10 YEARS AGO

I went to my 10 year reunion in October.  I am SO glad that high school is long over.  I made the discovery that all the people I cared about were still in my life I didn't need a special night to see them.  That was a good moment, realizing I kept in touch with those that matter most.   The best part of the night was that it gave me a good excuse to buy a new dress.  Yeah, overall not that impressed with the night but at least we looked hot!

  

Moving on

I've tried posting on my blog lately but it just doesn't feel right.  This blog was all about Taiwan and my life there anything else feels out of place.  So it's time to move on to the next part of my life and say good bye to this blog.  

If your interested in my next plan your invited to check at my new blog at 

www.meateacher.blogspot.com  

Any guess on what I'm doing next?

Goodbye, my Taiwan blog.  

Back to Blogging

I hate blogging.  First my computer refuses to upload pictures.  Then I get that figured out and start blogging away and the screen closes.  WHY WHY WHY!!!!

Okay I have collected myself and will try again to update my blog.  

So what have I done the month I was gone.  

First I started and finished two classes required for my ESOL endorsement.  It was good

 to get bac

k into the swing of school.   Now I am counting the days until school start (13 days) and I will be busy again.

Second, I went to New York!  I loved New York.  I stayed with my cousin and his wife, Dustin and Austyn, (really is their names, you can't make that kind of s

tuff up)  and then I stayed with Laura's family.  It was great to see everyone and a blast hanging 

out with Laura and Mel in NYC. 

What did I do in New York. . . 

* went to an Yankees Game

* went shopping, (but didn't make it into Tiffany's,

 guess I have t

o go back)

* bought the biggest gummy worms in the worlds, they were gummy rattlesnakes

* went to 4 Musicals;

 Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Chicago and Wicked.

* had real wings (not to be confused with Buffalo wings, which don't exist on the east coast)

* saw the Neigr

a Falls

*rearrange all life plans so I could live

 in NY

It was a great trip with even better people!  

After New York, I was sad and mourned the loss of my year of travel and fun.  Then cheered up at the thought of being a teacher and having every summer for travel and fun.   I need to make plans for summer 2010.  

Last week, was spent living on a house boat with my family and family friends.  It was relaxing when I wasn't dizzy from the continues swaying of the boat.  It was great to jump into the water whenever you wanted.  

Now I am trying to get done all the little things that pile up before school starts.  Not to mention tackling the list of book I'm suppose to read before the start of school and the paper I have to write.   I hate homework before school starts, yuck!

I'm Back!!!

Well, I am back in the United States and heading off to jury duty. Go figure my first week home and I get jury duty. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately) I'm going to be out of town that day. I'll admit to being a little disappointed, it is my first jury summons.

So I am home. It is strange but nice at the same time. Basically, I can't believe I'm home and staying for the next year. I've just about gotten ride of my jet lag and the reality of being back is slow setting in. I've had no time to be bored. Class started the day I got back and I've been busy ever since.

Then my parents were gone this weekend and I got to play mom. A title I've gladly hand back and one I'm okay with not taking it back for awhile. It was A LOT of work! For example on Friday I took Lauren to work, took Caleb to swimming, waited, took him home, made him practice the piano, took him to his friend's, picked him up, took him to piano lessons, waited, took him home, went to my class, half hour into my class gave the car keys to Lauren so she could get home, Lauren came and picked me up and we went home, dinner, put Caleb to bed, worked (more about that later), went to bed, Caleb woke me up because he didn't feel well, stay in his room until he feel asleep, went back to bed, THE END OF FRIDAY!!! The next day I had to get up early to go to my class. Luckily, it was interesting and lasted all day. I managed to stay awake and by the time I got home my parent were home, YEAH! I am completely and totally amazed by parent and what they do on a daily bases.

This next week should be busy but more fun. Tuesday night I am heading for New York for a week of fun and LAURA K!!!!

THE LAST DAY

This is late coming but I am finally ready to post my last day in Taiwan. I going post mark it but in reality I don't write this until today, June 29. I just hope I don't start to cry.

It was my last time with these crazy Taiwanese kids that I love. They wormed there way into my heart and yes my heart is bigger but it makes it hurt so much to say good bye. For more adorable cuteness of these kids I love check out Jessica's blog, "Good-bye Miss Laws." It makes my tear up and sniffle every time.

The last are to numerous. It was my last time getting a bingshaw (yummy fruit blended drinks). My last time getting kimchi dumpling. My last time transferring money back to the States. My last time waking up in my "health bed" aka hard as a rock bed My last time sharing a room with the best girls. My last time break up their fights, "Girls be nice." My last time making dumpling with Gloria. My last time hanging out with the Berhan teachers. My last time teaching at Berhan. My last time being a Head teacher ( a job I adored). My last time seeing Frances and Gerald. My last time riding the bus to the airport. My last time watching the sun set in Taiwan and it was gorgeous. My last time not understanding what people said but somehow manging to get along. My last day in Taiwan.



And you ask how did I feel about it. Let me show you . . . this is how i felt when I went to bed the night before and it was how I felt most of the day. But I didn't cry, I was brave and smiled my goodbyes with watery eyes. But inside I felt like sitting down and crying because I loved it , because it was perfect for me, and because it was time to go.

The Last Wednesday

Today is hard because tomorrow it the last of all last days. I want to grab onto today and not let go but I don't want to spend my tomorrows in Taiwan.


But onto the lasts of today. Let start with the saddest last. Today was my last day with my 2nd graders! They drove me insane at the beginning but I adore them now. We really came together and had a great semester. It was my last day laughing with them, my last day yelling at them and my last day seeing them. I'm going to miss this crazy group of kids.

It was also my last day saying "See you tomorrow" to my MK kids. Tomorrow I'll be leaving before classes ends and I won't be seeing them the next day.

It was my last day making them practice for graduation. They are looking pretty good but we keep having kids get sick or telling us they are unable to come. This is why you shouldn't include partner in performances. All in all it is looking good. Here's a sneak peek of their song.


It was my last day on getting free stuff from cute Asian kids. The Chinese preschool was having a party. I stopped to say hi. The next thing you know all these little voices are yelling, "I give you" as they shared their treat with me. I am going to miss though little voices and their Chinglish.

The night is still young and I am determined to have fun my last night in Taiwan. MY LAST NIGHT!!!

The Last Tuesday

Today was my last day teaching! I can't believe it. The rest of the weeks is our Olympic activity and I am the rotator. So I'll be seeing my kids but the teaching aspect is done.

I doubt this is my last time reading Chinglish in Taiwan
but it was my last time reading Chinglish at the DMV.

It was my last day as a scooter owner. I made my last trip to the Taiwan DMV and handed over my cute little baby scooter to Lish. I am going to miss my scooter. I want to own one in the States but I'm not sure the good US of A is ready to deal with scooters on the road. It scary enough here in Taiwan back home it could truly be deadly!

Sain on my scooter, opp Lish's scooter.

I also handed over my ARC card. It was my last day with that ugly picture. Still, I feel a bit lost with out. It's a stronger reminder that in just a few days I'll no longer be a resident of Taiwan.

It was also my last staff meeting. Won't miss going or planning those meetings.


Tomorrow is coming and then I'm going home. Where has the time gone?

The Last Monday

I can't believe today was the last Monday of the semester. I can't believe I go home in four days. It is getting scary and exciting, this idea of going home. But onto the lasts for todays.

Today was my last day dealing with tokens. YEAH, no more tokens! I have found token in my wash, in my bed, in my pockets, even in the shower. I will not miss tokens. Today, the Afternoon Kindergarten went to their first token store.
They were beyond excited. The big room was set up with all the token prizes they could want. They got to pick a prize and get it all in the same day. (Usually the have to "order" their token prize and wait for it.) They were thrilled to pick and get their prize all in the same day. Just look at all these crazy kids with their token prizes.


Today was my last day teaching all of my kinder kids. Tomorrow only 4 of the kids come to school and then the rest of the week we are going to have fun in the Berhan Olympics.

The Last Sunday
Today was my last scooter ride home from church. Next week, I'll go to church like most other people . . . in a car. So I have to say Good-bye to my last 30 minutes scooter ride back and forth from church, my last time eating lunch between sacrament and Sunday school, my last time listening to the amazing translators who help us out when the stake come and speaks to our branch, and my last time with all the amazing people in the Wu Chan English Branch in Taichung, Taiwan.

Taiwan is full of the unexpected and even on my last Sunday there were new things to experience. For example, Sain was driving us home and I was using her camera to video tape the ride home from church. We were having a good time and then Sain might have ran a red light. Now to her defense there are a lot of stupid red light in Taiwan. Lights where you stop and no one comes the entire time you are waiting at the light. Plus I have never seen anyone get pulled over my whole time in Taiwan. That all changed last Sunday and we got it on film. Badly filmed because we had been pulled over and didn't want the policeman to realize we were filming.

Once we got home we found out I was wrong about the insurance theory. Sara and Jessica had been pulled over because the might have ran the same red light we might have. In fact, they got a ticket. Not sure why we didn't get a ticket but very glad that the officer took pity on us and decided everything was OKAY! I will know respect all red light, even the stupid ones.

The Last Saturday

We had big plans for our last Saturday in Taiwan. We were going to Taipei to see a Chinese Opera and to buy ENGLISH books for the long trip home. But then the opera people never called and it was pouring Saturday morning. So we decided to stick around Feng Yuan, relax and enjoy our last Saturday in Taiwan.

Since we stayed in town, I was able to go and watch Prince Caspian (spelling?) with a bunch of students. It's fun to see the kids outside of school. They get so excited to see you, I love it. I watched my last movie in Taiwan where I didn't have to sneak my food in. I really wish the movie theaters at home would let you bring McD's into the movie.

We also celebrate the last birthday at Berhan. It was Sara's birthday. We had mocktails and pizza to celebrate.

It wasn't the most exciting Saturday but it was nice to relax and I managed to just about finish packing. All that is left is those last minute things that you have to do at the last minute. So hopefully the next couple of day won't be to hectic as I get closer to my last day in Taiwan.

The start of the LAST

The Last Friday

Today is the scary day that starts my last week in Taiwan. I've decided to face the fear head on and will be blogging about all my lasts. Hopefully it will be therapeutic and a great reminder of everything I've loved and hated about Taiwan. Or it may just end up being really depressing.

Today was my last day wearing my red Berhan t-shirt. After a year of wearing this red t-shirt every Friday with 12 other people I am not sad to say goodbye.

GOODBYE ugly tent shaped thick knit red t-shirt!

It was also my last day to hand out token in class. Monday is the token store for AK and my 2nd grade class had their token store last week.

It was the last happy day. In AK Friday is happy day because we're happy we made it through another week and we're happy that we don't have school on Saturday.

My Newest Addiction

I have been introduced to the world of Manga by my friend, Li. I thinking I am head toward a new and dangerous addiction. The path to my addiction was slowly paved since my arrival to Taiwan. I choose to justifying my newest addiction by pointing out that it is only natural to be enticed by the secret and unknown world of manga and anime while living in an Asian country. I tried to fight off the addiction but due to limited reading material and my insane need to read, I have fallen victim to the manga addiction!

I've just finished my first series of manga. I loved it. It is know by two different names: Lovely Complex and Love*Com. It is a great love story about two high school friend that become more. I know doesn't sound like anything special but it captures such a funny and sweet view of romance, I couldn't help but like it.

I am going to be lazy and let Wikipedia do the explaining of the storyline.

Lovely Complex is a love story between a boy and a girl. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 cm (5'7") tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Otani, is 156 cm (5'1 and a half") —way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, they are called the "All Hanshin Kyojin" after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference.

The other reason I fell in love with the story is that I have a Risa and Atsushi duo in my Afternoon Kindergarten class. They typically are great friends, they love to fight with each other, they go to the same Chinese school and there is diffently a hight difference between the two!

THE KIDS I TEACH

It's been awhile since I've posted pics of the kids I teach. I decided I better hurry up and get them posted because in two weeks they are no longer going to be my kids. Ouch!!! I think it's going to be hard to say goodbye.

2nd Grade: I love this rowdy, out of control group of kids. I shouldn't. They are a hard group to teach but I get a kick out of them. Everyday they make me laugh and most days we have a great time. It is never dull in our class.

Rick, Jerry, Jonathan, Charile, Claudia, Cindy,Jack , Benson, Sandy, Alice, Joleen.

Afternoon Kindergarten: Oh the drama of being 5 and 6 years old. It seems like such an innocent age. Let me tell you, they aren't as innocent as they look. They are learning all sorts of new things now that they go to school and get to hang out with their peers all day. So of the more enduring things they have learned is how to manipulate people to be your friend, the difference between girls and boy (that's a fun one to deal with!), how to lie and gang up on the teacher. The fun just keep coming in AK. Now this class has given me plenty of headaches but for some reason I like them, don't ask me why!

Alex, Tim, Keith, Elvis, Mark, Ellen, Amy, Zoe, Emily, Elva, Tiger, Marcus, Jack, Hebe, Kiki, and YaYa.

We all wear UNDERWEAR!!!

The last month or so the Ak kids have been obsessed with underwear. Now that we are daily averaging over 80 degree the winter necessity of wearing layers of clothing has disappeared. No longer are the kids wearing 3 to 5 layers to school. ( We used to have a contest during opening to see who was wearing the most layers.) Instead, their shorts, skirts and dresses have been pulled out of the closet.


Which brings us to the underwear issue. We sit on the floor. If you are wearing baggy shorts, dress or a skirt we all get to see your underwear. Now, being kids every time one of them sees someone's underwear they start laughing uncontrollably and point out to everyone that someone's underwear is showing. At this point the "someone" start to pout and glaring at the Aker who pointed out their underwear to the whole class. Very annoying for the teacher, especial after it has happened three times in 10 minutes.


Finally I couldn't handle it any longer and one day at the end of class we had a talk about underwear and how it wasn't yucky. Jessica, my co-teacher in AK, must of thought I was crazy as I announced to the class that, "Everyone wears underwear!" I then went on to describing different colors of underwear you can wear; red, blue, orange, etc. You can even have cartoons on your underwear you can wear Doreamon underwear. (I unfortunately do not own a pair of Doreamon underwear, so sad.)


I think my inspiration for the above conversation came from the book, Everyone Poops. That book was a daily staple when I taught a 3 year old preschool class. I still remember my favorite part of the book. "A one-hump camel makes a one-hump poop, And a two-hump camel makes a two-hump poop. Only kidding!" I can't believe I miss that book but I do!


We then discussed the etiquette of letting someone know that you can see their underwear. You quietly whisper, "I can see your underwear." The kids' reactions was a mix of confusion(aka no idea what we were talking about due to their limited English comprehension), shock and some of them thought it was pretty darn funny. I thought the whole conversation was therapeutic and funny!


I would like to report that a few day after the above conversation one Aker leaned over to a boy wearing baggy shorts and whispered, "I can see your underwear." It was a proud moment.


Last week the idea of underwear was brought back when we read Curios George goes to the Hospital. In the book we have kids who are in a hospital (DUH!) and wearing hospital gown. Of course the back of the gowns were opening and we could see their underwear. This resulted in a lot of yelling at the book, "I CAN SEE YOUR UNDERWEAR." Whispering is a concept that has yet to catch on in AK.


I decided if they were going to obsess about underwear I would go with the flow. So in art we made injured people and then made underwear for them. If you look close you will see that their people are covered in red spots aka blood and greenish-brown spots bruises. Our theme was safety last week. Anyways back to the underwear saga. Making underwear resulted in a lot of giggling and protesting of making underwear but at the end of the day their paper people ALL WORE UNDERWEAR!!!!

For Miss Erin ~ We Miss You!

Well, Miss Erin, you asked and I have finally delivered with pictures of your Ak kids. We're have a great time but . . . it would of been even better if you had stayed! I guess it's a little late to be convincing you of that. Anyhoo, here's what we have been up to in Ak the last little bit.

Only One Month Left!!!

I was headed over to Mk this morning feeling a little lost. I go home in a month. This time in June I will be heading home. I'm finding it hard to keep motivated and involved with the school and my life here in Taiwan. But I am trying to make an efforts with my actions even if my heart isn't alway into it. Luckily, the kids in Mk are a permanent part of my heart and once I start interacting with them I didn't want to be any where else. Nothing melts your heart faster then a little Asian kids snuggling close and whispering "Miss Katie, I like you."

To add to the overall cuteness and wonder of these Asian children I have to relate the following story. Steven, one of the Mk teachers, was having the kids sign a birthday card for Joe, also an Mk teacher. When they were done signing the card Steven told them that it was a "surprise." Judging for the mostly blank stares he received back, he tried to explain what a surprise was. After a bit of back and forth the idea caught on. Some of the slightly more devilish children started yelling that they were going to tell Mr. Joe about the surprise. Then one little boy, Sean, and a little girl Stacy started to yell, "no tell" and "no talk". Then Sean stuck his hand in the middle of the table. He then grabbed everyone else hands and pulled them into the middle. These cute little kids had their all their hand on top of each other and 1-2-3 go, they had decided not to tell Mr. Joe about his surprise. I adore these kids.

The poor AK kids are a bit older so it harder for them to compete against the MK kids. Lets be honest they aren't going to win the cuteness award when competing with the littler kids. But despite it all, include their new found joy in manipulating their friendships, they have wormed their way into my heart. Today we had fun destroying the pinata we had made in art class. Like most pinatas I've made it wouldn't break. I ended up tearing it apart and throwing the candy across the floor. You should of seen the joy as eighteen kids hit the floor looking for candy. In fact, you can, enjoy.

Following in love is easy to do with the kids I work with here in Taiwan, I am a lucky teacher! Let just hope the luck continue this fall as I start my student teaching!!!!

五月天 知足

I just figured out how to directly put a video from youtube on my blog. I am very excited!! Now you can all experience my favorite Mayday song via the music video. It was the music video that helped me fall in love with it.

Also, here are the lyrics translated into English. It will only make you love it more knowing what they are singing about!

知足 Contentment

Words and Lyrics by Ashin

How do you possess a rainbow
How do you embrace a summer wind
The stars in the sky laugh at the people on the ground
I can never understand why I can’t feel it is enough

If I fall in love with your smile, how can I keep it, how can I possess it
If you’re happy and it’s not because of me, will we give up, actually that is possession

When a wind blows by, a kite flies to the heavens
I pray for you, and wish happiness, and am moved
At last your shadow disappears in a sea of people,
Then I realize, laughing through tears, the greatest hurt

That day you and I, that hill, that kind of singing, that year’s song
That kind of memory, just enough, enough that every day I taste loneliness

When a wind blows by, a kite flies to the heavens
I pray for you, and wish happiness, and am moved
At last your shadow disappears in a sea of people,
Then I realize, laughing through tears, the greatest hurt

If I fall in love with your smile, how can I keep it, how can I possess it
If you’re happy and it’s not because of me, will we give up, actually that is possession

The happiness of contentment calls me to endure my broken heart
The happiness of contentment calls me to endure my broken heart

Mayday Concert ~ May 17, 2008

Back to Earth

We went to the Mayday concert!!!!! It was the best! I am totally in love with Mayday and their music. I now have the desire to go and buy every single CD before I go home. I need to sit down and budget. The random "I'm leaving Taiwan and never coming back" buy spree has begun. It would be to big of a concern except for the fact that I won't be working for the next year. Money is going to be tight when I get back home, I should be saving not spending. I just not sure how well the saving plan is going to go.

To prove the point, before the concert I went shopping with a bunch of the teachers. Mary and I are both planning on making t-shirt quilts out of the crazy t-shirt they have in Taiwan. Taiwaness Fashion deserves to be preserved and remember. It is horrific and adorable all at once. I bought at least 5 t-shirts and a cute light weight zipped-up hoodie to wear, not for the quilt. The adorable shirts that are displayed in the picture I didn't buy, they were a bit expensive. But I had to get a picture of them (thanks to my models Mary and Jessica). In Taiwan it is very cool to wear matching or coordinating shirts with your boyfriend.

Once the shopping spree was winding down we headed over to Swenson's for some old fashion American food. I had an amazing hamburger (on whole wheat bread) and a cookies 'n cream milkshake. It was the best food I've eaten in ages. Then it was time for MAYDAY!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't excited or anything.

We made it to the concert right on time, luckily it started late so we didn't miss anything as we found our seats. The show started around 7:45 and didn't end until midnight. They were singing the whole time, they may have sung every song they have ever written. I am proud to state that I recognized at least 3/4ths of the songs. They played my favorite song, Contented, at the end of their second encore. That's a right second encore, there were about 4 encores at the end of the show. The show ended around 11 and the encores went on for about an hour. Destiny and I were so confused because after the 2nd or was it the 3rd encore no one clapped and the band didn't come back out . We sat waiting for about 10 minutes. We had just about decided that you don't clap at concerts in Taiwan and we should leaves when the band came back on stage! At the very end the crowd started sing the chorus of their last song. I sang to, since it was just la, la, la, las. Then they bowed to us and walked off stage as we sung and then the audience clapped!!! The concert was over. SAD!

I loved it so much I bought a Mayday shirt (that is not going in the quilt) to remember the fun.

I've included my FAVORITE Mayday song in the post above. You should all fall in love with Mayday. The English translations was found at a great website: http://www.onedayinmay.net

Your Know Your in Taiwan When

you are doing some routine, run of the mill, souvenir shopping and before you know it your in the middle of a parade with dancers, musicians, fireworks and Big Gods.

Destiny, Li and I had decided to spend Saturday in Lu Gong to pick up some gifts (for others and ourselves!) before we went home. I didn't think it would be an exciting trip but Taiwan is always full of surprises. We were trying to kill time while waiting for Destiny's fans to be made. (As a side note, there is the cutest man who makes hand painted fans in Lu Gong. He is popular with the missionaries and loves painting LDS temples on his fans. It is great.) I was starting to get bored when all the sudden fireworks started going off in the middle of the street. It was a parade Taiwan style.


From what I can figure out the purpose of the parade is to bring the gods to the temple.