Cafe Logic

I don't know what it is, whether my PNW upbringing or college experience or just my categorizing nature, but it never fails that I get more work done in coffee shops than anywhere else. It doesn't really matter how badly something needs to get done, if I sit down to work on it at home--itself a big "if"--I will inevitably be crippled by a wave of procrastination, obstinacy, and not-caring. If, on the other hand, I step out of the house and to the nearest coffee shop, what I have to do suddenly becomes the most important thing in the world to me, and I finish it in no time whatsoever.

Let's take today for example. I woke up lazy. I ate breakfast. I hauled out my computer and stared at it for a while.

Then I had an epiphany. "Wait," I thought, "I have those coupons to Starbucks that Maggie sent me! Let's go try those out!"

I packed my computer, planner, two notebooks, headphones, and a pen into my trusty Thai bag (it never ceases to amaze me how much I need to be productive--or how much that bag will hold), and set off down the street to the local Starbucks. (Yes, I have a local Starbucks. Two within walking distance, actually--what else would I move halfway around the world from Seattle to find?) There, I discovered that, miracle of miracles, the person working there (her name tag said her English name was "Lacey") spoke great English! (Though I've been told that Starbucks employees here are all required to know all the drink names in English, in my experience that's not always the case, and since in Chinese my ability to order drops to about 4 drinks, it's always a pleasure to find someone who can understand me in English.)

So, armed with a (free!!!) tall caramel macchiatto and a (not free) cookie, I found an open table and sat down to work. And work I did! All afternoon, on all the projects which had repulsed me over the past few days whenever I tried to work on them at home. Yet, within just a few hours, they were all either done or mostly done, pending information I'd left at home (or left online, since the Starbucks Internet was not agreeing with my computer).

It's amazing, really. And, for my wallet's sake (once these coupons run out, that is) I wish it weren't true. But it is. My brain runs on cafe logic, and without a cafe, it's useless, adrift without motivation. So, who wants another coffee?

Despite

Today featured an odd but lovely mixture of emotions and experiences. Discipline played a key role, yet I felt calm, not stressed. Homesickness made a cameo appearance, yet today I lived thoroughly like a local. I got a lot done, and yet it felt relaxing.

In other words, it was a good day despite and because of itself.

I made my way back to church this morning, and discovered that large groups of foreigners makes me genuinely anxious now--they were pooling on the sidewalk outside the church as I drove up, and it felt so so wrong for absolutely no reason. Also on the way, I realized that the shave ice place I visited last night with my host family is literally just a few blocks from my church.

In church, my love for being there was offset by my longing to be back at City Church, and the (sorry) horrible music during worship made me miss my bass, which I hadn't thought about playing in ages. For some bizarre reason, I also developed an intense craving for a  pulled pork or BBQ beef sandwich, which of course I can't fulfill here.

Post-church was a stream of errands and duties: I stopped by a Starbucks in a (failed) search for a mug, located and scoured the local 小北 store for a cheap lightweight bag (to send back with my oh-so-wonderful brother who's now in Taipei :) ) and vinegar, then making a second stop at a cooking store when I couldn't find food coloring at 小北. (On a side note, between my stops and Rachel's generosity, we're set to dye eggs at school this week!)

Then it was home to research, plan for and design worksheets for my tutoring session tonight. (Special practice tonight: conditional statements like "If I had a million dollars, I would travel more.") And, once tutoring was over (much earlier than usual, since we both happened to be early to the coffee shop), Rachel and I cornered the 7-11 staff into helping us retrieve our train tickets for this week, with some success, and then were cornered ourselves by a Taiwanese photography teacher asking us to be her models!

So yeah, it was a full day, and one in which nothing, neither my emotions nor my physical self, stayed stagnant for long... and apparently, that's the best way to make an average day great!

Average

Today was average--ie, for the purpose of blogging, it was boring. I taught. I came home. I went to the gym. I wasted time online, and reaffirmed my suspicion that even the Internet is getting boring from too much use.

The only things of note, as always, were points of human connection. Before classes, I was able to chat briefly with my mom and my older brother, Alex, and at greater length with my younger brother, Scott. It had been too long, and it was great to catch up on his life and tell him about mine. I've said it before, but I do love Skype!

Tonight was nice, too, as I got to chat with a couple of guy friends from Seattle, both of whom happened to be on way late--it was 3am there when we started talking; near 5am when we stopped--and so were on in time to chat with me at normal time, while none of my non-time-zone-restricted friends were on. I love the backwardness of how being far away sometimes actually facilitates conversations.

And that was it! Pretty average day; I won't waste any more of your time with it.

Possibilities

In a little over four months, I will no longer be living in Taiwan. July 11 is my official departure date; I'll be boarding a plane here in Kaohsiung at 9pm and, through the magic of airplanes and time zones, arriving back home just before midnight on the same day. And I've processed that, to the extent that I can this far in advance. What I haven't processed, however, is that I have no idea what I'm going back to--or even where.

Now, my first few weeks are covered: home with my wonderful family who I haven't seen in a year. I'll also be catching up with all the friends I haven't seen in ages, which will certainly include at least one trip to Seattle. But after that? A giant looming question mark with the terrifying label of "unemployed."

That's not the goal, of course. The goal is to get a job, preferably before I even board the plane at this end. But where? The more I think about it, the more I realize the possibilities are truly endless. Seattle? New York? London? Redding? Each of these places holds at least one very good reason I should move/move back there; each involves a unique process by which I should proceed; each of them is, in its own way, terrifying.

Really, the very prospect of choosing is terrifying.

Of course, the real choice will be wherever I get a job. But now, four months out, before it's really feasible to ask any company to wait for me, all I can do is stew in the terrifying state of uncertainty which is choice.

Rain-scented room

My room smells like rain. I opened the window after I went out for dinner at 7, way over-dressed in a sweatshirt and jacket (it was in the 70s today, but my brain still thinks it should be colder) and discovered that the outside was actually warmer than my bedroom. Now, just past midnight and hours past when I meant to leave the window open, my room is still warm despite my oversight--and it smells like rain. Simply lovely.

Growing up, I never knew what rain smelled like--which is odd, given that it rained continually where I grew up. Maybe that was part of the problem. At any rate, I would constantly hear the grown-ups around me talking about how much they loved the smell of rain and I would just sniff a bit and think, "Really? I don't smell anything..."

I can't remember when I first became aware of the smell of rain, but once I did, there was no going back: I love it. Sweet and earthy, crisp, vivacious...it makes me think of home. So having a room filled with that smell, running through the fresh and just-warm-enough air from outside, just about makes my night.

Thing 12:
I tried out a new restaurant for dinner tonight--one that, unlike many of my one new things on here, I've actually been meaning to try for a long time. I pass it whenever I go to the gym or to the gas station, its little green "O2" sign a constant glowing memory that, oh yeah, I should eat there sometime.

And tonight I did! I was on an accidental walking tour of the neighborhood (mishaps with my ATM card led me back to the bank proper), and it was open, and I was starving, so I decided to give it a go. Great idea! Grapefruit juice and pesto bacon spaghetti (I ordered the chicken, but I won't squabble too much) with fresh bell peppers and broccoli mixed in for 130NT--wonderful.

Blessings and pain...and a party

I've been looking back through my photos from this year, and realizing just how much I've been blessed lately.

I know that probably looks bizarre and/or egotistical in print, but please don't take it that way. That's not my intention at all. It's just that,  going along my merry business here in Taiwan, exploring the countryside, getting to know my host family and co-teachers, celebrating the holidays (all of them, Western and Taiwanese) here, and puddle-jumping over to Thailand for a bit, I caught myself losing sight of what an enormous privilege it is for me to be here in the stress and little details--and that is completely unacceptable. Day-to-day life can sometimes obscure the fact by its sheer inanity, but the truth is that I am enormously blessed to be here, and I don't want to forget that. It's humbling.

So, rather than yammer on about the minutiae of my daily life, I thought I'd offer up this blog as a thank-you. Because, ultimately, the navel-gazing that this blog sometimes (unfortunately) becomes has no place in the midst of all these blessings. They have nothing to do with me, and I am not in the slightest bit worthy of them. All I can do is look back at them and be grateful for the opportunities I have been given.

If you've made it this far in the blog, you've realized that I'm in a contemplative mood; that means that, even when looking at my blessings here, I can't help but look at the things (or, more accurately, people) missing. Like my brothers. And my parents. And my friends in Corvallis and Seattle and Eugene--and Chicago and DC and everywhere else they've scattered to that I don't even know about, thanks to my own round-the-globe move. I miss them acutely tonight, for no apparent reason other than that I do.

So there it is: the two-edged sword of my existence here. Humblingly great experiences coupled with the neverending knowledge of something missing. I wish they could be separated, but they can't.

...

Lest you think I'm getting too emo on you, though, here it is, today's one new thing!

Thing 12:
I went to a party at Professor Spring's house! This was new on several levels, really:

• I am on a party-attending, first-name-using, almost-peer basis with a professor;
• I attended a party hosted by a Taiwanese person who is not a member of my host family;
• I rode in an elevator with a dog (Spring has 3; 2 were there, and we wanted to see the roof!);
• I saw fireworks over the Love River (from a distance, of course);
• There are probably several more reasons but I'm too tired to think of them right now.

The party was great! Spring cooked for us, a massive Taiwanese meal rich with crispy veggies (a rarity here; I feasted on a fresh stir-fryed carrot, green bean and snap pea mix!), sumptuous duck, Zuoying specialty dumplings, a delicious cabbage-and-pork dish, and far too many other things to describe in any detail. The point was, it was lovely. After we ate, as I described earlier, we went up to the roof and watched the nightly fireworks they shoot over the Love River for the Lantern Festival, then came down and chatted with Spring about her life, her dogs, and various controversial things supplied by Brittany and Steven. (Actual recreated exchange: Brittany: "Let's talk about something controversial!" Steven: "I'm ready. Say something controversial!")

So yeah. Pretty great evening.

Brief, wet, and wonderful

Up till now, our weekends in Taipei have been WEEKENDS: we get there Friday afternoon and leave Sunday evening. This weekend, by contrast, was quite short: we got there Friday evening and left Saturday afternoon. Which leaves me in the unique and oddly comforting position of being back home in Kaohsiung on Saturday night, with a full day of adventures behind me and a full day of rest ahead of me. It's a nice feeling.

This morning came too early, but I was able to drag myself out of bed with the promise of our freaking amazing hotel shower--which had 6 shower heads. Perhaps it's odd how much I've talked about the bathroom at this hotel, but perhaps it's entirely normal once you've been living for a few months with a so-so shower with so-so water pressure and a so-so temperature gauge. I don't know. All I know is, to quote my brother Scott (who is in turn quoting the movie Hot Rod): "The bathrooms here are NUTS!"

Seriously, though, it's hard to AVOID commenting on this thing...

Also, there was a cat asleep on the ledge outside our window this morning.

Anyway, after breakfast, we split up--Karina had to go back to Kaohsiung early for a wedding, and I joined forces with Fonda, Emily, Rachel and Samia and set out on one of the most weather-uncooperative trips we've had so far, right up there with Kenting. (Honestly, I have yet to be proven wrong on my 'personal rain cloud' theory...maybe there's something there!)

When we left Taipei it was warm; I immediately regretted wearing jeans and a light scarf and jacket (still wishful thinking about Taipei weather), and we ended up walking for a good 40 minutes before we found our bus stop--only to have the bus loop around and go directly past one of the first places we saw. Sigh.

The drive to 九份 (Jiufen) was an adventure in itself, along a windy mountain road in a massive bus and fog banks closing in around us and others. In the brief interludes between clouds, we could see parts of the ocean where it joined the green mountains we were in. When we finally reached the top, it was beautiful.

Also, there was an English sheepdog there. He was getting about as much attention as the view.

 Also, it then began pouring rain. And I do mean pouring. We went down the main shopping alleyway, which was sporadically covered or partially covered with various roofs, but without fail these would give way to an open sky pouring water down on everyone. It became a jostling war of umbrellas, in which I learned that being *slightly* taller than everyone is a terrible thing: when your umbrella goes over theirs, a stream of water inevitably finds some dry portion of your clothing to soak.

And here I re-discovered what I've always known about long pants and rain: they're a terrible combination. By halfway through our journey, my jeans were soaked to the knees and my shoes, like everyone else's, were squelchingly full of water.

All that to say, though, it was a blast! Rain notwithstanding, we got some great pictures (on Fonda's camera), saw a hilarious kung-fu parody rehearsal in the old movie theater, ate some yummy grilled onion jelly stuff and (for Rachel and I) marinated meat rice, then ate some traditional yam-and-taro-and-sticky-rice-in-sauce concoction, and then some traditional Taiwanese ice cream with shaved peanuts wrapped in some sort of crepe. After all, if you don't eat traditional food somewhere, you didn't really visit! I wasn't a huge fan of the taro/yam stuff, but everything else was scrumptious.

I'm just gonna have to go back sometime when it's not raining.

The ride back and journey home was less than pleasant, with rain still pouring and clothes still soaked as we walked from our hotel to the MRT station, but I wouldn't have traded the experience for a "perfect" one. It was an adventure! And now, sitting warm and cozy in my apartment in Kaohsiung this weekend, it's nice to have an adventure already under my belt.

Clash and coherence

Living in Taiwan has been an interesting mixture of things that seem totally normal and things that seem totally insane.

This afternoon at Qing-Shan, I helped administer our students' oral midterm exams. It fell in the insane category.

When Patty and I talked about it last week, she gave me the general structure and plan: we would each take half of the class and, one by one, ask them questions from the "self introduction" worksheet they filled out earlier in the term. Things like "What's your name?" "How old are you?" "What's your favorite color?" in addition to harder ones like "When is your birthday?" and "What's your constellation?" We decided on a grading rubric and were, so far as I knew, set.

So today in the first class of the day, after calling roll (which does, incidentally, involve the students replying "My name is..." when I call their name, which I thought would make that question awfully easy), I settled into my chair in the corner with my notebook, pen and class list and waited for the students to come to me.

And they did. In droves. Patty had told them they could come in groups of three, but almost as soon as students number 2, 4, and 6 (I was doing the even numbers, Patty was doing the odd) dropped onto their stools, Jack began hovering behind them. I told him, politely but firmly, that he couldn't come until it was his turn (he's number 20, so he had a while to wait), but no sooner had he left than Michael and two or three other boys took his place. I drove them off, and Jack was back with a few friends. I was no longer feeling quite so patient now, having had to interrupt my interview with the poor girl whose turn it was several times already to drive off the gawkers, and yet even as Jack and co "left"--that is, took a good two or maybe three steps back--a flood of newcomers filled their places.

Add to this the fact that I had inadvertently positioned myself directly across from the microphone speaker, and the fact that nervous 6th grade kids are not exactly known for speaking loudly, any more than rowdy 6th grade kids are known for being quiet, and you have an extremely frustrated Teacher Bekah. By the end of class, I was practically yelling at the kids who kept coming back, no matter what I did.

"JACK. I HAVE TOLD YOU SIX TIMES NOW THAT YOU CAN'T BE HERE UNTIL IT'S YOUR TURN. GO WAIT SOMEWHERE ELSE." Turn back to the student I'm testing, and seconds later he's at her elbow again, making it impossible for me to hear whether or not she can actually say the sentence "I like to play table tennis."

That class period ended up running into, and then entirely through, the 10 minute inter-class break, and I was still finishing up with the last few students as the next class came pouring in, chorusing "May I come in?" at the door.

The second and third classes went a little better, after I asked Patty to announce that only two people at a time were allowed to come to where I was testing people and the kids, for the most part, followed this new rule. She told me that the kids wanted to hear what their classmates were saying, which I understand, and maybe it's just a 6th grade thing, but it seemed utterly bizarre to me that it would be normal to be allowed to sit in with--and sometimes, give massive help to--other students who are in the middle of a test. I do understand the cultural norm to see school achievement as a public feat--test scores posted, etc--but even so, this seemed like a wild stretch to me. Oh, the joys of assimilating American values with Taiwanese ones.

But this clash was nicely offset for me with what happened after school: I got my first non-American haircut. Evelyn recommended a salon to me, and Fonda was gracious enough to make me an appointment and come along with me so we could tell the hair dresser what I did--and, more importantly, what I didn't--want. Before I came here, my hairdresser in Seattle (who I absolutely love) warned me not to let them thin my hair too much--I have thin hair to begin with, and in the context of a nation of people whose hair tends to be the exact opposite, I could easily envision disaster happening.

This foreboding was not exactly assuaged when a fellow Marist alum who lives in Taipei noticed my Facebook status calling for haircut help and told me " [It] doesn't matter if your Chinese is superb or their English is spot on; i hate to be the messenger, but you are in for an interesting conclusion to hair. i've never asked for a "mo-hawk", yet I still receive. the secret is learning to cope and adapt..."

When Fonda and I arrived at the hair salon, however, I was instantly struck by how an up-class salon is an up-class salon no matter where you are.The prices, however, are pleasantly different. (Haircuts have been my favorite splurge for the past two years in Seattle.) 

Just like at home, upon sitting down I was offered tea and coffee, then taken to another room where they washed my hair and massaged my head. And on this, they outperformed Seattle on every single level. The wash/massage must have lasted at least a half hour, and I never wanted it to stop. I'm actually considering seeing how much it costs just for this service alone...


Aherm. Anyway, the lady who washed my hair/gave me the best head massage of my life then took me back to my chair--and left. Turns out, here in Taiwan they don't multitask, they delegate. So the lady who greeted me and washed my hair did only that. Then the hair dresser--the guy with the actual scissors--came over, and as I handed over the hair photos I kept from my favorite haircut thus far, Fonda explained it and told him that my hair was thin and didn't need to be made more so. "I know," he said in English, sounding slightly offended at the implication, which actually did wonders for my confidence in his abilities.

And, in fashion, he fit the young-urban-male-hairdresser style seen everywhere. (Not pictured: his tight low cut tank top with a cardigan layered over it.)

Over the course of the haircut, I discovered that A Len (pronounced like the more ordinary "Allen" but spelled this way because...it's cool, I guess?) does actually speak some passable English, and he laughed at me for not wanting to change my hair style--just like I've had multiple hairdressers in the US do. Love the continuity of derision!


After the cut there was more delegation--another lady whose job it is to blow dry and style hair, and another who brings the bill--and then the hair dresser was back to finish up his clips, hand me his business card(s, in case I have friends who need haircuts :) ) and send me on my way.


All in all, a successful encounter, and all for the low price of $600 NT! So, you know, FANTASTIC salon experience for $20US. Take THAT, Super Cuts!

Final results--sorry for the crappy webcam/florescent lighting combo

Whenever you spend an extensive period of time in a different culture, you're bound to uncover things between them that don't quite add up--that is, after all, why they call it a cultural exchange: each side has something different to give! But the more exciting, and more prevalent, thing you discover are how similar all people are to all other people.

Today did an excellent job of summing up the experience of living in another culture: insanity and familiarity, clash and coherence.

My kids

Technically, I don't have any kids. I'm not a mom; I'm not even an aunt or anything. But over the last four or five years, I've taken care of, and cared deeply about, numerous kids and, as I've observed pretty much my whole life, seeing my mom in her role as a teacher, when you spend enough time and care enough about the kids you work with, you can't help but think of them as 'yours.'

So really, I've had quite a few kids. In the parks program, there was a whole posse of them, and I thought I got the whole 'my kids' thing. Then I started college and began nannying, and realized I had been wrong.

'My kids' in Seattle are Ian and Sam, who I watched grow up from ages 6 and 4 when I started college to 11 and 9 when I finished, and Sophia and Isabel, who I watched grow up from ages 9 and 7 to 13 and 11. Being involved in these kids lives was fantastic; I loved getting to hear about their most recent sports exploits, drive them to music practice, play with them on the playground, and generally just get to be a presence in their lives. Having the privilege to hang out with them always outweighed whatever else I had going on; we always had so much fun together, and I felt like a part of their families. Just thinking about them makes me smile. I love those kids a lot, and I really miss them this year.

And that's not to mention the kids I watched in Seattle for shorter periods of time, and who I also cared, and care, a lot about--Matthew and Kaitlin, Scotty and Erin, Allie and Gigi, Finn and Devin, Janie and Meg, Johanna and Philip. (Incidentally, two is undoubtedly the number of choice in Seattle!) They're all, in a way, 'my kids.'

Now I'm a teacher in Taiwan. And that, of course, comes with its own whole group of 'my kids,' on a whole different scale--550-some of them, now. And, like a parent, I want to show them off. Therefore, I give you--long-lost (eh, a few months old...) videos.

So...yes. This was, in fact, the longest, sappiest introduction of YouTube clips ever written. But it also all happens to be true. :)

This first clip is from when I was just observing, before I even began teaching; it's the kids doing phonics--and sounding like a room full of crickets in the mean time!

 

And, in this one, we were playing a game where I would say "'I'm going to the..." and they had to run to the right flashcard/item. At the end, the kids in the front row trick their classmate into going to the wrong item--hence the laughter. :)

Finally, here's the special class of dancers learning an English chant and attempting to keep a beat with various musical instruments--to a chant which, really, was never that rhythmic to begin with.

I love all my kids--hope you enjoy the little snippets of them that I can give you here!

Rain, rain, lovely rain

You know you're a Northwest native when a weather forecast of 24*C and rainy all week not only doesn't dampen your spirits, it lifts them--and that even when you have to drive 20-30 minutes to and from school every day.

So this morning, I donned my full-body 7-11 poncho, covered it with my full-head helmet, hopped aboard my scooter and set out for Siaogang with a smile on my face. It was raining, yes, but it was raining like it rains in Seattle: a slow and constant drizzle. When coupled with pretty decent waterproof gear and a temperature of 75*F, it was actually quite pleasant.

The only real problem was, of course, the back-splash effect; imagine what you have happen with your car on the freeway, then imagine that you're on a scooter. Still, not too terrible an outcome.

When I arrived at school, I couldn't help but think of home as I heard the steady, comforting patter of raindrops on the large plastic cover over Qingshan's central courtyard. It wasn't *quite* cold enough, but I still felt like curling up near a fire somewhere with a book and a big cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Yet, for some reason, everyone else here is complaining about the rain. It's been going on for a few days now, yes, but it's just drizzling most of the time! Must be the "all the time" part--the very thing that I'm most used to and which few other parts of the country experience. I got a little worried today in the late afternoon, when a thunder-and-lightning storm started up, together with heavier rain, but both finished up before I had to leave, so no harm, no foul. All in all, it's just been a wonderful little reminder of home.

With that reminder, though, comes the recognition of the other little things that should be accompanying rain in the fall--rotting leaves, for instance. Not particularly pleasant things in themselves, but together with frost-bitten nights that leave ice on car windshields in the morning, the cold bite of air when you first inhale outside in the morning, and the welcome comfort of thick hot soups and steaming beverages, they spell fall--a fall we simply miss out on here.

So far, November is my favorite month in Taiwan: a little cooler, and now this wonderfully light and constant misting. It's still not home, but it's something. So, for now, let it rain!

Poser

You know, it's been a while since I've pulled up my empty blog post and have not been able to think of anything I really wanted to write about. But, I guess part of that is that I use this blog primarily as a place to tell big news or talk about major (and usually positive) developments in my life.

But the truth is that not everything that happens in my life gets posted on this blog. Part of this is for the obvious reasons: no time, a desire for privacy for myself and for others in my life, a very acute understanding that this is arguably the most public forum in existence, and that here more than anywhere else my dad's credo that you shouldn't write anything you wouldn't want someone else reading is 100% applicable.

Another reason, though, is that I don't like admitting weakness.

And weakness, in this context, means anything even remotely resembling homesickness.

So what did I do today? I came home from school with a desperate need for food and familiarity. I grabbed my Amazon Kindle (Amazon: not just American, but Seattle-based!) and headed across the street to Brunch Cafe, which, with its soft music, free wifi, aloof view of traffic outside, and overall atmosphere of cool casualness, is the closest thing I can find here to a Seattle coffee shop. (There's also a Starbucks nearby, but having a familiar chain with unfamiliar aspects like no garbage cans is almost worse--plus it's a chain.) Once there, I enjoyed a dinner of a chicken sandwich (I miss sandwiches!) and almond hot chocolate (I miss almond-flavored drinks, and the need for hot beverages in November!) while I sat and read the New Yorker.

In essence, I took every conceivable stereotype of Seattlites and embodied them, for a little while, all by myself here in Kaohsiung. I neglected to wear my hipster glasses, but I may as well have gone all-out in plaid and skinny jeans.

After dinner, I swung by a local grocery store to pick up some coffee, some peanut butter, and some Ocean Spray cranberry juice. I then went to a fruit stand to purchase, not mangoes or pineapples or papayas, but oranges, and apples. And not just any apples: Washington apples.

I already posted, indirectly, about missing people back home. And I was warned, time and time again, that I would experience culture shock over here.

But here's the thing: this isn't culture shock. I'm not reacting against anything here, even those aspects (for example, the traffic rules) which seem entirely nonsensical from a Western perspective. I still love Kaohsiung, quirks included. Rather, I'm simply missing various aspects of my life in Seattle, from stupid little things like it being cold (who misses that??) to, of course, not having to struggle for each sentence in order to communicate with any but a handful of people.

So there it is: I'm a Kaohsiung inhabitant posing as a Seattlite, or a Seattlite posing as a Kaohsiung inhabitant. Who's to say which, really; this process will probably reverse itself in a year, when I'm back in the rainy coffee shop culture of Seattle. But in the meantime I'll revel in my little moments of weakness here in Kaohsiung. And maybe I'll even share them on occasion--because, positive or not, they are a major force in my life.

Friday night

...is not all that exciting. After a week of Halloween festivities and teaching, when Friday rolls around all I really want to do is sit around, and read, and watch TV, and sleep.

This was called to my attention today with the arrival of Nick, a former Fulbrighter in China whom we met in Taipei, arriving at our apartment for the night. His arrival was the most eventful part of the day (closely rivaled by Skyping with my parents and brother, whom I hadn't seen in months); sitting around our kitchen table and chatting with him, Brittany and Rachel was the biggest social event I've experienced for a while.

Is that weird? Maybe. Is it the truth of my existence here? Yes.

I've mentioned it before, but my social life here is essentially nonexistent. My phone contains 22 names and phone numbers, 11 of whom are my fellow ETAs, 3 of whom are my LETs, 2 of whom are other Fulbright people, and 3 of whom are my host family. When you boil it down, that right there is my social circle: pretty tiny. And teaching is great, but it's tiring, and by the time I get home, I don't really feel like going out again.

It's times like these that I wish there weren't a time difference, so I could at least get in touch with my friends back home; Facebook and email only work up to a certain point, and then only if the friends check as often as I do, which is all but impossible. In truth, most of my friends have never been big Facebook users, a fact I simply forgot when there were other ways to get a hold of them, such as walking down the hallway or calling their cell.

The irony of my writing this post on this particular Friday night is that I do actually have plans tomorrow--an art exhibit with Maggie and another colleague, Fiona, in the morning, and dinner with my host family in the evening.

But right now it's Friday night, and all I want to do is sleep.

New Levels

As has been my MO for Sundays in Taiwan not spent traveling, today I did absolutely nothing for the majority of the day, then set out in the late afternoon to try out a new church.

The new church, New Life Bilingual Church, was pretty good--different from any I'd been to, since it was fully bilingual (every song and sentence and verse went between English and Mandarin). Most of the service, though, I was just trying to come to terms with the fact that I will probably not find a church here that in any way parallels the amazingness of my home church in Seattle. This is not to disparage any churches here, New Life included--the City Church is just hard to compete with. Not, of course that church-building is a competition...maybe I'll just try to throw down the shovel here and stop writing.

Also during church, I saw my banker from Seattle, a lady from my parents' church in Eugene, someone who was at the AIT reading I did, the friend of a friend in Seattle, and one of the heads of the State Department who I met in Washington, DC. The thing is, none of these people were actually there. And no, I'm not hallucinating: I've simply somehow arrived at the point where all Westerners look the same to me.

In high school, my dear friend Emma, who was from South Korea, told me that we (and by we she meant us Americans) all look alike to her. I was dumbfounded, and quizzed her on this statement: what about our different hair colors? What about our different eye colors? What about our different skin tones? I could not imagine how it was possible that such a homogenous group as Americans are could all look the same.

Yet, here I am, just a few months into living in Taiwan, and everyone I see looks like someone else I know. I've always had a tendency to find resemblances where no one else could (you'll note that I *did not say* this means the similarities don't exist, BY THE WAY, just that I see them easier than others do), and now, apparently, as the Western population shrinks, this tendency grows. After all, there aren't THAT many Westerners in Kaohsiung, so there is usually a pretty good chance that anyone I meet at least has a mutual friend with me.

Still, when I told Karina (who was sitting next to me), she burst out laughing. "Maybe they ALL came to your AIT reading!" she said.

Maybe it was bad that we were sitting in church making jokes. But this was an unusual and unexpectedly monumental shift in perspective--a new level of acclimatization, if you will--and thus well worth noting.

The Little Things

Two meanings hidden in the title, there. The first one is quite prosaic: this blog will be a "little thing." The other is more contemplative, though cliche: it's the little things in life that make the difference.

Again, a double meaning: little details are often those that make any given day memorable and special, and little details are often those that cause, for me, a pang of homesickness.

To elaborate briefly on the latter. This weekend in Taipei has been full of little reminders of home, little things which remind me of different features of the Northwest, or of people there whom I love. The rain and clouds, and the cooler temperature: Oregon and Washington. Hiking in the rain: family camping trips with Mom. Hot springs: Belknap, and Dad's inability to overheat.

A pot of hot milk tea: an afternoon in Anna's cottage in Seattle with homemade Chai. A crazy bohemian shop full of tie-die: downtown Eugene with Erin and Sarah. Modern Toilet: Melanie made me promise to eat there while I was here. "Jar of Hearts" on Tom's phone: Elizabeth and Annika. Taken together, it's amazing how a vibrant, bustling Asian metropolis can consist of so many small reminders of life in the Pacific Northwest. I've noticed this phenomena in Kaohsiung, too, but this weekend has had more moments like this than normal. I haven't hit any real culture shock since I've been here, and I haven't hit any homesickness ruts, but I have had a constant smattering of these little moments that remind me of the people and places I've left behind for a while.

But the little things work for the positive, and for the here and now, as well. The smell of waffles haunting our stroll down by the river at 淡水 (Tamsui); Karina's notebook of quotes from the weekend; our awkward foreigners-in-two-piece moments at 新北投 (Xinbeitou Hot Springs); debating when (and where) the sun would set while riding the gondola up 貓空 (Maokong); eavesdropping on the ladies switching between Mandarin and Taiwanese at the table next to us at dinner as we admired the gorgeous night view of Taipei; finally getting our waffles at the tea house on top and almost missing the last gondola down; Tom almost getting caught in the closing MRT doors (his face made it funny, not horrific, I promise); Karina running into a descending metal gate as Rachel and I yelled that it was closing; realizing that, in a mere two days, we'd used up our $400NT EasyPasses by riding the MRT lines from end to end.

And that was my day, in a nutshell. Tomorrow is the National Day, and we have stuff early in the morning, so now it's off to bed for me--since yet another little thing that I treasure is sleep.

More Rain

On the assumption that the weather would be better today, our plan was to wake up at 7:30 this morning and head straight over to the hot springs so we could get one more thing out of our trip. But when we woke up at 7:30, we found our window being pelted by rain and wind, even worse than yesterday.

So we went back to sleep. And we tried again at 10:30. And went back to sleep. And again at 11:30--when we finally decided to get up, considering that check-out was at noon, and our scooters had to be back by 1:30.

Of course, the rain had only gone from bad to worse in this time, so in the six or so blocks from the hostel to the rental place, we were absolutely, completely, totally drenched. My raincoat did next to nothing at this point, and I was just glad I'd packed my laptop next to my back and beneath several layers of towel and clothes. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't be typing on it now.

Back in Kaohsiung, it was still raining, and I had my last cup of coffee from my first pound of Zoka's coffee I brought with me from Seattle. Wishing I'd brought more, but I guess I'll see what my options are when I actually run out, probably towards the beginning of December.

So it's been a slow, rainy day in all, with nothing to report but a constant dampness and some travel. Hopefully next Kenting trip will have better weather and the cool stories!

The Gym

The gym is suddenly quite a large part of my life, for the first time ever. I've been every day for the last three days; today was 2 hours, beginning with an hour personal training test-run. I feel so accomplished! And also so sore.

Today was odd for me, and oddly revolved around the gym. I woke up around 8:45, on the understanding that the painters would be here at 9 to paint our rooms, and I would flee to the gym's 10 o'clock fitness yoga class to escape the fumes. Yeah...that did not happen. I realized that a) I didn't really want to go anywhere, b) I didn't have a yoga mat, and c) I had an appointment for later and didn't want to be too exhausted for that.

Instead, I spent the morning lounging about my room and reading, in turns, my email, my Facebook, my Bible, and my new Kindle version of the New Yorker (Oct. 3 issue--LOVE LOVE LOVE Kindle subscriptions, for the record). And it was lovely--means I should wake up at the proper time every Thursday!

After school, then, I had like 20 minutes at home (during which I scarfed several handfuls of nuts, since I had only eaten an apple for lunch) before I had my scheduled meeting at the Fitness Factory with Gaudin.

Oh, Gaudin. He was great! He speaks some English--better than he thinks but not fluent--and he put me on this body mass/make-up analyzer and then explained to me that I'm pretty average, but that I could stand to lose a little fat and gain a little muscle. (To which my question is--why else would you go to a gym?) He then had me walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes while chatting with me (actually a welcome distraction--and another of his clients came in who had studied in Bellevue, Washington, so I got a little moment to talk about how amazing Seattle is!), then taught me how to use a bunch of the leg/back/chest machines.

As "homework," he told me to do the treadmill/elliptical for 40 minutes, trying to keep my heart rate in the weight loss range. Then, while I was doing this, he came over and told me to speed up! Getting mixed messages here...

Not entirely sure whether I'll be able to do personal training going forward (this one was a one-time complimentary feature of the gym), but I will definitely grab hold of the things he taught me and start adding machines into my gym regimen.

And I have a regimen now! I've discovered the secret to making myself work out: pay for it, don't do too much too fast, and make sure there are individual TVs attached to the elliptical machines. I'm not going to lie, I think that last one is what is making it easy--as long as I don't think about the fact that I'm working, all I really notice is the endorphin rush when I'm done, with the added bonus of getting to feel healthy. :)

I'm thinking I'll add a Zumba class on Sundays and, if I can get up next time, Thursday morning fitness yoga.

So yeah, the gym is great! For the first time ever.

Discoveries

Tonight, Karina and I decided to go check out Kaohsiung International Church--you know, the one which we tried to find the first weekend, only to have a doorman at an apartment building where we were trying to ask directions tell us that we weren't in Kaohsiung anymore. (He was wrong.)

This time, though, we went by scooter (first time driving with someone on the back--discovered I could do it--success!), and looked up and wrote down directions ahead of time. Only parking was an issue, since the street the church is on is under construction and I fail, in general, in getting my scooter into parking spaces. But, even with that little drama, we ended up in the church five minutes before service began.

And service was good! In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Springfield Faith Center, where I attended while growing up--the pastor's name was even the same, Dave, which I thought was a funny coincidence. And the people were friendly and fairly outgoing; it turns out, several of them live near the Cultural Center, too! One guy, Mike, had on a Mariners shirt, which got me excited for a minute, but turns out he's not from there. Dave, on the other hand, is!

It was a good mix of people (age-wise etc), good preaching, and decent worship (though I'm not going to lie, at moments I wanted to run on stage and grab the bass sitting there unused to get their rhythm back to where it should have been). Basically, still no City Church, but I felt like I could learn and belong there for a year.

After service, one of the girls, Katie, invited Karina and I to get dinner with them, but we had to get back to write our weekly reports (and, in my case, blog), so we declined and went to Mosburger for a quick bite instead--one which turned out unexpectedly fishy and slightly stomach-turning (looked like a burger in the picture! Shoot!). Next time, I'll join the church group.

On the way back, we saw a little bit of the area, which is technically in Sanmin district, and loved what we saw! First of all, clearly a fairly Westernized area--Mosburgers, McDonald's, Starbucks, and Blockbusters dotted the scenery--and it was also a very young area, with young people wandering everywhere. Also, from what I can tell, it's near the Love River! Definitely a very nice (and probably expensive) place to live, and definitely a nice district discovery which I will have to explore more in the very near future.

So, one successful church visit down, I dropped Karina at the MRT station and scouted out a flower shop I'd seen on Guangzhou the other day to buy a bunch of flowers for my lesson tomorrow, "Where are you going?" We're using realia to help reinforce the vocabulary, and I volunteered to supply the material for flower shop--and as a bonus, get some lovely flowers in my apartment after we're done with them! (Assuming they survive tomorrow, that is.)

Anyway, here they are--cost me all of $150NT, or about $5US, so a bit steep for around here but I didn't feel like bartering with a nice older lady when I could barely speak the language anyway and I was her only customer.

Please note that they are currently sitting in an aluminum thermos. In other news, I need to buy a vase.

So, things I discovered today: a good church; that I can drive with someone on the back; a great area to hang out; that I shouldn't eat seafood at Mosburger; that flower shops here are open on Sundays; that I need to buy a vase. Obviously some discoveries are worth more than others--so I should really go buy that vase now. :)

Sleep deprived already

...and I'm not even on the plane yet. Oh, the joys of putting off packing until the last minute, combined with multiple loose ends to tie up from my old life (with some limited success). I'm in the Seattle airport now, gate S15, and we board in about 45 minutes; I figured I'd take advantage of the free wi-fi and post a final US-based blog before leaving--*really* leaving--for Taiwan.

Today was wonderful, but complicated. My parents and I got to the Eugene airport plenty early and began wrangling my massive heap of luggage to the ticket counter--which was, as it turned out, closed. When we finally did get an employee there, she informed us that, because my connecting flight in Seattle left 15 hours after I got in, rather than 12, I could not check my bags all the way through. In addition, she informed us that I would be re-charged baggage fees in Seattle as, contrary to the information I found on their websites, each airline charges individually, even though they're partnered. Unfortunately, that was to become a recurring theme.

So I said goodbye to my parents and set off for Seattle.

Once there, my dear friend Anna met me at the airport--fortunately sans bags, which I left in the unclaimed baggage area--and we set off. After a stop to see and say goodbye to Melanie and Marissa, we got stuck in traffic, and as Anna maneuvered through the black-coded freeway, I tried my hand at coordinating a pick-up for Flavia, and a meet-up with Lindsey. Eventually, after a long wait and a few false starts, we all ended up at a lovely little park overlooking the Puget Sound, with scrumptious Red Mill hamburgers. Because hey, if you're going to do American food, you've got to do it right!

After that we headed out to the place Anna is housesitting, to walk the dog up to Bustle for a great cup of coffee, where Mollie joined us. Then it was off to Theo Chocolates to meet Annika and buy a few last-minute gifts for my carry-on.

Annika, brilliant person that she is, then reminded us that it was a Saturday night, and that City Church had a service, so we drove off for Kirkland, where we had a great time. Then, after a quick stop to see Angie, we explored downtown Kirkland in search of a restaurant, before settling on a Mediterranean place which, while my food was delicious, was otherwise disappointing. We were there for waaaay to o long, but we finished in just enough time to go by Zoka's for one last coffee. :)

Then it was time for very sad goodbyes, and Mollie drove me to the airport, where I got to relocate and reload my luggage, and then discover that EVA has a weight limit on their carry-on items, and that mine was almost twice as heavy as the limit--meaning I had to either unload half my bag into one of my other bags, and pay the extra weight fee, or check it as ANOTHER extra bag. And, being overtired, I misunderstood the ticketing agent and thought he meant I had to put it ALL in my other bag, so I now have 4 checked bags! Talk about expensive. Thank goodness for extra first-month funds.

Overall, though, it was a fantastic last day in the US for a while--got to see some wonderful friends and do some great Seattle-y things one last time. And it was all at a pretty leisurely pace in beautiful weather--unheard of, at least around here! But,  beginning tomorrow/Tuesday (since I lose a day on this flight due to the time change), today's warmth will be ordinary, and maybe even a little cool.

Boarding in 15 minutes. This is surreal.

PACKED!

It is finished.

The packing, that is. Yep, with the (notable) exception of last minute carry-on additions that I need tonight and tomorrow morning, I am PACKED and ready to go, which is good, since it's 1am now, and I have to be at the airport by 8am, since my first plane leaves tomorrow at 9:50am. Nothing like a little exhaustion to start off a long trip right.

At final count, I'm bringing:

3 checked items--two bags, one crate. Which weigh in at...

183 lbs--67lbs, 46lbs, and 70lbs, respectively (a little too close to the limits for comfort, in all honesty). And that's not even mentioning my....

2 additional bags--one rolling carry-on, and one stuffed-to-the-gills messenger bag. My shoulder will soon feel the pain.

Now, we just get to see how all the confusing multi-airline, multi-airport, 15-hour-layover-in-Seattle thing will come into play; hopefully I won't be hauling all this stuff around Seattle with me all day tomorrow. At least it's all wheeled.