Christmas Day in TW

What a great few days we've had here! I have three sets of friends here...my co-workers, which includes Sam and Erin, my teacher friends from Canada...my South African friends, which includes my roommates and their extended circle of friends...and my church friend, Julie, who is American and has been in Taiwan for nine years! Over the last few days, beginning on Sunday morning and finishing late Tuesday night, I got to spend some quality time with each of these folks and enjoyed it so much! It made being away from family a little easier to bear and the necessity of working on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and today Boxing Day (hey, I lived in the UK for three Christmas's) a little less of a bummer. I miss my family, but thankfully I will see them and my friends in SF in just 5 and a half weeks. Woo hoo!

I've included a video (sorry it's on it's side) and some party pics of our Christmas "Dinner" at school yesterday, which our boss put on for us in lieu of our weekly staff meeting. ("Dinner" was a turkey, a plate of french bread slices and two pizzas from Domino's. This, of course, was better than the funky combo of foods they would have put on if we had asked them to prepare their food in a traditional feast, so we didn't complain, we just ate pizza for Christmas Dinner.) She made my heart skip a beat when near the end of lunch she made a big "announcement". I thought she was going to say we could take the rest of the day off, but I guess I've been watching too many movies. She said, "I have a big announcement to make! I want to give you all a very special gift for Christmas, so I've decided that next year on Christmas Day the school will be closed!" We all cheered raucously, but were of course thinking, "Ugh! What about today? 365 days away? That's a special gift? I got your special gift over here. Where I come from we call this a knuckle sandwich!" And on and on my sad mind went with my thoughts on her announcement, but you get the gist.

My three classes passed without too much fanfare and I scooted after work at almost 10:00 over to Julie's house where she had spent the day preparing a real Christmas Dinner. Roasted lamb, scalloped potatoes, corn casserole, green beans, rolls, and homemade blueberry cheesecake. I had made a box of stove top stuffing so we also had that. It was awesome.

I came home around midnight, gave my folks a call to wish them a Merry Christmas. My dad had just come in from hunting (and killing) ducks and he was happy. Mom sounded really good, which was great for me to hear. I think she feels a little better in the mornings. Anyway, I went to sleep late, very tired but very happy.

It's Wednesday morning here, I have much to do to prepare for teaching in a few hours, so I'm off. Hope your Christmas was memorable, and if it wasn't, perhaps you can think of ways to make it so next year. As for me, I'm already looking forward to next year, when I won't have to work, 'cause my boss declared it yesterday! ;)

Merry Christmas from TW, until next time, Larissa



This video is not great, but it's a slice of life here for me, if you can stand to have your head tilted to watch it for less than a minute, and hear me trying desperately to coach all the Chinese staff to say Merry Christmas, when most of them thought I was taking a photo and just freeze framed their smiles. Alas, it is what it is!

This is the group of young women that work
for our school as Teacher's Assistants.
Left to right is Annie, Cara, Joyce, and Debby.
I work with Cara mainly.

Below is the motley crew of "foreign teachers" that teach at Kang Ning. There are a few missing, but back row is Ben from New Zealand, Erin from Canada, Hendri and Stephen both from South Africa; front row, Sam from Canada, me, and Candice from South Africa. I only teach with Erin but I go to staff meeting with all of the rest of these except for Stephen. (He looks like a happy fellow, eh?)

Here I am pictured between my boss,
Serena, and her brother, Alex, who works
for the school. (I think they were having
a dispute over our upcoming Reading
Competition and I made them take this
picture with me. Rather Kittlitz of me I
think, don't you?)

Finally, here is a classic kitchen shot
of all the ladies that happened to be
standing nearby when I wanted a picture
with only one or two of them. They love
the pics (note the poses on both of the
bookends.) The only new people in this
shot are the two ladies in glasses. I work
with Lizann, next to me and Sharon,
in the front looking very uncomfortable.

Another week and all is well in the ROC...

(which stands for Republic of China) of Taiwan. I've had a pretty good week, except for the melt down I "enjoyed" with my B5 class late on Thursday.

Here's the short version. Thursdays are my longest day, (which I believe I've mentioned before but apparently can't say enough), and by my last class I'm flagging on energy I can tell you. I teach a class of 7 boys, 13 and 14 years old, and they are tired too so we're not great to begin with in that state. Usually we manage o.k., without making a big deal about our mutual lack of interest, but Thursday night I found my edge. Not only did I find it, I fell off it and walked out of the classroom. After my co-worker explained to them that they cannot just keep talking when I've told them a dozen times to stop, we finished class with a decidedly more somber mood. I was moved to tears when the two boys responsible for my frustration approached me after class to apologize. They said, with such sincere expressions on their faces, "Sorry teacher. Sorry teacher. Never again. Never again." At that moment I really hated the language barrier, a feeling I have every day, but particularly in this situation. I could not say anything back to them except, "O.K., thank you." But, of course body language is universal to some extent and they saw that I was moved by their words. I wanted to give them a hug and tell them I'm sorry that I'm a crappy teacher at that time of the day, that my patience is gone by 8:45 at night no matter what I've done that day, but especially when I've been on my feet for three classes straight before theirs. I'm still trying to understand the Chinese psyche and probably will never get it, but it seems like the fun is squeezed out of these kids pretty early on, and I don't want to teach them without having fun. They have to work so hard in Chinese school and then they have an endless list of lessons and activities, including English, and I want this part of their lives to be something they enjoy and want to do. It's hard to know how to make that happen, but I was so proud of my co-worker, who has a reputation for being hard and making the kids scared of her, because she just told them that the teacher has feelings too, and they need to pay attention when the teacher is trying to help them learn. (Truthfully, I was so frustrated because they were stuck on the distinction between all the "wh" words - where, when, why, what, who - and they were not listening to try to understand it. Thus, they were answering questions in their grammar books with sentences like "Why do you live?" - technically o.k., but not correct really - and "Where are you wearing a sweater?" - also o.k., but not the best choice.) It was an exhausting evening and I came home very ready for the weekend, although I still had another day to teach.

Now, it's Saturday night and I've got to crash so I can jump up for worship in the morning. I hope you're enjoying the frenzy that Christmas often becomes and are finding some time to be with those you love. I miss mine, so I encourage you to make an extra effort to enjoy yours. One of my favorite people is having a birthday today, so I want to give a shout out to Lisa. Happy Birthday, Lisa! Hope you have a great visit with the family.

I will post again soon, but let me assure you my back looks a lot better now and my cough is also much better this week. I don't know if the two are related, and still have my doubts, but that's where I am on the health front. Thanks to all of you who sent in creative expressions of your concern for me.

Take care until next time. LC

Yet another Chinese cultural experience..

was enjoyed this weekend by me here in TW.

As you know if you've been reading my blog, I've had a cold again for the past ten days or so. This one developed into a bronchial thing with me sounding like I was going to bark up a lung at any minute, so many of my friends have expressed concern for me. Well, yesterday after church, my American friend, Julie, asked me to go for a massage with her. Having no idea what she was intending, but lovin' me some massage (being a massage therapist and all...), I agreed to meet her at the place at 5. When we arrived and she ordered the "scraping" for both her and me, I got a little curious. But she assured me, having lived here for 9 years and gotten this done many times, that it was great to get rid of a cold. She had a cold too, and I was fed up with being sick, so I agreed to it. I asked her what kind of scraping we were talking about, and she said, "It's like they're using the back of a comb to stimulate the blood in your back. It's a little uncomfortable but it really helps."

O.K., so off I go to the room, which by the way, I shared with Julie and her uncle (who's here on business from the states and was also getting a massage). In Asia you wear loose fitting clothes for your massage so there's no modesty issues. I gotta tell you, the three therapists chattering away in Chinese was not contributing to me going to my happy place, but I strangely grew used to it and sort of even drowned it out. Of course, I was coughing quite a bit at the beginning as my girl was really working my lungs from the back.

You've probably already seen the picture of my back, but let me assure you, it doesn't hurt, now! (When the gal was doing it, I was thinking, "What kind of comb does Julie use? A metal comb? A really mean comb? If this lady goes much deeper she's going to hit bone! Ouch! Stop, please stop!!") It doesn't hurt, but it looks really bad. I took the picture about 6 hours after she did it, and it was getting deeper purple by the minute I think. But, I woke up this morning and feel A LOT better! So, do I argue with this? I don't know, the jury's out. Weigh in and let me know what you think if you have any thoughts about these kinds of unconventional remedies.

I have to run, but hope to post again in the next few days. It's Monday morning and I have to get to work, just like the rest of the human race. (Speaking of human race... I saw "I Am Legend" at the theater here on Saturday night...ugh! Pretty creepy creatures I must say, but an interesting thought about what "could" cause humans to become almost extinct. Have you seen it? I don't necessarily recommend it, but Will Smith's "guns" are huge. In one scene they're almost as big as his head.)


Until next time, LC

Praising God tonight...

for safety on the scooter. I often talk about the craziness of driving here, and I've had some very close calls (that I know of and probably many others I wasn't even aware of), but tonight was the closest, I think. Erin was not as fortunate, but thankfully she's o.k. Her scooter doesn't look so good and she's got some bruises but at least she's got no broken bones.

Erin is my Canadian friend I work with and we were riding together tonight after work to try to see a late movie. We've never done this but decided to try it because I had an unexpected class cancellation from my adult 3 on 1 class. This means I got finished at 7:45, which is the same time Erin finishes on Wednesdays. We were riding on a very busy street and had just taken off from a red light (which always resembles a race amongst all the scooters) when a taxi van pulled a u-turn right in front of us and stopped without any warning or indicator. I was in front and just barely managed to swerve to miss him at the back, but Erin couldn't do it without hitting me, so she braced herself and went broad-side into his car. She's a tall girl and the impact made her come over the scooter to smack her helmet on his car, then she and the scooter fell over on the left side. I was past the car when I heard a very loud thud and a slight scream from a girl, which of course when I turned around I knew was Erin's voice. I got to her in seconds and she looked up at me and said, "I'm alright." The taxi guy was standing there by then too, and the first words out of my mouth were, "You shouldn't have done that." He actually spoke English and understood what I said and frustrated he said, "I do it all the time." To which I quickly said back, "It doesn't matter if you do it all the time, it was wrong and you shouldn't have done it. You cannot make a u-turn without any warning." Erin managed to hobble off the road, leaving her bike there in the middle of it, and someone phoned the police. They arrived and asked if we could speak Chinese, which of course we can't. We phoned our office and our friend Sharon came within a few minutes, but meanwhile a very kind gentleman and his wife (angels?) who both spoke great English stopped to help us. To make a long story short, we ended up in the hospital for about an hour and a half, Erin getting the ambulance escort, and me following behind on my scooter, going much slower and notably shaken by it all.

I have to give a shout out to Erin, who saved my hide tonight, and handled the quick decision to hang on and go straight into the taxi very responsibly. If you've ever been in a wreck, you know that you can make it worse or better depending on your reactions to the situation with which you're presented. Erin could have tried to swerve in either direction and really done a lot more damage to her body, or she could have slid out and ended up under his car, or any number of other very unpleasant things that could have happened but thankfully didn't. So she was cool under pressure and that is commendable! Way to go Erin!!

I also want to give a shout out to the Kang Ning gang, particularly Erchong, but also Chutung, for showing up when we needed them. First, Sharon, one of our Erchong co-workers, came and talked to the police for us...thanks, Sharon, you're awesome! Then, when we were at the hospital, Sam and Serena showed up (from Chutung, Erin's roommate and our boss, the founder and director of the school) followed closely by Alex, who also works at Chutung school. Then, Teacher Hendri (the stellar teacher from my Saturday evening experience, see previous post for details) arrived followed by Cara and Scarlet, our co-workers from Erchong. By this time, I had registered to see a doctor myself and get my cough/cold seen to, and Erin was pretty much finished. We both left, able to walk unassisted, with medicine in hand, and neither of us spent more than $20! (Even though Erin's right knee is swollen and her face hurts, no broken bones, thank the Lord!)

You know, I often feel that God is protecting me, and tonight I really feel so blessed that He would cause it all to be so much better than I thought it was going to be when I first heard that thud. I really pray that I'll forget that sound soon, but that I won't soon forget how good He is to me. Thanks so much for all your prayers when you think of me here amongst the crazy drivers. (Let's face it, taxi drivers are crazy everywhere!! Sorry, if you drive a taxi, on a number of levels.)

Now, I'm off to bed to try to sleep...if only the mosquito that's been feasting on my flesh the last few nights would somehow choke out from the cough medicine they gave me. (I think there's liquor in it!) I'm probably pushing it, eh?

Until next time, LC

Cultures colliding (parts one and two)

...is the theme of this past weekend for me here in Taiwan.

Part One
Saturday morning I relaxed at home for a few hours before heading out to meet my boss. Several of us followed her to her farm about 20 minutes from the Chudung school, where her 74 year old mother has planted a huge field of vegetables that are now ready for picking. Serena, my boss, is using many of these to feed the children at school everyday (this is customary since it's an all day school and serving hot nutritious meals is a selling point). Of course this is only provided in the school at Chudung and I teach in Erchong so I don't eat this food everyday...which is actually o.k. with me. Anyway, Serena is very health conscious and earth friendly so she's growing these veggies organically to feed the kids better food and to lower her food costs. So, we were invited to pick some veggies for our own personal use and off we went. What an experience. It was a beautiful day and we each picked a big bag of veggies, mostly unidentifiable, but still I'm sure healthy. The funny part of the afternoon was realizing that I was never going to know what these veggies were called, as each time I asked "What's this?" the reply was "Uh, uh, Chinese vegetable." To which I just nodded and thanked God once again for the internet. (Although honestly that didn't really help me either when I was deciding what to do with these huge peppery flavored green leaves, not really lettuce but not really mustard greens. Something else. Oh, yea, Chinese vegetable!)

Then, after picking my bag full, Saturday evening had been prearranged by the secretary at the school for a few of the teachers to go to an aboriginal restaurant with three of the students, who are siblings, and their parents. This is always a sacrifice since our down time is precious, but it is one of the reasons I believe I'm here, so I agreed to do it. We met at 5:30 at the school and followed the father to the restaurant. Their Vietnamese servant had arranged the table at the restaurant with these thimble sized drinking glasses and had filled up a pouring pot with this clear liquor. We each had one of these drinking glasses and thankfully one of the teachers who has been here for 13 years (he's from South Africa and married a Taiwanese woman) told us not to drink it too fast, or at all since he would keep filling the glass every time it was empty. I managed to pour mine into another cup after a while and never had to drink it, but smelling it seared a hole in my nostril. Whoa! Strong does not describe.

After making it through many courses of various animals with bones or eyeballs looking at me (not only was the usual fish eyes on the menu, but yes, we ate fried bee...my first time, not too bad, but honestly...bee?), we finished the meal around 8 and were invited back to his home for tea. This was something we couldn't get out of, so we all went, hoping and praying it wouldn't last too long. Well, by 9:30 he was brewing the third kind of tea and the best, of course, so we were pretty stuck. I drank more tea than I've ever had in my life and don't know that I've felt any benefit from it, but alas it was about building the relationship so it was not a complete loss of an evening. I learned a lot about Chinese culture and how this man feels that he must send his four children to English school because it is part of the expectation for the future in Taiwan and internationally. He sacrifices his own pleasures (except for the tea) to make it possible for the children to have English classes, and he's very proud that he can do it. They live in a big house that he built, that has traditional Chinese concrete floors.

It was a good evening, but just long and I was frustrated to come home after 10 with a bag of dirty veggies to wash and put up, plus the need to prepare for Sunday. I had to confess my bad attitude and ask for forgiveness. When I did I felt really honored that I had gotten to spend the evening with Alec and Susan and their four children, Victor, Vincent, Eva, and Wayne. You can pray for them too when you think about it. They have probably heard the gospel before because Alec mentioned having tea once a week with a guy who goes to my church here, so I can only assume that was for evangelical purposes. But, I don't really know much more. No doubt I will have another opportunity if I want it.

More later about my Sunday with the South Africans.

Part Two
Sunday afternoon was lazy for the most part, which was just what I needed after such a crazy Saturday. Our home now has three living in it, with Mari here recovering from her scooter accident, and we'll soon be moving to a four bedroom place where we'll welcome a fourth roommate. We were all four here on Sunday afternoon just relaxing and eating lunch and for some reason the topic of teaching me Afrikaans came up. If you don't know, Afrikaans is the language spoken most often by white South Africans (which all these folks are), and I believe it was brought by the Dutch settlers who "colonized" South Africa many hundred years ago. (Wow, if you're South African and you're reading my blog, forgive my pathetic explanation of your mother tongue!) So, it sort of sounds Dutch and German with a British lilt to it. Anyway, my roommate, Annaloe often tries to teach me a few words, and she gets very excited when I speak the odd Afrikaans word here and there, so she of course was really into this. Again, for some reason, only known to the highest level PhD's in Psychology (or maybe Psychiatry) we started talking about words that we really shouldn't be talking about, and I found out that when you want to say "I need to go #2" in Afrikaans, you say "I need to go poof" or something like that. Those kinds of conversations can only continue downhill (there's that saying again) and of course this one did, until we had all embarrassed ourselves and laughed til we were crying. This was a great feeling. You know you're amongst friends when you laugh until you cry. Round two of this started later in the day when another (South African) friend came over and we re-enacted the whole thing for him. It's the little things that keep us going, eh? Just had to share it with you. And with that I'm off...

Until next time, LC

Snow Cake...

not an Academy Award winner, but still incredibly endearing, I just finished watching this movie because it's due back at the shop by noon. (In Taiwan, the movie boxes are often covered with Chinese writing and we English speakers don't have a clue what we're renting. Such was the case for this film.) Sigourney Weaver (where has she been anyway?) turns in an amazing performance as an autistic adult living independently. It's heart-wrenching and thought-provoking and even profound, so if you're in that mood, check it out. It's got Alan Rickman as well, if you dig his broodiness and deeply-felt renderings.

I also finally saw La Vie En Rose La Mome, the true life story of the French singer, Edith Piaf, and it was an amazing film as well. I liked it because of the lead actresses performance. Wow! What a lesson in the contribution quirky people can make to the world, eh?

With the movie review in the bag, I move on to other thoughts...

Hmmm...don't really have any. Well, maybe just a few.

It's Thursday. I don't really like Thursdays. They are long and I am reminded of how much energy each class takes and how little I have to offer the ones that come later in the day. B5 gets me last at 7:35, and it's a class with the deck stacked against it...7 boys, and one girl, all 12-15 years old, most with poor reading ability and serious self confidence issues, which makes the 90 minutes tick past at a snails pace at times. However, we manage to get through. At my school, the Chinese teacher assistants call each of the students twice a semester to ask them questions in English and to assess their skills. In these conversations, they often ask if the student has any comments or requests for the teacher. To my utter surprise, B5's last telephone interviews reaped some very interesting and encouraging thoughts for me to ponder, so I now don't hate it as much. How's that for a positive outlook? Seriously, though, it's not unbearable. If it were, I wouldn't try to bear it. Life being short and all!

So, Mari's just come back from the hospital where she went this morning to get her remaining stitches out of her leg. She's now watching the last of Snow Cake, as we had both started it last night before bed. I just heard Sigourney Weaver use a made up word in a scrabble game and I remember I really liked it. Dazlious! See the movie and let me know if you like the word too. (And if you don't want to see the movie but you want to know the meaning of the word and how to introduce it to the English language, let me know and I will explain it to you. I'm an English teacher. ;) (Oh, and another word from the film..."eyebrowsing", when you're looking for new glasses. Hee hee!)


Gotta run for now. But, thanks for checking in. Until next time, LC

Four Days later...

...I'm finally getting back to my blog. And now, it's December, the first Monday in December, and I've got teaching to do today. I like my Monday schedule though, since I teach A8 (challenging but small group of 8-10 year olds) which I've blogged a lot about, followed by A7 (children mainly 8-12 years old a little more advanced, this class has the ever adorable Cosmo in it - his former teacher must have been a Seinfeld fan!), and my last class on Monday is B4, a group of 13-14 year olds, one of two "more advanced" classes that I teach, they're not too bad, most of the time. I finish early on Mondays, the only day of the week that this is true, so I tend to enjoy that a lot. On Monday, I get home around 8:30 rather than my usual 10:00. Oh the things you can do with an hour and a half.

So, this is just a brief check in. I've gotten another cold, which really stinks since it's only been one month ago that I had the last one. I'm going to strategize a little better to try to keep future colds at bay. Feel free to offer any advice about that. (I'm taking vitamins now and exercising, so don't know much of what else to do.) In spite of the cold, I had a really good weekend. I worked Saturday morning, and had a casual rest of Saturday. In the evening, I fixed some fried okra that I had bought fresh last weekend, and made some mac n cheese from the local foreign foods store (it's actually called Annie's Shells and White Cheddar...va va!) and it was some good eatin' I can tell ya. We got a third roommate on Saturday when Mari came "home" from the hospital. She's now staying with us while she convalesces after her scooter accident about 10 days ago. It's great to have her here. She's easy going and draws a fair number of folks in to visit her, so the house is full of activity, which I enjoy.

Sunday was a continuation of Saturday in some ways. I led worship at church, and in much the same way as one month ago, I managed to make it through the first set of worship before the sermon without cracking, but...just as I finished praying, and as the pastor was taking the pulpit, I had a coughing attack that caused me to have to go out of the service and retreat to the bathroom for a few minutes. And, similarly to a month ago, Deacon John (very nice guy), came to my aid. This time, he ran out to the pharmacy and bought some hot patches (like for sports injuries) and by the time I came out of the bathroom he was unwrapping it and heading for my throat. Funny me, finishing the last part of the service with a white patch on my throat, but you know you can't really deny someone their deeply held beliefs in a medical remedy. Not that I would question it, 'cause I was able to hold it together for the last two songs.

I relaxed at home in the afternoon, but had an unexpected visit from my co-worker, Sharon, who was at the big warehouse shop close to our house and called to see what I was doing. She was shopping there with her mother and dropped by afterwards. She was telling me that her mom was buying five big cans of cereal and she said, "you know the kind for old people, it's not for breakfast, but old people like it." I said, "Are you talking about oatmeal?" and she didn't know that word. Then, she came into my kitchen and pointed at the Quaker oatmeal on my shelf and said, "This one!" To which I smiled and said, "Yea, that's for old people alright!" At any rate, I was glad to see her. I think she's someone God has given me favor with, so I'm glad to get to spend a little time with her away from work.


Well, that's my weekend in a nutshell. I will do better in December to write more frequently. November was more like a once a week thing, so I am aiming higher for December.

Have a great week.

Until next time, LC

Thanksgiving Weekend...Saturday!

I had such a fun time on Saturday. I caught the high speed train to Taichung, which takes only 23 minutes to go the distance that would take 90 minutes by bus, I'm told. Taichung is in the middle of Taiwan, on the West side of the island, and it's HUGE! My great friends, Otey and Cheryl, and their three kids, Hannah, Owen, and Peter, moved there just this past summer and I consider that one of God's gifts to me to provide for some deeper relationships for me (and indeed one of the ways He used to confirm that Taiwan is where I should be right now.)

So, I got on the train, and met up with Otey and Owen who were on their way back home after spending the night in Taipei. It was fun to hang out with them on the train, albeit a short journey. Cheryl and Peter picked us up in the van and thus began a hilarious ride back to their house. Peter is a funny kid and since it was so warm in Taichung, he was wearing sandals and got to show me how he could pinch with his toes and inflict great pain. Trust me, it hurt! We began to share all our strange human tricks with one another and laughed all the way home.

After running a few errands, (I got some fresh okra that I can fix, yea! and some great coffee to bring home from Otey's favorite coffee shop, which I love!) we all hung out talking and watching some videos on YouTube. It was like being with family, and I was so appreciative. Later that evening, we shared a great meal together, I've included a short video of the meal for my mother and friends. Shout out to Cheryl and Otey for cooking a delicious ham, (which Otey had to cut and we all had to hear the perils of leaving the string on the ham when you cook it...poor guy), making some awesome mashed potatoes, vegetables and hot rolls! (I made the stuffing...well, stove top put it together, I just added water...yummy bready goodness!)

My favorite part of the day was Otey gathering the family together in the evening after the meal and sitting everyone down to talk about being thankful. Hannah is 16, Owen is 12 and Peter is almost 10 (I think that's right), so the fact that they would be willing to participate in this activity is a testimony to good parenting, the grace of God and the benefits of raising your children outside of the U.S. - not necessarily in that order. Anyway, we all sat down, and I was reminded once again of how much I love the way certain people handle the truth, in this scenario it was Otey. We are all in a new place, again, and we're all without others in our lives for whom we're thankful, and that makes living here/being here sometimes difficult. Otey acknowledged in a humorous way that although it may be hard to be thankful for this particular period of our lives, we have much still to be thankful for. He asked each of the children what they are thankful for, to which Peter readily volunteered, "I'm thankful that all my body parts are here!" We all laughed about that and then we agreed that we were thankful for that too. Owen was thankful for a good weekend in Taipei with his dad, and Hannah was thankful for her school (which is Morrison Academy, a great school for all three kids). I was thankful for friends like Otey and Cheryl who would indulge the deeper side of me to hold an intentional time of thanksgiving with me and include me in their family celebration. Otey prayed...and it was a good day.

At that, Cheryl and I rushed off so I could catch the train back to Hsinchu. It was an awesome thanksgiving Saturday!

Stay tuned for more Thanksgiving weekend news!

LC

Thanksgiving Weekend...Friday Night!

I had a great weekend last weekend (for an English teacher you'd think I could come up with a better way to say that). Here's how the first part of it shook down...

Weekends for English teachers in Taiwan begin on Friday night, since we get off after 9:30, it's a late start, but the mindset begins somewhere around 5:50 for me when I see those sweet little A11 children rushing towards the door. (I'm certain I'm happier to see them go than they are to be able to go, but by the looks of their struggle to get out, you couldn't tell who was happier.) That's not my last class, since I still have A7 at 6:05 and then I have a one-on-one with a teenager at 7:45, but suffice to say the last two classes of the week are giddy with anticipation that it will all be over soon. (Actually, I really like A7, for many reasons, not least of which includes a little 5 year old named Cosmo, who is very articulate and takes great joy in loaning me his cool pen every time we have class. I DO like the pen...but I give it back at the end of each session.)

So, on Friday night last week, I left school very happy but then had to do a not so happy thing. I had to pay a visit to a friend in the hospital. Mari was in a scooter accident on Thursday night (Thanksgiving night) when a car decided at the last minute to turn right and she was heading straight at a light. Her left leg got pinned between the scooter and the car and the leg didn't fare very well. She broke it in two places below the knee, thus beginning another educational opportunity for us all regarding how things are done when something like this happens. Long story short, when I saw her late on Friday night, she had gone through surgery that morning to set the leg, was in a lot of pain but also feeling very woozy from all the medication. She had been given a private nurse, paid for by the driver of the car that hit her, and this nurse was like an angel, so Mari was in very good hands. One week later, she is still in the hospital. She will stay a total of 9 days, then be released to come stay at our house since we have an elevator and her house has stairs. She will be on crutches for 3 months but will be o.k. and in fact began to look much better the day after surgery, so we were all very relieved. Here is a picture of her in the hospital last Sunday evening with my roommate, Annaloe and another friend, Trix.



That's how my weekend began...so it was all downhill from there (I always get confused about that saying...I think you say it's downhill because it is getting easier after something that's difficult, but then sometimes, I wonder if it's downhill because it's all going toward the gutter! Can someone help me out on the proper way to say that?)


O.K., more later,
LC

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful this morning for such great people in my life that have responded to my requests for prayer for my Mom and many other concerns I've mentioned on the blog. My Mom felt well enough this week to fix a Thanksgiving meal for my brother, Paul and his wife, Lisa, who recently moved back to Oklahoma after living in Washington for the past 9 years or so. She and Dad were so happy to have them come to celebrate the holiday with them, which makes me happy since I'm here and couldn't be there. She also felt well enough today to make a trip up to Oklahoma City with Dad to see my other brothers, Jay and Joe, and my sister, Karen and all of her family. So, I know she'll be tired tonight but her heart will feel good that she was able to see all of her kids except me, (and I've talked to her on the phone several times.) Physically, she tells me she's in a lot of pain and doesn't sleep very well still, and I'm sure she is exhausted after being around so many people. It seems that the current strategy for dealing with her illness is taking pain killers and some other medicine that is supposed to help restore some of the feeling in her extremities. I know she's discouraged a lot, so I am so thankful for your prayers and continued prayers as she goes through this season.

Spending the holidays in a country that doesn't celebrate them has always been a little strange as you probably know or can imagine. Like Thanksgiving Day...a very important day in America, duh, but obviously not anywhere else. (I just remembered my friend in Scotland telling me about shopping in New York City over Thanksgiving week a few years ago and how many of the shopkeepers would say with surprise, "You don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Scotland? Why?" To which her reply would vary depending on her patience and mood.) In Taiwan, people know about Thanksgiving, but of course they don't know what the reason is for the holiday. Not unlike me knowing that they have a "Tomb-sweeping" Day and not knowing why. But, on Thanksgiving Day at my school, my boss arranged for some of my students to write little Thank You notes to their teachers. I had enjoyed reading a few of mine and was touched that they would make an effort to recognize a day that they don't celebrate, but yesterday, I got the best one from my little guy in whom I've placed a lot of faith for the future. I've talked about him before on the blog, his name is Lee-Sheen and he's 8 years old. His card to me said, "Thank you, Teacher Larissa. You make me like English. I love you! Happy Holidays! Lee-Sheen" Isn't that a sweet thing for the wee one to say? I'm thankful for him and several others with sparks in their eyes that make it feel worthwhile putting so much effort into my job day in and day out. Pray for Lee-Sheen and his family when you think about them. (I also have a good relationship started with his mother.)

Well, I have to keep this short since I'm going to Taichung today to have a "real" Thanksgiving meal with my American friends, Otey and Cheryl and their three kids. I will hopefully take some pictures of the experience and post again this weekend. Let me know how you're doing as well. I love getting your email responses to my posts and hearing all about your lives as well.

Until next time,
LC

"Hope Faith Love"

This will be quick, but had to share a couple of significant things about yesterday. I was asked to prepare the children at my branch for singing a few Christmas songs for the residents of the apartment complex surrounding our school. They are apparently planning a Christmas party and want the children to sing at it. My boss asked me to do this so I'm happy for the opportunity to put "Christ" in Christmas in a country that doesn't even have December 25th off from work because they are not a Christian culture. So, yesterday I started teaching E2 (my 8 year olds that are pretty bright for the most part) "Happy Birthday Jesus" which you may know from The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. It's a sweet song and full of truth for children to sing. It lends itself well to teaching children here because they all know when their birthday is, they all know how to sing Happy Birthday, and they all know about Christmas even if they think it's about Santa Claus. I have to admit when they sang the first few lines of the song, I was a little emotional hearing them sing it. "Happy Birthday, Jesus. I'm so glad it's Christmas. All the tinsel and lights make the holiday nice but it's all about You." Please pray for me as I attempt to teach the other classes this song and "What Child is This?" as well as "O Holy Night". I found some cool children's versions on ITunes and downloaded them for us.

The other significant conversation from yesterday happened last night. I teach one adult class of three women and I enjoy it very much although I don't like that it's my last class of four on Wednesdays. I'm just tired by then so it takes a lot out of me. However, God threw me a bone last night when Jennifer asked me why I wear the ring on my arm. Her English is not great and what she meant was the rubber bracelet I have worn since leaving Nicaragua this summer. It's tie-dye and has the words Hope Faith Love on it. I got to explain what it means, why I put it on, and why I still wear it for all three of the women. As I finished the explanation, they were all three smiling and nodding as if to say they understood what I meant about loving God and being motivated to serve God to the orphans because of God's love for us. I pray they are curious enough to ask more questions. Actually the conversation ended with them asking me if I wanted children and me telling them I have 90 that I'm with every week and that's enough. Then one of the women told us that she is expecting another child. She's not sure she's happy about it, so I'm hoping to have more opportunity to talk with her.

Thanks for listening. Now it's off to a busy Thursday.
(BTW, I had a great weekend with Lucy and her family last weekend in Danshui which is outside of Taipei. She was a great hostess and spoiled me, although I only ate Chinese food and I'm pretty sure my stomach is still mad at me.)


Until next time, LC

3 Months in TW

but who's counting, right? Well, actually, I still sort of am counting. It's getting easier but I have to admit I still think about the days, weeks and now months that I've been here. It's Saturday morning here and the sun is shining so the construction workers are making sure the neighborhood is awake. (Mildly annoying but I think I'm getting used to that too.) Last night as I was scooting home after a long day, I was struck by the feeling of accomplishment after completing another week. It's amazing really that I can face so many different children, little people, every week for so many hours, to know their names and abilities and be able to help them each in ways that they need and still maintain some sort of forward motion for the entire class -- I felt good about being here and doing this job.

This week I gave three final tests to three of my classes. (The students are on 12 week semesters, meeting twice a week for a total of 24 sessions each semester. So, at the end of each semester you give them a comprehensive final test before promoting them.) I have another one to give on Monday, so that means I've been preparing tests and now I have to grade them and then enter all their test scores into the computer system. All of that equals lots of extra work and so I've been going in earlier than usual this week and will continue to do so next week. Last week I was sick and actually stayed home from work for two days, so I got behind then and had to hustle to make up for it this week. So, I'm busy! You probably are too. C'est la vie!

Today I'll be going over to Taipei to visit Irene Morris' family for the weekend. I will hang out with Lucy, Irene's sister, who I've known for more than 10 years so that will be fun. I've been trying to do it for the past two weekends, but because of being sick it's just not been possible. Speaking of being sick, could I ask for your prayers for my mom? She's been feeling unwell for the past three plus months and this week went to a specialist clinic for three days of testing. They diagnosed her with Neuropathy which explains the numbness she's had in her feet and legs, but it doesn't help with treatment if she has permanent irreversible nerve damage. So, they are running other tests on her blood and will hopefully be able to help her with pain and numbness. Could you pray that she will find some relief in the treatment they offer her? Also, could you just pray that she will not be discouraged and be able to manage the illness well. None of us likes to see others in pain and needing to manage it, but it's a reality for so many people. I just pray that my mom can discern what's the best way ahead for her. Thanks for praying when you think of me. As you can imagine, her health needs become the concerns of our entire family so I appreciate your prayers for me to have discernment with how to help her and my father to cope with this.

Well, I'll close here with a few pictures of Jessie, Sunny and Roger from my A8 class. They crack me up, so I had to share another slice of life here in the TW. Until next time, LC

Sweet and intense Jessie giving me her
best performance for her final test.
Her best friend is Juliana, and it's sometimes hard
to assess what Jessie knows because Juliana
always tells her the answers.
So on final test day, Jessie had to stand on her own.
She did very well, I'm happy to report!

Here's the oh so fashionable Sunny once again showing
up to class wearing something so cute I'm motivated
to pull out the camera. It's hard to tell in the photo
but her pants are sort of flannel, black and white
with big checks, her shirt is polka dot aqua blue.
I don't know anyone who could really pull this off,
but I think Sunny does a pretty good job of it.

Last, here's a picture of the ever clueless
belly scratching old man of the class, Roger.
He's hilarious and keeps me amused most of the time.
You can't see it in the picture but his pants
are too short for him, they are lined with
plaid flannel and very heavy. He tries very
hard to learn and speak English and I think
he'll get it one of these days, (if we can just
keep his hands on his pencil and off his butt,
belly and other parts of his anatomy 0>= maybe
he'll have a chance!)

Monday, Monday...

I woke up Monday morning feeling still full of the cold and not too happy about it. But, I didn't want to call in sick until I really need to, or at least until I could miss one of my hard days (Wednesday, Thursday or Friday), so I went to work and stayed out of the kids faces. For my first class (A8 is the class that I videoed weeks ago singing Happy Birthday to Kim), I was greeted by Sunny, the future model, dressed in some crack up clothes, so I had to figure out a way to take a picture of her without asking. We've been working on this song which they learned in Chinese but we translated it to English. So, I had them sing their song, and I video taped it. Then, I got cracked up at myself because I realized I have a Sunny and a Claire in this class. Sounds like...Sonny and Cher, but my children bear little resemblance to the once famous couple except that Sunny is a "Cher" type little girl with the long hair and the fashion sense (or lack of)!

I'll tell one more quick story on these kids and then I'm off to start my Tuesday. You can imagine how difficult it is to maintain one's patience in a classroom where you have multiple voices simultaneously saying the same thing to you many times within each 90 minute period, right? Well, all of my children (all 90 of them), have been taught to say "Teachuh, I am finishee." Don't ask me why they like to say "finishee" instead of "finished" but they like it and they all say it. So, the other day, I had an Oklahoma moment, where I taught them to say some incorrect English. I taught this class to say "Teacher, I am done." Only they couldn't really say it. They were saying, "Teacher, I am dumb." So, I corrected them and said, "Say, done. With an "n" at the end, say done!" Then, they said, "Teacher, I am dung." I have to admit, I was sorely tempted to leave it, and I enjoyed a little giggle at this mistake, but I corrected them again. I don't know if all of them are saying it correctly, but they are trying to please me so that works for me as their teacher and it works for my patience to hear a little variety. They can learn later that saying "done" means you are fully cooked and ready to be eaten. ;)

Hope you enjoy the video. Sorry, I turned the camera at the end. I was trying to "fill the frame". (Shout out to my friend Glen Morris who taught me that!)

Until next time,
this is Taiwan to me!

Saturday Night in Taiwan

Well, it was bound to happen. All the children coughing and sneezing around me finally made me catch a cold this weekend. Of course it had to happen on the weekend! Oh well, I needed to rest, so it's o.k., but it meant I had to cancel a trip to Taipei to hang out with Lucy, Irene Morris' sister. (I've known Lucy for about 10 years since she used to come to San Francisco and stay with Glen and Irene. She's really sweet and we've been trying to get together for the last several weeks.) She was planning to show me around the city today and we were going to see her family's home and the town where she lives, but alas none of this happened. Instead, I stayed home today and relaxed, caught up on some lesson plans and other school work and talked to some of my family, which was long overdue.

It was a good day all in all and tonight my roommate, Annalu had some of our/her friends over for dinner and they cooked a traditional South African dish, which was yummy. I decided to post the video of our apartment, I know it's not high quality since it's at night, but hopefully you'll get a little feel for where I live and the excitement that goes on in this part of the city in the evenings. So, not a lot to say tonight since I've had such a low key day, but I want to post again tomorrow, so check back in and see if it happens. Let me know how you are. I always love to hear from home. I look forward to a good day tomorrow in worship and in rehearsal. Until next time, Larissa

Sharon, Erin, and Cara last thing on a Friday night after a long week.

This was Erins birthday cake. Hello Kitty is alive and well in Taiwan!

It's Friday, that means I've been here for another week...

it's a sort of anniversary feeling, although it's not an anni-, just a weeki. I think I've heard sappy newlyweds in love speak of it as their "week-a-versary", so I could steal that I guess. Each Friday over the last nine weeks, I've been reminded of how long I've been here, and today was no different. As Friday's go, it wasn't a bad day and on a good note, I was aware that I wasn't just hating every minute of my one on one for the last hour and a half of my day. I actually had the thought that I could be getting used to the schedule. (This comes the day after me wanting to throw my hands up over the lethargy in my pubescent class that I teach last on Thursdays. Ugh! Teenagers!! Roll eyes here!)

As I reflect on the day, I had E2 at 1:30. It's a small class so I like it a lot. Neco is a big challenge 'cause he's A.D.H.D. and bounces off the walls from start to finish, so I had to say his name the usual average of 150 times in 90 minutes. But, Sophia 2 (there are two Sophias so they number them 1 and 2) was so helpful and pleasant and really displayed a lot of understanding during the class so that was great.

Then I had A11. You know how I feel about A11 (if not view previous post under "nightmare"). Well, they have gotten a lot better since you've all been praying and I am so thankful. However, today we had a nosebleed before our activity, and a couple of bruised kids during the activity as a result of a scuffle between a 12 year old and two six year olds. Guess who was on the ground? (It wasn't the 12 year old!) No tears though, thankfully. (Six year old Nelson cried last Friday because he thought he was getting in trouble for not spelling any of his words correctly. I was just trying to show him that I wasn't going to count the grade 'cause he'd been absent, but he didn't understand and started to cry.)

Then right on their heels I taught A7, one of my favorite classes, except tonight they put two new kids (not new to me but new to the class) in to "try it out" and that pushed the dynamic over the top I think. In language learning, (as in Small Group Bible studies) a class of 10 is great, 12 is a little too big, and anything over that, you're definitely going to have discipline problems and some kids will get left out. Well, A7 had 14 today and it wasn't much fun for me. I really push this group because I like them so much and want them to succeed, so consequently I get really disappointed when they don't get me. Tonight was disappointing. But, it was Friday at 6:00, my last class of the week, except for a one on one tutoring session, so what should I expect?

Last there was Cherry. She's a soft spoken, bright but awkward 13 year old that I see each Friday night on her own. She gets the dregs of me, but doesn't seem to mind. We've been meeting for about 5 weeks I think and tonight was the second week in a row where she looked a little relaxed so that's good, eh?

I scooted home on my new ride (photos to follow in a future post) in a shorter time than usual, (light traffic I think ;), and my roommate had bought me a milk tea drink with pearls (they're gummy balls that have no real flavor but are good to me), so I was happy.

Tomorrow I will take the train, another first, to a city to the south of me, called Taichung, where my good friends Otey and Cheryl live and catch up with them after many years. I've been reflecting on that and remembering that it was 20 years ago that Otey and I met when he hired me to do campus ministry at Clackamus Community College in Oregon City, Oregon. Those two years were great and I've always enjoyed Otey (and Cheryl) a lot since then, so tomorrow will be fun.

Well, that's it for me. Except that I would just ask that you join me in prayer for a friend of mine who lives in Germany. She's younger than me and heard this week that's she's got colorectal cancer that's spread to her liver. She's a missionary from Missouri that I met at Golden Gate and worked with there. She's a great woman and I would love to see God do a miracle for his glory and for her good if it would be his will. Thanks for praying.

God bless and keep each of you.

Until next time,
LC in TW

"Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh..." (think '80's)

"today is your birthday. Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, it's my birthday too (not really). Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, today is your birthday. Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, we're gonna have a good time! Dun, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, today is your birthday. Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, Happy Birthday to you!"

Well, just about the time most of you are convinced this has become the birthday blog, I have to go and post yet another birthday shout out, and prove you're right. Sorry, folks, but I gotta throw one to my friend, Claudia. She's having a birthday today and I can't be there for it, so I'm wishing her a good day/weekend/week/month as she celebrates with friends and family. I made her a cheesy video tonight from my school, just with me and three co-workers, at the end of a long day/week, so we were all looking a little spent, but the love came through I hope. (Sorry, but I'm sharing it with her only on Skype chat, so there's no url to give you.)

Claudia and I have known each other since playing softball together on the First Baptist San Francisco team (sad as we were), and that's about 8 years or more now. We've traveled a lot together and we still like each other, so that's a good thing, eh? She's a great friend to me and I think I keep her laughing so it's a decent trade off.

What can I say, Claudia's great!

So, Clauds, have a great day and sorry I can't be there. Lovin' you from the far east!


This is Claudia translating for a Nicaraguan couple at the clinic
we worked at this summer in the mountains near Jinotega.
She was amazing. Full of patience and love for her "peeps".

Same clinic, same day, but another one of the
250+ patients the doctors saw that day.
Claudia was one of only 3 translators.

Claudia with some of the older girls at the orphanage in Jinotega.

Claudia with two of the girls we had walked
to school on the last day we were there.
Kinda makes ya sad to say good-bye.

Last of the "Family" October Birthdays

Me and Joe on the Harley in San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the rear view mirror of the Harley, on a
typical San Francisco summer day.

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma
but you can't make him take his boots off on the beach in California.

Yes, I have three family members whose birthdays are in October, and today is Joe's birthday. He's a great guy with a charismatic and winsome personality. I had the awesome opportunity to spend a week with him in Nicaragua (a week in Oklahoma and 2 weeks in San Francisco) this summer and it was so much fun. In Nic, everyone he met became his friend. He sat on the porch each night exchanging cultural lessons with the night guard, bus driver and translator, mano y mano (I think that's how you spell that), which means man to man. He wouldn't have it any other way but to stand in the doorway of the bus when we were traveling so he could "talk" with the bus driver (who only spoke Spanish and Joe only speaks English), be ready to jump out of the bus to open the gate, help the driver park the bus, and just generally provide a sense of camaraderie with the driver. He's always impressed me as a man that gets things done, whether it's building a small shed, or a huge shop in his back yard, putting together a custom motorcycle or repairing a friends "scooter" (i.e., Harley), whatever he puts his mind to, he manages to do. I love him, and I really hope he has/had a great day. So, Joe, this blog's for you!

Joe in Nicaragua, on a horse at the medical clinic, with Moises (one of the boys that lives on the farm/ranch), holding a little boy at the clinic, and standing with his "boys" (Donald, Dimitrio, and Lester) outside of the Jinotega orphanage.

Here's my brother and my nephew,
his son, Shane, this summer at the
lake in Oklahoma. What a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today's my Mom's birthday, so I just want to say "Happy Birthday, Mom!" and hope you have a good day, and a good week.

My Mom was born more than seven decades ago, but she's still on the road to seventy-five, so that tells you how well she's doing. Although she's not been feeling well lately, and I would appreciate your prayers for her, she's a delight to the whole family and takes good care of us all. This summer, when we were all together at the lake, she was making sure all the food was provided and that everyone was happy, so much so that I don't know how much she was able to enjoy it, but we sure did! (Thanks Mom! I know you loved it.) That's what my Mom does, she makes sure everyone else is happy and puts her own desires on hold. In that way, Mom has raised five children, helped to raise eleven grandchildren, and now she's loving playing with ten great-grandchildren (with one on the way!)

In July, when we recognized my Dad's 50 years in ministry, we spoke of what a legacy he was leaving and how many of his family members and people in his churches had enjoyed life-changing experiences because of his influence. Well, Dad rightfully threw some of that love Mom's way, as he said, "No one stays with anything for as long as fifty years by themselves." He knows and we all know that Mom helps him do so many of the things he's able to do in ministry and oftentimes at home, so we have to say the legacy is shared by them both.

So, Mom, I hope you know that your family loves you, appreciates all the love you give us, and that we are all excited to see what God is going to do with you now as you continue to serve along side Dad in Southern Oklahoma and many other places. Happy Birthday, and many happy returns!
Love from Taiwan,
Riss

Karen, Mom and Me at Christmas

Dad, Candace and Mom at Christmas

Mom and Cooper on the boat in July.

Mom and Kaityn in the RV at Lake Murray in July.

"Double 10 Day", or "a day off in the middle of the week!!"

It's Thursday morning here, the sun is trying to break through the clouds, but there is a beautiful breeze coming through the windows, and it's nice. I'm so happy to report I've not had to sleep with the air conditioner on in my room for three nights now. Hopefully this means the weather is becoming more bearable. We use Centigrade here and the thermometer in my room reads 26* at the moment, which is pretty pleasant. Weather report over, the reason I'm posting this morning is to tell you about yesterday, Double Ten Day, which was a great excuse to have a day off in the middle of the week.

The South African posse had a "slumber" party at my place on Tuesday night, to which I arrived after 10 pm when I finished work. They had already gorged themselves on snacks and were contemplating all sorts of ways to lose weight. Seems this conversation bridges the cultural gap and is universal amongst women of all ages. One of the girls dyed her hair, another was talking to her friend from home on the computer, and another to her boyfriend via text on her cell phone. Gadgets aplenty, all were happy. I made some hurricane popcorn*, which they loved, as did I (thanks to all the Hawaiian influences in my life over the years Lisa, Lani, and Lori to name a few), and we settled in to watch a movie around 11:30. *(hurricane popcorn is a Hawaiian original. it's a mix of seaweed bits, little sesame seeds with salt and sugar and soy crackers. very tasty!) After watching about an hour of Zach Braff contemplating cheating on his pregnant live-in girlfriend in a movie I don't wish to name since it's not recommendable, I could see the writing on the wall for this "winner" of a pick, so I "pulled a Lisa". (Lisa loves to disappear up the stairs while we have guests at the house and never return, leaving the rest of us wondering if she's died up there, gotten on a major phone call, got mad at us, or in fact just gone to bed without saying so. It's always the latter, but we still wonder ;) My bed was so comfy, I couldn't get up to go say goodnight, so I just turned off the light and fell asleep with a guilty smile on my face. (Lis, I do understand.)

Wednesday morning, my roommate and I thought the crew was taking a day trip to Taipei departing at 9, but when I emerged out of my room at 9:30, they were still here. Indecision also seems to be a universal issue amongst the young, so they discussed all the pros and cons of going or staying, and ultimately stayed. When they put yet another movie on at 2:00 in the afternoon, I went grocery shopping. Always an adventure, one of my favorite things is to buy whatever I feel I want or need, THEN think about how I will transport it all home on the scooter. As always, yesterday's trip did not disappoint. I came out with a huge jug of water, which went at my feet in the middle, and two huge bags, which I balanced on either side of the jug. Although the bags were hanging off the bike's platform a bit on each side, the faithful bungee cords skillfully wrapped around all of it and strapped to the bike seat made it possible for me to drive home without too much fear. I was amused though. (Sorry no picture of this. Maybe next time.) It made things slightly more challenging when I took a text message order for tea drinks from the slumber party-ers and ended up riding home with a bag of five ice teas hanging off the acceleration handle of the scooter. They were dangling and sloshing around every corner, however, since this is a scooter culture, the drinks are sealed with a plastic wrap that makes them spill proof. When I arrived home, the girls were ready to go up on the roof to look at the city from the 21st floor of our building and enjoy our tea. (Photos below.)

All of the girls took off to do various things around 5, except my roommate and I. We cooked dinner and ate, went for a walk around the complex where we live (it's gorgeous), and arrived back to one of the girls, Marichen (we call her Marie, thankfully) waiting for us on the doorstep. She had downloaded the first two episodes of Grey's Anatomy, henceforth known as Grey's, and we watched it together before bed. I capped the day off with a couple of phone calls on Skype and went to bed happy.

And now, I'm off to teach the children for two more days before the weekend. Yea!

Hope you're well.

Until next time,
LC from TW

Anneloe (left) and Noeline enjoying
the rooftop view and the wind in their hair.

Marichen enjoying the view of Hsinchu on the roof.

The view of Hsinchu as the sun is setting, from our roof.
My tea is in the picture for perspective.

Speaking of perspective...this is an avocado
I bought in the store yesterday next to my camera case.
I know my camera is small but shouldn't the avo
be about the same size as a digital camera?
Wow! I think I'll invite the neighborhood over
for some guacamole. Chevy's has got nada on Taiwan!

Cabin Fever, Canadian Thanksgiving, plus "Fridays" with Friends and Another Birthday Shout out

Well, friends, I spent Friday night until Sunday afternoon in my apartment without going outside even once. We had another typhoon (video below, hope you can open it), which is my third one in seven weeks. The only bummer is that it hit a day too late and on the weekend. If it had come on Friday morning instead of Friday night I could have gotten another day off of teaching, and this one would have included A11! That did not happen, but I still like to fantasize that it could've.

Speaking of A11, I've had two sessions with them in their new semester, and it looks like they're trying to rise to the expectations of being in their second 12-week semester of English study. We shall see how long that lasts, but at least for now it's going alright. (It still takes so much of my energy, so I appreciate your prayers for this class each Wednesday and Friday.) A great blessing to me for this upcoming week is that I get Wednesday off to celebrate Taiwan's National Day. (I don't know if China knows about this, so please don't tell them;)
No A11, PTL!



Today's Sunday and I got together with my Canadian co-workers this evening for another trek to Outback. They were excited that this was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. They kept saying "Happy Thanksgiving!" and it was a lot of fun. We pretended the brownie dessert was pumpkin pie and talked about all the things we missed about home. Love those Canadians!

I managed to make it to TGI Friday's today for lunch with the South African gals, my first time to find the restaurant (it's not difficult, but somehow I've struggled there), and therefore my first mexican food in seven weeks. It's not quite a record, but close to it. Those chicken fajitas were rockin', and I loved giving the South Africans a lesson on what's in the various mexican dishes. They were eager to learn...and with my years of Taco Bell experience, I was a great teacher, I must say. Yo quiero, Taco Bell!

Last, but certainly not least, today is my girl, Stacey's, birthday! Now, since Stace was one of the residents of 163, I haven't missed her birthday in about six years, I think, so I'm bumming that I'm not there for it today. However, I trust she'll enjoy the birthday song my roommate and I left her on her Skype voicemail tonight. "Love you, Stace. Hope your birthday was memorable, as only Sunday birthdays can be for those of us in ministry."

Well, it's very late and I'm very tired, so I'm sleeping now. I'll check back in early in the week if I can. Stay gold, pony boy.

Until next time,
Love from LC in TW