Three cups

Monday 31 August 2009

I have found my Taiwanese cooking class! The mother of some of my private students, as it turns out, is a cooking fanatic. She cooks very traditional food every night for her family - a rarity nowadays, when take-out is so cheap and accessible.

This was my first class - three cups squid.

Utility Box

Sunday 30 August 2009

The utility box outside the 7-11 downstairs. Puts me in mind of Christmas . . .

Sea

Saturday 29 August 2009

Playing tag

Friday 28 August 2009

I went outside with my kids today to teach them tag, but - and I don't know if this is a language thing or a developmental readiness thing - it didn't go over real well. Okay, no problem, I figured I'd give them 15 minutes to run around. Hmm, no we went in a few minutes later - it seems Taiwanese kids just don't like running around outside. They're conditioned from birth not to get dirty and that they can hurt themselves doing anything. (The rich kids of this overprotective generation, anyway.)

City Sunset

Thursday 27 August 2009

Chinese Valentine's Day

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Today is 7/7 by the lunar calendar, which is Chinese Valentine's day. How about a nice, um . . . fluffy bouquet for your sweetheart?

Blue sky

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Butterfly gate

Monday 24 August 2009

I stopped to take a photo of this gate, and woman shows up wondering why on Earth I'm taking pictures of a rusty old gate. Turns out this is her son's house, and she starts talking my ear off, asking me a million questions, and by the end of the conversation, she's offering to find me a new apartment.

No Entry

Sunday 23 August 2009

Boots

Saturday 22 August 2009

Went out to help with the typhoon clean-up effort today, out in the country. Shoveling mud and cleaning up yards. Here are our boots.

Donald the Dinner

Friday 21 August 2009

We got some Peking Duck for dinner tonight, from the place down the street that is covered in Donald Duck pictures.

Bai bai

Thursday 20 August 2009

Today is the first day of ghost month, so Grandma made some offerings and burnt a bunch of incense. Inside the school. Right next to my classroom. Nice.

And you can see my little Norwegian student in the background there. He doesn't speak any English or Chinese, my most difficult student.

Enjoy your work!

Wednesday 19 August 2009

I usually do, thanks!

Big Tree

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Okay, last Peng Hu shot, I promise. This is a banyan tree that is more than 200 years old. This photo doesn't do it justice - those branches stretched for more than 100 yards. There was another, slightly older and more famous bayan tree on the island, but that one was busy and noisy and touristy. This one had a few tourists, but it was quiet and peaceful - it felt so nice to sit under a quiet old tree.

Stone carving

Monday 17 August 2009

I just couldn't resist putting up another couple of shots from Peng Hu, because it was just so beautiful. Here's a detail shot of some of the most amazing stone carvings I have ever seen in a temple.

So much fish

Sunday 16 August 2009

We drove out to a beach today, to spend a little more time in the sun and fresh air before heading back to Kaohsiung, and we drove past blocks and blocks and blocks that looked like this.

Fisherman

Saturday 15 August 2009

A beautiful day on Peng Hu - it feels so good to get away from the city, to bathe in the sea air.

Peng Hu!

Friday 14 August 2009

Ryan and I arrived on Peng Hu this afternoon! Peng Hu is an island off the west of Taiwan known for its seafood and temples. There is a higher density of temples here than anywhere else in Taiwan, and they are not just small neighborhood shrines, either. These are huge, rich, unbelievably elaborate temples, as you can see from this photo.

Bonsai

Thursday 13 August 2009

English in the bathroom

Wednesday 13 August 2009

Finally, that time you spend in the bathroom won't be wasted anymore - you can learn English idioms while sitting on the toilet!

Self-portrait

Tuesday 11 August 2009

On my scooter, ready to head back to work.

More damage

Monday 10 August 2009

Some more downed trees, typhoon damage. This isn't too bad, though, they can be re-planted. But it is becoming clear that Morokot hit southern Taiwan waaaaaaay harder than anyone could have imagined it would, and there was a whole lot of damage done up in the mountains. In some places, 100 inches of rain fell in two days, causing an awful lot of flooding and landslides. I've no idea what the death toll is going to be, but some villages were wiped completely off the mountainside, and the stories starting to trickle out are horrendous. Let's all pray that the needs of the victims are seen to quickly and efficiently.

Scooter fruit

Sunday 9 August 2009

The typhoon finally slacked off late last night, so Ryan and I went out to check out some of the damage done (and get some much-needed fresh air, after two full days inside!) There was more damage than we had thought there was going to be, including this big fallen tree.

Leaks . . .

Saturday 8 August 2009

We thought the typhoon was going to skim off Taipei and barely hit us down here, but we woke up this morning and it was still screaming. And our windows were leaking and our ceiling was dripping. There is a lot of water coming down out there.

Typhoon Morokot

Friday 7 August 2009

Today was a typhoon day - no school! But we were stuck inside all day, looking at the gray slashing and listening to the wind howling.

My rubber heart

Thursday 6 August 2009

Corner

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Fans on sale

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Oh man, and even if you had all of these fans pointed right at you, it would still be hot . . .

Buddha and his pals

Monday 3 August 2009

Rick and his pencils

Sunday 2 August 2009

Okay, just one more beach shot - it was such a lovely day. Here is Rick with his new colored pencils, doing a little sketching at ocean.

Bai Sha

Saturday 1 August 2009

I got a ride from my friends Bekah and Rick (who own a car) and we all went down to the southern tip of the island today, to lie about on one of Taiwan's rare white sand beaches. (Most beaches here are black volcanic sand - it's interesting to look at, but even less fun to have all up in the places where sand gets.)

The water was the bluest I've ever seen water look anywhere - it even looked perfect turqouise blue while you were swimming in it. And it was deep, calm, and a perfect temperature. *Sigh*