Today was supposed to be my last day of volunteer work at the museum ... but I didn't end up going. I had every intention to go ... but this afternoon I felt terrible. I took a short nap and was going to get up and go, but I just had no energy. I sat down for a minute, which turned into hours that I slept hunched over my desk.
My roommates came home and I laid down on my bed ... when I woke up, my watch read 7:00 so I figured it was time to get up and get ready because I had to catch the train at 8:06. So I got up, quickly changed into my church clothes, grabbed my things, and headed out the door ...
When I got outside, it seemed odd to me that the sun hadn't really come up yet because it was usually up at that time. And that's when I decided to check my cell phone and discovered that it was 7:30 PM!!! Not AM!! :) What a goof-ball!!
I went back upstairs laughing at myself for being so ridiculous ... my roommates got quite a kick out of it, too. :) Long story short, I ended up coming to Tainan tonight anyways.
Well that's all that I have to say other than it's good to have the Brackens back in Taiwan. :)
Goodnight~
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Looking through my window ...
If you could peek through my webcam, this is what you would have seen tonight:
Lately, there has been a lot of introspection going on at this end of the computer ... which has brought a lot to the surface. Sometimes, I have to face it. Sometimes, I bury it for the moment. Either way, dealing with yourself and your interactions with others is a delicate issue. It means taking responsibility for your actions, even when it would be easier not to do so. But, it also means learning boundaries and then practicing a balanced and healthy lifestyle, based on those boundary lines.
I think that is the hardest part ... when to make space, and when to draw near.
So for now, I remain thoughtfully yours~
Kate
Lately, there has been a lot of introspection going on at this end of the computer ... which has brought a lot to the surface. Sometimes, I have to face it. Sometimes, I bury it for the moment. Either way, dealing with yourself and your interactions with others is a delicate issue. It means taking responsibility for your actions, even when it would be easier not to do so. But, it also means learning boundaries and then practicing a balanced and healthy lifestyle, based on those boundary lines.
I think that is the hardest part ... when to make space, and when to draw near.
So for now, I remain thoughtfully yours~
Kate
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
星期四早上六點以前去睡覺。。開什麽玩笑。。我討厭書法。。
Yeah ... going to bed early the night/morning before calligraphy class is impossible ... I sat at my desk tonight asking myself, "Why am I torturing myself with this class? I am going to learn a lesson from all of this? One day, will I encounter a situation and be like, 'Wow, I'm certainly glad I know calligraphy.' ..." I'm having a hard time imagining that unless I marry into a hard-cord Chinese family in which, at least my spouse's parents studied it ... rawr ... for now, let's just say it's character building ...
It's freeeeeeezing right now!!! The wind has been blowing something crazy, which only makes it feel colder! When Brittany and I got out of class today, we went home to put on MORE clothes before we went to buy food because we were soo miserable. I put on long leggings, my floor-length jean skirt, a sweatshirt and a scarf. ^-^ I felt better~
I drank an impressively large amount of coke tonight ... quite possibly the most coke I've ever had in such a relatively small amount of time ... please see picture below for reference of bottle size ^-^ haha
Yes ... I did indeed drink this entire bottle by myself ... tonight.
My students were absolutely adorable with their presentations in class last night! As I sat there watching them, one by one, I thought, "I should make them do this every week, simply for my own enjoyment!" lol Each one of them had to "sell" an item of their choosing to the rest of the class.
Grace advertised for paper tape that's manufactured in Japan. She showed us all about the different colors and patterns, told us there was a discount if we bought wholesale and gave us "contact information". She was also the only student who did a power point and gave us a hand out.
Zachary told us about his new, magic brand of chocolate called, "Ch-ch-ch-chocolate"(which was actually cadbury). If you feel sad, you just eat a piece and you feel better automatically! :) Then he gave us all samples. :) That's a great selling point, in my books! haha
Eason told us about his man-shaped bendable magnet gadget that is very useful for holding things. He brought headphones, a cell phone and rubber bands to show us just how many uses there are for it. :) It was so cute~~
Danika did her presentation on the fly because she wasn't able to be with us last week when we talked about the presentation. She used her coffee as her item and did a great job. I would have totally purchased her coffee! :)
Vivian talked about her cell phone. It's modern, has a large touch-screen and the plan it comes with is very cheap in comparison to other data phone plans in Taiwan.
And last but certainly not least on the scale of entertaining was Gregory. He did a demonstration of how to eat a onigiri/飯糰 and spoke to us on the great convenience of them, for one with such a busy schedule. XD
The above pictures of them are not them giving their presentations ... after they did their presentations, I had them get in pairs and practice making "business calls" selling the item they had just marketed to us. ^-^
My view of the museum from where I sat at the help desk ...
What I stare at ... because there weren't many people there at night ... and because when there are people, they mostly don't talk to me ... they talk to the Taiwanese person sitting next to me ... On Friday and Sunday, I just looked over the handbook ... a lot ... but Tuesday, I couldn't really bare to look at it for fun ... I only looked at it to mark the films with English in them for my students ...
And this is me, of course, on Friday night ... my first day volunteering
The museum at night ...
An amazing meal I had at a cafe near the museum ... the cafe has both an English and Chinese name ... the Chinese name is 尼克咖啡 ... but the English name is The Naked Cafe ... they do NOT mean the same thing ... the Chinese sounds like the translation from English to Chinese of the name, "Nick" ... anyhow, I found out that there are three Naked Cafes in Taizhong ... I do recommend their food. ^-^ I've eaten there twice now.
This ... this is an amazing cookie that was sent to me, among many others, from my sister and mom :) Thanks you two!! <3
Alright ... well I think that's all for now ... I've kinda "caught you up" on what's going on at present ...
As Tigger says, "TTFN - Ta ta for now!"
~k~
It's freeeeeeezing right now!!! The wind has been blowing something crazy, which only makes it feel colder! When Brittany and I got out of class today, we went home to put on MORE clothes before we went to buy food because we were soo miserable. I put on long leggings, my floor-length jean skirt, a sweatshirt and a scarf. ^-^ I felt better~
I drank an impressively large amount of coke tonight ... quite possibly the most coke I've ever had in such a relatively small amount of time ... please see picture below for reference of bottle size ^-^ haha
Yes ... I did indeed drink this entire bottle by myself ... tonight.
My students were absolutely adorable with their presentations in class last night! As I sat there watching them, one by one, I thought, "I should make them do this every week, simply for my own enjoyment!" lol Each one of them had to "sell" an item of their choosing to the rest of the class.
Grace advertised for paper tape that's manufactured in Japan. She showed us all about the different colors and patterns, told us there was a discount if we bought wholesale and gave us "contact information". She was also the only student who did a power point and gave us a hand out.
Zachary told us about his new, magic brand of chocolate called, "Ch-ch-ch-chocolate"(which was actually cadbury). If you feel sad, you just eat a piece and you feel better automatically! :) Then he gave us all samples. :) That's a great selling point, in my books! haha
Eason told us about his man-shaped bendable magnet gadget that is very useful for holding things. He brought headphones, a cell phone and rubber bands to show us just how many uses there are for it. :) It was so cute~~
Danika did her presentation on the fly because she wasn't able to be with us last week when we talked about the presentation. She used her coffee as her item and did a great job. I would have totally purchased her coffee! :)
Vivian talked about her cell phone. It's modern, has a large touch-screen and the plan it comes with is very cheap in comparison to other data phone plans in Taiwan.
And last but certainly not least on the scale of entertaining was Gregory. He did a demonstration of how to eat a onigiri/飯糰 and spoke to us on the great convenience of them, for one with such a busy schedule. XD
The above pictures of them are not them giving their presentations ... after they did their presentations, I had them get in pairs and practice making "business calls" selling the item they had just marketed to us. ^-^
My view of the museum from where I sat at the help desk ...
What I stare at ... because there weren't many people there at night ... and because when there are people, they mostly don't talk to me ... they talk to the Taiwanese person sitting next to me ... On Friday and Sunday, I just looked over the handbook ... a lot ... but Tuesday, I couldn't really bare to look at it for fun ... I only looked at it to mark the films with English in them for my students ...
And this is me, of course, on Friday night ... my first day volunteering
The museum at night ...
An amazing meal I had at a cafe near the museum ... the cafe has both an English and Chinese name ... the Chinese name is 尼克咖啡 ... but the English name is The Naked Cafe ... they do NOT mean the same thing ... the Chinese sounds like the translation from English to Chinese of the name, "Nick" ... anyhow, I found out that there are three Naked Cafes in Taizhong ... I do recommend their food. ^-^ I've eaten there twice now.
This ... this is an amazing cookie that was sent to me, among many others, from my sister and mom :) Thanks you two!! <3
Alright ... well I think that's all for now ... I've kinda "caught you up" on what's going on at present ...
As Tigger says, "TTFN - Ta ta for now!"
~k~
Monday, October 25, 2010
獻上感恩的心。。。
我今晚去美術館看一部紀錄片叫，“唱歌吧！”。 那部是關於台灣一種的原住民，Bunan Tribe的小朋友的合唱團。讓我非常非常的感動。我對他們很有同情的。。最後，他們唱的一首歌是，“獻上感恩”。。一聽他們唱，眼睛開始濕濕得。。很輕的哭。。這樣的感覺，真的很難解釋。。。所以呢，我試試看用英文寫一下。。
The class I'm taking on Mondays is about documentary film in Taiwan, how it began, how it is used and what influence it is having. This year is the 7th Annual, Biennial Taiwan Documentary Film Festival. My teacher originally designed an independent study program through the department for her students to take for credit in which we would become volunteers at the museum during the festival to learn more about this genre and enhance our class time. However, not enough students signed up for the class so we can't get credit for participating, but the professor still wants us to take part in this rare opportunity. Because I speak English and a bit of Chinese and because they have many foreigners who have come in for this event, I have been volunteering at a help desk over the weekend. At the end of this week, I will be caring for a director from Russia during his time at the museum. Most of the foreigners who come in cannot speak any Chinese so they need people who can go between and help them to be in the right place at the right time. After the showing of their film, often the directors will participate in a Q&A session with the audience.
Long story short, that's what I've been up to ... annnnd, aside from any volunteer work, our professor wants us to view several films and write about them so we can discuss them later in class and so that it might help us writing our midterm and final papers.
Last night I saw my first film at the festival. The English name is, "Which Way Home" and the Chinese name is, "下一站，美國." The Chinese literally means, "Next stop, America." This film is about the illegal immigration of Mexican minors into the US. Being a native of California, this issue is of special interest to me. The film was heart-breaking, actually. There were 9, 12, 16, etc year old children attempting to make a very difficult journey by train into the States. Their motives for such attempt were: 1) to make money to send to their struggling families 2) to find parents who had left for the States for that same reason, but had never come back, or 3) both. My heart broke as I listened to one of the 16/17-year old boys talking. It went something like this: "I'm hoping that when I get to America, I can find a family who will adopt me. Maybe I can finally experience the love of parents that I've never had." This particular young man had been on the streets for a majority of his life and had addition problems. He recognized the problem, had stopped and was trying to get away from his depressing life by chasing his version of the American Dream ... he was not the only child interviewed that was hoping to find love at his destination.
Then tonight, the film I saw was about the Bunan Aboriginal children in a particular school in Taiwan. Their principal uses music to help give the children confidence in their ethnic heritage, as well as in their own human dignity. One of the elementary school boys read an essay he had written in which he described his desires: Too see his parents get back together, to have their love, and to be able to continue singing often.
All I can say is that my heart completely broke ... I can't imagine such a life. For so much of my life, I have taken for granted that I grew up in a home full of love. I never wanted for the love of a parent. Love was a central part of my foundation. the love of my family, who taught me about the Love of God, and the love of dear friends. To see children and hear stories about their lives and their simple desire to just be loved ... it moves me to tears. There is an ache knowing that the stories I've heard are few and the conditions surrounding them have been mild. There are millions of children all over the world who suffer similar and worse fates. My God, what can we do to help these poor, lost souls? How can we show them the Perfect Love of a Savior Who gave His Life for them? There are so many ...
For most of that documentary, the children sang songs in their heritage tongue, but the last song they sang was in Mandarin: "獻上感恩“ or "Give thanks with a grateful heart." My eyes filled with tears as I sang along with them from where I sat on the grass ... These children were being taught to be thankful, despite the situations they faced every day. One girl of 11 years had to be the primary care giver for her two younger siblings. Her father worked elsewhere and her mother had a drinking problem that kept her out and about. This girl had also suffered a horrible accident and her right arm was badly scarred. At the end of the film, you find out that her mother had recently died due to her substance abuse. Yet, through all of this, the girl had the fortitude to sing ... with a grateful heart.
Thought-provoking and convicting ... my heart is really too moved to be able to express myself any further ... I have no words left ...
Here is a version of that song in Mandarin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zRS-E1KlGY&feature=related
The class I'm taking on Mondays is about documentary film in Taiwan, how it began, how it is used and what influence it is having. This year is the 7th Annual, Biennial Taiwan Documentary Film Festival. My teacher originally designed an independent study program through the department for her students to take for credit in which we would become volunteers at the museum during the festival to learn more about this genre and enhance our class time. However, not enough students signed up for the class so we can't get credit for participating, but the professor still wants us to take part in this rare opportunity. Because I speak English and a bit of Chinese and because they have many foreigners who have come in for this event, I have been volunteering at a help desk over the weekend. At the end of this week, I will be caring for a director from Russia during his time at the museum. Most of the foreigners who come in cannot speak any Chinese so they need people who can go between and help them to be in the right place at the right time. After the showing of their film, often the directors will participate in a Q&A session with the audience.
Long story short, that's what I've been up to ... annnnd, aside from any volunteer work, our professor wants us to view several films and write about them so we can discuss them later in class and so that it might help us writing our midterm and final papers.
Last night I saw my first film at the festival. The English name is, "Which Way Home" and the Chinese name is, "下一站，美國." The Chinese literally means, "Next stop, America." This film is about the illegal immigration of Mexican minors into the US. Being a native of California, this issue is of special interest to me. The film was heart-breaking, actually. There were 9, 12, 16, etc year old children attempting to make a very difficult journey by train into the States. Their motives for such attempt were: 1) to make money to send to their struggling families 2) to find parents who had left for the States for that same reason, but had never come back, or 3) both. My heart broke as I listened to one of the 16/17-year old boys talking. It went something like this: "I'm hoping that when I get to America, I can find a family who will adopt me. Maybe I can finally experience the love of parents that I've never had." This particular young man had been on the streets for a majority of his life and had addition problems. He recognized the problem, had stopped and was trying to get away from his depressing life by chasing his version of the American Dream ... he was not the only child interviewed that was hoping to find love at his destination.
Then tonight, the film I saw was about the Bunan Aboriginal children in a particular school in Taiwan. Their principal uses music to help give the children confidence in their ethnic heritage, as well as in their own human dignity. One of the elementary school boys read an essay he had written in which he described his desires: Too see his parents get back together, to have their love, and to be able to continue singing often.
All I can say is that my heart completely broke ... I can't imagine such a life. For so much of my life, I have taken for granted that I grew up in a home full of love. I never wanted for the love of a parent. Love was a central part of my foundation. the love of my family, who taught me about the Love of God, and the love of dear friends. To see children and hear stories about their lives and their simple desire to just be loved ... it moves me to tears. There is an ache knowing that the stories I've heard are few and the conditions surrounding them have been mild. There are millions of children all over the world who suffer similar and worse fates. My God, what can we do to help these poor, lost souls? How can we show them the Perfect Love of a Savior Who gave His Life for them? There are so many ...
For most of that documentary, the children sang songs in their heritage tongue, but the last song they sang was in Mandarin: "獻上感恩“ or "Give thanks with a grateful heart." My eyes filled with tears as I sang along with them from where I sat on the grass ... These children were being taught to be thankful, despite the situations they faced every day. One girl of 11 years had to be the primary care giver for her two younger siblings. Her father worked elsewhere and her mother had a drinking problem that kept her out and about. This girl had also suffered a horrible accident and her right arm was badly scarred. At the end of the film, you find out that her mother had recently died due to her substance abuse. Yet, through all of this, the girl had the fortitude to sing ... with a grateful heart.
Thought-provoking and convicting ... my heart is really too moved to be able to express myself any further ... I have no words left ...
Here is a version of that song in Mandarin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zRS-E1KlGY&feature=related
Thursday, October 21, 2010
我沒有辦法把我現在的感情寫下來。。
高興。難過。興奮。想家。感恩。很累。平安。寂寞。渴望。著急。錯著。不耐心。有同情心的。。。。。結果，我應該早一點睡覺，多一點睡。哈哈。
I've been so tired lately, I don't know how to think or feel. I have gotten into terrible habits of staying up late ... to do homework ... to chat ... to see my family ... to goof around on facebook ... to blog ... to prepare lessons ... Long story short, it's just something I need to get control over.
Other than that, life has been okay here. God is good! He is answering my unspoken prayers and inspiring my mind as I read His Word. This includes some illumination in areas that I need work in or preparation for issues that will present themselves in the near future. It is starting to make more sense now why so many preachers say, "And this applies to me, as much as to you," or "And I'm speaking to myself when I say this." When reading lately, all the verses that I need in my personal walk are the ones that stick out to me the most.
Blow-dryer: I bought a travel-sized blow-dryer a couple weeks ago ... it's so cute and pink and it was cheap ... so I bought it. Today, I used it for the first time. The poor thing was starting to get over-heated before my hair was even half-way dry. lol ... *sigh* I should have bought a normal-sized one.
Wet feet: yesterday, Brittany and I were on our way to Taiwanese Modern Theatre History class and took the short-cut through the huge grass area in front of our building ... a short-cut, might I add, that I've taken several times before ... however, this time, we stepped right into a soaked area. I felt like I was in a rice field. lol I was wearing flip-flops, so it wasn't too bad, but Brittany was wearing socks and shoes so her feet were soaked through the entire class. :/
Calligraphy ... I stayed up all night yesterday to do my calligraphy homework. 26 practice sheets and 5 homework sheets later, I went to bed. Annd, I would like to add that I began my homework at a reasonable time ... 7:30pm. lol But even with my desire to do a good job and all the time I spent working on perfecting the writing of the characters we had to write, I still only got a 78 on the assignment!!!
I welcome anyone who thinks they have arrived in life to try calligraphy and then tell me how you feel!! haha ... it's a great humbling tool.
Well, I've managed to stay up insanely late, again. And I need to be a productive human being tomorrow.
Oh!! My volunteer work is beginning tomorrow night ... exciting and scary! :)
More later~
k
Let the work begin!
Chinese looks better written in M&M's ^-^
Full of ink~
I've been so tired lately, I don't know how to think or feel. I have gotten into terrible habits of staying up late ... to do homework ... to chat ... to see my family ... to goof around on facebook ... to blog ... to prepare lessons ... Long story short, it's just something I need to get control over.
Other than that, life has been okay here. God is good! He is answering my unspoken prayers and inspiring my mind as I read His Word. This includes some illumination in areas that I need work in or preparation for issues that will present themselves in the near future. It is starting to make more sense now why so many preachers say, "And this applies to me, as much as to you," or "And I'm speaking to myself when I say this." When reading lately, all the verses that I need in my personal walk are the ones that stick out to me the most.
Blow-dryer: I bought a travel-sized blow-dryer a couple weeks ago ... it's so cute and pink and it was cheap ... so I bought it. Today, I used it for the first time. The poor thing was starting to get over-heated before my hair was even half-way dry. lol ... *sigh* I should have bought a normal-sized one.
Wet feet: yesterday, Brittany and I were on our way to Taiwanese Modern Theatre History class and took the short-cut through the huge grass area in front of our building ... a short-cut, might I add, that I've taken several times before ... however, this time, we stepped right into a soaked area. I felt like I was in a rice field. lol I was wearing flip-flops, so it wasn't too bad, but Brittany was wearing socks and shoes so her feet were soaked through the entire class. :/
Calligraphy ... I stayed up all night yesterday to do my calligraphy homework. 26 practice sheets and 5 homework sheets later, I went to bed. Annd, I would like to add that I began my homework at a reasonable time ... 7:30pm. lol But even with my desire to do a good job and all the time I spent working on perfecting the writing of the characters we had to write, I still only got a 78 on the assignment!!!
I welcome anyone who thinks they have arrived in life to try calligraphy and then tell me how you feel!! haha ... it's a great humbling tool.
Well, I've managed to stay up insanely late, again. And I need to be a productive human being tomorrow.
Oh!! My volunteer work is beginning tomorrow night ... exciting and scary! :)
More later~
k
Let the work begin!
Chinese looks better written in M&M's ^-^
Full of ink~
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Calvin Klein underwear and other unmentionables
You are probably thinking, "WHAT in the world!!!???" haha ... please allow me to explain ...
Today, I met with three Taiwanese students who are planning to travel to Davis next month for a conference. They were full of questions about travel, etc. Then I started asking them about things they might want to buy while they're here ... and that's when it got funny: luggage, clothes, etc .. the stuff you would expect .. but these people are also very aware of name-brands. The guy who is going on the trip popped out with "Ralph Lauren, Polo, Levi's, Rimowa, H & M, Top Shop, Bottega Veneta" ... annnnnnnd "CK underwear." lol ... when I figured out what he was asking, I was like, "Well, I don't buy Calvin Klein men's underwear so I have no idea about that one." I heard one of the girls say to him in Chinese, "She is blushing." haha ...
And then I was shocked again when that same girl started asking about where she could buy American feminine products ... not exactly what I imagined they would want to find in the States ... lol. Annd, I don't really know the names for the items she was looking for so we had to use description and an electronic dictionary ... and that guy was sitting there watching us intently the whole time. At one point I asked him, "Aren't you embarrassed?" ... but he didn't seem embarrassed at all ... I think I was probably the only one. ^-^
Anyhow, I taught English class again tonight! :) It went pretty well, I think. Tonight, we talked about the, "th" sound, idioms regarding time, "both ... and ...", "either ... or ...", "neither ... nor ...", and making business calls. This time, I sat at the desk level with the other students to try and make them feel more comfortable ... I want to encourage them to talk more, not make them feel intimidated. I gave English names to two of the students at the beginning of class and so we were getting used to that tonight, too. I had a lot of stuff to go through so we kind of ran out of time, but I am much happier to have too much planned than not enough.
I think I'm going through a stage of learning, "thick-skinedness" ... I'm being asked about underwear and other "stuff", having to explain things like, unique vs. eunuch, version vs. virgin, slut vs. slot, and learning things like the word for upper-class prostitutes from the front page of the newspaper. All in all, hopefully my face will get used to this and stop exhibiting "pinkness" soon enough. ^-^
The sunset was riveting tonight. Yes, I know that it's probably because of pollution that the colors are so amazing, but still ... it's beautiful to look at. I really love the sky at night, too! Lately, I have been able to see a couple stars and it always makes my night. :)
This is my headband that I got from the night market last night! I wore it today to my meeting with Wenna and to my English class. I am getting braver about my bartering skills! I almost always ask for a lower price than listed/given now. haha And it usually works. :D
I took out my garbage tonight! Woot! I love being garbage-less. There was something else I was going to blog about ... but I can't remember ... I suppose that's enough for now.
~k.
Today, I met with three Taiwanese students who are planning to travel to Davis next month for a conference. They were full of questions about travel, etc. Then I started asking them about things they might want to buy while they're here ... and that's when it got funny: luggage, clothes, etc .. the stuff you would expect .. but these people are also very aware of name-brands. The guy who is going on the trip popped out with "Ralph Lauren, Polo, Levi's, Rimowa, H & M, Top Shop, Bottega Veneta" ... annnnnnnd "CK underwear." lol ... when I figured out what he was asking, I was like, "Well, I don't buy Calvin Klein men's underwear so I have no idea about that one." I heard one of the girls say to him in Chinese, "She is blushing." haha ...
And then I was shocked again when that same girl started asking about where she could buy American feminine products ... not exactly what I imagined they would want to find in the States ... lol. Annd, I don't really know the names for the items she was looking for so we had to use description and an electronic dictionary ... and that guy was sitting there watching us intently the whole time. At one point I asked him, "Aren't you embarrassed?" ... but he didn't seem embarrassed at all ... I think I was probably the only one. ^-^
Anyhow, I taught English class again tonight! :) It went pretty well, I think. Tonight, we talked about the, "th" sound, idioms regarding time, "both ... and ...", "either ... or ...", "neither ... nor ...", and making business calls. This time, I sat at the desk level with the other students to try and make them feel more comfortable ... I want to encourage them to talk more, not make them feel intimidated. I gave English names to two of the students at the beginning of class and so we were getting used to that tonight, too. I had a lot of stuff to go through so we kind of ran out of time, but I am much happier to have too much planned than not enough.
I think I'm going through a stage of learning, "thick-skinedness" ... I'm being asked about underwear and other "stuff", having to explain things like, unique vs. eunuch, version vs. virgin, slut vs. slot, and learning things like the word for upper-class prostitutes from the front page of the newspaper. All in all, hopefully my face will get used to this and stop exhibiting "pinkness" soon enough. ^-^
The sunset was riveting tonight. Yes, I know that it's probably because of pollution that the colors are so amazing, but still ... it's beautiful to look at. I really love the sky at night, too! Lately, I have been able to see a couple stars and it always makes my night. :)
This is my headband that I got from the night market last night! I wore it today to my meeting with Wenna and to my English class. I am getting braver about my bartering skills! I almost always ask for a lower price than listed/given now. haha And it usually works. :D
I took out my garbage tonight! Woot! I love being garbage-less. There was something else I was going to blog about ... but I can't remember ... I suppose that's enough for now.
~k.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday
So, today is Monday ... or was Monday rather since it is technically "Tuesday" now for me. It was a good day, over all.
Tonight I had a new Chinese experience = translating for my friend to get her hair done. She wanted to get a wash and slightly new style and couldn't go by herself. So she asked me to go with her to help talk with the people at the beauty salon. It was definitely an adventure. Thankfully, she didn't want anything too complicated done with her hair. :)
The two of us took a bus to the Yi Zhong area, where we found the salon she was looking for. After the hair appointment, we putted around the night market for a while. We saw a humongous cockroach tonight!!! Oh my goodness!!! It was definitely an older one ... wow! Yuck to infinity~~ But we did have some fun, too.
This shirt absolutely cracked me up!
If you can't read it, the shirt says, "Leave me alone. I am not a lonely guy." haha
We walked into an Adidas shop tonight and I had to take a picture of this shirt :) So very Taiwanese ... everything and more goes on a scooter :)
張老師，me, 張爸爸
Me and 林老師
I laughed when I saw what these are called ... boring pie
An awesome diagram of Taiwanese modern history that my classmate drew for me :)
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Cece and an awesome weekend
Cece Winans' music has been such a tremendous blessing to me, lately. Her music touches on so many levels: worship, praise, pain, healing, burdens and visions/dreams ... the songs just seem to hit home to me in ways I cannot describe. Riding home on the train tonight, I felt very thankful for the way the Lord has used her career to encourage His people.
I had an amazing weekend ... but I'm going to be a good girl and go to bed now, so I'll have to tell you all about it and post pictures later. :)
For now,
Kate
I had an amazing weekend ... but I'm going to be a good girl and go to bed now, so I'll have to tell you all about it and post pictures later. :)
For now,
Kate
Thursday, October 14, 2010
PACKAGE!!!
I got a package from home today! :) I was sooo happy to see it! :)
Thank you Mom for all the amazing things inside! Annnd, thank you to anyone who contributed to the things that were very carefully packed inside. <3
There were cookies in there!!! So delicious! :)
I had calligraphy class this morning, language exchange with a couple classmates over lunch, a meeting with my professor in the afternoon, and then I went home to take my stuff out of the box. :)
After thoroughly exploring the contents and grabbing some food, I then spent some time reorganizing my shelf-space above my desk ...
All in all, it was a pretty great day :)
Monday, October 11, 2010
Good evening, class!
Today was a pretty good day, praise God! :)
I had class this morning (which I almost kept falling asleep in), and then went by the bookstore. There, I found the Chinese text book I was looking for and some awesome English teaching tools. Then, I came home, did some Bible studying, picked up some things around my room, and called YiRan to see if she had eaten lunch already. As it turns out, she hadn't, so we went down the street to get something together. After buying some kind of Taizhong specialty spicy noodle dish and some tea, we headed back to the dorm.
We chatted and ate and chatted some more ... YiRan has been a blessing to me during my short time here. She has helped me to meet some students on campus and she has connected me to two job opportunities for foreign students. She is also my floor manager and a relatively newer Christian (probably a couple years).
Soooo after lunch, I started looking through my newly purchased items from the bookstore. I went through most of the first chapter of my new Chinese book and then started going through my English class materials. Some of the students are interested in learning about traveling and how to conduct regular conversations in English ... so we're going to talk about purchasing tickets for museums, taking tours, buying audio guides, calling 411 to get the museum's number, etc.
I've created a class plan, a questionnaire so I can get to know the students better, photocopied related pages from my English teaching magazine and typed up two dialogues to go along with the topics. To introduce myself, the class guidelines, and to help with some of the material, I've started a power point. It's mostly done, but needs some touching up.
Anyways ... That's really all that's exciting with me ...
I had class this morning (which I almost kept falling asleep in), and then went by the bookstore. There, I found the Chinese text book I was looking for and some awesome English teaching tools. Then, I came home, did some Bible studying, picked up some things around my room, and called YiRan to see if she had eaten lunch already. As it turns out, she hadn't, so we went down the street to get something together. After buying some kind of Taizhong specialty spicy noodle dish and some tea, we headed back to the dorm.
We chatted and ate and chatted some more ... YiRan has been a blessing to me during my short time here. She has helped me to meet some students on campus and she has connected me to two job opportunities for foreign students. She is also my floor manager and a relatively newer Christian (probably a couple years).
Soooo after lunch, I started looking through my newly purchased items from the bookstore. I went through most of the first chapter of my new Chinese book and then started going through my English class materials. Some of the students are interested in learning about traveling and how to conduct regular conversations in English ... so we're going to talk about purchasing tickets for museums, taking tours, buying audio guides, calling 411 to get the museum's number, etc.
I've created a class plan, a questionnaire so I can get to know the students better, photocopied related pages from my English teaching magazine and typed up two dialogues to go along with the topics. To introduce myself, the class guidelines, and to help with some of the material, I've started a power point. It's mostly done, but needs some touching up.
Anyways ... That's really all that's exciting with me ...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Food for Thought
“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” ~Henry Winkler
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates.
There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to
be forward, backwards, or sideways." ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody
helped you.” Althea Gibson
"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates.
There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to
be forward, backwards, or sideways." ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody
helped you.” Althea Gibson
Another week has gone byyy-hiyeee ....
Another busy weekend! Getting ready for the up-coming internship, going back and forth to Tainan, going to eat with friends and trying to get homework done and as much sleep as possible in between. :)
Yesterday, I was in a taxi and engaging in the usual chit-chat that accompanies normal taxi rides ... and then came the question/statement: "所以，你的爸爸是美國人，你的媽媽是台灣人。/So your Dad is American and your Mom is Taiwanese?" haha That's the first time I've ever been mistaken as part-asain anything! lol I was quite amused! :) I told him, no that my family is reeeally American and that the most ethnicity I have in me is German. He was like, "Really ... but your eyes ..." haha I have nothing further to say about this. lol ^-^
Anyways, here are a few pictures from my evening ~ enjoy!
This is a horrible picture but it's the only one I have of the group tonight, so I'm posting it anyways ... There were two Americans, two Thai girls and four Korean students.
I had AMERICAN icecream!!! It was AMAZING! DELICIOUS! FABULOUSLY AWESOME! (and full of calories ^-^) But it was worth it!!! lol Love Potion 31 on the top and strawberry cheesecake on the bottom, in a WAFFLE cone no less. <3
I stood in awe when I saw the huge sign for B&R from across the street ... I didn't take a picture of the outside, but this is what the inside sign looked like ...
Yesterday, I was in a taxi and engaging in the usual chit-chat that accompanies normal taxi rides ... and then came the question/statement: "所以，你的爸爸是美國人，你的媽媽是台灣人。/So your Dad is American and your Mom is Taiwanese?" haha That's the first time I've ever been mistaken as part-asain anything! lol I was quite amused! :) I told him, no that my family is reeeally American and that the most ethnicity I have in me is German. He was like, "Really ... but your eyes ..." haha I have nothing further to say about this. lol ^-^
Anyways, here are a few pictures from my evening ~ enjoy!
This is a horrible picture but it's the only one I have of the group tonight, so I'm posting it anyways ... There were two Americans, two Thai girls and four Korean students.
I had AMERICAN icecream!!! It was AMAZING! DELICIOUS! FABULOUSLY AWESOME! (and full of calories ^-^) But it was worth it!!! lol Love Potion 31 on the top and strawberry cheesecake on the bottom, in a WAFFLE cone no less. <3
I stood in awe when I saw the huge sign for B&R from across the street ... I didn't take a picture of the outside, but this is what the inside sign looked like ...
Friday, October 8, 2010
~*~ Calligraphy ~*~
This is what happens when life is too serious and calligraphy homework is toooooo difficult!!!!! The pen starts going crazy and ink ends up all over your face!!!! This was the best impression of a Chinese scholar that I could do with the facial hair stuff ... and that's my, "Game On," face btw. hahahahahahaha
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Days are turning into weeks ...
... weeks are passing quickly. I've been in Taiwan for between 5-6 weeks now. I can't believe it!
Today, I started a language exchange with one of my fellow student from my Monday class. This weekend, I have training for the volunteer program that is linked between my class and the Fine Arts Museum. Next week, I start teaching a conversational English class to a small group of university students. So, things are still moving along ...
My family has just mailed a package to me and I can't wait for it to get here! It should be here in about 7-8 days I think ... so with weekends included, it will be about a week and a half.
While I am currently making no attempt to catch up on all previous days' pictures, I will share the photos from today. ^-^ Enjoy!
Paveena and Brittany messing around before class started:
The right section of the classroom huddled around the teacher to watch him do examples of our classwork for the day:
My first-ever try at calligraphy ... its much harder than it looks :)
This student shared the desk with me and was my "go-to" person for the many questions that I had during class:
My second page of calligraphy and trying out some different strokes ...
My teacher correcting the homework assignments from last week:
Dad, this picture is for you! Yes, they DO have a place where you can get criss-cut fries. :)
I present to all you foreigners, dun dun dun daaaaa, "Dragon Fruit, of the white variety." lol This is an amazing fruit! So far, I've eaten it in two colors but the one my roommates so sweetly shared with me tonight was white:
Ever the romantic ... ♥♥♥
Coldstone!!! Amazing! All inside of a 7/11 ... what a beautiful thing <3
Today, I started a language exchange with one of my fellow student from my Monday class. This weekend, I have training for the volunteer program that is linked between my class and the Fine Arts Museum. Next week, I start teaching a conversational English class to a small group of university students. So, things are still moving along ...
My family has just mailed a package to me and I can't wait for it to get here! It should be here in about 7-8 days I think ... so with weekends included, it will be about a week and a half.
While I am currently making no attempt to catch up on all previous days' pictures, I will share the photos from today. ^-^ Enjoy!
Paveena and Brittany messing around before class started:
The right section of the classroom huddled around the teacher to watch him do examples of our classwork for the day:
My first-ever try at calligraphy ... its much harder than it looks :)
This student shared the desk with me and was my "go-to" person for the many questions that I had during class:
My second page of calligraphy and trying out some different strokes ...
My teacher correcting the homework assignments from last week:
Dad, this picture is for you! Yes, they DO have a place where you can get criss-cut fries. :)
I present to all you foreigners, dun dun dun daaaaa, "Dragon Fruit, of the white variety." lol This is an amazing fruit! So far, I've eaten it in two colors but the one my roommates so sweetly shared with me tonight was white:
Ever the romantic ... ♥♥♥
Coldstone!!! Amazing! All inside of a 7/11 ... what a beautiful thing <3
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Here's your sign
So, did someone forget to tell me that I have a sign on my forehead that reads, "Please tell me what to do ... No, really ... it's my favorite thing EVER ... especially when it's not your place and there is no need!!!" ... ha .. okay, so I'm ranting and over-reactionary ... It's a cultural difference thing ~~ I'm not sure how long it will take to get used to. ^-^ I'm so stubborn naturally that I've never really liked being told what to do ... I'm continually learning to accept it from those in authority. But I can't stand it when people give their opinion of your actions so liberally when it's 1) not a decision of right/wrong 2) I have not asked for their opinion nor discussed the matter with them 3) the matter pertains to them in no way, shape or form 4) it's a issue that I should be able to decide on myself because I'm an adult 5) did I mention that these people are not what I consider to be an authority over me in the situations they are "presiding over"??? ... What's worse is when you politely decline their input but they continue to force their personal view on you ... I don't like being bullied at all, and especially not in a passive-aggressive style ... lol
Whew ... okay, I think I got that out of my system ... I had a fairly productive day today, although there are still many things written on my planner on today's date that have not been completed. However, the most important things were accomplished today - like doing all my laundry!!!!! :)
Now, it's time for me to hit the sac ... It's fast approaching 12:00 and this girl is going to turn into a pumpkin ;)
Whew ... okay, I think I got that out of my system ... I had a fairly productive day today, although there are still many things written on my planner on today's date that have not been completed. However, the most important things were accomplished today - like doing all my laundry!!!!! :)
Now, it's time for me to hit the sac ... It's fast approaching 12:00 and this girl is going to turn into a pumpkin ;)
Monday, October 4, 2010
...........多的是，你不知道的事
FOOOOOOOOD. I can't describe to you how much I am longing for the following things:
1. a kitchen
2. a grocery store closer to me
3. a deli sandwich
4. SALAD!!!!
5. NON-GREASY FOOD!
I love Taiwan :) and I love some of the food they have here ... but I'm not a huge fan of "lu wei" especially since, even they keep the food in separate containers, they usually put all the containers in the same water to cook it and there is all kinds of gross things in there including forbidden shellfish items and blood cake ... ah ...
I never realized how good we had it at NCKU last year! :)
This morning, I gave my very first presentation in Chinese ... lol But for some reason, a lot of English ended up creeping into the presentation. ;) I'm glad that my professor speaks English fluently and is an authority on the subject ... she was able to explain things better to the students when my language skills failed me. Also, my classmate, Edward, was a big help when I got stuck, giving me the right words. haha
There was only one (1) time during the whole time (over 30 minutes) that I laughed or even smiled ... and that was because I said the wrong word!!!! Ahh! I was supposed to say, "blah blah blah information," but said instead, "blah blah blah beverage." ^-^ I don't think everyone, or even the teacher, heard me, but Edward did and we both started laughing .. I had to stifle it and move on with as much composure as possible. I think God knew that if I didn't laugh about something, I would get so frustrated and just shut down.
So, a lot has happened in the relatively short span of time since my last blog but it's too much to remember and write down. :) I'm not even sure what to include. I think the food is on my mind the most because it's such a part of my daily life and I feel pretty unhealthy right now ...
I'm learning new things and embarking on new journeys and adventures that I didn't exactly foresee before I left home. It's growth, which is good ... and stepping out of my comfort zone, which is also good, but requires some courage and leaning on God for strength.
On a positive note, there was a mosquito on the wall just a few minutes ago ... I took off my flipflop and smashed it quite successfully against the wall!! :) One point!
Tomorrow I need to do laundry! :)
Here are just a few pictures from last weekend ~~ I'll try to get more general photos up soon ~~
Taken from my window ... the beautiful, morning sunlight over the mountains in Taipei
Yang Mu signing autographs after the conference:
The 101 :)
It looks full, right??
Wrong!!!! ... NOW, it's full :)
This was just after I got back to my dorm from Taipei last weekend:
1. a kitchen
2. a grocery store closer to me
3. a deli sandwich
4. SALAD!!!!
5. NON-GREASY FOOD!
I love Taiwan :) and I love some of the food they have here ... but I'm not a huge fan of "lu wei" especially since, even they keep the food in separate containers, they usually put all the containers in the same water to cook it and there is all kinds of gross things in there including forbidden shellfish items and blood cake ... ah ...
I never realized how good we had it at NCKU last year! :)
This morning, I gave my very first presentation in Chinese ... lol But for some reason, a lot of English ended up creeping into the presentation. ;) I'm glad that my professor speaks English fluently and is an authority on the subject ... she was able to explain things better to the students when my language skills failed me. Also, my classmate, Edward, was a big help when I got stuck, giving me the right words. haha
There was only one (1) time during the whole time (over 30 minutes) that I laughed or even smiled ... and that was because I said the wrong word!!!! Ahh! I was supposed to say, "blah blah blah information," but said instead, "blah blah blah beverage." ^-^ I don't think everyone, or even the teacher, heard me, but Edward did and we both started laughing .. I had to stifle it and move on with as much composure as possible. I think God knew that if I didn't laugh about something, I would get so frustrated and just shut down.
So, a lot has happened in the relatively short span of time since my last blog but it's too much to remember and write down. :) I'm not even sure what to include. I think the food is on my mind the most because it's such a part of my daily life and I feel pretty unhealthy right now ...
I'm learning new things and embarking on new journeys and adventures that I didn't exactly foresee before I left home. It's growth, which is good ... and stepping out of my comfort zone, which is also good, but requires some courage and leaning on God for strength.
On a positive note, there was a mosquito on the wall just a few minutes ago ... I took off my flipflop and smashed it quite successfully against the wall!! :) One point!
Tomorrow I need to do laundry! :)
Here are just a few pictures from last weekend ~~ I'll try to get more general photos up soon ~~
Taken from my window ... the beautiful, morning sunlight over the mountains in Taipei
Yang Mu signing autographs after the conference:
The 101 :)
It looks full, right??
Wrong!!!! ... NOW, it's full :)
This was just after I got back to my dorm from Taipei last weekend:
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