Well! It's been a REALLY LONG TIME since I've "blogged"! I'm SO SORRY! Somehow other things just always seem more important to do than blogging. :) Most of you are on my Facebook so hopefully can stay somewhat "caught up" through there...
Anyhoo I have a few extra minutes here so thought I would write a few words. WOW! I've been in Taiwan almost six months now! It's so hard for me to believe how much my life has changed in six months! Taiwan is really feeling like home to me now. (especially since the weather has turned REALLY COLD the past few days and I actually have to dress like I did in Alaska when I go outside! HAH! but NO SNOW! yay!! :) Especially starting in December, the days starting going by so so so fast! Something to do every day! I practiced with the Bumblebees every spare time period I could to get them ready for the Christmas program on Dec. 13 and they did a wonderful job! Hopefully you Facebookers got to see the videos I posted. They are so cute but they leave me so exhausted sometimes. Too much energy for old Sharon! Speaking of old Sharon, I turned 27 on the 12th of this month and I did have a really nice birthday. I had really wanted to go on a nice date for my birthday and eat a big fat steak because I love steak and havn't had one since I got here ( really expensive, and most people don't eat steak). But, Jimmy and I both agreed to take parts in the Christmas drama for the Banner English Christmas program on the 20th and they scheduled rehearsals all the days around my birthday! Also we agreed to take part in the caroling group that went to night market and sang while we handed out fliers for our Christmas program, which was also scheduled ON my birthday! Soo...so much for my nice date! All the other days either I or Jimmy worked late. But I did get to have a nice little party, and Jimmy went out and special ordered a big fat New York steak for me (well done!) and it was SOOOOO GOOOODD! I was so happy. He did well. What a great boyfriend. :)
And got to hang out with all my other friends here as well, and played some Cranium and Dutch Blitz. So it was a good day.
So I was "Worker 1" in an office scene in the Christmas drama at church and we had our program last night...lot of rehearsal but it was fun and everyone did a great job. We had about 500 people come to the program, so it was a nice turnout. Especially considering there was a political rally held right across the church in an empty parking lot, and they were REALLY REALLY LOUD but inside the church hall where we had the program you couldn't hear them at all! But if you stepped ouside you got blasted. But it was kind of cool because a lot of the people attending the political rally came to the church to ask to use our bathrooms and then they saw all the "goings on" and asked about it and a few of them stayed to watch US instead of the politicians! hahahaha...
So now the countdown to Christmas begins. I do have to work on Christmas...*sigh* but having a nice breakfast with a few other missionaries here, then I have Christmas fun, gift exchanges, etc. planned for both my classes on Friday. I'm sad to have to "work" on Christmas day, but I think it will be a good day for my students, especially since most of them don't celebrate Christmas at home. And we're free to tell the Christmas story at my school so it will be more like a reallly long sunday school class than a "real teaching" day.
What else, what else. Buying and wrapping 18 + 10 little Christmas presents for my two classes...finding gifts for co-teachers and friends...figuring out what to do for people back home...yeah. Christmas is pretty much busy everywhere in the world! :)
Yeah. It's cold in my room. No heaters here so when it's cold, it's just cold everywhere. But that's ok, it won't last long.
New Things I Like in Taiwan:
Pepper Soybeans, my new favorite snack.
Seaweed rice cakes, my other new favorite snack.
Tea eggs, my other new favorite snack. Eggs boiled in tea. so good!
I saw salmon flavored Doritoes in the 7-11 the other day. ew...but, they might be ok I haven't actually tried them. I'm afraid.
Putting eggs in everything. Make soup, drop an egg in it. (really good!) Make ramen noodles, drop an egg in it. Cook a pancake, drop an egg on it. Cook rice, drop an egg on it. Actually, eggs DO make everything better! Why did I never try this in the States?
Needless to say, I've been eating a lot of eggs.
PEACH green tea. oooohh yum.
Bubble jackets. I bought my first bubble jacket today. I have a nice jacket I brought with me, but everyone here wears down or polyester filled bubble jackets (the really warm ones that make you look very plump), so I felt like in order to "blend in" I should get a bubble jacket. It's red. It has fur on its hood. I wanted a black one but Jimmy felt like I had too much black in my wardrobe (incidentally he's right and I've been told this many times by many people!) so I got a red one during which while I wore it tonight I got 7 compliments on it. So Jimmy might be onto something with the whole colored clothes thing. hahahahaha... anyway it's really warm on the scooter so blending on or not, I like it.
My laptop lost it's E key. to hit E now I have to press the little plastic Thing inside the real E Key. So sad.
Ok. I have to go to bed. I'm going buggy contact eyed. I post most of my pictures on FAcebook so if you don't have FAcbook or need to add me just send an email or comment to this post.
Miss and love everybody! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! :)
~Sharon~
