Always an Adventure...

This is where I'm going. It's about 3 hours from here by train.  

Here is part of a blog entry I wrote last October while I was waiting to come here: Sometimes things change so fast they leave my head spinning, a few hours of quiet, then a flurry of phone calls and emails, and then nothing until the next day. This will mark my life for the next year, things will be pretty constantly in flux, which is something that is exciting and exhausting. But it is possible to prepare myself for it, to rely on the laidback side of my personality, and choose to not become too flustered by the perceived instability. - Oct. 9/04 A huge aspect of this culture is how fast things change. This is also reflected in some of my frustration this past year over communication styles. As the subordinate you don't need to know every step in a decision-making process, in fact, you'll more than likely find out at the last possible minute about things like class changes or cancellations, meetings, having to sing in front of a large group, etc. While this ignorance can brin...

Today we went to Nanan waterfall with the new teachers (did I mention there were 6 new foreign teachers coming here for the next year? 3 of them arrived yesterday, and we've been having fun showing them our favorite places around town), Hannah, and Apple, the pastor's wife. Although there's a short path from the parking area to where you can wade, they decided to take us up a different way....

Below the main waterfall 

The top of Nanan Waterfall 

a very interesting sign that depicts what will happen to you if you jump from the lookout point into the water below.  

http://artpad.art.com/gallery/?ilzl6yayzg0 generally an enjoyable diversion, you should try it sometime.

Main Street, Yuli, going toward our house.

Main street, Yuli 180 degrees. If you look carefully you'll note that there's a 7-11 at BOTH ends of these two streets. This street also includes our favorite breakfast place, hairwash place, and one of the coffee places we used to frequent.  

Not that my blog has had too many visitors lately, but this is fun for all readers, new and old. If I can direct your attention to the left side of the page below the tag board, you will see something called a guestmap. If you click on there, you can add the location of where you're reading from. Why not? *** note: if you don't have a website or don't want to leave your email, just make one up and it will let you post to the map! ***

1. returning to your favorite classes after a good break 2. returning to a class after 2 months and finding they still remember what you taught them before! 3. hearing from other places that students like your class This week we have been doing a mini-camp at Yon Feng, my favorite school. It's been so great to see the kids again, and I'm always so amazed by them, both their behaviour and their level of comprehension. Granted, they're still beginners, but they always get my classroom instructions so quickly, and seem to catch onto new things really fast! Today was also the last day of our elementary class in Euodia, the new building across from Dr. Su's. It was pretty fun, though having 50 kids from grades 1-5 in one room can be a nightmare. Today there were times where we had to stop every 30 seconds and get them to be quiet again! It was a little exhausting. Anyways, a lot of the students in this class go to Buxiban so we can get the scoop on them from our Buxiban...

I got bored with the old look, as I tend to do... I didn't create this template myself, but DID combine two I liked. I figured I should look up the quote before I did my final publish just in case it's credited to someone terrible lol... I was delighted to find that it's actually from Tolkien.

We went on a bike ride today, and on the way back I had to stop and take a picture of this beautiful sky. I'm thankful to live in such a beautiful place.

Avacado milk mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ It sounds gross I suppose, but it's really quite amazing. It's made with ripe avocados and sweetened condensed milk and real milk all blended with ice to make a smooth, thick drink.... I've had it every day this week. I discovered it by asking the lady at the coffee place we frequent "What kind of fruit drinks do you have right now" she said " luo li niu nai " and I had no clue what that was, but said ok, i'll try it... sometimes being adventurous pays off, and sometimes it means you eat things like frog or sea cucumber.... Anyways, here's a fun little picture of us with the lao ban (boss) of the "corner place" as we call it. She's really fun, and always remembers information about us, like how long we've been here, what we're doing here, and what we like to drink.

Our puppies are getting pretty big now. We still have 4 left from the original 7. I got some pictures of them today, but they get so excited when we come out that it's really hard to get a still shot! Here are the three that still don't have homes: anybody want one?? haha

Freckles. 

Hua-sheng-dun. It's the Chinese word for "Washington" but actually came about beacause "Hua-sheng" is the word for peanut, which we thought was close to her color.

Reese. 

This weekend was one of the most enjoyable of my time here. On Saturday, despite continued rain off and on, we decided to go to Hualian. Our good friend Michelle joined us. She's a teacher at the cram school here. We did some shopping and were going to go to the Indian restaurant for dinner, but it was closed, so we ended up going to KFC instead. Wow, has it ever been a long time! Then we went to Hualian's Cave books, but unfortunately arrived about 5 minutes before closing. Michelle tried to talk the guy into staying open a little longer and eventually got her way more or less, as he helped her find her books and purchase them. Meanwhile the other clerk was turning off all the lights and giving us dirty looks! When we finally left (after the second coworker) we had to duck under the half closed metal garage type door which covers the front of most stores when they're closed. We spent some quality time at Starbucks and then came home on the train. On Sunday after church, I ...

Our wonderful friends Su Han (Vivian) and Susan.  

One of many carvings that mark the village entrance.  

A number of the chairs in the coffee shop area were carved to look like people. Almost as if with or with out you table conversation will continue.  

After we had been at the Bunun village for awhile, browsing their bookstore and stuff, we got to watch the daily show they put on, which included singing and dancing to traditional songs. I took a number of pictures. Sorry, some of them are a little dark, but remember, you can click on them to see a larger size, which you'll definitely want to do with some of them. 

 

 

A really talented young lady.  

 

Some wooden statues of a Bunun family. 

A closer shot, I think that little boy is afraid of foreigners, not unlike some of the children we've met here (thankfully not too many).  

I was trying out the black and white function on my new camera.

After we left the Bunun village we went to a teahouse/garden which overlooks Taitung city and the ocean. What a beautiful view.  

We're trying out the dance moves. Su Han is from the Paiwan tribe, and was teaching us how to dance at the tea place we visited. On either side you can see small pits where they set a pot of water over some hot coals. We had chrysanthemum tea.  

My blog turned one year old this past Wednesday! To think, all of this was nothing but a distant imagining...

I woke up this morning to the sound of heavy rain pounding on the roof next door out my slightly open window. One of the first sights I saw was this: Yes, my balcony was being transformed into a swimming pool, and my (dead) little plant was on the verge floating away. Eventually, I braved the torrents and went out to clear the drains, so that crisis was averted. I believe we're experiencing the edge of a typhoon that's hitting the Philippines, which you can read about here . Actually, it's kind of strange, because this rainy day has more rain and stronger winds than we experienced in either of the two real typhoons that hit so far this summer. I think the difference to our particular location is that it's coming from the south, but hey, I'm no metereologist. Anyways, to pass the blustery day we watched West Side Story, baked cinnamon rolls, and started on the puzzle Hope gave me for my birthday.

The hair picture! As you can see it's actually more wavy than curly. Anyways, what do you think?