Scooting

Yesterday, I had my observation and sub class at Nei Li school. It is really far away, but Josh picked me up again. It took about twenty five minutes to get there. Josh took a short cut that skirted some rice paddy fields and was really pretty. I probably wont be able to find that particular way again, but I'll definitely look for it - it was a much nicer ride than the craziness that is the main roads. It is a little hard to imagine how crazy and hectic the roads are here without seeing it. Pretty unbelievable. We also got another mango Coco slush - so delicious.

In my observation class, I watched Brandon - the guy who did our workshop. He is really nice. One of his kids is hilarious. When we walked in the kid, Arthur, said "hello Brandon, you are handsome." We both laughed and then he asked my name and I told him Bonnie. Then he said "hello Bonnie, you are very pretty." Haha. Such cute kids. A lot of the teachers, guy teachers, have the students say "handsome (insert name here)". It is pretty funny. Also, two of the kids in his class have crazy names. One is Dozen (yes, like a dozen roses) and the other is Snoopy - haha. Such crazy kids.

After class Josh brought me home and on the drive the moon was amazing! So big and so orange - a true harvest moon. I couldn't take my eyes off it so I guess it's a good thing I wasn't driving.

Alex, Christine (my immediate neighbor) and I went and got Teppan yaki again. It was good and fun to get to know Christine. I hadn't really talked to her before. She is leaving Gloria soon to study Chinese full time on a scholarship so that is pretty awesome. It is cool to hear her speak because she is basically fluent.

This morning I was planning on going on a hike with Cristelle. She went for a run early in the morning and her shins were bugging her so she opted out but offered to let me use her scooter. I enlisted Dannica in the hike and we went downstairs for the scooter orientation. Well, turns out I really can't drive a scooter. I literally drove it straight into the wall - haha. Thankfully the scooter was unharmed. I came through with a few scratches - one on my palm, one on my middle finger and a blood blister on my left pointer finger. Could have been much worse, but I'm hoping this takes care of my inevitable scooter accident. So instead of setting out on a hike, we set out for Carrefour to purchase some first aid supplies.

A while later, we had our workshop and then I hitched a ride with Alex to downtown Taoyuan. All the other girls had class so I decided to explore. She dropped me off at the Jin-fu Temple. It has been there forever but now it is in the middle of a roundabout. Pretty funny. There is so much incense burning inside and people praying all over. I think the plaque said it was some sort of shrine/temple for Confucius. In any case it was pretty cool.

I had planned on catching a cab back to the dorm but I thought walking back would be a pretty good way to get oriented a little better. Turns out I was right. The walked ended up being about 45 minutes but I didn't get lost once. I am pretty proud of myself. Everyone says once you get a scooter, orientation comes more naturally, but I've already turned on my internal GPS. Haha.

I just finished dinner - the worlds largest mango. EVER. The fruit here is so delicious. I also tried a custard apple for the first time today. Weirdest looking fruit but tastes pretty good - a little weird, but good.

Love you all!