Festivities
Monday's office Christmas party included:
-a huge Christmas story production in the form of a song which included the IT department as wise men, the art department as angels, the TV department as shepherds and Leo as Mary who had a little lamb.

-a dance-off with all the married couples at the company... and there are a LOT...
-fire-breathing (why not?)

-all of us in the English department busting some killer "Thriller" moves

...and then having to do it again this morning for a video...
-Bill doing an Elvis impression
-Gabe doing a Phil impression
-me doing an Andrea impression

-the huge annual giveaway, during which I won a vacuum cleaner, which kinda sucks because it kinda sucks.

Busy Girl
Last week Beth and I got sent down to Tainan to judge two days of story-telling, drama and singing contests. It was long, but very entertaining. And the quality ranged from outstanding (one group did a number from Cats in full costume, a group of girls did a rather moving "Colors of the Wind" and there were a few good Sister Act productions, one of which involved shimmying) to mediocre ("Do, a Deer" with one kid in a deer costume and another playing the xylophone, as well as a few off-tune kids singing multiple versions of "On Top of the World" in milkmaid costumes and this frightful song about a kid and a sparrow and an environmental prayer). The drama contests were also fascinating. My favourite was a modernized version of "The Emperor's New Clothes" that had high school boys wearing their underwear on the outside of their jeans.
Then Saturday was our big Taipei Christmas rally. It was held, as usual, at the Taipei International Convention Center which seats more than 3000 and we packed it out both shows. Actually, at the evening performance we had to turn hundreds of people away, which was too bad. But hundreds of the people who did make it in either committed their lives to God or wanted to know more about him, so that was amazing. I'm still a little tired, even though all I did was talk to students, sign autographs and take pictures. But today is a non-day at the office because we have our Christmas party. I'll try to post photos of that soon!

Oh, The Julie!
My dear friend sent me a link that made my day. Personally, I think putting hot priests on a calendar is a great idea. But then, I've always had a weakness for good-looking clergy.

But the gondolier calendar, I'm not so sure about!

I hear music

From my dear Joel:
1. put your music player on shuffle
2. press forward for each question
3. use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn't make sense

no cheating!

how are you feeling today?
Over the Moon

how do your friends see you?
Let all the angels of God worship Him

will you get married?
Things I'll Never Say

what is your best friend's theme song?
Supafly Baggy Pants

what is the story of your life?
I Don't Mind

what was highschool like?
Wasting Time

how can you get ahead in life?
I Bruise Easily

what is the best thing about your friends?
Butterfly Girl

what is tonight going to be like?
Walking Man

what is in store for the remainder of this weekend?
Stone Free

Creepy shopping mall
On Saturday I went up to HsinChu to see Nate and Emily and we had a very nice time. Part of the fun included wandering around Windance, a place of wonder and mystery. This 102,000-square-foot shopping mall is the largest in Taiwan and cost more than NT$20,000,000,000 to build. I believe it was built in the past five years or so and was one of the worst ideas ever. The place is all but deserted. There are a handful of shops left, like the furniture place downstairs where Nate and I had a litte creative fun (seriously, click the link and wait for the video. You'll be glad you did), but overall it consists of echoey hallways and boarded up doors. The top couple of floors are fun and have a 10-screen movie theatre and a mini-theme park that includes that Taiwan favourite, arcade machines! I bought some tokens and DanceDanceRevolutioned the pants off my bro. All in all, though, Windance is not a spot I'd really recommend.

"Fringe"

I am my mother
Okay, not really. But when I was written into the LTE script recently, I was named Petra in her honour by our dear Campbell. It was fun; I messed up a few times but everyone was so encouraging. And it was a great little script!
Here I am, inviting Billy along on Campbell's and my blind date.

The Golden Mean

How do we really judge beauty? Do we base it on age? Society? Wealth? Symmetry?

This article lays it all out for you. My favourite line: Zeus wasn't trying to fit into the same jeans he wore when he was Mercury's age.

Horror movies? Define "horror"
I've never been a fan of horror movies. In fact, I don't think I've ever really seen one, and that's been okay with me. However, when an opportunity to go to the Golden Horse Awards' midnight showing of Pan's Labyrinth last Friday presented itself, I decided to go.

Now I wouldn't exactly call this a horror movie. It was pretty scary and it was certainly gorey enough, but there was such beauty there, too. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart or stomach, but it's a fascinating story, the acting is great and I haven't seen such an imaginative film since maybe Lemony Snicket... this one just happened to be much, much darker. If you see it, let me know what you thought.

Filming week
Now usually I’m a radio girl around here, but this week I happened to be on film a lot. Okay, so the Topic Talks on Monday I’m used to. They’re pretty straightforward; just look right into the teleprompter and read about 20 minutes worth of script. But also on Monday I got to do my first television acting gig. Okay, my second, but the first one doesn’t count because I was wearing a Dolly Parton wig and crazy glasses, so you could hardly tell it was me. I hope. But this time I had a real part with lines and everything. Most of the native English speakers here are used to this by now, but for me it was very exciting.

This is me with my “husband” Bryan, helping him make the best decision about which employee to recommend for a promotion. Anyway, stay tuned… it’ll be on here in, like, April, I think.
Then yesterday I got called down to the radio studio to pretend we were recording a show. Apparently my boss is going to be on some special television commercial series about influential people in Taiwan and this famous award-nominated guy was here to direct it. Life here is rarely boring.

Gym music for the masses
While working out today, the soundtrack I heard piped through the sound system included not only the expected (Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani) but also the wild and wacky. Think "Big Spender" and "The Sound of Silence"... and "Fur Elise"... but to a fun, up-tempo dance beat! I almost feel guilty just listening to this nonsense.

Costume party
You either had to dress in orange:

or in costume:

There were skits and orange food... and then afterwards some peach-orange wine and girl talk. Lovely evening.

Tragic monkeys
Last weekend we went to the zoo, which was a blast! Really, I didn't think it would be so entertaining to wander around and stare at animals all afternoon.




The best part was when we found these monkeys with especially funny faces; kind of like the Scream mask. The mother especially kept staring at us, tragically, like she knew that we were laughing at her. Which we were. Heartily. I started this sad documentary/World Vision promo running commentary about how the little monkey is so joyful despite his hideousness. We were in stitches, and the other people there were looking at us instead of the monkeys. Perhaps because the monkeys were basically too ugly to look at.

Then on Sunday I got up way too darn early and went to Hsin Chu to visit Emily and Nate. We had a great time at church, scooting to the school they teach at, and wandering around downtown.

We found this very fun traditional tea house and had some snacks there, and then we noticed a Christian group singing praise songs on a stage next to the river, so we enjoyed that for a while.
Finally, we decided to try to get back to Nate and Emily's neighbourhood, so we were standing on a corner, trying to decipher the bus routes, looking very confused, when this black car pulled up and stops. A man poked his head out and asked if we wanted a ride. Being the wise and careful foreigners that we are, we were like, "Okay!"
He was this really nice hospital administrator who used to drive a cab in Taipei and seemed really into Western culture. He was playing this oldies mix and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree" came on and he told us it was his favourite! So we invited him out for Thai with us to thank him, but he proceeded to pay for that too (fighting for the bill is considered good manners here) but we managed to buy his drink. He told us his name was Lee, "like Bruce Lee."

Read Nate's entry on the day for more.

Midday entertainment
So I'm researching new articles and I come across this headline:
Coming next week: Barry Manilow, Kellie Pickler, The Who
What, together? Who would go to that?!!

My trip at a glance
Okay, the hiatus is over. I'm back and though I don't have pictures of everything from my trip, I thought I'd share a few highlights.

First, I left for Canada the day after Esther's wedding (visit Beth's blog for more highlights) and happened to take the same plane as the adorable newlyweds.

When I landed in Vancouver, I was almost two hours late, which was too bad because I missed seeing my cousin's beautiful kids. However, visiting Cynthia was great and her eldest, Charlotte, made me feel right at home:

Then I flew over to Winnipeg and was greeted with a delicious potluck dinner where I saw many great friends, including the newly-engaged Mike and Bev:

The next day, after some good Tim Hortons with Jeff (and, unexpectedly, two ladies from church who are going on a trip to China this month!), he carted me around the city. I therefore got to see the Forks again:

my old roommates from Lipton Street, Ang and Chris:

and my dear mamma B, Betty:

Later that evening, my cousin Jono, along with his lovely wife Nicole and the adorable Julia, took me out to Spuntino Cafe. Excellent place. If you live in the Peg, check out Spunny's, friends!

So I finally got to Hamilton and helped Brian and Jenn with a few last-minute details before the highly anticipated wedding:

of which I have hardly any photos at all. Especially of those dreamy groomsmen. If anyone can help me out here, please let me know. Thanks to Kristen for sending me a few of my wonderful long-lost roommates reunion!
The next week, Petra and I took a little day trip to Niagara. Here's the Pellar cellar (gotta love the wine tours):

and the Falls:

Then Steph and Drew came up and we took a trip to see my father in the north of Belleville boonies.

It was a treat to see the fall colours, as those don't really happen in Taiwan!


Then Sunday we had Thanksgiving dinner and Petch and George went all out with turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, cheesy veggies, about a million varieties of dessert... Here's Ben, the nephew who we learned will be getting company in a few more months!!!

Finally, on the way back, I had a three-hour layover in Vancouver and it was truly delightful to be joined by high school chums John and Jen. I didn't even know John was living in B.C. but it was so great to catch up and it really made the wait go by fast!

So, it was a wonderful trip but I'm glad to be back, and it took me until now to recover completely which is why I made you wait so long for an update (seriously, I think this is a record).
And now, we will resume regular broadcasting.

More photos because I am too darn busy to blog properly
Since Linda and Campbell and I are all going home in the next few days, Libeck cooked us a fantastic dinner and invited a few friends over. The only weird thing she made us eat was (I think) some kind of mountain goat... or lion... I don't really know, actually. Anyway, it was tasty.
Here's the roomies with our pomellos, which are one of my favorite fruits ever:

And everyone posing for a group picture:

The passion for photo sessions here really has changed me. I used to hide from cameras.

To make ceramics is not just play with clay
Today Emily and Nate and I met up in Yingge, which is a cool ceramics town about half an hour from Taipei. The above quote is from one of the signs in the museum there, where they have a delightful exhibit right now featuring dishes that have been creatively designed particularly for certain Taiwanese delicacies.
And while we actually did do some playing with clay:

we also enjoyed the more humorous side of the museum:

and enjoyed some rainy shopping:

Then after some stone pot rice and a quick happy birthday to Mikayla, we went to the night market with Brett. The highlight was probably the shaved ice feast.

We're SO Taiwan:

AND we even got sticky pix, which Nate assured me was the best thing he had ever experienced and it made his life complete. I guess I talked it up a little too much. But they ARE fun.
And I only have a few more souvenirs to get before my trip home... in a week!

The Relevant podcast is my jam.
I'm just sayin' you should check it out, is all.
I'll even give you the link. Here.
Last week, they even played the badger song at the end.

Great Heights
Me, Emily and Nate outside Taipei 101. We went up it, too.

It's still the tallest building in the world at 1670 feet. Cool, eh?

It pays to be a tall chick
It turns out you can just blame my genius on my genes, if it makes you feel better. (I'm so snarky.)

Family close by? What a novel concept.
Nate and Emily arrived in Taiwan VERY early this morning and managed to complete a whirlwind tour and a meal with my friends all by 1pm, then set off for Hsin Chu. They'll be teaching there this year and since it only takes about an hour or two to get there, I'm planning to see a lot more of them than I ever really have before. Hurray.
Also, look how cute they are!

Tenth anniversaries kick butt
Especially when they're Homestarrunner's.

Make sure to look for the best sbemails: guitar, english paper, and radio. And watch the toons. And waste HOURS.
And also, I love Teen Girl Squad.
"I have a crush on every boy."

Conversation last night
Scene: I'm in the locker room at the gym, changing out of my bathing suit. Nearby are a mother and her grown daughters.
Mother, in broken English: "You are a teacher." (I begin to nod) "I see you on Let's Talk every day."
Me: "Me? Oh, no, I'm sorry, not me!" (smiling)
Daughter, in excellent English: "No, you're an Advanced teacher. I listen to you every day."
Me: "Oh, yes, wow! So nice to meet you!" (awkwardly trying to cover my nudity with a towel)
This sort of thing is both very encouraging/cool and deeply, deeply embarassing. I have a whole new appreciation for stars who get ticked off at paparazzi.

iGallop
I'm finding this one hard to believe, but being promoted in a big way recently here is the new iGallop. No, really.

So people are trying it out at the mall. It's basically like a wee version of one of those mechanical bulls, so I feel a little awkward seeing people trying it out... It supposedly strengthens your abs and "core" but it really does remind me of one of those old fashioned exercise belt machines. You know:

If you really want to get creeped out, watch the ad.

Taiwan, Jaiyou!
We went to see Taiwan (oops, I mean "Chinese Taipei") play South Korea last night. Yay footie!

Yay enthusiastic crowds! (That's Daniel and Gareth in particular.)

Too bad Taiwan's team is TERRIBLE! They lost 3-0. But considering they're only ranked 149th by FIFA, I guess they put up a good fight. And at least they're not the worst... There ARE more than 149 countries, right?