"hey baby, let's study english!" and other tales from the crypt

你好，blogworld，對不起! i've been so busy lately and so much has happened since the last time i wrote...

march 19 came and went, and i have made the decision to go back to america in july. i won't go into the particulars of the decision, mostly because if i start to think about it too much i'm afraid that my brain might actually explode. while it certainly wasn't an easy decision, it was the one i felt i had to make. but at any rate, i have loads to do before july and lots of places to see :) big sigh...

anyway...on a happier note: taiwan is still as awesome and bizarre as ever. through a bizarre turn of events i ended up wandering around taipei at 5:30am on saturday, and it was beautiful. i watched the sun come up over taipei 101 and saw the city come alive. i sat in a cafe and drank coffee and watched people go to work, catch the train, eat their breakfast...as bizarre as it was to be stuck in the city in the wee small hours of the morning, it was kind of nice. one of the most enjoyable times i've had in taipei.

a few days ago, i was having a class discussion with grade 3. we were talking about toys, i can't remember the exact topic. next thing i know, this child is standing up screaming "HEY BABY, LET'S STUDY ENG-A-LISH!!!" after i stopped laughing long enough to tell him to sit down and stop shouting, he explained to me that he is the proud new owner of a toy car. not just any toy car, but a toy car that, when prompted, can whiz past someone shouting "HEY BABY, LET'S STUDY ENG-A-LISH!" in a mechanical toy car voice. well, wouldn't that make you want to study english?! tell me it wouldn't.

yesterday i was in 7-11, in the back of the store where the tea is, next to the breakroom. about halfway through my search for tea, i saw george (the 7-11 dog) push the door open with his nose, walk out of the breakroom, through the store, and back outside (and no one even batted an eyelash).

at press time, i have 22 mosquito bites.

i'm going to miss taiwan.