Oh dear.

**Disclaimer: To all the mothers, especially my own, that might read this--I reference getting lost and being chased by dogs. Just stop worrying and enjoy the fact that I am growing up!**

Sometime, someday I will get to know this city. We wanted some xiao long baos (steamed pork buns) tonight for dinner after a too hard, too long day. I think they might be becoming a comfort food? But we only sort of knew the directions so we made our way through Hualien into downtown Hualien and to our delight, it practically appeared right in front of us! I shouldn't say us, I would have rode right past it if Amy had not stopped right in front of me. They are supposedly the best xiao long baos in the city and they haven't raised their prices in years. For six pork buns, you pay 30 quai=about $1. And the place is open 24 hours a day. And not like Wendy's 24 hour drive thru but completely open, completely running all night long. Get this, there is not even a door. As Amy and I admired their skill in folding and steaming the baos, I got a major dose of gratitude for being as spoiled as I am. How thankful I am that I do not have to work 12 hour days stuffing and folding baos just to get by.

And another thing to be grateful for...we have been slowly figuring out that there is some sort of magic in Taiwan. Not sure how it really works, but whenever we comment on something not happening, it happens. And this is not a one-time occurance. A few days ago, I commented on the lack of bugs here. And I open my door, flip on the switch, and a cockroach scurries away. Tonight, we were thinking of which way to ride home so as to avoid the scary dogs and dogs come out from a place where they had never been before and CHASE US. We legitimately got chased by dogs. It was so scary and funny and scary (oh did I say that?) all at the same time. So if we ever don't want something to happen and make the mistake of saying it out loud, it will happen. I am sure I will have more examples to share later.

In six months, maybe I won't even be phased by waking up to a freezing cold room because the windows do not actually close, cutting a lot paper into triangles and squares for a craft, teaching children who don't understand English, repeating the "th" sound at least 20 times during tutoring, getting lost in a city with another young girl and no headlights on our bikes, and being chased by dogs. As for right now, it exhausts me. Zaijian, wo de pengyou! Goodbye, my friend! (I still don't know how to specify nighttime or to make something plural).