a little lame

Long time no see...ahh!

2009-11-02T08:13:00.002+08:00

It's the beginning of blog posting month and while I didn't technically sign up for it, I thought maybe this was a good time to revisit this blog and see if I can do it. It's been over a year since I've written here. I have no excuses, well I do, but nothing that seems relevant at the moment. Technically, I've missed the very first day of this month blogging thing (how's that for timing) but only because I slept all day yesterday out of sheer exhaustion. Hopefully this week will be better and I will try to commit to blogging again. There is so much to tell, so much to share. I'll begin tomorrow.

it's official

2008-05-30T23:41:00.002+08:00

So it's official.....I'm going back to Taiwan.

I had talked to my old school last week but I applied to main office today so it is officially official. I even found out I'll be making my old wage which totally rocks because if you've been away for a year, they totally don't need to do that. I won't have many hours at the beginning but I'll be there, and I'll be picking the rest up in November/December. It will be tight at first, but I still think I have money in my Taiwanese account so really, that's just a bonus!

I am really happy about the decision I have made. I have really enjoyed my experience teaching ESL here, but there is just so much of Taiwan that I miss. As a friend at work said, I'll get it out of my system eventually :) So that's it. It's done. Come September, I'll be an expat once again.

2008-05-24T13:20:00.002+08:00

So after all that freaking out about getting jobs and whatever else....pointless.

I think I'm going back to Taiwan.

Well, okay, it wasn't really pointless because you know, now I have experience teaching English in Canada. I just miss Taiwan and everything Asian so much right now. So I think I'm going back. In September.

I am also trying to decide if I should keep this blog going or not. I don't really have anything to write about as I really have no life other than work (how sad is that) I might keep it going, or I might stop for the summer and start again when I'm back in Taiwan. I'll have to see. I'll sleep on it.

wtf?

2008-05-23T22:08:00.001+08:00

Has anyone seen this? Charging $15 to check your bag? That's ridiculous! I'm glad I fly with Canadian airlines and I will not be impressed if they follow suit. I mean, first they make you check all your lotions and liquids so you can't just have carry-on luggage anymore, and now they are making you pay for it. I realize gas prices are high, but come on. I call bull shit.

tragedy

2008-05-16T06:25:00.004+08:00

I had this whole post about all the tragedies that are totally bringing me down this past week, like that in Myanmar, China and especially in my home town ...which occurred about 5 blocks from my parents house. When they mean a quiet residential street, they're not kidding. I did have a whole post about it all but I couldn't quite put into words how it all makes me feel.

Depressed at the amount of people that have died in the first two and the absolutely tragic death of the 4 people involved in the third.

Relieved that my family or friends were not directly involved. Aware that tragedy can strike any place and time and no one is unaffected by it.

Lucky that none of the typhoons or earthquakes I experienced in Taiwan were any worse than they were.

I cannot put into words how awful I felt when I heard that the pedestrian in the helicopter crash was an international student from Kenya. How can you tell his parents who sent him to Canada for an education that their son died in a horrible accident like that? My heart goes out to them.

huh?

2008-05-12T04:17:00.003+08:00

So, I'm sitting watching American Idol rewind (I know, I should be planning for my class tomorrow but I'm procrastinating once again) so I'm watching and some guy just sang an NKOTB song for their audition. No shitting. Who knew that would get you through to Hollywood, but it did! Anyway, enough of the crap tv I'm watching.

So it's Sunday and like I said I should be planning for my class, since you know, they seem to go a lot better that way but I really don't feel like it. I'm doing laundry instead so you know I must be procrastinating a lot if that's the case. I'm still feeling like something is pulling me back to Asia. Everyday I wish I was there and that I want to go back. I am really enjoying it in Calgary but the job isn't exactly what I thought it would be (yeah, like no hours) and I can't really move out of my sisters until I get a job with more hours (which totally sucks ass) but it's just too expensive to be paying rent, student loans and saving money for my travel addiction on 20 hours a week, even if it is a decent wage.

I put in a class request for the summer semester but now I'm sort of regretting my choices. I put in for the classes that I liked teaching this semester but they are at night again (which for some reason, I enjoy) but now I don't know if I should find a day job and not teach during the day, but then, I came home to specifically teach. I didn't go to school for my degree just to end up working nights at what I want to and work in a mall during the day. So I could go back to Taiwan. The hours aren't much better, but it doesn't cost nearly as much to live there.

Ah well, lots to think about....now I'm going to hang out with my cousin.

what's that breeze?

2008-05-09T05:12:00.003+08:00

I can feel a breeze. Since it's windy outside, not all that unusual except for the fact that I'm lying in bed and this breeze is coming through the closed window. Closed window. Strongly. It's freaking cold and now it's making me want to sleep. Which I've been doing too much of. This split shift just makes me want to sleep. Seriously. I'm trying to remember how much I slept in Taiwan, and well yeah, I guess I'm just a person that loves to sleep. Seriously. Especially in winter. If I were an animal I think I would be a bear so I could hibernate all winter. God, that would be so nice. So it really pisses me off when I can't sleep, like last week. I was up between 4am and 5am all week. I guess that would be why I slept almost the entire time while visiting my parents last week.

The jury is still out on whether I like my new job or not. Some days it's alright (like Monday and Wednesday nights when I have my beginner class that don't know how to talk back or be jackasses yet) but other days it's so incredibly awful. I never thought I would say this, but I actually like teaching kids and teenagers better. TEENAGERS! I can't believe I just said that. Oh well, only 6 more weeks of term left. Only 6 more weeks, then I can decide what I want to do next. Now that just opens a whole other can of worms.

2 weeks down

2008-04-30T06:16:00.002+08:00

Omg, I've only been working for 2 weeks and it's already starting to annoy me. I don't know what is going on, I haven't been sleeping, I'm totally pms'ing and all my students are annoying me because they don't listen to me.

I mean really, my six year olds in Taiwan followed instructions better than my classes do now.

reasons

2008-04-28T00:39:00.000+08:00

Reason why I don't have kids in my life plan??

Nieces with attitudes.

a book meme

2008-04-25T21:35:00.004+08:00

The ladies at the collective are talking about books this week and since I enjoy my books (although, probably not nearly as much as I should at the moment) I thought I'd participate...so here goes.

1) What book are you reading right now?
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, cause you know I liked High Fidelity and How To Be Good so much I figured I'd try it. Even though I couldn't get through that damn soccer book of his, oh sorry, Football.

2) What is the fourth sentence on page 133 of that book?
"I wasn't offered a handshake or a cup of coffee; I was ushered into his living room and given a dressing-down, as if I were some hapless parliamentary researcher."

3) What is one book that changed your life?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

4) What is one book that you read again and again?
I often read my books again and again and then again again. (does that make sense) Usually it's some brainless British chick-lit (yes, I'm admitting it here, I read chick-lit, but usually only of the British persuasion)

5) What three books would you want on a desert island?
To Kill Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and it's a toss up between the Kite Runner/A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Sisterhood of the travelling pants series :)
6) What is the funniest book you've ever read?
Ok, it's totally NOT a book but The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. I realize it's a play, but I totally laughed when I read it. The only other one I can think of is Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella...yes of Shopaholic fame, but I hated that book, in it's entirety. Can you keep a secret is actually sort of funny...or maybe I was just that bored when I read it.

7) What book made you cry the most?
The Last Valentine by James Michael Pratt. Lots of books actually make me cry, but I sobbed through this one.

8) What book do you wish had been written?
How to go through reverse culture shock and survive without dreaming of faraway places and just not wanting to be back in your own country and complaining about everything that is different here, even though you complained about everything that was different there (Taiwan). That book would REALLY help right about now.

9) What would be the title of your autobiography?
How To Procrastinate For Dummies.

10) What book do you keep meaning to read?
The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill...because it's been sitting on my floor for months at the recommendation of my sister but she's the one that recommended Atonement so now I'm a little wary.

11) What five books should everyone be required to read?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Are you There God? It's Me Margret by Judy Bloom, Forever by Judy Bloom, Deenie by Judy Bloom (are you seeing a trend?) Then Again, Maybe I Won't by ...wait for it...Judy Bloom. I think Judy Bloom should be on a required reading list for all adolescence.

12) What book was the biggest waste of your time?
Confessions of a Shopaholic. OMG, so horrible. Oh and The Bridges of Madison County. Oh and the Pilot's wife...I'm so mad at Oprah for those two.

13) What was your favorite book as a child?
Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook....it had the greatest stories in it.

14) What book have you read the most?
oh, I have no idea. Probably the Sesame Street Bedtime storybook because now I'm reading it to my nieces and nephew!

15) Is there any book's ending that you would like to rewrite? What would you change about the original ending?
Wicked....Elphaba wouldn't have died.

I'm so not used to this...

2008-04-19T22:14:00.005+08:00

So the job...it's really good. I had a great first week, which I hope is typical. I mean, I know I have to make improvements in my classes and whatnot, but it went well. Oh wait, what am I doing? I'm teaching ESL just like I wanted. I would say where, but I don't want to get "Karled" so I'm not going to just in cases. (yes, I meant to write cases) Needless to say, it's a place where young men would go when they are short on their dough only it's for women, if you get my drift.

It's for newcomers to Canada and it's totally a lot of work, but it's good. The only down side is it's only 20 hours a week which totally sucks because really, how does someone live off that? Well, they sponge off their sister, that's how. I guess I will be until I either find something else (on top of this job) or go back to Taiwan (always the possibility, but that's for a discussion later) Right now though, I'm just soaking in the experience and it's going well so far. I don't actually think I've ever worked with nicer people though. It is almost freaking me out how nice these people are. Is that weird?

I'm not used to getting up in the mornings though. Six months of not working really gets you used to not having a time schedule and sleeping whenever the heck you want. I am going to miss those days. I love to sleep. So much so that I trained myself in Taiwan to pretty well be able to fall asleep anytime, anyplace. It's a great skill to have picked up! I was dead tired on Thursday, but I don't have classes on Fridays so I get three days to sleep in, which is a pretty good alternative. I mean, even in Taiwan I didn't have to get up as early as I do now and I start work at the same time. That's the benefit of living three buildings away from work I suppose. I think I'm going to need to move downtown. You know, so I can get more sleep.

a little taste of home...

2008-04-14T03:23:00.005+08:00

Since it looked like this on Thursday...

(taken out my window with my webcam, so not the greatest, but you get the idea)

I was pretty stoked when it turned out to be a nice balmy 20 degrees (celsius) yesterday. It was a great day to go downtown and explore as I am not overly familiar with the city. My sister, her fiance and I went downtown to meet my friend and go to China town to look around. We didn't find the market but we did find this totally great little store that had dishes that almost matched the ones that I picked up in Taiwan. And hauled all the way home. That are now sitting in a box in my bedroom because I don't have a place of my own to use them in. I was pretty excited though. This store had some pretty great stuff in it that makes me totally want to get my own place sooner rather than later and decorate it with lanterns and ugly gold cats with moving arms and tons of dishes! I am officially in love with this store..and it's a post office too!

We went for great Pho Bo soup at one of the many Vietnamese restaurants they have in town and then we found this....

Well, okay it's not like we just stumbled across this place. I pass it on the C-train all the time, but we went with the purpose of trying it out today. I was a little apprehensive because Pearl Milk Tea was the absolute greatest drink I had in Taiwan and I wasn't sure it would compare. Well, it did. They had a whole lot more flavours to choose from rather than just plain milk tea but I asked which would be comparable to what I had in Taiwan. I was pretty confident they would know since the sign said they had people working there from Taiwan to ensure authenticity. This is what it looks like up close...

See that yummy goodness of black pearl at the bottom? I am still not sure what the heck they are made of, but they don't have much taste anyway. The greatest thing about it? The milk tea is exactly how it is in Taiwan. To the sweetness level and everything. It was perfect.

See how happy we look?

Now this whole experience has me wondering though. Since I've been home, I've done all I can to seek out Asian experiences. If we go out for dinner, it is usually Thai, Indian or Vietnamese. I think this bubble tea place is going to be my newest addiction. Is it a sign that I should go back? There are great things about being home, like being able to shop for clothes and such,(okay, and the family thing too) but I am drawn by everything that is the Asian culture right now. I just can't get enough of it and I'm wondering if it's a sign that that's where I should be.

happy birthday to me...

2008-04-11T01:36:00.003+08:00

So I was going to write a big long post about how birthdays mean more when you live overseas and that (well, holidays in general sometimes) because when you live away from home, you try and make the little things count for more and that this was going to be one sucky birthday because my sister is at court and I'm not actually doing anything today (other than hopefully having wonderful Indian food for dinner, yum!) All of my birthdays while I was in Taiwan were artfully celebrated. The 1st one, people from my training group congregated in Taipei and we went for Thai food and hung out in a rec room of a friend's apartment building drinking. My next birthday was a big celebration with people from work and then dancing at Ministry of Sound. The next year, the best party of all time in my opinion, dinner and then drinks and live music at a pub in Taipei where we were pretty well the party because so many people were there and it was just all awesomeness to have everyone hanging out and having a great time. The last, well it was quieter but neverless great. Being surprised with birthday cake at work and having my kids sing Happy Birthday to me all day was so totally cool, especially because most of them had only just learned the song in English :)

I was going to say how nothing I ever did in Canadia compared to birthdays in Taiwan but then I got thinking. When I was in Victoria, my university roommate took me to lunch and decorated the door of my room and made my day totally special. And she didn't have to. Another year at Uni, we went camping, froze our asses off and complained the entire time, but it's a birthday I will never forget. I was thinking that this year was going to suck because it wasn't going to have the effect of being away, but I was wrong. I have plans to spend the weekend with friends, I've talked to or heard from my family. I was surprised on Monday with a birthday cake because my sister isn't here until late tonight and she really wanted me to have cake. I have so many messages on Facebook that they don't even fit on the first page of my wall and, well I got a job today.

I guess when you look at it, it's been a pretty special birthday after all. One that I will always remember. (you know, assuming of course this job goes well, and if not I guess I'll be cursing my birthday and never doing anything ever again on this day in the future)

sinking to an all time low...

2008-04-09T02:07:00.003+08:00

turning on my webcam so I can blow dry my hair while I'm reading blogs because I can't be bothered to spend a few minutes in the bathroom...

thinking I need a new hair dryer because it's taking so long for my hair to dry....couldn't at all be because my hair has grown to a point where it just takes longer to dry or anything.

actually blogging about hair dryers and blow drying my hair.....see, new lows I tell you!

I need to find a job.

oh so close

2008-04-06T22:49:00.002+08:00

So, I'm in Lethbridge right now sitting in a hotel room on free wireless internet, woohoo! We came down for the game last night. Pretty well this entire hotel there are people from BC here for the game, and pretty well the majority of them, my parents or sister knows, so it's been quite the party. Not quite as crazy as last weekend, but crazy enough.

Game was crazy. Ice were down 3-0 going into the third and then were scored on again to make it 4-0. I know they came back the night before to win, but really, 4 goals? Yeah, they did. They tied it to take it into overtime. How freaking crazy is that? We lost in overtime, which was tough, but you know, they fought it out. They came back. It was pretty freaking exciting. Especially because the Lethbridge fans were really pomping it out when it was 4-0. Most of the people here were really nice (unlike when we were in Calgary) but they were really getting cocky when it was 4-0.

Going back to Calgary today. I have to really start looking for a job again, so I have one more day of relaxing freedom. I haven't been sleeping well the last few nights either so that just makes my mind take walks I don't want it to and stress myself out. It's my birthday this week, and it's going to totally suck, but I'm trying not to think about that now. I'm trying not to think how all my birthdays in Taiwan were pretty decent (in fact one of the parties was named the most fantastic night out in the experience of Taiwan by people) Those are stories and thoughts for another time though.

death by rye...

2008-04-04T13:21:00.002+08:00

whiskey that is, and after way too much of a bottle on Saturday night, I spent all of Sunday in bed and most of Monday still queasy. I am very distraught that my hangovers are now lasting two days. That makes me want to stop drinking....well almost. Definitely off my rye for a while now. I think I'll go back to beer.

I'm addicted

2008-04-01T23:34:00.003+08:00

I have an addictive personality. My newest addiction? Reality tv. But not just any reality tv. I've always enjoyed my Amazing Race (I get excited when I see places I've been) but lately, it's gone beyond that.

Hello Project Runway and The Hills.

I.CANT.STOP.WATCHING.

I don't really know why, because seriously, The Hills isn't really a great show or anything. I'm going to be awfully upset this weekend when I go to my sisters and discover that she doesn't get MTV.

Canadian, eh

2008-03-26T14:53:00.002+08:00

Not that I want to turn all stereotypical Canadian or anything, but I'm pretty sure it has happened. I went to the Kootenay Ice game tonight and it was great! Probably the best hockey game I've seen. I am not the hugest hockey fan, but I don't mind seeing the game live. It's just so much better. They are in playoffs now and are up 3-0 in the series. They are getting serious about their hockey, it's great to see. If they win tomorrow it will be a sweep...and I just happen to be in town for that game too, what are the chances! (Well, pretty good actually since I was staying in town for the game...even though other reason have since come up, it really was all about the game)

I do have to say though, the fans in this town are a bit lame. I mean, in Cowtown, while being horrible whingers, they at least have unity among fans. All the fans here are old and don't really cheer for the team. They are way too quiet and only really cheer if they score. It would be so much better with chants or playing of certain songs that everyone gets cheering with. *sigh* I guess that's a little to much to ask from a rednecked retired town. Here's hoping though!

titleless

2008-03-24T09:07:00.002+08:00

So Happy Easter.

oh dear

2008-03-13T04:30:00.005+08:00

I need some retail therapy.

Unfortunately, I can't really afford it.

I'm totally second guessing my decision not to go back to Taiwan.

I hate job hunting.

crabby assed

2008-03-12T05:10:00.002+08:00

I hate looking for a job. I hate looking for a job mostly because it usually means I need money, but also because I hate job interviews. I mean, is it so hard for people to be nice?

I have done interviews before, I've been the person asking the questions, and trust me, conducting an interview all in English with some poor person whose English is not all that great, plus they are nervous so they get easily flustered, is no small feat. I always tried to be pleasant and nice and tell them it wasn't a big deal and they could just relax, we were going to talk. Most of the interviews I conducted went well and if the person actually got hired for the job, they felt comfortable enough with me to ask me for help or talk to me about stuff. If I wasn't nice in the interview, surely they would try to never talk to me again.

Today I had an interview. I wasn't even nervous about it, until I got there and discovered it would be with three people. Okay, so that's great. I was asked questions, I answered them but one of the women interviewing me was a complete hag. I mean, totally rude, rolling her eyes and just huge attitude. I didn't think I was doing that badly but she made me rethink what the hell I am doing with my life. I am really not very impressed, so much so that I don't even want this job if they call me. That's how bad it was. I don't want to even have to work with this woman. Why are some people so bent on power trips? Two of the women I met with were immigrants to Canada...one wasn't. Which one do you think was the mean one?

a little bit of everything

2008-03-07T00:54:00.004+08:00

On the job front, I really don't know why I was freaking out because by the time I got to the school, I totally wasn't. The interview went fine, I observed classes yesterday (at my request) and I have a teaching demo tomorrow. I have another school interested so I might try and set up an interview with them for next week. I have applied at two other schools that I really want to hear from, but I haven't yet. What's up with that? Of course, they are probably the better schools...you know one's that actually have a curriculum to follow.

On the picture front. I'm trying to upgrade my flickr to pro so I can organize my Asia photos better but the last time I tried, it wasn't working. I'm not really sure why. I think it's time to try again so I can finally get them online and send the link out to people. I mean, it's been almost three months already, I told you I was a procrastinator.

On the home front, there are a few apartment buildings that I have seen with signs that are renting. One is right near Dalhousie station, the other one is right down the street from my sister's house. How's that for being close by? The beetle was all excited because then her and her friend that lives a few doors down could walk to my place by themselves. Of course, why they would want to do this is a little beyond me. I mean, I'm not going to have stuff around that a 10 year old would want to play with. Maybe I should get a Wii. Then I'll have company forever! I might also look downtown as I love downtown and I think it's the coolest place in the world (well, second to Market square in Victoria, but it sort of reminds me it) I don't know when I'll get a place. I was thinking sooner rather than later, but my sis said I could stay as long as I needed to. I guess we'll just have to see how much more I can handle not having my own space.

So I guess this transition isn't going to be quite as bad as I thought.

freaking out

2008-03-05T03:50:00.002+08:00

Big things happening. I actually applied for jobs today. I actually have an interview today. I am totally freaking out. I didn't think it would happen that fast, I mean, I sent in my resume at 8am and I got called before 10. Really. I had a choice of going today or tomorrow, I figured I should just get it over with but now I feel totally unprepared and I'm totally freaking out. Like I mean FREAKING OUT. I'm having a total panic attack. So bare with me and my freaky-ness. Hopefully I won't be a complete dork. It's reason's like this that I like phone interviews. I'm so much better at them.

tomorrow...well, maybe

2008-03-03T13:32:00.004+08:00

Tomorrow is the day...that is if I can stop my procrastinating ways and actually apply for a job. I talked about it with my sister and we discovered that putting things off like applying for jobs and the like must be a family trait. Case in point, I applied for my job in Taiwan two days before the deadline. Of course, because of that, I had less than a month to get from here to there, so there wasn't much room for procrastination at that point. Probably a good thing because I probably would have chickened out of the entire thing.

Of course, instead of finishing my cover letter for all these so called jobs I'm suppose to be applying for, I'm sitting here with the future BIL* watching Sicko....yup, nothing like procrastinating.

*future brother-in-law...you know, cause writing that out all the time could be a pain in the ass. Then again, BIL just looks cooler. :)

cooking with Gramma

2008-03-01T03:44:00.004+08:00

Growing up, it was always tradition that whenever we visited the cabin, my gramma would have freshly made cinnamon buns for the grandkids to have for breakfast. This was our summer thing. Everyday we would heat up cinnamon buns and enjoy the greatness of my gramma's baking and if we were lucky, we got to make them with her too. I'm glad that even as we get older, things stay the same and my gramma still has cinnamon buns waiting for us when we visit and she is quite determined to pass the gift of making the greatest cinnamon buns on earth down through the generations.

When I went to visit my grandparent's I got to make cinnamon buns with my gramma, and pass on some of my expertise as well.

mmm, it begins.

step 1. roll nice and thin

step 2. put lots of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon...
...get told that is way too much brown sugar and it will all
just leak out the bottom

step 3. roll nice and thin, even with lots of brown sugar

step 4. cut and let sit so all that goodness gets soaked in

step 5. cook and enjoy all that baking greatness...
then get told that they really do taste better with more brown sugar

Now I'm craving cinnamon buns. I may have to do something about that

motivation

2008-02-29T02:59:00.001+08:00

I've discovered this week that it's easier (or maybe less stressful/guilt-ridden) to be unmotivated when you have a job.

I heart him

2008-02-21T04:16:00.003+08:00

Lots going on in the land of Canadia. Too much to go through right now, my mind is a jumble of what to do and I have a huge decision to make that I'm pretty sure I've made, but I just can't bring myself to confirm it in case I'm making a huge mistake. So instead I'm surfing the net and watching everything I can about the US election that has absolutely nothing to do with me other than making me completely fascinated by what's going on.

I found this.

Incredibly well done and inspiring.

the price is wrong

2008-02-02T02:58:00.001+08:00

Being out of the country has its advantages and disadvantages. It's a great experience but you miss certain things about being at home. Besides elections, birthdays, Christmas' and all other big events, I also missed Bob Barker retiring from the Price Is Right. It must have been a sad, sad day. The man was an institution.

So fine, I understand the guy needs to retire. Everyone does at some point in their lives, but sitting here watching the new Price Is Right? I'm really wishing Bob would stick those golf clubs in a closet and come back. Whose bright idea was it to bring on Drew Carey as the new host? Quite frankly, the show sucks now because of him. After he ruined what was once one of the funniest shows I've ever seen by brining it to America and totally watering it down, and including himself as host, I can't understand how anyone would think he's funny. I will admit, I found certain aspects of Whose Line funny, but that was usually when he was not on the screen.

Seriously though, watching the Price is Right now is just painful. He has no personality and can't improvise well at all. He even bumbles through the "have your pet spade or neutered" line, which is probably scripted. I just don't know how people can go from watching this...

to this...

and that's better than what I've seen since I've been home. Maybe Drew is being affected by the writer's strike.

i laugh

2008-01-31T14:06:00.000+08:00

I have this tendency to laugh a lot when I'm watching television. I find certain shows incredibly funny and I like to show my appreciation. The thing is, usually I'm sitting by myself and everyone else in the house thinks I'm crazy. I don't mind. I like things that make me laugh. Tonight, this made me laugh a lot. My father rolled his eyes.

good intentions

2008-01-29T12:16:00.000+08:00

I keep meaning to post about my grand Asian adventure, but I just haven't gotten around to it. I haven't gotten to much to be completely honest. It was a crazy, fantastic experience going around 10 countries in 3 months (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Borneo, The Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Canada) and I have some great pictures to go with it. Of course, as I'm sitting here freezing my ass off in Canada, I wish I could go back to the warm weather and take more pictures of stuff that will only be a memory (unless I go back of course) I think I'm even more addicted to Asia than I was when I lived there. I'm going through Asian withdrawal.

I will post pictures and tell some stories, but for now, I'll just leave what is probably my favourite picture of the trip.

From the deck of our Guest House in Cambodia.

conversations with sister

2008-01-26T05:02:00.000+08:00

sister #1: I got the tickets for tonight. I am going to work hard tonight as I am playing both Friday and Saturday night.

Me:  but tonight is Friday....so how can you work hard
tonight and play tonight at the same time??

Sister #1: Sorry - work hard today :)

Me:  Loser.

Sister #1:  I feel the love, I really do.

Me:  You should...it's there, somewhere under all the sarcasm...really, it is.

Sister #1:  Whatcha doing?  (weekend company) here yet?

Hmmm....and here I thought she was going to work hard today.
Pretty sure that doesn't include emailing me all after noon :)

not The Junos, but Juno

2008-01-19T14:09:00.000+08:00

So I just finished watching Juno. I have been reading on different blogs how great this movie is, and it is. It truly is. I actually think it was better than I was expecting, and I had some pretty high expectations.

The fact that it is chock full of Canadians doesn't really hurt either. I haven't seen Ellen Page in anything else but I can see why everyone is talking about her. Michael Cera is the dude to be lately as he is in just about everything (okay, slight exaggeration, but really, he's been doing a lot of stuff lately)

As great as these Canadians are, I have to say I think my favourite performance in this movie was by Allison Janney. I find her comedic timing great and I laughed everytime she was on the screen. Of course, it helps that I have loved pretty well everything that she's been in from 10 Things I Hate About You (that book would have been quite the read) to West Wing. Everything she's in, she's great in and she's now just become my favourite female actor after watching her in Juno.

Bottom line, Juno is one to go watch.

good intentions

2008-01-17T03:02:00.000+08:00

For all my planning of packing my room, I just can't be assed. Everyday I say I'm going to do something and I don't. I think I'm too addicted to my computer. And what do I search out on my computer?? American Primary Election results. Why? I have no idea, I am just incredibly interested in the election this year. More so than probably ever before. I mean, I alway am aware of what's happening, just never this early. But then, I don't think it's ever been as interesting as what this years election could potentially be.

I mean, it is possibly going to be a ground breaking year if either Obama or Clinton get the nomination for the democrats. I can't really say who I would want since I am neither up on their policies or American (which is why I haven't exactly researched their policies) I just know that they seem to be the front runners.

I am curious however why in some of the primaries, not all of the candidates seem to run. So Clinton won Michigan, but Obama wasn't even running. Same in Iowa when Huckabee won...not one of the top republicans seemed to be running there. I don't understand that. If someone wants to clear it up, let me know.

It's just such a nice change up from Brittney and all her problems.

me me me me in C minor

2008-01-15T11:46:00.000+08:00

okay, so I totally suck. I haven't been here often enough. Whenever I feel like writing I just think that my life is not nearly interesting enough right now. I mean, I've left Taiwan and I'm back in Canada basically freezing my ass off. How exciting is that? So for my first post of the year (and no, not the last...I'm going to get back into this, even if I have to start telling stories about living with the parentals, although really, I've only been at theirs for a grand total of 2 weeks since I've been back, not so bad really) So anyway, for the first post...it's a meme...I know, they suck but this one is sort of cool because it involves music. The rules...turn on your music player (ipod, mp3 player, wmp, or anything, put it on random and answer a question...skip to next song, answer next question. Get it??? Hang on everyone, here we go...

What does next year have in store for me?
Shadow of a Man - Bedoiun Soundclash (hmm, well, at least it's a man in some form :) )

What’s my love life like?
We Shall Overcome - Peter, Paul and Mary (That sounds promising!)

What do I say when life gets hard?
Summer Skin - Death Cab For Cutie (yeah, those sunburns are hard on life)

What do I think of upon waking up?
E-Bow the Letter - R.E.M. (Well, it's a great song!)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
All Used Up - Sloan (Umm...well, I hope I certainly hope not)

What do I want as a career?
Read my Mind - The Killers (sweet! Great job)

My favorite saying?
Pictures - Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow (instead of saying cool, or sweet, it's pictures...that toy is pictures!)

Favorite place?
Change For Me - Low Level Flight

What do I think of my parents?
I Can't Stand Up for Falling - Elvis Costello

What’s my porn star name?
Red Rain - White Stripes (ha...)

Where would I go on a first date?
The Last Saskatchewan Farmer - Captain Tractor (Saskatchewan! Pictures!)

Drug of choice?
My One True Friend - Bette Midler

Describe myself.
Chain Reaction - Beck

What is the thing I like doing most?
Return our Lives - Neverending White Lights

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
The Way Things Are - Fiona Apple (and it's true)

How will I die?
Breathe - Moist (Well now THAT's an interesting way to die)

Have a great New Years!

ridiculous

2007-10-31T19:06:00.000+08:00

I had every intention of posting here on this grand holiday I am taking. I just haven't. There hasn't been time. I'm a little addicted to updating my facebook unfortunately. I am in Laos right now after actually having made it out of Taiwan (it's a miracle) Sure my house was still in a bit of a state (probably not nearly as bad as what I make it out to be) but it was cleared out of what I needed with only odds and ends left. It has been a great trip so far. We have traveled through Southern Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and now we are in Laos. My favourite so far is hands down Malaysia. I absolutely loved every part of it. After Laos we are going back into Thailand and then Borneo and the Philippines. Then it's back to Taiwan before I set down in Canada. Seems like quite the whirlwind. It sort of has been, but it's been a blast so far. When I finally download pictures I will update the space with stories of the adventures taken, please be patient, I am really sorry.

it's done

2007-08-30T14:13:00.000+08:00

Work that is. I have finally finished. Unfortunately that means I only have about a day and a half to sort out my house. I have most of my garbage rounded up. I'm a little afraid to start in my kitchen though. I think it's going to be a bit ridiculous, but most of the garbage upstairs is rounded up and downstairs it's almost all recycling, which since I have the most awesome recycle woman, I can take it out whenever I want. I guess right now it's just about getting the garbage rounded up. I'll worry about packing after that. I think it will be a bit more manageable.

My washing machine overflowed today though. Lovely treat for me to deal with on my last day. Of course, I haven't and there is still water all over my floor in the kitchen through my spare room. I'm going to have to wear my crocs when I clean the kitchen out. I am hoping it will all just evaporate in the heat but it doesn't really look like that is happening yet. Of course, it's still early. I'm not actually leaving until tomorrow, so you never know.

grand tour of Taipei

2007-08-23T21:50:00.000+08:00

Since we are going traveling, we thought it would be a good idea to get boosters of vaccinations we may need. I haven't had any since I've been here, so that would be about 3 1/2 years. I'm well overdue I know. To come to Taiwan I got the Hep A, B and typhoid shots as that was recommended. Funny thing, you can't actually get the typhoid vaccination in Taiwan. Or at least that's what we were told.

We thought we would go to Ren Ai hospital since that is where we get the medical checks done for the ARC's and it is a pretty decent hospital. They told us to go to a different hospital (I don't actually know the name of it, but it's near Ximen) At the next hospital, we were sent to the 2nd floor who then sent us to the 6th floor. On the 6th floor it was just a load of offices of the infectious disease department. Clearly, not where we needed to be. Luckily someone saw us being all confused and helped us. They even phoned all the hospitals to find out where they did the vaccinations we needed. Of course, we couldn't get them done there, that would be too easy. So they sent us to NTU hospital (National Taiwan University) I have to say, if you ever need to go to the hospital in Taiwan, go there. It is an amazing historic building and just has a great feel to it, it doesn't feel like you are in a hospital at all, more like grand central station but without the trains.

The guy at information was super nice with amazing English and he even took us to where we needed to go. We then had to go to speak to the doctor and get checked out (I'm still not exactly sure why) and then go back downstairs, pay and then actually go to the pharmacy to pick up the vials of vaccine before we could get them done. It was the most bizarre method of doing things for something that took 2 seconds. So now I'm all vaccinated up and the only thing affecting my liver will be all the alcohol I drink :)

right to the bitter end

2007-08-18T18:54:00.000+08:00

One of my new teachers didn't make it through training so I have to pick up the slack. This basically means I don't have a whole lot of time for anything. Like packing. Throwing out my garbage. Getting rid of virtually everything in my house. I'm not just putting it off anymore. I'm just not home to do anything.

We are having a typhoon day today. It's been windy and raining pretty hard. Of course, I decided to sleep so that hopefully I can be in somewhat functional tomorrow to begin the grand task ahead of me. I keep having all these offers of help, but that's just weird. Especially since I'm not really going to be taking a lot of stuff with me. I just have to figure out how to get rid of most of it. I guess my recycling lady is going to love me with all the stuff I will be sending up to her. She already loves me for all the water I have been drinking and giving the bottles to her. Enough that she actually will shoo me back into my house and she'll drop my garbage into the truck.

If you are reading this because you want an update on the typhoon, things are fine. I never lost power. I don't know what the damage is like outside since I'm not an idiot and I won't be going out there any time soon. I can tell you that it insanely dark out right now though and still raining. I plan to be refreshed tomorrow, I'll update if that actually occurs.

Taichung

2007-08-06T16:12:00.000+08:00

So it was off to Taichung this weekend for a bit of relaxin, chillaxin and a whole lot of sleep. For the most part, I did sleep, a lot, but I'm still tired. I am beginning to think this tiredness is never going to leave me.

We arrived on Friday around 6pm. After walking a while we discovered that we weren't going to get a hotel in the area we wanted to without paying a crap load of money so we decided to go back to the tried and true hotel we always go to near the train station (Fuh Chun Hotel if anyone is interested) Not the most extravagant hotel in the world but it is clean and cheap. It also has air conditioning and tv, which is really what I needed. We had a quite evening on Friday. We went out and got pizza and then just hung around, I went to bed around 10:30. Can you believe that??

On Saturday we decided we wanted to go and see the Golden Buddha and since it was a nice day and we had nothing else to do, we figured we could walk it. But then we hit this....

I'm not sure if you can really tell from those pictures, but it was absolutely pissing down with rain, and it started really fast. We were lucky enough to be passing a large building with a large eves at the time so we didn't get too wet, however we were stuck there for over an hour before we decided that the nice thunder storm we were stuck in just wasn't going to stop, so we went to the movie instead. The movie that I fell asleep in. Yes, I fell asleep in Die Hard 4.0. I don't think I missed too much because I still saw quite a bit of it, either that or it's a ridiculously long movie. What I saw of it was pretty good though.

So back to the hotel we went, and another nap for me. Yes, I slept again. This time for a really long time and I had huge problems waking up. We went out to meet people after that and it was fun and really a typical night out. But remember, if in Taichung, don't try and tell people street names, just reference everything from Sogo, it just makes life so much easier.

Our friend tried to tell us the street the restaurant was on, which was fine, but it got lost in translation somehow and after the taxi dropped us off in some random place, we called and said friend said, go to Sogo and turn right. Um, well all the taxi's know Sogo so surely that should have just been the starting point rather than the street names. I mean, really.

After staying up way too late and everyone being rather hungover (I have to admit, I wasn't too bad since I didn't really drink a lot, I was just still really tired) we decided Sunday was the day for the Golden Buddha. I have never experienced a hotter day to do something in. Well, this would be a lie since I was out in Taipei in the hottest day since 1920 or something stupid like that, but it was hot on Sunday. Even though we only stayed long enough to take pictures, the Buddha was definitely worth it.

It is the largest smiling (or laughing, I'm not sure what they call in) Buddha in Taiwan.

After that we got on the Ho-Hsin and came home...still tired. But hey, it was a weekend away, well worth it.

new teachers = no sleep

2007-08-03T07:57:00.000+08:00

I have decided the worst thing about new teachers coming is always the lack of sleep that I get. For some reason, the entire time they are in Taipei training I don't sleep. Now, I was suffering from heat insomnia a few months ago when the weather was horrible and I was stressing about graduation, but that was just the problem of getting to sleep. Now, I have been waking up at 5am for the past three nights. Or should I say mornings.

I have no idea why I still do this. I can understand the first time I went through an intake being stressed out (and rightly so, they all bolted on me) but I've been through this many times before. Maybe it's because when I look at my schedule of what I need to do for the next month I get a little freaked. I haven't exactly left me much time to do stuff in. I'm probably working more hours than normal. But it will be worth it, because at the end, I see a nice sandy beach. So in the end, if nothing else, I'll be able to sleep on that beach.

randomness

2007-07-26T16:58:00.000+08:00

I have always said it is the random things we do that we enjoy most. I stand by this still. Things that are planned always have a way not meeting the expectations we put on them and never seem like they are as much fun as they should be. I have mentioned a few of my most favourite random evenings here and here, but neither of them compares to the latest.

On Tuesday we went shrimp fishing. I love going shrimp fishing but we don't go very often because really, we aren't actually all that great. We were just going for a quiet evening of socialness and amazingly huge shrimp. I actually came out quite well after catching 5. I can't actually unhook them though, so luckily all the Taiwanese take pity of me and help me out there.

After we were finished shrimping (after catching only 9 in total, pretty good since 5 of those were mine) we sat down to have a few drinks and wait for our shrimp to cook. We ended up talking to the table next to us and then joined them. We were sitting with non-other than members of the local police. That's right, we partied with the local police. It didn't just stop at shrimping either. We were having such a great time we wandered down to the local KTV and stayed until 3am. Remember this was on a Tuesday. Wednesday was not fun.

See, so it's all about the randomness. I don't think I'm ever going to plan ahead in my life again. Why bother? I never have fun when it's too planned out, I'm much more for the unexpected.

39

2007-07-22T17:18:00.000+08:00

That's right, it hit 39 degrees in Taipei yesterday, and that's without humidity. Unfortunately for me, I was there. It was a scorcher. I can only hope that the temperature is going to drop later in the week as it is suppose to. 32 degrees is going to feel down-right cold compared to this!

Shout out to my cousin Mellissa who got married yesterday. I've heard it was a great time, even though some people ended up staying at the hotel because they got hit with a stomach bug. My poor little Mackenzie was looking so forward to this wedding and had the greatest dress picked out and couldn't even go to the reception because she felt so sick. One of my other cousins didn't even make it! So I wasn't the only cousin who didn't make it, it's just too bad that was why K. missed it.
Anyway, congratulations Mellissa to Lance!

It's too hot to be sitting at my computer. I'm going back to my fan now. I really should have looked more seriously into air-conditioning my first year here.

100 Things

2007-07-17T22:06:00.000+08:00

I was going through files on my computer and I found this. So many blogs that I read have done this so I thought I would try it, but then I only got to 50 and stopped. Thus, the never posting. However, here it is, well the first 50 anyway because I haven't finished it still. Enjoy!

100 things about me...

I grew up on a farm
my family raised goats on said farm.
The first time I ever had a dairy queen blizzard was when we sold all the goats from our farm and my dad and sisters drove them to Calgary. I think my mom felt sorry for me.
I have two older sisters
I love my sisters but I remember some crazy fights we would have...mostly when my parents weren't around.
I'm glad that I don't have fights like that with my sisters anymore.
Three of the most important people in my life are my nieces and my nephew.
I haven't seen any of them for over a year.
I won't see them again for almost a year.
I like cheezie music
I like Bon Jovi
I like Bon Jovi because I think Richie Sambora is hot.
I was very upset to hear Richie Sambora ditched Heather Locklear for Denise Richards of all people.
No, I don't wish he had ditched Heather for me, I'm not deluded like that.
I just realized that I like punk music.
I'm mad at myself for not having this realization many years ago.
The majority of music on my computer is stuff that my friend downloaded and I will probably never listen to.
Some of the music on my computer is in weird languages.
I like Blues and folk music but I don't really like Jazz.
I like beer.
I like beer a lot.
I was going to give up alcohol for a month.
I lasted 4 days **.
I used to give up alcohol for lent.
I actually made it through every time I did it.
I gave up chocolate one year too.
I have stopped giving up alcohol for lent because it leads me to drinking too much Easter weekend and passing out in church (true story)
I can't drink tequila or Sambuca anymore because of drinking too much after giving up alcohol for lent.
I am running out of things to say about myself.
I probably won't make it to 100.
I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.
I teach English as a second language in Taiwan.
I don't know if this is what I want to do forever.
More to the point, I don't know if I'll be able to do this in Canada.
It scares me to think that I haven't started saving money for my retirement.
I don't know why I am thinking of my retirement....it won't happen for another 30 odd years.
I like the fact that if I can't find a job in Canada I can just move to another country.
I can't decide if I should do my masters or not.
I am a school snob and I don't want to do a masters at a lame-ass school.
My family has a cabin on the Shuswap Lake in British Columbia.
I often refer to the Shuswap Lake as “my lake” and that it is the BEST lake in the whole world.
I love the ocean but I would rather swim in my lake.
I love to swim.
I think I was a fish in another life time.
When I was in Mexico, I spent the majority of the time in the pool.
It was bloody hot when I was in Mexico, thus the reason I spent the majority of the time in the pool.
I am abnormally close to my cousins because of the cabin on the lake.
I love being so close to my cousins.
I don't think I'm a very interesting person.
I am trying to read Doctor Zhivago but I'm finding it really hard to get through even though I've already seen the movie.***

** I just want to say that since writing this, I am not on week 6 of not drinking.

*** Um, yeah I've decided that maybe it's a good book for me to take traveling, since I still have barely started it.

stressed

2007-07-16T20:05:00.000+08:00

Of course, that shouldn't be a surprise. It's less than 2 weeks until graduation and I still have so much to do. I know it will get done, because it always gets done, it's just a crazy time and I will have to accept that. I am finishing stuff for next week and I am hoping to get all the last minute graduation stuff done before Thursday. It will mean late nights at work (as I'm sitting here on a Monday night doing absolutely nothing) but it also means I will have nothing I need to get done next week. Or at least, almost nothing. I know I have some stuff to do, but I'm hoping it will be nothing too stressful.

This blog has really become about how stressed and un-motivated I am. Well, it's almost done and then it will be all about travel, travel, travel. So if you can stick it out, I'm sure it will be well worth it. I am really looking forward to going on a big trip. I'm scared too, but mostly excited. I totally plan on having a nice leisurely three months and I'm really excited for it. But mostly I'm just excited to go to Thailand and eat as much real Thai food as I can. I can't believe I'm going home to a place where there is no Thai food. I think I will go through withdrawal, I love it so much.

busy, busy, busy

2007-07-12T19:11:00.000+08:00

Well, I should be busy because I have a million things to do, however my motivation level has not improved at all. If anything it's gotten worse along with my stress level, patience and general cheeriness. I can only hope that after graduation this will improve. Unfortunately, we still have 2 1/2 weeks until graduation.

I did get boxes yesterday though, but now I'm seriously scared that I'm going to be sending too much stuff home and need more and it's going to be insanely expensive. Oh great, ANOTHER thing to stress out over. Just. bloody. perfect. Needless to say, because of this, they are sitting in my living room still flat. Although I did buy tape today to put them together, I just haven't done it yet, because then that would mean actually having to start to pack.

Let's do some countdowns shall we?

2 1/2 weeks until graduation.
1 month and 2 days left of teaching.
1 1/2 months (that would be six weeks people) left of any sort of work.

Now this countdown seems like it would be a good idea. 1 1/2 months until I get to go to Thailand and sit on a beach and then leisurely travel around for 3 months. If I were to look at it that way, well it would be just so great. But I can't. All I can see is the time left to enjoy my life here. To appreciate the fact that I make more money than I can spend therefore allowing me the opportunity to do anything and go anywhere I like. It is all I have left of this life I have made here, the friends I have, the things I know. I am heading into the unknown and I think it is scaring the shit out of me more than I want to admit.

green island adventure #2

2007-06-29T13:34:00.000+08:00

So with everything going on, I just realized I didn't share pictures of my latest trip. A couple of weeks ago it was Dragon Boat festival here in Taiwan. Since it landed on a Tuesday, the government was nice enough to let everyone have Monday off as well, of course, provided you make it up the following Saturday. So since I had a four day weekend, I went to Green Island. By I, I mean, me and 11 other people. I trucked off on my own little adventure without T&J or even C for that matter and went on my own with people from Keelung. It's not like I don't hang out with any of them, but they are more weekend people since we live in different towns.

The trip over was so much better than the last one. While we only had trains for part of the journey, we caught the fast train so most people were without seats for only 2 hours while others just sat in what was available. Then the boat ride. You might remember on my first trip to Green Island, this was a trip not worth repeating, and yes, I was dreading it.** It was totally different though, the sea was much calmer and I totally just fell asleep. Piper got a bit ill, but more nausea rather than right out throwing up. So chalk one up to that being a much better experience.

Once we got on the Island, we got our scooters and went to the place we were staying. The rooms were clean, and quite nice and frankly, it had air conditioning....it was great! We traveled the island that evening to get a feel for what was around (well for everyone else to anyway. Johnny and I have both been there before.) and we stopped at a great little Taiwanese restaurant where they had great sashimi. After we went back to the hotel, some people went to the natural salt water hot springs while others stayed behind. I stayed behind with everyone and after playing cards with Gerdus and Piper was finally harassed enough by those outside to join them. It was decided that Claire needed to learn how to play mah jong so Piper had a big lesson. It was great because I've never played before and I got to learn too! So now I can say I know how to play! Or at least I can pretend. It's pretty easy once you figure out what you are doing and remember the symbols for the Chinese numbers. I totally know them but being under pressure like that makes you easily forget.

The next day we went to the beach for some snorkeling. It was absolutely amazing at the first beach but the second beach I didn't get in because I kept getting knocked over by the waves and my arms and legs got ravaged by the coral so I said screw it and went back to the beach. I'm not really sure if that was a good idea or not because by the end I came out with a sunburn that went from the top of my head to the top of my feet. Seriously, it was bad. I did use sunscreen but I don't think I put it on early enough and that tropical sun is strong.

We left the next day after bbq, more sashimi goodness and going up the ancient trail. It was so much more relaxing than I would have thought it could be and as much as I was really dreading going, I did enjoy it. I'm really glad I went back, if anyone ever comes to Taiwan, it is highly recommended you go there, even with the crazy boat ride.

** I thought I had posted about Green Island before, I believe it was a group email instead...sorry, needless to say the last time we went over, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on the boat had massive seasickness and were throwing up all around me....it was horrible.

Some pictures for you to enjoy...

sleeping beauty and pekingese dog

green island with the dawn/dusk setting on my camera

the ancient trail

My driver for the weekend

it's all happening...

2007-06-27T22:10:00.000+08:00

well, not really. It's all beginning. The emotional rollercoaster that is going to become leaving Taiwan. I had to tell a group of parents for one of my classes that I have decided to go back to Canada. It was seriously one of the hardest things I've done! I couldn't believe how emotional I got. Luckily, my branch manager knows me really well because she had the tissues on hand, specifically for me.

4th year fuck-its

2007-06-23T18:47:00.000+08:00

In my final year of university, my roommate and I coined a term (well, okay, whether we coined it or not, I actually have no idea, however we did use it a lot) We used this term to describe our overall attitudes to doing work or anything that involved school during our final year. We had the fourth year fuck-its. Basically procrastination was the key element along with the feeling of "whatever." It was probably a good attitude to have since I think I did better in my classes that year with that attitude than I ever did before with all the stress over classes and such. Regardless, we basically didn't want to do anything except sit around and drink wine. Which we did, and we did it well.

I have them again.

The fourth year fuck its. Is it possible to have it while not being at school? I am leaving Taiwan in a little over 2 months and I don't want to do anything about it. I don't want to do anything at my job (well, I do what I am suppose to do, but balk at doing anything that I deem unimportant enough to waste my time, because really...so much of what I do is a complete waste of my time) I don't want pack my stuff. I don't want to get ready for graduation (but I am...I just have no desire to do it) All I want to do is sit around and drink wine. Yup, I've got those fuck its bad.

2007-06-15T23:40:00.000+08:00

I know, I haven't been writing on here nearly enough and when I do, it's about slugs. That's not really something most people really want to read about. There is something odd going on in my head and I'm not really sure what it is. I haven't been sleeping, which could be one reason, and I think I'm stressing out about leaving Taiwan more than I am letting myself believe I am. I have done NOTHING to prepare myself for leaving. Absolutely nothing. Something has to change. I have felt myself spiraling for a couple of weeks now and this week, it seems worse. Something has to change. I am going to Green Island this weekend, but since I am at the point that I absolutely have no desire to go and the only reason why I am going is because I've already paid money towards it, I don't think it's going to be a very good trip to get me back on track of my happy happy self. I guess we will find out on Tuesday when I get back home.

ew

2007-06-11T20:42:00.001+08:00

There's a slug on my washing machine. Now, it's on the top at the back so it doesn't really prevent me from doing my laundry, but ewwww. It's really gross. When I was growing up, we never had slugs in my area, that I know of. It wasn't damp enough. I certainly remember the first time I saw one. It was in Cobble Hill and we were there for a goat show (surprised?!) I have never seen slugs so huge. It was really disgusting, especially when they were blocking the way to the washroom.

holy shit, it's real

2007-06-02T01:34:00.000+08:00

I have a ticket booked in my name from Taiwan to Singapore for September 1st at 6 something or other pm. It's really real, I'm leaving Taiwan. Holy crap!

apparently, I'm not here

2007-05-29T18:56:00.000+08:00

How is it that according to the Tax Office here in Taiwan, I am not actually in the country? I am confused because I am sitting in my house, sweating all over the place and trust me, in this heat, I would rather be anywhere else but here. However, apparently I'm really not.

It's tax time and we always have Elaine from work help us, because it is a huge hassle. This is totally amazing because it is a huge hassle and apparently this year more than ever. It seems when she went to file my taxes they told her I left Taiwan in July and never came back. Or at least that's what their computer says. I find this interesting considering the fact that I haven't left his country since I went home back in January and came back in February (2006)...that's not July! So I had to bring in my old passport and show them where the stamps were. The other interesting thing about this that I don't quite understand is the fact that I renewed my ARC (which I need to live here) in January (2007) So it doesn't quite add up. How can I get my ARC renewed if I am technically not in the country? Interesting, isn't it?

On a completely unrelated subject, my nephew Fisher is getting his tonsils out today! Wish him luck!

out and about...or is it oot and aboot

2007-05-27T14:45:00.000+08:00

No, I don't really say oot and aboot.

The one thing I love about Taiwan is how something is always happening, whether I know it or not. Yesterday proves this point. We had nothing to do so we went for coffee to come up with ideas for something interesting. We sat there longer than was necessary (mostly because it took so long to get our coffee and food) and we finally decided to go to the multicultural centre to look at the pictures they had on display. The cultural centre never really shows a lot, but the exhibits are always changing. One of the first things we noticed was this...

It is indeed a statue of Chang Kai Shek, which is totally rare right now because the government is in the process of moving all the statues of him onto some remote mountain.

The second was this..
One of the pictures on exhibit. It was on one of the silk banners that they do a lot of the Chinese art on...it was really freaking cool. This isn't the greatest picture because the panel was behind glass.

As we were leaving, this was going on...(notice the sitar...in a band. Click on the picture for a larger image)

So we wandered over to take a look. Of course being the only foreigners, we stood out and the MC's started talking to us and actually translating what was going on into English (we think they were university students and putting this event on was some sort of final project...we think) anyway, they actually came over and thanked us for coming, so of course, we stayed. I mean, they went out of their way to give us all the programs and everything and they all just kept staring at us and smiling. We stayed 3 hours (of course, drinking beer, we needed something to keep sane in the hot weather of Keelung) and listened to all the different bands. Some songs were in English, some in Mandarin, but it was a great time. Some bands were better than others, but it proved to us that that the Taiwan music scene is really growing and is getting pretty decent. It was a great day...until some weird guy sat beside Jacqui and started rubbing her arm. Then, we left.

questions, questions, questions

2007-05-20T11:41:00.000+08:00

5 of them, in fact.

So, Heather Anne was asked 5 questions and then she offered to send people questions if they wanted. I've seen this meme and thought it would be sort of cool. How dumb was I? Heather Anne picks hard questions. Ones that I have to actually think about, which is odd, because looking at the questions at first, I though, wow great questions I can totally do this. But now, now that I'm actually sitting down to do it? It's taken me three days and I've only finished one of them! (although by the time this gets read, I promise all of them will have been) So here goes, my 5 questions.

What is the most exciting event you have ever witnessed.

My sisters being pregnant. Now, sure it may not seem exciting to you, but come on, how weird is it when your sisters are pregnant. Seriously, it's blown my mind all three times. Of course, I would say seeing their kids being born would be more exciting but ew...I never saw that, nor would I want to. Them being pregnant was just weird beyond belief, feeling the kids move inside them, how after they would eat they would grow (that was mind blowing the first time). I couldn't believe that these people I have spent my entire life with had little people inside of them. And now I have 2 of the greatest nieces and the greatest nephew ever to show for it. That is seriously the coolest thing.

If you were an entry in the dictionary, under which word would people find you?
These days? Probably drunken foreigner. Sad, but totally true most weekends.

If you could compete in one Olympic event, which event would you choose?
This is the greatest question! I am a die-hard Olympic fan. Last year when I was home I totally got Olympic fever and had to watch everything, which was great because I had jet lag so bad and it actually gave me something to watch. But what sport??!!! It has to be a winter sport, because lets face it...the winter Olympics are just so much better than the summer ones. Winter sports are just so much more exciting! Ski-jumping, Aerials, Moguls, downhill skiing. How do you chose just one? I will though, it is totally 4 man bobsled. It has speed, a crazy track and the protection of a car unlike the luge. I would be one of the middle people who only has to turn with the corners.

If you could take a train ride across any of the 7 continents, which continent would you choose?
Hmmm, let's see.
Antarctica, cool as that would be...way too cold. Penguins can not make up for that fact, sorry.
Africa, too hot and too many animals that could eat me.
North America...too big, and only 3 countries to see.
South America...I don't have any reason for not going to South America, other than the fact that I might be killed But then, I might just be influenced by media on this one.
Asia...I'm hoping that by the end of this year, I will have already taken a train ride across the parts that I want to see.
Australia...sort of like North America, it is just one country on it's own, it wouldn't fill up my passport nicely, and for me, that is a requirement.
Europe...it would have to be Europe. I know, lame answer since I'm sure most people would pick Europe. There are lots of countries so my passport would be happy, you can actually take the train without it costing millions of dollars and I've always wanted to go.

What is one event in the future whose outcome you would like to know now?
I don't think I would really like to know the future. It would freak me out too much, but if I have to say something then I want to know how wins the Stanley Cup this year and if the Sens can pull out a victory their first time.

So there they are...it has taken me a really long time to answer them, for some reason I actually had to think hard about them. So now that I'm done, if you want me to ask you questions for your blog, let me know.

i am so screwed

2007-05-14T12:28:00.000+08:00

So I was thinking, I have been introduced to some pretty amazing food while I've been in Taiwan. Well, some of it has been amazing, some of it...well not so much (we'll just leave the Stinky Tofu out of it for right now) As I have already mentioned, one of the greatest finds, and my biggest addiction is Teppanyaki. I still love the stuff, though I have managed to cut down my intake of it. Not because I am getting sick of it...no not at all, but because I don't want to look like a loser whenever I go into my shop and order it. Seriously, that's the only reason why I don't eat it every week. Luckily, I have two places that I can, and will, go too ;)

So, I was wondering how many teppanyaki places there were back home. Now, I realize there aren't going to be any in my hometown because, well, there just aren't. I mean, they don't do much for variety out there and fine dining really just consists of Boston Pizza. (Think Chili's but more Italian, hense the pizza, and less Mexican.) So I googled it and I almost cried with what I found.

At the one restaurant I found, granted it's in downtown Vancouver, meals are generally priced between $30 - $50. WHAT!!!??? How is that possible? Sure, they use lobster, but really...that's ridiculous. I don't know what the prices for the places in Calgary are, but they seem like they are all sushi restaurants with Teppanyaki thrown in on the side. But really, $30-$50??? Now, I realize, this is probably pretty expensive on it's own, but think about this. For my teppanyaki...I am used to paying between $3CAD and $5CAD. The difference being whether I get the seafood or not.

Yeah, can you see? I am so screwed when I get back to Canada.

another friday night

2007-05-13T23:53:00.000+08:00

From these pictures you can probably gather what sort of a weekend I had. Friday was great, Saturday...well, not so much. Hurray for nice weather and being able to go to the roof-top bar again. Officially the cheapest place to get beer in Keelung, which is probably not actually a good discovery.

The elections for Keelung Mayor were on Saturday. We went "campaigning" for #2 because he loves Keelung...and he saluted T&J from his truck during a parade. I don't think he benefited from our drunken wanderings through Keelung at 4am with his cut-out. He lost to #3 (the thumbs down from the first picture)

This is my new friend, found in the lucky star!

These are my other friends..they don't look nearly as exciting as my new friend. Too bad.

i am woman

2007-05-12T23:12:00.000+08:00

I was told last night that I wasn't a feminist because I don't burn my bra and something else about rape and penetration, I'm not really clear what the exact argument was. I was told this after I took offense to someone saying they didn't like western women because the majority wore t-shirts and jeans and they preferred Asian women because they wore high-heels. I do consider myself a feminist. I may not be the bra-burning down with men sort of feminist, but I do believe I am a feminist and I am not comfortable with statements like this being made. It goes against everything I do believe in.

I believe in equal rights for women, in equal pay and the right to maternity leave.

I believe that women should be protected from sexual harassment, rape, street harassment and domestic violence.

I believe that women should not be objectified and shouldn't be looked down upon simply because they don't wear high-heels.

I believe that a woman should have the right to feel comfortable with herself and not feel the pressure to have to wear high-heels if she doesn't want to but not feel degraded because of that decision.

I believe that women have the right to vote and reproductive and abortion rights.

I believe that I am lucky to be from Canada where I don't have a government telling me that I can not have an abortion when the alternative could potentially kill me. (read here and here)

I believe that women shouldn't be made to feel like they need to live up to magazine covers or advertisements that have been airbrushed to impossible standards.

I believe that even though we have already achieved some of our fights (voting, maternity leave) there are still many more challenges we face, whether they are apparent to all people or not. It is in what we have gained that makes us stronger for what we are still working towards. Women are violated everyday and this should not be forgotten. This is what feminism is fighting for. The right for women to feel safe whether walking down the street or even in their own homes. This is what I want.

So even though I may not be a bra-burning feminist, I believe I am still a feminist.

it has been the longest week ever, and it's only Wednesday.

2007-05-09T19:35:00.000+08:00

And it's hot, not that I am complaining. I said I wasn't going to do that this year. It's my own fault for signing another contract to make this the fourth summer I will have spent in Taiwan. That's pretty impressive for a person who hates hot weather. I hate winter too, I'm an equal opportunist weather hater.

word of the day

2007-05-07T14:16:00.000+08:00

(sapid \SAP-id\, adjective:
1. Having taste or flavor, especially having a strong pleasant flavor.
2. Agreeable to the mind; to one's liking.)

I figured since I have the word of the day link on my sidebar, I should actually use it. I remember the days that I came home from university with a vocabulary full of large words that people didn't understand (mostly my bro-in-law...right B?) Yeah, he would have no trouble understanding me now. As friends have said, I've been in Taiwan too long...you can tell by the way I speak. I guess talking to 3 - 5 year olds most of the day whose first language is not English will do that to you.

So anyway, back to the word of the day. I was going to try use the word in my post each day but todays word is sapid. Which is fine (well, okay, I had to go and look up the meaning) but upon finding out what it meant, I couldn't actually think of any food that could possibly described like this. Except possibly stinky tofu. You know, the dog poo food. Except it does not have a pleasant flavour and it certainly isn't to my liking. So for me it's not sapid. However, to other people it is***. It is a hugely popular snack here in Taiwan and to many people, stinky tofu is sapid. I can think of food I like, but the only thing that I could think of as having a strong flavour is Chou Dofu (stinky tofu) Although, the smell is quite stronger than the taste. Jacqui is on a mission to try new food and random things before she leaves. All I can say is thank god I have already experienced the tofu so I never have to do it again.

***Travis likes stinky tofu...as do the majority of Taiwanese people I know. Travis is just one person I know of that isn't Taiwanese who actually likes it.

hot spidey

2007-05-06T15:15:00.000+08:00

We went to see Spiderman 3 yesterday and all I can say is, bad spiderman is freaking hot. Yeah, they totally cheezed up the whole part but he was looking much less geeky and much more hot than good spidey.

a question

2007-05-04T13:13:00.000+08:00

For my sister...HAVE YOU SENT THE FREAKING CD YET??!!!

I realize that this could totally be done over email, but since I know for a fact she reads here I thought maybe the public humiliation over having not sent what was suppose to be my birthday present almost a month late might actually kick her into gear (yes, I'm talking to YOU Kathy!!) Maybe I should phone my grandma, wouldn't she be disappointed? Yes, I think she would.

random photos

2007-05-01T16:32:00.000+08:00

I was looking through the photos of my computer today and found some shots that I haven't posted on here. I have been using Flickr a lot lately (so much so that I'm even considering paying to go "pro" for better organization of my pictures) and even joined a random group to try and make me experiment with photography more. I just figured it would give me something cool to do and actually try and get better and more creative with taking pictures. This is one I found...

It's the corner of either the National Theatre or the National Concert hall. I'm not sure which side I was on (apparently I have posted this on my flickr and it is the Concert Hall). I am going to miss all the cool buildings that I can take pictures of here.

On a side note, yay for random days off! We don't have to teach kindy today because it's Labour Day. Since not many of the kids are going to be at school, we didn't have to go in, and since I only have kindy on Tuesdays, I have the whole day off (because you know, the whole 2 1/2 hours I work on Tuesdays is just so stressful ^_^) Of course I have completely and totally wasted it, but whatever...it was a day off!

sunday meanderings...

2007-04-30T12:36:00.000+08:00

It was Jacqui's birthday yesterday and since we were all fairly hungover from the night before (we doing birthday parties right here in Taiwan) we went to Taipei for a movie and some food. We found a new restaurant that specialized in British food and Tom and Jacqui were in heaven with Bangers and mash and chicken pies. I was in heaven with the salmon eggs benedict that I found. Yeah, that's right, they had eggs benedict.

On our walk from the restaurant to Taipei 101, we went down the side street and found the furniture shops in Taipei. It was the most amazing stuff I have seen in this country. It was at least 4 blocks of stores dedicated strictly to furniture of all sorts. There was some of the most beautiful wood furniture I have ever seen and if I was going to live in Taiwan forever, I would have bought it all. But I'm not, so I didn't. I think I have a thing for furniture though. If only it wouldn't be a bloody fortune to ship it back to Canada.

We went to see Wild Hogs. I had never seen any previews for this and I didn't even know who was in it. Imagine how excited I was when I found out John Travolta was in it. Yeah, I was bloody excited. Jacqui made Tom sit beside me though. Apparently she doesn't like it when I laugh at stupid things in the movie no one else laughs at. (yes, Jacqui I know you are going to read this :) ) For a silly movie, it was actually pretty good. I enjoyed it, but then it had John Travolta in it and I love anything that he's in and I always have. Because you know, he's a god.

i think someone is trying to say something

2007-04-25T22:21:00.000+08:00

not that I want to be blogging about the weather, because really how exciting is that, but it's freaking cold here in Taiwan after a glorious weekend of warm weather and sun that I spent inside in my house...relaxing. How is that for karma?

crap

2007-04-23T22:01:00.000+08:00

It's raining...again, and someone stole my really nice, expensive Taipei 101 umbrella. From work. So not amused right now.

what's the story morning glory

2007-04-22T08:57:00.000+08:00

So Jessica at Daughter of Opinion challenged people to post pictures of themselves first thing in the morning, imperfections and all. I wasn't going to do this at first, because I don't normally participate in memes, but I figured, what the hell. It can't be that bad since I don't wear makeup on a regular basis anyway, what's the difference of seeing a picture of me with my imperfections, I'm used to them. Then it turned to 8am on a Sunday morning. Yeah, not cool. This is my weekend of relaxation and sleeping. I didn't even go out last night because I knew it would ruin the relaxation part of today and it would just be a hungover day and yet, I still woke up at 8am. So, I'm still tired, not refreshed, and I sort of look like ass, but that's okay. I'm okay with that. At least I still have great hair! (I'm so kidding, and it's sort of hard to tell because I'm lying on my bed, not standing up) So here it is, the picture....

No? Well okay then, the next one isn't exactly first thing in the morning. I had to take my hoodie off because it was really hot in my room. Finally, we are getting the weather you would expect on a sub- tropical island. Although, on second thought, that might not be such a good thing, but it sure beats the rain. So here, in my morning glory.....

I'm not going to go into a big critique about the lines on my face, (they are there, I can see them, no matter what my friends all say) or the fact that the bags under my eyes are huge (omg! They could be their own pillows) I'm just going to say that's me. That's who I've been for a really long time, and I'm comfortable with that person. So good morning everyone, I hope you have a nice day.

sometimes school is so cool

2007-04-18T12:42:00.000+08:00

Look what came to our school on Friday...I can't tell you how excited I was. I even got to hold one of them. I love goats! I kept telling everyone that I used to have goats when I was the age that the kids were, I'm not sure any of them believed me.

trying not to think

2007-04-17T16:30:00.000+08:00

I'm on the countdown to leaving Taiwan, but I'm trying not to think about it.
One of my co-workers made me cry at work the other day, but I'm trying not to think about it.
We were talking about me leaving and the day we first met, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I have to start packing and sending stuff home, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I have to figure out a way to send my big-ass suitcase home, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I have started to practice the performance for my very last graduation performance, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I have made so many incredible friends there that I'm not sure I will see again, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get back to Canada, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I have to clean my house, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I only have 4 months left on my contract, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I am having major anxiety attacks when I realize that I only have 4 months left on my contract, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I can feel an anxiety attack coming on because I just realized I only have 4 months left, but I'm trying not to think about it.
I'm not doing much thinking these days, but I'm trying not to think about it.

welcome to punk

2007-04-16T20:37:00.000+08:00

I shouldn't have gone out on Saturday night. We ended up going for breakfast when we were done. Darn water in my ears anyway! Went to see NOFX last night with Consider the Meek. I went for the support band (Consider the Meek) I had actually never heard of NOFX before. My friends couldn't believe it, but the most punk I got into was Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Yeah, NOFX was great, now I'm all into punk music. It was a really good show and even though it was on a Sunday and I'm really, really tired now, I'm really glad I went.

to forget

2007-04-14T19:09:00.000+08:00

I've got water in my ear and it's annoying so I'm going out to drink and make me forget about it. Oh wait, I can feel it trickling out now. Well, I'm still going out to drink anyway, I guess I don't actually need an excuse.

the birthday that was....

2007-04-11T12:11:00.000+08:00

32. I'm still not sure I can quite wrap my head around that, but I suppose I have to as that's how old I am now. I'm glad that I don't feel that old, but still...god, it seems so old. Okay, enough of my obsession of how old I am. I'm done, that's it. No more.

After the weekend of craziness and amazing fun there were no crazy plans for yesterday, which was a good thing because I was woken up at 5:30 by my mom who, even though I've been in Taiwan for 3 years, can still get her head around the fact that Taiwan is 14 hours ahead of B.C., or the fact that I don't work on Tuesday mornings. Normal people wouldn't really have a problem, but I can never go back to sleep when this happens. So I was up early.

I didn't want to make a big deal out of my birthday this year so I didn't really advertise the fact that it was coming up. When I got to work though, everyone remembered and it was so amazing. As soon as I woke my kids up they all said "happy birthday" (a pretty amazing thing for 3 year olds who don't speak a lot of English, they actually remembered to say it and no one else was in the room) Then I noticed that my co-teacher had drawn a big cake on the white board with Happy Birthday Teacher Tobi. As soon as we sat down my kids sang me Happy Birthday in English and Chinese (all by themselves...they must have practiced in the morning, I was pretty amazed though..this all happened without Jenny or Susan in the room) Of course, once they started, I couldn't get them to stop, they were rather excited. Once I finally got them to stop Lion class came in with all the teachers and sang happy birthday and Elaine had a cake! I was so surprised and admittedly, the dork in me started crying. I was just so touched that they did that for me. I have great friends.

Jenny did the coolest thing too, she made a card for me and had all my kids put lipstick on and kiss it, so now I have a card with all my kids mouths on it. It was the cutest thing because all the kids were showing me where their lips were. I have the greatest kids too!

After that Jacqui and I went to Costco and got pizza and a box 0' wine for dinner and we watched movies. It was a quiet birthday, but really nice. I had a nice day.

spring scream

2007-04-09T15:56:00.000+08:00

I just had the most fantastic weekend. It was Tomb sweeping day here in Taiwan, nicely coinsiding with Easter I must say. Nothing worse than everyone having a long weekend off at home and I have to work, for some reason, I hate that. I did however totally forget about Good Friday and ate meat (oops) Not that there was much fish around, it was really a burger sort of weekend since I went to a music festival in Kenting.

We only found out about Spring Scream last week and even though I was hesitant about going, I'm so glad I did. It was seriously one of the best weekends I've had in a really, really long time, and no, that's not because I was drunk through a lot of it...mostly it was because I was listening to amazing music, meeting amazing musicians and having a great time. The festival was great because it really allowed for access to the bands and getting to talk to them and it was a great way to find out more about the Taiwan music scene.

If you want to see pictures go here to my flickr account...I have too many to chose which ones to put here...

I finally got to see Consider the Meek, a band that found me somehow here on myspace soooo long ago. I met them in Fulong last year but I had never seen them. When I found out they were playing this weekend that was the only band we made the date for seeing...the only appointment we had and they were worth it. They were really good and now I have my friends hooked and we are going to see them again on Sunday when they play with NOFX.

Some other bands of interest that I found this weekend....

Charlie Taylor (and the Axis of Evil)
***check him out...incredibly funny and well worth it
Rabbit Is Rich
Mosquilephant
Swui

These three are all Taiwanese, but all have a really, really great sound and go check out the pictures at Flickr...if you view as a slide show, you can click on any picture to pause it and find out who the band is...assuming of course I was able to remember who they were ^_~

again, AGAIN!

2007-04-03T19:30:00.000+08:00

So I'm sick...again. I probably never got over the last illness, but this time I was smart and went to the doctor right away. What am I going to do when I get back to Canada and they laugh me out of the office because it's just a cold...although, my throat is infected, or actually injected (language barrier thing) so that's not actually just a cold..would they laugh at me for that? I'm not sure.

Enough of that....the fact that I'm sick is not very news worthy since it has been happening an awful lot lately (4th time since September in fact) This weekend I'm going to Kenting, again. While the first experience was not so great (something about not having a place to stay, being up all night long, getting too drunk etc. etc. etc.) I'm thinking this weekend is going to be somewhat better, but really, it would be hard not to be.

We are going to Spring Scream, only the biggest, coolest, rocking music festival in Taiwan. Three days, three nights of pure cool music. I'm excited...but I'm also excited because this is where we are staying. There are 8 of us, so for the weekend it isn't too crazily expensive and it sure beats camping (cause you know how much I LOVE camping)

I don't know if I will be posting before Easter so if not, I wish you all a very Happy Easter. Be careful, be safe and have fun.

best. day. ever

2007-04-01T21:05:00.000+08:00

Hung over as all get out, but still the best day ever. Know why? Because after 3 crazy, hot, humid summers, finally, FINALLY, the 7-11 has gotten these....

That's right...slurpee machines. I can not even tell you how excited I was yesterday when I saw it. The greatest thing, smalls are 10NT which is roughly 35 cents CAD. That's right...35 cents! The poor people that were working there yesterday were totally laughing at me because I was sort of making crazy weird sounds of glee and pleasure, but you have no idea how cool I think this is. I know where I'm spending my summer.

addicted

2007-03-29T08:03:00.000+08:00

I've been discovering a lot of new addictions lately. Mostly having to do with Heroes or Ugly Betty, but it's this song. I just can't get it out of my head. It's being played everywhere. It's always on my TV, which makes sense as it's being billed as the Asian Anthem. I'm not really sure if that's true, but it's even made it on some tv commercial from Hong Kong. Anyway, the band is rivermaya and they are from the Philippines.

time is winding down

2007-03-26T14:23:00.000+08:00

I'm sitting here trying to think of something exciting to write about but nothing comes to mind. I actually had a quiet weekend in comparison to the ones of late. No all-night party ending with breakfast in the morning, shocker! Saturday was spent watching Ugly Betty and going to Dan's to play video games (and as much as I totally detest video games, the one we played was pretty decent and fun to watch as well as play) Sunday was spent watching Heroes and then going to Songshan looking for t-shirts and then to Ximending looking for Hello Kitty stuff.

Ximending is a very popular shopping area in Taipei. It is where all the young and fashionable kids go to spend their evening. It is where you can get the most popular snack food in Taiwan, oyster noodles. It always brings me back to my first weekend in Taiwan actually in a weird, I sort of recognize this place kind of way. To be clear, I was pretty out of it when I first got here. I am not good at all with jet lag and my powers of observation aren't all that good to begin with. The jet lag doesn't help matters. When I arrived in Taiwan I had a roommate for training. Luckily for me, she had a friend with whom she went to University living in Taiwan (he is Taiwanese, just to be clear) I should preface this with when I first came to Taiwan, I was pretty much a vegetarian, I only ate fish. I wasn't even eating chicken anymore...so anyway, he had a car and so we drove to a few popular places around Taiwan. Warner Village, which had lines so long for the movie I vowed never to go there (it's now my favourite movie place) New York New York (has the greatest beer bar outside of it) Neao 19 (I didn't even realize this was where we had lunch until a couple of months ago when I went to Chili's with J&T) and then we went to Ximending. For some reason, we never went to Taipei 101 that day, which is a block away from everything else, and to be honest, I can't remember if I even noticed it.

So Ximending is where you get Oyster Noodles. The first time I was introduced to it was my first weekend in Taiwan. I was assured they were really good and don't worry about the little pieces of weird stuff in them, just don't eat them. I don't think they understand the vegetarian concept of not eating anything that has been cooked within the vicinity of meat....to be honest I didn't actually find out until this year what the mysterious meat thing was in my noodles. I only found out because my Tree House Student was doing his Speech on Taiwan food and talked about oyster noodles and how some people loved it with pig's intestines but he thought that was disgusting. So yeah, I ate something that had been cooked with pig's intestines. I am a much more adventurous eater now than I was then, it's probably a good thing I didn't know about it.

Now, if anyone ever visited me, I can't say that I would ever take them to eat oyster noodles. Ximending, yes, but no oyster noodles. I wasn't that fond of them, and whenever we have them in Kindy for snack I have to get my HRT to serve them because the smell of it, well, it's just not my kind of smell. However it always brings me back to that day in February, standing on the side of the street eating out of a plastic bowl trying to pretend to enjoy it. We past the stand last night when we were there and it just amazing me that this occurred three years ago and how little time I have left here. I have so many places I want to visit again before I leave so that I can have all these deja vu memories. It's a little fun.

oh well

2007-03-20T21:24:00.000+08:00

I should really check the class before I complain about subbing. It was actually one of my old classes that I loved so it wasn't so bad. I still have to stop saying "yes" to everything though.

oh, and I went back to the original look. The other was a little too froo froo for me...I missed this one.

a little annoyed

2007-03-20T16:26:00.000+08:00

I have to sub a class tonight and for some reason I'm really annoyed about it. One of my teachers is at training and normally we don't have to cover classes for trainings, but apparently we do now. Of course, being head teacher means that this has fallen to me, or so they figured Friday night at 9:00pm as I was heading out the door with not enough time to actually think about saying no. Not that I would have, because you know, I have that perpetual problem of not being able to say no, but it would have been nice if the thought could have crossed my mind before I was outside in the cold reality of what I just did. I gave up my last night of getting off work at four forever. Damn them.

I don't know how I have been the type of person to give everything to my job. I love my job, I really do, but the worst thing I hate about it is that I will give up everything I am doing to go in and help them do things or teach a class, even when I have other plans. I have always done this with any job that I've been in. Why? Why, why, why, why, why???!!!! I mean, I have no problems being helpful, it sounds awful, but it goes a long way in a country where guan-shi is a huge part of their culture. It isn't really all that hard where I work though, the people are amazing, however I just don't like the last minute, "we forgot to tell you this, can you do it?" They know I will say yes. They know I will say "yes" so much that my manager actually had to tell someone "no" for me, because she knew I couldn't do it. Yeah, I'm that pathetic.

If I could learn anything in the time I have left here, it would be to say no. I've been trying, but it's just so hard. Too hard for me to be able to do it I think, but maybe it will be a good skill to put to use when I get home.

with wine, doors watch out

2007-03-17T11:28:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday was suppose to be a quiet night. T&J and I were going to head to Taipei for something to eat but the box o' wine got in the way. This is not the first time this has happened. We had just enough that we decided to invent our own drink when the box became empty...uh, never, ever mix brandy and vodka.

We decided we wanted to go dancing but J's clothes (and yes, her hair straightener too...okay, so sometimes we like to be girly, It just doesn't happen very often and dancing requires girly-ness) were in their closet, which just happened to have locked itself from the inside. I didn't ask how this could have happened, but regardless the door was locked.

It was decided then that locks don't matter, hinges do. Take it off the hinges, I said. Yes, I said it, it was my idea. It was my idea for them to take the hinges out and then pry their door out with a screwdriver and put big dents in their door frame. It worked though, I am a genius, but all I could think of was why didn't I think of that when I was locked in my bathroom.

changes still make it boring

2007-03-15T14:37:00.000+08:00

I've changed the look of my blog, did you notice? I've been lacking in posting lately, I know I have....it's because I really don't have much to talk about. I mean really, I posted about how much I love Costco. I'm on glue (but it's better than being on crack right?)

it treats me well, who am I to argue with fate

2007-03-14T12:12:00.000+08:00

How much do I love Costco? It's sad really...it's probably my favourite store in Taiwan. I have many theories as to why this is, but still. Why Costco?

1. The food. It's totally like food at home that I know how to cook. It is the only place to get decently cheap and good cheese. Taiwan is not a very big cheese eating culture. If you go to the Welcome in Chidu it's all processed cheese, you can even get chocolate processed cheese. So yeah, Costco is better by far.

2. It reminds me of home. Not that I ever went to Costco at home. I can really only remember being there one time before in Canada. My parents have a Costco card but I guess I was never with them when they went because the time I remember going, I wasn't with them. I do remember them coming home from a big Costco excursion with giant poppyseed muffins (which, you can't get here, by the way) It reminds me of home because it is just like any other supermarket/superstore that you can find at home.

3. You don't run into things in the meat section like pigs feet and frogs that jump at you.

3. I don't really have another theory, I just thought 4 looked better than 3.

Today we went on a field trip with the kids. We went to Costco. Can I tell you how excited I was? I was very excited. Mostly because my fridge was empty and it meant a free trip in the school bus. Score!! I didn't actually buy that much stuff, but I did get the gigantic jar of pickles because it would be so much easier to take them home and now that I don't have house guests, they will last a lot longer. Well, maybe. The kids were especially excited when they saw the six pound bad of pretzels that I did not buy but all the kids had their pictures taken with it. It was almost as big as two of my kids. I mean, Taiwanese kids aren't all that big!

The surprising thing. None of our HRT's have ever been to Costco. The reason why we got in? We used my card. How cool am I?

it's about time

2007-03-08T13:49:00.000+08:00

After two years of waiting, my pool has finally opened. There is a park down the street from my house in Bai Fu (like a block, seriously close) In this park they have been building a pool only now I've found out, it's not just a pool. It's got a gym (small, but a gym) you can do yoga, there is a spa where you can get massages (you have to pay extra for that though) an indoor pool and and outdoor pool.

I joined up.

I have decided that swimming in Taiwan is a great thing for these reasons.

1. so many people here can't actually swim. That's right, even though they live on an island, many Taiwanese people don't swim. Thus, the majority of the time they only use the pool facilities for the hot tubs, sauna and steam rooms (but that may just be because it's been raining the last few days. When the rain stops I'll see if that's still true.)

2. the place is so damn expensive that not many people are probably going to join up.

Okay, yeah, it's pricey if you go for one visit at a time...250NT which is almost $9CAD. They let us join for only six months since we aren't going to be here for the whole year (really, I'm not) so it is much more beneficial. It is a little more expensive than the pool at home (but only like $15 more) but the pool at home doesn't have a gym in it...nor do the gym's at home have a pool in them. Plus it's only a block away from my house and there is no snow so I don't really have any excuses not to go.

a night well spent

2007-03-07T08:10:00.000+08:00

I'm tired. Why am I tired? Well you see, I stayed up too late last night. I stayed up too late playing video games with Travis on his computer. I stayed up too late last night playing Barbie's Vacation Adventure. seriously.

chinese new year trip part 3

2007-03-05T12:55:00.000+08:00

Alright where were we. Sun Moon Lake, right. This is one picture that I forgot to post last time. The coolest thing by far that I saw. They had these trees all over the place and being that they are by far my favourite fruit, I was quite excited. Can you see the bananas?

After we got back we were pretty tired, so we went for dinner at a place called Frogs and sat under this....

Now can you see the coconut that was threatening to fall on us? Luckily, I wasn't sitting directly underneath it, however it did raise comments through out the evening.

So with Taichung finished we had to head to meet up with some more friends in Tainan. We got a train which took about 2 hours. When we got there we didn't have much time to relax and we were off to a fort. Now, being that Tainan is not actually anywhere near the ocean, it is more inland, we were confused as to how it actually protected Taiwan. It had a moat around it, so I guess it was just protecting itself from people trying to get over the moat. I'm not exactly sure. I was confused about it, especially when we saw all the big cannons.

After this, we discovered that the next thing on the agenda was another fort. I'm all for history, trust me...but it was really hot, I was really tired, and not really interested, so when we couldn't get over the bridge to the next fort, we took it as a hint and went back to the hotel to sleep (I know, but this is what happens when you are old and you hang out with people that like to party) So we got back to the hotel and yes, we had been there to drop off our stuff, but this particular feature was still making us laugh...

That's right, that's a mirror all right. On.The.Ceiling. Pretty swank huh.

So the next part of this story is Kenting. I'll tell you right now, that it wasn't very good and might not even get a spot in this story. The best thing about it was that Kenting actually has decent food at their night market....but that's a whole other story.

Chinese New Year Trip part 2

2007-03-02T22:02:00.000+08:00

I was suppose to put this part earlier than tonight, sorry. This week has been crazy and I can only prove that by saying it is Friday night and I am ready to go to bed at 10pm. This NEVER happens. Something must be up. I take solace in the fact that I'm not the only one. It was a general consensus that no one was doing anything tonight.

Okay, so the second part of the trip. On our second day in Taichung we decided to go to Sun Moon Lake. So we spent the morning on what seemed like the longest bus trip ever (unknown to us, this would be hugely surpassed by the trip to Kenting, but I digress) Sun Moon Lake was really cool. No swimming though, since some of my students had told me that if you swim in Sun Moon Lake you would die. I'm pretty sure that is not true, but none the less they had signs saying you couldn't swim in the area we were anyway. We wandered around the lake for a bit and then took a boat tour around the lake. Not your regular ride a boat tour. It had the typical Taiwanese slant of stopping at everything it could, which included some fish thing (I'm not really sure what that was all about, but we got to feed fish and see catfish) and a temple. The weather was absolutely great, which was good because we had heard it was raining in Keelung (home). Here are some pictures of Sun Moon Lake.
Not quite as nice as the Shuswap, but nothing ever will be.

(these pictures are in a random order...for some reason blogger changes the order that I upload them in...I haven't figured out why yet.)

A view of the sun on the lake while we were on the boat.

The view from one of the walking paths.

If you look closely maybe you can see that these are catfish. Definitely the strangest fish I've ever come across.

This was the island in the middle of the lake. It's a little small but the boat actually stopped here for people to see it. Of course, you can't actually go on the island...you can only go on the man-made "raft" of green stuff that surrounds it so people can look at the island.

One of the tour boats coming in. Unfortunately, our boat did not look like this, ours was boring and white. We were very disappointed to be sitting on it when we saw this one dock.

So those are the pictures. Next time, the trip part 3.

chinese new year trip part 1

2007-02-26T19:00:00.000+08:00

To cover almost an entire week of trip in just one post is going to be too difficult I think, so you get it in stages. I will start at the beginning.

We couldn't make it on the fast train. Even with everyone telling us not to go on it and that many people in Taiwan wouldn't, it seems the lure of an 80 minute trip of the entire length of the island was too tempting to pass up since all the trains seemed to be booked. That was okay though since we have discovered the greatness of the aloha bus. The trip started out great, we got to Taipei after a bit of a crazy taxi ride and when we got to the bus terminal, we only had to wait 10 minutes for a bus to leave. Pretty decent for Chinese New Years Eve.

So we were off to Taichung, where I swore I would never go again for fear of ending up in a gutter again. Yeah, I don't have much luck with Taichung. Things always seem to go wrong there. This time didn't seem too much better either since after we got our hotel room, we decided to walk downtown to see what was going on. So two hours of walking later, we finally made it to the area we were headed in (little Europe, no less) to discover nothing open. And I mean nothing, other than 7-11's and family marts. So we had a drink outside 7-11 to decide our fate. I almost thought were going to have to plant ourselves outside of that 7-11 for the evening, and it wasn't even 7pm yet.

Finally, we decided to give up, catch a cab and go back to the hotel to drown our sorrows in 7-11 food and beer. Just as we had made this decision, we found a restaurant. Amazingly enough, we found a restaurant and with this discovery, we sat. For a really, really long time, we sat.

So that was day one. I was going to do day two today too, however, I'm too tired and lazy to post all my pictures, so you'll just have to wait for the Sun Moon Lake story. I will say, however, that it was by far the highlight of the trip, so that's at least something to look forward to.

music....and some lyrics too

2007-02-25T00:11:00.000+08:00

I went to Taipei today to watch a movie. I wanted to see Dreamgirls but since no one else in the world apparently wants to see it (by world I mean my world...as in none of my friends is into musicals I guess) we discovered Music & Lyrics is on. Oh man, I have never laughed so hard in my life. I love Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore so I was pretty well going in with the intent to love it however, I have never laughed so hard, and if you know me, then you know how much I laugh at movies and TV. Seriously, I couldn't stop laughing in some parts. If you haven't seen it, go, really. Here is a little taste to show you how great it is...

chinese new year

2007-02-16T12:05:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year...those are the greatest words I think ever invented. Why? Because it automatically means holiday. My need for a vacation has been very apparent over the last two days, my poor kids and friends. It's probably been a good thing I haven't seen much of many people this week. See, this is my first real holiday in a year. The last time I had a vacation was last February when I went home for the month. Sure, we had 5 days off in October and we went to Green Island, but this is 9 whole days of not seeing any kids, not doing any work, of just pure relaxation. I have discovered this week that a year is a long time to go without a real quality holiday.

We are still trying to make our plans for the holiday. Unfortunately most everything is going to be booked or closed and of course, we are not ones for planning ahead. My friends and I abide by spur of the moment. We are last minute sort of people. We were going to try and go on the High Speed Rail however I think our last minuteness has sort of screwed us out of that. I'm sure we will get on it eventually though. I mean, 90 minutes to Kaohsiung means we could just go for the weekend...if we wanted to. It is do-able.

So this Chinese New Year, whatever we do, I'm sure it will be full of traveling and doing nothing and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that. So "Xin nian kuai le" everyone, Happy New Year.

it's the anniversary

2007-02-15T00:37:00.000+08:00

So yes, as my sister said, it was my 3rd anniversary of arriving in Taiwan on February 14th. (for most of you reading this, it is still Feb 14th, however, it is almost 1am here on the 15th, so technically the anniversary was yesterday). This is actually the first time I have "celebrated" or even mentioned the fact that it was my anniversary. Last year I was in Canada, the year before...my parents were here and I was as sick as a dog, since it was February after all and I have been cursed to be sick every February I've been in Taiwan.

I have been thinking about my time in Taiwan all day, starting with the day I arrived. I remember phoning my sister in Vancouver crying, wondering what the hell I was doing (yes, I am an emotional person) Arriving in Taiwan to a driver with my name on a sign and the school I was employed by. That was pretty cool, and it will probably never happen again. It is hard to believe that 3 years have gone by. I can see it all so clearly, sometimes it seems I can almost account for every minute, but I don't know how it's gone so fast. Every moment of Taiwan has affected my life, whether it has been a good experience or a bad one. They all turn out to be good in the long run, even if they don't seem to at first. I know, this entry is all over the place. My mind is running over all my experiences since being here and it is hard to write about them all in the same place. The kids I've taught, the friends I have met, the things I have done, it has been life changing. Some days I didn't think I could make it past six months and here it's been three years. It seriously baffles my mind sometimes.

my valentine...

2007-02-13T21:51:00.000+08:00

Every year (or something like that) my mom has a sister weekend (with her sisters no-less) For some reason while they were out, they found something that made them think of me. I am not exactly sure why they all thought it was so funny that it should be sent to me. Am I really the only single person in our family? And if I am, so what? What did they think was so funny, you ask? I got sent this in the mail....

Yeah, was I excited or what about that. Really thrilled.

So in honour of Valentines day, I decided to let the little dude grow to his full 600% of original size self. Here is the progress of my new man...

So that's my Valentines date. Although apparently if I take him out of the water, he'll shrink again so I guess it's going to be a nice quiet evening in.

(and tomorrow's a special day for me too, (and no, NOT because of Valentines day) if anyone can remember you get bonus points...although for what, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe I'll send you my boyfriend for next year...I'll let you know what sort of date he turns out to be)

the flack of it all

2007-02-03T02:37:00.000+08:00

now i'm starting to catch flack for my drunken posting...Cherly Beynon was invoved and she liked every minute if it as well as several people of the thailand Phuket group. But all in all it was a grand experience...If you read this blog...fucing find something you like...the vicarious thing is overdone...

sincerely,
Tweekville

guest posting gone wrong

2007-02-03T01:35:00.000+08:00

I have company staying at my house. Cheryl and Travis have come back from Thailand on their way to Korea and I am horribly happy about it, even though apparently I'm very appathetic to the whole thing. I REALLY AM HAPPY TRAVIS. That being said, I am giving up the reigns for tonight to Obi Wan...so for your enjoyment here is my first guest post....

Well, I don't really know what to say...but i'm here at tobi's house(mind you i don't do the capital thing). if you please excuse the next few lines...this is purely for the reader list...ok tobi just told me that the parents read this so for the next few lines mom and please ignore the next few lines... sex drugs and rock and roll

so that was probably a let down i have lots more words but apparently tobi's dictionary doewsn't take cunt and fucking bitch as propper words. So I'm the guest and I don't really want to seperate from the normal expectations of the "tobi fan club" but there is some wierd shit to see such as if you go to thailad what's up wiht the lady boys...t's really fucked up. A quick story, new years i was in phuket in thailand and i decided to take somee acid with a very strange mexican that i met. well things porgress from there...ad tobi is calling everyone a jack ass for no apparent reason...we would up watching fire works form a place in Kata...then to Bagla, now if you have gone to thailand, Bangla is the center of..hmmmmmmm...well if you know the storey of sodom and gemora then you know the gist of it...and it mwas the essence of evil(mind you this is commingform a home schooled kid) So you walk into this world of fornication and debauchery. but the impressive thing was the lady boys. So they walk around picking hte drunk straight boys. The image was this..you're walking by seeing a "woman" wallking up to you then she shispers something in your ear and in sounds sometihing like ...blue jeb... mbut being as drunk as you are or as they are if you are in another country "blowjob" and these guys go ahead ad walk or scurry as it were away with these boy girls only to tell a storey later of how they had slept with a thai girl that wasn't really. So that wasn't really a quick story but if you like it enjoy. now here is the ultimate question...in you know how to strangle someone really really well what art could you say hou have mastered? If you want the answer e-mail tweekville@yahoo.com and mid you i'm really drunk right now but it is a funny answer. Any way i've been drinking for a while and i'm sure the future guests of tobi will be mch better.

Sincerely,
Travis James

my eggs suck

2007-02-02T12:02:00.000+08:00

Fair warning, if you are any part of my parental unit, you may not want to read this. I wasn’t going to blog about my family because they now read this…but that’s too bad. Love ya mom and dad!

Growing up, we had fairly normal meals. Meat, potatoes or rice and a vegetable, beans, peas and corn were usually the trend. I love my mom, but she is not the most inventive cook in the world. Now, I’m not saying she’s a bad good, just boring. Yes, I said it, boring. And when she found something we liked, well she stuck with it, over and over… again (I can’t eat baby shrimp AT ALL thanks to the noodles and cream sauce with baby shrimp in it we had every week for years.)

My dad on the other hand, was a little over the top in his inventiveness. I can’t eat mint or anything with mint flavour because of all the mint he would put in our peas. I’ve only just been able to eat curry again (probably because I’m now actually eating REAL curry) and I will never, ever eat goat, rabbit or duck again! (Well, okay I’ve eaten duck since, but really I don’t go out of my way to eat it.)

One thing though that my mom rocks at, is making eggs. When my sisters and I were little I remember always having eggs. It was one of the nice things about having a chicken coop in the backyard. She would make us egg in a nest (put a hole in a piece of bread and cook an egg in the hole) egg in a cup (soft boiled egg with bread fingers…we even had special cups for this dish) and my favourite, egg in a bowl, soft boiled egg mixed with cut up pieces of bread. Every boxing day my dad makes eggs benedict for the family, but really he just makes the sauce, mom makes the eggs.

Whenever I was sick, my mom would make egg in a bowl for me. When I had my wisdom teeth out, she made egg in a bowl for me because it was so soft. When she came to visit me in Taiwan two years ago and I was really sick, she made me egg in a bowl. They are my comfort food. It's what makes me feel better when I’m feeling crappy.

I made egg in a bowl today. I thought of my mom the whole time. While I would like to say it was just as good, it wasn’t. I guess I don’t have the bit of “mom” that you need for it.

bbrrrr

2007-01-30T10:19:00.000+08:00

Have you heard? It's bloody cold in Taiwan right now. No central heating sucks. I miss my radiators. Granted it was colder the other day, outside, in the wind. But today, I'm sitting in my house and my hands are almost frozen. I need to go find my mittens and put on my heater. Or just leave my house and find somewhere warmer to go.

I probably don't need to complain about the cold because whoever is reading this, I'm sure it's colder wherever you are. Think of me when you are sitting in your nice toasty warm houses or in front of your fires. What I wouldn't give to be sitting in front of my parent's gas fireplaces that I gave them so much shit about for buying. Turned up high, the way my mother likes it, but I can't stand. So much so, that one room in the house is warm and the rest of the house is like a freezer. Oh to be in that one room right now.

On the voice front, it's not back, in any way, shape or form. I am however, on a whole lot (six in fact) of cool drugs in an effort to make it better and I had my throat frozen and some weird yellow crap put down it that tasted horrible, but so far, nothing. I don't know exactly how I'm going to teach tomorrow, I might be in a little bit of trouble.

oops

2007-01-28T21:36:00.000+08:00

ok, so apparently I'm sicker than I thought. After my performance night for Treehouse on Friday (finally, I am finished!) I had a major coughing fit and woke up Saturday morning with no voice. Completely. Totally. Inexplicably. Gone. Oh dear. I tried to go to the doctor but when I got there it was closed, and I was there before 9am. Pretty good for a Saturday morning. I went back 30 minutes later and it was still closed so I will have to go tomorrow.

It is still not back today. I can barely do more than a whisper and when I do, it is not entirely comfortable so I've been either not talking or whispering. Very difficult when you go out for dinner and you try to order things from people whose first language isn't English in the first place. I kept having to get Tom and Jacqui to translate for me.

Hopefully it will be back by Wednesday when I have to teach again. I'll go to the doctor and see what they say tomorrow.

oh those crazy brits

2007-01-27T11:25:00.000+08:00

Sitting in the coffee shop yesterday discussing the cheesecake we were eating we came upon the subject of crusts. (I was with Tom and Jacqui)

me: this crust isn't really sweet enough. I prefer it with graham crackers.

T: I don't know what graham crackers are.

me: you know, the crackers used to make s'mores

(blank look)

T: I don't know what s'mores are.

And so I had to launch into what s'mores were and I got laughed at for mentioning it was a big campfire thing...Sometimes hanging out with Brits really does my head in.

the best of the street

2007-01-26T14:58:00.000+08:00

I have this cd at work that I used to listen with my older kids all the time. Since my young'uns respond better to the stuff they know,(you know, the crap CD's that we have to listen to everyday that my company puts out) I haven't been playing it in my class and have lent it to the new big class. They love it, but of course they do. Who could not love anything Sesame.

Today though it was a question of which song is the best. I was told to choose wisely and I knew that I would be judged* totally by my choice of one children's song. So I picked. It was actually an easy decision because I have always said it was my favourite song of the CD and I was confident in my decision. I picked Monster in the Mirror. Jacqui picked Lambada. Have a listen here and see which one you like between them. We even played them for Tom, but he wouldn't make a decent decision about which one he like, so we are left fighting it out between us for greatest song.

I think it all comes down to childhood favourites. Jacqui said the Count was her favourite, and who sings Lambada? Yeah, the count is cool in a spooky and odd sort of counting way, but for me it was always Grover. Isn't he the friendliest monster ever? And really, who can compete with Super Grover.

*ok, yes judged, but I'm sure probably not in a bad way. Really.

being busy

2007-01-25T13:56:00.000+08:00

my computer is doing the all Chinese screen again. I don't know why.

Amazingly enough, this post is not about food. I know, everyone is so disappointed. Things have been crazy here this past weeks so not much has been happening. I have my Treehouse Parent's night tomorrow and it is stressful as always. We've been making props and practicing like mad. I can only hope that my kids actually remember all their lines, because they certainly didn't yesterday. I know, I know, it's always like this, they always suck a couple of days before and do a great job in the performance. I don't know why I am worried. But I am. A lot.

The sememester finishes tomorrow and we are trying to convince our manager that we need a kindy break. Just one week and then back for two and then it's Chinese New Year. I have been sick so doing all the finishing touches on everything has been hard, and I've lost my voice. I'm suppose to start a conversation class tonight, that should be interesting considering the fact that I can't really talk right now. I've been trying to avoid going to the doctor because it's just a cold and I'm trying to convince my body that I don't need any other drugs than what I can buy at the druggist. However, now with my voice gone, I think I might have to suck it up and go to the doctor. Oh how they'll hate me when I get back to Canada and go to the doctor at the first sign of a cold. They won't like me very much, I think. I feel guilty not going though because I've been sick for two weeks and everytime I cough someone asks me if I've been to the doctor. I keep telling them that in Canada we don't go to the doctor for a simple cold. I don't think anyone believes me.

shabu shabu in Yilan

2007-01-21T14:57:00.000+08:00

Went for shabu shabu on Thursday night with some people from work. When I asked where we were going they said Yilan, I thought they were kidding because it's so far away, they weren't. Yilan is about two hours away on the East coast of the Island. Luckily, they have put in a new freeway that cuts the trip down to 50 minutes. Included in this trip is the longest tunnel in Taiwan. It is 12.9 km and luckily I'm not clausterphobic because it was a little freaky.

We didn't get to Yilan until 8pm but after eating, it was definately worth it. It was the perfect shabu shabu. Buffet style, so you get to choose what you want, with your own individual pot. Every other shabu shabu I've been to it's either, get your own pot and order a set meal, or buffet and you get one pot for the entire table. I don't like the one pot for the entire table idea because for one thing, you lose your food, and for another, Taiwanese people eat weird things that I wouldn't want to take the chance of getting mixed with what I want to eat haha. Remember the duck blood? Exactly.

Here is Elaine enjoying her shabu shabu

This was my second plate of food. Cabbage is great in shabu-shabu and admittedly, I went a little nuts with the lamb...it was so damn good. For some reason, I am addicted to lamb right now.

This is Sammi's pot. One great thing about this shabu-shabu is you get to choose your own soup. Usually the regular soup is fish broth. Sammi got one that has weird nuts and plant things for vegetarians.

This was what I got. It was the "Thailand" choice. It is coconut milk, and while at the beginning I wondered what the hell I did choosing that because I'm not usually a fan of coconut, it was so amazingly good and made my food taste great, I will definately get it next time too.

This is all the Shrimp Anna got to put in hers. I didn't end up getting shrimp. I love it, but I hate the fact that I have to peel it all. It's sort of a pain although, I have gotten pretty good at it now. I used to end up losing all the good parts. Peeling shrimp is a fine art.

When I was choosing my food, I went for some seafood. I love my squid. When I picked up these, Sammi said they were baby octopus. I figured it was cut up and would be really good, until these babies came out of my pot....

Now, I have tried a lot in Taiwan. I have eaten squid when it still has the head on it and shrimp and fish with the eyes..but I just couldn't bring myself to eat these. They were too freaky.

13

2007-01-15T12:38:00.000+08:00

We went to The Wall this weekend. I've been there before, but no one else has. The great thing about The Wall is that they have live bands. The greater thing is that they are rock bands, no hip-hop or R&B. I am so sick of hip-hop and R&B. I don't like it in the first place and I don't like going places where that is all they play. I find it boring. I don't really know why I've never suggested going to The Wall before because the last time I was there (right after I arrived in Taiwan actually) I really enjoyed it. Alas, I haven't been back.

It was a great night. A great band. Mind you, I have no idea what they were singing about because it was all in Chinese, but then I'm not a lyrical person. I'm much more about the music quality. If I like the music sound then I like the band, and I liked this one. They have a new video out and yes, it was very pop-rock. I mean, I guess you have to do songs like that in Taiwan if you want to make it big. This country loves its pop-rock. The rest of the CD is not like that. Yes, I bought the cd...and look...I got it signed too.

If you want to check them out, their website is here but the website is all in Chinese. If you keep hitting random links you will eventually find their music.

But then on second thought....here is their music page and here, you can see their video So go and enjoy.

a little lame

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happy birthday to me...

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a little bit of everything

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motivation

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i laugh

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conversations with sister

not The Junos, but Juno

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me me me me in C minor

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right to the bitter end

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randomness

39

100 Things

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a question

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to forget

the birthday that was....

spring scream

again, AGAIN!

best. day. ever

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with wine, doors watch out

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I heart him