Juifen

On Sunday, Rooney I and ventured to the "close away" town of Juifen. Geographically it isn't that far from Taoyuan - only a train ride to Taipei and a forty minute train ride from there. But it felt worlds away.

The town itself was established as a Japanese mining town during their occupation. Because of this there is an old market street that is everything you think Asia would be. It is about five people wide but hundreds of people are crammed into the alley. The shops lining the alley are brimming with both "one of a kind" and "one million of a kind" items. There are food shops serving all sorts of things, the most alarming being something that Rooney titled 'radioactive sludge' - that should paint a vivid picture of the thing people were ingesting. Another favorite is the stinky tofu. We agreed that some sort of "camera" for capturing smells should be invented in the near future. Only then will you all understand the smells that are Asia.

Neither of us really knew what to expect or where were were going but that served us very well. We stepped off the bus to an amazing view of the coastline. It was a little hazy but I think that added to the overall beauty rather than detracted from it. From there we wandered into the market area and perused the different shops and took in the smells. We got a little lost but I think I speak for both of us when I say that was a win. The area is just great.

We ducked into a little tea house looking for a little tea time. We were very pleasantly surprised by the outside area that overlooked the town and coast. The tea lady recommended the Oriental Beauty tea and we obliged. It is delicious and we got to take a bag of it home. The hour or so that we spent there enjoying the view and basking in the perfect weather was wonderful. It is an afternoon that doesn't really lend itself to words very well - perfect.

After purchasing our own tea set to use at home, we headed out to try and find the path up the mountain. We went the long way, accidentally, but in doing so came face to face with a huge temple. On our bus ride up we saw a number of temples nestled into the mountain side. I know I've remarked on the temples before but they are amazing. The colors and the dynamic roofs and architecture make them so awesome.

We finally made it to the mountain at late afternoon and so reached the top as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. There was a nice breeze (which we both needed because we were dripping sweat) and the sunset was a spectacular one. Another moment that doesn't quite lend itself to words. As we descended the town lights started coming on and it was beautiful. It doesn't really look like San Francisco but the way the town is stacked up into the hill reminds me of that. Throughout the day, Rooney and picked out a number of houses we decided we could be very happy living in. Maybe we'll commute to Taoyuan every day. :)

All in all, a fantastic day!

"Very Perfect"

So my Saturdays are officially full! And by full I mean 7.5 hours of teaching. Ugh, but in a good way. If I'm working already, I may as well be working all day! But I picked up two one-on-ones. It is just me and one other student - basically private tutoring. On Saturday I only had one but tomorrow I have both. One student is in my Saturday night class so that is nice. No awkward first session because I already know him. The other girl is young, elementary school and apparently really shy. I'll let you know how it goes!

On Sunday we played frisbee and my team won. Wooop! Haha. It was fun. I was going to meet Matt and Rooney in Taipei after but I was having too much fun, so I stayed. And for dinner on Sunday, Carson and Dustin had a bunch of us over for dinner. They made tacos! Oh man, so stinking good! I am definitely missing Mexican food just as much as I thought I would!

My classes are just getting more and more enjoyable. I really am loving this job. It is such a fun and rewarding job. The kids are getting more comfortable and so we are having so much fun in class! Next week we start the Halloween celebrations. I can't wait! I am definitely taking my camera to all my classes and snapping some shots. They are going to be adorable!

I also just got another regular class. I am up to 27 hours. I know that doesn't sound like that many but it is a lot for here. Usually people have about 20 hours. It is a really good thing because that means that I am doing my job well. They keep giving me classes because the co-teachers want to teach with me. So that is a good thing! But that means I'm pretty busy! On Saturday and Monday I have 7 hours. It's crazy!

Today in my class, Tiger was writing in his book, like he was supposed to and his desk collapsed. It was HILARIOUS. He sits in the back with one other girl so no one else noticed. I almost collapsed to the floor in a fit of hysterics. Then Tiger pretended to fall over and over again. Then he sat on the floor while one of the 'office' people got a new desk. I was dying laughing.

Today, we went Halloween costume shopping (me, Rooney and Amy). I already have my costume but I went with them. We ran into Josh P there also. It was pretty funny. Everyone's costumes are hilarious. Rooney is an angry bird with a fake butt. Josh is a huge bird and he was 'bawkawwing' the whole time. Amy is a 'ship wench' but I told her to spin it as the Dread Pirate Queen. Haha. Then we were telling pirate jokes at school later! And the store owner kept saying "very perfect" to every costume. Haha.

And on our way back in the taxi, we made a rap song with hao (good), dui (yes), and xiexie (thank you). It was hilarious. We got a pretty good laugh out of it and then all of a sudden our driver joined in. I thought Amy was going to die from laughter. It was one of the funnier things I have been a part of. So good!

Double Ten Day

Monday night I bowled a 156! Holy hannah, huh? Awesome!

I know it ihs been a long time since I blogged so I'm not going to try and do it all day by day. I moved out of the dorm last week with Matt and Rooney. We now live in an amazing apartment right next to the park that we play frisbee at. The place is huge - two stories with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two offices, a kitchen, living room, dining room, balcony. And best of all, an awesome view! It is a really nice place! We are loving it!

I was planning on going away for the weekend because it was a holiday here. They call it Double Ten day but it is their independence day, from the year 1911. That is when the dynastic reign was ended in mainland China. So it was their 100th year of independence! But since we moved in, I didn't want to leave Matt and Rooney with all the housekeeping.

So on Saturday, a group of us who didn't leave Taoyuan went to Yingee. I looked up a little hike in the area that we did. I was sort of the tour guide because I was the only one who had been there before! So we 'hiked' up to Eagle Rock. It is a little look out that looks over the surrouding cities. But Matt and I decided to keep going so everyone else did too. It was totally worth it! The view from a little further up was amazing! It was a nice, clear day!

After the hike we walked down to the "old" street where they do the pottery. We walked around the market area and then Megan and I found a place where you could make your own pottery. They help you and then they fire it for you and you can keep it! So a bunch of us made stuff. I'm excited to get it back and see how it turned out!

Sunday, Matt, Rooney and I went for a drive through the back roads. We drove up Tigerhead and then down the back side. It was awesome. We got out of the city really fast and then we were driving through the country. It is amazing how quickly it changes from overpopulated areas to hardly populated ones. And we almost got attacked by some dogs, but we managed to come through unscathed. It was pretty nice. Driving scooters is such a nice way to see things.

On Monday, Amber and I set out to go to some hot springs just outside Taipei. We didn't really know how to get where we wanted to go. We asked at the bus station and the lady gave us directions but she wrote them in Chinese....so that was helpful. We asked a police officer but he didn't know the bus number so that didn't help either. Then we decided to just to go Beitou because that is a stop on the MRT. So we hopped on that and about twenty minutes later we were at the last stop transferring to the line that would take us the rest of the way.

While we were waiting for that train, we started looking at the sign and matching symbols, deciphering the symbols and how to say them in Chinese. We were actually doing pretty well when I looked up and the train was sitting there. The conductor was standing on the platform staring at us, probably wondering what we were doing and if we were getting on the train. Haha. We sprinted over there and Amber's sunglasses went flying off her face and skidded to a halt, centimeters from the edge of the track. Haha. The conductor started cracking up and we boarded the train in a fit of hysterics. It was pretty comical.

We walked around Beitou which is a really neat area. The Japanese were the first to utilize the hot spring for recreation so it is heavily influenced by that. The buildings are all woodwork in Japanese style and so pretty. The hot spring there is a Green Sulphur one which only exists in two places in the world - pretty awesome. We wandered down to the river which was running hot - so weird. We put our feet in for awhile and then headed back toward the public bathing house.

We stopped at the Plum Garden first which is, suprising not a garden and has no plums. It is actually a house that was built for an important social figure. He escaped to there when there was political pressure. I can't remember his name at the moment but he is a revered figure.

The bathing house was right next door. It was pretty cool. The pools were tiered and each got progressively hotter as they went up. Not fully grasping this concept, Amber and I went to the top first. I put my feet in and found out that it takes about 2 seconds for my pain receptors to tell my brain that I need to be out of the water 2 seconds ago. It was boiling! I don't know how anyone was sitting in there. I literally couldn't get out fast enough.

After that we went straight to the bottom pool. No more experimenting at the expense of the skin on my feet. We soaked for awhile there. When we were at the Plum Garden, one of the workers told us about the celebration in Taipei by the river that was going on. So we headed down there after.

We set up shop on a lawn and preceded to wait about five hours, literally. We had such a good spot but it kept getting more and more crowded. It was unbelievable. By the end of the night I was sharing my towel with a bunch of people, involuntarily. Haha. It started to rain and we panicked that we wouldn't be able to escape so we moved to a spot that was much closer to the MRT. There were so many people that I was sweating from shared body heat - in other words I was living my nightmare. Haha. Talk about claustrophobic. Ugh!

But the firework show was AMAZING! So worth it! It was twenty minutes of bliss! I was like a little kid, oohing and ahhing at them all! They had some fireworks I had never seen before - they were awesome.

My classes are going great! A couple of my tougher classes are getting good! The kids are getting more comfortable with me so they are talking more and class is getting awesome! In one class, I always tell Leo to tell me that I am his best friend. He pretends to hate it but he actually loves it! I tell him that I am going to go home with him and watch TV and he always tells me he is busy. Haha. It's pretty funny. But now he always walks me out of class, downstairs. Haha. He loves it!

I am just loving it here! Such an awesome job! If I didn't miss everyone so much I don't think I'd ever leave!!

Oh yeah, and I finally got my ARC. I am officially an alien resident! Woo!!

LOVE

Danny and Archie

Hello!

Wednesday was Confucius' birthday which means it was also Teacher's Day. One of my students wrote me a card. It was very sweet. Wednesday morning, Ryan, Brian and I went to the Shimen Reservoir for a hike. It was kind of overcast but at least it wasn't so hot. The only downside was that the view wasn't as great as it could have been. We hiked to the top of a ridge and then up a tower. From there, you could see for miles and miles if it is clear. But it over looks the whole reservoir and the surrounding cities. It was really pretty!

Wednesday night, a group of us went to Vigorous for dinner. We planned on not being there very long because we had an early morning on Thursday. But that didn't go as planned. The brother's owner, Danny, came over and started talking to us. After him came the head chef, Archie. They kept buying us beer and food all night. The food was delicious. Needless to say, we had to walk home even though we scooted over there. But we made good friends with Danny and Archie! They are really nice!

Thursday I got a new class. It is kindy. I am the first foregin teacher they have seen or had as a teacher. The kids are ADORABLE. They are 5-7. The class is so fun. I was really nervous at first because of their age. But it was so fun and cute. We basically just run around and play games. They were laughing the whole time!

Friday we had two workshops. Ugh. They are long. Friday night, I have my class with Fiona. She is great. The class is so cute and fun, as well. We played a game with animal noises. Haha. I am really lucky to have her as a co-teacher!

Saturday was Amber's birthday! The day of teaching was alright but we went to Chief's for her birthday. It was a lot of fun! The band was there, as always! And we did a lot of dancing and singing. We went to Vigorous before and Danny came with us to chiefs too! It was pretty funny!

Sunday, we played frisbee, as usual. But it has been raining here since Friday night. Apparently there is a typhoon enveloping the whole island but it doesn't really seem like it. It is mostly rainy, not much wind.

Tonight is the bowling league. We went bowling last night and I got a 126 - not too shabby. Matt bowled a 181. Holy hannah!

Matt, Rooney, and I are also getting an apartment. We went to sign the lease a couple times and we're not really sure what happened but we couldn't sign. So today we just got the paperwork for it. Hopefully we will be moving in by Wednesday! The apartment is awesome - huge, brand new, furnished. I'll take pictures and write more when we are there!!

LOVE