Random Photos From the Past Year....

Camping on our way to Spring Scream last year.

View heading towards Snow Mountain

Dongshir

Fishing on December 25h

Some of my many students wishing you a Merry Christmas

Smore Death

Beautiful Temple: taken on Christmas Day

My new friend

School Uniform Display

Danshui, Taipei

Dried Fish

Celebrating!

Local Dam

Irene and Justin

Huge Spider in our House!

Dongshir: My town

David Playing a Pipa

Candice

Ron, Johnny and Brett

Brett

Meat Coils

Time flies! The travel buzz has worn off although things still grab my attention. For example, my favourite breakfast shop only plays western soft rock from the 80's and 90's. Right now Reo Speedwagon's "Can't fight this feeling anymore" is the soundtrack to families and friends laughing and squabbling as our eggs fry.

Driving my scooter is still treachorous and exciting. Flowers blooming through out the year and giant, gorgeous ponsietta's growing in the mountains make me smile. Stinky tofu stills smells rancid and unnatural, Mandarin is still hard to learn. I am now relieved to understand bits of passing conversations which help me recognize how the people around me are feeling and interacting. When I first came to Taiwan just saying thank you properly was a bit of a trial.

Toto's Africa begins to play...

I notice Taiwanese postman cruising in their green unifroms on their motorcycles often neglect to close their bags. The garbage truck song and the people chasing it are still funny, the people burning garbage near my house are not. My Taiwanese friends are a wealth of humour and cultural knowledge. I love learning the in's and out's of everything Taiwanese. Like most things, the more I know the more I realize I don't know. Karaoke and fireworks used to scare me, now I enjoy both. I've danced and sang more this year than any other year. Sea monsters are scary but the ocean never ceases to amaze.

My students make me laugh everyday and often inspire me to work harder. "Winter" here was filled with bike rides, tennis and even BBQ'S. My new apartment and its mountain view is sweet. People still call me Roara, Laurla, Laula and sometimes Lu. I now have a proper Chinese name, Bo Ruo Lan. Mostly, I am called Teacher Laura, or Laura Teacher (Chinese word order is quite different from English).

Taiwanese men are still afraind to talk to me. My nose is still "sooo long" and it is amusing to me that some Asian people think us "outside people" look the same.

All in all the year has been great. Things have stopped shocking me so the peaks and valleys of the traveling roller coaster have gotten smaller. I am grateful. I also can't wait to see my family and friends back in Canada. I think about you daily, miss and love you!

X

Laura