So I have neglected this for quite some time and I am afraid this post will not justify such an absence...other than to say the last few weeks have been terribly exciting and quite boring at the same time.
Last Tuesday, on my way to dinner with some friends, I witnessed a car hit the scooter directly in front of me. It was a slow speed accident, but the woman hit had a very swollen face injury and a potentially fractured knee. Ask my mom why the accident was particularly shocking.
I thought I was okay and drove on to dinner after stopping for a few minutes. Since then I have been a bit shaken up. Every time I drive I see potential accidents; people drive like maniacs here and I knew there were frequent accidents, but this one was so close. I fell asleep on the couch a few nights ago. I dreamt about another accident, and just as the car hit I jerked awake and started crying. I think I am getting better, but I'm still a little jumpy on the street.
One of my co-NSTs is leaving for America tonight. She is so nice and was extraordinarily patient with my incessant questions about lesson planning. We hung out for a bit yesterday with her boyfriend and friend visiting from the states. Picked up yummy food (including curry potatoes. YUM) from a vegetarian buffet and ate in their courtyard. Went to several market-types and gathered a few small gifts. I got some awesome pants that remind me of the hair barrette D&B gave me in 2007.
Yesterday, Josh and I spent a relaxing morning looking at travel pictures and reveling in a day off. In the afternoon we went to the video store to try to explain (again!) that the dvd did not work on our computer and could we please exchange this one (which came in a box set) for another, non-box-set DVD. Then scootered up a near mountain to a temple at the top. Then to Taichung (the city where I work) to go back to the Jade Market that Teacher Sara showed me yesterday. More looking at beautiful things. Then Friday's for dinner (Josh's cravings for American food sometimes end up in me having a stomach ache and empty wallet...but I go along so that when I have silly cravings he'll let me eat a box of oreos). Then to a bookstore quickly to find a Chinese lessons CD (unsuccessfully) and to search for the Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoe String. Plans for late January are in the works-the island of Borneo; hopefully Indonesia, Malaysia, AND Brunei. So cool! Then maybe onto the insland of Java.
Grad Apps due in two weeks and I AM NOT FINISHED. In any way. So time to get back to that. I am beginning to think that if it is this difficult to write a personal statement and statement of purpose, maybe I should not be applying for my PhD. But I will do it. I want to. I like Taiwan.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
I Saw Stars in Fengyuan
Saturday afternoon, Josh and I took the train to Taipei. Walked to our hostel, got settled in, took the train to dinner, ate (a salad!!), got ice cream, and were back to the hostel. Sunday morning we woke up at 5:30 to be at Taipei city hall for Josh's 10k which started at 7. He ran well, and it is a good thing he had a watch, because apparently they only kept a record of the first 10 finishers. It was a small race- nothing like the Taipei marathon coming in December that will have 10,000 in the marathon/half combo. Yikes!
At the beginning of the race, I heard a voice behind me ask if I was lost. "No, I'm not, thanks." He tells me that he is lost, trying to get to America, if I could help him. The rest of the race, I will call him 'this anarchist guy,' and I wandered around looking for breakfast. I know I am perhaps growing judgmental in my old age, but anarchist guy was terribly annoying. He was not funny even though he tried to be, he was rude to people we talked to, and I'm pretty sure he suggested we run out on the "check" for breakfast. He drank his way out of college in the US and was in Taiwan to finish-he was asian and could speak Chinese fairly well, and prided himself on that extensively. Hello buddy, just by being American we are in the upperish income brackets here. and it's horrible. Pay for your damn breakfast. Finally, he almost made me miss getting back to the start of the race in time for Josh, I said "peace out" and ran away. Phew. I think I have more in common with most everyone I've met here.
After the race, we stayed for a bit to watch a cool drum performance, and then went back to the hostel. Stashed our bags there and took a train to the last stop on the green line. From there we took a bus that wound up the mountains (40 minutes) to a town called Wulai. Of course, I felt sick and Iron-stomach-boyfriend felt great. From Wulai we took a "minitrain" through the mountains to another stop, where we saw Wulai falls. From THERE, we got on a cable car and rode it across the river valley, directly above the 80m waterfall, and to what we found out was a mountain amusement park.
Another rope course! A sigh that said "please be careful playing in the river" which I took as permission. Soo cold and fresh and wonderful. We kept climbing and got to where we could see waterfall above us and potentially the source. So cool. After we had had enough adventures, we took the cable car back, found a random rusted metal bench under a huge tree, and watched the falls for a few minutes. The minitrain had closed, so we walked the 1.6km back to Wulai, where we ate fresh corn on the cob and bought candy that had been made right before our eyes. Back down on the bus (less scary this time), back on the train, back to the hostel. Grabbed our bags, found dinner, and went to buy tickets. It was 9:21. The last train to Fengyuan had left at 9:05 and the next would leave at 11:30 so Josh got cheesecake and then we took a bus home. Got off hours later at the Fengyuan train station, got out scooters, and drove home.
That's not a very exciting version of what happened, but it was amazing how many different methods of transportation we used. What a novel idea. Because we didn't have anywhere "to be," it was lots of fun figuring it out.
When we got home, I saw stars in Fengyuan.
At the beginning of the race, I heard a voice behind me ask if I was lost. "No, I'm not, thanks." He tells me that he is lost, trying to get to America, if I could help him. The rest of the race, I will call him 'this anarchist guy,' and I wandered around looking for breakfast. I know I am perhaps growing judgmental in my old age, but anarchist guy was terribly annoying. He was not funny even though he tried to be, he was rude to people we talked to, and I'm pretty sure he suggested we run out on the "check" for breakfast. He drank his way out of college in the US and was in Taiwan to finish-he was asian and could speak Chinese fairly well, and prided himself on that extensively. Hello buddy, just by being American we are in the upperish income brackets here. and it's horrible. Pay for your damn breakfast. Finally, he almost made me miss getting back to the start of the race in time for Josh, I said "peace out" and ran away. Phew. I think I have more in common with most everyone I've met here.
After the race, we stayed for a bit to watch a cool drum performance, and then went back to the hostel. Stashed our bags there and took a train to the last stop on the green line. From there we took a bus that wound up the mountains (40 minutes) to a town called Wulai. Of course, I felt sick and Iron-stomach-boyfriend felt great. From Wulai we took a "minitrain" through the mountains to another stop, where we saw Wulai falls. From THERE, we got on a cable car and rode it across the river valley, directly above the 80m waterfall, and to what we found out was a mountain amusement park.
Another rope course! A sigh that said "please be careful playing in the river" which I took as permission. Soo cold and fresh and wonderful. We kept climbing and got to where we could see waterfall above us and potentially the source. So cool. After we had had enough adventures, we took the cable car back, found a random rusted metal bench under a huge tree, and watched the falls for a few minutes. The minitrain had closed, so we walked the 1.6km back to Wulai, where we ate fresh corn on the cob and bought candy that had been made right before our eyes. Back down on the bus (less scary this time), back on the train, back to the hostel. Grabbed our bags, found dinner, and went to buy tickets. It was 9:21. The last train to Fengyuan had left at 9:05 and the next would leave at 11:30 so Josh got cheesecake and then we took a bus home. Got off hours later at the Fengyuan train station, got out scooters, and drove home.
That's not a very exciting version of what happened, but it was amazing how many different methods of transportation we used. What a novel idea. Because we didn't have anywhere "to be," it was lots of fun figuring it out.
When we got home, I saw stars in Fengyuan.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Mundane can also mean of the earth
Saturday in our attempts to get to one place, we found another. And it was sweet. I was so grumpy on the way because I don't think I communicated to Josh well enough that I NEEDED to be in the woods, asap. That meant that when I found out he intended to follow road signs and couldn't find the first one, I was not happy on the back of the scooter. I don't get out of work until 1, and the sun sets between 4 and 5, so we didn't have much daylight to work with. It turned out neither of us anticipated how far we had to drive. We found some neat places to stop along the way, and then we found the first natural river bed we had seen in Taiwan. So we climbed and spent the sunset climbing on the rocks. It was excellent. I felt physically challenged, a little nervous, a little brave, and each rock I summited was an accomplishment. We ended up finding a beautiful waterfall and little pool, and climbed back to the scooter just in time for night fall. We watched the moon rise as we were on the last stretches of path, and then zoomed through the cold mountains back home to actually sleep in our apartment on a weekend night. Day trips, how novel!
Sunday was excellent. I woke up happy and we set off for our adventure. We wanted to find a forest recreation area, so we followed signs to the forest station. We found out once we had entered what we thought was the forest station, that it was indeed a tree farm. The Chinese characters were the same when the english was different. Whatever. Josh overcame initial disappointment when we found an awesome trail that led us to a maple grove. Lots of birding (which he willingly participated in!) We even saw what we thought was an eagle. Then we discovered some enormous (3 in. with legs) spiders that Josh then stole my binoculars to examine. every three steps. It was excellent exercise, with some mountain views, and fall weather. The maples were exactly what I needed. I've been missing home (I had a dream we came home last night) so the fall weather and changing leaves were what I needed.
On our way out of the tree farm, I bought some presumably homemade jam (yes!) and then we entered a rope course I had spotted when we came in. It was awesome! Lots of rope tubes and ladders, several zip line swings (yes!) and a slide. Some crazy bridges (protected underneath with rope nets). Lots of positive energy, and challenges, and climbing, and laughing, and high fives. Excellent.
On the way home we tried to find the thing we had originally looked for. Picked up some Dominos tater tots (I know...) and headed into the mountains again. Looking for a spot to eat our snack, I found a cement guard rail on the side of the cliff, so we perched atop the edge, watched the moon rise over the mountain, ate tater tots, and reflected on the bizzare situation we were currently in.
Overall a good weekend, I am exhausted, happy, super stressed, etc. I need those trips outside. I can't live in this polluted city for more than three days without getting the heck out. But at the same time, the more I play, the more the work builds up. Balance balance balance. Which means back to work :0).
Sunday was excellent. I woke up happy and we set off for our adventure. We wanted to find a forest recreation area, so we followed signs to the forest station. We found out once we had entered what we thought was the forest station, that it was indeed a tree farm. The Chinese characters were the same when the english was different. Whatever. Josh overcame initial disappointment when we found an awesome trail that led us to a maple grove. Lots of birding (which he willingly participated in!) We even saw what we thought was an eagle. Then we discovered some enormous (3 in. with legs) spiders that Josh then stole my binoculars to examine. every three steps. It was excellent exercise, with some mountain views, and fall weather. The maples were exactly what I needed. I've been missing home (I had a dream we came home last night) so the fall weather and changing leaves were what I needed.
On our way out of the tree farm, I bought some presumably homemade jam (yes!) and then we entered a rope course I had spotted when we came in. It was awesome! Lots of rope tubes and ladders, several zip line swings (yes!) and a slide. Some crazy bridges (protected underneath with rope nets). Lots of positive energy, and challenges, and climbing, and laughing, and high fives. Excellent.
On the way home we tried to find the thing we had originally looked for. Picked up some Dominos tater tots (I know...) and headed into the mountains again. Looking for a spot to eat our snack, I found a cement guard rail on the side of the cliff, so we perched atop the edge, watched the moon rise over the mountain, ate tater tots, and reflected on the bizzare situation we were currently in.
Overall a good weekend, I am exhausted, happy, super stressed, etc. I need those trips outside. I can't live in this polluted city for more than three days without getting the heck out. But at the same time, the more I play, the more the work builds up. Balance balance balance. Which means back to work :0).
the mundane
I am busy. I have not posted the adventures of the last two weeks because I feel guilty when I write this instead of grad school applications. Here's the short of it, which will probably be very long. I will try to write more later.
The personal first: I am busy. I'm probably not that busy; I don't know if I am even working forty hours a week, but I have a bit of a commute, and it seems like I am always working. I grade homework in the mornings, go to work about 3, plan lessons untl 4:50, teach 2, 2 hour classes, stay for an hour and a half grade homework and organize my head. I get home about 11, when Josh and I waste time doing cross word puzzles and playing Uno. Buying a deck of Uno cards has been excellent for our relationship - a little strategy, a little sitting around, face to face time talking, and some laughing when we get royally whomped. I taught the word whomp to my kids the other.
On Friday we had a halloween party and we took the kids trick-or-treating. They were adorable and it was lots of (unpaid) fun. I was a pirate and I think I earned some major points because I was the only native-speaking teacher in costume.
Grad school applications are due soon, but I still don't know what I am doing. I am waiting for some responses, I have to send some more. I am feeling quite behind. I've had some dissapointing conversations: I want a degree in policy, not in a specific discipline. Most of the time these students are a bit older because it takes them a while to realize that the disciplines need to work together (this I was told by the director of a program). This means that many programs require a masters: goodbye Yale, Harvard, Michigan, etc. The good news; I have been talking to a prof at the University of Washington since August, and he told me last week to apply and he would make sure to tell the committee to take me. Guraunteed funding for three years (no debt!) and then we would work together to fund my PhD writing. Anyway, I was really excited to be applying to the best schools in the country-for someone who is continually not good enough for herself, it was exciting to think I might maybe perhaps be good enough for an excellent program. But alas I am not because I can't afford to get my masters first.
Josh did not understand why I was so upset about the Masters requirement until he realized that a PhD IS PAID FOR...and saves me two years of schooling in the long run. I want to work at a university- a masters is insufficient.
Okay, so the school thing is happening maybe. I hope to have some more finished by the end of this week.
I'll write the adventures in another post. Just thought it would be good to say what I'm actually doing here, other than getting purposefully lost in the mountains!
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