Friday, September 30, 2011

perfect.


true puppy love. couldn't be happier for these two.

comforts from home

I received some bad news on wednesday. I probably won't be eating avacados for a while. I'm so used to being able to eat whatever fruit or vegetable my mouth yearns for at any time of day or year in Canada and it's always easily possible to attain. In Taiwan, however, they only have fruits and veggies that are in season. Soo, no blueberries, strawberries, or avacados for me.

And this is what I wanted for breakfast today.

Oatmeal and tea it is.
Ahhhh wellllll

always choose kindness

This place never ceases to amaze me.
Yesterday I slept in and when I did wake up, I did so slowly. Rolled around on my yoga mat, showered, and scootered to Dantes cafe to proceed in the endless planning necessary to take over five classes on monday. Emily and I worked hard for a few hours and when our stress level hit its peak we rode over to the place beside our apartment and feasted in dumplings and a Taiwan Beer from 7/11 on the patio. I had 3 steamed leek dumplings, 3 vegetarian, and then 3 of each pot stickers. After we put in our order we strolled down the road to 7/11 to grab a much deserved bottle of beer. A big bottle costs about $1.50 cdn and the man who works there is the SWEETEST. He opened it for us because we realised it wasn't a twist off, then sent us on our way with two little cups. He cheered me right up from the stressed out state of mind I walked in from. Sitting on the patio reading and enjoying our food and drink I alternated from the pages in my book to people watching and realised how much I like it here. Em mentioned how happy everyone seems and its so nice to be smiled at so often. Plus, ALL of the kids are adorable. While eating, I watched a brother and sister pop a squat under a tree before returning to their play. True story.

After dinner we picked up developed photos and headed to the starbucks near our place to continue working. Peter, the barista, is the sweetest and makes me smile the few times i've been there. We headed straight upstairs to grab a table and while we were setting up our computers, a guy at the table next to us asked me if I was new to Taiwan. Blonde hair is such a giveaway. We started chatting and he asked how we were liking it and then asked if he could treat emily and myself to a drink, of the starbucks kind. So kind. So we all went downtstairs and emily and I tried feverently to order a chai latte. Nobody knew what we were saying so we settled on the drink of the day which was called a "lei chai" because it sounded so similar. Fingers crossed as we took our first sip, but alas, DEFINITLEY not a chai latte. We thanked our new friend Wade profusely while we loaded our coffees up with vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon powder and headed back up the stairs. Wade sat with us for the next few minutes and we chatted. He's 32, owns his own business in town, although i'm not sure what kind exactley. He has never been to Canada but has a friend that he met in Kaousiung who is Canadian. He loves meeting foreigners. Then he asked us when our birthdays were. I realised he was trying to figure out our astrological signs and that's when I knew I really liked him :p
He told Emily she is a romantic and i'm very balanced and said we were destined to be lovely friends. He asked if he could have the pleasure of showing us around Kaouhsiung on Saturday. He wants to take us to the beach and to a restaurant to eat seafood! =)
Soon after Wade left for home and Emily and I got down to work but he definitley made our nights. I certainly have NEVER had someone approach me at starbucks and ask to buy me a drink to welcome me to their country. Unreal.

And that's the end of that story.
I just woke up from a great sleep to a lovely text from dad so ill write him an email now, do some yoga, read and drink tea. Then emily and I are headed to the javascript:void(0)gym to check it out and then back home to set up shop at the tables in the courtyard downstairs and get back to work. This planning is intense. Tonight we are meeting up with a bunch of people from KNS for a going away party for the teachers who we're taking over for. Should be fun.

Happy eve to all you in canada, and happy day in Taiwan
xx

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

When I opened my eyes this morning it was raining...

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

- E. B. White



Today was spent at KNS planning and sitting in on classes and inevitably falling even more in love with the kids. At this point I feel fairly confident that being called "teacha ashley" will never ever get old.

the last muses of today

im just heading off to sleep and i came across this in my readings,


"But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma; a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth."
Umberto Eco


now, goodnight moon

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

fitting, no?

when i woke up this morning, i stretched my arms out reaaaal wide and said "im gonna live allllll day today"


I woke up early this morning to skype with Mom n Dad n Bozie and realised i've been in Kaouhsiung for all of eleven days now. In that time Emily and I have managed to find a lovely apartment (not easy when the negotiating and viewings are all done in chinese), get pretty badass scooters which we have learned to ride around this busy metropolis very quickly, finish training for our teaching jobs at the most prestigous language school in town, maneouver around an island of 23 million people, celebrate my 26th birthday and get (ancient, brutal) cell phones mostly all on our own. It`s good to know our charm resonates through intense language barriers haha

I believe now even more than before that I can do anything. =)


This is the view from Leon's where we stayed for the first couple of days. So pretty and green.

This is what we could see out our window at Leons. Makes waking up nice =)



I think this picture speaks for itself.


Em and my first day out on the town, negotiating breakfast and looking at the sights from our table.


and this is what we saw..
believe your eyes.

This is my friend Emily. She's pretty.


And then we discovered a park...a big one. There is something undeniably peaceful about a big green park (with turtles) in the middle of a city..








Speaking of soft green grass, I'm going to pack a bag and head over to the park now. I've got lots of planning for class and Em and I want to try out our new yoga mats.

lovelovelove,
a.