Always an Adventure...

Authorized Service Station. As seen on a street in Yuli.

Real updates coming soon... while you're waiting take a closer look at these notebooks I bought last week out of sheer amusement. (Click on picture to see larger size) 

Today I tried something that is as strange as it sounds - cake sushi. The store I was buying a caramel macchiato from gave me a free sample. Now this sushi roll looks very similar to the one above, but instead of white rice, imagine white CAKE is in its place. Like a normal sushi roll, it was wrapped in seaweed. In the middle was a piece of cucumber and some dried shredded pork. Definitely an odd combination of sweet and salty. It wasn't disgusting per se, but I don't think I'll try it again.

Personal DNA - an interesting quiz Considerate Creator Well another week is almost over! First I want to say a big thank you to anyone who has been praying about my Wednesday classes. I'd have to say yesterday was the best day I've had at my tough school this semester. I wouldn't say the classes were "good" but this was the first day that I didn't feel like I was on the verge of tears and/or walking out at any point in the afternoon. Let's pray that it will keep improving. Last night in my church class we were talking about the weather, and interestingly enough, it started pouring rain halfway through the class. Since we were on the top floor of the building, it was raining so loudly that I felt like it was drowning out my voice! I've been teaching some classes about relationships this week and last week, and have had some interesting answers to the discussion questions I've given my students. I'm suprised at the percentage of high school girls...

I had one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. From getting sunburnt by the ocean (I didn't think I'd need sunsceen in MARCH), to wading in a river and looking for jade, from catching fireflies after sunset, to picking lillies on top of a mountain, I did so many different things! It's hard to believe it all happened in two short days. On Sunday after going to English church in Taipei, I went with my friend Cindy to Yangming Shan , one of Taipei's most popular tourist spots. We were particularly lucky to be able to go during the park's Calla Lily Festival , and we even got to pick our own flowers! If you have time you can click on the above links to see some great scenery pictures. If you're too lazy, you can just look at my pictures below from that day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Chinese teacher's youngest daughter. She's just starting to talk, and can walk on her own. She's a lively part of our lessons.  

Sorry friends that I've been slacking with the pictures lately. I'll try to make it up to you in the next little while! For today: the breakfast of champions. The breakfast place. I go there almost every day. I can get breakfast there for less than $1.00 Canadian, or the price of 3 McDonald's breakfasts. Though I do enjoy those from time to time, maybe once every couple weeks. Dan Bing (egg cooked with a thin wrap) and Dou Jiang (warm soy milk)

...to the 4000th visitor to my blog!

Every now and then I am faced with questions of great importance, questions which force me to pause and consider my actions, questions like: Should I blog about the stupid things I do for friends and (potentially) stranges alike to read? The answer to this particular question is: Why stop now? So stupid thing #6820 that I've done recently was this: I bought a cd burner. Now this seems like a perfectly sensible thing to do. My hard drive is getting a bit full, and I'm sure the 2000+ pictures I have on there aren't helping. Also, it would be nice to have a backup of stuff in case my computer ever crashes. So the solution: a CD burner. I've been thinking about this for awhile, and remember one of my friends mentioning how he'd bought one last year. Therefore, somewhat impulsively, I headed to 3C the most popular electronics store in Taiwan and perused the selection of CD burners. I was pleasantly suprised by the reasonable prices, and even bought some blank cds to...

I walk down the street of my city. I pass unfamiliar stores with indecipherable writing adorning their signs. Shops selling Chinese herbs, Hello Kitty backpacks, lottery tickets. It's Saturday. There are a lot of people out today. I pass some old people who stare at me, heads slowly turning as I walk by. I pass some students I recognize. They're suddenly very interested in the clouds, and don't make eye contact. I pass a young boy who is furiously trying to get his sister's attention who, unfortunately for her, turns to stare at me just as I'm walking by, waiting to meet her gaze. I stop to get some milk tea and am asked by another customer: "Where are you country?" Later as I'm walking by a small food stand a lady flags me down and in perfect English asks me if I've tried this snack before, and insists that I eat one...

Inventation (noun): The pastor's son posted his wedding inventation in the elevator. As far as I know, they really are getting married.... Anyways, welcome to spring! It was at least 25 degrees here today, I had my Chinese lesson outside today, as well as the two English lessons with Esther and Rebecca - my Chinese teacher's daughters. Some of Esther's friends came over at the end of our lesson, and I think she gained some coolness points for being spotted studying English with a foreigner. Always happy to help... LOL I hope you like the new layout... not so much a new layout as a facelift on the old one. I'm still undecided about the background, I do have a lighter one, so if you find this difficult to read just let me know, and I'll change it. Time to go take my videos back!

I'd like to begin this entry with a little survey. Please leave your response in the form of a comment below. In your opinion, which is more important to a dish: taste or presentation? The reason I ask has to do with my attempts at cooking tonight. Once upon a time in Yuli, we went to Peggy's house to learn how to cook some of our favorite dishes. We took notes and pictures. Today I decided I would attempt two of these recipes on my own: egg plant and salmon. Eggplant (qie2 zi) * Chop and soak in water for 10+ minutes * Heat 1 cup of oil and add eggplant, cover and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally * Drain most of oil and remove eggplant, sauté 1-2 cloves of garlic in remaining oil and add eggplant * Add sauce (you2 gao1) and fresh basil, stir-fry and serve. Salmon (gui1 yu2) * Heat oven to 230 degrees Celsius. * Sprinkle pepper and basil over salmon and broil for 20 minutes * Flip after 10 minutes * Cook until salmon is browned and it’s easy to poke a chopstick throu...

Dear readers: I apologize in advance for the negativity of this entry. I felt I should update, but most of my recent happenings have been a little irritating... Went through the "we don't know how to use our own technology" gong show for a SECOND time at the girls' high school (you'd think they'd figure it out after last week) My clothes are taking almost a week to dry, if they dry at all Wednesday: where do I even start? I get to the school and discover that I've been scheduled to teach the 2 hour conversation class (they didn't inform me before my arrival that class would be on Wednesday, so subsequently, I wasn't prepared for it at all) After this frustration, I arrived in my next class to discover that they'd begun using a different magazine - thanks for telling me... so again, teaching a lesson that i had no prep for We finally got it sorted out that some of the classes had indeed switched to a more difficult (and above their level) magazi...