Catching Up!

Oh dear! It's been over a week! I was trying not to let that happen. Oh well.

Recent happenings...
-School was canceled last Saturday much to my dismay, yet also delight. I wanted the sleep and day off, but then again this month's paycheck will be significantly lower than usual.

-As for Typhoon Sepat...what a non-event! It didn't even rain on Saturday and while the wind was really intense, it didn't really feel like a typhoon to me. I guess I was expecting something more dramatic. Since we weren't supposed to go outside, I just spent the whole day inside wasting my day away in bed, in front of the tv, and computer. Well, I did do some cleaning too, so the day wasn't a total waste. :) It was nice to relax though. I was just disappointed by the typhoon. Some areas in Taiwan were hit quite hard and had power outages, flooding, and landslides. But everything was fine and dandy in my area- just windy. It seems like this past summer has brought extreme weather everywhere and now the midwest is getting hit with storms and floods!

-I was asked to lead my small group this Tuesday night, so I am excited about that opportunity. I was also asked to consider co-leading a small group for new believers. It's still just in the works, but I am also excited about this opportunity for further ministry and involvement in my church.

-We have a new teacher arriving next week as the teacher who arrived way back in March has left. I met the new teacher today and he is very nice. He's my age and also from the midwest. He's an ABC (American Born Chinese). Even though I struggled initially with the teacher who just left, we actually eventually became good friends and I was a little sad to see him go. He toned down his language for me, stopped complaining so much, and didn't laugh in my face when I invited him to church once! Now, I am struggling with the new teacher who came in July...but maybe things will get better with him too. He's mid-thirties, negative, and quite unfriendly. We'll see...

-I awoke last Monday morning to very disturbing news on CNN- a China Airlines plane had exploded a few hours earlier on the tarmac in Okinawa, Japan. While any airplane disaster is disconcerting, this is especially disturbing for my family because this flight is the EXACT flight we were planning to take to Japan at Christmastime to spend the holidays with Michael! Same airline, same route, same time, probably same flight number too- very, very scary. Of all airlines and all airports...it would be our next choice of air travel! :/ Unfortunately, this airline is the only one that flies between Taipei and Okinawa and because of that, they probably won't lower their ticket prices as I had thought they might after this kind of bad publicity. So, we're stuck with them or taking a very long and inconvenient ferry ride. But, I'm thinking- what are the chances of there being another plane disaster with the same airline on the same route?...right?

-Many of my friends from CU are starting their first week of teaching this week and it has brought mixed emotions for me as I am so anxious to have my own classroom and start my first school year as an elementary teacher- but in God's timing, I will. Lord willing, a year from now. Other friends are starting their second week back at college and part of me longs to be there too...but wait! I already graduated from college, yet I still miss those good times, great memories, and the excitement of starting another school year full of opportunities and learning! :) I'm trying not to be envious of them and be satisfied with where I am. The grass is always greener on the other side...

Breaking News...

• I am now wisdom tooth-less! The third one got pulled this morning and was the worst and bloodiest of the three. But, now it's all over! Yay! And you'd never guess how much it cost me to have 3 wisdom teeth pulled: US$15. hahahahhaha....Taiwan is so great!
  

• more exciting- my evening classes were cancelled for tonight because there is a category 4 (really, really bad) typhoon approaching and starting to hit us as I type! It just got started a few minutes ago! The government told everyone to go home, so I only taught for one hour today- a private lesson! And, I'm not sure yet, but I'm guessing all my Saturday classes will be cancelled as well. I'm half excited and half annoyed because a day off is always nice...but I'm paid by the teaching hour....so, today I lost 3 hours and tomorrow it'll be 5....so, that's not so good for me, financially speaking. But, this typhoon is quite exciting and things are looking crazy outside! I'm all stocked up on food, water, and have my candles at hand and am bunkering down to experience my first Taiwan typhoon! It's bringing back lots of Philippine memories....:) Apparently flooding isn't usually a problem in my area though, so that's good. Bring on Typhoon Sepat! :0
  

• this isn't really news...but one day when I had my battery out of my laptop, I accidentally knocked my power cord and so the computer just shut off completely with out properly shutting down and now whenever I go to Blogger or Google- it's in Chinese....on Google, I can find the change-to-English icon, but on Blogger...I can't find it and can only navigate from memory. Anyone know how to fix this? It's only these 2 websites....so strange.

Ba Ba and Bowling

Happy Chinese Father's Day! I got to talk to my dad tonight and forgot to tell him! Sorry! They picked August 8th as Father's Day because when Chinese are babies, instead of calling their fathers "da da" or "daddy", they call them "ba ba" And coincidentally, "ba" is the word for "8" in Chinese. So, it makes sense that ba ba or 8/8; August 8th should be Ba Ba's Day! These Chinese are so clever....:)

Last night the men's and women's Tuesday night small groups got together to go bowling, despite the typhoon-induced downpour! It was really fun even though I'm terrible at bowling! It is so fun to actually have a social life now! What an answer to prayer to have found such good and godly friends! I am so thankful for my church and the friends I've made through it.

3 Unrelated things

• Two wisdom teeth down...one to go! (in another 2 weeks). The one that was pulled today has been a lot less bloody, but more painful... a dull, sore pain. :(

• Tonight was my last lesson with a private student that I have had just for 5 weeks. She was my first child private student and was a lot of fun. She's an adorable 8 year old girl who lives in China during the year, but comes back to Taiwan in the summers. My favorite lessons were when she brought toys with her to show me and we had fun playing with them. I actually think we played more than we studied English, but oh well. hahahaha. :)

This is my favorite toy of hers- the mascot of 7-Eleven here- a sleeping dog with rainbow hair and is named Open because 7-Eleven's slogan is "Always Open."
Random Fact: in order of most 7-Eleven stores- Japan, US, Taiwan, Thailand. :)

• On Sunday after church I went back to the Shida Night Market with some friends who speak Chinese, which is really the only way to experience a night market. They helped me order food and get around. I was convinced to get this fried chicken that was seriously probably 10 inches by 4 inches big! It was crazy big! Like a giant chicken patty. It tasted good, but unfortunately, I could only get through half of it because it was just soo much chicken. Then we also enjoyed mango/strawberry shaved ice, my new favorite dessert!