Adventures of the day

I had two adventures today and both made me laugh. I decided to get up early and head into town to explore and buy food. I headed out on my bike and 8am and stopped at a breakfast stand across the street from the grocery store because I saw sandwich's on the counter and I super wanted one. So this older man, who ran the place it looked like, saw me coming and started talking to me about something or another...I was like "Um I don't understand what you are saying but you seem really nice." Well I bought two sandwiches (one for Megan at home) and left not really knowing what was said but I think we are friends now. The owner and I. He was helpful and seemed glad to have me there. And next time I need a sandwich I will go back there and say hello.

Secondly, I was headed out to read by the ocean and the entrance to my school was being paved so I couldn't get out. After looking over the walls surrounding the school I decided the bike might break if i threw it over and then climbed the wall. So I postponed the trip to another day. As I was locking the bike back up however the school cook came up to me and started talking away...again I have no idea what she was talking about. She was carrying a mesh bag filled with something that looked like chicken strips. I know it was not chicken because I've seen this stuff laying out in the sun to dry... I don't think you should do that with chicken. Anyway, I pointed at it and asked what it was and received a detailed explanation, of which I understood nothing other than you eat it. THEN.. this woman fill my hands up with whatever it is and walks away! Um now what do I do with it?!?! HAHA Megan isn't sure what it is either. Right now it is sitting on our kitchen counter until our Taiwanese dorm mate can tell us what it is and what to do with it. I have found these events rather humorous mostly because I had no idea what was going on as they happened.

Melodious garbage

The garbage trucks here play classical music like ice cream trucks in America. I told Emily Jefferies, "Wow the ice cream truck comes by a lot!" That was when she informed me not to go running after it. It's the trash car. The Taiwanese are huge on recycling. At the English Village camp we "foreigners" had a trash class- where to throw what. It is not so simple as just throw something away. There are bins for plastic, paper, cans, bottles, leftovers, general garbage and juice boxes. For our benefit as well they added an unknown category (when in doubt put it in unknown garbage). We had signs and instructions on how to throw everything away. Makes me think twice when I use, unwrap or open anything I might have to throw away. Also, trash cans are rare. You can never find one when you need it. So be grateful when all you have to do is toss your trash in a garbage can. And if you come to Taiwan and hear the pretty music... don't go looking for ice cream. :)

Spongebob?

During English camp I learned a few new Chinese words from the kids. It is interesting, someone pointed out to me, that when a foreigner in America speaks English we don't think anything of it. We expect it. However, here in Taiwan I say "Ne-how" and they exclaim among themselves in surprise how good I did. All I did was say hello...
So this funny little kid taught me how to say spongebob squarepants and when I repeated the word my whole class erupted into excited chatter; " She speaks Chinese!!". Later I found out that the boy teaching me used a strange "hillbilly" country Chinese accent and was teaching me wrong just for fun. So my Chinese vocabulary has gone back down to "hello" and "spongebob squarepants". I don't find the latter too particularly helpful in everyday life but my kids think it's rather hilarious. haha

Camp Elections

Today was camp elections. Each team at our English camp chose one member of their team to be their "presidential candidate". Earlier in the day all the teams were buisily making posters supporting their candidate and thinking up creative slogans. Some of my favorite slogans included: " Vote early, vote often, vote Johnny" (we had to explain you could only vote once..), "Just do it! Pick Peggy! the right choice!", and " Power for president- no regrets!".

We had an election debate as well where the candidates each had to answer questions like: why should we vote for you, what changes would you make as the camp president etc.. It was so great how serious they all took this election. The candidates ( 8 in all) prepared their answers and had speeches prepared to introduce themselves. My personal favorite candidate was Power. He promised to make all day play time and institute American food like hamburgurs and french fries for lunch. That statement created quite the stir among all the students. Well he got my vote! 12 year old William was our elected president with 24 votes. The runner up had 19 votes. Tomorrow we are all looking foward to hearing his first presidential speech.

For some reason I have always pictured Asian people as all the same. The same hair, eyes... everything that made them distiguishable from each other. Since being here in Taiwan and actually meeting some Asians, I have learned that this is as far from true as you can get. They are all different in so many ways! There is crazy Frank that looks like he just woke up.. beautiful and spunky Gina who has the cutest haircut ever, Douglas the favorite of everyone and tiny little Angela who made cookies with a hundred kids today.. These are just a few of the amazing people I get to spend this week with. The kids who are at our English camp this week are also very unique in many ways. Some of them speak English really well and others are still learning. Most are well behaved but there are a few im glad I don't have to deal with every day :) Lots of activity going on here and it is alot of work keeping all these kids entertained and happy. Thankfully I am with a very competent group of American and Taiwanese college students that are becoming my friends. Pictures up soon. Bye!