Love Actually is All Around

Happy holidays everyone!! I hope you all had a happy Chanukah and a merry Christmas and a wonderful day off work no matter what or how you celebrate this season! The point above all is to laugh with family and friends, and most importantly eat chocolate until you don't think you can eat anymore! I know I did (and am still doing so until New Year's!) :o) Even though I am away from my family and friends at home right now, I have been having one of the best Chanukahs here in Taiwan ever! Lee and I received a menorrah in the mail thanks to his generous family and we lit the candles every single night. All week I had Christmas parties in every class, teaching my students carols and how to decorate a tree and the joy of giving via Secret Santa! We ate pizza and candy and popcorn and on Friday I was Santa Claus! I rocked it! Saturday evening Lee and I went out for a delicious Mexican dinner and then came back to the dorm and exchanged gifts! Everyone in the dorm did Secret Santa as well, and the girls couldn't wait any longer so we exchanged a day early :o) I got a beautiful red purse and some bath products from my Secret Santa, and Lee went all out on a huge box filled with amazing gifts for me! Then Sunday we built a gingerbread house (which didn't exactly turn out right!) and Lee and I joined all our fellow Canadian friends, teachers and fellow bowlers for an indescribable pot luck FEAST!! There were 3 turkeys, 3 kinds of mashed potatoes, potato salads, veggie salads, 2 kinds of stuffing, wine wine and more wine! Not to mention the mouth-watering brownies and other desserts; the evening ended with a guitar session and Lee and I took off early b/c we had to teach early Christmas morning (yea, that's right!). Monday night we went to visit our friend Mychal who was spending her Christmas in the hospital having arm surgery, and then saw the movie Babel which was sooo intense and gripping! I continue to spend my days baking lots of goodies! Chinese class is getting better than ever, the gym has proven to be a fabulous excuse in eating more and more holiday sweets, and teaching is a breeze! The winter weather is still holding out, hopefully until after New Year's so that I can wear a skirt! I wish you all the happiest of holidays this year, I love you and miss you and look forward to sharing more stories in the New Year!

I am Queen of the Latkes!!

HAPPY CHANUKAH, to one and all!! I know it's been so long since I wrote, but that just makes this entry so much more fulfilling! So to back-track, last week I had tooth surgery and it was a huge success! Pain-free, 2 hours from start to finish, and I now have a new strong tooth to show for it, yay! (I also got the hook-up to teach my ortho's kids English once a week!) In other news, Lee and I officially booked our Chinese New Year's trip to one of the most beautiful islands in the world, Boracay, in the Philippines! Whooo! More recently, this weekend was INSANE - Friday night hosted a new club opening here and it was by far the most lavish club I've ever been to! Huuuuge, on the 7th floor of a building and dress-code enforced; amazing hip-hop; a big bar and tons of private tables with lush couches and a slammin' dance floor! This is obviously where I spent most of the night, except when the hired hoochies took centre stage and shook up a storm in their undies!! This was also the first night of Chanukah here and Lee and I are currently without a menorrah until Monday, so I bought tea lights and we have been lighting them every night! Lee left the club early due to an allergy attack, I stayed until 2am because I had to get up the next morning bright and early to teach at a school half an hour away. I didn't get to bed until after 3, making the next day unbearable. I was so exhausted and grouchy that everything just HAD to go wrong - missing the bus in the rain, spending money on a cab, taking 2 buses home in more rain, only to teach again! But it was the funnest hour and the kids put a huge smile back on my face so it was worth it :o) Then Saturday night a bunch of us went to my friend Neil's restaurant, where he was hosting a wine-n-chocolate party! I KNOW!! Truffles, truffles and more truffles, all to be enjoyed while some co-teachers sang tunes on their guitar all night - it was great! Today was a wonderful RAINLESS day, full of grocery $hopping, baking-goods $hopping and presents $hopping! And I MADE LATKES!!! For the first time ever, and they were PERFECT if I do say so myself! Complete with apple sauce, I'm quite proud :o) We bought a gingerbread kit to make one on Christmas, and I have all the ingredients necessary to start baking up a storm! All this week I have Christmas parties in every class, and on Friday I have to be Santa! They pick the little, Jewish girl to play Santa Claus at school, can you believe it!? What can I say, I love the holidays! I have attached 3 pictures, one from the club, one of a cute little boy who was helping serve beer at Neil's restaurant, and one of Lee and I because a few people wanted to see me with straight hair... enjoy!

I love Wufen Pu!

Another weekend come and gone in the blink of an eye! I guess that's what happens when you only get Sundays off... But it was definitely a jam-packed day and a half! I worked all Saturday afternoon in 3 great classes, and then came home to a wonderful surprise: Lee had hung blue X-mas lights in our room and it looks so beautiful! On top of that (and this is purely for you all to gush over lol) he had bought me some georgous pink roses :o) Needless to say, I'm one happy girl!
At night we all went to the bar here and had some drinks while rockin out to a live acoustic band, it was super chilled. Sunday I went to Taipei with two girlfriends and Lee to this awesome Chinese homecraft show, a building full of ancient art and decorations and everything you can imagine, from wall hangings to clothes to sculptures, it was so cool! Then we went to this area of the city called Wufen Pu, the ULTIMATE clothing market!! The hugest space that you can imagine, street after street just packed to the rim with super-nice super-cheap clothes! I bought a georgous American Eagle button-up for $12 :o)
Unfortunately, Lee wasn't feeling very well (too much shopping!) so he went home, and the ladies and I made our way to an area of the city called Warner Village, the equivalent of Toronto's Yorkville, as in bling bling!! Every major brand name store lined the streets with bright lights and holiday music, and cutely painted backgrounds on walls (hence the photo op!). After a long day full of shopping, we were starving! Our destination was Chili's restaurant and the hour it finally took us to get in and be seated was worth every minute of the wait! We pampered ourselves with delicious appetizers of quesadilla nachos, over-flowing dinner plates of burgers and salads and fries, and then an outlandish dessert - chocolate molten lava cake with ice cream; my mouth is drooling in memory! I haven't eaten a meal like that in Who Knows How Long, and it felt goooood!! I didn't get home until late at night and then had to shower and get ready for the week - lesson plans, Chinese class practices, and Tuesday I have my tooth surgery - wish me luck!

Good times!!

Let the good times roll!

Hi to all, how are you!? 'Tis the season for joy and good cheer! Last I wrote you all about my tooth situation was almost two weeks ago, when I first found out about it - a lot has happened since then, mostly bad! I've had approx. 5 dentist appts since then, all involving pain and tears and operations - a long and unhappy process. Trying to spare you gory details, the cavity has been removed and I was told that I need a post and cap: you know, those shiny silver things in the mouths of old people! Aside from being ugly and painful, this is going to be ridiculously expensive and so I have been quite stressed out over the whole thing... until today!!

It's hard for you all to get as excited as I am over a dentist, I know! But with my history and all, attaching a happy story to the word dentist is a miracle! A co-teacher recommended me her dentist as a second opinion in the whole thing, so I went and was given an early Chrismanukah miracle :o) Not only is this man nicer and smarter but his technology is so much more modern and advanced (believe me, that's a big deal when you're in a foreign country!) and CHEAPER! I don't even have to get a cap put on my tooth, just a ceramic filling so my tooth will be white and strong and normal! The whole thing takes an hour and is pain-free :o) If you're really bored then you can check this out: http://www.cerec.net/forum/index.php?act=portal&site=5
So all in all, I'm one happy girl!

My week has been awesome, I've picked up a few more hours of teaching $$ and I did not completely suck at bowling on Wednesday! Chinese class is getting better and better each week, and every weekend this month I am booked for some serious holiday fun! I hope you are all enjoying this time of year as much as I am!
Love always

The best night yet!!

Happy December everyone! The holidays are upon us and I for one could not be more excited! I have a billion recipes on-hand for baking holiday treats, and everyone in the dorm is doing Secret Santa! If it weren't for the cold, windy, non-stop rain, life would be perfect :o)

This weekend was by far one of the best times I've had here yet. I worked Saturday morning but had the afternoon off to relax, go shopping and just chill out. Then at night we went to a good-bye house party for a fellow teacher who is going back to Canada; every single white person in this city was there! A lot of the teachers and everyone I bowl with, along with a few others all joined together to drink and wish well to one another! There was about 40 people in total and we partied until 3am, then headed over to a bar/club here called Desire - we danced until 5 in the morning! It has been so long since I've had a really fun night out with friends and then went dancing, to REAL music, too! It felt a bit like home...!

In the midst of all the drinking/partying, Lee lost his cell phone :o( I called it but there was no answer, and I called the bar but it wasn't there, so we left a text msg for the finder to please call me back - and she did!! One of the girls from the party found it on the ground outside of the club and saw the Canada flag sticker so proudly placed, and called me Sunday morning! Talk about luck!

Sunday was spent sleeping-in and then a few of us from the dorm went out for brunch, which also reminded me of my weekends at Western after partying with all of my friends :o) I went grocery shopping and then enjoyed the rest of my night - it was the most fun I've had in a while! This week includes many more trips to the dentist, Chinese class, and all the rest - with the familiar sounds of Christmas carols filling the background!

I have posted a few pictures from my day at the Taipei Zoo last week for your amusement :o) Ciao for now!

Root Canal in Taiwan :o(

I have never gone a year of my life without some form of major tooth or gums problem, and Taiwan brings no exception! Last week my back tooth really started to hurt and so I planned to go to the dentist the first chance I had, which was today. This, apparently, was a bad decision as I found out today that I had a cavity which severely worsened with time and I had to have on-the-spot root canal. I was in so much pain lastnight, crying to all of my dorm-mates and scaring my mom back home with a hysterical phone call. This morning I went to the dentist here, recommended as "English and normal", where I got a 2:30 appointment (ironic shout-out to the joke about the time being "tooth hurty") and an X-ray revealed severe root damage. I started to cry, of course, and Lee held my hand the entire time I was operated on. Multiple injections of anaesthesia later, I was set free, only to return again in 2 days to have the filling completed. 45 minutes later I was back in the classroom, teaching. On the bright side, it barely cost me anything! Except, of course, hours of excruciating pain.

A Wild Weekend!

Ni hau and hello to all! Just a friendly weekend update - hope that you all had a fun one as well!
Friday night was chilled; I surprised Lee with a really old movie that was one of his favourites as a kid, I hope you ALL know and love "La Bamba!" Saturday I worked until 5 which went well, except that one of my classes was so loud I actually had a headache from them :o( But then at night Lee and I checked out the Night Market here, and it was awesome! We walked around for 2 hours, checking out the shops of shoes, clothes, CDs, animals and had delicious BBQ dinner! Then at night we all came back to the dorm for some serious in-house drinking - my bottle of wine was the LEAST to get drunk! Everyone was off their rockers as we decided to hit up a bar around 1am; where the night took a very different turn...
We ended up at a Taiwanese karaoke bar! 6 of us were immediately greeted by a small yet friendly croud, serving us snacks and rounds of beer as we each took turns embarrassing ourselves on stage! Old 50s love songs had us crooning the night away, until an older man decided to take things a little too far with my friend Mychal. He would not leave her alone, and aggressively tried to get with her even after she pushed him away so hard that he fell down to the ground, twice! I ended up moving him out of the way as we left the bar, while Lee and the others joined us later. Back in the dorm at about 3am, some people passed out while others continued to drink the night, and most of the next day, away.
Sunday was tons of fun! Lee and I scooted our way over to the next little city and spent the afternoon shopping; I got two new beautiful sweaters in preparation for the cold weather coming, and we met up with some people for dinner at TGIFriday's!! It was a lavish and delicious dinner :o) Back home, I am currently missing my brother turn into a VERY OLD MAN of 27 years!!!
On my way to bed now, I look forward to hearing from all of you soon about your weekends too! Here is a picture of me, randomly, with the peel of a pamelo on my head! It is like a bigger and sweeter grapefruit, and this is actually the tradition here! As they say, when in Taiwan...!

guess what!

I have a hematoma!!

Over a month ago, Lee and I were involved in a scooter accident - when I made my first and only attempt ever to drive a scooter here, and, well, I hit another scooter... So anyways, ever since then I have had a severe bruise on the bottom of my leg and an aching pain whenever I touched it. I assumed it would go away with time, like any other common injury. But here I am, weeks later and my leg has a hard, soar bump on it and the bruise has not gone away. So I finally went to the hospital today and had it looked at, to be diagnosed with a subcutaneous hematoma: a break in the wall of a blood vessel, aka a blood clot. So I have to put a heating pad on it every day and rub this funky gel over the area in order to get the blood soft and flowing again. If this does not work within one month then I have to go back and have the blood removed with a giant needle :o)

Good times!

a Random act of Awesomeness!

So Lee and I were teaching at the high school today, and when we came back from our lunch break none of our students were in class. We waited ten minutes but still, no-show. Then two of the kids came to class to let us know that they were involved with a presentation for that period, and did we want to come see? A free period off from teaching! So we agreed to check it out for five minutes, thinking we would then leave and go home early :o) However, when we got there, set up before us was a gourmet-restaurant-looking room, with white table clothes and everyone in the craziest costumes! A farmer theme had all the kids dressed up either as chefs, farmers, or farm animals! These were our students with Cooking as their Major, and they were getting ready to put on a demo for a group of teachers and parents; we just happened to enjoy being a part of it! They proceeded to set before us a refined 3-course meal of mushroom chowder in a bread bowl, duck, and a fruit parfait - it was the most delicious food I have had here so far! We dined and hung out with the kids, and then took some pictures with all of them; so here they are for you to enjoy! It was the most random and delightful hour of teaching yet!

Wo shu Jia Na Da ren!!

Ni hau everyone! As you can see, the Chinese lessons have begun, and I have entitled this with "I am Canadian!" So how are you all doing, how was your week?
Last weekend was pretty chilled out, working, rented a movie and Sunday night went to a friend's roof-top bbq which was really nice! This week was filled with work - Thursday night was my last time teaching a class before the students switched to a different one, so I threw them a party! We watched X-Men II and ate popcorn, what a great job eh! I have also picked up a few more new classes, making my weeks now that much more filled! In other news, Lee was bit by a street dog :o( Don't worry, he's fine! No bloodshed, but we went to the hospital to give him a tetanus shot just to be safe. The street dogs are rampant and scary and everywhere!
I blew it big time at bowling on Wednesday, but made up for it this weekend! Saturday I substituted in the afternoon and then at night Lee and I got our game on with the crew of Canadian teachers here in an intense bowling tournament! Thanks to the points system, I placed 5th! :o) Then when the tourny was over at about 2am we all went to the local bar here, The River, where we drank and played pool until almost 5am! Good times! Sunday was a perfect day of relaxing, shopping, and watching a movie. I have posted 2 pictures from Thursday afternoon when Lee and I spent the morning on our scooter, coasting through the mountains an hour away; they are so beautiful and peaceful, it is the perfect place to escape from the city once in a while. What can I say, I'm a country girl at heart!

Trick or Treat!

Here are some pics of my kids dressed up on Hallowe'en, as promised!

Hallowe'en Taiwanese Style!!

Trick or Treat! Hope you all had a fun Hallowe'en weekend, whether it was eating too much candy or drinking too much booz! This was the first time that I've ever celebrated without all my friends back home, which I'm sorry to have missed out on this year :o( But I had a great time here, and it's not over yet!
Saturday was a luxurious day for me here, because I did NOT HAVE TO WORK!! My only Saturday off this entire year! I enjoyed it by roof-top suntanning and a stroll around downtown, where I found an actual Candy Store! Complete with truffles and gum balls, I was in Heaven! Saturday night included a fabulous bottle of white and a gathering of teachers here all dressed up in their finest trickery! A couple people from the dorm came with Lee and I to our friend's house party and then later on to a bar here called Function. The bar itself was small and had no dance floor, but the music was great and everyone I know was there so it was good times! I was dressed up as Sue, one of the characters from the kids' English Textbook - I have posted a picture of her from the book for you all to see! And I finally saw my first real live fight - a group of Chinese guys beat the crap out of some dood, and I mean BEAT, it was really bad and no one stepped in to break it up, not even the security guards! Craaazy! We got home at 4am and I spent most of Sunday just chillin out and making lesson plans for the week.
Monday and Tuesday classes here continue the Hallowe'en celebration, as I have to wear my costume to school! Classes include trick or treating around the school, games and candy - not a bad job! So check here again in a day or two if you want to see extremely cute pictures of Chinese kids dressed in costume!

the world spins madly on

So it's been an extremely long time since my last blog, and I apologize! But for the first time since I got here, my life has been relatively normal :o) This past week since I got back from the Gorge, everything has been great - classes all returned to normal since the holidays, and every school is getting ready for Hallowe'en! So all the decorations are up and I have my costume ready (I'm one of the characters from their English textbook, Sue!)
This past weekend I worked Saturday all day with a group of 20 cute little kids, basically playing games and singing songs for 6 hours! Then at night a group of us went to see The Departed - one of the best movies I have seen in the past year! If you haven't seen it yet, go! Then on Sunday Lee and I spent the whole day shopping, getting clothes and our costumes :o) Don't worry, there will be tons of awesome pics up of Hallowe'en! This week includes a night of bowling and a going-away party for my friend Rahul, one of the guys in the dorm who recently returned back to Toronto :o( Other than that, nothing new except that Lee chopped all my hair off! I asked him for a trim, and watched as inches of curls floated in slow motion down to the ground! Now most of you may look at the picture above and respond with typical "it still looks long to me", however most girls will know when they've had hair running halfway down their backs, and can suddenly see their shoulders again, that it is a big deal!
Now, in class today at my high school, an intense number-guessing game was played which resulted in the losing team having to stand up and sing in front of the rest of the class! I have posted the pictures for you to laugh at, but mostly for my students to log on and see :o)
I do have one interesting story, however: today, as Lee and I were walking to class, I got hit by a scooter! I was walking with my bag over my shoulder, and out of nowhere a girl on a scooter came flying by and her handle banged right into my shoulder! She slammed into me hard, and her handle got caught on my bag and it made her swerve and lose control, causing her to spin out and fall down! It was the scariest thing, and it all happened in the flash of a second! So we stopped to help her up, make sure she was ok, and she just got right back up and drove off like la-ti-da! She looked scared of me though, like she knew it was her fault and thought I'd be mad or something! But I was just worried about her; and my shoulder was totally fine! So all in all it wasn't that bad, just really crazy!
Until next time, happy Hallowe'en!

GORGE-OUS!!

Ni hau! How are you all doin? I hope you had a great relaxing weekend and while I'm on the subject, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

This weekend, Lee and I had Saturday off (for once!!) and so we fled the city, taking a train 4 hours East to the beautiful city of Hualien, home of Taroko Gorge - Taiwan's most mountainous range and breathtaking scenery! Man oh man, it lives up to its reputation! We busted out Saturday at 8am and tried unsuccessfully to sleep for the next 4 hours, but enjoyed the view along the way immensely! Finally, we arrive and make our way to the Visitor's Centre to plan the next 2 days! We rented scooters and checked into a (nice and cheap!) hotel, then explored Downtown; the food, the shops, the rain! After hours of walking around and a bit of shopping, it began to rain so we did the only thing we could do: saw a movie! Everything we wanted to see was either not playing or not at a good time, so we took a gamble with "9/11" and it was actually good, very intense. After the movie we watched this awesome dance show put on by a group of young Taiwanese dancers, with tribal drums and throwing-sticks, and some of the moves were amazing! Then we explored the Night Market and enjoyed a night time view of the ocean, accompanied by some fireworks!

The next day was incredible! We had a bite and then rode off for about 45 minutes, until we reached Taroko Gorge: miles and miles of mountains that go on forever in every direction! They were so huge and powerful and no matter how many hours we drove, they never ended! The gorge lies between, filled with rushing water and huge boulders and colourful bridges, and the mountains are dotted with little temples and waterfalls. I was speechless!

We made it back to our dorm just before 9pm Sunday night, with just enough time to unpack and make lesson plans for the upcoming week. Ohhh, I don't want to think about teaching!

Kenting!!

You just had to be there!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and enjoyed yourselves - I will now tell you about the mayhem that was my Moon Festival holiday! 6 of us took an over-night bus which was actually 3 buses b/c of transfers, and that in itself was an adventure! Try sleeping on a bus that has no shocks and is driving over bumps like a ride at the Ex! We arrived bleary-eyed in Kenting, the most Southerly point in Taiwan at 7am. It was already 30 and sunny out! We scoured the main strip of town with our backpacks on, looking for breakfast and a place to rent scooters. By about 10:00 we were full of coffee and scooters in towe, ready to check into our hotel! This, however, was not as easy as it sounds. It took hours of getting lost to even find the place! Along the way we accidentally came across the most beautiful look-out, the top of this mountain with a picture-perfect ocean scene in the background, it was breathtaking! But eventually we went into this beautiful, luxurious hotel to ask where we might find the O.K. Hill Hotel, and we were answered by "this is it!" We stayed in the most massive, glorious hotel; ocean-view, breakfast included, chandeliers in the lobby and a swimming pool with water park, and our room was nice and big for all of us! Unfortunately, check-in was not until 3pm so we dropped off our luggage and hit the beach! The soft, white sandy beach with clear skys and blazing sun, tons of shops and restaurants lining the streets pumping music, and nothing but time to soak it all in! So after some serious sun-tanning (I'm nice and dark now, thank you!) and a bite to eat, we hopped on our scooters to check in to our room. Lee and I arrived first with our friend Tamada and waited 20 minutes for the others to show up, before I got so worried that we sent Tamada out to try and look for them and make sure all was okay. It wasn't.

Our friend Mychal had been side-swiped by an SUV and knocked off her scooter on the side of the road. She was taken to the hospital where I met her, with fractured wrist and a serious concussion (the helmet actually saved her life). I continued to spend the next 4 hours by her side, holding her hand through physicals and castings and needles and police interrogations, all the while telling her who she is and where she was. Lee and my friend Cristin were there too, while the others were at the police station making up a report and trying to straighten out the small matter of her payment; the other driver has been placed responsible for covering all of her medical bills, at least. By 8pm we decided to finally check-in, shower and grab some dinner, but little did we know that the huge Holiday Night Market was on and that the streets were blocked off! It took Cristin and I over an hour to cab AND walk back, arriving exhausted and starving :o( But the night was salvaged by a fun paruse through the Night Market, sampling food and checking out all the stores, fighting our way through the INSANELY CROUDED streets!! All in all I bought a little hangy heart for my cell phone, a new blue purse, some red drawstring shorts and cute earrings :o) So that was our first day!

The next 2 days were filled with hours at the beach, swimming in the warrrrrm water, checking out delicious restaurants, shopping and of course visits to the hospital. Lee also went snorkling and cliff-jumping! All in all, an extremely eventful and adventurous vacation!

Another evening spent on a few buses brought us back home Tuesday at midnight, and Lee and I went to Taipei Wednesday after we were done teaching to watch the Asian Soccer finals! Taiwan got its ass kicked by Iran 2-0, it was funny to watch! Friday night is our friend Neil's birthday which will be filled with dinner and many a drink :o) Then on Saturday school is cancelled for all foreign teachers as the kids have Chinese exams, so this is our only weekend off and we are going to Hualien, Taiwan's premier scenic attraction called Taroko Gorge, supposedly the most spectacualr sight here!! So I will have another big update for you after the weekend! Everything else here is great, the weather is still sublime and the kids are great! Mychal is in the hospital here now having surgery done on her wrist, and that's all for now!

I love you all and miss you very much!

Vacation!!

Oh, how sweet it is! How glorious! Words cannot describe how wonderful it felt to walk out of class lastnight, and know that it was my last one for the next 5 days! Most of my dorm-mates and I went to the Canadian Bistro, our home-away-from-home, and celebrated with drinks and yummy food, and I finally had my wine! Then early Friday morning Lee and I got up and booked it to the train station for an almost 3-hour ride to Fulong Beach, a preview of what's to come this holiday! The train ride in itself was an adventure, hopping seats and then eventually standing it out until we arrived in what can only be described as a picturesque Taiwanese setting. Everything I imagined before coming here has been different from actuality, until today. The clear, breezy air and the crashing waves of the ocean on golden-coloured sand was a sight to see, with an emaculate temple towering in the background and green mountains off in the distance! We walked along the water's edge for hours, from one end to the other, over bridges and stopping to watch wave-surfers in action. It wasn't even that sunny out, but the day was perfect. Lee and I barely caught both connecting trains on the way home and then tomorrow we're off! 2 nights and 3 days in sunny, tropical Kenting, the Southern tip of Taiwan where I will lay in the sun and do nothing until someone roles me over :o) Happy Thanksgiving, Shana Tova and Happy Mid-Autums Festival, everyone!