an amazing view. It looks really good in the group shots we took there.
From Fen Chi Hu, I had the scariest bus ride of my life. We went super fast on all of these really narrow mountain roads, with sheer drops to the sides. It didn’t help that there were 10 people in a 7 seat van. And we all know how comfortable I am when there are more people than seats. Anyway, I obviously didn’t die and I didn’t even get sick, although it was touch and go for a bit.
The minute we walked onto the compound, the owner took a liking to Sam. He kept calling him a handsome guy and offering him alcohol. It was this brutal 60% stuff called Kinmen. It tastes like rubbing alcohol and burning. After Sam had a glass, he and the guy, whose name, I think, was Yaba, made me have one. I asked for a little bit, got maybe ½ a shot and my head started spinning.
After getting me drunk, they showed us to our rooms. I got to sleep in a treehouse!! After we took our things to our rooms, we immediately had to change into "water playing clothes". I threw on my suit and a pair of shorts and I was good to go. We met the other tour groups and all went together. When Emily said we’d be playing in the water, I had no idea that she meant we were going upstreaming. Basically this means that you’re in a river, with rapids, and you walk upstream against the current. For Sam and I this wasn’t a problem. Water is easy for us. For 15 Taiwanese students, most of whom are afraid of water, this was a horrifying
experience. It took forever. The actual upstreaming was really fun and I love any excuse to be in the water. But there was a lot of waiting while the guides strung the rope across and the others took their turns. And like the song says, the waiting is the hardest part.
When we got back from the river, everyone cleaned up and we all went to dinner. We made this traditional rice ball mash stuff in a hollowed out log with bamboo paddles (Ali Shan) . There are 2 people and you take turns mashing the rice. But the paddles are heavy and the rice is sticky, so it’s really hard. Then when it’s sufficiently mashed you use chopsticks and roll a ball of rice around them. Then you dip your rice ball in chopped up peanuts and drizzle honey on it. It was actually really tasty. Then the rest of dinner was mostly bbq’d things. Including pig, which they raised on the property about 20 feet from my cabin.
After dinner there was 3 hours of traditional dancing, in the traditional costumes. It was pretty cool. It started raining right at the beginning, so we were doing this awesome circle dance in the rain. At one point the boys were given bows and arrows to dance with. Then the arrows were lit on fire and they shot them into the fire pit in the center (at least that was the idea. Only Sam’s arrow actually made it). So then we were dancing around a roaring fire, in the rain, in traditional aboriginal costumes. My only problem was that it went on forever. And I didn’t understand a word that was being said. My attention started to wander and I was actually relieved when it ended.
There were no more planned activities after the dancing, but we planned our own. Yaba kept offering Sam alcohol (and only Sam) but he didn’t want to drink alone, so we all stayed sober. We played modified pictionary/charades. When we ran out of clues for the game, we switched to Truth or Dare, which degenerated into just Dare. It was really funny. At around midnight we headed to bed and were up in the morning for breakfast at 8. We were the first ones there and everyone else started staggering in around 8:20 or so. After breakfast we had to pack up our stuff, clear out our rooms and get ready to go on a hike.
Because of the rain the night before, we had to wear rubber boots and helmets. For a hike in the mountains. I was glad for the boots, but the helmet was a little ridiculous. For the first half of the hike, our group was at the front of the line directly behind one of the guides. It was a good pace. Not fast enough to make me out of breath, but constantly moving. So we get to the halfway point and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. We waited for about 5 minutes and the guide hollered back to the end guide and there was no response. So he had to go back and get them. It took 20 minutes for the rest of the group to catch us. Then they decided that we were going too fast, so we had to go at the end. This is the leg of the hike that most of the pictures came from because I’d walk 3 steps and wait for 10 minutes to walk 3 more steps. Luckily the view was amazing, because otherwise I’d have been really bored.
After the hike, I took a cold shower in one of the public bathrooms (because we’d already checked out of our rooms) and changed into my dress from Saturday. Then we had lunch, took a couple of pictures with Yaba and started the trip home. Anticipating another rocky train ride, I took a Gravol before we left. We missed the train, so we had to take a bus instead. It was
actually shorter than the train ride. In spite of being super sleepy from the Gravol, I couldn’t sleep on the bus. When we got out to catch the other bus from Chiang yi we stopped for dinner at a "famous" turkey rice restaurant. It was good (and cheap). Then we caught the luxury bus for the rest of the trip home. I made it in at about 12, but because I fell asleep on the lux-bus, I couldn’t get to sleep for ages.
All of my pics from this trip will be in an album called Ali Shan. But I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to post them, yet. There are a lot.

Mon Sept 3
Today was a long day. I am so sore and tired from the weekend. I have bruises on top of bruises on top of sore muscles. It’s a good kind of sore, though. Trouble is, I had no patience for the kids. And there were 3 more new ones. So I’m up to 15 three year olds, who don’t speak English. I think it would be easier to herd cats. They seem like mostly good kids. There aren’t really any trouble makers, although there are a couple space cases. And one undid my pants today. Memo to self; avoid drawstrings in the future.
To make my day even better, I couldn’t get my ARC (Alien Residence Card). Technically, I was supposed to get it on Friday, but it wasn’t ready. So I go to the office on my lunch break and it’s still not ready. And, they have no idea when it will be ready.
At the end of my lunch, I had a meeting in the main office and they want me to teach an adult class. Which I’m fine with. It’s only 6 hours a week and it’ll be nice to have a little extra cash. What I’m not ok with is the fact that it starts tomorrow! But I can hear my bed calling me and I can no longer resist.

Tues Sept 4th
Today was much better than yesterday. I had more sleep. My body wasn’t as sore. My kids were not possessed by satan. And I taught my first adult class. It was a little awkward at first. Their English is good, but not great. I’m really glad I’m actually getting to teach grammar now. We covered possessive pronouns and ‘s or s’. It was all very exciting. And my students think I’m crazy for liking baseball, because it is a man’s sport and I am a girl (their words, not mine).
My kids were really good today, mostly. We’re at the point, though, where I am constantly getting molested. They maul me every chance they get. And if one of them is sitting in my lap, they all want to. It’s cute up to a point, and then it just hurts. Somehow they keep hitting my bruises from the weekend, so I’m not healing at all. But I love that they love me, and wouldn’t change it for the world.
Had dinner at the veggie buffet with K and D. Didn’t really have time for any fun shenanigans, what with prepping a lesson and all. Did manage to get a load of laundry thrown in, though. Ah the excitement of living abroad.

Thurs Sept 6th
Pay Day!!!! Gotta love getting paid. Especially when it’s in cash. It’s just for this pay period, because I need my ARC to open a bank account and it’s still not ready. Hopefully it’ll be there when I go tomorrow.
Taught my second class tonight. It went well. I did get asked to slow down my speaking a little. Which makes sense, except that I thought I was speaking slowly. It seems like a good group, though. And they don’t seem to be afraid of me, which is nice.
Speaking of being afraid, my kids were super funny today. My roommate Thaddaeus came to see me at play time and the kids were terrified of him. And it’s understandable cuz he’s a big guy. He’s, like 6'5 and played football in college. And he’s black. He’s an absolute sweetheart, though. But they wouldn't go anywhere near him. Even when he sat down. The closest they came was when I was holding them, then a couple of them said hello.
So it’s starting to cool down a little. Last night it was actually cool enough for me to go to sleep with my window open, instead of in the AC. Of course, I’m a moron and didn’t think to close the screen, so now I am covered in mosquito bites. I itch so much. Last night it was so bad that I woke up just before 3am and had to spray myself with Off and pop a Benadryl before I could sleep again. Needless to say I am exhausted.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Statues, Ghosts and Recuperation

Whilom: from the old English meaning formerly or erstwhile. I learn something new everyday. This one was in one of the books I bought on Sunday.

Fri Aug 24th
I just finished the book. It was really a very good story. And full of words I’ve never seen before. It’s The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio and is the story leading up to the birth of King Arthor told from many different points of view, including Merlin’s. Well worth the read.
Anyway, now that the book report is over, on to news. Not that I have a lot, due to my recent illness. I had another Chinese lesson last night. This time Diana came with me, and we’re both learning together. It was really interesting the way I heard the sounds versus how she heard them. She’s British. Also, we each picked up quickly on different things. I think it’s only to the good to have a study partner. So we’ll have one official lesson each week, but we are going to practice together between lessons. We even have a study date tonight after her class.
School was fine. The kids were super good today. Mostly. There were moments of silliness, but that’s to be expected. They were good yesterday too, and we fingerpainted. They were so excited. And the only thing that got painted that wasn’t the paper was my skirt. At least it was blue paint on my blue skirt. It’s not so noticeable and the paints are water soluble, so it should come out.

Sun Aug 26th
Not so much with the feeling better. I’m still fighting whatever it is I have. I went sightseeing today and I am exhausted. Thankfully it wasn’t a hike. It was just wandering around a city and literally seeing the sights. There were a couple of giant staircases, but nothing that should have worn me out as much as they did.
K, D, Jackie , Ty and I went into Keelung (pronounced chee-long). First we ate lunch at McDonald’s. Then we climbed a bunch of stairs to see the Buddhist temple at the top of the mountain (Keelung). There was a giant statue of a goddess and the girls rang the huge bell. It was so interesting. And there were anatomically correct elephant statues at the entrance gate; one male and one female. On the way down I saw a cat lying in the sun and stopped to pet it. It’s the first contact I’ve had with a feline since leaving home. From there we took a bus up to the fairy caves, which is literally a temple inside this ancient cave. It was amazing. There were statues of the gods carved out of living rock. You could see the strata in the statues and the walls around them. Unfortunately, there are no pictures because it’s incredibly disrespectful to take pictures inside the temple.
Once we were home, K and I went to dinner at Café Della Pasta. Not being terribly hungry, I ordered spaghetti in garlic and oil. They put hot peppers in it. I almost died. My mouth was on fire. Even K, who likes hot things, said it was too hot for her. Her pesto sauce was good, though, so I may try that next time.
Yesterday I almost caused a scooter accident just by being me. I’m getting used to being stared at, because I am a blond girl in a see of dark haired Asians, but yesterday was worse than normal. This guy on a scooter drove past me and slowed down while he turned in his seat to stare at me. He almost hit a parked scooter and the scooter behind him almost didn’t slow down in time. Then I was trying to walk through the alley (feeling like crap) and I couldn’t get anywhere because people were all slowing down and stopping (and blocking the way) while they stared at me. K said I must have been projecting an extra-blond aura. I don’t know what it was, but it sure was annoying.

Mon Aug 27th
So, it’s ghost month. And according to the Chinese calendar, today is the day when the gates of hell open and all of the ancestors are free to roam the earth. Neat, right? Only to appease the ancestors there are fires burning all over the city (controlled of course) and people are burning bits of paper money. Not actual money. Symbolic money. There are also all of these tables in front of stores and things laid out with fruits and veggies and various other good things for the ancestors. It’s a little crazy, but really interesting.
School was good. I have 3 new girls in my class. One is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen and she must’ve been in school before, because she knows a lot of things and even raises her hand. My original kids still can’t grasp that concept. The other girls are doing all right. It’s hard to get a read on their first day. So I now have 11 kids in my class; 4 boys and 7 girls. And I still have more trouble with the boys.
Tonight’s plan is to do some grocery shopping to stock up on cookable foods, so I don’t keep spending all my money going out to eat. Gotta go make a list.
Co-incidentally (or perhaps not so) there is a giant full moon tonight to correspond with the opening of Hell’s gates. It was super pretty. The sky was mostly clear with a few wisps of cloud right around the moon. I stood in the park for 5 minutes just staring at it. Then some locals passed and I’m pretty sure they were laughing at the foreign girl staring at the sky.

Tues Aug 28th
Tuesday is the worst day of the week. I have my theory about why that is, but I keep hoping for an exception. The few good things were balanced out by the difficult ones. I did have lunch with Michelle and Katy at this cheap, delicious Thai place. Good thing too. I needed all of that energy to deal with my kids.
I personally made 4 of my kids cry today. Out of 10. I guess I could count it at 5 because one of my new girls is so terrified of me (being a foreigner and all) that she cries every time I come near her. I wasn’t even being mean. But they were being kids, and they’re really high strung. I did have to punish a couple of them and they did not like that much. The funniest thing is, though, that as soon as the punishment is over, they come directly to me for hugs and reassurance. But when my CT (Chinese Teacher) punishes them, they avoid her. So I guess they do love me.
Tomorrow is a half day. I don’t have any plans as of yet, but I’m looking forward to not having to teach the afternoon.

Wed Aug 29th
Apparently, no one told my kids my theory about Tuesday being the worst day of the week. They were awful today. By the time I left today, 5 girls had cried. One never stopped crying. She just wailed from the moment she walked in the door until I walked out (she’s probably still crying). I find I have patience for almost anything they do except for the crying. I mean, by all means, cry if you get hurt or if someone’s mean. But this ridiculous "I miss my mommy" crying drives me nuts. Their mom’s drop them off in the morning (and hang around looking in my classroom window for at least half an hour, where the kids can see them) and pick them up in the afternoon. They spend at most 7 hours away from them. And yet, continuous crying. I just don’t get it.
Anyway, I escaped at 11:30 and had lunch with K at the Diner. They had this fantastic fruit pancake special. I’m drooling just thinking about it. There was a stack of 3 buttermilk pancakes topped with chopped up strawberries, mango and kiwi. And it wasn’t huge chunks of fruit, like at home. These were actually bite-sized. Mmmmm.
I also bought some new clothes. A fun flowy skirt and a cute t-shirt. They cost me the equivalent of $18 CAD. I have actually spent more on meals here. I’m sure they won’t last, but they’re cute and fun for now.
Might be going for drinks tonight with D and Will and some others. We’ll see what happens, though. If it’s too late, I may just stay home. I’m a loser, but I deal with small children early in the morning. I need my sleep. Especially because tomorrow I want the kids to play with clay I class, and I know I’ll need all of my patience for that one.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Day in Day out

Wed Aug 15th
Went to NY bagel for dinner with Katherine and Robert, then Katherine and I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum. I love Matt Damon. And what I saw of the movie was pretty good. What is it with these directors using handheld cameras for everything? Even K was getting queasy by the end.
School was fine. Half days are my favourite. And my kids are actually starting to show some progress. But I don’t know how much of it is them learning, and how much is my Chinese teacher telling them the answers. Time will tell, I guess.

Thurs Aug 16th
Today started well. The kids were bright and happy and participated. Then one by one they started being replaced by misbehaving pod children. By the end of the day I was ready to throttle them. But I restrained. And tomorrow will be better. It has to.
I had my first Chinese lesson tonight. It was really interesting. We started with theory and we discussed some of the main differences between English and Chinese. For instance, Chinese only has one verb tense. No past or future, only present. Then I learned how to say the numbers 1-10 and Yvonne wrote them in Chinese characters for me. She did say that people mostly use western numerals now, but still, just in case.
Yvonne’s moving to France on my birthday, so lessons will have to stop then. But I figure I can still get 6 weeks of lessons in before she goes and that’ll be a great foundation. And also, my birthday’s in 6 weeks!! That’s so close.

Wed Aug 22
Well. Seems my updates have begun to slacken. I guess that comes with the settling in. Everything isn’t quite as new and exciting as it has been in the past. Also, I’ve been introduced to a website where I can find almost any tv show known to man, so that’s taking up a bunch of time. But here’s a quick rundown of last week:
Fri - Everyone was gearing up for a typhoon to hit. My kids were cranky, but did some cute things. One girl dried another kid’s tears and one boy parallel parked the toy cars. Had dinner with the regulars and watched the Simpson’s Movie.
Sat - Typhoon. Talked to mom in the morning, during the worst of the storm. (It’s actually raining harder right now than it did during the whole typhoon). Around 5, I ventured out with my roommates for dinner. We ate at the 24 hour restaurant around the corner. Read 3 books over the course of the day.
Sun - Brunch with Katy and Michelle at a western style place where they had a fabulous molten chocolate cake. Ended up at a bookstore where 2 books were purchased. Came home and read one of the aforementioned books.
Mon - Nothing of note happened. Regular school day.
Tues - Kids were fussy and I was in no mood to deal. My stuffy nose may not be allergies, because my meds have stopped working. Fell asleep around 5:30pm. Woke up at 6:50am. Eastern Time. But my body felt like I had slept through the night. It was only when I was eating my "breakfast" and couldn’t find the baseball game to listen to that I realized it was still night time here. I watched a couple of episodes of Alias and went to bed, where I tossed and turned for a long while and then woke up at 6am. My time.
Today- Knew I was officially sick when mention of cake failed to stir my appetite. But it’s not in my throat, for which I am thankful. I’m very stuffy and it’s taking me ages to put together a coherent thought. Luckily it’s a half day and the kids were good. Had lunch with Diana and Katy. I am now relaxing, although concentrating for this long has made me a little dizzy. And my nose is raw because I can’t find tissues with lotion here. (I am so spoiled at home!)
Before I get 9 million emails re: my illness; yes I have meds. Yes I am taking them. And yes I am drinking plenty of fluids and getting vitamin C. But when you work with little germ factories, a.k.a. children, you get sick every once in a while. And I’m not missing anything because it’s storming so much that I wouldn’t want to leave my apartment even if I could.
In terms of general interest, my students have started groping me. 2 of them have done it now. At least, only 2 have actually grabbed the boobs. Most of them at one point or another have accidentally hit my bum while we’re playing. It’s sad when the only action I’m getting is from a 3 year old. Apparently it happens to foreigners all the time, because the Asian women don’t have much in the way of breasts, so even my small ones are fascinating.
That’s about all I’ve got for now.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Danshui, Tianmu and Baseball

Fri. Aug. 10th
T.G.I.F. I desperately needed this week to be over. The kids were little terrors today. And they’re so cute while they’re being awful that it’s really hard to be mad at them. I do feel like I’m at the end of my rope, though. The weekend will be a welcome respite.
Last night, after my ice cream bar, Thaddaeus invited me to a picnic with him and Michelle. So I went and we ended up in Michelle’s living room eating all sorts of junk food, including these incredible soft-baked chocolate chocolate chip cookies. We also watched the end of some Jackie Chan movie that I had never heard of before. It was possibly called The Medallion (n.b. imdb informs me that it is indeed called that). We also watched the end of The Bourne Identity. I love Matt Damon.
This evening after work I went up to Danshui with 2 of the Chinese teachers from school, Emily and Candy(Sightseeing). It was fun. There’s a typhoon coming (it didn’t hit earlier in the week) so there was a huge wind, and the waves were coming up on the boardwalk. Sometimes they were right up to the entrances of stores. It was amazing. We just wandered up the boardwalk and looked around in all of the cute little stores. I bought some souvenir-type things for mom and dad.
I also tried some new foods. First it was sweet potato in candied honey. Delicious. Then we had giant ice cream. It was literally a foot high, and I just got the small. It was delicious, though. Then I twirled my own cotton candy, which is harder than it looks. But passion fruit candy floss is something worth trying. Then we left the sweets behind and Emily made me try a black egg. They hard boil them in some sort of sauce. They’re not very tasty, and the texture is like rubber. I didn’t like that one, much. Last, Candy made me try a fried mushroom, even though I told them I don’t like mushrooms. They assured me that they taste just like chicken. They don’t. They taste like greasy, fried mushrooms. But at least I tried it.

Sat. Aug 11th
Mom called this morning, though it was actually Friday night there. So I got the 411 on all the haps at home. Got a chance to talk Harry Potter with mum and the Blue Jays with daddy. I even got to speak to Grandma and Jamie (he had just gotten home for the weekend). It was nice.
Went on a hike with Katherine this morning, as well. We went up Tianmu trail (Sightseeing). It was literally a kilometer of steps (going up, of course) followed by about 800m of flat, dirt path. I am so out of shape, but I’m blaming my difficulties on the heat and being up so high. Because of my frequent breaks, we did get to see some interesting flora and fauna. There were skinks and giant ants and millipedes and some cool birds. Then at the end of the trail there’s a really cute little tea shop where we had lunch. The menu was translated literally from the Chinese, so we ordered things like "submarine fort meat cooked Japanesely" (which was a sub cooked in what looked like teriyaki sauce) and my drink was "banana with cocoa frost is drunk" (which was a chocolate banana smoothie).
The other point of interest on the hike was a Catholic Church(Sightseeing). It was cool. They had the holy water at the entrance and the little kneeling pads. There were also wood carvings of the stations of the cross and statues of Mary and Joseph on either side of the altar. Pretty typical Catholic stuff, but the most interesting things were the murals on the ceiling. One side was the Creation and the other side was the Last Supper. But the characters were all Chinese. In the Creation, God looked like most portrayals of Confucius. There were even chopsticks on the table of the last supper.
After the hike, I came home and had a nice long nap. When I woke up, I stayed up just long enough to go to NY Bagel with Diana, Katherine and Robert for dinner and get home. Then I wrote a quick letter to Mum and Dad, drank some tea and went right to bed.

Sun. Aug 12th
I think I might be coming down with the virus that everyone else has had. I’m actually skipping today’s sight seeing adventure because I feel all ughy. Of course it may just be from the pressure changes that are coming with the typhoon. So my plan for the day is to sit inside, drinking various kinds of tea and possibly reading, or playing on the internet. All in all, I think it’s not such a bad way to spend a rainy Sunday.
Katherine also dropped off a bag of books this morning. She told me before that she had a bunch to get rid of (she’s planning on going home soonish, and doesn’t want to take them all with her), but I wasn’t expecting this many. There are 17 books, none of which I have read. Mostly they’re sci-fi, but there are some of a more literary bent. There are also about 5 Terry Pratchett books. Those promise to be funny. And some of the sci-fi isn’t really tech heavy, so they may be ok.
Aside from dinner with Thaddaeus, I did nothing all day with people. I played internet games, went through the books from Katherine, read a little and watched Buffy. It was a good day.

Mon Aug 13th
Today is a good day to be me. Woke up feeling good and the day just got better. With the exception of some isolated events at school. But even there good things were happening. My crier participated and even lined up on his own. He’s starting to get it! One of my girls got sick right after lunch. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to clean it up. The kids were full of energy today, but still all of my activities worked out.
Between school and dinner I finished off season 3 of Buffy. Prom and Graduation. Loves it!! I’m such a girl, though. No matter how many times I see that stupid prom episode, it still makes me cry every time. It really just doesn’t get any better than season 3.
Dinner was at the vegetarian buffet with Katherine. Diana was supposed to be there too, but she was assigned another class at the time we were going. The restaurant works like the salad bar at Commons. You pick out your food then take it to the guy, he weighs it, and you pay based on weight. And there was not a meat product in sight. It was fantastic. We also went to the grocery store where I was able to procure not only bread, but peanut butter as well. I bought Skippy, because apparently the locally made peanut butter occasionally contains rocks. Seriously. But tomorrow for breakfast I can have peanut butter and honey on toast with a cup of tea. I’m very excited.
When I went to meet Katherine and Diana at the school, I was introduced to another teacher named Blair, who happens to be a baseball fan. He’s a Rockies supporter, which I can respect. (It helps that they’re in a different league). But he’s interested in seeing a Taiwanese game, while he’s here and I’m totally in. The poor guy had been trying to talk Diana and Katherine into going, and they called it a Baseball Match. I mean, seriously! Diana, at least, has an excuse. She’s from England, they play matches of things. But Katherine’s from Toronto and should know better. So now I have tentative plans to go see a game sometime, which is better than nothing.
And, the cherry on top of my sundae of a day involves books. Every single series for which I’m waiting on books (all 4 of them!!), has the new book coming out within a year. One is even an e-book, so I can get it here immediately!! Another is already out in hardcover, I just need the paperback, and one is the very last book in the trilogy!!! I swear, I don’t know what I did to please the gods, but whatever it was please let me keep doing it.

Tues Aug 14th
The problem with a day that starts as well as today did, is that there’s really nowhere to go but down. I woke up this morning just in time to make breakfast and find CJCS online. What this means is that I got to eat peanut butter on toast, with tea, while listening to the Jays game. Of course, once breakfast was over, I did the rest of my getting ready, while still listening to the Jays game. It was heaven. Especially because when I left the Jays were winning.
I came crashing back to earth when I came home at lunch (after a donut with Katherine. Triple chocolate, need I say more?) to check the scores. In the inning after I left for work the Jays made 2 errors which cost them 2 runs. They lost 6-2. Although, if that is the worst of my day, it’s still pretty good.
All of my kids were there today (Random Fun). Most of them on time. The golden prince showed up at his usual time of about 10:30. His family is seriously gonna mess that kid up. He’s sweet enough right now, but I think that’s more his nature than anything to do with conditioning. But my (ex)crier continued to participate, and the girls were fantastic. Maybe it all just seemed good because of my mood. Whatever the cause, school was good today.
It did rain a little on my (2 min) walk home. I’m still counting myself lucky, though because not 10 minutes after I walked through the door the sky opened up. The deluge lasted a solid 20 mins and it’s still coming down. Needless to say, after the tragedy with Abhorsen I am no longer going adventuring in the rain. So it looks like a quiet night in for me. Maybe I’ll reacquaint myself with Empire Records or Dogma.