We love you all and thank you so much for the wonderful gifts. Carrie and I are truly grateful for such thoughtful family and friends and now see just how spoiled we really are!
xo
Inari. The perfect balance of sweet and salty. You wouldn't believe they are made simply out of deep fried tofu and rice. And, from that description you wouldn't believe they are at all good. But, they are delicious. These are available in Canada and pretty much everywhere since sushi has become ever so fashionable. In Taiwan though, they are found at your local 7-11, Always Open!
Devil's Night 2009 was one of the longest days of our lives! It started out like any other regular Friday teaching our morning classes. Except of course, we were in full costume. Denise and I are avid lovers of the Halloween Holiday season. We want to apologize for our shameful Halloween costumes this year. We were "one of those girls." Yes, we wore cute dresses with only wings and other accessories. We do have an excuse though...We are in Taiwan! We don't speak Chinese! We don't know where anything is! Our sincere apologies.
The afternoon classes were cancelled because kids got trick or treat to different classrooms. The chant they were taught:
Trick or Treat, Smell my feet!
Give me something good to eat!
Not too big, not too small!
Just the size of Korrnell School!
After school hours came the Halloween games. Teachers set up games in the classrooms and hundreds of kids came around to complete them from 7pm until 10pm. But, I will say, the Pizza Hut pizza at the end of the night made up for the long hours slightly.
Although Denise and I were dead tired, our spirits were high! A party at "The Batcave" awaited us. We had no idea where it was, what it was or who was going to be there. All we knew was there was cheap beer - we were there. We trekked to the party with our new buddy Mike and with Chinese directions (with the help of a Chinese teacher, thanks!). By midnight we had made it. Officially Halloween and officially ready for a good time! We made it home around 5:30am after putting a sufficient dent in the beer tub.
With no concept of time and no one to tell us when it's time to go home...I think we may be in trouble!
Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
by Dr. Seuss
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!
Don't you just love her already? I asked mom if she could send her in the next care package...she said no. :( We are one impulse buy away from getting our own puppy. Denise is not good at talking me out of things. Uh oh....
August 19th
Now two blondes along with their little brunette buddy, were on our way. Our flight was from Toronto to LA to Taipei airport. Total travel time averaging to about 22 hours. While being in the air we managed to lose a whole day, arriving in Taiwan on the 21st.
We left Emily back at the airport to fend for herself, and we were swept away with our driver to take us to our school.
We got to Korrnell Academy around 7:30am and got an unnecessary tour of the school. Hungry, tired and sweaty we still had no place to live. Luckily, our supervisor Lee was able to help us with our living situation. Dorms? Apartment? Dorms? Apartment? The closest place to sleep and shower was the apartments. Decision made!
The first two days consisted of a lot of sleeping on our sectional couch. Jet lag is NOT a myth…it is very real, and very long. We had a place to shower and a place to sleep, 2 out of 3 of our problems were fixed. Point us to the food please!
Episode One
Once upon a time, one brunette and one blonde were sitting in a bar talking about their next step and getting their next beer. The problem: with no money and no real jobs, what were we to do? The solution was so simple of course…teaching abroad!
With our guru Emily on board we knew we were set. The only question remaining now, where did we want to go?
South Korea? Nope Emily has been there, done that.
Japan? Too expensive.
Taiwan? Sounds good to me!
The hardest part of the whole process was convincing ourselves that it was actually happening. After many phone interviews late at night and people changing their minds (Emily!), the night came to book our flight. Talking via phone and msn we had to make sure we booked the flight together. Done and done. The countdown could begin.