Looks like I need to head down south soon

So remember that book Life of Pi? The book that inspired and filled me with the very wanderlust that led me to Taiwan? Well apparently it's being made into a movie. Guess where it's being filmed?

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2010/11/20/2003488923


In other random Taiwan news, DJPaulyD of Jersey Shore fame played a set in Taipei last night. How am I so good at missing sweet shows? First Flo Rida and Rihanna, and now this. NEVER AGAIN!

Sunday Fundays

Sunday is our only day off here at Gloria, so it's important to make the most of our day of rest. More times than not, this means a trip to the capital (Taipei). Last week, I hiked 9-5 peak outside of Taipei with a couple friends. The view wasn't spectacular since it was incredibly foggy, but what a climb! It just got steeper and steeper until finally we needed ropes to climb. Thankfully they're already in place! The mountain was full of temples and little shrines, along with the Chinese character for Buddha (佛) carved into various rocks. Taiwan is full of temples scattered about the cities, a major convenience for those that need to get their pray on. I definitely plan on making it here again, so stand by for a picture with a clear view of Taipei.

Trevor on the ropes

Today we went to Jiufen. It's a bit touristy, but it had a lot of neat little stores to check out. Small alley streets and shops selling Taiwan souvenirs among other things. It was a good chance for everybody to do some Christmas shopping and hang out with a couple folks who are leaving this week. I had my first tea house experience. We got a lesson in how to properly prepare a pot of tea, which for some reason includes pouring water ON the teapot. The building looked like it was out of a different era, almost like being taken back 100 years ago. We drank our tea outside with the lights of the city behind us. When the fog rolled in, it kinda felt like we were on a pirate ship or something. The shopping resumed after we left the tea house. 

Find of the day (aside from my newly acquired ocarina shaped like Taiwan) :

I wanna know the person who thinks this is something they just 'need' in their living room. 

The beautiful view from Jiufen

That's it for now. Who knows what next week has in store.

-迪龍 out

 

Halloween at Gloria

I can't believe I've already been here for 3 months, time is really flying by. We had Halloween parties in our class the week before last. Thursday was my favorite of the party days. These were some of my younger kids. We really didn't do that much teaching, just played games and trick or treated around other classes. The idea was simple, just go into a room, sing, and get candy. I didn't know there were additional lyrics to the trick-or-treat song:

Trick or Treat
Smell my feet
Give me something good to eat
Not too big
Not too small
Just the size of a basketball

My costume was a big hit. "OH! The emperor! The emperor is coming! The emperor is coming!!!!"

I introduced the mummy wrap game in my classes, and most of them loved it. Some of the girls were confused why we were wasting so much toilet paper. The world can take a lesson from Taiwan: Teach conservation EARLY! 

These kids thought the idea was to just throw tp on someone. Still very cute and fun! The best part was picking up the tp. The kids took that as a cue to ambush my co-teacher and me.

My Friday class was great in a different way. They were older and kinda sick of doing the whole Halloween thing. So we played the part of the grumpy neighbor that hated Halloween. Whenever a class came, we just turned the lights out and yelled at them to go away. Obviously they found their way in. Classy I know, but everybody loved it.

Side note: That emperor outfit won me Best Costume!

Ta Ta for now. I got a lunch date with the coolest grandma in Taiwan.

-迪龍 out