Jubilant Judy

Black-faced spoonbill

2006-10-02T23:28:00.000+08:00

Mr. Zombie

2006-10-01T22:40:00.000+08:00

How come some people get to be so annoying and irrational? Mr. Zombie happens to be this kind of person, and worst of all, he's my colleague. He claims that he had studied abroad at UCLA before, though his behavior might bring shame to the school.

Mr. Zombie is the last person in the world whom I or anyone would want to associate with, which is partly due to his emotionless face. When he talks, people may mistaken that he's really skilled at ventriloquism--since there're only words and sounds, but no sign of him talking to anybody at all. What's worse, when he gets upset, he starts to criticize people sarcastically, which 9 times out of 10 are false accusations. You may wonder why don't I just ignore him, well, I wish I could. But the thing with Mr. Zombie is that he's my superior, which forces me to have to listen to him, or in the worst case, talk to him. Imagine the spookiest thing in the world, multiplies it with ten, and then you basically get the level of horror when one has to deal with Mr. Zombie.

In Taoism tales, people used a slip of paper with incantation written on it to dispel Chinese zombies. Perhaps I can find a wizard who can help me with this problem.

Slacking off

2006-10-01T22:09:00.000+08:00

So many things happened this summer that I didn't have time to record them all. Also, I'm trying to adjust to a new way of life recently, so I have trouble finding time to idle online or update my blog. Well, perhaps these are all excuses for my slacking off. It actually feels good to be back and casually mark down my emotions and life.

Summer came like Cinnamon

2006-07-02T01:27:00.000+08:00

I'm never a summer person. It's too hot, especially in Tainan, notorious for its sizzling heat and humidity. Because of the above-mentioned factors, unfortunately, I often sweat like a pig right after taking a shower. Sometimes I wonder why bother taking a shower since I sweat anyways. Plus, summer is when I smell stinky body odor, mostly from guys. Every time my nose detects such stink, I always hold my breath for as long as possible, coz I don't want to die of poison gas or anything of that sort. The only thing cool about summer is that I get to have summer vacation, which I can take a rest after a year of hard work.

But this summer will definitely be different. However hot and humid it is, however bad the man sitting next to me smells, I'm for sure gonna have lots and lots of fun. Hooray! Judy's summer officially starts today!

Go find better things to do

2006-07-02T00:51:00.000+08:00

It's weird that people I don't know or dislike are reading my blog. Especially those I dislike. Don't get me wrong, strangers don't even know who I am, so I don't mind them reading. But the situation gets awkward when people I don't like read my blog. I mean, why are you reading, and what do you care? Leave me alone and mind your own business. Yes, I'm talking about you.

Entertainment in Disguise

2006-06-26T23:27:00.000+08:00

Two weirdoes totally irritated me last week, and they made me so MAD. The thing was that I had no idea what they were thinking and what caused them to behave that way. Fortunately, I have a whole bunch of friends who listened to me complain and consoled me while I grumbled out mean stuff. They were all very supportive. Now that I am not as pissed as I was, I started to look at the two events from a different light. Perhaps I should be thankful for their eccentricity, so that me and my friends had the chance to hate and speak ill of someone altogether. Plus, these two offered me some entertainment afterwards. Although what upset me back then didn't seem to be funny, now they do. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it appears to be. Sometime we do need clowns like the two lunatics to remind us how normal we are and how much fun they bring to our ordinary lives. All we need to do is figure out the laughable part of the incidents after we regain calmness. Maybe the best way to put them is “entertainment in disguise.”

To the source of my pride--117

2006-06-23T22:24:00.000+08:00

The main character in Moulin Rouge, Christian said, “The greatest thing you'll learn is just to love and be loved in return.” Because of you, 117, I am truly blessed to experience all that. Right at this moment, every event we have worked as a team in the past just automatically plays in my mind, like a movie, which tells a story of cooperation, perseverance, honor, and most importantly, love. Although some of you might feel disappointed when we missed the last chance to take home a trophy, you're without doubt second to none. There's only one thing I want you to bear in mind—that I am and will always be proud of you, my dearest students/friends.

Surreal, but nice

2006-06-12T21:05:00.000+08:00

After practicing for nearly two months, we would perform a dance for the class of 2006 seniors at the graduation ceremony tonight. Except for the students who organized and helped with the ceremony, none of the students or teachers knew about our performance. By doing so, we hoped that the whole school would be thrilled to see us dance and at the same time demonstrated how much we love the students.

Putting on the outfit and make-up, I had to admit that we all looked so energetic and hot! I got really nervous and excited while waiting to get on stage. In fact, I just couldn't wait to do the dancing, and kept wondering what the students would react. Our turn finally came. The lights in the auditorium went out, and on the screen everyone could see a short clip we did beforehand. The clip is composed of two parts. The first part showed how professional we are at school; the second part revealed some very “Tai-mei” things we do after class, such as going on a shopping spree, and buying fried chicken from street vendors. When the students screamed and laughed while watching it, we anxiously waited backstage. All of a sudden, the lights were out again, and the six of us paced to the designated spots with our backs facing the audience. Meanwhile, the students were all screaming like crazy already, which made me feel like an international super star. Then the music started and we began moving our bodies, which made the students scream even more loudly. Their cheers totally perked me up. I smiled at my audience and sang along while swaying and spinning. The whole time I could barely hear the music because the students were cheering/screaming/yelling. Due to the loud background noise, none of us heard the music, getting stiff and motionless for around five seconds. Luckily, that caused the noise to go down a little bit, so we could pick up the rest of the song again. At one point, the audience was clapping their hands together with the rhythm of the song. I smiled at the audience sitting in front of me and noticed how intrigued they were fixing their eyes at me, like I just cast a spell on them. Right after our ending pose came an enormous burst of loud cheers and applause. I knew they really enjoyed it.

This was definitely an once-in-a-lifetime experience, which still haunted me even after the next day. Although the purpose of the dance was to entertain the students, I had to admit that dancing in front of so many people was electrifying. Call me vain or self-centered, I don't care. You have to experience it yourself to realize how I had felt.

Somewhere only we know

2006-06-12T00:37:00.000+08:00

Walking across the deserted woods,
I knew the trails from where I stood.
Leaning against my back on the rusty rail,
I listened to the symphony of cicadas and it made me tranquil.

Coming across a giant tree,
I felt the branches of it familiar to me.
Is this the place where we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

When you come back why don't we go,
So why don't we go,
Somewhere only we know?

Exclusively for you

2006-06-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

Thank you for walking into my life and gradually becoming an important part of it for nearly two years ago.
Thank you for honestly telling me how you feel about me so that I could reconsider the possibility.
Thank you for tolerating my quick temperature when it hits and devastates like a hurricane.
Thank you for playing tricks that make me feel so much better when I am down or lonely.
Thank you for the patience though you had to wait till technical problems were solved.
Thank you for being sweet telling me how much you appreciate the efforts I made.
Thank you for sensing my emotion right away even through MSN.
Thank you for being honest and generous.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for caring.
Thank you for being.
Happy Birthday
to you!

The Da Vinci Code Craze

2006-05-29T23:03:00.000+08:00

I have been looking forward to the movie, Da Vinci Code, to be released. The novel, written by Dan Brown, was fast-paced and absolutely a page-turner. Even though someone may argue that the author simply patched up various ancient mysteries and embroidered it with excitement and paradoxical symbolism, it was rather entertaining.

So I went to the movie with Yi-yin and A-Pei last Sunday. Perhaps I kept my hope too high, which made me disappointed afterwards. One mistake I made was to go watch a mystery/detective movie before knowing the plot. The pleasure of trying to figure out who was the big bad guy was already gone. The whole time I sat in the theater literally expecting if the actors/actress were going to hear the exact same lines from the book. Plus, Tom Hanks didn't seem to be the best actor playing this role. No doubt he is a wonderful actor, but I expected someone a bit younger and fitter to play Professor Langdon. On the other hand, Silas, played by Paul Bettany, was an outstanding actor in The Da Vinci Code. He did a fantastic job playing an albino who grew up in a dysfunctional family and gradually turned into a religious frenetic. Paul Bettany was probably better than Tom Cruise and any of the actors/actresses in the movie. Though a brutal antagonist, this character made the audience feel sorry and shed tears for him.

Overall, this is an OK movie for people who haven't read the book to watch. Of course, some may argue that the plot related to Christianity and cryptography may be a bit too far-fetched. Still, I like one of the ideas the author may want his readers to ponder over—don't always believe what we read or are told. We have the right to find out the truth, and choose what to believe.

Mostly cloudy

2006-05-16T23:38:00.000+08:00

The air was cool as it had been a warm winter night, and layers and layers of gray thick clouds cumulated all over the sky. This was supposed to be my favorite weather. Somehow I felt so blue that I didn't even appreciate the sudden drop of the temperature as I used to. Nothing seemed to go right this morning. The classes, the students, some trivial homework checking, and this shit I got myself into were all driving me crazy. How is this going to end? I don't know. But since I am half responsible for all this chaos, guess I'll have to clean up the mess. Tomorrow will be another day. Hopefully, a better one.

Bloggin

2006-05-15T23:28:00.000+08:00

I used to think that my blog was a space where I could speak what I wanted and never worry about what others thought of me. This is a private area and it is one of the gazillions of blogs on the Net. Who would care about what I wrote and how I felt? But the events happened recently made me think twice about what I should've and shouldn't have said.

Only two or three people know the existence of my blog. The rest of my friends don't even know that I blog, which made me have an illusion that few would visit my blog. Two years ago, I started the blog, and looked at it as an online journal. Nobody had known that I owned a blog and I couldn't have cared less. I just wanted to write and experience how it felt to see my own English diary online, which compensated me for not being able to be a real writer.

But then I got emotional. Sometimes I included personal details about people because I was upset with them and wanted to get revenge. Apparently, I succeeded. What I wrote had hurt them deeply, and that was exactly what I had wanted, well, perhaps just that couple of seconds when I finished typing up a particular article. However, what I had done wasn't mature. It didn't cross my mind that people from all over the world might read my blog and found out some one-sided story I wrote about another person. As the globe grows closer thanks to the Internet, how can I guarantee that a friend of mine will not eventually find out about the secrets of my other friends? It suddenly downed on me that the Net is a public arena where people get to find out nearly all the information about almost anyone.

Guilty and regretful, I deleted all the articles that seemed to be too personal and kept them to myself only. Though having already hurt the ones I love, I still have to apologize-- I'm deeply sorry for my mistake. I'll definitely double-check my writing and make sure I don't violate personal privacy before publishing my post online next time.

Hooray!

2006-05-14T23:35:00.000+08:00

The highlight of April besides my birthday was the visit of Pete and Masato. After crossing out the 28th of April, I did a happy dance to myself coz I couldn't wait to see Pete again. And the thought that I could see him the next day totally thrilled me.

Anxiously sitting on the bus, I kept checking the time and see how faraway I was from the airport, because generally it took around 3-4 hours going from Tainan to CKS. The bus crawled slower than I had expected, but when I jumped out of the bus and raced to the arrival gate, Pete and Masato were no where to be seen. I checked the timetable and realized their flight had just arrived.

Strolling back and forth in front of the gate, I wonder when I could see Pete. All of a sudden, a giant white dude along with a small Asian boy strode out of the gate. On spotting them, I yelled out Pete's name and waved at him frantically. From the corner of my eye though, I noticed some people staring at me like I was some weirdo, which I couldn't have cared less. Looking poised, Pete gave me an enormous hug that I had dreamed of for months. It felt good to be in his big warm arms again.

An Unforgettable Birthday

2006-05-08T19:15:00.001+08:00

This year on my birthday, I had a very busy schedule. My friends, my homeroom 117 students and my boyfriend all made me feel that I'm special.

Around eleven, Christine and Amy took me to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate my birthday, and I also took Amy about Pete and me. She probably thought that I didn't have a boyfriend, since I always stay at the office longer than most of my co-workers and I had never told her about a boyfriend until then. Obviously, Amy was very surprised to learn about us, but she was also happy for me. I was grateful for that because they are always nice to me.

After lunch, we headed back to our office since we all had classes in the fifth hour. After the bell rang, I walked into my homeroom class 117, only to find that no one was in it except for Grace and Tina. They told me that the rest of the class was preparing for the then upcoming Civic drama in the lab, and they were so into the rehearsal that they didn't want to come back. I told the two girls to go find them but they insisted that I should go with them. By then, I already knew they were up to give me a surprise or something, still, I went with them. When I stepped into the lab, all the kids were sitting on the chair, with the lights off. The projector was on and the kids were showing me a clip with 6 girls standing around Linda, a naughty girl, singing a song, Lydia. At the end of the clip, the six girls said “Happy Birthday” to me. Then, the lights were on, and Linda and JoJo jumped up on the stage. JoJo was like an M.C. while Linda did at least 10 different ways to sing Happy Birthday, including the hip-hop version, the Chinese drama version, the rap version, the bubble gum music version, and even the Taiwanese drama version, which totally cracked us up the entire time. After that, the kids gave me a cap and a big poster with their feelings written on it. I was so touched that I cried. How I love these kids!

After school, I bought my dinner and raced home at the fastest speed, because I had an online date with Ah Buei. Since Pete and I are far apart, it's nearly impossible for him to celebrate my birthday. However, he came up with a rather romantic alternative. He told me beforehand that he wanted me to buy my favorite food, and he would wait for me until I get home (since there's a one hour time difference between Japan and Taiwan.) When I signed in Skype, Pete was online already. I told him what had happened on my birthday while we both had our dinner. Then, he turned off the lights in his room and asked me to do the same thing. Soon, he took out a candle, singing Happy Birthday to me. Then, I made a wish and blew out the candle, which of course, he did for me. Pete then took out a cake, saying it was mine. But how could I eat it without actually being able to touch it? So, again, Pete “reluctantly” ate the cake for me, even with all my protest and complaints. Afterwards, Ah Buei sent me a present. By sending, I meant he actually sent me my present through the Internet. It was a story, The Adventures of Sho Kua, he wrote about us. In this story, a girl named Sho Kua started off an adventure from Tainan to Taipei and met a big foreign bear in the woods. He included a lot of inside jokes we teased about each other and some current Taiwanese political events, making it so much fun and hilarious while the two of us read along the story together. There were many times I laughed so hard that I nearly fell off the chair. I had a great time that night with Pete. He is truly a wonderful, humorous and considerate boyfriend. Although he wasn't around on my birthday, he tried his best to make me happy and feel loved. I'm so blessed to have Pete.

Because of all these important people in my life, I will never be alone. I love you.

Mel and Jason visited Taiwan Part IV

2006-05-08T16:48:00.000+08:00

It was a pity that the whole time Mel and Jason were in Taiwan, it was cloudy or rainy, which wasn't very common especially in southern Taiwan. The day Mel and Jason left Tainan, the sun was still nowhere to be seen. However, they did a fantastic presentation introducing New Zealand and the Maori culture that completely fascinated my students and me.

In the first hour, Mel and Jason had class 108, a group of playful students, who were thrilled just because they had the chance to learn about a different culture, and apparently, not from the same old Judy but from two Maoris.

In the second hour, Mel and Jason taught my homeroom class, 117, an advanced English class, who love to laugh and have fun no matter where they are or what they do. Although Mel and Jason basically covered the same thing as they did in the first hour, they received more feedback from this class. Especially when Mel and Jason were joking around, my homeroom kids cracked up all the time, which definitely gave then a great sense of achievement.

After I introduced Mel and Jason to the kids, they covered the basic geographical features of New Zealand. Afterwards, Mel told us a Maori myth, explaining the origin of the North and South Island. According to the myth, a Maori ancestor went fishing one sunny day. While he flung his magical fishing pole, he happened to hook a gigantic stingray, which later became the North Island. If you check the map of New Zealand, you’ll realize the North Island does shape like one. Then, Jason explained that in their culture, men danced a special dance, Haka, to show their strength and power, which later is used by All Black, the NZ national rugby team, before they start a game. Afterwards, Jason demonstrated a 2 minutes Haka, which totally mesmerized every one of us in the room. He sang like a thunder roaring, and thumped his feet like a herd of elephants stomping over the floor. Later on, they showed us some traditional Maori buildings, which shape like a person; the roof being the ancestor's long arms, while the two pillars stand for his two strong legs.

Even though there are some international people around town, we don't get to see many Maoris often. Mel and Jason coming to my class and teach us all about their culture and country definitely gave the students some motivation to look at English as a tool of communication rather than just a subject they have to pass to get good grades.

Mel and Jason visited Taiwan Part III

2006-04-23T17:53:00.000+08:00

After getting home at two thirty in the morning and went to bed after three, it was a challenge for all of us to get up "early in the morning" to head for the destination, Sun-Moon Lake. Unfortunately, since it was raining heavily throughout the island that morning, we decided to go to Kenting, the famous beach down in south. By the time we were all settled and hit the road, it was already eleven o'clock. The road to Kenting was pretty smooth, and Dustin claimed that he enjoyed driving, so we all put our precious lives in his hands and prayed that he wouldn't drive like a mad man. It turned out though, he was a very good driver, which made us all breathed with a relief.

Highway number 3 wasn't as packed as we had expected, so it only took us 2 hours and a half. After we got off the highway, we saw the sky-blue ocean shimmering on the right side of the road, which made us cry out a sigh of excitement. However, it seemed to take forever before we actually arrived in Kenting.

When we finally drove on the main street, I was already screaming and squirming in the car. There were some mini-sized scooters on the roadside, so I hopped on one, imagining I was racing it. Then we drove to a car-racing place, for real. They had yellow cars and blue ones. The former were slower than the latter, so naturally we chose the blue cars, though the lady warned that people who were inexperienced should drive the yellow ones. When I got on my blue car, I was so excited and couldn't wait to race on the track. Breathless, when I turned the steering wheel and braked all of a sudden, feeling the car whirling to a different angle while hearing the tires making scary squeaky sounds. My jaw got sore from screaming too much the whole time. Thrilling.

Later, we went to the beach and played water by the shore. The water was cooler than what I expected, but still in a very pleasant temperature. Since when I left home, I still thought that we were going to Sun Moon Lake, I didn't prepare any beach-related items, like a bathing suit or towels. I was just wading in the water a little and enjoying the coming and going of the tide, when someone ran from behind, splashing water on my body and jumped into the sea. That was Dustin and Jason, with their shorts on, swimming in the water like salmons finally gotten back in the ocean. They looked so happy that made me wanted to join them as well. While I was thinking, I heard another splash in the water, and there was Mel, floating in the water with a sense of contentment on her face. Seeing all that, I thought to myself, "what the heck!" and plunged into the water. Immersed in the sea, there was a freshly cool sensation rising from the bottom of my toes to the tip of my scalp. Fabulous!

Mel and Jason visited Taiwan Part II

2006-04-19T22:36:00.000+08:00

The next morning, I showed them around the area nearby Dustin’s apartment, which is across the road from the Culture Center, and they got to witness the traditional morning market place. They were surprised at how many people there were at the market and also the variety of foods provided there. Fish and meat stands particularly startled Mel and Jason, especially the ones that displayed an array of all sorts of freshly-slaughtered meat. In the afternoon, we strolled along some of the most famous historic sites in the city, such as the Confucius Temple, the old street, the Five Concubines’ Temple, the Temple of Goddess Lin-Xiu, and so on. It was funny that not only Mel and Jason but also me learned a lot from the experience. Apparently, every time I guided foreigners to some of the historic places, I acquired more knowledge than I used to be. Or maybe that was just a sign showing that I don’t know much about my own culture yet.

That night, we went clubbing with Dustin, the old man, who claimed that he was working on his ever-lasting thesis so he couldn’t accompany us that afternoon. (In case you don’t know, he just finished THE THESIS a few days ago. And my friend, if anyone of you happen to have a friend who has an inclination of procrastinating everything important, you understand how hard it is to hang out with someone like Dustin, since he’s always working on his THESIS.) We got into the Orient right after it was open, but we were told that there were no seats available. We wondered: “Hell, we must pick an extremely popular club! It’s only open for a few minutes and now it’s all packed!!” We pushed open the giant steel door and when our eyes got adjusted to the pinkish neon lights, we found we were the first customers that night. The music was some lame electronic mix, and there was not even a single soul on the dance floor. We realized later that all the tables were reserved in advanced and we weren’t supposed to sit for even just a little while. Also, a bossy waitress stood right next to us, pestering us to order drinks. I asked her to give us more time, but she said that she had to make sure that each of us ordered drinks. The whole thing was very irritating at first until we got on the dance floor an hour later. All of a sudden, more and more people flooded into the club, and that was also when we started to dance and had a whole bunch of fun.

Later, we got out of the club since Dustin suggested that we go to a bar to have some drinks and chat. Malibu looked very exotic because it blends African styles with Asian and Native American ones, but it did serve fabulous soft drinks. But after we were getting really tired and decided to head home, the waitress reminded us that the minimum charge is 350 per person, which meant that we should order more drinks or food so as not to waste too much money unused. Since none of us could take in drinks anymore, we ordered some barbeques, which turned out to cost more than thirty minutes to get cooked. By the time we got on a cab, we were all so exhausted that we didn’t know if we still get the energy to go down to Kenting, locating at the southern tip of Taiwan, the next morning.

Mel & Jason visited Taiwan Part I

2006-04-17T23:33:00.000+08:00

Pete's best friends in Japan, Mel and Jason got married in February, and originally they planned to enjoy their honeymoon the next month in Hong Kong. After checking with their travel agent, they found out that they'd stop by Taiwan. It suddenly hit them that it'd be wonderful to visit Taiwan on their way back, so they could see how this island looks like as well as visit their Taiwanese friend, Judy and a crazy American who used to be Pete's dearest roommate, Dustin.

They arrived on Thursday in Taipei, and they came down to Tainan the next day, when it happened to rain cats and dogs. I started to get worried after five in the afternoon, since I hadn’t gotten their calls the entire time. While I was waiting anxiously for their calls, trying to figure out if they had flown to Taiwan at all or if they decided to row a boat from HK instead, the magic worked. Mel phoned, saying they were at the bus station. I hurried to pick them up, and headed home to enjoy a wonderful meal my mom had prepared for them. Over dinner table, they shared their experiences in Hong Kong and how amazed they were at Taiwan when they saw a whole bunch of scooters scurried in front of buses, trucks and SUVs, and how frightened when they crossed the first crossroad in this country. Besides their adventures, they also shared some of the Maori legends and basic geographical landscape, such as the origin of the North and South Island and where The Lord of the Rings crew shot the world-famous movie.

The food was awesome, and the conversations fantastic. Mel even joked about kidnapping my mom to Japan, since she really loved her food. Well, who wouldn't anyway, my mom's cooking is always one of the main reasons why my friends enjoy being mine. However, if I had told Mel that kidnapping my mom means my dad has to come along as well, she probably would have thought twice about her evil plan…:p

Winter Class Trip

2006-04-15T16:16:00.000+08:00

After a wonderful trip in Japan, I flew back on the fourth of February. The next day, along with Dustin and Justin, I took my home room students to a 3-day class trip.

I was so beat that I first looked like I was going to pass out any minute. Plus, I was still feeling bad about having to wait for a tremendously long time before I get to Pete again. Fortunately, when we arrived at Sun-Moon Lake 2 hours later, the turquoise lake had this magical power to perk me up and I started to feel like myself again. We strolled down a touristy alley that links to the pier, with all sorts of food stands lining up on both sides. It was warm and there was not a single trace of cloud, the mild winter sun shone brightly down on the lake, which made it gleam like there were diamonds on the surface. Also, on top of the hills, which surround Sun-Moon Lake, stands a temple whose design has a serene Japanese style. Sun-Moon Lake was a sign that showed that the trip was off to a good start.

In the afternoon, we reached Ching-Jing Farm, and the temperature dropped immediately, since it was one of the highest farms in Taiwan. Plus, there are a highest in altitude 7-11 and a Starbucks up in the mountain. So, imagine this, you’re sitting in a café, sipping a cup of hot cappuccino; when you look out of the window, you get to admire the greenest and highest mountainous landscape in southeast Asia, tinted with some brightly colored mountain cherry blossoms. Isn’t that fabulous?

The next day, we headed down to Ji-Ji, a small town famous for its rustic strain station and a road flanked with tall green elms. Most of us rented a bike so that we could cruise around the town and enjoy the carefree vibes. Even though it was in early February, it was so HOT. I got sunburn after riding the bike under the sun for a couple of hours, but it was a lot of fun. Besides, I got to know some of the quiet kids from riding and chatting with them. However, that night when I lay on the bed my butt and thighs were sore all over from too much riding, which reminded me how much older I’m getting…

The third day, the last day of the trip, we woke up early in the morning so that we could walk into the forest Sito and breathe in the freshest air took in the coolest pine trees in this region. While walking, we heard birds chirping cheerfully on sprigs. The Ustins and I also took silly pictures of the kids and ourselves.

The trip was one of the best trips I have ever had, and it somehow redirected my attention from Pete to my students and friends. I especially enjoy the night when the Ustins and I brought some kids outside the hotel to look at the myriad stars in the sky, and at the same time we listened to what the kids had to say about themselves and the things that bothered them. It seemed that most of their parents were liberal and let them choose whatever they want to do or study in the future. However, many kids give themselves a lot of pressure and some of them are simply perfectionists. Sometimes I look at my students and wonder what will become of them many years later. Even though my age makes them regard me as an older sister, somehow they’re still like my kids in many ways and I just hope that they will all have a very happy life and feel satisfied with themselves.

Japanese, American, Korean, British or Taiwanese?

2006-04-03T22:30:00.000+08:00

When I traveled to Japan this past winter, nine times out of ten I was mistaken as Japanese. So imagine this: two tall Caucasians along with a small Asian girl walked into a store, guess who would the none-English-speaking clerk talk to? Bingo, the Asian girl, in Japanese! Therefore, constantly the clerk spoke Japanese to me, who know barely 5 Japanese words and looked completely lost, while ignoring Pete, who speaks fluent Japanese to him. It seemed that at that moment, the clerk was probably thinking,“why don't you respond to me, you stupid girl!” Do I look Japanese? Perhaps I do in some ways.

Back in the states, sometimes people I met for the first time asked me which state did I came from, which I understand since the U.S. is such a culturally diverse country. But I felt extraordinary cheerful when from time to time people wondered if I was born in the states or went to an American high school, which meant my accent was pretty native-like. Do I look American? Perhaps I sound like one in some ways.

Last summer when I flew Korean Air back to Taiwan after a two-week trip in England and Scotland, I found myself surrounded by tons of Koreans. Flight attendants served me in Korean and people sitting beside me talked to me in Korean. Basically I was isolated by Koreans. Obviously I looked pretty much Korean, otherwise how would they speak the language to me?

However, when people realized that I don't speak their language, some of these strangers started to build up their interests in me. There was one old man sitting next to me, who tried really hard to strike a conversation with me, unfortunately mostly very personal questions, like,“Do you have a boyfriend?”“Why are you traveling alone?”“Are you from the U.K?” The first two questions were bizarre enough, not to mention the third one. I don't even speak with a British accent! Do I look British? Absolutely not, no matter how I look or sound.

Good thing nobody on this island has ever doubted my Taiwanese identity so far. First of all, I speak Mandarin with a Taiwanese accent, like I don't roll my tongue too much, which is a distinctive feature of Taiwanese Mandarin. Secondly, I look very "Tai-mei", which is a unique style some Taiwanese girls have. For example, I had my hair lighted golden, and it's all curly and frizzy. There is a pair of red-rim glasses on my face. A grayish beat-up scooter is my main daily transportation. I follow traffic rules most of the time when there's a cop around, but I don't when in a hurry. Do I look Taiwanese? Definitely yes, I not only look Taiwanese but am a 100% real thing.

Does size matter?

2006-04-03T00:08:00.000+08:00

In this material world, size seems to be a big issue. People want the biggest cars, the hugest houses and the greatest amount of money. When it comes to sumo wrestling, that rule fits just right. Of course there are some relatively small sumo wrestlers who happen to be very powerful, but in most case, they are tremendously enormous giants. They are so big that even when I sat on the balcony more than 100 meters away, I could still see their muscles and the huge diapers/thong wrapped underneath their crotches. (This inaccurate description will probably upset Pete, but sorry, I don’t know the official term of the thing…:p )

That was the first time I went to a live sumo wrestling tournament, since in the past I only saw some on TV while flipping through channels. However, it turned out to be more interesting than what I had expected. I used to think that sumo wrestlers are just big people who push each other out of the ring. Apparently, after Pete’s explanation, it’s way more complicated and sophisticated than it seems to be. There’s a hierarchy in the sumo world and it takes a lot of work to get one rookie sumo wrestler upgraded to a higher level. Also, they have different pushing skills. For example, some are more like attackers, who jump on their opponents, while some are more like tai-chi masters, who wait for his rivals’ charge and push the strong force back to them.

There’s a memorable medium-size sumo wrestler who scattered salt in the air and pounded his chest like Tarzan before the round, which was meant to fire up his competitor and at the same time demonstrate his power. However, after he lost the round, he left gloomily with tears rolling down his cheeks, which made the spectators burst into laughter. I figured they had expected him to do so after losing the game, since they have known him well. However, I think he’s a real sumo wrestler, who dared to show his emotions in public, though Japanese men are supposed to look strong and tough, not to mention a sumo wrestler who is a symbol of strength and weighs more than 150kilograms.

Does size matter? Maybe it does to some people, but definitely not to this true sumo wrestler.

The Longest Flight Ever

2006-02-25T11:38:00.000+08:00

After the end of the Fall semester 2005, the next day, Dustin and I rushed to the CKS Airport to fly to Tokyo. (Alright, it was just me in a rush, not him.) We hopped on a 9 o’clock bus, which I could’ve missed if Dustin hadn’t begged the bus driver to wait 3 minutes for me, in the morning from Tainan to the airport, and arrived at the airport around 1pm or so. Since the flight wouldn’t take off until 3 and a half hours later, we wandered around in the terminal for a long time, simply chatting and eating.

Before we boarded, I called my parents. Mom said, “When will you arrive at Narita Airport in Tokyo?” “No more than 2 and a half hours” I replied. Then happily I stepped onto the plane.

The flight was smooth and we watched a chick flick, Just like Heaven, which was too romantic to be true, especially when at the end the two main characters met at the bloom-covered roof again and they looked in each other’s eyes while the camera swirling around both of them, I felt a bit dizzy and sick. Still, Reese Witherspoon is something to look at for sure.

After the two hour movie, we were about to land, and I was all excited, when the captain announce through the intercom, saying there was a huge snow storm in Tokyo and we had to wait for a couple minutes until the runway was cleared off snow. I whined a little bit and started to munch on the desserts sent by the flight attendants.

Thirty minutes later, the captain spoke again, telling us the control tower asked us to wait for a little longer than 30 minutes, but he ensured we’d be able to land as soon as possible.

2 hours passed, and there were still no sign of us landing, and I started to get irritated, because I knew Pete would already be at the airport, waiting anxiously for us. However, since we were on the plane, there’s no way for me to contact him. The more I thought about that, the more I got concerned. I couldn’t stop groaning, moaning to Dustin, “I wanna see my boyfriend…” On the contrary, he was very calm, and he said, “I don’t really mind, coz I’m on vacation! Just bring in more movies and desserts, flight attendants!"

Afterwards, the pilot announced that we were out of gas so we had to land no matter what. 30 minutes later, we successfully landed at Hanada Airport, about an hour away from Tokyo. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get off the airplane yet. Hanada Airport is a domestic airport, so the Japanese government had to allot customs officers before we could step on Japanese soil. So we literally got stuck on the plane for another two hours before we could legally walk out of it. Fortunately, right after we landed, I borrowed a cell phone and called Pete. Pete had been waiting at Narita for at least three hours, but he was relieved that we were at least safe on the ground, rather than being redirected to Korea or some airport faraway from Tokyo.

By the time we passed the customs and claimed our baggage, it was nearly 2 in the morning. I looked at all the fellow passengers, every of whom was so exhausted from flying for more than eight hours, which originally was supposed to take no more than 2 hours and a half.

Paola and Joanna

2006-01-21T00:21:00.000+08:00

Paola and Joanna are leaving us. Paola is going to study at the American School in Kaohsiung, because she believes that attending that school can help her be better prepared for SAT and getting admitted to a prestigious U.S. university; Joanna is going to study at the private high school, which is way closer to where she lives.

Shakespeare and Pluto

2006-01-15T23:18:00.000+08:00

This Sunday afternoon was pretty relaxing, because my friends, Phyllis, Justin, Dustin, and Matt went to Justin's friend, Carl's newly-opened restaurant. I drove my dad's big tank, Buick Regal and took the four of them. Dustin and Justin were very talkative and noisy while I was driving. Guess they were trying to provide some entertainment for me though. So I drove like 30 minutes or so, heading from Justin's place to Carl's restaurant, which is definitely in the middle of nowhere. It was somewhere between Tainan city and Chi Qu, where people go bird watching. After a long drive and a whole bunch of nonsense talking, we finally arrived at the Shakespeare's. It stood out among all the Taiwanese style farm houses, because it was very western, with some painted glasses on the front door and a patch of meadow in the front yard. Carl greeted us when we arrived and did all the introduction and stuff. Then we settled down to eat. Justin was very particular with food so it took longer than our driving time to order food. He reminded me of the Sally in "When Harry met Sally", who always wants something on the side. Since I had lunch earlier on, I had a milktart and a cup of hazelnut cappuccino, and those were fantastic. I'm so in love with it that going back there will be a must, in spite of all the hassle and bustle of getting there.

After the meal, we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and the outdoor. Pluto is their Labrador, and totally playful. Dustin played with him for like half and hour, playing the throwing and catching game. It was funny that even Pluto was very exhausted from the game, whenever we picked up a stick and threw it, he would still run for it and got it back. It was like he had the obligation to get it back, or maybe he was conditioned by nature. Like whenever whoever throws a stick, he has to go get it. Pluto reminded me of the old Chinese proverb, “the moth dashes to the fire even though he knows the result of doing so.” Like in relationships, people tend to fall in love with the same type of person even if deep inside their hearts, they know they don't fit for that type. When in love, people tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. The thing is that they know they're stepping into the similar cycle, but they just couldn't help doing so. When it comes to relationship, are we destined to fall into the same pattern given that we know exactly where we're heading? How many times do we have to be heart-stricken before we actually learn a lesson?

What a crap

2006-01-12T23:34:00.000+08:00

The first time I bought an electronic item online in Taiwan, and it turned out to be a bad memory. At first I was so happy to receive the package today, a multi-functional MP3. However, after few hours of trying to set up the whole thing, I realized that I couldn’t charge the battery. I tried every possible way and read the manual several times, but somehow I knew there was something wrong. Then I realized the light on the adaptor was never on, though it was supposed to. All of a sudden I felt so frustrated. The thrill of getting my first MP3 crashed down into pieces and I didn’t know what to do. I told Miles about this and he gave me some suggestions, like log on to the e-store where I bought the MP3 and asked for help. PC-home was the culprit, so I wrote an e-mail to complain about it. So far, I haven’t got any reply yet, and I was wondering do I have to mail the whole bad quality crap back? I felt like an idiot, spending money buying a useless trash and when I have to spend money returning this junk? This is so FRUSTRATING! AHHH…somebody help me…

The Runaway Bride

2006-01-09T13:38:00.000+08:00

I was in the middle of a ceremony, standing in front of an overjoyed crowd. People I don't know sit on the long benches like the ones in church, appearing happy and excited. Looking down on me, I was wearing a casual sports outfit. Just wondering what this was all about, the music started to play. A man whom I have never seen in my entire life walked slowly down the isle,with an enormous bright smile on his face. He was in a very formal suit, and his eyes steadily fixed on mine.

Hold on a second, they're playing the wedding music! Am I the bride's best maid? Looking around, I'm the only one standing up at the altar. Could this be a wedding? Yes, it is. But is this MY wedding? No way! I don't know even this guy! What is going on here? Glancing around the interior and the crowd, I knew I had to get out of there immediately before I marry someone I don't know. Before my "groom" reached his hands toward mine, I started to run for my life. Good thing I was in a sporty costume. Fleeing from the church, I heard people buzz and clamor. After stepping down the steps, I ran across the road and tried to hail a taxi. But there were no taxi in sight. All I could do was run as fast as I could. I raced through a park and then finally spotted two garbage trucks parking in the back of it. Somehow at that moment, it seemed to be a good idea to hide in the garbage truck. I quickly climbed onto one of them and hid underneath it. One minute later, the truck driver came over and drove away. Hiding underneath the garbage truck, I could smell the aweful odor coming from above. All of a sudden, I felt a strong urge coming out of my mouth. Although I tried hard to suppress it, I knew I couldn't hold it. While I was on the verge of vomiting, I woke up with sweat all over my forehead.

Thank God, this is all but a bad dream.

One Wedding, One Reunion

2006-01-08T23:19:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, a whole bunch of college classmates gathered together at a wedding banquet in Taichung to celebrate the marriage of Clare. We graduated in the summer of 1999, so it has been more than six years since we last gathered together. Of course there were some wedding banquets where our class gathered together since we graduated, but this is the first in many years to see so many of us showed up. The catering was lousy, and the place very crowded, along with many other banquets taking place at the same time. Plus, the whole time the newly-wed couple stood on the stage while some unknown but supposedly important persons gave long and boring speeches, almost all the guests were chattering loudly with one another. Honestly, that was some bad wedding ceremony I had ever seen. Fortunately, Clare, the bride, appeared to be pretty and content, which I suppose was the most important thing in this wedding.

After the banquet, all the old classmates walked down to a nearby tea shop to catch up more. I learned that everyone has been doing fairly well so far, with good jobs and future. Some are happily married, and others happily single. After six years, we didn't seem to change a lot from the outside, except for some crazy hair styles, like mine, and some decent outfits. Our voices, the way we talk, and our personalities are pretty much the same as before. There isn't one single person whom I didn't recognize or thought became a different person. Although Jennifer believed that Josie, who flew all the way back from Germany to be her best friend's best maid, has become a very composed and scholarly lady, I believed that was the way she used to be. Josie just developed into an even calmer and more literate person. Basically, she is still the same old person, with more of her strengths highlighted.

Maybe we'll become very different when we have kids or when our kids turn adults. That's when we'll become really old and partly different from what we are now, I suppose.

weight shame

2006-01-06T14:56:00.000+08:00

I went to a masseuse today, hoping to relax a bit afterwards. My masseuse was a nice visually-impaired woman who had massaged me once before. She didn't recognize me at first, but while I was talking with another customer of hers, she did. She exclaimed, "whoa, I remembered you. Geez, you probably have gained 2 kilos since last time you came to me." I was surprised by her frankness, but not very offended. "Yeah, I guess so. I don't mind gaining some weights during the winter, because during the summer they will be gone naturally. Plus, I don't mind being a little bit chubby. I think that way I look cuter." "Oh, no. You definitely shouldn't put on any more weights. You know what, if you're any fatter, you'll look like an old lady in her late forties!" Knowing that I'd never change her fixed viewpoint, I didn't reply. I was weight shamed by a visually impaired person! It suddenly downed on me that if being extremely slim matters so much in the world of the blind, how much does this value affect the world of the visioned? When weight loss is important to all of us, how do we know we're not being too fat both by the stardards of the blind and the visioned?

In this world where people are used to see sickly skinny models and movie stars on TV or in newspapers, we are told that it is the standard of beauty. Out of that set standard, not so attractive. However, it was amazing to see how that toxic criterion has spread to the world of the sightless.

Perhaps next time I get a massage from her, I will tell her that no matter how much I weigh now, I still look like a twenty-year-old.

Sunshine, Breeze and Poetry

2006-01-06T14:34:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I had a 5th period class after lunch. While I walked into the classroom, my kids were all napping. I felt bad waking them up. While they were still half-awake, half-sleepy, I suggested that we go to the fields instead of staying in the cold concret building. My kids seemed to appreciate the offere and cheerfully rushed out of the classroom.

Out in the fields were one class, having a PE class. The sun shone dazzlingly, while balmy winter afternoon breezes brushed through my face. I briefly introduced the beauty of literature, one of which is that there's no set interpretations to a piece of writing, a story, a drama, or a poem. Another characteristic cool about literature is that we can be honest and true to ourselves while reading. Perhaps the fabulous atmosphere and weather plus my encouragement stimulated them. My kids started to talk about their favorite poems and the reasons why they enjoyed them. Everyone loves poetry in a different way, and it is the way one look at poetry that counts.

Even though the weather forecast earlier that day predicted that the temperature would plummet dramatically for the following few days, their literary thougths along with the bright sunshine warmed my heart for the rest of my day.

Dust to dust

2006-01-04T22:00:00.000+08:00

It has been more than 6 months since Ming was gone, but I still thought about him from time to time, especially in the middle of the night. I don’t know how long it will take until I finally get over the whole thing, but it seems that I’ll need more. I still remember the day when Blackie sent me a link from MSN. He didn’t warn me in advance what that was, so when I read the news I got goose bumps all over. I felt like all the blood rushed to my head and I thought I was going to pass out. Thinking of it right now, the whole thing was still rather ridiculous. I supposed Blackie didn’t sleep well the night before, since he had already knew it then. He called me late at night, but didn’t get a hold of me. After I read the e-news, we talked on the phone and I refused to believe the one being reported was Ming. “Those were all coincidence,” I told him. So he decided to call to his parents’ house to find out all those reports were just about a stranger. I waited anxiously while he made the call, when it lasted longer than 5 minutes, I started to panic again. My instinct told me it must have been him, otherwise, Blackie would’ve called and told me it was nothing but a mistake. Later on, all our worries and speculations were confirmed. That was him.

I had the most miserable week of my entire life, a lot worse than the time when I fell out of love for the first time and felt like my heart was torn apart ruthlessly. All those guilt, confusion, and shock mixed together and made me a zombie for at least a week. I couldn’t teach, eat, not to mention sleep. It was the worst at night, because I couldn’t stop thinking about him and imagined in my mind that he’d be somewhere around me. All those crazy thoughts literally drove me crazy and made me sleepless as well as frightened. I cried a lot whenever I thought about him and his family, especially his parents. I was angry sometimes because of what he had done to his family. Fear surrounded me sometimes since I thought if I had contacted him earlier or cared more about him, it wouldn’t have happened. But all those could’ve, should’ve, would’ve didn’t solve the problem at all.

Sometimes, I wonder if I will ever get over it, because it is still shocking and painful whenever I think about it. But I do believe talking about it with my beloved ones will make me feel a bit better each time. I know I will never forget about this; however, I know I have to forgive myself, and let him go. May he rest in peace.

Handy Activities

2006-01-03T21:33:00.000+08:00

My kids used newspaper to create recycled paper this afternoon, since the unit was about recycling and reducing the amount of waste. Other than that, each group had to create an A4-sized poster about environmental protection. They tore some newspapers into small pieces about, put those in a container, then add some water into the container. When the newspapers soaked up lots of water and become as thick as oatmeal, they evenly spread the mashy paper on some newspapers. After the mashy stuff dried out, what was left on the newspaper was a piece of self-made recycled paper. The paper didn't look pretty, but at least they made it out of something recyclable, not simply got another tree cut down by using a brand new paper. We didn't have much time left to talk about what they think about making recycled paper on their own, but they'll have to talk about their opinions tomorrow. Also, they'll have to present their posters and did a 3 minutes campaign for environmental protection. I'm looking forward to their presentation tomorrow.

Everlasting

2006-01-03T13:41:00.000+08:00

Natalie Babbit, a renowned novelist once published a beautifully written children's novel, Tuck Everlasting, discussing the deepest fear of mankind, death, and the desire of wanting to stay young forever. Living forever seems to be a wonderful idea in the first place. If I were granted everlasting youth, I'd be like, "Whoa, why not?!"

The issue of living forever has been around for thousands of years, from ancient China to Medieval times, historical documents have shown that our predecesors did want to stay young forever.

Using Tuck Everlasting as one of the required reading materials in a college level class, it has evokes different kinds of opinions. Some believe that not being able to die is a blessing, while others consider it a curse. One of the students in my class said that living forever is fabulous only when we possess tremendous power or wealth. That is, if people have a wonderful life, they'd love to live like that forever. However, if one lives a miserable or not very satisfying life , then why bother living forever and prolong the pain to eternity? Just like the movie, An Interview with the Vampire, starring by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, life isn't that wonderful when all they can to do is their beloved ones die and witness the change and sorrow of each generation.

So wanna live forever? Well, if you do, try to make your life a tremendously fabulous one. Otherwise, why bother?

What is a perfect man/woman?

2006-01-02T22:09:00.000+08:00

I was discussing with Peachy shan tonight sharing what are irritating and not acceptable in a relationship. His thought that irrationality, impracticality, and intolerance are the things that drive him crazy. Mine were anything but being supportive, understanding, communicative, cooperative and half sensitive/half masculine. Bad news was that even though I’m mostly rational and tolerant, I have the potential to be irrational and intolerant from time to time. However, it seems that Peachy shan matches well with the qualities I listed. It suddenly downed on me that in a relationship, could it be possible that one finds a perfect person, but not so much perfect the other way round? How many perfect guys can a girl have in her entire life? If the answer is only one, how can a gal find the “perfect man” when she already messed up her chance with the “perfect man?"

Yellowstone National Park

2006-01-01T20:22:00.000+08:00

The comment from Mike the park ranger reminded me of the time I went to Yellowstone National Park, which was the only U.S. national park I had ever been to before. The first day we arrived, we were thrilled to see the first baffalo, which was as big as a blakc-haired hippo without a horn. We quietly stepped out of the car and took a whole bunch of pictures while causiouly not to disturb or irritate it, since according to the brochure we got from the entrance, when a buffalo charges, it can run up to 30 miles per hour, which I, of course, won't be able to brave it.

However, a few minutes after our first encounter with the legendary buffalo, we drove to an open field with hundreds of little blakc dots spreading through. The little black dots turned out to be the entire herd of buffalos grazing, napping or sunbathing. No wonder they've got such wonderfully tanned hair. :p

The second day of the trip, there was a traffic jam, which blocked the only route in that area. Not until 20 minutes later did we realize that the bumper-to-bumper situation was caused by a strayed buffalo which mistakenly considered the road to be its path to whereever it was heading. All the tourists patiently waited for the park rangers to guide it to where it belonged to. Luckily, I glued my face to the window to see the buffalo strolling pass our car, and I remembered the tenderness and innocence in its big eyes. Though bigger and hairier, their eyes looked exactly the same as those of the Taiwanese Buffalos.

This national park experience was full of surprises, because I was lucky to see many wildlives besides the bisons, such as mooses, a coyoto, eagles, and lots of elks. If I'm going to another national park in the future, I'd love to visith the Blue Ridge Mountains, coz who'd miss a place with such a beautiful name and happebs to be the setting of The Cold Mountain?

Embracing the New Year

2006-01-01T17:26:00.000+08:00

Hooray! 2006!
Last night I hung out at Eslite with Fanny and her husband, along with hundreds of people who chose to spend the last night of 2005 there with books, music, magic and cheers. It wasn't the coolest New Year's party ever, but it was pretty relaxing and comfy, since the three of us all got a chair to sit on, which probably wasn't the full of excitement and thrill "party" most people fun-loving people are looking forward to. Still, that was definitely the first one I had ever spent at a bookstore.
The band who played sung and did the final count-down with us wasn't particularly good, but I liked the NCKU band, aka, The Pumpkin, whose leading singer was an ordinary looking gal with an extraordinary voice. I enjoyed the whole time she sang, especially when she mixed two oldies, Country Road and Leaving on a Jet Plane, together and made it so surreal. I became her fan right after her fingers plucked the strings and sang. That was some fabulous performance.
The other show I liked was a African drum band performed by a group of passionate Taiwanese dummers/dancers/singers. The beats and dances were so thumping that my heart was still beating crazy after they were done. Especially when a dark-skinned pretty dancer exhibited two exotic African movements, geez, I felt like dancing along too!
There you are, 2006. Off to a good start!

2005-07-12T18:21:00.000+08:00

Tami and I had a good time at the night market last night. I impressed her with my excellent shooting skill, which of course was because I had a good teacher. We also tried basketball shooting, and man, Tami got really competitive. At first, I won her by like 15 points, but the last round, she won me by 30 points or so! Then we shared "Taiwanese fried chicken"(gee pie) and she just love it. But still, it was really hot and humid, especially when there were spotlights at every stand. I felt like I was graduallt melting at the night market, now I'm probably shorter and thinner than I used to be because of all the heat and humidity. I also told her your tsai hua and hot scooter story, and she nearly laughed her head off. She said she wanna have stories like that when she goes back, but I guess she has to stay a little longer and maybe be a bit silly by nature.

I went to an aerobics lesson this afternoon, and boy, I was beat! I'll expect sore arms and legs tomorrow morning. Maybe I can't even get up in the morning...I'll have to crawl out of bed then. But it felt good to sweat not because of heat but bcoz of exercise. My sweat literally streamed down all over my body, and my face was as red as a shrimp, so the instructor asked me to rest coz she was afraid I'd pass out, which of course has never happened before when I exercise. You know, it's like me drinking. The fact that my face turns red easily doesn't mean that I get drunk easily.

A rainy day

2005-07-12T18:19:00.000+08:00

It rained a little bit this afternoon, which made me really happy coz it got a little bit cooler and the best was that I didn't have to water the plants today.

I've been eating very well these days coz I was busy attending different thank-you-teacher parties. Because of all those nutritious meals, I found some of my pants getting a bit too tight. Not wanting to spend any extra money on getting new looser pants, I went to an aerobics class this afternoon, and boy, I was totally exhausted. I can expect that tomorrow I'll have sore legs and arms, maybe it'll be hard for me to get up in the morning! Anyways, it'll always good to exercise.

2005-07-12T12:25:00.000+08:00

Yesterday after talking with you on the phone, I went to Tamara's class and she was teaching them Electric Slide, so I joined them. I found dancing so much fun! Most of the students, however, were very reserved and not loosen up. They've got the rhythm, so they picked up the dance real quick, but they had to relax more before they enjoy themselves. Anyway, I went to an aerobics class this morning, and this time, I wasn't as tired as I did earlier on. Maybe I've regained my energy now.

Last night before I went tutoring, I had dinner with Tamara, Ashley, a tall blonde and an education major, and Tremmy(I don't know how to spell her name), a Chinese American. Tremmy just moved in with her host family the previous night, but now she really wanted to move out. Her host family were very creepy in many ways, like the host father told her he expected her to tutor him English every night for 2-3 hours, and everytime she left her room, they would sneaked into her room and turned off the A/C, and they taught her how to set the A/C before she went to bed so the A/C would automatically turn off like 4 hours after she fell asleep. Also, they told her there was a public phone outside their house across a parking lot, so she could go there and make phone calls. And I ws like, this doesn't sound very welcoming! Treammy was really scared and worried that if she didn't tutor the host father, they would take away the A/C or do something bad to her. She actually cried the night she was there. The thing is, when she told Michelle that she didn't feel safe staying with the family, Michelle asked her to stay there for another 2 nights before she figured out a nice way to tell the family Tremmy couldn't stay with them without hurting the family's feelings. When Tremmy told us all that, we were really angry and wanted to help her get out of the house right away. After having dinner with them, I went straight to tutor and when I came home, Tam went to bed already, so I didn't know what happened to Tremmy, but I really want to help her. I feel upset that her BOSS couldn't do anything to protect her employees.

Provinceton

2004-11-14T23:00:00.000+08:00

This weekend, I was teaching a lesson about a tourist attraction in Taiwan, and the article happend to use the term "a colony of artists," which reminds me of the experience I had when traveling to Boston the summer of 2002.
I planned the trip to Boston for a group of four people. Unfortunately, however, 2 of them decided not to go couple days before the trip. Their decision made me and Johnny left for the trip. Johnny had been my buddy ever since I studied in MSU, but hanging out with your male buddy is one thing; traveling alone with him is another. Longing to make the trip, however, I decided to go to Boston with Johnny alone, even though he's not my bf.
The trip went on pretty well and we all had a good time with each other, and nothing weird between us ever happened. One thing, though, was rather hilarious and unforgettable to us.
On the 3rd day of our trip, we drove all the way down to Provinceton, Boston. Provinceton is on the tip of Cape Cod, which is said to be one of the first spots where Prilgrims landed on. Therefore there's an antique touch in that tiny little town, and the gift shops looks old. Most important of all, we found out that there are many colorful flags in front of almost every house, which I thought was very pretty. We arrived around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so we thought it might be a good idea to go check in a hotel first. Johnny drove and I went to ask for the price. I tried several hotels and some of them already had no vacancy. So I went on to ask a motel, and the owner of that motel showed me around, who was a very gentle and delicated middle-aged man. "Sweetheart," he said, "here's a double room with shower and that's a twin bed with shower." "sweetheart?" I told myself, "no one who's in his forties and a complete stranger to me ever called me that." I felt kinda stange, but didn't tell Johnny about it at that time. Then we went on to another hotel. I liked the look of the house at first sight, plus the price is pretty much reasonable, so I asked for Johnny's opinion. He said you decide, so I picked the blue and white stripes house, which has a balcony and a porch, and the exterior gave me a sense of I'm living in the 1900. Of course, there's also a colorful flag hanging on the back of the roof. As to the host of the house, he is a slim young man who is in his thrities and looks somewhat blue, quiet and delicate at the same time. We had a small talk with him and then went out to the streets. It was in early May, a season before the flood of tourists, so the town looks quiet and carefree. To my amazement, there're many classy art galleries on the street with great light on, which makes the gallery seem to be even classier and artistic. Johnny and I enjoyed the cool breeze in the beach, window shopped a while and then walked into a seafood restaurant to have dinner. When we stuffed ourselves with shrimps, crabs, lobsters and wine, we strolled back to the house. Closing up the door of the room, Johnny drag his luggage and put it in front of the door. "What are you doing, Johnny? Are you afraid of something?"I asked curiously. "You know what, Judy, I think the host is gay." he lowered his voice when talking. "What? Are you sure? Well, he might be a little sissy, but..gay?! Are you sure?"I replied "Come on, trust my instinct, he's gay! I always knew who's gay or straight. And I think it'd be better if I block my baggage by the door, in case he wanna break in or something tonight." Being excited about this gay topic, I laughed outloud and said, "alright, do whatever you want but I don't think he'll do anything to a stout guy like you."
We spent a peaceful night with the "gay suspicious" host and then check out the next morning, going on to the next destination. When we went back to Michigan, I went on to the Internet to search for more information about Provinceton. Many evidence on the Web indicated that the town is pratically a GAY TOWN, with a colony of artists living and creating art there.

Trouble Two

2004-08-19T20:56:00.000+08:00

My nephew, Ray, is a two-yr-old boy. The world fascinates him in every single way.

First of all, he loves to listen to and imitate whatever people are talking. Being a parrot copying exactly what we said is his new entertainment. Everytime I call my sis, Jenny, he would stand by the phone, waiting for his turn to speak through the mouthpiece. My parents and I, on the other end of the phone, are constantly amused by his words. For example, last Sunday he went to the beach with his parents. When he returned, he told us through the phone what he did at the beach. He said, "I saw seashells....beautiful seashells..." And I was like, ok, now you're using adjectives, huh. "Did you swim in the ocean?" I asked. "Yes, with a buoy." he replied. "So how did you swim?" came another question. He said, "like this..."(He was kicking his little plump feet on the other end of the phone demonstrating how he swam, apparently not knowing the fact that I couldn't 'see' his movement through the phone.)

Other than that, he enjoys trying new things. Once, a friend of my sister bought Ray a T-shirt and a pair of pants as his gifts. The clothes are a bit bigger than his size, and my sis told him that he could wear them when he grow taller. One day when my parents and I went down to Kaohsiung to visit them, he heard my sister talking about her friend sending him the gift. So he went into his room and pulled out the clothes. "Mrs. Lin bought them," he said while showing us his trophy. "Why don't you put them on and let me see how good you look?" I suggested. "OK!" he was excited that I offered such brilliant idea. Eagerly, he pulled down his tank top and asked me to dress him the new T-shirt. "The pants are not too big" he reminded us, when in fact, it is. This clever bun was worried that we wouldn't let him try on the pants so he figured saying so would stop our intention.

Trouble two can cause countless disasters, but Ray will definitely be our treasure.

First post

2004-08-19T20:34:00.000+08:00

Perfect. This is the first post. When I was in East Lansing, Michigan, I used to keep it a habit to jot down my thoughts on my IBM X20. Somehow, after returning to Taiwan, I totally abandon the habit. Keeping a diary is never easy for a lazy person like me who never fancies using a pen. Now, I've found a great place for me to keep track of the trivals happening in my life. Cool.