Oh by the way

In case you haven't been reading the concert is only 3 days away. YES!!!

Dinosaurs, Sea Creatures, and Dessert Pizza

So today was our day off. A very needed day off.

The girls (Christa, Steph, and Viki) and I decided that the aquarium was a good idea for the day. We spend it looking at fish and such. We get all the way there and it is closed, for good. It wasn't supposed to be good anyway, but still.

We looked in the book and started to figure out what to do next. The planetarium was close so we starting walking. The book said to go right, go left, then left again and we would be there. We could have gone straight and saved ourselves 20 minutes, but oh well. We arrived just in time to see Dinosaurs attack at the IMAX theaters. I felt like I was going to throw up because of all the weird angles. At first we sat close but we all started to feel sick. We moved and it went a little bit better for me. I found I had to focus on the bottom of the screen or my shoes. The show lasted forty minutes and then we got a star show. The guy spoke in Chinese and sounded quite boring (Viki confirmed this).

On our way back to the MRT we stopped by a store selling sea animals such as fish and turtles. The turtles were no bigger my big toe. They were trying to get out of their boxes and one did. He somersaulted into the water. The other one tried but failed many times. Steph wanted to help it, but we let nature take its course. I'm sure he probably got over.

Later Chris, Viki, and I went to Pizza Hut and actually got dessert pizza (it's rare that they have dessert pizza even though they are supposed to).

All in all a good day off. To bad I've got to ruin it by going to school tomorrow.

One Week Left

Countdown: One week until I get to see the Backstreet Boys in concert. I am 17 rows from the stage. Good times.

Update

I forgot to tell old FuHsing teachers that Felicia left during Chinese New Year to move to Hong Kong with her boyfriend (so she won't be here when you come to visit Blondes). Also my day now starts at 8:15 (argh) but ends at 3:30 (yes!!!).

There is a break coming up in April for 4 days and I am thinking about going either to the Philippines or Bali.

I will be putting pictures from Mom's visit soon on the internet after I finish my lesson plans (that may take a while).

Got a new computer: A MacBook Pro. I have a love/hate relationship with it at the moment.

Countdown to the Backstreet Boys Minus One (not the official title) Concert: 13 days. I hope they open with Everybody (Backstreet is Back).

Here are some pictures from my vacation.
Mom and Darlene on the beach in front of the resort
Crab Crossing
Guess who I saw

Happpy Valentine's Day

Take the Quiz

My Favorite Song

This has been my favorite song since I heard it at KTV one night with the girls. Stephanie found the lyrics in Chinese and English.

Here are the lyrics. They are directly translated from Chinese so the grammer is not correct. You will get the idea though.

Watching you walked away stubbornly and you are not (even) turning your head (to look at me)
Should I chase you back?
It's like this every time that I have to run after you and chase after you (after a fight).
Are you tired yet?
Why does love has to become some kind of a punishment?
Still, if I give it up I would regret (my decision)
If you feel that it doesn't matter
Please let me take back all my love.
Julia, Julia, (please) don't mess things up (again)
Whether it's wrong or right, whether it's yes or no, (please) face it.
Julia, Julia, (please) don't let (our) love wither away.
Whether it is laughter or tears, don't regret it and go and feel the experience.
It's only when you understand that you need to cherish a relationship then our love is perfect.

The song keeps going, but says the same thing over again.

Take a look at the video:

Concert

So guess what? I am going to a concert. Not just any kind of concert, a Backstreet Boys concert! There will only be the four of them, not all five but who cares. I am half excited and half embarassed. I will take pictures if I can.

TV Star

I was told by a couple of my students today that I was on TV Sunday. I have no idea why (the language barrier was quite difficult to get through), but I was on there. I was probably walking by something important with my earphones in not paying any attention.

Photo Album

Here is the link to my photo collection:

http://taiwanpictures.shutterfly.com

Moving

Update on the moving to a new office:

We are now going to be on the third floor with the elementary co-teachers. This should be interesting.

Dorcas, David, Rachel, and Kerry are going to be in the office next door.

I will take pictures once I have settled in. Life just got a bit more insane.

Julia has Fallen Hard for Concrete and Pasta

I am accident prone here. Everyone reading this knows that and now everyone at the Fuhsing/Minquan intersection knows that too. I took a major spill yesterday trying to just walk across the street. I must put the blame on my computer because if it wasn't so heavy I would have caught my balance (maybe). Now my left leg is missing lots of skin and my right leg has more bruises that a football player. But wait, thats not all. Today I burnt one of my fingers almost of my hand at Pasta Frolla (pronounced Frollo because I have no idea why). It is a wonder I can type.

I have less then two weeks until vacation time. I am so excited that I don't have to go to school for three weeks. Bed here I come! Bed here I stay!

The school is finally finished. The new "wing" (as I call it) is done, the construction people are gone, and the noise that gave us all headaches last year has gone with them. I am going to video tape it tomorrow and put it on here so past teachers can take a look at it. It is now handicap accessible (now that I don't need it, knock on wood).

I am working on putting my pictures online. I have decided to use shutterfly. I wanted to use myphotoalbum.com, but they do not allow signups from Taiwan.

I have though put videos on youtube. I am silent in most of them because I don't like my voice.
Here is the site. All you have to do to see more of my videos is to click on "More from: jsterling0". You will be able to see all of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKPrRyzx-K8

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=jsterling0&page=1

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! Christa, Kris, and Steph waiting for the fireworks Fireworks going off near us Me, my hat, and Taipei 101 Steph and her sparkler Taipei 101, in a wavy fashion

My Future

On Friday I went to a fortune teller. It was very interesting and fun. I learned some interesting things, but I can only tell 2 people. One is Dad (which I told and he laughed, thanks Dad) and the fortune teller. It seems I can only communicate with men (the fortune teller is a man). Doesn't that just suck?!

I will be putting up pictures from the last couple of months soon. I have Tuesday off (Thank God!) so I will put them up that day. Right now I have to figure out how to coordinate fireworks for my bullentin board. Sometimes I think I make things harder than they have to be.

Life is pretty set here. I do laundry, go to school, get sick (right now I have a cold), and download tv shows to watch. Because of my hurt leg and the crutch I had, I am making a dent with the 7-11 people. They are only a little confused by my presence now.

I have been really into the color orange lately. I love wearing my orange converses mom got me last year. They are so confortable. I also just bought the wildest mustard meets an orange color belted purse.

Well that is about it. I have a web camera now so if you want to contact me on skype you can now see and hear me. Good times.

Videos

I thought I would put up some videos of what I have been doing. It is somewhat the trend now to have video diaries, but my voice sounds horrible recorded so the videos are of things I see around.

This video is of the Drum and Dance Music Festival. I was walking by it with Lisa on the way to dinner and decided to stop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5f1JOY6FVA


Here are some videos made by Geo, one of my co-workers:
www.faythstudios.com/pictures/index.html

click in taiwan 2007

Halloween

Halloween this year was quite nice both at school and at the bars. I had a great time. This year's costume was Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Here are some pictures:

Weekends in my opinion are quite short. This weeekend was spent grading and going out Saturday night for the first time in a long time. The girls and I went to listen to some live music and then went dancing for a bit. It was nice, but I forgot about all the smoke. The next day my eyes were still red.

Nothing much is going on here. I have been sick for a bit, but the medicine is helping. The medicine is also making me a little crazy, but I am almost done with it. I have been thinking about taking a vacation to either Singapore, Malaysia, or Bali. If anyone has any suggests that would be great. Please remember I am not a rough it person.

Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday night.

Christa at the Shannon
Steph and Lisa having a drink at the Shannon

Advice

Thanks Kathleen. If only you and Louise were here. I miss you guys a lot.

Hurricanes and Hardware

Hey Everyone

So far so good in Hurricans Krosa. If only it came during the week. School is ok, but I let it slip that I was glad that I only had so many months left in front of Dorcas. I was so upset that everyone is so last minute here that the filter on my mouth disappeared. I just read an article on how happy people live longer and it told me to let all the worry and the bad stuff go and I could add up to 7.5 more years to my life. So I am just going to let that incident go and try to live longer. Plus I feel horrifically bad about it so I don't want to think of it any longer. Good times.

I am looking to buy a new computer over here since my screen is disappearing at a rapid rate. If anyone knows anything about what is the best laptop out there for a non-computer person is, let me know. I am looking at a Sony Vaio because it has a red cover. Don't hate.

Just be the river. (For Dad)

I have been going to the beach lately which Caroline would is good for me since I supposly look like a ghost. Now I am a lobster. I have been going with Steph, Lisa, and Christa from work. Here are some pictures:






School has been going well (knock on wood). We just had Teacher's Day on Friday. It was nice. I got flowers and lots of candy and cards.



I have my first fourth grade listening test next week. I have spent so long on it and I still haven't heard if it is ok or not. Phoebe is so busy so she does not have time to meet with me yet.

One of the teachers here has strep throat, so she is going to the doctors today. I don't think that some of the teachers understand that she should be home.

Tainan and Typhoon

I survived another typhoon here in Taiwan. We even got a day off. I do love Typhoon Days. My roommates and I watched movies all day that I rented at Blockbuster the day before. I recommend The Illusionist and Stranger than Fiction, but not Pan's Labrinyth (too weird even for me).

The weekend before Lisa, Christa, and I went to Tainan for the weekend. It was beautiful down there. I secretly think I should be down there, not here in Taipei. Way less cars to hit me. We went to the Confucious Temple (the oldest in Taiwan) and a Koxinga Shrine (it was beautiful and also next to a great cafe). Later that night we spent hours in this building that had shoes, hats, hair salon, and a restuarant. We each got our hair washed and done and it was wonderful and then had some of the best pasta next door. The next day we had the crazy idea to get a massage which ended up as a beating. Why we didn't tell them to stop I have no idea. All of us had bruises all over our bodies, although I can move my shoulders and back more freely now. We took the High Speed Rail (HSR) down and back up and it was better than an airplane. I had so much leg room.

Today is Friday and is the beginning of the four day weekend for Moon Festival. My tutoree family has invited me to go to their family bbq with them and I am quite excited. I have no idea what to wear, but I will ask Emily. Now back to school and children.