It's been 75 and sunny in Yilan for the past two days! Finally clothes can dry a little faster, cuts can heal a little sooner (a rupture on my foot has been festering for the past two weeks due to humidity) and I can ride my bike to school!

Oh, those gears.

Now, you might say that this ride isn't as flashy as my super cool scooter (see picture below... it's currently lacking the mitts which were put on for the cold rain), but I say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I've developed a slight crush on my bicycle. Maybe it's because it allows me to see the sights of Yilan a little slower than I would on my scooter. I'm able to notice more, to really take in the sights around me. It's about a 40 minute bike ride to my school each way, and it really allows me to take in the beauty of my surroundings, and sometimes the humor in them...

The legendary PPO (name taken from license plate)

Green onions growing on the way to school.

Rice paddy houses.


Why let the 7s and 11s have all the fun?

With the good weather/Spring comes the Springtime fruit. Including, but definitely not limited to, watermelon. Now, the abundance of fruit in Taiwan is something that I know I will definitely miss. Not only are you able to buy the fruit in ubiquitous fruit stands, you can also purchase the said fruit juiced, at shops virtually every few kilometers, for about the equivalent of an American dollar (or less).

I've got a loverly bunch of... watermelons.

How to keep your pet pig in its cage OR where to store your cut watermelon?


My watermelon juice is taking over Yilan.


Enjoying my juice on my balcony.

Last Sunday was Mother's Day, as I'm sure everyone knows. I was called on, as the resident foreigner, to teach about the holiday. Sometimes, through out the year, I've been asked to teach about holidays that they don't have/aren't as common in Taiwan (Thanksgiving, for example). However, they have Mother's Day in Taiwan, on the same day and everything, so this was more of a "how do you say things in English that the students already know about?" The two holidays prior (Easter and St. Patrick's Day) were a little more interesting...

The 1st-3rd grade Easter egg hunt.

Even the older students were into the hunt. All day, they would come to the English classroom asking for more eggs...


TWO eggs? So lucky.

It's hard being short when eggs are in trees...

1st graders with their eggs after the hunt.

Popular things to wish for if the student was to find a four leaf clover: perfect score on tests, parent to come home, good health for family members, wii/psp/gameboys (why limit it to a pot of gold?)


A comet? Now, that's thinking outside the box...


Wishing to go to the USA


Magic powers

Next up is Dragon Boat Festival (June 8), which I know (next to) nothing about, so I guess I should do a little research before I'm expected to teach it...

Going to Singapore May 15-May 19! Let's hear it for last minute plans!

The plum rains (梅雨) have started here in taiwan, named such because is when the plums begin to ripen. What it really means, though, is the return of downpours. All day rain with no way to stay dry. Luckily we've had a fair amount of sun/dry weather recently, so the memory of what it's like is not too far buried in our minds.

This past weekend, Ben and I took advantage of the sun and drove from taipei down to yilan on the coastal highway. I'm incredibly glad we decided to do this on a sunny weekend, because, while the scenery would have been amazing even if it was a gray, having nice weather definitely made it nicer. We stopped in Yehliu (among other places) and saw rocks that have been carved and warped into different shapes by sea erosion, including one that supposedly looks like a queen's head (although, we decided that many of them could have symbolized other things if you looked from a certain angle). It looked like Dr. Seuss land, or perhaps the roof of the Gaudi house in Barcelona (random sculptures sticking out of the ground). The contrast of these rocks against the blue of the ocean was surreal. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of it, but i included one that I found online, just to give you a sense.

Dr. Seuss Land- Yehliu

So we're into may. I finished my work at my co-school, which was an interesting experience. I loved the students, and it was good working in a different school environment. It was very different from my little laid back Jhong-Sing. Maybe it's just due to the fact that it's a bigger school, or perhaps it's just the dynamics of the faculty. My time there wasn't as hands on as I was hoping, but I did get to do story time on a regular basis (which on occasion was continued during class time).

The see-saw is just way too much fun.

If I played favorites, she would be my favorite. But since I don't, she's just a really cute kid.

We all know whose mom let him dress himself today...

One of the stories I read to the 4th grade was called "Willie the Dreamer," which was a great picture book illustrating Willie (a monkey, which all the students loved), dreaming of all the things he could possibly be. The activity that went along with the story was the students drawing, and writing (preferably in English), what their dream was for when they grew up. The 4th graders struggled a bit with this, often resorting to "I don't knooooow what I want to be." But I repeated the activity with the 1st-3rd grade, and got some great answers. Some of which included: "ice cream man," "a good mom," "an elevator operator," "a dangerous robber," and "vice-president," among many teachers, police, singers and chefs. The best was when the tiniest 1st grader wanted to be a basketball player, and Tracey (my co-teacher) said: "Well, that's why they call it a dream."

"Miss Kate-uh... I haaaaave noooo dreams!"

Future vice-president.

Future ice cream man.

Future basketball player?

Two Saturdays ago was Jhong-Sing sports day, which I was invited to attend. From what I understand, sports days can include a number of things: performances, sporting events, competitions. Mine was fairly low-key. The students all did a dance, awarded teachers with various thank-you gifts, ran some races, did some relays, generally had a good time. They also got off of school on Monday (which many of the students told me they were really happy about), but since I was still teaching at Tong-Le at that time, I didn't get to partake in the day off.

My students weren't too happy that they learned this dance to do it one time. I, however, loved the dance, and have requested they teach it to me. I have the CD of the music and everything.

Relay race

Me with 5B.

May is busy. Tons of friends/family visiting my friends, and I feel like this month is going to slip by faster than I know. Katie (my housemate) and I are going to travel to Singapore in the middle of the month, and I'm going to attempt to see some Vassar friends in Hong Kong in June. My return to the US is scheduled for June 29, which seems to be approaching super quickly.

Turtle stack in the Luodong Sports Park.

Lantern festival fireworks

It occurred to me today, as I was buttoning up my ankle-length scooter raincoat, after eating a breakfast of fishball and noodle soup with a drink of warm soy milk, that it's been awhile since I've written about life here. So, here I sit on my bed, watching the rains that they promised would come in April, eating my new favorite fruit (sweetsop, or as it's translated in Chinese "Buddah's head"), attempting to describe how my life somehow transitioned from "still working on it" to "comfortable" in a matter of a month or so.

Raining lights

The Chinese new year came and went, culminating with the brilliant lantern festival on the 15th day of the new year. While I opted out of the event where fireworks were shot at you (braver individuals of my friend group chose otherwise), the festivities were still amazing. My close friends and I went to a local elementary school to watch a brilliant firework show, wander around huge lanterns shaped as rats (or mice- the year of the rat apparently also includes Mickey Mouse), and sent lanterns up into the air with wishes. These lanterns were huge- you purchased one and then wrote wishes on them, with the hopes that the wishes will reach the heavens. They were then lit from underneath and sent up into the sky. It was absolutely incredible, and watching our lantern float off into the sky is something I know I'll never forget.

Even bunnies like sparklers

Jeannie writing her wish

Steven lighting the lantern

You have to hold it on the ground to let it fill up with hot air before you can release it.

Some of our wishes

About to be released...

Another lantern being let go

When they were filled, the lanterns were really quite big. You can sort of see the size difference compared to this person... or maybe it was just a smaller person...

Up into the air

The death of a lantern

One of my Chinese new year resolutions (although not inscribed on the lantern) was to travel more, both around Taiwan and around Asia. I realize that time is rapidly slipping from my fingers (my return trip looks to be on June 29), and that I need to take every opportunity I can get. Jenny, Jeannie, Katie and I went to Taroko Gorge for an evening. The gorge is in a huge National park, complete with jade and marble. It was an amazing trip. In addition to the paved "hike" that the tour busses brought the masses, we went on another hike that lead us to a water fall curtain (imagine going into a cave with water raining down on you, barefoot and relying on a flashlight to make sure you don't slip into the "creek" below). Despite the fact that we only spent one night there, it was a great vacation.

First view of the gorge

The paved path

Suspension bridges!

Careful for killer bees! "Be careful" in Chinese is 小心 (xiao xin) or "small heart." Still trying to figure out how that translates to "caution"...

Hiking in the sun makes us happy

More traveling is in store. Confidence has been built since a scooter trip to Taipei, and Katie and I have been looking into some smaller trips around here. We're also thinking about venturing to Shanghai in May...

With the April rains also comes a change of scenery. In March, we began working at a co-school, splitting the week in half: 2 days in our main school, 2 days in our co-school. April is devoted completely to our co-school, and then we're back to the main school for May and June. I'm working at Tong-Le, which actually was a main school last year. My co-teacher's English is incredible, and I'm really getting to love the kids. It's taking some time to adjust to a new school- it's much bigger (ok, comparably...) to Jhongsing (my main school), and sometimes the unfamiliarity is a little overwhelming. But I'm really loving the newness and getting to work with new students- especially getting to work with 4th graders, which I don't do at Jhongsing.

Speaking of 4th graders, as some of you may know, I've accepted a job offer at Collegiate School as a 4th grade assistant teacher for the upcoming school year. I'm working with a teacher who I met last year, and I'm really excited to be in the school, and especially with her. So (although it wasn't really a question before), I'll definitely be moving to New York to work and start on my masters. Something to definitely look forward to.

This coming weekend is Tomb Sweeping Festival, which is more of a family festival. We're not doing anything for it, except getting off from school on Friday. Some of us were thinking of heading down to Kenting to attend a music festival, but it sort of fell through. I'm looking forward to being around here a little, though. Perhaps attempting some spring cleaning...

Got 2 email responses back from schools that I mailed my cover letter and resume to. Time to start planning the next year for real? Scary.

And for your viewing pleasure: me with one of the 小 babies at the orphanage where Katie and I volunteer:

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.