More things to finalize

As much as I thought I finalized all the things I need to do in Taiwan before I leave, I realized I have a couple of more things to do and they might not be so easy. I first have to extend my visa at the immigration office for one month because my contract ends in July but I'm leaving in Aug. to get my tax refund. It actually should be okay but I hope they aren't strict and ask me why I want to extend it. I also hope they won't be strict and ask why or have to talk to my boss but my boss is awesome and if a problem were to occur, then she can help me out too.

Then I need to go to the tax office and explain how I'm leaving in Aug. and if I could receive my tax refund earlier and that if I get my money after Aug. 1 (taxes for this year 2011), that they can send it to my work at Kojen and then someone mail it to me. I'm going to have my Taiwanese friend go with me since I need a Taiwanese person who is over 20 years old and has a working job as a reference if they happen to be the one responsible for receiving my tax refund.

I'm going on Monday so hopefully things will get straightened out. Other than that, I just need to hear back from housing and book my ticket from LA to Sioux Falls/Omaha (depending how long I stay in LA). I'm very anxious for Monday to come!

-Chihchat

What's taking so long?

I checked out a Chinese book a couple of months ago, hoping that I would finish the book. I haven't had time and I've been renewing it the past couple of months. I checked out the book in March. It's always the same lady and today I renewed the book again and she asked me again? Why are you taking such a long time to read it? I just said oh I'm reading it bit by bit lol I mean it was weird but I mean, I guess if she saw me renew it a couple of months and it was a teenager book, she is probably wondering what's taking so long. I mean I didn't have to respond or I could have said that I don't have enough time. Oh well...again example of Taiwanese commentary lol

-Chihchat

"E-ah-teng"

There's a place in Shilin that I go to get oyster soup every Thurs. night after my kickboxing class and I did blog about this before. Anyway they are very rude to me and when I came tonight, I ordered the soup by trying to pronounce "oyster" in Taiwanese. My Taiwanese is extremely awful and they don't understand Mandarin although later we spoke in Mandarin. I ended up pointed to the oysters so they got what I meant. Then the guy that was smirking at me and being mean to me was snickering. I asked me how to say it and he tried to teach me and I was like ok and I tried to say it. Then he told me it cost $50NT and that he was going to add a teaching fee. The soup cost $50NT anyway so I joked and said why should I pay a teaching fee? He goes because I'm teaching you how to speak Taiwanese. (This conversation was in Mandarin). Then I muttered back, oh you're so nice.

I didn't mean to be so snappy but I don't think he minded so he just went back to drinking his soup. I was trying to joke around with him and I think he was teasing a little bit but they are soooo rude. I don't know why! I mean, I'm giving you business. Oh well..I'm going to try to learn it. It's pronounced "E-ah-teng" but the tones and the pauses are difficult. Let's see if next week he will be nicer lol

-Chihchat

Slowing down

I haven't been sleeping a lot and finally I have reached a breaking point where I'm pretty exhausted so I think tonight I will be able to sleep more! lol I knew I wouldn't handle Wed. since I teach all day and I've been having about 3-4 hours of sleep on the previous nights. It's so hard to teach now too since all I can think about is going home. I shouldn't think about that since I should be enjoying my time in Taipei but it's hard because I'm excited to come back home. I didn't think I would and I know I will be sadder when I actually do leave, but of course it hasn't hit me yet.

Today one of my classes was ending their level and we had our party/review day. My T/A said loudly about me leaving but luckily the students didn't hear her. I was afraid they would and then they would ask me about it since they care so much about me for some reason. They know my Chinese name so they like to say it and they like to ask me random things. I like them a lot though so I will be sad and miss them as well as my other students.

There is a new Chinese teacher and she is my sub T/A for one of my classes. I always wear a ring on my ring finger on my right hand. She saw it and asked if I was married lol I actually get that question a lot but it's a ring that my best friend gave me a couple of years ago. It's surprising I get that assumption because there is no diamond or stone on the ring lol

-Chihchat

Whirlwind

I'm still ansy and it's very hard to sleep the past couple of days. I'm slowing down though and I think hopefully tonight I can sleep well haha Today I continued with my errands and I'm really psyched since I booked my ticket back home for Aug. 2. I found a really good price for my one way ticket from Taipei to Los Angeles, $825 USD including taxes! I think that's a very good deal considering that tickets can go up to $1,000.

I just taught one class and I got observed by a new Chinese teacher. She was really nice and she asked me how long I was teaching and was shocked that I've only been teaching 9 months. I can't believe that I have only been teaching that long since I feel like I've been teaching forever lol I asked my students how long they have known me since they were learning that question structure and some of them said 2 years haha I said um, I've only been in Taipei less than a year lol

Tonight I went to my uncle's and my aunt's older brother's daughter was there to stay for a couple of days since her brother is having ear surgery. She is 5 years old and she is super cute. She immediately knew I was a foreigner because of how I looked and kept calling me a princess haha

-Chihchat

The aftershock

After I found out I got accepted, I then started to get on the ball and start to figure out everything: registration, classes, financial aid, apartments, job, airplane tickets. I was so excited that I only had 4 hours of sleep last night. I couldn't go to bed and went to bed around 4am last night. I woke up around 9am and again have been on the computer all day lol I lost my appetite and I barely ate today. I'm just way too happy lol Honestly it's been like I've been a slug the past couple of months and now the clouds have lifted and I'm so happy!!

Tonight at work I tried to contain my excitement but I couldn't. I had to tell my boss about it of course to figure out when I can go home. I had to wait forever though because my other coworker was talking to her and I was so anxious I couldn't wait. But finally I was able to talk to her and she was bummed since she wants me to stay another year. She is so sweet and told me that I can always come back. She told me she didn't want me to leave since I'm a good teacher. I thought that was very nice of her to say. I told her if I didn't get into grad school I would stay and it's not like I don't like my job, but I know what I want to do with my life and this is the time to start. My contract ends in Aug. 1 but she was nice and said I can leave in July since she knows I need to get home earlier but I won't receive my tax refund until Aug. 1 so I have to stay until then so my last day of work is July 30. I won't have summer classes though because I will be leaving in the summer. I won't get to earn extra money but I'm okay with that since I need to get ready to leave and move out of my apartment. My two roommates are moving out and so we need to clean the apartment since our rent is up at the end of July.

I was sad to tell my coworkers I was leaving since that means I'm leaving them and that I only have 3 months with them. It stinks that I can't be at two places at once. I really like teaching at Kojen though and I've been blessed to have such a great opportunity working at this branch (I owe it to my roommates). I don't know if I will sleep at all this week but we will see :)

-Chihchat

Accepted!

Today has been a roller coaster ride indeed. I've been tutoring a boy and a girl and I meet them 4 days a week. It's so ironic because after I tutored them this morning, the mother tells me today that she only wants me to meet them 1 day a week since their English is improving and it's too much stress on their performance for other activities. Although I was losing good money, I was fine with it since I was tired running around and stressing from tutoring and working at my job. I knew I would have more time on my hands but then I didn't know if that would be good since I would worry about whether or not I got into grad school.

Tonight I skyped with my sister and my mother and unfortunately my webcam wasn't working so they couldn't see me but they could hear me so we just chatted with out the video. The first thing she tells me is "Lilly, you received a letter from the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) and you got accepted." It didn't hit me right away. I just kept saying "oh my god" over and over again. I didn't get into any grad schools last year and I applied to 6 total this year and I have been rejected to 4 so far (I still have to hear from Minnesota State Univ. since the deadline is May 1st). I was in shock but of course I was also super relieved and happy. The nicest thing my sister said was she said that her and my mom are happy I got in so I can come home. She knew that if I didn't get in, then I would most likely stay another year in Taipei since my mom was okay with it and I wouldn't have mind staying here for just one more year.

I haven't accepted the offer just yet because I want to make sure to tell my sister and Mom that I'm for sure doing it. It's such a crazy thing how one thing can really change everything! I had no idea what I was going to do for next year and I've been stressing out about it the past couple of months. When I accept this school, I can say that I will be coming home in early Aug. and that I will only have about 3 full months left in Taipei. Wow! Also, I can finally say that I FINALLY got into a grad school. I'm really excited about UIS because one of the professors currently working there has written a book on Amy Tan (I wrote my senior honors thesis on Tan). Now I just need to start planning for next year which means registering for classes, finding an apartment, booking my ticket back home, and many other countless things. I mentioned in the beginning of this blog that it's ironic I'm not tutoring as much because now I will have more time to do all these things for this upcoming Fall semester!!

-Chihchat

P.S. HAPPY EASTER everyone! :)

Oral Exam day

I had 3 oral exams today and it was an easy prep day since the students just had their oral exams but it was mentally exhausting to repeat the same questions and hear their answers. I also had to teach 2 classes besides my 3 classes of my oral exams. The worst is when you ask them a question and they have no idea how to answer it. You just wish they would figure out how to say the answer but they sit there and just look at you. Oh well...I know that it's hard to talk in a foreign language but today my brain definitely had a meltdown lol

-Chihchat

Stefano Langone eliminated from American Idol

I've been surprisingly obsessive watching American Idol, only because I've really grown to like Stefano Langone. I watched the auditions from time to time but it was the round of top 24 that I saw Stefano performed and I immediately liked him. Not just because his looks, yes he is extremely good looking, but also because he has a fantastic voice. From then on I faithfully watched every episode in hoping that Stefano wouldn't be eliminated and of course be the next American Idol.

The picture above is him performing "Lately", the first song I really got addicted listening to when he was in the top 13, after he was the wild card pick.

He's been in the bottom 3 many times; two of the times were shocking and I thought he was going home since it was a close call. The first time he was head to head with Casey Abrams and Casey did get voted off but the judges saved him. Then it was him against Pia Toscano, who many people thought was going to win the show since she has amazing vocals, but she also got eliminated. That elimination show was hard for me to watch since by that time I wish I was in America to vote every week. Also many people thought Stefano instead of Pia should have went home and there were so many people complaining how he is a bad singer and that he should go home.

Every week has been nerve-wracking since I didn't know if he would stay another week. Sadly tonight (technically yesterday in America) he finally got voted off. He was against Jacob Lusk and I thought Jacob would go home but it was Stefano. I was bummed of course but Stefano took it all so well. He really took it like a champ which is one of the things I most admire about him. He sang his song with smiles, gave everyone high fives, and danced around the stage. He has a good attitude, doesn't complain or blame anyone, and thought of this as another great opportunity, like the good ole saying "another door closes while another door opens."

I then checked out his goodbye video on Americanidol.com and in his interview he had a message to the fans and it made me feel so much better; I loved it. He told everyone to not be down about his elimination but to be happy since that's how he feels about the whole thing and that pretty soon we can enjoy his music. He did everything he wanted in the show, fulfilled all his goals, and now it's his time to do his own thing which is to make music/cds. As corny as this whole thing is, it really did make me happy to hear him say that. I know it's just a singing competition and I know Stefano will have a great chance to make it big in the music industry but I'm sad that I can't see him perform week by week or to see him get crowned as American Idol.

Oh well. Now I can look forward to listening to his own music, not be obsessed with American Idol by watching the show constantly, and not worry or lose sleep if he's going to make it to next week hahaha Wow..I had no idea I would get this addicted or how my obsession got to this point! :D

-Chihchat

Changing up the schedule

I usually meet my coworker to work on my Chinese on Fridays but because she has something to do tomorrow, we meet this afternoon. It's nice so tomorrow I have some free time. Then I have so many oral exams for my classes on Sat. which is awesome so I don't have to prep so much and not be tired teaching :)

My coworker and I finally got up the courage to speak to our kickboxing instructor to see if he can make another time for a kickboxing class or to do a private class. The only problem is that there isn't enough time at the gym and if we were to do a private class, we would have to find a place. Anyway he will tell his boss about trying to make another time for the class.

This morning I also went to the post office and I had no problems. Yay! :) Although tonight after the gym, my coworker and I went to get dinner at Shilin night market and the guy didn't understand what I was saying. I wanted oyster soup but they spoke Taiwanese so I think that's why he didn't understand.

The best thing ever is that I used to despise my Mon. night class because they were obnoxious and young but I'm finally getting used to them. They are actually improving and they are almost ending their level. It's crazy how far they have come and I actually don't dread teaching them now :)

-Chihchat

Growing up so quickly

One of my younger classes that I've had when I first came to Taiwan is now in K8, an upper level class since K classes go up to level K12. I can't believe already that they have reached K8 since I taught them at the end of K4. Each level lasts about 3 months so it makes sense that they are already up to K8 but it's pretty shocking. I feel like they have gotten older although only 10 months have passed. I'm just pretty sentimental since they are growing up quickly and already improving on their English :)

-Chihchat

Heat Rash

I went to the flora expo again but this time with my coworker. We went to all four sites and it was great weather as it was sunny and windy but the problem was I got major sunburn. I didn't realize it until I was itchy and scratching my skin. I saw that I started to get a rash and it hurt really badly! It's getting much warmer now since spring is approaching and I need to realize that it's easier for me to get a sunburn since I'm in Taipei. I'm glad though that I went to the flora expo twice and that I survived it. Pictures from the expo are above! The first picture is of me with one of the mascots (like the Shanghai Expo in China), my coworker and I with the popular head shot pictures, and some of the pretty gardens.

One interesting and weird thing that happened at the expo was when we asked a person, who is there to assist people, how to get the fourth site. The first thing he said was "Why are you going there?" We looked at him in puzzlement since obviously we wanted to go there to look at the exhibits. Then he said have you gone to the other two sites? He said they are much better and they are more things to see. I said yes and then he told us how to get to the site. It was pretty strange! It's like what I've experienced many times before and blogged about and that is Taiwan commentary. As I said before, Taiwanese people tend to be blunt and say what they think and sometimes you just wonder, why are you telling me your opinion and I don't care! lol

Another example of this "Taiwan commentary" is when I went to the expo yesterday morning by myself. I was at this flower maze and I asked this lady to take a picture of me. She then asked me if I wanted to take a picture with another background since the flowers weren't so bright. I go no, I want to take a picture of this since I like the colors. Her comment was very subtle but also really surprising. You don't expect it and then you wonder why they would say it lol I know they are being helpful but it's sometimes too much!

-Chihchat

Flora Expo...finally!

My aunt and uncle gave me two free day passes to go to the Flora Exposition that was opened in November. It ends next Mon. and I finally went this morning. I never had the time to go and I heard a lot of horror stories that the lines were too long and it was just crowded. There are four expo sites and I only went to two. I didn't go to any of the special exhibitions and I just walked around which took me about 1 1/2 hours. I'm going tomorrow to the other 2 spots with my coworker. Pictures are above. The flowers were pretty cool and at one site, they had areas which represented different countries. For the American site they showcased cowboy hats, Montana, and Idaho potato stuff animals. I thought it was pretty funny. The lines were outrageous though. People would wait for hours just to go into one of the special exhibitions. I'm glad I can finally say I went since I kept putting it off until now.

-Chihchat

Lazy/Rainy Day

This morning I got up early to do some errands and in my apartment I have no windows. My room has been pretty warm since I don't have any windows and if I wanted to see what the weather was like, I just need to go to the balcony which is through my other roommate's room but her doorknob has been broken and you need to climb through the window to unlock it lol Since I'm lazy and I had to get up early, I just decided to wing it and wear shorts and a shirt. I figured it would be nice and sunny since the past couple days it's been pretty hot. Was I WRONG!

I left the apartment and it was cloudy and a little drizzling but I was too lazy and tired to walk back to my apartment and change my clothes or get a umbrella. I also didn't bring a umbrella with me since I forgot but I wouldn't be out for too long. After awhile it started to downpour badly and I was soppy wet. It was pretty miserable and people were staring at me haha That's what I get for not looking at the weather but it's so inconstant in Taipei. At least I wasn't out for too long although my hair was dripping wet when I went home and I had to change clothes. I need to stop being so lazy!

-Chihchat

Not sleeping in for awhile

I've been subbing for my coworker these past couple of Sats. early morning since he's on vacation. Today was the last day to sub and I was happy that I was looking forward to sleeping in a little bit since I usually work at 10am since I sub at 9am. But when I was heading upstairs for my lunch break, my boss asked me to sub for my other coworker at 9am on Sat. morning. Ahh! I mean, I know they will sub for me once I'm on vacation and it's extra money but it's nice to sleep in :)

-Chihchat

Storybooks

For my half-day class their project is making their own storybooks. I let them work in pairs and they have to create a 8pg story. Each page is supposed to have 4 sents. although I've been pretty lenient if they only write 2-3 sents, depending how good the sent is. I read the stories and I'm really surprised how gruesome they are! They are about 9-10 years old and some of their stories they made up are about someone being killed or taken by pirates. It's pretty shocking and the details are pretty intense but it's still a good story. I'm proud of them though for writing a detailed story in English since Chinese is their native language but I wish the plots weren't so intense lol

-Chihchat

Haircut change?

Today my coworker went with me to get my haircut. She is Taiwanese and I wanted her to go with me because the last time I went to get my haircut, the hair stylist thought it was best to cut my hair differently and I wish I had someone to help me explain what I wanted. I got there first since my coworker had something to do beforehand and I did figure out what I wanted. She came and then talked to the hair stylist but the hair stylist suggested another hairdo because I would have to style my hair everyday if I wanted the haircut that I wanted. I ended up just doing regular layers with bangs but actually my hair wasn't too long or awful since I still had my layers intact. She styled it though and I definitely looked different if my hair is styled lol The haircut was so cheap though! It only cost me $9USD so I'm not complaining at all. I just don't know if it really was a big change unless I style it but I'm lazy and I teach everyday so I put it up anyways. Also, it's getting warmer so definitely my hair will be up more lol

On a side note: it's exactly 10 months since I've been in Taipei! I can't believe it. Only 2 more months until I reach the one year mark. I have to stay here until Aug. 1 because of my taxes and I don't really know what I'm doing next year for sure but I can't believe I've been almost here for 1 year!!

-Chihchat

New glasses effect

My students can be pretty silly but today they were sillier because I was wearing glasses. Some of them would start laughing or point and go "Teacher Lilly!" I had others ask me if I had contacts and some students would just look at me and keep laughing. I never knew how if I changed my "look" my students would react so much. It's one thing to say that I was wearing glasses but some would just keep laughing. They are strange, strange students lol

-Chihchat

Trying to wear contacts

I bought one day disposable contacts this past Sun. and this morning I tried to put them on but I failed. I tried for about 15 mins and I just couldn't do it. I don't know why it's hard for me to put them in. I didn't have that much time this morning but I will try this weekend when I have more time and don't feel so rushed. It's so annoying because I don't know why it's hard for me! I feel it's so much better to wear contacts so I don't have to wear glasses and when I drive my car I don't have to worry about putting my glasses on (although I'm not driving a car here in Taipei). Oh well..hopefully I will be more successful this weekend! lol

-Chihchat

New tea bottle

I stopped drinking pop when I started living in Taipei and I'm actually really surprised that I was able to do it. I drank pop most of all my life and I'm pretty much addicted in drinking Coke. One of the reasons why it's easier for me to stop drinking pop is because there is a such a great tea selection in Taipei. Tea is cheaper, tastes better, and is healthier. It's also easily accessible and it's real tea..not like Arizona tea that tastes more like juice.

I've been drinking green tea every day and only drink coffee when I need the energy. I usually drink two bottles but the most wonderful thing happened today. I went to Familymart and they now sell bigger bottles of my favorite tea. So now instead of buying two bottles, I can buy just one big bottle haha It's not really that big of a deal but I really wanted them to sell a bigger size and I didn't think they would. I only found it at Familymart though and I haven't looked at the other convenient stores. Hopefully they all start selling them :)

-Chihchat

I can see!!!

I've wanted to get glasses ever since I arrived in Taipei but I didn't have the money, time, or courage to get them. Although I would have gotten them a couple of months ago, Drew and I finally got them. Not only did I get just one pair of glasses, I also got another pair and contacts. I never tried using contacts before and I'm nervous to wear them. I bought the cheap, one day disposable kind just in case I can't handle it. The glasses were super cheap and it only took about 4 hours to get them. The deal was buy one pair, the second pair's frames are free. I only paid for two pairs of glasses, including my eye check-up without having to see my insurance card totaling up to about $70USD. I even got a cheaper discount because one of my glasses had a scratch on the frames. That's pretty cheap and Drew got one pair of his glasses for only $18USD!

I mentioned courage because the worker (salesperson) likes to follow you around and hound you to death. Also, my Chinese isn't the best, especially with eye terminology so I would have been nervous and confused if they were speaking to me in Chinese about my eyes. Between me and Drew, we can understand 95% of what the person is speaking in Chinese lol

It's insane how cheap getting glasses is in Taipei. My mom was afraid of me getting the glasses in Taipei because of the quality but she thought it was because I spent $70NT. Then I told her how much it was in US money and she thought it was expensive lol I'm pretty happy though because I got one pair, yes, purple colored with a cute design on the arms, and the other pair is black on the outside and lavender in the inside. Another thing I like about Taipei is that they have more styles, designs, and colors for glasses. Taiwan's fashion is pretty trendy and crazy and their glasses are just the same. Drew and I even saw wooden framed glasses! I'm also proud that I could do the eye exam in Chinese. The guy was very patient and he understood what we meant and were trying to say.

I used to hate putting on my glasses but now I'm excited to wear them and to be able to see clearly. My eyesight isn't that bad but I should be wearing glasses so I won't strain my eyes. I don't think I will put on my contacts yet because I want to wear my glasses tomorrow lol Our helper even gave me a purple glasses case and Drew a blue one which are both our favorite colors lol

Today was a busy day since Drew and I went shopping all day to buy many different, random things and we went to Guanghua which is called the digital plaza. Basically it sells mostly every electronic or part you can think of. I bought a USB plug-in adapter for my Ipod so on vacation I can charge my Ipod by plugging it in the wall instead of my computer. I had no idea they even existed! A funny thing I realized this afternoon is that many stores here don't really sell cotton balls. I need it for my mosquito balls and I only saw Q-tips. I heard you can only get it in the pharmacy stores. That surprised me though because I thought cotton balls are common.

-Chihchat

Your English is good right?

Today my boss asked me if I wanted to work extra hours and help edit material for the new books that will be used for our half-day class. I was surprised she asked me but she remembered me telling her that my English was good. She then asked me again if my English was good and I didn't really know how to answer that. I told her it's okay but I mean I would want to work with someone and not just by myself. I will be working with a couple of my coworkers so it would be a collaborative thing. I'm not sure of all the details since she wanted to see if I was interested. I think it would be a great opportunity to do something alongside with teaching and to improve my English grammar. I talked to my coworker and I guess my boss asked her if my English was good haha My coworker said..I guess so? LOL But my coworker told me that what they think is the most important is that we have the creativity to make up games and activities for teachers. I'm excited to see what this new job will entail.

-Chihchat

Nice surprise

Tonight I was teaching my favorite A-12 class and two of my students bought me a tea drink. I thought that was really nice of them. They also bought a drink for my Chinese teacher. I really like this class and this is one of the reasons why I would be really sad leaving Taipei because I love teaching them. They have the desire and passion to learn English and I can actually talk to them and have a conversation. They are in middle school and they are so well-behaved. I wish all my classes were like them! lol

-Chihchat

Hugging Teacher Lilly

My Mon. night class which is now switched on Thurs. is still pretty crazy. They are all very young and they basically can't sit in their sit. They run around, erase things on the board, and just don't pay attention. They are a slower class and they are younger so although I yell at them, I just have to keep reminding myself that they are kids.

The weirdest and by far one of the craziest moments that for teaching was one of my students coming up to me and hugging me. One of the students, Cody, wasn't in class today and one of my students asked me where he was and said that I ate him. Then he said it again then came up to me and started rubbing my stomach and said that Cody was in my belly. Then I was like um Patrick stop. Then he came up to me again and rubbed my belly. Everyone in class was yelling that he was hugging Teacher Lilly. Yeah, I told him to stop but I really didn't yell because I didn't want him to squeeze me or something and honestly, what's the point of yelling? It's hard when he's practically attacking my belly lol It definitely was a weird moment indeed. I don't know what's sadder, the fact that my class is so chaotic that one of my students would start to touch my belly or that I don't even care hahaha

-Chihchat

It's okay..it's Green Island!

As I mentioned before, my coworkers and I went on a short vacation to Green Island which is just an island off the southern coast of Taiwan. We left on Sat. night on a "harrowing" train ride quoted from my coworker. It was pretty intense to say the least since the train was packed, and I mean packed. Many people were traveling because of the holiday and it was so jammed since there are no limited number of tickets so basically a lot of people are trying to jam into one train. We were so squished that my coworkers let some people sit on their laps! We luckily had seat tickets so we had seats since we had to be on train for 6 hours. We left Sat. night at 11pm and arrived to Taitung (Taidong-pronounced this way) at 6am.

We then took a ferry to Green Island. The ferry ride wasn't so rocky but some of my coworkers and I got a little bit seasick. One of my friends gets motion sickness super bad so she didn't feel well. We were going to be picked up by our hotel company but since they didn't have enough room in the car, they wanted us to ride scooters. We were planning to drive scooters but I thought I would have time to practice. There were 6 of us but we needed 3 people to drive the scooters. My roommate could do it although he has never driven one. My other coworker knows how to drive a scooter. I tried driving it but I didn't so well and I was practicing on a busy road where there was also a marathon going on. I thought I would have time to practice on a empty parking lot. Anyway since I didn't do so well the lady wouldn't let us rent the scooters, well only to the girls but we would still need another person to drive us around. Luckily there was a big van and it was stickshift but Drew could drive it lol I was bummed at first but it's fine since I don't want to endanger my life or someone else's. Also, the next couple of days rained and the weather wasn't the greatest so driving a van was pretty nice so we could stay warm.

When we reached the hotel, we all passed out. We took a 4 hour nap lol We got there around 11am and we finally woke up around 2:30pm. We looked around and got some snack food at nearby food stands. We drove around and checked out the beach. We then got dinner and we went back to the hotel to go to the night tour that was offered from the hotel. But the thing was that everyone was driving scooters and the tour was in Chinese. It was hard to follow them since it was night so it was super dark. We lost them since we were driving and manuevering in our big van and we couldn't find our group lol We eventually found them and we were checking out this cave but we couldn't see anything since it was crowded and everything was in Chinese so we just left. It sucked that we couldn't ride our van but actually it was nice that we all could be together. Then we got some desserts and then went to bed early for the next day.

The next day we got up super early to go scuba diving. I am pretty scared of water but I wanted to go scuba diving. It was fine in the beginning when we were getting ready to go. But when I was in the water, my regulator (the tube I breath oxygen from) had a hole so they wanted me to use Drew's regulator. But that also meant that I had to stick close with Drew since we were sharing the same oxygen tank. Drew didn't want to do it and I wasn't comfortable either and I kept telling the guy that I want to go back and they finally let us. He thought I was being nervous but I was like no, we can't share the same tank. It was scary though since we were talking in the ocean where the current was pretty bad so we kept bobbing up and down.

My other friend's regulator wasn't working well but she ended up being okay. Then I went again and I was fine as we went underwater but then I didn't grip the regulator good enough with my motuh and I started to swallow water. I freaked out and then I had to go back up to the surface. I was freaking out. I thought I wasn't going to make it lol I know it's a psychological thinking too but it was scary as I was only breathing in water and not air. My scuba diving person said are you ready to go down again? I was like uhh hold on a sec! lol But yes, I managed to go down again and I was fine although I wasn't really enjoying myself since I was getting light headed, my ears hurt, and I wasn't used to breathing through the tube. I barely fed the fish haha

But I'm glad to say that I scuba dived :)Then we went to a nice hot spring outside which is awesome but it was so windy that the water wasn't super hot or anything. Then we drove around the island which only takes about 20-30 mins. We climbed up this small walkway called "The Little Great Wall of China." It has an extraordinary view of the mountains and the beach. Then we ate at an all you can eat BBQ for only $250 NT which is about $7USD. The food selection wasn't the greatest but everyone on the island had great sashimi (raw fish) and of course seafood. We then went shopping for a bit and saw this cool stand where they sold engravings of rings and stamps. We bought some stuff there then we went to a small restaurant to get some drinks. We went home that night and I ended up passing out right away lol

I woke up at 6am wondering where I was at since I was still in my clothes and it was dark lol I couldn't believe I passed out lol We left early to go back to the ferry and the weather was bad. It was windy and rainy and so the water was really chopping. Luckily Drew had strong medicine and we all didn't get sick but we were super drowsy. We then had to take 2 trains but after the ferry we had a 2 hour time span so we went to a cow farm. It definitely reminded me of Iowa. It was crazy to see cows near the mountains lol It also looked like Switzerland and Germany. We got home close to 7pm last night.

Some interesting things I saw on the trip:

-a real deer tied to a store outside selling deer jerky
-seaweed desserts, especially on ice
-a store with the name of a bad word (F***) and having tons of slang words although they were playing tradition Taiwanese music inside
-a former prison that was used for political prisoners in the 80s-90s
-animals being tied up
-a nude boy with his family on the beach (Drew thinks they were French-no pun intended, Drew knows French lol)

Today is my busy day at work but surprisingly I wasn't tired at all. I'm used to teaching and I slept a lot on the train and last night too. It was a great time and I really liked the island. The reason why this blog is titled "It's okay..it's Green Island" is because people there are super laid back and there are no really laws. People were driving around in scooters without helmets and you can really park anywhere and no one would care. Kids are walking on the busy streets and it just seemed like no one cared about anything. So everytime we worried about something or something happened, we would say it's okay..it's just Green Island!

Pictures above are just from the trip. The first picture is the first day we were there and I'm showing my shirt that says in Chinese "Taiwan." I'm at the beach. The second picture is of the hot spring outside. The third picture is a group picture of us near the "Little Great Wall of China", and the last picture is of the "Sleeping Beauty" rock where it looks like sleeping beauty laying on the side of her head. The hole is where her neck is. I can't wait for my upcoming trip next month!

-Chihchat

3-day weekend getaway

There was no school this past Mon. and Tues and people didn't have to work because of tomb sweeping day. This holiday is where people pay respects to their ancestors who have already died and they "sweep" or clean their gravesites and give them offerings. It's a national holiday and since the holiday landed close to the weekend, we decided to go on a short vacation to Green Island which is off the southern coast of Taiwan. I just came home tonight and have to work tomorrow. I can't believe tomorrow is Wed. already lol I will blog what I did these past couple of days on tomorrow's blog. This trip was definitely a fun and exciting and I'm sad it's over. I think the hardest part of coming back from vacation is when it's over and returning back to our normal lives haha

-Chihchat

April Fool's Day

I have never met anyone that loved April Fool's Day so much until I met Drew. He told me the pranks he has done before in the past and I knew I had to worry since he was telling me to be careful for Friday. This morning I was very cautious as I got up early and slowly crept to the bathroom. I instantly saw a rubber rat on the toilet. I wasn't scared since he scared me before with rubber rats. Then the internet wasn't working so I thought he had something to do with it since he knows the password for the Internet router but it wasn't him, the Internet connection was just slow. I had to figure out my taxes since I'm filing my American taxes electronically since I was having problems.

It was frustrating because I thought I got them all filed and done with but then I saw that the adjusted gross income was incorrect and I just needed to use the correct income for last year. The only problem was I lost my tax slip from last year and to contact IRS, I was using Skype which is hard because it's lagged so when I do touch-dial using the keypad, it lags for a couple of mins and sometimes it won't connect. I had to have my sister call them for me and it stunk because my camera wasn't working and I couldn't skype with my sister and mom this morning as well.

Then I went back to the bathroom, I saw that Drew put bubble wrap underneath the toilet lid. I saw it though so it was no biggie. Then he texts me to get his glasses in the bathroom. I knew it was a prank since the door was closed so I kicked it open and he covered a broomstick with his clothes and made a fake man out of it. That didn't scare me so I thought it was over and I was smart since I didn't fall for any of his pranks.

BUT then right before my 4:30 class, my boss comes in and tells everyone that we have to take an English proficiency test. The thing though was that the test was super hard and it didn't make any sense. Also, there were cuss words on the test and the last 4 questions had no correct answer. Then my other Taiwanese coworker comes in and tells me that the inspector is here and that my coworker Cat and I have to pretend to be Taiwanese because we can't have teachers that look Chinese and teach English. So she was trying to teach us 2 Chinese sentences. I was really stressed since I had to finish this test and then my coworker tells me to learn these two Chinese sentences.

Then my boss told me the inspector was here to check everything. I was really nervous since the inspector was asking around the table who was Taiwanese. Then she asked my coworker Cat where she lived in Chinese. Cat doesn't know any Chinese and she had to pretend to speak Chinese. She didn't know what to say but she just said "yes" in Chinese. I was thinking in my head, oh no..because she would know that she can't speak Chinese. Then I spoke up and said we live together. Then she asked me where I lived and asked me how long I taught English. I responded everything in Chinese but I was getting nervous and flustered and she said in Chinese "just arrived" and I fell for the trap but saying I just arrived but to cover it up I lied and said I was going on vacation in America and just came back.

Then I just looked at Audrey and said Audrey..then Audrey talked to the inspector and she said she will come back later. Then she left and then my boss comes back and says to me, Lilly I have something to tell you. APRIL FOOLS! O-M-G! I was in SHOCK! Everyone in the office knew..well Cat had some idea but she didn't know the inspector was real but she wasn't scared like me at all. Drew made up the test and did it on purpose to make it nonsensical. Then they were reading my answers on the test. There was even an essay on the back lol

I was shaking and my half-day students mostly saw everything since I was late for class and the classroom was nearby. They heard me speak Chinese lol They said my Chinese was pretty good. I really couldn't teach for awhile since I was so shaken up. I ended up speaking to my students about it and it was actually a fun night since my half-day class is pretty naughty but since they knew what happened, it was actually okay today since they knew I wasn't myself lol

I will admit..it was a very good prank. I applaud my boss, Drew, and my coworkers in tricking me. They did a good job since Drew wanted my boss to make it sound like everyone was easily filling out the test to make me feel like it was taking me forever and I would be in a rush which I was! I guess Drew thought of the fake test, my coworker thought of having me learn Chinese sentences, and Audrey decided to have the "inspector" come. I don't know if I can ever handle another day like this lol

It didn't just end with the inspector though. Drew messed with the autocorrect on the computer so if you type "the" then it will autocorrect to "egg" and "has" would be "crabs." Also a "." would be "!". Some people didn't get it but some people right away knew that Drew did it since everyone knows he loves pulling pranks and this day. I swear, it seems like it's his favorite holiday. He was even tricking his students lol

To top of my night, I had to get a hold of the IRS to figure out my income taxes and luckily I did although my microphone wasn't working well. I'm glad I got that done though. And now I'm waiting for American Idol and the elimination results since two people have to leave. Oh what a day!!

-Chihchat