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yay! i think i am out of the darkest part of the culture shock woods...all those of you who have ever hauled it off to another country (not for holidaying!) know the glorious feeling im talking about...waking up and finally realising that you arent as miserable as you thought, and remembering the reasons that you did it in the first place. ladies and gentlemen: IM BACK!

i dont remember the detail i went into about this, so i will retell. its funny enough to tell again anyway. i have a student who refuses to answer to anything except 'michael jackson.' he wont even look at me when i call roll unless i use this name, he wont stop if i tell him to unless he is addressed as michael jackson. i can hardly keep a straight face when i have to say 'michael jackson! sit down and stop shouting!' or 'michael jackson, what is the phonetic value of the letter b'? anyway, i was in my office writing a lesson when he came upstairs to get his books. he couldnt see me looking at him, but out of the corner of my eye, i watched him stand in the room and start singing 'thriller' and dancing. i busted out laughing and got caught watching. he ran away embarrassed.

there is never any shortage of entertainment in taiwan. even a short trip down the road to find food ends up being a fight for your life crossing the street (im honestly never sure if ill make it to the other side alive), discovering a new temple to take photos of, having to play charades in order to actually order the food, then coming home to discover that you've been bitten by every bug on the whole bloody island.

there are things about taiwan that i have grown used to: speaking in chinese very badly, only ever seeing asian people, never hearing english, eating strange food, using chopsticks, being stared at, staring at people blankly when they speak really fast to me, crossing the street under circumstances that i normally wouldn't in america, dreaming in 'chinese,' eating chinese food all the time, seeing hello kitty EVERYWHERE, sweating everywhere i go even in airconditioner, etc etc. however, there are some things about taiwan that still freak me out: seeing a price tag on a coke that says $25 (yes thats taiwan dollars but its still weird), holding $500 bills in my hand, taking $10000 out of an atm, eating octopus, speaking chinese very badly, only ever seeing asian people, never hearing english, eating strange food....etc. i have grown used to going to sleep at night thinking of what i need to do the next day and 7-11 is the first thing that goes through my head. i have grown used to saying 'ni hao' alot. i am getting used to the fact that this place is just HOT. im trying to get used to being illiterate. haha. however, my chinese is coming along quicker than i would have ever in a million years anticipated. wow. when i think to myself what i want for dinner, i no longer run crying to mcdonalds...images of rice and shrimp with eyes still attached and bamboo enter my mind. i think of green tea and tapioca bubble tea (even though the bubbles still freak me out) and soy milk. yes people, soy milk. its amazing. im truly back in my element: all the reasons that i came to taiwan are becoming clear to me again and im so happy here!

i have been here for exactly 9 weeks. WHERE THE DEVIL HAS THE TIME GONE?! i really cant figure out where. thats over 2 months...only 10 left...only 10 more months left to travel all around taiwan and go to japan, vietnam, singapore, china, and hongkong! and hopefully indo and malaysia if i have time....how will i ever do it? ahhh! so little time left!

english wisdom of the day:
(the lyrics to my lastest favourite song by none other than newton faulker):
if this is it, all we have
i know ive done all i can
if this is it a
and we can't stop and start again
we can't fast forward to the end
this is it

deutsche klugheit des tages:
(von meine lieblingsgruppe, glashaus!)
fehlt ein stück - sie soll stehen
und die welt dreht sich weiter
und das sie sich weiter drehtist für mich nicht zu begreifen
merkt ihr nicht das einer fehlt
haltet die welt an ... es fehlt ein stück
haltet die welt an ... sie soll stehen

i also just have to say that though many of my friends are so very far away from me, scattered everywhere from greensboro to estonia to england to japan to mexico and everywhere in between...i am very very thankful for y'all and will never be able to do anything without you, truly. i love you all.