There's been a massive delay in updating. Apparently starting back at school after a long break really stinks and it zaps all of your time and energy. Nonetheless, I have time today, since on Tuesdays I don't teach anything until 1:40, but am still required to be at school starting at 8:00. Ha.

This is what I look like after 4 hours of sitting at my desk. Doing nothing... I mean, doing lots of work...

So break came and went. I spent 4 nights with my housemates in Thailand at the beginning. After two bus rides, a 3 hour plane ride, 7 hours in the Bangkok airport, and another 2 hour plane ride, we finally arrived in Phuket, Thailand. After minor readjustment to our living situation, we settled in to enjoy the warm weather, beaches, elephants and crazy amounts of tourists. We completed our goal of riding elephants, which, other than going to lie on the beach the whole time, was our main objective. It's semi-upsetting to see all these elephants without knowing how they're treated or their lifestyle (I did some reading before heading there, and was unsure about how I felt in regards to the whole situation), and while I wouldn't like to support the industry on a regular basis, it was something I enjoyed.

So so excited to be going to Thailand!

The start of our very long layover in Bangkok airport.

Looking a little more tired, but you know, still excited and all that jazz.

Real pad thai. Serious stuff.

Look, ma! I'm on an elephant!

My elephant rides off into the distance.

Jeannie and Katie looking cozy on their elephant.

The area that we went, Patong Beach, was intensely touristy. Like, overly so. It was also full of... how shall I put it... woman who were inclined to use their bodies for extra money. It surprised me (although, I'm not sure why) how much it upset me. The cycle of not having the money, the background or the support to continue in education, to pursue something that would be less detrimental, both mentally and physically. These girls were gorgeous, but there was something that made them so old. It was mostly in their faces. But just seeing them put themselves in the position of being... handled... by these foreign guys really made my stomach turn.

Pretty sunset at Patong Beach.

Anyway, Katie and I returned home after 4 nights and she headed off to Hong Kong and Beijing. I, however, met up with my mom, who had gotten into Taipei that evening! It was great to see her, and so nice to have her experience what I've been trying to get across in words, pictures, and countless (grumpy) ichat dates. We spent a few days in Taipei, wandering around finding knitting stores, looking at flower markets and sampling hot pot.

Orchids at this amazingly huge flower market in Taipei.

Then, on Monday we headed to Hanoi, Veitnam. I'd be the first to admit that I don't know as much about Vietnam as I probably should. Senior year American History was a long time ago, and I do think my awareness has grown since then. Not to mention that I've become exponentially more interested after visiting the place. Hanoi was... cold. And slightly depressing. It seemed very gray and run-down, maybe it was the weather, but it just seemed sort of... sad.

So thaaat's why they have no power in Hanoi. Just kidding. Maybe.

However, there were some cool things in Hanoi. We saw Ho Chi Minh's body (yes, the real one), which was creepy and cool and morbid. You couldn't bring in cameras, so I'll just have to remember it. There were 4 guards surrounding the case, and apparently their their 24 hours. The Russians also supposedly come once a year to check on the body, as well. Neat.

Ho Chi Minh's body is in there. For real. His honest to goodness dead body. Freaky.

Ho Chi Minh's house from a distance.

Tet (Vietnam's New Year) started on the same day as Chinese New Year this year (Feb. 4). It's good luck to buy kumquat, peach and apricot trees. Now imagine 3 huge trees on the back of someone's scooter. It's that intense.

We also saw his house and offices, complete with pictures of other communist leaders. Traveling on, we saw the One Pillar Pagoda, a famous Buddhist pagoda built originally in 1049. Story goes that the Emperor Ly Thai Tong was wife-less and childless. He had a dream that Buddha handed him a son while seated on a lotus flower. Following that dream, the Emperor married and his wife bore a son. Therefore, he erected the pagoda in honor. Not only is the pagoda in the middle of a lotus pond, it itself looks like a lotus, balanced on one stem.

One Pillar Pagoda. Standing on... one pillar...

Next up was the Temple of Literature, which was founded in 1070 as a temple to Confucius. In 1076, the first university was established within the temple. Of course, like many things in Vietnam, the temple was partially destroyed during French ruling, so only part of it is original.

Looking out from the temple.

Decorations for the new year.

Offerings.

She just couldn't resist touching these new year decorations.

Other highlights in Hanoi included a water puppet show (puppeteers stand in waist high water behind a set and move puppets which are attached on long poles), a cylco (Vietnamese rickshaw) ride throughout the city, and a trip to Halong Bay. The Bay was incredible, tons of limestone pillars of various sizes in the water. It's one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

Closeup of the puppets. All the stories were told by this band and three singers. They were all traditional Vietnamese folktales

Fairies. Obviously.

The puppeteers.

Halong Bay.

More of the Bay.

Me and Mom on our own private boat.

A cave in the Bay. The lights aren't natural... obviously...

More cave.

After 3 cold days in Hanoi, we headed south to Ho Chi Minh City (which will now be referred to as HCMC for my sanity). Not only was it much warmer in the south, it also seems to have opened it's arms to the wide world of tourism. It's caters much more to foreigner, it seems, especially in the area of our hotel. I think I liked HCMC more, but I'm not sure if that was because of the weather or the fact that it was more of a city.

Decorated for the new year. This city went all out.

The first full day there we went to the Củ Chi Tunnels, the network of underground tunnels that the NLF guerrillas lived in during the "conflict." The system was intense, including sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a hospital. It was semi-surreal to see bomb craters caused by bombs dropped by Americans who were searching out the tunnels. Not to mention all the booby traps that were used to capture the American soldiers who could, in fact, fit into the tiny tunnels.

An afternoon tour of the city completed our day, including a trip to the Reunification Palace, which just used to be the president's house until Vietnam was "reunified." The strangest part of that visit was the museum in the base of the palace, which glorified the "liberation" of the south from Americans. It's amazing how things can be twisted.

Reunification Palace.

Mom in her cyclo.

A trip to the Mekong Delta took up another day. We were really far out there- for the first time I felt like I was in the jungle. The Delta was one of the primary places for the conflict between teh guerrillas and the U.S. navy. We took a boat to a small island (turtle island, I think? The islands were all named after animals) and visited a "coconut candy factory" (which consisted of a family making coconut candy in a large sack). From there we took a horse-drawn cart through the very very small town to see a traditional music performance and sample some Vietnamese fruit. Finally, we took a small boat back to our larger one. It was incredible. I also took a bath in bug spray since I had been throughly freaked out about malaria. In that setting, it was probably the best idea.

On the Delta. Note the hat- it will be featured prominently in the future.

That's a lot of coconuts...

Working hard, or hardly working?

Cutting the candy.

Cutting it into even smaller, bite-sized pieces.

The back-roads, er, water-ways of the island.

Rocking the cone-head look.

Captain, my captain...

The last day in HCMC was spent shopping and... going to a spa. Which, after running around like a crazy person for a week, was really incredible. We headed back to Taipei the following Monday.

My mom's last 5 days in Taipei were spent visiting Taipei 101 and the palace museum. She also traveled to Yilan with me for New Year's Eve, which (sorry mom!) included microwave dinners that we bought at the grocery store, since everything was (understandably) closed. We watched the fireworks from my balcony, and although we we went to bed at 12:30, they continued through the night. And have continued for the past 2 weeks. All hail the year of the Rat. Sadly, my mom left on Saturday and I headed back to my cold, non-heated, lacking warm toilet-seat (one of the many luxuries of our Taipei hotel) apartment.

Since the end of break, I've been back to work, attempting to motivate myself a little more in school. I'm also realizing that I really want to take this time to travel, both around Asia, but around Taiwan more. I'm here, this is my time. Last weekend, Katie, Jeannie, Ben and Luke (former Fulbrighters), Jasper (a newly made friend) and I went to RuiSui, a town south of Hualien, to visit the hot springs there for the night. And slept (some of us better than others) on tatami mats in a Japanese-style guest house there. The next day, I went with the boys to Dong-Ao, an Aboriginal village, and spent the afternoon eating (entirely too much food), dancing and singing karaoke. It was an amazing atmosphere- everyone was so incredibly nice and inviting. It really inspired me to take more opportunities here.

And now, that brings us to the school week. I've been sitting on my computer in the teachers' office for the past 3 hours (doing work, I swear), as I wait for lunch and then my class. We start teaching at a co-school two days a week starting in March, and then for the whole month of April. I went to Tong-Le (my co-school) yesterday, and I'm so incredibly excited about having a new place that I can't explain it. It's a bigger school and I have a crazier schedule, but I'm looking forward to something different.

Just returned from a whirlwind tour of Asia (or parts of it) - Thailand and Vietnam, to be exact. I'm in Taipei currently with my mom, heading to Yilan for a visit tomorrow to celebrate lunar New Year. More of an update will come (complete with pictures from a new camera) when I get back to my laptop.

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...

FYI: I have fixed the commenting so now you are able to comment even if you don't have a blogger account. Just to let you know in case you want to leave a note. :)

(NOTE: This blog post was started a month ago, which was probably a good thing, since, if I sat down to write it all down now, I'd most likely forget parts of it. So, basically, while it appears that I've slacked tremendously when it comes to posting, I've really just slacked when it comes to pressing "publish post.")


Awhile ago, I went with my host family on a road trip. I was asked to accompany them to Nantou to visit their new baby nephew. After being told it was only a 3 hour car ride, I gladly agreed. After all, it's warmer in the south, and any place has to be less rainy than Yilan.

3 hours was actually 6 hours. In a car. With a 6-year-old. But the thrill of going on a road trip overshadowed the hours of playing "Pokemon" (Dale put down a card, Cliff put down a card, I put down a card, then Cliff would pick up all three and give them to me. I think I won, in the end), and watching Cliff rip up a Bo, Po, Mo, Fo book. We stopped at a rest stop about 2 1/2 hours into the trip, and aside from the fact that it was much cleaner than the rest stops I've been too (and the majority of the population was clearly... um... Asian, obviously), it felt like I could have been driving back up to school. I liked that feeling- something so familiar like driving on the highway, but in a place that's still so new.

Cliff, my host brother, taking a rest. Something which was done fairly infrequently.

Anyway, we went first to Taizhong, which was where Kendra's (my host mom) brother and sister-in-law are currently residing, since Kendra's sister-in-law just gave birth. It really only took 4 hours to get there- better than the full 6. When we arrived, we had lunch in the little area near the university there, and then walked around the BEAUTIFUL university campus. I felt like I was visiting colleges again- if I was basing where I went on it's location, I would have totally gone there. There's even a famous church on the campus, known for it's unique architecture.

While we rested in the shade of the church, waiting for Kendra's brother, sister-in-law, and daughter to arrive (the new baby was in the care center- more to come on that), we played baseball with Cliff. Which gave Kendra the idea that me and Dale would be excellent at the batting cage later that afternoon.

Following the trip to the University, we headed to the Month Long Rest Home that the sister-in-law was staying in. Usually, after a mother gives birth, her mother-in-law helps take care of the mother and the new baby. The goal is to nurse the mother back to strength, and allow her to gain her health back after putting her body through the stress of childbirth. There are strict guidelines as to what the mother should eat and behave (for example, she shouldn't wash her own hair, as the water could carry disease). While some of the suggestions seem slightly antiquated, overall, the process makes sense. The mother needs to be healthy and strong to take care of the new baby, and really, it is easier to get to that point when you have someone else to help you.

However, Kendra's brother and sister-in-law already have a small daughter, so her mother-in-law was helping with the first child, rather than taking care of mom and the new baby. This clearly is common, as there are multiple Month Long Rest Homes located near the hospitals. For 3000NT a day (less than $100), the mother can be nursed back to health by a full staff of nurses, provided with complete baby care. Need you fear that the exhausted mother might not have all of the luxuries home would provide, the rooms come with a bathroom, internet, and a TV. Thinking about the fact that you get medical help, personal help, and the comfort of being with other mothers who have just given birth too, makes me wonder why there aren't more of these facsilities around the world. Is it just that the tradition of helping out the mother isn't as prominent in other cultures? Maybe that would explain the increase in postpartum depression...

Sign outside of the rest home. Photo courtesy of Dale.

Anyway, I digress. Following visiting the baby in the home (SO cute, SO little), we headed to the batting cages. Reminding myself that, although I hadn't hit a ball since I was...um... 12, it's all muscle memory, we headed in. Not only were there batting cages (I stuck with softball, Dale ventured to faster areas), but other arcade-esque games. A few hours there, some sore muscles later, we headed to Nantou, where we would be spending the night in the house which was normally occupied by Kendra's brother. Now, however, Kendra's mother and father are staying there.

Dale testing out his swing.

Here, batter, batter. Photo courtesy of Dale.

After a HUGE dinner at a hot pot restaurant (another thing that I wonder why it hasn't hit in the states...), we spent the night. Early the next morning (earlier for some- Dale and Kendra's father went to photograph the sunrise), we headed for Sun Moon Lake, the largest man-made lake in Taiwan. It was beautiful, but as Kendra pointed out, sometimes things are prettier from further away. When you get close, while the mountains surrounding it are still spectacular, you can see how the lake is slowly being polluted.

Temple at Sun Moon Lake

These golden balls had prayers written on the bottom. The temple was covered in them.


Sun Moon Lake from a distance

Me at the lake. Photo courtesy of Dale.

The rest of the trip was devoted to exploring some Aboriginal villages and seeing some (semi-tourist-y) performances, but they still helped to further distinguish certain groups from others. It was interesting to see the traditional song and dance that this particular group performed.

Name of one of the Aboriginal groups. The owl symbolizes fertility for the community.

These long poles were banged against a metal disk in the ground in a series of patterns to make a song.

Thanksgiving came and went, with both a large-scaled event in Taipei hosted by the American Institute in Taiwan, and a smaller, but no less grand, potluck celebration in Luodong. I realized how thankful I am to be here with similar-minded people, all working, struggling and realizing the joys together. It would be hard to be here alone.

Danger! Photo courtesy of my housemate, K80.

Thanksgiving clearly means Starbucks. Photo courtesy of my housemate, K80.

Part of the gang. Photo courtesy of my housemate, K80.

The spread. I contributed the carrots. Photo courtesy of my housemate, K80.

It's amazing realizing how quickly time is passing. I never realized how soon Christmas is after Thanksgiving! I'm struggling with teaching my students about Christmas, I always want everything to have an objective and purpose; sometimes teaching them how to make little sleds out of paper for no apparent reason drives me a crazy. Overall, though, things are going well. The rain is back and forth, sometimes falling for 8 days straight, sometimes (luckily) never appearing. The weather hasn't helped my immune system, of course, and despite the fact that I got a flu shot at the beginning of the year (the only time I've ever been handed the little vile of vaccination and instructed to take it down the hall to the lady who will inject it into me), I've been battling colds and viruses for awhile. I'm making a trip to see the Chinese medicine doctor tomorrow, so hopefully the clinic can give me something...

I'm long overdue for a post, I apologize. So much has happened over these past few weeks, and I kept saying to myself: "Wow! I really need to write about that!" But then something else would happen, and eventually everything just backs up... apparently, organizational skills can't go out the window when you graduate from college.

First up: Halloween. My school was supposed to do this big Halloween event that evening. Usually, they do it during the day. But this year there was supposed to be trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, as well. The PTA determined, however, that they did not think it was a good use of our time or money, and therefore we would not be doing it. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed. Not only had we planned the whole thing (they canceled the event 2 days before it was scheduled), but I was really looking forward to it. Halloween was something all of our co-schools had talked about doing- it's really one of the American holidays that translates over here.

Anne and I decided to do Halloween with our classes anyway (subsequently, I did Halloween activities for 3rd-5th grade, too). We did a mini-event with some of the same activities we were going to do on Halloween night, including eating donuts suspended in the air, bobbing for oranges, fishing for Halloween words, and pin the hat on the witch. All the students dressed up, and for those who didn't, we supplied face paint.

Donuts waiting.

They all thought it was really easy. "TEEEACCCHER, this is so EEEASSSSY." But then they couldn't do it.

Somehow the whole aspect of blindfolding the kids didn't get across...

Fish a "witch."

My 1-B class. I had devil horns on. They all thought I was an ant. Or a goat. At least they're putting the vocabulary words that they know to good use (G-G, guh-guh, G, guh GOAT!). I suppose we shouldn't teach them the word "devil" just yet.

1-A. Note the Harry Potter, Scream mask and... Zorro without a mask in the back?


Always need one (or twelve) princes(ses).


My self-made "In a Dark, Dark Wood" big book.

I think the students really loved it- they certainly liked the costume aspect. The biggest hit this year: the scream mask that dripped blood.

We've been rehearsing for this big English competition (English Easy Go) since September. All of our schools are involved, as well as many other schools in the area. There are two portions: the song/dance competition and the Reader's Theater competition. I was only supposed to be working on the song/dance portion, but somehow got involved with our school's Reader's Theater kids as well. While it involves students in grades 1-6, Anne decided that we'd get "cute points" if we had our younger students do the song/dance. 15 students in 1st-4th grade. Singing. Dancing. Practicing 3 times a week. At least the Reader's Theater portion was the older students. Both groups were judged on creativity, costume, pronunciation, overall performance, etc. The competition was this past Saturday. Apparently, all of our rehearsals must have paid off, because we came in 2nd place in the song/dance competition. I was so proud of my kids!

Reader's Theater students with some dads and the principal (on the far right).

OBVIOUSLY to sing "Good day, Sunshine," "Twinkle, twinkle little star," and "I can sing a rainbow," we'd dress our kids in glitter and reflective tape. I mean, what else would they wear?

This is exactly how I felt when English Easy Go was over.