the mother of all birthdays!!

Greetings from your older (and not much wiser) friend!! How are you all!? I hope you are not suffering too much from the weather and that school, work, family and everything else is treating you well!
For my birthday on Saturday I worked all day, 8 hours - but it was great! I awoke to many phone calls from friends and family (thank you, you know who you are!!) And then at school I received birthday cards from my students and co-teachers, the kids sang to me, and then the head staff all signed a card and got me a piece of yummy cake! Then Lee and I went to one of our privates where, at the end of the lesson, they turned out the lights and lit a whole cake and sang to me, and bought me beautiful M.A.C. make-up! I felt so touched that these people opened up their homes to me as a friend, not just a teacher, it really made my night special. Then we went home and I opened a gift from Lee's family: AN MP3 PLAYER!! They bought me the fabulous Samsung player in black, without even knowing how obsessively I've been looking to buy one here! Then I opened a home-made calendar from Lee, commemorating our last 3 years together plus pictures of all my friends, family; he had other people in on it, helping to send him pics and dates and it is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever made for me! After that a bunch of us went to this bar for dinner and drinks, and more friends and co-workers came so it was a really good time, and then at round 11:30 we took it to the club! We had booked a VIP table for 12, which meant we were really livin it up! Bottls and bottles of booz kept flowin as we drank in this lavish curtained-off table with couches, and before I knew it there were more than 30 people all out to wish me a happy bday! One girl even bought me red roses :o) I spent the entire night on the dance floor, it was soooo much fun!!
The next day, Lee and I went downtown and walked around, I treated myself to new blonde hair streaks (and now my hair is straightened), then Lee took me out for a deelish dinner and dessert! It was so much fun, and all in all a truly unforgettable birthday! I was feeling rather anxious and extremely fearful for this birthday, having a quarter-life crisis all week, missing all of you so much - and I do wish that I could have shared it with you, but there is not anything else I could have asked for here to make me feel more at home or loved by the people around me, it was truly one of the best times I've ever had! Even going back to work on Monday was okay, another student bought me an adorable picture frame, and I have another package coming from my family at home soon!! All I can say is that looking in the mirror and saying "I'm twenty-four" is a very surreal experience!

Wild Times!

How are you all! I'm great, thanks - just decided to share an update with you, as it's been a while. Everything here is great, teaching and Chinese class and even the weather! This Wednesday Lee and I had the day off so we spent it in Taipei, it was awesome! We went shopping, explored the richest mall inside 101, went to this foreign grocery store to get a few things that remind us of home :o), got a couple things at the massive bookstore and then went to Chili's for an incredibly divine dinner! We didn't get back until 10 at night, and then just went right back out to bowling - not my finest hour! Last week I had my top score of 131, so I can only go down from there... but it was still tons of fun! Then around 1 we all moved it to the bar where I proceeded to win the next 7 games of pool in a row; I was unstoppable! We stayed there until after 4 in the morning, and then attempted the ultimate move in Taiwanese travel: 3 on a scooter. This is not even close to the ultimate move, to be honest, which actually involves 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog!! However, we did it the Canadian/Taiwanese way and it was the scariest 10 minutes of my entire life! Lee driving, with our friend Nate on the back and me, crouched down in the very front screaming for my life! It was a sight to see, I'll tell ya that right now! But no worries, we made it home safe and sound and it was actually kind of fun, but I still vowed to never ever do that again. It's not worth the risk. Meanwhile, we have been expecting the most recent arrival to the dorm, a guy named David, and found out this morning that he is not coming! All we know is that he missed his flight, and is no longer to be expected! I can only imagine what happened at the last minute to make him change his mind about coming here...!
All in all it was a long and crazy day followed by an even crazier night! This only leads into my next long and crazy day; my birthday is in 2 days....

Winter Wonderland

Winter is a very weird time of year, when the days are shorter but seem to last forever at the same time. One moment it is sunny and bright out, the next it is dark, cold and uninviting - the weather has such a huge effect on our moods; I vow to only live in a place that is warm and sunny!
This weekend was loads of fun! After a work-filled Saturday, I joined friends at a bar for a few drinks and then around midnight we took it to the club, dancin our booty's off till 4am! Then on Sunday Lee and I spent the afternoon shopping and followed it up with an evening of baking cookies and a movie; my perfect weekend! Monday was back to work with the kiddies and a week of Chinese class, trips to the gym, bowling and all the usual excitement in Taiwan!
In ten days I will be celebrating the day of my birth, 24 years ago, and for some reason I am having a hard time dealing with this fact. That's an under statement: accepting this truth is like believing that I am a quarter century old, that I have graduated from university, that I am working as a teacher and living with my boyfriend in another country on the other side of the world - and that's just ridiculous.

Trips, trips and more trips!

This is what it's all about folks: the travel. The journey. The adventures. The trips!! Lee and I are officially booked in our flight and hotel for one week in the world-renound Philippines in February, AAAANNNNDDDD we just set up a 4 day trip in March to JAPAN!!! TO SEE THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS!!!
I can't even believe it, in a matter of minutes the next couple months of my life have completely changed! The resort in the Philippines is like a hotel/cottage, an island hut right in the centre of the main White Beach, featuring the social hotspot bars for Night Life. The night before our trip, Lee and I are spending a traditional Chinese New Year's dinner with one of the families we teach, and then the next morning we fly to the main city on the island for a day, then take an overnight ferry ride to fabulous Boracay! Where we will spend the next 7 days suntanning, snorkeling, swimming, drinking and everything else imaginable under the sun!
Then in March we have officially booked our RHCP concert tickets and flight to Japan for 4 incredible days of sight-seeing through one of the most culturally rich and sound islands in SouthEast Asia, not to mention the world! The process and a half it took to get these tickets, however, was unbelievable! After trying every non-English website, and every non-English phone number, we finally paid a visit to our travel agent: it was not her, however, that got us the tickets, but her Taiwanese friend who had moved to Japan that asked HER husband to go to the stadium and personally buy us the tickets himself!! They are currently being mailed to us as we speak :o) We will be spending 4 days in Japan, 3 in Osaka and 1 trekking out to Mt. Fuji, Japan's highest mountain and dormant volcano. Day 3 of this trip includes my first (and Lee's third!!) time seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers; I CAN'T WAIT!!!
On an unrelated note, my family rang in my New Year with an amazing Chanukah slash birthday package!! It was filled to the rim with sweaters, hoodies, pj's, food, toiletries and more, and simply receiving it was the best present I could have asked for!! To help ease the pain of my inevitable aging process, impossible to avoid and approaching closer with each passing day... oy.

Happy 2007!!

Hsin Nyen Kwai Lur!! Happy New Year to one and all!! 2006 came and went, taking with it some of the most momentous experiences of my (almost 24-year long!!!) life. Graduating from University in New Zealand and now teaching in Taiwan has all accumulated into some very adventurous and very exciting memories! I hope that you can all look back on the past year with the same pride and enthusiasm :o) Just think what crazy journeys lie ahead...!
Sunday afternoon was spent at the gym and grocery shopping, accompanied by my homemade chocolate peanut butter truffles! As the evening rolled round, Lee and I debated joining our fellow white friends at the club near where we live or not, and as we were getting ready (dressed and sufficiently pre-drunk!) we made a last minute game decision to ring in the new year in Taipei! A few co-teachers had reserved a table at the lavish club Mint in the basement of Taipei 101 and offered us an invitation to join them, which we happily accepted! So Lee, my friend Nate and I took a cab to Taipei and met them there around 11, just enough time to get in and have a few drinks before the festivities began! Having a table is the only way to party at a club here; you buy one for the evening for a set price and it provides luxury couches to chill on and put your stuff safely, while having all of your night's alcohol provided for you! Bottle after bottle of vodka and whiskey and Red Bull, Coke, orange juice, soda and champagne flowed through our hands as we danced the night away! At midnight, the whole club ran outside to join the thousands of other people anticipating the huge fireworks display! Taipei 101 lit up as everyone counted down, and then exploded into a roaring show of fireworks bursting from all sides and the roof of the building! It was incredible! Then everyone hurried back inside to rip up the dance floor; the music was awesome and I had the best time! I left with the girls around 3 but we couldn't get a cab until almost 4, and it was 5 by the time we all got home! It was without a doubt a night to remember! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!