Last year with the 85

Friday 1 January 2009

Apple crate

Thursday 31 December 2009

We went to the annual Kaohsiung Container Arts festival today, where local artists are given a shipping container and decorate it however they like. There were some interesting ones this year, and some cheesy ones. I rather liked this one full of (fake) apples.

Parrot

Wednesday 30 December 2009

A friend of ours is pet-sitting a parrot.

Chimp feet

Tuesday 29 December 2009

We went to the zoo today – an actually appropriate field trip! These are a chimpanzee's feet, hanging out at the top of his enclosure.

Winter clothes

Monday 28 December 2009

The temperature right now is in the low 20s during the day, and maybe down to just below 20 at night. (so, in the 70's during the day, and high 60's at night, in Fahrenheit.) So, Taiwanese parents think that it is freezing cold outside, and unless they bundle their children in three or four layers of thick clothing, they will immediately die. Now, I know my blood has thinned, but being from Michigan I still don't quite understand this.

J, my little Norwegian student, of course still comes to school in T-shirts and shorts, a matter of some concern for the Taiwanese staff of the school. I've tried explaining that this is as warm as it gets in summer in Norway, but they still worry.

Lonely

Sunday 27 December 2009

A round red decoration hanging from a tree.

Christmas reflection

Saturday 26 December 2009

Ryan and I reflected in a Christmas ornament.

Merry Cookiemas!

Friday 25 December 2009

One of my completed cookie trays. This year's features, going clockwise: sugar cookies, chewy ginger cookies, spicy chocolate shortbread, mint marbled refrigerator cookies, pumpkin cookies, almond snowballs, and coconut peanut candies. Not bad, huh?

Santa Lao Gong Gong!

Thursday 24 December 2009

All the Taiwanese incarnations of Santa. You might want to click on this one to get a better view. My personal favorite, in the upper left, is Santa as a foreigner in a fake beard.

Christmas party

Wednesday 23 December 2009

Today was our Christmas party at school, so of course it's the day to come to school dressed as a robot. But it was only one kid – my first year teaching kindergarten, in 2003, half the class came to the Christmas party in Halloween costumes. I had several jolly Batmans that year.

The boy on the right is my little Norwegian. His parents later told me that drawing freckles on your face is what everyone does in Norway when they attend a Christmas party - kids and adults alike. Isn't he adorable?

Welder

Tuesday 22 December 2009

A common sight here in Taiwan – a guy welding with absolutely no protective gear whatsoever.

Heavy load

Monday 21 December 2009

2010 Cookies

Sunday 20 December 2009

Here are all of the cookies I baked this year, finished at last. 663 cookies in a week – phew, I'm tired!

Cookie party!

Saturday 19 December 2009

We had our annual cookie decorating party today! Here is the set-up – cookies, frosting, sprinkles – just awaiting our creative hands.

Dried pomelos

Friday 18 December 2009

Do you remember that pomelo hat I had on back in October? Well, here a dozens of those hats, probably from last Chinese New Year, all hung out to dry.

Director's flowers

Thursday 17 December 2009

I got some flowers on the last night of the performance, so I thought I'd post a photo of them here. Not because they were nice flowers, although they were, but mostly to how just elaborately wrapped flowers come here. This set-up is for about 10 roses – a big ribbon, three outer layers of pretty paper, a sea of gauzy stuff, and each rose individually wrapped. It was sooooooo much trash when I took it apart.

Paper money burner

Wednesday 16 December 2009

A paper money burner, used on auspicious days to contain the flames as everyone heads to the streets and burns money for their ancestors.

Republic of Comedy

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Ryan performed in a little improv show tonight. Here is the game “Puppets.”

Cast shot

Monday 14 December 2009

I just couldn't resist putting in one more show photo – here is the whole cast. I still can't believe I somehow got all these people together often enough and long enough to actually put together a show!

(Photo by Ryan Bird)

Fairy line-up

Sunday 13 December 2009

The night of our last show. Here are my four speaking fairies.

(Photo by Ryan Bird)

Titania and Bottom

Saturday 12 December 2009

Our second weekend! Here is my Titania and Bottom. . . . “and my eye is much enthralled to thy shape.”

(Photo by Ryan Bird)

Yumi's studies

Friday 11 December 2009

These books belong to Yumi, my old student and the older sister of my other current private student, Emily. (Who has FINALLY changed her name from Wonderful, thank goodness.) She is 12 years old, and none of these books are for school, they are ALL for extra lessons and after-school classes. This is completely normal for a Taiwanese child. Parents here are not happy unless their children are either in class or doing homework, honestly, every moment of the day except meals. (All three of which are often eaten at school.)

San jia yi

Thursday 10 December 2009

This is my friend Bekah's medicine, that she got from the doctor. But look closely – where it tells her how long she has to take it for, the doctor has written in 3+1 days. Yes, that's right, the belief that 4 is an unlucky number is so strong here that even doctors would rather write 3+1.

Newspapers

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Hairwashing train

Tuesday 8 December 2009

This is just about the cutest thing ever. This year, one of my students' favorite games is “Hairwash,” where they pretend to wash each others' hair. They love doing mine. And sometimes they make a long hairwashing train, like in this photo.

We see the . . .

Monday 7 December 2009

Nervous

Sunday 6 December 2009

Putting some make-up onto Laura, one of my little fairies.

(Photo by Ryan Bird)

Opening night

Saturday 5 December 2009

Opening night! Here we all are, warming and pysching up for the show!

Oh, it's so much harder to watch other people put on the show, to be so nervous but to be unable to do anything, to just have to watch and cue and listen and hope that everything goes well.

(Photo by Ryan Bird)

Fruit stand

Friday 4 December 2009

So much of the fruit here is sold off the back of little trucks like this.

City garden

Thursday 3 December 2009

I love looking at this little vegetable garden every time I drive past this corner. It is outside of a 7-11, and is very well-tended. What good use of that tiny scrape of dirt!

Awning

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Pain Clinic

Tuesday 1 December 2009

This is Ryan's ear doctor's office. (He's trying to see if anything can be done about the scarring and hearing loss from when a firework exploded inside his helmet a few years back.) I imagine it would be a little intimidating walking into the “Pain Clinic” every time you had to see the doctor!

Chopstick garden

Monday 30 November 2009

This little garden caught my eye - it is stuffed full of chopsticks and straws of every color. Technically garbage, yes, but it really caught my eye all crowded in like that.

Fairies at rest

Sunday 29 November 2009

A couple of my fairies relaxing before the dress rehearsal/show.

Program

Saturday 28 November 2009

The weekend of dress rehearsal, which for us is also a preview performance for all the kids' parents. And there it is, officially, my name in print.

85 again

Friday 27 November 2009

Taiwan Thanksgiving

Thursday 26 November 2009

We had Thanksgiving at our school today. The school asked the parents to bring in food to share (because the school are cheapskates who never want to pay for anything, despite the high tuition rates) so of course each child's parents brought enough food to completely fill up the whole class, and almost none of it was appropriate for a meal, let alone for Thanksgiving. (Which means tons of leftovers which then became our lunches and snacks for the next week, probably the school's real intention.) We had McDonald's and a giant tray of pastries and a bunch of candy.

Busy market street

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Glass tree

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Untitled

Monday 23 November 2009

Procession performers

Sunday 22 November 2009

On my way to rehearsal, where we are using make-up on the fairies that is inspired by this very kind of costume, I ran into a HUGE procession. It was neat for all of 10 minutes, before I realized how very very big it was and that it was going to block the road for HOURS. So, I snapped this lucky shot and wove my way out of there!

Flash cross

Saturday 21 November 2009

A Flash Cross! Yes! The most holy and Christian of household decorations! (Not to mention elegant.) We put batteries in, and it cast enough flashing multi-colored LED light to read by!

Alleyway

Friday 20 November 2009

A little alley I always pass and think is pretty.

. . . . bookshelf

Thursday 19 November 2009

Day 4: My bookshelves. A bit messy. Can you make out any of the titles?

. . . . shoes

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Day 3: My Shoes. Yep, these are all the shoes I own, and quite a few of them are ratty enough to be left behind when we leave Taiwan.

. . . . fridge

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Day 2: My Fridge. Well, Ryan's and my fridge, really. Comics, tons of recipes (I'm starting to plan for the Christmas cookie tray . . .), coupons, etc. And all held up with our cute Japanese mini dog magnets.

You can tell a lot about a woman from her . . . . . purse

Monday 16 November 2009

Okay, here is something I've been thinking about doing for a while. I was hoping to have more, but I only ended up taking four of these photos. So, for the next four days, you are going to see a little bit of me, a little piece of my life.

Day 1: My Purse. Here is everything that is in my purse. I was going to list it all, but not that I look at it, there's an awful lot of stuff there. And my purse isn't very big! So, you can just look and guess what some of it is.

Baby papayas

Sunday 15 November 2009

Ryan's triple show

Saturday 14 November 2009

Ryan had another photo show tonight! And this time, it was a joint show with two other artists (Brad McDuff and Rick Estes, friends of ours.) It was a very successful night for everyone, including me (my cookies also went over very well!)