i've started packing...
...i can't believe all this is coming to an end...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
小朋友and why they trip me out
the literal translation of "kids" in chinese (小朋友) is "small friends," which is hilarious, as is listening to myself address a huge group of students as "little friends." kids 10 and under, while they come with their own sets of frustrations, also come with the guarantee of being constantly entertained, and here are some reasons.
1. kids are obsessed with pens and pencils. everyday when my kids file into my classroom they are toting 20394823049324823948 different colors of pens, about 47 varities of pencils, and 29 pencil sharpeners. they will then proceed to spend 17 hours writing their homework books because they want to write each letter a different color, or deliberatley bear down too hard so their lead will break and they can pull out a sharpener and go at it right there in the classroom. this one kid in my grade 1 class even has a stuffed hippo which can open up into a pencil case that i ended up having to ban from classroom premises because, in addition to pencil case/stuffed animal, it was doubling as a weapon. i don't even want to count the number of hours i spend after school each day sweeping pencil shavings off the floor because even if the pencil is sharp enough to carve ivory, in their minds, it can always be sharper.
2. kids are obsessed with touching the teacher. in addition to sweeping pencil sharpener contents off the floor, i spend a good bit of time peeling children off me. yesterday, this child came out of nowhere, charged at me like a bull, latched on like a leech, and then started shouting "KATIE老師好香(teacher katie smells good)!!!!!" he followed me around for the rest of the day, smelling me, and announcing to anyone who would listen that katie老師好香. today, we were sitting on the floor for reading circle, and i kept noticing the kid beside me stretching out his feet at a weird angle. for a really long time i couldn't figure out what on earth he was doing, i just thought he had a cramp or something. i finally figured it out when i saw him tap the kid next to him and comment on how the sizes of our feet compared, and that even though he was only 8, his feet were almost as big as mine.
3. kids like when the teacher is as crazy as they are. today i was giving a spelling test, and it was deadly silent as they were writing. suddenly, the image of myself in 6th grade english class appeared in my mind. in this image, i am reciting a tennyson poem that we read: "cannons to the left of me, cannons to the right of me..." anyway, that led to an episode of little rascals replaying in my head, the one where alfalfa is reciting the poem to his class, but someone has snuck a bunch of firecrackers into his pocket, and when he starts talking about cannons, they start going off. by the time all these images have cycled through my head, i realised that i was laughing out loud (quite hysterically). i looked at my students, all confused and giving me their standard "whatttttt is going on" blank stares. after i had stopped laughing, one student raised his hand. "老師, you are crazy. it is very good." i'm glad they can appreciate it.
4. they draw things like this:
1. kids are obsessed with pens and pencils. everyday when my kids file into my classroom they are toting 20394823049324823948 different colors of pens, about 47 varities of pencils, and 29 pencil sharpeners. they will then proceed to spend 17 hours writing their homework books because they want to write each letter a different color, or deliberatley bear down too hard so their lead will break and they can pull out a sharpener and go at it right there in the classroom. this one kid in my grade 1 class even has a stuffed hippo which can open up into a pencil case that i ended up having to ban from classroom premises because, in addition to pencil case/stuffed animal, it was doubling as a weapon. i don't even want to count the number of hours i spend after school each day sweeping pencil shavings off the floor because even if the pencil is sharp enough to carve ivory, in their minds, it can always be sharper.
2. kids are obsessed with touching the teacher. in addition to sweeping pencil sharpener contents off the floor, i spend a good bit of time peeling children off me. yesterday, this child came out of nowhere, charged at me like a bull, latched on like a leech, and then started shouting "KATIE老師好香(teacher katie smells good)!!!!!" he followed me around for the rest of the day, smelling me, and announcing to anyone who would listen that katie老師好香. today, we were sitting on the floor for reading circle, and i kept noticing the kid beside me stretching out his feet at a weird angle. for a really long time i couldn't figure out what on earth he was doing, i just thought he had a cramp or something. i finally figured it out when i saw him tap the kid next to him and comment on how the sizes of our feet compared, and that even though he was only 8, his feet were almost as big as mine.
3. kids like when the teacher is as crazy as they are. today i was giving a spelling test, and it was deadly silent as they were writing. suddenly, the image of myself in 6th grade english class appeared in my mind. in this image, i am reciting a tennyson poem that we read: "cannons to the left of me, cannons to the right of me..." anyway, that led to an episode of little rascals replaying in my head, the one where alfalfa is reciting the poem to his class, but someone has snuck a bunch of firecrackers into his pocket, and when he starts talking about cannons, they start going off. by the time all these images have cycled through my head, i realised that i was laughing out loud (quite hysterically). i looked at my students, all confused and giving me their standard "whatttttt is going on" blank stares. after i had stopped laughing, one student raised his hand. "老師, you are crazy. it is very good." i'm glad they can appreciate it.
4. they draw things like this:
Monday, June 21, 2010
plane ticket = bought. i am officially going to 回去美國~ i have way too many feelings to write about so i will just choose the one i feel the most strongly: I JUST PAID OVER $34000NT FOR AN EMAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have never spent so much money on one thing in my life. ahhhhhhhh~~~~~ anyway, its bought and paid for, and i am coming home.
one other prominent emotion i am beginning to feel is excitement. i practically salsa out of bed every morning in preparation for my triumphant return back into the world that is salsa dancing. i can't wait to see my friends. i can already taste the huge plate of bridges barbeque that i know is waiting for me. i CAN'T WAIT to bust through the doors of target. its going to be so nice to be able to breathe when i go outside because nc is NOT AT ALL HOT OR HUMID in comparison to taiwan, and the air is significantly less polluted. i can't wait to hug my family and sleep in my own bed. i am dying to see my friends again and speak rapid-fire slang english to them.
one other thing i am feeling, as stupid as this is...how is my life going to continue without 7-11? i often wonder how my life existed before it. where did i buy things? i know taiwan is just totally on a different system, i mean you are meant to walk everywhere so of course there is a 7-11 on every corner...but, its like i often wonder: how did clubs exist before lady gaga? how did i communicate with people before facebook was invented? how did life exist before 7-11? how will it exist after?
說再見 才發現再也見不到
能不能就這樣忍著痛淚不掉
說好陪我到老 永恆往那裡找
再次擁抱...一分...一秒...
都好
(謝謝你，親愛的周杰倫，you've done it again...)
one other prominent emotion i am beginning to feel is excitement. i practically salsa out of bed every morning in preparation for my triumphant return back into the world that is salsa dancing. i can't wait to see my friends. i can already taste the huge plate of bridges barbeque that i know is waiting for me. i CAN'T WAIT to bust through the doors of target. its going to be so nice to be able to breathe when i go outside because nc is NOT AT ALL HOT OR HUMID in comparison to taiwan, and the air is significantly less polluted. i can't wait to hug my family and sleep in my own bed. i am dying to see my friends again and speak rapid-fire slang english to them.
one other thing i am feeling, as stupid as this is...how is my life going to continue without 7-11? i often wonder how my life existed before it. where did i buy things? i know taiwan is just totally on a different system, i mean you are meant to walk everywhere so of course there is a 7-11 on every corner...but, its like i often wonder: how did clubs exist before lady gaga? how did i communicate with people before facebook was invented? how did life exist before 7-11? how will it exist after?
說再見 才發現再也見不到
能不能就這樣忍著痛淚不掉
說好陪我到老 永恆往那裡找
再次擁抱...一分...一秒...
都好
(謝謝你，親愛的周杰倫，you've done it again...)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
to my special daddy:
happy happy father's day. i wish i was in america now to celebrate! i just wanted you to know that i really appreciate everything you do for me, and to thank you for all the love and support you have always shown me, but especially over the past year of my life. i know it wasn't easy for you to let me haul off to taiwan, a place neither of us knew one thing about, but thanks for trusting me enough to let me do it anyway. thanks for always believing that i could do it, even when i didn't. you are the best daddy that anyone could ever be lucky enough to have, and i love you very much. i'm glad that i have someone to make proud.
love,
katie
happy happy father's day. i wish i was in america now to celebrate! i just wanted you to know that i really appreciate everything you do for me, and to thank you for all the love and support you have always shown me, but especially over the past year of my life. i know it wasn't easy for you to let me haul off to taiwan, a place neither of us knew one thing about, but thanks for trusting me enough to let me do it anyway. thanks for always believing that i could do it, even when i didn't. you are the best daddy that anyone could ever be lucky enough to have, and i love you very much. i'm glad that i have someone to make proud.
love,
katie
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
man, i wish i was in england.
after 3 years of faithfully schlepping down to the basement of the i-house every friday to watch people give powerpoint presentations on their countries, the tables have finally turned, and i will be presenting "america" to my students in a couple weeks. its so bizarre to be on the other side of friday fest!
...man, what i also wouldn't give to go back to the i-house...i have never missed any place so much.
after 3 years of faithfully schlepping down to the basement of the i-house every friday to watch people give powerpoint presentations on their countries, the tables have finally turned, and i will be presenting "america" to my students in a couple weeks. its so bizarre to be on the other side of friday fest!
...man, what i also wouldn't give to go back to the i-house...i have never missed any place so much.
soooooooooo lately, since all my friends in america are out for the summer/back in the country, i have been chatting to them a lot more often. in amongst all the "when you get back home, we're going to ____" or "i can't wait til you get back so we can ____" and "let's go eat ____" and just talking to my american friends in general...added to the fact that i have almost 90% accepted that i'm going 'home' in a month, and listening to country music on youtube...i have to say that for the first time in a long time, the thought of going home doesn't make me as depressed as it usually does. it actually makes me kind of excited.
a few nights ago i dreamt that i went to chick-fil-a with my friends. in this dream i was psyched out of my mind to be eating it, but when i went to order, i could only order it in chinese. i had to give my phone number to the girl behind the counter so they could let me call in my order (i know, i know...i have no idea where my subconsious thinks up these things)...and then i couldn't even say the tones correctly (bc by now the dream had switched to chinese) so she couldn't understand my phone number...so eventually my friend nicole had to order my food for me. i woke up confused and annoyed, but ready to eat chick-fil-a nonetheless.
right now i'm in a very strange state, because all i can think about is the 20394380943248230492384 things i STILL have to cram into the monthish that i have left in taiwan...but lately i can't stop thinking about all the 203948230492834230948things i can't wait to do when i get back to the states. mostly i also stay in a constant state of shock because its june, and i have been here almost a year, and where has the year gone? and what's even going to HAPPEN TO ME when i get back to america? what is waiting for me there?
a few nights ago i dreamt that i went to chick-fil-a with my friends. in this dream i was psyched out of my mind to be eating it, but when i went to order, i could only order it in chinese. i had to give my phone number to the girl behind the counter so they could let me call in my order (i know, i know...i have no idea where my subconsious thinks up these things)...and then i couldn't even say the tones correctly (bc by now the dream had switched to chinese) so she couldn't understand my phone number...so eventually my friend nicole had to order my food for me. i woke up confused and annoyed, but ready to eat chick-fil-a nonetheless.
right now i'm in a very strange state, because all i can think about is the 20394380943248230492384 things i STILL have to cram into the monthish that i have left in taiwan...but lately i can't stop thinking about all the 203948230492834230948things i can't wait to do when i get back to the states. mostly i also stay in a constant state of shock because its june, and i have been here almost a year, and where has the year gone? and what's even going to HAPPEN TO ME when i get back to america? what is waiting for me there?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
three things
1. FUYU CAME TO VISIT!!!! ahhh, it was such an amazing time, so wonderful to see her again after two years! it was just like old times. we wreaked as much havoc as possible in her very short weekend visit, and i believe that we succeeded ;) we played purikura, watched england v. usa, went to ximending, shilin night market, ate until we were sick (as per the usual), had a sleepover, stayed out all night, went shopping...it was totally just like old times, except in taiwan. i was so so happy all weekend, and i enjoyed being roommates again! excellent. thanks for visiting fuyu, soon i will return the favor and come to JAPAAAAAAAAAAN!!!
2. saturday night i went to a bar with some friends to watch the world cup game: england v. usa. the bar was full of english expats so we were kind of outnumbered, but its a very special feeling to pull for your country when you aren't in it. i almost teared up when the national anthem came on, and when they played sweet home alabama...i know that's stupid, but something about it just hit me in a soft spot. it was a really good game, and it was fun to cheer everytime (ok, the one time) the us scored or blocked one of england's shots. actually this game was tough to choose a side, i feel a certain sense of allegiance to both countries, so i would have been fine with either outcome...luckily the game ended up in a tie.
3. I WISH IT WOULD STOP RAINING. gross gross gross.
2. saturday night i went to a bar with some friends to watch the world cup game: england v. usa. the bar was full of english expats so we were kind of outnumbered, but its a very special feeling to pull for your country when you aren't in it. i almost teared up when the national anthem came on, and when they played sweet home alabama...i know that's stupid, but something about it just hit me in a soft spot. it was a really good game, and it was fun to cheer everytime (ok, the one time) the us scored or blocked one of england's shots. actually this game was tough to choose a side, i feel a certain sense of allegiance to both countries, so i would have been fine with either outcome...luckily the game ended up in a tie.
3. I WISH IT WOULD STOP RAINING. gross gross gross.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
i can't bloody wait to have my camera back in my life. i didn't realize how much i missed it until, oh, the 203948203498 times i've REALLY WANTED TO TAKE A PHOTO OF SOMETHING and couldn't. >.<
also, today is the biggest monsoon in taiwan everrrrrrrrrrrrr of all time and i swam everywhere. it was that kind of rain where your umbrella doesn't do any good, because the rain is coming from every direction. i couldn't stop thinking about how forrest gump describes the asian rainy season: MAN is he right. it really was coming out of the ground. it is also thundering and lightning, and at times like this, i really appreciate the idea of a front porch. for now, i will have to look out the window of my apartment and try to listen to the rain over the sound of traffic and see it over the 309482034 other apartment buildings. welcome to an asian city...
in other news, today is june 10th, 2010. on june 10, 2007, i left england to go back to america. i can't believeeeeeeeeeee its been that long. three years. man. i'd give just about anything to go back and relive all that...and be an exchange student again. i wish i could be an exchange student forever. or really, any kind of student. big sigh... real world, you have made me jaded. i kind of hate you, actually.
also, today is the biggest monsoon in taiwan everrrrrrrrrrrrr of all time and i swam everywhere. it was that kind of rain where your umbrella doesn't do any good, because the rain is coming from every direction. i couldn't stop thinking about how forrest gump describes the asian rainy season: MAN is he right. it really was coming out of the ground. it is also thundering and lightning, and at times like this, i really appreciate the idea of a front porch. for now, i will have to look out the window of my apartment and try to listen to the rain over the sound of traffic and see it over the 309482034 other apartment buildings. welcome to an asian city...
in other news, today is june 10th, 2010. on june 10, 2007, i left england to go back to america. i can't believeeeeeeeeeee its been that long. three years. man. i'd give just about anything to go back and relive all that...and be an exchange student again. i wish i could be an exchange student forever. or really, any kind of student. big sigh... real world, you have made me jaded. i kind of hate you, actually.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
being a plumber.
anyone who is a teacher knows how incredibly annoying it is to lay down at night to sleep and be haunted by a chorus of children in your head still chanting "teacher i'm finished!" or "teacher help me" or "teacher he hit me!" or just "teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeecher!!!!!!!" i can't get rid of this phantom chant in my head!!!! help!!!
sometimes, i feel so bad for my kids. i will ask them to explain something to me, usually something a step ahead of very simple but a notch down from difficult. i watch their faces twist and turn, i can see their little wheels spinning...i can watch the frustration well up inside, jump around in their mouth for a minute or so, and then finally come out only as a loud sigh and an "i don't know teacher, sorry." i know that in chinese they could tell me this perfectly well, easily, fluently (possibly even eloquently). i see myself in that so much! often if i am having a conversation in chinese with someone, i will have to pause and let things swirl around in my head for awhile...first in english, then usually some german or random spanish...then finally i can think of it in chinese. then i have to configure all the tones, and then make sure my grammar is right, and then make sure all the vocabulary is (or is close to) what i mean. by the time i have figured all this out and rehearsed it enough in my head to not be afraid to say it out loud, the other person has usually either fallen asleep bc 17 hours have elapsed or they have finished the sentence for me. granted of course, its not like this so much anymore. now there usually isn't a transition from one language to another; actually i find it more troublesome to translate. i just try to turn off english brain and turn on chinese brain and go from there. this usually means lots of long pauses, SUPER awkward ways of describing things, mixed up grammar, and a really heavy english accent. thankfully taiwanese are nothing if not gracious and kind and have helped me struggle through their language while somehow managing not to laugh in my face. still, nothing quite matches the frustration and feelings of stupidity when someone asks you a question and you know the answer in your mothertounge, but cannot for the life of you say it in another language. i really feel the pain of my students. sometimes i want to scream!!
in other news, i think i may have missed my calling as a plumber. i have no idea how to get a stopped up drain fixed, even in my own country. anyway after about 2309482304 hours of trying to get hold of a proper plumber, i gave up and decided to have a go at it myself. the drain in my shower wasn't working and i was afraid i was going to flood my whole apartment out. so i went to the supermarket to see if i could find something to pour into the drain to fix it. why i wasn't of course already thinking that anything that one can just pour down a stopped up drain and clear it out wouldn't be dangerous i don't know, but i was suprised when i saw a huge skull and crossbones on the front of the bottle. in huge, red, very scary chinese it read "warning: this will burn off your skin if you touch it and maybe even the fumes alone will kill you" or something to that effect. its kind of foreboding in english, right? in chinese, it may as well have said "DON'T TOUCH THIS BOTTLE OR YOU WILL DIE. DON'T EVEN LOOK AT IT OR YOUR VERY EYEBALLS WILL FALL OUT OF YOU HEAD." anyway, i didn't buy it, mainly bc i was too afraid to even pick it up and carry it to the tills. so...i did the next best logical thing. i came home and set to work on that drain the old fashioned way. after about an hour's worth of honest work drilling and screwdrivering and chiselling, i was proud to have been able to turn on the water and watch it go immediately down the drain. the pride i felt at this domestic accomplishment was enormous. i can't believe i am my own plumber.
T-3 DAYS UNTIL FUYUKO OMURA MAKES THE PILGRIMAGE TO TAIWAN.......bakani shinai deyoooo!!! watashino hovercraftwa unagi de ippai desuuuuuu!
sometimes, i feel so bad for my kids. i will ask them to explain something to me, usually something a step ahead of very simple but a notch down from difficult. i watch their faces twist and turn, i can see their little wheels spinning...i can watch the frustration well up inside, jump around in their mouth for a minute or so, and then finally come out only as a loud sigh and an "i don't know teacher, sorry." i know that in chinese they could tell me this perfectly well, easily, fluently (possibly even eloquently). i see myself in that so much! often if i am having a conversation in chinese with someone, i will have to pause and let things swirl around in my head for awhile...first in english, then usually some german or random spanish...then finally i can think of it in chinese. then i have to configure all the tones, and then make sure my grammar is right, and then make sure all the vocabulary is (or is close to) what i mean. by the time i have figured all this out and rehearsed it enough in my head to not be afraid to say it out loud, the other person has usually either fallen asleep bc 17 hours have elapsed or they have finished the sentence for me. granted of course, its not like this so much anymore. now there usually isn't a transition from one language to another; actually i find it more troublesome to translate. i just try to turn off english brain and turn on chinese brain and go from there. this usually means lots of long pauses, SUPER awkward ways of describing things, mixed up grammar, and a really heavy english accent. thankfully taiwanese are nothing if not gracious and kind and have helped me struggle through their language while somehow managing not to laugh in my face. still, nothing quite matches the frustration and feelings of stupidity when someone asks you a question and you know the answer in your mothertounge, but cannot for the life of you say it in another language. i really feel the pain of my students. sometimes i want to scream!!
in other news, i think i may have missed my calling as a plumber. i have no idea how to get a stopped up drain fixed, even in my own country. anyway after about 2309482304 hours of trying to get hold of a proper plumber, i gave up and decided to have a go at it myself. the drain in my shower wasn't working and i was afraid i was going to flood my whole apartment out. so i went to the supermarket to see if i could find something to pour into the drain to fix it. why i wasn't of course already thinking that anything that one can just pour down a stopped up drain and clear it out wouldn't be dangerous i don't know, but i was suprised when i saw a huge skull and crossbones on the front of the bottle. in huge, red, very scary chinese it read "warning: this will burn off your skin if you touch it and maybe even the fumes alone will kill you" or something to that effect. its kind of foreboding in english, right? in chinese, it may as well have said "DON'T TOUCH THIS BOTTLE OR YOU WILL DIE. DON'T EVEN LOOK AT IT OR YOUR VERY EYEBALLS WILL FALL OUT OF YOU HEAD." anyway, i didn't buy it, mainly bc i was too afraid to even pick it up and carry it to the tills. so...i did the next best logical thing. i came home and set to work on that drain the old fashioned way. after about an hour's worth of honest work drilling and screwdrivering and chiselling, i was proud to have been able to turn on the water and watch it go immediately down the drain. the pride i felt at this domestic accomplishment was enormous. i can't believe i am my own plumber.
T-3 DAYS UNTIL FUYUKO OMURA MAKES THE PILGRIMAGE TO TAIWAN.......bakani shinai deyoooo!!! watashino hovercraftwa unagi de ippai desuuuuuu!
Monday, June 7, 2010
加油~加油~加油~
lately, i have been noticing how much i feel like i actually live in taiwan. walking down the street and waving at people i know, being able to give directions in my city, translating for tourists...nothing really feels "foreign" anymore, though that is NOT at all to say that i myself don't feel foreign or that culture clashes don't happen everyday, because they most certainly do. i still sometimes find myself wanting to smash my head into the nearest brick wall a few times because i am used to doing things so differently, or am used to operating under/being held to a massively different set of standards. yes, i still hate being stared at. i hate being pointed at from across the street and hearing "FOREIGNER! LOOK!" i hate being spoken to in english in public, even if i respond in chinese. i know sometimes i paint over life as a foreigner in taiwan with rose colored paint, so to speak, but its definitely not all rainbows and butterflies, even after all this time.
however, i want to take a minute and be proud of myself, if i may. i have friends who cannot speak english, and i think (for myself anyway) its a testament to how hard i have really tried with my chinese (or at the very least, my ability to play charades). i'm so worried about going home and forgetting everything i have worked so long and so hard to learn. blehhhhhhhhh.
taiwan is hot. YAY! SUMMER IS HERE! though i have to confess that i am so jealous of everyone ELSE'S summer break. doesn't exist here. everything is school school school, study study study...but soon, soon, soon i will be done and then i can go rot on a beach for some weeks and not think about ANYTHING...not grammar or little kids or discipline or verb conjugations or exchange rates or paying rent or grading papers or planning lessons or wearing nice clothes everyday or setting an alarm or being an adult or buying a plane ticket/not buying a plane ticket...i can just go enjoy my last few days in taiwan in peace and quiet and sunshine :) actually i doubt there will be any peace and i know there will be no quiet but there will most definitely be sunshine, so 加油!!! al...most...there...
however, i want to take a minute and be proud of myself, if i may. i have friends who cannot speak english, and i think (for myself anyway) its a testament to how hard i have really tried with my chinese (or at the very least, my ability to play charades). i'm so worried about going home and forgetting everything i have worked so long and so hard to learn. blehhhhhhhhh.
taiwan is hot. YAY! SUMMER IS HERE! though i have to confess that i am so jealous of everyone ELSE'S summer break. doesn't exist here. everything is school school school, study study study...but soon, soon, soon i will be done and then i can go rot on a beach for some weeks and not think about ANYTHING...not grammar or little kids or discipline or verb conjugations or exchange rates or paying rent or grading papers or planning lessons or wearing nice clothes everyday or setting an alarm or being an adult or buying a plane ticket/not buying a plane ticket...i can just go enjoy my last few days in taiwan in peace and quiet and sunshine :) actually i doubt there will be any peace and i know there will be no quiet but there will most definitely be sunshine, so 加油!!! al...most...there...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
rain, rain, go away...find another island to torture...
last weekend i left my camera in taipei and of course in the meantime, i have seen about 203948203483024 i really wanted to take a photo of including but not limited to:
1. a man wrangling about 2039428304 HUGE white snakes
2. the biggest, ugliest, most fascinatingly disgusting snail i have ever seen
3. a little boy holding the umbrella for his mom while she got in the car
4. a little girl with red slurpee dripping all over her face but smiling so big!
5. 203498230948 outstanding examples of engrish
6. a really pretty sunset over the city moat
7. a really funny and super taiwanese traffic jam of about 203948203498 buses and motorcycles
8. a really REALLY bizarre and quasi-nauseating american themed restaurant that just opened in jhubei. today i walked by it and CONWAY TWITTY was blaring from the loudspeakers and there was a huge cowboy sign for the advertisement...oh. i'm so sad that this is the first image people always associate with america: cowboys and conway twitty.
OMURA FUYUKO WILL BE HERE IN T-6 DAYS!!!! TAIWAN, ARE YOU READYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
*also some food for thought~
"there may be wisdom in caution, but there's foolishness in letting life pass you by."
last weekend i left my camera in taipei and of course in the meantime, i have seen about 203948203483024 i really wanted to take a photo of including but not limited to:
1. a man wrangling about 2039428304 HUGE white snakes
2. the biggest, ugliest, most fascinatingly disgusting snail i have ever seen
3. a little boy holding the umbrella for his mom while she got in the car
4. a little girl with red slurpee dripping all over her face but smiling so big!
5. 203498230948 outstanding examples of engrish
6. a really pretty sunset over the city moat
7. a really funny and super taiwanese traffic jam of about 203948203498 buses and motorcycles
8. a really REALLY bizarre and quasi-nauseating american themed restaurant that just opened in jhubei. today i walked by it and CONWAY TWITTY was blaring from the loudspeakers and there was a huge cowboy sign for the advertisement...oh. i'm so sad that this is the first image people always associate with america: cowboys and conway twitty.
OMURA FUYUKO WILL BE HERE IN T-6 DAYS!!!! TAIWAN, ARE YOU READYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
*also some food for thought~
"there may be wisdom in caution, but there's foolishness in letting life pass you by."
Thursday, June 3, 2010
i am a pretty horrible excuse for a blogger lately, sorry.........
my days in taiwan are really numbered now, less than two months...so i am spending all my time trying to wreak as much havoc as possible with my friends before i leave. i would rather report it to you all later in person anyway ;) so, suffice it to say that the past little while has been full of too much fun. way too much.
in the past 4 years, i have said many very difficult goodbyes, but the goodbye i say to taiwan is going to be the hardest one yet.
my days in taiwan are really numbered now, less than two months...so i am spending all my time trying to wreak as much havoc as possible with my friends before i leave. i would rather report it to you all later in person anyway ;) so, suffice it to say that the past little while has been full of too much fun. way too much.
in the past 4 years, i have said many very difficult goodbyes, but the goodbye i say to taiwan is going to be the hardest one yet.
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