Sandwiches & New Friends

So I was talking with Emily via IM and saying how I really wanted a sandwich. I’ve missed them so much!! They only eat them at breakfast time here. With eggs and meat. It just isn’t the same. I want turkey with tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and mayo/mustard. Oh yum!

Emily said she would take me to a sandwich place. We drove our scooters into Kaohsiung and I just laughed when we pulled up to Mos Burger. I had to tell her that burgers and sandwiches are very different. She was bummed that she was wrong. I bought a meal anyway.

On our way home, we stopped at two other places looking for sandwiches. I said “like Subway” and she said she knew. But then she admitted she’d never been to Subway before. Then how did she know?! Silly girl.

At one point, she stomped her foot, put her hand up with the index finger pointing at me and began to speak. But she stopped before any sound came out. I looked at her with a confused expression. She was planning to say “I promise this place will have sandwiches” but realized she couldn’t do that. It was funny. I wish I could have captured it on video. Words aren’t quite the same.

So this is all background information. Last night, we went to a legitimate Subway. Oh blessed day!! A real sandwich, like you find in America. It was delicious. And Emily was hilarious. She didn’t know how to order. Then we both got cookies and I made her order the one with the longer name. I didn’t even realize. Oops, not very nice of me.

I finished my first 6 inch before she was halfway through hers. I bought a 12 inch and took the other half home. Emily said it tasted good. She had them put all the toppings on it which I thought was a mistake. She said she didn’t know what they were. Whatever, she has eyeballs.

3 people joined our little party. Emily’s former teacher (and now a senior high school principal) has wanted to meet me for some time, apparently. She pulled up in a nice BMW SUV and came inside with her two little kids. Her daughter, Stella, is 12 and speaks English well. Her son, Rich, is 4 and he is so cute!

I got off to a good start with him. I gave him some of our cookies. He kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye (in an adorable shy giggle). And he would randomly laugh at me. Then he started making faces and I made some right back. By the end of the night, we were buddies.

His mom and sister said he was so happy to come meet me. I don’t know why. I guess it’s just because I’m American. Oh well. I love little kids.

We walked along the Love River after finishing our food. He wanted to run so his sister and I joined him. He just loved that. I’m sure he slept well that night! We had fun running around. Stella was cute as she talked to me and asked questions. She even asked if she could “make friends with me". I said of course.

I think they are going to join us on our trip to Alishan this weekend. That should be lots of fun! It’s in the central mountains of Taiwan. It’ll be a 2-day trip since we have time off for New Years. Emily and I and two others girls are going together. And now we may have Stella, Rich, and their mom along for the fun!

New Friend Pictures

Yeah! Emily's first trip to Subway.

With her sandwich.

With my TWO sandwiches.

Rich is a goofy kid! He was hilarious. His sister kept calling him strange.

Warriors fighting. I just love the excitement manifest in Rich's pose. I'm sure you've fallen in love with him too. {too bad he's way too young for me}

Wow, my legs look really long in this picture. Odd.

PS Just wanted to add that I had a fun scooter ride with Emily on this outing. We went fast, but I loved it. And she said I have good scooter skills. Yeah! That makes me feel good.

One hilarious thing that happened a few times: we cut across the crosswalk so we could turn left. (Instead of going straight and getting in line with the cross traffic and waiting for the next light. It's a little tricky to explain.) But it's so totally illegal and would never happen back home. It's normal here. We weren't the only ones doing it.

Christmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Yvonne and I went to dream mall. I had fried rice and . . . ICE CREAM! From Baskin Robbins. It was heavenly and brought back memories.

My spoils. Thank you, family!! (I had the mac'n'chees for my Christmas dinner. And I shared some rice krispie treats with my students.)

Tradition - each child with all their presents. (thank goodness for camera timers!)

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Student band performing on Christmas Eve

Students watching the group peform. They're lining the railings. (I teach most classes in this building.)

LISTENING-SPEAKING first years, level three

Student audience - this is the computer lab. It makes class a little harder since they hide behind the monitors sometimes.

We practiced Christmas songs in class. One group performing.

Another group about to perform.

We played a game in class (I wasn't going to make them work on Christmas!) They had to put some accessories on and try to unwrap a present. Then other students rolled a dice and would take everything away and try to unwrap it. And so on.

Thanks to my Grandma for the idea. She had us play something similar when I was younger.

Shayne (hilarious kid)

Michelle (volleyball player)

Kevin

WRITING first years, level one

Allen & Jason

Michelle & Ann

Jessica

Earthquake!

I just experienced my first earthquake. It was really cool.

I suddenly felt the ground shaking – my bum and chair were moving too. I thought: is a big truck passing by? Are the students marching that hard (the whole school is outside doing their Tuesday ritual of marching, chanting, listening, and clapping).

AJ and I looked at each other as it became more pronounced. We asked what was going on. Scott’s casual answer – an earthquake. I wasn’t as casual. I was excited. I kept looking around and out the window as the whole building shook. It probably only lasted a minute.

After it stopped, I still felt like I was moving. Life takes on a whole new perspective when you know the ground can just suddenly move beneath you. I feel less stable now :) It’s a little unnerving.

Let the Pictures Speak

Santa Claus! I found him in Taiwan. I made my friends pose by him. (Our YW Christmas activity). He was outside the store where I bought candy canes. 2 happy things together.

FINALLY! I've been waking up bruised and battered for 6 months. But last week I asked Yvonne where I could buy a mattress pad. We went to the store that night and I purchased one. I was having fun modeling it :D

I was going for a vampire look. I think I was pretty successful.

It's just like modeling clothes ... look sassy and flaunt your stuff.

Enjoying our chocolate chip cookies.

From the other end of the table.

Second year students caroling. I teach both of these boys.

First year students caroling. Ever heard of a song called "Sailing Nine"? We hadn't either but it's what they sang to us :)

The 5 boys and the girl with glasses and a Santa hat are my students.

PS The song was Silent Night

First year students again. The 2 on the left are my students.

This takes the cake

I saw a guy transporting a ladder on his scooter. I'm completely serious. He had an aluminum ladder. I'd guess it was an 8-foot one. How crazy is that?

There was no chance to capture it on film (funny how that saying is sort of obsolete now with digital cameras). But I'll remember it for a long time!

Finally

-- They have finally put up two Christmas trees in my apartment lobby. Yeah! I think they should have done it the first week of December, not the week before Christmas Day. Oh well. I'm happy to see them.

I nearly bought a Christmas tree at Carrefour, but I decided not to. I did buy a garland and I'm going to wear it with a Santa Claus hat on Christmas Day. I think it will make my students laugh. And it will help make it feel like a special day for me. My family has helped with that. I have two lovely packages on my bed. Of course, they say "do not open until Christmas". I won't, but I may think about it :)

-- I decided I really enjoy driving here. Now that I'm used to it, that is. It's fun to be on a scooter and weave around cars and pedestrians. It is so hard to convey that in words. I want to somehow attach my camera to my head so you can see what I see on a normal drive.

I've decided driving a scooter at home wouldn't be much fun. I would have to act like a car. That is just silly. I'd rather follow the "rules" they have here!

There are a few flaws with scooters that I have thought of during my time driving one. Here's the list I can remember right now: -no seatbelts -no wind protector -no music

That's all I can think of. There may have been one or two more.

-- COOKIES! Yep, I actually made some food. (Yvonne is surprised I've survived this long with the cooking skills I have. Or the lack thereof.)

I showed a handful of YW how to make my mom's delicious chocolate chip cookies. Alright, the recipe is from the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip bag. But I still think of them as my mom's. They turned out quite well. They tasted a little different and I think it was the brown sugar.

The girls enjoyed themselves. We ate some of the cookie dough. I just don't know how people can resist that! It's so delicious.

Gratitude

I realized I have not been as grateful for the US troops as I should have been.
My aunt sent me this link and I think it is wonderful.

Let's Say Thanks

Take a few minutes to choose a design and message. Xerox will then print the card and send them to the troops serving our country and protecting our freedom. If you have a few more minutes, check out the thank-you notes from the troops. It made my day to know I helped them a little.

Trip Pictures 2

~~From Emily's camera~~
SCHOOL FACULTY TRIP -- NOV 29-30

First Picture of the Day I don't look like I'm fully awake. Oh, I'm not!


Hank and I We played ping-pong together a few times. He teaches math.

Catch Me!

Laughter It really is great medicine! Looking at this picture makes me happier.

Jump Into My Arms She didn't and it threw me off.

Diva on the bridge

Falling Ok, Ok. It isn't real. I climbed on the waterfall rocks (te-he) and had Emily snap some pictures.

Jen's Daughter (Jen works in Emily's office)

Lunchtime

The Wink I was telling Emily to use this on boys. But I don't have any success stories, so she may not trust me.

Tree Hugger! Funny thing: I bought a t-shirt here that says "Hug a tree"

Caught-ch-ya! Ha ha. I caught a butterfly, but it took longer than I expected.

Two cute bugs I ran to get the butterfly one. Mwah-ha-ha

The Bird-wannabes At least we're enjoying ourselves.

No bubble juice :( Emily snapped the picture at just the right moment!

Bubble Circle I spun like this for 4 minutes. I was dizzy when I finished. But it was cool to be in a circle of bubbles!

Heart of a Child Yep, I have one. This little boy was fascinated by my bubble gun. And so was I!

Dialogue

Steve: "Amberlee, I have a welfare project that I need your help with."
A: "Okay. What is it?"
S: "I need you to marry a teacher that isn't sure about signing a contract."
AJ: "That's the closest I've been to flipping off a Stake President."
A: "I'm going to answer you like this." {walks out the door}


Ha ha! Hope this makes you laugh. I did as I walked to clock in. Silly Steve. He's always trying to marry off AJ and now he's started on me.

THE REST OF THE STORY
So it turns out that Steve was talking about having me marry AJ! Ha ha. I had no idea. AJ is considering signing a 5-year contract to teach in Canada and England. Steve wants him to get married instead.

More Decorations

My paper chain just wasn't enough of a Christmas decoration. I talked to my Mum and she suggested snowflakes. A great idea! I decided to go with bright colors, even though that is abnormal. I had lots of fun making them. Here are the pics.

He He

I make myself laugh! Quite regularly, actually. Here’s the latest example.

I’ve considered getting bangs for a few months. And I thought of it again this Sunday morning. I decided the worst thing would be that I didn’t like them. And they would just grow back, so why not?! I looked in the mirror, separated a chunk of hair, picked up scissors, and *snip*snip*. Yep, I cut my own bangs.

My students really seem to like them. One entire class asked if I had gotten a haircut. Some boys, and some girls, said I looked pretty yesterday. They’re just bangs, my friends! It doesn’t change me that much. I like them too so it’s all good. My students were also surprised that I did it myself.

Oh and thank goodness for brutally honest friends. Emily, in her broken English, told me they look a “little not good” versus if I had it done by a professional. I just chuckled. I agree a little. I tried to blend them in, but ended up cutting more bangs the same length.

Good times!! Here are pictures.

Hair in the trash can

My new bangs

And again