After 3 years of waiting!!!!

I finally saw Wicked last night.....yay!!!! It was really good, but would have been better if I saw it with Idina Mendzel and Kristin Chenowith....oh well...

One word...

SNOW!!!!!!!!!

Back in America

After 40 hours of traveling...I'm back. I was in LAX and we had "lockdown" of sorts. I was about to go through security and the TSA people started screaming. We had to stand back from the tables, X-rays, drop our things and stand still. I guess it would have been scary if I wasn't so tired...all that went through my mind was "dang terrorist!! when are they going to stop messing up my travels..." After 10 minutes, which felt like eternity, it was all clear. I don't know what happened...All I can say is "Welcome back to the US!"

This is too funny!!! (I need to stop procrastinating).

Boy's Screaming Killed Chickens, Court Rules
Reuters
BEIJING (Jan. 24) - Hundreds of chickens have been found dead in east China -- and a court has ruled that the cause of death was the screaming of a four-year-old boy who in turn had been scared by a barking dog, state media reported on Wednesday. The bizarre sequence events began when the boy arrived at a village home in the eastern province of Jiangsu in the summer with his father who was delivering bottles of gas, the Nanjing Morning Post reported. A villager was quoted as saying the little boy bent over the henhouse window, screaming for a long time, after being scared by the dog. "One neighbor told police that he had heard the boy's crying that afternoon and another villager confirmed the boy screaming by the henhouse window," the newspaper said. A court ruled the boy's screaming was "the only unexpected abnormal sound" and that 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear. The boy's father was ordered to pay 1,800 yuan, or $230, in compensation to the owner of the chickens.

Only a few more hours!!!

And I'll be making the 2km trek with my luggage to the bus stop to take the overnight bus to Taipei. Bu hao! :)

I didn't have to go to school today, but the administration invited me to lunch. I went. I really like these people. They are really fun. At the end of lunch, the director gave me a gift of some really, really good tea from Taiwan to take back home. I was quite shocked. He made this whole big announcement. I said, "I'm coming back you know..." :)

My Friday school is just a very different place from the other school. I remember that in the beginning of the semester, I didn't want to go there at all. I was very, very against it. But I want to go there more often now! Wow! What God can do with a person's attitude!

Oh, and this is for Jessica....the teachers and administrators insist on calling Mr. Tu my Nan-shing boyfriend. Although, he's not, and will be married maybe in like 10 years...I play along...it's really amusing!!!

I'm already feeling the separation anxiety from my Taiwan friends...it's a strange feeling to go back to America.

...everything free in America....

Ｉleave for the United States tomorrow night!!!!!!! This week has dragging....and dragging...and dragging....ugh!!!!

Hot Springs time!

We totally got blessed tonight. Jessica and I were driven to Taichung by her boyfriend. Her boyfriend's friend's parents gave us free passes to a really nice hot spring place in the Bagushan Mountains (or whatever it's called). Like Rachel, Mary, Mouy and I....Jessica and I have become very CLOSE friends after today. After that his parents took us to dinner. Too bad I was so sick from the car ride back that I didn't really eat any of it. I felt really bad.

For all the inquiring minds...

I went to Kaohsiung to play some basketball with Max tonight. He picked me up at the train station. I was concerned all day because it's been pouring rain for 2 days. But he took me to a covered court, which was really nice. The way they play is 1/2 court and winner stays on the court. Other teams play winner. We played for 1 1/2 hours straight (which means we dominated the court)! I really stink at offense since I haven't played in years, but I made it hard for the other teams to score. I was told several times how cute I am. haha. So, here we are after an 1 1/2 hours of play. Oh, and my left thumb is huge! I hustled for the ball and this big Taiwan dude fell on my hand...his knee crushed my thumb. It's not broken, just very painful. I had a really good time with him. He's such a gentlman and very caring.....any girl would be so completely blessed to have a boyfriend like him.

At school today, I was the student and my students were the teachers. They taught me about Chinese New Year. Here's some pictures of their class project.

I finally started my presentation today.

I have to go to Taipei in March to give a presentation about my life in Tainan. I will talk about my friends....Just for Mary, I thought I'd post some pictures of my men.

My trainer AJ (all thugged out) and the infamous Max.
Me with Jimmy, AJ, Erick, Mario (Mei Mei) and Ray.

I think I figured it out.

The source of my "problems:" I'm extremely lonely here. I have a lot of friends (who are so great), but it's just not the same.

Bu Hao! :(

No more Jamaica...mom says it's too dangerous...she's afraid that someone will kiddnap us and drag us into the interior.... :*(

oh well...

we're going to disneyworld instead!!! yeeehaaaaw!!! i love rollercoasters. she found this amazing deal for 4 days, 3 nights, admission to all theme parks, hotel at the disney resort, roundtrip airfare, 3 meals a day, and transportation....and something else...i forget.

9 more days until i leave....yay!

God is soooo good!!

So, most of you have read about my troubles with my new apartment. Now that I have decided not to buy any of the man's things...I'm left with a very empty apartment and my microwave. Now, I'm on a quest to aquire furniture, however, it's not that cheap here in Taiwan. And when foreigners sell their things, they tend to over price them and don't want to come down on the price. Well, the other day I inquired about a dining room table and chairs (he also had a hutch and an entertainment center...but he wanted so much for it....$5,000 for the table and chairs, 8,000 for the entertainment center and 6,000 for the hutch...that's $19,000 plus I would have to hire someone to move it....another $6,000...$25,000 for all that)! I went to see the table and chairs and wasn't expecting much. I was completely blown away by the quality and how the condition it was in! I ended up walking away with all the above for $10,000!!!! And the moving only cost me $2,000 because the man made a "stop" along the way on his move! But even bigger news...

I was only expecting to pay for the dining room table (I was going to eventually buy these things later) and I needed to buy a bed. I can do without the couch and other things until March, but I need a bed. I felt it was okay to purchase the other things....and so I was asking God today....how am I going to buy a bed this month?!? After going through my budget for the month...that added expense was not going to be there.

This evening when I came home from more cleaning of the apartment, I received a letter in the mail from a lady I know in Chicago. I was really excited because, first off, I got mail! Secondly, I like her; she's funnier than me! I've spent some time with her because I received a scholarship from Purdue that she and her sister funds two years in a row. I always remember her telling me about teaching in China. Anyway, I opened the letter and there was a check for $200 USD!!!!! So much more than enough to buy a really decent bed and mattress here!!!

Thank you for your gift (I hesitate to name you due to privacy). God and people are so good to me. I am so blessed. Xie xie ni!!!

The more I work in my new apartment cleaning it...the more and more visions I have of using the place for the expansion of the Kingdom...I've been wanting to invited people over for a time of worship or studying the Word, but in my current hole in the wall, not even two people fit. God use me and use my new apartment for your Glory!

So, I helped save a life today.

I was on my way home from Mr. Michael's absolutely goregous home and I saw an elderly man get hit on his scooter at 11pm. The guy who hit him and another man tried to pick him up to move him out of the street, but this man was unresponsive. I got off my scooter and started screaming for them to stop. He was bleeding pretty bad. So, I helped control some blood flow and waited for the ambulance. It was pretty scary. I called my mom because I didn't know what to do. He was moving his arms and breathing but he wouldn't talk to me even though I spoke to him in Chinese! The ambulance came and I left since no one spoke English.

Comment on my post in Chinese.

I have to look up every word in the dictionary. Then I must go to the translation machine because I don't have Chinese characters on my computer. It's not fair. But I'll leave the mistranslations because I think it's kinda funny. Ha!

Here's a sample of my Chinese writing.

I also thought it was time for a new hair do...

I really love...

the friends that I've made at the gym. They are so unbelievably good to me. I don't know how to even begin to express my gratitude. Thank you, Lord, for them. 我有一一味尋歡作樂與他們。 我看在那麼大多數上的一個變化。 被驚嚇了英語的那些人現在請求我幫助他們! 那使我感受真正地好。

In other news...I bought some stuff for the new apartment today!! I purchased a dining room table and chairs, a hutch and an entertainment center. It's all used and about 3 years old, however, it's in beautiful condition!! And it's such good quality!! (Nice and heavy)!

Now, I need:

a refridgerator
a bed
a matress
dishes
pots and pans
a couch
a tv
some shelves

and a cat.

Today I learned: Mei Si and Wan An

Several funny things happened today. I was supposed to take my students to the movies, but they bailed on me since they couldn't find rides. I ended up going to see Blood Diamond by myself (which by the way was a fabulous movie...the best one yet since Hotel Rwanda). I was sitting at the McDonald's while I was waiting. These two high school boys sat next to me and started to say in English. "Wow! My hamburger is hot." "It's delicious!" And some other things. I wanted to laugh because I think they wanted to talk to me. They were discussing how to ask where someone is from. I got up because it was time for the movie and they followed me all the way to the theatre!!! It was hiliarious. The one boy asked me where am I from and that was it! It was so cute!

The second thing that happened: AJ likes to have his phone on when he is training me (it's not a problem for me and it doesn't bother me at all). Sometimes he'll let me answer the phone so I can scare his friends. Today, his friend Joe called. At first he was taken back because I said, "Why are you interrupting my training session?" and then I gave the phone to AJ. He wanted to know if AJ would have some coffee with him. Well, Joe called back. I answered and told him if he insists meeting with AJ, he should come to the gym and bring me a low-fat mocha frapp without whipped cream. Joe said if I came upstairs to starbucks, he'd buy me a drink. I said, "So you want to have a date with me?" He said "Sure!" with a bit of enthusiasm. Then it turned into a conversation about me and him. I've never met this guy before. I told him next time...He's a soldier in the army. I have such a soft spot for soldiers.....bu hao!

Anyway, Wan An, y'all

"One Love..."

I'm going to Jamaica in February!!! (or Disneyland...). I think Jamaica sounds better. And maybe Alex will come visit me in NY!!! *hint, hint, hint*

I had a little health scare today. I've been having really bad anxiety attacks lately (I've never had them before in my life). I had one last night and never slept. All day, I kept having chest pain and shortness of breath. I felt like I was going to pass out on my students. I kept praying, "God if I'm going to pass out, just let me get through the school day and to the hospital." After school, I jetting to the ER at the better hospital. Three hours later, I'm much better. I talked to the doctor about my recent thyroid issue and she can't understand why the doctors at Chi Mei have not given me medicine. She, like my bestest doctor friend has said before, said that the anxiety attacks can be traced to my thyroid problem. So....on Monday, I will see a different doctor and bring my test results from Chi Mei. Dear God, please let this new doctor do something different with me so I can start to feel better!!!! Amen.

News. News. News.

So, I'm still trying to move into my new apartment. It's so completely gross! This guy never cleaned (as I though he would since he told me he was almost done in December). I have ended up having to clean everything. I can't being to express how disgusted I am. Originally, I agreed to buy his furniture, kitchenware, bedroom stuff, etc. I looked at the things and they seemed alright...until I started cleaning them. Things started to break, I found bugs in things, mold all over. I've put 24 hours of cleaning time in this week. He should have done all this before my lease began. So, yesterday, I told him that I will not buy his things because they are not suitable for me. He began to tell me that agreeing to take the apartment from him automatically makes me responsible to pay him $13,000 for the contents. I told him absolutely not!! We had agreed that if I found something wrong with things that we would adjust the price. I told him and that's what we are doing. I don't want trash...so I'm adjusting the price....I'm not paying for it. I'm paying $10,000 rent for this month and I can't move in because the place is so filthy. I'm also doing all the work that HE should have done before his lease expired. I'm not going to pay him to clean up his filth. He's out of his mind. In the end, I'm not paying and he is moving the stuff out. For the first time in my life, I really stood up for myself.

In other news....I found out that I have a lump on my throat. It's not a huge big deal, it's just really uncomfortable when I swallow and sometimes it's hard to breathe. If it grows anymore, I'll have to have surgery. Praise Jesus for health insurance!

Let's see...what else...I scared Max pretty bad the other day. We are doing a language exchange (and he's a pretty good friend of mine). We were going to have dinner next Friday. I told him, ok, it's an "English date." I wish you could have seen his face. He was so scared!!! (Probably just because his English is limited). So, we will play basketball instead. He started to talk smack to me! I couldn't believe it. He said he will dunk on me. I found out we will go to one of the schools to play. Even I can dunk on those courts! haha!

So, I'm taking 4 of my students to see "Night at the Museum" tomorrow. I hope it's good...

Two weeks until I'm back in New York....

Finally!!! Some awesome news!!

I found out that my students won "Best Stage Performance" for the English competition (Chorus). My storytelling girl won "Best Pronounciation." I'm so proud of them!!! (I've worked so unbelievably hard with these kids)! It feels really good.

Also, 22 out of 32 of my lazy students handed in their homework today!!!! I was lucky if I got 5 to hand it in!!!!

Praise God!!! The world must be ending soon. :)

(Oh, and for Jessica...we all know that Max likes me)!! hahaha

Wedding Pictures

I forgot to post these. I went to a Taiwanese wedding on January 1st (yes, a school night)! It was very different than those in America. Compared to the US, it was very boring for me. But the bride was pretty...Bride and Groom

AJ (my trainer) and Missy.

I was overdressed

Meinong with Jessica!

(On the train). Wow! Our trip was crazy!!! We went to Meinong and didn't know how to get there. We walked from the bus station to the train station, back to the bus, and finally the train station. We took the train to Kaohsiung and then the bus to Meinong. It took almost 3 hours to get there.
(Us on the ghetto bus).
(Meinong)
(After we arrived, we went to have lunch. We sat at this huge table. These two older people sat next to us. They started to talk to Jessica. They are from a town right outside of Tainan. They drove us to the place to buy some paper umbrellas. Then they offered us a ride back to Tainan. Now, I'm not one for hitchhiking, but we took the ride....shhh!! Don't tell my mom!! But they were so nice. It only took us an hour to get back to Tainan compared with the 3 hours it took to get there. I actually understood when they asked me questions in Chinese. The woman was so funny!! She kept yelling at her husband!!! They invited us to their home and to go to the hot springs. Their kids are all grown up...I think we were like kids to them)!
A Hakka shopping center....and of course it's for tourists!

Cats -- The Musical in Tainan!!!!

Steven and I went to see Cats on Friday night. It was okay. It was better when I saw it on Broadway. I love the dancing and costumes, but the singing was awful. It was in English with Chinese subtitles. I understood more from reading the Chinese subtitles than I did hearing the English!!! I had a really good time, though. I've never been out with a guy who sings a long with the performance! Oh, and we had pretty good seats.

I think this just proves the existance of God.

How can you be an atheist (by definition you do not believe that God or a supreme being exsists) and then challenge God ("by daring God to send [one] to hell"). Not only do these people need Jesus, but they are seriously confused about what they believe in the first place.



Jan. 8, 2006 issue - With that five-second submission to YouTube, a 24-year-old who uses the name "menotsimple" has either condemned herself to an eternity of punishment in the afterlife or struck a courageous blow against superstition. She's one of more than 400 mostly young people who have joined a campaign by the Web site BlasphemyChallenge.com to stake their souls against the existence of God. That, of course, is the ultimate no-win wager, as the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal calculated—it can't be settled until you're dead, and if you lose, you go to hell.


The Blasphemy Challenge is a joint project of filmmaker Brian Flemming, director of the antireligion documentary "The God Who Wasn't There," and Brian Sapient, cofounder of the atheist Web site RationalResponders.com. Their intent was to encourage atheists to come forward and put their souls on the line, showing others that you don't have to be afraid of God. The particular form of the challenge was chosen because, by one interpretation, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, a part of the Christian Trinity, is the only sin that can never be forgiven. And once something you've said gets posted on YouTube, as any number of celebrities can attest, you never live it down.
For better or worse, though, hell may not be so easy to get into. Despite the seemingly clear language in Mark 3:28-29 ("all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven"), most theologians are reluctant to pronounce anyone beyond repentance and salvation. Richard Land, a leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, says the passage, read in context, refers to a very narrow and specific definition of blasphemy: maliciously attributing God's miracles to a demon. Merely "denying" the Holy Spirit, by this reading, doesn't qualify. "My response," Land says, "would be to pray for these people: 'forgive them, [for] they know not what they do'."
To which another self-described blasphemer, whose real name is Michael Lawson, replies that he knows exactly what he's doing: he's daring God to send him to hell. "We want to show that we really mean it when we say we don't believe a word in this book," he says. He means the Bible.
God could not be reached for comment.
—Jerry Adler

Some Updates

Happy 2007!

I'm going to start to move into my new apartment. I'll post pictures as soon as it's clean. Boys are so dirty!! I'm going to see Cats tonight....Cats in Taiwan?!? Yup! :) Tomorrow, I will go to Meinong with my girl Jessica. She is leaving me in March for an English program in the States! Jonathan and I will be so lonely without her! We have also decided to go to Taichung in a few weeks to the hot springs!!

Today, I will go to the hospital for some kind of test on my thyroid. The doctor scares me. He didn't speak English and from his body language and actions it seems as if they are sticking something down my throat. I'm not sure what they are going to do to me....oh the joys of not knowing a language!!!

Here are some pictures from New Years in Taipei (the last two are from the hot springs):

Today's lessons.

It really makes me mad that my co-teacher doesn't give students enough credit. I did a review game today and added some words and sentences from future lessons. Every class she reminded me that she has not taught the words yet and therefore, they can't write them. Who cares if she hasn't taught them. They are smart and can figure it out (as they have done). Also, I have some students who go to the resource room. When it was their turn to play the game, I was told she's not allowed to play the game because "she doesn't know anything. She doesn't even know ABCs" What a horrible thing to say to a child. That's saying you can't play because you're not smart. I made her play the game, but of course, I gave her a very easy words (as opposed to sentences). She was able to do it on her own! I was so proud of her. I made her go twice and she wrote the words by herself. I gave her some high fives and just saw her face light up! I've never seen her smile in English class. It was completely amazing! (Her team won and I gave them all candy canes. After class I gave her a second one and told her "good job!" She was so happy).