Shoes

                                                                    Rest in Peace
I have big feet. The End. Well not really the end, that would be retarded to post and than just say I have big feet. But it is true and I feel the trial of it even more so being in Taiwan.  Now, there are shoes, man, are they shoes in Taiwan.  They have bows, buckles, buttons, and awesome colored stripes.  When I first arrived here walking down the street brought me so much joy, shoe store after shoe store. But now, after realizing that finding a size 8 is pushing it, walking down the same street greaves me nigh to tears at times.  Just knowing that all the pink, ruffled, and sparkly goodness which are Taiwan shoes, can never be mine.  Because of this injustice I have been forced to ware the same 4 pairs of shoes for the last 3 months.  But in reality since two pairs are nicer for going out or church, I ware 2 pairs for most of the week.  One pair in particular has been used most cruelly. They are my favorite pair of sliver flats. I wore them when it was to cold and wore socks with them.  I now ware them while trying to play tag with a bunch of kindergartners. Now, because of the abuse of which these shoes have been put though, have given up the ghost. They ripped down the side which makes it very hard to ware, or to repair( believe me I have tried, mostly this involved a stapler and tape, and after, a few Band-Aids where the staples puncture my foot).  But I rejoice still at times with the knowledge that on a street in Taipei there is a store, a glorious store indeed, called Sandy Ho's Big Shoes for Ladies.  Like Princess Leia said to  Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sandy Ho, you are my only hope.

It's been a month

Two of my Afternoon Kindergarten Kids, Tim and Ellen




Hello to all of you that have missed my ramblings. I have been a bit lazy in updating you on my travels, I could go on in length and tell you why it has taken me so long to write. An example might have been that my finger tips were smitten with flesh eating bacteria and made it impossible to type, or that my computer was infested with ants that ate it form it inside out. But in short, I've been lazy. I'll give you my very abbreviated version of what has been happening in the last month. If you feel in any way cheated look at the other Taiwan blogs that have been more diligent in keeping a recored of their time here.  

After returning home form our vacation(last blog look above) I believe that I spent a great deal of time teaching the rug rats of which was the original reason for being here. I hope by the end of the six months I'll be able to see some result from my teaching. I would be so excited if one, just one of the children I teach, with out being corrected, could ask a question correctly. That being "Miss Jessica, what is that? "Not, what I hear everyday, "Miss Jessica, is that, what?" 

Being around Chignlish has  made it more difficult for me to be able talk like I have been educated at all. I struggle to find words in my vocabulary that a child over age of eight could understand. My only hope is that one day I will not find my  vocabulary made entirely out of children song lyrics.

Continuing on with what I have been up to. Two weeks ago, on National Peace Day, my fellow teachers journeyed up to Taipei for a day trip. I lead the group that left early, for I was determined to see as much as I could.  We got up there on the train by 10ish and then went to the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall . I was just expecting a pretty building with a lot of steps. But even before we got on the grounds we heard something unexpected. Upon closer inspection we found a mammoth stage setup in font of the memorial. There just happened to be a rehearsal for a large Peace Day Celebration, with a choir that filled the steps up to the Memorial and  a symphony orchestra that was a least one-hundred players. To stumble upon this was the best part on my day in Taipei. We stood and listen for quite sometime before we moved inside the memorial, but still partaking of the sweet melodious harmonies as we looked at the smiling dictator sitting on his stone throne. The remainder of the day, we ate over priced Korean Food, Cold Stone Ice Cream, walk to and fro though parks, and ran around looking for a bus at the end of the day to take us home.  This is one of the many adventures that I'll be updating you on. But hopefully that will suffice for now.

Hualien, Taroko, and Hot Springs

  Chinese New Year!!!! Oh how the heart lightens on a vacation.  We only taught 2 days the week we left and then we were off for to our Trip to Hualien.  Hualien is on the East coast of Tiawan  and is near by the famous Taroko Gorge. We left on our train at 2pm and got to our destination around 6ish pm.  As most of the population of Taiwan travels on Chinese New Year, and we not realizing that this, got tickets but they were standing tickets.  Now it would be silly to assume that there are a set amount of standing tickets that they can sell as well.  The general guideline is that once the seats are filled you can  push, cram, pack, jam and fill to overflowing  every entry way, and aisle on the train.  Our group of ten, not finding a place to accommodate us all, had to separate. I went off by myself, as I often do, and found a roomy bit of ground to sit upon. I was glad that I had claimed that bit of ground for myself, for by the time we had past Taipei 2 hours latter the train was absolutely overloaded by people. If I had wanted to find a place to lay my bum then I would not have been able to find a place.  I was there reading  until a very strange looking Taiwanese man started to pull a pice of paper in and out of his pocket looking a me and then putting it away, and then getting it out again. I figured that he was going to start talking to me as soon a he could memorize whatever English was on that pice of paper. Being by-myself and not wanting to subject myself to  an awkward conversation, gave up my space and went to find the other girls. I stayed with them until we arrived.  

We arrived at our Hostel  and wanting to eat set about wondering the streets. But it turned out that on New Year's Eve, the night that we arrived, families eat together first and then open there doors to the public around 8. We wondered the night market after we had eaten, there was where I found the above shirt. Fabulous, is it not?  The next day, after staying up till 2ish, we got a late start.  It was raining, but it not detour us for going to Taroko Gorge. After stopping at the visitor center, where I captured the picture below of a someone making sure her dog was just a ridiculous looking as she , we hopped on a train, having seats this time, and headed off to the the Gorge.

It was an amazing 15min ride there. The mountains that rose in the distance were absolutely stirring. The clouds draped themselves over them in a scene that I am unable to describe in words.  After a refreshingly short train ride  we got a bus that would take us up the the Gorge. It didn't take long, but on the ride up there the boys in our group had a french braiding contest with Tammy's hair.  Though neither looked like a French-braid, they did surprisingly well for boys.

We finally arrived in the park, after a short pit stop we jumped back on the bus. But unfortunately this was a bit longer than the last ride.  We were stopped in a line of traffic that was caused by an accident. Two of the large tour buses tried to pass each other on a rather dangerous pice of mountain road. One was ran into the mountain pass and the other sat precariously close to the edge of the cliff.  We got off the bus, not wanting  this minor traffic accident stop us from seeing the wonders of the Park. We walked the road and down some steps to a small temple that that was built into the side of a cliff with a waterfall going underneath it.  It reminded me, in a small way, of Frank Lloyd Wrigh's Falling Water. Unfortunately this exploration was cut short when we heard people saying that the buses were moving again.  We had ventured quite a distance form our own bus so when traffic slowed we held out our tickets to another bus and pointed to it to see if he was with the same company, he was and we got on and continued up the Gorge. 

We Got off later and stared to hike around, when I say hike I mean walk on a paved road with cars passing us, but it was still beautiful. We did however do one "hike", called the Swallow Grotto, it was limestone caves that looked over the gorge. 

This Marked the end of the day in the park. The last bus down was at 3:30, and we having no alternative transportation,  had  to go. The next day we tried to head out early to rent scooters to ride down the coast.  We did find a place that would rent to foreigners, but they only had 4 scooters, so sadly two in our group  did not come with us. But don't feel to badly for them, they most certainly had their own adventures as well. 

I having had a scooter lesson( this consisting of going around the block twice and coming back unscathed) was voted to be the driver for this day. It was a little more difficult to then I thought, but I soon got the hang of it and my scooter buddy, Mary and I where off on our adventure. For some reason I got the short end of the stick when it came to picking a helmet, I got one that said "Happy Sister" on it, and it was made for a child. I  strapped  down, and prayed that I would not have to rely on it protecting my head from anything more than wind.

We continued down the costly highway oooing and awwwing at the wonderful ocean that we saw. We then went down a steep and windy road to get the beach. We ate our Taiwanese sandwiches that we got before leaving, my included corn, shredded zucchini and an egg. It was ummmm... ok.  We tried to fallow the trail to get down to the beach, but a man stopped us and said "money" and "200$NT". I, thinking that this man couldn't possibility own the beach, and how ridiculous that we should spend equivalent to 6$US  to go on the beach,  bypassed the man went down a path that was made by people like me, and snuck onto the beach. The others followed and we spent most of our time  walking, dancing, pondering, running, and doing cheerleading stunts on the beach. 

Our next stop was a rest area with the most amazing views of the coast, the above picture is one of many taken form that viewpoint.

We continued down the mountains to another beach that had a hike on one of the adjacent hills.  Like so many hikes here in Taiwan, there were stairs, lots, and lots of stairs. But it was worth it in the end for the awinspiring view.

We left from there to go back home. We did get caught in some rain, which while riding a scooter is like riding though hail. I was surprised when we got back to hostel it didn't have little baby cuts all over my face. The next day we got another scooter, so that the rest of the group could come with us, and  we made a plan to go to some Hot Springs some way down the coast. It was Mary's turn to drive, though she had her reservation about her skills, we made it out of the city unharmed.  The ride down was longer and less eventful then the last, but much colder.  We where all getting ancy to get the hot springs and warm up, and with some help from the natives we made it.  

The boys, Joseph, and Steve, looking manly on a scooter

Me, with my uber-cool Taiwanese face mask that I bought after my experience with the rain the previous day.

A shot from the back of the scooter, as we drove 2 hours to the Hot Springs.

Steve with his large helmet that he never took off. We thought that it made him look special, special in a, I have to ware this because I have balance disorder and fall down a lot  way, and not in  good way. (Love ya Steve)

Oh joy! The Hot Springs! We made it after being chilled for 2 hours on scooters the dirty looking water was to us like the pool of Bethesda(John 5:2,4) It was so refreshing. To be warmed to our bones was surely heavenly.  There were three pools, each of increasing temperature. It restored our sprits, and warmed our toes. Twice while there I braved the unheated lap pool just to cool thing down a bit. But It was just a great! I stayed there for awhile doing some laps, practicing my stoke, and greatly impressing some of the natives with my skills, or my ability to withstand the cold water, I know not. 

We stayed there for about 2 and half hours, wanting to stay longer but not wanting to drive all the way home in the rain, and dark, we left, or tried to.  We all ready get on our way when we realize that one of the tires on the scooters was flat. The good thing is the owner of the spa helped us out by getting someone to come over and fix it, but the bad thing is that it delayed us more than we had expected. 3 of the 5 scooters left and 2 stayed behind to wait for the repair man. 

On the the way back with the earlier group, we had a small accident. It had rained and part of the roads were muddy, and one of the scooters got to close to the back of the mud, lost control and fell over.  We(Mary and I)were right behind them when it happened, it was so scary to watch, my heart jumped.  But they ended up being fine with only some scratches and bruises to show for their accident. I jumped up and drove the rest of the way home with the driver of the scooter that got in the accident on the back. We made it back with most of the crew not wanting to do much more than take a hot shower and hang out at the hostel for the rest of the night. I on the other hand went out for food for the trip the next day, and somehow got lost on the way.  Surprised, perhaps not.  But after about 30 min I got back home much to my relief.  We left on the 9:20 train the next with 5 seat to share this time, and returned home happy and tired.

Sorry for the length of the Blog, but as you see much happened since the last time I had time to Post.

Big Winner

   My hike at the park

 it had stairs

 and more stairs

but a wonderful view

 my winning  lottery  ticket

One one with her mouth open is Angel. She is one of my kids that  would make a grate cake.(HAHAHA Angel's Food Cake! I'm too much)
My roommate Mary and I are reading the same book,: "The Brothers Karamazov." She is the intellectual and I'm the want-a-be.
Lunch from last week in Tiachung, crazy shrimp.
Dinner, or what is left of, My IGIF's mexican meal.
I'm the god of demolished bathrooms. This is what caused all the jackhammering last week.

Though this week has left me literally sick and tired it was not without its joys.  This last week we put the final touches on our trip for Chinese New Year. I am so excited to get out of my school. This last week I realized that in two day I hadn't even gone down below the second floor of my school, as I work on the 2nd and the 3rd and live on the 4th.  Any other time I would have gone a bike ride or hike but being sick, and teaching kindergarten that consists of jump around and being silly for 3 hours, has sapped all liveliness out of me.  But the good news that after restful weekend I can almost breath out of my nose again.  Another bit of good news is that I won the Taiwan lottery! All 200NT of it. That ends up being about 6 USD. A explanation: In an effort to get merchants to keep things on the books, the government came up with the Receipt Lottery. The theory being, with millions in winnings on the line, customer would start demanding receipts with every purchase  and merchants would wind up with all their income on the books. So I won money that doesn't even cover the cost of the thing I purchased on my winning receipt, but hey, its like eating out twice.

On Friday I made fortune cookies with my older classes, as it was one our last classes before brake.  When planing this lesson I realized that fortune cookies are not actually Chinese, but figured that it would be just as fun.  After doing it though I would not call this experience with the cookie making "fun".  The kids  obviously had a very good incentive to be  good, as there was going to be food. So the kids were not the problem, but I had forgotten that the kitchen did not have a oven.  But that was quickly solved with a toaster oven. But perhaps I should have actually tried to make them before doing it with a good of 7-9 year olds.  The whole concept of putting the fortune in the cookies was left behind when I released that you had to grab the cookie out of a hot oven and fold it before it got cold with the fortune inside.  While there are times when I'm teaching, when the idea to throwing my kids into a 274C degree oven sounds perfect, this was not the time to live out my fantasy.  So I opted for the flat fortune cookie which is sadly no longer a fortune cookie but a very thin, crispy, thing.  But even after having to alter the outcome so it was no longer  what we had set out to do, they,the kids left happy with a half of a rather doughy cookie in hand.  But do not let this culinary disaster make you second guess my skills, I'm still as good as I once was ( If you know that song I'm quoting good for you and please continue to humm as you continue reading). 

This weekend as I have said was very restful. No jackhammering, or trips, just pajamas, and movie watching.  I cut Steve's hair, as he is a little wary of the Taiwanese barbers. For the first time I cut boys hair it looks good, and well, even if he didn't like it, in two weeks he wouldn't be able to tell what I did wrong anyways.  I did however add some excitement to my life when I, with the other teachers that had helped me the day before with the cookie mess, made fortune cookies.  They  looked like the real thing  with fortunes inside and everything.  Even before the first batch was out of the oven I had a team assembled to fold and bend. They look very similar to the real thing, but some of the batches where a bit gooey but they still tasted grate. We made them for a potluck at church today, but unfortunately(get it unfortunately, if not it's ok, I'm really cheesy) the Taiwan humidity took its tole on them. They were no longer crunchy, but bendy.  But other then the other few Americans that are in our ward, no one knew that it was to be different.  As I am leaving for my vacation this week I'll be a bit slow to post again. But feel free to Email me.

Getting Lost

As some of you might or might not know Jessica has a tendency to get lost.  I believe that it is due that she is easily distracted by sparkly objects, though some might disagree. This weekend I again found me separated from the group. On this occasion I do not use the word lost, for I knew where I was the whole time, it was the group who lost me.  

This week had been a good one with the children, with only a few minor accidents. While playing POP! Goes the Weasel, which is very similar to Duck Duck Duck Goose, nay, identical.  Two children where running and one got tagged, and  slid into a chair and received two rather gross looking wounds on his head.  I sent him to get patched up by the very attentive secretaries who later asked me what happened.  As was trying to explain the game and what happened, I was cutoff and all she said was,"oh, accident", and left the room.  I had hoped that seeing one of there fellow class mates maimed by this game would have dissuaded the other children from wanting to play it, but on the contrary it only made them want to play it more.  My only explanation for this is that they are all adrenaline junkies, and Pop! Goes the Weasel  is the only way they can get their fix. Kids. Other then this minor injury, no other harm or accident has come to my children, yet.  The rest of the week was uneventful, but the weekend was chalk full of fun.  

On Saturday the whole apartment was woken up by the soothing sounds of 

jackhammering on the 1st floor of this concrete building I live in. 

The school had to redo on of the bathrooms and had to rip out everything. The floor vibrates and the 

sounds continued until we left to go clean the church in Taichung. Though when we got there 

everything was every done. We did have a opportunity to help our Branch President move, but

I and most of the rest of the group went shopping instead. We are the very symbols of

selflessness, aren't we. There was a large mall that we visited, but all I bought was food from 

the food court. We then wondered in the Night Market stalls that where jumbled together in

alleyways between buildings. As about 7 of us tried to stay together snaking though the rain

flooded gutters that were the walkway, it was only a matter of time before a found myself 

looking at bags, or hair clips and was lost. I, having had ample opportunities to be lost and

was not frightened in the least. I knew my way home and now I could take as long as I wanted 

looking at the things that surely the boys in our group would have no desire to linger and

look at. For about an half an hour I looked over the vendors goods, enjoying most of it. But 

just I was going to turn the corner on to a main street I came face to face with the group that that

had wondered on without me. Want to hear the saddest part of the tale, they didn't even know

I was gone. This shouldn't be surprise to many of you, as you might remember the story 

of Jessica being left at a house that her parents were looking at buying, and chilling for a 

45 min. until her parents realized that there where 4 girls in the car and not 5 and turned

around to collect her. This only one of the many and varied tales of her childhood abandonment.  

But to continue, we then separated into smaller groups, mine staying to shop

some more, as up to this point I had yet to buy anything in Taiwan that I did not later consume.

My group consisted of Whitney and Tammy.

Two wonderful girls at wanted to shop just as much as I did. At last I bought something that

I would not be consuming. A fab bag to fit all of my church crap in. And 4 moves, mostly old

musicals that I found out later I can only watch on my computer or on a special sckechy Taiwan

DVD player. Fortunately our apartment owns one such sckechy DVD player so all is not lost.

After this lovely day we ate at the one American restaurant in walking distance, TGI Fridays.

Don't judge me, it was wonderful. We all got some-sort of Mexican fare, and cold water which they

rarely serve here, for the most part its hot, or warm. After this meal I was completely content.

We then proceeded about a block to the bus stop. On the way I was practicing saying Fung Yuan,

the place I live, to I could ask the diver to make sure I was getting on the right bus. I then realized

that right now I was some strange white chick repeating a city name over and over. It was if I could

just hear someone repeating to themselves, Medford, MEDford, medFORD. I told the girls and we

thought it was so funny. Perhaps that the next time you hear someone muttering something to

themselves on a street corner you won't be to quick to judge, they could be just practicing their 

English.:) We got home and heard the adventures other girls they had that day.

If you want to hear them too you can click on the links, I think they are all working now. They are

all worth reading.

P.S. Pictures coming soon.

Graphic: Parental Discretion is Advised

This is a update for a  early blog in which I commented that I stubbed my toe to badly that I was sure it was going to fall, well it did.  And this is the photograph evidence to prove it.

Costco

The Heavenly Costco Chicken bake
I love Marshmallows, for some reason it smells like home.
Me between classes, yes, this is how I look most of the time now.
Don't they look cute. I had actually told them not to bounce the balls. Kids!
This is why I'm here. To teach Znglish.
People hang laundry in public places. This is us walking to the train station.
Our Taxi driver.  I think that he looks like Jason Bourn, he kinda drives like him too.

Another week gone to the children has past, and the weekend has come. On this Saturday we journeyed to the Temple of Consumer Goods, aka, Costco. This by far is one of my favorite Temples that I have ventured to in my 3 weeks here( except for the LDS Temple). Many wonderful and strange thing I witnessed while I wondered within its walls.  

My pilgrimage started by buying train tickets with nothing but a pice of paper with my destination written on it and pointing and a bit of grunting. Our humble group proceeded to the train that deposited us within a taxi ride of our destination.  One of the locals, seeing us wondering aimlessly, helped us procure her husband's taxi.  Though we were grateful for the assistance we wondered, while strapped  in the back seat of a taxi, drove in and out a traffic  by mad man, if it would have been safer to have journeyed by some other means. But we did arrive safely to The Temple and began our exploration.

Upon arrival the first strange thing we encountered were extremely large carts lined  up outside.  In contrast to the economy of space that takes president here in Taiwan, these carts seemed strangely out of place.  I believe that these carts could have been a more spacious way of traveling for most families here, for here it is not a uncommon sight to see a family of four, their groceries, and a dog on a scooter.   As we journeyed in through utilitarian doors what we saw was a foreshadowing of what was to come.

In the throng of black hair we saw the rest of our group that had traveled to this house of consumerism on scooters. Though there where numberless concourses of people, the white and red hair helped us pin point their location rather easily.   Partaking of the traditional Costco delicacies reminded me that home is not such a long way off after all. After eating this manna we continued with our oversized cart, that could house a small Taiwanese family, up a magnetized ramped escalator.  It was as if the magic that held our cart in place energized us to seek out our American bulk items though the Christmas Eve like ferocity that swept in this unholy bulk foods warehouse. But unfortunately the excitement of this venture was lost on one of our traveling companions.  Our dear Steve had been afflicted with some  wickedeist of all  Taiwanese illnesses; the dreaded Taiwanese cough, and the heartache of someone that has been parted from a dear companion.

Steve, one of the two boys in our sorority, has been separated from the one and only other male. It seems that the estrogen, that had once been equally shared between him and the other, has taken a toll on  him. But soon these two friends will be reunited again, and his soul will lift with the knowledge that he now no longer will feel obliged to participate in the girl talk that often happens in our place of lodging.

Continuing with our exploration of Costco we wondered toward the wondrous world of bread. I, with a heartsick Steve, decided to indulge ourselves and buy the  chocolate Costco muffins that are ruffly the size of my head.  We then bought a trove of lusted after items that included, tortilla chips, triple chocolate cake mix in a 6 pack, and my beloved cheese. Though in my hast to sample this wonderful  mixture of aged milk and whey I might have offend the locals that were also in attendance this day. 

In the tradition of Costco there are samples of the fair that they are peddling.  I, have only been the Costcos of the West, failed notice the slight differences associated with the East. I pasted a display where they were offering a taste of my beloved Tilamook cheese. I, thinking myself fortunate, took the last pice of toast with the melted cheese on it.  It was only after devouring it did a member of my group pointed out that behind the women preparing the cheese toast was a line of a dozen or more.  I felt ignorant, and shamed by the brown faces that where obviously hating me inwardly.  After this hideous display we left on our homeward journey. 

Our journey home was uneventful, except when getting a taxi from Costco back to the train station. We hailed a cab easily enough but the communication was a bit more difficult. In our hast to leave I had forgotten to write down the word train station in Chinese, even with our sad attempts to imitate a train  by pumping our arms and making choo-choo noises, the words were obviously foreign to him. But in a stoke of luck he called one of his friends that translated for us.

 When we arrived home we all happily went about separating and freezing our large quantities of food. That will hopefully stay off the homesickness a bit longer.