Happy 2012!!! I'm a few days behind, but better late than never! I hope you all had a great 2011 and that 2012 is off to a great start where ever you may be.
After not posting last month at all, I'm slowly getting around to it. Unlike all of you in the Western worlds, us westerners still celebrate the here, but we don't get any vacation through it. Vacation comes in 3 weeks, during Chinese New Year which is in mid-January this year. I will say that while Taiwan doesn't typically celebrate Christmas, they do a pretty good job of decorating for it. I was fortunate to celebrate New Year's with a dinner with one group of friends and going to a party/watching the amazing Taipei 101 fireworks with another- and it was warm.
Taipei 101 fireworks
Prior to that for Christmas, 2 groups of friends were having potluck's and White Elephant/Bad Santa/Dirty Santa/Yankee gift exchanges - whatever you want to call them (and we learned everyone has a different description for it). I had homemade hot buttered rum, eggnog, and spiced wine before the weekend was over as well as more food than can be imagined ranging from Polish borscht to latkes to puppy chow to pumpkin pies to Taiwanese style chicken to green bean casserole and everything in between. In one gift exchange I got a travel towel (hurrah!) and in the other an orange suede cowboy hat. haha. I also watched both Elf and Home Alone. Both good groups of people, both successful Christmas parties.
The rough breakdown of my time earlier in December there was:
Lots of preparation for my school's Christmas program - my class did "Jingle Bells" with real bells
The Christmas program - Santa even turned up
My school system's Christmas/end of the year party
A 9K run that we turned into a Christmas run by wearing Santa hats/Reindeer ears
An ultimate tournament in Manila
A RC cruise out of Singapore with Bekki and Will to Malaysia and Thailand
A volleyball tournament here in Taipei
Continuing volleyball and ultimate playing, tutoring, wandering around Taipei trying new foods and such
Movies! Sherlock Holmes and Moneyball. Living in the movie mecca has increased my movie going about three thousand fold from any other point in my life- and I still don't go all that often!
Lots and lots of rain. No one mentioned Taiwan was so rainy all 'winter'. Endless days of gray and clouds and drizzle are almost up there with frigid weather on my miserable weather list.
More soon. Hopefully.
Lots of picts up on FB as I've finally edited albums from a few months ago. hah. About time.
Some links:
Tech Education
Your awesome work team
Finland's Ed System
QBs and predictions- Go DB
Oh Chicago
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