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Kathleen asked me who "rhymes with kerouac" was, so I pointed her towards his blog: Today at the Mission: Daily Life in the Homeless Shelter. Kathleen agreed with me that he does an wonderful job of giving a fair picture of the struggle and joy of working with the homeless. He has a beautiful post about working with the same people "Year after Year."

[God] keeps asking me to trust in the ridiculousness of hope, to live in the insanity of love, and to walk and be and do in The Way and not in the means.


I bought more Ikea grapefruit candles, and find myself mesmerized by the glow. You'd think I'd be tired of them after wrapping up so many for Claire and John's wedding, but I still love the smell.

My new book

This is the collage from the front cover of my new Jimmy book: The Real Me. It's a series of portraits, with corresponding profiles (written in Chinese, of course). I enjoy the idea of writing my own character profiles for the creative images, and even using them for my writing someday.

Did you know?

This was Question #32 in this morning's Grade 8 English Quiz Competition:

32. When do you think Americans eat dessert?
A. With drinks.
B. After soup.
C. Before bedtime.

Kathleen and I thought there should be a "D" choice "all of the above".
But we soon learned that the correct answer what that Americans eat dessert with drinks. Now we know.

Our supplier

This is Andy, who supplies us with our daily caffiene fixes. (Plural. That's one iced coffee every morning and one hot coffee everyday after lunch).
B U Cafe is our second home. And the coffee is about a third of a price of Starbucks coffee ($1.50 instead of $4.) There's an ongoing debate as to whether BU's coffee is better than Timmie's, but there's no question that we think it's the best in Taipei!

Another View

Another view of Andy quickly and happily filling our orders. He's always so friendly. The snowmen holding the Canadian flag are left over from Christmas. I think they left it up just for us!

Interesting history snippet.

Okay, I read this on another Taipei blog, and I found it interesting.

See, the area where I live is the intersection of Renai and Dunhwa roads. Everyday I walk around this huge roundabout, that has a huge garden of trees in the middle (which, sadly, you can't get to without some seriously dangerous jaywalking). Both Dunhwa and Renai are about 10 lanes wide, with two tree-lined medians down the centre. I think I've put on a picture before. I was wondering how I lucked out to live in such a green area.

So, according to Poagao's Journal:

I love Dunhua because it's full of trees, just like Ren-ai Road. The reason for this is supposedly that Chiang Kai-shek wanted to impress foreign dignitaries, who would arrive at Songshan Airport, drive down Dunhua and make a right onto Ren-ai to the Presidential Office. Those were basically their first impressions, so CKS wanted it to be of broad, tree-lined avenues.

Chef A

Still catching up from last weekend, when we went to "Gourmet Taipei." It was an International Food and Wine show, which was entirely enjoyable. I think I posted a little bit about it, but here are the pictures to go with it.
Kathleen, suited up and ready to 'cook.' Well, actually ready to combine premeasured and prepared ingredients. 'Heh, this is easy!'

Chef B

Here I am ready to cook. You can see the celebrity chef in the front, Kurt Weid from Sweden. (The event was sponsored by IKEA). The only chefs I know are the ones on TV, but Kurt's bio was very impressive, so I paid attention to his instructions.

Voila!

Here is my masterpiece. We made three different 'recipies' (again, I feel a bit silly talking about what we did as cooking recipies, but, whatever). This was my greatest success. I'm not sure what the real name of it was, but given it's ingredients it should be called "Cheese, Spinach, and Caviar on Ritz." It took just the right level of skill to mix the soft cheese and spinach paste. Then there was the task of balancing that mixture elegantly on the cracker, and making a little hole to place the caviar in. Then the final test was the placement of the onion and greens. Aha! When celebrity chef came to do his rounds, he gave both Kathleen and I praise. He said to me: "Oh, we have an artist here, lovely." And to Kathy: "10 Points!" (Out of what?)
Kathleen and I spent a good deal of this cooking session giggling.

Oh my.

This is a caterpillar. Things are different here.

Bau Bau

So, last week we went to the brand new Bau Bau spa, "Bali in Taipei." Kathleen and I both have a thing for Balinese luxury, and there was a mother's day special, 40% off. So for the bargain price of $80 CND, we had an afternoon of luxury. The full-body massage took two hours! Then there was the beautiful shower room, the afternoon tea, and it expanded to take up the entire afternoon. (We had the afternoon off from school, we didn't skip!) It was the best massage I've ever had, and the most pampered I've ever felt. But it's too expensive to become a regular indulgence.

Ahhh...

Me, at the spa. Relaxing. Shortly after this two hour long full-body massage we got the bad news from the company and had a horribly stressful and emotional week. Oh well, for two hours I was at peace.

A little spot of loveliness

Another orchid shot. They are everywhere, I can't help myself.

'pretty' dancers

Alright, I'm still catching up from last week. This was Thursday night's entertainment, a trip to see Swan Lake.

It was performed by the Moscow City Ballet, and we bought our tickets a month ago. The third balcony on the side seats we had cost $40, so we expected it to be good. I was especially looking forward to it, because Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" was the first cd I ever bought. (That really tells you something about my childhood!) I think it was about $5.99 with a purchase from the supermarket Dominion near our house. Well, since it was the only cd I owned for awhile, I am very familiar with the music.

However, we were generally disappointed. It lacked passion or grandeur or something. It was very 'pretty.' We had just watched the movie "The Company" a few nights earlier, and that impression of the Chicago Joffery Ballet Company may have been an unfair comparison to the Russians.

Well, at least now I've seen Swan Lake. Whoptedo.

Swan Lake

There they go! These pictures were not taken by me, they are from the website. I was much farther away.

A first

I was always jealous of the elementary education majors who got to make bulletin boards for assignments in college. So when I got to do my first one this semester, I was pretty excited. Well, it turned out that one of our ever-helpful students teachers in the department did all the work with layout and such. No cut and paste for this school. All the student work was scanned in and the final poster was printed off the huge printing machine thingy. But I was still proud of it and all the student's hard work on their Maps.

The Dancers Company

I've had a rather full two weeks, and because of computer troubles I have a lot to catch up on. (On my blog and on my online Joyce course!)

So, this was our evening's entertainment last weekend, on Friday night we went to see "The Dancers' Company" from Brigham Young University, in Utah. We went because we figured it would be in English and tickets were only about $8 CND. It was a very enjoyable evening, although I kept thinking about Heather Armstrong from Dooce, and how her hilarious stories have forever changed the way I view Mormons.

Well, that's something you don't see everyday!

This was my illegal, flashless photo of the BYU dancers. They were perforing a modern dance designed to honor the survivors of the Great Depression, oddly enough. The dances were all over the map, including Norah Jones, a 'Stomp' imatation, and the Great Depression.

There was one extra that very much added to the contrast. In the 'intermission' there was a performance by the NeoClassical dancers, who were a Taiwanese troupe performing traditional Chinese dance. It was stunning visually, although very slow moving compared to the American modern dance.

Funny story. We went to see the BYU show last Friday night, during the whole 'Company Fiasco.' So, at the time, I was 100% sure that I had lost my job and wouldn't be able to come back to FuHsing next year. So my emotions were haywire, furiously angry and really disappointed. Anyway, I got out my camera to take another flashless photo of the Chinese dancers for my blog. But some guy standing next to me put his hand in front of my lense and said "No Pictures." He was very polite about it, but it was just too much. I started to cry. Bawl would be an accurate word. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I had to work to catch my breath. Needless to say, he left as soon as the dance was over. I wonder what he thought of me, "psycho foreigner" probably. But for that weekend when I thought I wouldn't be able to come back, I felt like crying whenever I thought about leaving my students. I don't know how teachers who have new students every year do it.

A Sunny Taipei Day

Well, I finally gave in and bought a sun umbrella. This particular trend is noticeable among certain Asian groups in Canada, but it is absolutely rampant here in Taipei. It seems every Taiwanese woman carries a delicate parasol to protect her fair complexion from the sun. If it saves me wearing sunscreen, I'm all for it, even if I look a bit dopey.

I need it today! It's been alternating thundershowers and bright sun, and this weekend got the 'hot and sunny' choice. Unfortunately, it was also "ENGLISH CAMP" weekend. Meaning we had to work Saturday and Sunday, teaching 340 Grade 6 students in a class called "Sports and Games." I can hear you laughing, yes, Kathy and I volunteered for sports! It's a whole different perspective telling the kids what to do and watching them run around. Anyway, the weekend turned out to be much more fun than work; except for the fact that both Kathy and I had our 'classrooms' outside. ALthough there was shade, it made for two hot and sweaty days. Last night I went to bed at 8:30, I was so wiped out from the heat. Ahh, to spend the summer in Halifax!

Kathleen and Umbrella

Kathy with her cat umbrella

A self-portrait

This is a self-portrait I took so you could see my new hair and glasses. Unfortunately, you can't really see either very well. He-he. I'll try again. Oh, and we still don't have internet at home, but I brought in the home laptop to work, and just put on a lot of pictures. So there will be a lot of pictures in the next week. That is if I can find time to post them!

a pen pal letter

This was one of my favorite pen pal letters. Jenny said she 'spent an afternoon' making this very elaborate paper leaf envelope. I do hope Tyler appreciates it!

Where can I go to curl up?

Oh dear. Today I have a doozy of a stress migraine (self-diagnosed) that I haven't seen the likes of since university. My sophmore year, I now realize, was a horribly overloaded time when I was under too much stress and started to have migraines and need daily naps. For me, stress=sleepy. Anyway, this last week is about on-par. It's a whole, long, drawn-out story, which holds very little interest for anyone not directly involved. That was one reason I didn't blog about it, the other being a sneaking suspicion that the 'boss' might be reading my blog. (Are you?)

So long story short. I LOVE the school I work for in everyway. I STRONGLY DISLIKE the Company that hired me and is my direct employer. School wants me back. Company gives me a horrible contract with no benefits and even more requirements and extras than last year. I love school, want to come back. I hate the injustice of the company being able to demand everything and give nothing. I could go on and on. The way the whole thing was handled was very shady too, and I hate feeling I am being lied to and manipulated. Kathy and I talked about whether it was better to stick to my principles and turn down the crappy contract and the injust employer, thus giving up a wonderful school, to stick to my principles and refuse to be treated like trash; or swallow my sense of pride and justice and just accept my position of indentured servitude.

You wonder what I decided? Well, on Sunday I was 100% sure I was going to finish the year here, spend the summer in Halifax, and then move to Vancouver. I was very excited. However, that was based on something the company had told me last week was 100% for sure, which they then had a change of heart about on Monday. So I decided to say 'yes.' I haven't actually signed anything yet, so if any of you think it's not worth it, I'd appreciate advice.

On a side note, I've greatly enjoyed watching the political drama unfolding in Canada. It makes the headlines in our Taiwanese newspaper, there's usually an accompaning picture of Paul Martin looking grave. However, the news on CBC today looked brighter. Go Belinda, way to be a mover and shaker. I always knew I liked her. Actually, when my family went to that Conservative Rally sort of thing, I came away liking Belinda and mistrusting that Stephen Harris. Now that little contradiction has worked itself out.

Pen Pal Letters

So, at the moment I am entirely obsessed with pen pal letters. My grade 6 and 7 classes all write to pen pals in Claire's grade 6 classes in Indiana, and my grade 8 girls are doing that environmental pen pal programme with a grade 6 class in San Fransisco.

* One of my grade 7 girls had written to their penpal about how busy they are with tests here in Taipei (they really do have at least one big test a day). Her pen pals reply: "I'm sorry you are busy with tests, I am busy two, I just got two new baby pigs!" Our class had a laugh over that, and I explained the different mindset between Taipei and Indiana. Frankly, if I had kids I'd rather they be busy with pigs than tests in grade 6.
* Last week's assignment for the grade 8 girls was to talk about the endangered animals in their country. Our class' letter read like a research report, talking about living conditions, length, eating habits, etc. The letter we got back from San Fransisco had a series of poems the students had written about the endangered animals there. It was like night and day, how different the two approaches were.

Mother's Day Gift

Kathleen and I had a hard time thinking of what to get Mom for Mother's Day. Flowers, chocolate, and knic-knacks don't cut it. So this year, we decided to do something lasting and valuable.

There's an organization called "Room to Read" that I find inspiring. It started at the grass-roots level and still maintains a very low overhead and operating cost by keeping much of their administration in the countries they work in. The basic premise is that literacy is the key to development. They focus on early childhood education and literacy in poorer communities in countries such as Nepal, India and Cambodia.

For Mother's Day, Kathy and I were able to sponsor a girls scholarship in honour of Mom. They have a beautiful slide show online that has an overview of the programme. Basically, it's a commitment to pay for one girl to complete her entire education, over the course of 10 years. By educating one girl, you ensure her economic survival, as well as the education of her family. I encourage you to look into this organization, you can donate online through CanadaHelps.org.

Silly / Superficial Post

Well, on a superficial level:
I got a haircut! It's fabulous, my hair has finally found it's calling: short and curly. Who would have thought it, I have hair that would have taken a woman in the 1920's hours of work. And the best part is that is just gets curlier in the Taipei humidity / rain. I finally have a real 'wash-and-go' cut, I don't even need a hair brush. I can't find any pictures online that look like my hair, so you'll just have to wait a week or two for a photo.

I also got a great deal on some new shirts from Anthropologie, via the local Export Store by our apartment. This shirt, in particular, and another that's not on their website. It's a wonderful feeling, going into a little shop and coming out with Banana Republic dress pants or an Anthropologie blouse. It's like the thrill of Value Villiage, only this stuff is new with the tags on it!

And finally, I bought some new glasses! Taiwan is known for cheap glasses, and I found it to be true. Lots of designer labels for much less than home (still the same quality, though). So I shopped at a few stores, and ended up with a quirky frame from Alexander McQueen. It only took a day, and cost about $150 CND total. They are this shape, but an entirely different frame. You'll just have to wait for a real photo.

A Groovy Rump and Lasses

Today one of my grade 8 boys tried to turn in a restaurant review he had printed off from this internet. It was the H.K. Diner, reviewed by Restaurant Spy. I read in during class, and the words groovy, lasses, and rump stuck out to me.
So I started the interrogation. "What is a rump?" "Use 'groovy' in a sentence." "When were you in London?" He answered rather unconvincingly.
I asked him, "Did you write this? Because it sure looks like you printed it off the internet." He denied it, so I said, "Well, then, I'll just check to be sure." We have a computer in the classroom, so I googled it. Word for word with poor K's.
He's one of my good students, so I offered him grace. He can write his own, and turn it in tommorrow, only getting docked for being late. I don't want him to get in trouble with the administration. But it made me laugh that he thought I would buy 'rump.'

Any help?

A quick question. Does anyone know of good cheap accommodation in Halifax? I can stay in the dorm for most of the summer, but not the last week. So I have to find somewhere to stay downtown for 7 days. The three hostels all look a bit shady, and they are $50/night for a private! Yet, the cheapest hotels seem to be over $100. Any recommendations for a B&B or cheap motel in the heart of the city? I thought I'd ask.

Well, the internet situation is still sketchy here, which is no good for an online course. Sigh. We're going to mention the problem today. Then I'll have lots of interesting pictures and articles to post, which I haven't time to do in between classes at work. And work is not the time to blog, anyway. I am a contentious employee!

And I thought it couldn't get any worse

So, the internet at the apartment computer has gone. Basically, life is over. Kathy was trying to encourage me that survival without the internet is possible, but frankly, between blogging, an online course I paid a fortune for, summer planning and trying to keep in touch with family and friends; I feel entirely cut off without my dear internet (made even better by my new discovery of the wonders of Firefox - highly recommended).

So all that to say - my blogging may continue to be erratic until further developments, hopefully in my favor.

Oh, and I saw Kingdom of Heaven last night, a good 2.5 hour movie, with lots of interesting ideas about religious conflict and peace. I really enjoyed it, and would say more, except that I need to get off to Body Pump.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Love you! Check your email.

Boring Update Post - May Skip.

Quick update. I'm still here, still over my head with work. This weekend I don't have Saturday class, so I may devote all my attention to grading for my Grade 5-8 classes. I'll schedule breaks to come out of my room for air and coffee. Perhaps I'll blog if I find some funny pen pal letters / restaurant reviews, menus, or Endangered Species information. At least I have a bunch of different assignements, unlike the over 400 personal introduction letters I had to grade that one week last fall.

Exclamation Marks

Yesterday was the first day of my James Joyce's Ulysses course. We all had to do a self-introduction on the discussion board. Everyone else was older, semi-retired, from Greece, Austrailia, England and the US. I added my little intro, trying to make myself sound at least semi-smart. I read it aloud to Carolyn and Kathy to make sure it wasn't dumb. Then I posted it. Afterwards, I wondered aloud "I wonder if there were too many exclamation points?" Carolyn looked skeptical, "You mean you put exclamation points in that?!" Kathy said that it made it obvious I was trying to hard. I couldn't change it, so I'll just have to be that young girl in Taipei who is too excited. Reminds me of what Dr. Doughty used to say in Creative Writing, that each person should be allowed one exclamation point for their life. I'm over my limit.

death to multitasking

It's been a long time since I missed a day blogging, but I've been busy since the weekend. I feel somewhat like a juggler, trying to keep all 12 flaming swords in the air, eh? Multitasking is one of my strengths, but at the expense of my mental health. When I get swamped I can't relax and even when I try to just sit I'm mentally checking off my to-do list. Urgh. I suppose we're all the same way, just with different lists.

Anyway, all the things "to do" are getting done. Mainly everything is worked out for this summer. That's a relief. My two pen pal programs are in full swing, and I feel like I run a post office. I start my Ulysses course tommorrow. Work is good, home life is good, and I've been very good at going to the gym. Last night Kathleen and I tried out Body Combat. It was very entertaining, although I feel rather silly spending an hour punching the air.

I haven't had a chance to fix "hello" and put photos up. Part of the problem is sharing the office computer with 5 people and the home computer with 6 people. Ah, the joys of a 'personal' computer. I'll try to get photos up soon. THis post is rambling. Let it speak to my mental state. If I owe you an email, please give me a weeks grace!

The love of money is...

Sorry, this is the continued post about my students' desire to be rich.

So whatdya think? Would you rather be rich or happy? What do you think the students said? Well, almost 100% said they'd rather be rich and some were quite adamant about it. As much as I argued the opposing side, the students said their goal was to be rich, and then they'd have enough money to buy whatever they wanted so they'd be happy, of course. Can you imagine?! It made me think about how much cultural information we are given that influences our views on rich = happy.

I feel like I was raised to believe that the point was to have a life that mattered, to make a difference in the world, build strong relationships, be content. Money was only a means to an end. Part of me wants to keep trying to convince my students of this, although it feels like I'm forcing my cultural viewpoint onto a different paradigm. Taiwan, at least what I've seen of it in this private middle school, is all about being rich. You work excessively hard in school to get into the right high school. Same for high school to college. Then you try to get a high-paying job and the ladder goes on and on until you die.

I find that mindset so demotivating and depressing. I feel like asking the kids how they have the will to live, when their lives seem to be on such a straight track to nowhere. But to them it's a straight track to a life where you can buy whatever you want. Anyway, it's something I've been thinking about. Anyone have an opinion? Is the love of money cultural? Or is it just that I grew up in a family and a community that is an anomaly? Are the Canadian and Taiwanese educational mindsets equally valid? Is it alright for me as a teacher in Taiwan to try to encourage my students to follow the Canadian mindset of 'school shouldn't matter so much, go out and play for a minute'? Hmmm.

New Passport

I just picked up my brand new passport, and my cut-off old one. Sadly, I've now officially joined the ranks of folks with embarrasingly bad passport photos. It's a horribly ugly, just got out of jail type photo. So I won't be posting it here anytime soon. I suppose I should just feel lucky that my first two passport photos were flattering, back in the good old days when we were allowed to smile. Oh, and I was optimistic and got the 48 page one this time (instead of the 24 like my old one). I can't wait to see which visas and stamps will fill the pages. I'm hoping that between now and 2010, I'll be all over the place. Australia? Africa? I'll just have to be careful not to show the photo more than necessary!

I was going to post a picture of my passport, the old good one that is, but Hello isn't working again, and I've got too much to do to waste an hour trying to get it to work.

Oh, and I've been asked to work with some grade 5 students to put together a Mother's Day presentation. Basically just a one or two minute poem or story that would be easy for the kids to recite and easy for everyone to understand. Anyone have any suggestions?