EDA World

When I ask my students what should a foreigner do when they come to Taiwan they will always say go to a department store. They love their malls here. The biggest mall in Asia is actually right in Kaohsiung and we have been there a couple of times, but this weekend we decided to visit an outlet mall called EDA World. It is kind of in the middle of the mountains and surrounded by jungle. By the mall however, there is a University, a performing arts theater, and lots of hotels. It's a like a little luxury city built in the middle of the jungle. It reminded us of a mini Las Vegas. Pretty cool. We wandered around for a little bit and we found an ice skating rink. It was a lot of fun to see the kids play hockey.

The Good Samaritan Gets Crushed

While transferring trains at the MRT station the lady in front of me dropped some money from her purse. She was getting on the train that we thought we were supposed to be on so I caught up with her on the train and handed her money back. If you've traveled by train or subway you know there is a little warning sound before the doors close. Right as the sound goes off, Rob realizes we're on the wrong train and jumps off. Well I wasn't going to let us get separated so I had to push someone out of the way and just as the doors were closing I got slammed in them. Those doors are no joke. I think everyone around was panicked because the Taiwanese are a very careful people and they really watch out for foreigners too. I was alright and I was just happy my skirt didn't get caught in the door. That would be embarrassing.

What's the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?

We've all had this questioned asked of us before. I've never had a really good answer. You want the answer to be some funny story that will make everyone laugh. It can't be too embarrassing and it can't be too common place. I feel I now have the perfect response to this question.

On Friday I was working with Emma. I tutor her for the first hour every morning. We have had our ups and downs together but lately it has been really good. She actually plays with me most days. I can't really remember what happened but I had to reprimand her for trying to hit me. This upset her and she started her fake, whine, cry. She has started really wanting to be held by me.  I was across the room so I went over to pick her up. Now, most days I wear a skirt or flowy pants so I am not used to restrictions. Today I was wearing real pants. My squatting to pick up Emma was a little too much for them to handle. Sure enough they split from the top of my pants all the way down my leg.

I had to walk all the way across campus to get back to my office and students stare at me anyways so it was a long walk. Rob had a good laugh and we were able to walk home and get a change of clothes. I guess that's one more pare of pants I don't have to worry about packing home :)

Photo Time

One of the things I love most in Taiwan is our scooter rides. I see so many awesome things that I hope I can remember in the future. It's really hard to take pictures while on the scooter mainly because I want to take pictures of people and that's kind of not really kosher with everyone. Although, we do have people that take pictures of us because we're the freaky white people :) I did manage to be super sneaky and snap this photo of a family of four on a scooter. This is pretty normal and I've really wanted a picture of it to show everyone.

Just in case you can't tell in the next picture that there is boy in the front. 

No big deal. 

Calculated Consumption

If any of you have made a big move you know the idea of "calculated consumption" and how it really affects your life. Rob and I now have just a smidgen under two months left in Taiwan. I don't know if Rob really has started to think of this, but every time I open our fridge or our cupboard or even getting ready in the morning I start to think if I need to cut back using an item so it'll make or if I should consume more of it so I don't have to worry about taking it home.

Most of the food we eat is produce and we get it weekly/biweekly from the market so that is not a big deal, but we do have some big items such as rice, oatmeal, noodles etc. I also think of shampoo and tooth paste. I must be a lunatic. Obviously we have limited space so I don't want to take back things like  a half full bottle of lotion, but I don't want to waste it. Here goes using all that lotion (i'm not a big lotion user so it'll be a challenge). Luckily, we are leaving behind most of our clothes so we should have some space to take back some fun items.

Maybe you can tell but I am getting excited to move back to the US. I will really miss living here but there are somethings that I really miss. Family. Friends. Seeing the stars. Camping anyone?

The Date is Set

Rob and I bought tickets last night for our trip home. We will be flying into the Salt Lake City Airport at 4:15 pm on July 10th. We are very excited to see family and friends in America, but it is a little bitter sweet. We hope to see you all soon after that.

I'm Singing!!

Sometimes I really love our students here. There is an English singing competition this week where each of the participating classes chooses a song in English to sing in front of some judges. It has been great because I teach 3 of the 13 classes, and they have shown me their numbers. Did I mention they are choreographed? Oh yes. Thinking back on my high school days I don't know if my teachers could've got the boys in my classes to not only sing every word to the song but dance as well, but everyone does here. I love watching how serious they are about it too. In a school of 10,000 students I am sure it is hard to be in sports and stand out in something, but they really work hard in the competitions they do and I get so proud of them. Too bad watching them means I get the song "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" stuck in my head. They love the pop music here.