Kathleen's favorite flower, the Frangipani. There was a big tree of them outside the Musuem. 

The beginning of the night market - dinner at Ikari. Claire and I had tortillas and chips, and they gave us plastic gloves to use for eating. Isn't that considerate. No messy fingers for us. The night market is something of a must-see in Taipei, although I didn't think Claire would especially enjoy it. 

The end of the night market. Yup - time to go home. I don't like the night market, all the people get to me. It was the smells that got to Claire. Who knew stinky tofu was that stinky?! 

This is Claire and I at the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. It's my favorite part of Taipei, and Claire thought it as pretty as I do. We wandered around the gardens while the sun set, and then went into the National Concert Hall for a performance of the TMU orchestra. They did all movie overtures, including Star Wars, so it was highly enjoyable. However, jet lag hit Claire half way through, and she had that unpleasant sensation of being so sleepy it is painful to keep your eyes open.  

Eastern Mindset

So, Claire needed to change some money from US to NT. We went to the bank that says "Official Foreign Currency Exchange" on the sign. We went in and finally found the currency lady who invited us to sit down.

First, she asked how much Claire wanted to exchange. "$100". The lady was concerned: "Oh no, too much, we can't do that." Of course we asked how much we were allowed to do. "Nothing more than $500." "$500 NT?" She looked at us like we were idoits: "No, US dollars, of course." Well, there you go. Silly us.

So having agreed upon $100, Claire handed over her cash. The lady again looked very concerned. Three of the $20s were the newest bills with the new security features. She very gravely informed us that the machine couldn't read the bills because they were too new. Slightly put out, Claire told her to just do the other $40. She started to get out the paperwork, then gave the bills a second look, and took them over to her supervisor. She came back to inform us that "These bills are too old." Claire and I both scoffed in her face. We couldn't believe it. The new ones were too new, and the regular ones were "too old." Claire suggested brusquely that they take down the Currency Exchange sign, because they do no such thing. (=

It just reminded me of the fundamental differences between the Eastern and Western mindset, follow the rules versus big picture. But understanding it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Water Lily

I bought a bouqet of water lilies at the flower market yesterday. I took them home, put them in the vase, and they promptly all closed up. I was worried, until I woke up this morning to this! They must only open in the sunlight. Anyway, this may be the prettiest bunch of flowers I've ever bought, and for only $4 CND! I'll take more pictures, but I wanted to get one, in case it died before I got home. Oh, and I didn't edit it at all, that's really the colour.

Claire's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Claire arrived last night, and we were both so excited. She had "the worst trip of her life" which is saying something because she traveled alot. All three flights she took to get her were not the ones she was scheduled to go on. And she stubbed her toe. Aww. But the stress is over, and she's here for a lovely and relaxing vacation.

While unpacking she found her llama, whose name escapes me. Maybe she'll put the story in the comments.

And last night, we turned off the light, and said goodnight, just like we did for three years. It's a nice feeling.

Well, that was different

It was an entirely enjoyable opera that lived up to my expectations. Nothing was in English, so we did miss some of the plotline, but the comedy transcended. It involved Falstaff with his Hello Kitty towel, Silly Stringing the conductor who was dressed in a pink, purple and yellow outfit, and human featherdusters.

Falstaff was sung by a a Finnish guy, who was very talented. Most of the other parts were Taiwanese. The costume design was by a Taiwan company, i prefer, and it was certainly eye catching. Kathy said she had to close her eyes in order to really appreciate the music instead of focusing on all the visual drama on stage.

I loved what the director did to make the production unique and exciting. I really felt like it was a production that was interpretated for our times. The best part was the dual story line, in the huge frame at the back of the stage. While the main roles were doing the scene in front of the orchestra, there were a group of dancers miming out a parallel action behind the orchestra, and at times breaking into the main story.

The theatre was only about half full, and I'm sort of tempted to go back on Sunday afternoon. It's too bad it's not on longer, so Claire could see it too.

Next year's NSO Opera season is Cosi Fan Tutte and the Marriage of Figaro, both of which I've seen recently; so I think I will enjoy them even more.

National Concert Hall

This is the National Concert Hall by Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. It's really a breathtaking building, but I'll need to put a bit more time an effort into getting an adequate shot of it. This was taking as we were rushing in with only 4 minutes to spare before the opera started

The Falstaff Brochure

This was the only opera that the NSO (Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra) did this year. But, it was a good one. Falstaff was entirely different than I expected. More in a bit.

Ooh, exciting.

I love politics ~ I just read on CBC.ca all about the DRAMA in Canada last night. Who knew legislature could be so exciting! I'll bet the Conservatives wish they had stayed up a bit later.

If you are Canadian, you probably know the whole story; and if you aren't you probably don't care, but here's a link to the CBC article none the less.

Falstaff approaches

Okay, I'm excited. Tonight Kathleen and I are going to see Falstaff. I got tickets, because any opera that comes is worth going to. But, I wasn't too excited because I saw Falstaff in Brussels and didn't especially care for it. But I think that must have been a different Falstaff. Because today when I was checking for reviews online I got really excited by the Taipei Times review. This production sounds incredible, here's the bit that got me really excited:

Next week's production in Taipei is by Wei Ying-chuan (魏瑛娟), the young director of the Taiwan theater group Shakespeare's Wild Sisters. Everyone concerned is being tight-lipped about what the production will contain, but what can be gleaned is that reference in the initial publicity to the early 20th century modernist painter Piet Mondrian should now be discounted. Instead, the show will be in a high-fashion, 2005 style, with gorgeous youth-culture costumes, and make-up and hair under the guidance of the cosmetics and hair-styling products companies I Prefer, L'Oreal, Govin and Shu Uemura. The style of popular children's paper dolls, with interchangeable two-dimension cut-out dresses, will characterize aspects of both the costumes and the decor.
Another fascinating aspect is:
The most sensational news was that the NSO conductor Chien Wen-pin (簡文彬) will wear a series of costumes, harmonizing in style with those of the characters in the opera. There's no ballet as such in Falstaff, but in this production dancers dressed identically with the conductor will at various points mimic his movements, giving rise to the question of what is reality and what is dream.
Well, I'll let you know how it goes!

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow."
- Jeff Valdez

Add to that...

So, yesterday I posted those pictures, and meant to go back and add captions but didn't have time. The last few days have been crazy, work is busy with assignments and grading, and life is busy with the gym, appointments and organizing!

I went to the Dentist yesterday afternoon. I have a Taiwan health card, so a cleaning only cost about $6 CND. He was very jovial, and used a very comfortable uv/laser pick thing to clean my teeth. However, he said I had lots of decay and he would need to fill 4 or 5 cavities! 4 or 5! Now, either the lack of flouride in the water has made my teeth go completely to pot in under 10 months; or this guy is just trying to get me to come in so he can get more government money (a cavity filled is also just $6 for me). So, the question is whether to go to my dentist in Canada for a second opinion, or just go with it here. Hmm. I'm sure my Mom will have an opinion.

Oh, and about the pictures from yesterday. The berry picture is from an interesting filter on my camera, which extracts all the colour except the green, red, or in this case, blue. I think it makes a very interesting image, when used occasionally.

And the other picture was of the gifts I've gotten for graduation. One grade 6 class made a whole yearbook for themselves, another class sent a giant card, another gave all the teachers that cute teddy bear with a picture of the class hanging from the neck. Then, one of my grade 2 classes gave me a box of chocolates and a gift box from LUSH. My goodness, they knew what to pick. I was so excited. Then a grade 2 boy gave me a fancy pen and a Dior Addict Makeup Gift set. A large part of my satisfaction in this job comes from the fact that I am given gifts on a regular bases. Gifts are my love language, as they say, and it seems to be the typical Taiwanese ones as well. Every time I get a gift, I feel so loved and appreciated. Actually, I've realized that feeling valued in my job is very important to me. If I don't get some occasional positive feedback, I start to feel like one of the minions. So, Fu-Hsing is a great fit for me. It seems like every month we get gifts for something or other!

berry 

gifts 

my favorite shot

I got some actual pictures done, and this turned out to be my favorite shot. I'm going to do a lot of my digital pictures when I get back to Canada, at Sam's Club you can edit on the Kodak machines and print on Matte. I'm picky, shiny pictures just don't work for me.

Off for all-you-can-eat Thai food with the Fu-Hsing English Teachers to say goodbye to Justin, Tammy, and Carolyn. Must not pig out. Must not pig out.

Happy Father's Day!

It was my job to 'do' Mother's Day, and I think I chose a very thoughtful gift of that scholarship from Room to Read. I reminded Kathy that it was her turn for Father's Day. Well, both of our credit cards are full of international flights, so we couldn't do the gift we had planned. So Kathy planned this. Check out our Father's Day website. Oooooh. Snappy. (=

Happy Father's Day - We Love You Dad!

One year later...

Last year, I was graduating. This year, I'm the teacher watching my students graduate! How entirely unsettling. I still don't think I could be a 'real' teacher long-term, I'm just too sad to say goodbye to the students! This year wasn't so bad, because I only taught the grade 9 students for first semester. In fact, I could only remember a handful of the students names. Still I felt proud watching them graduate. This picture is of the top students from all the grade 9 grads, the valedictorians, I guess. They were all my students last year, so watching them getting there awards was enjoyable.

Well, I enjoyed watching the graduation for the first hour, but after that I was just trying to maintain sanity. We made guesses as to how long the ceremony would last and we were way off - can you imagine, it ended up being a four hour long ceremony. With about 30 words of English total. There were just under 400 grade 9 graduates who all got there name called, diploma and picture; and there were another 400 grade 6 grads (who will mostly be coming back to Fu-Hsing for Junior High).

"HUURGGH"

That's an approximation of the sound we make in Body Combat. None of the Taiwanese women make a peep, but Kathleen and I are happily grunting away with the men. Body Combat is an program designed by an American company that is used in gyms all over the world (Same music tracks, same choreography; local instructors). It is a mix of self-defense and boxing. It's the toughest workout I've ever done, I always leave dripping in sweat. But, boy is it fun. Addictive, actually. I never thought I'd be the kind of person who loves going to the gym, and uses it as 'me-time' but I'm starting to get that way.

Oh, and the picture I posted earlier today is from a gym in Singapore, not mine. I'll try to take a picture sometime this week, so you can get a better idea of what the classes are like at our gym, California Fitness. Basically it's 200 Taiwanese people crammed into a room, and Kathy and I. There are times I am overwhelmed by the oddness of the situation. Other times, I get so angry at people invading my personal space I have to talk myself out of punching them. (When people get too close, I just grunt really loudly and that scares them away.)

the love of books

I was talking to my parents about my one day in Toronto this summer, and the conversation motivated me to start a library wish-list. The idea of walking into our mammoth Central library in Richmond Hill is overwhelming. All those books, in English, for free! Too much. So, I'm going to put together a reading list. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. I'm leaning towards some lighter reading, fiction or non, but with some redeeming value, nothing too mindless. Leave a comment if you have an idea.

I went to Amazon.com to check out what new books were out. Lo and behold, I clicked on books, and on the main page was a link to the "Emergent Faith Store." I had to take a second look, I was so surprised. I thought Emergent was still a rather small movement and more counter-culture than consumerist. Sadly, no. I looked at the Emergent Faith Page, and it was full of all sorts of "christian books" about the same stuff, with a new trendier name. It makes me sad. I don't know, I haven't really over-anayzed it, but everything I was attrached to in the post-modern/emergent movement is contradicted by a featured page on the top american bookseller website.

The introduction to the page went like this:

Contemporary music, a shirt-sleeved pastor, and a cup of coffee, often set the stage for a new approach to religious services. Without sacrificing core values, the goal of the emerging church movement is to help churches reach their full potential and reach a wider audience--meeting that audience on its own territory, in real life, real community contexts.

Yup, that's it for me, short sleeves. (Note: deep sarcasm laced with disappointment). Lets all reach our full-potential, with 'contemporary' music.

Hmm. I'm not throwing the baby out with the water here, I still think the true post-modern approach to church is something entirely different than short-sleeves and potential. I just think it's sad that it's going to be confused with the brand marketed on Amazon.

Oh, and it doesn't really affect me now, anyway, because I have been unable to find any sort of emergent / postmodern church in either Taipei or Halifax. But I am excited about visiting one church in Halifax, a community called the Agora, which is associated with the Mennonite Brethern. They meet on Sunday nights and have coffee and muffins. That's all I ask. I guess Amazon had one part right, coffee is an integral element in any church trying to be accessible!

Body Combat

Well, today is Saturday morning, and I'm off to Body Combat. Tell you about it later.

Another Monkey

I'm sorry, but I have stopped trying to think of clever or imaginative blog post titles. That's just too much time I don't have!

This is, as the title says, another monkey. He was the baby, although you can't quite tell that from the photo. When the mother saw me trying to take a picture of her, she stuck her foot on the glass to block the shot. But when the baby saw me smiling at him, he smiled back. Cute, eh?

This is a monkey...

The gibbons were cute, but far away. Can't say that for the chimpanzees. (?) They were so friendly a group of three of them were sitting right next to the glass, inches away from my face. I don't think I've ever been so close. Sadly, the glass was dirty and there was a lot of reflection, so it's not going to win any prizes. But I was glad to get a shot of how cute and close they were.

An orchid a day...

Well, my quality of life has improved drastically in the last 12 hours. I still feel like I have a million and one things on my 'to-do list', but what's a million and one things when you have the internet? Nothing, I tell you. So, my peace of mind is restored, although the unneccesary stress of the last few weeks probably took a few years of my life.

So I'm close to estatic, I'm wrapping up all the school stuff, and greatly anticipating Claire coming in 10 days. Ten days! Whoo-ho! Life is good, although I had to spend an hour yesterday blocking all of my plans into my calendar for the summer, and it's non-stop from now until August. There are two weeks in August when I'll only have an evening class four days a week, so I'll consider that my vacation.

Zoo day

Kathleen and I took the advantage of a rainy Sunday afternoon to explore the Taipei zoo. Quite enjoyable. Actually, mostly humane and quite extensive. Of course, the monkeys were the best part. Well, to be more specific, the gibbons.

Oh, and the really, really good news... I'm posting this from our apartment computer. After what seems like eternity but was really only two months. And do you know what, we just didn't have the right codes. Alas. At least its all fixed now, and Kathy will be very happy to have internet this summer. The whole experience has taught me that I am utterly dependent on the internet. Better to accept the truth than live in denial, eh?

Blue

This is a blue berry, but I do no think it is a blueberry persay. He-he.

Not mad cow disease.

This is a cherry. It was the last one, and I had to take a picture before I ate it. They were special white cherries and cost about $8 a box. I still bought them, cause I love cherries. "Life is like a chairful of bowlies!" ~ Mary Engelbreit

In unrelated news, Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease is going around the school. Everyone was calling it Foot and Mouth Disease which Kathy and I were quite sure was the technical name for Mad Cow, right? That seemed odd, so I looked it up online. Two very different things. Hand, foot and mouth is common in Taiwan and Malaysia during the summer, and it is not serious. Mostly spread among children, had a few fatalities in 1998, so the school takes it very seriously.

All the more reason to wash my hands all the time. It still seems like a hopeless cause, because it seems that NO ONE in Taiwan washes their hands with soap. I grew up with a very germ-concious mother, and I know that splashing water on your hands does nothing. Alas. It just baffles me that just an island or two over is Japan, where sanitation is stict and hygenie is very important. If anyone could clue me into why Japan is so clean and hygenic and most Taiwanese don't even use soap, I would appreciate it. It's just one of those cultural differences that is starting to get to me, as the end is in sight.

Ball of Stress speaks

No, dear folk who read my blog, I have not forgotten you. To the contrary, I think of this little spot daily, and wish that I could unravel this ball of stress that is my life at the moment, in order to sit down and fill you in. Sorry. Not happening. Ah the proverbial saying, it will get worse before it gets better. School is so close to done, that life is all at once rosy and dark. I have much, much, much to finish in the next two weeks. Then in LESS than two weeks, my wonderful friend Claire is coming, which is certainly going to be the highlight of my time in Taiwan, but will require me to clean my room, and risk the wrath of the colonies of ants and cockroaches.

Which reminds me, after all that buildup to the "traumatic experience" I had last week, I never posted my children's story. That's because I had mean ol' Kathy read it, and she said it wasn't that good. If she didn't think it was good, I was certainly not going to post it in a public place. So, I'll save you the whole story, the short version is:

Last week we had an earthquake, the biggest one so far this year. It was just after midnight, and I awoke to a bit of a shaking. It doesn't bother me much, I think it's fun rather than scary. So after it finished, I went to the washroom, then went to climb into bed when I noticed something. You probably guessed it. A freaking gigantic cockroach tucked in between my mauve comforter and rose sheet. AAAAAHHHHH! describes it. I mean really, these cockroaches are huge, with long wavy antenna and wings. I did not scream, but went to the bedroom next to mine to find our resident cockroach killer. By the time we returned, bearing large hiking boots on all hands, the cockroach was gone. Where too? Well, probably under my bed. Alas. After that, it took me a very long time to get my heartrate down, and convince myself that cockroaches don't like me any more than I like them. I still tucked all my mosquito netting in around my mattress and slept with the light on. Now, every night before bed, I have to give my comforter a good shake, to ensure no more unpleasant bedfellows.

Okay, so that's my story for today. Why don't you read the cousins blogs? Jill and Michelle both have new interesting posts. I completely emphasize with Michelle's rant. I have developed a special 'evil look' that I sneer at any taxi that tries to cut in front of me in the cross walk. I can't emphasize with Jill, she's cruising in Bermuda, but it sounds like fun!

Still no computer, some days no water, broken pipes, cockroaches, no pedestrian right of way, and small personal space bubbles. I'm starting to count the days.

Final and favorite rose

This is my last rose shot, and my favorite. I want to do a series of four prints and tint them different shades to make a collage.

Blossom

Today is my busy day, 6 hours teaching. This evening we have a Grade 6 Graduation Party at the very classy Grand Hyatt Hotel. It should be fun. It did mean I had to run to the gym at lunch for a power Body Combat class. Now I need to run to Grade 7 girls. Hurry, hurry.

bloom

Kathy bought roses. I had to take pictures. The shading on the flowers made them especially dramatic subjects. More to come.

Guest Blog by Kathleen

A happy moment in my day. The grade 7 boys were doing an activity in which one partner runs to the back, reads a couple words from a story then runs to the front and tells their partner, who then writes it down. First team to finish the story wins. I have one boy who has basically no English skills, so I was worried how he and his partner would do. But as I walked by, I saw that the boy was writing words in English. I was flabbergasted until I realized that his partner was running up and spelling each word, one letter at a time. "L,a,s,t, s,u,m,m,e,r, h,e, w,e,n,t, t,o, I,t,a,l,y." Even though they didn't finish first, I gave both boys extra points for effort!