wut now?

i had some unforeseen expenditures and was going to run out of cash. then i paid tithing (a little late) and two days later got a bonus of the exact dollar amount that i needed. the exact amount.

evidence # 7 that tithing works

opening the windows of heaven (he looks like dad). mmmm dumplings mmmmm 

me middle name! dad's name too technically

my students are much better now. i've broken them! woohoo. break em down, then build em up, break em down again, and then if i have time build em up again.

their happiness won't last long

the rule still holds-no two days are the same in Taiwan. today my classes were randomly interrupted by fun photo time, free food and drinks, and a birthday surprise.

cone head

i was happy when i walked in the classroom and heard "birthday" by katy perry. reminded me of carolee and made me laugh. party like it's my birthday every day.

something something something something lady gaga something. what do they sell at this store?

found the best new thai restaurant! my new favorite place! and only 2.70 a meal

good soda. there's a marble at the top that you push in and it falls and gets trapped near the top of the bottle. dunno why but it's pretty cool.

i had to take a spanish test for a job app. there were history questions, but i didn't realize there was an article you had to read beforehand. fortunately, i did a bunch of history reading when i was homeskewled and i think i did aight

rrrrrrerr

my new goal is to learn the chinese flute. i have to take a break after like 5 minutes cuz i get tired so its gonna take a while. id love to learn every chinese instrument they are so cool

chinese theater. not as cool

we went to costco again and it was packed! hottest place on a friday night. it's funny cuz some people dont even buy anything. there's tons of free samples and long lines for each one. costco's acai berry drink is amazing i recommend it

miranda and jonny at costco

more recruiting at the elementary schools. our school's marketing makes the other schools look like crap

recruiting with our funny boss cindy. we think she secretly runs the school

maybe we'll lure the kids in with an adorable pink bear on a stick

japanese things are becoming pretty fascinating to me. crazy hair crazy tv crazy sumos

japanese style grill. we eat here every week. i usually get salmon

sushi conveyor belt. also made me think of carolee

We hiked elephant hill in taipei. a pretty view of the city

Taipei 101. the tallest building in the world til 2010

I played cello in church. "he sent his son"
i'm also playing cello with the ward choir, at a relief society event, and at a community concert with my chinese orchestra. the cello was a good choice. the one time mom was right.

I got accepted to a job to teach lil mexican kids bilingual elementary education in fort worth, TX. it's with a program exactly like Teach for America but less prestigious. 

woo hoo i'm #2! go me!

awww

now i just have to study science for the next couple months to pass the science part of the certification test. too bad i've only had one year of science in the last decade.

I'm not 100% sure i want to work here but i think so.

more adventures

I remembered a quote our boss said. she said it nicely too which made it funny. "americans are too nice. here you just tell the students to shut up." she makes me laugh

here are some more pix from our parade. i found this on facebook

american teachers at our school: paris, robert, baby maelo, miranda, jonny, me

We went to the Yehliu Geopark. it has cool rock formations. 

on the way home we went car hopping on the train. at every stop we ran out the train, ran down as many cars as we could, and jumped back in. it was fun. anything for a seat (so i can take a nap)

So they have convenience stores everywhere and i just discovered how delicious their pre-cooked meals are. the curry at Familymart (haha i just accidentally typed an f instead of an m) is the best curry i ever had. tastes like it has a lil nutmeg

Sunday morning i had an interview at 4:30 am. they started speaking spanish right off the bat! not pretty. not pretty at all. they definitely should have done the spanish towards the end of the interview when i was starting to wake up

i also had to teach sunday school a few hours later and i was tired! i taught about abraham sarah and isaac, which is my favorite old testament story. visiting abraham's hometown really made that story come alive for me


i really like my ward. there are many nice people

on saturday we ran into another random parade. everything here is so random. there were also pole dancers on top of jeeps. this was a community event with kids!

creepy drunkard. that thing in his hand is a jar of booze and he was spilling it everywhere

i should study some chinese for when i go back to mainland china by myself but im so lazy! these tones are difficult! my motto is if something's difficult, why bother trying?

frisky little dragon that jumps around and throws candy. so cool!

 simpsons quote, "trying is the first step towards failure"

still searching for a job or school. it better not get too difficult or imma quit



im having a good time with the other byu people working at the school. it's a great group and we do everything together. everything

for another one of my job apps they made me take the ACT (not for real but something very similar.) i was pretty mad they made me do that. standardized tests are annoying. they always ask the same types of questions. if u want to do well u just need to read a book that tells you HOW to answer the questions.

a real pig. gross

and  i didnt prep for the test. never prepped for a standardized test before and i wasnt about to start. it's crampin my style

cultural observations

BOOOORING week. interesting but boring. im working hard now

at the international store they had rittersport samplers with european quality!
the first time i ever had german chocolate was in berlin at cecil and john's apartment. i ate this same package

a religious experience

I left my backpack on the bus with my ipad in it. good thing the taiwanese are honest! someone brought it to the bus station. earlier my friend also lost her wallet full of money and someone brought it to the police station. thank you honest taiwanese people!

i joined a chinese orchestra!
i learned how to read chinese notes on the spot at the rehearsal

japanese people seem awesome

holy crap some of these students are bad! i've never even had a class in glassboro that was nearly as bad as my class monday.

i let the good kids out early. they peaked in the windows from outside at the rest of the class

I think that after 10 hours of day of school they need to let out some craziness. they think since i'm american they can get away with it. haha no way i'm going all asian on them. maybe i should start reading tiger momma's book.

also i think they need to bring back the ruler

asians drivers need to have their licenses taken away! they just turn and merge whenever they want wherever they want. they drive slowly so that you have enough time to get out of the way

i love night markets. lots of fun foods

i just found out people work in our office from 8 in the morning to 9 at night. that's not even considered weird. People's lives revolve around school and work. same in korea and japan. however, i know they're not being productive all the time



interesting fact about taiwan. the root of all the polynesian languages is from taiwan. the native people (pre chinese immigration) look like polynesians

the cuter version. had to buy it

our boss treats her students like slaves. they'll do anything it’s hilarious. we need to get dad a teaching position here in taiwan

earthquake drill. every day i walk in and i have no clue what's going to happen next

our boss told us to take one of her students to church because he's a bad kid. i love how that’s ok here. she said "he evil child"



We went to an orchestra concert that was a tribute to michael jackson. it's what i've always wanted!

with asian dancers!