Fold your arm, close your eyes. We say a prayer.

Hualien Hualien Hualien. Anything bad I ever thought about you, I take it back. The people here are some of the kindest that I have ever met. I am finally getting settled in (who knows how many times I will say that) and starting to feel a sense of...community. I didn't even realize that was possible when I can barely communicate but it is happening and I am loving it. The ward members here treat us like princesses. Actually, more like malnourished missionaries. They are ridiculously nice and accomodating and most importantly, are willing to act out what we are about to eat. Should I be worried that I am eating stuff that needs to be acted out? Eehhh, I will consider it part of getting used to Asia.

This past weekend has been insane and rewarding and most of all SUNNY. There is too much to include all the details especially since I have to tutor again in ten minutes. But a short rundown...

Friday
9am-10am: teach three 20 minute lessons about "our houses being our homes"
10am-1040am: scramble to prep for three 30 minute lessons where we listen to these creepy songs and watch an even creepier video. the kids love it though.
1040am-1210pm: watch a hour and a half of a poor middle aged man trying to make a living by singing songs for 3 year olds to learn. and you might think I am weird...
1210pm-1230pm: eat delicious lunch that our cook prepares for us. yes, the kids do have a cook and she is wonderful and buys fresh veggies from across the street everyday! total hippie style and i love it.
1230pm-1pm: prep for my two 45 minute lessons
1pm-2pm: laid out on our patio because it was sunny and amazing. skyped.
2pm-3pm: lengthy teachers' meeting
3pm-430pm: teaching two 45 minute lessons, massive review of the home/schoolroom vocab
430pm-500pm: rush to the night market to buy dinner, we get a free (man tao) sweet steamed bread just because.
530pm-630pm: tutor this girl who hates learning english. we play hannah montana games in english for a treat for being "so good". the things you do for kids to like you...
650pm-900pm: tutor these darling wonderful children that are so smart and love learning. the five year old read an ACTUAL book to me in her second language. impressive, yes. and the mother made me a delicious meal with brown rice and good nonfatty meat and VEGGIES. and sent me home with two tickets to the hot springs and a thing of grapes, which are kind of pricey here. talk about hospitality, right? it gets better.
900pm-1am: journal, talk to people from home, email, read, listen to the CES broadcast which was amazing. and listened to President Holland's devotional to BYU. that was even better.

Saturday
9am-430pm: copy friday's schedule here.
430pm-530pm: scrounged up some dinner/snack
530pm-700pm: found a massage place where we could get a half hour massage for $18. we thought we were being all frugal and had found a deal and then later, Yuling tells us that we totally got cheated. boo for being too obviously american.
700pm-900pm: ward potluck/activity. we got there late and everyone starts scrambling around to get us bowls to eat out of. they don't use wasteful paper plates here...they just rewash their bowls and hand them to the next person. so people find us bowls and start beckoning toward the food even though amy and i were totally already digging in. then we eat, eat some more, go back to the table and engage in a conversation like this.
Branch President: *Does a weird flying motion*
Us: *Gives quizzical looks.* A bird?
Branch President: Mouse!
Us: Mouse?!
Branch President: Flying Mouse!
Us: Uhhhh
English Speaker: Flying Squirrel!
Us: Flying Squirrel. *uncomfortably scoop some on our plates*
Branch President: *Makes a shooting motion*
Yuling: *Points at our plates* Those are illegal.
Us: Illegal?!
Yuling: The aboriginees are allowed to shoot them. *Demonstrates a shot then bullets spraying all over*
Stephanie: Yea, be careful for bullets. I got one in mine.
Us: Bullets?
She picks a legit bullet out of her dish and shows us. We just start laughing so hard and pick some meat off the bones to get. It tastes like a combination of forest and fire and lack of flavoring. Not going to be my next meal but I am glad we tried it. Then we get some dessert which is this delicious Chinese cake (so much lighter than American cake because they have different flour). We think we are done eating...but nope. The ward members start cleaning up and soon our table is the only one left standing and has all the food on it, including the whole cake platter with cake still on it. We are told that we are not allowed to leave until we finish so...we dig in! I don't think I have been that full for a long long time. But the fact that they were all around the table watching us eat and giving us more food and acting out everything they wanted to say made it feel oddly homey and comfortable and like they really do love us here.

Sunday
Not sure what I did in the morning...slept in, read scriptures, enjoyed the sunshine etc.
100pm-400pm: Church. Loved it. Got to listen to a sacrament meeting translation courtesy of Elder Sandberg (thankfully NOT yellow fever Elder Butler) with these sweet mic thingers that made me feel like I was in the CIA.
400pm-500pm: scrounged some more food for dinner
500pm-530pm: attempted to figure out a map.
530pm-700pm: threw away the map, went out adventuring. we figured if we headed east, we would find the ocean. logical? yes. correct? no. but we did find the ocean after biking to some sketch places including but not limited to an empty warehouse looking thing that was oddly painted, a ghetto of taiwan, some sort of night entertainment place, down a few streets where we just got chased out by dogs (it is becoming quite a regular thing), over a bridge that led us directly back to where we started, into a creepy eerie night market that turns out lead straight to the beach. i practically peed my pants i was so excited. we finally found OUR beach. it was crazy and scary and fun and exciting all at once. still no lights on the bikes but all the better to see the stars. A trip during the daytime to the beach is a must. just need to find the daylight hours to do it in.
700pm-1000pm: Plan lessons, read more.
1000pm-100am: Let skype take over my life.

Monday
9ooam-430pm: School day. The usual.
430pm-500pm: Eat bread & jam, yogurt, almonds, and grapes for dinner.
500pm-630pm: Tutor a group of great eight year olds. so amusing. made them run around the room when they get too riled up. seems to work like a charm.
630pm-700pm: Waste my life blogging.

And now I must run. Thank you blog and various random viewers for helping me keep my sanity. I try not to think about the weirdees that might be reading this and it makes it a lot easier...pretending I am writing to someone who actually cares rather than just cyber world. Ha how sad to live in such an age. And how much of a blessing!