I'm back in Texas! Yehaw! It sure feels good. When I stepped off the plane I was hit by a wave of humidity and thought to myself, "So it begins..." It was shocking to hear so many southern accents, and stand in an immigration line where everyone was holding an American passport. When the immigration officer said "Welcome home" I just laughed and skipped through to baggage claim. As I saw my parents pulling up to the curb I started jumping up and down, the long skirt of my dress flapping in the wind like a flag signalling, "Here I am! I'm back, I'm back I'm back!" And it was beautiful.
But before this wonderful home-coming, I had several last adventures in Asia and in the UK. The night before Emily and I left Taiwan there was a typhoon blowing in. I was a little nervous about it, but totally determined to get out no matter what! We actually left Taiwan only hours before they grounded all flights for the rest of the day... what luck! Our time in Hong Kong was fun and interesting. We stayed in the dodgiest hostel ever* (an exciting story about the dodgiest hostel ever still to come... stay tuned), in the dodgiest block of hostels in the entire world I reckon (Chung King Mansion). We ate a lot of great food, including Mexican (and Dos Equis!!), did some last-minute shopping, took in the sights, and met a whole flight crew when we were out one night which was exciting (**WARNING** do not fly Qantas). It was great and wonderful to be in a new place. Hong Kong is an amazing place, it's very modern and new, but you can still feel the British undertones, especially when you see street names like Salisbury and Argyle. It's very pedestrian-friendly with miles of covered or air-conditioned walkways, including elevated walkways, and a mile-long system of escalators that connect downtown to a neighborhood district. This was great fun to explore because there are really good shopping areas around there, and lot's of unique restaurants, wine bars, and KRISPY KREME.
Suddenly it was time for Emily to leave, and I was facing a day by myself. As this would be only my third day alone in a year, I was feeling giddy/sorry for myself. I do not wish to write about the moment Emily got on the bus that would take her to the airport, or how I suddenly felt like part of me had been ripped away leaving behind a raw and exposed area somewhere near my soul, or how my eyes stung as I fought to hold back tears, or how I really just wanted to lay in the gutter and weep, or how I was deeply furious for not booking the morning flight to England. But I will tell you this, I was sad. I decided to go to Macau, I had almost the whole day as my flight wasn't until midnight, so I got on a ferry. Thus began a miserable voyage accross choppy seas that would ultimately lead to my going through immigration five times in a span of about 12 hours. Well it was worth it anyway, I ate a nice meal at a Portuguese restaurant, had a massive cup of coffee at Starbucks, walked through a little market, sat in an old church and pondered my sadness, and bought a couple of post cards. Macau is a lovely place. It was both the first and last European colony in China. It was settled and administered by the Portuguese until December of 1999. I was amazed by the old colonial European style buildings, especially in the city center, and felt like it could easily be a place in western Europe. What makes Macau really special is it's casinos, which generate most of the country's revenue. All in all it was a fascinating little trip, and I'm glad I made the effort to go.
*One last little anectdote from China: I was all alone, as I have mentioned, and I still had to go back to our hostel to get my luggage--an ungodly amount of luggage I might add. I braved the scary people who congregate outside of the building and went up the elevator to the seventh floor. The "receptionist" was there in the "lobby" along with another "guest" so I was able to get in. I changed clothes quickly and came out to get my stuff. I will stop here for a moment to give you a little more information about this place. It's a massive building of hundreds of hostels, and it is the cheapest place to stay in Hong Kong. It attracts all sorts of people, from friendly budget-backpackers like ourselves, to poor migrant workers, to women of ill-repute, to utter nut-jobs. You can stay in "nicer" places within the building, which is what we tried to do, but they're all still there if you know what I mean. So anyway, when I came out from changing clothes it was just the receptionist, a man from Ghana who we had chatted with a few times about things like "Is it safe to leave our stuff here?" and "Is it safe for us to be here?" and "Should we even leave and risk being knifed as we walk out the door of this place?" and "Should I really come back here alone at night to get my luggage?" Always his answer was "Yes! Of course! I'll be here!" I was just hefting my massive backpack into a comfortable "loading" position when he came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder and said "You are a very beautiful woman, I could not tell you while your friend was here. Would you like to go into that room and make small love?" and I said "Uh.... NO." and he said "There is no one here, are you sure you do not want to make small love?" and I said "Really, NO." and then he said "But it would not be a problem and we can go into that room." and I said "Absolutely not." This went on for a few minutes until I pushed my backpack into him and said "Would you mind helping me get my things to the elevator?" and he did. It was time to get out of Asia. I got to the bus stop right as the bus was getting there, and I was on my way home.
But first I went to England for a month. I got to stay with Ashley for a few days, and spend a day with my friend Jon Mortimer from Vail, and then spent three lazy weeks with Sam in the country going for walks, watching the Olympics, and having cream teas (as a result I am now well on my way to becoming an obese person). I also learned how to play Skittles, how to drive on the wrong side of the road, and watched a raft race. Sam's sister had a little baby girl while I was there and it was sweet to see people becoming new things like aunts, uncles, mom, dad, grandparents. Amazing how quickly that just happens. It was a lovely English holiday, complete with rain, pints in pubs, and crying over the terrible exchange rate. I love England!!!!!
So now, back to Texas. It is incredible how things are just the same! I discovered that I have certain natural instincts, like navigating the bend in the driveway while backing out, how to open my bathroom door without it banging into my closet door, and eating cheese. Other things have been super hard to get used to such as; flushing toilet paper (If I have visited your house since I left Taiwan, I am very sorry about what may or may not be in your trash can), ordering in restaurants without pointing and over-annunciating, and using credit card machines while paying for things in stores. The best way to describe it is that I feel I have just woken up from a coma. Things are familiar and comfortable, but different--I am different. Things in me have grown and stretched and have been refined. I have awoken into a world that I know completely, but I am not the same. It's exciting and shocking and it makes me feel weird. I guess this is what they call culture shock.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Lately
Hello! I'm back again. It's amazing how time speeds up and slows down and we're just sort of along for the ride. There haven't been too many things to report lately, and we just got the internet in our new apartment yesterday so I have a good excuse for not posting. I'll touch on the highlights.
Most recently I was a member of a Dragon Boat team that participated in the Dragon Boat Festival here in Hsinchu. It was organized by our Program Manager, Desiree, at school and we were also sponsored by our school. We did two days of practicing and then had two days of racing. It was pretty fun and a great time, I posted some pictures of the event of my pictures page so you can check them out. We came in fourth out of nine foreign teams! It was a really cool Taiwanese experience, and fun to be part of a team taking part in a local event.
We are preparing for the Kindergarten Graduation at school, which consists of preparing artwork and posters to display, and also songs and dances to perform. It's on July 4 this year, and that is how I will be celebrating my favorite bbq day. The year is definitely winding down, and everyone is looking forward to July when we don't have any night classes anymore and get off at 4, until then I am working twelve hour days three days a week and meditating on the number of days until I am not longer a teacher! I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about how much I will probably miss it when I'm gone, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there! I do try to appreciate every day I have here and to bask in the essence of Taiwan (which isn't always a pleasant-smelling essence) while I still can.
Other news, I accidentally stepped on and killed a roach the other day, which when you think about it is pretty impressive. Consider the size of a roach, the size of my foot, the surface area of the earth, and the intensity with which I despise killing roaches and that is a very complicated calculation. I had to sit down and let it all sink it--it still blows my mind. I realize this isn't really news, but something that caused me to ponder the universe, so it's proof that you can be a kindergarten teacher and still have some degree of brain activity.
My co-teacher and I were having a conversation the other day about how tired we are of taking care of kids. It really is draining, and I have a lot of respect for parents. (Namely parents who stay home with their kids all day and have to entertain small children. Especially parents with 11 four year olds because that's totally pushing the limit of reason, and those parents should really re-evaluate their goals in life. At least that's my opinion.) Anyway, Glenn showed me a story about a little girl who got a lot of medals for being good which she wore on her blouse, and in the end was eaten by a wolf while she was hiding from it behind a mulberry bush because her metals were tinkling together. The part of the story that I liked (besides the extremely of morbid idea of harm coming to annoying children) was at the beginning where it describes an aunt who is taking care of her nieces and nephew on a train and another passenger tells this story to them. The reason I like that is because it describes how all of the aunt's sentences started with "Don't" and all of the children's sentences started with "Why," and the passenger got tired of listening to this and told the kids a story to quiet them. It seems like most of my days are spent keeping kids quiet so that I can maintain some of my dwindling sanity. I am very proud of my college education! I use it to count leggos of different colors, and choreograph dances to songs like "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" and have discussions about the small letter d. It has been a lot of fun, and I have found this to be a thoroughly gratifying experience that I am very thankful for. I have grown quite fond of my students, in the way that most people grow fond of kids that they're used to and see everyday, and I will be very sad to say goodbye to them. I take comfort in knowing that we have had some great times jamming to "The Wheels on the Bus" and playing some very intense games of Duck Duck Goose (we haven't mastered some of the more advanced games yet like Simon Says and Follow the Leader), and I hope they remember how vital these precious moments were to their education as they grow up to become engineers and computer technicians. But seriously, I love them.
I mentioned earlier that we have a new apartment! Our school moved its staff housing at the beginning of May, and we now live about 2 blocks closer to school, on the same street as school, on the 12th floor of a big apartment building. It's a great place, very clean and bright, and I love being able to look at the mountains every day (ever clear day). There are pictures of this too in the new post.
I have booked my flights home, and am looking forward to doing a little bit more traveling before getting back to the Lone Star State. Emily, Donovan and I will be visiting Hong Kong at the end of July for 3 days, then we will be going our separate ways (Em to California, Donovan back to Taiwan) and I will be going to England for about a month. I am very excited to visit Ashley for a few days, and to see Sam and his family! I will arrive back in Houston at 5:35 p.m. on August 27th! I am counting down the days, and today is 76 until I arrive. Fajitas and guacamole, here I come!
Most recently I was a member of a Dragon Boat team that participated in the Dragon Boat Festival here in Hsinchu. It was organized by our Program Manager, Desiree, at school and we were also sponsored by our school. We did two days of practicing and then had two days of racing. It was pretty fun and a great time, I posted some pictures of the event of my pictures page so you can check them out. We came in fourth out of nine foreign teams! It was a really cool Taiwanese experience, and fun to be part of a team taking part in a local event.
We are preparing for the Kindergarten Graduation at school, which consists of preparing artwork and posters to display, and also songs and dances to perform. It's on July 4 this year, and that is how I will be celebrating my favorite bbq day. The year is definitely winding down, and everyone is looking forward to July when we don't have any night classes anymore and get off at 4, until then I am working twelve hour days three days a week and meditating on the number of days until I am not longer a teacher! I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about how much I will probably miss it when I'm gone, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there! I do try to appreciate every day I have here and to bask in the essence of Taiwan (which isn't always a pleasant-smelling essence) while I still can.
Other news, I accidentally stepped on and killed a roach the other day, which when you think about it is pretty impressive. Consider the size of a roach, the size of my foot, the surface area of the earth, and the intensity with which I despise killing roaches and that is a very complicated calculation. I had to sit down and let it all sink it--it still blows my mind. I realize this isn't really news, but something that caused me to ponder the universe, so it's proof that you can be a kindergarten teacher and still have some degree of brain activity.
My co-teacher and I were having a conversation the other day about how tired we are of taking care of kids. It really is draining, and I have a lot of respect for parents. (Namely parents who stay home with their kids all day and have to entertain small children. Especially parents with 11 four year olds because that's totally pushing the limit of reason, and those parents should really re-evaluate their goals in life. At least that's my opinion.) Anyway, Glenn showed me a story about a little girl who got a lot of medals for being good which she wore on her blouse, and in the end was eaten by a wolf while she was hiding from it behind a mulberry bush because her metals were tinkling together. The part of the story that I liked (besides the extremely of morbid idea of harm coming to annoying children) was at the beginning where it describes an aunt who is taking care of her nieces and nephew on a train and another passenger tells this story to them. The reason I like that is because it describes how all of the aunt's sentences started with "Don't" and all of the children's sentences started with "Why," and the passenger got tired of listening to this and told the kids a story to quiet them. It seems like most of my days are spent keeping kids quiet so that I can maintain some of my dwindling sanity. I am very proud of my college education! I use it to count leggos of different colors, and choreograph dances to songs like "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" and have discussions about the small letter d. It has been a lot of fun, and I have found this to be a thoroughly gratifying experience that I am very thankful for. I have grown quite fond of my students, in the way that most people grow fond of kids that they're used to and see everyday, and I will be very sad to say goodbye to them. I take comfort in knowing that we have had some great times jamming to "The Wheels on the Bus" and playing some very intense games of Duck Duck Goose (we haven't mastered some of the more advanced games yet like Simon Says and Follow the Leader), and I hope they remember how vital these precious moments were to their education as they grow up to become engineers and computer technicians. But seriously, I love them.
I mentioned earlier that we have a new apartment! Our school moved its staff housing at the beginning of May, and we now live about 2 blocks closer to school, on the same street as school, on the 12th floor of a big apartment building. It's a great place, very clean and bright, and I love being able to look at the mountains every day (ever clear day). There are pictures of this too in the new post.
I have booked my flights home, and am looking forward to doing a little bit more traveling before getting back to the Lone Star State. Emily, Donovan and I will be visiting Hong Kong at the end of July for 3 days, then we will be going our separate ways (Em to California, Donovan back to Taiwan) and I will be going to England for about a month. I am very excited to visit Ashley for a few days, and to see Sam and his family! I will arrive back in Houston at 5:35 p.m. on August 27th! I am counting down the days, and today is 76 until I arrive. Fajitas and guacamole, here I come!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The Philippines
What a beautiful place!
We arrived in the airport around 2am on Saturday, December 29. We hung out there for a couple of hours, then got a cab to the port. Our cab driver was a rock star who really took good care of us from 4am-6am. Cebu is an extremely dodgy place--and there were loads of creepy looking people about even at 4 in the morning, so it was so nice to have a taxi driver to take care of us. He drove us to three places trying to find a boat that wasn't full to take us to The Camotes Islands. He made the 1 hour drive in 30 minutes to Danao from Cebu and handed us over to two other guys who basically shoved us on without tickets. We even got to sit in the cabin with the driver because we were the only 2 while people on the boat. The trip accross was pretty nice as the sun was coming up.
When we arrived we hired 2 drivers, of motocycles, to take us to the resort. The resort was beautiful and exactly what we wanted! It was quiet and clean and just lovely. The entire time we were there we met between 10-20 other foreigners, so it was a pretty authentic experience of a Philippines province. That day we went for a swim, went shopping in the town of San Fransisco, and had a nice meal at the resort restaurant. When we went to sleep we couldn't believe we had only been there for one day--but we had been awake for nearly two!
The rest of the trip was spend reading and laying around. We visited some caves and went swimming in them, and saw an incredibly untouched lake that very few people know about. A man we met who had lived there for 15 years said that we are the first American girls he has ever seen on that island! Everywhere we went, with our motorcycle drivers, all the people ont he side of the streets would yell and shriek when they saw us! Two white people! It was really funny.
New Years Even we spent with our friends we met, a Taiwanese girl, her Aussie boyfriend, an English man who lives in Sweden, and two Swiss guys at the village disco on a basketball court by the beach. It was great! Everyone was just dancing and loving life--all of the townspeople, including small kids and babies! At 11 they stopped the dancing and everyone went inside for mass, then at midninght they all rushed back outside in time to rev their motorcycle engines to welcome the new year. We had a blast! The next day wherever we went everone would ask us how we liked the disco--apparantly the news of a handful of foreigners being there was hot news!
Being white definitely has its advantages: tables and chairs materialize out of thin air, glasses and bottles of beer appear, taxi drivers risk their lives for you, and all the natives greet you with an attitude of reverence, but it doesn't help you when you are trying to bribe the coast guard into squeezing two more people onto the last boat back to Cebu so you can make your flight. Which is why an hour later we found ourselves with 8 other strangers crossing the Sea of Camotes on a wooden motorized boat the size of a large canoe through a storm and 6-10 foot swells. Emily and I spent the first five minutes assessing the situation and taking an inventory of the things we had that could be used as floatation devices (no life vests, or anything). Then we both settled into a state of silent shock and utter disbelief. I choked back a few tears just as the first of the big waves crashed over the side of our boat. It's interesting the things you think about when you believe you are definitely going to die. I thought about how I had my friend's books and I felt bad he wouldn't get them back, and "I wonder if they will ever find our bodies" and "I can't believe I am doing this just to make it back to work tomorrow" and "It would be nice to be burried in that great champagne colored dress I have back home" and "It's a good thing I am going to die because my parents would be so mad if they knew I am doing this right now." It wasn't until we were about a mile from shore, and I could make out some buildings that I began to develop any hope in survival. I fully expected that the next giant wave would be the one to end it all. It was a 3 1/2 hour voyage, and every second of it I just watched huge waves rise and fall; some of them over the boat. It was also hard to ignore that the guy in the back of the boat was bailing out water the entire time as fast as he could. I have been in many near death situations, and have knowingly put my life at risk countless times, but never in my life have I experienced such a terrifying thing as this, or been so absolutely certain that I was going to die.
But we lived!! And I still can't believe it!!!!! Everything we had was wet, so when we finally got the airport we changed into he driest things we could find in our backpacks, and went straight to the bar.
I loved the Philippines, I definitely recommend it as a holiday destination--just make sure you BOOK YOUR BOAT TICKETS IN ADVANCE!!!
We arrived in the airport around 2am on Saturday, December 29. We hung out there for a couple of hours, then got a cab to the port. Our cab driver was a rock star who really took good care of us from 4am-6am. Cebu is an extremely dodgy place--and there were loads of creepy looking people about even at 4 in the morning, so it was so nice to have a taxi driver to take care of us. He drove us to three places trying to find a boat that wasn't full to take us to The Camotes Islands. He made the 1 hour drive in 30 minutes to Danao from Cebu and handed us over to two other guys who basically shoved us on without tickets. We even got to sit in the cabin with the driver because we were the only 2 while people on the boat. The trip accross was pretty nice as the sun was coming up.
When we arrived we hired 2 drivers, of motocycles, to take us to the resort. The resort was beautiful and exactly what we wanted! It was quiet and clean and just lovely. The entire time we were there we met between 10-20 other foreigners, so it was a pretty authentic experience of a Philippines province. That day we went for a swim, went shopping in the town of San Fransisco, and had a nice meal at the resort restaurant. When we went to sleep we couldn't believe we had only been there for one day--but we had been awake for nearly two!
The rest of the trip was spend reading and laying around. We visited some caves and went swimming in them, and saw an incredibly untouched lake that very few people know about. A man we met who had lived there for 15 years said that we are the first American girls he has ever seen on that island! Everywhere we went, with our motorcycle drivers, all the people ont he side of the streets would yell and shriek when they saw us! Two white people! It was really funny.
New Years Even we spent with our friends we met, a Taiwanese girl, her Aussie boyfriend, an English man who lives in Sweden, and two Swiss guys at the village disco on a basketball court by the beach. It was great! Everyone was just dancing and loving life--all of the townspeople, including small kids and babies! At 11 they stopped the dancing and everyone went inside for mass, then at midninght they all rushed back outside in time to rev their motorcycle engines to welcome the new year. We had a blast! The next day wherever we went everone would ask us how we liked the disco--apparantly the news of a handful of foreigners being there was hot news!
Being white definitely has its advantages: tables and chairs materialize out of thin air, glasses and bottles of beer appear, taxi drivers risk their lives for you, and all the natives greet you with an attitude of reverence, but it doesn't help you when you are trying to bribe the coast guard into squeezing two more people onto the last boat back to Cebu so you can make your flight. Which is why an hour later we found ourselves with 8 other strangers crossing the Sea of Camotes on a wooden motorized boat the size of a large canoe through a storm and 6-10 foot swells. Emily and I spent the first five minutes assessing the situation and taking an inventory of the things we had that could be used as floatation devices (no life vests, or anything). Then we both settled into a state of silent shock and utter disbelief. I choked back a few tears just as the first of the big waves crashed over the side of our boat. It's interesting the things you think about when you believe you are definitely going to die. I thought about how I had my friend's books and I felt bad he wouldn't get them back, and "I wonder if they will ever find our bodies" and "I can't believe I am doing this just to make it back to work tomorrow" and "It would be nice to be burried in that great champagne colored dress I have back home" and "It's a good thing I am going to die because my parents would be so mad if they knew I am doing this right now." It wasn't until we were about a mile from shore, and I could make out some buildings that I began to develop any hope in survival. I fully expected that the next giant wave would be the one to end it all. It was a 3 1/2 hour voyage, and every second of it I just watched huge waves rise and fall; some of them over the boat. It was also hard to ignore that the guy in the back of the boat was bailing out water the entire time as fast as he could. I have been in many near death situations, and have knowingly put my life at risk countless times, but never in my life have I experienced such a terrifying thing as this, or been so absolutely certain that I was going to die.
But we lived!! And I still can't believe it!!!!! Everything we had was wet, so when we finally got the airport we changed into he driest things we could find in our backpacks, and went straight to the bar.
I loved the Philippines, I definitely recommend it as a holiday destination--just make sure you BOOK YOUR BOAT TICKETS IN ADVANCE!!!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
December
Wow, I didn't realize it's been so long since I updated this blog! I guess I am just so used to my life here that things don't seem so exciting to share. But that's not true! Things still shock and surprise me on a daily basis.
Lately, there has been an ever-increasing change in the sort of leggings and nylons that we see here in fashionable Taiwan. I still remember about two weeks ago when I noticed a girl wearing black leggings with stirrup feet with flat shoes--where you could obviously see that they are stirrup feet. I thought it was very strange, like why not just wear tights??? Why bother with the stirrup effect????? I guess I'm slow though, because this should have been an indication for the next big fad, which is knee high or thigh high leggings with stirrup feet worn with shoes where you can tell that they are obviously stirrup feet. This look is naturally complemented by wearing short shorts or a short skirt. I ask you--what is the point? And does this make any sense? As for myself, I am just now becoming comfortable with the thought of wearing leggings with things--so stirrup leggings are way far-fetched. I guess I'm behind the times, however, I never did think of myself as a slave to fashion. But I do think that there are a lot of things that we [eventually] think are good looking that we will look back on in a few years time and think "Oh my word, I looked so ridiculous" which is what I think may have happened after the 80's when perms went out of style as did STIRRUP PANTS.
I have posted a lot of new pictures this week, and I really hope that some people at least will take a look, because a lot of them are really great! Emily and I have been fortunate enough to see some beautiful places in the past month or so, so taking nice photos has been easy. I think this might be my favorite batch yet. We took a long drive into the mountains last weekend and were both a little intoxicated by the incredible sights. It was great to be in the mountains and fresh air! We went to a popular market it a town called Beipu and I finally bought a pointy straw hat which has been a dream of mine for years and years! I am really excited about it:)
I can't believe that it's Christmas next week! This month has flown by, I still feel shocked that it's already November, and now we are now nearly through December! We have been preparing like crazy at school for our Christmas Pageant, so I can't remember the last time we had a normal week of class. I have learned that event planning would be the worst job you could have in Taiwan, because people here are nuts. Everything is so unorganized. I have gotten to the point where I just turn off my opinions and ideas and smile during rehearsals because there is nothing else to do. It will be over tomorrow night at 9 and I will be SO HAPPY. Each class is doing a song and dance in another language, and the staff are doing a Japanese drumming routine (I don't know if routine is the right word), and it's going to be hilarious. I will hopefully be able to post a video.
Today Emily showed me the website engrish.com where you can see pictures of funny things in English. I really want to reccommend looking at the "signs/posters" part of the website because it it simply hilarious. There were a few that had us in tears laughing! One of the most fun things to do here is to read signs, or really anything in English--you are almost always sure to find something amusing. Please check it out.
We are going to the Philippines next Friday for a much needed break from school. I can't wait to be lying on the beach! I can't wait to visit the city of Cebu and stay at the very beautiful Santiago Bay Garden and Resort on Camotes. WhooooHooooo!
I would like to give a shout out to my cousins Grace, Laura and Rachel who will be coming to see me, and to my Aunt Mary, for making their trip to Taiwan possible! They are coming in March, and I am so excited! I can't wait to see you guys!
Until next time...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Timmy the Tooth
This evening Emily and I went to the dentist. I was a little nervous, just because I usually am when someone is examining me or using sharp tools near me. So here is how it went:
We found the place, which is amazing in and of itself. We waited approximately one and a half minutes, after filling out our new patient forms which required our name, phone number and address, and verification of our national health insurance card. No sooner had I sat in the waiting area than they called my name. The cleaning was very quick, but sort of unnerving to have two people looking over you, speaking Chinese, and laughing. When it was over the dentist told me that he saw a "black hole" and did I want to get it "repaired." So of course, my response was "is it going to hurt?" and he said "no, it's just a small one." Then he told me that he wouldn't even need to give me a shot. I was thinking "yeah right Dr. Chung (his real name), ain't happening." Then I said "I don't think so, I am a baby." Then he said, "Oh! Congratulations!" and then I said "Uh... no. I'M a baby." Then, after an awkward 30 seconds or so, I totally surprised myself by saying "ok," which I was not expecting to hear myself say at all. So I allowed Dr. Chung to drill into my tooth, and give me a filling, with no pain medicine or any time for emotional preparation on my part. HOLY MOLY. Some of you who are reading this probably can't believe it. True story. Apparantly I am growing up [finally]. And get this: IT DIDN'T HURT ONE BIT. 100% PAIN FREE.
The best part though, was that I was in that office for a total of 30 minutes, and the whole thing cost me $150NT which at the current exchange rate is $4.60USD.
This whole ordeal reminds me of the time I was tricked by my parents and my dear friend Carlos, who is a dentist, to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled out with local anesthetic only. This episode ended with me sobbing at the age of 18 and Carlos asking me to try not to scream so loudly because I was scaring his other patients. Hmmm. I have come a long way. I hope Carlos can read this, he would be so proud:)
I just hope my teeth don't fall out tomorrow.
P.S. I am spending New Years in the Philippines. Tickets have been purchased, and I am excited about getting a tan.
We found the place, which is amazing in and of itself. We waited approximately one and a half minutes, after filling out our new patient forms which required our name, phone number and address, and verification of our national health insurance card. No sooner had I sat in the waiting area than they called my name. The cleaning was very quick, but sort of unnerving to have two people looking over you, speaking Chinese, and laughing. When it was over the dentist told me that he saw a "black hole" and did I want to get it "repaired." So of course, my response was "is it going to hurt?" and he said "no, it's just a small one." Then he told me that he wouldn't even need to give me a shot. I was thinking "yeah right Dr. Chung (his real name), ain't happening." Then I said "I don't think so, I am a baby." Then he said, "Oh! Congratulations!" and then I said "Uh... no. I'M a baby." Then, after an awkward 30 seconds or so, I totally surprised myself by saying "ok," which I was not expecting to hear myself say at all. So I allowed Dr. Chung to drill into my tooth, and give me a filling, with no pain medicine or any time for emotional preparation on my part. HOLY MOLY. Some of you who are reading this probably can't believe it. True story. Apparantly I am growing up [finally]. And get this: IT DIDN'T HURT ONE BIT. 100% PAIN FREE.
The best part though, was that I was in that office for a total of 30 minutes, and the whole thing cost me $150NT which at the current exchange rate is $4.60USD.
This whole ordeal reminds me of the time I was tricked by my parents and my dear friend Carlos, who is a dentist, to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled out with local anesthetic only. This episode ended with me sobbing at the age of 18 and Carlos asking me to try not to scream so loudly because I was scaring his other patients. Hmmm. I have come a long way. I hope Carlos can read this, he would be so proud:)
I just hope my teeth don't fall out tomorrow.
P.S. I am spending New Years in the Philippines. Tickets have been purchased, and I am excited about getting a tan.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
this is the day
I just want to make sure that everyone reads this sign. Well, it's two days to my birthday, I have recieved several great packages in the mail--thanks for remembering me! I tell you what, care packages are the best thing that ever happened to this country. I am looking forward to my birthday, I can't help it--I love birthdays whether they're mine or not. But I'm turning 24??? Really?????? I think of what other people have accomplished by that age and it makes me feel a littly panicky. I still haven't even gotten a real job yet! I have had fake jobs my whole life so far! Anyway, I will try to be positive about it and not unreasonable. 24 is the new 21.
Today is that day I have every two weeks when I feel like I absolutely have to get out of here or I will go mad. Usually I love work and the kids and everything, but on these days I want to just hide in a cabinet somewhere. On days like this I secretly look at flights home... just to remind myself that I can't afford it right now anyway. But I have learned to recognize that it's just one day, every few weeks, and that there will be many more, but I will survive. It really doesn't help to know that my whole family will be getting together in Canyon Lake to celebrate Thanksgiving and I wont be there. And I still have to make a pie in my toaster oven which is actually really intimidating me for some reason. I have thought about it every day for at least a month.
Right now I can hear: the kittens pawing at my door in the hallway, scooters zooming by, the garbage truck playing its familiar music, a man speaking loudly in Chinese, and some strange and unidentifyable buzzing noise somewhere outside. As soon as I typed that everything went absolutely quiet so it's kind of freaking me out.
Anyway, even though I don't have much to say, I wanted to write something to keep the blog alive. Hope everyone out there is well and enjoying fall--my favorite time of year.
Today is that day I have every two weeks when I feel like I absolutely have to get out of here or I will go mad. Usually I love work and the kids and everything, but on these days I want to just hide in a cabinet somewhere. On days like this I secretly look at flights home... just to remind myself that I can't afford it right now anyway. But I have learned to recognize that it's just one day, every few weeks, and that there will be many more, but I will survive. It really doesn't help to know that my whole family will be getting together in Canyon Lake to celebrate Thanksgiving and I wont be there. And I still have to make a pie in my toaster oven which is actually really intimidating me for some reason. I have thought about it every day for at least a month.
Right now I can hear: the kittens pawing at my door in the hallway, scooters zooming by, the garbage truck playing its familiar music, a man speaking loudly in Chinese, and some strange and unidentifyable buzzing noise somewhere outside. As soon as I typed that everything went absolutely quiet so it's kind of freaking me out.
Anyway, even though I don't have much to say, I wanted to write something to keep the blog alive. Hope everyone out there is well and enjoying fall--my favorite time of year.
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