Election time/Annoying circus parade campaign

It was break time at Principal today when all of a sudden, about 30 pick-up trucks drove by with pots and pans clanging and men shooting off fireworks and chanting. There were flags everywhere, loud honking, more chanting, and singing/ranting over a mega-phone. "What is that?" you think. Could it be a major holiday parade? Or a strike? No, it's just the local townspeople campaigning for their favorite political candidate. It's somewhat of a spectacle and way more over the top than it seems like it should be but it's Taiwan and nothing is quite what it seems. Or at least, what you'd expect. There are political ads all over town right now, all of men holding one fist in the air, as if to convey the message of perfect leadership. If only I had some photos or a video of what happened today...

Oh, a scavenging we will go!

Today, my roommates Dan and Lauren coordinated a scavenger hunt through the streets of Taipei. It was a "photo scavenger hunt" meaning each team was given a list of things to photograph. Some of these items included: a goat, a pack of stray dogs, sleeping people, kissing people, dancing people, hugging people, someone taller than you, and a group of at least 7 people all wearing glasses. There were probably about 30 items in total. Our groups were divided into boys and girls. My brash and confident "man group" was convinced that we had won the event but we still lost, even though the girls group got a large point deduction for being late.

We asked 3 different cab drivers to dance with us, all of whom declined. We stood in front of various people to get photos of them inconspicuously. We had to walk like ducks as a group in the middle of a very crowded and prominent crosswalk. And the proof of all these deeds was captured on film. Some choice shots will be posted on Flickr shortly. It was quite a day and a very interesting way to experience Taipei!

This morning, I once again had the privilege of tutoring little Brian and it was fun, as always. This time, we did play about five games in a row of Jenga and it was really cute. He kept on saying "it's not so easy" and "scary" if I was moving a precarious piece. Nicole, his sister, tried to play also but she's two, so sadly each game she participated ended disastrously after a few moves.

New pictures!!!!

I just posted about 100 pictures from the last few weeks so check 'em out...more to come soon!

Sugar Pie Honey Bunch

I'm alive! I realize it's been quite awhile since I wrote something on here but I've been busy. Most importantly, my parents just came and visited Taiwan for 10 days. It was a lot of fun! They enjoyed all the different smells, tastes, and sights that Taiwan has to offer. The most memorable part for me was visiting Taroko Gorge. This is a national park on the east side of Taiwan and it was amazing! It's a massive gorge made entirely out of marble, meaning that when the river created the gorge, it didn't slowly erode it into a V-shape, but rather it's straight down. So the gap between the two sides of the gorge is the same at the top and bottom. The pictures we'll make it easier to understand! It was a great time though and I am SO glad that they came to see everything.

School this last week was a nightmare. We have Christmas presentations coming up and our bosses have given us absolutely no direction for what we're supposed to be doing, but they've been able to get mad at us for doing what we're doing. The whole thing is just a mess but it will be a huge relief when it is over. Afterward is the kindergarten Christmas performance which I'm very excited about and I'm sure it will be a very surreal experience.

Now my mind is blank. I'm going to post a ton of pictures so those will do the talking for me. Enjoy!

A marathon weekend / Ape shall never kill ape

It's only noon on Sunday but it has already been a marathon weekend. I just got home from Taipei after doing a 10k. Let me start from the beginning of the weekend though. Yesterday, at 5:20 AM, my stupid alarm clock went off and I sluggishly began to pack my bags and head for the door, ultimately bound for Taipei. I hopped in a cab and gave the driver directions written in Chinese to the starting line of a local 5k. He acted like he knew where to go, but on the way, he made about 5 different phone calls, clearly asking for the same address over and over again. However, we did eventually find the starting line. It was located right along one of the two main rivers that run through Taipei. I arrived at about 6:15 and started jogging around. At roughly 6:35, every race participant was asked to take part in a warm-up routine which was led by a little Jazzercise- type lady. Surprisingly, everyone in the crowd was really into it. It was pretty fun to watch, but also really really goofy. The race was supposed to start at 7, but at about 6:45 after the dance routine ended, everyone went to the line and suddenly the starters fired their guns. I was about 100 meters away from the starting line stretching. I freaked out a little and then sprinted into the middle of the pack and the race was off! It was an out and back course on a narrow one-way road which the officials made sure not to close so it was bustling with cars, scooters, and pedestrians.

I was stuck near the back at the beginning but I slowly moved my way up, and then suddenly at about the mile mark, I was in the lead! Then the lead grew, and grew. After another 15 minutes or so of agony, the race was over! I had won! Pretty crazy! I clocked myself at a little over 20 minutes, which could've been accurate, but if it was, that's my slowest 5k time since freshman year of high school. I think it was a little long, but then again, I've been training pretty poorly so I wouldn't be surprised if that was an accurate time. My closest competitor was about 20 seconds behind me. As a reward, I was given the same thing as everyone else in the race: two hand towels, an assortment of decorative soaps, and an XL shirt that was yellow and had a little man on it with LOVE written in big letters.

After the race, I started chatting with the only other foreigner present, Dragan. He was Serbian and he'd been living in Taipei for 10 years. He was an interesting character who told me I needed to improve my form but he complemented my Chinese. After this, I lazily roamed through the streets of Taipei and eventually made my way back home.

In the afternoon, I was bound for Taipei once again to go with my friends to Daan Park, which is Taipei's equivalent of Central Park, but it pales in comparison (Kelly, that Central Park reference is for you). However, on the way I had to pick up my race packet for the race I did today. The man I spoke with told me their office was located beside Taipei 101. I thought this would be a fairly easy task, considering that Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world (or close to, you get the point). He also told me it was in the World Trade Center. When I arrived in that general vicinity, I found that there were 3 World Trade Centers. After roaming back on forth on the same streets and asking multiple cops where to go, I finally found the building I was looking for. The first door I tried was locked, and it was dark inside. I went to the other side of the building and found a usable entrance. Once inside, the elevators weren't working so I took an escalator to the 2nd floor. Then the escalator didn't work but the elevator did so I took that up from the 2nd to the 3rd floor. I noticed that there was a large expo going on on the 1st floor but nothing going on above that. The building was a giant convention/expo place, so each floor contains dozens of rentable store fronts, so I knew the "address" I needed to find. There was no one around however and most of the lights were off. I walked down a long dark corridor, took a right and walked down another long, dark and abandoned corridor to suddenly find an office bustling with 5 guys inside, working tirelessly on preparing for the race. It was strange.

Which leads to this morning...another race. I woke up yet again at 5:20, this time, hitting the snooze button an extra time and being more annoyed than I was the day before. I hopped into a cab again, but this time the cab driver did not have to make any calls. That's a good thing. I arrived at the start line about 45 minutes early, and this time the race started on time. Of course, there was a 10 minute pre-race dance routine. They didn't supply us with any pins for our bibs for some stupid reason, so a fellow racer lent me one, so I had my bib just sort of hanging on my shirt flopping around. A cop also tried to help me staple my bib on to my shirt but that didn't work. It was the effort that counted. The race itself was pretty boring. Just out and back on a highway. I felt so-so but sadly, I think I ran my slowest 10k since like middle school. If that's not a wake-up call to get in shape, I don't know what is. My time was roughly 42 minutes. Nonetheless, I was roughly 30th out of at least 1000 people, so needless to say, the race scene isn't quite like it is in Boulder.

After the race, there was a 5 minute drum show which was pretty cool. Then I roamed around the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and adjoining garden and pond. I saw a laughing club there. I'll post a video later so look for that.

Well, I think that was about it. I'm tired from typing now, and doing everything I just described. I hope you liked it!