Alishan Sunrise

My last must-see in Taiwan was Alishan Mountain, where their sunrises are famous. A group of six of us traveled from the north and east coasts to enjoy this amazing feature of nature, and I must say, it didn't disappoint. I, unfortunately, had a cold and an upper respiratory infection that weekend, so I only toughed it out one day out of the two, but I'm so glad I did because it was well worth it! We awoke at 4 a.m. for the 50 minute hike up to the first look out point and this is what we saw:

We then went on a hike through Alishan Forest Recreation Area where we saw lots of trees, some even thousands of years old, and the Alishan Forest Railway, which was closed because of damage suffered during Typhoon Morakot in August.

This was such an amazing trip and I feel truly blessed to have been able to witness nature at its best!

School Fair, Concert, and Mother's Day

So far, the month of May has been really busy! My school hosted a bilingual fair on the first Saturday of the month, then I joined a second grade class in creating a flower arrangement for our moms for Mother's Day. Unfortunately, Thelma won't be able to experience my arrangement in person, but she sure did appreciate the picture I sent to her of it! Lastly, I was able to catch a Kelly Clarkson concert this past Thursday here in Taipei. I had a really good seat, and it was a great concert to attend. Some interesting things happened while at the concert: The other concert goers, mostly Taiwanese, sat down during all of the slow songs, there were lots of glow sticks, and I got yelled at for taking pictures, so I only have one of Kelly Clarkson. I can't wait for the rest of the month's events!

Kelly Clarkson! She gave a concert here in Taipei and it was a great show!

A face only a mother could truly love, and my mom does!

Posing with the 2nd graders and our lovely flower arrangements for our moms

I was told my flower arrangement was pretty perfect. If teaching doesn't work out, I guess I could always go in to the floral arranging biz.

Working excitedly with the 2nd graders on our Mother's Day flower arrangements

A group picture of the English Village teachers: me, Liesl, Monica, Jacquelyn, Silvia, Sophie (Mandy's daughter), and Mandy

Some of the booths were very interesting to visit...

Candy and me running the English Village booth

Yes, that's right, a Beer Push booth...these Taiwanese know what booths are crowd pleasers, haha!

One of my 3rd grade students, Alice, is practicing her English to get stamps on her reward card to get a prize from me. She did awesome! Doesn't hurt that she's got an awesome English teacher :-P

Para gliding in Hualien

Landing

A view from the top of the mountain we jumped off of; yes, those are clouds that are obscuring the view.

A tree-line on the way down

The last weekend of April, I was invited by my friends who live in Hualien to go para gliding in the countryside. I've apparently caught the adventure bug and hopped on a train Friday night to embark on a never-experienced adventure. The para gliding was amazing and offered amazing views of Hualien's countryside and mountains. I was lucky enough to come away without any scratches, and wonderful pictures and videos to share!

Spring Scream 2010

What Kending is known for: beautiful beaches and warm water

We tried to find out what the "Stuff" was at the "Info and Stuff," but I think it was lost in translation.

An avid fan

I can now say I have been to the Southern-most tip of Taiwan; it was cool, in that "I can say I've been to the southern-most tip of Taiwan" kind of way.

The Kissing Rock...awe, how cute!

The first weekend in April was Tomb Sweeping Weekend here in Taiwan. For Taiwanese families, that means going to your ancients' tombs and clearing them and paying homage. To foreign teachers, that means a three day weekend!

My friends from Hualien, Tara, Jacque, and Cassandra asked if I wanted to join them for a music festival called Spring Scream. I likened it to Bonnaroo back home (although I've only ever seen pictures), and thought, why not? Spring Scream is held in Kending, Taiwan, which is the southern most tip of the country. It is known for it's spring break-esque atmosphere and beautiful beaches. Kending did not disappoint.

We arrived mid-afternoon at our hotel, which was right across the street from the park the concert was being held in. We hiked around the park, saw the kissing rock, went to the southern most tip of Taiwan, and then headed to the concert. There were about 8 stages set-up in one area, and the music ranged from hip-hop, to techno, to all other types of music. There were food booths and merchandise to be purchased, and I did come away with a commemorative Spring Scream 2010 t-shirt.

On Sunday, we girls decided to hit the beach before shopping on the main strip of Kending. We caught a ride the couple of miles from the hotel and went swimming and laid on the beach for a couple of hours. We then went shopping and ate Mexican food (yum!), before heading back to catch our trains.

It was a great, relaxing weekend, and I was able to mark another Taiwan city off my list of "must-sees!"

Penghu, Taiwan

The last weekend in March seemed to be a great time to hop on a puddle jumper (or small airplane), and fly to the island of Penghu, where my friend, Adora, lives and teaches for the MOE. Penghu is about as opposite from Taipei as one can get! Penghu is a military base, so there are lots of military boys who live there, and Penghu is mainly a fishing village, so a lot of its residents don't get back to mainland Taiwan often. Needless to say, I encountered a lot of stares from passers-by. And by stares, I mean, mouth gaping open, eyes following, cars slowing down, types of stares. It bothered me at first, but I soon adjusted and didn't notice the stares unless Adora pointed them out. I guess having blonde hair and blue eyes in a fishing village would make a person stand out a bit more!

When I arrived, Adora met me at the airport and we hopped on a scooter back to her apartment. This was the first time here in Taiwan that I had been on a scooter, so it was a bit scary, although I trusted Adora completely.

After we dropped my bag off, we walked to the downtown area of Penghu and checked out what Penghu is famous for: black sugar cake. It tasted alright, as far as Taiwanese cake goes, and I picked up a package to take back to my co-teachers. That night we ate at a nice Italian restaurant and caught up on each other's lives.

Saturday morning, we grabbed breakfast at a little coffee shop and then hopped back on the scooter. Adora took me to see Sanshia beach, which was deserted as it was a little chilly and very windy. We climbed up some rocks and took some pictures, then hopped back on the scooter.

The next stop was to see a windmill farm. Penghu is one of the windiest destinations in the world, and they use windmills to generate energy, which was wonderful to see! It's just one of the examples of using a renewable energy source, which is a fantastic way of helping our environment.

After the windmill farm, we stopped in a small town to see a 300 year old banyan tree. This tree serves as the town's square and covers a couple of city blocks It was amazing to realize: 1) This one tree is over 300 years old, and 2) It all sprouts from one trunk.

As we took in the Great Penghu Bridge and a woman stuffing puffer fish for souvenirs, we enjoyed a Cactus Ice. Up until this point, I had not realized that cacti actually produce fruit, and the cactus ice was really delicious!

We then traveled to an Erkan village, which has been preserved by the Taiwanese government to help keep it in its original form. There is one family that still lives in the village, and some of them even open up their homes for visitors to peruse. The first house we entered serves the "best almond milk in Taiwan," so of course I had to try some. The almond milk was wonderful and it was amazing to see how the Erkan people live. There were traditional Japanese style beds, along with family artifacts for guests to admire. A couple of houses down, Adora and I wondered through one of the oldest houses in the village, and saw the biggest wok I've ever seen, along with the room at the back of the property which holds the family's elders and the original family well.

Sunday afternoon, Adora bid me good-bye at the airport and I returned to the mainland of Taiwan. It was a wonderful visit and Adora was a wonderful travel guide!

Eating cactus ice with Adora

The Great Penghu Bridge

300 Year old Banyan Tree

Videos from Lantern Festival

Here are videos of the Lantern Festival 2010, Pingxi, Taiwan...

Lantern Festival in Pingxi

Pingxi is a small town in Taipei County who hosts a huge lantern festival every year at the end of Chinese New Year. There are booths with food, souvenirs and lanterns to buy. You can buy a big paper lantern and you write your wish on the lantern. Then you light "god money" and let your lantern float up into the sky. Jacquelyn, Tara, Cassandra, Mariah and I all made our wishes and let the lantern fly. It was a really neat experience and we were able to see "special" lanterns being released. There are lots of pictures of the lanterns and a few videos. It was an incredible experience that I'm glad I was able to witness!

Chinese New Year

I spent Chinese New Year here in Taipei, and was graciously invited to my co-teacher Mandy's house for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. The dinner was attended by Mandy's husband's family, which included lots of uncles, aunts, and cousins. We ate traditional Chinese food for dinner, where I was seated first-because I was the guest of honor-along with the elders. I sampled some of the food, but there were just some dishes that I couldn't stomach. Mandy's father-in-law gave me a lucky red envelope, which contained a couple of lottery tickets. The elders give children lucky envelopes with money it during Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, the tickets weren't winners, but I had a wonderful time celebrating the New Year. Here are some pictures from the dinner:

I also traveled down to Kaohsiung to meet up with my friend Deb and her family. Kaohsiung was setting up their Love River and Pier for the Lantern Festival and it was so neat to see all of the lights. It was really neat to see all of the lanterns and decorations!

Thailand

Here is an overview of my trip to Thailand. It was an incredible vacation and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Day 1: Exploring Bangkok City and Temples in Bangkok, This tour brings you to the most distinguished temples in Bangkok. Wat Trimitr, the Temple of the Golden Buddha the statue of Buddha is made from solid gold weighting 5.5 tons.
: Lunch at Thai Restaurant.
: Visit Grand Palace, This is a "must" for every visitor to Bangkok, for the Grand Place Complex, which includes the Temple of The Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keow) is unquestionably one of the wonders of the world today. Within its enormous grounds is the most exotic Buddhist temple and at the heart of the temple itself is a fabulous Buddha image, carved from one piece jade, which is the holiest and most revered of religious objects in Thailand today.
: Evening enjoy Thai Dinner and Thai Traditional Dance, experience a variety of typical Thai foods and the warm hospitality of waitresses dressed in national costumes. After dinner sit back, relax and enjoy a spectacular performance of Thai classical dances.

Day 2: Visit Floating Market (Only in Thailand you can see the floating Market. An exhilarating narrow long tailed speed boat ride through the small canal pass, Thai Houses and their- Vegetable's Farm Flower's Farm, Fruit's Farm. At Floating Market you will see Thai style canoes laden with colorful, succulent fruits, vegetable sweet and meats, gently play their way through the canal. Water has always been a major part of Thai Life). After floating market continue to the elephant & crocodile show.

Day 3: Visit Ayuthaya – Ancient Capital of Thailand, drive pass the lush green paddy fields, visit Bang-Pa-In Palace, it was the favorite summer resort for Thai Kings from Ayuthaya to Rattanakosin time. Various Royal Halls were beautifully resorted and decorated with a great variety of nice flower plants.
: Lunch at restaurant.
: Visit Wat Phananchoeng, This monastery is the most revered by the inhabitants of Ayuthaya, was built in A.D. 1325. Continue to visit Wat Yai Chaimongkhon, one can see the large pagodas, built to celebrate the victory of his single-handed combat on the elephant’s back during Aythutaya capital.

: Visit Wihan Phramongkhon Bophit a large bronze cast Buddha was originally en-shrine.

Day 4: Visit Phi Phi Island by cruise, Phi Phi island is located just 48 km to the east of Phuket, off the western coastline of Southern Thailand in the Andaman Sea. It is renowned worldwide for its natural scenic beauty with silver sand beaches fringed with palm trees, towering limestone cliffs and hills full of lush greenery. Offshore, a bank of coral reefs provide an unequal glimpse of marine life whilst spots such as the historic "Viking cave" add a fascinating dimension to exploration.

: Lunch is served on the beach.
: Enjoy swimming and snorkeling on blue crystal clear water, full of coral reefs and marine lives.

Day 5: Visit Phang Nga Bay, this tour takes you across Phuket Island to the mainland where we board the boat to the unique sheer sided limestone islands in the famous Phang Nga Bay Enjoy the beauty of the Phang Nga Bay.
: Lunch is served.
: Enjoy Canoeing, exploring the bay, see the fantastic view of The Phang Nga Bay.

Day 6: Visit Coral Island, The beautiful and untouched Coral Island is to the south of Phuket. This island is spectacular clear sea, clean white sand beaches astonishing coral reefs and marine life, will help you forget that time exists. Coral Island is One of the most well-known destinations from the southern end of Phuket Island, is encircled by the outstanding reefs and crystal clear water where is perfect for swimming and snorkeling.

I had an incredible time in Thailand and hope to go back one day. I was able to parasail while on Coral Island; a first for me! Enjoy the pictures!

January 2010

As I sit here in the airport, waiting to board my plane to Bangkok, Thailand, I realized I hadn't updated my blog in about a month! I'm not sure how many people actually follow this blog, but I figured this might be a good time to update everyone on the happenings over here in Taiwan during the month of January. I have a feeling that after I return from my Thailand vacation, I will have lots more to share and more pictures to post, so here's a quick recap January 2010 in the life of Staycie's Taiwan Journey.

January brought about the end of the first semester (finally!), and I saw some marked improvement in a few of my students. My co-teachers and I came up with a schedule for next semester that allows each class to come to English Village more frequently, so that we can build a better relationship with the students and make English more relevant to their lives. I love walking to school in the morning and home afterwards and hearing, "Teacher Staycie, hello!" Puts a smile on my face no matter how often I hear that phrase.

For 3 days, Monica, my co-teacher Silvia, and I along with the other FETs all over Taiwan met up in Sanshia, Taiwan, a town "famous" for their pottery. The MOE hosted an in-service for all of us teachers to get together and talk about what we do in our individual schools and even share some complaints and suggestions with each other. It was fun seeing everyone, but also bittersweet because that would be the last time all of us would be together before we either return home at the end of the school year or extend our contracts another year.

Speaking of where I will be next year, I recently notified Elkhart Community Schools I would be returning to teach with the district for the 2010-2011 school year. With budget cuts (Elkhart was just notified of an almost $4 million budget cut), moving to another district, including Indianapolis districts, does not seem feasible this year. I am very thankful for the fact that I do have a job to go back to. I do not know which school or what grade I will be teaching next year, but that is nothing new, as I have never been in a school for more than a year. Oh the pains of being the bottom woman on the seniority totem pole. But as I said, I am thankful for having a job to come back to, even though my co-teachers beg me more times than I can mention to stay for just one more year.

I've loved working here in Taiwan and it was just what I needed to fulfill the itch to travel abroad and teach English like I have always wanted to. I would be very interesting in doing another program like this, just maybe in a different country to experience a different culture.

While I'm on the subject of coming home, I was able to book my ticket home at the end of June. I will be leaving Taiwan on June 29, and stopping over for a week in Maui, Hawaii. My mom will hopefully be able to meet me their and we'll have a little girls' vacation week before I return to my Western style of life! It will be nice to be able to adjust to being surrounded by family a few members at a time as I know I will feel overwhelmed by their presence again; but in a very, very good way! Returning to the events of January!

On of my co-workers was married the third weekend in January and I was able to attend the ceremony and the reception. The couple had a Christian wedding, where the bride and groom sang a duet, exchanged vows and rings, and then invited the guests for a tea time. Afterwards, we traveled across town to a wonderful reception filled with a 14 course menu. It was a menu full of seafood, so I put on my "I'll be brave and try it" pants and did my best with all of the dishes. There was lots of shrimp, lobster tail, clams, and oysters. One of the courses included a full fish, with the scales and head still attached. At one point, the fish was looking right at me and I calmly asked if we could change the fish's perspective; I don't like when my dinner looks back at me! For dessert we had red bean soup, and a small piece of cheesecake and fruit. I tried most of the courses, but couldn't stomach the sea urchin soup, even if it is a Taiwanese delicacy. The bride was beautiful, and she actually changed dresses 3 times. This may seem like a huge expenditure, but Taiwanese brides rent all of their dresses, so it's not as extravagant as on might think. During the reception, the bride and groom, and both sets of parents go around to each table and toast their guests. It was a wonderful touch to have the bridal party toast each table, as I know in America it can be hard for the bride and groom to make it to every table to greet their guests.

The weekend after the in-service, my friend Deb, her husband Rommel, and their two kids, Gabe and Josephine, stayed with me in Taipei for the weekend. On Friday, we enjoyed a few American meals that the Aquino's don't get in Wandan; Burger King for lunch and Pizza Hut for dinner! On Saturday, we woke up, showered and decided to head off to Chili's for lunch. After lunch we went to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks; The Squeakel" and then went over to Sun-Yet San Memorial hall. Although we were too late for the changing of the guards ceremony, we were able to witness the flag lowering ceremony at the end of the day.

Sunday morning, we rounded everyone together and enjoyed a little underground mall shopping, which was great because the weather had been quite crummy all weekend. I then took everyone to the High Speed Rail station and sent my Taiwan "family" back down south.

As my dad tends to mention every time we talk, "Do you work or are you just having a year long vacation." To which I answer, "I work so I can have a year long vacation." I've realized I usually don't put much about my interactions with my students, but I do work. This coming semester I will be teaching about 5 different continents and using that material to teach my students how to interact at the Post Office. I believe this will be a great experience and I can't wait to start the new semester. I'm on my first extended vacation since August and I'll return to work on February 22.

In the mean time, I'll be traveling to Thailand, on the recommendation of my friend, Ryan, who lived there for about a year. After I return, I'll spend a week in Taiwan experiencing Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival. I have a feeling I'm going to have lots of stories and more incredible pictures to share.

For those of you who follow this, I hope you enjoy these entries. I enjoy sharing my experience here with you and I promise, there will be lots of pictures next time. I'm on the downhill side of this year, with only 5 short months to go, and I have to say, I think I will be very ready to return home. Until next time,

Staycie

Decade/Year in Review

At first, I couldn't believe that a new decade was a upon us until someone asked what we were all doing at the beginning of 2000. I was a senior in high school during the big Y2K scare, and there have been many things that have happened in the past 10 years that I could have never fathomed at 17.

I graduated high school in 2000, started college and graduated in 2005. I got my first grown-up job as a teacher in 2006 and moved into my own place, by myself, that same year. I've experienced some heartache, but came out on the other side every time, knowing someday, when things are right, "It" will happen. I watched my sister and my brother get married, and have watched my nephew grow up into a little man, although most of that has been through webcams, an invention I am thankful for more and more everyday.

In the last 3 years of the decade, I've come to know what a true friend is and have made some great friends along the way. Without those friends, I would never have been able to make some of the toughest decisions I've been faced with.

I've experienced a lot of career related changes: I've taught at 4 schools in 3 1/2 years, but have learned to roll with the waves that come toward me. I went from teaching 5/6 year olds to handling the trials and tribulations of 10/11 year olds. I've found that I have the same level of fondness for 5th graders as I do for kindergartners. I learn as much from them as I hope they have learned from me. They were also my inspiration for making the biggest life change I've encountered so far. They inspired me to move across the world and teach because how could I tell my "kids" to follow their dreams if I didn't do the same.

After I was transferred the second week of school to Feeser, I thought it would have an awful year because I didn't really like 5th graders. Plus, I hadn't been in a 5th grade classroom since I was a 5th grader, but I decided that I had to make the best out of this year. And was it a great year, maybe the best year so far. My "kids" and I learned together, both academically and in life lessons, and I hope they got as much out of their year with me, as I got out of a year with them.

Feeser also brought me a group of friends who have come to mean the world to me. They are the friends I email when I am homesick for "normal" and who respond with a plethora of encouraging words. They were also the friends who convinced me to help coach basketball, who helped me celebrate the upcoming year abroad, and who helped me see that I needed to move on for my own good.

Last January, I knew I wanted to change things in my life, I just didn't know what form it would take. I applied for jobs in Indianapolis, and then found the opportunity to come to Taiwan for a year to teach English. I filled out the application, asked for reference letters, and hoped for 3 weeks that I would be accepted. I didn't think about what would happen if I actually did get accepted. My family was incredibly supportive, as were my friends.

Saying goodbye to everything I knew and traveling, for the first time, to a foreign country was completely out of my box, but it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've met some really great friends, including my roommate, Monica, who, after my first roommate moved back to California, offered me a place to live. I also met an incredible family, the Aquinos, who have come to be some of the best friends I've made here, and who have some of the best kids I've ever met. I've lived through a typhoon and a couple of earthquakes, and know that sometimes, the unknown of Mother Nature is really scary.

I always thought it was interesting when my parents would say "I remember where I was when..." My first occurrence of this was September 11, 2001. I was walking through the Union after class on the IU Bloomington campus. I remember the prayer vigils and the feeling of not being safe, no matter where you lived. Then life moved on, but never in the same way after that day.

Seeing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the outpouring of help from all over the world, watching the inauguration of Barack Obama with my 5th graders in January 2009, knowing that the choices of today affect the future generation I was amongst that day, and watching the media-hype of Michael Jackson's death, were all things we experienced in the past decade.

As we move into this new year and new decade, my hope is that I will continue to learn more about myself and who I am, become more generous with my time and talents, and enjoy my family and friends even more. I guess you could call these resolutions, although I don't really agree with the idea of resolutions. Maybe it's more of a life plan or a code to live by, I may not really be able to put a title on this. One of my favorite quotes that I've heard in the past year was "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." From then on, I decided to stop planning as much as possible, and just enjoy what comes my way. May you all enjoy what comes your way, and plan a little less!

New Years 2010

New Years Eve this year was spent with new friends in a new country. I ventured onto the MRT around 10p.m. to meet up with some other FETs for a small New Years party. In one of the transfer stations, the police had all passengers corralled like cows and about every 5 minutes, they would release about 100-200 passengers to go down to the platforms. It took 6 trains for me to be able to get on the next line, and it was jam-packed!

When I got to my stop, almost the entire train emptied and I raced to meet my friends at the top entrance. We then walked over to a friend's house for the party. Around 11:30, we headed up to the roof top to watch the countdown and the fireworks from Taipei 101. It was an incredible sight, but in true "blonde moment" fashion, I forgot to put the battery in my camera before leaving my apartment! Last blonde moment of 2009, haha!

Taipei 101 was an amazing sight to see and I am so grateful to have been able to see it. Below is a YouTube clip of Taipei 101 at midnight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-V7fl5QJcs

Happy New Year to all!