Always an Adventure...

all of my students have mid term exams this week, which means no classes for me! Next week I'm going back to HK. I figured I'd take the opportunity to go visit some people, so for the next weekish, I won't be around. Here's the tentative itinerary: Sat: Meet up with Faith in Hualian and do some shopping, then go back to Taitung in the evening. Sun: In Taitung Mon: go to Yuli and stay there until Wednesday Wed night: come back to Yilan for the one class I have to teach! Thurs: go to Taipei Fri: go to Hong Kong, come back Sat. Sun: back to Yilan Mon: Begin my LAST 4 weeks of class before I come home!!!

I had a great day of classes today. We were talking about apologies and I had my students do role plays at the end of class, acting out a situation where they might have to apologize. As can be expected, there were countless repeats of the most basic scenarios with as few lines as possible, but there were a number of gems among these that made the day incredibly entertaining. I laughed a lot today, and so did my students. Some of the students at the girls' high school must watch soap operas regularly. I wish I'd recorded them! Anyways, I'll definitely do role plays again if a lesson lends itself to them. Here's one of my favorites: A: Hurry up, the movie's going to start B: I'm sorry I'm late, but..... this is Jim A: What??? B: I met him at a party yesterday, and I knew he was Mr. Right, we're in love. We're going to get married next month. A: No! It's impossible! I love you! B: I'm sorry, I don't love you. Goodbye! A: Noooooooooo Now...

Here's a little something to tide you over until I get around to writing a real entry.... The mango bing - shaved ice topped with fresh mangoes and sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. A thing of beauty. I believe this was the coffee flavored bing. Hope and I ate this quite frequently all summer. It didn't help that the store was only about 2 blocks away from our house, or that it was sooo cheap! A meal of homemade shui jiao (boiled dumplings) at the Chens' house. I don't even know exactly what to call this, but it's meat inside of this soft but chewy jelly - like dough ? I'm not quite sure what to call it. Anyways, I thought it looked gross at first, but actually really liked it. At the bottom of the picture you can see some fish ball soup.

there are only 7 weeks left in the semester this picture was taken in mid-November I actually captured that flying insect (click to enlarge picture) I understood most of the sermon today I slept for 3.5 hours this afternoon I found a Les Miserables in concert VCD for NT$199 (less than 8 dollars!) I'm only 15 minutes from the ocean, but haven't been there yet I'm going to be teaching in a university in two weeks

I can't believe I actually tried it! When I first arrived in Taiwan, every now and then as I was walking down the street, particularly in the night market, I'd find myself assailed by a particularly noxious smell. (This was usually accompanied by my noticing that Hope was somehow suddenly 5 feet in front of me walking quickly muttering "God help us all"). Upon inquiry, I was told it was stinky tofu, which my Taiwanese friends assured me is " hen hao chi " (really good!). Similar to the durian, I find it hard to believe something that smells so awful can actually taste good, and decided to simply avoid trying this... maybe forever... haha. Recently people have been suggesting I give it a try, to which I always reply "next time!" See stinky tofu is tofu that is soaked in a brine made of fermented vegetables and other wonderful things (which have to ferment for 6 months or more). I'm glad I looked up further information AFTER I'd tried it act...

As I stepped off the train in Yuli, I had this sense of returning home. It was wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I do like Yilan, but the peacefulness and beauty of my former home was refreshing. Seeing the people was even better. I saw many, many good friends, and even ran into a number of people by suprise (inevitable in a small town i suppose), including friends, and former co-teachers and students. I got lots of hugs. I answered the same questions over and over again (yes, I'm used to life in Yilan, yes, Hope's really back in America). I visited "the corner place" one of the coffee shops we used to frequent, and they still had our picture up. They told me they look at it every day. It was a wonderful time. I could go on and on, but I'll save that for when I'm talking to Hope lol. I had a really good day of classes today too. I showed a movie clip from Paycheck since the students had read an article about John Woo, the director. One of my students who I ra...

My dear friend, teacher and mentor has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I am doing ok, sometimes. I'm going to Yuli this weekend. I was planning to already, but I'm really thankful I can be with my friends there. I wish I could be with everyone at home. I have to plan my lesson for tonight now.

Winter is coming. The temperature has dropped and last weekend it poured constantly. But in spite of the rainy days, I still managed to get out and see some interesting things. Ariel was coming to Luo-Dong (the next city about 10 minutes south of here) for a test on Saturday afternoon, so when that was finished I took the train there, and her fiance, Richard, drove up from Hualian and they spent the night here. We visited Luo-Dong's night market and had this delicious lamb soup made with some special Chinese herbs. Supposedly really good for a woman's body. We also did a little shopping. While Ariel was in this one shop buying a bag, one of the buttons fell off her coat. The shop owner insisted on sewing it back on for her! People here can be so friendly. (BTW. this all happened AFTER Ariel had made her purchase) We went to church together here on Sunday morning and Ariel graciously translated the sermon for me!! After church (which ends by 10am) we went back to Luo-Dong and we...

I'm so lucky to have good friends. 

Ariel and Richard, soon embarking on a little America adventure. 

Chinese one-man-band. 

This is called a "Sleeve Dance." It was very beautiful. There were 16 dancers total for this one. 

 

Tibetan dancers in traditional costume. 

Some interesting statues outside the arts center.