Miracle

I found a bathroom at my school that only has American toilets. Wow!

(when I say American, I mean regular sit-down toilets)

Most bathrooms have squatters and one regular toilet for handicapped people. (At least I’m guessing that’s why they have them.) I’ve noticed that people don’t use the regular toilet. So I’ve adjusted to my new situation, and I use the squatters regularly too. :-)

But now I can use the “special American” bathroom and not worry about taking the one and only regular toilet. What a treat.


In case you've forgotten what the squatter toilets look like. This one is in McDonald's.

Ikea

I visited Ikea with my Chinese teacher last Wednesday (Mar 18). It was fabulous! Delicious American food to eat, comfortable furniture to try, and fun company to talk with.

The food trays at Ikea. I've never seen such a thing!

All my delicious food. It was too much. Vicky, my Chinese teacher, did help me eat the French fries.

A giant wall of pillows!! I wanted to jump off the escalator into it -- Vicky said no. So I just ran and jumped into the bottom edge :-)

Sweet Sunday*

I had an American breakfast on Sunday! It was fabulous. My co-worker Scott (not my bishop, the other one) and his family invited me over. They have French toast every Sunday morning. It's my favorite breakfast and it was a fabulous way to start the day.

I now have a standing invitation for French toast Sundays with them. It's nice to spend time at their place. His wife, Sidra, said I could visit them for "a little taste of America." They have 2 girls and a baby boy. The girls got kind of attached to me. In all fairness, Scott warned me they might. They are really cute and I don't have other little kids to play with, so we're all happy!

*I always think of playing PayDay with my cousins at Grandma's house when I hear this phrase. And I say it in the funny voice we used everytime someone landed on a Sunday square :)

I Caught It

Yep. I caught March Madness Fever! And I’m spreading it. Ha ha ha. I have a co-worker, Julie, who is following the games now. We’ve both filled out our brackets and then we found the live game audio on the internet. The “Watch Live” video wouldn’t work :(

I’m even thinking about spreading it to my students…. I don’t think I will. I don’t know how it will help them. :) It’s an experience of American life, I suppose.

I really need to get ready for class now. I was expecting to plan during this free class period – instead I got sucked into college basketball. Yes!

I’m back from class and I have a confession: I did have my students fill out brackets. Te he he. Some of them just randomly chose names (some even had BYU going all the way – ouch for them) and others struggled. One boy said he hasn’t watched them play so he doesn’t know how to choose! He had all the 1-seeds in the Final Four.

I think it was fun. Hopefully they’ll catch the fever and really enjoy it as we continue. Here’s a few pictures when we were working on our brackets.

PS I love the “boss button” on the USA Today ‘March Madness on Demand’. Hilarious!


Julie filling in her bracket.

Our two brackets in front of my computer. We went online to see how we've done so far. RESULTS: I have 7 correct and 2 wrong. Julie has less correct than I do. (sad thing - some of my students have 8 correct!)

Look at our filled-out brackets!

I tried agan and you can just see the edge of my bracket. Not my best self-potrait day.

Local Flavor

Chinese-speaking Bird – I went to the little scooter shop to have my oil changed and I sat down in the chair by their bird cage. First thing I heard the bird do was imitate the drill sound. It was funny. And then I’m pretty certain I heard it speak in Chinese! I heard the word for bread. And I thought “Did you really just speak in Chinese?” as I looked over at it. But why not? We teach parrots to speak English.

Shopping at Costco – I saw a packet of salted mackerels for sale (3 since everything comes in large packages at Costco – no good for a single gal like me!). And then I looked again and noticed it was the ENTIRE fish. Ba ha ha! So we’ve got the American size, but the local norm of eating the entire fish. I did consider taking a picture, but my arms were full and I thought people might ask “What in the world are you doing?”

Scooters! – With their own driving “rules.” Although “patterns” is a better way to describe it. I missed scooters whizzing by when I visited Beijing. I had started thinking they were typical in Asian countries. My thinking has been corrected, and I know that Taiwan is the “country of scooters.”

Expressions of surprise – I just can’t explain the Taiwanese one. It’s like an intake of breath with the word “uh”. And a question tone at the end. Anyone able to turn that description into a sound? If so, I’m very impressed. I’ll try to get it on video one of these days. I just thought of it because Andy (a Chinese teacher in the office) made the same sound my students always make!!

Losing face – a thing greatly feared in this culture. Much will be done to avoid an instance where they lose face.

Shooting guns in school – just part and parcel of the military training. I’m glad they use fake ones!

To Be a Kid Again

Don't we all have moments where we think "Oh, I wish I was a kid again?"

I'm not that old but I surely have those moments. And in a way, my wish was fulfilled today. I received a 2nd calling in church. I'm a nursery leader! Hurray.

I get to play with the toys in the open now. Oh wait, I do anyway. Well, I get to spend more time with 2 adorable little boys. I watch them in all the other meetings, but now I get to play with them too. I'm one lucky girl!

Wave Attack

Rich and his mother wading in the Pacific Ocean

Uh, Emily. I'm a little wet! A wave just got me.

Ha ha. The water went halfway up my thigh on the left leg. Oops. My rear end was wet too.

Cute little Rich wading. No one else was attacked. Either they're smarter or the waves don't have it out for them. (I'm betting on the 2nd one.)

Bracing myself for the next wave onslaught.

Running away before I get soaked again.

Quick Weekend Trip

Last Thursday, Emily called me in my office and asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Kenting area with Rich, Stella, and their parents. I said yes!
(I've had a strong desire to get out of my house and explore lately.) Here are some pictures from the trip. [date: Sat 3/7 to Sun 3/8]

Rich relaxing in the front seat on his dad's lap. We laughed to see his feet up on the dash.

Emily and I during the car ride down. I didn't cut my face off purposely... Go figure Emily looks fabulous.

Stella and Rich looking out on the Dam. (It was funny to teach them that English word. I kept saying they had to be careful since it is also a bad word. I don't know if Emily caught my meaning. )

Sibling Support

"Cry Lake" BEAUTIFUL! I really did cry.

Story - I asked if I could swim there since I was told to bring my swimming suit on this trip. They said yes and I was excited. I kept asking and the final answer was no. Sad!!

Our lodgings. A stone house. The lake is just behind me.

On a balcony where we had flower tea and looked out at the lake.

Pacific Ocean! My thought was "Hey, I'm closer to my family now than I normally am."

Savor a Bite

I am really missing my mom’s delicious home-cooked meals right now. So if you can enjoy someone’s great cooking skills, do it! And remember to tell them ‘thanks.’ And tell them how much you enjoy it.

My simple request: think of me as you savor a bite.

(I’ll be enjoying her cooking in less than 4 months! I don’t know how much longer I can last…)

Time for a Change

My hair was BOR-ing. So I got a body perm!
I finally captured their hair-washing method on film. Hurray! Here's my hair all clean and waiting to be rinsed. I never moved from my chair!

Kelly washing and massaging. It's SO nice. (Yes, I'm about to blink and thus look goofy.)

Rod-head. Kelly's mom in the background putting the "hair medicine" on. That's what Kelly kept calling it. Te he.

The finished product (I think it looks better today).

The back

Today's Style

PS I'm happy since it's pretty easy. Put in product, dry the crown, and go! I don't have a nifty diffuser so they said to let the bulk of the hair air dry. I'm okay with that!

Better Picture

Here's my face mask picture tweaked. Hopefully it gives you a better idea. :D

Face Mask

Here's a picture of me with my face mask and helmet on. Beautiful, ain't it?

I love – SCOOTERS!

I really do. And I just have to express my strong feelings for them right here on my blog.

· I love –flying over the roads
· I love – that the windows are always rolled down
· I love – that I can always hear and feel the wind
· I love – the face masks we wear when we ride scooters. (yes I do too)
· I love – hitting bone-jarring potholes at frequent but irregular intervals
· I love – how much stuff you can fit on a scooter, be it people or supplies
· I love – the traffic rules in this country (or maybe I should say the lack thereof)
· I love – driving the wrong direction down the road. (It scared me the first time.)
· I love – going through red lights (with everyone else around me doing it too)
· I love – how it’s much easier to pass a slow scooter in front of you.
· I love – when I’m going as fast as the car next to me. Makes it feel tons faster. I love speed!
· I love – continually dodging the potholes, bumps, etc. I hit ‘em more often than not. There are just so many of them!
· I love – weaving in and out of cars --- especially wonderful when the cars are backed up in traffic and I can just drive right by :D
· I love – how impatient the locals can be and how they always start moving before the light turns green. (Granted, we do wait until the cross traffic light is red – or at least yellow.)
· I love – that my knees are all banged up from bumping the scooter when I hit the aforementioned bumps in the road. (all part of the experience)

When you come to Taiwan, you HAVE to experience it on a scooter! It’s a classic taste of local life. Plus, it rocks.

So Much To Give

I did “peicu” with the missionaries again tonight. [How’s that for Chinglish??]

Ok, I have to explain. I joined them when they taught an investigator. It’s my 2nd time doing it. The first time was when I made my decision to serve a mission!

Tonight was another great experience. I’m so excited to be a missionary! But I’ve thought of a . . not problem . . . an obstacle. I have so much information about the gospel (but not all, of course) and I’m so excited to help people see the light and feel the love. BUT I can’t just dump it all on them! I have to go slowly.

And along with that, you have to decide what bits of your life experiences to share and which to leave out. So many of them apply to the lesson topic and could help the investigator, but there isn’t enough time. And you don’t want to overwhelm them.

*sigh* The image I thought of on my way home is this: they are dry, parched ground and I have a watering bucket. I want to dump all of my water on them, but I need to go slowly.

Note: this was another golden contact! She read a little pamphlet they gave and the part she really liked was exactly the message we talked about in tonight’s lesson – the Holy Ghost. It was fabulous (just taught some of my students that word and rediscovered that I really like it). And she understood instinctively and explained things just how I’ve always learned them. It was neat.

Church Friend

This is Mari, a friend from church. She is working here and she's from the Philippines. The crazy thing is that she is newly married and her husband is back home!
I talked to her about calling family and she spends about $30 every week on her phone bill. Yikes! She is excited to go home for a 2-week visit in May.
She is nice and it's great to have another non-Chinese speaker around :)

She did somethin' to make this one look softer (and a bit darker). I like it!!

Bucket List

The Bucket List
Things I've done during my lifetime (so far):

(x) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to England
( ) Been to Dewey Beach
( ) Been to Outer Banks, North Carolina
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been on a scooter ~~ That is my mode of transportation!
(X) Been lost
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Walked on the beach
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Been on a roller coaster
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Spent a whole day reading
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Seen the Grand Canyon
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been to the Sculpture Garden in Minnesota
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Laughed so hard you peed your pants
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
( ) Have had grandchildren
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been to Ronald Regan's boyhood home. ~~ Where is it?
( ) Driven in Chicago.
(X) Driven across the United States
( ) Been to more than 2 Ikea's
(X) Been tubing
(X) Gone snowmobiling (riding on one counts, right?)
( ) Seen Paul Buyan's girlfriend
(X) Laid down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(X) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
( ) Taken the Cape May/Lewes Ferry
(X) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise ~~ parents left me at home :(
(X) Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle ~~ love it!!
( ) Been to the Mall of America
(X) Ridden on a San Francisco Cable car
( ) Been to Valleyfair
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Spent more than 6 hours by train tracks
( ) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
(X) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with minnows
(X) Been to the Olympics
(X) Walked on the Great Wall of China ~~ boo yeah!
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf (Glacier National Park, Montana and Mt. Timpanogas)
( ) Watched a "House Hunter" marathon
(X) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing
(X) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to Horseshoe Curve
( ) Been to Gary, Indiana
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
(X) Text messaged a family member
( ) Been to a turtle race ~~ where can I find one? I'd go.
( ) Swam in Women Lake
(X) Been to Utah
( ) Been to the Caribbean
( ) Seen "Stan's" cabin
(X) Had flowers sent to you
(X) Been to Las Vegas
(X) Been to New York City
(X) Been in Times Square
( ) Been to Venice, Italy ~~ not yet! I hope to get there before it is covered in water.
( ) Been on TV

--Did this on Facebook and thought it was fun. Here it is for you non-Facebook users.--