Happy 33rd Carrie!

My good friend and coworker, Carrie, is celebrating her birthday this week. Many of you know her from her excellent blog, My Several Worlds. She is a top-notch blogger, teacher and friend. We began teaching together about 18 months ago; her desk was next to mine in the office.

Our teaching styles are very different yet we have managed to learn quite a bit from each other. When you work side-by-side with someone, you get to know them pretty well. Carrie's commitment to her classes is admirable. Her ability to manage her time and maintain an organized game-plan are the work qualities that impress me most. I am sorely lacking in both those areas!...lol. Her kids dig her big time. She has quite a fan base throughout the school. She is also waaaaaaay better than me at managing office politics. Perhaps that is why I am persistently in the dog house with management? Carrie has managed to make it through the countless disagreements with the leadership unscathed...not me!

I am happy that our work relationship has translated into a friendship outside of the office. Catherine and I have had some wonderful times with Carrie and her soon-to-be husband, John. They are good people. This coming year is gonna be a big one for them and I wish them lots of luck.

Congratulations Carrie.

I've Been Tagged...Here's My 7 Things

Carrie over at My Several Worlds targeted me for a tagging. Being tagged means you have to list 7 random and/or weird things about yourself. Here they are:

1. I have spent a good bit of my life blaming religion for the world's problems. My exposure to Buddhism while in Taiwan gives me hope.

2. Until a couple of years ago, I wore two pairs of socks every day. I told people it was because it was more comfortable...honestly, it was just a bizarre compulsion.

3. I enjoy eating peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches.

4. I think the greatest movie ever made is The Big Lebowski.

5. I am 37 years old and I still speak before I think far too often.

6. I once went a week, while in summer camp, without changing my underwear. That was about 25 years ago, not recently!...lol.

7. I am proud to say I have never stepped foot in a Wal-Mart.

There ya have it. I know the underpants thing is going to come back to haunt me...lol.

My victims:

Anyesha at One Fleeting Moment
MJ at The NH Bushman
Todd at The Daily Bubble Tea

Sorry, it's not 7, but I don't have the energy or nerve to list any more.

Rules:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random [?] people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting on comment on their blog.

Taiwan Blogger's Shindig in Hukou

On Saturday night, a bunch of the prominent Taiwan bloggers got together at MJ's place in Hukou. It was an excellent opportunity to get to know some the folks that have a knack for capturing life here on the island. MJ, (check out his blog here) was gracious enough to host this get-together of characters. His home is just a stones throw from an excellent Thai restaurant, where most of the action took place. The party was a lot of fun and went off without a hitch. The conversation and food were top-notch. Despite coming from all parts of the planet, it's remarkable how much the group has in common.

I will attempt to tell the story of the evening through the following photos:

Early in the evening the drinks were going fast. It was great to get a chance to pick the brains of my fellow bloggers.

Carrie (check out her blog: My Several Worlds) and MJ. I believe MJ was espousing the virtues of the Taiwanese rum that was the preferred drink of the evening.

The much anticipated barbecue. It didn't disappoint.

My cutie pie enjoyed the Thai-style barbecue. Shao-hui's cooking nearly brought tears to my eyes...great stuff.

A close-up of the various dishes that were served. The food didn't stand a chance in this group...we did some serious eating.

Carrie and Micheal (Michael's blog can be found here: The Taiwan Chronicles). Michael & I spent a good bit of time comparing war stories. He is also a former Peace Corps Volunteer and was born in Cleveland...small world. He gave me some excellent advice regarding higher education here in Taiwan. Essentially, he said I would be crazy not to get my Master's degree from one of the universities in Taipei...more on that in future posts.

That's Andres, of the one-and-only Andres in Taiwan blog, on the left. In the foreground, with his back to the camera, is David. David has a great blog, check it out at David on Formosa.

John, Carrie's future husband and good buddy of mine. He is damn near 7 feet tall so you can imagine what kinda of looks he gets here in the land of short people.

Later in the evening we made our way inside to take part in some karaoke.

Todd, sitting to the left of Catherine, also has an excellent blog...his photos are killer. Check his blog out at The Daily Bubble Tea.



Michael was making the moves on my girl!...lol I had to step in and put an end to that! After we got home, Catherine told me that Michael was a very interesting guy and his Chinese was impeccable...what a lady killer!...lol.

What a great time. Again, thank you MJ. I certainly hope we can do this again in the near future. I know that Catherine and I will be heading back that way to visit MJ. It would be worth the trip just to dine at Shao-hui's.

Back Aches

These past few weeks have been topsy-turvy. Last Wednesday, I was getting ready to leave for work when I lifted my backpack and heard a snap. Something let go in my back. I can't figure it out...the bag wasn't heavy and I picked it up just as I have a million times before. Regardless, it hurt. The rest of that evening was tough, work was a challenge. The crazy pain didn't start until I woke up the next morning.

Thursday morning I could barely lift my head. I decided to head over to my local doctor. Thankfully, doctors here are plentiful and getting to see one is never a problem. There happens to be an office in the building next to mine. I went in and within about 5 minutes a nurse had given me an ice pack and the doctor was asking me all the pertinent questions. Every doctor I have encountered here has a functional level of English, thankfully. The receptionist took my health card, wrote down my info, and charged me a whopping NT$100 for my visit...folks, that is about $3 American...

A few minutes later, I was escorted to an exam table. The doctor began by having me lift my arms to see my range of movement. He stated that he sees this type of injury a lot. He put cream on my back and told me that many back injuries are a result of infections. In order to fight the infection, he was going to try some cupping on my back. It's used to draw out the toxic stuff that may be causing the pain. The following picture is my friend Carrie getting the same procedure.

If you'd like to learn more about "cupping" and lots of other neat stuff, check out Carrie's site at My Several Worlds.

Photograph by Joanna Rees. She is an ex-pat living here in Taipei and quite the shutterbug. Check out her site at Joanna Rees Photography.

I'm not sure if the procedure worked, but I am willing to try anything, back/neck pain is the worst. Along with the cups, the doc did some pressure point work. After the pressure work, I felt a bit better.

While I was trying to relax I glanced out the crack in the door and noticed a woman across the hall having acupuncture applied to areas on her face...this is when all hell broke lose...NEEDLES!! The room began to spin. Wow, I am a total basket case. I told the doctor that I needed to lay down and some water to drink would be nice. Cold sweat beads were forming on my forehead. He left the room and came back with some water and an interesting little chewy thing that was supposed to help me relax...it did. After allowing me to lay down for a few minutes, the good doctor got back to work. He told me not to lift anything heavy for a few days and applied a bunch of stinky smelling patches to my back. I could take off the patches in about 6 hours.

I took off work Thursday and tried to relax. That evening I took off the patches and felt a little better but I don't think that any of the procedures would have a lasting effect. It's been a week since the visit and I still have quite a bit of discomfort.

Many of you may be thinking that the above procedures are odd. Yes, the doctor I went to is a traditional Chinese doctor that specializes in alternative methods of care. This is not the only form of medical care here, just one of the options. I was curious to see what kind of alternative treatments were out there. "Normal" doctors are also plentiful and it costs me just NT$200 per visit (about $6 American). I think I might head over and see the guy that I went to when I worked in Shulin, he is great.

Thanks Carrie

Carrie is my co-worker. She has sat next to me in the office for the past year (psst, she deserves hazard pay for having to put up with my antics). Lately she has shouldered a good bit of the responsibility of training Chris, one of the new teachers. She has a million things to do but somehow has found some time to coach Chris, thanks. I have been a bit swamped lately and am not that great at training the newbies. My style of teaching isn't exactly by the book, so it's probably good to limit the new teachers exposure to my classroom management skills...lol. Carrie is a great teacher, her kids rave about her all the time. She is far more professional than I am...far more appealing to the higher-ups in this kind of work environment. Her lesson plans are impeccable, mine are non-existent...lol.

Today, I overheard her say that she thinks I am a good off-the-cuff teacher...that's a great compliment. A good bit of my time in front of a class is extemporaneous. I usually have a loose outline of what I want to accomplish and almost always seem to reach my goal, in one form or another. I love to make worksheets and fun stuff for the kids in order to make learning more fun. As far as lesson plans are concerned, I suck. I think it comes from my short attention span and inability to follow instructions...lol. As a result, I have learned to rely on my ability to improvise. I know it doesn't make the boss happy, but it's worked thus far.

Again, thank you Carrie. I have been having a rough week and your compliment gave my ego a nice boost.

Check out Carrie's website, it's good stuff:
http://globetrotteri.wordpress.com/