Typhoon!

On Friday about 12:35, I was talking with Holly, an elementary school teacher. She mentioned that we were going to get a typhoon this weekend. She also told me that she had found out when our vice principal had prayed for protection from the typhoon that morning... We didn't think anything of it because we had found out so late. We went to Puli, a town nearby that has a few more modern conveniences than Yuchih. (We wanted to bling out our new cell phones and they don't have that type of stuff in Yuchih) We received a phone call from our boss in Taipei who informs us that this typhoon has 2 eyes and is comparable to a 5 on the hurricane scale... We were already getting stuff for an event Friday night, so we quickly got a few more supplies. Robert, our boss, also mentioned that we should not go near any signs during the typhoon because that was the second biggest killer... We still don't know what the first is.

Friday night I wanted to go to our kitchen which I have to go outside and then inside to get to it. At the front of our doorway, there was a ton of ants and they appeared to want to come in. (We think because of the typhoon) We cleaned them up and hunkered down for the long weekend. They reappeared the same time last night(Saturday night) as well. Auugghhh! We also found out that a majority of the typhoon was coming in Saturday night and all through Sunday.

So far, it is really windy and rainy, but I have not seen anything falling down. Phil and Cory went to get more water and tried to go to Balance to get chocolate milk tea for me and milk tea for everyone else, but they were closed. :( Luckily, they canceled the high school for tomorrow because our students are coming in and a lot of public transportation is closed. I finally got this place looking like the way we want it to... Yeah! I hope that no one is hurt.

More unique creatures

I thought this bug was kind of cool.


The snails here are the largest I've ever seen.

Biology and food and Biology

I feel that I have spent the past 2 weeks learning everything there is to know about Biology. The last time I learned biology, I was in 9th grade. Because of this, I have spent most of my free time trying to do a really good job teaching it. I gave the kids a quiz today, and I will soon see how they did on it. I actually gave a paragraph for them to write. When you teach, you try to avoid these, because it means that you actually have to read them. (Why I teach math, anyways) It should be interesting.

The real problem I have is trying to determine what is important to know in Biology. I want to skip certain sections just because of the vocabulary... At least the next 2 days, we will be using the microscope and they will be doing a lab type activity, so I dont have to stress so much about what to do next.

The food here is interesting. There are things that I really like and things that are horrible. I wish at the moment that we were in Taipei so that we could go to more American style restaurants. I am missing pasta, at the moment. or Diet Coke? (Not Coke Light)

How's your Chinese?

The operating system on my lab computer is in Chinese. It makes things a bit tricky at times. I frequently have to ask my students to come up and tell me what something says.

Uninvited Guests

There are lots of interesting creatures around here. From time to time some of them make there way inside our apartment.

A snail (or slug?) getting ready for the day with Heather's shower gel.

An assorted bug enjoying Heather's flip-flop.

Not Your Ordinary Flora and Fauna

We went exploring down near Sun Moon Lake on Sabbath afternoon and found some rather unique stuff...


This is no optical illusion or Photoshop manipulation, this grasshopper really is as big as a cell phone. Crazy!

I think this is called a sensitive plant, but I'm not sure. Very cool.

Please let me know if this video loads quickly on your computer or if you have to wait for it. Thanks!

Good Eats (Sometimes)

Check out some of the food we've been eating...


This is a typical meal from the cafe. It works like this: if you don't recognize something, just be brave and try it!

I have no idea what this purple thing was, but I can tell you that it tasted even more disgusting than it looks.

Last Sabbath the college church had a potluck in our honor (all the American teachers). They hooked us up with some good stuff!

Overall, the food is not bad here. I've had things I absolutely love, and other stuff that was just plain gross. I haven't been craving my "normal" food too much yet. I'm sure that will come soon.