Miz Mac Attack
Snails in my courtyard
I love the snails in my courtyard: they are always hangin out there at night when i get home and they are gigantic!
Having a beer with Ronald
Kindy field trip with parents to the tea farm
We played gaames, made food, and had a generally good day. The food you see in the mortar and pestal is stcky rice with some green seasoning that the dads beat into a gooey ball. We also got to picktea leaves: you only pick the top three leaves of the branch.
Also, that guy blow drying the kid's hair (the kids jumped into a pool for a biut after lunch) is my boss and it was pouring torrential rain at that point. that hair dryer is plugged into an i-beam on a metal structure and the outlet is getting rained on. i said, "hey liam...." he said, "don't talk about it, im worried too." so i took a picture just in case we all died. Welcome to Taiwan...OSHA, what?
Kindy Water Park Day
We visited the water park one day while the government inspected the kindergarten. what a great day!
Train ride to Fulong beach and Fulong Beach
Fulong is in northern Taiwan. The water is very very warm and so nice to swim in. My favorite picture out of this bunch is of the rice paddies and the mountains that look so jungl-y. I also loved floating on my back and looking around at the mountains and the temples surrounding us on that beach. I gathered a few shells here and had such a blast looking at every one of them. I played a joke on my friends like I had sneezed and used a hhuge gob of seaweed as boogers...i thought it was hilarious but i was the only one. I can't wait for all of you to come comb the sands for shells with me!
Keelung night
Some friends live and teach in Keelung, "the rainy harbor." We went to a bar caklled fight bar and got to boxalittle bit in a ring. Also, Keelung's night market has the best food around! We ate crab dinners for $6 each and it was very crowded. We stayed out until the sun rose at 5am so some of the pictures are of the sunrise. My friends you see in the pictures are Lauren, Marc, Paulina, and Justin.
The view from my bedroom window and my room
The view will soon be gone as they are constructing a tall building as i type right next door...but here it is for wight now.
Ya Ming Shan National Park
Ya Ming Shan National Park is about 20 minutes from Taipei and i got there by bus. There areany trails with sulfur hot springs up there so much exploring must be done someday when i dont get there just before dark.
found an apartment today! this is it:
am living in XinZhuang. This apartment complex is nicknamed little europe. the neighborhood is very calm and very near anything we could need. My roomates are Sam and Aimee who are also teachers. You want to come and stay with me here!!!
Dan Shui and the Dutch Fort at Dan Shui
Dan Shui is almost to the sea. One of the pictures is of the port in the distance. Dan Shui has long boardwalks and lots of carnival games along the way. The Dutch Fort was very cool and was also a British Consulate at one point. The Dutch discovered Taiwan for the western world and named it "Ila Formosa" a.k.a. beautiful island.
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial and Dan Shui Album
The first pics. These are not very cool because I of course forgot my camera on the real tour, but they tell a good story.
Scooters. There are probably about 5,000 scooters parked alongside every single road in Taipei. They weave between cars with no regard to lanes and dodge pedestrians. When the lights are red, a group of 40 cluster to go as soon as the light turns green. There are no rules for scooters except that you are small and must beware of anyone bigger, which is everyone. It is truly amazing how much stuff the Taiwanese can pile onto these things. Now lets play a game that the teachers played today, Friday, July 23. What is the largest number of people we have seen on one scooter? Make a guess and go to the stories page to find out if you are right...
Don't worry: 7-11's are on every single corner
The night markets...better pics of these things to come!!!!!
There are many many more way cooler pictures of the weird stuff in these places. Taipei really doesn'tcome alive until 9pm and rocks all through the night. The next night market destination: snake alley where i hope to have a picture of me taking a shot of snake blood :) This should be good. And yeah, i already know where the hospital is. Most of Taipei is comprised of little cramped alley ways of everything under the sun for sale. I got lost in these and it was great! Every night market has a different theme: food, clothes, purses, crafts, and snakes. And even though these are shopping areas...WATCH OUT FOR THE SCOOTERS!
