To my wonderful dad....
I love you!!!
Red Shoe Something
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Barbecue--Taiwan Style
{The really cool home-made basketball hoop that the kids absolutely adored.}
{The view from Sue's. That's the bike trail bridge in the distance, though it's not so far away. About a ten minute walk to be exact.}
{Gerald, my boss, playing with all of the kids. They were going crazy!!!}
Fishing
They had a concrete fish pond stocked with over 200 fish. And, I caught one...yeah, I'm pretty amazing. 
{Brian, Erin, Sunny, Wendy, Connie, and Lisa fishing.}
{Kelly holding one of the unlucky fellas. Don't you just love her
Abercrombie shirt? The secretaries were having a contest to see who could look
the most like a foreigner (aka American). I think Kelly won.}
{Lindsay and Angelica checking out the scene.}
{One of the fish we caught...}
{... and after.}
The Sunset
Connie, Wendy and I decided to wander on down to the river to watch the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful. It seems to happen that every time I somewhat go hiking I always wear the worst kind of foot wear possible. So this time I decided to ditch my flipflops before they broke.
It was a fun time to try out new camera shots and just reflect on the beauty of this island. And who knew all this beauty was only a ten minute car ride from the school? I seriously gotta get out more. One last final picture:
Koala's mom is one of the secretaries, so he was there with his two little twin brothers. Can you say adorable? Koala was having a blast being a kid in a kid-appropriate area. It was so much fun seeing him let loose and that it was ok for him to do it. He was going wild on the bikes, and I seriously thought he was going to kill himself a few times.
Here's to wonderful food, friends, and of course, Taiwan!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
lai, lai, lai...
Come, come, come!
Where, where, where? you ask. The Science Fair! Yeah, you got it. Berhan's very own Science Fair, and my 5th graders pretty much rocked it! (Well, there may not have been too much competition considering we were one of two classes in the actual fair, but still, we rocked it).
It was kinda funny to see my classes attitude toward the science fair this year. Last year, I was stressed out and was feeling the pressure. This year I didn't really care about it. It was more of an opportunity to have fun. And luckily all of my students didn't really care about talking in front of the other students this year. All of this equated a very good presentation. They were all chill, cool, and collected.
And, their display was spectacular.
And you're probably wondering what our project was. A friend told me that if you plug your nose you can't tell the difference in taste between an apple and a potato. We tested all the classes and found that this was false. So the next day we tested them on difference between different flavors of Skittles. And this one worked a bit better.
I found out a lot about my students through the process as well. I found out that even though Luke may not be the best English student, he is an excellent artist. He was in charge of the art on the poster, and he spent a great deal of time and craft creating the perfect apples and Skittles to paste on our board. Simon's favorite subject is Chinese. Frank is a natural presenter, and Madline is good at organizing and delegating specific tasks. Hello to enlightenment!
And hello cuteness:
Where, where, where? you ask. The Science Fair! Yeah, you got it. Berhan's very own Science Fair, and my 5th graders pretty much rocked it! (Well, there may not have been too much competition considering we were one of two classes in the actual fair, but still, we rocked it).
It was kinda funny to see my classes attitude toward the science fair this year. Last year, I was stressed out and was feeling the pressure. This year I didn't really care about it. It was more of an opportunity to have fun. And luckily all of my students didn't really care about talking in front of the other students this year. All of this equated a very good presentation. They were all chill, cool, and collected.
And, their display was spectacular.
I found out a lot about my students through the process as well. I found out that even though Luke may not be the best English student, he is an excellent artist. He was in charge of the art on the poster, and he spent a great deal of time and craft creating the perfect apples and Skittles to paste on our board. Simon's favorite subject is Chinese. Frank is a natural presenter, and Madline is good at organizing and delegating specific tasks. Hello to enlightenment!
And hello cuteness:
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Will you be my pen pal?
I remember the one and only time I had a pen pal. I was in first or second grade and my pen pal was from Wisconsin or one of the other states in the middle of the country. I remember getting letters in class from my pen pal, and thinking how cool it was that I had a friend in another state. Unfortunately our writing stopped at the end of the school year.
Since then I have wished that I had had a pen pal from some other cool place like France, for instance (I was totally obsessed with France from fourth grade on through high school and most of college. It wasn't until I lived in the Czech Republic that that obsession died down a bit). But alas, I never did find one. And, I must admit, I'm horrible at writing. So nowadays I try to write my real friends that I do know, rather than finding myself a pen pal. But that doesn't mean that I can't find pen pals for other people!
And that's just what I did...well, my mom did actually, and now that I think about it, I can't really take the credit for the idea either--that would be Connie. In any case, all nine of my fifth graders have pen pals in America thanks to my amazing mom! And my kids are totally stoked about it.
Most of today we spent talking about what kinds of things you would include in a letter. Questions about there families, about their hobbies, about their schools, etc. Some of my students were more excited than others, or at least on the surface. At the end of class today, I was really surprised to see how much they were able to write, and how good their writing was.
It's fun to have a class project, and a way for my fifth graders to have another reason why they should learn English other than the fact that their parents said that they had to. I'm excited to see how this all pans out. I'll definitely keep everyone updated.
Who knows? Maybe their relationships as pen pals can become life long friendships.
Things to do: find cute stationary for girls, and manly stationary for boys (yes, my boys wanted stationary, which may prove to be a very big challenge).
Since then I have wished that I had had a pen pal from some other cool place like France, for instance (I was totally obsessed with France from fourth grade on through high school and most of college. It wasn't until I lived in the Czech Republic that that obsession died down a bit). But alas, I never did find one. And, I must admit, I'm horrible at writing. So nowadays I try to write my real friends that I do know, rather than finding myself a pen pal. But that doesn't mean that I can't find pen pals for other people!
And that's just what I did...well, my mom did actually, and now that I think about it, I can't really take the credit for the idea either--that would be Connie. In any case, all nine of my fifth graders have pen pals in America thanks to my amazing mom! And my kids are totally stoked about it.
Most of today we spent talking about what kinds of things you would include in a letter. Questions about there families, about their hobbies, about their schools, etc. Some of my students were more excited than others, or at least on the surface. At the end of class today, I was really surprised to see how much they were able to write, and how good their writing was.
It's fun to have a class project, and a way for my fifth graders to have another reason why they should learn English other than the fact that their parents said that they had to. I'm excited to see how this all pans out. I'll definitely keep everyone updated.
Who knows? Maybe their relationships as pen pals can become life long friendships.
Things to do: find cute stationary for girls, and manly stationary for boys (yes, my boys wanted stationary, which may prove to be a very big challenge).
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Lazy Saturdays
Hooray for lazy weekends, in which I have nothing planned! I rolled out of bed at 7:30 am Saturday morning to teach my very important class of my very important fifth graders. Class went very well, and all of my very important fifth graders actually showed up to my very important class. One even brought me breakfast! So sweet.
Anyways, I normally don't plan anything for the weekend because they generally sneak up on me and by that time I'm typically too tired to do anything incredibly strenuous. But yesterday, I was a bit bummed that I had nothing to do. I've been feeling kind of cooped up and felt like I needed to get out. Luckily, one of my co-workers and friends, Joseph invited me to go to this secret waterfall (well, it's not really secret, but I like to pretend that it is) up in the mountains of a near-by town. I hesitated because I had already laid-out for the day and didn't want to get sunburned like I did the other weekend. But, I did want to get out of the school, because I was getting cabin fever. Thank heavens I did! And thank heavens Joseph was kind enough to invite me to go!
The scooter ride alone was well worth it. As soon as you get out of Feng Yuan and into Taiping, things start opening up a bit more. The buildings are shorter and the streets are wider. You can actually see vegetation, and the air begins to smell a bit fresher. Then it was up, up, up into the mountains. A few times I thought I was going to fall off the back of the scooter due to the steep incline.
After the scooter was securely parked this is the amazing, let me say vista, that I beheld:
When we got to the actual waterfall I noticed that there were an awful lot of white people--aka Westerners. After being in a somewhat secluded area for so long, it's strange to see a whole group of my fellow countrymen, or rather fellow continent dwellers. One of the guys I talked to was from Nova Scotia, and he had only been on island a week. Crazy! But pretty spectacular that he got to spend his first weekend at a tropical waterfall.
Joseph told me that the water was pretty low, and normally there is a lot more water in the actual falls. Still, I was pretty impressed. The waterfall empties into a very deep swimming hole which is surrounded by cliffs--yup, you got that right cliffs. So ti's definitely an ideal place for cliff jumping. This video is of Joseph jumping from one of the shorter rocks. He was seriously like a spider monkey and was climbing all over the place!
{Above: The actual waterfall, and Joseph. Normally the water goes the entire width of the rock. Right: Joseph about to jump off part of a cliff that know one else could climb to. He somehow found hand and foot holds.}
By the time we left the sun was starting to get low in the sky. So traced our footsteps back to the scooter. I was soaking wet, and as a result my flip flops started to get muddy and very slippery. I ended up walking most of the way back to the scooter bare foot. Luckily there was no broken glass, nor thorns for me to step on. At one point I thought it was safe to put them back on, and the toe hold came out of the shoe. So at that point I didn't have any shoes I could wear. It was all good though. :)
Jospeh wanted to try a different way home that went along the mountains, and it was absolutely beautiful. At one point we weren't sure if we were still on the same road because it was taking quite a bit longer than the intial ride to the waterfall...an hour and a half longer. But I did see more of the surrounding area in that one scooter ride than in the entire first six months I lived in Feng Yuan. So worth it!
I love lazy Saturdays and impromptu outings, even if I have to suffer through numb bum on the scoot-scoot root-a-toot!
Anyways, I normally don't plan anything for the weekend because they generally sneak up on me and by that time I'm typically too tired to do anything incredibly strenuous. But yesterday, I was a bit bummed that I had nothing to do. I've been feeling kind of cooped up and felt like I needed to get out. Luckily, one of my co-workers and friends, Joseph invited me to go to this secret waterfall (well, it's not really secret, but I like to pretend that it is) up in the mountains of a near-by town. I hesitated because I had already laid-out for the day and didn't want to get sunburned like I did the other weekend. But, I did want to get out of the school, because I was getting cabin fever. Thank heavens I did! And thank heavens Joseph was kind enough to invite me to go!
The scooter ride alone was well worth it. As soon as you get out of Feng Yuan and into Taiping, things start opening up a bit more. The buildings are shorter and the streets are wider. You can actually see vegetation, and the air begins to smell a bit fresher. Then it was up, up, up into the mountains. A few times I thought I was going to fall off the back of the scooter due to the steep incline.
After the scooter was securely parked this is the amazing, let me say vista, that I beheld:
{We had to hike down to the river and then go upstream.
The waterfall is hidden in the picture but would
be about in the middle of the picture if it could be seen.}
We had to hike down to the river and then walk about 100 yards to get to the waterfall. It was quite fun, and I felt like I was 10 again jumping back and forth along the drift wood found on the beaches of the Washington Peninsula. I unfortunately made the very poor choice of wearing flip flops instead of my Chacos. Note to self-- NEVER pick flip flops over Chacos.When we got to the actual waterfall I noticed that there were an awful lot of white people--aka Westerners. After being in a somewhat secluded area for so long, it's strange to see a whole group of my fellow countrymen, or rather fellow continent dwellers. One of the guys I talked to was from Nova Scotia, and he had only been on island a week. Crazy! But pretty spectacular that he got to spend his first weekend at a tropical waterfall.
Joseph told me that the water was pretty low, and normally there is a lot more water in the actual falls. Still, I was pretty impressed. The waterfall empties into a very deep swimming hole which is surrounded by cliffs--yup, you got that right cliffs. So ti's definitely an ideal place for cliff jumping. This video is of Joseph jumping from one of the shorter rocks. He was seriously like a spider monkey and was climbing all over the place!
By the time we left the sun was starting to get low in the sky. So traced our footsteps back to the scooter. I was soaking wet, and as a result my flip flops started to get muddy and very slippery. I ended up walking most of the way back to the scooter bare foot. Luckily there was no broken glass, nor thorns for me to step on. At one point I thought it was safe to put them back on, and the toe hold came out of the shoe. So at that point I didn't have any shoes I could wear. It was all good though. :)
Jospeh wanted to try a different way home that went along the mountains, and it was absolutely beautiful. At one point we weren't sure if we were still on the same road because it was taking quite a bit longer than the intial ride to the waterfall...an hour and a half longer. But I did see more of the surrounding area in that one scooter ride than in the entire first six months I lived in Feng Yuan. So worth it!
I love lazy Saturdays and impromptu outings, even if I have to suffer through numb bum on the scoot-scoot root-a-toot!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Five things....
So, I really haven't been the best at keeping up the gratitude list thing. But will try to do better. I'm so glad that the week is almost over. I just have one more class tomorrow morning. Teaching 6 days a week isn't the greatest, but I guess I can't complain because I'm fortunate enough to actually have a job. And that would be number one on my list...
1. That I have a job. I remember the days back in Jan.-April when I didn't have a job. And it sucked. Having all that free time at first was nice, but there is such a thing of getting sick of having nothing to do. I did A LOT of reading. But it was nice to finally get a job at Trader Joe's.
2. Having a good day of teaching. All of my classes went really well today. Normally Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are my most dreaded days, but today I was pleasantly surprised. One of my kids pretended to take a bite out of my arm and continued on saying that I tasted good. Really funny.
3. Chill nights out. Tonight after work was perfect. Arwyn, Lisa, and I headed down to my favorite Teppanyaki joint and had good food and conversation. Then on the way home we decided to get bevs at 85 C, a coffee shop. Once there we spotted some other teachers from the school and joined them. We stayed there all in all for about an hour and a half. It was just pleasant to get out and enjoy one's self.
4. Nice co-workers. It really makes a big difference on how I feel about work.
5. Being able to sleep in. Today I didn't get to, nor will I tomorrow, or Sunday, but it makes me appreciate the days that I can so much more!
I know that was terribly short, and probably not that interesting. But I'm not going to worry about that now. I just finished Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason, and realized that it was loosely based on my favorite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion. That made me happy, because I feel like I can relate to Bridget apart from all the booze and promiscuity. Anyways, she always makes me laugh, no matter what mood I'm in.
Here's to happy things in one's life!
1. That I have a job. I remember the days back in Jan.-April when I didn't have a job. And it sucked. Having all that free time at first was nice, but there is such a thing of getting sick of having nothing to do. I did A LOT of reading. But it was nice to finally get a job at Trader Joe's.
2. Having a good day of teaching. All of my classes went really well today. Normally Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are my most dreaded days, but today I was pleasantly surprised. One of my kids pretended to take a bite out of my arm and continued on saying that I tasted good. Really funny.
3. Chill nights out. Tonight after work was perfect. Arwyn, Lisa, and I headed down to my favorite Teppanyaki joint and had good food and conversation. Then on the way home we decided to get bevs at 85 C, a coffee shop. Once there we spotted some other teachers from the school and joined them. We stayed there all in all for about an hour and a half. It was just pleasant to get out and enjoy one's self.
4. Nice co-workers. It really makes a big difference on how I feel about work.
5. Being able to sleep in. Today I didn't get to, nor will I tomorrow, or Sunday, but it makes me appreciate the days that I can so much more!
I know that was terribly short, and probably not that interesting. But I'm not going to worry about that now. I just finished Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason, and realized that it was loosely based on my favorite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion. That made me happy, because I feel like I can relate to Bridget apart from all the booze and promiscuity. Anyways, she always makes me laugh, no matter what mood I'm in.
Here's to happy things in one's life!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
5 things...
Today it's going to be short and sweet (hopefully) because it's getting late. :)
1. My friend Lex. I just had the most amazing chat with her over facebook (it is good for something!), and it was exactly what I needed.
2. Running. I love the way I feel after I go running. Endorphins are amazing. And I especially love running when i have new music to run to. Today it was Lady Gaga.
3. Hamburgers. Every once in a while I crave a good ol' hamburger. Unfortunately the best place to get a burger here is at McDonald's, but today it sure did hit the spot.
4. Having a new teaching schedule. This was the first week of Chinese school for our classes, so my teaching schedule got switched around a bit. Now on Tuesdays I only teach one class. It was so nice to have those extra hours to myself which I then spent on doing progress reports for my first graders.
5. Good health. Today when I went into my class two of my students had eye problems and another wasn't feeling very well. I'm grateful for being healthy, and for not being sick at the moment. Hopefully I will stay that way for a while. And I'm grateful for cheap medical insurance. If the States could go to a system like Taiwan's, I'd be a happy camper.
That's all for today, but like I promised before, I'll be posting something else soon. I promise!
1. My friend Lex. I just had the most amazing chat with her over facebook (it is good for something!), and it was exactly what I needed.
2. Running. I love the way I feel after I go running. Endorphins are amazing. And I especially love running when i have new music to run to. Today it was Lady Gaga.
3. Hamburgers. Every once in a while I crave a good ol' hamburger. Unfortunately the best place to get a burger here is at McDonald's, but today it sure did hit the spot.
4. Having a new teaching schedule. This was the first week of Chinese school for our classes, so my teaching schedule got switched around a bit. Now on Tuesdays I only teach one class. It was so nice to have those extra hours to myself which I then spent on doing progress reports for my first graders.
5. Good health. Today when I went into my class two of my students had eye problems and another wasn't feeling very well. I'm grateful for being healthy, and for not being sick at the moment. Hopefully I will stay that way for a while. And I'm grateful for cheap medical insurance. If the States could go to a system like Taiwan's, I'd be a happy camper.
That's all for today, but like I promised before, I'll be posting something else soon. I promise!
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