Morning Kindergarten in the Kitchen

I think I tried about 10 times to get a nice picture of these kids. They just insist on making silly faces! The little one on my lap is Weslia. She is the cutest little thing! I will get a video of her talking before I leave.

This is Derek and Ray. Derek has the most distinctive little voice. I try not to have favorites, but Derek is definitely one of them.

"Teacher, are you talking to me? I have no idea what you be sayin'!"

Kelly is the prettiest of the group. She is very poised when singing and doing actions in opening. She speaks very well, too!

Okay, this is Jellen. He is a handful, but this is what we call the "Jellen smile." I was so excited I got it on camera. The glasses falling on his nose just kills me every time! He is kind of a charmer.

Sword fighting with pasta is definitely a must when having to fill 35 minutes with cooking spaghetti.

I finally figured out what the X thing is they do with their arms. When the boys are playing little gun games this is how they "block" the shot. But, you can't make the movement without the added "ping" sound they make!

Everyday in kitchen I have them line up and ask for the soap before they can wash their hands. I got really sick of it so I started having the kids ask each other. They also get question and answer language out of it, too. So, it works out for everyone. This is a close up of Benjamin - a definite ladies man in the future!

Proceed With Caution

Being a bunch of silly girls, we decided around midnight on Saturday night to go on a bike ride around the city. It was a blast. It was definitely one of those spontaneous memorable moments! As we rode past the place where the morning market is we found out what they do to the pigs. I cannot describe the stench. These pictures do not even come close to how creepy it really was. So, if you dare, keep looking at the pictures!

"Pigs in a blanket!"

"Are ya achin', for some bacon! You can be a big pig, too. Oy!"

I bet you never look at bacon the same way again!

Lukang Trip

These are the wooden shoes I got in Lukang! I love them!

I got a pair for Mom and Amanda, too. So, Sara and Megan, if you want a pair let me know your size. They have all kinds of styles and fabrics. You get to pick and then watch her make them.

Pretty cool!

The finished product. It was so funny because the lady wouldn't let me get the shoe I wanted at first. She kept trying to tell me that the fabric didn't go too well with the shoe. Plus, I had to get the shoe a little bigger because she didn't have my size. Then she kept taking it away saying it was too long. So, I pretended they were for someone else so she would let me get them. It was hilarious. I also learned how to say "big" and "small" in Chinese. Not much, but it's something!

Just as the Bishop wanted we got completely lost for about 2 hours. It was so bad. Everything was in Chinese characters instead of pin-yuin (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong). We had to match up the characters on the street signs with the characters on the map. It took a long time. This is when we finally discovered where we were - we were completely on the wrong side of the city. Needless to say I got plenty of exercise today!

Trying to read the map!

This is Old Market Street in Lukang. This city is known for it's arts and crafts. The whole street is paved with bricks. Lukang used to be the second largest city next to Taipei. But, because they won't allow the train to come through it, it has declined.

There were parades all day long going through the streets. Huge groups of people would follow carrying burning incense. We decided to join them a couple of times. It was fun to watch the reaction of the Taiwanese crowd when they noticed us standing in the middle of the parade!

Bathrooms of Taiwan

This is a squatter. I might add that this is a very clean one. I don't think I have mentioned that you can't flush ANY toilet paper anywhere in Taiwan, even where I live. You see that garbage can, well it isn't just full of femine products if you catch my drift. So, if you thought public restrooms are bad in America you haven't smelled Taiwan's! This is also one of the few bathrooms that has toilet paper in it. I always carry tissue around with me because you never know when you might need it.

I thought this was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Just in case you weren't sure what the second toilet is for....here are the instructions!

This is a bathroom at a very glamorous mall in Taichung where we go to church. I haven't seen any this nice anywhere else. Too bad I didn't need to go...who knows when I will see one this nice again.

A very well-to-do squatter.

This is the lobby of the same bathroom. It is so weird to find something like this in Taiwan. Everything is usually pretty dirty. We stopped on every floor of this mall because there was a different theme for every girls bathroom. The mall had about 8-10 floors.

Here is the "under the sea" theme. The ceiling was all lit up and spinning with sea creatures hanging from it.

Yes, this is a VERY small toilet. They have these in the kindergarten where I teach. That's why I always make sure I don't need to go to the bathroom....or I'll be using a baby toilet.

Does Anybody Want One?

I will be going to Lukgong in a week and I was wondering if anyone would want one these scrolls or fans. The fans are hand painted and you give the guy a picture and he will paint it. The cool thing is, is that he doesn't have any arms or legs. He paints it with his mouth. The only thing is I'm a poor student again and can't really afford to get everyone one. The fans are $25, but they also have smaller ones for $15. The scrolls are about $25-$30. They have tons of different pictures.

Building a Fort!

For one of my subject lessons in my first grade class we built this huge fort. We made cookies and played games in it. I've never felt more like a kid. It reminded me of when we used to build forts for hours when we were little! The only thing different was I had to make sure they were talking and using the target vocabulary while we were building it.

It was really tough trying to get them all in the picture long enough for me to take it!