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!)

Xiao Bei Bai Huo

Friday 13 November 2009

A “dongxi” or “thing” store at night. These stores sell almost anything you could possibly need in your house. Cleaning supplies, stationary, tools, underwear, dried foods, beauty products, car accessories, cold drinks, dishes – you name it, they've got it. A general store in the broadest sense I've seen yet.

Thursday 12 November 2009

Dried flower tea. (I like this kind with a lot of sugar, it's too sour without) I cannot seem to find an English translation anywhere.)

Palm

Wednesday 11 November 2009

We all need more loudspeaker

Tuesday 10 November 2009

A loud speaker attached to a scooter in front of a tea stand, with a recording that goes something like “Tea! Come get some cold, delicious tea!' Ugh, I hate all the noise pollution here in Kaohsiung, all the ads constantly blaring.

Water station

Monday 9 November 2009

A water filtration center, with a pump out front for filling big jugs of water to haul home.

"Clear" skies

Sunday 8 November 2009

A section of the sky over Kaohsiung. As we head into winter, we also head back into the smoggiest days. You can see how gray it is near the horizon, even on a clear, sunny day.

Kaohsiung Food Show

Saturday 7 November 2009

We went to the Kaohsiung Food Show today, which was just as much fun as last year, if not more. Tons of samples, friendly people, yummy food, neat new kitchen gadgets, and of course, Playful Duck's Gizzards!

streamers

Friday 6 November 2009

Streamers above our new favorite tea place – PresoTea.

A sliver of myself

Thursday 5 November 2009

Squeezing in some devotion

Wednesday 4 November 2009

A small temple wedged in between apartment buildings.

Sharp focus

Tuesday 3 November 2009

A bin full of scrap metal.

Night road

Monday 2 November 2009

After work, along YiXin Road.

Big boat, little boat

Sunday 1 November 2009

A tug passes in front of a big old pleasure boat of some kind.

I'm practicing being a bride!

Saturday 31 October 2009

Ryan and I were Frankenstein's Monster and his bride for Halloween (obviously). It was soooo cool - my hair was at least a foot tall!

Old poster

Friday 30 October 2009

For rent

Thursday 29 October 2009

It's for rent, if you're interested!

Doggie Head!

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Hee hee, fluffy dog.

Round building

Tuesday 27 October 2009

A building in our neighborhood.

My pomelo hat

Monday 26 October 2009

This is more traditionally done at Chinese New Year, but Ryan and I ate a pomelo, and I decided to cut the skin into a hat. So, here I am doing my pomelo dance in my pomelo hat.

Morning temple

Sunday 25 October 2009

Godspeed

Saturday 24 October 2009

At the stationary store.

Thank you, good sir. Now that I have purchased a sufficient supply of stickers for the journey, I shall return safely to my home.

I once had a student named Godspeed. Well, for one day, before I convinced his dad to change his name to Oliver.

Sabrina's clothes

Friday 23 October 2009

These clothes belong to Sabrina, my co-teacher's one-year-old daughter. Sabrina's grandmother sews these Buddhist symbols onto her clothes to protect her.

Oooh, Captain Hunk!

Thursday 22 October 2009

This is a page from a book in a series which our school owns and has in the library. Our school which collects money for teaching children English. Yes, this is a real book that really claims to teach English. There are many more, some even worse than this, but this was my favorite page so far. That Captain Hunk, he's so dreamy.

Ava

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Ava on the jungle gym.