Back By popular Demand

Let's see, my last post was in January about my trip to the Philippines. I guess I sort of had a feeling this would happen, that I would forget to write. Well here is my attempt to make up for lost time...

THAILAND:

We went to Thailand at the end of January for a little over two weeks. We had a great time (in spite of a bunch of idiot taxi and tuk tuk drivers) in Bangkok. It was a bit hard to navigate the city, and a bit too easy to fall into the usual tourist traps. But Emily and I both accumulated an enormous amount of jewelry, clothes, little odds and ends. Our first day in Bangkok we fell into the hands of a travel agent who planned out our trip for us--and it ended up being a great litte itinerary. We took an over night train down to Surat Thani, then a boat (big boat including life preservers this time) to the island of Koh Phangan. We stayed in a cute little bungalow for several days and enjoyed the relative quiet of the town who's name escapes me. This island is known for its massive full moon parties, and although we just missed one, we were able to go to a half-moon party which was great fun. After a few more days, we took a boat accross to Koh Samui where we did more sunbathing, shopping, socializing, etc. Samui is a more lively island, and one chock-full of tourists. We took a day long "Sea Safari" to the Angthon National Marine Park (which is where the book "The Beach" takes place) and did some kyaking, "snorkling", hiking, and elephant trekking. It was great fun! We returned to Taiwan brown and happy, and Taiwan duly greeted us by spitting rain in our faces and a full work week beginning the next day. WhooHoo vacation!

My trip to Thailand seems like a blur now, because it is now nearly two months later and so much has happened since!

MY MOM'S TRIP TO TAIWAN:

Me ma came to visit in mid February, and did we ever have a blast! She lovingly imported over 50 pounds of delicious treats and wonderful gifts for me from the mother-land, and it was a joyous occasion celebrated by all--that is me and Emily. I decided to take my mom for a long scooter ride into the mountains on her first weekend here, and although it was raining, we had a very fun/funny time. We visited the little town of Beipu and shopped around the market, and also had tea at a very nice tea house which my mom gushed about for days:) We scooted for about an hour and a half up the mountain, and somehow lived to tell about it, because it was some of the worst weather I have seen--rainy, cold, and FOGGY. The fog gave those deserted roads and very eerie feeling, and I started to wonder how we had found ourselves as the main characters of a horror movie. But we did live, and Freddie Kruger stayed in the trees. The view from the top of these mountains is amazing, and it was definitely worth the effort of getting up there. But then it was time to go, and we realized that going down might just be a little worse than going up, and it was, but I will spare anymore unpleasant details. We did make it down, and the only casualty we expereinced was an umbrella that couldn't hold on any longer.

My mom visited my school several times, and fell in love with the kids--which is so easy to do (and even easier of you don't have to see them every day). She gave them lots of hugs, did a stellar job pretending to know what they were saying ("me is cat" "my is banana okay?"), reading to them, and brought them treats the day she left for home. They ask me every other day "Where is Teacher Sandy?" and I just reply "She's gone to a better place" which they don't even hear because they are already fascinated by what is inside their nose. But it's still nice that they remember my sweet little mom.

The best part of my mom's trip here was our mini-vacation that we took to the south of Taiwan. We stayed at the "most expensive" resort in Taiwan on a private beach in the town of Kenting. It was beautiful. We both got massages at the spa one night, enjoyed eating out, and layed in hammocks or sat on our private deck reading all day long. It was such a relaxing and lovely time. I promise that I will upload pictures of this sometime soon. It truly was a beautiful place, and we didn't want to ever leave.

I had such a great time with my mom, and it was fun to see her "out of her element" in a place like this. She was a trouper on the scooter, and even drove it one day! I think that she really enjoyed herself:)

LAURA, RACHEL and GRACE DO TAIWAN:

Three days after my mom left, my cousins arrived! Their bags were lost (all four of them) along the way during a very stressful and exciting time in travelling history--but you will have to ask them about this to get the full story, because I wasn't there for it. I realize this is very cryptic. They were eventually returned after two days, but it was fun to see three people all wearing my stupid clothes:)

Anyway, my cousins came to Taiwan! Every single day was full of activities and laughter. I am so glad that they came, and feel like their trip couldn't have possibly been any better. My favorite part was seeing Taiwan through their eyes. Since they were here for only a week they had a totally different perspecive--and I must say a much more positive one--than I had my first few weeks here knowing that this would be my home for the next year ("Holy ****, what have I done?!?!?" sort of thing, you know?). Now I have grown to admire Taiwan, and to enjoy its strange qualities--it's an acquired taste. Anyway, it was fun to hear them comment when they noticed things like the sewer smells, and the garbage trucks, and the vast assortment of quality photographic opportunities in ladies fashion these days. Lots of times I said to myself "Oh yeah, that is really cool" to things that I hadn't fully appreciated before.

Emily had two friends here at the same time, so it was great fun to go places together--seven white [rowdy] females. It was beautifully overwhelming, and Emily and I agreed that it was some of the best fun we have had here. Thank you Laura, Rachel, Grace, Rikki and Kyna for visiting us and for having so much fun with us!

KEITH'S VISIT:

Keith Keller came to visit for 3 days on his way to Hong Kong. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing, and he seemed to really enjoy my friends here--especially the unique and endearingly humorous Donovan Robus. (Emily and I have tossed around the idea of adopting Donovan, but we are still working out the details of adopting someone who is older than both of us. But he wants a pony, and my mom wants grandchildren, so this might be the best way to go for everyone). Totally off the subject, shame on me.

So Keith and I went to the Taipei Zoo, which is a zoo of monsterous proportions, and you have to walk up hills to get places. After about 20 minutes of wandering about we still hadn't seen any animals yet. After 25 minutees of wandering about we saw some deer and some birds. Further on there were the more exciting creatures like hippos and gorillas and whatnot. It was a zoo. The only difference is that unlike most zoos, we got about 2 weeks worth of exercise into the bargain. Keith made a very profound observation while watching a hippo walk lazily around... "They have nothing to do. I mean, nothing to do. If they don't get nothing done today, they still have tomorrow." We had a good laugh about this. We had just watched the brilliant documentary "Grizzly Man" the night before, and so most of the day was spent laughing about it, and trying to get into the mind of Timothy Tredwell. Thank you Keith for visiting me, and for nourishing me with rememberances of all of the great and funny times we have shared--most of all for reminding me that I really need to buy that show about song-poems. I felt totally revived after seeingKeith, and filled with hope.

NOW WHAT?:

I only have four more months in the land of stinky tofu, singing garbage trucks, perennial rain and moldy apartments. What am I going to do after this? I am totally open to suggestions. But it's not over yet, and I look forward to enjoying my time here as much as possible. I meant what I said before, that I have grown to admire Taiwan. I think that when the time comes, it will be very sad for me to leave it.

Yesterday, while driving my scooter in the rain to work, I realized how amazing Taiwan really is. There are intersections here with no lights or stop signs. So cars, scooters and busses just go. They just go. It is incredible to watch! Traffic seems to flow through these intersections as if the drivers have been practicing a specifically coreographed routine. I would reccommend to anyone to just sit on a corner of one of these places, and watch as long lines of vehicles coming from three or four directions toward the same point without stopping never collide. I am afraid that I wont know how to drive when I get home. Or that when I drive down the shoulder to cut in front of twenty cars at a red light they wont understand. Or when I drive on the wrong side of the road because it's more convenient than having to turn around people will honk. Here no one has road-rage but me! The only voice I ever hear shouting "You idiots!" is my own! I think I will need to ease my way back into the western style of driving. I desperately wish I could bring this traffic to the States with me. No one is polite, except that they dont flick you off or yell at you or shoot you if you cut them off, but everyone gets where they are going in half the time. It has everything to do with doing whatever it takes to get to the front of the line, and not being allowed to get mad. It's simple. Save face, and get where I want to go.

This is all about a very interesting question that Keith asked me "What things would you like to see back home that you see here?" My immediate response was scooters, the traffic, and the great recycling programs that they have here. They aren't even programs really, people just recycle, I don't think they ever even give it a thought--it's just something they do.

Anyway, I hope that this is enough to last my faithful readers. I promise that I wont forget about my blog ever again.