thanks hualien.

this post is dedicated to everone who ever helped us. even when we didn't understand them. and they didn't understand us. they were unselfish, endearing, and generous. whether it was out of pity, necessity, or love--thank you thank you. i am sorry that i still don't know a lot of your names. i promise when we are in heaven and language won't be a problem, i will tell you exactly how cool i think you are.

ever thanks to...
the beef noodle man that smiled each time we left the night market.
the women who made our breakfasts
the crazy aborigine that made our first night hilarious.
the countless parents that said "hello" even when those where the only english words they spoke.
the aborigine teenagers that took us to the waterfalls
the bao tze man that remembered that i only like the veggie ones
the lady in the dress shop in taipei
the miso soup lady that knew we couldn't read chinese
yuling's dad for painstakingly taking care of the garden upstairs
the bbq man that expressed his love constantly
the many many public transportation workers that helped us lost weiguorens.

and more thanks to those whose names we knew...
to ronald who made us smoothies, [almost] always with a smile
to john who showed us true taiwanese hospitality
to president neilson. enough said.
to chinese jeff for being a good example
to yuling who indirectly taught me so much about myself
to foster whose flawless english gives me hope for my chinese
to teacher stephanie who reminded me that living the gospel is the same around the planet
to the missionaries.
to my family for letting me go
to john legend, lauren hill, and chrisette michelle for providing heartbreakingly real music
to teacher jane who showed me that there are different ways to love kids
to charlie for letting us give him an english name. and providing delicious fruit. and killing BG.
to aiya, the best preschool cook.
to the zhun, zhou, and lee family for being amazing examples.
to teacher michelle for being so skin conscious
to andy for being a ridiculous zhongwen laoshi.
to "monkey boy" for providing candy-like pineapple
to amy for being an amazing coworker, travel buddy, and friend
to trisha lee shappie who wrote the most helpful preschool curriculum books

and to thank you to inanimate objects like...
my scriptures that taught me what life is actually about
whole wheat spaghetti and brown rice that provided sunday meals
the trusty water bottle that went everywhere with me
my journal that helped me clarify my thoughts
skype for helping me realize it was possible to have a six month long distance relationship
byebye books for being glorified yearbooks
the mosquitoes for helping me test my self-control

there are more thanks. but that is all i can manage right now in between packing and cleaning.

see you in the STATES!

last day.

10 minutes to get ...
18 kids into ...
4 giraffe heads
4 monkey tails
4 parrot wings
4 lion manes ...

all for a darling graduation program.

how else would you want to spend your last saturday in hualien?

yippee!

a typhoon is brewing!

music

the latest tunes.

張懸 My Life Will...

her english name is deserts xuan. band's name is algae. but just youtube her [by copy and pasting the chinese] and try to download her music. i love her already, especially 寶貝[in a day].

also, i am now convinced [after finding her and coeur de pirate] that the rest of the world is hiding good music from us. i am thinking of authoring some sort of conspiracy theory around it.

p.s the kids are singing one of her songs at their graduation practice and they are so darling that it brings me to tears. i got to leave the classroom when i started tearing up--unlike my coworker. she was literally bawling during her class. i think we might be a little attached to them...

p.p.s did i mention that amy is teaching them vitamin c's "graduation" song? oh vitamin c. you must make so much money this time of year.

my way of saying goodbye

a whole day for myself, by myself.

meet up with the sister missionaries for brunch
go downtown with one of the YW
try to convince her to let me buy her a skirt [to no avail]
buy an amazing dress instead
head to triangle market
get delicious shaved ice
bike home
call america
have a distracted conversation
lie in bed thinking how nice it would be to take a nap outside
head outside
get bitten by twenty mosquitoes [who i swear just lay in wait for me]
come back inside and lay down for a mid-afternoon nap in my steaming hot bed
bring the other fan in my room
get comfortable with two constant air streams on me
fall asleep.

i am trying to figure out how to say goodbye to taiwan. 7 days left. any ideas?

the good kind of frustration

i was sucking on quite the confusioniscle [like a popsicle of confusion] today while pondering WHY i am have to be so darn patient in waiting for the Lord's timing. can't ours be the same as His? especially when we are trying so hard to line up with Him? wasn't it Him who wants us to always be progressing? i couldn't fit it all together. and was getting mighty frustrated. and i still can't really figure it out.

minerva teichert's depiction of christ in the home of mary and martha. he was just so patient with both women in this story, especially the one that thought she knew better.

but it doesn't matter because the church is true. meaning that He is there and will always be there. in fact, He is everywhere. time has no part in His existence. so while i am being a dumb human, He is patiently attempting to perfect the seemingly unperfectable [me]. which is why life is a challenge. a delightful, scary, frustrating, happiness-filled challenge.

bring it on.

the ride home

so there i was, kicking my way home.

let me explain. my bike frequently has problems. she is really a special spirit with a personality of her own. her favorite thing is to jam the chain while i am either freezing, tired, hungry, or in desperate need of groceries. ally and i had just gotten some delicious ice [my new favorite thing in taiwan] and i pull out to grab some bread and popsicles before heading home. and then ACCHHHKKK clunk. the chain slipped off and quickly jammed into the doohickey, for lack of a technical term. i still needed bread so ally started home while i stopped by the bakery on the way home. the lady asked me if i wanted to wash my hands because they were completely black from playing with the chain. i politely "meiguinxi"ed and went on my way. picture me kicking every so often against the street and then swinging my legs back and forth [like an overexcited three year old on a carousal ride] to gain momentum. all the while praying that the dogs wouldn't sense my inadequacy. thank goodness for downhill rides home. though i did get temporarily held up by some sort of slimy thing hitting my foot, i finally got home.

good news: i would easily win in a "move your bike as fast as possible without touching the pedals but still being on the seat" contest, my hip flexors are much stronger than before, and i laughed enough at myself to last at least one day.

bad news: i have no way to pick up popsicles tomorrow.

p.s. to prevent confusion--picture from biking down taroko when lover was still here. i can only wish that i owned a bike that nice. or looked like that after getting slime attacked and workin' out the hips. someday...

a riddle

it can say nice things

and mean things
it can show happiness
or regret
or sadness
it can express love
or lust
it can sing silly songs
and sad ones too
it can smile
it can kiss
it can heal pains
it can whisper prayers
or shout them
it can teach children

inspired by ginny's homework tonight. i loved teaching her about riddles. and she was so proud that she read them out loud and [almost] stumped ally and amy.



i want to use my lips to be a better person.
and i am figuring out how to do that slowly.
thank you gospel for showing me how it's done.

pen caps

annie stuck a pen cap up her nose today. and i was so impatient that i quickly pulled it out and directed her back to her workbook activity. and that is when i stopped to realize how funny it was. and i started giggling. hard. and the kids didn't really know what to do. it was refreshing.

reminders

i was watching the kids today rehearse for their graduation program and i got a little present from heaven.

love love doesn't come easily to me. but i can't help loving the kids out here [even when i want to kick them out of the classroom]. maybe because i am beginning to know how much my parents, heavenly and earthly, love me. the more i am out here, away from the comforts and securities of home, the more i realize how much HF is there for me. and how much love my parents have for me. so much that i can feel it from 7000 miles away.

HE clearly knows what i need when scripture reading is humbling me...a lot.

i love these kids. and i love the gospel. and i am so glad to know the truths that i do. and the best part of it all--HE loves me as much as he loves the children i teach. what a marvelous thing.

a party!

my university students had a lovely party for me on the last day of class. it included a magic show, a traditional chinese sport [diablo?] performance, and lots of good food. they appreciated my awkwardness as i tried to eat goopy messes of things. and i appreciated their kindness in scooping stuff up for me.

i really admire all of these students. they are so earnest in learning english. they have the fire that i need to have in my language studies. and they are so kind to me, even when i am the same age as them and have no clue what i am doing as i teach them. it was a growing experience. just like everything else here. and i loved it.

this is my grandmother. running a red light.
i love her.
and san mateo intersection cameras.

the video is even better.

note to self: shred my license when i turn 60.

art time

couldn't resist pulling the camera out. look at those rows of colored chairs and concentrating children. 6 months ago, that wouldn't have made me as blissfully happy as it makes me now. i will never again take a well-behaved classroom for granted. or a well-prepped art project.

bill

he is crazy & ADD. and a 10 year old boy. but i just might miss his short attention span and insanity. and mostly his adoration of teacher jeff and his 10 year old perception of romance.

reflections

when the inevitable goodbye comes, make it short. lengthiness just makes it harder.

when the fights come, let them come. they make you stronger.

when you forget about yourself, take a step back. you loose yourself. and then the self that they fell in [like] with is gone too.

when you just want to stay home and talk, do it. even if you are in another country.

the last of it

highlights of friday
-eating swallow nests [made from their spit]
-seeing a baby elephant in a busy bangkok intersection
-eating a ridiculously tasty soup at a ghetto flooded restaurant
-seeing a terrifying snake show

p.s. reasons behind the lame posts=my computer has failed me and i am using jeff's PC. now i know how much of a mac person i am. PCs are too...personal.

afternoon.

elephant rides and depressing monkey shows made our afternoon. then to a traditional thai massage where they moved and cracked our bodies in ways i didn't know possible. it was wonderful. then strip shows made the night...except we didn't go. i was too excited over the elephant rides and too relaxed from the massage to care that we had nothing to do. and i finally got to finish the book i'd been reading. [a long way gone, memoirs of a boy soldier]

morningtime.

first we went to a lovely temple where we couldn't take pictures inside. or understand the tour. we think that the dalai llamas are buried there, but we still aren't completely sure.

then to a buddha mountain. start taking silly pictures now.

next to a winery, where we drank delicious grape juice and took plenty of stepford wife-esque pictures to match with the immaculate greenery.

and then an elephant show! one of the highlights of thailand, where i fell in love with elephants. one of the best parts was that these guys totally loved entertaining, which made me feel like they actually enjoyed their situation in life. jeff found a new girlfriend and i tried to take one home.

waterplay.

wednesday was water day. we took a bumpy boat ride to an island of wood. it was like a huge dock floating in the gulf of siam. from there, we were hooked to a rickety (again with the rickety) parasail and literally swept off the ground by a fishy looking boat driver. the whole operation took about .5 seconds per person. before we could catch our breath, we were whisked off (okay, totally romanticizing that) to another real island where we jetskiied and banana boated for approximately 2 minutes each.

we played in the ocean for a while, ate the same meal as the first night [crab and bok choy] for lunch, and got kicked off a chair for sitting on it. who knew they charged you to sit in a chair! we met a nice iranian man that spotted us as american and came up to take a picture.

him: america!
us: yes!
him: iran! america! friends!
us: uhhhh yes?
him: bush.
us: ......
him: obama!
us: obama!
him: friends! picture?
us: okay!



love it.

after we took the necessary ridiculous pictures, we went back to the mainland and got lovely massages. wish i had gotten pictures of the silly suits they made us. [actually lack of suits...awkward see through underwear]

then we walked "the strip" of thailand. note how happy we were before we walked down it.



and then on to day three...

dreamworld.

let's backtrack to the first day in thailand...
we had biked to the bus station at 130am on monday morning, sneakily locked our bikes behind a bush, and headed to taipei to take our 8am flight. after three hours of good airplane sleep, we arrived in thailand! we boarded our frilly laced-out bus and took a long bumpy road to dreamworld.

wait. dreamworld? what's that? let me tell you. think an imitation disneyland--thailand style. mickey mouse was replaced by a chipmunk. space mountain was replaced by space mountain [just a little more rickety]. costumed characters were replaced by elephants. splash mountain was replaced by super splash. and the castle was replaced by a giant's house. 2 hours was the perfect amount of time to spend there. and we got some great pictures thanks to ivan perez for giving amy her dream gift.