I had completely forgotten about these parachute things since 3rd grade. The school pulled one out the other Friday for the kids to play with and it was so much fun. They're exhausting though...all that shaking up and down to make waves and ripples in the parachute is tiring!
My class had their graduation photo taken this past week.
It was near impossible so I'm glad I wasn't the one in full charge. The guy above was the photographer. And the woman is Miss Yvonne (my helper...aka life-saver...even though she doesn't speak a word of English...and I don't speak Chinese so...you can imagine the craziness). But it works out!
The above picture is just too good.
A girl horrified from something.
Winnie.
A nose-picker.
Also, no one told me ahead of time that I was supposed to be in this photo. At the last second I was told to jump in before the count of 3 (so I'll be looking normal in a T-Shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes...I would have dressed nice if I knew ahead of time!)...
Also, I'm positive I was sweaty and my hair was drenched...
On Monday my supervisor, Stanley, came into the class in the morning and told my class that if they were good then we could have lunch in the school treehouse! (not really a treehouse but more of a tree-platform, but regardless...it was still exciting...at least to me.)
So all morning I kept reminding them that if they were good then we could eat lunch in the treehouse.
Were they good?
No.
Did I want to eat in that treehouse?
Absolutely.
So we did.
On our way with our lunches.
The treehouse.
Eating lunch!
Can you spy Winnie workin' the camera in both pictures above?
Lunch...the food's growing on me...
Frank.
Winnie.
View looking up.
Me with Evan.
Bye Bye Treehouse.
So in the end it turned out I was more excited than they were as we were only in the tree for about 10 minutes...
I wasn't really that nervous to get my first haircut in Taiwan. But I must admit I delayed it to the last day possible before I would have gone bonkers; the heat is growing. I don't know how girls have long hair in heated lands.
The process was pretty routine. I was hoping for a funny story of lost-in-translation issues where I would say "trim" and she would hear "pull a Britney" and ends up shaving my head...but alas never got one.
I got my haircut at a place inside R.T. Mart (which is like a Wal-mart). It was a little barbershop just past the registers.
You start by putting the equivalent of $3 American dollars in a kiosk outside of the shop (of course all of this was guessing at first as nothing except the name of the place was in English)...
...this prints you a ticket where you are given a number...
...and then wait for the number to appear on the screen and then get your haircut!
I just pointed at my hair and then showed about an inch or two with my fingers so she got the hint. Thankfully she got the hint and it ended up going just like normal.
Anxiously awaiting to see if she understood.
Dogs walk around here like humans...just chillin in barber shops and such.
4.5 minutes later: Success!
Probably the blondest hair this woman has ever cut.
Walking around my neck of the woods here it isn't uncommon for people to:
1. stare at me.
2. stop, wave, and say "hello! hello! hello!" many times.
3. photo mob.
What is photo mobbing?
Let me tell you a story...
The other day I went on a bike ride and a walk and was crossing a bridge. People were very unusually friendly at this moment; it was bizarre. Every 3rd person or so would stop, wave, and say "Hello! Hello! Hello!" I had gotten pretty used to my "celebrity status" and my "15-seconds-of-fame-per-person" agenda, until it all went crazily unexpected.
On the bridge was a group of probably twenty 18-(ish)-year-old kids who started pointing at me and mumbling excitedly in Chinese. It was apparent immediately I wasn't in any danger but these kids became obsessed! I felt like a museum artifact and just kept waving and waving and saying "hello" over and over again and smiling. They were overly-excited.
So they all surrounded me and got ready for a picture...of which I had absolutely no choice in the matter. Thus, I was photo mobbed. I had no idea what was going on. I was huddled, jumped on (at one point I was giving someone a piggy-back and still to this moment have no clue which person it was), my scruffy face was caressed, etc..
I felt like Bieber.
It was actually really funny and they were very nice...even if they all wreaked of alcohol and cigarettes. Barf.
After they all got done with their pictures I said, using body language of course, "wait, wait, my camera!"
Documenting experiences like this is a must.
The photo mobbers:
...one of these things doesn't fit.
And there were even more people than this who just didn't make it in this picture.
Afterwards, walking away and off the bridge, I had the sudden urge to check all my pockets and my backpack. What if it was a scam?!
I've been so close to the ocean this entire time and had no idea. I've seen on a map my location and distance from the ocean but it never really struck me how close I actually am.
15 - 20 minute bike ride: That's it!
It was nice to realize I'm so close and really can go anytime I want to. There is a pier/harbor that I can bike straight to with no worries. (No clue what it's called though...)
Saturday was a beautiful day; not tooooo hot, and the breeze was chilled so it was a great day to visit the beach. So I hopped on the bike and made my way.
This is a canal that goes into Taiwan. The ocean is just beyond that bridge.
The pier and harbor reminded me a lot of the Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, but a little more fishy and a lot bigger. They have "arcade" games set up that you can play if you want to.
This is a view of the ocean and pier. It is lengthly. It goes waaaaay out there.
No big deal. Just dead puffer-fish floating on by.
High school mural painted along the inside pier wall.
They had a deck halfway up the pier.
Here is a 360 degree view from that deck:
The end of the pier was awesome. It just dropped off and there were a bunch of guys there fishing. The waves were crashing just over the edge and the wind was rushing by. It felt great because it was cold and misty.
On the far edge of the pier.
Fisher.
The coast was lined up with all of these windmills.
View from the pier of the bridge that takes you over the water and to the beach!
The harbor had all these colorful Asian-looking boats.
Fish auction.
This is how they sell fish here...
Just chillin in a basket with a price on a piece of paper.
Baby squid.
Swordfish.
There was an old lady working at a frozen yogurt stand so we got some.
Putting the feet in the water on the other side of the planet...but still being the Pacific Ocean.
So weird.
This kid came out of nowhere with orange crocks on so I naturally saw a photographic opportunity.
Also, the water was suuuper warm. I'm so used to the California ocean where you have to enter in slowly inch by inch and its painful. Not here. It was instantly warm, at least on the feet.
The sun started to set and it was amazing. The sun came out from the clouds and said, "Hello, please take pictures of me."
