Welcome to the Jungle

The past two weeks have been interesting and quite busy. Being in school with no major illness or accident breaks has been a nice change. My kids are adorable and I'll be sad to leave them next semester, but I'll definitely visit whenever I can.
I've also found a place where I can volunteer regularly. There is an elderly center just behind my house! It looks like a sea foam green hotel, but inside there are 15 floors of activities for people over 60 in our area. And best of all, it is FREE. Can you believe it? My flatmate Carol and I toured the building with our mentor, Spring Lin (a professor at the teacher's university near our house). The elderly can attend classes in Japanese, art, guitar, sing karaoke, get massages, nap, play dominoes, compete in table tennis, practice yoga and aerobics, and get supervised care if necessary. Starting in March, we may be leading an English class at the center and until then we can visit each week and just meet people. Hooray!
I've also spent time with my host families; one official and one that just adopted me. My friend Joanna and her parents, who I met on the bus that I take to work everyday, have decided that I am their unofficial host daughter. A couple of weeks ago they took me to dinner at their friend's restaurant, which doubles as a photo gallery. Of course, I love art and they had some fantastic pieces. After dinner, we visited another Chinese medicine doctor who looked at my broken finger, then slathered on a minty paste and tar-like goo. I was supposed to go back everyday for more treatment, but my finger felt so tingly that night and I couldn't stand it. Another experience on my list though, I suppose.
The next day I hung out with my official host family. First I met my sister and her best friend Amy at Shin Juang High School, which is right next door to my elementary school. It was the school's anniversary, so all of the students set up boothes and created a huge festival with music and food. I was the only foreigner, but otherwise I blended in well with my 16-year-old appearance. It was a great bonding experience with my sister because she felt comfortable confiding in me about her crush and asking for my advice. I really enjoyed the quality time with her and Amy.
When the festival ended, I went with my mom and sister to the Kaohsiung Fine Arts Museum. I love art museums more than anything. We spent three hours looking at every exhibit. There was a floor dedicated to aboriginal art, which was probably my favorite, then two sections with images of Kaohsiung and seemingly random art that wouldn't fit into any particular category. We saw an exhibit on hands...art by people from around the world, but all related to hands. At first,  I didn't like the exhibit, but suddenly IT HIT ME: I should be part of this exhibit! With my "artistic" looking right hand, I felt a connection to the pieces.
Speaking of my hand, I am starting physical therapy this week. Last week I saw my doctor again and he signed me up. After six sessions, I will go for a check up with him, then repeat the process. He tried to move my finger significantly more than I had on my own and it hurt a ton. I know that I won't force my finger to move because of the pain, so twice a week I'll go to the hospital for an hour and they'll hopefully return my finger to normal.
Before I visited the doctor, I went with the other Fulbrights to Kaohsiung American School. The school teaches grades one through 12 to expat kids and is run by primarily foreign staff (foreign in Taiwan = not Taiwanese). Though I don't intend to be a teacher after this year, it was interesting to hear the stories of some of the foreign teachers whose entire careers are made up of moving from one international school to another in various countries. That is one way to see the world!
Friday I went to Taipei with Winnie for the Guns N Roses concert. Axel was huge and old! It was actually quite embarrassing and the local newspaper the following day called him "fat rose." But his voice was unmistakeable and we had a fun time. The show started an hour late, so we stood for a total of seven hours, and it rained part of the time. We were also behind a few obnoxious, drunk guys and Winnie had to get security to calm them down. Throughout my travels, I continue to learn patience, flexibility, and a generally more relaxed attitude: I can go with the flow and just enjoy myself, whatever happens. It was especially hilarious when one of the guys kept shouting, "Guns and rose! Rock and roll!" because it came out more like, "Lock and load!"
We spent the weekend just outside Taipei in Banciao at Winnie's college roommate's house. They are a very sweet family -- Winnie's roommate is pregnant with her first child, a daughter, and we also met her younger sister and parents. Her father is a professor of art who had amazing sculptures and paintings all over the house. They constantly fed us and I ended up trying some strange soy bean mushy soup and black eggs. We also went into the city of Taipei to meet some of Winnie's friends, who I met in Taichung, and they treated us to an amazing meal at Friday's. It felt so American. Then we met up with her roommate in another small town outside Taipei called Danshui. This is a beautiful harbor area that is basically a giant night market.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the weekend was listening in on all of the conversations. I've found that I can follow almost every conversation in Chinese! Even if I can't always participate, my listening comprehension has skyrocketed. Unless of course, my friends switch to Taiwanese.
When I came back to Kaohsiung on Sunday, I met up with my Chinese teacher and classmates, and we rode tandem bikes through huge sunflower patches in Ciaotou. Just north of Kaohsiung there are smaller counties that have big fields of flowers. For some reason, the Taiwanese love to hike out there and take pictures of themselves doing the "peace sign" amongst the flowers. It was an interesting adventure.
The next two months are filled with so much to do! More than usual, that is. It doesn't feel like Christmas at all, despite the fact that I'm teaching a Christmas lesson this week, making a music video with my school's chorus, and dressing up as Rudolph to tell a story in front of 2500 kids next Monday. I have no shame at this point. Tears did come to my eyes when I heard my kids sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" today and when I sat in on the choir practice. The students sang beautiful versions of "Silent Night" and "For the Beauty of the Earth." I felt like it is really possible for people from all places to understand, respect and love each other.
I'm in love with Kaohsiung. Though I have recently received 5 notifications from law schools; all 5 have been acceptances. I still have to hear from 10 more schools, but I'm excited about where my path will take me next.