Evergreen Laurel Taichung

... dance a lot so I am getting my fix of dance this way. My roommate and I went to the first lesson where we learned a little of the cha-cha and the rumba. We are getting pretty good. We have been practicing. I am excited to see how much I can learn before Christmas! :)<br><br>My students were sure testing my patience last week. My lower class has really been testing me. They are such a tough group of students. I try to have extra patience with them because they are lower ability, most of them ...

... holiday celebrations in Taiwan. It was Moon Festival. The way they celebrate is similar to 4th of July in the states, BBQs, fireworks, and partying! Our principal, Bih-Hua had us all over to her house for a BBQ. The food was so good! She had steak, chicken, pork chops, potato salad, veggies, 3 pasta dishes, brownies, and cheese cake! It was wonderful! I had a steak, I haven't had one in 3 months! It was delicious! After we were done stuffing our faces we went inside. Karaoke is ...

... speak Spanish!! Who would have thought that I would be able to practice my Spanish while talking to a Taiwanese man in Taiwan? So there we were having a conversation in Spanish on the corner of the street. While we were talking with him and figuring out where we needed to go he was asking other taxi drivers around what the best way for us to get to the hiking trails would be. He ended up coming back to us offering to take us there in his taxi for 200NT ...

... door so the move wasn't very far but it was a pain to have to move everything. Right when I was getting into the swing of things in my classroom, I was thrown a curve ball. I spent my prep time on Friday getting everything ready for Monday. The class is all decorated....again and everything should be in order. I will also be getting some new kids on Monday. I am excited to get all my students there so we can really get the year started. Last week I took some pictures of my students ...

Tania and I began our day with a glimpse into an event that would not happen for another 120 years, a solar eclipse that in some areas lasts up to 6 minutes. We arranged ourselves near the National Museum of Natural Science for the festivities early Wednesday morning after a quick trip to Starbucks for our daily brew. We knew of its location quite well since one of the Blockbusters we frequent is just past NMNS. We prefer the walk ...

... hall right now, and that they are currently looking for volunteers to be active in the neighborhood watch program. He said that I looked like a good person who could keep the community safe by volunteering one night of my week to patrolling the streets and stopping any crime from happening. "You look like you like safe neighborhood. You want keep neighborhood safe, don't you?" He asked me. "You bet!" I replied. "Good, come to meeting next Tuesday night ...

... this happened, the guide at the top of the tower asked who was next.... and nobody stepped forward. We all looked at each other hoping that the third time would not be the charm. However, we all did make it down to the bottom. The day eventually ended with no severe injuries, and as we boarded the bus to head home, we prepared our singing voices as Sandy and Lisa led the staff in a rousing karaoke rendition of John Denver's classic, "Take Me Home."

The third graders that I am teaching are a much different group than the second graders that I had for the first two days of school. They are much older and their behavior is a little bit better, but at the same time, they are still 8 year olds who can be quite mischevious. My third grade class consists of five students: Charlie, Brian, Kenneth, Arthur, and Sharon. They are all quite bright and, like the second graders, have strong personalities which make ...

... to go to or a weekend adventure somewhere, we made the fun ourselves. But then the years started slipping by faster than ever and my itchy feet said move on. By this point I had great friends, an awesome job as head teacher at a school I loved working at and regular dj work but despite this I had to go and see for myself, do I really need Taiwan? Now afraid of the outside 'real' world I packed up my bags and boldly headed to Europe!

... of the day. The second field trip involved a stop at the 9-21 Earthquake Museum, and a trip to a local farm. The 9-21 Earthquake Museum was established after a huge earthquake hit Taiwan in 1999. From what I gathered, it was a natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina proportions; both in widespread damage as well as political turmoil. Many people were upset that the government failed to provide assistance in a timely manner, and the effects ...