Welcome to the New School

Well, here we go with some posts from the new school. This is a picture of Lily and I on the rooftop of our new school. It might give you an idea of how much Taiwan is just like a big city. Note that we are not in Kaohsiung and that are technically in the county. There are very few green spaces around. This picture was taken by Angel. Note that it is on an angle because Angel tilted the camera when she was pressing the button.

Seeyall

Subbing a lot

Well,

I have been subbing a lot. I am trying to save up more money here in my free time. I think a goal for Lily and I is to save about 1 million NT on the side. With that we can put together a purchase of some property back home. That would be a little less than forty thousand. We have just started saving extra but we are about one tenth of the way there.

Our new school is waiting for a license but we are trying to start enrolling students there. It looks pretty good and we recently got some good pictures from there. I will see if I can attach one or two.

As for my health, I still get mild pain but more in the form of an ache now. Most nights I am a little swollen around the groin but what can you do. Other than that I am good (aside from being sick). I swear that these kids try and make you share their misery. I just recover from one virus and then I get another. The joys of working with kids.

Lily and I got stalked by a cute dog the other day. We were going to drive into Kaohsiung when I saw something white and brown come at us. I wasn't expecting it so I jumped and sort of shouted. Then I noticed it was only a little dog similar to a terrier. He was very sweet. The only problem came when we wanted to leave. Everytime I tried to get the scooter going he would stand in front. When I tried to drive he ran after me. And if I didn't have a box on the scooter he would have been riding with us. I felt so bad because the dog was so sweet. I gave it some love for a minute and it tried to adopt me. If I was in Canada I would have swept that puppy up in a second. It is unfortunate that my mother and father in-law don't know how to properly take care of animals and treat them well. I haven't seen the dog since that night though. I hope it's ok and in a good home.

I went to the school I was subbing at today and one of the other teachers brought in a big sports bag. You wouldn't guess what was inside. There were five gorgeous kittens. He found them on the street and was looking for homes for them. I tried not to look at them too long. I hope he has luck finding them all good families.

Anyways I can't find the digital camera so I will have to post some pics in the near future.

Love everyone,

Scott

Another earthquake

Well,

We just had another earthquake at about 10:30 am here. It shook a little bit but it wasn't as strong as last night. Last night there were a total of four tremblors.

The weather survey said that the first one was measured at 6.7 and that if it hits 7.2 it can trigger a tsunami. So I'm not sure what's going on beneath us but hopefully it is finished now.

It hit southern Taiwan the most but we are in a pretty stable area away from the most major natural disasters. I think we have picked a pretty safe area. Typhoons don't hit us very much and we are never too close to the center of earthquakes.

Have a great week everyone.

Scott

6.3 earthquake

We just had a 6.3 earthquake and like usual I never know what is going on until it is almost finished. We had two or three aftershocks.

I was sitting in front of the school checking communication books when the windows behind me started shaking. I thought there was a student hitting the window behind me and I was going to give the student trouble but the problem was that there was an earthquake.

Everyone is ok, though. So don't worry. It is so weird because I have never felt an earthquake except for here. I always think of something other than an earthquake.

See you later

Scott

Dinner late that night

Here is a nice picture of all of us while we were having dinner at around midnight. You should have seen this guys house. He had lots of land (very rare in Taiwan) and three buildings on his property. Everything looked very beautiful. You probably would take it for granted seeing as in Canada many people have similar properties but in Taiwan you need to have a lot of money to have something like this.

I was told that his family made lots of money from a landscaping business.

We ate chicken soup and fish soup with noodles. There was lots of fresh fruit and tea. It was a nice meal with great people. Here is the pic.

Enjoy and happy holidays.

Scott

Later on Saturday Night

Later on we went out caroling with the church that Lily attends (we have class so usually I can't make it). It was interesting. They sang in Taiwanese and Lily, Angel and I sang in English. We had lots of fun and people treated us to all sorts of good food.

We stayed out until close to one in the morning. My throat is still not the same but it was worth it. The picture is of the Saturday night Bible teacher, Angel and I. He is pretty nice and likes to practice his English with me.

TTFN

Scott

Here is another pic

Here is the dome I helped build. This was probably our sixth go at it. We had a fire started once and then it fell down. Not an easy job. I had to go teach while the guys finished it. I learned a new Taiwanese phrase which means "don't worry" or "no problem". Hard to write in English "Bveeah Guine" is the only way I can think to write it.

Anyways take care.

Scott

Here are some Christmas in Taiwan pictures

Here is a picture of the traditional style of Taiwanese cooking that I was able to participate in. It is quite the art because the domes like to collapse if they are not built right.

First you need a farmer's field after the harvest time and then you need to clear an area. You then need to search for good clumps of soil to pile into a dome starting from large at the bottom to small at the top of the dome. Note that our domes collapsed at least five or six times until we got it right.

Then you need to start a fire inside until the soil gets red hot. While this is happening you need to dig a pit next to the dome. Wrap your food in tinfoil. If they are vegetables you need to soak them in water and wrap them well to keep in the water. If you cook meat you need to add some oil inside so it keeps the meat moist as the makeshift oven gets very hot.

When all your food is ready and piled into the small pit you have dug all you need to do is push down the dome and then move the hot soil over the pit. Pack it down and in about 45 minutes you have great tasting soil baked food.

I hope to give it a shot with some of you close friends when I get back to Canada. It is quite interesting and I don't think anyone has tried this style back in Canada. Note that this one was quickly built compared to the one we fought with many times.

Anyways have a great Boxing Day and I hope your Christmas was wonderful.

Love

Scott

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone,

Well the commercial for the bank fell through as the baseball player didn't have enough time to devote a day to the shoot. We were looking forward to it but it was ok.

We went out caroling this past Saturday with Lily's church. I also learned how to traditionally cook Taiwanese style. They make a dome of sand or mud clumps and then start a fire inside. After all the dirt gets very hot you dig a hole in the ground and put all of your food (wrapped up for protection inside). Then you put the super hot dirt over top for around an hour and then dig it up. Voila, you have lots of great tasting food.

The domes fell down on us many times but we were finally successful. The food was very good and juicy. I have pictures on the camera and I will post them as soon as I transfer them to the computer.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas as well.

Love

Scott

Possibly on TV?

Lily and I might be on TV here in Taiwan. Maybe not but we are going to get paid anyways.

One of the banks here is going to be shooting a commercial on Wed the 27th. The bank wanted more foreigners to show up for the shooting so there was a posting offering about $100 for a morning and a little bit of the afternoon. When I asked they said Lily could go as well. But she would only be getting about $40.

If you watch baseball you might know this name Chien Ming Wang. He is a pitcher from Taiwan who plays in the Major League for the New York Yankees. So this commercial that is happening next Wednesday will have him in it.

Lily and I thought it would be something neat to do. Maybe have some memories. The worst case is we get some money and get to hang out and eat some snacks. We are going to try and get some pictures from the shooting.

Scott