Hello!

I've been MIA for a bit, but I promise I had a super good excuse. I may or may not have been on a much needed trip. In the land of San Francisco. Who am I kidding--I was definitely there. More on that later.

Hope you all made it through the past week ok. I came back to a Seattle I hardly recognized--tons and tons of snow. It was beautiful, but I'm glad it's gone. My little Volvo could not handle it. I tried driving it on Friday, and got stuck just as I rolled out of my drive-way. Luckily my roommate's boyfriend was able to help me get it out of harms way.

I have some amazing photos of my lovely trip to share, and I can't wait!

Happy Monday, all!

Plains, trains and automobiles...well, mostly trains

As I mentioned in my last post, last Friday I went to Williamsburg, VA to visit my dear friend (and former mission companion--Go Zlin!) Celena. She threw a party. It was awesome. The End. 

But  had a little adventure on my way down to visit her. 

Some background, if you will:

I have taken trains all over the world. I'm not trying to brag, but it's the truth. Commuter trains in France, all kinds of trains in the Czech Republic, a sleeper train in Thailand (complete with a huge bug in my bed), and a plethora of trains in Taiwan.

Main point:

 I know how to ride a train.

Despite this, I was still a bit nervous as I made my way to Union Station having never ridden a train in the States. I don't know what I was afraid of (probably the unknown--I have a tendency to be scared of that). I didn't really know where to go, or what normal protocol is for boarding a train. (Ok. Maybe I over-think things a bit. Ok. A lot.)

My train was delayed, and the lovely man at the Amtrak information desk was helpful and nice (a rarity at times in DC). Once I was seated in my big comfy chair prepared to look out the window for endless hours (4 to be exact), heard a man, sitting two seats in front of me, ask his wife where the monuments were, and if he'd be able to see them from the train. Apparently they did not board in DC as myself. His wife's response sounded a bit impatient, but she told him. I thought it was a bit strange that they weren't sitting next to each other, but rather across the aisle from each other. Anyhow, that seemed to be the end of it.

Boy was I wrong. This couple proceeded to be the entertainment (not quite sure if it was a good thing) for myself and the rest of the car for the remainder of the trip. It started with a back and forth of stupid questions and hurried answers. After a few beers, things got louder and louder and louder. By the time we hit Ashland an all out fight ensued--name calling, digging up past unfortunate deeds, threatenings to kill each other.

 The rest of us didn't quite know how to react. Do we ignore them? Ask them to quiet down (because they were obnoxiously noisy)? What if they retaliated once asked to be quiet and took it out on us? At one point a girl across the aisle from me, just looked at me and mouthed "Can you believe this?"

 I couldn't. I was appalled.

 She proceeded to collect her things and move to the back of the car, to get a little more peace. The guy in front of me started talking about them openly in his phone conversation to a relative, hoping they would get a clue and settle down. 

Once we hit Richmond, we were all hoping that the couple would get off the train.  But no. They were on to the very last stop (Newport News). 

At one point the train stopped in the middle-of-no-where-Virginia and I thought I would die if I couldn't tell someone of my debacle. So I called Celena and shared the entertainment with her. Besides, she didn't have anything else to do, but wait for me at the train station (my train was an hour late). 

When the train finally arrived in Williamsburg, I was hoping to get a good look at the couple as I was exiting, but alas, we had to disembark at the opposite end. 

Moral of the story: 

When you're on a train, don't air your dirty laundry. No one wants to hear your business. Simply read your book/magazine/Kindle, listen to your iPod (or mp3 player of choice), and divulge in pleasant, quiet conversation with your neighbor. 

The Best of 2009

I happened upon this blog sometime in the middle of December and decided this was a cool idea. Though it may be a bit late, I still want to celebrate the end of the past year and the start of the new. So here goes!

The Best of 2009

Best Trip

 Can you guess where this is? I'll give you a couple of hints:

• I was there exactly a year ago.
• It's hot. 
• I road an elephant and slept with a hill tribe.
• And I went with 3 other incredibly cool people (the fourth, not as cool as of late).
• The air smelled of curry and coconut milk!
  

That's right! It's Thailand!

And I absolutely loved it. I'd go back in a heart beat.

 

Restaurant Moment

This one is a toss up between two. One is Ethipian food in Georgetown with a friend and her husband from Washington Seminar. Eating with your hands is always fun, and it was great to catch up with both of them.

This was the other:

The Modern Toilet as found in Taichung, Taiwan. It was wild, and the food was surprisingly good. Only in Asia would bathrooms, toilets, and poo be cutesified. 

Best Book

This one is hard as well, considering I've read so many books this year. But I think there are two that really helped me. Those of you who know me well, that this year was a tough one for many reasons, and I had to find a way to be happy. Authentic Happiness by Dr. Martin Seligman was excellent as well as Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I felt like her memoir, in particular, of getting over a heartbreaking relationship and learning to move on and love yourself was the kick in the pants that I really needed.

And... I'll end this entry right here. There are many more things where those came from, but I dare not make you suffer through a blog novel and a half. As much as I'm sure you adore my writing skills, I won't put you through that...

At least for now.

After all, tomorrow's another day.

(Muahaha!)

Check, Check

Ever since the start of the new year, I've been meaning to set some new goals for myself. But in the craziness of returning to the States and then moving to DC, I haven't made the time to reflect on what I now want out of life.

My senior year of high school, right before I began the new and exciting world of college, I sat down and made a list of about 20 things I wanted to accomplish in my life. They weren't all life goals, but some were. Others were things I wanted to do while at BYU. Last night I took a look at this list, and realized that there were only few left. That means I really needed to write a new list.

And so I did...and here it is:

What I Want to Accomplish in My Life--a list of sorts

1. Get married in the Temple


2. Have a family


3. get a TESOL certificate and teach ESL


4. take the foreign service exam


5. brush up on my Czech and French


6. learn Chinese


7. run a half marathon


8. run a marathon


9. visit my mission


10. work for a non-profit or begin my own


11. have a savings


12. go to hair school


13. travel to Jerusalem


14. see Petra


15. see the Taj Mahal


16. see the Great Wall of China


17. get out of debt.

And that's my newly updated list. Hopefully I'll be able to check off some of those things soon! Goals are exciting, and I'm feeling more hopeful about my future in general. It's not like I haven't had an exciting life thus far, so I'm sure that I'm bound to have a few adventures in my future!

P.S. Look what I'm wearing today!!!

I'm wearing shorts!!! That means winter is no longer here. Huzzah!!!

Sun.Moon.Lake

Now that I've been home for two and 1/2 weeks, and have fully adjusted to the American time zones, I figured it's about time that I fill everyone in on the rest of my travels, and final days in Taiwan. I miss it terribly, and it's a treat to go back in time and experience it all again.

Dec. 22nd-Day one of being jobless and homeless

Since we teachers were no longer teaching, we were without a home, and were sent packing to enjoy the wonderful beauties of that Taiwan could bestow upon us. First stop: Sun Moon Lake.

Sun Moon Lake is situated near the middle of the island, about 45 minutes south of Feng Yuan. Two hours after we began our journey, we finally made it to the small resort town on the banks of a beautiful lake. As we walked down the main street searching for a hostel to stay, the hostel owners were like cat-callers, luring us to their places of business. The seven of us decided to stay at the hostel of this incredibly cute, old--by that I mean wise--man. Four of us stayed in one room on floor three, and three of us stayed on the next floor up--floor five. Yup, you heard me correctly. There was no fourth floor. Traditionally the number 4 brings bad luck, so the Taiwanese try to avoid the number at all costs.

Dec. 23rd--Our first and only full day in Sun Moon Lake

We took this amazing boat tour around the lake, and had many amazing photo opportunities along the amazing journey, as seen below in the amazing photos. Destinations: a floating island, a temple, and an aboriginal village.

My favorite thing at the aboriginal village were these native women dressed in native clothes singing traditional songs with Santa hats. It was pretty cool. Oh, and finding a store that actually sold Mala Sun, the beverage of choice to anyone who has seen Cape No. 7 (but not me--I don't drink anything alcoholic).

That afternoon, Jake, Rachelle and I had the brilliant idea of riding bikes to the opposite side of the lake from where we were staying. The lake didn't appear to be that big, and we were up for something a little different. First up was Wenwu Temple. Watch the video!

After taking several pictures and buying bells, we added our own to our birth-stair.

(My computer sucks, and was taking forever to upload the other video. I'm a very impatient person, so I'll upload it later).

We hung out at the temple for quite a while afterward as well. Once we realized the sun was about to set, we decided that we should continue on our journey and actually get to our destination. We did see the sun set over the lake, and about an hour and a half later we made it to the pagoda. By the time we got there, we were exhausted--well, at least Rachelle and I were--and we still had to hike up a hill to get to the actual structure. The grounds were pitch black, and there was hardly enough light to see the stairs. When we reached the top, there was a lone man taking pictures in the dark. At first we thought he was a security guard, and Jake, in the Chinese he learned on his own, asked him if we could go up. The man responded that we could, and I think we said that he would light up the structure so we could see it. The three of us hike up even more stairs to the very top where we found a bell that when rung, can be heard on the opposite side of the lake. When we came back down, the guy was so nice and offered us a ride back to town. He seriously saved us! Needless to say, that night we slept very very well.

Dec. 24th--Christmas Eve

Early that morning, I decided to go off on my own, pick up some hot chocolate at Starbucks (hey I'm from Seattle), and take in the view. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect morning. As I was strolling along the waterfront I found a bench and sat down for some serious people watching. It was the perfect way to finish my perfect stay at Sun Moon Lake.

My bags are packed, all ready to go...

I can't believe my six months are up! Friday was my last day of teaching and it was so sad! As of tomorrow I will be homelessly wandering Taiwan, so I will be in the country enough days to get my tax break (the Taiwanese pay 20% in taxes and we only have to pay 6% if we stay in the country 180 or something like that). List of things I will be seeing:

Sun Moon Lake

Taroko Gorge

Taipei (hopefully)

It will be strange to be travelling on Christmas, but we celebrated it today. So it won't be all bad. I'll update this later with pics, etc. of our Christmas carolling and the last few days of school. I will be without Internet for a while, so this may be it for a while. But when I do get the chance, I will be able to blog about Thailand as well. It's going to be an exciting, travel-packed next couple of weeks!

Oh, and I fly home to the States on Jan. 8th, for all those who are interested.

Tak jo, ciao for now!

Kenting!

This past weekend I had the choice opportunity to get the heck out of town and enjoy myself in the incredibly cool beach town on the southern most tip of Taiwan: Kenting. Did I mention that it was pretty much awesome?

Jess, Megan and I got up at the crack of dawn (5:30 am) to catch a train to Kaohshung, and then took a taxi down to the lovely town. Well, I should say, the normally lovely town. During the winter it is common for typhoon like winds to gust out of the mountains and assault the town. And let me tell you the wind was strong enough to knock over someone's scooter (not from personal experience, I assure you).

We got a pretty sweet deal with a hotel the first night and had remarkably comfy beds. We also took advantage of the local eateries, and did not eat one single Chinese food dish! It was heavenly. The Thai food down there definitely satisfied my cravings.

Unfortunately it was kinda cold and rainy, and reminded me of our time on Green Island. The beach was so windy that the sand would blow and would feel like needles were piercing my skin. I had sand stuck to my scalp for three days, even though I rigorously shampooed it.

We were joined on Saturday by our fellow teachers, Jake and Rachelle, and hit up the National Park where we were chased by monkeys because we were disturbing their territory. Wasn't our fault that the paved trail went right through their territory. We also hit up some local hot springs, and froze our bums off on the ride home.

At night the main street turns into a huge night market full of different stands and vendors, and bungee jumping--go figure. We strolled around a bit, and then hit the hay.

Sunday we went to church in a nearby town, and then hit up some of the sights from "Cape No. 7," a really cool Taiwanese movie set in Kenting. After that we took a seemingly wild goose chase through the country side trying to find this hidden beach. And in the end we did find it. While there we ran into this group from Taichung, and took some group pictures. As Americans, people really do treat us like celebrities and always want their pictures taken with us.

The trip was complete, and it was wonderful!