Dennis the Menace's...

...they exist all over the world.

Introducing Frank.

I Got My (partially) Orange Bike

I finally got a bicycle!

It's so nice to be able to go farther and faster, let me tell ya.

Its opened up a whole new world of endless possibilities:

• faster travels to the train station and back (instead of a 20-25 minute walk).

• faster trips to the marketplaces (instead of a 30 minute walk).

• faster trips to the "walmart" look-a-like in town (instead of a 35 minute walk).

• back-and-forth from the school in under a minute (instead of a 5 minute walk).

• good workout.

More possibilities will reveal themselves over time I'm sure.

In searching for a bicycle I was on the hunt for an orange one.

Taiwan has orange everything so I was positive they would have one just soaked in orange goodness.

Nothin.

So I had to settle for a black one with a hint of orange which in the end is ok.

Stanley (our supervisor at school who speaks both fluent english and chinese) wrote a note for us saying: "We're here to buy bikes. Can you help us?"...and from there on it was pretty much just point-and-go. Very easy.

Employees helping with getting the bikes down from the rack. Had to pull the ladder out from the back dungeons of the store and walk it to the bike section. I'm sure they were thinking: "These white people are pushin it..."

Buy Buy Buy.

Haven't had a bike since my mission in the AZ.

At first it took me right back to being a missionary again...but then I realized no ones screaming from their cars "CRAZY MORMONS!!" (language has been cleaned up)...so all is well.

Actually I miss the screamers too...they were funny.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from a few of my students here in Taiwan:

Ashlee.

Yuki.

Betty.

...and Evan.

Few Photos From Travels

Here are some photos from various wanderings and travels:

To get to the other side of the Zhunan train tracks you have to go under a tunnel. You can see the train tracks in the background through the broken window.

In the tunnel.

It's really green here.

Kristi with her poncho.

It rains a lot here.

Full on dead bird just chillin' in a bucket out in the open marketplace.

Cliché I know...but you gotta take the hitch-hiking train photo when in a foreign land.

Sunset through the city streets.

Failed attempt at trying to be artsy.

Wet toes.

The Taipei train station is gargantuan. I've only been to Taipei to go to church so I haven't really toured the city yet. Soon though.

Seeya.

Traffic

Here's what Taiwan traffic looks like at a busy intersection.

My Wealthy Ear

Today, one of my supervisors at the school said to me with her Chinese English accent:

"You have beautiful ears."

At first I thought I misheard her (a common situation here), but no, she said ears. So I said,

"Haha...thank you!?"

She then further explained that the size of my earlobe and the overall shape of my ear means, in common belief here, that I will live a long life of wealth!

Who knew?

My ear.

The moneymaker.

Temple and Church Photos

Sunday was such a nice day at the temple and church so I decided to take some photos.

I spy sister missionaries.

The above building is the temple visitors center and where church is held. It's gigantic.

The main entrance and stairway in the visitor's center and church building.

Field Trip: Zhunan Train Station

On Tuesday we went on a field trip to the Zhunan Train Station.

And surprisingly we saw zero trains!

Oh well...it was nice getting out of school for a few hours.

This is Winnie. She's my favorite (but don't tell anyone that). She reminds me of my niece Lori in that she loves and knows how to work the camera.

Here's a video of us in the "bus":

Also, kids wear face masks here like accessories. It's very normal and common to see them. Even teachers wear them. So if someone is talking English to me with a thick Chinese accent with one of those things on...forget it! I need to both see and hear to understand some of the people here.

*Funny story insert:

Once we're at the train station, we get to the main platform outside where they bring the big speaker and the microphone. They do some announcements of sorts and then they say, "And now Mr. Craig will do his exercise routine with us! 3...2...1...Press play on the music!" And I was like, "WHUUUH?" I had no time to think about anything other than handing my camera to a Chinese teacher and said "click away!" because this is a memory.

Why is it a memory?

Because it was performed in front of the ENTIRE downtown Zhunan...

Hello busy city behind me!

My exercise routine is now a pop culture phenomenon. Kids are singing "tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room" allll daaaay loooong.

Me with my class.

Winnie and Ashlee.

Melody and Yvonne.

Frank and Betty.

Alex and Benny.

Yuki and Emma.

Thomas and Evan.

Doris and Joan.

Alison and Junie.

Martin, Wayne, and Nini

After we toured the station lobby we went ouside and the kids were able to run around for a little bit. (About halfway through this video the sound gets really low because I accidentally put my hand over the microphone while holding my camera):

Cool reflective warped monument.

And just for perspective, the train station is...