Merry Christmas from Kenting!

Brenda and I playing in the water at Taichung, the bridge to Sansiatai Island, my finish at the school marathon and two boys who I meet on Sansiantai Island. Taichung and Sansiantai is on the Eastern Coast of Taiwan where I spent last weekend. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year. Taiwan does not have this holiday season off so enjoy your time off!!!!

Warm Weather

December 8,2008 Good Morning! Sorry no pictures but I just heard that you all woke up to 2 inches of Snow on Sunday morning! Well, I just had to rub it in that I spent the day at the beach reading, and walking in the surf in just shorts and a tank top!!! Also last night Santa and his helpers were here in Kenting visiting the night market! It is sunny here on Monday morning an is about 68 right now. Have a great day!!!!

Salty Eggs/1000 Year Eggs/Skits/Dodge Ball/Chinese Lessons!

December 3,2008 Day 111 in Taiwan! WOW! What a world wind I have had the last three days! It is hard to believe that it is December already and that it is currently 88 degrees, sunny and I am getting ready to head to the beach for much needed down time to relax and read! This week has been testing at both schools so our schedule is totally different. Yesterday I went on a field trip with the 4th graders to a duck farm so to speak. The kids got to see the ducks and learned how to make salty duck eggs. For those like me who had no clue how to make salty duck eggs here is what I gather from watching and trying to figure out the Taiwan language/Chinese language. You take the duck egg and put it into a mixture of red clay mud, salt and water. Then you place them in a plastic bag which is in a box and seal the box. Next you store them in a dark place for 15 days, and after 15 days you was the duck egg off and then boil them, cool them off and then eat them. Yes they taste salty because I tried them on the field trip. Next they brought out the 1000 year duck egg! No it really is not a 1000 years old but more like 100 days. Of course I had them before and they wanted to make sure I tried them again so they could witness this event. They do look gross and discussing, but they were bland and had no distinct flavor. This morning both the branch school and main school did skits on sexual harassment and abuse which surprised me since their elementary school age kids. After the skits they had an afternoon of dodge ball competition between the two schools and grades. During that time a group of 3rd graders were teaching me Chinese. I had Chinese overload, however, the kids had a blast teaching me which is the most important.
The pictures are of the duck field trip, skits, dodge ball and my Chinese lessons.
In closing I like to wish MMS MUN kids good luck and good bye(zai jan!) to a very dear friend. OH MY!!! I just watched the most beautiful sunset at the beach unfortunately I did not have my camera to take pictures. Hopefully, there will be a next time!!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend in Tainan a blast!!!!

December 2,2008 Had the time of my life in Tainan Taiwan!!! Tainan means southern Taiwan where Taipei means Northern Taiwan and Taichung means middle Taiwan. Took the train to Tainan which was a new experience for me and fun. Saturday morning Theresa and I were shopping and we heard a familiar voice which was Emily who by luck we ran into in Tainan. This was a miracle considering that Tainan is the 4th largest city in Taiwan and the population is 756,859 people. We went on the tour bus and toured various sights in Tainan which were the Anping Fort, Koxinga Shrine, and Anping area where there is a tree house. I tried food that Tainan is known for which was the Oyster omelette, Elite Cake, and something which I do not know the name for but was delicious. Saturday night was a trip to the famous Flower Garden Night Market where I felt like a sardine in a can!

I have dedicated some of the pictures to my former students who know how I like to have fun! I am sure they will be able to figure out which pictures I mean! The rest are pictures of Tainan.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

November 27,2008
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY AMERICAN FRIENDS!!!! Unfortunately, I am not celebrating Thanksgiving this year because of course Taiwan does not have such a holiday. So please eat enough Turkey and Stuffing for me which is my favorite food on Thanksgiving Day!!!!!!
Yesterday I was in the Kenting Elementary School Marathon. No I did not run but walked and finished!!! No I did not run but walked and finished!!! It was a 4 km which in miles is 6.44 miles. However, I really think it was actually closer to 3km which is 4.83 miles. My time was 48 minutes, not bad for the oldest one in the race! Plus I finished before a numerous of students.

Biking and Ocean Seminar

11/16/2008 Sunday afternoon here and it is cloudy and 82 degrees. Saturday I spent the day and evening with 41 Taiwanese Teachers in an Ocean Seminar. The places I experienced were to go to a coral area to see sea creatures, where I saw black star fish,which are only found in the Kenting area, sea cucumbers, and a variety of other sea life that they identified only in Chinese. Lunch was Gushan and the view was spectacular, next was off to learning how to kayak which I did attempt! After kayaking they took us to Elunbia which is the most southern tip of Taiwan where the lighthouse is located and still in operation. Dinner was at a Thai restaurant and then shopping at the night market which is well known here Kenting.
On Wednesday I accomplished the 27 mile bike ride of the southern Taiwan peninsula. I even found the Chikung waterfalls that you had to climb up the gorge to get to the water falls. The only problem I had was the next day I knew I had biked a long way with sore leg muscles and hands!

Ocean Seminar Pictures



Pink line the route I biked on Wednesday
A few pictures from the bike trip

First Cool Day in Taiwan!!!

November 11,2008 Oh my goodness you would have thought that it was 40 degrees fahrenheit here today in Kenting! It was around 73 degrees fahrenheit today and very comfortable! In fact it is the first day that I did not sweat and I have been here for 88 days! People had on winter sweaters, heavy jackets, layers of clothes and I even saw kids with winter jackets you wear when it is below 32 degrees fahrenheit! Sorry no pictures this time! My plan for this past weekend was to bike the southern loop of Taiwan which is 25 miles, startiang from Kenting , up the East Coast of Taiwan over the Southern part, to the West Coast of Taiwan and then back down to Kenting. Unfortunately in rained the entire weekend so I was stuck in my dorm room and did not take any pictures! Bummer!!!!

Sun Moon Lake

11/3/2008 Spent the weekend at Sun Moon Lake, which is in the North Central part of Taiwan. It was very peaceful and beautiful! It is hard to believe that it is November because today in Kenting the heat index was 99F, and I am still wearing summer clothes. Also I found out the snake that slithered in front of me last week was very poisonous! For those who do not have luck in keeping Poinsetta alive at Christmas I have attached a picture of one in full bloom and it just happens to be a tree not a small plant!

Maobitou aka Cat's Nose tip

October 29,2008 Biked from Kenting to the south western tip of Taiwan which is approximately 28 km round trip. I have now accomplished biking to both southern tips of Taiwan. Also stopped at the Houbihu Yacht Harbor on my way back to Kenting. Pictures of Maobitou, Houbihu and sunset from South Bay.

Pictures of Night Hike

Pictures of Fongcheicha