Now that I'm getting into the groove of my daily living, I'm finding it harder to remember to update. However, I started out frantically writing a blog the first time I experienced an earthquake and since that apparently happens weekly here, I've decided that will be a good reminder for me =)
We had earthquake number 3 tonight, it was tiny and I only felt it because I was sitting down.
OK, continuing on from my last update. I did indeed stay in and relax all of that Sunday as I predicted I would do. I spent Monday through Wednesday at school getting started on my lessons and such, meeting and talking to the other teachers. On Thursday, Cassandra and I got to go to this really sweet Japanese Teahouse in Hualien City. Cassandra randomly met a woman on the train who spoke really good English and lived it Taipei, but she had a friend who lived in Hualien and was also a school teacher so gave Cassandra her number. I'm sure that would be extremely strange in rare in America, haha, but that's just how things are here. We wouldn't have experienced half the things we have if we didn't get in cars with random people and let them drive us somewhere lol. Anyway, Sharon and her friend Amy took us to the teahouse and got us some bubbletea, yum!
[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="title"]
On Friday one of the orientation leaders, Doris, who lives in Hualien also, took us to her husband's Japanese restaurant which was delicious, and then we took a bus to Liyu Lake for the Water Show put on by the Aboriginal's there. The Water Show is famous in Hualien and it was absolutely packed! We even spotted some other "hey, it's white people!" as we called them, haha (We certainly can't assume they're American, but I guess it would be more appropriate to say Caucasian) I took some videos that don't at all do it justice and put them on youtube (taiwantara there as well).
On Saturday we were picked up bright and early to go to this all day Aboriginal Harvest Festival for the tribe near my school. I got to see many of my students who are Aboriginals (meaning their family is Native to Taiwan, not descendants of Chinese orJapanese who came to Taiwan). Their costumes and dances are incredible! We just don't have culture that compares to that in the states. We met many important people there like the chief of the tribe, the leader of the village, the leader of Ji-an Township, and a candidate for the leader of Hualien County. My introduction to the leader of the township (kind of like the mayor of a big city) went something like this: speaking to him and pointing at me "This is Tara...some other stuff in Chinese about me being an English teacher," speaking to me and pointing at him "He is single!" LMAO! They are very funny about that here, that is also how the introduction went with my principal. We got to watch some dancing, participate in some dancing, drink some Taiwan beer and something they called wine that tasted more like straight vodka and tequila mixed together, then eat lunch which included many many foods that scared the bejesus out of me =)
Saturday Night, a kindergarten teacher from my school and her friend took Cassandra and I dancing at this ballroom place. I learned how to Tango! I love it! The couples there were soo straight faced and serious about their dancing, it was interesting to watch. (video also on youtube)
Sunday was once again the day of rest after all of that fantastic activity over the weekend! Cassandra and I did ride our bikes to pizza hut Sunday night for dinner to have some good ol' American food... well that's what I thought until I saw the various pizza's on the buffet! What's wrong with just pepperoni?? No, corn, no pineapple, no shrimp, no weird green stuff....just cheese-pepperoni!
No comments:
Post a Comment