The end of the world???

As the Mayans predicted today....December 21st would be the end of the world.
I'm not exactly sure what they had in mind as for time frame and the fact that it is currently December 21st in Taiwan and only December 20th in America but alas....the world has not yet ended here!
Now that doesn't mean it still good. We should probably always be on our toes but for now I will head to school and teach our Children the meaning of Christmas today....ALL while dressed in a bear costume of course!
For now, here's to the next end of the world!

Sunday

As another Sunday comes to a close I think its a good time to reflect upon life a bit...deep I know!
But we are so incredibly lucky with each day we are given. When I read the horrific news of the elementary school shooting I was shocked. That could have been my school. I could have been one of those teachers that had to react so quickly and attempt to protect those little lives. School is supposed to be safe and it saddens me that it is now a scary place for so many children. But I am so happy to call myself a teacher and would do anything in my power to protect my children. I pray that the families will find peace in the coming years. I can't even begin to image their lives. We never know when it could be our last.
Tell people you love them.
Be a better family member, friend, employee and citizen.
Help others...we have no idea the battle they are fighting.
Take time to enjoy the small things.
Never get to busy living that you don't have time for life.

Taiwan has been so beautiful. Upon until a few days ago it was starting to "cool" off. It was in the low 70's and I was acting like there was frost on the ground with the way I was dressing. I guess I adapt quickly to my surroundings! It was so warm today that I broke out the shorts and tanks again! It was in the mid 80's! There really is something to be said for tropical climates.

Christmas decorations and lights have started populating our busy streets. It was a welcomed sight reminding me that in fact it is almost christmas! We have a miniature tree in our living room and I've decorated my classroom too. At first I thought it would be very difficult to miss Christmas this year but then I was quickly reassured that I am so lucky to have the chance to be visiting home for new years! I am quite excited to see everyone and drink diet coke!!!

The weeks seem to be flying by here! Before I know it I'm writing tomorrow will be Friday on the board. At this point I've been here the same amount of time as I was in Germany for. It just seems so much quicker this time! It could also be because there is NEVER a dull moment here...always something new to see! I caught myself people watching for close to an hour the other day. I couldn't help myself!

I hope to see you all when I am home! Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hug your family, your friends, your neighbor or someone random today....why not?!

A big thanks goes out to 2012 for being a year for the books. So many wonderful places in the world have been visited, I've walked through history books, tried new food, drank wonderful German beer, met amazing new friends and have embarked on yet another new adventure here in Asia. Here's to twenty-thirteen!

Where did October Go?

I couldn't believe my eyes when suddenly I was writing the month of November on my curriculum plans...well in fact that said October until about yesterday! It may have been an extremely busy month but it was great fun! We had two days worth of Halloween at school and our staff dressed up at the crew from Alice in Wonderland...I was of course the cheshire cat! BUT...that isn't the easiest costume to find over here. We went to a costume rental shop. They were fresh out of pink and purple cat costumes. The next best solution seemed to be the pink panther haha. So I was the cheshire cat if you used your imagination!

These are photos from the boat burning ceremony we went to!

I was too tired to actually take any decent photos of the boat burning when they finally set fire to it at sunrise!....I probably looked like that man!

My friends and I all dressed up as Care Bears to go out for Halloween. Naturally people stare at a huge group of foreign people any who....but put on some bear ears and a flowers stomach patch and people are glued to ya!
Also, my Dad was in south east asia for business near the end of the month so he was able to stop by Kaohsiung for 3 days. It was great having someone familiar here. I got to take him all around our city, to a waterfall and even an infamous KTV party! I thought Karaoke had blown over and wasnt too cool any more....Oh boy was I wrong. We have full building of giants rooms with huge screens to scream, mostly chinese songs, well into the wee hours of the morning. I even drove him on the back of my scooter! He made for an interesting passenger....at one point he had his camera out taking photos on top of my head! It was a good trip and sad to see him head off to Korea after such a short time.
Today we are off to a small nearby island to go camping on the beach! Its still a cool 85 here and I am not missing the snow one bit :)

Hope you enjoyed some pictures of October for your viewing pleasure!

A little behind?

I've been so busy having fun, exploring Taiwan and teaching that I forget to update my blog...but that is really what life is all about I guess so be patient with me :)
We have done some really amazing things over the past month. We've visited a local island to lounge on the beach. And drove our scooters to a huge waterfall. We hiked up a little higher so that we were able to swim at the base of part of it! The fresh water was fantastic!
We watched a cultural tradition of burning a boat that took three years to build. We waited on the beach for sunrise in which they set fire to a huge beautiful wooden boat to appease the Gods of the seas. It was nothing like an experience at home. People were standing about 10 feet away from this huge fire. And they stood there for hours waiting for the sun to come up. During that time I took a quick tiger snooze on the beach which left we with a pretty bad cold.
Teaching is going so well! The kids are finally almost over testing my every move and we can actually learn things and do more than just read and repeat! I had my formal observation yesterday which went really well. It could be because I bribed them with ice cream but they did so well! I passed and am now in the clear!
We will celebrate Halloween at our school on Thursday and Friday...the big news this year is that we've decided we wont do any teaching just all fun and games...something that never happens in these kids' lives. They are having a difficult time understanding it! Its no wonder Asian countries are becoming more advanced than America. These kids go to regular school from 7:30-3:00 then they either go to english school or math school and then they go to piano or something along those lines. Then they head home to study and write homework. On the weekends...more studying! Its amazing! So naturally I ensure that we dont take my class too seriously! Their new favorite english saying..."No way Jose!" Its getting to be a bit over used but oh well!
I've also joined a charity bowling league here! Its mostly foreign people and we have a great time. However, its far more serious than I expected. They send out our stats ever week. I'm not the last so all is good!
All in all, life is great here on our little island! Lots of crazy food, lights, sounds, smells and obviously Asians....nothing like home but its beginning to become my home at least.
I'll attempt to keep up with my blog...my bed just seems to trap me every morning!
I hope all is well as you read this! Remember to take care of you and do what you really want. As I've been here and everyone says I wish I could travel...I realized its so easy. Its really just you holding you back. Its not even really about money. It might be spendy to get here but its worth it and once you do everything is dirt cheap anyways. So do something that you dont think it possible. You wont regret it.

everyone smiles in the same language

If I have learned nothing else in just over a month in this country I've learned this.....

I am so thankful that so many people here are so friendly. They may stare at me because I now have ridiculously blonde hair again but they also do so with a large smile upon their face.

There is one misused phrase by our students that speaks beyond words. When you ask many of the children at our school how they are today, instead of the usual reply of "I'm good," or "I'm bad." They very often say "I am happy." I think I'll start using that one too.

Today, if nothing else, BE HAPPY.

Kending and Lotus pond

This weekend was a great one here in Taiwan! Not only did I get to celebrate the Cougar win from afar but I also got the amazing opportunity to head with a large group of friends down to Kending. The very south end of Taiwan.
We spent the entire day at the beach playing games, attempting to swim in the huge waves, I was buried in the sand and we watched some locals play quite the game! They would blind fold one of their friends and spin him around as if he was playing pin the tail on the donkey. He would then proceed up the beach with a stick in his hands. Mean while another of their friends was buried up to his neck in sand with a scooter helmet on his head. There was also a watermelon sitting behind in head on the sand. I gathered that as the guy with the sticky tried to walk, very dizzy, towards the man in the sand the other guys would dig holes in the sand to make him trip. As alllll of this was happening everyone else was screaming directions to him. (I think! They were speaking in Chinese, after all) Once the blind folded man reached the guy in the hole he would then swing and try to break open the watermelon. He would often miss and hit the guy in the head. After the watermelon was broken they would pull out another and play for many more rounds. When it was broken open they would pass it around and eat a chunk out of it. I think its something that might really catch on back home. I will try it out when I return!
To round out the day we headed home around 8pm. It takes about two hours so we slept on the way back and ended the day by, finally, eating! It was a long but fantastic day!
Today (Sunday) we headed to lotus pond. A Kaohsiung must see. There are tons of Chinese architectural looking buildings, temples and large statues!
I just got home from cooking ravioli, caesar salad and garlic bread with some friends. Sounds like home...however, we cooked it in a Wok so we are still quite Asian!
Here are some pictures from the weekend!  The new teachers are arriving this week and I can't wait to meet them all. Here's to another great week here in Taiwan!!

Scooter Central

I've been attempting to get the perfect shot of what scooter riding is like here in Kaohsiung.
Today at a red light I got a pretty good one.

Yes that is a man and a woman on one scooter. (Nothing too out of the ordinary) Then you notice that yes, she is holding an 8 month old child on her lap. He is just hanging there in her arms.
This however would only be super Taiwanese if they were also transporting 11 2x4's. That picture will come in the near future I'm sure!!!

Sweating is Good for the Soul

As the title suggests I'm sure you can guess that I've been doing a ton of sweating here in Asia!!! The humidity is outrageous. But dare I say it, I think I am actually getting use to it. Someone mentioned snow the other day and I cringed a bit. I can't even begin to imagine the air being cold enough to snow!!!!!

On Tuesdays we don't start teaching until 4:30. (Quite the life I live...I know) So some of the other teachers and I took the opportunity to hike the local mountain...Monkey Mountain. Now, as the name suggests the whole mountain is just littered with monkeys! However, these aren't nice monkeys. They are extremely territorial. You can't even look them in the eyes. I do believe that they can smell fear. Or they hate the smell of human sweat. Either one, I'm not quite sure!

So we set out around 11 to conquer MM. It was a windy day so it was perfect for hiking. After the first set of stairs I began to sweat. By the time we were about one fourth of the way up I felt as though I was just sitting in a puddle. Then at about half of the the way up I was certain I wouldn't live to see the top....ok a little dramatic but thats what the heat does to ya!

However, making it to the top was one of the most rewarding experiences yet! Just to see out past the smog and the view of the ocean was gorgeous! Also at the top were some old Taiwanese men there to greet us with Monkey Mountain tea. After hiking a mountain one would think that the last thing you would want is a cup of hot tea. But come to find out it was amazingly refreshing. I think it was because our insides were hotter than the tea temperature so it was great. We sat and rested for a short bit, drank our tea and watched the monkeys climb in the trees. We even witnessed a slight monkey fight as one tried to shake the branches to get the other to fall out!

We made our decent after that and it was a great day! We are hoping to go once a week. We've even set a goal to carry water up the mountain in December for the tea making. My legs are sore today so that goal seems pretty ridiculous but it will get better the more we hike!

Below is a picture of what the monkeys look like. Its not taken by me because if I were to take one they would probably rip the camera from my hands and throw it!

I think this weekend we are heading to the beach about an hour away called Kenting. It will be a great time!

Photo Update

I got my classroom all setup and the youngest kids were so excited...the older ones didn't quite care. When they asked me why I did it, I said for fun! They looked at me like I was crazy....I don't blame my terrible pinterest addiction...I blame the language barrier ;)
Their cute faces might just make my life complete for now!!!
I've been perfecting my peace sign as well.

Starting school!

Tomorrow I will begin my Taiwanese English teaching career! We dont start our school days until 2 pm because the kids go to Chinese school first. They are all about as adorable as they come and are so excited to learn. I am teaching kids aged 5 to about 14. They are all in different leveled classes and some kids come more often than others.
I recently moved in to my apartment and am finally settled! It is more than a mud hut, Grandpa! I have also been practicing my scooter driving...CRAZY around here.
Today we headed to the local beach. The water was so warm and the black sand was a cool change from the sand I was enjoying this summer in California!
I am so blessed to have already met some great new people who are quickly becoming good friends. I am working on my Chinese and can at least order my tea now. I think I will take a class a couple of days a week from a local University. The University is right on the water though so I am expecting much beach time in my future!