Cha cha slide

What did we teach today? Oh, that would be the cha cha slide.

Yes, really. And yes, that's all. Our lesson (after the handing-back and grading of finals), consisted of these videos:

...and a few more, one of which involved a stick figure. Also, me teaching them what to do for "clap," "to the left," "to the right," "stomp," "hop," "reverse," "criss-cross," "hands on your knees," and, of course, "cha cha." I didn't bother explaining "Charlie Brown," because who knows what that's all about, anyway?

Also apparently hilarious--it left the last class of the day in stitches, anyway--was "cha cha now ya'll." Because, when spoken quickly, it apparently sounds like "cha cha 奶油"--which would , admittedly, be a pretty funny song lyric.

In the process of the day, I also managed to capture this wonderful scene: our Internet failed while we were watching the Crazy Frog video above, and these boys decided dancing with the video meant stopping when, and how, it did. Not the best quality, but shows a bit of the fun. :)

A Last, a First,and a Doctor

Well, here I am again, serving up a title--and day--to which my writing/motivation for writing will not even remotely do justice. But I mean, really, what did I expect, channeling a C.S. Lewis title when beginning a blog post at 1am with my eyes already half shut?

Anyway, I'll do my best. Here, in a nutshell, was my day.

A Last

I woke up this morning sad--and more than a little sleepy. I instantly gave up on caring how I looked today and reset my alarm, but still, 8am found me at the front of the Hanmin 3rd floor meeting room, looking out at a sea of tiny faces for the last time. This week marked my last-ever Morning English, and it was with 1st graders, teaching them words like "cartoons" and "animals" and--their favorite--"candy." They were precious, and I didn't mind remotely that we didn't make it more than 2/3 of the way through the lesson--I just wished, for their sakes, we had made it to the videos.

Morning English has been, for me, something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's the single most freedom I've had in my duties while here: I get to teach what I want, how I want, and so have been able to incorporate themes like going to the movies, and phrases like "What's up?" in my lesson plans. In addition, through Morning English I get to teach every single Hanmin student, 1st-6th grade, at least once a semester. And the kids really like it, what with my being a novelty and us throwing prizes at them for every answer and everything. So, for that, it's wonderful.

On the other hand, it's meant fighting horrific traffic and horrendously-timed stoplights every week, in order to complete my long commute by no later than 8am--and believe me, I've come within minutes of missing that mark more often than not. I'm not exactly what you'd call a morning person. (Just check the time stamps of every single blog post I've ever written, if you want proof.)

And now it's over, both good and bad. The worst of it is that it is a last, another last adding to the countdown till I'm done teaching (16 days--ahhh!) and leave Taiwan for good (35 days). Farewell, Morning English--you may be missed.

A First

As an added gripe this morning, after I finished Morning English, I had 2 hours to wait before I had anything else official to do. Normally I have an hour--Morning English ends at 8:30, and my first class is at 9:30--but this morning my classes had finals (yep, they do finals in elementary schools here) in their first class period, so I had nothing until 10:25am. So, in the meantime, I sat in the subject teachers' office and chatted with Maggie, Alison, and Fiona.

Around 9am, I was mid-sentence talking to Fiona, when I saw her eyes grow large; out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alison get up quickly and go to look at something.

"What is it?" I asked.
"Earthquake--don't you feel it?"

Nope. No, I did not. Even after having Alison, Fiona and Maggie all confirm that the ground was moving, and focusing all of my thoughts on being able to feel my first-ever earthquake, I felt it for maybe 2 seconds right before it stopped. If I had been alone, I doubt I would have ever known. Which seems to me as though it might not bode well for my sense of balance...

Anyway, the earthquake damaged nothing and no one anywhere in Taiwan (I checked), and didn't so much as put a dash of concern on anyone's face. Business as usual here. (Really, though--the report I linked above says this was a normal release of pressure.) Pretty anticlimactic, really--but at least I can say I've experienced an earthquake now, and no one was injured in the process!

A Doctor

Yes, in theory this could refer to the copious amounts of Doctor Who I've been watching lately, but that is not the case. Nope, today Analicia, Fonda and I went to a local dermatologist--and I will never be able to take myself seriously ever again.

I don't mean that the visit was funny or ridiculous in any particular way--though I couldn't quite help myself from chuckling as the dermatologist told Analicia she should wear sunscreen and a hat and a mask and a jacket and bring an umbrella every day. I just mean that I kind of knew from the start that was probably the advice we'd be getting, and I felt myself unintentionally joining the ranks of the skin-obsessed Taiwanese culture.

(For the record, I went to check out an odd mark on my skin--which turned out to be nothing, like I was figuring/hoping--and because healthcare is nationalized here, so the visit cost me $5USD out-of-pocket.)

So yes, I have now been to a Taiwanese dermatologist. But I'll keep my skin tanned anyway, thank you very much.

Like I said, this blog post is kind of short shrift. But, for today, anyway, it's the best that I can do--but at least it was an interesting day!

Eggs in baskets

I mentioned Sunday that I recently made a three-year plan for myself. In a flurry of excitement, I mapped out a potential three years spanning several states and, quite possibly, continents, and which included anywhere from 1-3 grad school programs. It was exciting. It was fun. It was so incredibly unrealistic.

Part of that was implied, of course--I can't seem to help myself from wanting to prepare for every possible contingency. Putting all my eggs in one basket has never been a temptation for me. I know I won't get to do everything on my list; it's physically impossible for me to do so, and that's the way I like it.

But. I now have a separate browser window with five tabs in it perpetually open, daring me to begin. Five tabs, innumerable tasks within: one program application for this year (including 3 recommendations to be gotten, for some of which I don't know whom to ask); one job application for this year (which I really really want, and so am paralyzed from actually applying for, lest I am refused); one scholarship application for next year (read: turn in this year, complete with dozens of essays, responses, resumes, recommendations, and of course transcript-getting, with a very slim chance of success); one grad school-ish program for next summer (applications aren't open yet, but I need to do more research); one page of the top 50 MFA programs in America for next year (to sort through and determine which are worth applying to--and then cue the actual portfolio preparation and application process).

My next step: send a couple of emails. Shouldn't be that hard. Really shouldn't be that hard. But something in me doesn't want to start the process; doesn't want to wade into that pile of paperwork and admit that it's actually time to move forward, time to make another major decision about my life, time to get back to reality. Reality is scary. Reality is scary when you don't have a plan, and it's even scarier when you do, but that plan requires dozens of hard-to-move pieces to come into perfect alignment--or else, failure.

But of course I have to--and I will, if only because failure comes inevitably to those who don't move forward. I'll find a way to move forward, and I'll find a way to make at least one of my contingency plans work, or else I'll invent more until something works.

And in the meantime, I'll sit down and write an email. It's not three years, but it's a start.

I suppose

I suppose
it could be said
that
everyone lives life
behind a wall--

shut in and shut out;
that's just how
it goes.

And if
that's so, the question
is--
did we build the wall, or
did others?

And if
it was us, why, and
how high
should it be
and who given
the key;

And if
it was others, how, and
why so high--
and does the key
belong to them
or me?

But yet
does not the wall
protect, not
just exclude? Encircling
us like a cozy feather
boa--
unless they squeeze
too tight.

Poetry is the facet of writing to which I've devoted the least of my time. I did a fiction track in college; now, looking potentially at getting an MFA, I find myself ignoring programs' poetry scores altogether. When I want to express myself, I don't sit down to write a poem; when I'm feeling creative, my creativity almost always runs in the fiction or non-fiction bent.

(This is undoubtedly evident in today's poor showing.)

BUT, I was in a free verse sort of mood, and with no particularly interesting tidbits of nonfiction for you today, and without yet having found a way to incorporate fiction in a blog setting, I thought you might appreciate a momentary departure from the norm. And poetry (when done right, NOT as I have done) can be moving, rich, and absolutely wonderful to read--so I thought I'd pay a poor tribute to it today.

Flurry

To look at today, you wouldn't exactly describe it as a "flurry." I didn't leave the house until almost 7pm; until then, I was mostly sitting at my computer or cleaning.

But that's just it! All day, I was sitting at my computer or cleaning! I guess I should clarify at this point that my computer-sitting today was, in fact, productive; I finished editing a chapter of a thesis I'm working on (just under deadline, I might add), I cleaned the apartment, and I posted the month-and-a-half's worth of photos that I'd fallen behind on (links here and here). And I made a three-year plan for myself. And I washed my sheets. AND I got to talk to my Mom for a while. It was great!

I've determined that, for me, Sundays have become a last-ditch productivity day. Every weekend, I have X amount of stuff I need to get done. Every Friday, I take a weak stab at it and then give myself the rest of the day off--after all, it's the weekend! Every Saturday, I tell myself I'm going to get a lot done--and that lasts right about until my alarm goes off in the morning. I get a good-ish sized chunk done, but inevitably leave myself with more to do than I should have--and that's where Sunday comes in. I must thrive on tight deadlines or something, because Sunday is, pretty much without fail, my single most productive day of the week in any given week. So, hooray!

I could have posted a "hooray"-like picture here...But how much cooler is a picture of my Buzz Lightyear band-aid???

From Karina's camera: hands-down my favorite photo from our last weekend in Taipei. :)

Thai Food and Mental Floss

Mostly, today consisted of me telling myself how much I needed to get done, and then failing to actually do it. But I'll spare you the details.

Tonight, Rachel, Chialing, Ariel (an ETA from last year who spent this year studying in Taipei) and I went to an absolutely adorable Thai restaurant down by the Banana Pier, where we gorged ourselves on green curry (my favorite), some sort of pork mash (Chialing's favorite, which we teased her for), coconut milk-seafood soup (Ariel's favorite, maybe?), pickled cucumbers (Rachel's perennial favorite), stewed cabbage, and empty heart vegetable (EVERYONE's favorite). Afterwards, we all agreed we were stuffed.

So, naturally, we all then set out to get ice cream. Not right away, of course; we made a little detour to the Love River to walk, sit, chat, and let our food digest. BUT THEN! Ice cream. And waffles. Obviously.

Question for my American readers: do we have ice cream with waffles in the States? I can't remember ordering it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not a thing there. Is it? It DEFINITELY is here, as is ice cream inside "toast," aka a loaf of hollowed-out bread.

Anyway, at a great little place just a block off one of my main routes but which I'd never seen before (also discovered on the back roads: another Smokey Joe's!), we got two waffle/ice cream combos, one chocolate banana and the other blueberry, and enjoyed them while smacking at mosquitoes and getting excited about how cold our metal chairs were (summer is here, for sure).

In all, a great night.

But where does the "mental floss" of the title come in, you wonder? Well. That would be via Sporcle.com, my latest easy-to-justify waste of time. Their website includes lots of things that I haven't yet explored; what I have explored, repeatedly, is their geography quizzes. Surprise surprise: I, like most Americans, have unfortunately never had a proper geography education, and therefore when I began quizzing myself I sucked.

However, as of about a half hour ago, I had a breakthrough: all 48 countries in Asia named in less than a minute. (Now, if only I could get the East coast of Africa straight in my mind...) So now I'm challenging you: how are you at geography? Click here and let me know how you do.

Beware of the Middle East, tiny countries and the hard-to-spell "stans"...

Lasts

Today after school, I got my scooter oil changed, filled up my gas tank, grabbed Subway for lunch, and stopped by my bank to transfer rent money into Rachel's account. Why am I telling you all this? Well because, as I stood in line at the ATM at the bank, I realized: I was paying June's rent. June's rent. As in, the last regular rent I'll pay in Taiwan.

And so, the march of the lasts continues. Retrospectively, I can say, too, that I've had my last oil change, and had my last payday. From here on out, in fact, I'll have to be vigilant if I don't want to miss them: lasts will keep on flying at me, whether I notice them or not, as the countdown to America begins. (41 days, by the way.)

And lasts are usually sad. Though those today weren't--last time I have to shell out for new oil or my living space? Hooray!--you can pretty well expect this blog to get more nostalgic as we move forward, though always complemented with stifled excitement for things like my car, American food, and the ability to communicate. (And, you know, my family and friends and stuff, but that goes without saying. :) )

But before we get to that, I thought I'd share a nice little video from one of my favorite YouTube-ers that I found today, a video with which I quite identify. For all the introverts reading this, enjoy the similarities and validation. For all the extroverts, watch and learn!