好? ok?

I was running tonight and usually I would get stares since I would be running the track and wearing a tank top. Like I said before, it's pretty unusual to see young Taiwanese people exercising, especially girls. Although it's the first day of November, it was really nice out today. It was in the lower 70s, partly sunny, and super nice. But Taiwanese people still think it's cold and they would were wearing winter coats today. The heaters were on in the subway and I was sweating once again lol

Anyway so tonight I was running on the track in the elementary school and of course I would get stares and people would look at me funny since I'm wearing shorts and a tank top in November. Well while I was running there were some older women walking on the track. They were walking in the outer lane which is also the lane where I run. I was running for awhile and they just got on the track when a lady said "miss" in Chinese. I wasn't paying attention since I was running but I slowed down a bit and she told me something and I didn't quite catch it since I was still running so I yelled at ok in Chinese "hao" (好). Then I heard her talking to the other ladies on the track and saying how I was American and discussing something about English and Chinese.

So I understood the first sentence she said but for the second sentence there are 3 things that I'm not quite sure. These are the possibilities:

1) Slow down. You don't need to run so fast! Take it easy.
2) Slow down. Don't run so fast when you pass me.
3) Slow down. There are children near the track.

Yeah..so I don't really know what she said but I just yelled out okay and I don't know if she thought that was rude of me. After we talked, she walked one more lap and then her and the other ladies got off the track. I hope I didn't upset them but on the other hand I was annoyed that she stopped me from running. I was running pretty fast and I felt it was rude that she broke up my pace to tell me something unimportant..unless it was important? I guess I could have stopped and asked again, emphasizing "I could have" lol

Anyway it's getting cooler and rainy outside so I might need to start running in a gym. Then later after my run I went to one of my fav. restaurants because they serve really good hot and sour soup for a cheap deal. The owner and I talk all the time when I'm there and she asked me if I was cold tonight. I said no, I just got done running. Her husband thought it was so weird lol Yes, it's crazy to run in November with a tank top and shorts but the weather is so nice out! They are very spoiled with this tropical weather.

-Chihchat

Happy Halloween-"Hot Garbage"

It's finally Halloween! I went out last night to a couple of bars with Drew and our coworker. I had a different out than that day. At school I was garbage lady but at night I called myself "hot garbage." I guess I could have been Lady Gaga too since she would wear something crazy like this. Anyway when we got to the hot spot, there were long lines to some places and there were people who dressed up although it's not a huge thing like in America of course. We saw some interesting costumes like Obama, Elmo, and a person who made their own carriage to carry, selling betel nuts. Those were the unique funny ones while there were a lot of other common costumes like police officers, nurses, pirates, and belly dancers. Drew was a big hit. He was a banana and we would hear people say banana in English and in Chinese. There were also some people who took a picture with him since he was a banana lol Drew was carrying around bananas and were eating them haha One guy yelled out "Peanut butter jelly time!" lol The bar we went to was pretty cool as it had some good Halloween deals and you can gamble there too. It also had a patio but there was no dance floor and although it was all nice and fancy, it wasn't the greatest bar ever. Pictures above are from last night and my night, scary version of my costume.

Today was a relaxing day. I just went with Cala to do some errands and we went to SOGO, a big department store, and had dinner and bought groceries since Cala has a craving to make chili, which by the way she is having the hardest time since it's not common that people here eat or make chili. I wonder if they even know what it is.. lol

-Chihchat

Halloween festivities

I've been blogging about Halloween, and although it's technically not even Halloween yet, it will finally be in a couple of hours. Today I worked all day and all of the foreign teachers had to dress up today to celebrate Halloween. It was a good day and the kids were distracted but it turned out to be okay lol Also there are a lot of October birthdays and although my coworkers already celebrated my birthday, I once again had a birthday celebration since we were celebrating all 6 October birthdays. I never knew so many October birthdays and it's crazy that most of my coworkers' birthdays are in October. Some people didn't know who I was and some called me the garbage lady. It was funny because I would use my outfit to help me teach my lesson like what color is it and I would point to one of my items on my outfit. Some of my students kept calling me garbage but it was okay lol I don't mind :)

Pictures above are just from today at work. The last picture my coworker wanted to swing my head quickly like a model lol

-Chihchat

Pre-Halloween

Today I went to work early to prep for classes and grade homework. There is a special Halloween parade event for the students that meet during half-day classes today which was this afternoon. My class didn't have to participate because they meet at a later time and they are older. They've done it before so they were happy that they didn't have to do it. My coworkers dressed up and now I'm getting excited for tomorrow.

I was thinking about it this now although it happened a couple of days ago but one of my students who is about 10 years old asked me if I had facebook and if we could be facebook friends. Then another one of my students who is about the same age also talked about it. I asked them how they could be on it since they are too young but they lied about their age. I just couldn't believe they know about facebook and they have it. I didn't tell her my name because I don't want her to find me. I think it's so strange. I wouldn't mind if I was a professor and my college student wanted to be my facebook friend but I can't be friends with my 10 year Taiwanese student! It's too crazy for me to think about it!

-Chihchat

Spatial retardation strikes again!

Cala and I went to Carrefour this morning, a Walmart like store, to buy some groceries and cleaning supplies. We were going home from the subway and going up the escalator. There are two lanes: one where you can stand and the other to walk. Cala and I were both standing in the standing lane and I was carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies and Cala was carrying a big bag of groceries. I was ahead of Cala and I wasn't balanced right and then this lady who was in the other lane all of a sudden decided to stand right in front of me but it's not like she just stepped in. She tried to grab on the railing and forced me to move back but I wasn't balanced on my step and I almost fell. The thing that was frustrating the most was that she never said one word nor cared to even look at me. I was sooo angry. I really wanted to say something or tap her on the shoulder but I bit my tongue. I just went "UGH" really loud but of course she didn't look back. I just couldn't believe it. It was weird too because while Cala and I were shopping in the import aisle (Western food), this girl with weird eye makeup (she had red triangles on the corner of her eyes) would get in our way and then just look at us. She kept looking at us and then get in our way while we were trying to find something. It was very frustrating and she kept repeatedly doing it and just look at us for 2 mins. Then after the subway incident, we were crossing the street and I safely crossed the street but Cala waited for the scooter to pass by but he instead just slowed down and stopped right in front of her so she couldn't walk. Then Drew went to McDonalds and some lady budged in front of him and my coworker saw it.

Besides venting about Taiwanese people, I mentioned a little bit about how Taiwanese people think Americans eat a lot (no brainer) but it was funny because last week Drew had a box of nerds from his U.S. vacation. Our Taiwanese coworker came over and we wanted her to try it so I poured a couple in my hand and she picks up one nerd piece. Drew and I looked at each other and we told her she can grab more but she said, "No I'm fine. Wow it's so sweet!" We were in shock and I poured a handful and ate it and she thought I was so weird to eat so many nerds. I don't even know how that one piece of nerd that was big as a period of a sentence could be satisfying but oh well haha

-Chihchat

Who is your father's wife?

In my K7 class today they had a party/review day which is the last day of the K7level. For the first hour you review the oral exam and the second hour they do final test corrections and then get to bring food if they want. For the oral review they wanted to play basketball. I just asked them a question and they had to answer the question then throw the basketball in the basket. It was funny because I asked, "Who is your father's wife?" They were competing against one another and they had to answer quickly and one of my slower students said, "My father's wife is my grandmother." Everyone was laughing and rolling on the floor and I couldn't help but I laughed too. I tried to say stop but it was way too funny and I actually couldn't stop laughing. I know he didn't mean it but at least he took it well and laughed too.

-Chihchat

Found a Halloween costume right at my own apartment

This morning I went to Ximending to look at some Halloween costumes. There are a lot of stores where you can rent costumes. It's pretty cheap to rent one, the lowest only costing about $6USD. But after much thinking, I decided that I don't really want to worry about renting a costume and I was debating about several "costumes" that I can make at home. My first idea was to be an Olympic runner. Honestly, it's just me being lazy but I was just going to wear my running shorts and tank tops since not that many people here wear them and I was going to have my coworker design a sign with the Olympic emblem, my name "Teacher Lilly," and my favorite number 7 that I can put on my tank top. BUT then I realized that Halloween is this weekend and I want to go out and wearing tennis shoes wouldn't be the best to wear. My other idea was to be garbage. I have a big black garbage sack and I can make an outfit out of it and just add, well garbage, to my outfit. After much contemplation at the Halloween store, I decided to become garbage lol I don't know why I've been stressing myself out about my Halloween costume since the students or my coworkers don't care but I'm glad I found one. I made my outfit tonight and I have two different tops, a jacket and a sash. I will wear the jacket at school and the sash when I go out. My hat is a gift bag that my friend gave me for my birthday. It was fun just adding garbage to my outfit. I decided to call myself "hot garbage" lol I'm excited for Halloween now but I will admit, it's a very fragile outfit and it definitely looks like a Lady Gaga outfit.

I was supposed to have my one-on-one tutoring tonight but the student cancelled since he doesn't feel well so I had another full day off today. It's getting colder and it's so crazy how Taiwanese people react to the "cold." It's been rainy and cold lately and today I was wearing a shirt, shorts, and flip flops. Granted I didn't see what the weather was like this morning but it wasn't too cold. I would say it was around high 60s, low 70s. People were wearing winter jackets and boots. One person was wearing gloves. I couldn't believe it. At the Halloween store there was a lady wearing a purple Columbia winter jacket, the same one that I have. I was in shock. Even while I was waiting at the MRT for the subway, the heaters were on and I was sweating. It is a lot cooler than the summer and tonight was pretty chilly after my run but it's definitely not cold enough to wear winter jackets! I know this winter it will get cold but I will not miss the snow whatsoever.

-Chihchat