So the holidays came and went here in Taiwan. It was somewhat strange- things were decorated, if almost overly so, but nothing stopped for observance. I was supposed to teach on Christmas, but my one class was canceled for a school-wide rehearsal (we're going to watch The Grinch-darn), so I was able to go to my housemate's school to see their Christmas event. Probably the only time I'll be able to judge a song contest when half of the grades sang "Yesterday" by the Beatles and the other half sang "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles.

Jeannie's school decorated for the occasion.

This was probably the only Christmas I'll have where everything is open on Christmas day.

Obviously, Da Vinci cram school which occupies our building was decorated.

Jeannie, Jenny, Katie and I opened our presents from out families on Christmas eve, since we weren't sure when we'd all be together on Christmas day, and the thought of opening presents by ourselves was too unbearable. It turns out that we spent Christmas (day) night together anyway making a gingerbread house before the rest of the group came over, but it was nice to have some Christmas before the fact.

Hard at work. This was greatly appreciated later that night when our friends ate the roof off.

How else would I celebrate Christmas? Banana pineapple juice, a tiny present, a pink panther balloon animal and my ever-present scooter helmet, obviously!

My school has an end-of-semester event every year, with each class doing a performance. This year, since the elections are coming up, many politicians attended the event, as well as families and administrators. My dean "asked" me if I wanted to be part of it ("Kate, we've put you in the program"), and I ended up singing "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" by myself, accompanied by the music teacher on the piano. Yet another time I missed not having Measure 4 Measure here- if the girls were here, we could have just sung all together. Nonetheless, the performance went well. I think it's the only time I'll ever see people swaying their hands back and forth to a Christmas carol. Maybe they think that's what we do. I almost expected someone to whip out a lighter. Or at least a cellphone.

That night (Friday), Katie, Dale, Michelle and I took of for the south of the island, by way of north. Leaving on a 9PM train to Taipei, we then took a train that left Taipei at 11:30 and arrived in Kaohsiung at 5:30AM. One of the most uncomfortable rides in my life, but we didn't want to take a day traveling. It was then a 2 hour and 45 minute bus ride to Kenting, the beach town at the very south of Taiwan. We arrived around 8:30 and were ushered to a hostel by the first people who met us off the bus. The next few days were spent scooting around the south, stopping at small beaches, parks and hikes. New Years Eve was spent at a bar in Kenting city proper (we eventually moved to a BEAUTIFUL hotel- complete with hot tub on balcony overlooking the ocean- after Michelle found a cockroach under her pillow), which was good fun. We headed back north on the Wednesday after new years, which meant I missed school on Monday (Tuesday they had off for the holiday).

One of the lakes on one of our "hikes." They sometimes use this word loosely. "Hikes" can sometimes be paved, flat paths, as this one was.

Tired, but happy to be in Kenting on the first day.

One of the many beaches we stopped at. Apparently, that big blue stick belonged to someone. Who knew?

The Eluanbi lighthouse. Built in 1888. The only armed lighthouse in the world, complete with a trench around it. All this to keep out the local tribes that used to invade. Apparently, it was also bombed a great deal during Japanese rule.

Of COURSE you dance on the beach. That is, if you don't go swimming. Katie and Dale faced the waters, but since the wind was strong, and I wore my jacket all weekend (Kenting is supposedly really warm and nice in the summer), I decided to skip the swim.

Natural fire. From the ground. People were popping popcorn on it-some more successfully than others.

All of Kenting is a National park, but we went hiking in the "real" park part. The terrain was incredibly diverse- everything from steep cliffs to hanging Banyan trees to caves. This was one of the caves.


Just follow the flowers to...

A blooming field! Despite the fact that I wore my jacket constantly, Kenting is warmer than the rest of the island. So, even though it is "winter," there were still some blooms.

Friday I went to a (last minute) press conference at Jenny's school for the English Village- an all-English environment that we're helping to create. Students from around the county will eventually visit on school trips, but for now we're just working on the curriculum. Anyway, the press conference was scheduled because we've received money from this foundation, so the school wanted to make it public. It was all in Chinese, I understood very little, and in typical fashion, we found out plans had changed, and expectations were different. Sometimes it's frustrating to be working on a project and have things suddenly changed without warning. It definitely reminds you how little control you have, and while I'm definitely getting better with flexibility, it is still something that takes getting used to.

2 weeks until our real break. Thailand for a week with my housemates, then my mom visits and we head to Vietnam for a week, then back to Taiwan for a week. Until then it's just pushing my students through finals...