School is starting! It almost seems I thought it would never come. But it has. I received my schedule today. They do it week by week, not day by day. Mondays are the worst as I have 6 classes to teach (and they're all different). I'm nervous, but things will work out okay. I would be nervous even if I was starting teaching back home.
I'm teaching three different types of classes: Listening & Speaking; Writing; and Conversation. And then I have different levels in those groups. L & S meets 4 hours per week, Writing meets 2 hours per week and Conversation only 1 hour per week. The conversation classes are for all students in the comprehensive high school (versus vocational school). The other 2 classes are for students only in the English Honor Program. Confused? I don't fully understand it all either; don't worry.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Another Letdown
I am sad. I tried Doritos awhile back and they just didn’t meet the standard. Not enough cheese!! And now I’ve experienced the same thing with Cheetos. Boo hoo. They were made in Taiwan I believe. The package says PepsiCo Taiwan R.O.C. What a bummer! Things just aren’t the same as back home.
Not like I could really expect them to be. I was just hoping for a few similar foods. Good thing my stomach has cooperated so well – I haven’t had any problems adjusting to the food. A blessing.
So Scott’s oldest daughter Grace is going to America next week. She is in shock. I sort of am too. It happened really fast. She’ll live in a city near Seattle with her Grandma. I think she struggled in school here so hopefully this will work out for her. It is just sudden. She has to get all packed in a week and then she’ll get there just before school starts. Or maybe after it has started. Wow. I’m impressed. Don’t think I could have done that at such a young age (she’ll be 15 on Sep. 13).
Not like I could really expect them to be. I was just hoping for a few similar foods. Good thing my stomach has cooperated so well – I haven’t had any problems adjusting to the food. A blessing.
So Scott’s oldest daughter Grace is going to America next week. She is in shock. I sort of am too. It happened really fast. She’ll live in a city near Seattle with her Grandma. I think she struggled in school here so hopefully this will work out for her. It is just sudden. She has to get all packed in a week and then she’ll get there just before school starts. Or maybe after it has started. Wow. I’m impressed. Don’t think I could have done that at such a young age (she’ll be 15 on Sep. 13).
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Bus to Fongshan
Rebecca and I started a list of things I have to do before I leave the country. And today we made plans to do one of those things. They wanted to take me to Tom’s World. Becca and Michelle were very excited. But we had a few mishaps.
First, the one close to us is no longer a Tom’s World. (Oh, Tom’s World is an arcade with games, like Nickel Cade.) So we decide to ride the bus into the nearest city (Fongshan), but find out we had missed the bus by 20 minutes and the next one was in 2 hours. Bummer! The girls had a solution – go back to my apartment to eat cereal and watch TV. I think I’ll be going through a lot more cereal now that they know I’m willing to share. They’ve said they are content to just eat cereal all day. It makes me chuckle.
It worked out nicely. We made 2 stops at stores to stock up on supplies then had a little cereal and Oreo party while watching the end of Twister. We made sure to head to the bus stop early :) And we didn’t have any problems. We (well the girls) did have to field questions about me. The worker at Family Mart asked Michelle if I was her mother or a teacher. Her mother?! I don’t look that old! Strange. Then some old man walked up and starting asking questions about me. I just laugh – it is becoming normal.
We had no problems once we got on the bus. I was a bit apprehensive since Michelle tends to get lost when using the public bus system. Okay, she only did it one time. But still I made Becca check that it was taking us to the right place. The bus dropped us off and we backtracked to Tom’s World. (Orchestra music, please) It was fun. I spent $200 NT on tokens and I am the king of air hockey. I beat Michelle, then Becca, and then Michelle another 3 or 4 times. She didn’t catch on to putting the puck flat on the table before hitting it. It went flying off so many times. Once it got me square in the forehead. It was hilarious, but a bit painful.
I hit the jackpot on one game without realizing it. I just knew that tickets kept coming out of the machine! And the first 2 games I tried had issues. The bowling one didn’t give me any tickets although I earned them. And the baseball game didn’t spit out the balls properly. We also drove race cars; and one of the racing games had chairs that moved and vibrated. That was weird. Again they answered more questions about me. And Michelle said I had 2 male workers hooked. Whatever! I didn’t ask, nor do I want that to happen.
Our next stop was A+1. A store sort of like Wal-Mart in that it has nearly everything. So nice to know they have those! Up til now I thought you had to go to a bunch of small shops to get all you need. And I guess I still do since this shop is a 20-min. bus ride away. Bummer. We were goofing off and laughing when suddenly Becca mentioned the bus. We realized we hadn’t checked the schedule for a bus going back home. Uh oh! We rushed Michelle through the checkout and ran to the bus stop. We were worried it was only every 2 hours. It was 5:15 already and I was almost certain we had missed the bus and would have to wait until 7:15.
Luckily, we saw the bus when we were running up. But both Becca and I stopped running. We didn’t want to go home yet! Missing the bus was a great reason to get home later :) So we “missed” that bus. But it wasn’t a huge deal – they had buses going every 20 minutes. Back to shopping.
And we did plenty of that! I found some cute black flats. We visited a candy store (another thing on our list) and ended up back at A+1. This time I did some shopping. Michelle did more too. Becca, the queen of shopping, didn’t bring any money because she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist. Good thing Michelle was willing to give her ‘play’ money at Tom’s World. Oh, we also stopped in at McDonald’s. I had some French fries. And gave some to Becca. She ruins them by dipping them in a yucky mixture – 4 packets of pepper and 1 packet of ketchup. I tried one and it was gross.
We just had a bunch of fun and time slipped away from us. Suddenly it was 6:50 and we needed to be heading home! Michelle told me they eat dinner at 7:05 (which I think was inaccurate information). So now we were going to be late, and not because of the bus! We made our purchases and headed back to the bus stop where we purchased tickets for the 7:15 bus. KFC was conveniently located next door and they had a dessert I was told I had to try. So we stopped in and I got one. As we sat down and started talking about grabbing dinner at Pizza Hut, the bus pulled up. Luckily Michelle noticed it. We ended up running for the bus after all :) But we made it on in one piece, and began to stew about what awaited us at home.
Becca called her mom and we discovered she was angry. Very angry. Becca has never heard her yell like that. Great! We went out and had an awesome adventure but upset a very important person – the mother. She was mostly mad because we went off to Fongshan without telling her. She thought we were at the arcade near our homes. Uh oh. Becca was quite worried and our trip home was marred as she continually asked, “What are we going to do?”
I’m happy to report things turned out all right. They were greeted by Dad not Mom when they returned home (I’m sure they breathed an internal sigh of relief). He gave them a slight punishment but was happy to hear we had a good time. Oops! We have learned our lesson. Always tell mom where you are going!
It really was a great day. I feel bad about keeping them for 6 hours. Becca said she has never spent that much time on an outing unless she was on a trip. Woo hoo. There is always a time for “firsts”. And now I am tired and shall retire for the night. Michelle made me wake up at 5:15 this morning and play b-ball with her. Yes it was fun, but it was early. And I’ve agreed to go again tomorrow. I’m tired just thinking about it.
First, the one close to us is no longer a Tom’s World. (Oh, Tom’s World is an arcade with games, like Nickel Cade.) So we decide to ride the bus into the nearest city (Fongshan), but find out we had missed the bus by 20 minutes and the next one was in 2 hours. Bummer! The girls had a solution – go back to my apartment to eat cereal and watch TV. I think I’ll be going through a lot more cereal now that they know I’m willing to share. They’ve said they are content to just eat cereal all day. It makes me chuckle.
It worked out nicely. We made 2 stops at stores to stock up on supplies then had a little cereal and Oreo party while watching the end of Twister. We made sure to head to the bus stop early :) And we didn’t have any problems. We (well the girls) did have to field questions about me. The worker at Family Mart asked Michelle if I was her mother or a teacher. Her mother?! I don’t look that old! Strange. Then some old man walked up and starting asking questions about me. I just laugh – it is becoming normal.
We had no problems once we got on the bus. I was a bit apprehensive since Michelle tends to get lost when using the public bus system. Okay, she only did it one time. But still I made Becca check that it was taking us to the right place. The bus dropped us off and we backtracked to Tom’s World. (Orchestra music, please) It was fun. I spent $200 NT on tokens and I am the king of air hockey. I beat Michelle, then Becca, and then Michelle another 3 or 4 times. She didn’t catch on to putting the puck flat on the table before hitting it. It went flying off so many times. Once it got me square in the forehead. It was hilarious, but a bit painful.
I hit the jackpot on one game without realizing it. I just knew that tickets kept coming out of the machine! And the first 2 games I tried had issues. The bowling one didn’t give me any tickets although I earned them. And the baseball game didn’t spit out the balls properly. We also drove race cars; and one of the racing games had chairs that moved and vibrated. That was weird. Again they answered more questions about me. And Michelle said I had 2 male workers hooked. Whatever! I didn’t ask, nor do I want that to happen.
Our next stop was A+1. A store sort of like Wal-Mart in that it has nearly everything. So nice to know they have those! Up til now I thought you had to go to a bunch of small shops to get all you need. And I guess I still do since this shop is a 20-min. bus ride away. Bummer. We were goofing off and laughing when suddenly Becca mentioned the bus. We realized we hadn’t checked the schedule for a bus going back home. Uh oh! We rushed Michelle through the checkout and ran to the bus stop. We were worried it was only every 2 hours. It was 5:15 already and I was almost certain we had missed the bus and would have to wait until 7:15.
Luckily, we saw the bus when we were running up. But both Becca and I stopped running. We didn’t want to go home yet! Missing the bus was a great reason to get home later :) So we “missed” that bus. But it wasn’t a huge deal – they had buses going every 20 minutes. Back to shopping.
And we did plenty of that! I found some cute black flats. We visited a candy store (another thing on our list) and ended up back at A+1. This time I did some shopping. Michelle did more too. Becca, the queen of shopping, didn’t bring any money because she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist. Good thing Michelle was willing to give her ‘play’ money at Tom’s World. Oh, we also stopped in at McDonald’s. I had some French fries. And gave some to Becca. She ruins them by dipping them in a yucky mixture – 4 packets of pepper and 1 packet of ketchup. I tried one and it was gross.
We just had a bunch of fun and time slipped away from us. Suddenly it was 6:50 and we needed to be heading home! Michelle told me they eat dinner at 7:05 (which I think was inaccurate information). So now we were going to be late, and not because of the bus! We made our purchases and headed back to the bus stop where we purchased tickets for the 7:15 bus. KFC was conveniently located next door and they had a dessert I was told I had to try. So we stopped in and I got one. As we sat down and started talking about grabbing dinner at Pizza Hut, the bus pulled up. Luckily Michelle noticed it. We ended up running for the bus after all :) But we made it on in one piece, and began to stew about what awaited us at home.
Becca called her mom and we discovered she was angry. Very angry. Becca has never heard her yell like that. Great! We went out and had an awesome adventure but upset a very important person – the mother. She was mostly mad because we went off to Fongshan without telling her. She thought we were at the arcade near our homes. Uh oh. Becca was quite worried and our trip home was marred as she continually asked, “What are we going to do?”
I’m happy to report things turned out all right. They were greeted by Dad not Mom when they returned home (I’m sure they breathed an internal sigh of relief). He gave them a slight punishment but was happy to hear we had a good time. Oops! We have learned our lesson. Always tell mom where you are going!
It really was a great day. I feel bad about keeping them for 6 hours. Becca said she has never spent that much time on an outing unless she was on a trip. Woo hoo. There is always a time for “firsts”. And now I am tired and shall retire for the night. Michelle made me wake up at 5:15 this morning and play b-ball with her. Yes it was fun, but it was early. And I’ve agreed to go again tomorrow. I’m tired just thinking about it.
Fongshan Pictures
We made it! This is the 2nd picture - I asked for more attitude. Basic smiles weren't good enough.
Posing with Tom. Michelle was unaware a picture was being taken. This face makes me laugh. I've seen her make it often when she is disgusted or annoyed.
Michelle driving a race car.
It's harder than it looks!
Becca & Michelle playing a game.
You have to throw the balls into the pig's mouth. It's hard to grab the balls since they are floating in the air.
We chose the glasses for each other. And I made her do the classic "Taiwanese" picture pose = peace sign.Sunday, August 24, 2008
Creatures of the Night
Friends are great, aren’t they? I went on another adventure on Saturday :) It was fun, and I saw more of this beautiful country. Plus I was able to curb a tiny bit of my curiosity. And I got to touch cool things! Okay, you probably want details.
An employee from the school (Emily said he is an important person) named Peter wanted to help me explore the area. I first met him on that Sat. outing to Sitou. So he and his wife picked me up at 11 a.m. along with a student. Off we went to lunch. Claire (his wife) was impressed that I was willing to try things. But she is nice and tells me what things are before I taste them. Her English is very good.
After lunch, we drove to a museum (I forget what it was for). It was merely the meeting place. We got on a bus and off we went! Let’s see . . . our first stop (I really shouldn’t wait so long to record my adventures!!) Hm, sorry. No play-by-play available for this event. My brain just can’t recall all the specific details. I’ll give highlights.
The focus of the trip was ecology (it took Claire awhile to get the pronunciation down). We had an expert-in-his-field professor as our “tour guide”. We went to a cultural park and made houses out of paper. They are models of traditional old houses. They had a display showing the old village. At least I think that was the idea. Anyway, the models were tricky and they were only for children! Claire & I were the first to finish ours – 2 adults. And it took some effort. We were quite proud.
The first insect/bug of the trip: a tree frog. The professor pulled it out of his bag. It was so cool! I stared at it for some time. I could have looked at it most of the day and been satisfied. Don’t you just get caught up in the movement of animals? This frog was impressive. It could jump from one side of its plastic container directly to the other side (kiddie corner). Way cool! It was a translucent light green color. Just fascinating. Even thinking about it gets me excited.
Back to the highlights. Okay, I’ll just tell you the best part straight out. I got to hold a bunch of bug/insects! It was AWESOME. I held a lizard, a tree frog, a stick insect, and a caterpillar. Oh yeah! (sung as I do a little dance)
We traveled to some place, seemed to be in mountains. We had a break and ate dinner (finally something close to a sandwich!! My first in this country) as the sun set. Then we set out to find bugs. Oooh. So, the professor caught the lizard (way impressive). I don’t know how he even saw it! And while he was talking (in Chinese, logically) I held my hand out and said softly “Can I hold it?” He caught my message and put it in my hand. It was just so cool! Words can’t describe it. I guess I was kind of feeling like a little kid (funny how that description fits me so often).
And the stick insect was nifty. It totally looked like a stick! The tree frog was fabulous. The professor caught it and once I went to hold it, it had escaped back to the trees. So Peter’s friend (who invited us on the trip) went and caught it again. All because I wanted to hold it – very nice guy. It was very little and just cool. It poked its little head between my fingers and thumb and just looked at us. Ha ha. I was happy/content/excited.
The caterpillar I held on the way back (we took a little walk down a dirt road). We passed a spot with a bunch of caterpillars and I really enjoyed looking at them. Then later down the path I decided I wanted to hold one. But I couldn’t find any! Luckily, we turned around and passed the caterpillar-dense area again. So I took one off its leaf perch (it was sticky and unwilling) and plopped it on my hand. Here’s something that I find hilarious, but is gross – it used me as its bathroom! HA HA HA! How many people can say that?! So there.
I looked down and saw a small yellow drop of liquid as the caterpillar inched forward. Then I saw a small brown speck. It was so funny I wasn’t too bothered. And it felt so cool as it crawled along my hand. It tickled actually. I should have taken a picture of the caterpillar’s waste – it was so itty bitty!
And that is pretty much it. I got back to my apartment about 12. The outer doors were locked and I didn’t want to wait around for the guard to come back to his post. So I walked under the barricade and down into the parking garage. Then I hopped into the elevator and pushed 8. As the doors opened on the 8th floor, I thought this isn’t right. Duh! There are 3 different elevators in the building. So I went back down and got out at the 1st floor and walked to the correct elevators. Ha ha! So much for sneaking in quickly. Oh and the guard got out of the elevator as I got in. (I’ve asked to have a key made so I can unlock the doors. They rarely lock it but that is the 2nd time I’ve been locked out.)
I think that is about it. I had an awesome time playing with creatures of the night. And I came away with only two mosquito bites. Yeah! I did have long pants and a long shirt on . . . that was hot during the day.
Oh my, forgot to mention another cool part of the trip. They set up a white sheet by a special light that attracts bugs. After our walk, we went to that. MAN! I’ve never seen so many bugs (er, insects)! It was cool. And I got up close and personal as I took pictures. I did a bit of convulsing afterward since I felt like I still had things crawling on me. It was so neat though! All these things hanging out on this white sheet. And we could take pictures and hold them. *sigh* It was very enjoyable :)
Claire & I proudly display our finised house.
A close-up of the house. Not bad, eh?
Peter and the student working on a house. The student didn't have an English name so they told me to call him Juan. He is from Malaysia and has a big family - 7 kids!
Part of the paper model town.
Claire & I with the professor who lead the group. He was a great photographer and gave me a small album of photos. It's nice to be a stranger sometimes - I get gifts.
The tree frog I played with after making my paper model.
Funny thing about this picture - I was totally happy. I just didn't get a smile on my face before the shutter clicked. It's even funnier that I was the photographer! Ha ha. Let's say I was thinking deeply about the beautiful scenery. Ok?
I caught this chipmunk or squirrel as it dashed across the phone wires and sign. It looks like it is flying in this picture! Sweet.
The sheet with all the bugs. COOL
The back side of the sheet. There were so many bugs!
A small section of the sheet.
The special lamp that attracted the bugs. I'm thinking I should buy one when I get back to the U.S.
Check out the bug on the right. It totally looks like a leaf! How nifty is that?!
Me holding 2 tree frogs on the bus. Before we left, all the bugs were released (not inside the bus though).
An employee from the school (Emily said he is an important person) named Peter wanted to help me explore the area. I first met him on that Sat. outing to Sitou. So he and his wife picked me up at 11 a.m. along with a student. Off we went to lunch. Claire (his wife) was impressed that I was willing to try things. But she is nice and tells me what things are before I taste them. Her English is very good.
After lunch, we drove to a museum (I forget what it was for). It was merely the meeting place. We got on a bus and off we went! Let’s see . . . our first stop (I really shouldn’t wait so long to record my adventures!!) Hm, sorry. No play-by-play available for this event. My brain just can’t recall all the specific details. I’ll give highlights.
The focus of the trip was ecology (it took Claire awhile to get the pronunciation down). We had an expert-in-his-field professor as our “tour guide”. We went to a cultural park and made houses out of paper. They are models of traditional old houses. They had a display showing the old village. At least I think that was the idea. Anyway, the models were tricky and they were only for children! Claire & I were the first to finish ours – 2 adults. And it took some effort. We were quite proud.
The first insect/bug of the trip: a tree frog. The professor pulled it out of his bag. It was so cool! I stared at it for some time. I could have looked at it most of the day and been satisfied. Don’t you just get caught up in the movement of animals? This frog was impressive. It could jump from one side of its plastic container directly to the other side (kiddie corner). Way cool! It was a translucent light green color. Just fascinating. Even thinking about it gets me excited.
Back to the highlights. Okay, I’ll just tell you the best part straight out. I got to hold a bunch of bug/insects! It was AWESOME. I held a lizard, a tree frog, a stick insect, and a caterpillar. Oh yeah! (sung as I do a little dance)
We traveled to some place, seemed to be in mountains. We had a break and ate dinner (finally something close to a sandwich!! My first in this country) as the sun set. Then we set out to find bugs. Oooh. So, the professor caught the lizard (way impressive). I don’t know how he even saw it! And while he was talking (in Chinese, logically) I held my hand out and said softly “Can I hold it?” He caught my message and put it in my hand. It was just so cool! Words can’t describe it. I guess I was kind of feeling like a little kid (funny how that description fits me so often).
And the stick insect was nifty. It totally looked like a stick! The tree frog was fabulous. The professor caught it and once I went to hold it, it had escaped back to the trees. So Peter’s friend (who invited us on the trip) went and caught it again. All because I wanted to hold it – very nice guy. It was very little and just cool. It poked its little head between my fingers and thumb and just looked at us. Ha ha. I was happy/content/excited.
The caterpillar I held on the way back (we took a little walk down a dirt road). We passed a spot with a bunch of caterpillars and I really enjoyed looking at them. Then later down the path I decided I wanted to hold one. But I couldn’t find any! Luckily, we turned around and passed the caterpillar-dense area again. So I took one off its leaf perch (it was sticky and unwilling) and plopped it on my hand. Here’s something that I find hilarious, but is gross – it used me as its bathroom! HA HA HA! How many people can say that?! So there.
I looked down and saw a small yellow drop of liquid as the caterpillar inched forward. Then I saw a small brown speck. It was so funny I wasn’t too bothered. And it felt so cool as it crawled along my hand. It tickled actually. I should have taken a picture of the caterpillar’s waste – it was so itty bitty!
And that is pretty much it. I got back to my apartment about 12. The outer doors were locked and I didn’t want to wait around for the guard to come back to his post. So I walked under the barricade and down into the parking garage. Then I hopped into the elevator and pushed 8. As the doors opened on the 8th floor, I thought this isn’t right. Duh! There are 3 different elevators in the building. So I went back down and got out at the 1st floor and walked to the correct elevators. Ha ha! So much for sneaking in quickly. Oh and the guard got out of the elevator as I got in. (I’ve asked to have a key made so I can unlock the doors. They rarely lock it but that is the 2nd time I’ve been locked out.)
I think that is about it. I had an awesome time playing with creatures of the night. And I came away with only two mosquito bites. Yeah! I did have long pants and a long shirt on . . . that was hot during the day.
Oh my, forgot to mention another cool part of the trip. They set up a white sheet by a special light that attracts bugs. After our walk, we went to that. MAN! I’ve never seen so many bugs (er, insects)! It was cool. And I got up close and personal as I took pictures. I did a bit of convulsing afterward since I felt like I still had things crawling on me. It was so neat though! All these things hanging out on this white sheet. And we could take pictures and hold them. *sigh* It was very enjoyable :)
Claire & I proudly display our finised house.
A close-up of the house. Not bad, eh?
Peter and the student working on a house. The student didn't have an English name so they told me to call him Juan. He is from Malaysia and has a big family - 7 kids!
Part of the paper model town.
Claire & I with the professor who lead the group. He was a great photographer and gave me a small album of photos. It's nice to be a stranger sometimes - I get gifts.
The tree frog I played with after making my paper model.
Funny thing about this picture - I was totally happy. I just didn't get a smile on my face before the shutter clicked. It's even funnier that I was the photographer! Ha ha. Let's say I was thinking deeply about the beautiful scenery. Ok?
I caught this chipmunk or squirrel as it dashed across the phone wires and sign. It looks like it is flying in this picture! Sweet.
The sheet with all the bugs. COOL The back side of the sheet. There were so many bugs!
A small section of the sheet.
The special lamp that attracted the bugs. I'm thinking I should buy one when I get back to the U.S.
Check out the bug on the right. It totally looks like a leaf! How nifty is that?!
Me holding 2 tree frogs on the bus. Before we left, all the bugs were released (not inside the bus though).
Friday, August 22, 2008
PengHu Videos
Thursday, August 21, 2008
I'm Official!!
It's finally happened. I am an official (although "alien") resident of Taiwan. My ARC arrived today. YEAH! I can now set up an account for money and get health insurance.
It's so nice to belong officially. I've felt like I've belonged since the first week, but not everyone agreed.
So I can now injure myself :) When I was climbing, I told my pals I couldn't fall since I don't have health insurance. ha ha!
I thought it was pretty easy to obtain, but Scott said otherwise. He had to go into the city twice to get the right forms.
P.S. I call this my "perfect" picture. I actually don't like it. They took out all my blemishes but now it is inaccurate! That's how they do pictures here in Taiwan - make you beautiful and young. (They probably even make locals look more white. ha ha)
It's so nice to belong officially. I've felt like I've belonged since the first week, but not everyone agreed.
So I can now injure myself :) When I was climbing, I told my pals I couldn't fall since I don't have health insurance. ha ha!
I thought it was pretty easy to obtain, but Scott said otherwise. He had to go into the city twice to get the right forms.
P.S. I call this my "perfect" picture. I actually don't like it. They took out all my blemishes but now it is inaccurate! That's how they do pictures here in Taiwan - make you beautiful and young. (They probably even make locals look more white. ha ha)
Hard at Work
While I was working on a lesson plan, I got distracted and looked around the office. I decided to snap a few pictures. I was lucky to do it unnoticed. He he. I can be very sneaky. So here are some shots of us hard at work. I couldn’t really get one of myself . . .
Something funny I observed today was Scott talking on 2 different phones at the same time. One of the office phones (there are 2 lines) and his cell phone. It was quite funny as he had both of them held up to his ear and mouth. I think he confused one person as he spoke to the other. I just cracked up (silently). I was disappointed to note that no one else enjoyed this moment :( They missed out.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before so I will now. (I have lots of thoughts that I want to include, but I often forget them at the moment I’m writing or have so many things to share and not much time or space.) And that was a long intro to a simple idea!
I wish I had a camera that was always ready. So I could just look over at something and snap a picture. I get tired of pulling my camera out, turning it on, waiting for it to be ready, and setting up the shot. Half the time you’ve missed the moment by then! I’ve even thought it would be cool to have a camera built into my eye. I could send a message to my brain saying “camera” then just look over and blink to click the shutter. Sweet idea, huh?
Well, back to planning my lesson. One more funny occurrence in the office: sometimes there are 3 or 4 conversations taking place at once. And people are talking around and above each other. It’s even better because it is all in Chinese! So I just hear a bunch of noise that makes no sense whatsoever. :D
Scott reading the newspaper.
Sarah, the intern. I was trying to be fast so it's a little blurry.
Yvonne at her desk (I think she isn't feeling well so is wearing a mask). You can sort of see Steve in the background looking at his computer.
11:30 AM
This just happened and it was pretty funny. The 4 others in my office were talking and laughing. But I missed out since they were speaking in Chinese. Yvonne turns to me and says she wants to ask me a question. It was that one where all the serial killers got it right. I’ve heard it before but still got it wrong. Steve was the only one in the office to get it right (Scary. Our boss thinks like that). And just now Scott started screaming. Apparently his wife got it right. Ha ha!
Something funny I observed today was Scott talking on 2 different phones at the same time. One of the office phones (there are 2 lines) and his cell phone. It was quite funny as he had both of them held up to his ear and mouth. I think he confused one person as he spoke to the other. I just cracked up (silently). I was disappointed to note that no one else enjoyed this moment :( They missed out.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before so I will now. (I have lots of thoughts that I want to include, but I often forget them at the moment I’m writing or have so many things to share and not much time or space.) And that was a long intro to a simple idea!
I wish I had a camera that was always ready. So I could just look over at something and snap a picture. I get tired of pulling my camera out, turning it on, waiting for it to be ready, and setting up the shot. Half the time you’ve missed the moment by then! I’ve even thought it would be cool to have a camera built into my eye. I could send a message to my brain saying “camera” then just look over and blink to click the shutter. Sweet idea, huh?
Well, back to planning my lesson. One more funny occurrence in the office: sometimes there are 3 or 4 conversations taking place at once. And people are talking around and above each other. It’s even better because it is all in Chinese! So I just hear a bunch of noise that makes no sense whatsoever. :D
Scott reading the newspaper.
Sarah, the intern. I was trying to be fast so it's a little blurry.
Yvonne at her desk (I think she isn't feeling well so is wearing a mask). You can sort of see Steve in the background looking at his computer.11:30 AM
This just happened and it was pretty funny. The 4 others in my office were talking and laughing. But I missed out since they were speaking in Chinese. Yvonne turns to me and says she wants to ask me a question. It was that one where all the serial killers got it right. I’ve heard it before but still got it wrong. Steve was the only one in the office to get it right (Scary. Our boss thinks like that). And just now Scott started screaming. Apparently his wife got it right. Ha ha!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Information Overload
Okay, not really. And I'm loving it! I'm finally getting the information about the school and how it works. Yeah! It's kind of important since I am now planning and preparing for the start of school in 2 weeks.
I even have a map of the school! How exciting. Scott was mocking me the other day and said maybe he would set up a scavenger hunt so I could learn all the buildings. Very funny. I’ve done some observations today and Monday so I can now get to the language building. It’s a bit tricky since there are stair bridges connecting buildings, and they are only on some floors. It’s another fascinating thing. How do you connect 2 unconnected buildings? And sadly I can’t explain the bridges in words. I’ll have to take a picture.
You know, part of me wonders if it's a cultural issue blocking the transfer of information. Why don't they have all of this in a document that I can just read? Why don't they tell me when I first arrive, or even before I arrive? This is all good information. Interesting, huh?
Well I'd best get back to work. The overall challenge has not become easier but I'm better able to figure out the puzzle as I get more pieces.
I even have a map of the school! How exciting. Scott was mocking me the other day and said maybe he would set up a scavenger hunt so I could learn all the buildings. Very funny. I’ve done some observations today and Monday so I can now get to the language building. It’s a bit tricky since there are stair bridges connecting buildings, and they are only on some floors. It’s another fascinating thing. How do you connect 2 unconnected buildings? And sadly I can’t explain the bridges in words. I’ll have to take a picture.
You know, part of me wonders if it's a cultural issue blocking the transfer of information. Why don't they have all of this in a document that I can just read? Why don't they tell me when I first arrive, or even before I arrive? This is all good information. Interesting, huh?
Well I'd best get back to work. The overall challenge has not become easier but I'm better able to figure out the puzzle as I get more pieces.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sleepovers & Shopping
12:23 p.m.
I just turned down a chance to make more money . . . I hope it wasn’t the wrong decision! Yes the money would be nice, but it means more work too. It was teaching a conversation class at one of the summer camp schools (the one far away). It was just once a week but for 3 hours. They gave me the info then asked if I wanted to do it. I said no and Steve seemed surprised. But I was honest and told him I’m pretty sure (bordering on afraid) that I’ll have enough work to do here. Heck, it’s my first year of teaching! It’s bound to be rough.
10:30 p.m.
So last night I had a sleepover. But it wasn’t like the good old days when my pals would rush to my house, my Mom would say “eat anything in the pantry” and we would stay up late giggling and talking. This sleepover took place at a hospital (don’t worry I’m not injured) and the main focus was moral support.
My new friend Kelly and I were asked by the bishop to spend some time with Sophia and her sisters at the hospital. One of them is always there and they don’t like to be alone. So we drove our scooters, missed a turn and ended up at the Kaohsiung Airport, received directions from a policeman (well Kelly did since she speaks Chinese), rode an elevator to the 3rd floor, and gave Sophia hugs.
I was very glad to be helping out. I really like her mom because she helped me get to church that first Sunday. Sophia was grateful for our company. She said when she is alone she thinks too much (don’t we all?). Sis. Yao (Sophia’s Mom) has had 2 brain surgeries since her scooter accident. Yesterday she was taken off the medicine that makes her sleep and she responded with some body movements. That was encouraging.
And for the shopping section of the title – quite a bit of that was done today, actually. I ended up going to lunch with Rebecca (Scott’s daughter) who only sat and watched me it. I only needed her for her Chinese :) Then we stopped in at 7-Eleven where I got a slurpee. Mango and pina colada – yum! Our next stop was the hypermarket in our neighborhood. Ha ha. We covered the whole store with me asking questions and Rebecca pointing out good stuff. It was fun and informative. I should have done this the 1st week I got here! Well, live and learn.
I found something that made me VERY happy – Chips Ahoy. Oh yes! I love those cookies! And Becca even gave me hints about how to make things. So great. And we were talking about ramen noodles and she said “we have those!” Sure enough they have cup noodles here. I laughed. And I made Becca model in the picture of them (see below). We had fun together. Becca was happy since she wasn’t sitting at home bored and hot (the store has AC).
Oh I nearly forgot to mention the funniest thing. Becca would show me stuff then say it’s expensive. I would chuckle and say I thought it was cheap. That happened with nearly everything we talked about. I think I’ll adjust to Taiwanese thinking and be shocked when I get back home. :(
Then I mentioned to the girls that I needed to buy some underclothing. They then mentioned it to their mother Sarah. She told me they purchase their stuff at the sunset market and it is open tonight so we’ll leave at 4. I’m appreciating her “let’s get it done attitude” more and more. So we did a bit more shopping there. And we went to a fruit market. Yum. Here’s another thing that cracked me up – we drove our scooters and looked at the food for sale at little booths (best way to describe them) on the side of the road. It was drive-up shopping! Only we were on scooters. It was just funny.
This evening was topped off by a visit to Carrefour with Yvonne, Grace, Becca, and Michelle. We had fun!! And we all spent money :) I purchased 2 shirts which required the purchase of hangars (I have none left). I also bought some food stuff. I had an ice cream in the store – it was tasty. The girls wanted to go to get some paper supplies and clothes before school starts. Again we had different opinions regarding the prices. But it meant I got to buy the cutest shirt. It was $300 NT and they thought that was crazy. I was excited. 10 bucks?! Not a bad deal at all.
Grace feels like she is in my debt because I found her a very cute black shirt (her preferred color) that was only $100 NT ($3 US). She plans to wear it to the church dance this weekend. Here’s a slightly connected tidbit – they allow youth ages 12 and 13 to attend but you can only dance if you are 14. Isn’t that strange?! I remember only those over 14 were allowed to attend. Oh and another tidbit – the girls really laughed when I showed them the dance moves we did using everyday actions (shopping, lawn mowing and showering). I told them to start the trend here in Taiwan :)
This is getting long and I just have a few more funny things. Yvonne told me to wait outside our apartment lobby while she went to get her car. She parks it at the school next door. Then she pulled out her scooter and drove off. Oh yes, I laughed. 5 minutes later she pulls up, still on her scooter. As she gets off she says, “I bet you can guess why I’m back.” I laughingly said, “You forgot your keys.” She confirmed that as she walked past to return to the apartment. Ha ha!
(This might go on forever! I keep thinking of funny things.) While I was waiting for her the 2nd time, I saw a woman getting on a bike and it reminded me of another funny thing I haven’t shared yet. I saw a lady with a CD tied to the front of her bike. I was confused for about 10 seconds. Then the reasoning dawned on me – it was on there as a reflector. Ingenious!
*Sigh* There is more to be said but I’m tired. I didn’t get as much work done today as I should have. And tomorrow I’m observing more classes. It’s good since it means I don’t sit around the house all day. In fact, I didn’t sit around the house today until I ate dinner. What a change! And observing helps me learn about my students; who I will be teaching in a week and a half. Eek! Right now I’m working on 2 somewhat generic lesson plans and my syllabus. I sure wish they would have made me write a syllabus in a college class. I am struggling now.
P.S. You can’t buy a toothbrush on its own (I guess it would be too lonely or something). Becca and I looked – you have to buy a pack of 3 or nothing at all. Random! (But it made me laugh again so that’s good.) Oh yeah!! Becca helped me find cheese in the freezer. Oh happy day! I haven’t had cheese since I left home. Ok, not true. I had some cheese with crackers when my Dad and I met some friends here. But that was a long time ago! Looks like I can now have cheese sandwiches (you’d almost think I’d died and gone to heaven).
P.P.S. A typhoon is headed this way and expected to arrive during the weekend. Yvonne said I will miss them in the winter. I was very confused by this statement. But I agreed after she explained – no typhoons means no school closed.
I just turned down a chance to make more money . . . I hope it wasn’t the wrong decision! Yes the money would be nice, but it means more work too. It was teaching a conversation class at one of the summer camp schools (the one far away). It was just once a week but for 3 hours. They gave me the info then asked if I wanted to do it. I said no and Steve seemed surprised. But I was honest and told him I’m pretty sure (bordering on afraid) that I’ll have enough work to do here. Heck, it’s my first year of teaching! It’s bound to be rough.
10:30 p.m.
So last night I had a sleepover. But it wasn’t like the good old days when my pals would rush to my house, my Mom would say “eat anything in the pantry” and we would stay up late giggling and talking. This sleepover took place at a hospital (don’t worry I’m not injured) and the main focus was moral support.
My new friend Kelly and I were asked by the bishop to spend some time with Sophia and her sisters at the hospital. One of them is always there and they don’t like to be alone. So we drove our scooters, missed a turn and ended up at the Kaohsiung Airport, received directions from a policeman (well Kelly did since she speaks Chinese), rode an elevator to the 3rd floor, and gave Sophia hugs.
I was very glad to be helping out. I really like her mom because she helped me get to church that first Sunday. Sophia was grateful for our company. She said when she is alone she thinks too much (don’t we all?). Sis. Yao (Sophia’s Mom) has had 2 brain surgeries since her scooter accident. Yesterday she was taken off the medicine that makes her sleep and she responded with some body movements. That was encouraging.
And for the shopping section of the title – quite a bit of that was done today, actually. I ended up going to lunch with Rebecca (Scott’s daughter) who only sat and watched me it. I only needed her for her Chinese :) Then we stopped in at 7-Eleven where I got a slurpee. Mango and pina colada – yum! Our next stop was the hypermarket in our neighborhood. Ha ha. We covered the whole store with me asking questions and Rebecca pointing out good stuff. It was fun and informative. I should have done this the 1st week I got here! Well, live and learn.
I found something that made me VERY happy – Chips Ahoy. Oh yes! I love those cookies! And Becca even gave me hints about how to make things. So great. And we were talking about ramen noodles and she said “we have those!” Sure enough they have cup noodles here. I laughed. And I made Becca model in the picture of them (see below). We had fun together. Becca was happy since she wasn’t sitting at home bored and hot (the store has AC).
Oh I nearly forgot to mention the funniest thing. Becca would show me stuff then say it’s expensive. I would chuckle and say I thought it was cheap. That happened with nearly everything we talked about. I think I’ll adjust to Taiwanese thinking and be shocked when I get back home. :(
Then I mentioned to the girls that I needed to buy some underclothing. They then mentioned it to their mother Sarah. She told me they purchase their stuff at the sunset market and it is open tonight so we’ll leave at 4. I’m appreciating her “let’s get it done attitude” more and more. So we did a bit more shopping there. And we went to a fruit market. Yum. Here’s another thing that cracked me up – we drove our scooters and looked at the food for sale at little booths (best way to describe them) on the side of the road. It was drive-up shopping! Only we were on scooters. It was just funny.
This evening was topped off by a visit to Carrefour with Yvonne, Grace, Becca, and Michelle. We had fun!! And we all spent money :) I purchased 2 shirts which required the purchase of hangars (I have none left). I also bought some food stuff. I had an ice cream in the store – it was tasty. The girls wanted to go to get some paper supplies and clothes before school starts. Again we had different opinions regarding the prices. But it meant I got to buy the cutest shirt. It was $300 NT and they thought that was crazy. I was excited. 10 bucks?! Not a bad deal at all.
Grace feels like she is in my debt because I found her a very cute black shirt (her preferred color) that was only $100 NT ($3 US). She plans to wear it to the church dance this weekend. Here’s a slightly connected tidbit – they allow youth ages 12 and 13 to attend but you can only dance if you are 14. Isn’t that strange?! I remember only those over 14 were allowed to attend. Oh and another tidbit – the girls really laughed when I showed them the dance moves we did using everyday actions (shopping, lawn mowing and showering). I told them to start the trend here in Taiwan :)
This is getting long and I just have a few more funny things. Yvonne told me to wait outside our apartment lobby while she went to get her car. She parks it at the school next door. Then she pulled out her scooter and drove off. Oh yes, I laughed. 5 minutes later she pulls up, still on her scooter. As she gets off she says, “I bet you can guess why I’m back.” I laughingly said, “You forgot your keys.” She confirmed that as she walked past to return to the apartment. Ha ha!
(This might go on forever! I keep thinking of funny things.) While I was waiting for her the 2nd time, I saw a woman getting on a bike and it reminded me of another funny thing I haven’t shared yet. I saw a lady with a CD tied to the front of her bike. I was confused for about 10 seconds. Then the reasoning dawned on me – it was on there as a reflector. Ingenious!
*Sigh* There is more to be said but I’m tired. I didn’t get as much work done today as I should have. And tomorrow I’m observing more classes. It’s good since it means I don’t sit around the house all day. In fact, I didn’t sit around the house today until I ate dinner. What a change! And observing helps me learn about my students; who I will be teaching in a week and a half. Eek! Right now I’m working on 2 somewhat generic lesson plans and my syllabus. I sure wish they would have made me write a syllabus in a college class. I am struggling now.
P.S. You can’t buy a toothbrush on its own (I guess it would be too lonely or something). Becca and I looked – you have to buy a pack of 3 or nothing at all. Random! (But it made me laugh again so that’s good.) Oh yeah!! Becca helped me find cheese in the freezer. Oh happy day! I haven’t had cheese since I left home. Ok, not true. I had some cheese with crackers when my Dad and I met some friends here. But that was a long time ago! Looks like I can now have cheese sandwiches (you’d almost think I’d died and gone to heaven).
P.P.S. A typhoon is headed this way and expected to arrive during the weekend. Yvonne said I will miss them in the winter. I was very confused by this statement. But I agreed after she explained – no typhoons means no school closed.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Bombshells
Yep, that is the best way to describe it. Although there are plenty of adjectives I could use to express my feelings upon receiving the “bombshell”. Confused?
Alright, I met with Scott/Bishop Huang today before church. It started out normal – he asked me what callings I’ve had before and I listed them. He asked how I liked being R.S. president, and I said it was great. Then he said he wanted to extend a calling. I bet you’ve figured out what the bombshell is! Yeah, the calling. Are you feeling anxious, am I keeping you in suspense? (te he)
I am the new Young Women’s President of the Daliao Ward. That’s right! YW PRESIDENT. Oi. I even made him repeat it to make sure I had understood correctly. I said something like, “Me? As the president?” He responded in the affirmative. Oh man, this is awesome! Oh man, this is scary. I’ve never done this before!! (P.S. I accepted)
So I was sustained in Sacrament meeting and need to choose my presidency. Scott came into R.S. and asked if I had the names already – I was like uh, no. In all fairness, he gave some recommendations. The problem is I don’t even know names of 3 people in the ward!! But I made a new friend today :) Kelly helped me get to church. She drove my scooter and I rode (I’ve decided to purchase some leggings to wear when I transport myself to church. Showed too much leg again today).
Sis. Yao (mama) is still in ICU so none of her family could help me get to church. Last night I stopped by Scott’s house and his wife Sarah drew me a map. She asked if I would be okay. I responded with a hesitant yes. Then she called up Kelly and asked her to help me get to church. I felt much better about that! And Kelly drew me a map during church so I’m pretty sure (with fingers crossed) I can do it on my own next week. Hope so!
Alright, I am a bit overwhelmed with the calling because I don’t speak Chinese! If Scott would not have said my name in English, I wouldn’t have known to stand up in Sacrament and be sustained. Ha ha! Good thing my girls know English. There are only 3 of them: Grace, Rebecca, & Joy. And Michelle will be joining next month. So it’s Scott’s daughters and one other girl. :) I already did something as the president, I signed off two of Joy’s personal project requirements.
After church, I was set apart and Scott answered some questions. He let me borrow his church handbook until he gets another in English. And he gave me the lesson manual and personal progress books in Chinese. Great! What will I do with those?! Thank goodness for the internet. Oh, I haven’t mentioned yet that I teach the lesson next week. Woot, woot.
Here is something that is truly cool: the YM and YW are having a youth conference in Kenting in a few weeks. Sa-weet! I get to go back (hopefully). Awesome!
So, I survived and have I got work to do! It’s good I don’t have much in the days (go figure this week I will observe some of the Chinese teachers’ classes.) Oh and the original calling I was going to have was as a counselor in YW. Since Sophia was president and her mom is in the ICU, they released that presidency and called me as pres. Crazy how life works.
I may have been blabbing but I really needed to get my thoughts out. And I bet a bunch of you can relate. “You want me to do what?” I’m really excited and have been told I’ll be a great asset to the ward. Scott said most of the youth don’t get to experience a full program with lots of people, but I grew up with that and can show them how things are run. Ha ha! Oh, and I have to keep in mind that I’ll eventually lead so I need to groom a new president. Do I have enough responsibility?!
New track – Although I was sad my goldfish crackers didn’t live up to what I remembered, I miss them. And I just barely finished them! Oh my tasty, crunchy, cheesy friends. Why couldn’t you have lasted forever? Boo hoo
My church schedule was another long one today. Left the house at 12:25 and returned at 6. I’m guessing I will have lots of long church days from now on. I’ll have meetings and such. Oh man, I really need to learn Chinese!! Love to all.
P.S. I found some cookies that are pretty good :-)
P.S.S. I was encouraged in my new calling when I saw Grace doing a little dance as I was called and sustained. I guess she’s excited. That’s good.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Future Olympian
Look out all you table tennis Olympians, here I come!! That’s right. I worked on my table tennis game and I’m catching on. We focused on my serve today and it is much better. They even had a new girl come in and she seemed like a coach to me (I don’t really know since she didn’t speak much English).
It was pretty fun because I could make her laugh even though we only used broken sentences and hand gestures. Good thing laughter is a universal language :) Life just wouldn’t be as fun if I didn’t laugh at myself. She was telling me to use more power and I explained that when I first played I used too much power! So I’m still working on finding the middle area.
It’s an intense game, surprisingly. A shower was required as soon as I got back to my apartment. Ugh, I don’t like sweating. But I guess I was exercising so. . . One thing I decided is my slip-on flats are not the right shoes for the game. I was slow in moving and I think it was partly because of the shoes. They are a smidge big so I walk differently in order to keep them on.
My calling is currently on hold. I talked to Scott today and found that out. My calling is connected to that of Mama’s (the kind lady who showed me the way to church that 1st Sunday on my own). And she is unable to perform hers at the moment as she was in a scooter accident on Monday. She is now in a coma at the hospital. Sad! I really liked her even though we couldn’t speak to each other. So we shall see what happens. We did get my records transferred so that is good.
Hm, can’t think of anything else. School is starting soon and I’m starting to think about what I’m going to do. The problem is that it is my first year and I don’t really know! I learned lots at college, but I still feel like I just have to jump in and try things out.
Tonight Yvonne and I were talking about the schooling system and I find it fascinating. They say the students are not adults and so the teachers do lots of the work – pushing them to do things. Each class has a homeroom teacher that is pretty much their mom at school. It is just so interesting to me! And then they go off to college and have nothing. I think it is unfair to the students, but I’m just a foreigner here. Yvonne blames it on the parents who will not let their kids grow up. She says parents are still involved and somewhat controlling when the kids are married and have families of their own.
So interesting!! So in America, we expect kids to be responsible and figure things out, which makes sense to me. But here they don’t do that much. So interesting. Just thought I would share that with you, reader. I listened to Yvonne with rapt attention as she explained this.
P.S. Grandma I'm very excited to play a game of table tennis with you next year! :)
Peng-Hu Pictures
Here you go, all you impatient people. (I'm so happy I kept it under 40!)
The small cabin on the ship.
Me on the bottom bunk.
The ship as we disembarked.
The oldest Chinese temple in the area (taken at 7 a.m.).
The 4-eyes well. It originally had only 1 opening but was too dangerous so they covered it and made 4 openings. There is still water in it.
Bug eyes! Shopping for sunglasses was entertaining.
Part of a banyan tree (I think that is the name). This is just one of the roots put down, not the original roots.
With our cactus and aloe vera ice cream. It made our tongues red :)
Part of the traditional village.
A scene from the top of the fort.
A section of the military fort, as seen from the top. They had long tunnels too. It was cool. The 2 other girls were scared.
The beautiful beach where we did water activities.
They survived a ride on the banana boat!
Yvonne and I sat out front on the boat ride back from our water activities adventure.
Me in front of the dock just across the street from the travel agency. Our boat docked at a different place to the right and down a bit.
I'm so mad at the squid!
Me with my squid. You can tell I'm not too thrilled - that isn't a very convincing smile.
But Yvonne is quite happy about her catch. She loves to eat squid.
Look at this! What happened?! (And Tiff, the shirt is from Thailand - will you get me another? I want the exact same one though)
Charlene and I. We helped them pull in the nets with more fish.
The fabulous beach where we played on Monday morning. The other girls didn't want to come so it was the 2 boys, Yvonne, and me. It was awesome!
The group. Back - Jason, Sam, Me Front - Yvonne, ?, Charlene
Me on our scooter (although I was always on the back part as a passenger).
Look at the color difference. He he. Yvonne made me participate in this picture *sigh*
With our tasty drinks.
A Chinese temple.
The breakfast street.
Our hotel. It's a place for military people to stay. But it was cheap and had all we needed - bed, shower, toilet. The TV was an extra perk.
I made this all by myself. I was so excited! Like a kid at Christmas.
I found a friend :)
This shirt cracked us up!! They didn't have our size :(
Yeah I'm here! (It took forever to find a Peng-Hu sign. This was our last day. You think they would have a nice, big, colorful one, but no.)
Do you see a problem with this picture? ha ha
This is the reason they gave her a napkin! To keep the meat splatter from getting on her. I just laughed.
The first level of this "boat" is a shopping center! We climbed all over it - :D 
A street of the town (I think the name was Magong City, but I don't know how to pronounce it correctly).
More of the town.
These chips were for sale on our boat. I laughed really hard. I love how the chip is a sumo wrestler!
The small cabin on the ship.
Me on the bottom bunk.
The ship as we disembarked.
The oldest Chinese temple in the area (taken at 7 a.m.).
The 4-eyes well. It originally had only 1 opening but was too dangerous so they covered it and made 4 openings. There is still water in it.
Bug eyes! Shopping for sunglasses was entertaining.
Part of a banyan tree (I think that is the name). This is just one of the roots put down, not the original roots.
With our cactus and aloe vera ice cream. It made our tongues red :)
Part of the traditional village.
A scene from the top of the fort.
A section of the military fort, as seen from the top. They had long tunnels too. It was cool. The 2 other girls were scared.
The beautiful beach where we did water activities.
They survived a ride on the banana boat!
Yvonne and I sat out front on the boat ride back from our water activities adventure.
Me in front of the dock just across the street from the travel agency. Our boat docked at a different place to the right and down a bit.
I'm so mad at the squid!
Me with my squid. You can tell I'm not too thrilled - that isn't a very convincing smile.
But Yvonne is quite happy about her catch. She loves to eat squid.
Look at this! What happened?! (And Tiff, the shirt is from Thailand - will you get me another? I want the exact same one though)
Charlene and I. We helped them pull in the nets with more fish.
The fabulous beach where we played on Monday morning. The other girls didn't want to come so it was the 2 boys, Yvonne, and me. It was awesome!
The group. Back - Jason, Sam, Me Front - Yvonne, ?, Charlene
Me on our scooter (although I was always on the back part as a passenger).
Look at the color difference. He he. Yvonne made me participate in this picture *sigh*
With our tasty drinks.
A Chinese temple.
The breakfast street.
Our hotel. It's a place for military people to stay. But it was cheap and had all we needed - bed, shower, toilet. The TV was an extra perk.
I made this all by myself. I was so excited! Like a kid at Christmas.
I found a friend :)
This shirt cracked us up!! They didn't have our size :(
Yeah I'm here! (It took forever to find a Peng-Hu sign. This was our last day. You think they would have a nice, big, colorful one, but no.)
Do you see a problem with this picture? ha ha
This is the reason they gave her a napkin! To keep the meat splatter from getting on her. I just laughed.
The first level of this "boat" is a shopping center! We climbed all over it - :D 
A street of the town (I think the name was Magong City, but I don't know how to pronounce it correctly).
More of the town.
These chips were for sale on our boat. I laughed really hard. I love how the chip is a sumo wrestler!
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