Week 6

I can't believe how much time flies. As I was posting this I realized that this is the 6th week that I have been in Taiwan. In some ways I think that I have adjusted quickly probably because I can speak Mandarin and understand a lot of what is going on around me or what people are saying to me. However, I still miss home, family, and friends.

My students this week at Fu-Shing are now pretty used to seeing me around now. I've had a few students come to the office to introduce themselves and talk to me. One student in particular only says 2 sentences. "Hello Deborah" and then "Goodbye Deborah". Everytime I see him it's the same too lines and I reply with "Hi Tony" and when I attempt to ask him any more questions he says his second line "Goodbye Deborah" and walks away. Poor kid I must confuse him with the additional English.

I started taking Chinese classes this week in the attempt to become literate. I've also been taking home Chinese menus from restaurants so I can learn to read them. My ultimate goal is to be able to read signs and menus. I'm well on my way now since I've learned the names for different types of meat and fruits. I may not know how it is cooked but I know what meat is in that dish or what fruit is in that tea drink.

This is my first week of really scootering around. It has been interesting... I drive pretty slowly and stay far to the right so the fast scooters can zoom past me. I'm pretty good at balancing so that's a plus. Unfortunately this week has been extremely rainy. Driving in the rain is NOT fun and you need a good raincoat which has been added to my shopping list for the week. My poncho is a little too square and does not cover my arms or legs completely. I've been told that Yilan county is the rainiest place in Taiwan which is why many of the old people have attached a small windshield with windshield wipers to the front of their scooters. I've considered it as a possible investment but was told that only old people have it. It would keep the wind from hitting my face and make sure that no bugs hit my face while I'm driving. However, its definitely not cool. (pictures to be coming soon)

I had my first KTV (karaoke) experience this weekend. The English songs were limited and not current hits so our group belted out some classics like "Oops I Did it Again", "As Long as You Love Me", "Fergalicious", and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

Eric looking for songs, Jessica and Monica already singing

We really wanted to sing these songs more than once

(confused about how to use the remote)

Rockin' out to some song

Kim and I