Flash Backs #3 SLC and Ohio

Ever since I returned from Taiwan it happens that I can't sit still. Two weeks after I arrived home I was gone again for another two week to Utah and Ohio. I don't know if I just wasn't comfortable at home or I felt that since I wasn't teaching I should be doing something. As I have perviously blogged about my road trip with myself I can get right to the good stuff. But the unfortunate part of all of this is my camera charger got lost in the whole move back to the States and it wasn't working for a good part of this trip. But good old Steve took care of it, like he always dose.

SLC
I arrived at Sara's place with only a few turn arounds, and secretly cursing the grid system. After all the squeals of joy and excitement were over we sat down and talked for hours. Sara had to work in the morning, so she was out the door even before I woke up. I won't lie it was a bit strange hanging out by-myself in a city I didn't really know how to get around in. But I busted out Sara's lap top, got some taco bell and had a dance party. Well I wasn't feel to good after eating my gordias and jumping up and down for a while, but I did bust out some pretty sweet moves.

On New Years Eve Sara and I went to a Scottish pipe band and dance concert to finally met Steve's girlfriend, and then we went to First Night. We scalped some buttons off some high schoolers and went in. I remember a few things about that night. One, it was cold. Two, I was wearing very wrong shoes. Three, there was a lot of funky recycled art work around. Four, Fire dancers. Five, It was very cold. With all those things combined it was an ok event, where after the fire works I hobbled to the car with my not very approbate shoes on. I felt like I was walking on bloody stumps attached to my ankles.




The next few days I spent catching up with old friends from high school. I was amazed at how fast life moves on. Getting married and having kids goes so fast for some.

Sunday I spent with the Old Berhaners, eating, chatting and hearing how two girls got themselves engaged.
Monday I shopped and drove in the snow and tried to put on chains. I was trying to find Steve's house and I though it was up the hill a little bit more than it was. So when my car couldn't go any more I pulled over to put my chains on. I was in front a house and a old women yelled from the porch and asked if I needed any help. I being very independent and cold said no. But this cute lady said,' I'll send out my husband any way.' Well I was half way done when this nice old many can hobbling out. He watched me, I guess so he could say to his wife that he did his duty. Right as soon as hoped back in the car Steve called. He said, " are you putting on chains?" I said yes, how did you know? He said,"I can see you." I turns out that I didn't really need to put chains on since Steve's house was 100 yards away.
Tuesday I spent travling to Ohio.
The Ohio
Steve and I rented a car, and found Joseph's house thought the maze of one way streets. It was exciting to see that kid again. We ate dinner and and I went to sleep on the couch down stairs wondering what the boys were doing up stairs till two am, mysterious.
Wednesday, after Steve woke up a noon, we tried to figure out what to do. But all we did was, get lost driving around and picking up Joseph from school. But we did spend a pleasant evening shopping and hanging out in the boys room.
Thursday was the big day for Steve and I we went to a Chocolate factory
the Columbus Public Library

and the State Capital.
At the State Capital building there was someone being sworn in to the position on Attorney General of Ohio. After the tour we stopped by for some free food and some punch, I felt like a mooch but I got over it. Later that day we picked up Sara from the airport, and that night it was Sara and I that were talking till late.
Friday was the start of the road trip with my peeps. We stopped at Kirtland to soke up the Pioneer spirt.
When we got to Niagara we spent a very INTERESTING night at the local YMCA. Happily the next night we went somewhere else.
Saturday after I printed out a copy of my passport we were off to visit the friendly neighbors of the north. Once again I put on the wrong shoes for hiking in the snow, but this time they where just cold.

We did some very cool things there in Canada, like paid to much for crapy food and pay 10USD to go into tunnels and see mist OOOO. Ok it was cool.

But by the end of the night we where so ready to get back to the states. But snice the rental car couldn't go over the boarder we had to walk back in the snow.

We drove back to Kirtland Sunday to go to church, and met the missionary couple the took us on the tour two days before. From there we went all the way back home.
Monday we got a tour of the Ohio State Campus from Joseph.

And our flight got delayed 12 hours, so one more night in Ohio. Steve and I were thinking that staying the night in the airport would be a FANTASTIC way way to end our trip, but Sara wasn't so sure,she left us and checked into a hotel. Fortunately Joseph called a friend to pick us up and I slept one more night on the good old couch.

Flash Backs #2

Oh I'm not done yet. I was a procrastinator to long not to have lots of back blogging to do.

Good Bye Taiwan
For those of you who were there and for those of you who know about the last 2 weeks of school, I won't go into the accidents and mayhem that broke lose upon the Berhan School of Language. But I will issue my farewell with a reminiscent air and not the bitterness that I have been holding on to the last few months. I lived in and love Taiwan for all of 2008. I find myself thinking of how my kids are doing. It's funny that I still feel that they are in some ways mine. Do all teachers feel this? I know that my heart will always in a very small way want to go back and drink a bing shaw and have a real dong gaw with zen zu, and to play/ teach the kids again, but I know with the rest of my heart that it will not be the same. They are not my kids anymore, they belong to some other teacher, I hope that who ever they are, they will know how precious those kids are.
The other part of good bye goes to the teachers that I worked with, traveled with and the ones that help me see my short comings and then help me grow to over come them. I thank the Lord for all of you and I know that I am better for have had knew you. To Laura, Mary, Emily Joy, Sain, Katie, Destiny, Whitney, Lish, Sara, Tammy, Joe, Steve, Connie, Erin, Megan, Shannon, Emily, Rachelle, Lindsay, Dustin, and Jake, Thank you for one of the most memorable years of my life so far. ( and the best documented:)... you know who you are) P.S. Don't think that this goodbye is, like, forever. Its a Berhan goodbye, whatever that means.

Flash Backs

I don't know if any one cares to be reminded of the past, but since my life at the moment is not that exciting, I'm dragging out stuff I should have been excited to share over a month ago. Well it's more than a month ago now that I was in Taiwan, but let's start there.

Earthquake Truck Day
Even though it wasn't my day to teach AK I did it anyway. Who wouldn't want to go to earthquake day! We sat in an assembly with the Afternoon kids who were very attentive, and I was the one that was counting floor tiles and talking to my friends.


After the assembly we filed the kids across the street to go in the earthquake truck. It was grate fun, and I wasn't the only one the wanted to go more than once. One of the AK girls asked Miss Meagan," Teacher, one more time". We need something like that in the States,but perhaps they could change it as to prepare children for all types of natural disasters. They can make ones for flooding, tornadoes, and fires, oh I can just imagine the childhood emotional trauma, awesome!



A Taiwan Thanksgiving
It was very exciting to be able to join together as friends, american or not and enjoy the traditional fair of thanksgiving. We had everything, and I mean everything. Mashed potatoes, candy yams, sweet potatoes, turkey gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and of course more turkey than you could eat. The only loss during that day involved a large box of pies and frog eye salad a scooter and the tunnel of death. Though this unfortunate event was cause of undue stress for a person in the party, the rest of the celebration went off perfectly.


I would have been perfectly happy to go home a sub-come to the food coma that I knew was on it's way, but that night there was a single adult dance and I couldn't miss it.
This was just one of the many dances that we were taught that night, as all dances must be choreographed as per the Taiwanese way.

There and back again: The musing of 2 long road trips traveled by a lone girl

Well I've been home for almost month from Taiwan. Yes, I have a lot to catch up on, Taiwan, the trip home, Christmas etc... But today I chose to write about my road trip that I took a week after I returned form Taiwan. I decided to drive from Medford, Oregon to Salt Lake City, Utah to visit old Berhaners, and friends. All by my lonesome I drove over 26 hours though the middle of no where Nevada and Oregon.

Before I left I began my preparation for my trip. For some reason I am a bit paranoid when it comes to driving long distances in Foxy( the name of my 86' VW Fox, I know, its' name is very original). Not that I've had any traumatic experiences in her, but one look at my rusty, leper of a car and you would understand my concern.

I began my check list:

>Chains
>Water
>Sleeping bag
>High caloric snack foods
> Warm clothes
> Flash Light
> Cell Phone

After I have collected all of these things I felt that even if I were to crash my car in to 25 foot snow drift, I would be able to spend a solid week in my car with out problem.

And thus my trip begins.

I'm driving though my Oregon. I know each and every turn and speed trap for at least the next 100 miles. It's foggy and a bit icy as I dive the long and isolated roads though the heart of Oregon. I reach a gap in the dense evergreen forest right before sunrise. The sun peaks between two mountains covered with the deep emerald green that I have been missing. The last traces of fog linger there on the hills, grasping to the needles on the trees. As I look upon this picturesque scene I realize what I have been missing, what Taiwan had not given me this last year. I didn't know how home sick I was until now. I let the tears that from, slowly trickle down my face before I wipe them away and put on my sun glasses against the blaze of the sun.

5 hours and about 4 bathroom brakes later, I'm still driving. Though the scene has changed. I am not longer surround my the tall and slender pine trees that Oregon is know for. I'm driving though the high dessert with not but the tumble weeds and the herd of wild donkeys that I passed to keep me company.


I stop at yet another rest stop, I recognize this one from one the multiple crossings that my family has made though this desolate land. I remember this one because of the water. On the far end of the parking lot there is a pipe that is forever spewing forth water.

In the quite, brown and frostbitten landscape this is truly an oasis of green and sound. I stop here for awhile streching my leg and remincing on the time when my little sister and I stopped here in the summer and tried to convince my mother to let us wade in the water. Though I'm sure she said no, I remmber climbing back into the truck with wet toes and pants up to our knees.

10 hours in and I have depleted my bank of songs to sing to my self: Christmas, Church Hymns, Children Hymns, song from the radio. I am tired of my own voice, and plus it is getting a bit horse. I have even started to talk to myself. Not in a schizophrenic sort of way. I know no one is in the car with me, but what if that stupid ex-boyfriend was here, what would I say, or a friend I haven't seen in along time, what have they been up to? I know that this not the healthiest thing to do, but we do have some pretty good conversations. And then I remember a magical black box sitting in the middle of the dash board. I turn it on and I hear singing, and people talking. All hail the magic of a radio station in the range of my car.

I'm driving though the seemingly unending salt flats and every half an hour I see signs that say," Driving Drowsy is dangerous". Then a place to pull over if you really need a nap. I am tempted to pull over myself, but the draw of the couch at Sara's house holds me till the end.

One week later...

Back on the road once again and everything is backwards. I'm driving toward Winamucka. I remember that I had a seminary teacher that instead of saying hell, when he would come upon it in the scriptures, would say Winamucka. He would he would also say donkey instead of ass, that's pretty righteous when you don't even say the curse words that the Lord uses.

I reach Winamucka and I know this is my last chance for food and gas for the next 250 miles. I stop a supermarkets to pick up some snacks. I decide on Soy Crisps. When the lady checks me out she asks if I need a bag. It's a bag a chips so I say no. But she said" I thought I should ask, but usually people who each stuff like that, use there own". So eating and enjoying a soy based snack from time to time makes me a hippy. Awesome. Well, I am from Oregon, I should really embrace it sooner or later.

It's foggy. Not just sorta foggy but, I don't want to pass the slow moving truck in front of me because I can't see far enough ahead that it feels safe. But just as suddenly as it came it's gone. I look in my rear view and can see the gray wall behind me. I'm tempted to take a picture, but I realize that dangling out of my car a 50 miles an hours is dangerous with other cars on the road at least.

I reach "THE" intersection. The cross roads where I take the one less traveled, and almost devoid of any human presence, except for the satirically placed rest areas. I pass it the first time because I am speeding, I mean really speeding. I don't know how fast I was going because if I go over 30 miles an hour in Foxy my speedometer doesn't work any way. But the needle had gone all the way around and was bouncing on the reset nob for my trip milage.



The road steaches out in front on me, straight, daunting and the end seemingly unreachable. I start to sing and and re-singing each and every song that I sung on the way over. Is it so impossible to think of some thing new?!...impossible... I remember a song, a new song that I hadn't sung on the cross over. The Impossible Dream, Oh the joy something new to sing,.. to sing to sing, la, la, la!

3 hours later, I hate the Impossible Dream. Now that I'm trying to sing something else everything kinda of morfs into that song. BOOO!

On the road this time I take the time to drink in the landscape, instead of cursing it for it's empty spaces. I stop now and again to take a picture to remind myself of how beautiful sparseness could be. The minamlism design of nature.
As I dive up out of the valley that I had been going though at top speed for the last 2 hours I see a pack of wild of horses. Who knew that there are real wild horses in Oregon. I am having a flash back to "The Man from Snowy River" as I walk up to them. They run away and then turn and face me. The big male takes a few steps toward me and snorts loud enough for me to hear. Suddenly I'm envisioning myself being bit and stomped to death by this horse. What a way to go. After all my planing to ensure my safety driving, I never though of how to protect myself from a wild horse. I back away toward the car, but not before I snapped a few pictures.


An hour away from home and I have hit another patch of dense fog, it's that way for the rest of the dive home. Not until I drive up Mount. Roxanne to my family's home do the clouds part and I can see that the lights are still on for me as I pull in the drive.