Into the Woods

Do you know that musical? The one with Little Red, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and all the other fairy tales I forgot? Do you? I didn't either until my dear friends Arwyn and Fenny introduced me to it a month and a half ago. It was spectacular and you must see it--you simply must.

But this post isn't about the musical. Really. It isn't. Rather it's about my own journey into the woods last weekend. The day was rainy and cold, like any other Northwestern day. But that didn't deter us from our outing to Wallace Falls. I picked up my friend old friend Kelsey, and my new friends Caitlyn, Christina and Steve; we packed into my Explorer; and away we went! Flying through the streets of Duvall, Monroe, and down old Highway 2. Our destination was in the middle of nowhere, but that's where the best trails lie.

It's a beautiful hike, if you ever get the chance to go. Here are some pictures of our expedition:

 {The crew at the beginning of the hike...before it started raining}

{Christina and her little dog, Ruby. Ruby was so excited to out hiking...or maybe it was marking her territory}

 {Rivers in Washington wouldn't be the same without driftwood}

{Kelsey artfully carving her name into a dead tree} 

{A view of the river from one of the many hills}

 {I love misty mountains!}

And, I just realized that I don't have a picture of the actual falls. By the time we got up to the lower falls it was pouring rain, and the trail was starting to get slick. Luckily I had my sister's trusty lavender poncho from 15 years ago. Yeah, it was pretty funny. Go ahead and laugh.

Into the City

So about the time I came back from Taiwan, my cousin Chad was up from California. It's been a huge long while since we've seen each other, and the reunion was pretty awesome. Especially since Tausha, his awesome girlfriend came up with him.

One fine Seattle day, the three of us plus my mom made a trip into the city, to show Tausha the sites, and reacquaint ourselves with our hometown. Having been away for practically eight years, I'd forgotten why I love Seattle so much. I've lived in other big cities all over the world, but nothing quite compares to how I feel in the Emerald City.

Anyhow...the hot spots we hit: 

The Seattle Art Museum--we were there on the first Thursday of the month, so admission was free. We were able to see the Calder and Michelangelo exhibits. It felt good to look at art. It's been almost eight months since I left DC, and I think I took the Smithsonian for granted. I've missed it. 

Pike's Place Market--quite possibly my favorite place. There are just too many great memories with Pike's Place for it not to be. Since it was during the week, it wasn't as crowded as it normally is when I get down there. The flower sellers already had tulips and daffodils! It was bliss. 

The Original Starbucks--I don't drink coffee, but I sure do love Starbucks hot chocolate. It was fun to be in the original store. The atmosphere is very different from any other Starbucks I've ever been too. Plus it was standing room only.

 {See how different it is?}

 
The Fremont Troll--Fremont is one of the coolest parts of town, and if you ever go there, you can't miss the troll under the bridge. It's made an appearance in many movies. The one I can think of the most is Ten Things I Hate About You.  

Gasworks Park--I had no idea how close this was to Fremont--just down the street really. I've been wanting to go here for ages, thinking I've never been. Apparently I've been there when I was just a wee lass, but, you know, it's hard to remember those sorts of things. 

 {Gasworks Park}

 

{Me, Chad, and Tausha. The peace-sign was an ode to Taiwan}

 

{A guy and his slack-line}

 

 {The house boats of Lake Union (think Sleepless in Seattle)}

The park on Queen Anne--I can't remember the name of this park, but it's the one that has the fabulous view of the entire city. It was such a clear day for January that we were able to see Mt. Ranier.

 {View of the Space Needle, EMP, the Seattle Science Museum and Mt. Ranier}

 {View of West Seattle, where the first people of Seattle settled. 

The point was too exposed so they moved further in Elliot Bay to where the city is today.}

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and it was great to spend it with Chad and Tausha. Next time she comes up, I promised her we'd make a trip out to Forks. I mean really...how could you not?

To My Bro...

Happy Birthday!!!!

I know you probably won't see this,

but hope you have a great birthday!
I love you Bud!

The Best of 2009 (continued)

Best Night Out

Ok, so this may seem a bit lame, but my favorite night out of the year was really chill and back when I first returned to Taiwan. It was a Friday night after a loooooong day of teaching and a few of us decided to go to 85 C-- a local bakery. The outside air was the perfect temperature and the company was amazing. Good friends, good conversation--you can't get any better than that.

I was so relieved to be doing something outside of the school. It was the perfect evening. I was rejuvenated for the next morning of class at the grand ol' hour of 8am.

Blog Find of the Year

There are two of these really. I've been trying to be more health conscious and lose some weight, and I ran into Ex Hot Girl about six months ago. She's funny and inspiring, and it feels good to know that I'm not alone out there with this challenge.

The other is almost like a guilty pleasure, minus the guilty part. It's called Nat the Fat Rat, and she just makes me smile. I can relate to her on a different level from the first. Check them both out if you get the chance.

Moment of Peace

Thanksgiving morning--or rather our makeshift Thanksgiving morning considering we celebrated on a Saturday--when I decided to ride to the end of the bike trail. The bike trail itself is 12 km long, and I don't know how many km I had to ride to get there, but it was definitely over a 24 km ride. It was a beautiful day, and it was amazing to spend it out of doors. The bike trail takes you over a few bridges, and let me just say that rivers in Taiwan are so dramatic. The crystal clear blue water against the gray rocks always causes me to stare in wonder. I loved watching the fisherman down on the river and the various groups out on the bike trail. It was wonderful to get away from it all and to have that time to myself to catch my breath.

The Best of 2009

I happened upon this blog sometime in the middle of December and decided this was a cool idea. Though it may be a bit late, I still want to celebrate the end of the past year and the start of the new. So here goes!

The Best of 2009

Best Trip

 Can you guess where this is? I'll give you a couple of hints:

• I was there exactly a year ago.
• It's hot. 
• I road an elephant and slept with a hill tribe.
• And I went with 3 other incredibly cool people (the fourth, not as cool as of late).
• The air smelled of curry and coconut milk!
  

That's right! It's Thailand!

And I absolutely loved it. I'd go back in a heart beat.

 

Restaurant Moment

This one is a toss up between two. One is Ethipian food in Georgetown with a friend and her husband from Washington Seminar. Eating with your hands is always fun, and it was great to catch up with both of them.

This was the other:

The Modern Toilet as found in Taichung, Taiwan. It was wild, and the food was surprisingly good. Only in Asia would bathrooms, toilets, and poo be cutesified. 

Best Book

This one is hard as well, considering I've read so many books this year. But I think there are two that really helped me. Those of you who know me well, that this year was a tough one for many reasons, and I had to find a way to be happy. Authentic Happiness by Dr. Martin Seligman was excellent as well as Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I felt like her memoir, in particular, of getting over a heartbreaking relationship and learning to move on and love yourself was the kick in the pants that I really needed.

And... I'll end this entry right here. There are many more things where those came from, but I dare not make you suffer through a blog novel and a half. As much as I'm sure you adore my writing skills, I won't put you through that...

At least for now.

After all, tomorrow's another day.

(Muahaha!)

I have a job...and it's a real one!

Yeah, that's right...and I've barely been in the States for two weeks! I might add that I'm pretty excited, especially after the agony I endured a year ago job-searching in DC. Let me just say that temp agencies really do work. If there's anyone who is job searching right now, go to a temp agency.

It's kind of ridiculous how quickly it all happened. I went in on Wednesday afternoon for an appointment  at a temp agency. My recruiter (we'll call him Bob for all intents and purposes), was super cool and very enthusiastic. Bob greatly expressed his disappointment that we hadn't met a day sooner. Apparently there was a small investment firm that was looking for a new office manager, and he felt I'd be PERFECT for the job.

I went home that evening thinking that it would probably be week before I heard back from him, as was the case with the temp agencies I worked with in DC. I kid you not, 8:30 the following morning I get a call from Bob. And he's really excited.

As luck would have it, the investment firm didn't like any of the previous interviewees, and were willing to have me come in that afternoon if I were available. I was a bit hesitant because my dear friend Kellyn and her husband were in Seattle interviewing at UW and it was my only chance to hang out with her. We had already made plans, etc. But then I shook my self, and gave myself a talking to:

"Shannon," I said. "What are you thinking? Kellyn would understand how important this is. Plus, what is the one main thing you seriously need at this point in time? That's right, a job. Don't freak out. You'll be fine."

And I was right....Kel totally understood and even drove me to my interview. It was the best. Splendid really.

And then I fell in love with the crew. I met every single person of the 7 person staff over the course of two days (yep, got a second interview), and felt absolutely at home in the office. Splendid I tell you! Bob called me at the end of his shift yesterday and shared that they absolutely loved me.

I did it! I scored a job with a great company and am so excited to be busy and productive again. Granted the days will be early (7am-4pm shift), but heck you can't argue with being on salary and having really good benefits these days. I feel like I've been so blessed and I'm so grateful that everything has worked out in the way that it has.

I'll be sure to have many office antics and anecdotes to share on the blog. It won't be as cute or as entertaining as Taiwanese children, but we shall see. Who knows? Trader Joe's was certainly a great place for interesting happenings. 

What I've been up to...

So, you may have noticed that my blogging has increasingly decreased this past month. The last month of teaching was packed full of all sorts of things but mainly just dancing. Let me explain...

Every other year at Berhan, Halloween and Christmas trade off as the big holiday of Fall semester. Last year it was Christmas. As a result, my boss was trying to come up with something fun and different we could do this year, but have it not take a lot of effort. Hmm...what could we possibly do?

Perhaps, a school wide dance? Perfect!

You may be thinking, so what? Every school has dances, right?

Nope. Not even close. At least here in Taiwan. Due to academics being the main focus at school, kids have little time for social interactions. They start school around 7:30 am and some don't even return home until 10 pm. Yeah. Pretty crazy, huh?

As a result, most Taiwanese enter adulthood totally awkward with the opposite sex. Even more awkward than your typical American. My boss, in his quest (and a mighty good one) to expose our students to all kinds of good, positive experiences decided that we have a Christmas dance, and teach all of our students the waltz. I thought it was fabulous.

Each day for about 10 minutes, we would practice in our classrooms. Then every Thursday or Friday we would go upstairs to "the big room" and show our boss our progress. At first my students moaned and groaned--especially my fifth graders. But as the weeks went by and the dance grew closer, I could tell that they were secretly excited.

The nights of the big dances (we had two because not all students have classes on the same day) were the Thursday and Friday before the last week of class.

My boss really wanted to teach the students manners, and especially treat boys to treat girls with respect. Their way of getting around girls feeling left out is by putting all the girls' names in a basket and having the boys draw. It ended up being pretty funny. I danced with my student Simon (the girls were lacking), and we decided to make a game of it. We tried to see how many people we could poke from our class (a class joke of sorts). I think it made it less tedious for poor Simon. 

Overall, I think it was a success, and I hope it's a tradition they will continue each year.