tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56476973583755535732024-03-13T12:26:51.515+08:00Texan in TaiwanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-9863269955158143522010-08-08T19:09:00.000+08:002010-08-08T19:09:36.111+08:00Don't forget...to follow me on my new blog. A
ll of my updates about my trip so far are there. I've already had some interesting experiences in Vietnam.
Check it out: Tales of a Traveling TexanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-56448761659478042652010-08-02T02:29:00.002+08:002010-08-02T02:29:35.833+08:00When do you feel like a grown up?It's nearly 2 a.m. on my last night in Taiwan and I'm no where near ready to go to bed.
I should be but my brain is going too crazy for that, so I thought I would take this time to reflect a little on the past 14 months in Taiwan and the upcoming months of travel ahead of me.
Many of you may remember I cried when I left America and came to Taiwan. I was excited and nervous, but a lot of Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-67919168501893792752010-07-29T23:24:00.000+08:002010-07-29T23:24:23.286+08:00Exciting news!Apparently Texan in Taiwan has been listed as one of the Top 10 blogs in Taiwan by Go! Overseas.
It's really exciting to know that people are finding my blog and enjoying the content. I hope that I can get this kind of feedback at my new blog Tales of a Traveling Texan.
The new blog already has all of my Taiwan content and I will discontinue updates here at Texan in Taiwan once I Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-79525106145342587852010-07-24T23:55:00.002+08:002010-07-24T23:59:53.911+08:00Do you need a receipt?
I keep forgetting if I've been back in Taiwan for one week or two since Thailand. That's how blurry everything is. (It's been two by the way.)
There is just so much going on.
I told all my classes this week that I'm leaving. I've been reading my Southeast Asia on a Shoestring book like crazy. I actually read the entire Cambodia chapter and most of the Laos chapter.
My first cooking camp Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-77269050741291395712010-07-21T16:31:00.001+08:002010-07-21T16:32:36.305+08:00What's your name?So I went to play Killer Pizza yesterday and found out that a girl in my class didn't have a name yet.
First things first, Killer Pizza is a super easy game in which you draw a circle on the board and divide it into slices like you would a pizza. Then you label each slice with a player's name. Then you throw a sticky ball at the circle. Whoever it hits is out (dead if you will) and the two peopleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-46022092559295321152010-07-19T21:42:00.001+08:002010-07-19T21:42:56.040+08:00When are you nervous?I woke up today not feeling very well. Initially, I thought I ate something bad last night at the movie theater. But considering it came and went all day, I think I've just got a huge case of the nerves.
As Leila said, it's only Monday and I've already had a crappy week.Today I started my first of two cooking camps (I have one this week and one next week).
I love cooking and I love teaching so onAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-49864602024288458662010-07-17T19:11:00.002+08:002010-07-17T19:12:26.421+08:00Who gets the world's worst blogger award?
I know I'm the world's worst blogger.
I went to Thailand for 10 days and came back a week ago and you guys haven't heard anything about it.
To be honest, it's not my fault. Well, not entirely at least. We don't have Internet at our new apartment so I've only been getting online to check my e-mail, peruse Facebook quickly and pay my bills. You know, the necessary things in life.
Unfortunately, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-3448803384851082812010-07-01T14:47:00.001+08:002010-07-01T14:48:41.502+08:00How does a person accumulate this much junk in just a year?I hate packing.
I managed to get almost all of the clothes I want to keep in one bag along with two pairs of shoes, my documents and a Texas snuggie.Unfortunately, my robe and my second favorite blanket of all time didn't make the cut. I'm currently debating the idea of a second, smaller, bag of luggage in which I can cram my blanket, my robe and all the other stuff I have. I just have all this Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-9900023632405701932010-06-28T13:56:00.001+08:002010-06-28T13:57:11.673+08:00So what's your travel plan again?I'm moving this week... out of my apartment that is.
Our lease agreement ends while I'm in Thailand on vacation next week so I have to move out now. I'm having trouble getting up the motivation to actually get my stuff together, though, so I'm blogging as procrastination. My plan is to go ahead and pack everything as if I'm actually leaving the country. Since I will come back from Thailand and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-90600412353591970592010-06-23T13:28:00.001+08:002010-06-23T13:31:37.814+08:00Was this your last time teaching our class?
So before Dragon Boat Festival we were having all this terrible weather and my co-teachers and Taiwanese friends all kept saying that once we got passed Dragon Boat Festival it would be super hot out and we would get all the sun we could handle plus some.
They weren't lying. Except I'm a Texas girl, so I can totally handle it.
I have been soaking up the sun here. And while I would still prefer Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-80617916867637836152010-06-20T21:06:00.001+08:002010-06-20T21:07:23.059+08:00What's that stinging feeling?I woke up at 5 a.m. today.
Not because I wanted to. I wanted to wake up at about 5:40 a.m. That would have been plenty of time to get my stuff together. But the sun wanted to have its way, so I gave in.
Don't worry, I had a purpose for getting up so early. I went back to Fulong to finish up my certification.I'm pretty sure this course was cursed from the very beginning.
First it's too cold. Then Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-6496495993417608022010-06-18T14:11:00.000+08:002010-06-18T14:11:17.395+08:00What do they mean the road is broken?After my adventure at Jade Mountain I'm not entirely sure where to begin, so I'll just go chronologically.
Note: This is an exceptionally long post, but I assure you it is worth it.
The weather looked like this pretty much the whole time. We left Saturday night after a full day of classes. Honestly, there is nothing new about using Saturday night to get somewhere or do something Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-80882555902474381832010-06-17T15:30:00.000+08:002010-06-17T15:30:24.388+08:00When was the last time you used pen and paper?I wrote my entire recollection of the "Jade Mountain" adventure with Leila with a pen on paper. It was weird actually writing something again and I think I actually prefer it.
Seems my brain actually processes all the junk I'm thinking and puts out the best possible combination rather than the jumbled mess of strung together incomplete thoughts I tend to get when I write on the computer.
Either Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-34652116778080349072010-06-12T14:38:00.001+08:002010-06-24T00:36:36.290+08:00What is a monsoon?
So just a quick update.
It's been raining pretty much constantly here in Taiwan. We're in the middle of a pretty heavy monsoon, I guess.
We thought it was going to be terrible weather last Sunday so we canceled our second trip to Fulong for our diving session. Of course, then the weather turned out to be amazing. We didn't know until it was too late to head out there and be productive though.
SoAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-69661820627209548032010-06-04T00:00:00.003+08:002010-06-04T00:02:58.321+08:00It's not a volcano is it?
It's funny the little tidbits of information that get home and how.
When I lived in Austin I didn't see my mom every day even though she only lived 20 minutes away, but I talked to her almost every single day on the phone at least once. Sometimes multiple times per day.
And despite being halfway around the world, we have the digital era to thank for the almost instantaneous assuranceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-37152412536182812022010-06-03T12:53:00.002+08:002010-06-03T13:09:18.289+08:00When do you feel pressed for time?
I've had my nose in my Southeast Asia on a Shoestring from the Lonely Planet for about a week now. I actually lent it to a friend for the next few days so that I'll stop reading it constantly.
While doing my homework is a good idea, I get kind of obsessive and then really anxious. I don't know how I'm going to survive five weeks out of a backpack if I can't just go with the flow of things.
It Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-44585093867756184412010-05-30T21:07:00.001+08:002010-05-30T21:08:18.039+08:00Can you SCUBA dive in the rain?
Today we went to Fulong to do our first dives of the dive course.
Initially we intended to do the two pool dives and then one (mayyyybe two) dive in the ocean.
Things didn't go quite as planned. I had some trouble with one of the exercises which put us behind schedule. But honestly that wouldn't have made a difference because by the time we were even considering going in the ocean weAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-83905502869241008542010-05-28T12:30:00.001+08:002010-05-28T12:31:29.082+08:00When are you busy?So I definitely dropped a big bomb on you guys and then haven't been back since. I apologize, but in my defense, I've been working a lot.
I picked up a lot of extra hours and privates, so I've been working something like 40 hours a week — nearly double my usual schedule.It'll be like this until I leave. Especially once the summer camps kick in. Those alone will add another 15 hours to my week.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-37543762471245864622010-05-19T21:55:00.001+08:002010-05-28T12:33:18.333+08:00Do you have any secrets?
OK, I have to admit, I've been keeping a secret from you.
Don't hate me. It was honestly for the protection of my job, but now the cat is out of the bag, so I can tell you.
I'm moving. To Prague. In September.
Yep, it's time for me to make the journey to Europe.
Why Prague, you ask? Because I've wanted to go there since I was 16; the country has a marginally lower cost of living (than muchAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-46073684683906743942010-05-18T12:30:00.004+08:002010-05-28T12:33:55.813+08:00When does the sun come up?For the record, the sun comes up ridiculously early.
That's a good thing though. I can't really sleep when it's bright out, so I've been waking up a bit earlier lately. Granted I'll stay in my bed and read or play on the Internet until my stomach starts yelling at me furiously about food, but waking up earlier is better.
I've been exercising. I still don't really have a routine down, but Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-50062579064322161702010-05-13T11:24:00.000+08:002010-05-13T11:24:39.664+08:00Who knows what is going on in this head of mine?Let's play catch-up first. My birthday was super fun.
I went to Debbie's for breakfast with a few of the girls. Then I went home and researched vacations for about four hours. Then I went to the book store at Taipei 101, Page One, for three hours.
I love book stores and I wish I could go to them more often. Unfortunately, the book store in Taoyuan that I know only has one shelf of English books Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-52709596607739777262010-05-08T20:40:00.000+08:002010-05-08T20:40:09.426+08:00Why are these people paying so much attention to me just because it's my birthday?This week has been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
I've been happy and the sad and angry and depressed and excited. I've experienced a plethora of emotions and I'm not even sure where all of them came from.
Though I think I have decided that I would suck at living alone. It's nice to have a little alone time, but I don't like having too much alone time. Honestly, that's kind of what I thought Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-24859239915831739142010-05-05T15:03:00.000+08:002010-05-05T15:03:34.277+08:00Do you take your camera everywhere with you?I do take my camera with me everywhere. At least most of the time.
Unfortunately, that two months that I went without a battery charger for my camera really killed my habit to automatically shove my camera into whatever bag I'm taking with me when I leave. Now, even when I do have it with me, I often forget.
This has caused me to miss a million amazing — or at the very least hilariousAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-24257208010922592712010-05-01T13:42:00.001+08:002010-05-01T19:52:06.169+08:00What do you use chopsticks for?
So I'm at the end of my super busy week and my first week alone in the apartment.
The timing actually couldn't have been more perfect. I worked 40 hours this week and when you add in travel time I basically did nothing at home but sleep, eat and shower. I didn't really have time for anyone (or anything) else.
It's weird because all week I've had essentially no contact with foreign Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5647697358375553573.post-64581779752202643192010-04-26T13:21:00.003+08:002010-04-26T15:47:18.401+08:00Are you a good driver?OK, I've been trying to get around to writing for a few days now, but I've just been so busy.
The extra work was enough to keep me going all day, but add in having a bunch of extra foreigners around and you can understand why I haven't been able to find much of a free moment.
I'll just give you the basic highlights of the past few days plus a lengthy description of Sunday.
Tuesday: Tess' mom Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951777808908864517noreply@blogger.com4