The emerald typhoon, Morakot

At the very top of this picture of typhoon Morakot (meaning 'emerald' in Thai) you can see the slight white outline of Taiwan. If you can't see it very well, it's probably because the massive spinning mass of moisture is right on top of it.

Connie and Lisa, my two roommates have been tracking the tropical storms in our area wishing and hoping that a typhoon would come our way. The only days off from school this semester will be typhoon days, so we were pretty darn exciting when we found out last night that school was canceled today. Just take a look here:



It was a joyous celebration! Here you can actually hear the rain in the background:


The wind was blowing hard and fast, and this is what we found this morning:Laundry strewn all over the place. A little bit later a huge flower pot was blown off the ledge and dirt was all over the place.

So far the day has been a wonderful holiday from school. And...I really haven't done a thing. Sarah and I did take a walk into the center of town on a food run. We found some pretty funny things that I'll blog about later.

Here's to Morakot--the grand emerald typhoon!!

What are three girls to do on a fabulous, sunny, Taiwanese Saturday?

Bike to Taichung of course! For some reason we thought it would be a splendid idea to bike from Feng Yuan, the town in which we live, to the nearby city, Taichung. The last time I was here I though it would be a fun adventure, but didn't think anymore of it.

Well, until Leia, a student of mine, told me that she and her dad biked to Taiwan last weekend.

Me: Really?
Miss Leia: Yes, really.
Me: How long did it take you?
ML: Hmmm. About, about, about....I don't know.
Me: Really, you don't remember how long it took you?
ML: Miss Shan, I got new gloves. See! Oh, maybe two hours?

Only two hours! I had been thinking that it would take much longer. And, Leia most distinctively pointed out to me, they had ridden to the mountains, not the town.

My mind started mulling over this new bit of knowledge. I mentioned it to my roommate Connie, and immediately we decided it would be a cool thing to do. This past weekend promised to be the perfect opportunity for such a jaunt.

After my Saturday morning class, Connie, Erin and I loaded up our bikes with our waterbottles and bags, and started pedaling. And...it didn't take us very long at all. Granted most of the way into town was downhill, but still. I was shocked to find that it took us 55 minutes to get to the center of Taichung--that's only 10 minutes slower than the bus! And we weren't booking it by any means.

{Connie and Erin on the road}

{Yes, that is a building with Britney Spears plastered on it's side}

We ended up parking our bikes at the Church, and then set out to go exploring. We didn't get far. Only across the street where we found a Sushi Express, and had to go in. And it was fantastic!

We decided to go to Chung Yo, the big department store, and Connie and Erin got there makeup done at the MAC counter (Mindy, you've converted me!). As we were leaving we heard some pretty cool music coming from outside. Often there's some sort of concert going on on Saturdays so we went and investigated. It ended up being a belly dancing contest. And it was pretty much amazing!

It was interesting to see the different variety of women--and man--who made up the different teams/groups. Culturally in Taiwan one cannot be beautiful and big at the same time. Asians do have a tendency to be smaller boned, and I think because of that women have a lot of pressure to be slender, and sometimes unnaturally so. It was refreshing to see these middle aged women not ashamed of their bodies, even though they didn't necessarily fit what was culturally acceptable.

One of the teams singled out Erin and asked if she would film them. They were from Taipei and didn't have any friends to do it for them. They happened to be really good. Allen was the only guy belly dancer, and man did he have some amazing moves. His partner, Maggie, was absolutely gorgeous.

{One of the performing groups before the actually performance}

{I loved the colors}{Maggie and Allen performing}{Allen and Maggie after the show}

Good times, good times. I think I might have had more fun taking pictures of the the crowd than of the actual performers.

{Taiwanese school girls}{The most adorable girl wearing a mask at the show}
{A dog wearing goggles. Totally normal, right?}

{Cute Asian fashion}

{Gotta love the Hello Kitty umbrella}
Here's to a day of complete awesomeness! One of tans, endorphins, and amazing memories!

{Erin, Connie, and I with our bikes. Just about to ride back to Feng Yuan}

Accidentally seeing an (almost) total eclipse...

...and I'm afraid it was not of the heart. It was actually of the sun. And it was a pretty big deal. So big that I accidentally saw it.

Today was the first time in almost 200 years (I'm probably exaggerating) that a total solar eclipse could be seen from mainland Asia. And for me it meant an 80% solar eclipse in Taiwan. Yesterday, my awesome roommate Connie sent me a news link all about it. According to the article it was supposed to be tonight. But it wasn't. It happened to be this morning. At 9:40 am.

And that was about the time that I rolled out of bed this morning (due to sickness, I promise). I woke up and thought that it was awfully dark for it being almost 10 o'clock in the morning. I got up, put on my running clothes and climbed the stairs to the roof, where I do my ritual morning run. As I peered at the town I thought that it was very humid/hazy, even though I could totally tell that the sky was a gorgeous blue. I couldn't see the sun (you'd think that would have been a clue). I just thought (joyously) that maybe a typhoon was on it's way (I really am too hopeful). I went on and did my jog. Went back down stairs, showered, and got ready for the day.

It wasn't until Connie returned from her Chinese class, and after some serious research did we realize that the eclipse happened without us even knowing. And that darkness/haziness was in fact the side effects of the eclipse.

It was a travesty. But we did learn that the next total solar eclipse will happen off the coast of Tahiti in July 2010. Our plan is to take a Tahitian cruise, see the eclipse, and then head on down to Australia. It would be quite nice.

So here's to solar eclipses, even though I seem to only accidentally see them.

Taiwan, Horchata, and a mean game o' MASH

I haven't written much about my time in DC, or about the people that surrounded me there. One of my wonderful roomates in DC--Danya--is from Mexico City. She is warm, funny, and absolutely gorgeous! Often she would come home from a long day at work and make Horchata--a refreshing drink on those hot and humid summer nights. Lucky me--she was also incredibly generous with sharing her authentic Mexican food secrets. She knew I was soon going to find myself in the land of rice, and she taught me how to make this delectable treat. Bless her!

Last night was the perfect evening for such a treat. Five of us Berhaners got together for a spiritual thought, an AMAZING game of MASH (flash back to grade school days), and Horchata. The evening could have only been enjoyed by a group of 20-something ex-pats. And it was glorious.

My future is to be spent living in the lap of luxury in a gorgeous mansion, with James McAvoy, who is no longer an adorable actor, but a lawyer. Those are probably the only good things about my proposed future because I am also to work in a sweat shop in Mexico working for 1 cent an hour. I will have 25 children, and have dinosaur as a pet. But I guess another redeeming item is that I spent my honeymoon on the Croatian coast. Lovely.

Overall these are the nights that make memories. I'm excited for much more with this awesome group of people!

Fourth of July Weekend!

So I was bit disappointed when I realized that I'd be spending a second 4th of July in a row outside the lovely, grand, country of America and was determined to celebrate it this year no matter what (last year I missed out on the festivities because I had to finish lesson plans). So where else should an American girl celebrate the 4th, but at the restaurant of awesomeness--Humanitics. Yes, I look kinda discussing. The humidity has caused my hair to fro, and for my makeup to melt. But that was one mighty fine rasperry drink thingy.

The plan for after our amazing dinner of sorts was to see a totally American movie--Transformers. But we were somewhat delayed by the monsoon rains that sporadically come and go, but on that particular day, a bit more frequent than usual. After running from one convenience store to another trying to find coveted ponchos we finally set out for our destination, only to find that all the tickets were sold out. Dang it!

But we did not despair...Sarah, my newly made friend, is an avid Chuck watcher, as am I. So instead of watching the heavily anticipated blockbuster we returned to the school and dreamily watched the tale of a computer nerd turned CIA/NSA's top-secret secret.

There were no fire works, there were no anthems, but that will never change the fact that deep down inside that I am proud to be an AMERICAN!

America,

Peace!

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!