The Adventures of Fei Kaidi

Another day, another dollar

2009-12-30T15:36:00.003-05:00

For everyone's information, I will be moving to the greater Washington DC area in February.

Huzzah for full-time employment! If you're in the area and looking for a roommate with an awesome 50lb dog (or know someone who might be), feel free to let me know.

I will again (emptily?) promise an interesting blog entry soon, but for now, I'm enjoying my winter vacation in Miami.

Also, remember Y2K? Yeah, that was ten years ago.

November, where have you gone?

2009-11-30T23:43:00.000-05:00

It seems November has come and gone without making an appearance on my blog. So here's what has happened since last I left you:

I went to the Harvard Band 90th Reunion and got to see some old friends; Jonathan even flew in from Poland for the weekend, in part because...
I turned 24;
The Phillies were once again in the World Series, but thanks to uncapped salaries in the MLB, did not reach the same conclusion as last year;
I got Windows 7 as a birthday gift from my brother John, and so far it is as awesome as all the commercials make it sound;
Milo has started sleeping a million hours a day, so I no longer have a puppy's urgent bladder waking me up in the early morning;
I bowled over 100 twice in one evening;
Thanksgiving happened and I ate my weight in turkey and pumpkin pie;
I attended my 5-year high school reunion, which was not as awkward or uncomfortable as anticipated;
I finally ordered a monitor (TV) for my computer from TigerDirect's Pink Friday sale, so I can stop borrowing my Dad's.

I have a handful of half-written blog entries in my head about various unrecorded Taiwan experiences, but I'm finding it increasingly hard to write them out. Wrapping up those few last entries will really conclude my year in Taiwan, and as I still tell acquaintances that "I just got back from being abroad," it seems weird to let go of the experience entirely. There has been a real lack of continuity in my life since graduation. I spent a year in another country with another language and a new routine and a whole set of new people, then I abruptly returned to suburban Pennsylvania with a year of holidays and birthdays gone by, finding my friends with jobs and apartments instead of classes and dorm rooms.

Enough of that. I just wanted to say, I haven't forgotten about this blog or about the things I plan to write in it. I thought all I needed was to find the time to create (of which I have plenty), but as it turns out I still haven't found all the right words.

Milo has fallen for an older woman

2009-10-24T13:21:00.005-04:00

I knew it would be an adjustment bringing Milo from our 4-bedroom, 4-person apartment in Taiwan to my 2-to-3-person, multi-level house with my mom's 12 year old dachshund Daphne in the Philadelphia suburbs. Daphne and Milo started off curious about each other. Despite the fact that he is at least four times her size, Daphne calls the shots in this house. Still, though, he occasionally baits her into playing, and has influenced her to stay frolicking outside just a little bit longer than she had before.

Lately, though, instead of claiming spots at opposite corners of the kitchen (their domain during the day-- at night Milo stays with me and Daphne with my mom), they've been sharing the bigger bed and cuddling. While I'm pretty sure Daphne is in it for the comfort and warmth as the temperatures grow colder, Milo seems to have drawn bigger conclusions.

A few mornings ago, I woke up earlier than usual and brought Milo downstairs. As usual, he eagerly went outside to release his bladder's nightly accrual. When I let him in and filled his dog bowl with breakfast, though, he just looked up at me confused. He kept looking from the bowl to the door and back to the bowl. In Taiwan, Milo always downed his food almost before it hit the bowl, eating it more quickly than we thought caninely possible. But here he was, eating a few pieces and then looking nervously to the door.

When Daphne came down just a few minutes later, and I gave her her breakfast, Milo began eating as quickly and enthusiastically as ever. Apparently, he didn't want to get in trouble for starting to eat without his date.

This morning, Milo and I slept in. When we came downstairs, Daphne was already here and (I'm pretty sure) successfully breakfasted. So I let Milo out and filled his bowl. He just looked at it. No eating, not even picking at it. I figured the late wake-up time had thrown off his hunger, so I figured he'd eat it when he wanted. After 20 minutes, he started throwing up. To avoid grossing you out, I'll just say that this kind of throw-up comes from the dog not having any food in his stomach. So here Milo was, getting sick in front of a very indifferent Daphne, with a full bowl of food only a few feet away. So I poured Daphne a second breakfast and coaxed her into eating it, and Milo began gulping his food with gusto.

The poor little guy, hopelessly attached to this older woman who only occasionally cares about him in return. Unfortunately for me, Daphne's biggest manifestation of love for Milo is in the way she often runs to my door to wake him before heading to the kitchen. Thanks, Daphne.

Let's hope he can shake this affection when we finally move out of the house!

Note: This kind of material is all I have to write about while my life is restricted to the Main Line. What can I say, I'm giving it a shot.

New addition to the technology family

2009-10-06T00:19:00.001-04:00

After leaving Poland on September 23rd, after having Jonathan's real computers with which to upload photos and type blog entries, I just couldn't manage to update on my 7" netbook, a.k.a. "baby laptop." Since my normal Dell laptop has been moody for months (by "moody," I mean that it refuses to turn on most of the time), and unemployed people rely on technology to find jobs, connect with others, and keep themselves entertained, I decided to stop putting off the inevitable and get a new computer.

Except now, as I have loads of time on my hands and not so much money, I went the somewhat cheaper route and decided to build my own computer. Of course, building your own PC is not the cheapest route for everyone. If you aren't picky about the quality of your parts, or you have to buy an operating system separately, it's better to buy one from Dell or HP or something. As it is, though, I had the time and the pickiness and the generous-Microsoft-brother connections to build my own computer.

So, after painstakingly going through newegg sales and combo deals, I picked out my parts and gathered enough courage to hit the "Submit Order" button. I can continue to wonder if more searching on more websites would have led to cheaper parts, but it's all in the past, and I resolve to be happy with what I have.

There were three points where I wanted to cry and send it all back to the store:

I opened the box for the case and the front cover had snapped off. After a few deep breaths, I tried to superglue it back together instead of sending it back. And it worked! Problem solved.
After putting everything together, I flipped the switch to the power supply and everything started flashing and clicking. Apparently, this was a bad thing... After deciding I needed a new power supply (thanks to advice from the internet), I took out the power supply and wiggled the wires and tried again, just for funsies. And what do you know, it worked!
When I was sure I had everything right (including a functional power supply), I kept getting a video card error. After much panic and frustration, I just pushed a little harder and the video card clicked in.

So seriously, these were my three biggest problems, and they were fixed by supergluing plastic, wiggling wires, and pushing to hear a click.

Now, as I anxiously await the Windows 7 release on 10/22, I'm using the free Linux-based operating system Ubuntu. I don't know much about Linux or command prompts, but I am internet-surfing and document-editing (and blog-posting) at unprecedented rates. And I get that little pinch of satisfaction from knowing it's on something I built on my own!

You've probably read to here (if you've gotten this far) thinking, "...so?" Well, the moral of this story is that building your own computer is totally doable. I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about software issues, but I didn't know the first thing about PC components a few weeks ago. Between the (albeit somewhat outdated) tutorial on PCMech and the manual that came with my motherboard, it wasn't an incredibly challenging experience, and was finished within a 24-hour period.

And now that I'm back to the world of real computing, I'm of course on a strict regimen of hulu, grooveshark. and writing.

Wienertrip 2k9: Day three

2009-10-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

Now, the long-awaited conclusion to Jonathan and my trip to Vienna!

Sunday was less exciting than Friday and Saturday, so you haven't been missing much. We overslept and missed mass with the Vienna boys choir, but did manage to get standing room tickets to see the Lipizzaner Stallions at the Spanish Riding School, which is part of the Hofburg Palace. No pictures allowed, but I snuck a few as evidence:

As the venue emptied afterward, I took another. A very pretty interior for a horse show:

I'd say that the show must be great for people who love and appreciate horses. For those who are allergic and have kept their distance from the animals (me), it's not the best choice. It was still a good experience, despite the 3 packs of tissues I went through.

Afterward we walked around Vienna and got some of the famed Wiener schnitzel; some sort of meat (veal?) cut very thin and then breaded. Fantastic? Not really. But good enough for me to eat, which is more than I can say for a lot of foreign food.

As you can guess from the size, I wasn't able to eat the whole thing. I'm pretty sure Jonathan rose to the challenge, though.

After a little more aimless wandering around the city, it was time to go to the airport and head back to Krakow. As wonderful as Vienna was, it was nice to get back to Poland, where the exchange rate means dividing, not multiplying.

Wiener Trip 2k9: Vienna, Day Two

2009-09-22T07:50:00.000-04:00

Saturday, we did not have nearly the agenda that we'd had on Friday, but still managed to see quite a lot of the city.

We first wandered to Stephansdom, a huge, very old, very beautiful church. The exterior is daunting but still approachable, while the interior is enough to take anyone's breath away. We didn't do any formal tours, but I took plenty of pictures.

The exterior:

The interior:

We wandered around, walking from Stephansplatz to Karlsplatz, taking pictures of many random buildings, eventually reaching a farmer's fair happening around the Hofburg Palace. So we sat, enjoyed, and took pictures.

Jonathan eats a Wiener wiener and drinks some Wiener beer:

I stand in front of a pretty building in the Hofburg (I believe it is now the National Library):

A building, most certainly part of the Hofburg:

A street on our way to somewhere:

We stand in front of the Federal Parliament building:

Later that night, we ventured to the Staatsoper (State Opera House), where we had obtained last-row (but non-obstructed view!) tickets for 20 Euros apiece to see Manon Lescaut. The opera house was beautiful, and unlike the Volksoper, it had English subtitles:

After the opera, we walked around the area and had some famous Wiener sachertorte and apfelstrudel. And took some more pictures.

All in all, a fantastic day.

Wiener Trip 2k9: Vienna, Day one

2009-09-22T07:09:00.001-04:00

First, I'd like to thank LOT Airlines for having unusually low weekend fares to Vienna. Second, I'd like to thank Guesthouse Arabella for providing us with a lovely tenth-floor apartment to stay in and a free map of the city. Third, I'd like to thank the many friendly Austrians who spoke English with us. We are very fortunate to have grown up speaking what has become the world's international language.

Vienna is an absolutely gorgeous city. Cities don't generally make much of an impression on me. Tall skyscrapers and perpendicular blocks, whether of New York City or of Shanghai, often mesh together in my memory. The Old Town of Krakow is an exception, and so is the entire city of Vienna. Of course, when you are the seat of empires, in power for centuries, I imagine you have the resources to build a lot of really cool stuff.

I could wax poetic about various aspects of the city and our trip, but instead I'll give you a quick photosummary (with limited description) of what we did.

Thursday night, we checked into our hostel/apartment. Tenth floor, great view of the city. The sunrise on Friday morning:

Friday, we headed off to Schloss Schönbrunn, the Hapsburg summer palace, and took a (no-photo) tour:

Then we wandered the immaculately-kept, free-to-the-public gardens behind the palace:

We even entered and eventually escaped from one of the labyrinths:

Finally, we wandered into the Vienna Zoo, which is attached to the gardens (it was originally the royal family's wildlife menagerie), because zoos are always a good idea:

Later, deciding to do something musical, we went to the Volksoper (People's Opera House). A friendly worker helped us get third-row orchestra tickets at a student rate of 12 Euros to see Fra Diavolo, which looked a little more like a musical than an opera, but was still entertaining. Mostly spectacular were our great, otherwise-160Euro seats in this lovely opera house:

This has gotten lengthy already, so I'll put the rest of the trip in a separate post. Enjoy, and sorry for the belated updating!

Something I never thought I'd do again...

2009-09-18T15:57:00.004-04:00

is own a pair of rollerblades*.

Seeing that the rollerblading fad is in full swing here in Poland, and knowing that I do not enjoy running without purpose, Jonathan bought me a pair of rollerblades so that I may accompany him on his mile+ runs in the park. Little did he know that I am probably more speedy and more coordinated on bare feet. But I tried:

And if I weren't so afraid of losing control and running head-on into a Polish child without knowing the words for "Look out" or "Help me," maybe I could even get good enough to go on those mile+ loops around the park. Will the U.S. grant me a more comfortable practice environment? We shall see...

*This post brought to you by the "I have no idea how to condense the trip to Vienna into one blog post yet but feel guilty about not updating at all" foundation.

O Jamników: March of the Dachshunds 2009

2009-09-08T09:18:00.000-04:00

Imagine my excitement when I learned that, every year in the beginning of September, Krakow hosts the Marsz Jamników-- in English, March of the Dachshunds. For those not from my Pennsylvania life, my family has always had dachshunds and only dachshunds (that is, until the recent addition of Milo). They are my mom's breed of choice, so for my whole life we've always had a short-hair miniature dachshund (or two) roaming around the house.

This past Sunday was Krakow's annual March of the Dachshunds. Jonathan and I had no idea what to expect. What it was: over 200 dachshunds, many of them in costume, parading one block (from the Barbican to the Rynek down Florianska Street) with their owners and various dachshund fans, led by a marching band. After this there was some sort of ceremony, where the best-dressed dachshunds were introduced, dachshund poetry was read dramatically (all in Polish, unfortunately), and children presented their dachshund-inspired art.

As you'd expect, I took about a million pictures. I'm torn about what to put up. Some readers would be content with a few representative pictures, while others, I'm sure, would love to see all the dachshunds I managed to capture in their full hilarity. As a compromise, I've put a few pictures and a video here, and I've created a facebook album with the set in its entirety. Enjoy!

Dachshund owners and enthusiasts gathering by the Barbican on parade morning:

Many dachshunds were in costume:

Some dogs were not so happy about it:

While others took the opportunity to make new friends:

An excerpt of the parade:

At the ending ceremony, as incomprehensible Polish words washed over us, at one point the audience was instructed to raise up their jamniki (dachshunds)... and they did:

Even Jonathan, who is not a great lover of dachshunds (or small dogs in general), found this event preposterously entertaining.

Remember to click here for more pictures!

Kościuszko Mound

2009-09-07T08:20:00.000-04:00

At the suburban edge of Krakow and walking distance from Jonathan's dorm, there is a former royal hunting grounds that has been turned into a park. Within the park are several memorial mounds (not burial mounds); last weekend (not this past weekend), we went on a walk through the park and ended up at Kościuszko Mound. Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Kościuszko was involved in the American Revolutionary War and also a Polish revolutionary. There are memorials of him all over the US, too, from Boston Common to Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Anyway, this was yet another beautiful day in Krakow, so I took a lot of pictures. Enjoy!

The path through the park:

A view from the park bench where we had bread and cheese:

From the base of the mound:

Krakow from the top of the mound:

Jonathan, with the Tatras far in the distance:

An attempt at taking a picture with the view of the city behind us:

Poland, week one: Friday in the park

2009-09-02T06:58:00.000-04:00

So, I've been here for a week, and haven't exactly fulfilled my promises of keeping you all updated. My sleep schedule is entirely out of whack thanks to jet lag, morning naps, afternoon naps, and unregulated amounts of caffeine. My first 24 hours or so in Krakow are mostly a blur; after a sleepless 7-hour flight to Frankfurt and a very painful 9 hours waiting in the Frankfurt airport (only afterward did I remember one of my Fulbright friends lives just outside the city), I reached Krakow in a tired and miserable state. But now, a week later, I am very awake, and very happy to be here!

So, let's see. Jonathan and I haven't been up to much in terms of tourism. I hit all the major tourist spots on my trip here in the winter, so this has been a relaxed visit more like the everyday Krakow experience.

I got in Thursday night and I'm pretty sure I slept straight to Friday afternoon. Friday evening, after Jonathan got back from lab, we went to a very large local park. Jon ran a few miles around the park while I sat, took pictures, and read a book. The place was incredibly beautiful at this time of day, though the lighting wasn't captured as nicely through the camera.

I sat on a wall at one edge of the park:

To my right were houses and a creek:

Others sat on the wall as well, enjoying the fantastic late August weather:

Jon ran around the path, as did many other runners, joggers, bikers (cyclists?), and, to my surprise, rollerbladers:

Though the park is close to Jon's dorm and not in the downtown area, it is so large and flat that there's a great view of Wawel castle in the distance:

So, I came to the conclusion that though I loved Krakow when it was covered in snow, it is a very nice place to be at this time of year.

More posts to come. Also, we've altered our travel plans for cost/time reasons (and I want to spend more weekend time in Krakow); instead of Prague and Budapest, we're staying in the area this weekend, and we found very cheap flights to Vienna on LOT for September 10-13. If you have any Viennese (?) travel tips, please let me know!

Updates to come: More Taiwan, and some Poland too!

2009-08-21T14:50:00.005-04:00

I promise.

I haven't forgotten this blog, or all of you who may read it. Every few days I get a reminder that I haven't updated in a while, but when your sole source of computing is a 7" constantly-overheating-in-the-summer laptop (with no pictures on its 8GB hard drive), it's hard to get motivated to type more than a few sentences.

Anyway, from August 26-September 23 I will be embarking on Katie's Polish Adventure (take two). Armed with my external hard drive and Jonathan's powerful self-built PC (and being left to my own devices during working hours), I will hopefully finally find the time and energy for updates. So in addition to my wrapping up writing on Taiwan, you can also expect more posts on Krakow, and possibly a little on Budapest and Prague (our tentative weekend plans).

Until my triumphant return to the blogosphere, feel free to leave your input on any or all of the following:

What I should do/where I should go in Krakow, Poland, Prague, Budapest, and the general areas;
What you'd like to hear more about from my experiences in Taiwan;
Whether I should continue this blog (or start a new one, or give up on blogging) once I hit the world of full-time employment;
Any books you think I should read, as I've suddenly started reading again, a lot, and will need reading for my trip; and/or
What you think of Project Runway's transition from Bravo to Lifetime.

Until we meet again!

Sushi in the US? Very yes. Blogging? We'll see.

2009-07-26T01:30:00.002-04:00

It's way more expensive, it's not as fresh, it has weird English names, and did I mention it's way more expensive? But my first experience at a sushi restaurant in the US was a positive one. For those not keeping score at home, I'd never dared to eat sushi until it was forced upon me in Taiwan, and I quickly fell in love.

Considering I've been home for over three weeks, there are still many foods on my to-eat list, and I have a great deal of unpacking left to do. Of course, the fact that I never unpacked from senior year of college doesn't make anything easier.

I should probably justify my latest prolonged absence. I wasn't only sleeping. First my laptop decided to stop turning on (again). Then the wireless internet decided to stop working, so even my mini laptop was useless.

The truth is also that I have no idea where to start. I have a lot of un-blogged stories and pictures that I'd love to share with you.

So let's start at the very beginning. Well, the beginning of this year, anyway. I never did write about what I did to ring in 2009.

At the very end of the first semester, the student teachers at Fu Xing got enough free time and outgoingness to introduce themselves. I had had no idea that there were a handful of other 22/23-year olds wandering the halls of Fu Xing, also without teaching experience. I got the chance to hang out with some of them a few times before the semester ended (they left Fu Xing after first semester). They ended up inviting me out for New Years' Eve.

First, we had dinner at Ikea. I had the Swedish meatballs.

Then we went to the Dream Mall (the "Times Square" of Kaohsiung?) for festivities and fireworks. We had to pose with the World Games mascot:

Then we met up with fellow Fulbrighters Billy and Dan.

I even ran into one of my fifth graders, Willy! No, it was not really cold enough to warrant wearing a hat (maybe 55 F), but I really wanted to feel wintery.

And then there were fireworks.

After the fireworks, we headed home in what I thought was impossible: a scooter traffic jam. But I was really glad to get to know Kenji, Ray, and Etty. Even though Kenji and Ray went back to Taipei at the end of January, Etty continued on as Fu Xing's new Taiwanese teacher for the second semester, and her classroom was right next door.

A very belated happy 2009!

Not dead, just sleeping.

2009-07-07T01:05:00.000-04:00

For the few of you who read my blog but do not read my emails, here is the official word that I'm safe back home in the good old U.S.A.

What have I been up to since I got back? Sleeping. Honestly. I don't have the energy for anything these days. Maybe it's the jet lag, maybe it's the recovery period from teaching three hundred and fifty small children, maybe it's the first soft bed I've slept on in a year. Either way, you haven't missed anything exciting. I haven't even checked off everything on my "to-eat" list. Though I have had hot dogs, hamburgers, Yuengling beer, the family brown rice, a frosty from Wendy's, a turkey club from Minella's, a black and white milkshake, a Wawa hoagie, a Tastykake, and lots of Mountain Dew. Of course right now, I'm craving fresh salmon sashimi more than ever.

Milo, my puppy, is also happy in his new home. He likes running in the yard, smelling everything, following my parents around, and bugging our 12-year-old dachshund Daphne. Every bird, bunny, squirrel, and barbecuing neighbor is cause for curiosity. Overall, though I'm sure that a trans-continental flight in a cage in the belly of an airplane is not fun for any dog, the move has been a very good one for Milo.

Once I find myself awake and creative, I'll get back to the blog in earnest. I have some great pictures and stories from my last days in Taiwan, as well as all the ones I forgot to share along the way.

Until then, if you need me, I'll probably be asleep.

Farewells

2009-06-27T12:09:00.004-04:00

It's currently Saturday-turning-Sunday. I'm leaving Kaohsiung early Wednesday. I lose my internet sometime between now and then.

I know I have many unblogged stories. Those things that I said I'd blog about back in September, well, I still remember them.

And the month of July, when I'll be sitting on my couch waiting for my employed friends to get off work, will be a perfect time to write those blog entries.

For now, though, unless I get simultaneously creative and bored of packing, don't expect any new entries. Never fear, though. I will probably continue writing about this Taiwan experience for as long as there are new and interesting things to write, so this blog is far from over.

Goodbye and thanks, Fulbright. Taiwan, you've truly touched my heart. Kaohsiung, well, I think I'll miss you most of all.

A nice card

2009-06-22T08:33:00.002-04:00

I'm down to nine days left in Taiwan, so the goodbyes and thankyous are starting to happen. It's a rough time. I made a card for each of my 350-some students, and today I received a very nice card from a fifth grader named Vicky. It's all in English, which is no small feat. I hope you'll appreciate it as much as I did:

Katie teachers: a year to get along with you, we are very happy! Unfortunately, you want back to the United States, and if you are free to come back to see us oh! Something we all look forward to you coming back! I will often send mail to you the! I wish you happiness, youthful beauty, the right to marry as soon as possible! Married to tell us oh!

2009.6.22.
5-year
Vicky

These kids will be very hard to leave. But hopefully, someday, I will get to come back to see them.

Graduation!

2009-06-18T09:08:00.000-04:00

In Taiwan, elementary schools run K-6. Even though most kids continue to the same junior high school (grades 7-9), graduation is a relatively big to-do. While I do remember having an 8th grade graduation, I do not remember having a 4th grade graduation... and I don't remember shedding tears about either situation.

I wasn't able to attend Fu Xing's graduation ceremony, as it was held on Tuesday morning when I had to work at Tai Ping's English Village. I don't teach any 6th grade classes anyway, so at least I didn't miss out on any serious goodbyes. Instead, though, I went to see my host brother Kevin graduate from his elementary school on Wednesday evening. I sat in the back corner, so my pictures aren't great quality, but it should be enough to give you a sample.

The graduates (10+ classes of 6th graders-- Yang Ming is one of the biggest schools in Kaohsiung) process in...
The teachers put on a dance performance. Fulbrighter Rebekah, a Yang Ming English teacher, danced in the middle:
Representative students symbolically and literally "pass the torch" to some fifth graders:
I did manage to sneak to the front to get a picture of Kevin with his class (he's the one smiling and looking at the camera):

At one point, a younger student started talking to Rebekah and me. She had her pet pigeon with her. Not really related, just amusing:

I caught up with Kevin afterward and we got a picture. I'm leaning over a little, which is why he looks so much taller than me... but yes, this kid has grown at least five inches since I met him in September!

Kevin exits through the ceremonial graduate gateway... as Rebekah is a "retiring" teacher of sorts, she got this honor as well. I should note that she does not always have heavy makeup and hair glitter, but was made up like that for her dance performance:

After the graduation, I took Kevin out for a nice sushi dinner to celebrate his graduation. (See the rotating sushi restaurant chain described in my last post.)

Some fun facts

2009-06-13T13:16:00.003-04:00

I was going to take some of my own recordings of this stuff, but why do that when someone else has?

Fact #1: Crossing the street in Taiwan is way more fun than it is in the US.

Fact #2: If you hear a singing truck, it is not ice cream. In fact, it is trash. And if you don't live in an apartment building where trash is centrally collected (which I do), you are expected to run out and meet it with your properly-sorted garbage.

Fact #3: In Taiwan, I have come to like... or love... sashimi. Contrary to most of my food habits and principles relating to fish, I can't get enough of that raw fish on rice stuff. Fortunately for me, there's a chain of rotating sushi restaurants all around Taiwan where you can get a plate of sushi for 1 USD. So, eating until you're absolutely full costs up to $7. Fantastic.
Remember: not my video. Not my commentary. But it is from the same chain where I eat regularly.

Monkeys and home theater

2009-06-09T22:13:00.006-04:00

So, the English textbooks used in Taiwanese elementary schools are, across the board, weird. "Hello, Darbie," the book we use for my fifth graders, is overall pretty good. Except that I just had to teach and explain this story to my students:

1. Tarzan is going to the bank.
2. He sees many monkeys, lions and elephants on his way.
3. Now he has some money. He is going to the department store.
4. The TV and the CD player are on sale. They are only one hundred dollars.
5. Ten monkeys are helping him.
6. Now he has a home theater. All the animals can see the movies with him.

I don't know about you, but this is certainly one of the first things I hope to learn when studying a foreign language.

Note: I didn't know how to say "home theater" in Chinese until today.

A strange encounter

2009-06-07T11:42:00.000-04:00

Today I convinced Dani to try shopping at my new favorite store, 光南. I've been raving about how this multi-floor store seems to sell everything, from shampoo to socks to digital cameras to DVDs to stationery to greeting cards to hair things to cell phone ornaments. Anyway. Dani and I approached the store around 3:30 to find that it was packed. Passing this off as just a Sunday shopping craze, we forced our way into the store.

As we were stuck in what seemed to be a line up to the second floor, we saw a lot of people coming down with the same CD in their hands. On the stairway, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was my fifth grade student Charlie. We said hello, high-fived, and then I asked him why there were so many people. He said, "有明星." I asked who. He said, "潘瑋柏." The name didn't ring a bell, so we soon said goodbye to Charlie and pushed past the autograph/celebrity madness on the second floor. It wasn't until later when I saw a poster and recognized the music playing that I realized, 潘瑋柏 is a guy named Wilber Pan. Who's Wilber Pan? A Taiwanese popstar, rapper, soap star, and/or musician. Oddly enough, of the three Chinese-language pop CDs that I own, Wilber Pan is one of them. (The others are Jay Chou and Liang Jingru, or "Fish Leong"-- all recommended to me by a teenager in China in 2006.)

So anyway, the guy was only there for fifteen minutes to sign autographs, and Dani and I only bothered to catch a glimpse of him from across a crowded room. But I suppose this counts as my closest encounter with a famous Taiwanese person. That, and attending the same reception as Taiwan president Ma Yingjeou on 10/10.

PS: Turns out the guy is American-born and can't read or write Chinese. Perhaps he would've liked chatting with an English speaker who had actually heard of him. Next time...

The things you can buy for 一百塊

2009-06-04T09:42:00.001-04:00

When I am at a night market, particularly 新崛江 in Kaohsiung, I am rarely looking for anything specific. (Though "funny t-shirts" is a permanent item on my shopping list.) However I often come home with at least a few items. But... I'm so cheap! And my salary is so nonexistent! How can I afford such behavior?? Here's your answer: almost everything I buy costs one hundred Taiwan dollars, roughly equivalent to US $3 (give or take a quarter, depending on the exchange rate).

So, the question is... What can you buy for 100 dollars?

Answer: Ridiculous handbags.

Answer: Colorful hats.
(...that you can make your boyfriend wear!)

Answer: Graphic T-shirts with bad English.

Answer: Multiple face masks to protect you from SARS, swine flu, or industrialized air.
Answer: Cloth or (p)leather belts of any color.

Answer: These sunglasses, or any of the others that I've purchased since I got to Taiwan.

Answer: This watch, or many others like it.

Answer: A USB-powered keyboard vaccuum cleaner?

So this, my friends, is how things like fanny packs, orange t-shirts, and neon pink hats happen. Remember this when you see me (and what I'm wearing) back home.

PS: Let this also be a catalogue for you of the many souvenirs I could bring back for you from Taiwan. Because with my salary, I can't afford much more. If you don't believe me, you can look in my neon rainbow-zippered wallet.

Hamburger Breakfast: A Dragon Boat Adventure

2009-05-31T08:18:00.004-04:00

The past few weeks, many Kaohsiung Fulbrighters and I participated in the 端午節 festivities by forming our own 龍舟. We were competing in the foreigner division against the likes of full-of-giant-Germans 中山大學, the very European Wenzao University, and the International World Games team, to name a few.

Anyway, when I first heard about dragon boating back in the fall, and found out there was a drummer who kept the beat, I knew what I wanted to do. So as early as possible I "called" the role of 鼓手... after all, I have rhythm, and the boat wasn't really missing out by not having my rowing arms.

I can't speak for the rowers, but I had a fantastic time as drummer. The rowers were supposed to follow my beat, so I had to give them a steady and doable pace while also aiming to be competitive with the other boats. It was basically my job to bang a drum and scream. What could be more fun? Maybe the guy who got to sit on the front of the boat and grab the flag at the end, but then again, he almost fell into the not-so-sanitary Love River.

Our boat consisted of 20 rowers (half Fulbright, half Taiwanese friends), the drummer (me), a steerer/tiller (Chris, our Bureau of Education liaison), and a flag-grabber (Henry, a military worker at Ling Jhou English Village). We had a total of four practices that were about 45 minutes each before we raced, and as the practices were in the afternoon, we never got to practice with a full boat. So, we may have lost in the end, but I'm incredibly proud of our team. The first time we tried the full length of the course (500km), it took us over seven minutes. On our final race, we clocked in at 4:18. Not a technical victory, but a moral one. Plus, those Germans were huge.

Our team name was supposed to be something intimidating. We chose "Hamburger Breakfast." Why? Because Taiwanese people think that Americans eat hamburgers for every meal. So I frequently led the team in a motivational chant: What do we eat? HAMBURGERS When do we eat them? FOR BREAKFAST!

As I was actively drumming and screaming throughout practices and the competition, I couldn't take any pictures. But here are some pictures from Fulbrighter Shiela and Jo (from San Min English Village).

Warming up before practice:

An afternoon practice with a less-than-full boat:

Getting geared up for our first race, in uniform:

Rowing into place for our first race:

Maya got some great photos of our races here. Also check out her video:

Anyway, Hamburger Breakfast was certainly a positive experience. Drumming for the dragon boat was one of the most fun things I've done since coming to Taiwan, and I hope I get the opportunity to do it again someday.

I should include that our fantastic team t-shirts, courtesy of the design styles of Fulbrighter Gered, include our team name, all of our names, some great designs, and my suggested slogan of "Your Ass is Dragon." Ten points if you can name that literary reference :-)

My Big Break: A weekend to remember

2009-05-24T12:09:00.001-04:00

At home, it is Memorial Day weekend. At home, people will get tomorrow off. At home, my high school friends are having their annual week(end) in Strathmere, New Jersey, and this is the first time in six years that I'm not there. It would be an easy time to feel homesick. But I haven't really had the time to think about it.

In Taiwan, we get next weekend as a long weekend (four days, in fact-- though does it really count, if you have to make one day up the following Saturday?). This weekend, the Fulbrighters and I were busy working from 9am-7pm on our Fulbright Kaohsiung project. The concept of our project changed (thanks to external forces) from an educational website to an educational DVD a few weeks ago. Since then, we've been scrambling to think of content, write scripts, and hire a film crew. So both days this weekend, we were at the Tai-Ping English Village filming our video (a great bonus of English Village is having your own private restaurant/airport/subway car for filming things).

It was pretty professionally done. The cameramen were concerned enough about noise that they wouldn't allow us to turn on fans or air conditioning in the small, windowless rooms where filming took place, and in late May in Kaohsiung (90+ degrees mid-day with high humidity), you can imagine how fun this was. But we pushed through it, we recorded all twelve scenes + vocabulary/grammar segments + self-introductions. Now it is in the hands of the film crew, until they give us back a version we can subtitle and approve.

So, it's not how I've normally spent my Memorial Day weekend, but it is certainly a weekend I'll remember. And if I ever forget, I can just watch the DVD. Someday, you might be lucky enough to see yours truly dancing the Hokey Pokey or playing the role of ambiguously-aged teacher Miss Cooper (the easiest to pronounce of my family names, and a tribute to the other [former] teacher in my family).

I only took a few photos, and they were all during the elaborate birthday party scene where I played 'girl who gave birthday boy a T-shirt and is also holding a camera.' I think it will give you an idea of what my weekend was like, though.

The camera crew:

Setting up our scene in the English Village restaurant:

Voila, a real-looking birthday party:

My head is still spinning from the craziness that has been the last few weeks, but I have a feeling things will stay rolling until I leave. Now, I should get to bed... our first dragon boat race is tomorrow!

Trip to Eastern Taiwan!

2009-05-22T10:19:00.010-04:00

Sorry folks, I've been a little short on time lately thanks to (1) co-leading the Fulbright Kaohsiung project and (2) drumming for the Fulbright Dragon Boat team. More information on that is forthcoming.

So last weekend, the twelve members of my Fulbright group all went on a trip to eastern Taiwan. Our primary destination was Rueisuei, which is known for rafting and hot springs. We did both. So Friday afternoon we took two trains for 4.5 hours to get to Rueisuei.

The pretty train ride:

We got to the hotel and relaxed in the hot springs. What are hot springs? Basically a murky, unchlorinated, "natural" hot tub, and very popular throughout Taiwan. Sorry, no pictures. Then we tried to find a restaurant and settled on hot pot. I had milk hot pot, which was a first for me (though I later heard that milk is a specialty of Rueisuei). It mostly just tasted like fish.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to get driven to several mystery locations before finally ending up on the bank of a river with life vests and helmets, where we joined what appeared to be a high school or college graduation trip on a big rafting adventure. My proudest accomplishments from the day were not falling in and not getting sunburned. Long shorts, a hat, and SPF 55 sunscreen are my friends!

A man took our picture and sold it to us afterward. I'm the one in the back with the hat and sunglasses :

After a day of rafting, we took the train to Taidong/Taitung, a major city on the east coast (which is generally not very populated). We wandered the city, had a nice family-style dinner, and discovered there wasn't much else going on in Taidong on a Saturday night.

Sunday, we took a ferry to Green Island. Of all the places I've visited in Taiwan, I think Green Island was my favorite. We only had a few hours on the island, so we rented some cars and drove around to see the sights (the island is so small it takes 30 minutes to drive the whole thing-- and has one paved road, so no getting lost!).

Green Island is about a 40-minute ferry ride from Taidong. It is where they used to ship pro-independence political prisoners during martial law. We tried to drive around the old prisons, only to find out (after getting some dropped jaws from the guards at the gate) that one of the prisons is still quite active:

Some pictures of why I loved Green Island:

Then Sunday afternoon we rushed back to Taidong to get the 4pm train to Kaohsiung. There were no seats left. Oops. Fulbrighter Kate and I had a really comfortable ride on the little space between the last seat and the wall:

And the weekend was followed by one of my more exhausting weeks in Kaohsiung. But as I said, more on that later. I'll be home in less than six weeks... but I have so much left to do!

Rafting shoes + Friday pants + Taipei pedicure

2009-05-18T11:18:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, I went rafting in eastern Taiwan. I don't have the time, energy, or group photos to write an appropriate blog post yet, so until then, you just get this picture.

Matching shorts, sandals, and pedicure courtesy of Taiwanese fashion.

Just don't tell my middle school self how much bright pink I've gotten into as an adult.

A trip to Danshui

2009-05-13T09:06:00.004-04:00

Last weekend in Taipei, we found ourselves with a few empty hours between lunch and dinner plans. So we took the subway to the end of the (north/blue line) to Danshui, where we spent an hour wandering around this ocean/bay area that reminded me of boardwalks on the Jersey Shore.

First, we ate at the only Dunkin Donuts I've seen in Taiwan so far (so, the first Boston Creme donut I've had since July):

Walked along the boardwalk and played a carnival game:

Took a picture of the pretty water:

And rode the subway back downtown for dinner:

Not a very eventful trip, but a pleasant one nonetheless, and a nice place to visit if you're ever in the Taipei area.

Did you know there's a Hello Kitty Bakery and Restaurant?

2009-05-10T12:17:00.005-04:00

Because there is. In Taipei. And I went there.

My Hello Kitty hamburger:

The Hello Kitty decor:
To quote Dani's friend Alex, "I feel like I just walked into an eight-year-old girl's bedroom."

Hello Kitty pastries:

Even a Hello Kitty Bathroom:

Oh, and Hello Kitty says "Happy Mother's Day!"

Laptop on the fritz...

2009-05-06T12:24:00.001-04:00

My big blue Dell laptop may be on its last legs. At least, when I attempted to turn it on several dozen times (and only succeeded hours later on attempt#severaldozen+1), I began to realize that a new laptop might have to be in my very near future.

So, do any readers have advice on a new laptop purchase? Or a tragic story about a laptop crashing at just the wrong time?

This post also serves to tell you that I may be light on blog entries if my laptop doesn't turn back on next time. I do still have baby laptop, but I only have so much patience for typing and photo uploading on something that tiny.

Anyway, I'm off to 台北 for the weekend, but after that, I may be spending my free time on 建國二路, the technology hotspot of Kaohsiung, as I go from shop to shop trying to bargain in Chinese for a laptop I want and can actually afford.

Mother's Day Celebration...

2009-05-04T10:15:00.001-04:00

...also known as the best "school day" ever.

When I found out I had to work on Saturday, I was less than excited about it. Those of you who know me know I like to sleep for 75% of my weekend hours. But the tradeoff was no school Monday, and Saturday wouldn't even be a full day of work. So, I woke up at 7am and was at school by 8:15, wondering what this special "Mother's Day" workday would entail.

First, there was a 90-minute assembly. A few classes from each grade performed a 台語 or 客家語 song and dance. As I don't understand either language, for me, this was mostly an exercise in smiling and nodding and taking pictures of the shiny costumes.

A sample:

A third grade class wears traditional Hakka clothing:

A sixth grade class ends the show with "We're going to Hawaii" in Taiwanese. Needless to say, the boys in grass skirts and coconut bras were a big hit:

The crowd looks on at a fourth grade performance:

After that, it was out to the carnival held in the school courtyard:

Each class had its own booth, where they sold food, drinks, or wares, or held a carnival game. Here I failed miserably at the very-difficult ring toss hosted by one of my classes:
Not pictured? Me successfully knocking the cans over at two different throw-a-thing-at-the-cans booths.

My fourth grade sports class chose to sell worms (that would later go into cocoons, that would later grow into moths). I tried to buy something/somehow participate at every booth, but this is one where I had to decline:

Some fifth grade students try to sell their products to Susan and me.

I was easily persuadable, but I made them use at least a little English to sell it to me, and promise to work hard in English class, before I handed over the money. As a result, I ended up with two popsicles, a Slurpee, a cell phone charm, two bottles of bubbles, a soda (with a marble stuck in the bottle?), french fries, some lollipops, and countless other small pieces of candy. I don't think I'd had that much sugar since I was in elementary school.

All in all, the chance to interact with my students as just young, fun people, instead of having to stand in front of them trying to tell them what to do in a language they don't understand, gave me a whole new dimension to them. And it wasn't bad for a day of work, either; in typical Taiwan fashion, working Saturday meant getting the day off today.

Hairspray: The Finished Product

2009-04-30T11:54:00.000-04:00

Opening night was on Tuesday. A good time was had by all.

How Taiwan does "black"... a little awkward?:

An ensemble piece, "I can hear the bells," with the "plump" Tracy (she's wearing padding):

I worked with the guy who played Seaweed on the English in his lines. I was a little concerned and confused by his flat delivery when he practiced with me. Imagine my surprise when this is who he became on stage:

Us with the cast after their first show. I'm on the far left... don't confuse me for the girl who played Amber wearing the intensely blonde wig!

Hairspray: Say what?

2009-04-26T11:10:00.002-04:00

Last Friday afternoon, I ventured to 大仁科技大學 in 屏東 with a few Fulbright colleagues to help with their student production of Hairspray (the musical). We didn't really know what to expect. Basically, it was a class worth of fourth-year students who major in English rehearsing the musical. They've spent the academic year thus far studying and understanding the musical, and their performances start tomorrow night.

大仁 is called a "technical college," which is something we don't really have in the U.S. According to wikipedia...

Students enter five-year junior colleges after graduating junior high school and passing a national exam. The curriculum is similar to that of vocational schools with the exception that 5-year junior colleges run for two additional years. Students graduate with the equivalent of an associate degree and are ready to enter the workforce. Some students may choose to continue their studies at a two year technical institute or apply to transfer into a four year university.

Our purpose was to help the students better understand and pronounce the English lines. Hairspray is a difficult musical with difficult dialogue for native English speaking theater majors, so their performing this play was quite impressive. We watched them perform act II, divided up the main characters and each gave them some tips, and then watched them perform it again. I worked with Seaweed (Ben), Little Inez (Sonia), and Prudy (Sharon). My favorite part was teaching Sonia how to say, "Say what?" with proper intonation.

Here, Little Inez and Seaweed flank Motormouth in the center:

Here's a picture of Wilbur (left, played by a petite girl) and Edna (right, played by the tallest Asian guy I've ever met), who stole the show humor-wise:

And now, a brief clip I caught on my camera during rehearsal. Remember that they are not theater or music majors, so watch it with a grain of salt. Sorry, my better-quality clips are too big to be posted.

Before you judge, think about how well your freshman Italian class would have done putting on a full opera. Which raises the question, would an academic year be better spent teaching useful vocabulary (conversational or academic), or having something fun to show for it? It was painful for us to realize that, though the show involves so much mature language, some of the students didn't understand many of the lines they'd memorized, and they were uncomfortable conversing with us in English.

Anyway, I'm going to see their opening night performance tomorrow, where I'll hopefully get some better pictures/videos. And the question will finally be answered: how does a show with central themes of racial integration and acceptance of different body types translate into a culture that has zero diversity of either skin color or body type? Stay tuned for the answer.

Edit: managed to post this longer, more amusing video to youtube. Enjoy!

The Jon visit, in summary

2009-04-25T03:19:00.000-04:00

When Jonathan visited in October, as you may recall, he was here for over two weeks and we spent almost all of that running around Taiwan and Kaohsiung's famous spots. This time, as this was his vacation and I still had to work, we didn't do nearly as many interesting things. Or at least, we didn't do nearly as many interesting things that I haven't already done and blogged about.

We went to Lotus Lake...

..but this time, rented some C-bikes to ride around the bike paths that border the lake:

We took the MRT and I made Jonathan take a picture in one of the fancy MRT stops:

We walked around 西子灣 ...

...while wearing the colorful Taiwanese hats I bought... (Jon is pleased)

... and went to the British Consulate there...

...where I took a picture overlooking Kaohsiung Harbor in the same spot as the rest of the tourists.

We also ate 蛋撻 from KFC, drank fresh fruit juice and milk, went to a Canadian bar, watched all three Lord of the Rings movies in one night, and spent a lot of time with Milo, whose energy levels can only be matched by Jonathan's desire to run all the time. A good visit was had by all... especially Milo.

Brains...

2009-04-23T13:31:00.004-04:00

As I biked to work on my usual route this morning, I was behind a slow-moving scooter for a few blocks (slow-moving enough that its pace matched my bike's). The scooter had a big box/cart attachment on the back. Fortunately (for me, anyway), there was a plastic cover over the contents of the cart. But hanging on either side were several, um, animal parts. I can't tell what animal they came from, but I recognized raw, dried muscle on bone, and brains. Just hangin' out on the scooter.

What's weird is, it took me a few minutes to notice it, and even longer to realize I should probably be (would normally be?) grossed out. Thanks to Taiwan's special pick-something-and-fry-it carts pervasive at night markets, I apparently have become immune to the sight of animal brains hanging off the side of a scooter on my morning commute.

Sorry, no pictures. Biking + photographing + Taiwan traffic = certain injury.

A night of culture?

2009-04-18T10:42:00.002-04:00

Jonathan is still visiting, so I still don't have serious time to spend on blogging. But I thought I'd upload another video from walking Milo around the Cultural Center (right next to my apartment) tonight. Just a typical Saturday night at 文化中心... crafts on sale, dancing, aerobics, kids on light-up rollerskates... the usual.

Sorry for the poor quality, but it's the best I could do with my little point-and-shoot camera with no natural light.

Take me home...

2009-04-13T00:15:00.000-04:00

If my current itinerary works out, I'm going to be back in the US on 1 July, 2009.

These are the things I've had undeniable cravings for and cannot wait to eat:

pancakes
Cinnabon
turkey club sandwich
good bread
brownies/cookies/banana bread
brown rice (the family recipe)
lasagna
pizza (Taiwanese pizza doesn't cut it)
cheese steak
anything else that can be made in an oven

I'm not really an unhealthy person, but come on, how often do you crave vegetables?

Jonathan is currently visiting me in Kaohsiung, so sorry about the silence on the blog. Yesterday we were walking Milo through the Cultural Center by my apartment and there was this tea festival going on, vendors and performances and all. We had to stop and watch this one. Particularly relevant for Office fans:

Spring Scream

2009-04-08T11:17:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned briefly in my last blog post, last weekend (Thursday to Sunday) I was at something called Spring Scream. Basically, it was a three-day outdoor concert by the beach in Kenting. I like live music and I like the beach, and ever since I saw 海角七號, the big Taiwanese hit released this fall, I thought Spring Scream looked like a fun time.

If I ever get the opportunity to go to Spring Scream again, I'm not sure I'd choose to camp outside in a tent next time around (apparently North American hippies are alive and well and living in Taiwan). In any case, the whole tenting thing was certainly an experience. Maybe waking up at 3, 4, and 5am to the sounds of a drum circle is a rite of passage into adulthood?

Anyway, I had a good time watching dozens of different bands in probably the most beautiful concert setting I'll ever see.

Saturday afternoon, before the action started:

I also got to use the awesome backpacking backpack that I had gotten as a going-away present (thanks Aleecia!).

I'm supposed to be "pointing to adventure"? Or maybe I'm about to rough up some hippies.

As you can see, in embracing the obnoxious fashion trends of Taiwan, I procured a very neon hat and a very pink fanny pack. (Okay, fanny packs aren't even a trend here, I just found it awfully convenient not to carry anything around. Why bother to blend in when you already stand out anyway?) You can also see evidence of the removable tattoo on my arm, which served as the three-day concert pass.

Faux glamor shot by the beach to showcase the ridiculousness of my hat, fanny pack, T-shirt, and tattoo:

Here is one poor attempt at photographing a music act from far away in the dark. I like the three girls in the foreground wearing matching light-up red devil horns. (I later purchased blue ones.)

There were also some new experiences, like visiting the southernmost point of Taiwan...:

... and drinking wine in a can:

And the staple beach experiences, like watching the sunset over the water:
So I was once again reminded that Taiwan is a very beautiful place. I guess I can't really blame the hippies for coming here, then, can I?

A trip to the mountains

2009-04-02T05:18:00.002-04:00

For Lauren's last (and only) full weekend in Taiwan, we took a trip with several other Fulbrighters to the mountains. 阿里山 is one of Taiwan's most popular tourist spots, particularly during this time of year when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. We got there right at the tail end of the cherry blossom season, which means slightly fewer cherry blossoms (but still as many tourists).

Anyway, because it was peak tourism season, we (read: Rebekah and Gered, our awesomely 辛苦 trip organizers) had to creatively put together the trip without actually staying in 阿里山. So we left early Friday and took the train to 嘉義, hired a driver to take us to 瑞里, and promptly napped on the "traditional Asian floor, as we said in HCAP-Seoul. (You get a couple blankets and lay them on a wooden floor and that's your bed.)

After a lunchbox lunch at our 山莊, we decided to go see the sites in the mountains and were off.

Lunchbox satisfaction level:

View from the balcony:

The forest/mountains were really pretty, and there was a lot of bamboo:

We hiked several kilometers to find a batcave (or "bat grotto," as some signs called it). Apparently all the bats have left the area because of tourism. Oops:

We then spent a lot of time looking for a waterfall. First we thought it dried up:

But eventually, we found it:

There were a lot of steps. We definitely ended up walking (hiking?) further than we had intended, which resulted in a long upward climb to the top:

But at least it was pretty along the way:

That night, we had a big family-style vegetarian dinner at the 山莊, saw some fireflies with some very enthusiastic young hotel guests, ate some roasted sweet potatoes, drank some floral tea, and went to bed by nine.

The next day we were up at seven (I opted out of the 4am sunrise trip). We had another family-style breakfast at the hotel, and when we weren't psyched about eating pickled radishes for breakfast, the 老闆 reassured us that we should try it even though it's not like "美國的漢堡." Then we were in a car to 阿里山 by 8.

Unlike 瑞里, 阿里山 was full of tourists and we were not full of energy. So we took a few trails, took some pictures of the cherry blossoms, saw some giant trees, and called it a day.

At 3pm we took the famous Alishan Forest Railway to our hotel in 奮起湖, yet another mountain town. The Alishan Forest Railway is the third most famous mountain railway... or something. I'm not sure. It was a very pretty ride though, and every once in a while we'd pass a crazed tourist snapping pictures of the train from the forest.

The train approaching the station at Alishan with cherry blossoms and mist... too much 特色!

Lauren and Katie aboard the Alishan Forest Railway:

Our stay in 奮起湖 wasn't entirely eventful; we found a good restaurant for dinner, hung out by the 7-11, and saw the staff of the hotel we stayed in exactly once from check-in to check-out. Then we were up and off at 8am for a long and nauseating busride back to 嘉義 where Lauren and I parted ways at the 高鐵 station. She headed off to the airport and I headed back to Kaohsiung.

And there ended Lauren's visit to Taiwan... Now that I've caught up with blogging, I'm headed out to 墾丁 for three nights and three days of Spring Scream. I never did the multi-day, camping-out concert thing back in the United States, so I'm sure I'm in for an experience.

Back on Monday!

An afternoon at Lotus Lake

2009-04-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

Lotus Lake, or 蓮池潭, is one of Kaohsiung's more famous and more scenic attractions. I'd managed never to really go there until Lauren's visit prompted me to find something nice and also representative of Taiwanese (or more broadly East Asian) culture. My prior visit to Lotus Lake was in August when we were touring the various co-teaching schools, and Chiou Cheng Elementary is right by Lotus Lake. In August, however, Lotus Lake was totally dried out in order to make it deeper for World Games trials and competitions. So as you look at these pictures, imagine sports like competitive waterskiing, wakeboarding, and canoe polo taking place on and around these tranquil waters.

That's about all the description I can give. Lotus Lake: a lake with nearby mountains reflected in the water and picturesque temples set on and around it. Now take a look at the pictures.

The Dragon and Tiger pagodas:

Views from atop the Dragon pagoda:

(The land)

(The lake)

The Spring and Autumn Pavilions (I think?):

Me being Asian by a Buddhist deity:

Lauren stands by the least scenic part of the Confucius Temple at Kaohsiung (the rest of it was closed for the day):

And that's it for Lotus Lake! Up next: a weekend in the mountains. Stay tuned!

Your average Tuesday?

2009-03-31T10:30:00.008-04:00

I was in the middle of an entry on my trip to Lotus Lake with Lauren when the sound of several fireworks in loud succession coming from very close by interrupted my train of thought. I was forced to investigate.

Apparently, the temple across the street from my apartment building is having some sort of temple parade right now. I saw some temple parades in Tainan, but they were all around 10am on a Saturday (or was it Sunday?) morning. A very logical time. Right now, at 10:30pm on a Tuesday, I would not expect this amount of liveliness (read: loudness). But alas... fireworks, cymbals, Asian horns, and deities shrouded in neon lights are filling the street in front of my apartment and pouring into my very large window. The dog is going crazy, racing from my bedroom door to my lap and back again, trying to find a way to escape the noise and/or find its source.

I took this video from the porch. Not a great view, but maybe it will give you an idea of what is going on (and has been going on for at least 30 minutes) and what will prevent me from falling asleep until it has finished. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this wouldn't happen back home... at least, not on a Tuesday night at 10:30.

Also, in my family, this is not just an average Tuesday. It is my 奶奶's birthday today. Happy birthday, Nan!

Kaohsiung earns more tourist dollars because of American Fulbrighters...

2009-03-30T07:02:00.001-04:00

Last week, my friend Lauren (also Harvard '08) decided to take her own spring break and visit me in Taiwan. This was very fun and exciting for me, as I don't get a spring break. So during her visit, I gave her a sampler of things essential to Kaohsiung City and my life there. Things like...

...eating 雪花冰 at Ice Art:

...taking a boat ride on the 愛河:

...getting all-you-can-eat 火鍋:

...going shopping at 新崛江, one of Kaohsiung's many 夜市s:

...hanging out with Chia-ling (and making peace signs in every picture):

...teaching some classes at 復興國小:

...and even stopping by the 太平國小 English Village:

Lauren and I also ventured to Lotus Lake, a place I hadn't been since August (when it was more like Lotus all-dry-and-smelly-because-it-was-dug-up-for-the-WorldGames), and spent the weekend in the mountains of central Taiwan. Blog posts on these adventures and more coming soon!

If you're coming to Taiwan...

2009-03-25T05:13:00.004-04:00

Hang out with my newest friend who lives at the Taipei Taoyuan airport:

On a related note, my friend Lauren from college days is visiting this week. As usual, when I'm with an actual person, I spend less time with my computer. You can expect a blog or two about our adventures once she heads out of town. But a sneak preview: she has come to school (Fu Xing and English Village) with me every day so far, which means our post-work activities have mainly involved naps.

English Village consumes yet another day of my life

2009-03-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

Alternative title: My first step toward becoming a Taiwanese soap opera star.

The Backstory
I don't know if you all remember, but there's this thing called English Village that is a big part of my job here in Kaohsiung. Two days a week, every week, I go to an elementary school other than my own Fu Xing (last semester it was Fu Dong, this semester it is Tai-Ping) and work the English Village. What does this mean? For over two hours I act as a "waitress" and repeat the same dialogue/activity eight times with a different group of fifth graders from Kaohsiung. Every ten minutes it's a new group that I've never seen before and will never see again. The amount of times I've said "menu" and "restaurant" since September is probably in the quadruple-digit-range, and I'm not at all exaggerating. I won't say it's not mindless, and sometimes my least favorite part of working here, but I acknowledge that it's a good experience for all of the fifth graders in Kaohsiung to get a chance to practice English and learn that speaking to foreigners isn't that scary.

Anyway, many schools throughout Kaohsiung also have their own English Village (though it's not yet part of the field trip circuit like Fu Dong and Tai-Ping). Fu Xing is lucky enough to have its own English Village convenience store and post office. Working at Fu Xing's English Village is far less painful, as I know many of the students and I don't have to do the same restaurant/menu/"I want blahblahblah" routine.

How this relates to my eventual fame and fortune
So someone, somewhere (read: probably the Kaohsiung Bureau of Education) decided to document the success of Kaohsiung's English Village program by making a film at each English Village, large and small. No one really knew what to do, though, so it has turned into a "let's show off our school and its best English students" video. Whatever. All I know is, I spent four hours this morning with a handful of our best fifth and sixth grade English students and a guy with a camera in all of our faces. Not something I expected to be doing this year, but as I've learned this year, when working in Taiwan, one must expect the unexpected.

I tried to minimize my actual on-camera time by giving the big parts to students, but I still did my part. Most of the day I just spent taking pictures and shaking my head in amusement and disbelief at the strange things that have happened since moving to Taiwan. Oh, culture!

The pictures you will all skip to instead of reading the above text
The pivotal Convenience Store scene:

The principal gets involved:

The recorder ensemble is featured, of course (sorry for the bad angle):

Fu Xing Decor?
And some weird World Games art created out of recyclable material. I'm unsure whether these were made for the video or whether kids putting up these art projects the day before the filming was unrelated.

A robot with all of the World Games sports on it:

The World Games mascots atop some empty bottles:

This one was actually pretty, made of cardboard and old CDs:

And this one wouldn't be nearly as creepy if it weren't wearing a sweater:

And that was how I spent my Friday. What did YOU do?

C-Bikes

2009-03-16T04:28:00.006-04:00

Long time no blog.

A week has gone by and I haven't given you any entertaining updates on my Taiwan existence. Oops! That really means I have nothing exciting to report... sorry.

But as a filler, here's something that I passed by a couple weeks ago and found kind of cool.

It looks like Kaohsiung City is "going green," both literally and figuratively, in a new program that's like Zipcar for bicycles. The lime green bikes could catch anyone's attention:

Basically, in an effort to promote both eco-friendly travel and Kaohsiung tourism, the city is setting up these bike rental locations all around the city and developing tourist-friendly bike trails (which I'm hoping are not, but I'm guessing are, largely composed of scooter lanes on major roads). Here's the kiosk by the Cultural Center:

The rates are fairly cheap... NT $30 for the first half hour, NT $15 after that. So, an hour of biking costs you less than US $1.50. Plus, you get to ride around in an awesomely lime green bike. What could be better?

For more info, check out the C-Bike English website.

A language anecdote

2009-03-09T09:23:00.004-04:00

On Thursday, like every other Thursday, I was leading Fu Xing's English Village class. We have a different class come through every Thursday morning to do English-related activities. Last Thursday, we had two first grade classes come to play a simple game with post office vocabulary, then get a sticker.

Students don't start learning English in public school until 3rd grade, so the 1st graders don't really know any English except maybe "Hello" and "1, 2, 3." Maybe a few go to private English schools outside of class. We just play an easy game, make sure they say things like "Ready" and "Thank you," then they're on their way.

At the end of the game, as I handed out stickers to the winning team, one of the 1st grade boys stuck his sticker to his hand and then held the sticker back, looking confused. He said, in Chinese, "Teacher, there is no trash can, what should I do with the back to my sticker?" So I reached out my hand and took the sticker back from his. Then his face lit up and he smiled. This is the point where other students have said, "Katie 老師聽得董國語!"

But being in 1st grade and in a different linguistic mindset, he made what seemed to him a perfectly valid assumption. He said, in Chinese, "Wow! I can speak English!"

I don't think being a linguistics major is a prerequisite for finding this adorable.

They grow up so fast

2009-03-07T08:35:00.001-05:00

So, our little Milo is about 7 months old these days (or 6... that's what you get when you adopt a stray) and already at the "he won't get any bigger than" weight that the adoption vet told us (15 kilograms). But of course, he's still getting bigger. And just got his 結紮 yesterday. Though I declined to see his 蛋蛋... do they offer that service in America?

He goes on walks (often walks us), sleeps through the night, and, as a couple vets have said, "很會吃."

Anyway, here are the pictures that everyone wants to see of the little Taiwan 流浪狗 that could.

Little post-op Milo (a.k.a. Coneface) walks home from the vet...

Extra(-)Krakow Adventures

2009-03-05T10:04:00.001-05:00

Jonathan and I had two big adventures outside of the city of Krakow. If you watched my school Powerpoint, you've already gotten a preview.

First, we went to Wieliczka Salt Mine, about 30 minutes (on a very, very crowded public bus) outside of the city. The salt mine is one of the biggest tourist attractions Krakow has to offer, or so say all the travel guides and websites, so we figured we better go. Having never been on a mine tour in recent memory, and having never been to a salt mine ever, it was an interesting experience, and most of the other members of the English tour agreed. I paid the 10 zlotys (3 USD) to take pictures (I'm an educator, after all!), so here are the pictures from this very old, very touristy salt mine.

Note that everything in these pictures that's not made of wood or water is made of salt.

Nicolas Copernicus... made of salt! By salt miners!

A chandelier... made of salt!

A Catholic church... made of salt!

General mine picture. (Not entirely made of salt.)

The salt mine was really cool to see, and our tour guide had awesomely dry humor. Of course, it's the kind of place I'd love to wander and get lost on my own, but with 300km of tunnels, I'm quite sure I wouldn't have found my way out.

Trip Two: Zakopane

After a recommendation from a friend (thanks Carissa!), Jonathan and I spent a day in Zakopane, a little mountain town about two hours by (a less crowded but more teenagery) bus from Krakow. Because Jon's lack of health insurance did not go well with his snowboarding abilities, we didn't try to go skiing and just opted for sight-seeing. It's a good thing we weren't going to ski, because we went on an unusually warm (50 degrees Fahrenheit) day, and half the mountain was melting.

So we took a ride on the train/gondola/whatever-it-was up a mountain and took in the sights:

We also walked around the town for quite a bit, watching vendors trying to entertain and sell to anyone and everyone that passed. We even tried some of the local mountain cheese, but I think we picked the wrong kind, because it just ended up tasting like ham.

After the sun set and Jonathan and I had finished his birthday pizza and apple pie, we got on a very long, winding train back to Krakow (how the train takes twice as long as a bus, I will never understand).

And with that, I think, the blogging of my winter vacation to Krakow (nearly a month ago) has come to an end. Hope you enjoyed it!

Poland for beginners... who read Chinese

2009-02-27T23:43:00.005-05:00

I spent most of my classes this week teaching about Poland via this Powerpoint slideshow. So, as promised, here it is for all of you. The hover-over thing won't work in Slideshare, though, so for the few Chinese words that aren't translated, just use your imagination?

Note: The video in the slideshow was a poor-quality one I'd taken on my phone that ended up being inaudible; in its place I would play this video over the speakers.

Katie In Poland

The most irritating thing about Poland?

2009-02-24T09:02:00.003-05:00

Okay, it's probably not the most irritating thing about Poland. And I'm sure it exists in more countries than Poland. But for my brief trip, I found great annoyance in the way Polish television is dubbed.

You all know I take my TV seriously. Fortunately, Taiwan has a great deal of American movies and various sports broadcasts, which we are able to get in English (with Chinese subtitles); even if there is a Chinese dub, we can hit a button on the remote to take it back to the English audio track. Anyway, there are no American sitcoms whatsoever. I think I took for granted the six times a day you could watch syndicated episodes of "Friends."

When I turned on the TV in Krakow, I was excited to see many different American shows: Friends, Grey's Anatomy, et cetera. Except every character in every show was dubbed by the one same, angry, bored-sounding Polish man. Interrupting the English track underneath, which was still at least slightly present.

Can't imagine it? Think it's not as bad as it sounds? Here's a clip of "Scrubs," another one of my favorites. Try to watch it without wanting to hunt down the dude who keeps interrupting what you actually want to hear.

Wonderful Wawel

2009-02-20T09:02:00.004-05:00

No, that's not alliteration in the title... Polish pronounces w's like English pronounces v's. Tricked ya, mental-pronouncers-of-the-title-who-thought-it-was-alliteration!

Moving right along.

Jonathan and I only did a few real touristy things during my stay in Krakow (if you don't count asking everyone if they speak English and taking pictures of everything as touristy things), but our tour of Wawel Castle was one of them.

It doesn't quite have the size or spectacle of Buckingham Palace, but Wawel was nice enough for me. We went on a snowy day, which of course made everything prettier. We got a guided tour through the royal private chambers, which was definitely a good choice because my minimal knowledge of Polish history was from 10th grade European History. Anyway, it wasn't until this guided tour that I realized how much Poland really was (is?) stuck in the middle of European affairs. The architecture and decor reflect influences from almost every other European country.

Anyway, if you really want to know more, I'm sure you can read about it on Wikipedia. People read blogs for pictures, so pictures you shall see.

Wawel from the outside:

View from Wawel of the Wisła (now that's alliterative):

Courtyard we saw upon entry, featuring the cathedral:

Interior courtyard, with the royal private apartments:

Up-close:

It was so cold, even the trees had to wear sweaters:

Note: this is not the previously mentioned pink puffy Carrefour jacket. Polish people don't believe in pink puffiness, so I borrowed one of Jon's jackets to blend in a little better.

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the exhibits in Wawel, but you'll have to take my word that it was pretty neat. Or go to Krakow and take the tour yourself!

A visit to Old Europe

2009-02-18T08:56:00.002-05:00

I've been a little delinquent with the blog, to that I must admit. Between recovering from jet lag and getting a new English Village up and running in six days flat, my mind hasn't exactly been blog-oriented. Plus, how do you address nearly three weeks in Krakow in a bloggable form?

So first, I'll talk about Krakow's Old Town (Stare Miasto), which contains the Rynek Glowny, a huge square in the center of town. The oldness of Krakow is what struck me the most. And not in a dirty, broken-down way (New England textile mills), or even in a backward, unmodernized way (how people stereotype central Pennsylvania), and especially not in a plasticky, designed-to-look-old-but-is-actually-brand-new way (Disney's Thunder Mountain Railroad). It was, at the risk of sounding like an uneducated teenager, awesomely old.

Maybe it's my lack of real European experience (9-year-olds can't appreciate much), but seeing universities and cathedrals and buildings that have been around since before Columbus got to the "New World" was disorientingly incredible. The oldness of Asian temples and cities isn't quite the same; when most buildings are made of wood, it gets replenished over the years so what you see is basically a replica of what was first built. "Europe" old and "Asia" old feel entirely different.

While Jonathan was working at his new lab (at Akademia Gorniczo-... let's call it AGH), I spent a lot of time walking around the Stare Miasto, taking pictures of buildings whose names I didn't know, and enjoying the fact that I could buy pretzels on every corner. In Taiwan, my host brother calls pretzels "salt cookies," and you can only get them at Costco.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures I took of some "old stuff" around the city center. I could look up the names for you (or you could tell me), but I think seeing (not reading) what was all within a 5-minute walk from my temporary apartment might better reflect the "wow" feeling I had for much of my stay in Krakow.

All of these pictures were taken on my first Monday afternoon in Krakow. For those with a burning desire to be educated, I'm making a Powerpoint with pictures and captions for my students, which I will certainly, eventually share with all of you.

A new semester begins

2009-02-14T00:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back from Poland, mostly recovered from jet lag, working full-time again, and I have a giant pile of laundry waiting for me. So, what better time to do a blog update?

Before I start to fill you in on all my Krakow goings-on, I want to do one post on the last day of the first semester.

On the last day of the semester, I attended my first all-school assembly. Every student and teacher gathered in the gym/auditorium on the top floor of the school. Here, the principal gave out awards to various groups for their accomplishments throughout the semester. And many groups performed.

An aboriginal song and dance group; they won an award at a citywide competition. These are a handful of the aboriginal students at Fu Xing, most of whom are on the school's baseball team. The baseball players are pretty much the "coolest" kids in school, so you can understand why they're a little less enthusiastic to perform in costume at an all-school assembly:

Also, a group of Tae kwon do students:

Along with these groups were my Reader's Theater and Storytelling teams, a little flute ensemble, and some extracurricular groups I didn't even know existed.

The last (and longest) part of the assembly was one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed in any school, anywhere. A Taiwanese (language) teacher at the school was retiring. The principal and directors all said something about him. And then, one by one, class by class, every student in the school lined up to give him a card they had made and shake his hand (or hug him, or, as the last class chose to do, pick him up and carry him across the stage). There was, of course, sappy music playing in the background the whole time.

(you can see the retiree, center-stage, in blue.)

And thus ended my first semester at Fu Xing. After almost a month has gone by since the last day (19 January), it seems like kind of a dream now. What exactly did I do? Did anything even happen? It's a good thing I took pictures. But I'm determined to work even harder this semester, and truly make the most of my time left in Taiwan.

Happy Birthday, Madeline!

2009-02-02T01:40:00.001-05:00

I know you've all been yearning for a Krakow update, but between my schedule and the slow internet, I haven't had time for one. But you'll see lots of pictures of my Krakowian adventures soon, I promise!

In the meantime, it's my cousin Maddie's 11th birthday. Happy birthday from Krakow, Maddie!

A picture of a Krakow staple:

A modified Zywiec label. Wearing traditional Polish clothing: left, my cousin Madeline; right, "High School Musical" star Zac Efron. (Not sure if he's the current heartthrob, but that's what the internet tells me...)

Happy Lunar New Year!

2009-01-26T07:14:00.000-05:00

I am of course in a land of few-to-no Asian people, but I must remember it's lunar "Chinese" new year.

I may not be in Taiwan to partake of the holiday, but here are some photos from when I went New Year shopping with my host family. And I thought Christmas shopping at the King of Prussia Mall was crowded...

Shopping for Chinese New Year, as I learned, is not shopping for presents or even really decorations, but it's shopping for little snacks and other food items. I brought some with me to Krakow, and I'll certainly have some in celebration tonight. Too bad I won't see any fireworks...

Intro to Krakow

2009-01-23T06:41:00.000-05:00

My flight landed in Krakow yesterday morning. After being yelled at a lot in the Munich airport (apparently I look very German), and getting that precious E.U. stamp in my passport, I got on that final flight to Krakow. Twenty hours of flying, four in-flight meals, one new friend (an old Taiwanese woman who got her PhD in machine translation in Germany), and several miles of airport later, I arrived in Krakow.

As I headed from Munich to Krakow, I saw the sunrise.

And when I landed, it was snowing. How much have I missed snow, and being cold in general? A lot.

When I arrived in Krakow and met Jonathan, I realized why he'd been afraid to go out and explore the city much since he got here (four days ago). Unlike in Taiwan, we look enough like we live here and speak the language (which we don't). So, on the walk from the train station to the apartment, I took out my camera and started taking pictures of everything. This was half because I found everything beautiful and wanted to capture it, and half because I wanted to confirm to all who might be wondering that we are (non-Polish-speaking) tourists.

The pictures I took were largely blurry and low-quality because I was literally waving the camera around to take them, but here's a good preview of the beautiful city where I'm spending my winter vacation:

Oh, and Jonathan was happy to see me. Yay.

I spent my second day in Krakow inside, icing the muscle spasm I earned from walking through miles of airport with a heavy backpack, catching up on sleep, and reading, as I waited for Jonathan to get back from lab. But now he's back, and we're headed out to brave another dinner where the waitress will inevitably address us in Polish. More updates to come!

'Tis the Season...

2009-01-21T03:16:00.005-05:00

... for holidays! Finally, winter break in Taiwan has come. And I'm leaving for Kaohsiung International Airport within the hour. Kaohsiung to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Munich, Munich to Krakow. See you on yet another side of the world!

Also, since it's finally the holiday season here, check your mailboxes. For those who didn't get their addresses to me on time, though, here's your virtual Taiwan holiday card!

Yes, that's my (female) roommates and me in matching reindeer outfits, and Milo in a sweater.

Happy lunar new year, and 寒假快樂!

台灣加油!

2009-01-16T23:40:00.004-05:00

In my random internet surfing, once again having its pervasive tune stuck in my head, I tracked down the video for the Kaohsiung World Games theme song. If you're curious:

Two things strike me about this video.

First, of all the landscapes and scenic spots shown in the video, I can identify and have been to about 90% of them. I'm not quite sure I could say that for a corresponding Philadelphia video.

Second, almost all of the comments (in Chinese) say something along the lines of "Kaohsiung has really progressed!" One (presumably) Kaohsiung local even says how he is filled with emotion and tears come to his eyes when he watches the video. As someone who never saw the Kaohsiung of before, I cannot relate to how much the city has changed; I can relate, however, to how much the city impresses me now.

Conferencing in Kenting

2009-01-16T10:36:00.002-05:00

The past three days, I've been at a conference in Kenting. In case you were wondering about my lack of blogging/emailing/calling, that's the reason. As you may remember, I also went to Kenting with Jonathan in October. It is sort of the vacation spot in Taiwan. But it's still January, and it was still a conference, so the visit wasn't all sunshine and beach. Though both played a role.

There's no need for me to describe the conference. It was a conference. Lots of things that are very interesting when presented individually become lost when they are presented one after another, Powerpoint after Powerpoint; though, I think the overall accomplishments of this year's Fulbright group are pretty impressive and certainly worth presenting. In addition to the presentations, there was a trip to the aquarium, some touring of an arboretum-ish area on a mountain, and some good quality beach time. There weren't any other tourists in the water with us, but the water was certainly warm enough for swimming. (The air, on the other hand, wasn't so warm for us running back to the hotel.) To think I went swimming in the ocean and got sunburned yesterday, and will be in freezing-cold Krakow next week with nought but a flimsy fluffy Carrefour "winter" coat... 真奇怪.

Anyway, this conference definitely made me appreciate Kenting's beauty. My visit with Jonathan was during the rainy season, and we were often too overwhelmed by figuring out where to stay or what to eat that we (or at least I) forgot to notice how amazing our surroundings were. This weekend, staying in the fanciest resort I've ever stayed in, feeling less of a need to take pictures and do everything, I finally realized why everyone loves this place.

Now, the pictures. Note: you can click on any picture to see it full-size in a separate window.

A group of high school kids oooh and aaah over the whale shark at the Taiwan National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium:

Our room at the Caesar Park Hotel:

The view from our balcony:

Sites from an arboretum area of Kenting National Park:
(a garden)

(banyan pathway)
(view from the arboretum)

I could probably look at this water all day:

Though, the landscape isn't too bad either:

Thank you, Fulbright Foundation, for all that you've given me, and for all that you continue to give.

Life and Times of a Taiwanese 3rd Grader

2009-01-11T23:28:00.003-05:00

Today, as one of my third grade classes was about to begin, a girl named Emily ran up to me.

She quickly looked around, then leaned forward and whispered, "Teacher Katie. Donna like J.J." I laughed a little and started to scan the room for evidence. Emily tugged on my shirt. "Don't say! Don't say!" She shook her head as she ran back to her desk.

Later, at lunch, a boy in the same class came up to me. "Teacher Katie, call me!" I laughed and said OK. Then he started to say numbers. A few minutes later, he gave me a piece of paper with his name, class, and cell phone number on it. With a little picture of a cell phone in case I forgot.

Kids are cute. It's a fact.

Pain.

2009-01-07T09:05:00.004-05:00

The perfect punishment for bad posture?

Seven evenly placed mosquito bites along a centimeter-wide strip on my lower back. I guess I shouldn't have hunched over and/or worn that Taiwanese-sized shirt for a whole 40 minutes during a meeting today.

It's "winter" (~72 Fahrenheit), aren't mosquitoes supposed to be gone by now?

Happy Birthday, Fu Xing!

2009-01-05T10:05:00.000-05:00

Alternate title: That time I got sunburned on January 1st.

Here in Taiwan, every school has a "birthday" celebration. Contrary to my instincts, this "birthday" does not fall on the same day every year, but instead the administrators pick a seemingly random day in the first semester on which there is normally no school. For my Fulbright ETA colleagues, that was random Saturdays throughout November and December. For me, that was Thursday, January 1st.

The school birthday, also called "sports day," involves the whole student body contributing something in terms of performance or, more commonly, athletic events. From relay races to tug-of-war to potato sack races to cheerleading, there was something there for everyone.

These things are best described in pictures.

To kick it off, the kindergartners did about 15 minutes of repetitive choreography with pom-poms and then parachutes to very, very irritating music. But they are kindergartners, thus, it was adorable:

Then, the boy/girl scouts honored the principal and other administrators with a performance. It started like this:

Why were most kids wearing T-shirts with "FUN" painted on, while some boys stood with black garbage bags? Well, it went from this, to bizarre dance-fighting, and finally turned into an homage to the World Games, playing the ever-present World Games theme song in the background. Watch the video to find out what was under those trash bags:

Then, there were lots and lots of sports competitions. 1st graders with hula hoops, 2nd graders kicking soccer balls around chairs... all the way up to 6th graders trying to throw a Frisbee through a hula hoop. Harder than it looks.

After these "fun" events, the rest of the day was running. Every kid in every class ran a race, and then the fastest in each class formed a relay team, then each grade had a class vs. class relay. Not surprisingly, the baseball/badminton class won in every grade.

Look at these third graders run for their place in the relay:
And the utter domination of the sports class (inner lane), expertly completing the hand-off while everyone else waits:

And like everything else that's good in life, I got a free t-shirt. You'll note in the above pictures that teachers are all wearing light-blue t-shirts. What you can't see is that they have our mascot, a baseball-playing penguin, in the upper corner. Unfortunately you can't see it in this picture either, but Tyler's smile is just too adorable to pass up:

The moral of the story: if you have to work on January 1st, this is probably the best it gets.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T13:01:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year from the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung, Taiwan!

More lengthy update to come.

Storytelling Competition

2008-12-29T11:00:00.001-05:00

Or should I say, storytelling/showing/dancing/singing/costuming/setdesigning competition. See my friend Vicky's post for her apt rant on the latest English competition my students endured. Vicky's complaints about the competition differ in detail but reflect my feelings in general.

About three weeks ago, I was told to write a seven-minute story about "making dreams real" that students would be able to memorize and recite. So I tried my best to come up with something that, I thought, ended up being a pretty good story. Not performance, not play. Story. After roster-changes and writing-changes galore, my final three team members were handed the final version of the story four days before the competition. We added in props as late as an hour before. When they went up on stage, I was nervous for them. So many changes, and having to memorize it all? Thankfully (unlike for Reader's Theater) there was no time minimum, so we didn't have to worry about them speeding up because of nerves.

But they didn't! I sat in the second row, recording with my camera while trembling a bit out of nerves for them. And they did it perfectly. There wasn't a forgotten line, and any word left out still kept the story intact. And the moral was delivered perfectly: "Don't wait for a magical wizard to show you the way. Love your family, work hard, respect others, and watch your dreams come true!" I was brimming with pride and confidence for them.

After all was said and done, we got one of the 4th place awards. I'm not going to complain, because I know some teams didn't place at all. But in a society where it seems like the predominant educational philosophy is "first place or bust," I have no idea how to explain why my students didn't do better. I just hope that they are proud of their hard work and accomplishment, and don't resent us too much for not giving them stage directions and head-to-toe costuming.

Anyway, here are the kids that will always be first place to me: Marvin, John, and Mina read "Andy and the Wizard."

Christmas in Kaohsiung

2008-12-28T08:03:00.006-05:00

Now that I've gone over my classroom activities, I can tell you about the "traditional" Christmas I managed to pull together in this land without any apparent Christmas tradition.

Every Christmas since I can remember, I have been in Berwyn with my family. We go to church on Christmas Eve at 11pm, where we sing Silent Night in candlelight. Christmas day, we wake up in the morning (or afternoon, in recent years) and open presents and stockings together under the tree. "We" of course is my mom, dad, brothers, usually grandmother, and more recently, Cressy, our high-school-days' foreign exchange student from China. Then we have an extended family Christmas dinner, either at my family's house, my grandmother's house, or my cousins' house nearby. We call family further away, and then occasionally my brothers will run off to a movie and maybe invite me along, too. Or we'll all fall into turkey-and-sugar coma and fall asleep.

I was more than a little bummed about being away from home for Christmas. Right after Thanksgiving, my roommates and I decorated our apartment with a small (fake-- duh) tree, lights, and even some stockings. We found all the Christmas movies we could get our hands on, but that's all we could do.

As Christmas came closer, though, it started to seem a little more real. I was angry about having to be here, I tried to pretend it wasn't Christmas, I got sad about it, and finally, I got over it. I managed to find an English-speaking (in fact, foreigner-run) candlelight service on Christmas Eve, with Silent Night and readings from Luke and everything. We ordered a turkey from a hotel nearby, and some Fulbrighters even made some homemade mashed potatoes. So those Fulbrighters around brought a dish, came to our apartment, had a Christmas dinner, and watched Christmas movies. After our guests left, my roommates and I exchanged presents under the tree. It wasn't home, but it was something.

My roommate Dan, carving the turkey:

Decorating gingerbread cookies, care of Nicki:

Christmas revelry. You can see our decorations in the background:

After the gift exchange. Vicky is "that kid" who has to wear every gift she receives...

After watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" over a dozen times last week, I finally had to learn my lesson...

Christmas Day is in our grasp,
So long as we have hands to clasp.

Christmas comes to Fu Xing

2008-12-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

I could either write one really long update about the holiday season in Taiwan, or I can break it up into hopefully digestible bites. So, here's the holiday update on how Christmas came and went at Fu Xing Primary School. We spent about two weeks of class doing holiday-related activities... I could write about it, or I could show pictures. I think I know what all my blog-readers prefer.

First, I taught them about the holiday season in the US (I even tried to talk about Chanukah before Susan told me it was too hard to understand...). Then they drew/colored pictures to decorate the classroom and listened to Christmas music. No pictures of that.

Second, they wrote letters to Santa. Some choice entries:

(As you can see, some didn't quite grasp the concept of a form letter.)

Third, my fifth graders put on a Christmas recital in their music class. It involved "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Santa Claus is coming to Town," in English!

Here they are, performing "Jingle Bells," or 叮叮當, on the recorder. Did you know that recorders come in soprano, alto, tenor, and bass varieties?

A performance of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas:"

Also, we watched the old cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" in all my classes... 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders alike found it hilarious, captivating, and comprehensible-- even without subtitles. I'm sad that I no longer have the ability to laugh at cartoons just for being funny-looking. Anyway, the movie got across the message that I thought many of them needed to hear: Christmas is not defined by presents or decorations or fancy food.

A picture of the kids enjoying the Grinch (I'd never seen them pay this much attention all semester):

My grinch lesson board:

For those classes who had time, I wanted to tell my favorite Christmas story, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The language is a little steep, though, even for native English speakers of the same age, so, with the help of my fantastic co-teacher Susan, I translated it into a Chinese poem with (approximately...) the same meter and rhyme scheme. Then the students drew/wrote their reactions:

Some sample "reflections" on the poem:
Stanley, from class 4-5:

I like this poem, but is very long. X'mas's night is quiet so is good. reindeer it's fling very high. He is very fat. He has elf and toys, he want give many children. He can go any ( ), Many children has a stocking. children want a gift any years. They are happy in this day. The world is love X'mas. so I like x'mas, too.

Heidi, from class 5-3:

I like this poem, this poem is old, it is 200 years old, I like their's Santa. hope Santa can give me a computer, but Santa is not here, this poem is long, the picture is beautiful, the Santa is fat, and teh Santa is nice, hope can listen again. Merry Christmas.

If anyone is interested in my (illustrated!) Powerpoint of "Twas the Night before Christmas" with Chinese and English, let me know.

And finally, since I did have to work all day on Christmas, I figured the only way to get through it was to bring it. So, of course, I brought it. And "it" was a reindeer sweater and antlers.

So, a belated Merry Christmas to all of you, from Fu Xing Primary School!

Katie is going to Krakow?!?; a filler post.

2008-12-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

It's been too long since I've updated, but all my blogworthy goings-on lately connect somehow to the holiday season. I'd prefer to let that wrap up before I start summarizing and describing, so until then, here's a post that needs posting to tide you over.

---
Sometimes, life happens in mysterious ways. You find connections in two seemingly unrelated parts of your life, and those connections reinforce that your life might actually make sense after all.

An example? My winter break trip to Krakow, Poland.

As you all know by now, I'm working at Fu Xing Primary School in Kaohsiung city. Kaohsiung is to be the host of the World Games in July 2009, so the city is making all sorts of preparations to show the world that it is an international, developed, tourist-worthy city. Every elementary school has "adopted" a World Games country. I'm not sure how and why the countries were assigned as they were. My roommate Dan's school has a really strong English program, and its adopted country is the United States. Makes sense. My roommate Vicky's school has adopted Uzbekistan. Why? Who knows. One of the schools up north has adopted Cuba. And my school, Fu Xing, has adopted Poland.

Before the boyfriend Jonathan ever got a job offer to work in Poland, I was spending at least one period a week teaching in a room with a huge map of Poland on the wall, and cardboard cut-outs with traditional Polish clothing. I've translated messages for banners and posters to welcome the Polish World Game athletes. In case you don't believe me...

Wall-sized Polish map with cultural tidbits in Chinese:

Polish cardboard cutouts. The dude on the right is our English Village postman... obviously.

So even though planning a Lunar New Year trip from Kaohsiung to Krakow was neither easy nor inexpensive, the fact that I'll be spending my only school vacation in Poland actually, somehow, makes sense. My principal even wants to give me a stipend to buy cultural and educational souvenirs to bring back for the school.

Now, I leave for this trip in about a month. This is the first time I'll be going to a foreign country where I don't speak the language and/or don't have a native speaker contact in the area. So let's get your Poland/traveling/Europe/learninganewlanguagereallyfast tips rolling!

Getting political

2008-12-17T10:34:00.003-05:00

Taiwan has a very interesting political situation. Aside from the obvious ambiguous status in its relations with China, the domestic politics can get pretty intense.

This article describes one of the many recent antics of the two rivaling parties. I kind of wish congress got this hilariously personal... or at least had article titles with such stupid humor.

So click and be merry: Man who snatched wig will have toupee.

My new(ish) bike

2008-12-14T11:47:00.005-05:00

You may remember a post from a month or two ago referencing my spontaneous desire to buy an electric bike in the context of other spontaneous desires. Well, I've become well-known here for my follow-through. In early November, after lots of price-checking and research, I found a used electric bike on a craigslist-esque Taiwanese website, contacted the owner, checked it out, and got myself a new toy.

The bike is about a year old and is the same size (maybe a bit shorter) than an average bike. It's equipped with a lead-acid battery that weighs about 25 pounds, which would render the bike totally impractical if it didn't so handily fit in my building's elevator. With the battery off, you ride it just like a regular bike. With the battery on, you can "rev" the "engine" to about 15mph without pedaling. All this for a mere 5000 TWD (about $165 US).

This means that I can now ride to work sweat-free and fee-free in about the same time as the bus would take. I pass most of the regular bikes on the road, except this one stubborn old man who pedals furiously and manages to pull just ahead. This is by far the best mode of transportation for me. I plug it into the wall for a few hours at night, and voila, I have four hours of battery. An efficient and effortless way to get around, it doesn't require a license and doesn't emit any form of exhaust. The best part? People here think electric bikes are extremely nerdy, so it will probably never get stolen.

And now, a grainy picture of my electric bike.

My new shoes

2008-12-11T05:16:00.003-05:00

Before they get any dirtier. My most important souvenir from Tainan.

Yes, they are so Asian, thank you for noticing.

A weekend in Tainan

2008-12-08T07:51:00.010-05:00

This weekend, Dan, Dani, Nicki, Shana, and I ventured into the city of 台南, about an hour north of 高雄, led by Shana's host family. Tainan is the former capital of Taiwan, known for its beautiful architecture and numerous old temples. It had a pleasant old-town feel, and though it's also a large city for Taiwan, it felt much less like a city than dear old Kaohsiung.

Anyway, I'm tired and it's been a long day, so enjoy your favorite kind of blog post: light on narrative, heavy on pictures.

Saturday night, a nice alley/side-street (in black and white-- I was fooling with my camera settings):

The front of Shana's host father's favorite temple:

A nominee for my Taiwanese food hall of fame, 鱔魚米粉, for the categories "thing I least wanted to eat" and "thing that made me feel sick the longest:"

Sunday morning, scenes from the temple parade (switch to phone camera as my real one ran out of batteries):

The Confucius temple:

A very old tree outside the temple:

And a nice garden:

And those are the highlights from my weekend trip to Tainan.

I will also note, it was no colder than 55 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday night, and we found ourselves shivering in sweatshirts, hoods pulled up, and blowing on our hands to keep warm. Oh, Taiwanese winter...

Television musings

2008-12-01T09:52:00.001-05:00

One of the things that minimizes the homesickness and keeps me sane is being able to watch good old American TV, whether found online, recorded via Slingbox, or rented at Blockbuster. There are a handful of shows that I'm keeping up with, and by "keeping up with," I mean some days I can't wait to get home to watch my recording from a few hours earlier, and other days I'll realize I haven't seen the show in weeks and should probably catch up. In any case, my TV repertoire strikes an interesting balance.

Mondays

Chuck (NBC): half-action, half-comedy with a dash of never-gonna-happen romance.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS): romantic comedy, twenty-something humor.

Wednesdays

Private Practice (ABC): total guilty pleasure. Primetime soap opera.
Pushing Daisies (ABC): whimsical, artistic, clever.

Thursdays

Grey's Anatomy (ABC): total guilty pleasure. Primetime soap opera.
The Office (NBC): smart, awkward comedy with a dash of romance.
30 Rock (NBC): smart, awkward comedy.

Anyway, mid-season schedules have been released, and it appears that Chuck will be on hiatus until February, and Pushing Daisies is being canceled completely. If you take a look at what's left, that leaves a lot of awkward humor and guilty pleasures. Where's the substance? Where's the legitimacy?

Many of you laugh at how seriously I take TV (whatever, please observe my stress levels, even during peak thesis season at Harvard), but I'm not the only one. I read this article mourning the cancelation of Pushing Daisies, in the meantime jabbing at this season of Grey's Anatomy. The comparison was too entertaining to pass up:

Well in terms of artistic legitmacy (which is a relevant topic when talking about “Pushing Daisies”) at least ABC still has “Grey’s Anatomy,” right? Aren’t the critics wild for that [...]? Yeaaah, no. My wife still watches it despite the fact it officially jumped the shark after the second season... “Grey’s Anatomy” seems to circle around and find a new stunt to jump over the shark every week. The other week it had a robot on it. Yes, a [...] robot! And then I noticed the other night they’re telling a ghost story with the dude who died from a bad heart a few seasons ago. It’s time to retire the phrase “jumped the shark.” We’re now in the era of “Grey’s Anatomy” and when a show screws itself beyond repair I’m saying it’s either “gone robot” or “ghosted Denny.”

Anyway, of my few loyal blog readers, I'm sure that none-to-one of you actually cares about the content of this post. But still, I had to throw it out there. When English storytelling competitions and teaching observations and travel plans and scheduled-and-rescheduled events are around, it's nice to have something that keeps me sane.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-29T01:53:00.006-05:00

So, I may be in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, and I may have had to work on both days that most Americans get off work, but at least I got to eat some turkey. And talk about it, a lot, in my 感恩節 lesson plan.

I was actually lucky enough to have two Thanksgivings. The first was last Saturday night; we met an American woman at a bar a few weeks back, and she was kind enough to invite us to her own American Thanksgiving at her apartment. So we enjoyed a Costco turkey, homemade pumpkin pie, and lots of other traditional American Thanksgiving food (including mashed sweet potatoes, provided by Apartment C) in the company of several English cram school teachers from the US and Canada.

The second Thanksgiving took place on Thanksgiving night and was held by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Kaohsiung, which is basically the American consulate/embassy (but due to Taiwan's ambiguous political status, it cannot officially be called that). So, the chief of AIT hosted this event for Fulbrighters, our Taiwanese co-teachers, and some other Americans living and working in Kaohsiung. It was more than we could have ever hoped for on Thanksgiving in a foreign country. There was turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, cookies, cranberry sauce... and it was all fantastic. And thankfully for me (and all of you), my fantastic co-teacher Amy brought her camera and sent me all the pictures she took. And Taiwanese people love to photograph food. So, some photos from my first Thanksgiving away from home, care of Amy.

Homemade dinner, probably in the largest domestic oven in southern Taiwan... which would be average size in the U.S.

Pumpkin pie... straight from Costco!

A lot of the Fulbrighters and our co-teachers, with Mason (deputy chief of AIT):

Amy, Susan, and me, with the host (chief of AIT-Kaohsiung, or whatever you call it):

Note my insistence on wearing a sweater, even though it certainly wasn't cold enough to do so. The good news is, it was as low as 65 the other day! I hope these "cold fronts" come with more frequency from now on. (It's back to 78 today.)

Third place!

2008-11-26T18:25:00.000-05:00

So, the past few weeks, I've been spending a lot of time (in class, between classes, after class) working with a group of seven fifth graders for Fu Xing's entry into the Kaohsiung City Reader's Theater competition. Susan and I auditioned and selected the team members together, while I was solely responsible for writing a 5-minute original script. Considering I had no idea what "Reader's Theater" even was, let alone what an appropriate script would entail, it was a bit of a challenge. Last year's English teacher prepared them for months before the competition and was able to arrange multiple practices a day, and the students earned second place. Susan and I found out about it a week before the registration deadline (less than a month ago) and, both being new to Fu Xing, had no idea how to go about... anything.

Anyway, long story short, we pulled it together. The competition took place today, and I'm happy to say that my students got third place in their division! (Groups were divided by school size.) And I think they had a good time with it, too. Special thanks to Glennie for getting the ball rolling with my creativity. Here's an excerpt from our conversation on November 5th:

me: i need a creative idea for a kid's play

Glennie: how are you?

can you base it on a book?

me: that kids who can't really speak english could pull off

8:26 PM should be original

Glennie: winnie the pooh?

me: it's 7 kids

and there's no acting, just.. dramatic reading

Glennie: you have to write it?

me: previous winners have included a lot of kids speaking in groups and singing

yes

Glennie: hmm

when do you need it by

8:27 PM me: tonight.

well i have to have a solid idea tonight

we submit our registration tomorrow for the contest

which includes the kids' names and the title/subject

8:28 PM Glennie: ok, right now all i'm coming up wiht is having masks

of two different colors (two groups of three) who don't like each other for one reason or another

me: hahah

Glennie: and one little kid in a white mask who makes them see that they are pretty when they mix (i.e. red and blue groups make purple) or something

So, with that in mind, here I present to you the final rehearsal of Fu Xing Primary School's "Blue, Yellow, and Red," starring Annie as the Narrator, Marvin and Gavin as Red, Lily and David as Blue, and Dennis and Christina as Yellow. I was way too nervous to film during the actual performance, and I'm way too impatient to wait for the official recording, so the final rehearsal (with mistakes and prop mishaps and all) is what you get. But trust me, you'll get the idea.

And here's a picture of Susan, me, and the Fu Xing Reader's Theater team after the performance.

PS: This post was supposed to go up Wednesday night, after the competition took place Wednesday afternoon, but the video took an eternity to upload, so you're not seeing it until now. Sorry!

PPS: Mom, did I ever thank you for this shirt? If not... thanks. I like it. I wear it a lot. Like to Reader's Theater competitions.

Written with a broken heart

2008-11-23T10:29:00.005-05:00

I don't really know how to talk about it, how to write about it, but it's something that you all will ask about at some point, so it's best for me to answer your question before you even ask.

Three weeks ago today, we adopted two young puppies, Sonic and Milo. They had been strays, but they'd had their first round of vaccinations, and we were seeing the vet regularly. After about a week and a half, Sonic started to lose his appetite, and got a pretty severe cough. We brought him into the vet, who told us that Sonic had canine distemper and would likely die.

Canine distemper is a disease uncommon in the US because most dogs have been vaccinated against it and vaccinated mothers provide their puppies with enough immunization to get them through the early months. Taiwan, however, has a high population of stray dogs, and many Taiwanese don't follow the vaccination protocol for the dogs they do choose to raise. Thus, these highly preventable, highly fatal diseases still have a high occurrence in the population.

We contacted the woman from whom we'd adopted the boys right away, and a week ago she picked Sonic up to stay at a veterinary hospital for treatment. I visited him every day, but after the first few days, he began to quickly deteriorate. And this morning, three weeks after we adopted him, Sonic was unable to stand, eat, or control his own muscles. With incredible sadness but full knowledge that it was the right thing to do, we had to let him go.

I'll always remember Sonic. He was paper-trained within a week (Milo still hasn't figured it out). He liked to chew on anything; if our shoes weren't around, he went for the kitchen wall. His eyes were always bright, unlike any other dog I've seen before-- we fondly called him "Asian eyes." He was a handsome dog who had a lot of energy, but until the day he lost muscle control, he would climb into my lap and fall asleep in minutes. I'll always remember Sonic.

There is nothing we could have done about the canine distemper, and in fact it's still likely that Milo will start showing symptoms any day now. All we can do is hope for Milo, and be glad that Sonic at least knew some love, comfort, and a sense of home before he died.

I will always remember Sonic.

Yet another reason I'm glad I bought a Slingbox

2008-11-22T12:04:00.002-05:00

I may have to stay up until 1am to watch kickoff, and it may have a pretty slow buffering process, but at least I can watch the 125th Harvard-yale game, live, from my bed, in Taiwan.

Also, every time I hear the words "great football weather," "cold, windy day," and "below freezing," I feel a little less jealous of all my friends back in Cambridge this weekend.

And, I just heard the band play. Aw.

A little slice of home

2008-11-20T08:33:00.003-05:00

So, you know how those fake-vintage shirts have become really popular lately? "Iowa City 4-H State Finalists 2003," "Chippewa Little League All Stars," "San Jose High Varsity Soccer," etc. Well, they are particularly popular in Taiwan. I get the feeling they're mostly made in Asian countries, from the bizarre diction and spelling used.

Anyway, yesterday in class, one of my fourth grade students was wearing one of these shirts. I almost didn't notice, but when she came up to do the speaking part of her midterm, my jaw almost dropped. Later, after the test, I just had to get a picture.

Why?

I mean, it's not spelled perfectly, but Tredyffrin-Easttown was the only word I ever got wrong in 5th grade spelling. Bizarre, eh?

As your holiday season approaches...

2008-11-18T07:51:00.004-05:00

Hanshin department store has started putting up Christmas decorations, so I thought it would be fun to write up a list of some days I'll be working this year that you won't be.

I will be working on...

November 27th, 8am-4pm
November 28th, 8am-12pm
December 24th, 8am-12pm
December 25th, 8am-4pm
December 31st, 8am-12pm
January 1st, 8am-4pm

And so on and so forth. I figure this is about the time people start complaining about only getting off work a few days for Christmas, or having to work the day after Thanksgiving... or bragging about all their vacation days... Anyway, I'm probably not the person to go to for any of this.

Then again, I will be off from January 21st to February 11th. Krakow, here I come!

Culturally Confounded in Taiwan: Chapter 3

2008-11-16T23:27:00.002-05:00

This one sort of goes along the lines of getting free stuff. But it doesn't.

I'm sitting in the classroom right now during lunch break. All the students are in their homerooms, either eating or settling in for an afternoon nap. A small girl just came in and said to me (in Chinese), "Today is my birthday. Here is juice for you." I replied with a confused "Happy birthday" in English and Chinese as she walked out the door.

So now I'm sitting here with papaya juice on my desk that some child gave me for her birthday. I feel a little bad. First I was disappointed to have my birthday on a Saturday because it meant no adorable 4th grade chorus of "Happy Birthday" in class, but now that I realize I might have had to provide treats for everyone on my birthday, maybe it was for the better.

This is not the first time this has happened, either. I've also gotten candy and mooncakes from students on their birthdays. I vaguely remember parents baking brownies or cupcakes or something for kids to bring in on their birthdays back in elementary school, but buying papaya juice for the whole faculty? This one's new to me.

My two excuses

2008-11-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

So, the secret's out. Time to disclose what I've been busy with the past few weeks. But first, let me explain how it all started.

A few weeks ago, my roommate Dani was getting her bike out to run an errand. I was chatting with her while she was getting ready to head out. I told her about how I don't like using my bike as much in this traffic, and that I was (and am) thinking about getting an electric bike, or a kit to make my bike electric. Dani was half-interested in, half-amused by my rambling. I then said, "It's okay, it's just something I'm fixated on right now. That, and... how would you feel if I got a small, contained pet in my room? Like a flying squirrel or chinchilla?"

Dani laughed, said she didn't really care what I did, and then said, "What I really want is a dog." As a chinchilla was the most interesting, cuddly, still-containable pet I could come up with because I thought a dog was out of the question, I was excited by her response. So we talked. And we plotted. And we asked our roommates. I asked our guard whether dogs were allowed in the building, and he answered, "不要吵就可以啦!"

We had all the green lights we needed. So I started searching and email local animal shelters (in Chinese!) about adopting dogs. About a week and three trips to 左營 later, Sonic and Milo had entered our lives.

Dani and I adopted two stray puppies (sort of for my birthday) from an animal shelter here in Kaohsiung. They are mixed breeds, brothers, about two or three months old. We named one Sonic, because he is a little ball of energy like our favorite video game hedgehog. We considered some obvious corresponding names (Knuckles, Doc(tor Robotnik), and Tails)... but somehow, ended up with Milo.

If you're concerned, veterinary care is very inexpensive in Taiwan and we can more than afford it. And though it's complicated, I'm planning on taking them with me when I leave Taiwan.

And now, some pictures.

First, my birthday lunch at T.G.I.Friday's.

And now, PUPPIES! Everybody loves puppies.

First day home, Sonic likes chewing on my sock.

Dani cuddles the tiny, calm Milo while Sonic watches, desperate for attention.

Sonic finds the attention he seeks. In my lap.

Now, the boys are growing up. Milo is more energetic, and Sonic and I have enjoyed several naps together on the couch. Milo finishes his dinner first and stands vigilant over Sonic, waiting for him to lose interest and leave his bowl unattended.

They are sweet, smart boys who are about 90% paper-trained after less than two weeks. Their vaccines aren't complete until Christmas, so for now they have to be apartment dogs and can't go outside. But they were officially introduced to my Fulbright peers last night, so now they can be officially introduced to you.

A Landmark Occasion

2008-11-09T23:24:00.003-05:00

Today in Kaohsiung, for the first time since I got here three and a half months ago, the temperature went below 80 degrees. All the way down to 66 degrees. Fahrenheit.

Kids are wearing ski vests over their gym uniforms. We didn't turn the fans on in class. I didn't sweat walking to the bus stop.

Of course, the same weather in New England would bring out lots of pasty skin revealed by shorts and tank tops, but here, I'm really excited that I can finally wear long pants and not want to die.

Here's to hoping this lasts!

Long weekend #2: Kenting

2008-11-09T01:22:00.006-05:00

I've been neglecting the blog lately. I have two excuses, but I won't bother to tell you about them. Instead, I'll do a mostly-pictures update of my second weekend trip when Jon was here. We went to Kenting, which is on the southern tip of Taiwan. The setting of "Cape No. 7," Kenting is the Taiwanese resort town. Except we stayed in a small inn, not a huge resort, so much of the weekend was spent figuring out how to get around and what we were supposed to be doing. Regardless, Kenting was a beautiful place to be, and thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend (remember what I said about how getting advice from locals was a necessity?), we did end up at some good restaurants and on an excellent snorkelling excursion.

And now, some pictures.

Jon overlooks the main Kenting beach:

A view of the landscape on the east coast of Taiwan:

The Pacific Ocean. Look really hard, can you see California?

A nice trip to the national aquarium:

And a great snorkeling trip by the nuclear power plant. Seriously. Once you swim through a few yards of trash, you get to an amazingly diverse and beautiful coral reef:
(our snorkel-guide had an underwater camera. Phew.)

I still have some other Jon pictures and stories, but they are smaller. This will probably be my last in the "Jon summary" series, as I'm getting way behind on blogging on actual current events. But I hope you've enjoyed these stories. All this and more could be yours, if you visit Taiwan, too!

Taipei: Kaohsiung of the north?

2008-11-03T08:32:00.002-05:00

Now, back to those Jon stories. It may seem like there are a lot, but he was here for over two weeks, and this post will mark the end of week one. Granted, my getting sunburned on 10-10 meant that I got my usual sunburn-induced cold/cough in week two, so activity was substantially reduced.

Anyway, I will come out and say it, Taipei is not my favorite city. Though Kaohsiung is supposed to be more dense, Taipei feels more crowded with more traffic and scarier-looking stray dogs. The biggest lesson that I learned from going to Taipei with Jon is that, in Taiwan, it is really necessary to get advice from a local on where to go and what to do. For the times when we just wanted to wander and find things, we inevitably got lost and ended up eating McDonald's because it's all we could find. When we found something online or in a travel book, we ended up disappointed and not sure if we were in the right place.

But the three places that were heavily recommended by friends, the Palace Museum, the Taipei Zoo, and the Shihlin Night Market, were definitely successful ventures. The Palace Museum is a collection of everything from art to ceramics to old letters that were taken from the Mainland during the communist revolution. No pictures were allowed, but it was definitely a tourist-friendly and worthwhile trip.

The Taipei Zoo is at the end of one subway line, far outside center city; it's a sprawling zoo with plenty of different landscapes to accommodate almost every animal. A favorite exhibit was the koalas, though the pictures didn't come out great through the glass:

And then there were the elephants, that Jon's college roommate Benny apparently took care of for a summer:

And that big furry bear that Jon really, really wanted to take home:

We also went to the top of Taipei 101, seeing the whole city from 101 floors up:

Of course, going to Taipei 101 with a physics major was a little different. He was way more interested in the damper that kept the building steady. Here he is, posing with the "damper baby," with the big damper in the background:

The Shihlin night market was also a successful trip, with more food and people than we could ever take in:

And finally, a nice picture of one of those great monuments that we never meant to see while getting lost on our way to somewhere else:

And though I have hundreds of other pictures from the Taipei weekend, it's time to move on to week 2. Look forward to it!

Happiest Halloween

2008-10-30T11:15:00.000-04:00

Time to take a quick break from the ongoing Jon summaries to bring you a time-sensitive post about bringing America to Taiwan this fall.

Today was Halloween in the English classroom at Fu Xing. Because I don't teach there on Fridays, we had Halloween a day early. Now, Halloween isn't celebrated in Taiwan, so the only way people know about it is through English classes and the occasional display at a western chain (like Carrefour or Costco).

Earlier in the week, I gave a lesson on "this week in America" to my students... I talked a little bit about the World Series, Halloween, and the presidential election. A few students actually followed the Series and took after their teacher as diehard Phillies fans. And a lot of kids knew that Bush was the president of the US, and that Obama might be the next one (though Obama's opponent was, they said, "Hillary," "Bush," "Ma Yingjiu," or "that guy with the white hair"). I also talked about Halloween and told them that if they came to the classroom and said "Trick or Treat" on Thursday, they would get candy. Bonus candy for wearing a costume!

As the crazy American English teacher, it was my duty to be that teacher, going all out in a ridiculous costume and getting really excited about everything. By the time I got to Carrefour though, there were only three adult-sized costumes left. I chose this one. Note the sad-looking Asian man on the front.

The students exceeded my wildest expectations in terms of enthusiasm, as more than half of the fourth graders had some sort of costume (though many of the fifth graders were, of course, "too cool"). And students were coming from all corners of the school between classes to get candy and check out each other's costumes. Here's me and one of my fourth grade classes:

And finally, the highlight of the day of course came during second period. My fourth grade sports class (baseball and badminton players) finished their Halloween activities early, so we turned on the TV and watched the end of the World Series, live, on ESPN. I wish I had gotten video of their cheering "homerun" in Chinese, or jumping all over each other when the Phillies won, but of course, I was cheering with them. So here they are, mezmerized by the TV during the ninth inning.

And that's how I brought Halloween and the Phillies to Taiwan. If anyone remembers to ask me who won the presidential election next week, I'll know I've reached them. Now that's what I call being a cultural ambassador.

10-10 in Taipei

2008-10-29T09:49:00.000-04:00

Before I started playing catch-up, Taiwan's birthday 10/10 or 雙十 (think 4th of July in the US) was coming up. As a Fulbright recipient, I was invited to Taipei for a big parade and banquet on 10/10. Luckily, Jon was able to come with me to the parade that morning under the auspices of dating a Fulbright. Sweet! The banquet was a little more closed-list, though, so he had fun wandering the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial while I half-heartedly, wholly-sunburnedly mingled at a very VIP event.

The parade was certainly the highlight of the day for me. Basically, it was four hours of speeches and performances in direct sunlight (guess who forgot to wear sunscreen)... the president of Taiwan was there, as well as several other politicians and Taiwanese celebrities. Being with Fulbright meant coming as a VIP, and we sat in the front of the parade area, next to the tent where the president/etc. sat, facing the masses of Taiwanese people who had waited in line for hours that morning to get in. I even got interviewed by someone in the Taiwanese media, and apparently some colleagues saw me on TV. The interview was pretty bland... I just played the happy American and said I love hot weather, the line wasn't too long, and the security was reasonable.

The event invitation had stipulated no cameras, so I didn't bring mine; when we got there and saw several people subtly and not-so-subtly taking pictures, I decided it would be okay to use my camera phone. Especially after I took a few pictures and the Taiwanese secret service dude sitting behind me didn't stop me.

So hold onto your internet connections, folks. I have probably 50+ pictures and videos from this event, but I'll try to crop this down into a tasteful, bloggable, slowconnectionable amount.

It began with what you'd expect... soldiers, military music, important people yelling patriotically:

Yes, it was sunny and hot and I didn't wear sunscreen. The only reason my face didn't get burned? Free (patriotic) hats!

The parade also had plenty of floats, representing various organizations or regions of Taiwan.

And plenty of choreographed performances, like these girls from Kaohsiung promoting the World Games in Kaohsiung, 2009. These girls made a performance at a recent Kaohsiung event, to be blogged later on...

And plenty of other performances, many with young children and/or traditional cultural displays and/or, for lack of a better way to say it, strong presence of the Asian "Hello Kitty" aesthetic.

Finally, because I believe the 10/10 banquet was more adequately covered in many fellow Kaohsiung ETA blogs, I'll leave you with just a few photos of this outrageous and fancy experience.

Taiwanese President Ma Yingjiu/Yingjeou (spellable many different ways)-- he's the guy between the backs of the Taiwanese Secret Service heads, mixing tea Hakka-style (though not the unidentifiable-but-probably-famous westerner in the middle).

On my way out... The "guest house" where the banquet took place, only open a few times a year for special occasions such as this. Note the red carpet on the left.

Someday when I'm home in the US and we're passing a slow afternoon, ask to see the rest of the pictures from 10/10. You probably won't regret it.

Where all your dreams come true

2008-10-25T12:54:00.004-04:00

The Dream Mall is one of Kaohsiung's newest points of pride. The second biggest mall in Asia, it boasts 9 or 10 floors of shopping, in addition to 2 basement food court levels, a movie theater on the top floor, and a rooftop amusement park. The roof also includes one of the world's biggest (though not the biggest) Hello Kitty Ferris wheels, also known as the Kaohsiung Eye.

Sometimes, you don't even need words. So here are some pictures from Jon and my dinner/movie/people-watching adventure at 夢時代.

We arrived at the Dream Mall via the (free, official) shuttle from the closest metro stop...

... and admired its shininess.

We looked at the shops...

... then wandered the amusement park.

A Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel? Can we handle it?

Yes, we can!

And now, you decide. Kaohsiung harbor on a cloudy afternoon?

... or Kaohsiung city that very same night?

And I hope you've enjoyed your second installment of Jon's visit to Taiwan.

Meet Mr. Jon

2008-10-23T12:14:00.001-04:00

20 days and 2 gigabytes of pictures since I wrote a real blog post, Jonathan's back in Miami and it's time for me to get back in touch with everyone (via the internet, of course). The traveling and activities and sight-seeing that happened during Jon's visit will merit several posts, so bear with me as I play catch-up on all the major events in my Taiwan life. I'll try to be somewhat chronological, because you gotta start somewhere.

On Jonathan's second full day in Taiwan, he had probably his most exhausting cultural immersion of the whole trip. Not eating tongue soup or getting lost in Taipei (both of which were accomplished later), but... he came to school to teach with me for a full day of classes. Much like my first day, most of these classes were at least partly (if not entirely) a "Meet Mr. Jon" session, followed by a rousing game of "Mr. Jon says."

The kids were amazed that two people from the same country could have different color hair. They didn't know what "Jewish" meant. They asked why he had "fur" on his arms. They tried to learn a few words of Spanish. They were generally amazed at him being around.

And now, some photos of "Mr. Jon" from his time at 復興國小.

Mr. Jon and Katie 老師 at the front gate:

Students are in awe of Mr. Jon's driver's license:

Finally, we take a picture with some of the members of my "fan club"... a group of 3rd graders from Amy's class who come talk to me during every period break:

Today in class, a few students came in during lunch and asked why Jon didn't come to school again after that. I told them the truth... he wasn't cut out to be at school for eight hours a day, and after one day of it, he was too tired to come back.

Welcome to my life!

Go Phillies!

2008-10-16T08:51:00.003-04:00

As many of you know, baseball is the sport I've more than half-cared about throughout my life. So imagine my excitement when I got off the bus to Kenting today, signed online, and found that finally, the Phillies are in the World Series.

I remember back in '93 when my parents were fortunate enough to get four tickets to see them play the Blue Jays (of course, I was 8 and there were four family members older than me...), but I remember it was a very exciting time. And now, here I am in Taiwan, tuning into the beginning of games as I get ready for work, or catching the highlights on a Chinese-dubbed ESPN later that day.

What a disappointing time to not be in Philly... then again, I did name the majority of my 5th grade baseball class after Phillies players(I definitely have a Cole, Chase, and Shane), and I'm planning to do some class activities with the World Series... maybe having a bunch of enthusiastic 11 year olds will be adequate replacement for not being home during such an exciting time. Too bad the Yankees have the only Taiwanese baseball player in the MLB, and thus dominate the Taiwanese baseball merchandise market.

Unrelatedly, I'm writing from a hotel in Kenting, a beach town on the southern tip of Taiwan. It's raining a lot. We're going to an aquarium tomorrow. I'm laying off the blogging until Jon leaves (Wednesday), but don't worry, there will be blog posts and pictures aplenty soon after.

Neglecting the blog for the boyfriend

2008-10-09T06:13:00.003-04:00

My apologies for leaving you all stranded for the past week(-ish) while I selfishly wandered Taiwan with Jonathan. Now, while I wait in the lobby of Sheraton Hotel Taipei for his Yom Kippur services to get out (held in room 577), I'll write a quick update about what we've been up to, bullet-point-style.

Helping Jon choose randomly from menus (he has eaten 猪舌冬粉, among other things)
Riding the Hello Kitty ferris wheel atop the second biggest mall in Asia
Seeing 海角七号 (viewing number 3 for me)
Riding the 高铁 from Taoyuan to Kaohsiung, and back up to Taipei
Taking cabs and chatting with toothless and/or singing cab drivers
Answering lots and lots of questions from students about how two people from the same country have different color hair (and why it grows on his arms!)
Learning about the world of dentistry from my host father
Trying every kind of 奶茶

Now we find ourselves in Taipei to celebrate 双十 as foreign VIPs, and maybe also go to the zoo. Check you later.

PS, for those keeping score at home, yes, I am using 简体字 in this post. Even though I bought my baby laptop here in Taiwan, it doesn't have pinyin for traditional characters (it uses the crazy keyboard I have yet to figure out). And my normal laptop doesn't fit in my purse, so it didn't make it to Taipei.

前鎮高中

2008-10-04T04:45:00.000-04:00

This past Thursday, I left work at 復興國小 a little early to help out with a project at 前鎮高中. Two of the senior English classes were going to interview Kate, Maya, and me in order to practice doing interviews and writing biographies. When their English teacher told me that their English was probably the same level as my elementary school students, I assumed she was being modest on behalf of her students. When I got to the first class, I discovered a group of kids who had extensive English vocabularies (or at least good dictionary skills) and absolutely no willingness to speak English. They would pass around a piece of paper and say to each other in Chinese, "No, you say it," until finally, one of them pitied me enough to actually say something.

The second class was much more excited about the exercise and asked me some pretty fun questions. When I got assigned to their group and they all cheered, then presented me with my favorite Taiwanese drink (a 紅茶拿鐵), I knew it was going to be better.

They all introduced themselves, asked me lots of questions (more interesting than my students' "Why are your eyes blue" and more fun than the prior class' "what setbacks did you encounter in your childhood"). Then they asked if I wanted to go to the night market with them after class. I hesitated, thinking about how tired I was and all the things I needed to do at home, but ultimately decided to go, and I'm glad I did.

Here's a picture with me and the group that interviewed me in the second class. I love their class shirt.

We went to the Rui Feng night market in the north part of the city, the biggest night market in Kaohsiung (I had not been there yet). It had everything from food to carnival games to shopping to even pets. I was really close to asking the price of the dachshund puppies in a small miserable cage, and even closer to asking how much this crazy squirrel cost:

(I was around a ton of squirrels back home and was never tempted to take on in as a pet, but here in Taiwan...)

We also played a bunch of carnival games. I tried to show them how they were all rigged and then how to overcome those built-in inequities, but I think it was lost in translation.

Speaking of which, being around these 17 year olds was a great relief from being around my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. After the English project was over, I told them they could speak Chinese with me if they wanted. Unlike with my primary school students, this did not mean that they abandoned English outside the door of their classroom and never looked back. They still tried to speak English with me all night, and resorted to Chinese only when they really couldn't think of how to say it in English (about 10% of the time). I was really impressed by their attitude, and the fact that they took the time to come out with us (Kate and Maya came too) in this important time otherwise spent studying for their college entrance exam.

Finally, here's a picture of me and several of the students who took us to the night market, taking one of MANY pictures in the MRT (subway) station.

Now, I'm off to take the 高鐵 to 桃園 to meet a certain 男朋友 at the 飛機場!

Names, names, names

2008-10-02T09:20:00.005-04:00

I don't want to neglect my blog, and I've just had a very blog-worthy evening, but so blog-worthy that I'm too tired to write about it now. So instead, I'll give you all a short summary of what I've been doing in class lately:

Giving my students English names.

Well, I've been teaching vocabulary and phonics and all that good stuff, but I've also been spending a lot of time helping students pick out English names. Many of them have names already, but many don't, and even some of the prior-name-havers (yes, I'm tired) wanted to pick new ones... some at my request. It took a solid five minutes to explain to a boy that "Joy" was not a great choice, and then help him change it to Joey.

I had the students come to the back desk one by one and pick out a new name by telling me which letter they liked, and I would then list several English names starting with that letter. Of course, I went first to the English names I know best (those of my friends and family). The way I see it, this benefits all involved; they get English names that are actually used, and I can more easily remember their names. Most of them picked easy, popular names like Jenny, Amy, and Ben, but some were interested in more unique names like Andrea, Judy, and Darci.

The biggest challenge was getting someone to pick the name Aubrey. It's long, hard to spell, and harder to pronounce. But for every little girl that said she liked "A," I always tried Aubrey. It didn't work until one of my last classes of the week; a fourth grade girl said she liked it and wanted it to be her name.

I wanted to tell American Aubrey about Taiwan Aubrey, so I paid special attention to her that day. I noticed Aubrey behaving oddly in class, pulling her desk away from classmates and constantly putting her head down; she kept playing with rulers and didn't even have a book in front of her. My co-teacher Susan later told me that Aubrey was "retarded" and should probably pick an easier name. I don't think Taiwan has the same distinctions of "special needs" as we do in America; here, it seems, either you're normal or you're not. Aubrey certainly wasn't slow, and did not have Downs Syndrome. She was capable of paying attention whenever I reminded her to, but just didn't seem to be accustomed to focusing.

Today in class, I remembered Aubrey's name the best because it was one of my friends' names. So, when she wasn't paying attention to Susan's phonics lesson, I noticed. Susan was having the students say the example sentences as fast as possible, and most of them were really excited about this challenging activity. This was something beyond Aubrey's abilities, as she hadn't been paying attention enough to know what the sentences even were (and again, no book). I sat down with her and had her repeat a few of the words. She could do it. I asked her if she was tired, and she said no. I asked her why she wasn't listening or watching, and she kind of smiled, then pulled her chair forward and looked at the board.

After class, Aubrey went up to Susan, and I saw Susan reviewing the material on the board with her one-on-one. As she was leaving, Susan told her, "Next time bring your book to class." Susan then told me, "She just told me that she wants to learn English."

Now, you can tell me that naming kids after my friends is weird, but the only reason I paid such attention to this girl initially is because she had picked a friend's name. When you see a different 30 kids every 30 minutes, it's hard to tell if one or two of them are not paying attention.

Here's a photo of Aubrey, during one of her (many) looks back to my desk to see if I was still keeping an eye on her. She's a smart kid-- in the beginning of class when I handed out the name tags, I told everyone that I wanted their names facing me at all times. So when I moved to sit in the back of the class while Susan stayed up front, Aubrey turned her name tag to me.

As another (more brief) example, one of the students in a third grade class told me his English name was Tom. Anyway, when I explained the concept of a "class clown" to his teacher Amy, she said that Tom was their class clown. He's a little noisy and a bit of a troublemaker, and has had to forgo naptime to make up unfinished homework. He was the first student to pick up on the fact that I understand Chinese, and the reason I had to make the rule that I will speak Chinese outside of class, but in English class we only speak English (which he strictly follows and enforces). Anyway, I told him that my best friend in college was also named Tom, and now Tom comes to my classroom during breaks to ask me things about America, my American friend Tom, and how to say different words in English.

Obviously, my goal is to get the same kind of results in every student as I've found in little Tom and Aubrey. But names and American counterparts aren't going to motivate everyone... so I'll keep teaching them new things and giving them different opportunities to learn about English and America until one day, they all start wanting to learn English?

On a related but less serious note, almost every boy named John, Jon, Jonathan, or Johnny has requested a new name.

Typhoon Holiday, Brother Birthday

2008-09-29T12:18:00.008-04:00

Gchatting with Alex, one of our Fulbright leaders in Taipei:

Tsung-hsun: hi, katie

home?school?

me: Hi Alex

yes, we are all at home today

Tsung-hsun: good

enjoy your typhoon holiday

Movies I watched while stuck inside during the typhoon:

Food I consumed while most restaurants were closed because of the typhoon:

Leftover Pizza Hut pizza (cold, of course)
Peanut butter granola bar
Kiwi (1)
Oreos (several)
Coca-cola
Chicken Teriyaki burger and fries from Mos Burger

Amount my sleep schedule was thrown off because of the typhoon:

A lot

Things that will make October different after this week:

Typhoons will stop coming through ... knock on wood
Jonathan will be visiting Oct 4th-22nd
English Village will be on hiatus 10/7 to 11/2, which means more free time on Tuesdays and Fridays
It will be at least a little cooler here in Kaohsiung ... knock on wood again

Time to go to bed again. If you know my brother Steve, remember to wish him a happy 25th birthday!

(Steve, at my graduation, after a night of no sleep, probably glaring at my mother for taking a picture of him)

No school tomorrow?!?

2008-09-28T10:10:00.004-04:00

I can't remember when my last day off of school was. It must have been senior year of high school, at which point it was probably just another day I had to spend working on college applications (or not working on college applications, but spending the entire day feeling like I should be).

But now, here I am, late September in Taiwan, and thanks to typhoon Jangmi, I don't have school tomorrow. Though "Typhoon Day!" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Snow Day" once did.

Not to mention that listening to 100+mph winds and torrential downpours is not nearly as fun as sledding in the neighbor's backyard. But at least there's that same feeling of cozy warmth and protectedness as you sit inside and eat carbs of all shapes and sizes, watching the world fly by outside.

A sample from my cell phone camera just now (at more of a lull, when I dared stick my precious phone out the window to capture it):

So now I can spend the rest of my night watching 色,戒 and making name tags for my students. Goodnight, all!