Days in Utah...

So this is kind of a flash back to the last week in the States. Many of you may know that I spent a week in Utah visiting friends and family. One of my most favorite things was going on a hike with this lovely lady:Miss Linds, my amazing little sis. We had a spectacular time enjoying the view. Here's a look:

It was week of many firsts, including a trip to Spoon Me. It was fabulous to catch up with old Taiwan friends, and to celebrate Russia's B-day, even though it was a day late!
It was a great week! I'll miss you guys much!

Formosa, otherwise known as the beautiful isle of Taiwan...

So I've mad it to Taiwan after 24 long hours of traveling. And I already love it. I've gone back to my regular routine (as much as possible), so much so that I keep on going into the wrong fridge to grab my food. I'm staying in the same room with the same fabulous roommates. I've biked the circle road, gone to Woo's had 2 bingshas and 2 dong gwa neo nais. Went to Carrefour. Life is bliss!

The only thing is that I forgot my battery charger for my camera, the cord that connects my camera to my computer, and my external hard drive. How int he world did I do that? Those are like the most important things when traveling to a new place.

Seeing my old friends again has been wonderful! Seeing my old students has been amazing! I found out that I'll be teaching my fourth grade class again (they are now fifth graders) and I'm totally stoked about it.

Some things have changed, but many have stayed the same. I guess that's how life is though. I'm really excited for this next semester! It's going to be great.

I'll post pictures as soon as I have everything under control.

Here's to do something meaningful in one's life!

Humidity makes quite a difference...

So here I am in the great state of Utah. I got in last night, finishing my 3 day road trip from DC. Long, yes. Fun, absolutely! I was a bit worried about this road trip because I was comatose most of the time when I made the trip out to DC with my mom in January. I'm so proud of myself because I did all the driving. Through the severe weather of Maryland (it was pretty intense) to the not so severe weather of the middle states.

Did you know that America is BEAUTIFUL? I think I take it for granted. But I'm so glad that I had this chance to see part of the country that I'd never had before.

But I definitely have to say that I prefer the dryness of the west to the humidity of the east. Why are you moving to Taiwan? you may ask. Well, let's just say it's not for the weather.

Packing...

...sucks!

I'm currently packing for two trips. Above are the clothes/shoes I'm wanting to take to Taiwan. I don't think it will fit, or weight under the 50 lbs limit enforced by the airline companies. I don't leave for another 2 weeks, but this Saturday I'm road tripping out to Utah were I am catching my plane to Taiwan. So my suitcases for Taiwan have to be packed, but there are still some things I'm going to want to use in the next 2 weeks.

Tricky...very tricky.

Why does this happen to me?

So today I decided to get my roots done, so I hopped on over to Tyson's Corner where a Paul Mitchell Academy is housed (love it!). Unfortunately this lovely place is in the Mall, where there are tons and tons and tons and tons of kiosks with annoying people waiting to pounce on you. If you know me, I avoid salespeople and kiosk attendants like the plague. But for some reason the people at the kiosks in Tyson's Corner are unusually aggressive.

A week or so ago, my friend Mindy showed me the Mall. Even though I live only 15 minutes away from Virginia's largest mall, and that I've lived here for over a month, I still hadn't ventured that far west. Sad I know. Anyways, as we were walking by one of the kiosks, I got stuck. I hesitated and they pounced. It was horrible, but I managed to get away without buying anything. Yet, I was still impressed with the product, but it was WAY too expensive.

Flash to this morning. I wasn't so lucky. I passed by the same kiosk as last time, and even walked as far away from them as possible, and pretended to look in shop windows. But then, a incredibly gorgeous accent accosted me. Note to self: never make eye contact with kiosk attendants. Especially if they are highly attractive men from Italy. I was able to resist last time, but today I wasn't so lucky. He was so hot--though incredibly cheesy. Who says, Excuse my sexy accent? I know, right? But, he did give me a major discount. Major discount.

I remember a few years back when one of my roommates fell prey to a kiosk attendant selling dead sea salts scrubs. She was furious when she got home, and felt tricked. The injustice! Now I totally know how she felt!

Has this happened to anyone else? Is anyone else a sucker for accents, which get them into trouble? I truly hope I'm not the only one!

I live in the Hood Yo!

So this video has been passed around the inner circles of the DC/Arlington elite. It's hilarious! I got it from a co-worker, and then from my old intern supervisor in an email. Enjoy!

jste češka?

So I'm supposedly tri-lingual. Or rather, I'm fluent in one (English), studied another (French), and somewhat speak yet another (Czech). All in all, the last two languages are beautiful, at least to me, but not as useful as say Russian or Spanish, or even Mandarin for that matter. After having studied and lived in France for two months, and then serving a mission in the Czech Republic for a year and a half, you would think that my language skills would be impressive. But, unfortunately, I haven't had much use for either one of them.

Until now. French may not be a hot commodity on the West Coast, but on the East, it sure is. There are so many francophony here, and I work with a lot of them. There are a handful of guys from Algeria, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, etc that communicate in French. I have to admit that I haven't been brave enough to use the French that I do know, but who's to say that I won't?

I've now graduated to the level of cashier, and have gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. I get to strike up random conversations with people that come through my lines. Some of them flop:

Me: Did you find everything you wanted today?
Boring customer: Yes.
Me: Do you have any fun plans for tonight?
BC: No, not really.

Ok then...

But some of them end up being incredibly cool. Like this one lady with a very distinctive Eastern European accent.

Me: Did you find everything you wanted today?
Lovely, Brilliant customer: Yes, and so much more. I came in for this beer, but ended up getting so much more...

She went on and on and somehow I got the impression that she was Czech. So randomly I asked, "Jste češka?" (are you Czech?)

She excitedly replied, "Ano!!! Jsem!"

I was flabbergasted. This is the first random Czech citizen I've run into the entire time I've been back. All other Czechs I've come in contact with I've already known. We carried on an entire conversation in Czech ("You speak so well," she said. "Oh, you're too kind," I said). We spoke about the weather, my mission, where she's from, what she's doing here, what I'm doing here, etc. It was wonderful! I was so excited/shocked/nervous (my language skills are definitely rusty) that I was tripping over my r's and ř's.

I now have a new Czech friend, though I don't know her name. And now that I'm not a missionary I can tykat (use the informal) and not feel guilty about it.

Oh, bliss!