Always an Adventure...

So I was browsing Amazon looking for some fun stuff for my Kindle last night when I came across a book about turning 30..it seems I'm not the only one who has a mid- (quarter?) life crisis when approaching this age. Here's what the book description said: Competence. Now in convenient book format You’re old enough to own property and have a family, but can you safely open a bottle of champagne? Or change a flat tire? 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 provides idiot-proof instructions for mastering these and other essential, face-saving, and possibly life-saving skills. You’ll learn how to... 1. wrap a present 2. start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue 3. finish a piece of furniture 4. get a raise 5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed 6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements 7. dance a “slow dance” without looking like an idiot 8. use a full place setting properly, inc...

YILAN CITY - English conversation class became more memorable than ever when a section of roof paneling collapsed onto students at approximately 9:30am this morning. In the middle of a reading activity, there was a loud crack as a 4X4 chunk of wood fell from the ceiling onto unsuspecting 10th graders, damaging a computer screen in the process. The teacher removed the broken pieces of wood from on top of students and desks as the rest of the class looked on in shocked silence. Only one minor injury was reported, and Candice Huang, 15, was sent to the nurse's office to get ice for the bump on her head. Upon further inspection a second loose panel was spotted and all classes have been transferred to The Room Next Door until further notice. In a further development, the teacher now knows how the say "The ceiling just fell down" in Chinese.

Amanda over at Following an Unknown Path is doing an awesome series of posts right now called "Simply Taiwan" and her post about garbage collection in Taiwan, which made me want to post about it too! Here's one of the videos she posted, which is great because the garbage system must really be "experienced". I really miss/appreciate the nice little system of leaving your garbage out and it magically disappearing by the afternoon! Getting garbage is kind of a pain for me in Yilan because I either have class or am not there for any garbage collection time except for Tuesday afternoon, so if I miss one week, I'll have two weeks of garbage stinking up my house. The old Taiwanese ladies in my neighborhood always comment on how much garbage I'm throwing away, and chat away to me in Taiwanese, which I can't understand at all. But sometimes I can guess what they're trying to say. In Taipei where I live, they are building an MRT station in the area, so th...

Well I managed to get through the rest of the week without any other scary things happening, but that doesn't mean it was uneventful.... but things are rarely uneventful when there's wedding involved. Not MY wedding of course, but one of the girls I stay (stayed) with in Taipei got married this past Saturday! It was a lovely day, and I got some nice pictures of the happy couple. (See below) But today's blog entry is about the night BEFORE the wedding! Here's what happened: One of the bridesmaids was staying at our house for the night since it was a morning wedding and hair appointments started at 6am. For some reason unknown to man she had gotten some dental work done earlier that day, and arrived at our house really late, and not a little uncomfortable. Our other roommate (also a bridesmaid) gave her some medication for the pain. The bride took a sleeping pill so she'd be fresh for the big day. I came home from doing my nails at another friend's house and go...

"Disengaged turkey" Some kind of restaurant..... not sure if the turkey is free from obligation, separated from from its body, or simply apathetic

In case you couldn't tell, I love my job! Here are some highlights from the semester: Teacher, it's raining inside. (Water from the air conditioner was dripping onto his desk) When students were supposed to do a writing task, some hadn't quite gotten started yet, so I'd pick up their pen for them and put in their hand as a gentle reminder to get a move on! Of course I'll put it into their right hand since 90% of students are right handed and not lefties like me. Once I did this and the student asked... "Umm, can I write with my left hand?" which got a lot of laughs from the students around, and from me. Maybe it was one of those 'you had to be there' things. Practicing the past tense... "Before class today did you go to the bank?" - Yes, I robbed it! "Before class today did you put on makeup?" - No, because I'm a NATURAL BEAUTY! And finally, during a game I've been playing lately, known by some as "psychiatrist...