May Montage

As usual, I haven't updated as frequently as I would like. I've really been enjoying day to day life in Taiwan; being a teacher, learning Chinese, and making friends. Since I know where I'm going during the next several years, it is unbelievably enjoyable to rest a moment in that certainty. Luckily, I have been taking more photos than usual and am making this update a montage from recent events. I'd love your comments or emails.

Last month, I went with my 12 year old student, Janet, and her family to visit Dong Shi. This is an outdoor recreational area near Taichung where we played on obstacle courses, saw massive amounts of fireflies, and ate seafood...the Taiwanese favorite. Her little brother, Lucas, is the cutest little boy I've ever seen! He loves to call his sister a "bad egg" and me a "dinosaur egg."

Carol and I have been continuing our elderly center class, but we have a new group of students this month. Pictured above is our former group of students who treated us to a delicious Japanese lunch to celebrate completing the course. They really want us to teach them again when we come back to Taiwan in September.

A few of my students from my teacher's class at Fushan took me to Tainan two weeks ago. I asked them each to present in English on a city in Taiwan, so we decided to visit the closest city together. This photo is at one of the oldest Confucian temples in Taiwan.

For some reason, there was a squirrel feeding area at the temple. Of course, I tried it.

It is incredibly hot in Kaohsiung now.  A popular, cool dessert is "shaved ice" with different kinds of sweet beans and potatoes. I love it. Here Janet and I are eating some together before I took her shopping in Xin Jue Jiang. This is one of the most popular teen markets in the city and it was her first time to go without her parents. A big deal!

This is one of my classes who is currently doing a pen pal exchange with some American students in Atlanta. My Economics professor at Agnes Scott, Professor Cunningham, set me up with her daughter's 5th grade teacher and we've been sharing videos, photos and letters online throughout the semester. You can check out some of my students' video letters here

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I've also spent some time with my host family. This weekend I went to lunch with my host sister, next to me in the glasses, her best friend, Amy, and Amy's little brother and sister. Hard to believe I'll be home seeing my American family and friends in just one month!