Well, I know that this is LONG overdue. Sorry it’s been so long since I have written on this blog, but things have been moving around a lot, and Ive been very busy.
The last blog you got was the holidays and into January. Let’s start in Feb.
I spent the end of Jan back in Surabaya, hanging out, singing karaoke and playing mini golf (hollywood) of the wonders of the world. America got Hollywood, Mt. Rushmore, and Niagra Falls. It was fun to be back, but I had other plans...
After escaping from Indonesia (I had to do some lying, and cheating to be allowed to leave from my job) I went directly to Chiang Mai, my old stomping grounds, to visit some friends and hang out for a little. We just talked and went to dinners (as they worked during the day) and then I took a bus down to Bangkok, where I met another friend, stayed at her apartment and hung out in Bangkok. This whole time was about a week, just nice to visit some old friends.
Following that, I flew to Taipei, to start my 2 week adventure around Taiwan. It started with 2 night in Taipei, sorting out my visa to come back and work in Thailand, and then I went to visit my friends, who have been working and living in Taiwan for the past year. They live in a small city called Chaiyi, which isn’t known for anything special, really. I spent a couple days sitting at their apartment doing absolutely nothing. It was great.
We hung out in their city, and they had to work a couple more days before their vacation, and I enjoyed the relaxed Taiwanese lifestyle. We went to the park in the afternoons, met for lunch, and checked out some markets. I did all my laundry, hanging it on the roof, and enjoyed the crisp days and the warmth of the sun. Not the scorching heat of South East Asia. It was a nice and relaxing couple of days. Then, on the weekend, we celebrated Chinese New Year, with their friend, who is from Taiwan. We spent the evening at her family’s school, enjoying a big dinner, and then went to the temple at midnight to celebrate the new year. It was cool, involving burning paper money, preparing yourself by waving smoke on you, and then running from firecrackers into the temple, where we did different offerings to help bring us good luck and fortune for the year. It’s always fun celebrating different traditions and holidays in their respective countries.
New year was fun, and then we headed to the south to enjoy the “southern Taiwan” lifestyle. The weather was nice for the first couple days, and we enjoyed laying on the beach, taking motorbike trips and eating some great food. Then, the best food arrived in the form of my brother carrying Nancy’s cookies. A cookie-eating frenzy started and so did the fun celebrations for a family reunion and also for my friend Claire’s birthday.
With brother in country, we spent time surfing and having fun. I know Steve enjoyed surfing without a wetsuit, and it was nice just getting back in the water. The last time I had surfed was on the beaches of Bali. Tough life, I know. So we spent time enjoying Taiwan and working out way north along the eastern coast. We took some pretty nice train rides, stayed in some pretty cool cities, and ate some great food. Dumplings… mmmm.
The highlight of the trip, post Claire’s birthday, was definitely the Toroko Gorge, in which we took motorbikes through this phenomenal gorge that cuts through Taiwan. There are lots of windy parts, tunnels and bridges. Quite an engineering feat in itself. Then you have these sheer rock faced cliffs and a river rushing through it. Overall it was quite spectacular. We spent the whole day driving in and out of the gorge, and checked out some temples, places for lunch, and Steve fell in love with a dog named DAB.
After the gorge, we went to Taipei, and said goobye to Brian and Claire. We also met Steve’s friend Pei, and got to stay with her for a couple nights. It’s fun to meet families, and they let us stay in their son’s room, show us the local temple, and even drove us into town a couple times. As a group, we also checked out central downtown Taipei and Taipei 101. It’s now the second largest building in the world, after the new one in Dubai. It’s huge, and has the fastest elevator in the world. You get up to 98 stories in about 37 seconds. Pretty rad. The views are great, but with pollution, and clouds, not always the best. But you can see a lot, and even go out to the 91st floor and stand on the outside observation deck. Its pretty cool. They even have a huge floor dedicated to a museum, and also a shop. An impressive building overall.
After a couple more days in Taipei, I had to leave, going back to Thailand, and my Steve stayed another day or two, before going back to the States. Taiwan was a really interesting country, and perfect size for a couple weeks touring around.
When I got back to Bangkok, I revisited all the touristy areas, trying to recapture the fun of being a tourist in a country im so used to now. I saw the grand palace, main parks and markets and did another river cruise. Always fun meeting up and seeing old friends too. I then went to Asian University, to start my 3rd year at the English Summer Camps. This year I was offered the job of Deputy Director, which means a slight promotion from last year. This year, I am all admin, and work directly with the Director of the program. It’s fun, and less work (more responsibility) than the previous years, but great for future jobs, as it’s a management type position. Did I mention its also better pay? J
So now I’m in my third week at the summer camp (5th week on campus) and it’s going just like previous years. I miss not having a class, but enjoy being the disciplinarian to the naughty students. Always a nice ego boost to the power trips. Currently I’m working with one kid, who’s used to being in trouble, has a very wealthy family who is into politics and so thinks he’s better than everyone. We’ve secluded him, taken his blackberry, and making him write lines all afternoon. Then the big boss, my boss, will have a nice little chat with him tomorrow morning. Nancy already said caning was out of the question. Meh, different strokes, different folks.
So (grandma J) that’s an overall update of what I’ve been doing. I have two more weeks at this camp, then a week break, and then a second summer camp to finish. All the while looking forward to after the camp, with a change in working and seeing the parents come out to see Asia. I’ll have to start researching some fish head soups for Nancy to try out. Or chicken feet curries… Shouldn’t be a problem…
Glad to hear everyone is doing well, the kids are growing up and family is happy. I’ll be home for Christmas, so get ready. All donations for the “bring rob home” foundation are still being accepted. You can make checks payable to Nancy and Ralph Medina.
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