oooh look! an update!

After a few friendly reminders, here I am to assure you that I'm still here. The last thing I remember is it being October, and me thinking, "Man, November's going to be a busy month!"

First, here's the random picture of the day: a funky blue drink I had, with little fruit seeds that resembled frog eggs... don't let the look on my face fool you, it was yummy! 

Now, in honor of this being my 4th November in Taiwan... let's take a little look back:

November 2004: Was in Yuli, meeting new people, still getting introduced at church every week, and barely communicating in Chinese! We were visiting a lot of schools, but weren't teaching at any yet.

November 2005: Was nicely settled in Yilan, teaching, enjoying visits from Yuli friends, and going back down there to visit them.

November 2006: Was getting around only on crutches and still going for regular x-rays. Teaching from a wheelchair, doing regular PT, and having bananas stolen from me!

November 2007:  Was hanging out with friends in Taipei, meeting other bloggers at ETA, and celebrating American Thanksgiving!

Now here we are in November 2008, and I was at ETA again last weekend, which is a conference for English teachers in Taiwan. Heard some great sessions by Paul Nation, Mary Christisson, and UBC's own Bonny Norton.  Unfortunately, none of my bloggy friends from the south were able to come up, but I did end up running into a teacher from Yilan, who incidentially is now studying her Master's degree in the same class as Harmony, a girl who helped out with our summer camps in Yuli! What a fun connection!

This weekend I'm going to Yuli, finally. It seems that every time I've tried to go for a visit this year, there have been extenuating circumstances, so I'm really going this time, even though some of my favorite people will be away. It's still worth it, I haven't been there since last spring! 

On  November 30 our English Bible study is going to have a big Thanksgiving dinner and movie night. I was going to attempt a turkey, but we were unable to find any ovens big enough, and after many discussions on the logistics of cutting one in half and cooking it in 2 different places, we decided to order a pre-cooked turkey from Costco. I'll let you know how it tastes....

Happy November, everyone!