all quiet here. Josh and I had a quiet weekend of movies and a soccer game. A nice respite from our three weekends on the road (including Thailand/Cambodia). Since kindy ended last Wednesday, I've aggressively cleaned parts of the apartment, studied a lot of chinese, and actually talked to my parents for once. I've returned to my daily tutoring job.
This afternoon we will have a couch-surfer come stay with us for two days. I'm excited about having a guest!
Josh and I are taking a chinese class now. We meet once a week for two hours with our teacher. Just the two of us which means lots of practice. Our teacher is quite funny, and understands that we want to move quickly, so she goes through the material in the book at a clip. Then, we talk about other interesting things we can say based off of the book. I also set up a language exchange for us with a coworker at my school. She lives in Fengyuan, so we meet for an hour on Tuesday and two hours on Friday. She helps us with pronunciation, asks us questions (quickly), and listens to Josh and I talk to each other. We ask extra questions, etc. It's a great way to study the material in advance. It's a pretty one sided exchange-she hasn't asked much of us in the way of English education.
I've also set up a one-hour language exchange with another friend of mine for Wednesdays. I have a two hour break in Fengyuan from 4-6, so she and I will go out for an hour in between. Yesterday we went to the fruit stand and I learned how to read the prices - 3 for 100 dollars, or 1 jin (a measure word meaning 600 grams) for 12 dollars. This way I can actually comparison shop!
Time to face the day. Training today for two hours, then a four hour break in Taichung (what a waste of time), and then class. Without kindy, it's a pretty good life.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Taipei Times
After a loong week, we spent a lovely weekend in Taipei. Leaving after work on Saturday, we arrived in Taipei late afternoon. After checking into our hostel, we spent the first few hours trying to find and then enjoying food. Our attempts to find a mexican restaurant that was in our Lonely Planet failed when we got to the corner only to be told there was a restaurant there a few months ago. Then off to a small Taiwanese-run western food dive with fajitas and creamy tomato soup (my first in Taiwan) and, oh to our pleasant surprise, Dr. Pepper. Our soda of choice, it was maybe a bit pathetic to see our excitement over this find.
Our trip was inspired by contact from a friend of Josh's from his study abroad in India (2007). She and her boyfriend had flown in from Italy on business, and asked if we wanted to have dinner Saturday night. We heard from them around 9, after they got out of a business function, so we met them at the famous Shilin night market, and after a very brief walk, settled down at a little tea shop to catch up/meet each other.
Today we went to the Taipei botanical gardens, a shockingly serene and beautiful respite from the bustling city of fishnets (here considered cute more than sexy)and blinking neon signs in Chinese. The drizzle put a special mystique over the adventure. At the lotus pond, we spotted two Malay (or Malaysian) night herons, a black crowned night heron, what I am assuming to be a great egret (maybe an intermediate), a white-breasted waterhen (new species), several common moorhens (n.s), a gray treepie (n.s), many light-vented bulbuls, and one thrush-type and two ducks I have yet to (can't) identify. On the train north I spotted many cattle egrets in breeeding plumage-beautiful orange fealthers on the chest and neck.
After the gardens, we found our way to a singapore style restaurant where we studied chinese (bpmf) and ate some good food. Then to Eslite bookstore, the largest store of the chain. Josh sought a book in Chinese that he can set as his goal, and Animal Farm struck us as an appropriate choice. Then to coldstone for a guilty indulgence and back on the bus home.
Wednesday is the last day that I sub kindy! I am thrilled at the prospect of having free time again-on tuesday and thursday I don't teach until 7pm!
Time for some rest before the final push toward freedom.
Our trip was inspired by contact from a friend of Josh's from his study abroad in India (2007). She and her boyfriend had flown in from Italy on business, and asked if we wanted to have dinner Saturday night. We heard from them around 9, after they got out of a business function, so we met them at the famous Shilin night market, and after a very brief walk, settled down at a little tea shop to catch up/meet each other.
Today we went to the Taipei botanical gardens, a shockingly serene and beautiful respite from the bustling city of fishnets (here considered cute more than sexy)and blinking neon signs in Chinese. The drizzle put a special mystique over the adventure. At the lotus pond, we spotted two Malay (or Malaysian) night herons, a black crowned night heron, what I am assuming to be a great egret (maybe an intermediate), a white-breasted waterhen (new species), several common moorhens (n.s), a gray treepie (n.s), many light-vented bulbuls, and one thrush-type and two ducks I have yet to (can't) identify. On the train north I spotted many cattle egrets in breeeding plumage-beautiful orange fealthers on the chest and neck.
After the gardens, we found our way to a singapore style restaurant where we studied chinese (bpmf) and ate some good food. Then to Eslite bookstore, the largest store of the chain. Josh sought a book in Chinese that he can set as his goal, and Animal Farm struck us as an appropriate choice. Then to coldstone for a guilty indulgence and back on the bus home.
Wednesday is the last day that I sub kindy! I am thrilled at the prospect of having free time again-on tuesday and thursday I don't teach until 7pm!
Time for some rest before the final push toward freedom.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tainan Tourney
We had a tournament this weekend. I had to miss the first two games because of work, and then I spent way too much money taking the high speed rail down. BUT, it was fun for the most part. I didn't think Josh and I would still have to deal with silly drunken irresponsible team mates once we were out of college, but it seems that never ends. Still, we had a good time. The weather was great-warm and sunny with some actual blue skies (it's been mostly overcast here).
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ankor WHAT?!
Josh and I returned on Wednesday night from a quick jaunt to Thailand and Cambodia. Truly, quick is an apt word. We left Taipei Saturday evening, to get into Bankok at around 9. After a bus, taxi (I think), and skytrain, we found a hotel to crash in for four hours. Sunday, we caught the 5:30 bus to the Thailand-Cambodia border, where we ate delicious rice noodles with shrimp and peanuts, and caught a tuktuk. Right before we reached the actual border, the tuk tuk turned off on a side road where a guy tried to convince us that "this is the border" and we needed to pay 1200 bat (40$) to get our visa. After we politely said "no" for about five minutes, the tuk tuk driver got back in drove us two minutes to the real border. We got our visa (20$), waited in hot lines for stamps, and entered Cambodia.
At the border, we met a couple from California, so we shared a taxi to Siep Reap, about a two hour drive from the border. The road had just been paved within the last year or so. Before that, it was known to have been a 6-14 hour trip, depending on the rain. We made excellent time on Sunday, and had over two hours to go to the park, get our pass, and visit some of the temples. We watched the sunset over the jungle from atop one of the temples. After, we went to a buffet and performance, where we watched traditional Cambodian dance from the second row.
Monday we spent the entire day in the park. We met our tuk tuk driver at 5 and drove to Ankor Wat for sunrise. (aside here: the temples and ruins around Siem Reap all have different names, were commissioned by different Khmer rulers, and had separate villages and hundreds of thousands of people around them. Ankor Thum is one such city center. Ankor Wat is the associated temple.) We went back to the guest house for breakfast and then back to the park for about 10 hours of templeing. During the heat of the day (which, I assure you, was HOT), we found a great little "restaurant" where we got noodles and rice and watch tourists go by. Talked with our driver a bit about Khmer customs. Went shopping a little at the stands.
We completed our day where we began, further exploring Ankor Wat and watching the sun set on its other side. After the park closed at 6:30, our driver took us to a local "restaurant" that where he often eats. Delicious food. We got four meals between the three of us, Josh got a coke, I got a fresh mango shake (I mean really fresh). The whole thing cost 6 US dollars.
I think we went to sleep after that. Tuesday we woke up early again and drove about 10 km outside of Siem Reap to the oldest of the ruins (a distance from the rest). This ancient temple (circa 1000 BCE) sits atop an interesting rock mountain that juts up from the surrounding, flat countryside. From the top, we could see Lake Tonle Sap, the biggest lake in southeast asia. It was the dry season when we were there, so all of the dwellings around us were on stilts sticking out of the visible ground. During the wet season, the Mekong floods so much that the flow of the lake is reversed and thus quadruples in size, spilling out in the surrounding countryside. The roads are on dikes. The houses 8 feet in the air.
Tuesday around noon we took a car back to Aranyaprathet (at the border), walked across to Thailand, and then took another bus to Bangkok. That evening we found food at a little shop. Humorous to me, it was the only bad food I'd had on our trip...and it was in the only restaurant that would meet western standards of "decency." Crap food though. Air conditioning that Josh appreciated. In the morning, we walked around a bit, went to a book store where Josh bought a National Geographic in Thai (to add to the collection). Saw the riot police waiting for the red shirts to block the streets and storm the airport (if you've been following the news, we just missed some crazy events that have gone down in Bangkok).
Overall a fantastic trip; we didn't feel rushed in our two days at Ankor and we saw all that we wanted to. Spent too much money but returned home to pay day-I worked 3/2 the normal number of hours this month, so the paycheck will certainly cover our trip. Pictures on facebook :0)
At the border, we met a couple from California, so we shared a taxi to Siep Reap, about a two hour drive from the border. The road had just been paved within the last year or so. Before that, it was known to have been a 6-14 hour trip, depending on the rain. We made excellent time on Sunday, and had over two hours to go to the park, get our pass, and visit some of the temples. We watched the sunset over the jungle from atop one of the temples. After, we went to a buffet and performance, where we watched traditional Cambodian dance from the second row.
Monday we spent the entire day in the park. We met our tuk tuk driver at 5 and drove to Ankor Wat for sunrise. (aside here: the temples and ruins around Siem Reap all have different names, were commissioned by different Khmer rulers, and had separate villages and hundreds of thousands of people around them. Ankor Thum is one such city center. Ankor Wat is the associated temple.) We went back to the guest house for breakfast and then back to the park for about 10 hours of templeing. During the heat of the day (which, I assure you, was HOT), we found a great little "restaurant" where we got noodles and rice and watch tourists go by. Talked with our driver a bit about Khmer customs. Went shopping a little at the stands.
We completed our day where we began, further exploring Ankor Wat and watching the sun set on its other side. After the park closed at 6:30, our driver took us to a local "restaurant" that where he often eats. Delicious food. We got four meals between the three of us, Josh got a coke, I got a fresh mango shake (I mean really fresh). The whole thing cost 6 US dollars.
I think we went to sleep after that. Tuesday we woke up early again and drove about 10 km outside of Siem Reap to the oldest of the ruins (a distance from the rest). This ancient temple (circa 1000 BCE) sits atop an interesting rock mountain that juts up from the surrounding, flat countryside. From the top, we could see Lake Tonle Sap, the biggest lake in southeast asia. It was the dry season when we were there, so all of the dwellings around us were on stilts sticking out of the visible ground. During the wet season, the Mekong floods so much that the flow of the lake is reversed and thus quadruples in size, spilling out in the surrounding countryside. The roads are on dikes. The houses 8 feet in the air.
Tuesday around noon we took a car back to Aranyaprathet (at the border), walked across to Thailand, and then took another bus to Bangkok. That evening we found food at a little shop. Humorous to me, it was the only bad food I'd had on our trip...and it was in the only restaurant that would meet western standards of "decency." Crap food though. Air conditioning that Josh appreciated. In the morning, we walked around a bit, went to a book store where Josh bought a National Geographic in Thai (to add to the collection). Saw the riot police waiting for the red shirts to block the streets and storm the airport (if you've been following the news, we just missed some crazy events that have gone down in Bangkok).
Overall a fantastic trip; we didn't feel rushed in our two days at Ankor and we saw all that we wanted to. Spent too much money but returned home to pay day-I worked 3/2 the normal number of hours this month, so the paycheck will certainly cover our trip. Pictures on facebook :0)
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