The past few days!

Ok So a new update. I will probably only do this once a week, except so much has gone on, if I don’t write one now, it will be way too long! 

So Saturday I got up and walked to school to get the bicycle that I would be riding until I learned how to ride the scooter. It is a looong walk. However, when I got there the guard was different from the day before and he wouldn’t let me take the bike. We played a long game of charades, and I lost. So I walked back home. I also walked down the road to this little “general store” to get a few things. At 12:30, Phoebe (an English teacher) came and got me to take me to lunch. She also brought a friend of hers, Malon. They took me to this cute little restaurant and taught me how to order. The best part is that they have SWEET TEA!!! It is a black tea with sugar in it, but it is so close to the tea at home!  Then they took me to the grocery store! It was fun! I got some fruit and breakfast stuff! They have AMAZING fruit here. After that, they took me to the school and explained to the gate keeper who I was and that I could take the bike. He was so funny! He thought I was a reporter cause I was taking pictures with my big camera.  

Sunday morning, I got up and got ready to Skype with Judson’s girlfriends family who was at my parent’s house. It was cool to get to meet them even if it was over Skype. After that, I made another walking trip to the school to get the bicycle. I took my Bible and IPod and was going to have my own church service at one of the stone tables outside, but the mosquitoes had apparently not been fed recently and accosted me. So I came back home and finished listening to John Piper! After I came back, I walked down to see if I could find my way to the restaurant that Phoebe took me to. I did! I didn’t get lost or anything! Unfortunately it was closed. As I walked I noticed that there were many tables set out with food in front of almost every business and home. When I got home, I Skyped Alicia and she explained it to me. This is her explanation: 

It is a Chinese tradition at this time of the year to pray to the ghosts, give them food to eat, and ask that they not come to your home or cause any harm. It is believed that if you can get on their good side, they will leave you and your family alone. 

It broke my heart to see how the Taiwanese people trust in gods of stone and wood. They pray to so many different gods because each one has a specific “specialty”.  

Monday I rode the bike to school! It was so much faster, but still hot! I met the director and he showed me my office and desk. In Taiwan the teachers don’t all have classrooms. The classes stay in one room with a homeroom teacher and the different teachers come to them! It’s pretty cool! I also met with the principal and signed my contract. And my luggage came!!! So the director took me home so I could unpack!! Yayayayay!!!!! It was so nice to have all of my things. I made yet another trip to the general store, to get some things especially storage containers. I also got an iron, but they only had a tiny ironing board. So I “talked” to the owner. Through charades, he told me to come back tomorrow that he would get me a bigger one! It is nice to make friends with store owners, although I am pretty sure I am keeping his business afloat as many times as I have been in there!  

When I got back,  I also started a load of clothes. Washing clothes isn’t difficult, but when I put them in the teeny tiny dryer, the thing sounded like it was tearing the whole building down… So I get to hang them out to dry. It’s not that bad except it takes forever and your clothes are very… crisp.

 Tuesday was an awesome day! I spent most of the morning at my desk doing all kinds of official duties (Facebook, journaling, Skype). Great fun! I met a few teachers as they came in. Also the student affairs office brought me a box of fruit as a welcome present! At 11, the director came and took me to this photo place to get some photos made for my Visa paperwork and ARC paperwork. Now this was very strange… they made me tuck my hair behind my ears, remove my earrings and wouldn’t let me smile. It took them forever to get the “right” shot. For some reason, they needed to be able to see my ears. When we got back, I tried out the scooter! It was so easy and so much fun! So I rode it home! Later that night I took it for a longer ride to practice. It is so much fun!

Wednesday(Today). 

Today the director and I went to Kaoshiuang… I think that is how it is spelled anyways. We went to get my Visa changed to Resident’s visa and to apply for my ARC (Alien Resident’s card). However, once we got there, they told us that we couldn’t do it there, that we had to do it in Tainan City. So we basically made the hour trip for no reason… The director’s daughter was with us, so where did we go for lunch…. The one place I could never eat at again and be happy… McDonalds. It was an interesting experience though. The food was slightly different mainly the fries weren’t as good and they had these seafood balls. They were kind of like corn nuggets only with shrimp inside… not bad though! Then we came back. Around 5 today, I decided to go on an adventure. First, I filled up the scooter with gas… and hello! They do it for you. You don’t have to lift a finger! It is AWESOME!! Then I took off for the beach!! And guess what! I found it!! I had looked at maps and figured out how to get there. It was so much fun! The beach itself is not that pretty, the sand is brown and dirt like, but the water and the sunset was GORGEOUS!!  I felt so accomplished that I got there with no major scrapes. I will definitely have to go back soon!!