Kids, Critters, Camping and Beauty

I love camping. Let's just start there: love it. Camping has been a constant in my summers for as long as I can remember, most frequently in groups of several families. Old family videos pan between adults getting food ready, getting the boat ready to go fishing, and heading down to whatever water we're camped next to and kids racing the dogs around in a state of mania, ready to go swimming, fishing, or "critter hunting."

All of which is just one reason this weekend was so amazing.

At Sun Moon Lake with Karina and her host family, Casey and Yvonne and their adorable kids Ken and Jessica (newly self-minted as Jessica; she used to be Coco), I got all of this. We were camping with a group that included around 15 kids (and 2 dogs), who spent the time running around the campsite together, alternating between fishing down on the dock, driving around on the bike-trolley provided by the campground to get your stuff from your car to your campsite, and looking for praying mantises and toads.

They were frequently successful. Not pictured: a huge box filled with praying mantises and grasshoppers--and the scorpion they found under Tiffiany's tent

 

"This one is cute!" Oscar told me...I'm somewhat less than convinced. (As is he, judging from his face)

Yeah this little guy was waiting for Tiffiany when she rolled up her tent this morning...the kids were somewhat less cavalier with him, surprise surprise!

It was like reliving my childhood, but with an adult perspective this time. (And many more poisonous species--Ken informed me they'd once seen a cobra in the vicinity of one of the places we visited.) It was fantastic. Especially considering that my hectic graduation-China-DC-Taiwan schedule left no time for camping this past summer, it really felt like it filled a gaping void in my year so far.

And that's not even mentioning the view. It was absolutely breathtaking--and also, in its own way, hearkened back to childhood summers spent at Suttle Lake. There is simply no beating alpine lakes for beauty, I don't care what you say--especially when the lake is green-aqua and the rising mountains are covered in palm leaves and banana trees, crowned by spiring pagodas.

This morning was GORGEOUS.

And the pagoda: you can see it in the last of the photos above, the white-and-red tower jutting from the rightmost peak. We visited it (that was where Ken said they'd seen a cobra before; I kept an eye out in equal measures of fear and excitement) on Saturday, and climbed the many stairs to the top, where a giant gong/bell hung, ready for those who wanted to make wishes. Casey suggested that Karina and I wish for men, since we're both single; when I accidentally struck it twice, he looked perplexed and told me that meant two guys would be after me at the same time! I told him great! Haha, but I'll believe it when I see it.

The pagoda itself afforded great views of Sun Moon Lake and the surrounding area--none of which I captured on film, though, because I left my camera at the base with Yvonne, Ken and Jessica to take photos of Karina, Casey and I as we climbed.

WILD poinsettias on the way up

 

At the top at last!

Jessica playing. :)

Yesterday evening was fantastic, on many levels. First of all, (again, like when I go camping at home), the families all shared meals; one woman was a professional cook, so everyone paid into a food fund and she provided the most delicious meals ever. So last night's meal consisted of mashed potatoes, beef-and-carrot gravy, rolls, cheesy salmon, chicken stir fry, fried veggies, and rolls, amongst many many other delicious things which I seem to have forgotten at the moment.



Last night was also cold--surprisingly so. I wore jeans the whole trip, and last night my rain jacket was not warm enough; it wasn't until I actually went back to my tent and layered a sweatshirt underneath it that I was comfortable. Part of this was no doubt caused by the fact that I was sitting in a light rain while watching Cars 2 in Chinese with the kids (motionless and drizzle is not good for warmth--and I've determined that the rain is following me on these trips, thanks to my personal black cloud), but still, it was kind of nice to be chilled for a bit in November--it only seemed natural.
 
Today found us visiting a local and famous black tea garden (though it was closed, so we settled for pictures of the scenery at the gate), then taking down camp, stopping at a famous temple and then a famous chicken rice place, and then heading back.

Morning at the dock

Tea!

Camping is truly one of the best things life has to offer, especially when it offers, as a bonus, the opportunity to see a great natural beauty like Sun Moon Lake. This weekend proved that definitively. What it also proved, though, is how hard the ground can be when you've forgotten a pillow--and now, sitting on my bed at home, I can't wait to get back to this one creature comfort. For tonight, at least--but soon, it'll be back to the campsite for me. It just feels right.

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!