Samson

Hallo faithful blog followers!
I have a cat. A kitten, more exactly. I've always wanted my own cat, but couldn't because of landlords and allergic roommates, or different other living situations. So I checked with my roomates 'bout a week ago and they said if I got a cat they were fine with that.
So a couple days later Jimmy and I went on a "date" to the 24 hour pet store (we went at like..midnight. Jimmy works pretty late so we do what we can to hang out...and the pet store is kind of fun. They have a lot of puppies. And we like to watch the fishes) Anyway, since I was now "free" to get a cat I went to check out the kittens. And I started playing with one in the window. And I knew I wanted him.
He's a little 10 week old black and white Persian kitten that's supposedly a purebred (he'd better be for what I payed for him), and he's very playful but also likes to come sleep on your stomach when he's tired. He likes to jump on my bed and stare at me while I'm sleeping which is kind of creepy to wake up to. He's a very good cat. I'm pleased. Even when I gave him a bath, he stood in the tub all well behaved and didn't try to bite or scratch. I didn't have to hold him down at all, he didn't even try to jump out of the tub. He did meow pitifully during the whole process, and looked kind of miffed afterwards, but I was still very impressed.
I named him Samson because he is very hairy. I have to brush him every day.
I have pictures, but it's really late now so I'll post them another time. But take my word for it. He's cuter than 99% of the cats in the whole world. He could be a kitten model.
School starts on Monday. I went in to prep some stuff this afternoon and was a little overwhelmed at all the stuff I have to do. Even though I've been lesson planning all month, there's still a load of prep work for August. August is still summer schedule, so that means more classes and waaay more of those classes are "theme" classes (don't follow a book which means I have more prep and planning to do). I hope I don't get sick.
Well, it's been a nice laid back July vacation, but next year...I'm going somewhere. I don't care where. I'm takin' a vacation.
August, here I come!

Rain rain....blah

It's been raining all day. Blah. I've been inside. Anyway, many of you will I think be happy with the new blog layout which should load much faster than the flowerie one.
Um...camp was fun. I just woke up from a nap so I'm not in much of a blogg-ing state of mind. There's not a whole lot to report from camp, we had a lot of down time. I did the drama workshop again and it was just as fun as last year. Lots of creativity. I finished a book. We visited the Taichung harbor and I ate some squid-on-a-stick and a sausauge on a stick with garlic and saw some slimy slitherly sea creatures for sale. We went swimming. We played a lot of cards. Um....yeah. :)
I still haven't heard from my dentist so I'm starting to give up that the surgery will happen before school starts. So some time in August, and then I will have to struggle through classes with a mouth full of...gauze...oh, pooh.
Um.... nothing very exciting is going on, really. Just...lesson planning, and ...stuff. Watching Survivor on PPS. yes, very exciting. :)
That's all. Hope the new blog template helps.

Sun Moon Lake, etc.

Well, I think it's high time I posted some photos of the happenings around here. Blogger confuses me with its photo placement when I upload, so I scoot them around but I apologize in advance if this post is still hard to follow. :) At least I posted, right?

This was taken a few weeks ago at Stephanie's "goodbye" part which was cleverly disguised as an '80's party. Steph left this week, sadness and sorrow for us, but she's going to a Bible school in Redding, CA for a year and I'm sure she'll have a great time. I got to move into her bedroom which is HUGE mongolous and has a king-sized bed and two closets and... way more room than I need but I'm also pretty stoked about having all the space. I'm sad Steph had to leave for me to get it, but..that's the way it goes, I s'pose.

Check out my groovy shirt "Mullets Rule".

This is me also at the "80's party" with one of my students who showed up kind of on accident. Her name's Cherry.

Ok! Here I am at Sun Moon Lake. We went on an ITPS team trip this past Wednesday. In retrospect, I should've removed my groovy shades for this self-portrait, but oh well. I like this particular lake's shade of blue.

Here's a picture of the lake from our hotel window. We scored these amazing rooms overlooking the lake for 800NT for the night which included dinner and breakfast (that's about 26 USD) Pretty cool....

Here we are on a dock somewhere on the lake makin' faces. Faces make a photo just that much better. :)

Left to right: Josephine, Amy, Marvin, Me, Autumn, Beth, David, Mandy, Vicki, Jacob, and BoBo.

Here we are again, in the same place, but Not Making Faces. Same order as above. Wheee...

This was taken on a dock outside our hotel that evening. The lighted things behind us are a band of big glowing insects rockin' out. This is a "pose" photo. Aren't we great posers...

Left to right: Iris, Mandy, BoBo, Vicki, Autumn, Amy, Beth, and Me.

We visited an Assam Tea Farm the next day. All my other photos at this place turnd out really dark, but here's another group photo.

....and these are my awesome dumplings from a couple of weeks ago. I want to see how many people read this blog and then become hungry when they see this picture.

Yes, so that's it for photos for now. I will be going to the Banner youth camp this week. After some roundabout communication with my dentist, I now understand they won't have a surgery room available until August for me (AAUUGUGGHH) which means I will have to do the four teeth out surgery on a weekend and hope I'm sufficiently recovered for class on Monday. My August schedule is kind of crazy with my new class, so please pray for me! I'm a little worried about it.

Umm..... I can't think of anything else particularly interesting to blog about. Two more weeks of vacation! Yay me.... :)

I probly won't update my blog for at least a week because I'll be at camp. Zai jian!

Bowling...whee..

I'm ba-a-a-ack... just thought I'd upload a few photos of our bowling tonight. We went out for my new co-worker, Autumn's, birthday. The bowling alley is also a pool hall and video game arcade, and I found this interesting game. "Hit, Hit Alaska". Hmmnnn...














Here I am, supposedly "hitting" Alaska. I guess I'm more of "leaning" on Alaska..













Here a few new friends: left to right: Coralee from France, Amy from North Carolina, Autumn from Colorado, and David from..somewhere. Illinois, maybe?

Autumn's my new co-worker at JacksonFive. She didn't come with ITPS. Coralee I met through Banner. She didn't come through ITPS either. Actually neither did David. He's just friends with us. Hmm.






WE all came with ITPS. ME (you know, in case you forgot..), Elizabeth from Illinois, BoBo (Bonita) from California but originally from Taiwan, and Vicki, from California but originally from Hong Kong.







That's it. I've nothing new to report except, I am an exceptionally terrible bowler. ok, zai jian! :)

Blah

well, I didn't exactly get my wisdom teeth removed today. My blood pressure dropped really low while the oral surgeon was working on yanking my top left one out, and I nearly passed out and gave them all a big scare. Instead of finishing the procedure, the dentist sent me to the ER for "observation" even though I felt perfectly fine (except for a numb mouth) about five minutes after all this happened.
So I spent a coupla hours in the China Medical hospital ER getting all kinds of screenings to figure out why my blood pressure dropped so low suddenly (it came back up), and I told them this happens even when I get my blood drawn. I think it's a vasovagal (?) reaction? I think that's what it's called. Where your body reacts by passing out when you see or experience anything bloody or medical-ish. I kept saying "I'm ok now, I'm ok now, REALLY, I'm ok" but they kept saying "no, no, it's procedure, you must stay". Blah.
So I still have my wisdom teeth (although, one is pretty loose and now that the local anesthetic has worn off is pretty sore too, and I can wiggle it! painfully). They will schedule another surgery for me under general anesthetic this time (the oral surgeon is afraid of me now, I think), and just take all four at once. But I have to do all kinds of screeings first for the general anesthesia and meet with the anesthesiologist. While I appreciate their thoroughness, it's all so mafang (bothersome) and I just want to give up altogether. But I will push through and get it done. Blah. that's what I've got to say today.

Of teeth, and puzzles

I saw the dentist this morning and scheduled my wisdom tooth pulling surgery for Friday at 3 pm. It sounds most unpleasant and I'm really REALLY REALLY REALLY not looking forward to it. I've been putting it off for several years for three reasons: 1.) I never had enough money; 2.) I never had enough time; and 3.) I'm afraid.
So now I have a month to recover and the surgery is mostly covered by my national health insurance and will only cost me NT 170 (which is around $5 USD and is RIDICULOUSLY cheap for having two wisdom teeth pulled), so I'm left only with excuse #3: I'm afraid. But I'm doing it anyway because in the words of my dentist (and two others before this one): "You MUST." Blah.
Apparently I'll be awake and under a local anasthetic and they have to saw my tooth out and it's really close to a nerve and I was told I might be numb in my chin and lip "indefinitely" if they nick the nerve on accident. AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH.... I think Thursday night will be mostly sleepless for me....
The dentist also said that although I need all four out, it's too risky to pull them all at the same time so they're doing one side at a time (two at a time), and since it will take "probably three weeks" to fully recover from one side, I will probably have to do the other side either at Chinese New year or next July. I'm one unHappy Sharon right now. :(
On a lighter note, I've rediscovered my fondness for puzzles. I'm currently doing two: an old world map 1000 piece puzzle and a Thomas Kinkade painting 1000 piece puzzle, both of which are buggers and I've made many mistakes already. It's fun. I put on some "Friends" on the Tv in the background and puzzle away. When I worked in the elder care home in Alaska before I came here, one of the residents was an avid puzzler. She also had Parkinson's and couldn't control her shaking but she still managed to complete about one (huge) puzzle a week. This is what she did ALL day except for meal and nap times, while the other residents watched CSI on Tv (not kidding - CSI and Monk were all they would watch. I made them switch to the Amazing Race on Sunday nights when I worked there and they would fall asleep. hrmpph.). Not surprisinginly, Pearl (the puzzl-er), was the sharpest of the bunch. The others forgot lots of things...often didn't know what was going on...and..occasionally tried to wander out into the woods somewhere looking for things that did not exist, but Pearl knew what was up pretty much all the time. I figured it was the years of puzzles that sharpened up her brain cells. She was amazing - she kept track of all her doctors appointments and medications and was known to call employees on their mistakes. I can't even keep track of my doctor's appointments now. Good for Pearl, I always thought.
So thanks to Pearl, I'm sharpening up my brain cells for when my day comes. :) and since I anticipate sitting in my house slurping pudding for the foreseeable future, I might as well be somewhat productive.
The new team is gone at camp this week so I have the house to myself. It's actually been a nice quiet break and I've done a lot of cleaning, puzzling, and a little bit of lesson planning *pats self of back*.
They are all going to Sun Moon Lake on an overnight retreat next week and I'm *hopefully* going as well, unless the tooths pain is unbearable. Then the week after that I'm going to the next youth camp and I think my workshop this year will be arts & crafts. Hmm... gotta think of something cool enough for junior highers to "make"...
Anyhow, not much new or exciting is going on here besides all that (which, puzzles and wisdom teeth aren't really that new or exciting), so just if you who read this could keep me in your prayers for Friday since I really am pretty nervous about it and I've had more than 3 dentists (and the internet) tell me it will be very painful. :(
Zai jian! Probably I won't post again until next week.

Whew *wiping forehead*...

.... it's seriously HOT around here! I don't remember it being quite this hot and humid last summer, but I suppose it probably was. I was probably just so excited to be somewhere warmer than Alaska that I didn't think too much about it. :)
Yesterday we putted around with the new team, and then I made lesson plans for my first week of school in August. My schedule in August will be mon-fri. 8 am - 5 pm, and it's pretty much class after class after class... lunch, then class after class after class...so I would like to be completedy prepped before August rolls around.
I had the best fried Dumplings ever for lunch today. Curry fried Dumplings. We each got 12 nice fat Dumplings for 60 NT (less than $2 US). I'm still amazed at how cheap and good the food here is. It's nice to see the new teachers appreciating it too. :)
I almost wish it would rain a little bit nowadays and cool things down a little (oo - better be careful what I wish for - watch us get a typhoon now that I said that.... )
It's almost 4th of July (not that it's any special day around here), but we are having a BBQ at the church (mostly for us foreigners....and any excuse for a BBQ is good :)
But I can't help but think what I'm missing out on in Alaska on the 4th .... Julie's barbecue chicken and steaks and salmon and corn and potato salad.... and nice sunny cool weather and playing wiffle ball.....
o-o-o-o-o..... but, although I have moments where I do miss little bits like that of Alaska, I am really quite content here.
AND I'M SOOO HAPPY that I don't have to work this afternoon! Or for any afternoon for the next MONTH! :) :) :) :) :)
Bumblebee time will come soon enough. And my new 1st year class will be the Dolphins, just for future reference as I'm sure I will be blogging about them shortly.
Ok, I'm out! Off to Starbucks I go....
Zai jian!

SCHOOL'S OUT!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!

Although, I should be careful about just how excited I am to have a one-month vacation because I've had three people ask me already, "Was your job that bad?" Haha...no really, I love working at JacksonFive and I absolutely love my Bumblebees, but after a year full of kids, kids, kids day after day, hours after hours, it's really really nice to have this BREAK!!
Yesterday was my last day of classes for the year, and even though I knew I was coming back, it was still a weird kind of a feeling. The kind of weird "everything's changing" feeling that I get when I move somewhere or change jobs or something. We just did a fun day, made some gifts for each other and teachers in class, and went to the park (it was soooo sooo HOT but the kids still had fun) to play, and then I cleaned up my desk, loaded up my prep stuff and books and binders to take home to get ready for classes in August, and drove away not to return for a month! yay meee....
*whew* I feel sooo tired and I haven't even done anything, really. The new ITPS team got here late late late Tuesday night and they also looked soo tired... Having the new teachers be here is fun because they can all share their adventures with us and they have this fresh outlook on Taiwan and we get to share our experience with them and stuff, and it makes me think over my last year here and how much I've learned.
Wow, I've come a long way! I took the new JacksonFive teacher I'll be working with, Autumn, out for a test scooter drive today and taught her how to "work" a scooter and she did great. It reminded me of when I learned to drive and how excited I was to get a scooter and be all independent. :) So many people were so helpful to me when I moved here and answerd all my questions and took time out to take me places and show me stuff, and I'd like to be that blessing to the new team too.
But, it's Taiwan summer-time which brings lots of heat and humidity, and being in go-go-go mode all the time is making me soo tired. They just went to the church for a dinner that I opted out of so I could get a little time to be just "me" and also to hang out with Jimmy later. I've been so busy and so has he, and we've not really gotten to spend much time to gether these past couple of weeks. I feel bad for him, since now that his finals are over and he has a little bit less stress, now I'm all caught up in the "new ITPS team" whirlwind of activity so we still don't have a lot of time to hang out together. :(
So my roomate Stephanie will move to California for school on the 14th of this month and then I will move into her room and also take over her scooter. It's sad to say goodbye to her as we've lived and worked together for a year (she also taught at JacksonFive), but happy for her. So two new ITPS girls will live with me and Amanda in a few weeks. Change is good, change is fun, but it also makes me realize how fast time is going. I can't believe it's already been a year.
I told my friends today that I de-activated my Facebook account over a month ago. Most of them hadn't even realized! So I guess my Facebook page wasn't that important after all. :) Sometimes I miss being on Facebook 'cause I can't "check up" on peoples lives, but really if they're my real friends I should email or call them to see what's up or if they're here I should be hanging out with them face to face. I don't know if I'll reactivate or not, but right now life goes on just fine without Facebook. It motivates me to blog more often so people can keep up with me, instead of assuming they'll keep up on my Facebook one-liner statuses.
Yah, so that's it for me lately. I'm hoping to get my wisdom teeth, at least a couple of 'em, pulled next week while everybody's at camp (I'll go to the next camp in three weeks), and maybe a couple of day trips with Jimmy if we can. Whew. I'm acually quite exhausted. I may have to take a nap now.
Jin tian, hen re! (Today, very hot!) Zai jian!