In Transit

Written on our flight from Kaoshiung to Hong Kong on Monday, September 3rd:

This mostly blank page radiates possibility. It holds inside itself secrets yet to be unveiled. Inspiration is squeezed out of my pen as the the borders of our comfort zones are also pressed against.

Standing in Chiayi two evenings ago, I paused my walk with Jack and allowed the immensity of the moment to wash over me. Waves of emotion crashed against me, waking up long slumbering synapses. I don't know if it was the emptiness of the park due to a recent rainstorm or the beautiful symmetry of the stone path ahead of me, but it awakened something in me. Even now, I feel the pulsing electricity of adventure coursing hot and impatiently through my veins.

I'm waking up...

It's hard to say when exactly I lost myself. I could dwell on it, but what could possibly come of that? The road lies ahead of me, eagerly beckoning me on: a child dying to show me a new discovery; a wise, wrinkled old man waving me forward to try my hand in this great big world.

I timidly take a step. Then another.

The blank page fills...

Up, Up, and Away

So here we are again. A crossroads. A split in the path. In one week's time, I will be sitting for the last time on this bumpy, circa 1972 couch, mentally preparing to board an airplane (the following afternoon) which will deposit me in yet another foreign land. Looking back on my first post, which I made exactly 2 years ago (an interesting coincidence) , I find myself in a very similar position. Again, I am on a precipice, psyching myself up to take yet another jump into the unknown. Only this time I have no job waiting for me on the other side of the flight. No coworkers or boss to help show us the way around. Just me, my backpack, and a healthy supply of good humor and open-mindedness.

Looking in the mirror, I don't see a man much different than the one that left his comfort zone so far behind two years ago. Perhaps he's lost a few pounds of excess weight (gained thanks to excessive consumption of adult beverages in Chicago) or gained a few gray hairs. Perhaps he's become an expert at picking up individual pieces of rice with chopsticks. Maybe this very similar looking man has two years of learning Mandarin under his belt and can successfully throw a decent boxing combo followed up with a nice roundhouse kick (thanks MAD guys). Heck, this guy might even be able to walk into a class of 25 Taiwanese kids of varying English capabilities and teach them about Aviation or Camping and have them all leave smiling. Shoot, this tall drink of water may even be able to show you how to maneuver confidently through rush hour on a scooter, avoiding unexpectedly opening car doors and impromptu turns by other vehicles.

Yeah, this guy doesn't look a lot different. But looking through pictures and flippin' through the countless memories I've filed away, I'd say that this man is a smidge different than the nervous 24 year old who sat on the floor of a busy Chicago airport precisely two years ago typing on his computer.

I will never forget floating in the ocean, huge rolling waves gently lifting me up and down as the dark orange sun burned it's way into the purple horizon, setting the whole salty ocean on fire. I will never be able to hear the classical tune "Maiden's Prayer" and not think of a Taiwanese garbage truck making its rounds. Nor will I soon forget the countless friendships that I've developed since moving here, whether they are the ones made simply in passing, such as daily greetings with people in my neighborhood, or ones formed over late nights and Taiwan Píjiǔ (beer) with other foreigners. The laughs shared during trips to new places all over the island, or the shared experience of tromping through thick mountain foliage trying to find the next Hash mark on our monthly Hash runs are unforgettable. This country is warmer than just about anywhere else I've been, and it's the kind of warmth that leaves you both sweaty and smiling because it's not only the tropical heat, but the ready smiles of nearly everyone you pass that keep you warm.

I'll miss all these things, but among the things I'll miss the most will probably be the unexpected friendship of my canine pal, Jack. He's staying with some friends here in Taiwan until my eventual return in January 2013, and I can certainly say I'll miss him greeting me after a long day. Whoever said that dogs are man's best friend wasn't kidding. If only we could be as excited for each new day as Jack is, the world would be a much happier place.

And so I will wrap up this post not with a bittersweet farewell to Taiwan, but instead a hearty "zàijiàn" ("see you again"). That being said, Southeast Asia, here I come. Up, Up, and Away!

One Year Later

Upon exiting the airport in Taipei after nearly a full day of check-in lines, crowded airports, and cramped airplanes, Taiwan welcomed us back by engulfing us in a very warm, humid embrace. Despite all of our travel going relatively smoothly, I can certainly see why many expats here don't go home frequently. That being said, I don't regret for a second that we did. The chance to get away from work and go see our families and a small number of friends was incredible. Although we'd only been gone for ten months, the reverse culture shock had already began to set in. It took us several days before we stopped automatically thinking about how to order things in Chinese as we were waiting to make our order at restaurants. The first time I saw Chinese characters (on the front of a Chinese buffet somewhere in Southeast Michigan) was, in a strange way, comforting.



The few oddities aside, it was strangely easy for us to slip back into the hustle and bustle of being in the U.S. It was as if we hadn't missed a beat with our families. My beautiful niece is growing bigger everyday and her curiosity matches her physical growth. My time with my siblings was painfully brief, although it's always fun to catch up, whether it's been a month or in our case, nearly a year. Having returned to our lives here in Taiwan, I feel the disconnect from my family more than I did before. I am already anticipating our trip home come next Fall after our adventures in Europe. It's quite a ways from now, but I know the next year will fly by far faster than we would like it to.

It's been over a month since we returned from our short trip home, and our lives are once again in a fairly comfortable routine. The dogs are finally healthy, after what seems like the last half of the year was spent multiple times a week driving across town on the scooters to get the dogs to a vet who spoke English. It was stressful for us, the dogs, and our relationship. Thankfully, they finally both seem to be happy and healthy.



Starting when we got back to work, I had a seven week Summer Camp four times a week in the mornings for two hours. This was on top of my already long days, but the overtime pay was significant enough to get me to agree to it. The class had anywhere from 15-25 students (depending on the week and who was sick) of varying ages and English levels. I taught them different themes every week, including sports, water sports, foods/snacks, magic and games, the planets, and a few more. The classes were generally well behaved, thanks to a reward system I picked up from my job back in the States working with autistic children (edible treats work pretty well as motivation across the board). Although the class went pretty smoothly, working from 9 am until nearly 9 pm, four days a week, definitely tired me out. As of last Friday, I am finally done with Summer Camp, and now I officially don't begin work until 2 pm everyday! This allows me to get back into shape (P90X starts next Monday), lock into improving my Chinese, and learning some more Chinese. On top of that, the dogs will spend less time locked up, the apartment will be more clean, and I will have a far better disposition a majority of the time (which is a huge benefit for everyone involved!). Who knows, perhaps I'll even begin writing more often *GASP!*.



A few weeks after we returned to Taiwan, we welcomed a good college friend of mine named John and his girlfriend Rachel. They had contacted me with some questions about teaching abroad right around the same time that it became clear that our school would be needing new teachers soon. I informed them about the positions and they got in contact with our director, and not long later, were making the same nerve-wracking and exciting trip we had made just a short year before. They're pretty settled in at this point and very excited to get their first paycheck. It's been fun showing them around our little pocket in Taiwan and watching them respond to all the sights and experiences in much the same way that I'm sure Sara and I did when we arrived. In two weeks, we'll be making a weekend trip up to Taipei with John and Rachel and another couple that we are close with. We hope to make another trip down to Kenting in the coming month as well. It's been over half a year since we made a long trip anywhere, due to having the dogs, and it's been six months too long. We found a vet that'll board the dogs for a very reasonable price, and I am ecstatic to say the least.



With the start of my new schedule, some upcoming weekend trips on our calender, and our trip to Europe (and eventually home) all on the horizon, I happily enter the second year of our tenure in Taiwan. The previous year has been far different than what I expected in many ways (some not so great, and many incredible), and I am looking forward to see what the next 11 months hold for us. Stay tuned for more to come!

And Then There Were Four

Greetings All!

Once again, it has been over a month since my last post. Among the usual reasons for the long delay are the two dogs passed out at my feet. That's right, folks, in case you missed the recent pictures on Facebook, we have acquired yet another stray dog. I certainly don't want to sound like a broken record and go into the difficulties of raising a puppy as I did in the last post, so I'll keep it brief. Jack has been the opposite of Lucy in many ways: whereas she had trouble not peeing in the apartment a lot at first, he was very resistant to going potty at all; unlike her insistence on pulling when walking, Jack likes to hang back a bit; where Lucy is generally skittish around a ton of people, Jack is relaxed and confident. We've very thoroughly entertained by watching the dogs' relationship grow and develop, although we do wish they would decide who was the "big dog".

We received a airline approved crate in the mail from Mike and Audra who have graciously offered to adopt Lucy! Although Lucy doesn't have a New Yorker accent, we're confident in her being very happy to be a big city dog with such good parents. However, we're still working out the details of travel. Who would've thought flying a rescued dog from Taiwan to the States would be a challenge? Regardless of the difficulties, we won't rest until Lucy is safe and happy in New York : )

Now that I've got the puppy update taken care of, I'll move on. On Saturday, we will have been in Taiwan for 9 months. This is very difficult to believe, as we are still caught off guard by things we see, both beautiful and shocking, every day. We continue to learn things every day, from our students, friends, coworkers, and complete strangers. Although we've been terrible about doing any formal learning of Chinese, we still pick up little bits here and there. As we learn, we both hear and understand much more all around us. To think at some point I could be fluent in such a completely alien language is thrilling, but in order to do that, I need to step up my learning pace. Perhaps next month : )

With each lesson I learn, I try to mentally log them in order to share them here, for anyone who remains interested in our adventures. Here are a few:

- As we learned on this past Sunday, always check the weather forecast before taking a scooter ride into the mountains with your dogs. We drove nearly an hour out to a waterfall (previously mentioned in posts) only to have it begin raining quite hard as soon as we arrived at the waterfall itself. It didn't take long before we were all soaked and ready to go home. We ended up having to wait until the rain let up enough for one of the men at the temple to drive us up the rather treacherous hill on the back of his 4X4 truck (this was in itself an adventure). The dogs weren't thrilled about it, but we made it safely to the top after having all four of our hearts going pretty quickly. The drive down the mountain was relatively dry, but once we got to the bottom, another wave of heavy rain hit. In the end it took us about 2 hours to get home, and another 45 minutes to get the dogs blow-dried (a feat in itself).

Lesson: you have never multitasked until driving in traffic on a scooter, in a torrential downpour, while encouraging a soaked dog to stay on said scooter.

Lesson learned.

- As I mentioned earlier, the crate that Mike and Audra sent for Lucy arrived at our school yesterday. We then had to devise a way to get the rather large box back home via scooter. I thought perhaps I could simply carry it the four blocks or so to our apartment. Sara, however, suggested that we put it on the back of the scooter and tie it around my midsection. So we did. Although I only got to see a few other drivers' reactions, I could hear Sara laughing hysterically as she followed me on a scooter the entire way home.

Lesson: how to transport a large box on a scooter while getting even more funny looks than usual.

Lesson learned.

(Yes, that scooter is light purple. Big deal! Wanna fight about it?)

- yet another skill I've learned is how to eat a big bowl of rice, tofu, and veggies faster with chopsticks than I probably could with any other utensil. With two pups that are still working on being fully housebroken, we are forced to really squeeze in a lot to our 40 minute "dinner" breaks between 6:05-6:40. We hurry home, one of us takes the dogs out, one buys food from a noodle shop across from our place, and then we hustle back to school to chow down. This limited time frame for food consumption, combined with my predisposition to shovel food (thanks to being raised in a large family where seconds was a privilege granted to the fastest eaters), I now really have to make an effort to slow down when eating in a relaxed setting.

Lesson: how to master chopstick use.

Lesson Nearly Learned (I haven't caught any flies yet).

Well, it is getting time for these dogs to take a potty break and for me to hustle off to work. As always, thank you for reading. Perhaps you learned something. Perhaps you got a laugh out of our experiences. Perhaps you got nervous when I talked about our truck ride up the treacherous hill (hi, Mom). Anyway it goes, I miss you all and hope to hear from you all soon.

Until the next time, stay safe and do your best to appreciate all the amazing people and things in your life. I certainly know I do.

Ladies and Gentlemen: We present Lucy

*Disclaimer: The subject of this blog focuses almost entirely on the issues surrounding a new canine in nuestra casa, so if dogs aren't your thing, skipping this installment is recommended. Thank you for your patronage.

-Mgmt

We've heard several times in the last few weeks that it was merely a matter of time. Exactly three weeks ago, Sara came upon an apparently feral puppy while on the way to a hiking trail just a short way outside of our city. However, as countless feral dogs roam freely all over Taiwan, the girls continued on their way. Nearly an hour or more later, leaving the trail, they came upon the puppy again, sitting in the exact same position. The pooch was sitting along the side of a road, surrounded by her own poop, looking as if she had be dropped off of a scooter quite some time ago and was simply waiting for someone to come back for her. Having a bad case of Bleeding Heart Syndrome, Sara naturally stopped to give the dog some always handy vegetarian dog treats. The then unnamed puppy was not a fan of the treats, but soaked up the attention. Since she was clearly not a feral dog, Sara and the girls decided they couldn't in good conscience leave her there. A few short hours after, the puppy was being smothered with affection as well as flea and tick shampoo in our bathtub.

So here we are, another active weekend in the bag, winding down on a Sunday night. I can certainly tell you I didn't have a lot of expectations for our time in Asia, but had someone told me that we'd be playing the role of puppy trainers, I would've scoffed. That's right, I don't use that word frequently, but I feel as if it's appropriate. As much as I love dogs, the thought of all the added responsibility of providing for another living, breathing, and excessively sniffing creature is not one that had crossed my mind. That being said, it has been quite the learning process. I imagine it's on par with suddenly having a baby born without the nine month warning. Overnight we went from very busy but relatively comfortable in our schedules to scrambling to get supplies and any dog training tips the internet had to offer. We're just now getting to the point where things are beginning to settle down.

Among the myriad of exciting new concerns brought home with the puppy were the little friends that accompanied Lucy into 我们的家 (our house): fleas, worms, a fungal infection in her fur, and quite the case of scabies. The latter of which was unbeknownst to us until we finally had enough spare time to get her to vet to figure out why she was spending all of her waking hours scratching incessantly. Four rounds of trips to the vet for shots to fight the infection and scabies later, as well as twice-a-day cocktails of pills hidden in her food (luckily she's the canine equivalent of a undiscriminating vacuum cleaner) and she's nearly 100% healthy. For those of you who haven't dealt with scabies (human or canine) previously, they're nasty little f%@#ers. Upon hearing the diagnosis, we returned home with our itchy pup and scoured the internet for info on dealing with the issue. Just about everything we read said that you have to clean all fabric in the household with boiling water, then wash it. Anything non-washable should be sealed in airtight bags and put away for two weeks in a cool, dark place. In addition, you have to be exceedingly careful about what comes in contact with the infected monster, and treat anything that hasn't been cleaned as a carrier. As a cherry on top, it is required to mop with boiling water at least once a day for two weeks. And so the cleaning frenzy began. Please note that this little smelly poo-nugget of realization was dropped in our laps during our Tuesday break, during which we usually prepare for another round of classes. After much grumbling, resentful mutterings, and many loads of clothing having boiling water dumped on them, we got back to focusing our attention on the little typhoon of energy who was making an effort to chew on everything in sight.

(This stuffed rabbit didn't stand a chance against the Cookie Faced Guillotine)

It's pretty apparent due to Lucy's already existing affinity for human attention that she had spent some time with a family, although her almost complete lack of discipline or training leads us to think she spent that time locked up before eventually being discarded. Thus, she was a bit of a blank slate in terms of training. Shit, we don't even know if she speaks English! Language barriers aside, we are getting to the point where our xiao pengyou (little friend) is quite obedient. In order to help stave off any destruction due to unspent energy, common to puppies with working parents, Sara and I have been taking turns running her in the mornings and evenings. This Saturday Sara and I strapped on our Vibram Five-Fingers and got our newly scooter trained beast on our Taiwanese minivan and headed out to hit the trails. About an hour and several hundred winding steps later, we were all pretty beat. We've taken turns teaching her tricks, and so far we've got Sit, Lay down, Come (unless something smells too good to abandon), Shake, and Go to your home (an idea borrowed from Sam, Shel, and Rock). Earlier today I gave 'Bang' a shot (literally) and within 15 minutes, she was giving Oscar worthy flops.

(our chariot)

As many of you know, I spent over two years working intensively with children on the Autism spectrum, which in case you are unaware of, tends to take a lot of patience and consistency. I can honestly say that dealing with this new addition to our little family has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. And despite all of that frustration, every day has been better than the last. I suppose when you start at the bottom, it really can only go up. We're still not sure what we'll do with our Oreo Faced Fiend, but at the moment, we're enjoying making at least one stray puppy's life a little more full of love.

Six Months In

Happy Chinese New Year!

We can't really say that we have ever been excited for this time of year before (or even been aware of it's existence, for that matter). However, this year, we have nearly a week off work, which aside from one three day weekend, is the first time off we've enjoyed since we arrived back in September. Needless to say, we needed it. Sara and I have been quite busy with our jobs and getting into the swing of a new year and with it slightly revamped class schedules. Although my schedule remained mostly unchanged (apart from an extra half an hour each day in the AM), Sara has been give two more evening classes, which really stretch her days out significantly. She's been a trooper, but we both desperately needed some decompression time.

Due to the holiday, Chinese schools have been out of class for a few weeks and many of our kids parents can't afford (or simply don't want) to take time off to watch their little joyous bundles of energy. Because of this, our school holds an annual Winter Sports Camp, which I was asked to run. It is two hours a day for ten days (9-11 am) spread out over last week and next week. The class consists of 26 kids varying from Level 1 to Level 10 (basically 3rd graders to junior high) with a big range of English capabilities. I was given the task of teaching them a variety of sports, including basic vocabulary, rules, and simple skills. So far we've covered bowling, soccer, basketball, and baseball. The kids seem to enjoy it and a lot of them have quickly picked up on a lot of the terms that span across many of the sports (out of bounds, jersey, pass, shoot, dribble, etc). If it wasn't for it being such a long day for me, I would consider offering to do something like this again. We have a University campus within walking distance of our school so we've taken a few trips over there to use their big soccer field and basketball hoops. For a few of the braver kids, after we finished playing basketball, I offered to help them climb on a platform by the hoop to take a picture. A few very brave souls even let me pick them up. There is definitely something extremely gratifying about seeing someone really pick up something you've taught them and hit the ground running, so to speak. Smell what I'm stepping in. Catch what I'm throwing out. Pick up what I'm putting down. You get the point.

We continue to slowly expand our social circles outside of our work environment. It seems as if it takes several months to really begin to even meet other foreigners, but once you meet a few fun ones, they provide a platform from which you may really establish some fun relationships. Sara and I have been fortunate to meet some really great people so far, and in doing so have been given some great insights into awesome things to do near where we live. For instance, we got to check out one of the myriad hot springs outside of our city a few weekends ago. It was quite invigorating to sit and soak in all of the clean air up in the mountains. We've also been introduced so some absolutely stunning hiking trails within 30 minutes of our apartment, almost completely free of other people. It's shocking to think just how densely populated this part of the world is (as seen in top picture, something we got to experience this week due to Chinese New Year and everyone being out at once), and how easily you can lose yourself if you simply step off the beaten trail.

We were offered the chance to do a bit more adventuring this week by a couple we met recently. The girl is from California and the man is from England, although he's traveled all over the world. They've been fascinating to get to know, and he has a vast collection of experiences from all over to share. He studied Chinese in University and knows several languages aside from it. He has also studied many different forms of meditation and enlightenment and in his travels to find peaceful places to get away to, he came upon a waterfall near a Buddhist temple up in the mountains of Taiwan. Yesterday, we got to make the trip along with the couple and one of our our friends. Sara and I managed to buy a one-time used tent and some sleeping bags and we packed up for our first camping trip together (and my first one since I was a young boy). The drive up the mountain was worth it in itself. It took us about half an hour to get out of the hustle and bustle of the throngs of people paying homage at every temple in sight and into the rural areas. Through a few small pockets of civilization and we were suddenly going up and around steep snakelike turns. On one side of our campgear-laden scooter was an impossibly steep wall of trees and rock and on the other, a nice sheer drop off with huge mountains just beyond. Green, flourishing plants everywhere you can see, and the sun painting smiles on our faces.

After about 20 minutes of upwards winding roads, we reached the point where we parked our scooters and called via cell down to the temple, from which the man who takes care of the temple drove his 4X4 up to pick us up. We packed all our supplies into the little Suzuki and clenched our teeth and the handholds all the way down the 45 degree hills, while he laughed and joked away in Chinese with our friend. We found out later that he himself had help lay the concrete for what seemed like quite the deathtrap. Fortunately, his car seemed quite familiar and confident with the route and we didn't have a problem getting down.

At this point, I almost have to stop myself and simply let the pictures and videos do the talking, as words can't really describe how incredible this experience was. We set up camp on a large concrete surface a long staircase down from the little temple and began to explore the mostly dry riverbed and waterfall.

I worked up a bit of courage and climbed up the waterfall, and was later joined by Sara. Aside from a few small shifting rocks giving us a little adrenaline rush, we were quite safe (that last bit was just for you, Mama). Like I said, I'll let the pictures and videos do most of the talking. We have every intention of returning soon, although next time with some better padding to place under our sleeping bags and perhaps some warmer clothes for the nighttime. The generosity of the people here continues to astonish me. We were given two huge completely vegetarian meals by the man and his wife, along with an opportunity to try our best to use some of the little Chinese we've learned so far. I have to say, as someone who despised tofu back in the States, I realize now that it wasn't the tofu itself, it was merely the manner of preparation. These people know how to make some absolutely incredible tofu dishes. Sadly, Sara can't enjoy them due to her soy allergy. I don't know how else to put it: that shit is delicious!

It is not without some sadness that I write about all these incredible things. I wish that I could truly do these experiences justice through my writing and pictures but unfortunately words and pixels just don't convey the absolute beauty of this country. If my finances allowed, I would fly anyone willing to experience these things out to show them what we've seen so far. You all are in my thoughts each time I get to immerse myself further in this incredible place. I'm somewhat sorry to say it, but it's getting harder and harder to imagine coming home in just a short time. There is simply too much left to explore. Please check out the video attached at the bottom

YouTube Video: Waterfall Camping

新年快乐!!!

新年快乐!

(Xin nian kuai le = Happy New Year!)

And so we begin yet another year. Once again, I must apologize for our absence from the

blogosphere. As I believe too many of us know, it is exceedingly easy to become caught up in the

day to day patterns we establish for ourselves, and lose sight of even the best set intentions (aka

writing frequently). The last two months have been, as we expected, thrilling, exhausting, and

incredibly fast-moving. We were sad to watch the messages pop up without end on Facebook

talking of the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year activities carrying on despite our absence.

Regardless of how egocentric you are (such as myself), once you've removed yourself from the

middle of things I've found that things continue to move along in quite the same manner as they

did before you left. Perhaps it is this that keeps me wanting to be in the thick of it all, in order to

not miss a thing. Nonetheless, I find myself quite grateful for the advances in global connectivity

in recent years. Without Skype and nearly daily updates to everyones' whereabouts and various

goings on, I very much doubt I would've handled the holidays

quite as well as I did.

In the last two months, we've continued to cultivate the eager young, spongy minds of the

children we teach. For anyone who has had the *cough cough* pleasure of teaching elementary

and junior high students, I hope you picked up on the sarcasm there. For those of you who

haven't, please know I'm kidding. Both Sara and I have truly enjoyed many of the connections

we've established with our students. Sara has developed a very fun and now disciplined

environment for her youngest class, and in doing so has been able to enjoy the teaching part

a lot more. As many of you also heard, she had quite the heroic episode just before Christmas as

well! For all of the details you'll have to schedule a personal retelling by Sara "Superteacher"

Ness herself, but I will summarize as best as I can.

One of the little boys (the boy in the yellow striped shirt) in Sara's Elephant class seemed to

be unresponsive and choking not long after their morning snack. Sara proceeded to try the

Heimlich and finger swipe to clear his airway, both of which were unsuccessful. She sent the

Chinese teacher to get help and began doing mouth to mouth with the little boy. On the third or

fourth attempt, she managed to get some air through (he was clenching his teeth, which will be

explained shortly), and he began to come around and threw up the remainder of the contents of

his stomach and begin to cry. Soon after, the ambulance arrived and he was carted off the

hospital. To make a semi-long story short, the doctors determined that his brain functions differently

than most people and he may be prone to seizures. Anyway you look at it, everyone is very grateful

to Sara, who in turn is very happy to have taken a Safe Sitter course when she was a young girl

quite some time ago.

One of the things that has helped significantly with our homesickness this holiday season

has been the fact that our school really loves to celebrate all of the various holidays that we

would back home. Thanksgiving was a blast, where Sara got to read the Thanksgiving story to all

of the kids and their parents (with a translator), and I got to cut the turkey(s) for the big feast. It was

quite a spread, including everything from turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, to sushi rolls and

traditional Taiwanese soups. We also celebrated again the following day with a more traditional

a thanksgiving with our fellow foreign coworkers. It seems like no time passed before it was again

time for another celebration, this time Christmas. We spent the month following Thanksgiving

practicing routines with each of our classes (the younger classes had to wear costumes and sing

songs, while the older classes got to do skits). The day finally came around and everything went

smoothly, and this time I got be Santa (see Facebook for documentation!). It was a lot of fun, and it

was great to see how much fun these kids got to have while experiencing something Sara and I

remember so fondly. It was something else being swarmed by children while trying my best to

sound like good ol' Saint Nick. It took a few weeks for kids to stop telling me that they knew I was

Santa and have me deny it. I insist that I was in the bathroom the whole time.

Our actual Christmas day was a pleasant one, made particularly special by the arrival of a

care package from Sara's mom the night before. The package contained essentials that we had

requested such as deodorant (they take it off the shelves after the weather cools down here...

crazy, I know), feminine products, etc. However, Sara's mama had been thoughtful enough to

wrap them all into separate gift boxes, allowing us to have a fairly substantial looking stash under

our tree Christmas morning! Along with that unexpected surprise, we had the pleasure of talking

face-to-face with our families throughout the day, which I once again have to emphasize, makes

the distance between us seem much smaller. New Years Eve was also another adventure for us.

Instead of spending $100+ a person to get into a bar in the big city, as we have the last few years

(I'm not knocking it, just stating the fact that it was much different this year), we bought a bottle of

champagne and rode our scooter to a sports arena in Chiayi with a few coworkers to see the NYE

show and fireworks. The fireworks were among the best, if not the best, either of us have ever seen.

I suppose you would expect something special considering this is pretty much where fireworks

are produced. I don't know if I've mentioned this in previous posts, but these people friggin' LOVE

fireworks. For the first few months we were here, there were fireworks literally every day. And I

mean every day. They love it! Apparently no reason is necessary! They don't even wait for it to get

dark. I suppose there must just be an overabundance of fireworks here, and they feel the need to

do away with some. Anywho, I digress. New Years Eve was a blast, and we had a chance to hang

out with a few Taiwanese coworkers for the first time. It's a lot of fun getting a chance to communicate

with them, especially considering they are as excited to reciprocate and practice their English as

we are to practice our Chinese. After the fireworks were done and people started clearing the stadium,

I had probably four groups of young Taiwanese people ask to take pictures with me. It was a bit

strange but hey, why not let the public get what the public wants, right? I'm still looking into

purchasing some basketball jerseys and pretending to be an NBA star.

Unfortunately our New Year started out on a bit of a down note. Boo boo woke up feeling pretty

craptastic, and it quickly spiraled down into fricking terrible town. She had a nasty tummy ache, body

aches, the chills, and fatigue. The worst part was that neither of us had more than three drinks the

night before. It got bad enough that I insisted we see a doctor, and as we don't know much Chinese

(or any doctors here), we packed up and headed to the hospital. Once we got there, we were fortunate

yet again that a little English is known by a majority of people we encounter, and got Sara hooked up

to an IV drip and seen by a doctor quickly. After several hours, some broken communication with the

staff, a pee test, some blood work, and x-rays, we were told Sara had a case of the stomach flu (along

with an unpleasant case of shingles). We got a handful of medications and headed home. Today (all

that fun stuff occurred yesterday), Sara woke up feeling much better, and we've been resting up all

day. Looking to kick of the New Year officially tomorrow (hopefully on the right foot) with the start of a

new semester at school!

So, feeling the need to end on an inspirational or fun note, given that this in my first blog of a new year,

let's see what I can do:

After having made it to the hospital and successfully communicated what was going on with her,

we were waiting to be sent to see a doctor. It wasn't until we were about to go that Sara finally ralphed.

And as I crouched next to her, rubbing her back and trying to get the nurses attention, I couldn't help

but smile. All Sara had eaten that day was apple cinnamon oatmeal. It was the most pleasant smelling

vomit I had ever had the chance to enjoy!

It is with this that will leave you, oh our faithful readers. And a stern reminder to always remember on

your rough days:

The vomit could always smell worse.

Happy New Years. We miss you all!