Fall and falling apple juice

It's fall time, but it doesn't look like it here. Naomi Kallberg absolutely refuses to let that be a reason to not enjoy fall and I find myself being caught up in her enthusiasm for the amazing autumn season.
The first thing she did was procure pumpkins for carving at the school. We were both a little disappointed that all our school could find was little squashes, but she determined to make them work. A second of our schools found real Taiwan pumpkins, but they were green and more round, they couldn't sit on their own..."Oh well, we can still make pumpkin pies with them."
Then we went on a trip to Taipei by train and we took our two little sisters with us. Guess what we found there? We found the most beautiful collection of imported American pumpkins. I have never thought pumpkins were beautiful before that day. So we bought one. Then we went to Costco and bought lots of candy for trick or treating and two gallons of apple juice to make into an apple cider drink. It wasn't until we got back to where we were staying that we realized we didn't have enough arms between us to carry all of our newly acquired items and the stuff we brought with us...We attempted this anyways and in our attempt to make it up to the Chen's house I dropped one of the apple juices in the elevator. It burst open and was spilling all around our feet. There is a camera in the elevator and I can't help but imagine what the man watching the video was thinking. He would have seen four overloaded females waddling onto the elevator, then seen the apple juice crash on the floor, then he would have observed four people attempting to bend over and pick up the apple juice, then he would have seen the elevator close when we got off and then lots of hands mopping up the huge apple juice mess, then the doors closing again and he would be the only one who knew the secret to why the elevator smelled like apples.

We did manage to save half of the gallon and Faith heated it up with some spices and it was amazing. I can't help falling in love with the taste of fall.

We got home and carved our beautiful orange pumpkin. It was my first time carving a pumpkin. Then Naomi cleaned out and sectioned and cooked up and drained and packaged and froze one of the pumpkins. The next day we made pumpkin pies. I made the crust, but had no rolling pin so I emptied a big old Vitamin C bottle and used it. It was a rather novel experience. Naomi made the pumpkin filling. I'm not allowed to say what she put in it, because it's a top secret recipe her brother invented. All I can say is that the pies were incredible, better than any I've ever tasted.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE FALL! =)

Something really strange happens when Naomi gets ahold of pumpkins...Sometimes she just looks at them other times...










Pumpkins with the classes. =)


The children definitely enjoyed the fall season in English class.

overly protective?

Last weekend Naomi and I visited Taipei with our two younger sisters. We had many a good time and our biggest adventure was coming home, but I refuse to tell that story right now. I'd rather laugh with you (or alone, depending on whether or not you find certain things as strange and suggestive as I do) about certain oddities of Taiwan life.

What you see in this picture is two vending machines one is a gum ball machine and the other vends bouncy balls.




This next picture is not of bouncy balls, but of individually wrapped gumballs. I haven't decided if this is pure genious or a sign of hygenic obsession.
I'm thinking the next time I feel a little overly cared for and controlled over here I will use code phrase "Individually wrapped gumballs" to let Nomes know it's time to go home. Or maybe I can use it for overly protective parents "they are so the wrapped gumball type"

Okay...so maybe I am the only one laughing. WHO CARES?!!!







This last picture isn't anything special or funny. It's just a soda vending machine in Taiwan, just in case you were wondering.




You can't really see if but in this picture Coke and Pepsi are residing peacefully side by side. Let this give us all hope that one day World peace can actually be achieved.




Thank you

varying degrees of sweetness

This week we've been teaching Halloween vocabulary in all of our classes. We've tried to help the kids get as much of the Halloween experience as possible in a 40 minute class. In a few of the classes we carved pumpkins and in the less lucky classes we did other crafts or games, but one thing that's been common to every class is trick or treating. Every class got to go trick or treating to either the teacher's office or amongst themselves. I thought it was a pretty "American" experience for them, until I saw the candy they brought and I realized that they just don't get it. In the course of today's class I've seen some of the most unsweet and strange candy's ever. Salty Plum lolly pops; green tea, sarsaparilla and coke candies; other candies of strange colors and various stages of fluffiness, but the ultimate strange and disturbing candy of the day was MUSHROOM DRY RADISH MOCHI. When the students handed me one of the later I knew the game was up. These children don't understand the point of candy, so how can they understand Halloween? Needless to say I pocketed the candy for later experiments...I'm still debating on whether I should try it or not for the rather novel experience of eating mushroom flavored chewy "candy." What do you think?

So this was another lesson on the cultural difference between Americans and Taiwanese people. This one has concerned what I call the sweet/saltiness factor. Taiwanese people just don't like sweet very much. I don't know why. Just the other day we had Coldstone ice cream with three little kids and they complained about it being too cold and too sweet...Ice cream, too sweet? since when? I don't think I will ever understand these people.

The way to hell is paved with good intentions

sometimes I just can't handle it! I love my students in such a complete and special sort of love. I want to help them and hold them and carry as much of their burdens as possible...but it's too much. I can't love them enough. I can't help everybody. I can feel sympathy and care for students who are being raised by their grandparents because their parents left them. I can hurt with the students who are from a poorer family and don't have the same opportunities as the other students. I can sympathize with the students who are so unsure about themselves and who feel so unimportant...but that's all I can do! I want to do more, but I can't. For me this is a new sort of torture when I can feel the pain and the needs of those around me and yet I can't do anything to help.

1. How I praise Thee, precious Savior,
That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me
That I might Thy channel be.

2. Just a channel full of blessing,
To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation
All Thy loving message sound.

Channels only, blessed Master,
But with all Thy wondrous power
Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
Every day and every hour.

Lyrics: Mary E. Maxwell

Of boys and rings

So, on Tuesday one of my third graders put a ring on my finger and said he loved me. I kissed him, of course, because that's what you do when a boy puts a ring on your finger. I guess I knew it wouldn't last forever and that he'd change his mind eventually and find a new girl. BUT I hadn't expected it to happen the very next day! It was Naomi's birthday and I guess he felt he had chosen the wrong English teacher because he took the ring off my finger and gave it to Naomi. =(

Then today, Racky, one of my fifth grade boys, gave me a ring. He has a matching one. I don't know how excited i can get about this one. The only two things he can say in English are "I love you" and "goodbye." That definitely does not bode well for a long term relationship.

This is the first ring. If you look closely you'll see two skulls on it.

This is the second ring. It's a litle more simple and it's green. =)

part 2

It isn't nice of me to get you all interested in an event and then not to tell you about what happened. So, I was not able to get sick. I couldn't even manage to learn "I don't know any songs in Chinese" in Chinese. So the party happened. We got there early so we could sit with the crazy teachers instead of with the old men and the principal. It was interesting. The two guys next to me kept filling up my bowl with food, so I didn't have to. There was constant karaoke blaring in the background. The DJ announced that "in the course of the meal the two beautiful English teachers would be singing." Well that put my heart to rest instantly. He wasn't even thinking about us, he was thinking about the two "beautiful" english teachers. I started feeling really bad for poor Jean and Amanda though, it really stinks to be forced to sing.

The principal kept walking by us and talking to Naomi about her song and once he brought her the Karaoke book so she could pick one..I was suddenly busy talking to a student so he didn't say anything to me. ;) Anyways Nomes diappeared for a while and I heard someone saying Naomi and Patricia were going to sing. I of course didn't "really" hear it because it was in Chinese. So I kept eating and someone else sang. Then Naomi came back and the principal wearing his pants unusually high (for back support, I guess) announced she'd be singing. The poor girl. She did sing, but she didn't sing for the principal she sang for her friend and I was so proud of her for doing it. She was amazing and she saved my life in the process. Since Naomi sang I didn't have to. Though, if they had had "yellow" by Coldplay I would have sang it, just for Jacob "And they were all yellow"...I love my racist brother. ;)

A lesson in humility (and the blockheadedness of some people)

I've talked a little bit about the principal at my school. Did I mention that he is now my Chinese teacher? Once a week I have an exclusive 40 minute Chinese lesson with him. I'm so lucky =(. I'm not going to lie, I cried when (after) he told me. It's just that I'm fine with the principal from a distance. It's really hard to show him Christian love when I'm around him. =/
(Hold that thought)
Tonight is a big dinner party because the president of the parents association is stepping down and new a person is taking his place. So there will be a lot of eating, drinking (not me), speaches (in Chinese) and karaoke. All in all it's one of those things that aren't any fun for anyone and no one would come if they didn't serve food. I personally do not enjoy these things. I get bored sitting still for two hours or longer eating food, being talked about by everyone and occasionally made to go up front and give a speech or sing a song. Anyways, the principal announced that we were going to be going to this particular dinner, he told us to dress beautifully and he asked/told Naomi to sing a song. I was happy. I think he's finally understanding that I don't like being in the public eye. I am terrified of giving speeches and I don't like to sing karaoke. YAY!

Well soon after this announcement was my Chinese class with the principal. I was in a somewhat apprehensive mood, afraid he'd change his mind, but it was okay. We reviewed our words from last week and then he said he had a new phrase for me to learn. "Wo yao chang y so gu gay hwey zang" Which means "I want to sing a song for the new president of the parents association." my heart sank. "He doesn't really expect me to use this phrase, does he? *gulp*...."

I hate politics!

Since, Chinese class I've been frantically trying to come up with ways not to go to the dinner. Why is it so easy to catch a cold when you want to go somewhere amazing and so hard to catch one when it would be really useful? Sigh...I might have to suck it up and sing. This might just be one of those lessons in humility.