Jialeshui

Secluded beach town. Surfers. Swimming. Tanning. Setting up camp. Pizza at the night market. Bonfire. Wine. Fireworks. Sleep. Brunch. Beach. Tea. Drive home.

My job can be really great sometimes.

For the last two Fridays, I have been greeted by loving messages from my 11th graders. They are so sweet!!

One of my best days in Taiwan

Had a day off today. Packed three friends in the car and drove down to the beach last night. Camped under the stars. Met some great people. Went night swimming. Spent the day swimming and tanning. Amazing day!!

Pingxi Lantern Festival

Write your dreams and wishes on red lanterns and set them off into the sky with hundreds of others. Eat local food in the small mountainside town then camp under a pavilion with a few good friends.

Pingxi

Emi~Toria Took Taiwan

An unbelievable adventure with my wonderful and amazing friend, Emily!!! I am glad she has arrived home safely and I already miss her! An album below of our many adventures around the island of Taiwan.

Emi~Toria

Gorges, Stinky Tofu, KTV, Hot Springs, Beach

We have had a full and memorable last few days.

Train rides along the coast.
Hour-long foot massages.
Hiking to waterfalls, pagodas, and bell towers.
Hair washes.
Night Markets.
Drinks and KTV with my KTown friends.
Hot Springs.
Water and Fire Cave.

Great trip. Love having Em in my apt. So happy she is here!!

Today we will head to the beach.

Taipei

Had a very packed and relaxing day in Taipei with bestie Emily. Emi~toria's taking Taiwan by storm on day one. Walked through the historic quarter, visited Chiang Kai-Shek's Memorial, ate amazing soup dumplings and shumai, went to the top floor of Taipei's tallest building and went to eat dinner at a Taiwanese friend's home. Topped off the big dinner with some dancing at my friend's. Not a bad day!

Heading to Taroko Gorge tomorrow, the country's premier national park.

Wonderful time in NYC

Colud not have had a better time with all my loved ones in NYC! I am truly blessed!

Arrived in Taipei last night with my wonderful friend Emily. We will explore the city today.

You know the world is crazy when...

You meet someone for the first time and, completely soberly, they tell you they want to father your children and get married.

Hours of DrivIng through the Alishan Mountains.

The original plan was to drive to the Sandimen waterfalls. I made a wrong turn on the highway so we decided to drive north to the Alishan Mountains. Some friends and I enjoyed locally picked oolong tea, went for a hike through the forest and enjoyed all the beautiful vistas as we drove through the clouds.

Alishan

What a lovely Christmas

Almost 5 months abroad.

For years, I wanted to try living abroad. As someone who loves to travel and learn about new cultures, it seemed like the next logical step for me in my understanding of other parts of the world. After I became single, the timing seemed perfect to start a new adventure. My drive to live abroad was very strong even though I would be going alone.

I am very glad I have moved here. I have met some wonderful people, learned a lot about Taiwanese culture through my students and enjoyed getting to explore the many natural and cultural sights in Taiwan. Sometimes living abroad is challenging but I am glad I have tried it, or else I always would have wondered. 

After two or three months of living here, I started to wonder whether or not I could see myself living internationally. I loved the financial ease of living here and found the idea of living all over the world exciting.

Recently, I have felt differently. As the feeling of adventure wears off and I am settling into a routine here, I am less enchanted. I have realized I wanted the adventure of living abroad but I do see an end in sight. I wanted the adventure, not the reality. Now that I have that reality here, I understand that I love my reality back home so much more. It has been a powerful realization for me, one that gives me more understanding of my personal drives and life goals.

I am enjoying the clarity at the moment!!

Surprise: Pops is in Kaohsiung

Yesterday afternoon, at the beginning of my 4th period class, my 12th graders got me a tiramisu cake and sang happy birthday to me in English and Chinese. I was telling them how touched I was and how it made me feel better since it was a little hard being away from family and friends with my bday approaching. We were eating the cake when my Dad strolled into my class holding an apple and said, "I have an apple for the teacher." I froze in shock. He had spent the last 24 hours in transit from NYC to surprise me for my birthday. My friend Sue picked him up at the airport in Taipei the night before and was amazing at keeping it all a secret.

We embraced tightly and I started crying.

I am so happy my dad is here. He met all my students yesterday. They were running out of the hallways to meet him. After school, we hopped in the car and drove 2 hours to the southern tip of Taiwan to spend today at the beach.

Words cannot express how touched I am. I am really looking forward to spending the next 11 days with my dad.

Love you, Daddy!!!

My Best and Worst Day

Over the last 18 hours, there have been lots of ups and downs. It has all ended on a good note. Last night, my power went off (and I was told I would have to wait 3 days until it was turned on), I am battling a cold, got food poisoning from my dinner and I got a scratch on my new car. I had to leave work today to go pay my electricity bill. On the drive over, I was listening to the ONLY English radio station in Taiwan and they were offering free concert tickets to this band called Blue. The winner of the tickets would be the person who had the worst day and could sing their blues. Get it? I called into the radio station, told them about all that has happened to me and that it was the week of my birthday. I had the worst story of the 3 callers. And today, when I went to go pay my bill, they said the power would be turned on this evening. What a day!!!

Check out my WHIP!!

Since I was 16 years old, I have wanted my own car. Twelve years later, my dream has come true! This is my birthday present to myself this year. Happy 28th birthday to me. My car is a 1997 white Honda Civic. Still coming up with a name. Thinking about calling her BROOKLYN!!! XOXO

My Baby~ Brooklyn

Burritos for Thanksgiving

I teach a Spanish Language and Latin Culture activity for 9th to 12th graders two times a week. They always tell me they want to try more Latin food. Today for Thanksgiving, I made food to assemble burritos, a food which my students had not heard of, let alone tried.

They loved them and we went around the room and said what we were thankful for.

They loved the refried beans.

3rd Place in Volleyball tournament

I somehow became the coach of the 7th grade girls' voleyball team a few weeks ago and took a bunch of students up to Taipei last weekend for an all day tournament at Taipei American school. Four teachers and about 40 students took a 5-hour bus ride up to Taipei on Friday and we spent the night on the floor of a school's gymnasium. On Saturday, the day of the tournament, there were 6 schools from all over Taiwan and there were 99 games played over the course of the day. The kids had a great time and my team won third place in the tournament (out of 12 schools). Fortunately, when we left Taipei on Saturday evening, the kids were so tired that they slept oo the bus. A really fun but completely exhausting weekend. I really bonded with many of my students and have already seen the positive effects in my classroom. Photos below of my silly, quirky and weirdo children.

ISHOU volleyball tourney oct 2012

Feeling Challenged and Tired

I am, at the moment, questioning my decision to move here. Not because I am unhappy. But because I am overwhelmed by so many new things all at once. There is so much paperwork over the next few weeks that my school requires and it takes away from my ability to plan great lessons for my students. I am in the process of making friends and don't yet have levels of intimacy with people as I did back home, which is to be expected. I am realizing some people I thought I could be friends with are crazy and others that I wrote off are actually pretty cool. Each day is new but the excitement is becoming tiring. I miss being able to just be comfortable in my surroundings. I wanted to move abroad because I wanted to challenge myself. I am certainly being challenged in many great ways but, at the moment, it feels pretty overwhelming. I do not regret my decision but I await when my life is a little more settled here. Love you!

i was a cheerleader in my previous life

this past Saturday-ISHOU School Anniversary Day. House Teams Competition School Mascot too much fun!! in one of the activities, the teachers got to throw water balloons at their students. i kept pegging my students and getting them soaked. after dozens of my students were hit, they all teamed up against me and chased me around the field. i dodged many balloons but 20-something to 1 is not a fair competition. i left the anniversary day drenched from head to toe. it was great fun! some photos of my wonderful students and me.

school anniversary 2012

A day in the life of a teacher

Student: Teechah. I-hahve-ah da blahda een my-ah nohsah. I-ah goh-ah to da nursah.

Me: (looking up student's nose and only seeing crusted blood):  I do not see any blood coming down.

(Student exhales only through his nose, spraying his nose blood all over my shirt).

Me: Ewwww, Isaac! Okay, go to the nurse.