I Have a New Love...

...



and his name is Caramel Milk Tea...

Taking a sip of this stuff is like..well..umm nevermind...seeing as my family reads this (ESPECIALLY my 15-year-old cousin) I am just going to say that this is love...yeah..that's it!

Actually I was only going to post this little message above as I thought I had no news, but actually I do...!!

I tell you a cute thing that has happened to me yesterday, and made my week! I have kinda had a bad week (personal issues) and have been very bitter and angry these past few days-I was worried that I was becoming a bitter expat (even though my anger has NOTHING to do with Taiwan)

But yesterday as classes were over one of my students in my upper-level class gave me a small gift (the level is over and now they move on to the next level) because she was leaving. Not because of me (thank god!! you know my fear of being a bad teacher), but because she is in too many cram schools and had to cut one-unfortunately it was English :(
Here is the gift and card: She gave me Fererro Rocher and a rubber bracelet...I am pretty sure she got me this because I ALWAYS wear my rubber bracelets when i teach (one to help the rainforest, one for children literacy, one to fight breast cancer, one for peace, one to fight poverty and one to help feed animals in shelters) and so she gave me one more which I will wear proudly with my other bracelets!!!! This bracelet will remind me that when things are bad that I came here for a reason...not JUST for myself, but to change the lives of these kids for the better, to give them an opportunity that a lot of kids do not have.

My co-teacher has been teaching that class for 21 months so she knows them better, so the student gave her handmade friendship lanyards tp put on her teacher pencilbox or cell phone, (beautifully and carefully done i might add) some chocolate and a little note pad...We both were raving it about our lil gifts to everyone and pretending to cry, but honestly it made our day...

So here are the photos of my gift:


So like everything, with good comes bad and with bad comes good...I am slowly getting over my bad mood and even though I might be on my own this weekend, I am going to get outside, drink more Caramel Milk Tea and walk around the parks near the art museum because it is so relaxing there...maybe I'll venture a little further...who knows...All I know is that I am not going to let anyone ruin my life here...not even myself! I will do whatever it takes to keep myself happy...I have a worthwhile job that is relatively stress-free(but don't get me wrong it is HARD work), I'm learning a new language that I not only love, but for the sake of convincing my parents...this language could actually be useful in a career! I really believe I have a chance at succeeding here in Taiwan and will work hard towards that goal!

Anyway, I need to clean my apartment..my very UNWELCOME pet ants have contributed to my rather sour mood...they WON'T LEAVE and no matter how much I clean and no matter how many ant traps I have and anti-ant crap, they love me so much that they stay...Despite my newly developed good mood, this is slowly pushing me to the edge of insanity...

Other than that...things are OK...Chinese lessons level 2 starts Friday and I have already paid for my books and CD and tuition...Everyone wonders why I bought the CD(as it is a little costly), but I find that I am good at mimicking accents and intonation so listening to the CD is a big advantage for me...

Till then dear readers...Zai jian!