we're back in taoyuan but it's 3am so i'm headed to bed. update and pictures tomorrow.
maj, let me know when you get back to austin.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
day 3 quickly
i'm tired and a little bit tispy, truth be told, so this will be the quick version.
woke up at 11:40 to be checked out by noon. i showered and dried/straightened my hair in a record 18 minutes. then we headed for this bagel place that was listed on justin's fun map, but it was closed when we got there. luckily, this wonderful taiwanese coffee shop was open right next door. i had a waffle and ice cream coffee.
then we headed toward the cultural center to see what was happening there.
they had carnival games set up and a drum/dragon festival thing going on. 
we played some basketball game and a wooden ball game and hung out for probably an hour.
i got some sacred year of the ox dirt for my expanding dirt collection.
i hope it'll make it through customs.
there was an interesting exhibit in the cultural center with all kinds of cow/ox things for chinese new year since it's the year of the ox.
candy coated fruit on a stick.
rice dog. it's a hotdog thing on a bun made of rice.
HMM i can't remember what we did after that..
oh we went on a harbor cruise and had dinner at a cute restaurant in the harbor.
i figured out how to adjust the shutter speed on my camera for nighttime pictures and i think i got some cool shots of some of the freight boats.
it was a little chilly since it was so warm during the day that we chose to forego our coats for the second half of the day.
josh left for taoyuan around 8 this evening and steve and i walked half the length of the city in search of a movie theater. we found one i had previously mapped out with 10 minutes to spare, just in time to catch all of 'yes man' with jim carey. it was alright. i'd probably wait for it to come out on DVD.
(this is a stand at the fair. they always have things lined up like this in neat little rows.)
then steve had a burning desire to visit a bar so we hopped in a taxi and asked the guy to take us to a good bar. he dropped us at this pub downtown and we played dice and hung out for a little while. i'm tired though. it's 2:30. time to go to sleep.
dear anonymous commenter,
i've tried all of the convential methods and i can't figure out who you are. help a girl out.
megan
woke up at 11:40 to be checked out by noon. i showered and dried/straightened my hair in a record 18 minutes. then we headed for this bagel place that was listed on justin's fun map, but it was closed when we got there. luckily, this wonderful taiwanese coffee shop was open right next door. i had a waffle and ice cream coffee.
then we headed toward the cultural center to see what was happening there.
they had carnival games set up and a drum/dragon festival thing going on. 
we played some basketball game and a wooden ball game and hung out for probably an hour.
i got some sacred year of the ox dirt for my expanding dirt collection.
i hope it'll make it through customs.
there was an interesting exhibit in the cultural center with all kinds of cow/ox things for chinese new year since it's the year of the ox.
candy coated fruit on a stick.
rice dog. it's a hotdog thing on a bun made of rice.HMM i can't remember what we did after that..
oh we went on a harbor cruise and had dinner at a cute restaurant in the harbor.
i figured out how to adjust the shutter speed on my camera for nighttime pictures and i think i got some cool shots of some of the freight boats.
it was a little chilly since it was so warm during the day that we chose to forego our coats for the second half of the day.josh left for taoyuan around 8 this evening and steve and i walked half the length of the city in search of a movie theater. we found one i had previously mapped out with 10 minutes to spare, just in time to catch all of 'yes man' with jim carey. it was alright. i'd probably wait for it to come out on DVD.
(this is a stand at the fair. they always have things lined up like this in neat little rows.)then steve had a burning desire to visit a bar so we hopped in a taxi and asked the guy to take us to a good bar. he dropped us at this pub downtown and we played dice and hung out for a little while. i'm tired though. it's 2:30. time to go to sleep.
dear anonymous commenter,
i've tried all of the convential methods and i can't figure out who you are. help a girl out.
megan
Sunday, January 25, 2009
day 2
(these pictures are just random day shots of kaohsiung since i didn't bring my camera on the trip to the beach).
woke up laaate this afternoon, around noon. all of us were waiting for someone else to be the first to get out of bed. that's the only downside to traveling with 3 easygoing people. sometimes we just can't make a collective decision because no one has a preference. it's been working out though.
so we rented scooters from this really accomodating man who overlooked the fact that none of us has an international license, and we headed in the direction of kenting. it's 60km away so i think we only made it.. less than half way but i'm not sure how far. we just headed east along the beach.
it was pretty along the water. we walked on the beach for a bit, ate, hung out, drove around, explored. josh did pretty well with directions considering most roads weren't marked on the map. driving was nice because the major roads had a separate scooter lane so it didn't feel like you were going to get minched. we grabbed street food for lunch in one of the tiny towns and it seemed a little like we were the only foreigners who had been through there in a while.
then this evening we met up with Bobo and played Uno with the girls for an hour or so and met up with the other Meghan and her boyfriend.
then most of us went out to Smokey Moe's for dinner. Steve and i split a chicken burrito and a 'texas bbq chopped beef sandwich' that tasted pleasantly authentic.
hit the spot for sure.
tomorrow is chinese new years day so there should be some interesting stuff going on in town. hey speaking of chinese new year, the woman who's working at the front desk just lit a bunch of firecrackers because it's midnight. 
happy chinese new year!
woke up laaate this afternoon, around noon. all of us were waiting for someone else to be the first to get out of bed. that's the only downside to traveling with 3 easygoing people. sometimes we just can't make a collective decision because no one has a preference. it's been working out though.
so we rented scooters from this really accomodating man who overlooked the fact that none of us has an international license, and we headed in the direction of kenting. it's 60km away so i think we only made it.. less than half way but i'm not sure how far. we just headed east along the beach.
it was pretty along the water. we walked on the beach for a bit, ate, hung out, drove around, explored. josh did pretty well with directions considering most roads weren't marked on the map. driving was nice because the major roads had a separate scooter lane so it didn't feel like you were going to get minched. we grabbed street food for lunch in one of the tiny towns and it seemed a little like we were the only foreigners who had been through there in a while.then this evening we met up with Bobo and played Uno with the girls for an hour or so and met up with the other Meghan and her boyfriend.
then most of us went out to Smokey Moe's for dinner. Steve and i split a chicken burrito and a 'texas bbq chopped beef sandwich' that tasted pleasantly authentic.
hit the spot for sure.
tomorrow is chinese new years day so there should be some interesting stuff going on in town. hey speaking of chinese new year, the woman who's working at the front desk just lit a bunch of firecrackers because it's midnight. 
happy chinese new year!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
kaoshiung day 1
ni hao, blogland. i didn't think i'd be able to check in from kaoshiung, but i can. we're staying in a pretty cool IKEA-d out hotel across from the train station and it has a little internet station tucked under the stairs.
the hotel itself is nice. our room is a 'family suite' and it's clean and decorated with bright IKEA stuff so it feels good. the floor has sparkley tiles on it, so that's something.
well today we spent most of the day wandering and incorrectly reading the 'kaoshiung fun map' justin entrusted to me for our trip. it worked out though. we had stuffed bun things for lunch that were alright, and then we headed to monkey mountain.
steve and josh, for all of their claims against making plans, actually had pretty set ideas about what our schedule would be, which has been working out well.
monkey mountain was pretty cool. it's at the top of kind of a low mountain and connected somehow to a zoo. i think the zoo is a different entity, but it backs up into the monkeys, who run free on this mountain. there were some zookeepers along the path though, so maybe they're wild-not-wild. i'm not sure.
anyway they just kind of wander around alongside you and around you. at one point, we found a tree full of 5 or 6 baby monkeys who were making little sounds and running off somewhere. i brought my camera this time, so i'll show you in a few days.
this evening we walked through the night market, along the love river, toward this pub that's in Lonely Planet called 'the pig and whistle'. i had fish and chips and i asked for 'cider' which turned out to be sprite, orange juice and lime juice or something.. so i had them add some gin. it turned out well once it had been doctored. the fish and chips weren't traditionally battered and fried, but it was close enough.
then we walked down this street that was supposed to have a lot of pubs, but monday is chinese new year, so it was pretty quiet everywhere. we ended up at one where there were a bunch of foreigners in their 60s or 70s hanging out with elderly taiwanese women.. and then one that was a jazz club that was pretty interesting. a man was playing the saxophone and people were singing like a KTV.
time for bed pretty soon and we're headed south to kenting beach tomorrow if all goes according to plan.
the hotel itself is nice. our room is a 'family suite' and it's clean and decorated with bright IKEA stuff so it feels good. the floor has sparkley tiles on it, so that's something.well today we spent most of the day wandering and incorrectly reading the 'kaoshiung fun map' justin entrusted to me for our trip. it worked out though. we had stuffed bun things for lunch that were alright, and then we headed to monkey mountain.
steve and josh, for all of their claims against making plans, actually had pretty set ideas about what our schedule would be, which has been working out well.
monkey mountain was pretty cool. it's at the top of kind of a low mountain and connected somehow to a zoo. i think the zoo is a different entity, but it backs up into the monkeys, who run free on this mountain. there were some zookeepers along the path though, so maybe they're wild-not-wild. i'm not sure.
anyway they just kind of wander around alongside you and around you. at one point, we found a tree full of 5 or 6 baby monkeys who were making little sounds and running off somewhere. i brought my camera this time, so i'll show you in a few days.
this evening we walked through the night market, along the love river, toward this pub that's in Lonely Planet called 'the pig and whistle'. i had fish and chips and i asked for 'cider' which turned out to be sprite, orange juice and lime juice or something.. so i had them add some gin. it turned out well once it had been doctored. the fish and chips weren't traditionally battered and fried, but it was close enough.
then we walked down this street that was supposed to have a lot of pubs, but monday is chinese new year, so it was pretty quiet everywhere. we ended up at one where there were a bunch of foreigners in their 60s or 70s hanging out with elderly taiwanese women.. and then one that was a jazz club that was pretty interesting. a man was playing the saxophone and people were singing like a KTV.
time for bed pretty soon and we're headed south to kenting beach tomorrow if all goes according to plan.
Friday, January 23, 2009
love you by tuesday
breakfast of champions.the new grey's anatomy had me in tears multiple times tonight. sheesh. we must be nearing the end of the season because it's the 14th episode already. i think we all know it's going to end with derek proposing and then we'll have to wait all summer for meredith's answer.
one of my faavorite coteachers, jasmine, gave me this pretty scarf today as a thank you/chinese new year present :) i brought her a little satin clutch from america.well today was not the best day to be a scooter driver. it was rainy and cold and gross all day. in the morning, the class i asked to drop was observed and the woman actually had a few helpful comments. it's kind of frustrating though how when a stranger's in the classroom, the kids all behave well and then the person is wondering what your problem is.
in my mostly boys class, they've stopped calling me 'so/so' in favor of the chinese word for 'dragon' which i guess is more of an insult in their minds? it still doesn't bother me at all. i've tried to explain it to them, but they just don't know enough english to have any idea what i'm telling them. boys.
tonight in my 8 year old class we had a demo. it's so easy when you like the kids and they like you. we had a lot of fun. they finally got to do their favorite lesson. it goes..
mom: try on this shirt, danny
danny: it's too small, mom
salesman: sorry, we don't have a bigger size
mom: try on these pants, danny
danny: they are too tight
salesman: sorry, we don't have bigger ones
mom: you are too FAT, danny! don't eat too much!
they just looooove to do that mini play. it's awful but it's pretty entertaining when ryan screams 'YOU ARE TOO FAT, DANNY!' especially because the kid playing danny is paul who's super teeny tiny and adorable.
ok time for bed. i'm going to kaoshiung and who knows where else in the south of taiwan with steve and josh for the next couple of days. tonight steve told me that they hadn't planned anything because they thought i would. think again, boys. i guess we'll just wander. we're all pretty laid back so i'm sure it'll be fun whatever we end up doing.talk to you again on tuesday or wednesday! xin nian kuai le.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
distant flickering
i think everyone's kind of started to go on autopilot this week because we have next week off for chinese new year so we only have to work til friday. mr. kuo has been asking me all week if i can come to their house for chinese new year's dinner, but i'm going to be in kaoshiung with steve and josh. i'm a little disappointed though, it would be fun.
i went there before class tonight and they were sitting with mr. wang and mr. whatever his name is and then some other friends i had never met. there's always a weird moment when the new people think i'm some weirdo who just wandered in, and then the kuo's start offering me food and talking to me in chinese and it's evident that we're all friends.
mr. kuo was telling me that he would give me some 'lucky money' which is a tradition at new years and i said no, i don't need any. he said the adults always give the kids money. so i asked if they gave amanda, their 20something daughter, lucky money and they said no, she's not a kid. and then he whacked me on the head with a newspaper. it's our thing to whack each other with stuff when we've been outsmarted.
well today we woke up to a misty, dreary day so i did some laundry and folded allll of my clothes. my silly little arabian nights closet has no hanging space.
it makes me a little nervous to see how much stuff i've accumulated. i'm not sure that it'll all fit back into the 2 suit cases it came in when july rolls around. remember how many pairs of shoes i began with?
somehow, it turned into this. i bought 2 pairs here, brought 3 back with me at christmas, and mom sent me 2 while i've been here. most of them are going to stay in taiwan when i leave since they get all banged up on the scooter. (gram, the talbots shoes are the red ones on top).
mom sent a package that arrived today with beans, tomato paste, and a warm sweatshirt and sweatpants that were on sale at victoria's secret. it's so fun to get new clothes but i think i've reached capacity. after this box. ;)
and she sent an article from USA today about people waiting longer to get married which is just what i needed to read. every time i get on facebook, another person from my high school class has gotten engaged. apparently this year the median age of people getting married is the highest it's been since the census began in the 1800s. i think women are at 26 and men are 27 or 28.
it's pathetic but i really don't have anything else to say about today. noe bought me strawberries and whipped cream because i was going to make strawberry shortcake tonight, but i think i'm just going to have it for breakfast.
on a random note, i was going to join this club of sorts in blogland called Daring Bakers where they email out a recipe to everyone in the group and then everyone bakes it and lets everyone else know how it turned out.. but you have to take part in at least 8 of the 12 months in a year or they kick you out, so i'm going to wait until july when i'll be back home.
i went there before class tonight and they were sitting with mr. wang and mr. whatever his name is and then some other friends i had never met. there's always a weird moment when the new people think i'm some weirdo who just wandered in, and then the kuo's start offering me food and talking to me in chinese and it's evident that we're all friends.
mr. kuo was telling me that he would give me some 'lucky money' which is a tradition at new years and i said no, i don't need any. he said the adults always give the kids money. so i asked if they gave amanda, their 20something daughter, lucky money and they said no, she's not a kid. and then he whacked me on the head with a newspaper. it's our thing to whack each other with stuff when we've been outsmarted.
well today we woke up to a misty, dreary day so i did some laundry and folded allll of my clothes. my silly little arabian nights closet has no hanging space.
it makes me a little nervous to see how much stuff i've accumulated. i'm not sure that it'll all fit back into the 2 suit cases it came in when july rolls around. remember how many pairs of shoes i began with?
somehow, it turned into this. i bought 2 pairs here, brought 3 back with me at christmas, and mom sent me 2 while i've been here. most of them are going to stay in taiwan when i leave since they get all banged up on the scooter. (gram, the talbots shoes are the red ones on top).
mom sent a package that arrived today with beans, tomato paste, and a warm sweatshirt and sweatpants that were on sale at victoria's secret. it's so fun to get new clothes but i think i've reached capacity. after this box. ;)
and she sent an article from USA today about people waiting longer to get married which is just what i needed to read. every time i get on facebook, another person from my high school class has gotten engaged. apparently this year the median age of people getting married is the highest it's been since the census began in the 1800s. i think women are at 26 and men are 27 or 28.
it's pathetic but i really don't have anything else to say about today. noe bought me strawberries and whipped cream because i was going to make strawberry shortcake tonight, but i think i'm just going to have it for breakfast.on a random note, i was going to join this club of sorts in blogland called Daring Bakers where they email out a recipe to everyone in the group and then everyone bakes it and lets everyone else know how it turned out.. but you have to take part in at least 8 of the 12 months in a year or they kick you out, so i'm going to wait until july when i'll be back home.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
somewhere only we know
how funny was it that michelle obama's inaugural ballgown was made by a taiwanese designer! she looked beautiful in white with a little whimsy. she's usually in such fitted, colorful dresses that something flowy and white seemed special and new.
blogspot's spellcheck is telling me that 'flowy' isn't a word. they need to get with the times. girls have been using that word for ages.
anyway michelle's dress makes me laugh because it's classically taiwanese with stuff hanging off and organza flowers popping out everywhere, but it looks so classy on her because she's not overstyled and ridiculous like the models in taiwan are when they wear those dresses.
the wedding dresses/pictures here are entertaining. couples spend thousands of dollars on these elaborate pictures that look completely unnatural. the weirdest part is that they go through a series of costume changes, but they don't take any in their actual wedding clothes.
i found a whole series of this couple's pictures. foreigners always look pretty uncomfortable in these pictures. look at that guy's face.. 'i'm getting married, but i'm not super happy about it.. and the way my jacket falls makes me look like i'm swimming in it.'
my favorites are when they shrink the bride or groom or turn them into a cartoon.
i think i prefer american wedding photos, but i guess it's just what i'm used to. the taiwanese certainly have more fun with it.
look how michelle managed to be relatively classic in the '80s when so many wedding dresses went horribly wrong. she had a lot of style, even then.
so did my mom.
i don't know how the time sneaks up on me. time for bed already.
blogspot's spellcheck is telling me that 'flowy' isn't a word. they need to get with the times. girls have been using that word for ages.
anyway michelle's dress makes me laugh because it's classically taiwanese with stuff hanging off and organza flowers popping out everywhere, but it looks so classy on her because she's not overstyled and ridiculous like the models in taiwan are when they wear those dresses.
the wedding dresses/pictures here are entertaining. couples spend thousands of dollars on these elaborate pictures that look completely unnatural. the weirdest part is that they go through a series of costume changes, but they don't take any in their actual wedding clothes.
i found a whole series of this couple's pictures. foreigners always look pretty uncomfortable in these pictures. look at that guy's face.. 'i'm getting married, but i'm not super happy about it.. and the way my jacket falls makes me look like i'm swimming in it.'
my favorites are when they shrink the bride or groom or turn them into a cartoon.
i think i prefer american wedding photos, but i guess it's just what i'm used to. the taiwanese certainly have more fun with it.look how michelle managed to be relatively classic in the '80s when so many wedding dresses went horribly wrong. she had a lot of style, even then.
so did my mom.
i don't know how the time sneaks up on me. time for bed already.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
