It's almost over...

I don't think I have time to blog anymore. With only a few more weeks left of school and a ten day trip around Taiwan followed by a ten day trip to Thailand, we've got a lot to do to get ready before going home. We're busy planning a week of Olympic events for the kids during the last week of school, filling out progress reports, and practicing songs for the kids to perform for parents at graduation.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll be blogging very much after this but here's a random collection of what I've been up to over the past few weeks. Sometimes people walk around barefoot here. Sometimes we see construction guys working in their bare feet. I was trying to get this barefoot construction guy's picture without him knowing.... oops- he caught me...




We love going to the morning market. There are vendors on the street with tubs of fish and eels swimming around and all kinds of weird meats hanging out in the open for sale. I love how there's a lady hacking up a fish and right next to her are booths selling jewelry and clothes.



We went to see some wild monkeys at a monkey preserve...


Then two weeks ago, we went to a rock concert to see a Taiwanese band called Mayday.
Before the concert, Jessica and I went to a hair salon because for about $7 you can get an amazing 20 minute shoulder and head massage and your hair shampooed and styled. I'm addicted...
Here we are sporting our Taiwanese hair styles before the concert.

Green guy...

Here's the whole gang in the lounge, watching a movie...You can see the popcorn Destiny dumped on the floor... everybody was ticked but she made brownies to make up for it.

We're actually watching National Treasure II right now as I'm writing...

So anyway, I may or may not be blogging for awhile... you can check out the other teacher's (my peeps) blogs but they probably don't have time to blog either...

Kindergarten Activity

Saturday our school put on an activity for all the kindergartners and their parents. We rode bikes, played games, and ate food.

It's rare that all 13 of us are together in the same place at the same time so I love that we have this picture.

This is Gloria, Owen, and Sami. Gloria is one of our awesome school secretaries and I get to teach both Owen and his older sister Sami.

The secretaries taught the kids this dance to perform for their parents.

The secretaries also did this clothespin activity with the kids.



Sharon decided to show us how high her pain tolerance level is...she's pretty hard core.

Steve didn't know that when you're blowing up a plastic toy, you have to pinch it to get the air inside. It's pretty funny watching the anticipation on Oscar's face while Steve is about ready to pass out, not wanting to disappoint.


Teresa can't get enough of Mr. Joseph...

Playin' with bubbles...

Who knew pulling people around on palm fronds could be so fun?

I don't know why I always have to take video while riding on moving vehicles...maybe I just can't get enough of hearing my mom telling me to be careful. But this makes me laugh and apparently Steve and Joseph were discussing behind us how funny it would be if I wrecked and landed in the water-filled field to the right. Nice...

I forgot to mention that last week Elder Scott came and spoke to our stake and we sang in Chinese with the stake choir. It was great to hear him speak and even though I know I butchered the Chinese, it was fun trying to learn the words.

Peter Pan Field Trip

This week in kindergarten, the school took all the kindergartners to see a performance of Peter Pan at a nearby community theater. To get ready, we made pirate eye patches in art.

These are our mean pirate faces.

Here's a little snippet from the show...it was all in Chinese but fun to watch.


Steve's goal is to have 2,000 hits on his blog before we leave Taiwan so here's a link to his blog with more about our Peter Pan week. He and I share the morning kindergarten art class and had fun making pirate paraphernalia all week...except for my attempt at making Captain Hook's hooks out of play dough...that was kind of a disaster...fortunately, there are no pictures to prove it.

Andrea Bocelli Concert

Last Saturday, we had an awesome weekend. My favorite part was throwing a frisbee around in the park with Jess, Steve, and Joe. The weather has been gorgeous...just gotta' soak it up before it gets really hot here.

That night, Tammy, Whitney, Laura, Jessica, Gloria (one of our Taiwanese secretaries) and I went out to eat at a little Italian restaurant that actually has some pretty good food. It's hard to find anything close to American/Italian in Taiwan but Amici's is probably as close as we're going to find around here.

After that, we headed to an Andrea Bocelli concert in Taichung. It was his first concert ever in Taiwan and it was amazing.

I'm not sure why I feel the need to put this video on here except to show what it's like getting around on our scooters. And to show off Jessica'smad driving skills.

The concert was at an outdoor baseball stadium.

Later this week, the girls and I decided to go shopping since I'm told some people are sick of seeing the same clothes on certain people all the time. I won't mention names. Anyhoo...Taiwanese fashion is a sight to behold. Mary decided to educate the public on Taiwanese fashion and I feel the need to do the same...

For the record...I think these pants should be classified as child-abuse.

One of my students came to class wearing these pants...poor kid. And now I'm making it worse by sharing this with the world.

Oh- another blog-worthy note is that Jessica and I splurged and bought this crazy durian fruit from a fruit market. We assembled some major hardware to get the thing open.

Inside was this slimy white stuff that I thought tasted okay but everybody else thought was disgusting. Then it stunk up our fridge and I got grossed out and had to throw it out.

The end.

The "Man-ship"

There is never a dull moment around Steve and Joseph. Friday night, I accepted an invitation to take an inside peek into the obscure lives of the only two male teachers at our school and find out how they're coping with all the attention and adoration showered on them everyday while living and working with 11 girls and several Taiwanese secretaries.

Unfortunately, my efforts to blend in and fully be accepted into their exclusive club failed when I accidentally dumped a cup of ice water into Joseph's lap at KFC. Oops.

Despite my faux pas...I was allowed to continue observing the subjects in an attempt to better understand a phenomena recently named the "man-ship". My findings were both educational and surprising.

After dinner, subject A (hereafter referred to as "Steve") wanted to look for T-shirts at a nearby clothing retail facility known as The Net.

Both subjects were not only willing to wear the same shirts in public, but also purchased matching shirts and then proceeded to shop for shoes. I'm pretty sure these two guys wouldn't be caught dead exhibiting this type of behavior in their natural American habitat, but the effects of living in Taiwan with a colony of women is clearly evident. Although my findings are inconclusive, it is safe to say that the "man-ship" phenomenon is a means of survival here and that more observation and research will not be necessary unless I really have nothing else to blog about.

To read more about this strange occurrence click here.

Taipei

Friday was Tombsweeping Day and we had the day off. They let the cemetaries here get overgrown with weeds and vines and then once a year in April, they sweep and clean the tombs of their ancestors.





Anyway, because we got the day off, we planned a trip to Taipei. We stayed in the temple housing for people who come from out of town to go to the temple. After doing a session on Friday, we headed out for dinner in Taipei.





We found out there was a Macaroni grill near the Taipei 101 Tower so we rode the MRT down-town and walked around until we found it. It was the best meal ever!!!




After that, we had so much fun walking around and shopping. There were a lot of street performers and fun things to see. The weather was perfect!



I don't think we can go to Taipei without getting icecream at Cold Stone Creamery....sooo good!




Later, we hit one of the best night markets I have been to since being in Taiwan...can't wait to go back. I bought this fun watch for just $200NT ($6). Jessica approved my purchase since I can't make decisions on my own and Mary has declared it universally awesome since both she and Jessica like it.

The next day we decided to hike Elephant Mountain. Here's Laura and a view of Taipei 101.





Joseph & Jessica boldly forging new frontiers.

We walked all the way from up here to the 101 Tower where we met up with Steve for lunch.







On the way, we found this fun little park with a rock climbing wall where Jessica and Joseph showed their climbing prowess.

Sun Yat San Memorial

You know you wish you had a picture doing this...

While waiting for the train on our way home, a guy walked up and asked us if we were Mormon. He waved to his friend to come over and she introduced herself to us. We talked to them for a few minutes and they asked if they could get a picture with us. This is Esther on the left...she was really sweet. I swear, there are Mormons everywhere here. I am loving Taiwan way too much and am kind of dreading the day I have to come home and go back to the "real world". Only 3 more months left...

Freedom!

There's a park nearby that has stairs up the side of this mountain where I like to go hiking. One day, I'm minding my own business, walking up the stairs, when I look up and see someone's bare hiney. Up ahead is some guy standing there swinging his arms back and forth with his pants around his knees. Is this normal? Do Taiwanese people like to do Tai Chi in the mountains in the nude? I spun around and bolted back down the stairs. This is a public park with lots of people and children around so...anyway...I haven't been back to that park since.

In other news, I'm done with riding the bus!!!! Jessica and I became the proud new owners of a Fuzzy 150cc scooter. Last week we went to Taichung and met up with this sketchy Canadian (I figured he's Canadian because he says aboot instead of about). We test drove a couple of his scooters. He handed me this crazy helmet and I couldn't resist the Power Ranger photo-op.

Go Go Power Rangers!

Luckily, Jessica and I decided not to pay the $18,000 he wanted for his scooter. Instead, we bought this scooter from Destiny for $11,000. Saturday was our first day of freedom! We christened our new mode of transportation with a fun-filled day of shopping in Taichung!

On our way around town, we saw this guy making a brave fashion statement by wearing a dog purse. I had to take the picture on the sly. Oh- and the dog was wearing a SARS mask.

Had to take a picture of these yummy fruit drinks - they were to die for! I love having a scooter and being able to go eat and shop anywhere I want!


I also love living on the top floor and having access to the roof. Especially when it's raining.